Chapter 11: Changing Times (3)

After playing shooting games for a while at the company, my eyes started to feel sore.

“Ugh… It’s already been two hours.”

It was long if it was long, and short if it was short. In my past life, when my life had been ruined and I was a shut-in, I would do it all day long…

“Tsk, this is no fun.”

I guess I’m getting bored easily because I’m living a healthy life these days. Sigh.

Especially as I was touching this terribly specced game console, I wanted to make a computer. Even more so because I’m of an age to actually develop a computer.

Was the capacity of Super Mario 40 kb? I really want to skip 10 years of my life.

-Dodo-do.

I ran to the full-length mirror in the company and examined myself. Other than my eyes being a little dry, there didn’t seem to be any outwardly visible changes.

‘Hmm, perfect as always.’

Then, I glanced at the CEO who was playing games with me next to me.

“You processed the contract, right? Right now, it may seem like the arcade industry is everything, but it’ll be different later.”

He, who was still holding onto the family computer, or Famicom, nodded.

“Ah, yes. I did. I contacted Nintendo first and they responded positively. It’s still a bit difficult because of the government regulations… But, um, it’ll be fine since you’re here, Miss.”

That’s right. Originally, with power, it’s okay to ignore minor regulations. Because the power to decide that is what power is.

I tapped the hem of my clothes with my tiny hand, and then called my secretary.

“Lee Sihyeon, let’s go now.”

Secretary Lee Sihyeon quietly organized my things and stood behind me.

“Yes, Miss.”

She is loyal, but she’s also a bit boring. I thought that as I stared blankly at her.

“Have you never played games before?”

At my words, Lee Sihyeon was momentarily flustered and shook her head.

“Um. No, I didn’t have the means to, and such things are a little… for me.”

“Unwholesome?”

I asked that while smiling playfully. Indeed, she finally showed a slightly interesting reaction.

“Ah, no. I didn’t mean that.”

“I’m just joking, I’m joking.”

After chuckling, I stopped on my way and turned my body around. And then, I grabbed her hand and dragged her to the game console.

“Let’s play a few more rounds of Pac Man. This time, you should play too.”

“Yes?”

She seemed momentarily flustered, but she didn’t refuse my orders.

It was as if the fact that she had never played games before was a lie, because she was completely engrossed in Pac Man. The classic game, which is still arranged and used in mini games everywhere, was truly great.

“Ah, ah!”

When Pac Man died from the ghosts chasing after him, Lee Sihyeon looked like she was about to cry.

“Okay, now it’s my turn. Move.”

-Tap. Tap tap.

I easily scored more than twice her score. After getting off the seat with a smug look, I looked at Lee Sihyeon.

“I, I can win this time.”

From the beginning, I told her to have fun, not win, but it seems like her sleeping competitive spirit had awakened. If it had been a field that she was good at, she would have made all sorts of excuses to lose to me.

‘Hmm. She’s finally worth watching.’

One round. Two rounds.

As the number of rounds gradually increased, she was focused on the game, having already put down my luggage for a moment.

“Ah! Th, this control didn’t work. Ah!!”

-Bang!

Oh, a shotgun.

As a secretary and bodyguard, she had a muscular body that had trained a lot, so the sound of the shotgun was also loud. I put on a smile and tapped her solid shoulder.

“But you lost, right?”

“No, I was really doing well this time… If I can do it just one more time….”

Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, I stopped her. If she were to continue, it seemed like Lee Sihyeon would go down a path of no return.

“We have to go home now, right? Look outside. It’s already been another hour.”

“…Huh?”

Only then did she come to her senses and looked around. The CEO, who had been watching us for a moment, had already had all his employees leave and was preparing to leave himself.

I watched her with amusement.

“How was it?”

Lee Sihyeon replied with a slightly dazed expression.

“It was good.”

“Ah, not that, how did you feel when you lost to me?”

“… Frustrated?”

“Again?”

“I think… I wanted to win.”

I smiled and affirmed her words.

“That’s right. You wanted to win.”

While placing my luggage into her arms, I started the conversation.

“The reason why games are fun is because the short-term rewards are certain. And, it’s very clearly shown what I have to do to win.”

Therefore, people who say that studying is fun are usually people who are good at studying, and most of those people lose interest when studying becomes difficult.

Because it becomes difficult to achieve short-term results.

“…”

“You know, the world looks like a game to me. It’s very clear to me what I have to do to move forward. No matter which path I choose, I will definitely go up like stairs, with only a difference in degree.”

That’s why life is fun these days. If only I had a function that increased speed, that would be great, but that was a bit impossible.

“That’s strange.”

She looked at me with a puzzled look, with a strange gaze.

“What is?”

“You, Miss. How… how can a Miss who is only 8 years old know all of that?”

Well…

“Because I’m a genius.”

That word, which rendered all explanation and questions useless, left Sihyeon speechless.

“So you have to try harder. If you’re my secretary, you should at least know what I’m thinking and looking for.”

Today, I wanted to say these words to her.

Since she is my person, shouldn’t she try harder and become a more outstanding person?

“I think… I’ve tried very hard.”

That’s true. Lee Sihyeon is definitely an amazing person just for coming this far from the bottom.

“You have to try harder. Ah, of course, you’ve already tried quite hard. You haven’t tried as hard as you think. Because the limits of people are higher than you think.”

Perhaps my words touched her pride, and her eyebrows narrowed for a moment. People who are self-made hate it when their efforts and the path they took are denied.

Like the old me.

However, Lee Sihyeon knew my family circumstances and the schedule I had been following for the past two years, so she chose silence without saying anything.

Recently, I’ve been studying like a mad person, so it was obvious to anyone. My amount of studying and the amount of studying she did when she was studying hard to get into a prestigious university were equal.

“What you did was hardship. I don’t think that struggling without any results should be called effort.”

Struggling without results. That is hardship.

“…I don’t really understand.”

Lee Sihyeon’s lips twitched, with an expression that seemed like she understood but also didn’t. I used a simple analogy.

“You’ve studied a lot too, so you’d know. Usually, when you’re studying, looking at a textbook and staring at it isn’t very efficient. You have to take notes directly and summarize them on paper to study, and only then does it become a bit more efficient.”

“That’s… right.”

“Your efforts are that you were born in a single-parent family and you studied hard during your school years. That’s about it. Ah, you were also my secretary.”

In fact, that was also a great effort. I heard that she supported her mother and younger sibling alone, having been born without a father.

It was something that even men would have found difficult, but she solved it with her natural strength and talent.

But, in reality, those people are everywhere in the world. Even if you were to look within Daeha Group, you would find dozens of those people.

“You mean… that there’s more room to improve from here?”

Lee Sihyeon had a pure question, rather than resentment, as she asked me. I was happy to give her the answer.

“How can you call digging soil with a shovel while leaving the excavator as effort? It’s just a foolish thing to do. But… people don’t think that way when it comes to money and life.”

“There is an optimal path in life… Is that what you mean? And you can see that path.”

“That’s right. Things that are hard and don’t give you results are things that you should just ignore as much as possible and throw away. And… look at me, follow me.”

Yeah.

Most of the hardships in life will inevitably come, but there are some people who go out of their way to make hardship for themselves. It’s because they don’t know the difference between hardship and effort.

They pick up a shovel and diligently dig in the dirt pit. And after sweating a lot, they mistake it for having achieved a lot.

It’s not their fault. It’s because there was no one to open their eyes and no one taught them that.

People whose views have been narrowed by difficult times and ignorance cannot see the huge machinery that is right next to them. Like Lee Sihyeon now.

“…Still. Sometimes there are things that you can’t give up. Like family or something like that.”

Hmm. It seems like she misunderstood something.

“Hey, surely you didn’t think that I was saying for you to abandon your mother, or something like that, right?”

“……Weren’t you?”

Would I make my secretary into a ruthless psychopath?

“No, you misunderstood. What I’m saying is that there are often better options than to just groan about it.”

Having her be too rigid is not good, you know?

First of all, it makes me feel bad.

And my mood is the absolute standard in this world. I can earn money any time, but I can’t fix my bad mood once it passes.

“Here, take this. It’s a gift. It’ll be enough to cover your mother’s hospital bills and medicine.”

I took a check from my pocket and gave it to her. 50 million won, a considerable amount of money for a young worker in their early careers in the 80s, was written on it.

“Miss. Why, why would you do this…”

Lee Sihyeon’s eyes trembled. Because she was just an ordinary human being, she felt repulsion first when she saw a large amount of money.

This is the problem.

“Hey, it’s only 50 million won. I can earn that small amount of money in just a day if I put my mind to it. If you asked for it the first day we met, I would have given it to you then, right?”

She looked at me and then at the check with a blank look.

“Then, was me saving money all this time… just wasted effort?”

“That’s right. I told you, make an effort, not hardship. Instead of wasting time trying to save small amounts of money, pay more attention to the future and support me. Okay?”

Since she is the first subordinate that I obtained, I should keep her until the end.

Originally, in games, the first employee or character that you recruit is your favorite character. If a cost-effective character that you can use until the end if you enhance them a little more comes out, it’s right to spend some money on it.

Besides, she is also pretty. In a trash game without appearance change skins, this is very important.

“Yes. I understand. And… thank you… Miss.”

Lee Sihyeon bowed deeply and expressed her gratitude to me. A person who had only looked one step ahead, who was swept away by the waves of the era, was now looking at me instead of one step ahead.

Although she wouldn’t be able to see the future like a normal person, what does it matter?

I’m already in the future.

If she looks at me, it is the same as seeing the future.

I smiled and stroked her cheek. I liked the soft feeling.

“Yes, thank me more in the future. You need to work hard and earn money hard.”

Humans who cannot adapt to a changing era are not needed by me.

And Lee Sihyeon succeeded in adapting.