Real Man

Chapter 72

The next day.

Manager Shin Chan-yong pressed his temples with his thumb and index finger as he scanned the development progress report on the monitor.

It listed various problems that occurred during the PDA panel event.

They were not at the level that could be fixed by the development team.

“It’s obvious that it won’t work…”

But he couldn’t help but worry.

The magic word ‘if’ was holding him back.

Then, laughter erupted from the other side of the partition.

“Hahaha. Hey, did you do as much as Yoo-hyun? Is that why you passed the seminar in three tries?”

“No, I didn’t. I just chose the wrong topic and got rejected.”

“So you tried to screw your junior by giving him a weird topic? What is PDA, PDA?”

“That’s because he insisted on doing it until the end.”

He looked up and saw Manager Kim Hyun-min and Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo.

They were people who only knew how to laugh and chat, but couldn’t do any work.

“Anyway, give it a try. No matter how bad you are, you can’t be worse than your mentor, right?”

“Assistant Manager!”

As Manager Shin Chan-yong sneered, the newcomer’s eyes moved between them.

‘Han Yoo-hyun.’

Their eyes met and he smiled faintly.

Then he turned his head away as if he wasn’t interested.

Soon after, his voice was heard.

“Yes, Assistant Manager. I’ll do my best.”

Squirm.

For a moment, Manager Shin Chan-yong’s forehead veins popped up.

-I’ll do my best not to regret it.

He remembered the arrogant look of the newcomer who refused his offer.

“You’ll do your best?”

Yeah. Go ahead and try.

I’ll show you how worthless your preparations are.

Manager Shin Chan-yong’s lips twisted.

Finally, Yoo-hyun’s seminar presentation day arrived.

Yoo-hyun was coming out of the cafeteria on the basement floor of Hanseong Tower with his assistant Lee Ae-rin.

“I could have bought these myself… You don’t have to help me like this.”

“You have a lot of stuff. You’re doing this for me, so I have to help you.”

The seminar was for the team members.

Of course, anyone in charge could attend.

Maybe that’s why Lee Ae-rin personally reserved the conference room and prepared snacks.

But the amount was a bit excessive.

Anyone would think it was a VIP meeting.

Yoo-hyun felt a bit sorry and thanked her politely.

“Thank you.”

“Hoho, don’t mention it. It’s thanks to Director Sang-moo.”

No way, that would be.

He would never schedule another meeting when he knew there was a seminar.

Yoo-hyun shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t care and Lee Ae-rin smiled and changed the subject.

“Oh, are you nervous? Everyone was so nervous on their first seminar. And you’re the first one among the newcomers.”

“I’m nervous.”

“I heard you prepared a lot. You asked a lot of seniors and worked overtime.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I have good ears. Hohoho.”

He wondered how she knew, but it meant that his intention was conveyed.

The most important point of this seminar was to show his efforts.

Lee Ae-rin covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, then continued.

“Don’t worry. You’ll pass.”

“Yes. I have to.”

“And about the seminar…”

“Yes?”

“Really? And…”

She explained to him how to do well in the seminar.

It was quite detailed for something she heard from someone else.

He already knew enough, but he appreciated her kindness and listened carefully.

Soon, Yoo-hyun arrived in front of the conference room and said goodbye to Lee Ae-rin.

“Thank you. I’ll pay you back later.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you again.”

Was she really so prickly and haughty?

She was so nice that he doubted his past memory.

Lee Ae-rin smiled brightly and held out her fist in front of him.

“Good luck. Do well in the seminar. Aja! Aja!”

“Thank you.”

Looking at her, Yoo-hyun thought.

A lot has changed.

Not just Lee Ae-rin.

Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo came early to the conference room even though he was busy and cheered for Yoo-hyun.

“If you’re nervous, look at my mouth. I’ll point out the key points for you. Haha.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Manager Choi Min-hee shrugged her shoulders as if it was obvious and gave him strength.

“Just do what you’ve been doing. That’s enough.”

“Manager, thank you. I’ll be confident.”

After the 3rd part members said a word and left, Kim Eun-young, from the next part, also gave him a compliment.

“You’re in front, so you look great. It’ll go well. Cheer up.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Beep.

-Fighting. Do well.

Kwon Se-jung, who couldn’t come out in front of the senior employees, sent him a text message.

He looked up and saw him sitting at the edge of the conference room, raising both fists to his chest.

He knew.

It was just a courtesy.

It wouldn’t make the result better just because they cared for him.

But strangely enough, it gave him strength.

‘Do I really want to do well?’

Yoo-hyun chuckled.

A presentation that lasted for an hour under the name of a newcomer seminar.

How could he do well in this?

He had to surprise, interest, or impress the listeners.

To do that, he needed a fresh topic.

Or he had to cover a narrow range of content.

That way, he could get away with not knowing some parts.

But Yoo-hyun chose a very common topic and covered a wide range.

-PDA Trends and Future.

Before the seminar presentation began, Assistant Manager Kim Young-gil shook his head as he looked at the title on the screen.

He then asked Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo next to him.

“Don’t you think this seminar will be hard… PDA is too common, isn’t it?”

“That’s why Manager Kim keeps nagging him.”

“Then why did he let him do it?”

“I want to do the project that you are in charge of. They say it’s good to ask questions and analyze.”

“You should have focused on the panel then.”

As Kim Young-gil said that, Park Seung-woo replied with a dark face.

“I think so too. But he said it’s okay.”

Park Seung-woo must have been worried.

It was good to take over the project that his mentor was doing, but it would have been better to focus on the detailed specs of the HPDA3 panel.

Kim Young-gil bit his tongue after hearing the explanation.

“Or you could have chosen a different topic. Why not something common? OLED or hologram. Or the types of touch technology.”

“I tried to say that too, but he just wanted to do it.”

“He’s really stubborn.”

Park Seung-woo said as if he had given up.

“He looks innocent, but he never gives up his stubbornness. If it doesn’t go well this time, he’ll do it again.”

“Well, he seems to be preparing a lot. I can tell by the way he asks questions.”

“Really? He must have done that when I wasn’t there.”

“You were so busy anyway. He asked a lot of other people too. He seemed to be working hard.”

Working hard?

Park Seung-woo thought of the data that Yoo-hyun had checked a while ago.

It was neat, but there was nothing special.

It looked like common knowledge and lacked depth.

In other words, it was prone to be attacked.

“I know working hard doesn’t mean it will go well. Look over there.”

As Kim Young-gil pointed his chin, Park Seung-woo turned his head.

There was Shin Chan-yong, the manager who was smiling wickedly.

And the part-timers below him were not easy opponents either.

The part one team led by Go Jae-yoon was also the same.

There were some seniors who didn’t like Yoo-hyun.

There was no way a new employee could answer properly if they decided to question him.

Park Seung-woo hesitated and then answered.

“I think it’s hard too. But somehow I think he’ll do well.”

“Then that’s good.”

The topic, the data, and the situation were all bad.

But why wasn’t he worried?

Park Seung-woo didn’t know the exact reason.

It was just a feeling he had from watching him from the side.

Click.

The lights behind the conference room went off, and only the lights in front of the screen remained.

Yoo-hyun’s figure standing behind the podium on the left side of the screen came into view.

He should have been nervous, but he was smiling instead.

Swoosh.

Yoo-hyun lowered the lights with a button in front of the podium and slowly turned his head.

People were sitting at tables with drinks and snacks.

The product planning team members were all there, and some other team members were also there.

There were so many people in the large conference room that there was hardly any gap.

He felt everyone’s attention on him.

When the presentation was over, they left their evaluations on the evaluation sheets on their tables.

And based on those records, the seminar pass or fail was decided.

Are you nervous?

No way.

If you’re nervous here, you’re really a new employee.

Yoo-hyun took a breath and opened his speech with a simple introduction.

“Hello. I’m Han Yoo-hyun from the product planning team who is in charge of today’s presentation.”

There was nothing special. 

He didn’t try to stand out either.

He just wanted to deliver what he had very plainly, as it was.

“The topic of my presentation is PDA trends…”

All the data was melted into pages with plenty of margins.

And so the pages turned one by two.

“At some point, phone sales completely surpassed computer sales. What if a computer that fits in your hand comes out? How will this market change?”

Click.

Yoo-hyun pressed the button on the presenter he was holding.

The screen that showed the comparison graph of phone sales and computer sales changed.

A sales forecast graph named ‘Mobile Computer’ appeared on top of it.

It said that mobile computers would surpass the current computer market in just three or four years.

They had already seen how fast the phone market had grown in the field.

They analyzed the trends of companies around the world with the word innovation in their mouths. 

They knew what Yoo-hyun was trying to say.

Look at that. 

They’re already bored as if they know everything.

Yoo-hyun didn’t care and continued his speech.

“These are the conditions needed for mobile computers to enter the market.”

Click.

And on the screen, the development progress of large-capacity memory, mobile OS, and high-resolution touch panel was drawn.

Since he had already imprinted PDA in their heads with the title, they naturally accepted that mobile computer was PDA.

The growing PDA market, the HP president’s speech summary that he would open a completely new PDA market, and various celebrities’ predictions of the future of PDA.

All the content was focused on the success of PDA.

And naturally, the content led to HPDA3, which Park Seung-woo was in charge of.

“In 2008, which is expected to be the first year of PDA success, HPDA3 finally appeared.”

Click.

The detailed specs and expected sales of HPDA3 came out.

He especially emphasized that Hansung Electronics was selected as the main supplier of the LCD panel.

‘The HPDA3 project is a hit!’

That was the message Yoo-hyun wanted to imprint in their minds.

Choi Min-hee, who was watching Yoo-hyun’s presentation, thought with her chin resting on her hand.

‘It’s too bland…’

She had been paying attention to Yoo-hyun.

It wasn’t just because he had helped her solve the Hyunil Automobile case easily.

He didn’t work with her, but he occasionally showed some sense in his actions that made him look too sophisticated for a new employee.

So she thought he would show something more even though it was a common topic.

But the content was too generic and cliché.

Of course, he was doing well for a new employee.

His voice tone was good and his word choice was not bad.

But if he wanted to pass the seminar perfectly, he should have used a different method.

Instead of relying on words, he should have shown data and evidence.