Time Mansour - Chapter 145



Only Noblemtl

Episode 145 In a rapidly changing world

Long ago.

Back when the Earth was still flat.

There was a cliff far away at the end of the world.

Countless sailors lost their lives on that cliff.

It has only been a few hundred years since the Earth took on the shape of a sphere.

‘So, probably in the next few decades.’

The tall tale of someone personally coding something will be passed around the office like a legend.

Just like the days when ashtrays flew freely through the sky on the wind.

“···Why is AI good at coding?”

My eyes were on the monitor screen. I held onto the back of Manager Chae’s chair with one hand. Why is that kid so good at coding? I repeated the same thing.

“How is it? Is it useful?”

“It’s not even usable. Is artificial intelligence already at this level?”

I opened my eyes wide and looked back and forth between Manager Chae and the monitor.

“Wow. I really think I should retire. It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with the world.”

“Hey. Don’t joke around. If Director Jeong retires, all the developers will be out on the streets.”

Manager Chae shook his head with a sly smile. Then he seemed to think for a moment before continuing.

“Honestly, I’m more worried about an ambiguous technician like me than the director.”

“Manager Chae isn’t even a developer.”

“Won’t engineers disappear before developers?”

“Don’t worry. Artificial intelligence can’t do engineering work.”

“why?”

“Because engineers are in a service industry.”

That’s right. Manager Chae nodded as if he agreed with what I said.

Because engineers communicate with customers more frequently than SI developers.

I don’t know if it will be different later if an AI that understands customers’ emotions comes out.

‘I think it might still be a bit difficult.’

While thinking about that, I was chatting lightly with Manager Chae.

moment.

Someone was pretending to know me behind my back.

“Youngjun, nice to meet you. It’s been a while since you’ve been here. How have you been?”

This is Kwak, the head of the development team.

“Yes. I’ve been doing well. I was called by the CEO. Oh, I heard the project is finished. Congratulations.”

“Yes. Thanks to Youngjun, I was able to finish it successfully. Now I can rest easy.”

He patted my shoulder with a bright expression.

The expression on his face as he looked at me changed significantly.

It wasn’t just Director Gwak who was like that.

“Hello. It’s been a while.”

All the developers passing by smiled and greeted me.

As the project ended, the office atmosphere changed.

Where have all the people gone who were glaring at me as if they were going to kill me?

“The weather is nice these days. Why don’t you go out and play somewhere while you’re here?”

Only the warmest employees remained in the office.

**

After chatting with Manager Chae like that, I went up to the CEO’s office.

As I open the door and go in, Representative Lee greets me with a smile.

A major project was completed ahead of schedule.

This was the result of the CEO scaring the employees to death.

No matter how the process went, the result was good and everyone had a smile on their face.

“Somehow the project ended.”

“Yes. You worked really hard. Congratulations.”

“No. It’s all thanks to Youngjun.”

The CEO opened up about his struggles while drinking coffee.

A project that was so noisy that it could have gone to court if the results were bad.

Because the results were good, the thought of blowing up the department has become a thing of the past.

“So, Youngjun, what are your plans for the future?”

“Plans? Nothing really.”

“then.”

“no, I do not want.”

The representative asked a question and I answered it.

Representative Lee smiles awkwardly at my firm answer.

“Listen to me and answer. So, go on a trip.”

“··· Is that what you were going to say?”

“sure.”

Representative Lee nodded shamelessly. I couldn’t even laugh at that sight. I was so dumbfounded that I just stared blankly with my mouth open.

“It’s true. Youngjun, you seem tired these days. I told you to go and rest for a bit.”

“I was already thinking about going to Thailand again.”

I was in a state of accumulated fatigue.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in my sister’s room.

Since I had to run the app on my own without relying on stopped time, I was a bit pressed for time.

“Aside from Thailand, have you been to San Francisco?”

“Huh? No. Now that I think about it, I haven’t been there.”

“Once? You said you were a foreigner?”

“White Soft’s headquarters is located there, but I’ve never been to the US. No. In the first place, I’ve never been abroad while working for that company.”

The other employees moved around a lot for training and education. Except for me. I didn’t have the time to go anywhere I wanted.

“Then, go there. You’re a developer, so you should check out Silicon Valley. And when you go, please contact me. I happen to know someone there.”

“Do you know him?”

“yes.”

The representative smiled meaningfully.

It wasn’t surprising that I knew someone in San Francisco.

What should I say?

That smile strangely caught my attention.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Who is that person you know?”

“My parents. My family home is nearby.”

“···”

There are a lot of rooms in that house. San Francisco is expensive to stay in, so please contact me when you go.

I laughed again in disbelief at the representative’s words.

Just a few months ago, he was pounding his desk and performing a drumming performance.

Today, she was smiling brightly with a very warm smile.

**

After parting ways with the representative, I headed to the meeting place to meet the band members.

-Hey, I’m bored. When do you all have time?

When men make plans with each other, why do they need any grand excuse?

As usual, the date was set because Myung-gyu said he was bored.

Since I came up to Seoul, I wanted to take care of things all at once, so I insisted on seeing you today.

As I entered the cafe, I saw Guk-yeong sitting alone on a chair.

‘I guess the other kids haven’t arrived yet.’

I was walking towards my seat, muttering to myself.

widely.

Suddenly, Guk-yeong stands up from his seat. The chair is pushed back.

“Where are you going?”

Gukyeong takes out a cigarette butt without answering my question.

I nodded and followed him into the smoking room.

“Slow down a bit. If you keep doing that, you’ll end up leaving early.”

I raised my finger and pointed at the ceiling fan.

“This is the only joy in my life. Even if I have to go, I have to enjoy life before I go.”

At my words, Guk-young snaps his fingers and scatters ashes over the coffee grounds.

“Hey, that’s right. I had an interview a while ago.”

“What interview?”

“you.”

He pointed at me with the end of his cigarette. The smoke billowed once.

“What am I… Ah! That documentary?”

“Oh, right.”

“Why did the PD contact you of all people?”

“Damn. Be glad I interviewed you. If any of the other guys had interviewed you, you would have been a total idiot.”

You wouldn’t be any different. I could already see what he would say. He would start with criticism and end with contempt. Did I give the PD these guys’ contact information for no reason? I regretted it later.

While I was talking to Guk-young like that, the smoking room door opened. A familiar face appeared through the door.

“There you are. You couldn’t stand the bird and ran away first.”

Myung-gyu came inside, squeezing his large body while smiling.

“Hey, that’s right, Youngjun. I interviewed you for a documentary a while ago.”

Then he took out a lighter from his pocket. The mouth of the cigarette holder opened. Myung-gyu bit the filter with his teeth and muttered.

“You should know that you are really lucky. If Kook-young had interviewed you, you would have been a total piece of trash.”

The predictable sound of laughter dispersed into the air along with cigarette smoke.

**

When I met my friends at this age, the stories they told me were similar.

“I really want to quit my job.”

“I don’t want to work either.”

“I mean, I dream of our manager turning his chin several times a day.”

A dream where the manager’s chin rotates. It’s a dream that everyone has had at least once while working.

So they’re competing to see who’s harder on each other.

“Oh my. You’re talking like you’re full. But things are a lot more comfortable these days. Back when I was a kid.”

Tsk tsk. Chang-seok clicked his tongue and raised his eyes.

A smile appears on his lips as he reminisces about the past.

But with eyes full of sorrow, he recalled the difficult memories of the past.

What shattered those vague memories was…

“Shit. There’s no one here who started their career later than you.”

It was the smell of cigarette smoke coming from Gukyoung’s mouth.

Because Chang-seok passed the CPA exam when he was over 30.

In my time, it’s only been 6 or 7 years since then.

To be honest, by that time, most of the absurdities within the company had already disappeared.

“Didn’t Youngjun start working the earliest among us? He started working right after graduating from high school. He’s been working for about fifteen or sixteen years now, right?”

“Oh. Right. It was really wild back then. Customers would swear at me, and my shirt collar would get worn out because I’d grab them by the collar so many times. And have you ever received your paycheck? That feeling when you have to pay rent but it doesn’t show up in your account and you’re behind. Don’t you know?”

I laid out my story on the table like a war hero. I grabbed myself by the collar and gave a passionate performance.

“Really? How many months have you been pushing it off?”

“Me? I haven’t been pushed. I’ve heard it from people around me.”

Everyone looked at me as if they were dumbfounded by what I said.

I scratched my head so awkwardly.

Changseok looked at me quietly and then opened his mouth.

“You really should get married. You really should.”

I asked back with a dumbfounded expression at the sudden remark.

“suddenly?”

“Do it twice. No, three times is fine.”

Damn it. Nina, do it again.

Marriage is something to celebrate. The more you celebrate, the better.

As we exchanged words of encouragement like that, before we knew it.

It was starting to get dark.

I didn’t really do anything after meeting the kids.

Time passed by so quickly and uselessly.

**

On my way home after parting ways with the kids, I stopped by a bookstore for a moment.

Seeing Manager Chae handle AI today changed my mind a little.

I didn’t have the confidence to keep up with the changing world, but I thought I should at least pretend to keep up. With that in mind, I looked around the book shelves.

-Are you really studying AI?

-Uh. I’ll give it a try. If you know of any good books, please recommend them.

I sent a message to Jaeshirong to get a book recommendation.

however.

– So you finally came to your senses. You thought well. To be honest, you were very talented. What I was disappointed about was your complacent personality and lack of desire to improve. Because you were someone who could grow more, but you kept trying to stay in the same place. The will to learn new things. That was exactly what you lacked. And···

There was too much talking. Jaeshirong started nagging.

-Jiing. Jiing.

It was definitely a message. It vibrated as if a phone call was coming in.

I just wanted to recommend a book, but the introduction was too long.

I put my phone on silent mode because of the constant vibration and scanned the shelves with my eyes.

I kept picking up the book and putting it down. The content was too difficult. I definitely needed to have a basic understanding of math. With that in mind, I headed to the workbook corner.

In the end, I bought a math workbook instead of an AI book. Then, on the way home, I turned on my phone screen again.

-Have you chosen a book? Take a picture and send it to me. I’ll recommend a lecture.

The last message to Jaeshirong.

The middle school math workbook in my hand. Should I take a picture of it and send it to Jaeshirong? I hesitated for a moment without realizing it.