Chapter 6

Three days later, Hyuncheol became a clerk at an electronics store.

He had not known how people in this world searched for jobs, but once he actually started looking, he found recruitment posters pasted all over the streets. There were even dedicated bulletin boards for posting advertisements, notices, plays, and films.

Larger stores with more financial freedom also posted job advertisements in newspapers and magazines.

While searching around, Hyuncheol saw an advertisement for a computer shop and thought that if he worked somewhere like that, he could use computers without having to buy one himself. So he focused his search on related businesses.

Then, while checking whether there were any such stores nearby, he spotted a notice saying the place where he was now employed was hiring a clerk, and he applied.

The owner was an overweight man named James who looked to be past fifty. At first, seeing how young Hyuncheol looked, he had not trusted him much.

But Hyuncheol desperately emphasized how knowledgeable he was about computers, and somehow it worked well enough for him to get hired.

It was only a simple clerk position, but compared to his previous life, finding employment so easily left Hyuncheol feeling complicated.

Korea really did seem like employment hell.

“Work hard.”

After confirming that Hyuncheol had shown up for work, the owner left the store again.

He was not particularly skilled with electronics himself.

He had simply opened the store years ago after seeing televisions become wildly popular and thinking he could make money from them. After that, he had continued running the business by bringing in and selling whatever electronic products became trendy.

Hyuncheol learned this because after hiring him, the owner noticed that despite not looking like an ordinary teenage boy, Hyuncheol handled customers and sold products fairly well. The owner praised him for it and then, for some reason, started talking about his past.

In less than a week, the owner had already left the sales entirely to Hyuncheol. He would only return around closing time to check the day’s earnings.

At first, Hyuncheol found it awkward, but this had apparently been the owner’s goal from the beginning when hiring a clerk.

The owner himself lacked expertise in electronics and knew it well. Of course, after more than twenty years in the business, he had naturally picked up some knowledge. But he still lacked the ability to repair broken machines like an actual electronics technician.

So it made little difference whether he personally sold the products or not. And instead of repeatedly directing customers with broken machines to repair shops, he simply preferred to avoid dealing with such situations altogether.

Now that he was in his fifties, he apparently wanted to spend his time leisurely taking care of his grandson, who had recently started school, while handling other errands.

This arrangement was not bad for Hyuncheol either.

Just not having a superior in the same space already made him feel more comfortable. Moreover, unlike his appearance suggested, he was not truly a teenage boy but rather a thirty-year-old man with experience in part-time jobs, military service, university, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and office work. He felt confident he could manage a small neighborhood shop like this reasonably well.

And in reality, despite having worked there for only a week, he had already sold a considerable amount of merchandise: two washing machines, three televisions, seven cassette players, and fourteen radios.

To be fair, Hyuncheol had not done anything particularly extraordinary. He had simply done his best to respond properly to every customer who came in.

Still, judging by the owner’s praise, he was at least performing no worse than before.

In any case, he had fulfilled the owner’s expectations as a clerk, so there was no need to worry further about work itself.

Now Hyuncheol needed to think about how he could use the crude-looking computers displayed in the shop.

There was always the option of secretly using them.

But that seemed unrealistic. Even if the owner usually left the store, he still returned unexpectedly sometimes. And if someone used the computers regularly, fingerprints would accumulate and the printed letters on the keyboard would inevitably wear off. It would definitely become noticeable.

Jingle.

While staring at the computers and pondering the issue, Hyuncheol suddenly heard the door open and hurriedly turned around.

For a moment he thought it was the owner, but instead it was a thin pale man who looked to be in his thirties.

“Welcome.”

Hyuncheol greeted him reflexively.

In truth, even such simple customer service manners were something a truly inexperienced teenage boy might stumble over awkwardly, though Hyuncheol himself did not realize this was one reason the owner thought highly of him.

The man looked around the store briefly before approaching Hyuncheol.

“Um... do you have computers here?”

His tone was not rude.

If anything, it was somewhat cautious. But Hyuncheol, who had originally been around the same age as the customer, still felt slightly uncomfortable at being spoken to informally.

“Ah, yes. They’re over this way.”

Of course, he did not show that discomfort outwardly. He understood that he had to adapt to living in this body and tried to accept it.

The man stared at the computer’s exterior and price tag as though deep in thought.

Well, it really was an incredibly expensive item to buy on impulse.

Five thousand Del. Roughly speaking, that was equivalent to more than five million won in Korean currency.

“I heard you can use this for document work and bookkeeping...”

Apparently he intended to use it for business purposes.

But judging by the way he spoke, he did not know much about computers. Hyuncheol decided to fulfill his duty as a clerk and encourage the customer’s desire to purchase.

“Yes, you can. And because it’s a machine, as long as the input is correct, it won’t make mistakes. It’s also much more convenient when checking things later.”

“Really? But isn’t it difficult to learn?”

The man looked briefly tempted, but soon revealed fear toward the unfamiliar technology.

And honestly, even Hyuncheol found it difficult to simply claim it was easy.

This was still an era when computers were unfamiliar, and early computers like these were much harder to handle than the ones from Hyuncheol’s original time period.

In a small local shop like this, exaggerating recklessly just to make a sale could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easily lead to problems later.

Moreover, Hyuncheol gained nothing special from selling more units, so he preferred to avoid creating trouble whenever possible.

“That depends on how quickly you get used to it. But once you do, it’ll definitely become very convenient.”

“Hm. Could I try using it once?”

Apparently this customer was not the kind who could be persuaded through words alone. Wanting to try the product before buying it was perfectly reasonable.

But Hyuncheol could not allow it.

“Well... since it’s merchandise we’re selling, it’s a bit difficult...”

If the customer accidentally broke something, it would become impossible to take responsibility.

So Hyuncheol had no choice but to answer while wearing the most apologetic expression he could manage.

Fortunately, the customer did not seem offended.

Still, he left without making a purchase.

At first Hyuncheol simply felt relieved that the situation had passed without issue, but then a rather good idea suddenly came to mind.

Time passed, and evening arrived. The owner returned to the store.

“Everything fine?”

Rather than asking whether anything had sold, the owner first asked whether there had been any problems.

That made Hyuncheol wonder whether the man simply had low expectations of him, or whether he truly lacked any ambition beyond maintaining the business as it was.

If it was the latter, that could become troublesome.

Hyuncheol needed to stimulate the owner’s greed.

“Yes. But there were quite a few customers who came to look at the computers.”

In reality, there had only been one customer, but Hyuncheol exaggerated slightly.

“Did any sell?”

The owner glanced toward the computer display section as he asked.

His expression and tone seemed indifferent, but he was not someone with especially expressive emotions to begin with. If he had truly lacked interest, he probably would not have reacted at all.

“No. The problem is, when they ask to try them out and I say no, they all just leave.”

“Really?”

Though he responded casually, the owner was inwardly disappointed.

The products were expensive, but he had invested in them because the profit margins seemed high. Yet the reaction from customers had been underwhelming.

And with electronics, once newer models appeared, the older ones immediately became obsolete, making the issue even worse.

“You said you know a lot about computers, right? When customers come in, recommend them enthusiastically. We need to sell these quickly.”

Hyuncheol had not completely seen through the owner’s thoughts, but he could tell at least that despite his generally unmotivated attitude, the man did want to sell the computers.

So he carefully brought up the idea he had been considering.

“Boss. I thought of a way we might be able to sell these.”

The owner, who had been casually checking around the store as usual, reacted immediately. Turning toward Hyuncheol, he slowly walked over and sat down in the chair across from him.

“What is it?”

“Well... what if we used one of these ourselves for store work?”

The owner’s brow immediately furrowed slightly.

He already knew computers were machines used for office work. But until now, the store had functioned perfectly fine without one.

And now this kid was suggesting they use one of these expensive products themselves. To him, it sounded absurd.

Still, thanks to his years of experience, he knew one should listen to the end before dismissing something outright, so he barely restrained the urge to reject the idea immediately.

“Eventually everyone’s going to start using these for work anyway. Sure, they’re expensive now, but the same thing happened with other electronics. People still bought them because they were useful and convenient.”

“Hm.”

That logic did match the owner’s decades of experience selling electronics.

Back in the day, he had doubted that expensive items like washing machines, refrigerators, and especially televisions would ever sell. TVs weren’t even essential to daily life.

Yet now there was practically nobody who did not own them, and he himself had made a fortune selling them.

Thinking about it that way, perhaps using computers early was not such a strange idea.

And since his store specialized in electronics, maybe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they should be quicker than others to adopt them.

“And if customers see that we actually use a computer in the store, we can show them what it does and how it works. It’ll become easier to sell them.”

At first, Hyuncheol had considered suggesting they place one out for customers to use freely.

But that was a sales method from Earth, and he doubted the owner would easily accept it. After thinking more carefully, this compromise was the result.

“But isn’t it hard to learn how to use these?”

“I’ll do it. I know how.”

The owner crossed his arms and scratched at his face for a long while, clearly conflicted.

He could not decide immediately that day.

He admitted Hyuncheol’s words made sense, but the computers were simply too expensive to commit so easily.

“Even if we use it, the only things that’ll really get dirty are the keyboard and mouse. If necessary, we can just replace those two parts and still sell it afterward.”

Hyuncheol continued throwing out the arguments he had prepared in order to persuade the owner.

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every day, he repeated the story about customers leaving because they were not allowed to try the computers.

It was not a complete lie.

There were not customers interested in computers every single day, but one appeared every two or three days.

Then, one week later, the owner finally accepted Hyuncheol’s proposal.

“Use it carefully. And don’t break it.”

Despite the stern warning, Hyuncheol merely answered with a serious expression on the outside while inwardly cheering in triumph.

Only after taking one of the computers from the display shelf and setting it up beneath the counter desk did he finally get to touch a keyboard for the first time since arriving in this world.

Until now, he had only practiced coding by writing with pencil in a notebook at home, unable to actually run anything. It had felt like shadowboxing.

Hyuncheol slid the floppy disk containing the operating system into the slot.

What fascinated him was how similar this world’s computers were to Earth’s.

Perhaps when people tried to create something rational and efficient, similar results were inevitable, but these floppy disks were simply too alike.

Of course, the operating system was not called DOS.

Then again, Hyuncheol was not even sure whether Earth had used DOS back in the eight-bit computer era. In any case, the system here was called “Tan” when rendered in Korean pronunciation.

In the Aran language used in this world, it was an acronym formed from the initial letters of a phrase meaning “software operation and output.”