A Blog, a Lift, and a Five-Star Offer
“Ugh, I’ve got a hangover.”
I dragged myself upright, clutching my pounding head.
“Just how much did I drink...?”
I’d started at lunch and kept going with daytime drinking, and apparently I’d pushed well past my limit.
Outside, it was still before sunrise.
I should sleep more.
I pulled the blanket back over me and lay down again.
Tossing and turning, I shifted around several times, but maybe because of the hangover, sleep just wouldn’t come back.
Damn it.
I took out my phone first and checked the time.
It was currently 6:10 a.m.
I got in around 8:00 p.m. yesterday and passed out right away, so I slept for a little over ten hours.
No wonder I couldn’t sleep anymore.
“Aaah...”
I slowly sat up.
From the minibar refrigerator, I took out the hangover cure I’d bought last night and swallowed it in one shot.
First I need to sober up a little.
I pulled a hat down over my head, went out to the hotel garden’s walking path, and walked for about an hour before coming back in.
After that, I even took a shower, but it was still nowhere near time for work.
It’s only 7:30.
If I were in Korea, I’d have fought tooth and nail for even ten more minutes of sleep.
I turned on the TV, but all that came out was Chinese news.
Of course, it was still strange that I could understand every word of it.
I’m not even interested in Korean politics, so why would I watch Chinese politics?
I clicked the TV off.
I drew back the curtains and looked out the window.
It definitely does feel different from Korea.
If China felt this good, I couldn’t even imagine how enjoyable Japan, Europe, or the United States must be.
I ran through each restaurant from last night one by one in my head.
And then, all of a sudden.
Ah, right. I got a new talent, didn’t I?
Echo of the Keyboard
- Rank: C
- Passive Effect: When writing content based on direct experience for your personal site, readability and reach rise dramatically.
- This talent can be upgraded.
“It really is a blog, no matter how I look at it.”
If there was one thing I regretted, it was this.
It’s a lower rank than the others.
Just C-rank.
But that wasn’t all.
Unlike Interpretation and Ancient Artifact Appraisal, there was that note at the end saying it could be upgraded.
Is this some kind of growth-type ability?
It wouldn’t turn me into a power blogger just because the ability improved.
Maybe its range would expand beyond my personal site.
Or maybe the category of posts I could write from direct experience would grow wider.
“I’ve got time anyway. Maybe I should try writing a blog post.”
I had plenty of time before work, and I needed to test the talent anyway.
Honestly, I’m not expecting much.
If it turns out well, good. If it flops, so be it.
Besides, if it really was a growth-type ability, I’d have to use it a few more times before it upgraded.
I didn’t have to think long about what to write.
I’d wanted to record this anyway since it was my first trip abroad... no, business trip.
I decided to write about the place I’d visited yesterday.
“Hmm, I should at least make the title sound a little poetic.”
Day Drinking Tour in China. The Night Is Long, and the Stomach Is Full.
- The first thing that came to mind after coming to China was lamb skewers.
When I stepped into a small restaurant packed with locals, the rich scent of charcoal smoke welcomed me from the entrance.
Once I sat down, though, I saw something unexpected.
It wasn’t charcoal at all, but briquettes.
It looked just like the pork ribs my father and I used to grill over briquettes at the barbecue place by our house when I was young.
Skewers sizzled over the briquettes, releasing a savory fragrance that filled the place.
The moment I bit into a lamb skewer no bigger than my finger, heavily dusted with cumin, admiration slipped right out of me.
“Now this is authentic lamb skewers!”
In no time at all, the skewer was reduced to a bare stick.
It was the kind of taste that made you want beer.
One refreshing glass of Tsingtao later, I felt like some great hero of the Central Plains who’d conquered the world.
The first stop was more than satisfying, but it was only the beginning.
The second was a mala tang place right across the street.
They boiled all kinds of vegetables, meat, and seafood in a spicy broth, and the distinct Chinese spices, including star anise, stabbed sharply into my nose.
The heat was enough to numb my tongue, and sweat poured down my face, but the more it burned, the harder it was to put the spoon down. That was mala tang for you.
And when I paired it with baijiu on top of that...
Tap-tap-tap-.
I didn’t even edit it.
I just wrote whatever came to mind, letting it flow as it came.
Maybe because I’ve translated novels even a little, it feels easier to put things into words.
The typing was done in an instant.
I attached a few photos I’d taken at the restaurants yesterday, and just like that, I had a finished blog post ready to go up.
Would you like to upload this post?
Click-!
I hit the Yes button without hesitation.
“Okay, done.”
Your first blog post has been published!
A crisp notification rang out.
Even if there’s no reaction, don’t get disappointed.
Since the previous two talents were S and A respectively, my expectations had already climbed too high. I needed to lower them.
It’s enough if it stays as a record of my first trip abroad.
That alone was satisfying enough.
Before I knew it, it was past 8:40 a.m.
We were supposed to meet in the lobby at 9:00, so it was time to start getting ready for work.
Even in China, thankfully, there was no second straight disaster.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Team Leader Han Su-a from HR Vision.”
“I’m Kang Seo-jun.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Wang Zhichang.”
Team Leader Han Su-a asked carefully.
“Before we get into the main discussion, may I ask whether there’s a reason you’re looking to commission a foreign company?”
What I’d been most worried about, in fact, was that they’d simply pretend to meet with us and then select a domestic company in the end. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
“To be completely honest,” Wang Zhichang said, pushing his glasses up.
“We’d prefer to entrust this to a Chinese company as well. But the recent construction work had so many defects of its own, along with the Kuanxi issue, that... we decided it might be better to have a foreign company handle this one fairly. HR Vision was chosen in that process.”
“Ah, I understand.”
In other words, they couldn’t trust themselves to prevent corruption at home, so they’d gone out of their way to remove the very conditions that would allow it.
In practical terms, it was similar to a pilot project.
The request from the China Railway Corporation, or rather the Chinese railway authority, was simple.
“It’s embarrassing to say this, but fare evasion on Chinese trains is really bad.”
Actually, I’d already heard the rumors.
People boarded without buying tickets as a matter of course.
There were plenty of cases where someone would sit in another person’s seat and, even when the owner arrived, refuse to move and keep sitting there shamelessly.
Apparently, there were even people who stole tickets and rode that way.
“Especially lately, travel YouTubers have been showing more of everyday life in China, and from a tourist’s perspective, that seems to be part of why people don’t want to come.”
“...”
I couldn’t exactly deny that.
In fact, even in Korea, if someone said they were going to China for overseas travel, most people immediately responded with disbelief.
For that money, you could go to Japan.
Why China?
You should go to Taiwan instead.
I still remembered how everyone had tried to talk them out of it.
“Please prepare a way to eliminate all fare evasion. It can be a system. It can be media advertising. It can even be some special promotional method.”
“Understood. First, we need to set a deadline...”
...
In the small meeting room rented from the hotel, things were difficult from the start.
“This isn’t just advertising. It’s more complicated than that.”
“Yeah. This won’t be easy.”
That was the thing about an advertising company.
If all they had to do was promote a specific product, it would have been simple.
But life doesn’t work that way.
Most requests came bundled together like this.
“We probably can’t change people’s perceptions themselves, right?”
“No, we can’t.”
Unless you changed a nation’s character itself, this problem was impossible to solve.
I nudged Deputy Manager Park beside me.
“Got any good ideas? That’s why you’re here.”
“...I mean, yes, I did come here as a planning slave.”
He gave a dry laugh, but he still seemed to have ideas, so he spoke calmly.
“What’s obvious is that a simple public-service ad won’t cut it.”
“Right.”
“So maybe instead...”
The heated meeting went on for a long time.
The sun that had hung high overhead slowly turned the sky gold, then slipped below the horizon.
But we still hadn’t found a direction.
“...How about this?”
“Pass. It’s true, but they probably won’t use it because it might offend the public.”
“Ha, there’s a lot to think about.”
“That’s public-sector work for you.”
Then one idea suddenly flickered through my head.
“What about a ticket lottery?”
Team Leader Han Su-a’s eyes flashed as she looked at me.
“The feeling is good. Explain.”
“Ah, yes. India was also famous for having severe fare evasion, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, right.”
“There, when you bought a ticket, you were automatically entered into a lottery.”
“So the ticket itself became the lottery?”
“Exactly. I thought we might apply the same idea here.”
“That’s not bad, but in China, I hear the bigger issue is people having a ticket and still not sitting in their assigned seat.”
Especially with foreigners, they’d sit down first and then say they were with companions and ask to swap tickets.
And after you kindly agreed and went to check, you’d often find the new seat was a lower-class, less comfortable one.
“So how do we stop that?”
“Announce the winners while the train is running.”
“...Oh?”
“And at the moment of the announcement, only the person actually sitting in that seat with a ticket gets the prize money.”
“That’s good.”
It wasn’t just Team Leader Han Su-a.
“I like it too.”
“That seems like the best option.”
“If it were me, I’d buy a ticket and sit in my own seat too.”
If the prize was set at around ten million won, maybe not even a lottery-level sum, then the benefit people got from buying a ticket would be greater than the loss caused by fare evasion.
“Let’s push this one through.”
The next day, after hearing our idea, the Chinese railway authority said, “Okay, let’s go with that. We’ll prepare the system, so please plan the nationwide advertising campaign.”
Without much deliberation at all, they accepted it right away.
That probably meant they liked it a great deal.
“Team Leader, then we...”
“I don’t think there’s any need for us to stay here any longer.”
Now that the discussion was over, we could go home, make the advertising proposal, and plan the promotional approach.
“Spend the rest of today however you like, and let’s head back tomorrow.”
“Sounds good!”
“Phew.”
I collapsed onto the sofa.
“Home really is the best.”
The overseas trip itself had been a good experience, but after staying in a hotel for several days, I’d been reminded once again that home was best.
Still, after experiencing an overseas trip, I definitely felt like my perspective had broadened.
Next time, if I’ve got some extra money, maybe I’ll go to Japan or something.
These days people said even a million won could get you a three-night, four-day trip.
“Should I do some more translation?”
While I was in China, I figured there might be more work waiting for me, so I turned on the internet.
But before I could even open my inbox...
- Notifications 99+
“...Huh?”
The mountain of notifications caught my eye.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Had the translation company filed a complaint?
Or had I made a mistake in my regular HR Vision work...?
No, if that were the case, they’d have called me directly.
Besides, this wasn’t even a company email, but my personal one.
“...What is this?”
With a vague sense of unease, I clicked the notification button.
“...Huh?”
What was this?
Feeling uncertain, I clicked around, and every notification turned out to be a reaction to the blog post I’d uploaded.
[View count: 78,532]
“...Did I get the algorithm?”
In just three days, far more people had seen it than I’d expected.
Maybe that influence had done something.
Echo of the Keyboard rank is increasing.
Rank: C → C+
The passive effect has been strengthened.
At B-rank, an active effect will be added.
“...That’s pretty good.”
And that wasn’t all.
“And this is a five-star hotel.”
I looked it up, and the room type alone cost well over one million won per night.
“This kind of thing is possible too...?”
This blog was a much better side hustle than I’d thought.