Three Days
A suffocating silence filled the Advanced Materials Research Institute at Seoyun University. Then Director Park Min-soo's weary sigh rolled through the room, and still not a soul dared to speak.
The accident had already happened. One way or another, they had to deal with it.
This is my fault...
The students may have been the ones who'd caused the accident, but the root of it all was his own negligence as director — he had failed to supervise them properly. He barely paid them a decent wage as it was. He had no intention of dumping the blame on them besides.
That aside... what am I supposed to do...
While he had been away from the lab, something had gone wrong in the middle of an experiment, and the vacuum chamber had exploded. A few basic safety protocols had been ignored — that was the cause. Thankfully, no one had been hurt. The real problem was what the blast had done to the machine. Hairline cracks had spidered through the chamber's critical weld points. The flange that connected the measuring instruments had warped, if only slightly. And most damning of all, the support meant to hold the samples in place had melted away.
Any one of those failures would have been a catastrophe. All three had struck at once.
"Yes, yes... I understand."
The graduate student who had just gotten off the phone with the company that built the vacuum chamber spoke up carefully.
"Um, Professor..."
"What did they say."
"They said it would take at least three months."
"What!? Three months? Are you kidding me? What are we supposed to do about the research until then?"
"W-well... if they came, confirmed the problem, and it turned out to be something they could repair on-site, it would be quick. But in this case, they say it has to go to the Dutch headquarters for repair..."
"Haa... this is actually going to drive me insane."
The student had nothing more to offer.
They would have loved to have a spare on hand for exactly this kind of emergency, but a single vacuum chamber cost billions of won. Buying another was out of the question. And even if they did, getting it shipped over would take an eternity of its own.
They couldn't simply sit and wait for the manufacturer to come finish the repairs, either. "At least three months" was a polite way of saying it could easily stretch past six. This vacuum chamber was the beating heart of the institute. If it wasn't running, they might as well not be working at all.
And a private university like Seoyun University was never going to leave a research lab sitting idle for six months with nothing to show for it. Even a full professor's standing on campus would take a hit — and so would every student attached to the institute.
He was turning over the idea of borrowing another lab as a stopgap, just to keep the research going, when one of the students spoke up hesitantly.
"Um, Professor... what if we tried sending it out for a private repair?"
"A private repair? Don't be ridiculous. What company would take on a private repair of a machine like this..."
"There's Seil Tech, isn't there..."
"Seil Tech...? Ah..."
He remembered. Come to think of it, that was the company they'd been sending lab parts to whenever something went wrong lately.
And come to think of it, most of the broken pieces came back perfectly repaired...
It hadn't looked like a particularly impressive outfit, and it didn't seem to have many employees, but starting a few months ago its reputation had soared for no obvious reason.
Well... it's all the same either way...
Grasping at straws, Director Park spoke.
"Huu... give Seil Tech a call. We have to try something..."
"Is this the place?"
Whether because this was an important client or not, the boss had personally driven me all the way to Seoyun University. The campus was in North Chungcheong Province, so having a ride helped in more ways than one.
If I'd taken the bus, it would've taken two hours longer.
I walked a little ways through the university grounds, and my destination came into view.
Advanced Materials Research Institute
I opened the door carefully and stepped inside.
The whole place felt dead. It was like walking into a funeral home.
Why does everyone look like that...
They had the faces of people who'd all just been handed termination notices. One poke and the whole room looked ready to burst into tears.
A man standing near the door turned toward me.
"How may I help you..."
"I'm from Seil Tech."
"Ah... just a moment. Professor! Someone from Seil Tech is here."
He called for someone, and a moment later a man who looked to be in his mid-to-late forties came out of a small inner room. He walked over and greeted me.
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Park Min-soo, Director of the Advanced Materials Research Institute. Thank you for coming."
"Ah, yes. I'm Kang Cheolwoo, a manager at Seil Tech."
In reality I was a part-timer, but before I left, the boss had told me that if I introduced myself as a staff member or a part-timer they might turn me away at the door, so he'd hastily cobbled together a title for me.
Well, that's the kind of thing you can get away with at a small company...
Thanks to that, Taeseok had gone from assistant manager to deputy general manager overnight.
Director Park had looked a little dubious when he first saw my face, but the moment he heard the word manager, a hint of relief settled over his expression.
"Please, this way."
I followed him, and there it was — a massive vacuum chamber.
This... I think our university lab had a similar machine.
It looked familiar. Hanbit University, where I currently attended, had one too. I couldn't tell if it was the same model, but my department was Advanced Materials Engineering as well, so it was a machine I'd seen before.
"It's a vacuum chamber."
Director Park started.
"You know it?"
"I also went through a materials engineering program... or rather, I graduated from one."
"Ah, I see..."
A brief silence followed. The director looked at a loss for where to even begin explaining the damage.
It's a mess. Did this thing explode or something...
The biggest problem visible from the outside was the hairline cracking in the chamber. If they ran experiments in that condition, they might never be able to use the machine again.
On top of that, the flange is out of alignment, and the support...
I spoke before Director Park could get a word out.
"The damage is pretty extensive. The chamber's cracked, the flange is out of alignment, and the internal support has melted through."
Director Park froze.
Huh...? Who is this guy...
He had called this man with no real expectations. In truth, he had been grasping at straws. And yet, with nothing more than a single glance at the machine, the man had identified every last problem.
Director Park nodded.
"Yes, that's correct... Headquarters says repairs will take at least three months. And that's three months in name only. Knowing how these people operate, it'll probably take more than six. Is there any chance you could do something?"
I looked the vacuum chamber over once more.
Well, it's not that difficult.
I wasn't an expert on the machine itself, but I could tell where the problems were just by looking. Software issues, circuit-board failures — those were the kinds of things I couldn't fix. Fortunately, every problem in front of me was one I could handle.
When I didn't answer right away, Director Park's face fell.
"I suppose it's beyond you after all. Haa... still, thank you for coming all this—"
I cut his thanks short, my voice steady.
"As for time... it'll take about three days. I don't think I can do it here, though. We'll need to move it to the company. Could you call a vibration-free truck?"
The moment I said I could do it, Director Park's eyes went wide.
"C-can you really do it!?"
"Yes, I can. If it were a circuit-board issue or something like that, it would be difficult. But problems like these I can handle."
Director Park hesitated for a beat. Then he seemed to realize he had no other choice.
"Understood. I'll call a truck right away. Please — I'm counting on you."
I put on the most professional smile I could muster.
"Yes. I'll do my best."
They must have been in a genuine hurry. Director Park called a vibration-free cargo truck on the spot, had the vacuum chamber disassembled, and loaded it straight on. I climbed into the passenger seat and headed for Andan.
Hours later, we arrived at Seil Tech in Andan-si and unloaded the vacuum chamber. Boss Han came out and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"H-hold on... you brought that all the way here?"
I nodded.
"Yes. Even I couldn't repair this in that cramped lab. We don't even have the tools there."
I could repair things and I could make things, but I didn't create something from nothing. You needed a minimum of space and a minimum of tools before anything could be built or fixed.
There's a reason I went and got a workshop.
Boss Han seemed to take the point, and nodded.
"True enough. No way you could fix this at a university lab."
A short while later, the vacuum chamber was moved into the factory.
Huu... three days...
If I wanted to take it easy, it would take a lot longer than three. The hairline cracks alone were no small job. But after seeing the faces in that lab — people who looked like they were dying on their feet — I couldn't bring myself to tell them it would take a week.
I'll just have to tough it out a little.
All-nighters of this caliber were nothing new to me. I'd been working out lately, too, so my stamina had improved. Three days without sleep wouldn't be a problem.
Boss Han looked over at me.
"It's getting late. You're starting tomorrow, right?"
I shook my head.
"No. I'm going to start right now."
"What? You're starting right now? Come on, it's already six. Why not wait until tomorrow?"
"When I went to the lab, everyone looked like they were at death's door. Don't you think I should get this done as fast as possible?"
Boss Han made a face like there was no talking me out of it.
"Alright... well, if that's how you want to do it. Anyway, I'm counting on you. Seoyun University is one of our bigger clients."
"Don't worry. Oh — Boss, could I ask one favor?"
"A favor?"
"Could you bring me a Rakuraku Bed and a few cups of ramyeon?"
"D-don't tell me... you're planning to pull all-nighters here at the shop?"
I smiled and nodded.
"Yes. I'll probably have to stay up two nights straight."
Boss Han told me not to overdo it, but he still brought over a Rakuraku Bed and a pile of food before he left, as if he knew there was no changing my mind.
I'd already let them know at home.
"Alright then..."