WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regressed Assistant Manager Kim Can Read Minds ◈
Chapter 18
──────
“Now, a toast to Manager Kim’s promotion!”
The members of Team 2 clinked their glasses together.
“You know Deputy General Manager Jang from Team 3? Jang came over and kept asking how we’d sold nine tons in less than a week. Guess what I said.”
“What did you say?”
“I said to take Assistant Manager Park. She’d add an extra zero to the purchase order by mistake.”
Oh Sangcheol roared with laughter.
“Sir, how long are you going to keep bringing that up?”
“Until I quit!”
I looked around at my teammates over my glass.
After splitting up the list of companies and clearing all nine tons together in four days, we were much more relaxed with one another.
When the laughter died down, Kang Minho quietly moved to the seat beside me.
He took out his phone, opened his stock account, and held the screen toward me.
“Manager Kim, could you take a look at my stocks?”
“I’m not sure I’ll be much help.”
[Geukdong New Industries] [-21.5%] [11,500 won]
[AP Space Communications] [-48.1%] [3,550 won]
[Aile Biotech] [-75.2%] [650 won]
[Hynix] [+7.7%] [36,450 won]
Apart from Hynix, I’d never heard of any of them.
“Why did you buy this one?”
“I bought most of them on tips from people I know. Geukdong New Industries is a domestic mining stock. Apparently, they found a huge gold deposit...”
I didn’t need to hear any more. Pass.
At least as far as I remembered, there hadn’t been any mining bonanzas in Korea.
“I bought AP Space Communications because they’d obtained a fiber-optic patent. But a scandal involving the CEO broke recently, and it’s been falling ever since.”
There was no reason to hold on to that one either.
The CEO had caused trouble before anyone could even confirm whether the technology was real.
Aile Biotech was even worse.
“I bought it because there were rumors they’d developed a new weight-loss drug, but the clinical trial results keep getting delayed, so it’s fallen a lot.”
“Hmm. What do you want to do?”
“I was thinking of selling Hynix, since it’s at least in profit, and averaging down on the others...”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
Hynix’s current price was 36,450 won.
Knowing what it would be worth twenty years later, I saw it as a lump of gold lying on the ground.
I was gradually buying shares in my own account too.
“If it were me, I’d sell everything except Hynix.”
“Everything? It feels like such a waste when they’ve fallen this far.”
“Yes. Buying more shares won’t bring a dying company back to life.”
The stock talk drew everyone else’s interest too.
“Is Hynix good? Then I should buy some too, even if it’s only 100,000 won a month.”
Unlike Park Soyeon, who wanted to buy, Choi Yeongjin scoffed.
“I’ve never seen anyone make money from stocks. It’s no different from gambling. Just put your money in a savings account.”
“Oh, come on. Who knows? It might go up tenfold someday.”
“Tenfold? Even doubling your money would be a huge win.”
I didn’t say anything.
In my memory, Hynix had risen several dozen times over.
[I should do what Manager Kim says and sell everything except Hynix. At least I’ll have some peace of mind.]
* * *
Oh Sangcheol got drunk before we’d even finished our first round of drinks. After putting him in a taxi, I headed home.
The lights were off, and the house was quiet.
I carefully took off my shoes.
By the entrance were the shoes my mother had worn when she left the hospital.
Seeing that she was getting good use out of them made me feel oddly proud.
I tried to slip quietly into my room.
But then I heard whispering from the kitchen.
“Seongjun’s home. Will the party popper startle him too much?”
“I need to get a picture right away.”
It was Suyeon and my mother.
I pretended not to notice and approached the kitchen. A small party popper went off.
“Congratulations on your promotion!”
My parents and Suyeon were all wearing cone-shaped party hats.
The cake my mother held read, “Congratulations to Kim Seongjun on Becoming a Manager.”
All I’d done was tell them I’d be late because of my promotion dinner, but they’d stayed up this late waiting for me.
“What’s all this?”
“Our son’s a manager now. Of course we have to celebrate.”
My father poured lemon-lime soda into a paper cup and offered it to me.
“Here, have a drink.”
“You’re pouring me one, Dad?”
“I wanted to give my son a drink today.”
I sat at the table and took a bite of cake.
It was sweet and delicious.
“Do you get paid a lot more now that you’re a manager?”
“I suppose it’ll go up.”
“I’m jealous.”
Suyeon quietly placed a sheet of paper on the table.
It was none other than her TOEIC score report.
[TOEIC 735.]
I chuckled to myself and pretended not to see it.
She pushed it a little closer to my cake plate.
She was eating her cake as if nothing had happened, but her eyes stayed on my face.
She looked like a little puppy waiting for praise.
“Huh? Why’s this here?”
Her awkward muttering made me burst out laughing.
“You must’ve worked hard to get this score.”
“Right? I did well, didn’t I?”
Her face lit up at my words.
She’d grumbled when I told her to study English alongside art, but she hadn’t ignored me.
I took 50,000 won from my wallet and laid it on her score report.
“Some pocket money.”
“Really? You’re the best!”
“I’ll give you twice as much if you score over 800.”
Suyeon clenched her fist, her eyes full of determination.
“I can do it!”
“Suyeon, you certainly don’t hesitate to take your brother’s money.”
“He’s a manager now. He earns a lot, so a little pocket money for his sister is fine.”
“Well, aren’t you cheeky?”
Suyeon quickly tucked the money away.
We all laughed together.
It was only when I sat in front of the cake my family had prepared, rather than at the team dinner, that becoming a manager truly felt real.
* * *
A few days later, on Friday, September 1, it was time for the latex pillows’ first home-shopping broadcast.
I parked my Avante in the underground parking lot at CY Home Shopping’s headquarters.
The quantity of latex concentrate we would order next from Anantakul depended on how much sold during today’s broadcast.
I’d told the company I was visiting a client and come to watch the broadcast in person.
Just as I was about to get out of the car, I received a call from Kim Inho.
-Manager Kim, are you at the broadcasting station?
“Yes, I just arrived. Aren’t you here yet?”
-Well, we’ve had a problem at the factory.
He said the packaging equipment had suddenly stopped, and they were rushing to fix it.
The latex pillows sold today had to be shipped by the end of next week.
No matter how well they sold, failing to ship on time would cost the company its customers’ trust from the very first broadcast.
-I’ve sent an employee to attend in my place, but traffic seems to be terrible. If you could possibly...
“I’ll go in for now. Don’t worry about this. Just focus on fixing the equipment.”
-I’ll call the producer right away and explain that you’ll be attending as our representative.
“All right.”
I hung up and went upstairs to the broadcasting station.
There was less than an hour left before the live broadcast.
The producer in charge approached me first.
“Mr. Kim Inho called me. You’re Manager Kim Seongjun, correct?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t have much time before we go live, so let’s start with a camera test.”
A writer handed me a script.
It covered the latex’s elasticity and ability to return to its original shape, its breathable structure, and the quality of the concentrate.
These were the answers I would give when the host asked questions.
When the camera’s red light came on, I was briefly unsure where to look.
“Look straight into the lens.”
I looked where the producer was pointing.
Imagining that clients were sitting beyond the black lens, I explained the product.
“The advantage of latex isn’t simply that it’s soft. It provides support as you press down on it, then returns to its original shape when you get up.”
“Good. That’s enough.”
After finishing my explanation, I checked the monitor.
Just pressing down on the pillow and letting go didn’t make it look very different from an ordinary product.
At this rate, viewers wouldn’t understand how good the concentrate was.
Once the camera test was over, the writer led me away to have my makeup done.
With my hair tidied and my makeup finished, the face in the mirror looked strangely unfamiliar.
While getting my makeup done, I wrote down two props I needed and how I would use them, then handed the note to the writer.
The writer’s eyes widened at the list.
“You really need these?”
“Yes.”
After reading the note, the writer went straight to the producer.
The producer checked it, glanced at me, and nodded.
“All right. Let’s get them ready.”
The writer folded the note and headed to the prop room.
Soon, the broadcast began, and the product name appeared at the bottom of the screen.
[Mongsil Natural Latex Pillows, Set of 2.]
[Home-Shopping Exclusive Price: 49,900 won.]
The opening product introduction and price announcement went smoothly.
But it was an unfamiliar company’s first product, so orders were slow to pick up.
[The response is weaker than I expected. Selling out looks difficult.]
As the producer watched the order board anxiously, the host turned toward me.
“Today, we’re also joined by someone who’s been involved in everything from supplying the raw materials to producing the pillows. Hello.”
“Hello. It’s a pleasure to be here.”
“What’s the biggest difference between these and ordinary pillows? Why should our viewers buy them?”
“The biggest difference is the concentrate. Mongsil Latex uses natural latex concentrate produced by Thailand’s Anantakul Group. Even in Thailand, it’s considered a top-quality material.”
The host nodded with an impressed expression, but the number on the order board didn’t change.
Only people in the trading industry or related businesses knew what sort of company Anantakul was.
Even the broadcasting staff were unfamiliar with the name. Viewers weren’t going to recognize its quality just from hearing it.
“I think it’ll be quicker to show you than explain it.”
“Of course. If you could fold the pillow...”
I took out the item the writer had placed under the table.
The host’s eyes widened at the sight of a black bowling ball.
“What are you going to do with that?”
I dropped the bowling ball onto the middle of the latex pillow.
The pillow sank deep under its weight.
A moment later, I removed the ball, and the compressed area slowly sprang back into shape.
“...Oh my! There isn’t a single mark left.”
The host was genuinely startled.
It wasn’t an act.
There hadn’t been anything like this in the rehearsal.
“The high-quality concentrate helps it spring back into shape. It won’t easily sag, even after prolonged use.”
I placed the bowling ball back on the pillow for everyone to see.
The number on the order board began to climb quickly.
This time, I took out a small basket of eggs.
“You’re not going to put eggs on it too, are you?”
“Let’s first check that they’re raw.”
I cracked one egg into a glass bowl, letting the yolk and white spill out.
Then I took another egg from the same basket and dropped it onto the latex pillow.
The egg bounced lightly once, then came to rest without breaking.
“Oh my goodness, it really didn’t break! It must be incredibly soft.”
As the camera zoomed in on the unbroken egg, the number of order calls rose noticeably.
[Now we’re getting a response. Stay on the demonstration, not the host’s explanations!]
The producer gestured urgently, and the host immediately raised their voice.
“Orders are coming in fast! We have exactly 1,000 sets available. They could sell out while you’re still deciding!”
I’d planned to finish by lying down and demonstrating it myself, but there was no need.
While the host showed the restored pillow and the unbroken egg again, all 1,000 sets sold out.
The scheduled thirty minutes weren’t even over.
When the sold-out notice appeared at the bottom of the screen, applause broke out in the studio.
“Wow. It’s not easy to sell out like this on a first broadcast.”
To fill the remaining airtime, the host asked me a question.
“But you’re not actually an employee of Mongsil Latex?”
“No. I’m a salesperson at Taeseong Trading, in charge of supplying the latex concentrate.”
“You came on a live broadcast yourself to sell your client’s product?”
“If our client does well, we can keep doing business with them for a long time. It’s the least I can do.”
“Wow. With a salesperson like you, I’d want to do business with you too.”
The camera caught my awkward smile.
[The product’s good, but that salesperson’s pretty good on camera too. Should we try him as a host?]
After the broadcast, Kim Inho called.
As soon as I answered, he spoke excitedly.
-Manager Kim, we sold out! The home-shopping channel has already proposed a second broadcast with twice the stock.
“That’s great. How’s the packaging equipment?”
-Fortunately, it wasn’t a major problem. It’s running again now. Anyway, everything happened just as you said it would. I had my doubts when you first suggested selling through home shopping...
“The product was good.”
-If you hadn’t been there today, we could’ve ruined our very first broadcast. Thank you so much.
* * *
When I returned to the office, I laid the proposal for the second broadcast that Kim Inho had sent beside Lalita’s supply terms on my desk.
The second broadcast would require twice as much stock as the first.
Once mattresses started selling alongside the latex pillows, we would need twice our current supply. No, five times as much.
The problem was the unit price.
With natural rubber prices rising, Anantakul would clearly struggle to maintain the existing price.
Japanese and European companies were offering higher prices too, so Taeseong Trading couldn’t compete on price alone.
I opened my notebook beside the supply terms.
[Renegotiate additional supply from Anantakul.]
Below that, I added a line containing something only I knew.
[Military coup in Thailand.]
To everyone else, it would strike without warning. But I still had time to prepare.
I began writing down, one by one, what I needed to have ready before that day.
Just then, an outside call came in.
“Overseas Sales Team 2.”
-May I speak to Manager Kim Seongjun?
“This is Kim Seongjun. Who’s calling?”
-This is Choi Dongsik from Segwang Pump. Manager Kim, I enjoyed watching today’s broadcast.
It was the first time Choi Dongsik had called to speak to me.
-You said on the broadcast that you deal directly with Anantakul Group, correct?
“Yes, that’s right.”
-We manufacture industrial water pumps. We’re looking for sales channels in Thailand, so I called to ask whether you might be able to introduce our products to Anantakul.
It was unexpected, but not a bad proposal for me.
Industrial water pumps sold steadily in Southeast Asia, where rainfall was heavy.
If the terms were right, it was a product worth trying to find a market for.
“Do you already have a trading partner?”
-Well... we already export to Southeast Asia through Taeseong Trading.
“Through our company?”
-Yes. Team 3 handles it.
A Team 3 client had bypassed the person in charge and contacted me directly. If I handled this badly, it could cause trouble between the teams.
“Then why did you call me?”
-I’ve asked several times for them to get our pumps into Thailand, but all I ever hear is that it’s too difficult. So...
After hesitating briefly, Choi Dongsik got to the point.
-Could you take charge of just the Thailand business, Manager Kim?
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
