Chapter 854. Planning (4)

Chapter 854. Planning (4)

"You're here, sir!"

"Good day to you, Assembly Master."

Kang Jin-Ho headed to the office's couch while responding to the two men's greetings. When Lee Hyeon-Su tried to get up and yield the seat of honor, Kang Jin-Ho briefly gestured at him to sit still.

"Let's skip the unnecessary etiquette, shall we?"

"Yes, sir!"

"The topic you two were discussing. It sounds interesting, so don't mind me and continue."

Cheon Tae-Hun was inwardly panicking at this development. Everything he said was meant for Lee Hyeon-Su's ears, not Kang Jin-Ho.

Obviously, Lee Hyeon-Su and Kang Jin-Ho were not on the same level.

Once upon a time, Lee Hyeon-Su was viewed as a grim reaper within the hallways of the Martial Assembly. No, that wasn't right. People still viewed him as a messenger of death, even now! However, his infamy was nothing in comparison to Kang Jin-Ho.

In simpler terms... If Lee Hyeon-Su was comparable to a grim reaper, Kang Jin-Ho was King Yama, the ruler of the netherworld!

If you had grievances, you'd usually voice them to a grim reaper coming to pick your soul up, not to King Yama about to judge you. Nobody had the requisite balls for that!

Cheon Tae-Hun stuttered ungainly. "U-uhm, sir, it's not like I'm, uh, particularly unhappy about..."

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Cheon Tae-Hun. "Don't worry. You can say it."

"...O-of course." Cheon Tae-Hun grimaced a little, his lips twitching nervously.

'What am I supposed to say? How should I even say them?'

Coming face to face with Kang Jin-Ho seemed to have blanked out Cheon Tae-Hun's mind. His instincts told him not to talk to Kang Jin-Ho for too long. He must keep this conversation as concise as possible!

"Sir. I'm not sure how much you've heard..."

"I heard everything," said Kang Jin-Ho.

"..."

Heard everything? How? Cheon Tae-Hun could only blink his eyes in stupefaction. Did the Assembly Master install listening devices in this bloody office or something?

"I-in that case, that is all, sir. I don't have anything more to add."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, sir."

Kang Jin-Ho contemplatively nodded. "I see. Then, what's your proposed solution?"

"...My solution, sir?"

"Well, yeah. Seeing how much thought you've given to this matter, you must've also considered solutions. Even if you couldn't think of a clear-cut solution, you should still have some ideas that might improve our situation bit by bit."

"Oh, uh... Yes, sir. I do."

"Good. Now, let's hear it."

Cheon Tae-Hun licked his dried-stiff lips several times, then tried to speak as confidently as possible. "Sir. Now that we've ordered a whole bunch of tablets, I was hoping we could implement an online alert system for the Assembly."

"...Mm?" Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

With that, the floodgates in Cheon Tae-Hun's heart broke wide open.

"We should be honest about the current state of the Assembly, everyone. When nicely put, it's an old-fashioned organization, but when not-so-nicely put, this place has failed to keep up with the modern times. When I look at how folks in our organization carry on with their daily lives, it's like I'm looking at a photo from the 80s."

Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su wordlessly stared at each other.

'Really?'

'I guess so?'

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head again. "Uh... Well, sure. Let's say it is."

"Please take a look," said Cheon Tae-Hun, his index finger suddenly pointing outside the window. Wondering what he wanted them to see, Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su craned their necks.

"Sir, can you see the noticeboard down there?"

"Yeah, I can."

"Who in their right mind would post important messages on a board like that with this many people around?"

"..."

"..."

Both men were left speechless for a moment there.

"Sir, some members commute to the Assembly every day, but lots more don't even bother showing up unless something special is about to go down. Members like that only find out what happened a few days after the event."

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. "Huh... Yeah, I guess so."

"All this can be sorted out by a simple SMS message, so I can't figure out why we're still sticking to our current system, sir. It's not like we're stuck in the 80s, now are we?"

Unable to rebut Cheon Tae-Hun's accusatory words, Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su found themselves silently shrinking back.

Cheon Tae-Hun wasn't done, however.

"Nowadays, even the convenience store around the corner asks you to sign up for its membership program and receive notices of upcoming events. So, how does an organization of our scale sticking posters of announcements on a noticeboard make sense in this day and age? Worse still, we don't even have our own website. If the announcement gets taken down before a member sees it, how are they supposed to know what it's about?"

"Uh..." Lee Hyeon-Su progressively sunk deeper and deeper into his couch.

The details of complaints he wanted to hear about weren't supposed to be like this.

"Yep, I agree. Granted."

Cheon Tae-Hun's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "H-huh? I'm sorry?!"

Lee Hyeon-Su firmly put his foot down. "I'm going to create a specialized department for you. So, do your best and develop this app."

"H-hold on, sir? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Why not? App developers are also humans, aren't they?"

"Hold on, hold on! Sir, this is not something you can just will into existence because you feel like it. Besides, some people will definitely have issues with me running a department. Please consider my position, as well."

"Fuu-woo..." Lee Hyeon-Su groaned. What a complicated situation this was.

That was when the light in Kang Jin-Ho's eyes dangerously flickered. "So... What we need right now is someone who understands all the tech mumbo-jumbo and helps you decide on this and that?"

Cheon Tae-Hun nearly faltered. "Uh, oh... Yes, sir. Something like that."

"That simplifies things. I know someone perfect for that role."

"Sorry?"

Kang Jin-Ho didn't say anything else and pulled out his phone before accessing the messaging app. Cheon Tae-Hun was inwardly impressed by this sight.

'Wow. At least the Assembly Master knows how to use the messaging app...'

A man who didn't know what an app was knew how to use an app. That had to be one of the saddest ironies populating this world.

"...Mm. Done. He's coming," said Kang Jin-Ho while putting his phone away. He glanced at Cheon Tae-Hun again. "Okay, so. Once we create this system you talk about, our efficiency will go up? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes, sir. The announcements will reach our people so much faster."

"Mm... I get that, but is that such an important problem requiring an urgent solution?"

Cheon Tae-Hun mulled over where to begin his explanation. "Sir. If that's the only thing it can do, then no, it wouldn't be an urgent issue. However, that's not all it can do.

"If you set up a forum exclusively devoted to anonymous complaints, the problem you've been worried about will get resolved in one go, Chief Lee. Because we will have a flood of anonymous complaints."

"Mm, yeah. That makes sense," Lee Hyeon-Su slowly nodded.

Cheon Tae-Hun sighed under his breath. He suddenly felt thirsty. And exhausted, too. "We have a variety of problems to sort out. However, in my opinion, the biggest one is how the Assembly has been split into different layers, and there is a clear breakdown in communication between these layers. And there's another big problem that the app could solve."

Lee Hyeon-Su and Kang Jin-Ho tilted their heads. "Another problem?"

"Yes. It's the language barrier," said Cheon Tae-Hun, his voice firm and unwavering. "We have too many varied languages being spoken right now. At least we can somehow make do with this messy mixture of English, Chinese, and Korean. But now, we have French to worry about, too."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Since people are having a hard time communicating with each other, it only makes sense that we also can't freely share our opinions. That's why I think our language situation will improve significantly by having an automated translation service built into our app that can translate what we post online."

"Oh...!" Kang Jin-Ho grew genuinely interested as he stared at Cheon Tae-Hun. "There was such a service available?"

"..."

Cheon Tae-Hun briefly entertained the idea of giving up now and walking away. This 'briefing' felt like he was teaching computer literacy to a caveman. Just as he realized this couldn't go on, he heard a knock coming from the office's exit.

Knock, knock...!

The three men's attention shifted to the doorway.

"He's here," Kang Jin-Ho grinned brightly. "I've called the expert in this area, so you should discuss this matter with him."

"An... expert, sir?" Cheon Tae-Hun frowned in confusion.

"You'll see for yourself. You can come in!"

Cheon Tae-Hun couldn't help but grow a little hopeful just then. An expert, was it?

Even though no one within the Martial Assembly could claim to be an expert in modern technology or programming? Maybe it was someone Cheon Tae-Hun didn't know.

However, when the door opened, and the 'expert' in question stepped inside the office... Cheon Tae-Hun's expression crumpled hideously.

The person entering the office wore a clean-cut business suit. And his dress shoes glistened crisply under the light. A slender tie stylishly hung over the smart two-tone dress shirt. And his hair was neatly trimmed in the distinctive two-block pompadour style.

Most people would've agreed this man knew how to dress for the occasion. In fact, he could be seen as a bit too trendy, even!

It was just that one detail stood out like a sore thumb. And that would be his hair. It was snow-white!

"My liege! I have come to answer your summons!"

"...?!"

Cheon Tae-Hun's jaw fell as he watched Chang Min kowtow on the office floor.

'What the hell? This is the...'

...The expert Kang Jin-Ho mentioned?

When Cheon Tae-Hun's flabbergasted face creakily turned toward him, Kang Jin-Ho smirked triumphantly. "Don't worry, you two will become chums in no time."

"...??"

It seemed something had gone wrong somewhere. And by quite a lot, too!

"Okay, so..." Chang Min shot up to his feet, then the corner of his lips curled up as he studied Cheon Tae-Hun. "...What did you say the problem was, young man?"

Well, the problem is... You!

No, hang on. It's... me?

No, no, no...

The problem is this place!