Chapter 14 – Semiconductor Engineer
After waking up from the dream, the king stayed silent for a long time. He was barely able to open his mouth.
“If you hear about this, you’ll be shocked.”
“What are you referring to, your majesty?”
“The future he wants to achieve using the Insight is merely a 1st Grade Magician.”
The language of Lejinoran didn’t have a term for engineer, so the king found a job that was closest to that one.
The old servant had a disbelieving expression for a brief moment. Then he spoke as he laughed.
“Your majesty inside the dream has a very simple and honest temperament..”
“He has the power to see the Truth, yet he dreams about becoming a mere 1st Grade Magician? A 1st Grade Magician!”
Insight. The power to see the Truth.
The power of Insight didn’t only work on object. It also worked on living beings, the logic of the world, and even the laws of space.
However, the power varied depending on the capability of the individual, and their preference.
For example, if there was a magician and a priest with the same capability, there would be a difference in their ability to comprehend either the magic or the holy power. This would cause the mage to use his magic or the priest to use his holy power. The one with the better comprehension would able to use it in a more precise manner.
However, the difference in ability was irrelevant after a certain point for the Insight. One would instantly and perfectly comprehend the truth.
If Hahn-suhjin’s capability was higher, he would be able to see the drug’s chemical structure. Moreover, he would perfectly understand all the knowledge about the background chemistry. It would be absorbed into him. It would be as if he had already known it.
However, the lack of ability only allowed Hahn-suhjin to see the chemical structure. He didn’t understand what it was.
“When one reaches the extreme end of the power, one could transcend time to look far into the future… He has such an omniscient power, yet he only dreams about becoming a 1st Grade Magician.”
“I understand you must very distressed. However, please be patient. A person can see up to a certain point depending on their knowledge. This man has lived his life as a slave. Of course, this man would only think about polishing the tools he would use at the slave yard.”
“I have to quickly awaken my knowledge about myself and Lenorjian inside the dream. At this rate, I have no idea when that will be possible.”
King Arthur’s capability in regarding the Insight was great, but he couldn’t hold a candle to a past king, who had been considered to have the greatest Insight.
It was said the king, who had possessed the greatest Insight, could see 100 years into the future.
“Semiconductor engineer?”
“Mr Hahn-suhjin is one?”
“Wow. I heard that test is very difficult… I heard only 10 passes each round of test.”
“I’ve never heard of such a certification. Isn’t that a bad thing?”
“It’s not a bad thing. It’s actually the opposite. It is so hard that you don’t see many of them, who passed the test. Even our H Semiconductors has only 10 of them.”
The way his fellow employees looked at him changed after they found out he had passed the Semiconductor Engineering test. They had treated like a new employee before, but now they treated him
with a little bit more care.
“Mr. Hahun-suhjin. You are an engineer, so why are you on washing duty? Shouldn’t you be coming up with a design for a semiconductor?”
“No. I was able to get the certification through good luck.”
“Luck? That isn’t a certification you can get with luck. It is all skills. Numerous Seoul University graduates with Electrical Engineering degrees fail in massive numbers on that test.”
“Really, I can’t believe you passed it, while working at the factory. Are you sure Mr. Hahn-suhjin isn’t really smart?”
As his fellow workers kept expressing their praise and envy towards him, Hahn-suhjin didn’t feel flattered by it. Instead, he became embarrassed.
‘Truthfully, I passed thanks to the power of Insight.’
If his Insight suddenly disappeared, his lack of skills would be found out, and he would be put in a difficult situation. Hahn-suhjin decided he would increase his studying time by 2 hours each day.
‘My body is unnaturally better than before.’
His cancer had been cured, but that wasn’t the only thing that had happened. His physical fitness and endurance was much improved. He barely felt tired after sleeping only 5 hours a night. It felt as if he had returned to being an energetic teenager.
Moreover, he thought his thought process had become slightly better. Originally, he wasn’t that talented at studying yet theoretical knowledge was now being retained in his head. Now that he was good at studying he felt the joy of reading a book even if he was tired.
“Should I go to college now?”
He even had that kinds of thoughts. Of course, he immediately gave up on that idea.
“Well, it’ll probably be a waste of time if I go to college. I’ve already gotten the certification for the Semiconductor Engineering. Even the kids from the named universities have a hard time getting it.”
It was a very enjoyable thing to worry about as he did his factory job. Then the human resources contacted him.
“This is section chief Park-jaesuhk from the human resources. I’ve heard a lot about you. I heard you earned a certification for Semiconductor Engineering. You probably didn’t have much time to study, while going to work. It’s quite the accomplishment.”
“No. It’s merely an engineer certification…”
“Merely an engineer certification? Currently, isn’t it the most difficult test amongst all the engineering certification test? Moreover, people with that certification is in high demand.”
After the right amount of flattery, section chief Park-jaesung brought up the main subject.
“We can’t let such a rare talent rot away doing the washing duty. How would you like to transfer to the design team?”
“The design team?”
“Yes. We’ll have to recalibrate your rank and annual salary. A semiconductor engineer came out from a semiconductor factory, so we can’t let you rot away by putting you on washing duty. Everyone would laugh at us.”
His supervisor had given him a heads up on this topic, so he wasn’t all that surprised. However, this was happening much faster than expected. He was a bit amazed by that fact.
‘So this is what it means to be an engineer.’
What would he be treated like if he becomes a technical expert? Hahn-suhjin’s heart beat faster just from thinking about it.
“I understand.”
“Haha. You don’t have to get nervous. The company will do its best to put you in the best situation.”
This was how Hahn-suhjin started renegotiating his annual salary.
Since there were only 10 people, who had passed the certification for semiconductor engineering in the company, the company offered very generous terms even though he only passed the test recently.
“A…an annual salary of 70 thousand dollars?”
Seventy thousand dollars. It was money he could easily earn through the scratch lottery ticket. It was an insignificant amount of money compared to the 1.5 million dollars he spent on making the Elixir. Still, Hahn-suhjin was surprised.
‘If a new engineer makes this much, how much does the technical expert make later on?’
Hahn-suhjin’s heart beat faster not for the amount of money. His heart beat faster for the social standing that came with the 70 thousand dollars.
“You are a semiconductor engineer, so at the very least, you should receive this much. The other people with that particular engineer certification makes an annual salary in the hundred thousands. You are at the beginner level, so you won’t get equal treatment as them. However, it won’t be long before you receive a yearly salary in the hundred thousands. ”
“Thank you.”
Hahn-suhjin signed the contract for his annual salary with a happy heart.
After transferring to the semiconductor design team, Hahn-suhjin’s work completely changed.
The company took into consideration that he was at a beginner’s level, so they didn’t put him immediately into doing the actual work. They gave him enough time to train, so he could learn the existing duties on the job. It was a training period, yet the company gave him full pay.
‘Being an engineer is great.’
With just a single engineer certification, his life at work was markedly different from the time he was on the manufacturing line, or the maintenance crew. Even his fellow employees treated him like a superior now. Now he didn’t cross path with his former workers unless he saw them at the cafeteria or the break room.
If he spoke bluntly, he was playing in different waters now.
His seniors on the design team was friendly towards him.
“A high school graduate? Really?”
One of his senior had graduated from Seoul University, and he was surprised when told Hahn-suhjin was only a high school graduate. However, his senior didn’t look down on him. Instead, it made him be filled with more admiration.
“How long did you prepare for the test?”
“About a year.”
“Wow…… You are really incredible. You are a high school graduate, and you prepared for the semiconductor engineering certification test for a whole year, while continuously working at the factory.”
“It’s really amazing. I would have never even attempted it.”
“Aren’t you really smart? Why don’t you take the university admissions test again? Then you’ll be a junior from my alumni.”
His seniors sincerely treated him with respect and friendliness. They were all from famous named universities, but they didn’t consider his status as a high school graduate to be a problem. They instead gave him encouragement for passing his tests in the midst of such hard circumstances.
‘A mere certification caused so much change.’
Hahn-suhjin felt a sense of pride.