Chapter 54

The complaints of people who used to drink two green teas at a time were that if they used two Starlight Green Tea bags and mixed them in water, the green tea taste was so strong that it made their tongues tingle. It felt like drinking an Americano with an insane amount of shots added. It was so strong it could give you a headache.

The proper amount was one green tea bag per paper cup, but to get a stronger effect, people used two tea bags, which inevitably made the green tea taste too strong. However, adding more water would dilute the original effect.

“That’s a good idea. Just like energy drink companies adjust taurine content, maybe we should release Starlight Green Tea with adjustable hair… uh, I mean, strength levels.”

“Actually, our Starlight Green Tea has already hit energy drink companies hard, and it’s going to hit them even harder in the future.”

Since the release of Starlight Green Tea, energy drink companies’ sales have plummeted. Drinking Starlight Green Tea not only gives you the same energy boost as energy drinks but also has fewer side effects.

The only downside was the high price, but it still managed to impact sales significantly. Even with limited supply, energy drink companies lost over 20% of their sales.

If we release an improved version of Starlight Green Tea, we could deal an even bigger blow to energy drink companies. The current beverage consumption ratio among people working in finance or shift work has been announced.

Starlight Green Tea now holds half of the market share, and this month it has surpassed that. Considering that Starlight Green Tea had no market share in the past, this level of dominance is unbelievable.

“Since when does our company care about what other companies think?”

Kim Sehee said while sipping Starlight Green Tea placed on the conference table. Given the strength of the Starlight Guild itself, it was strange to worry about other companies.

“That’s true.”

“What about the price…?”

As the most important agenda came up, the executives were busy exchanging glances. Predicting consumer sentiment was the hardest part, so setting the price for the improved Starlight Green Tea was no easy task.

If the price was set wrong and sales didn’t meet expectations, the blame would fall on the person who suggested it.

But since Kim Sehee had always been forgiving of such mistakes, the executives freely exchanged opinions.

“Since the amount of raw materials used in the green tea has decreased, shouldn’t we lower the price of Starlight Green Tea slightly?”

“Just because the amount of raw materials has decreased doesn’t mean we should lower the price. Frankly, consumers who use two bags might even be willing to pay more.”

“Still, 10,000 won per cup of Starlight Green Tea is definitely a burden.”

As the executives continued their marathon meeting, Kim Sehee absentmindedly stared at a photo on her phone. She was already thinking about hanging out with Hana after the meeting. Should she buy Hana’s favorite snacks? Or maybe some sweet and delicious candy?

“Boss?”

When Kim Sehee sat absentmindedly in the conference room, an executive called her. Kim Sehee was startled. She was too absorbed in Hana’s photo. She couldn’t hide her embarrassment.

“Ah! Yes?”

“How should we set the price…?”

Since the final decision rested with the boss, Kim Sehee cleared her throat and looked at the pricing proposals.

There were two proposals: selling it for 10,000 won and selling it for 9,500 won. Since making Starlight Green Tea required exactly double the amount of hair, 10,000 won seemed reasonable.

However, even though the amount of hair doubled, the raw materials decreased, and so did the number of green teas sold. Considering the reduced labor costs due to this, some price reduction was necessary.

Kim Sehee pondered. Setting the initial price was the most important decision. After resting her chin on her hand and thinking, she finally made a decision.

“Let’s go with 9,500 won. Considering consumer price sensitivity, 10,000 won is too expensive. Our brand is becoming famous, but we don’t have the luxury status yet.”

Once Kim Sehee made the decision, the executives stopped arguing and followed the boss’s lead.

————————————————————————–

“La la la~”

I was humming a tune while diligently writing something. A cute character…

I was writing the lyrics of the new song by the little magician Lumi in a notebook with a gate drawn on it. There was nothing better for practicing Korean. Indeed, when it comes to studying, it’s best to do something fun.

Later, I decided I should buy a notebook with Lumi’s illustrations on it. The current notebook also had cute characters, but I wanted one with Lumi’s illustrations even more.

“Oops!”

But I got so absorbed in writing that instead of Korean, some strange characters I used to write in the past ended up in the notebook. And below those strange characters, Lumi’s Korean lyrics were written. It was like translating the lyrics into Korean under English lyrics.

Before I knew it, I had used up an entire notebook writing Lumi’s song lyrics, so I boldly threw it away. After all, I had countless notebooks. Since subjects other than Korean were so easy for me that I could score perfect marks without much effort, I only focused on studying Korean.

Other than Korean, subjects like math and science were a breeze. In math, adding two three-digit numbers was the highest level of difficulty. It was so easy I could solve it just by looking. And for science and other subjects, I could memorize everything just by glancing at it once.

Of course, I didn’t plan to show the notebook I used for Korean studies to Haru or Bora and just threw it in the trash. I didn’t want to get caught secretly studying Korean. It felt embarrassing to think I might make mistakes in something as simple as Korean.

And so, the notebook with those strange characters was thrown into the dumpster behind the building.

—

Seon Jin-pil, a graduate student in the Gate Linguistics Department at Korea University, had come to visit his father’s workplace. His father ran a junk shop.

When he was young, Seon Jin-pil felt ashamed of his father’s job running a junk shop, but that was just childish pride.

His father had actively supported him in every way so that he could attend Korea University, the top university in Korea. Knowing his father’s efforts, Seon Jin-pil studied until his nose bled and successfully got into Korea University.

However, Seon Jin-pil caught the eye of Professor Park Gu-il from the Gate Linguistics Department and ended up becoming a graduate student. It was a bad ending.

Anyway, Seon Jin-pil occasionally came down to help his father with his work. Since his father’s workplace wasn’t far, it became his only hobby to come out on holidays and help his father. But while organizing scrap paper, Seon Jin-pil found a strange notebook.

On the cover of the notebook, which looked like something an elementary school student would use, was written the language of the Gate that he had been studying.

“What is this…?”

Seon Jin-pil was surprised to see the Gate language written in the notebook. Who with such unique taste would write the Gate language in this notebook? Curious, he opened it. Inside, the Gate language he had been studying was densely written.

And below it, it was translated into Korean as if someone had deciphered the Gate language. Seon Jin-pil’s eyes widened. The Gate language was still an undeciphered alien script, yet here it was, boldly translated into Korean.

“Who’s playing this prank?”

The Gate language had not been translated into Korean until now. No, it hadn’t been deciphered anywhere in the world.

It was a complex and bizarre script, making it difficult to decipher. And it hadn’t been long since the Gate language was discovered.

And so far, the humanoid monsters discovered couldn’t write. Still, just in case, Seon Jin-pil decided to keep the notebook safe and show it to his professor when he returned to school.

If this translation turned out to be real, it would be a discovery that could turn the academic world upside down.