World Domination through Planet Development - Chapter 50



Only Krnovel

Episode 50. Humans and Androids

PDC Korea Branch.

Android Tester Briefing Session.

After I submitted my application for the information session, I received another email.

It is expected that there will be a lot of participants and it will be crowded, so we are dividing the time slots.

As expected, that’s true. There was a reason why he won.

Still, it feels good to have won.

And on the current day. There were quite a few people around Choi Woo-seok who arrived in the morning. I think quite a few of them, if not all, were testers.

Choi Woo-seok, who came up from the station, looked around.

I’m sure they said they run a shuttle bus around here.

Oh, is it over there…?

On one side, people were seen queuing up. The name PDC was clearly written on the stand banner.

There seem to be a lot of people.

After the bus made a turn, it was Woo-seok’s turn to get on. The bus arrived in front of the PDC building shortly.

There were more people waiting in front of the office building.

I guess I came early at least.

Perhaps because we had applied for the very first slot, it didn’t seem like anyone had entered the building yet.

“Okay, let’s come in slowly, ten at a time~”

A woman who appeared to be a PDC employee came out and started letting in the people who were waiting.

Soon it was Woo-seok’s turn to enter and the process of checking the list of participants inside the building began.

“Are you Choi Woo-seok? Please check your ID.”

“yes.”

Woo-seok handed over his ID card one by one.

“Yes, thank you. It has been confirmed. Please take this.”

“Huh? Oh, thank you.”

Woo-seok accepted what appeared to be a souvenir from the guide. It contained writing utensils, snacks, and more, but he also held in his hand a one-month subscription to Sara AI.

Oh. Free subscription.

With the souvenir in hand, I entered the auditorium where the briefing was to be held.

In the auditorium, all the people ahead of him were already seated. Woo-seok sat in the middle, as he could sit anywhere.

Only after the auditorium was full did the presenter come out.

Surprisingly, the person watching the proceedings was PDC CEO Cheon Jeong-woo. It seemed like he was there himself.

“Hello everyone. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Cheon Jeong-woo. I am currently running a company called PDC in South Korea. Nice to meet you.”

Clap clap clap clap.

Looking closely, it seems like there isn’t much of an age difference between us.

“I think you all must have come from far away, Pangyo, but I would like to thank you for coming. I hope that after listening to this briefing session, you will definitely participate in the test.”

This was followed by a brief introduction to Android’s details and business direction. After the explanation was over, CEO Chun asked the attendees for the first time.

“Do any of you have a car? Your own? Not your family’s, your own.”

A few people raised their hands.

“There aren’t as many as I thought.”

It can’t be helped. I don’t know about the people who gathered, but since they’re all just unemployed people, there can’t be many people with cars. It’s surprising that there are any.

“Does anyone find it strange when I say I have a car?”

The attendees looked puzzled. Rather, they responded by asking why such a question was asked.

“I don’t think anyone would find it strange to have a car. In this day and age, it would be strange for a household to not have a car. The necessity for a purpose is so obvious. How could you travel long distances without a car?”

It was something that was so obvious to modern people.

“I believe that in the future, Androids will be able to be on the same level as cars. It’s the perception that ‘We need to make money, so how can there be no Androids?’ Androids are doing the work of making money. I hope that this perception will take root in society.”

This was something that people here could particularly relate to.

“In order to do that, you have to try it out first. Since it’s not something that costs a few pennies, you have to provide an opportunity to accumulate usage experience. That’s what I thought. With that in mind, I started a business called tester recruitment.”

It’s definitely different from a car because no one has ever tried it in the first place.

There is no empirical data that can tell you exactly what effect this will have.

“Your recruitment process has been thoroughly investigated. You will be tested together with several companies that have joined our Android rental brokerage system. The Androids you rent will work for a specific company for a total of 5 days during the test period of one week. And you will be paid for it. You will receive 60% of the minimum wage for 9 hours a day for a total of 5 days.”

How much is it? About 270,000 won. It may be a satisfactory amount for unemployed people like me, but it is not enough to make a living. I think I would have to drive at least two cars to make some money.

“You may choose not to make Android do any work for you. However, if you do so, you will only receive a basic salary for participating as a tester.”

But it looks like there is a separate base salary.

“Also, as I mentioned earlier, the labor compensation for Android is actually paid by PDC. Therefore, there will be no cumbersome administrative procedures such as registering as a sole proprietor. However, I would like to inform you that you must do so unconditionally if you purchase it later and rent it to another company. That is, until the legal system is established.”

It’s definitely a hassle for a one-week tester.

“So, we will be receiving an application form from you today. The application form is enclosed in the souvenir bag you received. Could you please check it?”

Oh, do I have to decide right here?

Woo-seok rummaged through his bag.

“Please decide whether or not you would like to participate and submit it.”

Soon after, PDC staff gathered up the application forms.

“Those who have accepted the application to participate here today will receive an Android before going home.”

Here today? Right now?!

Groan, groan.

“If you look at the booklet we gave you as a souvenir, there is a QR code. You can install the app and check the list of 2,000 Androids we currently have. It is first-come, first-served, so it would be better to decide quickly.”

As soon as CEO Chun finished speaking, everyone started hurriedly installing the app.

Woo-seok also quickly installed it and went into the Android list.

A box appeared to choose between masculine and feminine. Woo-seok, of course, chose the feminine option.

The list came up and they were all really pretty. To be honest, it didn’t matter who I picked. That’s why I quickly turned them on in a hurry, but it didn’t seem necessary.

The female type is 1,000. I could see the androids being removed from the list in real time. They were probably the androids that had been chosen. Woo-seok also chose quickly in his impatience.

Phew… I guess I’ve finally made a choice.

The next screen showed the initial setup section.

“If you choose Android, you will be asked to select some initial settings. These settings cannot be changed once they are set during the testing period, so please choose them carefully.”

After hearing CEO Cheon’s continued words, Choi Woo-seok calmly began to look at the settings.

Among them, the most noticeable item is whether or not to express emotions. When set as a caution, there is a notice that the emotions will be expressed like a person and cannot be changed during the test period.

Hmm… use.

After enabling the emotional expression feature, I looked at other values. Most of them are related to personality. If you disable the emotional expression feature, most of them do not need to be set.

Oh! This is… Adults Only… Let’s make it the default. There’s something like this too.

Woo-seok just chose the initial settings. In fact, if you tell him how to choose and what kind of reaction will come out, he can choose something or not, but since he doesn’t know this, he has no choice but to choose the default values.

“Ah… We need to quickly wrap things up because we need to recruit participants for the next time slot. First of all, it looks like everyone who applied has been selected. Those who applied can follow the guide behind them.”

After Representative Chun finished speaking, the people sitting in the auditorium stood up and began to leave.

“Please follow me~”

Confirmed participants lined up followed the guide at the exit.

The crowd went out and moved to a completely different building, as if it wasn’t this building.

The building was spacious, but it didn’t feel like there were any people around or anything inside. It felt like a warehouse.

“Now, those whose names are called, please go and receive your Android.”

Is Android finally coming out?

“Mr. Kim Dae-han.”

As the names were called one by one, the androids began to appear. A woman who looked like a real celebrity came out wearing a white blouse and black skirt.

“and….”

“oh….”

Exclamations came from all over.

The male androids in particular stood out even more.

It felt like I was seeing a famous actor passing by on TV.

It felt incredibly odd to see a woman who had never received a confession from a man, let alone an ordinary one, come out with an android like that.

Humans and androids.

That ugly woman going out with you is human and that very handsome man is an android.

And the ugly guy going out with them was human, and that incredibly pretty girl was an android.

Most people here feel this way unconsciously.

That in the future, human appearance will not matter at all, even though they themselves are not sure about it yet.

And it didn’t just mean a major change in human society.

Dependency in life. People live their lives dependent on PDC without even realizing it.

“Mr. Choi Woo-seok.”

“Oh, yes!”

When it was his turn, he hurriedly walked out. On the other side, he saw the android he had chosen approaching him.

My Android… is pretty… .

“Mr. Choi Woo-seok, you have received the Android. You must return it next Sunday. Be sure to bring your ID with you. You cannot send just the Android.”

I never thought I would only send it to Android.

“Oh, yes. I understand.”

“Okay, then you can go now.”

The android was just blankly staring at me, and I didn’t know what to say, so I just walked out and the android followed Woo-seok.

“Master, what is my name?”

“Uh… Huh?”

When he suddenly spoke to him, he looked up in surprise and saw the android looking at him with deer-like eyes.

“… … ?”

“That… that… .”

Even though it was an Android, it was difficult to make eye contact.

“Hasn’t it been decided yet?”

When I asked with a somewhat sad expression, I felt strangely guilty.

This guy is an android and I’m human…

“Uh… yeah, that’s right… I’ll let you know when it’s decided.”

“all right.”

A leisurely afternoon. As we left the PDC and arrived at the station, the crowds began to increase.

I can feel the gazes of men passing by. It’s probably not my imagination.

But aren’t you a little embarrassed? You’re still living at your parents’ house, you’re unemployed, you like games, and you still get nagged… You didn’t even clean your room… Damn it.

No, wait a minute.

This guy is a robot, so why do I keep thinking like this? I’m the master and this guy is the servant. There’s absolutely no reason to worry about that.

With that thought in mind, he looked at the android sitting next to him and smiled at himself. His head quickly turned back to the front.

Sigh… Let’s go home and think about it carefully.

Come to think of it, I didn’t even tell my parents, so how should I explain this? I never imagined that I would receive it today.

Even so, he couldn’t not go home. Before he knew it, Woo-seok arrived home.

Beep beep.

“This is the front door password.”

“Yes. I memorized it all.”

“okay.”

I left the awkwardness behind and came into the house.

“You said you were going to a job fair or something and already… Oh my god!!”

Woo-seok’s mother was about to start her habitual nagging when she saw Woo-seok coming in, but then she was startled when she saw the android next to her.

“Who… Who are you?”

Haa, really embarrassing… No. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s a robot, a robot.

“Hello, I am female android model number 287.”

The android greeted Woo-seok’s mother first.

“yes yes?”

An expression that shows no understanding of what is being said.

Woo-seok led the androids to handle the situation.

“Hey, first, go into my room here.”

“all right.”

Woo-seok somehow managed to get the android into the room and close the door, but his mother grabbed him and dragged him out.

“Ah! Why are you like this, Mom?”

“You, are you crazy! Are you crazy!! Isn’t that woman a snake? A snake!”

…huh?

“Poohaha! No, Mom.”

I burst out laughing at my mother’s absurd speculation.

“What the heck! Where did that woman see you and why would she follow you? You idiot!”

I wanted to say, “What’s wrong with me…” but it was true. There’s no reason for such a pretty girl to follow me.

“No, Mom, that’s not it. That woman is not that person.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s a robot. Don’t you know a robot?”

Slap slap. Mom slapped my back.

“Ahh! Ah, why are you hitting me!”

“Where did this lie come from!”

In the end, Woo-seok was able to convince her only after opening up the charging plug part of the Android and showing her what kind of company PDC was on the Internet.

After that, he seemed to half-agree. But he still continued to look at me with a suspicious look.

“Phew… .”

After a while, Woo-seok sat down in front of the computer. When he glanced behind him, he saw the android sitting on the bed, staring at him.

It’s not even a puppy… .

First, we need to give it a name.

“I was thinking about it… How about one? Your name.”

“Yes! Good.”

“Yeah… Okay. I’m going to use the computer for a bit, so wait.”

“yes!”

I took a quick look around the Internet and found that there are already a lot of certification posts.

Some fat guy posted a picture of himself holding an android’s pretty face and caressing it here and there, while covering his own face.

Even the Android’s facial expression looks a bit strange, which is unusual.

[Hehehe. You guys don’t have anything like this, do you?]

-Wow, so pretty.

-Is that okay for rental items?

-I’ll buy it as soon as it comes out.

“It’s obvious at first glance that it’s for adults only….”

Bold. I think it will all be recorded in the PDC internal records. If you buy it, I don’t know, but if you rent an Android… .

Why would someone like that be helpful by signing up to be a tester?

But even though he cursed others like that, Woo-seok couldn’t fool himself.

Woo-seok turned his gaze to the android sitting behind him.

Me… me too… .

Knock. Knock.

Ouch!

Woo-seok was startled by the sudden knock on the door.

“why?!”

“Son~~ Can you come out for a moment?”

My mother opened the door, stuck her head out, and asked in an affectionate voice.

Woo-seok left the room.

“Why are you doing that?”

“You want to sleep with that robot wife?”

“What are you talking about?”

Slap slap. Mom slapped my back again.

“Oh, why is it happening again!”

“Are you crazy?! Come out and sleep in the living room!”

“No!! I said it’s a robot!”

“But if you come out and grow up, you’ll grow up!”

Woo-seok had no choice but to sleep on a blanket spread out in the living room.

Sigh… I said I was going to work tomorrow morning… But I have to change my clothes… .

And why on earth do I have to come out and sleep… .