One Desk, One Dream

Augustus chuckled. "Haha. Now leave those worries behind and come help me choose a computer for you and my upcoming employees," he said steadily and rested his hand on Max's shoulders.

"Are you for real?" Max exclaimed, raising a brow in surprise.

Augustus reassured, "Of course. Pick anything you want, it's on me," he mumbled with a warm smile.

Then, tilting his head toward the counter, "Please start repairing his laptop," he added.

The employee genuinely smiled with a polite nod and walked away.

Max's eyes widened. "Y-you were not joking," he said with furrowed brows.

"Hehe, certainly not. Now come help me with CPUs," Augustus smirked and dragged him to check the CPU section. Max easily followed.

Augustus understood exactly how Max felt, that creeping fear of being homeless the next day…He'd lived it. It was both scary and relatable to him.

Many CPUs were placed in blocks, covered with glass, and presented as showpieces.

"Uhm, sir… how about this 4GB graphics card with an Intel Core i5-11400F processor?" Max pointed out, not knowing how else to address him.

"I'm looking at this 8GB GTX 3070 with i7," Augustus said, stroking his chin.

Max shifted his focus. "Whoa, if I work for you, I will be working on a gtx 3070… that will be so cool," and blurted happily in a surprised tone.

"Huh? Of course not," Augustus quickly denied, not even entertaining the idea.

Max's smile faded. "Haha, sorry, that must be for you," he laughed awkwardly, embarrassed.

"What are you talking about? I was thinking of even better specs. Since this is a one-time purchase, let's get something much better," he said with a delighted smile.

Max's eyes widened in disbelief. "Seriously?" he mumbled.

"I think the latest here is 16GB 5070," Augustus mused and looked around to call the staff. "Excuse me, can you call your manager, please?" he asked.

The employee looked at him and began, "You can talk to me, sir. I'm sure I can answer most of the questions," he denied strongly, in the most polite tone.

"We want to purchase… 50 units of computers," Augustus casually stated.

He had initially decided to purchase around 100 units but then thought that a hundred employees would be overkill and a stretch.

The employee narrowed his eyes but quickly walked away to call the manager.

"Hello, sir. I'm the manager. I was informed you were purchasing 50 units of computers. Is that true?" he asked gently.

Augustus nodded. "Yes, we want the best and latest models, something like…" Augustus tilted his head with a thoughtful look. "Hmm…Core i9 and RTX 5090?" he said with a soft smile.

"Haha, sir, GadgetGrid can fulfill all of your wishes. We certainly can do that," he said awkwardly, surprised at the high-end specifications.

The manager then introduced him to the top 3 CPUs in the store, but even then Augustus shook his head, saying, "Not enough, something more."

After a few technical exchanges, Augustus smiled with satisfaction. the manager repeated the CPU specs, his voice cracking slightly...

"Haha, sir, this isn't just a PC, it's a command center for the future. Powered by the Intel Core i9-14900K and the beastly RTX 5090, this rig tears through 8K video editing, real-time 3D rendering, and next-gen AI workflows like it's nothing.

With 256GB of blazing-fast DDR5 RAM and a 5TB Gen 5 SSD, you're loading things before you even click. Whether you're building empires in code or pixels, this machine doesn't stutter—it dominates," he concluded with a heavy sigh,

and added, "With this, sir, you can even open a second nasa," he joked uneasily at the absurdity of the specs.

Augustus chuckled in satisfaction.

Max, on the other hand, remained silent. Just who is he? he thought.

"Okay, let's finalize the 50 units of these CPUs…" he paused. "Now each employee needs 2 monitors, 1 headphone, keyboard, and a mouse." He affirmed with a cheeky smile, seemingly enjoying their reactions toward him.

The manager blinked while Max smiled wryly.

Haha, their reaction is so good.

"Uh, c-certainly, sir. Who would use CPUs without monitors and peripherals, haha," he nervously laughed at his own joke, hesitation flickering in his eyes, and added,

"Please give me just a moment, sir. I'll call the owner; the bill is exceeding my authority," he stiffly said and clumsily pulled out his phone.

"Hello, sir, please come to the store quickly. It's an emergency. Some big party is here to make some absurd purchases," he whispered on the call and cut it.

Then he flashed a calm smile at Augustus. "5 minutes, sir. Until then, would you like some beverages or snacks?" he asked.

I just had dinner before coming here, but a simple juice doesn't hurt.

Augustus looked at Max, who shook nervously. But he still ordered, "We will take two apple shakes, please."

The manager nodded happily and asked someone to get them the shakes.

"Until then, Do you guys have any suggestions to buy more things for the employees?" Augustus inquired, wanting to give the employees the best experience.

Max rapidly shook his head in denial.

However, the experienced salesman now turned manager, rubbed his hands slyly. "Of course, sir. What do you think of adding entertainment sources in your office?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

Augustus smirked back. "Yeah, my exact thoughts," he said, smiling lightly.

The manager perked up with a faint grin. Today my promotion is almost guaranteed,

He thought, meanwhile Max on the other hand looked at Augustus, but this time, it wasn't just a surprise. There was a flicker of unease in his eyes.

"This way, sir," the manager gestured excitedly…

And just like that, 4 100-inch TVs, 10 PlayStation 5 Pros, and Xbox Series X were added, along with their respective peripherals,

Like high-end controllers, gaming chairs, a few motion racing simulators, keyboards, headsets, any and all gaming peripherals.

"Uhm, sir, sorry if I'm stepping out of my boundaries, but isn't this overkill?" Max asked nervously.

"You can just call me Augustus," he paused with a thoughtful look, "and I'm not sure if it's overkill, but at least my employees will be happy—and that's worth it for me," he eased, with a faint smile.

To Max, it looked much more dazzling. He understood what kind of man Augustus was, even seeing some similarities between him. "From when can I join, sir?" he asked politely.

Augustus narrowed his eyes in exaggerated warning.

"W-when can I join, Augustus?" he said with a faint smile, seemingly much calmer and excited for his future.

"That's much more better," he said softly with a faint smile.

Ding…

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Task #14:

[✓] – Hire Max as your first employee.

Status: Task Completed Successfully.

One loyal hand today. Many more will follow tomorrow. One step at a time.

| Reward: $100,000 + Loyal Employee.

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