The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 41

41. The Conglomerate Villain – Gather the Geniuses 03 –

***

Luman came to him to install a network system.

After two hours of work, he connected Jung Hyun-woo’s PC to the network.

“It’s all done.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Luman wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked,

“Charlie, can I ask you about coding or functions from time to time?”

Jung Hyun-woo answered immediately, without hesitation.

“Of course.”

Hearing Jung Hyun-woo’s answer, Luman held out his right fist. Jung Hyun-woo bumped his fist in return.

Thud.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

After Luman left, Jung Hyun-woo connected to ARPANET [Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, a precursor to the internet].

‘This is the ancestor of the internet.’

As of January 1983, ARPANET switched to packet transmission [a method of breaking data into small units for efficient transfer]. Packet transmission was a protocol system like the internet we know.

“I can also view data and code from other universities through ARPANET.”

People in the computer engineering department at this time had free-thinking minds.

“Shall we take a look?”

He said he would take a look, but what Jung Hyun-woo wanted to do was closer to hacking.

He wanted to test the security system of ARPANET.

‘I want to know what the security is like in 1983.’

April 2016.

He had joined an internet security company as a deputy team leader. At this security company, he led a team for the first and last time.

Of course, his life as a deputy team leader was not long. A personal information leak occurred at a bank that the company provided security services to, and the company itself was wiped out.

‘It was a mistake by a bank employee, but we, the subcontractor, took the blame.’

Due to this incident, employees lost their jobs, but rumors circulated that the company’s CEO received kickbacks from the bank in exchange for taking responsibility for the incident.

‘Everything is decided in places we don’t know, then and now.’

Tap. Tap. Tatatak.

His hands moved as if dancing.

‘I don’t know if it will work.’

He had participated in mock hacking at the company every week. However, this was the first time he actually hacked another system.

Fortunately, as mentioned earlier, ARPANET had been changed to a packet transmission system since January of this year.

‘If the structure is the same, the solution is the same.’

Tap.

When he hit enter, the hacking program started running. Rather than writing code on the spot like in movies or novels, he wanted to open the system’s door with a pre-prepared program.

“Huh?”

The reason Jung Hyun-woo let out a short groan was that the system’s door opened too easily.

The university he opened the door to was A University in New York State.

‘It opens this easily? Is it possible there isn’t even a password?’

A University’s security system was like a vault without a lock.

“Hmm.”

Jung Hyun-woo looked at the contents inside.

“The vault is empty.”

The easily opened vault was empty.

Perhaps it was because there was nothing inside that they didn’t put a lock on it.

‘Not even a thesis, just a few source codes?’

He let out a short sigh.

“Ha, it’s too bad to back down like this…”

He was very disappointed. So he turned his direction to the west. The universities that gave birth to Silicon Valley became his target.

‘This side will be a little different.’

He thought that the system security would be different since they were the schools that were the foundation of the IT industry.

Tap. Tatak.

Jung Hyun-woo’s spearhead was aimed at C School in California.

Five minutes later.

The C School’s system also opened powerlessly.

“Did they not care about security at all?”

In the 1980s, communication systems represented by modems were being established even in homes.

In this situation, it was surprising that they were so ignorant of security.

“Did they think hacking university systems wasn’t profitable?”

Many of the university’s research data were not yet networked.

‘Data isn’t the problem.’

C University had a supercomputer, and Jung Hyun-woo was able to obtain access to this supercomputer. Of course, he had no intention of moving the supercomputer.

“Hmm.”

Jung Hyun-woo took his hand off the keyboard and crossed his arms.

‘Is it because the financial system hasn’t been networked yet?’

The place that cares most about security is, of course, financial institutions where money is exchanged.

The security company he worked for also had financial institutions as its main customers.

“At this rate, an accident will happen someday.”

He thought that hackers could never be stopped with such a security system.

Of course, people at this time were not completely neglecting security as Jung Hyun-woo thought.

The Department of Defense, as well as the FBI and CIA, had long created departments or teams dedicated to hacking, and people were very interested in hacking to the point where movies related to hacking were being shown in theaters.

However, the security system at this time was not as developed as Jung Hyun-woo thought.

And the hacking technology he possessed was developed by geniuses over decades.

In a word, his technology now was over-technology.

“Should I appeal to financial institutions?”

Jung Hyun-woo briefly considered establishing a security company, but soon shook his head.

“Ha, I almost dug another well [started another venture].”

The stock price confirmation system contracted with JP Morgan was still in the design stage.

Increasing the workload here was something that should not be done.

‘I’m so greedy…’

He thought that one of the reasons why his useless talents were increasing was greed.

“I have to get rid of greed.”

Jung Hyun-woo closed his eyes.

“Hoo…”

As he let out a long sigh, his greed decreased and his mind calmed down.

“First, let’s complete Zero Space 3, and then focus on JP Morgan.”

There was a limit to what one person could do.

In order to do more work, more people were naturally needed.

He concluded that he should not increase the workload until he increased the number of people.

***

“Sarah, what’s going on today?”

It was Sarah who visited MIT again today.

“Regular meeting.”

“Yes?”

“We are students and businessmen. It’s a problem if you forget this point.”

Sarah wanted to run Victoria Corporation in earnest.

Jung Hyun-woo scratched his head and accepted her words.

“I know.”

“How is the development of Zero Space 3 going?”

“It will be finished in March.”

“March?”

“Because I have to test it throughout February.”

Sarah thought the development speed was slower than before.

‘Is the speed slowing down because I’m doing it in parallel with my studies?’

Of course, this was also one of the reasons why the development speed was slow. However, the biggest reason for the slow development speed was the graphics of Zero Space 3.

The game industry was developing rapidly, and the same was true for game graphics. Recently, it was impossible to create a hit with simple pixels alone.

Compared to last year, Jung Hyun-woo was designing the units in more detail.

“Then should we postpone the work with JP Morgan?”

“There’s no need to do that. We can start right away if we hire new employees.”

Jung Hyun-woo didn’t think he needed to test Zero Space 3 himself.

‘I can leave the testing to someone else.’

In fact, he could have left the testing to Activision, but he didn’t want to be indebted to Activision.

“Then when are you going to have the interview?”

“You said five people applied last time, right?”

“Two more have been added, so there are seven.”

“Let’s have the interview this week.”

Sarah raised her voice at the end of her sentence.

“Where?”

“Shall we do it in the garage?”

“Garage?”

“We have a garage at our house.”

The house where Jung Hyun-woo lived with Choi Kyung-min.

The house had not yet been disposed of.

Even the Ford car that Choi Kyung-min used to drive was still there.

“But why the garage?”

“Famous companies all started in garages.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes.

“Charlie, aren’t you too impressed by Bill’s bluff [referring to the mythologized origins of Microsoft]?”

She thought Bill Gates’ story was a bluff. But the content was not just a bluff.

“Anyway, the interview is in the garage this weekend.”

“Okay. I’ll notify them.”

As Jung Hyun-woo was about to get up from his seat, Sarah lightly tapped the table.

Thud. Thud.

When he stopped getting up, she said.

“Charlie, there’s still a story left.”

Jung Hyun-woo sat back in his chair.

“What’s going on?”

“I finished the contract.”

“Ah, you mean the company building.”

“How are you going to design it?”

“Design?”

Sarah nodded and asked.

“The company office interior should be tailored to the CEO’s taste.”

“I’m fine with anything.”

“What if I go for the grotesque side?”

Jung Hyun-woo answered calmly to her question.

“Sarah wouldn’t do that.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes at his answer.

“Are you going to leave everything to me? You seem to have a lack of interest in Victoria lately.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been short on time since I started the semester…”

It wasn’t just a pretense.

The lectures at MIT were getting more and more difficult. Moreover, his competitors were geniuses recognized in each region and country.

“Okay. I’ll take care of this. Can I decide which floor to use for our office here?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“Please.”

Sarah released her narrowed eyes.

“Hoo, it’s okay to take a leave of absence if it’s too hard.”

She checked the dark circles under Jung Hyun-woo’s eyes.

‘He didn’t even have dark circles when he was developing Zero Space.’

Jung Hyun-woo was definitely overdoing it.

Sarah thought she had to hold him back.

“It’s okay. It’s not that bad yet.”

“What if you have a nosebleed?”

“…”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t say no. In fact, his head was throbbing and ringing every time he woke up in the morning.

“You won’t get kicked out of school if you miss a lecture or two. It’s okay to rest on days when you don’t feel well.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew that much. The problem was the expectations on his shoulders.

“Expectations are high from Korea.”

“For getting into MIT?”

“Yes.”

Sarah put her hands together.

“That’s why you can’t take a leave of absence?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded slowly.

“I can’t go ahead, but I want to keep up somehow.”

Sarah was also from a prestigious family, so she knew what the family’s expectations were like.

“Okay, then I’ll make time on the weekend.”

“Yes?”

“This side has studied university more. I can’t teach you major studies, but I can teach you other things.”

Sarah was going to give him basic tips such as how to write reports.

***

Jung Hyun-woo’s garage.

Since the Ford car was still there, the space for the interview was not very large.

Sarah created a temporary interview room with folding chairs and tables she bought from Walmart.

“The interviewees will come in order.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded while sitting in a folding chair.

“We’re hiring regular employees, not part-timers, right?”

“That’s up to Charlie.”

Meaning that part-time is also okay depending on the case.

“Then is it okay to hire college students as part-timers?”

“We put part-time in the job posting, so do whatever you want. It’s Charlie, not me, who needs employees.”

There were more college students in Boston than general applicants. She wrote the job posting considering these aspects.

“Okay, it’s time for the first applicant to come.”

Jung Hyun-woo tilted his head when he saw that her wristwatch had changed.

“It’s not Cartier?”

“It’s Hamilton when I’m at school.”

Sarah was skillfully changing her clothes and fashion depending on the place and time.

Thud. Thud.

Someone knocked on the garage door.

“There’s a door next to it.”

When Sarah raised her voice, the left door of the garage opened.

“Excuse me.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows when he checked the face of the person who came in.

“Lee?”

The first interviewee was Linus Torvalds, who flew in from Finland.

Lee also recognized him and was very surprised.

“Charlie?”

Sarah turned her gaze and raised her voice.

“Do you know him?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“He’s a student in the same department.”

In the first place, the qualification for application was someone who could become a computer software developer.

It was not strange that a student in the same department as Lee applied.

Sarah turned her gaze back to Lee.

“Welcome.”

Lee scratched his head at her clear voice.

“Ah, I’m Linus Torvalds.”

Sarah quickly introduced Jung Hyun-woo and herself.

“I’m Sarah, and this is Charlie. It seems like you know each other, is that right?”

Lee nodded.

“Yes, Charlie is a student at the same school.”

“Then there’s no need for a long explanation.”

Lee scratched his head.

“That’s…”

He thought he should hear an explanation of why Jung Hyun-woo was here.

“Please sit down. This is the temporary interview site for Victoria Corporation.”

Lee tilted his head, looking back and forth between the blonde beauty and the boy who was not yet a teenager.

‘This is Victoria Corporation?’

He couldn’t figure out what was going on at all.

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