The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 52

52. Becoming a Villain in a Chaebol Family – Another Bubble 03 –

***

2.03

It wasn’t the ERA [Earned Run Average, a baseball statistic] of a Major League ace.

“Haa······.”

“Charlie, why the deep sigh?”

“Just checked my grades.”

“Final test? How did it go?”

The one who spoke to Jung Hyun-woo was a friend named Frank. He was a typical American middle-class student who loved baseball.

“It’s a mess.”

Frank raised his eyebrows and said,

“No way······.”

No way.

The ‘no way’ that happens to international students.

That was academic probation.

Jung Hyun-woo quickly waved his right hand.

“It’s not that.”

For international students, academic probation put their visas at risk.

‘Whew······. Professor Norn gave me a good score on this final test too. In reality, it’s as good as getting academic probation.’

The first test taken without John River’s help.

The result was a narrow escape by a paper’s width.

Frank patted his shoulder, relieved that it wasn’t academic probation.

“Charlie’s face was so dark, I thought it was that.”

“It’s just that my grades aren’t good.”

The reason why Jung Hyun-woo’s face was serious despite not being on academic probation.

It was because he had prepared for this test while reducing his work at Victoria Corporation.

‘Hoo, does that mean I can’t win against the MIT geniuses head-on?’

A difference in talent?

If not, a difference in effort?

Perhaps both.

However, there was one thing Jung Hyun-woo didn’t consider. Most of the students who took the test with him had been in school for another semester.

Less than 5% were admitted mid-year like him.

Of course, a semester difference might not be a big deal. But the first and second semesters of freshman year were distinctly different.

The former were those just adjusting to college, while the latter had adapted to college lectures and tests. If these two took the exam, it was natural for there to be a difference in grades.

Considering this, it couldn’t be simply called a failing grade.

“Charlie, how about a refreshing beer?”

“Hey, this guy is a minor [under the legal drinking age].”

Frank scratched his head.

“Ah, right.”

“But Frank, aren’t you going home?”

MIT was on summer vacation. Many students had already left school and returned home.

“I’m going to stay here for another month or so.”

“Maybe the lab?”

“Yeah, I got my foot in Professor Yan’s lab.”

MIT students didn’t just attend lectures. Many students conducted research together in professors’ labs. And they used the research results for their graduation theses and portfolios.

Jung Hyun-woo nodded, praising Frank’s efforts.

“You can trust Professor Yan.”

Frank also raised his right thumb.

“What about Professor Norn? He’s the best too.”

He thought Jung Hyun-woo was a student researching under Professor Norn. But the reality was the opposite.

Professor Norn was the one receiving help from Jung Hyun-woo.

‘Hmm, since he gave me good test scores, I should visit Professor Norn’s lab once.’

Help with the program and get grades.

Some might say it was unreasonable, but it was an important deal for Jung Hyun-woo.

“Charlie, now that I think about it, I don’t see Lee.”

Jung Hyun-woo and Linus Korhonen were often together. So Frank thought the two were best friends.

Jung Hyun-woo raised his right hand and pointed to the sky.

“Lee went.”

“To heaven? No way?”

“Heaven, my foot, he went back to his country.”

Frank clapped his hands as if he just remembered.

“Ah, right. Lee came from Europe, didn’t he?”

Frank didn’t seem to remember Linus Korhonen’s home country.

“Finland, Finland.”

“Ah, that Santa’s country? Is Lee’s hometown the same as Santa Claus’s?”

“Santa is······.”

Jung Hyun-woo trailed off.

‘Let’s stop.’

Frank was a typical American who wasn’t interested in other countries.

Jung Hyun-woo was just glad that he remembered Finland was Santa’s country.

‘Well, this is excellent for an American who isn’t interested in the world.’

He gave Frank a generous score.

***

Victoria Corporation.

An IT company located in downtown Boston.

The company roster listed a total of 27 employees, a significant gap compared to the well-known companies in Silicon Valley. However, the energy within the company was second to none.

“Have you arrived?”

Paul, an employee from Development Team 2, bowed deeply.

Jung Hyun-woo entered the office and asked,

“Paul, what were the test results like yesterday?”

At his question, Paul quickly gathered the data.

“There were some bugs.”

“There were bugs?”

“Yes, there were pixels on the left screen······.”

Jung Hyun-woo narrowed his brows.

‘Bugs in this simple program? No way?’

He focused on the screen.

A dark red dot was visible on the upper left.

‘Hmm.’

Jung Hyun-woo pointed to the dark red dot and said,

“This isn’t a bug, it looks like something is on it, let’s wipe it.”

Paul diligently wiped the screen, and soon the black dot disappeared. He scratched his head and gave an awkward smile.

“That was······. The screen was dirty.”

CRT [Cathode Ray Tube] monitors had a significantly lower rate of defective pixels compared to LCD [Liquid Crystal Display] monitors.

‘Some even say that defective pixels in CRT monitors are technically impossible.’

Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible for defective pixels to occur in CRT monitors.

He had once read a paper about defective pixels occurring in CRT monitors.

‘Did it say that there was a problem with the production line when mono monitors were changed to color monitors?’

The exact reason was not remembered.

‘Well, that’s not important.’

Looking at the thick CRT monitor, Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t help but think about the passage of time.

‘If it were now, it would be worth considering investing in a company with LCD technology.’

Knowing the future, there were too many places to invest. He checked the screen again and turned his gaze.

“Are there any other bugs?”

Paul quickly answered his question.

“Yes, there were none other than that in yesterday’s test.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and called the team leader of Development Team 2.

“Young!”

Young Bolton.

He was someone who was almost laid off from Activision, a developer with four years of experience.

Young Bolton rose from his seat at Jung Hyun-woo’s call.

“President, did you call?”

Whether old or young, Jung Hyun-woo was the employer and president. The employees of Victoria Corporation moved in unison at his call.

‘They must be working harder because they were hired in a comeback story.’

If it weren’t for Victoria Corporation, they would still be running around with job applications.

‘The IT industry hasn’t recovered from the Atari shock [the video game crash of 1983].’

It was a nightmare for the IT industry, especially game developers.

“Come this way.”

Young Bolton quickly approached him.

“Is there a problem?”

Jung Hyun-woo handed him a piece of paper.

“There’s no problem, this is the item that Team 2 needs to test this week.”

Young Bolton looked at the test items written on the paper and adjusted his glasses.

“President, are we testing all of this?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded at his question.

“The service launch is only two months away. I know it’s a tight schedule, but please hurry.”

JP Morgan wanted to service a new stock market system in the second half of 1983.

Young Bolton raised his voice with the paper containing the test items in his hand.

“Wouldn’t it be a little difficult?”

“If you can’t do this, everyone in Team 2 may lose their jobs again.”

Young Bolton’s attitude changed at the mention of losing his job.

“I understand. I will test everything, even if it means working overtime.”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed briefly and continued.

“Young, make sure to properly take care of the overtime pay for the team members, please.”

Victoria Corporation was far from a company with a ‘칼퇴근(leaving on time) [Kal-toe-geun, a Korean term for leaving work exactly on time]’ culture. Half of the company’s developers were working overtime five days a week, from Monday to Friday.

Some might call this a black company [exploitative workplace]. However, Jung Hyun-woo thought it was unavoidable to meet the schedule presented by JP Morgan.

‘Customers and shareholders in the 1980s don’t just wait.’

The Atari’s blockbuster game ET was released in a terrible state all because of the shareholders’ pressure.

‘We can’t go down the same path as Atari.’

Service timing and completeness.

The sacrifice of employees was inevitable to take care of both.

‘I know. I know I’m a bad boss.’

But his conclusion was that it was better than the company going bankrupt. There is nothing as foolish as being a good person in difficult times.

He knew this.

As Jung Hyun-woo went deeper inside, a female employee with dark red hair approached.

“President, Vice President Hilton called this morning.”

Vice President Hilton.

It was referring to Sarah, the COO [Chief Operating Officer].

“To Sarah?”

“Yes, she said she would arrive at the office in the afternoon······.”

“She could have rested today.”

On the day of returning from New York.

Jung Hyun-woo had called her, saying she could rest since it was the last day of the business trip.

But Sarah had no intention of doing so.

“I understand.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew why she had bothered to leave a message.

‘Don’t go anywhere else, wait here.’

Instead of going into the president’s office, he took a seat on one side of Development Team 1.

This was his development desk.

“President, have you arrived?”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his right hand at the greeting of the employee sitting next to him.

“Call me Charlie. I’m a developer in Team 1.”

He was the president of Victoria Corporation and the team leader of Development Team 1.

‘Actually, the team leader of Development Team 2 is more suitable for this.’

He was a developer with strengths in software rather than servers. However, there was no suitable experienced person in Development Team 1, which had to build a network system.

So he had no choice but to take on the role of team leader of Development Team 1.

‘Hoo, it’s a time when there’s no internet yet.’

Network programs in the 1980s were truly one of the most advanced technologies.

“President, please look at this code.”

“Charlie.”

“Charlie, this code.”

Jung Hyun-woo got up from his seat and headed towards the person who called him.

“Hmm, what is this?”

A twisted code that developers often talk about.

It wasn’t something that could be easily fixed.

“Who wrote this?”

“That’s······.”

“It’s Adam.”

Adam Smith.

The same name as the famous person who wrote The Wealth of Nations.

Adam was quite eccentric. Nevertheless, Jung Hyun-woo chose him because his portfolio and test results were outstanding.

“Adam didn’t come to work today, so I couldn’t ask him.”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows.

“He didn’t come to work?”

He thought that no matter how talented he was, he couldn’t use him if he repeatedly took unauthorized leave.

“He’s on vacation.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t an unauthorized absence.

Jung Hyun-woo turned his gaze back to the monitor.

“Hmm, if Adam wrote the code, didn’t the results come out properly?”

Adam was eccentric and used strange code and inaccurate language, but strangely, only the results came out properly.

“That’s true, but I need to modify this part.”

It wasn’t that the results were wrong, but that the code needed to be modified due to new requirements.

Jung Hyun-woo thought that you shouldn’t touch the code of a developer with a strong personality.

‘It’s better to rewrite it from the beginning.’

He raised his right index finger and spun it around.

“Leave that part as it is and move on to another part.”

“Then the modification is······.”

“When Adam comes to work tomorrow, leave it to him.”

“I understand.”

Because the delivery date was approaching, the desks of Development Team 1 were also busy.

After lunchtime, about an hour had passed.

“Charlie?”

Someone was covering Jung Hyun-woo’s monitor with their hand.

Jung Hyun-woo looked up at the person covering the monitor.

“Sarah?”

Sarah sighed briefly and said,

“Ha, no answer even when I call.”

Jung Hyun-woo had no choice but to scratch his head.

“I was concentrating on coding. When did you come?”

“Just now.”

Jung Hyun-woo got up from his seat and said,

“Let’s go inside.”

You couldn’t have important company conversations at the development desk.

Squeak.

The two opened the door and entered the president’s office, which was decorated with a modern interior.

Sarah placed a thick pile of documents on the table.

Thud.

“Hoo.”

A long sigh.

Jung Hyun-woo could tell that her trip to New York hadn’t been easy.

“Did JP Morgan make strict demands?”

“It’s not just JP Morgan.”

“Is John also a problem?”

“John is a bit of a problem too.”

Jung Hyun-woo scratched his head.

“I think I sent the wrong person.”

“It’s not that bad, should I say John lacks sociability?”

A lack of sociability wasn’t just John River’s problem.

‘Developers with abundant sociability are only a handful.’

And those with excellent sociability and a great sense of humor were mostly running IT companies beyond being simple developers.

“How was Peter?”

One of Sarah’s business trip tasks was to finalize the investment agreement with Magellan Fund.

“It was good.”

“Does that mean it went moderately well?”

“The initial investment of $10 million has already generated $1.5 million in profit. The rise of Toyota Motor is noticeable.”

A 15% return in just one month.

‘This is not just excellent.’

It was a whopping 180% per year.

“What about the real estate fund?”

“They said they just created the team. This side will only properly run in 1984.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“That means it will take about half a year.”

“This is a new field for Magellan and Peter too.”

“I hope it goes well with Peter.”

“Peter said that too.”

Peter Lynch was able to take a breather with Victoria Corporation’s investment.

“But Sarah, it seems like there’s something more······. Is it just my worry?”

Sarah sighed briefly.

“Hoo, it’s not a worry. Activision has plummeted.”

Jung Hyun-woo received the income from Zero Space 3 in Activision stock instead. And he invested an additional $500,000 here. Because of this, Victoria Corporation’s total investment in Activision amounted to $1 million.

The reason why Sarah’s face was dark was because she had suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses in a week. On the other hand, Jung Hyun-woo was calm because he had expected the loss.

“Does that mean it plummeted at the same time as the IPO [Initial Public Offering]?”

“It survived well on the first day, but it didn’t last a week.”

While Sarah was staying on Wall Street, Activision repeatedly plummeted.

“The damage is severe.”

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged and smiled.

“Sarah, let’s think of that $1 million as the price of keeping our loyalty to Activision.”

“What does that mean? Loyalty?”

“We were able to get this far because of Robert and Activision.”

It wasn’t an investment to make a profit. Jung Hyun-woo was saying this.

Sarah raised her eyebrows at his words.

“Even if all $1 million disappears?”

“Yes. It’s okay. We’re making money elsewhere.”

Jung Hyun-woo said he was making money elsewhere, but other than the income from Zero Space 3, nothing else was being recorded in Victoria Corporation’s books yet.

“Charlie.”

As Sarah tried to raise her voice, Jung Hyun-woo raised his right hand and said,

“Sarah, we’ve already made $1.5 million in Japan. That amount is more than enough to cover the $1 million loss from Activision.”

In theory, Jung Hyun-woo’s words were correct. But Sarah couldn’t easily understand the idea of investing knowing that she would lose money.

“If we hadn’t put $1 million into Activision and invested in Japan, there wouldn’t have been hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, and the profits would have been even greater.”

Jung Hyun-woo didn’t deny her words.

“That may be true. But the relationship with Activision would have gotten worse.”

“Relationship with Activision?”

“I can’t explain it in detail right now.”

“Just wait?”

“Yes.”

Don’t ask why, just wait. It was a story that wouldn’t work for anyone else. But Sarah believed in him.

“Okay. Since Charlie is asking me to wait, I’ll wait.”

“Sarah, I’m sorry.”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t tell anyone that he knew the future.

‘No one has ever told me not to do that, but if I tell the truth, it feels like everything will collapse.’

Sarah raised her right index finger and smiled.

“Charlie, don’t be sorry. Everyone has secrets.”

Was it because she was older?

She accepted his secret with a smile.

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