The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 60

***

“Robert, you’ve made it in the world.”

The one who spoke with a sneer was Henderson, the vice president of Activision.

“I guess you could say I’ve made it.”

Perhaps it was because they had built Activision together?

Robert didn’t pay any attention to his sarcasm.

“Under some kid and a young lady, I heard?”

“Better than being under a scruffy old man.”

Henderson and Robert were meeting in a small town in the American Midwest. The reason for meeting here was to prevent rumors from spreading in Silicon Valley.

“I can understand Zero Space, but you’re asking for the AMX series and Parasite too?”

“Include the Block series as well.”

The Block series was a simple puzzle game, but it had been well-received by North American users for its impactful graphic effects.

“Do you think this proposal makes sense?”

“Henderson, isn’t it possible?”

Henderson frowned.

“Robert, are you still resenting us? It wasn’t us who decided to lay you off.”

Henderson thought that Robert was attacking Activision because he harbored resentment over his layoff. However, Henderson’s assumption was completely different from the truth.

Robert didn’t resent their layoff; rather, he thought it was a blessing in disguise.

“Henderson, you’re mistaken. I’m trying to give you guys a chance.”

The lines etched on Henderson’s forehead deepened.

“A chance? You’re trying to take all of our company’s IP [Intellectual Property]; how is that a chance?”

“Henderson, what good is IP if Activision goes bankrupt? It’ll be sold off cheaply to those who don’t know the value of the games. Wouldn’t it be better to sell it to those who know its value and pay the right price?”

Robert judged that preventing bankruptcy was the top priority. But Henderson thought Activision could survive without outside help.

“Robert, the year-end season is coming up. Sales will increase again.”

The year-end season, starting with Black Friday, was such a big shopping season that it could determine a U.S. company’s annual sales.

However, Robert didn’t think there would be a dramatic turnaround even when the year-end season started.

“The market is still not good.”

“Robert, we’ll make it.”

“If we fail on Black Friday, the company’s value will plummet uncontrollably.”

Henderson clenched his fist.

“We won’t fail. We’ve always won on Black Friday.”

Robert sighed briefly at Henderson’s confident words.

“Haa, Henderson, remember this. Our offer is 3 million dollars. And if you need my help, contact me anytime.”

The budget he had received from Jung Hyun-woo was 5 million dollars, but he didn’t use it all from the start.

‘Narrowing the gap between each other is the basis of a deal.’

Henderson said briefly to Robert, who was about to get up.

“1 million dollars.”

Robert paused and asked.

“1 million dollars?”

“That’s the price for taking the Zero series.”

Activision had put a price of 1 million dollars on the IP of the Zero Space series. Robert had previously priced the Zero Space series at 300,000 dollars. In other words, Henderson was declaring that he would not sell any of Activision’s IP.

Robert said in a low voice.

“Henderson, I’m trying to help you.”

Henderson didn’t believe his words.

“A traitor is good at talking.”

Robert wondered who the traitor was.

‘Besides, this guy is all twisted inside.’

The North American game market was still plummeting.

In 1983, more than 100 game developers went bankrupt.

The reason Victoria Corporation was able to easily acquire excellent talent was that so many developers had gone bankrupt and were losing their jobs.

“Henderson, don’t doubt our good intentions.”

Henderson burst into anger at his words.

“Good intentions?”

Instead of getting angry, Robert suppressed his emotions and said.

“If it weren’t for me, Charlie would have negotiated with Atari, not Activision.”

The number of hit games was much higher at Atari than at Activision. Moreover, Atari was shaking even more severely than Activision.

If he made the same offer to Atari, they would likely accept it.

“So, you were going to make this garbage offer to Atari and then turned your guns on us?”

“Garbage offer?”

“Trying to buy our precious IP at a cheap price; what else would it be but a garbage offer?”

Robert was dumbfounded.

“Hahaha, Henderson.”

Henderson shouted.

“Robert, have you lost all pride as a developer? If you try to buy the blood and tears of developers at a cheap price, you will face their curse.”

Robert stopped laughing and narrowed his brow.

“Henderson, don’t be mistaken. I’m an executive at Victoria, not Activision. And the 3 million dollars I offered you is my last act of goodwill.”

Henderson said coldly.

“You’ve changed. A lot.”

Robert said as he turned away.

“Maybe so. But if you and Activision both don’t change, you won’t survive this ice age.”

The North American game market was freezing so quickly that the expression ‘ice age’ was fitting.

‘The world is moving towards the future. Henderson, how long will you stay in the past? If you don’t change, you’ll just disappear like the dinosaurs.’

Once Black Friday passed, Activision and Henderson’s momentum would inevitably wane. He decided to wait for that time.

***

A break after 6 months.

Jung Hyun-woo met up with his college friends for the first time in a while.

“Yo, how have you been?”

The young man with a bright smile was Frank. Jung Hyun-woo nodded lightly as he approached.

“Not exactly well… just getting by.”

“How’s the company?”

The rumor that Jung Hyun-woo had started a company had now spread widely among his classmates.

“So-so.”

“So-so? What kind of answer is that?”

“It’s just so-so, literally.”

Linuz Korhonen, who joined next, grabbed Jung Hyun-woo’s shoulder.

“Don’t let him fool you guys.”

Linuz Korhonen, or Lee for short, was the only classmate who worked at Jung Hyun-woo’s company. Frank’s eyebrows furrowed at his words.

“Fool us?”

Lee wrapped his arm around Jung Hyun-woo’s shoulder and answered his question.

“Don’t be surprised, Charlie is already a millionaire.”

Frank narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

“Charlie’s a millionaire? Lee, April Fool’s Day is still far away.”

Yuka also thought Lee’s exaggeration was too much.

“Lee, you’re making Charlie uncomfortable. Stop with those jokes.”

Lee sighed deeply as the two of them cornered him.

“Haa, you guys don’t believe me.”

Yuka said with a pitiful look.

“It’s not that we don’t believe you, Lee, it’s that you’re exaggerating too much. Charlie hasn’t even been running his company for a year.”

Lee had been commissioned by Jung Hyun-woo to oversee the Zero Space 3 at the beginning of the year. All they knew was that Victoria Corporation was a company that was less than a year old.

“Hmm, hmm. You guys don’t know anything. The company Charlie founded just launched JP Service with JP Morgan.”

Since JP Morgan had been heavily advertising JP Service, even MIT students knew about JP Service.

Yuka asked with wide eyes.

“Charlie did JP Service?”

Frank had the same reaction.

“No way.”

Lee took his hand off Jung Hyun-woo’s shoulder and raised his voice.

“If it weren’t for my grades, I would have developed JP Service with Victoria too. Right?”

Jung Hyun-woo couldn’t deny his words.

‘He’s definitely skilled.’

If it weren’t for his terrible grades, Lee could have been a founding member of Victoria. But after failing his final exams, he had to head to the library instead of Victoria Corporation.

Frank turned his gaze to Jung Hyun-woo and asked.

“Charlie, is everything Lee said true?”

Jung Hyun-woo shrugged.

“It’s true that Victoria collaborated with JP Morgan. However, it’s not like Lee said, that we’ve become a huge success or gotten rich overnight.”

So far, the balance sheet was still in the red.

‘If it weren’t for the money we made from the Atari shock, we wouldn’t have even been able to start this project.’

Yuka raised her voice at his answer.

“Collaboration with JP Morgan. So, what Lee said wasn’t a complete lie?”

“You could say that.”

Lee cleared his throat lightly after hearing Jung Hyun-woo’s answer.

“Hmm. Hmm. Did you hear that? There’s no way I would have made up baseless nonsense.”

Frank also tilted his head as if he was surprised.

“Collaborating with JP Morgan in freshman year. I never even thought about that.”

Lee raised his right index finger and said.

“It’s time for someone like Bill Gates to come out of our school too.”

He was one of the MIT people who thought they couldn’t lose to Harvard or Stanford.

“Yeah, our school has been too quiet lately.”

In the 1980s, Stanford and Harvard graduates were making a name for themselves in the IT industry. But those two schools weren’t the leaders in the IT industry from the start.

Originally, it was MIT that was ahead in the IT industry.

The words ‘hacker’ and ‘hacking,’ which represent excellent programmers and developers, all started at MIT, and MIT developers boasted outstanding skills.

“Should I start a business too?”

Lee sighed deeply as Frank raised his voice.

“Hoo… Frank, let’s just focus on getting good grades.”

“Why grades? I have higher grades than Lee or Charlie.”

On the surface, Frank was a mood maker that you could easily find at any school. But he was also an honor student and a genius who maintained a high GPA of 3.0 or higher in the grade hell that was MIT.

Jung Hyun-woo looked around at his friends and said.

“If you have a good business idea, I don’t think grade level or GPA matters. What’s important is the will and ability to do business, and the time and luck to support it.”

Frank raised his voice as if he was excited.

“See, Charlie thinks the same way I do. Grade level or GPA doesn’t matter.”

“Frank, Charlie said you need the time and luck to support it.”

“I think I have both of those.”

“Really?”

It was when Lee was making a bitter expression. A heavy voice came from behind.

“Charlie, long time no see.”

It was Thomas Norn, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.

“Professor Norn.”

“Charlie, I heard you’re on leave.”

Jung Hyun-woo stood up and greeted him.

“I’ve been too busy to say hello.”

Professor Norn had no intention of blaming him. He already knew that Jung Hyun-woo was incredibly busy.

“I heard you’re working with JP Morgan.”

“Yes, we just launched a new service.”

“That service would be JP Service, right?”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and answered his question.

“Yes, I think I’ll continue to be busy until the first half of next year.”

Professor Norn raised his right hand halfway.

“Charlie, can we talk for a bit?”

He meant that he wanted to talk to him alone, away from his classmates.

Jung Hyun-woo nodded.

“Of course.”

As he answered that it was possible, his classmates got up from their seats.

“Charlie, see you again.”

“Charlie, see you next time.”

“Charlie, you have to come back to school.”

“Okay!”

Jung Hyun-woo waved goodbye to his friends and then walked away with Professor Norn.

***

A thick document.

The document was filled with various tables and indicators.

“What do you think?”

Jung Hyun-woo frowned at Professor Norn’s question.

“I don’t think it’s a project that can be done with current technology.”

“Is that your judgment too?”

The document that Professor Norn showed Jung Hyun-woo was a project that someone had commissioned MIT to research.

“I think it would take 100 years to implement this project.”

“100 years?”

What Professor Norn showed him was a perfectly implemented neural network computer.

21st-century computer technology had partially implemented neural network computers with the development of AI and related technologies, but it had not reached the level of the project that Professor Norn showed him.

“Professor, who commissioned this project?”

“I can’t reveal that.”

Jung Hyun-woo could guess the client just from his answer.

‘The U.S. government.’

CIA [Central Intelligence Agency], the Department of Defense, or agencies under them; he thought that one of them had commissioned MIT to research neural network computers.

Professor Norn slightly raised his voice.

“Charlie, do you think researching this now is a waste of time?”

The theory of neural networks had a long history.

Some started with the Greek era, and some started with Warren’s research in 1943. No matter which standard you set, the theory of neural networks was not a newly developed theory.

“Professor, I don’t think any research is a waste of time.”

Just as the atomic bomb was not born overnight, neural network computers could also come into the world after constant research.

“Hmm, no research is a waste of time. I asked a foolish question.”

He looked at Jung Hyun-woo and thought.

‘A strange kid.’

Professor Norn had met countless geniuses at MIT. But Jung Hyun-woo was the first boy who was so relaxed. He was talking as if he had already experienced a distant world.

‘The feeling that he knows the future must be my imagination.’

Professor Norn thought that it couldn’t be and changed the subject.

“Since I asked you one thing, you should ask me one thing too. That’s how it will be a fair trade.”

Jung Hyun-woo said in a soft voice at his suggestion.

“Okay. Then I’ll ask one too.”

“I’m waiting for your question.”

“Professor, how far along is the project to connect American universities with a network?”

Professor Norn put his hands behind his back at his question.

“Hmm, you’re particularly interested in network systems.”

He thought that Jung Hyun-woo’s interest in network systems was the driving force behind the JP Service.

‘Charlie talked about the network first even during the entrance interview. It’s no coincidence that this kid developed JP Service.’

Perhaps the network system was the key to opening the door to the future.

Did he read his thoughts?

Jung Hyun-woo said exactly what he had just thought.

“Because I think the road to the future is in the network.”

The road to the future is in the network.

Professor Norn nodded slowly.

“The theory that everyone can be connected through the network.”

The theory of connecting people to people through the network became a reality with the advent of smartphones and SNS in the 21st century.

Jung Hyun-woo had seen that future with his own eyes. He slightly raised his voice.

“What do you think, Professor?”

Professor Norn turned his gaze out the window.

“A society connected by networks. I still don’t know.”

He still doesn’t know.

This meant that he could only make clumsy inferences.

A very scholarly position.

“You seem to think that IT technology helps people understand each other.”

Connecting people to people.

In theory, those connected by the network should have understood each other more deeply. But Jung Hyun-woo knew.

‘Network technology did not save humans from loneliness.’

In some cases, it conversely plunged humans into deeper loneliness.

“Theoretically, that’s true, but I think different phenomena can occur when it becomes reality.”

Professor Norn tilted his head at Jung Hyun-woo’s words.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you were an infinite optimist.”

There were many optimists among those who led huge projects and moved forward. He thought that Jung Hyun-woo was one of those optimists.

Jung Hyun-woo slightly tightened his voice.

“Humanity must move towards the future, but that future will not necessarily be all bright.”

Knowing the 21st century, he could rule out infinite optimism.

‘The 21st century I lived in was far from utopia.’

The problems that existed in the 20th century were not solved at all and were carried over to the 21st century.

“Charlie, shall we talk about something else?”

Jung Hyun-woo asked back at Professor Norn’s question.

“What topic would you like to discuss, Professor?”

“Victoria’s potential.”

Victoria’s potential.

This was a topic of conversation that Jung Hyun-woo had not expected at all.

‘Does that mean Professor Norn has been paying attention to our company?’

You never knew.

“MIT is paying attention to Victoria.”

Not Professor Norn, but MIT is paying attention to Victoria Corporation.

Jung Hyun-woo’s eyes widened.

“Not you, but the school is paying attention to Victoria Corporation?”

Professor Norn answered in a low voice.

“Both I and the school are paying attention to your company.”

There was no lie in his answer and eyes.

Then MIT and he were sincerely paying attention to Victoria Corporation.

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