The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 86

86. The Hand That Moves the World (2)

Jeong Hyun-woo had been away from the company for about 20 days.

He couldn’t help but be surprised by the unexpectedly calm atmosphere in the office.

‘Hmm, is this the result of Robert’s efforts? Or Sarah’s?’

Robert was rarely in the office due to outside work, so if this was due to someone’s efforts, it was more likely to be Sarah.

‘Sarah might surpass Robert in terms of organizational management skills.’

It was then that he frowned.

“You’re back?”

The person who greeted Jeong Hyun-woo was Young Bolton, the head of Development Team 2.

“Young, how is the work progressing?”

“The testing of version 1.2 is complete, and we are about to move on to beta testing.”

Young Bolton was strong in practical work, as expected from someone who came from Activision.

“Already in beta testing?”

“It’s only three days ahead of schedule.”

“Three days. Good. Young, I’m planning to have a meeting this afternoon. Would that be possible?”

“I’ll be available after 4 PM.”

Jeong Hyun-woo raised his right hand slightly.

“Then let’s gather in my office at 4 PM.”

“Is it a meeting for key personnel only?”

“No. Call everyone you think is skilled.”

“Understood.”

Young Bolton answered him and then shifted his gaze to the monitor screen.

The atmosphere at Victoria Corporation was calm.

‘It runs smoothly even without the company’s representative. That means the system is in place.’

He felt relieved, but also somewhat disappointed.

‘Hoo… Did I want them to welcome me like Sarah?’

He knew it wasn’t possible, but the thought lingered in his mind.

‘In the end, it’s only Nuna [older sister or a term of endearment for a close older female friend] who cares.’

Jeong Hyun-woo passed Development Team 2 and headed to Team 1.

“Adam.”

At his call, Adam looked up.

“Mr. Jeong, when did you arrive?”

“Just now.”

“Ah, I see.”

Adam’s expression was awkward, as if he had been doing something strange.

“Is the system okay?”

“There were two troubles in the West this morning, but they were resolved well.”

“What about while I was away?”

Adam checked his notebook and replied.

“There were two major errors regionally, and one service interruption nationwide for about 3 hours.”

Jeong Hyun-woo put his hand on the partition and sighed.

“Hoo… If there were that many major errors, it means there were countless minor errors.”

Adam received his words with a nonchalant face.

“I think it’s inevitable when operating such a large-scale system.”

Jeong Hyun-woo had witnessed Google and Yahoo operating global-scale systems smoothly.

‘I’m not asking for that level, but it’s difficult for things to continue as they are now.’

He thought that minor errors in the system must be improved.

“Adam, I need all the error reports that occurred while I was away.”

Adam adjusted his glasses and asked.

“If it’s an error report, by when should I submit it?”

“Submit them as they are written.”

“By today?”

“Tomorrow is fine too.”

Adam nodded at his answer.

“Understood. I will write it by tomorrow and report it to you.”

Jeong Hyun-woo finished talking to him and sat down at his desk. He turned on the computer and took out the business card he had received from MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology].

‘The Federal Reserve Board.’

Since living his second life, he had met many people.

‘I’ve met tycoons and geniuses.’

But this was the first time he had met someone of this caliber.

‘They establish and manage the monetary policy of the United States.’

The United States was the center of the world economy. For the United States to manage monetary policy was like managing the world’s monetary policy.

‘Did this person also influence the Plaza Accord [an agreement between France, West Germany, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom to depreciate the U.S. dollar relative to the Japanese yen and German mark]?’

If he did well, he could find out when the Plaza Accord would be signed.

‘If I knew the exact timing of the Plaza Accord, I could make better investments.’

Various thoughts flashed through his mind.

‘Of course, what’s important now is to block JP Morgan’s offensive.’

JP Morgan had changed its position from the most important partner to the most dangerous enemy.

If they failed to properly block their attack, JP Service and Victoria Corporation would collapse.

‘Professor Dellin said he would contact me, so let’s wait.’

He put the business card in his pocket and turned his gaze to the screen.

* * *

4 PM.

Jeong Hyun-woo gathered the elite of Development Team 2 as scheduled and started the development meeting.

“I heard that version 1.2 is about to enter beta testing.”

Team leader Young Bolton acknowledged his statement.

“I set the test date with John, and he said that next Tuesday would be good.”

Jeong Hyun-woo lightly lifted his pen and said.

“Then proceed with that.”

Those gathered in the conference room thought that version 1.2 of JP Service was the topic of today’s meeting.

But Jeong Hyun-woo didn’t gather them to talk about version 1.2.

“I’m going to start a new project.”

At the words ‘new project,’ the employees’ expressions darkened. For the development team, a new project meant additional work.

‘A new project without expanding the workforce?’

‘I guess we have to work overtime again.’

‘I wish Mr. Jeong would go on vacation again.’

Victoria Corporation employees thought of Victoria Corporation like this:

The pay is good, but the working environment isn’t very good.

“Personally, I think it’s a difficult project.”

It was not only new but also difficult.

The employees couldn’t help but sigh deeply inside.

Young Bolton asked Jeong Hyun-woo on behalf of everyone.

“Mr. Jeong, is it a long-term project?”

If it was a long-term project, they could proceed with some leeway.

“If possible, I’d like to finish it within three months.”

Three months.

It was a very short-term project.

The faces of the Development Team 2 employees instantly stiffened.

“You mean we have to finish it within three months?”

Jeong Hyun-woo nodded and replied.

“I’m going to create another small team.”

“If it’s a small team, are you splitting the existing team?”

“We’re splitting the existing team and also recruiting new personnel.”

Recruiting new personnel was appreciated, but splitting the existing team meant that the remaining people would have to take on the responsibilities of those who left.

‘Combining the two, it’s closer to bad news than good news.’

Young Bolton asked again.

“Mr. Jeong, can you tell us what the project is?”

Jeong Hyun-woo calmly answered his question.

“Victoria Corporation has decided to cooperate with Commodore.”

Cooperation with Commodore.

The employees roughly realized how things were going.

“You mean we have to create a JP Service that will run on the Commodore series.”

Jeong Hyun-woo nodded at Young Bolton’s words.

“That’s right.”

He already knew that the employees wouldn’t like this project.

‘Because they’ll have to work overtime again.’

However, the employees’ expressions didn’t darken as he had expected.

Rather, they became brighter than when he first brought up the story.

‘Hmm, do they think this is surprisingly easy?’

Porting JP Service to the Commodore series.

This was as difficult as porting a game.

‘Robert even told me to give up, so it must be difficult.’

Young Bolton said as if to confirm.

“Mr. Jeong, if it’s porting to the Commodore series, we’ll have to use BASIC [Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages].”

Jeong Hyun-woo raised his right hand at his words.

“If there’s a better programming language, it’s good to use that. But for now, I’m thinking of BASIC.”

Young Bolton received his words in a bright voice.

“Boss, if we use BASIC, we won’t have to create a separate team.”

Jeong Hyun-woo tilted his head.

“You don’t have to create a separate team?”

“That’s right.”

“Is the BASIC version of JP Service that easy to make?”

Jeong Hyun-woo had been deeply involved in the design and development of JP Service.

‘JP Service is not that easy of a program.’

It was when he frowned.

“Because we have a BASIC genius in our company.”

“A BASIC genius?”

“If Andrei takes on the project, it will be possible within 5 months.”

Jeong Hyun-woo knew an employee named Andrei. He had a very ordinary impression, except that his forehead was a little receding. Moreover, his skills were also ordinary, so he couldn’t even attend this meeting where the elite of Development Team 2 gathered.

‘Can such a person create a BASIC version of JP Service in 5 months?’

It was unbelievable.

Andrei had never shown genius during the creation of JP Service.

‘If you’re good at one programming language, you can be good at two or three.’

If he showed genius-level skills in BASIC, he would be at least a semi-genius or a prodigy in C [a general-purpose, high-level programming language].

“I can’t believe it.”

As he lowered his right hand and spoke, Young Bolton added an explanation about Andrei.

“Andrei had never used C until he came to Victoria Corporation.”

Jeong Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows at his explanation.

“You mean he joined the company without knowing C?”

The programming language mainly used by Victoria Corporation was C.

In other words, not knowing C meant that he couldn’t be put into Victoria Corporation’s work.

“He’s still learning it now.”

Jeong Hyun-woo frowned.

“There’s no way I would have passed such an employee in the interview?”

He directly supervised the interviews of all employees with Sarah.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Victoria Corporation had thousands of employees, but the headquarters was small in size.

If there was an employee with a special history, there was no way Jeong Hyun-woo wouldn’t know.

“Robert brought Andrei.”

Jeong Hyun-woo stroked his chin at the words that Robert brought him.

‘That Robert?’

But Robert was negative about creating BASIC-compatible programs.

‘If Robert brought him, there’s no way he wouldn’t know Andrei’s skills. If he knew there was someone with that level of skill, there’s no way he would have been negative about creating compatible programs.’

The furrow in his brow grew deeper and deeper.

“Mr. Bolton, Robert didn’t bring Andrei.”

The one who spoke was an employee named Smith.

Young Bolton immediately turned his head when he refuted his words.

“The person who brought him wasn’t Robert?”

Smith nodded and replied.

“That’s right. John brought him.”

Jeong Hyun-woo raised his voice when he heard the name John.

“Are you talking about John River from the New York branch?”

“Yes, he’s the person John sent from New York. I think he did that because of the nickname ‘God of BASIC’.”

God of BASIC.

You could tell his field of expertise just by the nickname.

Even if Jeong Hyun-woo thought he was an outstanding person, there was one thing he couldn’t understand.

“You mean Andrei became an employee of our company without my approval?”

Smith shrugged his shoulders at his question.

“Without approval? Mr. Jeong clearly answered Yes.”

“I did?”

“Yes, it was already four months ago. You even signed it yourself.”

It was an absurd thing.

‘I answered Yes and even signed it?’

It was when Jeong Hyun-woo frowned deeply.

“At that time, the boss was talking to Miss Hilton about something.”

This time, it was an employee named Paul who spoke.

Jeong Hyun-woo slightly unfurrowed his brow after hearing his words.

“So you’re saying I approved it while talking to Sarah about something?”

“It seemed like a very important story.”

Jeong Hyun-woo sighed deeply.

“Hoo… The conclusion is that this side was negligent.”

He nodded as if he knew and said.

“Go and bring Andrei.”

At Jeong Hyun-woo’s instruction, Paul got up from his seat.

“Understood.”

A little later.

Paul appeared with Andrei.

Andrei greeted him with an awkward expression at the representative’s call.

“I heard the boss called for me.”

Jeong Hyun-woo recommended a seat close to him.

“Sit down.”

As Andrei sat down, he asked.

“Andrei, I heard that you specialize in BASIC, is that correct?”

Andrei looked at him carefully and replied.

“I mainly used BASIC in my previous company. I’m trying to use C here.”

“You know JP Service, right?”

“I know the parts I participated in.”

Jeong Hyun-woo’s question continued.

“Then what about the entire program?”

“I know all the parts that are visible on the outside.”

Jeong Hyun-woo tapped the desk with his pen and asked.

“Can you recreate JP Service with BASIC?”

“Recreate JP Service with BASIC?”

“We plan to make JP Service run on the Commodore series as well.”

Andrei knew that the Commodore series was optimized for BASIC.

“Are you thinking of recreating JP Service with BASIC due to compatibility issues?”

“Can you do what I just said?”

Andrei nodded at his question.

“I can.”

Jeong Hyun-woo sighed deeply inside at his answer.

‘Hoo… Luck is bursting out in an unexpected place.’

If JP Morgan’s fierce opposition was bad luck, then Andrei, the God of BASIC, could be said to be luck.

“How many months will it take?”

“It will take about two months.”

It was three months shorter than Young Bolton’s answer.

‘To take apart JP Service and recreate it with BASIC in two months. Even though he has experience participating in the development of JP Service, that’s amazing. The saying that he’s the God of BASIC doesn’t seem to be an exaggeration.’

Jeong Hyun-woo turned his head to Young Bolton.

“Young.”

“Boss, tell me.”

“From tomorrow, no, from today, Andrei will start developing JP Service.”

Young Bolton nodded at his instruction.

“Understood. I’ll assign his work to another employee.”

Jeong Hyun-woo turned his gaze back to Andrei.

“If we put in additional personnel, can we make it faster?”

Andrei shook his head.

“It’s more comfortable to make it alone.”

Among developers, there were those who handled everything alone like Andrei.

‘He’s a lone wolf style.’

He also pursued the lone wolf style at one time. But not anymore.

“Understood. Do it the way you’re comfortable with.”

Jeong Hyun-woo gave him instructions and then looked around and said.

“I’ll end today’s meeting here. Other than Andrei, everyone else can leave.”

Development Team 2 employees, including Young Bolton, quickly got up from their seats and went outside as if they were relieved.

Now, only Jeong Hyun-woo and Andrei were left.

“Andrei.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Andrei wasn’t a nerd, but he had a somewhat passive personality.

“What’s as important as time is accuracy.”

“You mean it has to work without bugs or errors.”

Jeong Hyun-woo put his hands together and said.

“If this project is successfully completed, you will be promoted to team leader.”

If he really succeeded in the project, it wouldn’t be a waste to give him an executive position instead of a team leader.

Andrei bowed his head at his suggestion.

“Boss, I’m not so sure about the team leader position.”

As a lone wolf type, he didn’t like standing above others.

“If you don’t like being a team leader, is there anything else you want?”

“I think a performance bonus would be better.”

Jeong Hyun-woo smiled slightly.

“Okay. Then let’s make it $100,000.”

Andrei blinked at the suggestion of $100,000.

“I’m not hearing things wrong, am I?”

“Is it not enough?”

“Ah, no.”

Andrei was famous as an excellent BASIC developer, but the era was shifting to other programs, including C. Thanks to this, he couldn’t become a star developer earning tens of thousands of dollars in salary, even though he possessed excellent skills.

‘If it’s $100,000…’

He could not only buy a house in Boston but also provide a sufficient life for his family.

“Thank you, Boss.”

Jeong Hyun-woo received his greetings and thought.

‘The last time too, John is unexpectedly helpful.’

If it wasn’t for John River, Andrei wouldn’t have been able to join Victoria Corporation.

‘Maybe John is an undervalued talent.’

Of course, John River was a difficult person to use highly because of his bad personality.

‘Thanks to that, this side can focus on JP Morgan.’

Jeong Hyun-woo’s gaze turned to Washington, where the Federal Reserve System was located.