A Competition Is Never Just a Competition

“Yes. The judges’ scores have now been tallied and converted.”

At the host’s words, everyone on our team grew solemn. Their faces were taut with anticipation and nerves.

“First, we’ll announce this year’s Startup Competition Technology Division Encouragement Award winners.”

The familiar drumroll echoed for a moment, and after a brief pause, the host called out the company name.

“DWT. Congratulations!”

Applause thundered through the hall, and DWT’s representative went up on stage to hold up the plaque for photos.

It was undeniably a meaningful award, but the expressions on DWT’s team members were not especially bright. It looked as though they had been hoping for the silver prize or the grand prize—the awards that would earn them a place in the final round.

“They did well in the presentation too. That’s unexpected.”

“Maybe they judged the market size to be too small?”

“Could be because they didn’t think the new technology was a big enough leap over existing tech.”

We were all a little surprised by the disappointing results for a company that had seemed to perform fairly well. So we started speculating about the reason. But before we could arrive at any solid conclusion, an unexpected team won silver, and our attention shifted there.

“The silver prize winner in the Technology Division of the Startup Competition is QF Technology. Congratulations!”

At the same time, we all turned toward the stage and clapped. I had thought they might struggle to win anything, given the judges’ nonstop negative questions, but they’d pulled it off after all.

“Well, their tech was good, and their growth rate in the domestic market was incredible.”

“If it weren’t for that one judge who kept bringing up competitors, they might’ve taken the grand prize.”

“No way. Not with us here.”

“Ugh, seriously, if we don’t win the grand prize, are we basically out in the preliminaries?”

Watching my teammates, who were wound so tight they looked ready to snap, I stared only at the stage and pretended I wasn’t nervous at all.

Fortunately, there wasn’t any sort of break before the grand prize announcement. Unlike the earlier drumroll, a richer swell of instruments now poured out through the speakers.

“And now, the final announcement. The team advancing to the finals of the Startup Competition—and this year’s grand prize winner—is!”

A moment later, the host’s voice cut through the roar of the music.

“TA Medical! Congratulations!!”

“Waaaah!!”

“Siwon!! Get up there, hurry, hurry!!!”

The students’ voices, loud enough to compete with the microphone, tore through the hall from every direction. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I tried to keep my face composed, but the corners of my mouth had no intention of going back down.

“Congratulations. Do your best in the finals.”

And just like that, we had won the grand prize in the preliminary round of the Startup Competition.

“We sincerely thank all participating teams. We hope you continue to develop the world with great ideas and create a better future!”

With the host’s formal closing remarks, the competition came to an end.

“Everyone from the TA Medical team, please come up! We’re taking photos!”

Once the music faded from the stage, the photo session began in earnest. A few pictures with just our team, a few with the winning teams, a few more in a group shot while holding the banner.

“Ah, my face is getting pulled tight.”

“Smile~ We’re not done yet~”

“Is it just me, or have I completely run out of smiles?”

We weren’t very good at this whole photo-taking business, so we only awkwardly managed the poses and expressions the photographer asked for. The photographer kept coaching our faces, but it didn’t help much.

“Congratulations, Director Kim.”

“Ah, Director Kim. Thank you. I’ll see you in the finals.”

After the Startup Competition ended and the photos were finished, networking started up again. The only real difference was that more than half of the teams that hadn’t won anything packed up and left instead of joining the conversations.

“Representative Kim Siwon, you really don’t seem like a college student doing his first business. You’re meticulous in every way.”

“Haha. Thank you.”

“I hope there’ll be a chance to collaborate with TA Medical someday.”

“Once our business keeps expanding, I think we’ll eventually come into contact with the medical field too. Haha.”

Since we were the grand prize winners, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the conversations naturally revolved around us. Thanks to that, it felt like I had collected a month’s worth of compliments in just one hour.

With so much conversation flying around, my teammates were gradually beginning to glaze over. For a bunch of true engineering nerds, we really had used up an alarming amount of human language.

“Then we’ll head out now. Please have a great day, everyone.”

My farewell seemed to breathe a little life back into the team. Once the center of attention said we were leaving, the networking session naturally began to wind down as well.

I looked at the stack of business cards in my hand and felt a strange, unsettled emotion. It really drove home just how many people were throwing themselves into startups now.

But I wasn’t feeling negative about it.

“Wow. You worked so hard, Siwon.”

“Aren’t you hungry? Let’s have a celebration dinner.”

“Let’s eat meat. Lots of meat.”

How could I feel down when I was surrounded by voices this excited?

“All right. Let’s go eat meat!”

I called out to the team with a bright voice, and everyone applauded before following me.

If we could keep moving forward at exactly this pace, that would be perfect.

TA Medical’s grand prize win at the Startup Competition.

Of course, the news spread far and wide.

The first person to hear it was, naturally, Professor Shin Dongjin, who was affiliated with TA Medical.

“I thought you’d pull it off, but you really did. Congratulations.”

After hearing the news from Kim Siwon, Professor Shin Dongjin sent a very understated congratulatory message.

But his feelings beneath the surface were anything but understated.

How can undergraduates keep growing this much, this fast?

It had the form of a question, but it was really packed with pure admiration. He also felt a little proud that he had recognized people with this kind of potential.

So he spread the news of TA Medical’s grand prize to nearly everyone he knew.

This is the place I put my money into. They’re taking off as soon as I invested. Haha.

Within Korea University’s Veterinary Medicine Department, the news was naturally a welcome one. It felt as if the startup they had signed a contract with had been officially validated as a company that actually had shape and substance.

As a result, people with acquaintances in the medical field casually started bringing up TA Medical whenever the chance arose.

“Did I mention our lab’s been working with an AI startup lately?”

“A startup? What would Korea University be doing with a small business?”

“Seems like their tech is really good. Didn’t they even win first place in some government competition recently?”

“What competition? What kind of company is it?”

This was a time when startups still didn’t enjoy a very good reputation.

So even when anyone heard about TA Medical somewhere, they tended to carry a quiet suspicion in the back of their minds: The big corporations probably did all the good stuff anyway.

But if JH Medical had tried to steal the technology, and that same technology had also been recognized in a government-sponsored competition, the story changed completely.

“Interesting. Our department head likes new things like that.”

“Want me to give you the representative’s contact info?”

“Bring it up first, and see where it goes.”

Even people who had been skeptical and indifferent toward TA Medical gradually began to take an interest.

And people who were already favorable toward TA Medical—and had been interested from the start—started paying even closer attention to the product.

They still couldn’t request a contract or a meeting on the spot, but they had at least moved to the stage where they could mention TA Medical cautiously while reading the room.

“TA Medical, the one I told you about earlier. Did you meet with them?”

“It got cut at the hospital director level, but I think it’s back under discussion recently. Why?”

“Nothing. I just saw another article about them.”

“You’re really interested in them. Are you looking at unlisted shares?”

“No, no—just curious, so I check in on them sometimes.”

For a startup with not a single medical student among its members, receiving this much attention from the medical field was highly unusual.

A strange wind had begun to blow through a typically conservative industry.

And in the veterinary world—where Korea University’s Veterinary Medicine Department already carried significant influence—the reaction was even larger.

“They said they can come explain it sometime this week? Representative Kim Siwon is coming in person, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Since we were still a small startup, people wanted to meet Kim Siwon himself rather than a PM or a salesperson.

As a result, Siwon’s schedule had become so packed that, aside from travel time, he couldn’t do anything else.

He had once been unable to style his hair and had gone to a salon every day before meetings; now he’d even progressed to the point where he could sweep his bangs back on his own, more or less.

And since everyone’s need to face customers had grown, we had even ordered matching suits, almost like team uniforms.

“This is my first tailored suit.”

“Isn’t it all of our first time?”

“I did get one made when I was job hunting, but this is my first proper suit with trousers.”

“Look at you, shedding the engineering-student vibe like that.”

“So this is what startup welfare looks like, huh~”

Fortunately, everyone seemed to be enjoying the change.

We were all getting drunk on the unmistakable sense that the company was truly growing, the kind of feeling you can only get while working at a startup.

“Oh, are the seniors heading out to work again?”

“Yep. How’d you know?”

“Because you guys keep sweeping your hair back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and walking around in suits. You even smell like cologne.”

“We have a company cologne, actually.”

“Whoa~ TA Medical cologne~”

Every time someone from TA Medical came and went from the club room, they ended up talking to somebody.

That was just how many people were coming up to us.

Not only the upperclassmen and underclassmen we’d already become familiar with, but even strangers who recognized us would often strike up conversations.

“Professor Hwang Junhak talks about TA Medical all the time in class!”

Of course, about eighty percent of our recognition inside the department had been created by Professor Hwang Junhak.

Both the banner that had been hung at the school before and the one that went up this time were his doing.

“If students see people boldly starting a business with new technology like this, it becomes a model they can look up to!”

From Professor Hwang’s perspective, he couldn’t help but be delighted by the rapid rise of technology so similar to his own field of expertise.

In truth, he wasn’t so much fond of Kim Siwon as he was fond of TA Medical’s technology, but from everyone else’s point of view, the two were effectively the same.

“At this rate, Professor Hwang Junhak might end up publishing a paper with that technology.”

“Looks like he’s already thinking about it.”

“Really? Then his lab is probably busy too.”

“Well, if someone hands you a research topic, that’s a good thing.”

Through all of this, Kim Siwon even ended up writing an AI-related paper with Professor Hwang as the first author.

Since it was based on TA Medical’s technology, Siwon didn’t need to invest a huge amount of time in it.

And yet because it was Professor Hwang Junhak’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠paper, a scholar the academic world was already paying attention to, publication in a reputable journal was practically guaranteed.

The reason I decided to take on this kind of work despite being busy was, naturally, Badugi’s advice.

The more technical papers we published, the easier it would be to prove that the new technology was safe, even though it was new.

So the more papers we could write, the better.

But Siwon was already in a situation where he barely had enough time to go out and handle everything in person.

In the end, Kim Siwon, who had wanted to do everything on his own, changed his mind.

“I’ll have to specialize this part too.”