Mass Production
JH Research conference room.
After summoning the team leaders, I spoke.
“We've received a proposal from Ohsung. They offered to serve as the foundry for our HBM.”
A murmur rippled through the room.
“Oh! Ohsung? So they're talking mass production?”
“But can they even foundry HBM?”
“The design side would have to handle production right away, wouldn't they?”
“Then someone from our side has to go over, right?”
“Who? None of us know how.”
“CEO! If Ohsung's going to foundry our HBM, does that mean you're heading over to Ohsung?”
I shook my head.
“I turned them down.”
“Ah…….”
“Makes sense. It's not like the CEO could just move over there.”
The staff nodded as if they understood.
“We'll handle HBM mass production ourselves.”
“…What?”
“I said we'll just do it ourselves.”
“Us? We don't have a factory.”
“Which is why… we need to acquire an equipment company.”
“What kind of equipment company are you talking about? Making HBM means stacking DRAM, and there are only a handful of companies in the world with that level of technology.”
“It's fine. A company that can stack about ten layers of DRAM and make the cases will do.”
“Excuse me?”
The staff didn't understand, but I couldn't explain everything either.
“I'm not looking for a factory that makes real ten-layer HBM. Just a company capable of stacking them so they look like ten-layer HBM from the outside.”
“What? What does that even mean?”
“Then we hand it off to the next process so the copper interconnects can be made between each layer.”
I raised a finger to my lips.
“Shh!”
“Ah…….”
Only then did the staff catch on.
Because of the products I had already delivered, none of them pressed too hard about the secret factory.
“So on our end we stack ten DRAMs to make it look like HBM from the outside, and then your secret factory turns them into actual HBM?”
I snapped my fingers.
Click.
“Exactly.”
“What about packaging?”
Packaging meant mounting the LPU and HBM onto a green circuit board as a complete set. That wasn't something just any company could handle either.
I thought for a moment.
Should I outsource this to the Nano World as well?
They could do it if ordered. But Illys had only just seized control of the duchy; piling LPU defect repairs, HBM fabrication, and packaging on top of that felt like asking too much. It wasn't a question of technology—it was a question of volume.
“Packaging goes to Ohsung.”
“You're outsourcing the packaging?”
“That's right.”
The next day, Manager Jang brought a list of small factories to the CEO's office.
“These are companies capable of casing ten DRAMs and available for acquisition.”
“Let's have a look.”
I examined the list carefully.
Hmm?
One name stood out.
Baekryong Tech.
“Manager Jang. Is this one available?”
“Yes. They're buried in debt; the president there is struggling.”
“Why?”
“Three years ago Baekryong bet big on smartphone camera modules exploding and massively expanded their production lines. They took on heavy loans for the equipment. Then the big conglomerates cut their orders, unit prices kept getting squeezed, and their cash dried up.”
Manager Jang turned his laptop so I could see the financial graphs. A red line tracked plunging revenue; gray bars charted the steadily rising debt.
“When did you get this data?”
“Oh, the moment I mentioned we were interested in buying, they sent everything right over. The president must be desperate.”
The reason Baekryong Tech had caught my eye was that I had done business with them for a long time. Until recently I had been assembling smartphones, so I used to pick up their B-grade and refurbished parts. I had also bought testers, burn-in equipment, and mainboard communication tools from them at bargain prices.
I opened my phone.
Baekryong Tech — Assistant Manager Kang
I called Assistant Manager Kang for the first time in a while; he picked up almost immediately.
“Assistant Manager Kang?”
—Hey, Lucky Repair Shop boss! Long time no see.
His voice was warm and familiar.
“How's the company these days?”
—Same as always—tough.
“Why's that?”
—That's just how it is for little companies like us. Always scraping by, never knowing when you'll get laid off… How's business at Lucky?
“I'm doing all right.”
—Glad to hear it.
“Assistant Manager Kang, at Baekryong… would it be possible to stack ten DRAMs so they look like HBM?”
—Not actual HBM, just make them look like it? Just the casing work?
“Yes. But when you stack the layers, the height has to match real HBM.”
—Well, that's doable. We handle RAM every day. But why make something that only looks like HBM on the outside?
“I have a use for it.”
I could feel him thinking on the other end of the line.
—Boss… did you get a new job somewhere?
“Yeah. I'm not running Lucky Repair Shop anymore.”
—Wow, congratulations! No wonder… so you're handling procurement now? Where are you?”
“A place called JH.”
—JH? The one that's blowing up right now?
“That's the one.”
—Man, that's fantastic news. Anyway, it's not even real HBM, so it won't be hard. RAM cost separate, just pay for the casing. Hmm… ten thousand won per unit, and a thousand units or more would be nice?
Case work alone, not counting the RAM, came to ten million won. Lately every conversation had been about hundreds of billions or trillions; hearing someone quote ten million felt almost nostalgic.
“Got it. I'll come by. See you soon.”
—Sure thing. Congrats on the new job.
“Thanks.”
I hung up.
Assistant Manager Kang had always been good to me. Once you become disabled, people split cleanly into two types: those who look down on you and those who go out of their way to be kind. When boxes were heavy he moved them without a word; when new specs came out he told me first. Being the vulnerable one made it easier to sense a person's true nature. The Kang I knew belonged to the kind side.
The next day I visited Baekryong Tech.
The president was wearing a suit, but exhaustion clung to him like a second skin. I leafed through the thick stack of documents and asked him,
“Capital of fifteen billion, yet you have fourteen billion in debt.”
He shrugged and gave a bitter smile.
“Yeah… it hasn't been easy.”
“And two hundred employees.”
“Yes. They're all working hard.”
Fifteen billion in capital. After everything else, fourteen billion of it was debt. Bankruptcy was probably hovering right in front of his eyes.
I hesitated a moment, then asked carefully,
“Are the employees' salaries paid on time?”
He nodded and let out a long sigh.
“We're still holding on… for now.”
“Capital minus loans leaves one billion?”
“Th-that's right.”
“I'll buy it. How about three billion?”
When I named the figure right away, the president's face went blank with shock.
“After the loans you're left with one billion. I'll give you three times that.”
For a moment he couldn't speak. The tips of his fingers trembled faintly.
I kept my tone soft but firm.
“And I'll retain one hundred percent of the staff.”
He lowered his eyes and drew a deep breath.
“All right.”
That single answer seemed to age him ten years.
“What about you, President?”
“New wine belongs in new wineskins. I'd like to rest for a while.”
“Understood.”
After we finished the discussion I moved to the factory floor.
Whiiiiir.
Clack-clack.
The hum of running machines filled the air; gleaming assembly lines stretched out before me. Workers in dust caps and masks moved busily about. The distinctive smell of electronics manufacturing hung in the air.
The president picked up a microphone.
“Testing.”
A slightly distorted electronic voice echoed through the factory.
“Attention all staff. Please stop work for a moment and gather at the central assembly area.”
Murmurs rose. Machine sounds died one by one as the workers collected. Gloved hands pointed at one another; quiet whispers passed back and forth.
I took the microphone and stepped forward.
“Testing.”
My voice rang out louder than I expected. Two hundred pairs of eyes locked onto me at once.
“Hello. My name is Kim Jiho. I've just acquired Baekryong Tech.”
The atmosphere in the factory shifted instantly. News that the owner had changed made everyone tense; they pricked up their ears.
I gave them the words they most wanted to hear first.
“Before anything else about who I am, let me address what you're probably most worried about. Upon acquiring Baekryong Tech, I will retain every single employee.”
A collective sigh of relief swept through the crowd. Faces that had been frozen with tension began to relax.
“The company was also carrying a heavy debt load—borderline capital impairment, really. I'll pay off every last won so we can restore financial health.”
“Ooooh.”
“I'm also the CEO of JH Research. From now on Baekryong Tech will become a subsidiary of JH Research.”
Several employees looked startled.
“…Wait, that JH?”
“I saw it on the news this morning. The startup Nvidia's salivating over.”
“They're the ones who made the 20-layer HBM, right?”
“Yeah. The LPU people.”
Eyes lit up with interest.
“That's right. That JH. Until now you've all had to scramble for outside orders. Going forward, most of your work will be handling internal orders from JH Research.”
Smiles spread across faces. Job security, cleaned-up books, guaranteed internal orders—what had been a company that might collapse any day was about to become a subsidiary that got to feed off the parent company's success. People started looking forward to long, stable careers.
“All right, get back to what you were doing. I'll take a look around a bit more.”
I dismissed them and was touring the floor when my eyes met those of one particular man. He was staring at me with a slightly stiff expression. I spoke first.
“Manager Kang?”
His eyes went wide; he glanced around. No one else was nearby—only him.
“M-me? I'm still an assistant manager…”
“Thank you for everything until now. I look forward to working with you. As of today, you're a manager.”
“Ah……!”
Applause and laughter broke out around us.
One week later, the chips from Baekryong Tech arrived.
I carefully opened the box. Ten DRAMs stacked into a single chip. From the outside, you could easily believe it was HBM. Rectangular silicon dies sat neatly layered atop a black package, like chocolate bars pressed one on top of another without any step. The side edges shimmered with fine copper-plated wire-bond traces. The tiny stacking lines that separated each layer were almost invisible to the naked eye.
“Let's see…….”
I held a chip up to the fluorescent light. A faint gray band became just barely visible.
“Heh heh. Looks real, doesn't it?”
Fake HBM. Without finished products the staff would have tried to stop me; with results in hand they simply got on with the work. Today's delivery was one thousand fake HBMs. That meant ten thousand actual DRAMs were required. At forty thousand won each, four hundred million. Now it was time for the magic that would turn four hundred million into hundreds of billions—or trillions.
“All right, shall we send them?”
I opened the smartphone linked to the Nano World.
[Patronage]
The quantity of chips that needed to go to the Nano World was considerable. Rodriguez's territory had originally held ten thousand people; now Illys herself was a lord with a hundred thousand subjects.
Items have been transmitted.
I sent the fake HBMs and smiled.
“Oh, right!”
I pulled a side-dish container from the refrigerator behind the CEO's chair. The office also held a cutting board and fruit—an odd assortment of ingredients for an executive suite. When I opened the lid, meat appeared.
“Mm. Magnificent.”
This was no ordinary cut. Deep wine-colored dry-aged steak. The surface was slightly desiccated and dark, a firm crust hiding its sheen. Beneath it the flesh was a vivid crimson, laced with the delicate marbling that only properly aged beef possesses.
I took out a small fruit knife and carefully sliced off a single piece. The aroma of browned butter mixed with nuts rose up—rich yet soft enough to prick the nostrils.
“She'll like this, right?”
[Transmit]
I operated the phone; the single piece of steak vanished in a flash of light. Just the smell alone would probably startle them. And once they tasted meat of this quality, I had a feeling they would work even harder on the HBM.