The Magician's Debut
"Distinguished guests, welcome. I am Kim Hyung-jun, CEO of Arcane Technology. We will now begin the demonstration of our Zero-Interface technology."
Standing behind the podium, Hyung-jun spoke in a low, measured voice. Stepping forward so boldly before global titans gathered at this hotel just to see us, he exuded a surprisingly convincing aura of executive charisma. Having delivered his greeting, he took a quiet breath and swept his gaze across the hall. The entire room held its collective breath, hanging on his every word.
"What we are presenting today is our proprietary solution device—Arcane Technology's exclusive realization of the Zero-Interface technology you have all heard so much about."
A quiet ripple of murmurs spread through the audience.
"A device? Did he say equipment?"
"Are they already at the mass production stage?"
"I don't see anything here that looks like manufacturing gear, though..."
I stood to Hyung-jun's right in a pristine white lab coat. Consciously squaring my shoulders to avoid shrinking back, I was actually sweating bullets on the inside. Could anyone blame me? The caliber of attendees in this room operated on an entirely different plane from the crowd at COEX.
Every single face belonged to the head of a multinational conglomerate or an equivalent global celebrity. Especially that man over there—Nylon Musk, watching Hyung-jun with an expression of undisguised intrigue. Calling someone of his stature a walking superpower felt like an understatement.
I gave myself a silent pep talk. Don't shrink back, Park Ji-hyuk. You're the one and only mage in this entire world. You're far more incredible than any of them.
Hyung-jun continued, his voice taking on a firmer edge. "Before we proceed with the actual demonstration, I must make one crucial announcement."
He paused, letting the silence settle over the room. "Neither during today's demonstration nor after its conclusion will we answer any questions regarding the theoretical basis or implementation mechanisms of our technology."
The hall erupted into a louder commotion.
"They won't disclose the theoretical foundation?"
"Then why the hell did they summon all of us here?"
Voices tinged with outright indignation broke out from various quarters. And reasonably so. The figures assembled here were the pinnacle elite, accustomed to wielding classified intelligence and commanding trillions. They were the ultimate shot-callers, the apex clients holding supreme leverage over any enterprise on Earth. And a tiny startup dared to preemptively gag them from asking technical questions?
Hyung-jun didn't bat an eye at the stir. "Today, we will show you nothing more and nothing less than the phenomenon itself: the process of Zero-Interface technology taking place through our device, and the final result it yields. How you interpret what you see rests entirely upon your own discerning eyes."
Polite on the surface, but the underlying message was crystal clear: If you don't have the vision to recognize genius, just shut up and watch.
Hyung-jun raised three fingers.
"Observe, verify, and decide. Following this demonstration, we will remain here at the Ambassador Hotel for precisely three days—exactly seventy-two hours—to receive your proposals. All partnership discussions will be accepted exclusively within this seventy-two-hour window, so we urge you to make your decisions carefully."
A unilateral ultimatum. A brazen declaration that no matter how mighty they were, we dictated the rules of this game. It acknowledged that while they might be the undisputed masters of industry, we were an untouchable entity beyond even their reach. It was an arrogance outrageous enough to justify anyone storming out, yet not a single person moved toward the doors. They wanted to see what kind of leverage could possibly warrant such reckless insolence.
Fine by me. I'll show you what real magic looks like.
"Without further ado, let us begin the demonstration. Introducing our CTO, Park Ji-hyuk, who will unveil the 'magic' of Arcane Technology."
Following Hyung-jun's introduction, I offered the audience a slight bow. Drawing a steadying breath, I stepped up to the demonstration table. Behind me, a colossal high-definition display broadcast every subtle movement of my hands in real time.
Take it easy. Stay calm and collected.
Reaching into the memories of my past life—recalling the days when I addressed monarchs and grand nobility gathered from across an entire continent—I centered my composure.
I inspected the materials prepped on the table: graphite powder, polymer binder, and solid electrolyte powder. Utterly mundane reagents easily procurable anywhere. First, I picked up the magic circle plate.
"This plate is the star of today's demonstration," I remarked with an easy smile. "A rather cheeky little marvel, but an exceptionally clever one. It's the vessel that will display a bit of fantastic magic for you all."
I gave the plate a playful flourish before resting it securely upon the central mount. The top surface featured intricate, breathtaking engravings resembling a masterwork of fine art. A collective murmur of quiet admiration rippled through the audience. Savoring their reaction, I moved on to the next step.
I set a square mold over the plate. With a spatula, I spread the graphite-binder paste into a thin, uniform layer, followed by the electrolyte powder. For a fleeting second, I considered imitating that celebrity chef's dramatic salt-sprinkling pose, but quickly thought better of it. No need to look frivolous. Up to this point, the procedure looked no different from the mundane slurry preparation seen in any university laboratory, and the audience watched in quiet, unimpressed anticipation. But the real show began now.
Smiling faintly, I picked up the final piece: a slender bar of solid platinum. Though it appeared to be nothing more than an unadorned strip of polished metal, this unassuming rod was the true centerpiece of today's performance. The Start Key for the magic about to unfold.
"This is the Start Key, crafted as a paired set with the plate," I announced. "It might seem plain, but it is a specialized energy-guiding device of exquisite precision. Now, shall we see what happens?"
Focusing inward, I gathered mana. My perception shifted smoothly into the familiar realm of the invisible. I had no intention of manually casting anything; this was purely to observe whether the Start Key functioned autonomously as designed.
Click.
The moment I slotted the platinum bar into the groove carved along the plate's perimeter, the magic awakened. Guided by the bar, ambient mana flowed along the engraved circuits of the magic circle. Saturated with energy, the current immediately permeated the raw materials resting above. The transformation began—an atomic-level rearrangement and molecular bonding, locked into absolute coherence by the woven threads of mana.
Elapsed time: a mere ten seconds.
The miracle had occurred. Within a domain of magic utterly inscrutable to ordinary minds, the dreaded phenomenon of interfacial resistance had vanished into thin air.
Calmly slipping on a pair of clean gloves, I picked up the bonded sample. "Did anyone catch what just transpired? Did it look like nothing happened at all? Oh dear. Even if you couldn't see it with the naked eye, a rather astounding transformation has taken place within this specimen. Let's verify it together."
Beside the demonstration table sat an ultra-high-resolution scanning electron microscope. I placed the sample onto the microscope stage. Turning back toward the audience with an easy spin, I spread my arms wide to signal that the procedure was complete.
The giant screen switched feeds as the microscope focused in on the electrode interface. Black graphite particles and white electrolyte grains interlocked seamlessly like microscopic Lego bricks. Had it not been for the difference in color, one couldn't even distinguish where the boundary lay. Two fundamentally disparate substances had literally become one continuous whole.
It was an earth-shattering sight.
"Impossible!"
Someone from the Chinese delegation leaped to his feet with an involuntary roar, pure, unvarnished horror written across his face. Well, I couldn't blame him. How many billions of dollars and years of labor had they poured into semi-solid-state batteries? Their entire state-sponsored battery hegemony had just been utterly invalidated in under ten seconds. How could he not lose his mind?
The rest of the auditorium was reeling in identical disbelief, differing only in degree.
"What on earth did he do with that tiny plate? Did you see anything?"
"No! There wasn't a single observable chemical or physical reaction, so how did the interface...?"
"Do you realize how absurd this is?! This was achieved at ambient room temperature and standard atmospheric pressure, without a single secondary post-process, in mere seconds! It defies fundamental physics!"
The battery experts in attendance were hit hardest. Every single one of them had gone pale as a sheet. Enjoying their stunned disbelief, I tossed out an open invitation.
"As you can see, this is a procedure anyone can execute with utter ease. Would anyone care to come up here and experience this miraculous innovation firsthand?"
"Me! I will do it!"
The Chinese representative who had yelled earlier threw his hand high into the air.
"I would be delighted. Please, come right up."
Marching up to the stage with ragged, heavy breaths, the man hastily replicated the steps with trembling, unrefined motions. His agitation made his hands shake violently, but it mattered little. The outcome remained immutable.
Moments later, the analysis flashed onto the screen. Just like my sample, an absolute Zero-Interface had formed. Even with his crude, uneven layering creating a jagged physical line, the atomic bonding across that messy boundary was flawless. In truth, this was even more terrifying for them: it proved that neither operator skill nor precision engineering was required.
"This cannot be real... This is a nightmare..."
Thoroughly broken, the Chinese representative stumbled off the stage looking like a zombie whose very soul had been extracted. Wearing a satisfied grin, I addressed the auditorium.
"That concludes the demonstration of the Zero-Interface technology developed by Arcane Technology."
My part was finished. From here on out, it was Hyung-jun's turn.
Stepping gracefully aside, I yielded center stage to Hyung-jun. In his hands, he held another engraved plate and a platinum Start Key.
"Did the demonstration satisfy your curiosity? This is precisely the 'solution' we are offering you."
Like a legendary Silicon Valley executive unveiling a revolutionary flagship product, Hyung-jun held the plate out before him.
"We are not selling technology licenses. Nor are we selling finished battery cells. What we are offering is this single plate, and this Start Key."
The massive display shifted to a sleek, minimalist slide deck.
"Compatible with any production equipment. Applicable to any material. Operable by anyone. Simply place your materials onto this plate and activate it with the accompanying Start Key. With that alone, you too can become magicians commanding miracles. You will achieve the flawless Zero-Interface that science deemed purely theoretical."
Backed by technology that defied mortal comprehension, Hyung-jun's electrifying oratory held the audience captive.
"Existing, cost-prohibitive hot-pressing setups? High-temperature sintering furnaces? Discard them all. With this single plate, your manufacturing lines can transform tomorrow into cutting-edge battery facilities that will rewrite the future of mankind."
The slide transitioned to the next page.
"The name of this solution is Magician—a wizard of the new era that will dramatically redefine your everyday existence."
Gazing out at the breathless audience, Hyung-jun smirked. It was the radiant grin of a victor whose blueprint had unfolded without a single flaw.
"From this second onward, the clock is ticking on precisely seventy-two hours. We will be waiting for your proposals in the penthouse suite on the top floor of this hotel."
With that closing curtain call, Hyung-jun stepped over to my side.
"Let's move, partner."
"Right behind you."
Gathering our plates and platinum keys, we turned and walked off the stage. Against our retreating backs, we could feel the searing heat of raw, suffocating desire boiling across the room. Knowing that the intensity of that heat reflected our true net worth, the triumphant smiles on our lips refused to fade.