Are You Ready for the Future?
"Hello?"
Yoo Jae-won had expected an immediate enthusiastic response, but the silence on the other end caught him off guard. Wondering if the call had dropped, he spoke again.
"Wow! Really? You actually developed that technology?"
Tiffany's voice came through after a brief delay, brimming with excitement. She sounded far more animated than he had anticipated. The pause hadn't been disappointment—it had been pure shock.
"Heh, when have you ever known me to lie?"
"No! That's exactly why I'm so surprised. Even so, it's hard to believe you could perfect a semiconductor performance enhancement process in just three months."
"It was a little over a hundred days, actually. Anyway, you'll be there, right?"
"Of course! Is there anything I need to prepare?"
"Nothing. Just bring yourself, as always."
Yoo Jae-won paused mid-sentence, realizing how that sounded—like a middle-aged man's clumsy proposal. Fortunately, Tiffany didn't react to the phrasing. The cultural gap between America and Korea was wide enough to absorb such moments.
"Got it. Thanks for the invitation. You're giving the keynote yourself, aren't you?"
Her tone carried certainty.
"Yeah. I'll handle the opening address. Lisa Su will cover the detailed technical explanations on-site."
"Oh! The Lisa Su you recruited from MIT. Understood! See you then!"
After ending the call, Yoo Jae-won exhaled and turned back to his computer.
"Hmm. VIP invitations are handled. What else needs doing?"
He muttered while reviewing the checklist in IDW. It wasn't a simple list—it was a day-by-day schedule stretching from January to the present, with five to over ten items per day. Determined not to treat his first major public appearance lightly, he was preparing the event like a master craftsman.
As expected, this showcase was on an entirely different level from typical corporate product launches. The technology being presented was semiconductor fabrication, not consumer gadgets people could touch. Simply displaying the tech would feel flat, and Yoo Jae-won agreed completely.
To avoid that, he had framed the showcase as an expo. Rather than focusing solely on the technology itself, the event would demonstrate what that technology enabled—spectacular performances on computers far beyond anything currently available. The goal was to captivate both industry professionals and the general public.
Accordingly, the venue had been transformed into something resembling the Daejeon Expo exhibition halls, filled with interactive experiences for experts and laypeople alike. In addition, he had coined a term to encapsulate the revolutionary performance delivered by products using the copper wiring process: HPC Class.
HPC stood for High Performance Computer. To earn the certification, hardware had to demonstrably outperform existing components by a significant margin. Once copper wiring technology became widespread, the distinction would blur, but for now—while it was still new to the market—the HPC mark would give consumers a clear signal of superior performance.
Of course, ID Group couldn't market HPC certification alone. Yoo Jae-won had recruited numerous partner companies to produce prototypes. The firms that collaborated included Mirae Electronics, ATI, and Creative Technology.
Mirae Electronics manufactured memory, while ATI produced 3D accelerator cards. Both had served as test platforms for the copper wiring process because their circuitry was less complex than CPUs. Creative Technology, a Singapore-based computer components company specializing in sound and video hardware, had partnered to develop a PDS chip optimized for high-quality audio processing. Pilot production results had been excellent across the board.
Semiconductor manufacturing was an extremely sensitive process. Even minor changes to a single step could require months—sometimes over a year—to stabilize. Yet all three companies had produced HPC-grade chips within a single month, proving the commercial viability of the technology developed by ID Technology's semiconductor division.
Yoo Jae-won moved to the next item.
"Good. The rankers' attendance rate looks solid."
Rankers referred to the top-tier players who had climbed the leaderboards in Doom 2. While HPC performance benefited enterprises, gamers would feel the difference most acutely. In the highest ranks, where matches could hinge on differences of mere milliseconds, hardware performance was decisive. He had therefore organized a small Doom 2 tournament using HPC systems, complete with prize money and ample spectator seating.
The venue for the event was the largest convention center in San Francisco, already leased and undergoing interior work. Yet the expo wasn't aimed solely at gamers. It would also showcase how massive statistical and database programs used by corporations performed on HPC systems.
April 24 arrived in the blink of an eye. Yoo Jae-won remained busy right up to the day itself. When he had called Tiffany, ten days had seemed like ample time, but as the venue took shape and he conducted on-site inspections, unexpected issues kept surfacing.
The most pressing problem was compatibility between the new hardware and existing software. Games that ran smoothly in one stage would crash in the next or freeze unexpectedly. Even the famously stable Android OS had crashed during testing. The thought of a program freezing mid-showcase was unacceptable, so Yoo Jae-won threw himself into debugging.
The cause was quickly identified: software couldn't keep up with the increased operating speeds of components accelerated by the copper wiring process, resulting in errors. Once the root was clear, the fix came swiftly. For Yoo Jae-won, resolving issues of this scale was routine. He patched the code on-site, and performance improved further. The occasional unexplained stutters vanished, leaving everything running smoothly.
"Boss! Systems are all green."
"We're ready as well."
Remington and Choi Kang-wook reported in succession. Remington had overseen all hardware—from lighting to the star computers—while Choi Kang-wook had managed personnel. If both gave the all-clear, preparations were complete. Yoo Jae-won, who would deliver the first keynote, raised his thumb in approval.
Thus, the HPC Expo began.
"Whoa!"
Gilbert Owen, who had just arrived at the Moscone Convention Center, struggled to close his gaping mouth. A Stanford classmate of Yoo Jae-won's and an ardent follower of ID Group, Gilbert was drawn not only by the fact that his peer led the company but by its leadership in cutting-edge computer technology. The games and software were impressive, but what truly captivated him were the computers operating on an entirely different level from ordinary PCs. His home now housed two New Egg PCs, and the bag slung over his shoulder contained a Shell Book loaded with ID Group software and games.
He had also coveted the electric bicycles, but their steep price had forced him to abandon the idea with tears in his eyes.
Given his enthusiasm, Gilbert had decided to attend the moment ID Group's "HPC Expo by Coppermine" was announced. He wasn't alone—his fellow electrical engineering students had begun hunting for tickets the instant they saw the advertisements. ID Group events were renowned for their generosity; attendees never left empty-handed, the giveaways were lavish, and the attractions were plentiful. Securing tickets had been a challenge in itself.
Then something even more remarkable happened. Yoo Jae-won had personally sent Gilbert a VIP ticket via ID Talk. They hadn't met in person since orientation, though they had exchanged a few messages afterward. The intervals between conversations had grown longer over time. Gilbert admired Yoo Jae-won but felt he lived in a different world, making it difficult to initiate contact. Yoo Jae-won rarely messaged first either, so the ID Talk friendship had long since become purely ornamental.
Until recently, when Yoo Jae-won had reached out first and sent the coveted ticket through chat.
"At first I thought he was just sending me an image file."
It had been the ticket. All Gilbert had to do was print it. The only requirement was preserving the unique number and barcode. For someone accustomed to buying tickets at a box office, receiving one online had been a novel shock. It sparked all sorts of ideas—online ticket trading, digital gifting systems where a barcode could be sent and redeemed at a physical store—but those thoughts could wait. Right now, attending the event took priority.
He had been so excited that waiting for today had been torturous. He had even skipped his beloved Doom 2 multiplayer sessions.
As expected, a long line stretched in front of the convention center. Those people were winners too—they had secured advance tickets over the past two days. Gilbert, however, didn't join the end of that line.
"VIP, sir!"
The ticket printed on A4 paper clearly displayed the word VIP. He walked confidently toward the VIP entrance, separate from the general admission line. Unlike the crowded main entrance, the VIP area was quiet. Yet as he drew closer, Gilbert felt his heart begin to race. He had seen someone ahead presenting a ticket edged in gold leaf.
"What now?"
His home-printed paper ticket suddenly felt inadequate. Before he could dwell on it, it was his turn.
"Welcome. May I see your ticket?"
At the polite request, Gilbert opened his bag and handed over the A4 sheet he had carefully kept flat between the pages of his Shell Book. The VIP attendant didn't question it. Instead, he scanned the barcode with a reader connected to a computer. Gilbert Owen's name appeared on the monitor, accompanied by the large notation "President's Invite" and "Highest Tier Guest."
"Mr. Gilbert Owen, welcome."
The attendant's demeanor brightened noticeably. Moments later, the computer produced a small card bearing Gilbert's name and several codes. It was placed into a transparent plastic holder attached to a lanyard and handed to him.
"Please wear this at all times inside the venue. As a guest invited by the president, you have access to all facilities, restaurants, and banquet halls. Simply present this badge whenever it is checked."
The explanation was delivered with a friendly smile. Gilbert's mouth fell open again. He had assumed VIP status only meant faster entry. He hadn't realized it granted access to exclusive areas inside as well. In truth, this had been clearly stated in the pre-event materials, but Gilbert hadn't bothered to read them.
Even now, such details barely registered. What mattered was his seat on the main stage. He wanted to witness Yoo Jae-won announcing the copper wiring technology—Coppermine—and to see for himself just how impressive the MIT recruit, Lisa Su, truly was.
"Wow!"
Once more, Yoo Jae-won did not disappoint. Gilbert's seat was dead center in the front row of the main stage. Yet an unexpected obstacle appeared the moment he sat down. A blonde woman in an elegant dress occupied the seat beside him, adorned with earrings, a necklace, and rings—fully prepared for an upscale party. Next to her, Gilbert in his jeans and T-shirt felt painfully out of place. Being the socially awkward type around women, he grew increasingly uncomfortable.
He pulled his Shell Book from his bag, intending to work on the mountain of assignments his professors had assigned until the event began. Yoo Jae-won might be on the fast track with no worries about coursework or exams, but for an ordinary student like Gilbert, such concerns were very real.
"Hmm? A Shell Book?"
The woman beside him immediately took interest. As a fellow VIP, she would recognize the device. Gilbert, however, kept his focus on his work, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he filled the ID Word Processor screen with dense text.
"Your equation expansion is incorrect there."
The comment broke his concentration. He tried to ignore it, but his eyes were drawn to the formula anyway.
"Huh!"
Looking again, he realized she was right.
"Oh, it's just a typo."
He muttered the weak excuse while recalculating. At the same time, his curiosity about the woman beside him grew. The assignment he was working on was linear algebra—material typically covered in the second year. Stanford professors, apparently spurred by Yoo Jae-won's presence or perhaps searching for a second prodigy, had been assigning increasingly difficult problems.
— Ladies and gentlemen, the event will begin in three minutes.
Fortunately, the announcement spared Gilbert further awkwardness. With a reluctant expression, he closed his Shell Book, packed it away, and waited for the show to start.
Three minutes passed quickly. The massive screen on the main stage lit up, displaying the ID Group logo in enormous letters. The graphics shifted, revealing a single sentence.
— Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to meet the future?
Though only one short line, the message drew thunderous cheers from an audience that could easily be mistaken for ID Group fans alone. The stage opened, and Yoo Jae-won appeared. Gilbert felt an unexpected surge of pride. After all, Yoo Jae-won wore the same casual outfit Gilbert often saw him in at school—jeans and a white round-neck T-shirt. Judging by dress code alone, Gilbert felt far closer to Yoo Jae-won than the elegantly dressed woman beside him. Their styles were practically identical.
Even in such simple attire, Yoo Jae-won's stride radiated confidence. He was, in every way, the ideal Gilbert aspired to become.