A Bold Challenge on the Late Show
Yoo Jae-won, who had enjoyed American dramas in his previous life, found the CBS eye-shaped logo very familiar. CBS stood for Columbia Broadcasting System, with its actual headquarters in New York. That said, Yoo Jae-won had no intention of traveling all the way to New York for an interview. Since CBS also had a broadcast station branch in LA, they decided to film there instead.
The most important detail was the name of the interview program: David Letterman's Late Show. David Letterman was a legendary American show host and comedian who had been running a talk show under his own name since 1982 and planned to continue doing so. He had switched networks midway, moving from NBC to CBS. At NBC it had been called Late Night, but after the move to CBS the "Night" was dropped, leaving it simply as the Late Show.
It was not common in America for the MC of such a massive show to change networks. When it did happen, it was usually because the host had lost an internal power struggle. David Letterman was no exception. NBC's most famous show was The Tonight Show, which was also the most popular talk show in the United States. Its original host, Johnny Carson, retired in 1992. Everyone had assumed David Letterman would be his successor, but the second host turned out to be Jay Leno instead.
Deeply offended, David Letterman moved to CBS and launched David Letterman's Late Show. If Yoo Jae-won had simply chosen the top-rated program to match ID Group's image, he would have appeared on NBC's Tonight Show. However, he had never liked Jay Leno, the man who had snatched the Tonight Show MC position from David Letterman. Leno was completely unappealing to him.
Of course, the incidents that had earned Leno Yoo Jae-won's disapproval had not yet occurred in the present timeline—they were events from the 2000s. But Yoo Jae-won had witnessed them all in his previous life, and the memory remained vivid enough that he could not bring himself to feel any goodwill toward the man. Even Yoo Jae-won, who had once criticized others for letting personal feelings affect business decisions after seeing Ilsung's entry into the automobile industry, felt momentarily embarrassed. Still, the Late Show was an excellent program that was not far behind The Tonight Show. The difference in viewership ratings was not significant. Moreover, since chemistry between the MC and guest mattered greatly on a talk show, choosing David Letterman, with whom he felt he would get along well, was a rational decision.
"Chairman Yoo Jae-won, welcome!"
David Letterman, whom Yoo Jae-won met in LA, greeted him warmly. He looked much younger than the version in Yoo Jae-won's memories, which made his sharp, intelligent appearance even more striking. Though he stood 188 centimeters tall, his build was somewhat slender. He still wore his trademark silver-rimmed glasses.
"And thank you for choosing my show. You have no idea how anxious I was, wondering if you might go on the Tonight Show instead."
His cheerful tone while shaking hands matched Yoo Jae-won's recollections.
"Thank you. Seeing your warm welcome, I think I made an excellent choice."
"Yes! You won't regret it. The Late Show is going to be the best. Of course, your help will be essential to making it the best, Chairman Yoo."
Yoo Jae-won nodded at Letterman's confident demeanor. It was still early days for David Letterman's Late Show, which had only moved to CBS at the beginning of the year. The conflict with NBC had generated considerable buzz, and thanks to Letterman's name value, ratings were decent so far, but the future was what mattered.
"Yes, let's do well. Just don't push too hard, all right?"
Yoo Jae-won asked him to go easy. Even though Letterman was a gentleman, he was still a red-blooded host who would not pass up juicy topics like the paparazzi incident. Yoo Jae-won had not asked to see or revise the script in advance. The show's direction was entirely up to Letterman and his writing team; it was not the guest's place to interfere.
Yoo Jae-won's choice proved excellent. Having hosted talk shows for years before moving to CBS, Letterman now delivered an artistic performance under his own name. Despite Yoo Jae-won's self-assessment that he lacked a strong sense of humor, Letterman skillfully drew out laughter through masterful give-and-take. He never resorted to provocative tactics like racial jokes. As Letterman asked questions and Yoo Jae-won answered, laughter erupted from the audience. It was clear proof that decades of hosting a top-rated show required exceptional skill. Yoo Jae-won responded in kind.
Success stories on such shows usually involved struggling to achieve the American Dream or boasting about newfound wealth. But Yoo Jae-won emphasized how he had combined games with a typewriter, turned the idea into reality, and—most importantly—shared it online with many people rather than keeping it to himself. This was a path to success that still applied today. In fact, because the internet was only now becoming mainstream, there were still countless opportunities for anyone to seize first.
"Ah, the internet truly is a new continent. And with a living witness to success on that continent sitting right in front of us, no one can argue. But the internet isn't all bright and shiny, is it? For example, there's the recent hacking controversy. And you yourself were recently troubled by a hacker called Red Hack, weren't you, Chairman?"
As expected, Red Hack came up.
"Yes, but it wasn't as serious as people feared. Strictly speaking, what I experienced wasn't even hacking."
"So it's true that Red Hack attacked your computer?"
If David Letterman's Late Show had been a more vicious program, paparazzi photos would have appeared at this point. But the gentlemanly Letterman simply guided the conversation to the key point.
"It wasn't an attack that stole sensitive personal information or compromised the computer's security. Red Hack simply exploited a vulnerability in ID Talk's image preview feature that we hadn't discovered yet. Thanks to him, I got quite a surprise before I could prepare. Well, since I was surprised only once and we managed to fix an unknown vulnerability, I'd say we got off cheaply."
"So in practical terms, there was no damage to the computer?"
"Think about it. The method Red Hack found could do nothing more than suddenly display an offensive image. That was the maximum effect. And now that vulnerability is gone. I'm not underestimating Red Hack's skills. But there's no need to overestimate them either."
"I see. That's a relief. I have a rather weak heart—if I'd suddenly seen something like that, I might have died of shock. Let me take this opportunity to thank Red Hack for his efforts and you, Chairman Yoo, for your self-sacrifice!"
The serious atmosphere softened again with Letterman's sudden theatrical outburst.
"Then, may I say a few words to Red Hack as well?"
"Of course! Go right ahead."
"If you want to show off your skills, stop doing things that risk exposing your identity, like magazine interviews, and take on the Security Challenge instead! If you can breach Android OS's security system, you'll receive a hundred million dollars in prize money and fame on a scale you can't even imagine compared to now."
It was sincere advice, born from Yoo Jae-won's hope that the worst-case scenario he feared would not come to pass.
"Ah! There was the Security Challenge, wasn't there? Is the hundred million dollars still safe?"
Letterman chimed in at the perfect moment.
"Yes. Fortunately—or unfortunately—it's still there."
It was fortunate that the hundred million dollars remained untouched in the bank vault, but it was also disappointing that no truly exceptional genius had yet emerged to match him.
"Ah, and Red Hack! Don't be surprised if my lawyer visits you suddenly. It's not to demand compensation."
"Hahaha, who wouldn't be surprised if Chairman Yoo's lawyer came calling?"
This was also sincere, though David Letterman took it as a joke.
"Unfortunately, it seems our interview with Chairman Yoo ends here. It was a far more enjoyable and informative time than I expected. I hope we can meet again."
"I enjoyed it as well. I'll try to cause another incident bigger than the second Security Challenge or the hacking commotion so I can be invited back!"
The recording, which had lasted a little over an hour, seemed to have flown by. Judging by Letterman and the PD's expressions, the taping had gone well.
"When will it air?"
"This Friday! You can look forward to it!"
The PD of Letterman's show answered with bold confidence, claiming they would edit and broadcast within two days. Normally it would have been a week later, but given that Yoo Jae-won was once again at the center of public attention, they clearly intended to ride the wave by filming and airing at lightning speed. It seemed risky—if they overreached, they could fail spectacularly—but that was not Yoo Jae-won's responsibility, so he simply nodded. He only hoped his message to Red Hack, delivered through the Letterman show, would reach its target before anything unfortunate happened.
The next day.
- Red Hack Search Interim Report.
Yoo Jae-won had extracted fifty IP addresses, and the ID Group’s American intelligence team was currently investigating them. This report meant that the investigation of eighteen IPs narrowed down to the California region had been completed. Although the intelligence team was a nationwide organization, they could not dedicate all personnel exclusively to tracking Red Hack because of existing assignments. Instead, they had divided the regions and assigned teams accordingly, with California being the first area to begin the search.
From the word "interim," Yoo Jae-won immediately understood that the California search had yielded no results. The report contained information on the owners of the eighteen IP addresses, but none were deemed suspects for Red Hack.
"Next is New York?"
The intelligence team's search plan indicated that after California, they would move on to New York, which had the second-highest number of IPs—twelve in total. If that also came up empty, they would have to spread across the entire United States.
"I hope it comes from New York."
His usually reliable intuition remained silent this time. It seemed they would only find Red Hack after the intelligence team had scattered nationwide. Since he had no particular hunch about any specific region, Yoo Jae-won pressed the confirmation button without giving additional instructions.
"Next?"
- Coyote City Data Center Status.
The data center, which bundled twelve thousand computers into one, was not used solely for ID Group's internet services. It also provided internet services on behalf of companies or schools that wanted to offer such services but found building their own large-scale facilities burdensome. Naturally, it was a paid service, with fees proportional to bandwidth and hard disk usage.
"Wow, we've finally broken a thousand!"
A year ago, the number of companies renting servers this way had been countable on one hand. That number had steadily grown and, as of now, had finally surpassed one thousand. Universities still made up the largest share. Hundreds of internet communities from western universities with excellent connection speeds had been attracted. Universities seemed particularly eager to use the service because they received discounts on service fees.
Next came hotel and travel agency reservation sites. ID Technology's internet reservation and payment functions already had an established reputation. Even when users or administrators made mistakes, there had never been a single instance of server-side problems causing service outages. Naturally, there had also been no cases of business disruption due to line or server issues. The only time an ID Group-operated server had ever caused problems was during the Daejeon Expo Technopia pavilion exhibition when crowds flooded in. As a result, while many people still did not know about the ID Data Center, once they started using it, no one ever stopped.
"The problem is that after subtracting operating costs, there's nothing left."
Although it was a paid service, the prices were so low that even with a thousand companies signed up, there was almost no profit. The pricing structure was designed to rise proportionally with usage, but because the margin rate had been set very low, the actual numbers on the bills were extremely cheap. Raising the margin rate was not an option either, as clients would simply build their own servers. "I have to think of this as future food. Well, it's good enough that the data center's operating costs are being covered."
The era when cloud data centers would become highly profitable was still far in the future. Only when the internet became so deeply embedded in people's lifestyles that basic life itself would grind to a halt without it would the business become a golden goose. Right now, with only small shopping malls, hotel and travel reservations, and university communities running on the servers, it was normal that there was no money to be made.
After sending an encouraging message to the data center not to worry about low sales figures, Yoo Jae-won stopped just as he was about to open the next case.
"Am I working too much?"
Although he had gone to Los Angeles yesterday, he had not left the hotel at all today. He realized he had been holed up in the hotel room that served as his temporary residence until the move was complete, working all day. Feeling the need to rest, Yoo Jae-won stretched and then ordered coffee. If he were at home, he would have told Kim Dae-seok in the next room, but now a phone call was enough.
"One iced coffee, please. No syrup."
With just one phone call, the hotel would bring a delicious Americano made from the finest Colombian beans, with cool water and clear ice floating on top. It was remarkably convenient.
After loosening up, Yoo Jae-won sat back down at his desk. Taking a few minutes' break did not mean immediately returning to work. He minimized his work programs and opened an internet web browser instead. For Yoo Jae-won, browsing Nextcom's bulletin boards and news pages was as good as resting.
After skimming through American news first, he moved on to the Korean pages. Since Nextcom currently only provided official service in the United States and Korea, he could not access European or Japanese news even if he wanted to.
- Ilsung Group Explores Entry into the Automobile Industry!
- Automobile Companies Fiercely Oppose!
- Jeon Jae-gu, President of Mirae Group: "The Domestic Automobile Market Is Already Saturated!"
When he entered the Korean page, the biggest news was about Ilsung's automobile venture. Whether the media had caught the scent or Ilsung Group itself had begun a public opinion campaign, the existing automobile industry's backlash was extremely strong. In particular, Jeon Jae-gu, who had been chosen as Mirae Group's next successor, had broken his long silence to give an interview to the press.
From a twenty-first-century perspective, it seemed strange to care what others did with their businesses, but Korea was still a country with remnants of dictatorship. Such regimes had claimed to support a market economy while actively intervening in the market. One example was dividing core industries among the chaebols to prevent conflicts between them. There had been a peculiar mindset that competition among domestic conglomerates would hinder national growth. Although the military regime had ended, it had not been long ago, so it was natural that this perception remained intact among the chaebols.
In this situation, Ilsung Group's decision to break the unwritten rule and enter the automobile industry caused an uproar. Of course, from Yoo Jae-won's perspective, it was merely chaos within Korea's small inner circle of chaebols, but because these people had such loud voices, their clamor sounded like public opinion. Still, Ilsung also had its own media outlets promoting the legitimacy of the move, and the Busan region where the factory would be built was full of welcoming voices, so complaints would be ignored and the plan would proceed as scheduled. That was simply how those people operated—once they decided to do something, they would see it through regardless of opposition.
Ring ring!
Just as he was about to move to the next article, the phone rang. It was not an outside call but the intercom connecting the rooms. Naturally, the caller was Kim Dae-seok.
"Chairman, I'm sorry to disturb you while you're working."
Kim Dae-seok apologized as soon as Yoo Jae-won picked up.
"It's fine. What is it?"
"Well, there's someone here at the hotel who says they want to meet you."
From what he heard, this was not an uncommon occurrence. People bringing business plans or supposedly brilliant ideas and asking for a meeting. Of course, Yoo Jae-won almost never met such uninvited visitors. If he met everyone who forced their way in, he would never get his actual work done. Naturally, the group had established procedures for handling such situations. The fact that Kim Dae-seok had called to report instead of following those procedures meant there was something unusual about this case.
The visitor had flown directly from Korea just to see Yoo Jae-won.
"The person's name is Lee Sung-soo?"
"Yes! His name is Lee Sung-soo, and he claims to have an innovative idea regarding computer distribution."
Lee Sung-soo? Yoo Jae-won had heard that name somewhere before.
"Ah! Sejin Computer Land!"
The name Sejin Computer Land suddenly flashed through Yoo Jae-won's mind as he pondered. The founder of Sejin Computer Land, which had created a sensation in Korea since the mid-1990s with products like the Jindo Dog PC and Sejong the Great PC, was Lee Sung-soo.