The Suseong Bridge Warning
Warcraft and the tournament filled Yoo Jae-won's mind with countless possibilities. His first reaction was anger that the carefully written report he had posted had been deliberately buried. Next came the need to determine exactly how deeply Jeon Myeong-heon was involved. The fact that the old man had raised the Suseong Bridge issue himself suggested he did not know the full details, yet the safety inspection team had still failed to move. In the end, Jeon Myeong-heon had lent his weight to those who wanted the matter swept under the rug.
"What exactly happened?" Yoo Jae-won asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible and getting straight to the point.
"Well, you see..." Jeon Myeong-heon began, sounding genuinely troubled.
When the report had first arrived, Jeon Myeong-heon had dismissed it without much thought. Learning that the post had come from Yoo Jae-won, the grandson he cherished most, left him flustered. Looking back, the secretary in charge of the Internet Public Petition Office had behaved strangely. Someone had anonymously claimed that the post was a malicious attempt to smear Dongah Construction. The secretary had insisted that the slight warping of the Suseong Bridge deck was simply the result of aging, not poor construction or negligence. He had even suggested the post might be an attempt to manipulate the stock price of an otherwise sound construction company.
"Did that secretary personally visit the site?"
"Hmm. Probably not."
Yoo Jae-won's follow-up questions yielded no satisfactory answers. "That wasn't like you, Grandfather."
Yoo Jae-won had plenty more to say, but he held his tongue. Sometimes silence was more effective, and this was one of those moments. Jeon Myeong-heon had seen enough in his life to understand the implications immediately.
"Is the situation at Suseong Bridge really that serious?"
"It isn't only Suseong Bridge, Grandfather. You know as well as I do how many buildings and bridges from the rapid-growth years of the seventies and eighties were thrown up in a rush. That was why you agreed so readily to create the safety inspection team."
"That's true."
"Suseong Bridge is worse than most. I used it several times after returning to Seoul. The deck alone has visible steps between sections. The car jolted badly every time. I looked into it separately and learned that the lower frame supporting the weight is in terrible condition. The bolts can be loosened by hand. In my judgment, if we do not close the bridge immediately and conduct a precise inspection, something catastrophic will happen within weeks."
Yoo Jae-won forced down the anger rising in his chest. The false news broadcast he had seen in his previous life flashed through his mind while he spoke.
"Good heavens. Is it truly that bad? Then why didn't you tell me directly?"
"I wanted to create the most natural picture possible. I also wanted to give the Internet Public Petition Office a chance to function. Receiving a report through the petition system and dispatching an emergency team is something even the United States has never demonstrated. That secretary has no connection to Dongah Construction, does he?"
Yoo Jae-won's suspicion now rested squarely on the official in charge of the petition office. The high-level information he had posted had been ignored so easily; ordinary netizens' submissions would never have reached the top either.
"Mm. I'll look into it."
Jeon Myeong-heon's reply sounded small against Yoo Jae-won's sharp question. The man he had placed in the position had served him since the early days of Mirae Group, though not from the very beginning. They had worked together for about ten years. The fellow was bright, having followed only the elite track, and Jeon Myeong-heon had even nicknamed him "the sharp one" because of his quick mind. Since he was the youngest person around Jeon Myeong-heon, he had been given responsibility for the modern Internet Public Petition Office. Now he had stabbed them in the back on a grand scale.
Objectively, there were only two possibilities. Either the sharp one was protecting Dongah Construction, or Yoo Jae-won was maliciously slandering the company. Common sense pointed to the former.
"So what do you want me to do?"
Jeon Myeong-heon still knew the proper order of things. The urgent matter was Suseong Bridge; questioning the secretary could wait.
"The law establishing the safety inspection team includes a clause allowing emergency inspections when a facility shows critical defects. On that basis we can prohibit traffic on Suseong Bridge for the time being and begin a high-precision investigation. It would be even better if you made a public announcement with the press present."
"Suseong Bridge carries a lot of traffic. Won't citizens be greatly inconvenienced?"
"For the sake of safety, some inconvenience must be accepted. Besides, the more people feel the inconvenience, the greater the impact. You will be seen in a new light, Prime Minister. Has anyone ever gone this far for public safety?"
"No one has."
"Then being the first to do so will make your presence unmistakable. If the inspection finds nothing wrong, the inconvenience could turn into complaints, but if we discover and correct a fatal flaw in advance, the reaction will become praise."
"The only thing that worries me is the backlash from Dongah Construction, the company that built the bridge."
They had already used one secretary to bury the issue. A full investigation would surely provoke an even stronger reaction. Ironically, Yoo Jae-won's proposal would ultimately save Dongah Construction itself. The Suseong Bridge collapse had been the beginning of the company's near-total expulsion from the construction market. He was not acting out of affection for Dongah Construction, yet the move would benefit the company enormously. Still, they would fight it tooth and nail.
"Leave those fellows to me. This is my area of expertise, isn't it?"
Jeon Myeong-heon's calm tone was reassuring. Though he was not comfortable with the latest technology, when it came to this kind of fight, no one was more reliable.
"And about the secretary... I'm sorry."
The sudden apology was unlike him. He usually claimed such words made his face itch, but the secretary's betrayal clearly weighed on him.
"It's all right. When you do well, I benefit as well. Please contact me anytime if a problem arises."
The call ended. A major event seemed imminent, yet the Suseong Bridge matter appeared to be in good hands. All that remained was to run the tournament successfully.
Perhaps because the heavy burden in his heart had been lifted, Yoo Jae-won arrived at the venue and found himself impressed. The preparations at Kkachi PC Bang exceeded expectations. A massive banner covered an entire side of the building, and an arch made of balloons stood at the entrance.
"Wow."
What caught Yoo Jae-won's eye most was the enormous banner. It displayed the orc and human artwork from the Warcraft package cover. The print resolution was exceptionally high, giving it tremendous impact. The text read "Kkachi PC Bang Warcraft Tournament" along with the prize amounts: 5 million won for first place, 3 million for second, and 1 million each for third. Originally the tournament had offered only 1 million won to the winner. For a PC bang owner running his own event, even that amount had been substantial. The tenfold increase was, of course, thanks to Yoo Jae-won's sponsorship. The banner also stated that the event was an officially recognized ID Entertainment tournament, and Yoo Jae-won's name appeared among the sponsors. Though it looked as if he were both funding the prizes and claiming them himself, Yoo Jae-won wore a confident expression. First place had essentially been reserved for him, but second and third places were new additions, and the prizes for those ranks were far larger than before. That was not all. The simple phrase "ID Entertainment officially recognized tournament" carried far greater weight than it appeared.
"Is there a company that can produce a banner that size?"
At a time when marketing and promotion were still underdeveloped, creating such a large banner could not have been easy.
"We brought it from Japan," Kim Dae-seok replied, trying to sound nonchalant yet clearly proud.
Warcraft had launched in Japan as well. The banner had originally been used for promotional purposes there. Fortunately, the Japanese text had been limited to the bottom section, which they had simply cut away before hanging it. Kim Dae-seok's capabilities continued to grow with each passing year.
Yet the real surprise still lay ahead. Once inside the PC bang, an even more impressive scene unfolded. The place was packed with people. When Yoo Jae-won entered, a wave of excited voices rose. It was the reaction one might expect at the appearance of a famous celebrity. To most Koreans, Yoo Jae-won had become less a businessman and more a public figure. Lately he appeared in the news more often for receiving the Fields Medal and for his power blog than for business matters, so people simply treated him as a celebrity.
The interior of Kkachi PC Bang matched the nostalgic image stored in Yoo Jae-won's memory. Rows of computers lined long desks. Without a dedicated management program, game icons remained visible on every desktop, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the nineties. Since usage time was not tracked electronically, fees were still calculated by hand in a ledger. At least the chairs here were decently padded, and the spacing between machines was reasonable. The computers themselves had been assembled by vendors from Yongsan. The installed copies of Android OS and the games were all licensed for PC bang use, which pleased him.
Should I develop a PC bang management program?
Seeing the shortcomings naturally led Yoo Jae-won's thoughts toward business. Creating a program to control networked computers was not particularly difficult. Using the libraries developed while building the cloud system, he could finish it faster than expected. The program would be simple to make yet genuinely useful. Yoo Jae-won could complete it in a single focused day, making it a worthwhile side project.
"Huh? What's that?"
While looking around, Yoo Jae-won's gaze was captured by a small open space containing a roughly sixty-inch white screen and a projector.
"Since it's a tournament, we need to make it easy for everyone to watch the matches, don't we?"
In any game tournament, broadcasting was essential. The more people who could see the players' screens, the greater the excitement. Because the competition used PCs, the projector paired perfectly with them. Only one projector had been prepared, but an input selector allowed any of the four competing PCs to be displayed instantly. Adding casters and commentators would have been ideal, but even this level of preparation for an early PC bang tournament was impressive. Yoo Jae-won gave Kim Dae-seok a thumbs-up.
"Chairman, this is Mr. Jeong Chan-ho, the owner of Kkachi PC Bang."
At Kim Dae-seok's introduction, Yoo Jae-won greeted the owner.
"Chairman Yoo Jae-won! I never imagined you would actually come. Thank you so much!"
The Warcraft tournament had been something of a gamble for Jeong Chan-ho. After noticing that Warcraft drew the strongest response among the games played at his PC bang, he had risked spending a full million won to create an event and generate buzz. The entry requirement was simple membership registration. While many had signed up for the prize money, he hoped they would become regular customers. If the PC bang became the regular gathering place for the clans that were beginning to form, steady revenue would follow. Instead, he had hooked an unimaginably large fish. When Kim Dae-seok first approached him, Jeong Chan-ho had wondered whether it was a scam.
"I'm the one who should be grateful that you love our game enough to host a tournament at your own expense."
Yoo Jae-won bowed slightly in thanks and registered as a member on the spot. The membership requirement applied to him as well. Whether by Kim Dae-seok's arrangement or the group's publicity department, reporters had appeared. They photographed the scene and interviewed both Yoo Jae-won and Jeong Chan-ho. The commotion continued for a while. Although it was only a small PC bang tournament, nothing like this had ever been attempted before, so the proceedings were not entirely smooth. People crowded in hoping to catch a glimpse of Yoo Jae-won, and for a moment it seemed an accident might occur. Thanks to his bodyguards and Jeong Chan-ho's efforts, order was eventually restored.
Thirty minutes after the event began, the round-of-32 bracket was posted and the tournament finally started.
"Today, ID Group Chairman Yoo Jae-won visited a PC bang in Seoul. The reason was a game tournament being held there—a Warcraft tournament that has taken both Korea and the world by storm. Even though the event was hosted at a small PC bang, dozens of participants registered, making it a great success."
Yoo Jae-won appeared prominently on the evening network news. To the reporters present, his actions today bordered on eccentric, so coverage was inevitable.
"Chairman Yoo Jae-won reportedly claimed first place in the tournament. His victory comment was particularly memorable. He stated that, having participated in the game's development, he was confident he would not lose to any opponent for the time being. He added, however, that as increasingly creative strategies emerge over time, future victories would not be so easily guaranteed."
"That's correct. Chairman Yoo Jae-won was so impressed by today's PC bang tournament that he announced a support policy to help more people experience similar events. He revealed a plan to back Warcraft tournaments at PC bangs nationwide. Any PC bang that purchases the PC-bang version of Android OS and a legitimate copy of Warcraft can apply. Once approved, they will receive prize money and various promotional benefits. The ultimate goal is a national Warcraft Championship League in which local winners compete for a grand prize of thirty million won."
The response was explosive. Korean online communities erupted, and netizens around the world reacted as well. Even Warcraft's sales, which had been gradually declining after launch, began to surge once more. The momentum was tremendous. Even when Quake launched globally in a few weeks, in Korea it seemed Warcraft and its players would still dominate.