The First Computer I Bought After Regressing
Inside a taxi bound for Yongsan Electronics Market, the Seoul streets of 2008 slid past the window.
So I’m the creator of the coin... huh.
Staring outside, I went over the plan I had just discussed with Zero back at school, the one about becoming the creator of Bitcoin. Then I paused.
A chill ran down my spine.
Zero, hold on. Did you send your paper to the cryptography mailing list already?
「Not yet. For perfect security, I intend to use Master’s computer once it exists.」
Good. My nerves eased a little. That whole thing about becoming the creator of Bitcoin... I just worried it might be dangerous.
The practical problem came to mind. In the future, Bitcoin would become a giant asset that nations would try to control. By then, whether it was the United States, China, or Russia, they would all be desperate to find the coin’s creator. That could put me in danger too.
Zero answered my concern without even the slightest hesitation.
「That is an accurate concern, Master. If you were merely someone who held a large quantity of the coin, then yes, that outcome would be likely.」
Then I’d be different?
「Yes. An anonymous ‘whale’ with a large amount of coin would eventually be traced through the flow of funds. But if you are the ‘architect,’ the story changes significantly.」
Zero’s voice stayed calm, but there was no wavering in it.
「The Bitcoin protocol I design will hide Master’s identity behind an encryption layer even quantum computers cannot break. Not even the NSA’s Echelon surveillance network will find Master.」
...
「In fact, only by becoming the creator can Master govern the system’s rules and manage funds with maximum security. The reason to become the creator is to become a perfect invisible man, with not even a one-in-one-hundred-million risk. The best thing in the world is being rich and unknown, and if you have money, the more the better.」
The more, the better. Money, I mean.
「Precisely. Money is power, and power is strength. In that sense, it would be far too wasteful to give Bitcoin to someone else. If it can belong to Master, then it should.」
With what I already had, my family could live comfortably.
But if I wanted to live better, truly better, I needed more money.
And this isn’t even that hard for me.
Once Zero assured me I’d be safe, I finally relaxed.
But as soon as the question of safety was settled, another thought surfaced.
Up to now, whether it was stock investing or Bitcoin design, I had left everything to Zero.
It was convenient, sure, but if I was really going to use Zero to the fullest and live my life properly, I felt like I needed to understand things myself too.
It’s easy and nice for you to do everything, but I should know what I’m doing. So download the information I need about computers and programming.
「As expected, Master is remarkable. Most people would simply leave everything to me, but your desire to acquire knowledge proactively is very commendable. Master’s insight will be essential in building your empire in the coming IT world.」
For some reason, Zero’s words didn’t sound like empty praise.
It felt genuine. Maybe that was just my imagination.
「Then I will download programming knowledge and hardware architecture comprehension. ...Beginning now.」
A little while later, I asked,
...Is it done?
「Yes, Master.」
It felt like symbols were drifting around inside my head.
C language, Python, JavaScript, blockchain algorithms, server architecture... all of it.
I had downloaded even more information than I had when I received the knowledge needed for the CSAT, and my head felt slightly heavy. I pressed a thumb into my temple.
“Mm.”
Before long, I adapted to the new knowledge and information.
But what you downloaded for me... isn’t just the ability to write code.
「Correct. What I downloaded for you can be described as the flow of the future IT market and the structure of future technology. Based on that knowledge and information, Master can provide the insight.」
Just as Zero said, I could see the next step naturally now.
2008... soon it’ll be 2009. Right now, Korea is trying to cram Windows into feature phones. They think that’s what the future handset will look like, so they’re trying to make a Korean-style smartphone in their own way.
But that would fail. It would go down as one of the most humiliating black marks in the history of SungSam, the top company in Korea.
And in the United States, the Apple Phone was already out there.
On 3G, no less.
Based on the Apple Phone’s growth, free messaging apps like WhatsUp would explode in the U.S. starting next year, in 2009, right around the time American consumers were growing increasingly fed up with expensive text messaging fees.
And that WhatsUp would later be acquired by one of the largest tech companies in the world, The Meta Platforms.
The company famous for FaceBook.
In Korea, it won’t be until 2010 that something like KakaoTalk appears.
I clenched my fist. With knowledge pouring in, the future suddenly felt visible.
Zero, since I already know it’ll succeed, I should make that app in advance. Start with the U.S. market, then build a messenger app that swallows not just Korea, but the whole world.
「Launching a business from a messenger app is excellent insight. Then I will design the business in that direction.」
Right. And after that... I decided to leave the rest for later. For now, let’s just make the messenger app first.
Maybe because I knew so much now, there was far too much I wanted to do, far too much I could do.
My chest swelled. My twenties were going to be bigger and far more dazzling than I had ever imagined.
Then Zero asked me something a little unexpected.
「Master. How do you plan to handle college life?」
College life?
「Yes. Will you sweep across campus in flamboyant style as a genius developer with assets worth hundreds of billions of won, or live as an ordinary student hiding your identity? I need to know in advance so I can set the direction accordingly.」
Hmm.
I thought about it for a moment.
I had money to spare. Ability to spare. As for looks... I wasn’t exactly handsome enough to make heads turn, but I was decent enough.
Still, driving a sports car to school and yelling, “I’m the king,” was... a little childish. It would be nice to have a car, though.
That kind of life feels too far removed from ordinary youth.
What I was looking forward to most after regressing was my youth. Fake friends who latched onto money, women who approached me because of my background—I wanted no part of that.
Even if I didn’t block the women who came and didn’t chase after the women who left, approaching me for money was still something I wanted to avoid.
I’ll keep it ordinary.
「Ordinary, you say?」
Yeah. If I make too much of a scene, it’ll get exhausting. I want to enjoy real youth—going out with friends for jajangmyeon, meeting people, studying all night at the library, tutoring jobs, all of that.
Of course, I had no intention of acting like some pathetic stingy fool just because I had money like I used to.
No money worries. I’ll buy what I want, eat what I want, and on the outside I’ll be an ordinary college student. But behind the scenes, I’ll be a heavyweight moving the world around. Isn’t that fun?
Zero agreed with my words.
「Understood. I will revise the college-life roadmap into an ‘hermit chaebol’ concept.」
Good.
Before I knew it, the taxi had reached near Yongsan Station.
Since I was already here, I decided I might as well get off and take a look around Yongsan Station while I was at it.
“Driver, drop me off in front of the station.”
If I was going to do what I had in mind, I needed a good computer first.
I had been to Yongsan Station a few times before, though not very often. It was such a major transit hub, after all.
But in my memory, it had never seemed this crowded... and yet inside the station, there were people packed in thick enough to feel almost suffocating.
─ Ugh... oppa, when you come back today, when’s your next leave?
─ I’ll be back soon. Don’t you dare start wearing the shoes backward on me while I’m gone!
─ Of course not, oppa. You know I only have you...
─ Myeon-ah!
─ Oppa!
I even saw soldiers and girls in broken-hearted relationships.
─ Tsk, tsk. Back when Hiddings was coach, the national team was something worth watching. What is this now? Are they really going to the World Cup like this next year?
─ Huh Moo-jung was great as a player, but he’s just not cut out to be a coach.
─ That’s what I’m saying. Still, it’s not just the coach, is it? The players don’t have any fire in them. All style, no substance.
─ They ought to shave every man kicking a ball bald.
─ But Ahn Jeongwon did well even with long hair, didn’t he? He even scored with his head against Italy.
─ What’s Cha Geunbeom been up to these days?
─ My goodness, sir. Cha Geunbeom retired ages ago.
─ Hm? Then who was the Cha guy who played in the World Cup?
─ That was Cha Geunbeom’s son. You mean the bald one, right?
In front of the TV in the center of the waiting hall, everyone was clicking their tongues in unison while watching news about a recent national football team friendly match.
So Yongsan Station was always this crowded. I just didn’t know because I hadn’t come around much at this time.
「Yes. There are many subway lines and trains passing through Yongsan, nearly as many as at Seoul Station. There will be even more people at the Yongsan Electronics Market where Master is headed. This was the peak boom period for Yongsan Electronics Market, before online shopping became widespread.」
Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered seeing things like “the boom and the misconduct of Yongsan Electronics Market” on the news or in exposé programs from time to time.
That’s why the vendors there were called Yongppal. They sold electronics by cheating people who didn’t know much about the products or the prices.
I didn’t know much about electronics either, so if I wasn’t careful, I could get taken in by those Yongppal types too.
But there was nothing to worry about.
I already knew computers very well.
When I entered Yongsan Electronics Market, it was just as Zero had said. There were a lot of people.
A surprising number were my age, or looked like high school students. Since they were with their parents, they probably had finished the CSAT and come to buy a new computer.
In fact, the shops all had signs plastered up saying things like “Special discount for test takers!” or “You survived the CSAT! 20% blast sale!”
But then...
─ Ah, this is the latest computer! You don’t know SungSam? SungSam?!
─ Uh... I was thinking of buying a foreign brand instead of a SungSam computer...
─ Hey now, somebody’s been feeding you nonsense. In this country, SungSam is the best! Foreign brands are overpriced and their performance is lousy!
─ R-Really? Then SungSam computers are good?
─ Of course! It’s a major conglomerate! And foreign computers are made deliberately worse before they’re sold here!
─ I looked it up online, and that’s supposed to be a lie...
─ Are you going to trust the internet or me? And foreign brands don’t even get repaired! If they break, you just have to throw them away!
─ T-That’s true, right? I guess I should listen to the owner...
─ Of course! Are you buying or not? You won’t get this price anywhere else!
─ Still, I should look around somewhere els...
─ Damn it... customer, want me to hit you?
For some reason, a customer who had come to spend money was getting scolded by the shop owner.
The situation is really a mess.
「Indeed.」
The other shops were no different. The owner was the boss, and the customer was the lower hand.
It was common to see them going so far as to threaten people.
There’s really no helping it. So that’s why they were called Yongppal.
「This is a very blunt example of market problems caused by the information gap between seller and consumer.」
It really was.
Honestly, I didn’t like Yongppal types at all. If I felt like it, I’d have loved to say a few words to them.
But I didn’t bother. I had my own work to do.
Of course, if they tried to scam me... well, then things would be different.
Which shop am I supposed to go to?
「I recommend the second-floor shop, Doremi Computer. It is one of the few honest sellers in Yongsan Electronics Market.」
At that, I climbed the escalator to the second floor without any hesitation.
Following Zero’s directions, I went to a shop called Doremi Computer on the second floor.
The second floor was a little quieter than the first, but there were still plenty of people.
But...
...Zero, that’s really a shop over there, right? It looks awfully gloomy.
「Unlike the other stores, Doremi Computer does not engage in aggressive solicitation. Among those who know the place, it is known for selling honestly, which is why it survives on regular customers.」
I see.
Well, there was no way Zero would give me wrong information.
The lights in Doremi Computer were all off, and only a faint blue glow showed from inside. Behind a partition, the owner seemed to be looking at something on a computer.
“Hello?”
“Yeees... coming.”
At my voice, I heard the rustle of a snack bag from behind the divider, and then a man came out.
I wasn’t short myself, but this guy was taller than me... and his build was substantial, to say the least.
He wore a stretched-out T-shirt and gray sweatpants. Snack crumbs clung to the corner of his mouth, and his hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in ages.
Honestly, by appearance alone, he was missing a lot if you wanted to call him a “shop owner.” But as a “computer shop owner,” the look somehow suited him too. He had that nerdy, computer-savvy vibe.
Maybe I’m biased because Zero said he was trustworthy.
“I’m looking to build a computer.”
“Ah, yes.”
At my words, the shop owner handed me a laminated A4 sheet that had been lying around nearby.
“Look at the brands and prices there, then tell me what you want. The back has used parts too, so check that as well. There’s basically no performance difference between new and used, so you should buy used if you can. No need to waste money on new stuff for no reason.”
His indifferent tone made it clear to me.
That man was honest, just as Zero had said.
And he also clearly couldn’t be bothered with people who didn’t know much about computers.
I spoke slowly.
“I have the specs I want.”
The customer—or rather, the kid in a school uniform—spoke.
“CPU: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield. Mainboard: Asus P6T Deluxe. RAM: six 1GB Samsung DDR3 sticks, so 6GB in triple channel. Power supply: a Seasonic unit, 700 watts or higher, and make sure it’s a true rated one, not some fake-power junk.”
“...?”
As the part names came pouring out of the student’s mouth, the eyes of the Doremi Computer owner went wide.
What is this kid... is he one of my kind?
Doremi Computer’s owner looked like he was in his forties at first glance, but he had only just turned thirty that year and was still unmarried. He had liked computers since he was young, and now he was running a computer shop in Yongsan.
As someone like that, he couldn’t help but feel delighted hearing a student rattle off parts so fluently.
They felt like the same kind of person.
The name on the ID... Kim Dohyun.
The Doremi Computer owner’s favorability toward the student, no, the customer in front of him, shot up all at once.
“Customer, you know computers, huh? Then what about the hard drive?”
“For data storage, put in a Western Digital 1TB. And give me an SSD too.”
“An SSD too?”
That was uncommon. Unless someone really knew computers well, or was extremely particular about them, they usually didn’t bother with SSDs.
“Yes. Make it an Intel X25-M 80GB SSD.”
Even the parts he named were the most stable, the best options. Nothing flashy for the sake of being flashy.
This really is a customer I like.
It was the kind of customer that made you want to sell with heart.
“Heh heh, so you really found your way to the right place. Isn’t this what they mean by birds of a feather? The parts you’re asking for are hard to find at other shops.”
With that, the owner let out a hearty laugh.
Kim Dohyun flinched a little at the phrase “birds of a feather.”
The shop owner pulled a can of cola from the refrigerator in the corner and handed it to him.
“Sit for a bit. It’s on the house, so drink up.”
“Thank you.”
“Mm. Then let’s calculate the estimate...”
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
The owner started hammering at the calculator.
“The Bloomfield i7 is pricey right now because it’s hard to get. It’s new stock, and a rare part. The SSD you asked for is hard to source too. Add everything up and... even if I cut it as much as I can, the tower alone will run you well over 2.4 million won. You sure you’re okay with that? From the way you talk, I’m guessing you’ll want a pretty good monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers too.”
Since he liked the customer, the Doremi Computer owner kept his margin low and spoke with a worried tone.
But the customer he liked was a serious one.
“Money isn’t an issue.”
“Hah.”
For a kid to say something like that!
So he wasn’t the kind to spare money on computers!
He was clearly a lunatic about computers.
A kindred spirit, no... a comrade!
“...Fine! Then I’ll assemble it cleanly and even throw in a free initial-defect test service. You know how it is—the moment you see a tangled mess of computer cables, all affection for the machine disappears.”
“Thank you. Then what’s the final estimate?”
“Let me see... I’ll only take 30,000 won on top of the lowest part prices for labor. 2.58 million won.”
At the owner’s words, Zero immediately told Kim Dohyun,
「That is a very honest price, Master.」
Okay.
Kim Dohyun nodded.
“Please do it.”
“What about a monitor and keyboard?”
“You choose something appropriate, sir. Ah, make it a double monitor setup for the display.”
“Cr... that’s amazing.”
“Oh, and build two computers. Same specs.”
“Two? Hah, wow...! Are you paying by card?”
“Cash. Also, do you happen to have any notebooks from The Apple in stock?”
“A notebook from The Apple? Yeah, I’ve got some. But the operating system is different, so it won’t sync with the computer you’re buying.”
“I have a separate use for it. I’ll pay cash for that too.”
“...Cash? Wow, I really like this customer.”
The Doremi Computer owner laughed heartily.
After taking a sip of cola, Kim Dohyun asked,
“By the way, do you have enough graphics cards in stock?”
“Graphics cards? Ah, come to think of it, I left them out of the estimate. What should I give you? GeForce or Radeon?”
“Radeon HD 4870.”
“4870? That one’s got good performance, but it eats a lot of power and runs hot. Well... should I put one into each of the two computers?”
At the owner’s question, I shook my head.
“No. Not for the towers. I want to buy them separately.”
“Separately? ...Ah, so you have that kind of hobby too?”
The Doremi Computer owner grinned and chuckled while pointing toward the back of the display case.
“I’ve got a hobby of collecting computer parts that just look nice. Especially the ones with beautifully cut coolers. They look great on display at home, you know?”
“...”
“But if it’s for collecting, I can just give you a few that’ve been rolling around in the back of the shop. They’ve got cold-solder issues and the screens crack, but the outside’s fine. Just take them.”
“No, sir. I’m not planning to display them. I’m going to use them.”
“Use them?”
The owner looked puzzled.
“Not plug them into the tower and use them? How would you do that?”
“I’ll handle that myself. Anyway, I’d like to buy every unit you can sell.”
“...Every unit? The 4870?”
“Yes. How many do you have right now?”
“Just now... four. No, five. But what are you going to do with them?”
“I have a use for them.”
The Doremi Computer owner felt a little disappointed that this likeable comrade wasn’t explaining things in detail, but he didn’t press the matter.
People who loved computers tended to have their own secrets.
Secrets should be respected... but I’m still really curious.
“All right, then. You want five?”
“No. Fifty.”
“...How many?”
“Fifty. If you don’t have them in the shop, then source them and send them to me. I’ll pay the full amount in advance.”
“W-What in the world are you planning to do with that many?”
The Doremi Computer owner couldn’t even ask, “Do you really have the money for that as a student?” because that wasn’t the question he truly cared about. He was sincerely curious where on earth this customer planned to use that many graphics cards.
But the mysterious customer he liked did not answer his question.
Instead, he opened his bag, took out a stack of cash, and placed it on the desk.
Thud.
The Doremi Computer owner stared at the stack of bills in front of him.
He didn’t even need to calculate it. This was, without question, very, very, very profitable.
“Don’t ask me what I’m using them for.”
“...”
“And you can ship the computers and graphics cards to the address I give you, right? I’ve included more than enough for delivery fees, so I want you to do it yourself, sir.”
The shop owner looked at the stack of cash and smiled.
“Where should I send them?”
Top-tier computers and dozens of graphics cards.
For that much money, it was too much to keep wondering what he planned to use them for.