Chapter 20
I’m translating the chapter now and preserving the in-universe displays as styled HTML blocks where they’re actually reading messages or system-like text. I’ll keep the prose natural and the paragraphing novel-like rather than line-by-line.CHAPTER_TITLE: Midtown and the Call from The Apple
Midtown Manhattan, New York.
Amid the forest of skyscrapers where money from all over the world came to gather, there was one office whose lights never went out.
It was the office of Another Technology.
Vincent set a box down by the window and dragged in a rough breath.
"Hoo... No matter how many times I move, I never get used to it."
Only a few weeks ago, he had been scrubbing mold off the second floor of a laundromat in Harlem. He had been a public defender there, but after being hired by an anonymous client called Master, his life had changed beyond recognition.
Outside the window, the glittering nightscape of the city spread out before him. It was a view even many successful lawyers could only dream of.
I didn't need this kind of view, though.
Even so, the reason he had gone out of his way to rent such an expensive office was entirely because of the secretary's instructions.
> "Vincent, business is half appearances. If you look shabby on the outside, no one will trust a word you say. And for the time being, you are Master's face, so appearances matter. Keep that in mind."
The woman Vincent called the secretary was a mystery. The only thing he knew for certain was that her voice was unbearably alluring and always carried perfect diction.
Whether it was 3 a.m. or 8 in the morning, there was never the slightest trace of sleepiness or fatigue in her voice.
In Vincent's mind, the secretary had become a sexy blonde career woman.
That was also why he kept accepting the ridiculous amount of work she gave him.
I want to meet her once, but she absolutely won't.
Which was exactly why she seemed even more attractive.
Vincent muttered to himself as he unpacked his things, then glanced over the papers lying on his desk.
When I first got that recruitment offer from the secretary, I was sure it was going to be a dangerous business.
But the company that had hired him turned out, unexpectedly, to be an IT startup.
It was genuinely surprising. For a startup like this, there was no real reason to keep a lawyer as a figurehead.
"A free messaging app, FreeChat..."
His own phone was a Locia, not a smartphone.
So he still hadn't tried it himself, but FreeChat had been all over the news and radio lately.
That alone made it clear that FreeChat was catching on.
Still, Vincent's brow furrowed. His instincts as a lawyer, and the business sense he had built while studying corporate law, were sounding alarms.
This business has no revenue model.
No signup fee, no subscription fee, not even advertising.
That was FreeChat's overwhelming appeal.
And that appeal was driving users up at an exponential rate.
But just from skimming the report, the server costs alone come to seventy to eighty thousand dollars a month.
He had no idea just how much money Master actually had, but the burn rate was monstrous.
No matter how rich you were, you couldn't keep a business alive by pouring water into a bottomless pit.
"...I hope the company doesn't go bankrupt because of this."
He tapped the desk a few times, trying to shake off the unease.
The rich have plans of their own, I suppose, but maybe I should ask the secretary for her opinion later. What exactly does she intend to do with this business?
He forced himself to think positively.
By then, it was already after 10 p.m.
Should I just finish the rest of the unpacking tomorrow and head out? The secretary didn't give me anything else to do today.
Just as he was about to pick up his jacket, buzz-bzzzt! Buzz-bzzzt!
His phone vibrated in the inside pocket. Vincent froze.
At this hour? Is it the secretary?
He checked the screen with a flicker of anticipation. If it was her, he wanted to hear her voice even if it was late.
But the number on the display was unfamiliar.
[408] 996-XXXX
408... California?
Vincent tilted his head and pressed the call button.
"Yes, Vincent Lightman speaking."
A dry, but oddly arrogant male voice came through the receiver.
[Sorry to trouble you at this hour. Am I speaking to Mr. Lightman, CEO of Another Technology?]
"Yes, that's correct. And you are?"
Vincent answered with the deliberate gravity of a company representative.
After all, his number was public through the corporate registration records, so knowing it wasn't unusual.
But when the man answered, Vincent stopped breathing.
[This is the corporate support team at The Apple headquarters.]
"...The Apple?"
Why would that giant company be calling the head of a tiny startup?
Cold sweat ran down Vincent's back.
"...Is there a problem with our app, by any chance?"
He asked cautiously, and an unexpected answer came back from the other end.
[No. Quite the opposite, actually. We were deeply impressed by your company's technology.]
"Deeply impressed?"
[Yes. I'll get straight to the point. We'd like to acquire FreeChat's push notification technology.]
"...Excuse me?"
An offer to buy their technology. And from Apple of all companies.
Thud.
Vincent could only let the jacket in his hand fall to the floor.
"If I didn't mishear that, you're saying you want to acquire this company's technology...?"
[Yes, that's correct. It may be sudden, but we're more than willing to pay handsomely for it.]
"I-I see. If you have a figure in mind, that would help me report back to my Master... I mean, my partner."
There was a short pause. Then the answer came.
[Twenty million dollars in cash. How does that sound?]
Vincent went blank again.
...They're offering twenty million dollars?
What kind of company had he been hired into?
This wasn't his decision to make.
He would have to ask the secretary, and through her, ask Master for instructions.
"U-um... please wait a moment. I'll contact my Master... I mean, my partner."
After saying that, Vincent turned on his computer.
Then he sent an email to the secretary.
Whenever he had something to say, she would usually call him after he sent an email marked Contact me.
He had come back from the department store with his mother and Seohee.
We had been there for quite a while, but since we'd gone in the morning, it was still only early afternoon.
Ssshhh.
From the master bedroom, I heard the sound of my mother organizing her bags.
She was putting the handbag I had given her into the wardrobe, still inside the shopping bag.
Seohee, on the other hand, was wearing the padded jacket I bought her even at home.
Earlier, she had been admiring herself in the mirror in her room, and now she was checking herself again in the bathroom.
─ Ehehehehe.
It really did seem to suit her.
The house was warm enough that it should have felt stuffy, but she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts underneath, with the jacket zipped all the way up. It was adorable and funny at the same time.
My mother's voice drifted out from the bedroom.
─ Kim Seohee! If you're not using the bathroom, turn the light off!
─ Ah, just a second!
─ Ugh, and take that jacket off too! Aren't you hot? The heater's blasting in here!
─ I'm not hot! I'm sleeping in this!
Listening to their banter, I looked at the gift I had bought for my father at the department store.
Wallet and watch... I hope he likes them.
It was the first time I'd ever bought my father a present, so I hadn't known what to choose.
Then I remembered something I'd once heard in a movie: "A man's pride is his watch, his wallet, and his woman." So I bought him a watch and a wallet.
He already had the woman.
I'll give them to him when Dad gets home from work. Then I'll know whether he likes them or not.
I spent a comfortable moment on the living room sofa thinking about it.
I already applied to university, and the Hankuk University admissions results are... January 16th.
That left about three weeks.
After the results came out, I was going to need time to prepare for "playing" at university, so before then I should probably get my work sorted out a little more aggressively.
Even if I say aggressively, it's not really anything difficult. Not for me.
Maybe I should get up.
Just as I was about to rise from the sofa, Zero's voice echoed in my head.
Master. Vincent has contacted you.
Vincent?
He seemed to be having a rough time lately.
He wasn't quitting, was he?
'The Apple' has contacted him. They want to acquire FreeChat's push notification technology.
They're offering to buy push notification technology?
So he wasn't quitting.
Still, they wanted to buy push notifications.
Push notification technology... if it's Apple, isn't this something they could develop themselves within a year, or really, within half a year?
Correct.
Right now, Apple's developers couldn't build it instantly, but who were they?
They were a group packed with the greatest geniuses in the world. If they threw enough time and money at it, they'd eventually produce it.
Which meant my technology's shelf life was at most six months.
Zero. Can we patent FreeChat's push notification technology right now?
That would be difficult. Apple is already filing a number of patents involving similar concepts, and even if we secured one, they would bury us in litigation with a giant law firm and bleed us dry. In the meantime, they would finish developing their own version.
As expected.
Then there was no benefit in me trying to play hard to get.
On the contrary, taking the money now might be the most rational choice.
How much did they offer?
The initial offer is twenty million dollars.
Twenty million dollars was about 3 billion won at the current exchange rate.
If I exited less than a month after starting a startup, that would be a jackpot on a truly absurd scale.
─ Mom, but Oppa bought me a Christmas present, so aren't you going to buy me anything?
─ "Sweetheart, but Oppa bought Mom a Christmas present, so aren't you going to buy Mom anything?"
─ ...Stop copying my tone!
I headed to my room.
I needed to talk about something important, so I had to focus.
Click.
I closed the door, sat down in the chair, and said to Zero,
How much more do you think Vincent could squeeze out of them if he negotiates?
Based on his ability, I estimate he can push it to forty million dollars.
So he could negotiate it up to double.
That was an absurd amount of money. A normal businessperson would have stamped the paper without even looking back.
But...
Forty million dollars...
It was a huge sum, of course, but it was also the kind of money Zero could make by trading stocks.
I want something other than money.
If I sold the technology for cash, that would be the end of the relationship.
If I urgently needed money, I'd do that. But I didn't need money.
It might be better to use this chance to build a close cooperative relationship with Apple than to throw away the opportunity to make connections for cash.
Imagine Another Technology becoming Apple's official partner.
That value would be incomparable to forty million dollars.
Especially if I can get access to Apple's core API...
If I got the Apple API rights, every app I made from then on would be able to use the hardware performance of The Apple to its full 100%.
At present, most apps had to use only the "safe functions" Apple allowed.
That meant even the camera couldn't pull 100% out of the hardware, and the same went for the microphone.
For games, for example, the graphics could end up strangely low or laggy compared to what you'd expected.
But with API access, there'd be no need to worry about that.
You could use every ounce of the world's best hardware performance.
And that wasn't the only advantage.
Zero, who called Vincent?
The corporate support team at Apple's headquarters.
Could that support team arrange access to Apple's core API or some other partnership contract?
Probably not.
Impossible. That is a matter that must be decided at minimum by the CFO level, or directly by CEO Steve Jobson.
That sounded right.
Then could I speak directly to the CFO or CEO?
That would be difficult. From The Apple's perspective, Another Technology is merely a startup that happened to build one good piece of technology. There is no reason for the CEO to step in personally.
Then...
I was going to need to make an offer Jobson couldn't refuse.
An offer that would make him want to talk to me at least once.
What if I say I won't take a single cent in exchange for the technology?
...
If a single phone call saves Apple twenty million dollars, wouldn't Steve Jobson take it?
Zero stayed silent for a moment. She was calculating.
If that were the offer, Steve Jobson would be unable to suppress his curiosity. He is inclined toward people who are "crazy." Refusing tens of millions of dollars and asking for a phone call instead is, without a doubt, crazy.
Right? Then tell Vincent.
I interlaced my fingers and stretched.
I don't need the money, so instead tell them I want ten minutes on the phone with Jobson.
Vincent's office.
Vincent was sitting there, unable to even leave work, staring blankly into space.
It was because the secretary had told him, "Please wait for now. Master will give instructions."
At least there's pizza delivery nearby. That's something.
Gulp.
Vincent took a sip of cola and thought,
"Twenty million dollars... if my commission were only five percent, that would still be a million dollars..."
His salary was already a million dollars a year.
But getting a million dollars in a lump sum felt different.
Then his phone rang.
It was the secretary.
"Yes! Vincent speaking!"
He shot to his feet and answered. The dry but sexy voice of the secretary came through.
"This is Master's instruction. Contact The Apple."
"Yes! I'll tell them we accept the terms-!"
"We will not take a single cent in exchange for transferring the technology."
"W-we're not taking money?"
Two thousand dollars?
And if they negotiated, maybe they could get even more than that?
...What on earth is Master thinking?
But what came next was even more outrageous.
"Instead, state that the cooperator wishes to speak directly with CEO Steve Jobson."
"...?"
Vincent went blank.
"Uh... Miss Secretary. The other side is The Apple. I have no intention of being rude to Master, but do you really think Jobson will take a call from some startup nobody?"
"He will."
"Is there any basis for that?"
"Because Master says so."
"...?"
"Then deliver the message as instructed."
Click.
The call ended. Vincent held the phone in his hand and took a deep breath.
...This is heavy.
His situation was truly incredible.
He was stuck between a megacorporation and a lunatic rich person of unknown origin.
But strangely, Vincent could feel his blood heating up.
This situation... is kind of fun.
He had nothing to be intimidated by.
After all, it was The Apple that had reached out first, his employer was someone who didn't even need to take tens of millions of dollars, and he himself was a lawyer.
So what exactly was there to fear?
He called the number for Apple's corporate support team again.
Brrr-ring.
[Yes, this is Apple's corporate support team.]
It was late, but they seemed to have stayed at work waiting.
That just shows how badly they want this technology.
Vincent straightened his tie and spoke in a deliberately arrogant voice.
"This is Vincent Lightman. I just finished consulting with my Master... I mean, my partner."
[Oh? And? Then about the contract...]
"No. We've decided not to take any money."
[...Excuse me? You mean... you're refusing?]
The once-arrogant voice of the Apple employee began to tremble.
The moment he heard that, Vincent knew he had been right to come in hard.
The lawyer in him was waking up.
So The Apple is the one under pressure after all!
"This is not a rejection. We will give you the technology. But there is a condition."
[A condition? You just said you wouldn't take money.]
"Yes, we don't need money. Instead, my partner would like to speak directly with your CEO."
The Apple employee answered in an unsteady voice.
[...You want to speak directly with Steve?]
At the same time, in The Apple's large conference room.
Vincent's voice rang through the entire room over the speakerphone.
[We don't need money. It doesn't matter whether it's tens of millions of dollars. Instead, my partner would like to speak directly with your CEO.]
At that, the corporate support staff exchanged dumbfounded looks.
...Is this guy insane?
He turned down twenty million dollars? From a startup?
No, refusing is one thing. But saying he'll hand over the technology for free and only negotiate a phone call?
He's as crazy as our CEO... This 'Another Technology'? Even if I change jobs, I am never going to that company.
They didn't say it out loud, but that was what everyone was thinking.
Then it happened.
"You there."
─ ...!
─ ...!
─ ...!
"You said Vincent Lightman, was it?"
A man seated in the shadows in the corner of the conference room spoke up.
The man in the black turtleneck was none other than Steve Jobson, CEO of The Apple.
He had already left work, but upon hearing that contact had been made with the head of Another Technology, he had come back to the office.
"...Steve?"
The support team manager called out, but Steve ignored him completely and spoke toward the conference room phone.
"Vincent Lightman. Are you listening? I am Steve of The Apple."
[Y-yes, I am listening.]
"The cooperator who said he wouldn't take the twenty million and wanted to speak with me. Put him on now."
[... ]
Jobson's eyes gleamed with interest as he thought to himself.
He's definitely not ordinary.
A genius without madness has no appeal.
But this so-called partner was clearly a genius with madness.
I've been surrounded lately by nothing but dull, ordinary people, so this will be entertaining.
Entertainment and curiosity.
Dopamine.
And that was something money could never buy, something worth speaking to in Steve's eyes.