The Price of a Free Statue
I’m translating the chapter directly into HTML-formatted prose, keeping the narration natural and the in-universe status/readout passages in styled blocks where they belong.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Billion-Dollar Offer
Tuesday morning.
I woke slowly, opening my eyes in bed as sleep drifted away.
...I should get up.
Tuesday was the day I had a first-period lecture.
It wasn’t even a major course, just a general-education class called Love and Philosophy, but having to sit through a lecture at 9 a.m. was annoying in every possible way.
"Good morning, Master."
"While you were asleep, Vincent contacted us a little while ago."
Just a little while ago? It should be nighttime in the U.S. right now, right?
"That is correct. Still, Vincent is on duty twenty-four hours a day, every day."
Impressive.
It seemed that being the boss of a black company was a happy life after all.
What did he call about?
"Steve Jobs of Apple has made a formal offer to acquire Another Technology."
I narrowed my eyes without meaning to.
He wants to buy my company out of nowhere? Why?
"He did not state a reason for the acquisition, but my estimate is that he was shocked by the success of Ride Together, which launched last Monday. Given his personality, he likely believed a 'sharing economy' system like that would never succeed."
I nodded at that.
Well, it would have been shocking.
Honestly, I myself had been on edge for the entire week after launching Ride Together.
Even though I knew it would eventually succeed, I was tense because the launch itself had gotten such a weak response.
I said to Zero,
Zero. Give me a summary of Ride Together's first week after launch.
"Reporting. The application targeted twelve major universities on the U.S. West Coast, including Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA. From Tuesday through Thursday, the app had an average of 840 daily users. Downloads totaled 1,681."
Right. That was why I’d been worried too.
Only a little over 1,000 downloads in three days.
But then...
"From Friday through Sunday, the daily average user count surged to 9,262."
Exactly.
Users began to climb gradually from Friday afternoon, then exploded by Sunday morning.
The promotional messages I’d sent through FreeChat certainly helped, but the bigger factor was probably the timing itself: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
"Total downloads to date are 19,615, and the application's return-user rate is 91.6 percent."
Now the numbers were good, so I could relax. But last week, even while sitting in the lecture hall all day, nothing was getting through to my ears.
'Was I too early in bringing out the concept of the sharing economy?''Did I get ahead of the era so much that I’m the one taking the failure Uber would have faced?'
That kind of anxiety had stressed me out so badly I could barely swallow my meals all week.
It went without saying that I couldn’t focus on class or on campus life.
Even if Zero told me not to worry, that everything was fine, that I should trust Master’s instincts and skill, the fact that the numbers weren’t good still made me tense.
I really was just an ordinary person after all.
Anyway.
So Jobs is saying he recognizes the value of Ride Together and wants to acquire my company outright?
"That is part of it, certainly. But I think he was more shocked that he was wrong, and wanted to buy the skill you demonstrated by proving it. Jobs tends to gather the best talent 'to make the best products inside Apple.'"
Hmm.
That made sense.
In any case, I had no intention of selling my company.
Still, I was curious. I wanted to know how that genius had valued me.
How much did Jobs offer?
"One billion dollars, which is approximately 1.4334 trillion won at the current exchange rate."
A smile slipped onto my face before I knew it.
One billion dollars.
As a startup valuation, it was outrageous enough to be insane.
Did Seongsam initially offer me 350 million dollars?
"That is correct."
In that brief span, it felt like my value had tripled.
Of course, neither Seongsam nor Apple knew they’d both made acquisition offers to me.
Decline it.
I said it decisively.
"Understood. I will relay Master’s intent to Vincent."
At the same time, in Vincent’s office in the U.S.
Vincent stared at his Apple phone, tense.
...When will the secretary give me the answer?
His hand trembled faintly.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled down.
A little while earlier, long after work hours, Apple had contacted him.
Since it was already known publicly that he was “on duty 365 days a year,” taking the call wasn’t an issue.
What startled Vincent was Apple’s offer.
They want to acquire this company for one billion dollars...
"Holy..."
Vincent muttered like a groan.
One billion dollars.
That was the sort of figure he only ever saw in the news.
He quickly did the math in his head.
Under standard M&A practice, the representative who closes the deal gets an incentive or success bonus too.
If that was the case...
Even being conservative, I could get 5 percent, maybe 10 if it goes well. Master and the secretary are generous people.
They had given him a million-dollar salary when he had no reputation whatsoever.
So 10 percent seemed possible.
Ten percent would be... one hundred million dollars.
Vincent’s eyes shook.
That was retirement. No, retirement wasn’t even the point.
He could buy a small island and spend the rest of his life drinking cocktails there.
It was the kind of money that could let his son, and his son’s son, live in comfort without ever worrying about a thing.
And that wasn’t all.
He could get his sick older sister admitted to a much better university hospital.
Of course, even with the salary Master pays me now, I’m already able to get her good treatment...
Still, if possible, he wanted to give her even better care.
Something like Johns Hopkins, for example.
"My sister is important too, but first, this is the chance of my lifetime..."
Vincent waited for Zero’s reply in a near-prayerful state.
Then it happened.
Vmmmmm.
His Apple phone rang.
"[Secretary]"
"Yes, Secretary!"
The moment Vincent picked up, the secretary’s voice came through as expected.
"Vincent, Master has reached a decision."
"Yes, Secretary! And what did Master decide?"
Vincent expected, naturally, that Master would sell the company. He waited with high expectations.
But what came next made him question his own hearing.
"We decline Apple’s acquisition offer."
"...Excuse me? I must have heard that wrong..."
"You heard correctly. We are declining."
An absent-minded sound slipped from Vincent’s mouth.
For a moment, it sounded as if the “English” Zero had spoken wasn’t even his native language.
...Declining? The same 'decline' I know?
Vincent asked the secretary again, carefully and respectfully.
"Um... Secretary, it’s not ten million dollars, not one hundred million dollars, but one billion dollars. That’s nine zeroes..."
"Master said he is not selling."
Vincent went blank.
They were rejecting an offer no one could refuse.
Of course, the owner of the company was Master, so if he didn’t want to sell, then it wouldn’t be sold, but...
"Um... Secretary. I know this is presumptuous of me to ask, but..."
Vincent asked cautiously.
"Master... just how highly does he value this company, or rather himself, that he would refuse even one billion dollars? It’s Apple. Steve Jobs himself practically bowed his head and came to you, and you’re kicking that away? Then where, exactly, does he expect to sell, and for how much..."
"..."
"Ninety-nine percent of startup founders build companies so they can sell them and cash out. If it’s just a money problem, I can try to negotiate the price with Jobs. If they already offered one billion dollars, I’m sure I can squeeze out tens of millions more through negotiation."
Vincent’s voice became more and more careful as he spoke.
He was genuinely curious. What did Master think the value of Another Technology was, and what did he think Vincent himself was worth?
"..."
Silence flowed over the line for a moment.
In that silence, Vincent thought, Could he be discussing it with 'Master' himself?
The true head of this company, Master.
Since the secretary was the only one who could communicate with Master, maybe he would persuade him to sell.
Just as Vincent was thinking that...
A voice came over the phone.
It wasn’t the secretary’s voice.
"Hello, Vincent. This is the first time we’ve spoken directly."
"...?"
It was the voice of a young man.
He sounded a little hoarse, as if he had just woken up, but his voice was very pleasant.
"Could it be... Master?"
"Haha, that’s right. It feels a little strange being called that by someone else."
It was the real head of the company.
Vincent blinked hard.
Part of it was because the person called “Master” was far younger than he had expected, but more than that, he sounded completely at ease.
Could someone who had just been offered one billion dollars sound like this?
Even he, who was only thinking about that 10 percent commission, had hands trembling all over the place.
And yet there was not a trace of arrogance in the voice.
On the contrary, it carried humility and kindness, an almost alien quality.
If he were Master, he would be extremely arrogant.
Then Master spoke again.
"You asked how much I think this company is worth, didn’t you?"
"Ah... yes, that’s right."
"The value I place on this company is..."
He dragged the last part out just a little.
"Even if they tore the Statue of Liberty out of America and handed it over, I still wouldn’t sell."
"...?"
Vincent’s closed eyes shot open.
His breath caught in his throat.
"S-Statue of... Liberty?"
"That’s right."
Vincent stared blankly into space.
The Statue of Liberty.
What was that?
It wasn’t just a statue of a woman holding a torch.
It was America’s history, its pride, and the symbol of the value called freedom that upheld this nation.
It was, in itself, the pride of what Americans treasured and loved most.
He’s saying he still wouldn’t sell even if they gave him that...
In that dazed state, Vincent realized something.
...There was a reason. There was a reason the secretary called this man 'Master.'
Unless someone could say something like “I still won’t sell the company even if you give me the Statue of Liberty,” who on earth would dare call him Master?
"Hoo..."
Something hot surged up in Vincent’s chest.
It was a thrill that could not be compared to a hundred million dollars of success fee, something only those who followed Master could feel.
Just what is this man...
It didn’t matter that the other side was much younger than he was.
As a man, he carried himself on a completely different level.
Only now did Vincent painfully realize who exactly he was working under.
He had thought he was simply the agent of a “rich startup founder who made money easily.”
But that wasn’t it.
He wasn’t just a rich man.
He was a great man.
Vincent let out a laugh.
Ha ha...
Right. What’s one hundred million dollars?
If he stayed at the side of a person with this kind of nerve and vision, he could make not one hundred million dollars, but one billion, or more.
Vincent forced his trembling hand still and steadied his wavering voice.
The trivial greed and anxiety worth one hundred million dollars vanished from his face, replaced instead by determination.
"Understood, Master. I will tell Jobs exactly what you said, without changing a single word."
"Please do. Ah, and Vincent."
"Yes, speak."
"You’ve had a hard time running around on my behalf. You’ve also been working hard on Ride Together this time, so thank you for that too. I always appreciate you working late into the night. If there’s anything you need, or if you want to talk about your salary, just tell me anytime."
Talk about salary anytime, or ask for anything he needed, whenever he wanted.
Vincent’s loyalty surged like a tide.
"Yes, I definitely will!"
He wasn’t the type to refuse more money, but he was loyal all the same.
Click.
The call with Master ended.
Vincent immediately called Apple’s office.
His heart was hammering like it was about to burst.
Thud, thud, thud. The sound of it hit his eardrums.
He was looking forward to the impact his words would have on Apple when he rejected the one-billion-dollar offer.
"Yes, Vincent, President. Have you made your decision?"
Even though it was late, Apple answered quickly.
Vincent spoke with complete confidence.
"You said you’d acquire us for one billion dollars, correct?"
"That is correct."
"We decline. I think you’re valuing our company a little too cheaply."
Smirk.
For some reason, Vincent found it entertaining.
The pleasure of rejecting the offer was greater than the pleasure of receiving it.
A little later, in Steve Jobs’s office.
Jobs, working late into the night, let out a blank sound.
"...What?"
He looked as though he couldn’t believe it.
"They turned down one billion dollars?"
"Y-yes, sir. And... Vincent says he has a message to pass along."
"What is it?"
The secretary read the note with an awkward expression.
"He says, 'This company wouldn’t be sold even if you gave us the Statue of Liberty.'"
"...?"
Jobs went blank in a way that was rare even for him.
Then he gave a dry laugh.
"Haha... What an insane bastard."
Not selling even if they gave him the Statue of Liberty?
The one who said that... was probably that Zero guy.
The corner of Jobs’s mouth twisted upward.
"I never thought I was normal myself, but... I was just a frog in a well."
"..."
"The real lunatic was someone else."
I need to work harder.
That was the thought that crossed Steve’s mind.
The night in America is day in Korea.
That was why Korean companies paid close attention to what had happened in America the previous night.
Depending on what had happened, a company’s survival could change.
And Seongsam Electronics was no exception.
Seongsam Electronics headquarters, large conference room.
The core forces of Seongsam Electronics, the Future Innovation Office and the Wireless Business Division, were gathered for a meeting.
The original purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new smartphone scheduled for release in exactly twenty-five days: Galleon.
The Galleon smartphone was already ready for market, to the point where it could have gone on sale as early as next week.
It took the hardware from the previously completed Romnia 2, the successor to the failed Romnia 1, and ported Google’s Android OS onto it.
In other words, it was a joint creation of two giant companies: Seongsam and Google.
The Galleon smartphone was also the device that would determine the future direction of Seongsam Electronics.
However, the topic being discussed in the meeting was a little distant from the Galleon smartphone itself.
The man seated at the head of the table, Kim Hyeoncheol, head of the Future Innovation Office, spoke.
"Apple has made a one-billion-dollar acquisition offer to Another Technology."
People said that Seongsam Electronics’ intelligence network was even better than the South Korean government’s.
To prove it, Seongsam already knew what had happened overnight.
The room filled with tension at the phrase “one billion dollars.”
No one quite knew how to react.
Of course, Seongsam Electronics could also invest one billion dollars.
But there was a huge difference between being able to put up that kind of money and actually offering it.
Amid the heavy silence, Kim Hyeoncheol spoke again.
"We still don’t know whether Another Technology will accept Apple’s offer or not. If I were to be optimistic... I think they won’t accept it."
That was a very optimistic forecast.
But...
"Even if Another Tech rejects the acquisition, Apple won’t just step back. As you all know, Apple’s CEO is a persistent man. He may try to buy even a small stake in Another Tech and turn it into an Apple affiliate, and if not that, he’ll certainly try to get closer than he is now."
...
"And it would be unacceptable for Apple and Another Tech to become too close. As you all know, Another Technology’s applications are remarkable. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, we need Another Technology’s apps."
Everyone in the room nodded.
In fact, among the default applications loaded onto the Galleon smartphone, the only ones that truly drew admiration were the three-app package made by Another Tech.
We do have our own Seongsam-made applications...
Honestly, they were things you could already do on ordinary feature phones.
And the design is kind of old-fashioned too.
I’m betting the reason consumers will buy the Galleon smartphone instead of an iPhone is mostly because of Another Technology’s apps.
The employees in the room thought silently.
Seongsam might be the master of hardware, but in the smartphone market it was still barely more than a baby taking its first steps.
They had already tasted bitterness with the failure of Romnia 1.
To be honest, the Galleon smartphone they were releasing this time would be nothing more than a brick without Another Technology’s three apps: business card organizer, fax sender, and public transit checker.
It would be a repeat of Romnia 1.
That was why, if Seongsam wanted to catch up to Apple, it needed a weapon Apple phones did not have.
If Galleon succeeds and the Android ecosystem grows, there’ll be more apps later... but right now the user base is tiny, so developers are ignoring it.
In the end, the success or failure of the Galleon smartphone depended heavily on Another Technology’s applications.
To be blunt, they had almost no advantages over the iPhone otherwise.
Recognizing this, Seongsam had even set Galleon’s marketing slogan as: The truly smart, practical, magic-like secretary in the palm of your hand. Galleon.
They had bowed their pride and chosen to ride hard on the back of Another Technology’s apps.
They even chose a celebrity model for the ads with that image in mind.
The one saving grace was that, thanks to the recently huge hit drama Surviving as an Office Worker, it had been easy to find a celebrity with the right image of an “excellent office worker.”
Obviously, the ad shoot had already begun.
Kim Hyeoncheol went on.
"Of course, we’ve also reached a reasonably good contract with Another Technology. It’s too early to call it an 'alliance,' but they are definitely on our side. Still, the other side has likely already been in contact with Apple, and Apple may have offered much more aggressive terms than we could."
...
"So what we need to do here is find an alternative. We need to decide how to make Another Technology firmly ours before Apple can move first. Until our smartphone succeeds and the Android ecosystem is established, cooperation with them is essential."
There are many ways to win a war.
One of the most elegant is to turn the enemy’s ally into your own.
And that was true in the war called business as well.
Kim Hyeoncheol looked over the room and asked again.
"Tell me what we should offer Another Technology so that we seem more attractive than Apple. Even if it’s not an acquisition, how can we make ourselves closer to Another Tech than Apple is?"
This meeting had originally been about the Galleon smartphone project.
But the real issue had become: how to win Another Technology’s favor.