Chapter 65

I’m translating the chapter directly into the required HTML format and preserving the special in-universe UI blocks where they appear. I’m also keeping the character voices aligned with your glossary so the English reads like a published web novel, not a gloss.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Birth of a New Front

Late evening at Apple headquarters.

A taut silence hung over the executive conference room.

The senior staff, summoned on emergency notice by Steve Jobs, sat staring at the tightly shut door and swallowing hard.

"At the last meeting, Steve walked out halfway through to see his doctor, didn't he?"

"...Yeah. He looked terrible."

"Could it be... the cancer spread?"

Uneasy whispers passed from one end of the room to the other.

It was no secret to the executives that CEO Steve Jobs was in poor health.

And after meeting with his doctor, he had called this unscheduled emergency meeting. In a very grave voice, too.

'Is he going to announce his retirement?'

'Or maybe a terminal diagnosis...'

'Could he be naming the next CEO?'

'We'd have to call a shareholders' meeting if it's something like that...'

Everyone was picturing the worst when the door suddenly flew open.

Bang!

Steve Jobs strode into the room.

He was certainly thin. His hollow cheeks and narrow wrists looked as though they might snap at any moment.

And yet, for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some reason, those blue eyes of his were burning brighter than they had at any point in recent memory.

"..."

Clack, clack.

Jobs went to his seat, but he did not sit.

Instead, he shoved the chair aside, braced one arm on the edge of the table, and stood there at a slant.

The sheer pressure radiating from that crooked posture crushed the air in the room.

Then he spoke.

"Everyone in this room knows I was dying of cancer."

He went straight to the point.

The executives lowered their heads and said nothing.

"I met with my doctor. He told me my condition was far worse than I thought."

Jobs continued in an even voice.

"Without a liver transplant, I had three months at most. Even with one, he said I probably wouldn't live many more years."

....

"In other words, it was a death sentence."

Haaah...

Sighs rippled through the room.

If Jobs died, Apple's heart would stop beating.

That was the moment the company's future would go dark.

"But."

Jobs's voice changed.

"With what feels like a miracle, I found a new treatment."

?

"If I undergo treatment first and then receive the transplant, they say my life can be extended enough. I would still need continued treatment, though."

At that, color returned to the executives' faces.

If Jobs survived, Apple could continue.

Relief washed over them.

Jobs slowly swept his gaze across the room and said with deadly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seriousness, "After going to the brink of death like that and being saved, I finally started thinking about my life."

The executives quietly nodded.

They said a man changed after surviving death.

'So even Jobs, that lone-wolf control freak and complete bastard...'

'...is finally going to soften up.'

'Look after the people around him...'

'And lead the company with a little more generosity, that's what he realized, right?'

The executives thought those things to themselves.

They were ready to be moved.

One executive already had tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

Some were even preparing to clap.

And then.

Bang!

Jobs slammed his hand against the table.

"I realized! I realized just how! In the last several years! I've been living like an idiot!"

?

The executives' eyes went wide.

'...This isn't what I was expecting.'

That thought flashed through their heads.

Madness surged in Jobs's eyes.

"I thought I might die of a cancer relapse at any moment, so I went too easy on all of you! I kept saying, 'Fine, let's let this one slide and move on,' and I compromised, and I let things go, and I worked half-heartedly!"

?

"I was wasting my life! I can never forgive my past self for compromising and looking at third-rate results and saying, 'Well, that's good enough'!"

The executives went deathly pale.

Until now, Jobs had never been "easygoing."

For the last few years, he had been the man who fired employees he ran into in elevators and hurled prototypes at the wall when he didn't like the design.

And that had been him... being lenient?

That was how nice he had been because he thought he might die?

'...We're screwed.'

'Should I quit?'

Whether the executives understood their own thoughts or not, Jobs shouted, "That version of me is gone. Forget the so-called 'friendly and relaxed Steve' who let sloppy work slide!"

"You weren't friendly or relaxed to begin with, though."

Someone wanted to throw that in, but the force of Jobs's presence pinned their mouth shut.

"I'm not dying."

It was the sort of line a movie villain would say.

"I have more time now. Which means I have a lot more time to ride all of you."

....

"From now on, I will be far stricter in order to turn Apple into a true first-rate company. Brace yourselves."

The executives broke out in a cold sweat.

The tyrant who had been dying had come back to life and turned into a demon.

Without giving them a chance to breathe, Jobs moved on to the next subject.

"Apple is in serious danger right now."

Tap.

He pulled Seongsam Electronics' Galleon smartphone from his pocket and tossed it onto the table as he spoke.

"The Galleon we dismissed, the one we mocked as something that could never imitate even a smartphone, is charging up at terrifying speed. Did you see the report? Two hundred thousand units in Korea in the first week alone. The momentum is no joke."

One of the executives said carefully, "Th-that said, Steve, Android is still crude. As we discussed in the previous meeting, Seongsam's hardware is excellent, of course, but it's still a long way from matching Apple's optimization."

"How long do you think that 'still' is going to last? Seongsam has powerful hardware. Their organizational culture, typical of Asian companies, is threatening too!"

....

"On May 5, we go head-to-head with Galleon in the Korean market. And that won't be the end of it. That smartphone with Android on it will soon land in our homeland, the U.S. market!"

Jobs's eyes flashed.

"Seongsam won't stop. They'll work through the night if they have to, trying not just to copy us but to catch up. So there will be no more relaxed, leisurely Apple!"

"Strictly speaking, that kind of Apple never existed in the first place."

Once again, the words died in the executives' throats before they ever got out.

Jobs clenched his fist.

"For Apple's next phone, the Apple Phone 2, we need to create a gap so wide Seongsam won't even dare to look our way. Hardware, software, design, all of it! Crush them so completely they never get up."

Harsh orders fell one after another.

And as those orders rang through the room, the executives sensed it instinctively.

Apple's work-life balance was dead starting today.

"I called you here to tell you this. Everyone go back to work immediately. I'll be in my office, so bring me your department's countermeasures report in one hour. Then you can go home."

No matter what kind of man Jobs was, his words had power.

As the executives nodded at that speech, Jobs added one more thing.

"...But now I'll also explain things to you. I'm not just going to scream that something is wrong; I'll tell you how to fix it."

....

"So let's all pull together and do this right."

"Yes!"

The reply came instantly, and the executives grabbed their things and ran out.

Clack, clack.

Jobs left the conference room as well and headed toward his office.

I need to get stronger.

Then his iPhone vibrated in his pocket.

It was a message from his personal secretary.

Because Jobs had told them to notify him about anything related to Another Technology, even if it was only a rumor article, this kind of message came through to him.

Jobs stopped walking.

...Zero, that guy. How long has it even been since he modified the program, and he's already shipped another app?

It was probably something they had prepared in advance, but the pace was anything but ordinary.

All I can say is that he's incredible.

Jobs shook his head.

Calling it genius wasn't enough. The development speed was one thing, but every product they released shook the market itself.

Still, it irritated him a little.

The bastard had wrung two dollars per device out of him in royalties for Search.

But I can't exactly hate him.

He was the benefactor who had saved Jobs's life, and he was also going to gnaw away at Google, Apple's mortal enemy, with the Search engine.

No, he's more than a friend. He's one of the few people I can actually talk to. A kindred spirit.

Jobs started walking again and soon entered his office.

Sitting at his desk, he checked the app that Another Technology had submitted for review.

If it's an app that guy made, there couldn't possibly be any bugs or errors.

So then.

I might as well look at what kind of item it is and pass it through.

Steve Jobs, the tyrant who terrified every Apple executive.

But toward anyone who possessed greater talent than himself, he became incomparably generous.

And the moment he saw that app...

This is...

"...A new board is being laid."

* * *

Friday afternoon.

I came home to my parents' house for the weekend.

My father was at work, and my mother was out shopping, so she wasn't home.

Seohui still hadn't come back from school either.

So I was resting in my room for a while by myself when Zero said,

Once again, the review went through quickly.

I had even wondered if Jobs might make them use the full sixty hours out of spite, since I'd already squeezed so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much money out of him before.

He doesn't seem very upset after all, then.

"That's because it's Steve Jobs. Rather than getting offended over something like that, he's probably thinking we should bring down Google together."

Bringing down Google...

I never intended to do that, even if Google really was the IT devil king.

Somehow, though, things were heading in that direction.

Well... Google is my competitor. If it goes down, there are a lot more things I can do.

Still, I didn't think Google would actually collapse completely.

Not unless they started recklessly trying to attack me.

Anyway.

Then let's put Moment up on the app store right away and start the promotion we planned.

"Yes, understood. The timing is optimal as well."

* * *

At the same time, Los Angeles, USA.

Even though it was Thursday night, not the weekend, the VVIP room of the club The Hot was overflowing with dazzling lights and bass beats pounding straight into the chest.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Waaaah!

Whiiiistle!

Screeeam!

And on the deepest sofa in that VVIP room sat two icons who embodied the age itself.

Paris Hilton, heiress to the Hilton Group and queen of high society.

And Britney Spears, the pop princess.

The two were famous even among Hollywood gossips as soul sisters.

They were also famous for causing trouble and creating headlines every time they got together.

"Brit! Come here. The lighting's perfect. Let's take one together."

"Okay!"

With practiced fingers, Paris Hilton pulled out her iPhone.

And naturally, the app she launched to take the picture was not the default camera.

It was the app all the celebrities were treating as a must-have these days, Clear Cam.

Paris adjusted the angle with practiced ease and said, "I really don't know how we used to live before this. Remember? We were carrying digital cameras around just a little while ago."

"Don't remind me. Forget taking the picture itself, the real work was handing the camera to the manager afterward and saying, 'Make sure you upload this tonight.'"

"Exactly. And if the manager picked some weird photo to post, I really wanted to fire them."

"Isn't that a little harsh? They work hard because of you."

"Like you can talk."

"Fair point?"

They said it like that, but these two were among the kindest stars in the American entertainment world when it came to their managers.

They even took care of the managers' families.

So even if they caused all kinds of trouble, it made sense that their managers would protect them with everything they had.

Anyway.

Click! Click!

The two of them giggled as they took pictures with the iPhone.

As they had said, in the past they would have had to go through a manager just to take and upload photos.

Of course they could have done it themselves, but there was no chance either of them would go through that annoying process personally.

But thanks to the smartphone and Clear Cam, the process had been shortened dramatically.

They just had to take the picture and upload it immediately.

For the two of them, who loved SNS, it was nothing short of a revolutionary innovation.

On the other hand, their managers had to nervously wonder what kind of photos would end up on SNS.

Click!

"Wow, look at this. Clear Cam really is incredible."

Paris showed Britney the photo she had just taken.

Even though it had been shot under the room's glamorous but dim lighting, their faces glowed brightly thanks to Clear Cam's correction.

"Insane. If you use the default camera, you come out looking like a ghost."

"It even fixes skin texture. All the blemishes disappear."

"What blemishes do you even have?"

"Oh, please. I do."

The two burst into laughter, satisfied with the perfect versions of themselves on the screen.

Still laughing, they chose one of the dozens of photos they had just taken.

"Should we post this one?"

"Let's post this one too. The champagne came out so pretty. And the shoes I tossed in the back look natural too. Dior only sent me these new ones."

"Dior only sent them to you? Damn... I need to call them tomorrow. Anyway, should we put this one up first?"

"Yeah!"

For them, simply enjoying the party was never enough.

They had to keep taking pictures and posting them to Facebook and Twitter: how glamorous they were partying, how expensive the dress they were wearing was, what champagne they were drinking at that very moment.

Sharing their daily lives with fans and enjoying the flood of comments and attention was what satisfied them.

They were born to feed on attention.

Just as they were about to press share.

"...Ugh, damn it."

Britney Spears, sitting next to her, frowned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slightly.

"What's wrong, Brit?"

"No, the picture is perfect, but..."

Britney complained while pointing at her phone screen.

"If I post this on Facebook, it's going to get mangled again. Last time I uploaded a high-res photo, and it came out looking like some camcorder ghost shot."

"Ah... right. Facebook's image quality is awful. It even smears my eyelash curl."

"Twitter's worse. The photo doesn't even appear there right away; it just posts a link. And when you click the link, the quality is even more garbage."

"Twitter photos really are a disaster. I had one picture last time where my face looked small, and my eyes came out square."

"Seriously? That got uploaded?!"

"I sued the bastard who posted it right away."

"Don't give them an inch. Crush them."

"I will."

Even Paris Hilton and Britney Spears were powerless before the technical limitations of SNS.

The photos taken with Clear Cam were perfect, but the SNS platforms where they were actually shown to fans and the public were garbage.

"There's nowhere to show my perfect, real self."

"What's the point if the photos are beautiful but nobody gets to see them right?"

They had plenty to complain about, but the two superstars had no choice.

Facebook and Twitter were the only SNS platforms that could satisfy their hunger for attention.

With no better option, they pressed Share in Clear Cam.

Pressing Share brought up options like Share to Facebook, Share to Twitter, and Share to FreeChat, making it easy to share to SNS.

But this time... a different notification from the usual share prompt appeared.

"...Huh?"

Paris Hilton's finger froze in midair.