Chapter 131: Must I Take It All?
Chapter 131: Must I Take It All?
Earth Resource's success left nothing more to wish for as CEO.
Sure, there was greed, but reality felt even better than that.
[Kim Shin, Architect of Change in Silicon Valley]
[Leading Firms Tense Over Earth Resource's Cloud Expansion]
[Why Google is Trembling]
Even newspaper articles—not just national pride YouTube videos—were running headlines like these.
Earth Resource's performance was smashing targets. Set the goal at 10, and they'd hit 50 or 60.
[Earth Channel Surpasses 400 Million Subscribers, Once Thought Impossible]
[Netflix Subscribers in Continued Decline. Earth Channel to Blame?]
[Hollywood Stars Knocking on Earth Channel's Door for Blockbusters]
I knew Earth Resource was growing externally. But seeing the headlines showed the true scale of its influence.
400 million paid subscribers.
Cheap compared to competitors, but an unprecedented number. Subscribers in Asia and Europe kept climbing steadily.
Oh Myeong-woo said confidently.
"We can surpass 500 million in the first quarter."
"Impressive."
"Yeah. All thanks to the teams' hard work. Your dormant account plan helped too."
Users who watched for fewer than three hours a month were not charged.
It let people sign up without worrying about cancellation.
Cheap plans and hit content did the heavy lifting, of course.
"Earth Channel reinvests all revenue, so profitability is low. But it's great for market share."
"Platforms prioritize dominance first."
"Right. Game companies are buzzing too. They know partnering with Earth Channel means big wins, and we don't restrict development at all. Super convenient."
Major publishers such as EA and Ubisoft had plenty of major titles.
Microsoft and Sony sold consoles and controlled numerous subsidiaries of their own.
A game company's edge is exclusive titles, but what developer wants lock-in?
Oh Myeong-woo had a philosophy.
"The game market's future is cross-platform. PC, console, mobile. No supplier limits, total freedom."
The global game market generated about 180 billion dollars in annual revenue.
Mobile games accounted for more than sixty percent of that revenue, while integration with PCs continued to grow.
"Your push boosted Earth Channel game sales. Keep it up."
"You bet. Can't slack with a friend buying me buildings."
Game division was fully in Oh Myeong-woo's capable hands—he'd nailed it so far.
A VP with conviction working hard? CEO life doesn't get easier.
Eddie chimed in slyly.
"So I developed the cloud gaming system."
"Huh?"
"That's what you envisioned from the start."
"..."
What?
A year with Eddie taught me his communication style.
When he says something baffling, just stay quiet.
There was no need to respond and ruin his positive vibe.
"Source Coin was step one. Step two was cloud market entry, right?"
"..."
Cloud entry wasn't even on my radar then.
Deep thought might've scared me off—competitors like Amazon, Google, Microsoft.
I jumped in solely believing Source Coin could make cloud operations cheap.
"Then step three: cloud gaming system."
Me?
I barely held back from questioning it.
"Uh, yeah. You knew too?"
"Of course. Last February, you said low-spec PCs struggle with Source Coin channels. And we should support them, right?"
Did I?
My memory's decent, but last year was a whirlwind of business, meetings, people.
'Might've said that.'
Eddie beamed like a kid seeking praise.
"So I built it. Cloud gaming system."
"How's it work?"
"Embarrassing to explain to someone who knows."
"It's fine. Tell me."
Low-spec PCs, phones, or devices connect to Earth Resource.
The game would run on our unified servers, while users played through a streamed display.
"No hardware limits on Earth Channel. Total freedom."
"..."
Source Coin pooled spare power from personal high-end rigs.
Now the system could work in reverse, supplying Earth Resource’s computing power to people who needed it.
Big AAA games demand high specs—100 people upgrading hardware? Massive waste.
Most users would not push their hardware to its limits for very long.
At most, they might do so for one week a year.
Across countless games and global users, Earth Resource could satisfy all with under 5% hardware.
'Perfect for gamers.'
Earth Channel players would love it.
Play any game, any spec, freely.
High-speed nets for streaming movies anywhere.
Europe and Asia internet speeds were solid now.
A thought hit.
"Not just games—applicable everywhere?"
"Everywhere?"
"Yeah. High-performance computing for anyone who needs it."
"Oh!"
Eddie looked stunned.
"True! No need to limit to games. You're a genius."
"..."
Eddie limiting this to games was the real oddity.
* * *
Running Earth Resource a year deepened my business thinking.
'Cloud gaming system.'
This would be a new service on a platform with four hundred million subscribers.
Its impact? I could guess.
'CPU and GPU makers' stocks will tank.'
Fewer mid-tier PCs sold; high-end demand drops.
'PCs are pricey now.'
Coin mining jacked GPU prices.
High-spec build? Easy 3 million won on CPU and GPU alone.
Pocket change to me now, but back with my 300,000-won rig...
'Run higher-spec games smoothly on a 300,000-won PC.'
Anyone with low-spec dreams of high-end.
I asked Eddie.
"How many know about the cloud gaming service?"
"About 20 on the development team?"
For the moment, the project remained secure.
Only his core team knew about it, and the founding members could be trusted to keep quiet.
A major money-making opportunity lay ahead.
"Launch it, and Source Coin bonuses galore. Keep it secret outside till then."
"Deal."
Most firms give stock or cash incentives.
We gave Source Coin.
The coins helped fund our U.S. operations and donations made through the company mall.
We also used the stockpiled coins for internal expenses.
* * *
―Kim Shin: Ideally, quit Arcor.
―Kim Shin: Stay with me in the US? Or how about Biolife?
Jo Soo-ah stared at her phone in the coffee shop.
Kim Shin's texts tugged at her heart.
Ping!
Ping!
―Lee Jin-kyung: Sorry. My oppa keeps asking about you; had to tell.
―Lee Jin-kyung: You went on a blind date with Won-seok too. Thought you liked him.
She was a high school friend from Busan.
When with Kim Shin, she'd dodge location questions with fibs—felt off.
Too late, learned blind-date Choi Won-seok came to the US.
'Old friend I haven't seen forever.'
Jo Soo-ah blocked her for now.
"Why the long face?"
"Oh, Senior Managing Director. Got your Americano ready."
"Thanks."
An Myeong-guk sat across, sipped.
"Got the K-Vaccine?"
"Yes."
"Even I at a vaccine firm haven't. CEO doing well in the US?"
“It feels strange to call him CEO after years of calling him Assistant Manager Kim.”
"Hey, that's corporate life. I should've clarified."
An Myeong-guk chuckled easily.
Mind tangled with wife's Hawaii trip, but he wanted to celebrate Jo Soo-ah's romance.
The man she had loved for so long was finally hers.
"But you don't look thrilled."
"Huh?"
"He treating you rough?"
"No way. He's amazing."
"Then why the face? Shouldn't you be the world's happiest? Missing him already post-US?"
Teasing uncle-style, but her expression stayed serious.
"He wants me to quit Arcor."
"Really?"
An Myeong-guk pondered.
He knew that she worked hard at Arcor.
"Just quit outright?"
"Come to the US with him, or join Biolife."
"I see."
From his perspective, it was an obvious choice.
"Why not? Biolife means big raise, bigger impact than Arcor."
Arcor led eye surgery, but pharma sales pay was low.
Arcor’s stingy incentives were a constant source of self-deprecating jokes among the employees.
Biolife's status in Korean pharma? No reason to hesitate.
"Don't want to burden him."
"Hm?"
"Someday, someone prettier might come along."
She saw herself as merely a former colleague from his days at Arcor.
He accepted out of affection, but prettier, younger options abound for Kim Shin.
"Can't be an obstacle in his life."
"..."
An Myeong-guk was speechless.
At the same time, An Myeong-guk was wrestling with his wife’s plans to move to Hawaii.
Did he have no other complaints? Of course he did.
Biolife switch hiked pay—thanks to Kim Shin, but earn it.
Bust ass, bring home bacon—wife never thanked, took for granted. No "good job."
Jo Soo-ah was the complete opposite.
'Kim Shin... must you take it all?'