Summing Up the Results

That night, after returning home.

I talked with my father about the urgent phone call we had earlier.

First, my father explained the situation as he had heard it.

"The security guard got into a scuffle with him and lost him, but the guy's mask slipped off in the middle of it. The guard saw his face. That's how we found out."

"So it really was Director Tae."

"Yeah. But because the situation was so bizarre, the guard wasn't entirely sure if he saw right at first. But then, the idiot swiped his own access card when entering the factory. That sealed it. It's definitive proof."

Seeing that he swiped his own card, he must have thought he could just quietly sneak in, grab the wastewater, and slip out.

He probably never considered the possibility of getting caught by a security guard.

"By the way..."

My father asked, his expression still laced with worry.

"Are you absolutely sure this won't be a problem?"

"Yes."

I answered without a moment's hesitation.

As I had mentioned before, everything was fine as long as one condition was met.

"You kept the security key safe, right? Then we're fine."

"I kept it safe, yes. But what difference does that make? The water in that tank is teeming with the core microbes anyway. If he took that water... couldn't another expert figure out what those microbes are?"

True. The tank was indeed full of Actiflo.

However, the zone where they resided was located much deeper down. The wastewater simply circulated through that area via convection.

Therefore, unless one unlocked that specific compartment with the security key, it was impossible to access them from the outside.

I explained this mechanism to my father.

"Ah, is that really possible?"

"Yes. It's a technology called a biocontainment wall."

This wasn't something I had developed myself; it was an existing security technology.

Large corporations typically utilized these biological security systems, but looking at Director Tae's actions, he must have assumed a high schooler like me couldn't possibly implement such a thing.

"Anyway, there's no way our technology will be leaked. Even the blueprints held by the subcontracted manufacturers are only partial."

Unless someone managed to gather every single piece, reconstructing it was impossible.

"Oh, that's my boy! You're thorough!"

"Of course."

This time, I was running my own business. Everything depended on me.

I would never let a technology leak happen again like it did in my past life.

Never again!

Tae Giseong brought the wastewater he had barely managed to steal to James Lee.

"Here."

"Oh, you actually got it. Excellent."

But Tae Giseong's face was a mask of anxiety.

"Excellent, my foot...! The guard saw my face while I was grabbing this!"

"That's your own fault."

"Ha! Either way, I did my part. Now it's your turn."

"Don't worry. I've already recruited an expert in this field. We'll identify these microbes in no time. Just give it a few days."

Even so, Tae Giseong couldn't ease the tension in his face. The situation was rapidly spiraling to an extreme.

"A few days? Exactly how long is that? If I don't make a profit from this, I'm ruined! I'm facing criminal charges, which means I'll need to hire an expensive lawyer!"

"Okay, okay. As long as you brought the right stuff, there won't be any issues, so don't worry. Just wait a few days."

A few days later, his phone rang.

It's him!

Tae Giseong quickly answered the phone.

"How did it go?"

A barrage of curses immediately flew out from the receiver.

"What?"

"What are you talking about?"

Tae Giseong recalled the memory of that night.

According to the explanations he had overheard, that was definitely the tank where the wastewater purification took place, and that was where he scooped the water.

Therefore...

"There's no way it's wrong!"

But he had no idea that the tank was equipped with biological security measures. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't find an answer.

On the other hand, James assumed it was entirely Tae Giseong's blunder.

"What? Hey! James! James!"

But the call was ruthlessly cut off.

Click.

Seething with rage, Tae Giseong...

Smash!

...could do nothing but hurl his innocent phone against the wall to vent his fury.

"Aaaaargh! Fuck!!"

After that, time flew by.

Incredibly fast.

Did the previous incident have a positive impact on the relationship between Kim Ildong and his mother?

While doing community service, Ildong had a bittersweet expression. When I tried to comfort him, he confidently replied that he could just get into college through the CSAT.

Well, I'm sure he'll figure it out.

Meanwhile, my business made massive strides.

Just two weeks after the commissioning ceremony, Wondong Paper placed the rest of their orders.

And just like that, another 1 billion won in sales was added.

Then, after the news articles were published, more orders and inquiries started pouring in.

Although there was a slight delay, they came from a whopping eight different companies.

"Hello? Yes, this is JHW Equipment. Ah, you'd like to order a purification system?"

"Yes, this is JHW Equipment. A quote? Yes, we can provide that."

"JHW Equipment. Ah, yes. Of course..."

Textile factories, organic food processing plants, beverage manufacturers... Their industries varied slightly, but they all shared the same problem: they produced wastewater and needed purification facilities.

Conveniently, the scale of these factories was similar to Wondong Paper, meaning the revenue and profit margins generated from each were nearly identical.

A staggering 500 million won!

That was the net profit left in my bank account.

To some, it might seem like a small sum, but to my family, it was an astronomical fortune.

Once my parents saw the numbers with their own eyes, they practically danced with joy.

"Oh my goodness! Five hundred million won?!"

"Our son is amazing!"

In any case, it was finally time to incorporate the business.

"Are you going to keep the company name as it is?"

"No. I'm going to change it."

"To what?"

"God Tech."

God Tech Co., Ltd.

Since the technology was obtained from the Divine Library, the name felt fitting.

Considering my plans to expand into various other industries in the future, this was much better than JHW Equipment, which had been hastily thrown together at the start.

"Well, but..."

My mother spoke up hesitantly.

"Wouldn't it be better to focus on the business after you finish the CSAT?"

Hmm...

It was an unexpected suggestion, but I understood where she was coming from. To ordinary people, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the CSAT was still the most important milestone in a young person's life.

However, my father didn't seem to agree.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden? You were the one saying he didn't need to do well in school. Besides, he's making so much money right now. Why stop?"

"That's true, but... you never know what might happen in life. It's always better to go to a good university if you can. And this is the only time in his life he can do it."

Of course, I had no intention of giving up on the CSAT either.

But I also had no intention of pausing the business during this peak growth period.

"Then, Mom, why don't you help me?"

"Huh?"

This actually worked out perfectly.

There was a limit to how much I could manage while still being a student.

It's about time Mom quit her current job anyway.

The restaurant where my mother worked was far from a good environment.

If business was slow, they would send her home early, making her income unstable, and her hourly wage was barely minimum wage. Since it was a meat restaurant, the labor was grueling.

It pained me to watch her work there.

In my past life, I hadn't thought much of it.

But after regressing, I couldn't shake off the guilt whenever I saw her. I couldn't help but wonder if that grueling labor was what had caused her cancer in my past life.

That was another reason why I had rushed to make money so quickly.

"You don't have to do any active sales. Just answering the phone and handling basic inquiries would be enough."

"Oh? Do you think I can do that?"

"Of course. I'll teach you everything you need to know."

There was no need for her to do anything complicated.

Since I had already prepared product manuals, the business could run smoothly just by her sending those out or explaining them.

As for calculating quotes, I could easily handle that myself during my spare time at night.

"Go ahead and give it a try, dear. To be honest, I never liked seeing you work at that restaurant either. At least this will be physically easier on you. And it's much better to help our son than work for strangers."

"Exactly. I'd feel much more at ease if it were you, Mom."

Moved by our persuasion, my mother finally mustered up the courage.

"Alright then... I'll give it a try."

Once my mother agreed to take on the role, we set up a proper office.

During the day, she stayed at the office to answer calls. Eventually, she even gathered the courage to do some sales pitches, securing a few contracts on her own.

"Wow! You actually have a talent for this!"

"Thanks, Mom."

"Hehe! You'd better give me a hefty bonus this time, son."

"Of course."

Thanks to her, I was able to prepare for the CSAT with peace of mind.

While studying programming on the side, of course.

I had no choice if I wanted to acquire NeuralScript, the programming language I needed.

Building my own understanding was the only way to lower the required Karma.

It has already decreased quite a bit.

Down to 820,000.

Of course, this was still an impossible amount for me.

But compared to the initial 8 million, it was a massive reduction.

Still, it was far beyond the amount of Karma I currently possessed.

Even though I had accumulated a decent amount of Karma so far.

So, in the meantime, I practiced programming using the languages I already knew.

My goal was to build the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠software I wanted while simultaneously deepening my understanding and proficiency in the underlying technology.

That technology was...

...a translation program.

This was something I had wanted to create for a long time.

No matter how much I studied English or how fluently I spoke, there were inherent limits to not being a native speaker.

This was especially true in academia, where the vast majority of resources were written in English or other foreign languages. The language barrier was a constant obstacle to acquiring the knowledge I wanted.

But what if there was a translation program that could completely dismantle that barrier?

I would be able to absorb far more knowledge.

Not only that, but the collective intellectual and scientific capacity of the entire planet would elevate.

And that, in turn, would lower the Karma cost of the technologies I'd want to unlock in the future.

Thus, I began developing a prototype translation program using existing languages.

I utilized Python, NLTK, TensorFlow, and scikit-learn.

But as expected...

...I hit a wall.

Just like all the other translation software out there.

They struggled to grasp context, and they failed to reflect cultural and linguistic nuances.

This won't do.

Not for my personal use, and certainly not for business.

There was no competitive edge over existing translation tools.

Reading academic papers would yield the same clunky results as before, and from a business perspective, it offered no real value to customers.

In the end, I need a transcendent programming language to overcome this limitation.

But my Karma was still severely lacking.

Hmm... Is there any way to earn a massive amount of Karma quickly?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Then, an idea struck me.

Ah! Maybe that will give me a massive windfall?

It was...

...the CSAT!

A method related to the college entrance exam.

I wasn't entirely sure how much Karma it would yield.

But one thing was certain: once the exam was over and the results were released, I would gain a significant amount of Karma.

To make that happen... I guess I need to study first.

Thus, days, weeks, and months flew by.

Time marched on rapidly.

And finally, the day of the CSAT arrived.

"Do your best, Hyunwoo."

"Good luck on the exam, sweetie!"

"Yes. Don't worry."