ST Telecom's Counterattack
ST Group Chairman Baek Mangi had three sons, and the eldest, Baek Jonghyun, held the position of President of ST Telecom.
He possessed a solid jawline and a slightly angular face, his hair trimmed short in a neat pomade style without a single strand out of place. Dressed in a sleek black suit that carried a subtle sheen, he stood in his office gazing down through the window. Behind him, a woman who appeared to be his secretary was delivering a report.
"...Finally, as of yesterday this month, we have attracted approximately 120,000 new subscribers."
"And LK?"
"It's not certain, but... about 142,000."
"142,000...?"
"Yes."
In that instant, Baek Jonghyun's brow furrowed.
ST Telecom held the largest number of subscribers in South Korea. By comparison, LK Telecom—which ranked third—had been showing rapid growth lately, carrying a formidable momentum. Naturally, that was hardly welcome news for the number-one carrier.
The air inside the office, where the heater had not been turned on, seemed to grow even colder.
"This is absurd. That LK of all companies managed to attract more new subscribers than we did."
"It seems the exclusive modeling contract with Han Yojung this time has been a major factor."
"She showed no interest whatsoever when we approached her... Just how did they manage to persuade her?"
At Baek Jonghyun's cold, sharp question, the secretary swallowed dryly and answered carefully.
"Rumor has it that it has something to do with one particular employee."
"An employee?"
"Yes. They say the contract was signed on the condition that this employee would participate in every event related to Han Yojung. It appears there is something special about him."
At her words, a peculiar light flickered in Baek Jonghyun's eyes.
"Investigate thoroughly who he is and what kind of person he is, then report back. That will be all."
"Understood."
The secretary bowed her head and quickly exited the office.
Baek Jonghyun sank back into deep thought. He planned to succeed his father, Chairman Baek Mangi, and take the top seat of the ST Group. But his father was different. He loved his company more than his children and intended to hand it over to whichever of the three sons demonstrated superior ability and results.
Of course, as the eldest he had risen to the presidency of the group's flagship, ST Telecom—but that was little more than a hollow title. Lately he had been plagued by sluggish performance and the rapid growth of rival carriers. LK Telecom, in particular, had stolen the largest share of their subscribers.
In the end, Baek Jonghyun played his trump card.
Still standing without the slightest sway, coldly looking down through the window, he seemed to reach a decision. He drew his phone from an inner pocket and dialed somewhere.
"Begin. You will need to produce results within three months."
With those meaningful words, Baek Jonghyun hung up. The other party's reply was of no concern to him whatsoever.
Soon they would move. It would not be long before LK Telecom plummeted into the abyss.
A full week had passed since the Home AI Project officially began.
The first thing I felt while experiencing a joint project for the first time was sheer frustration.
The AI Development Team, UX/UI Design Team, IoT Device Integration Team, Security Technology Team, Network Infrastructure Team, and Marketing Team 3—six teams in total had gathered. Roles had been divided among them, yet actually coordinating was far from easy.
At first, of course, I had expectations. These were top-tier talents filtered even among the countless elites of a major corporation. I assumed their fundamentals would be rock-solid. But once we actually began collaborating, reality proved otherwise.
Idea meetings constantly circled around the edges; opinions that dodged responsibility and clung to position ran rampant. Internally, everyone seemed intent only on securing the justification that "our team has done its part for sure." On top of that, truly good ideas were never readily shared until someone could claim clear credit for them.
In particular, the discord between the most critical teams—the AI Development Team and the Network Infrastructure Team—went beyond mere inexperience with collaboration.
The AI Development Team publicly declared they would enhance the Home AI's responsiveness and adaptability based on cutting-edge deep-learning algorithms, yet the base code itself was excessively heavy and poorly optimized. The training data was overly generalized, and their ability to handle the irregular behaviors that actually occur in a home environment was lacking. Whenever such problems arose, the AI Development Team shifted the blame to the LK Future Technology Center. Since the software and hardware with basic AI technology came from the LK Future Technology Center, they claimed they were merely generalizing it.
The problems did not end there. The Network Infrastructure Team arrived with nothing but a report asserting that 5G-based integration technology was sufficient—without even properly finishing field tests—and laid that down as a premise. In actual testing, however, signals from home devices cut out intermittently, and the AI reacted as if it were resetting each time. Users would expect a Home AI as a concept of placing an AI brain inside the house; in reality, that brain was repeatedly stopping and starting.
Is an AI spacing out even considered technology?
Once again they pinned it on the LK Future Technology Center, claiming the newly developed and recently released modem and router themselves were the problem.
That damn LK Future Technology Center.
In the past I might not have noticed, but with my current eyes their flaws stood out in stark relief. It was frustrating. Of course this was not Marketing Team 3's domain, yet it was a fact that the project was stalling because of them.
Might as well just be a salary thief...
A protruding nail gets hammered down. Interfering in another team's work was, in reality, nearly impossible. They had their own pride; even helpful advice would clearly not be welcome. In that case, I simply needed to do well what I could from my own position.
The performance bonus is a bit of a shame, though.
The salary I had received including this performance bonus naturally came to mind. The advantage of stable money coming in was real, yet there was certainly a limit to how much one could earn inside a company. If I had my own company, what would have happened? If I actively leveraged my brain, wouldn't I grow rapidly and make a killing?
But having my own company was not as easy as it sounded. Everything had a process, and I was only standing at the first step. While working this job I needed to accumulate as much knowledge as possible and explore how I would make money if I ever founded a company. There was no need to rush.
Then, suddenly, I grew curious about what kind of place the LK Future Technology Center really was. If I used my brain to found my own company, the most necessary thing would be "technological capability." Of course everyone knew it was the source of all of LK Group's technological power, yet few people knew the concrete details.
I should look into it carefully when I get the chance someday.
While thinking about this and that, quitting time was already approaching. Since I had already finished all my work, I leisurely opened the coin app on my phone. Currently I held no coins. Since Junseok had said he would do scalping, checking the transaction history would be more accurate. Looking it over, fairly active buying and selling had taken place. It was not large money, but he was generating profits of several tens of thousands of won each time. In terms of probability, about 80 percent—a stable figure.
That kid's making money on his own.
I snorted a quiet laugh and closed the app.
"Assistant Manager Noh Hoojin!"
Just then, Kang Bitna, who had been putting on her coat and preparing to leave, approached me.
"Yes. What is it?"
I answered while tidying my desk.
"When are you going to hold the housewarming?"
"Pardon?"
"Huh? Assistant Manager Noh, you moved?"
Junior Associate Kim Seungho, who had likewise been preparing to leave, pricked up his ears and came over. Come to think of it, I had casually mentioned to Kang Bitna before that I would be moving. She had remembered it.
"Ah, I did move, but it's smaller than I expected."
I said with an awkward smile, yet the two of them would not back down.
"Come on! You still have to do it!"
"That's right, Assistant Manager Noh. You should hold one."
When Manager Park Heegon and Deputy General Manager Jeon Yonggi joined in after hearing them, I could no longer dodge it.
"Ah, yes. Well then, I'll set a date later. I have a lot to do today, so I'll head out first. Good work today, everyone."
I offered a light greeting and left the office. If I stayed any longer they would have me doing it today.
"Assistant Manager Noh!!"
As I left the company and began walking home, Kang Bitna came running after me—when had she even caught up?
Persistent.
"Just a moment!"
Kang Bitna came dashing up, breathing hard, and looked up at me.
"What is it that made you run like that?"
When I asked blandly, she hesitated before finally opening her mouth.
"Have you been having some kind of trouble lately?"
"Why suddenly...?"
"Just... You stayed quiet the whole meeting today, and lately you suddenly seem down. Like something's frustrating you."
At those words I was briefly at a loss for speech. Her words were accurate. Throughout the meeting—no, all day long—that single word had filled my head.
Frustration.
Damn, had I looked that obvious? I had been careful about managing my expression.
I stopped walking for a moment and looked at her. Should I even say this?
Then unexpected words left her lips.
"To be honest, I'm a bit frustrated too."
"Pardon? About what?"
Kang Bitna met my gaze straight on without avoiding it and spoke.
"Everyone's busy protecting their own rice bowls. I may be a rookie, but I can pick up on that much."
As expected, Kang Bitna said whatever was on her mind. I looked down at her with an indifferent gaze.
If even this clueless Kang Bitna has noticed, it must be pretty serious. Right. What am I hesitating for, Noh Hoojin? Just push forward honestly.
Come to think of it, there seemed no need for me to hold back.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
She stepped right up close and locked eyes with me.
"It's nothing. Thanks to you I've gained a good realization."
I turned my gaze away and started walking again. She quickly fell in beside me and said,
"If you're grateful, buy me a meal."
"I'm not that grateful."
"Tsk, so mean. Do you know how clueless you are, Assistant Manager Noh?"
Kang Bitna puffed out her cheeks and grumbled.
As if I could match you.
"That's the first time I've heard that. But why do you keep following me?"
"I'm just going my own way."
Kang Bitna answered curtly.
"The subway is in the opposite direction."
"By the way, isn't it kind of ridiculous how they keep shifting the blame to the LK Future Technology Center?"
She quickly changed the subject and continued with a disbelieving snort of laughter.
"My older brother works there—if he heard that story he'd be jumping up and down."
Older brother?
I kept walking while glancing sideways at Kang Bitna, then casually asked,
"Your older brother works at the LK Future Technology Center?"
"Ah, yes. Haha! He's a researcher. A researcher."
She looked slightly flustered, as if she had spoken without thinking.
"I see."
I nodded and looked around. We happened to be entering a street lined with restaurants. Then I looked at Kang Bitna again.
"Since we've come this far, want to grab dinner before heading home?"
"I'd love to!"
Kang Bitna's face brightened as she answered at once.