Chapter 7 — The Treasure They Kicked Away

My research paper, buried in a flood of scathing criticism.

And yet Ontel seemed to like it. A great deal, in fact.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered hopping on a plane the moment they read my reply email and flying all the way across the North American continent to Seoul, where I was.

"Hahaha! Mr. Kang! It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

A blue-eyed, blond-haired white man beaming brightly, offering a handshake while waving his other hand like a madman. He looked to be in his forties, but he clearly took good care of himself — a solid build, a crisp suit. Anyone could see he was a businessman through and through.

"You're Mr. Anderson, right? We spoke on the phone?"

"Please, just call me Kevin. Ah, and this here is Boyle. He's the one who oversees next-generation semiconductor research at our company."

"...A pleasure, Mr. Kang."

Unlike Kevin, who treated me like an old friend despite our first meeting, Boyle seemed rather taciturn. With the look of a man who did nothing but research, he stared at me with faintly bewildered eyes before finally offering a remark.

"You look... considerably younger than I expected."

"Me?"

"Yes. I know it's rude, but may I ask your age...?"

"I'm 29 this year, why?"

"Twenty-nine...?"

"Ah, twenty-eight if you're counting international age? Anyway, yes."

"......"

When I answered with a shrug, Boyle simply stared, his face frozen in mild shock, unable to say a word. But when his gaze lingered on me a touch too long, tinged with disbelief, Kevin cleared his throat and cut in.

"Ahem. What exactly do you think you're doing? That's rather rude."

"Ah... my apologies. You're simply so much younger than I'd imagined that I couldn't help myself..."

Only after his superior's rebuke did Boyle snap out of it, turning his gaze away with a muttered apology. Kevin smiled at me and said,

"I'm sorry about that. Your paper was so extraordinary ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that we assumed you'd be older. If it offended you, I apologize."

"Ah... well. It's fine. I don't really mind."

"Shall we move somewhere else, then? We've reserved a business suite at the hotel here."

A five-star luxury hotel in Yeouido, Seoul.

The business suite of a hotel I'd never be able to afford a single night in for the rest of my life was impeccably clean and elegant — and spacious enough to feel almost excessive for just three people having a conversation.

"So... before we begin, you mentioned you were considering a technology transfer?"

We'd already discussed a few things over an international call before setting up this meeting, so I gave a light nod.

"Yes."

"Hmm... and no third party holds any rights related to this research?"

"I'd say that's safe to assume."

The real developers of the semiconductor technology in my paper hadn't even been born yet — and the only party who could conceivably raise an objection was the artificial intelligence embedded in my own head.

"Good... very good."

Kevin nodded repeatedly at my answer, a deep smile spreading across his face. Then, tapping my paper lightly on the desk with his finger, he asked,

"Then, shall we start with some further explanation of this little fellow here?"

"Of course."

"Boyle here has come fully loaded with everything he's curious about. Heh heh heh. You'd best brace yourself."

As if he'd been waiting for this very moment, Boyle pulled a thick stack of materials from his bag and laid them on the desk. And in response to Kevin's warning — delivered as though this were some entertaining spectator sport — I grinned and answered.

"Ask me anything. I'm ready."

Ontel's department for the future of technology — the Campus.

Boyle, the chief research scientist overseeing next-generation semiconductor systems at this place packed with geniuses from around the world, simply could not bring himself to trust the young East Asian man sitting leisurely across from him.

'Impossible. There's no way someone that young wrote a paper this sophisticated.'

The world of semiconductors was vast and profound — an encyclopedic accumulation of every kind of specialized science and technology. And this paper proposed groundbreaking techniques for optical semiconductor development, widely known as the most difficult field of them all. Boyle had resolved to prove, with every sharp question he could muster, that this absurd claim was nothing but hot air.

But...

Contrary to his expectations, the longer the conversation went on, the wider Boyle's mouth fell open.

'Im... impossible. How on earth...'

"Molybdenum disulfide — MoS₂ — and other 2D semiconductors are in the spotlight right now, aren't they? These materials offer tunable band gaps and strong optical responses, which makes them advantageous for fabricating ultra-high-speed optical modulators. And since they can form heterojunctions with silicon, you can secure a reasonable degree of CMOS compatibility as well."

"Growth technology based on chemical vapor deposition — CVD — is mainstream at the moment, but defect control is difficult. I understand research is underway on hybrid processes that modify atomic layer deposition, or ALD. If you could implement real-time feedback of composition control at the atomic level through in-situ mass spectrometry during deposition, you'd achieve far more precise crystal control."

"If the integration of silicon photonics-based modulators with III-V laser sources works ideally, integration density improves dramatically and power consumption drops enormously. There are material and technology developments that would need to precede the commercialization of optical computing units, but if optical computing specialized for matrix operations is applied, it would utterly dominate existing systems in energy efficiency."

"Ah, you mean quantum optics-based systems? You can't even crawl yet and you're already thinking about flying? It's not impossible, but photon-based semiconductor systems have to come first — that's a technology that can only follow. Performance-wise it would be far superior if you could build it, but right now it's not feasible. Maybe... in 200 years. No, make it 253."

Questions and criticisms that legions of specialists had spent an entire day racking their brains to prepare. The volume was enormous, and it was full of questions about cutting-edge technologies that even people who'd spent their whole lives studying a single specialty barely understood — yet this young East Asian man answered every single one with effortless composure.

"......"

The situation was so surreal that Boyle couldn't even string a sentence together. And Mr. Kang, who had been watching him intently, tilted his head and asked,

"Um, Boyle? Are you done with your questions?"

"Ah..."

He had heard the explanations, but there were countless points that his own level of knowledge simply couldn't grasp. With an awkward expression, Boyle shot a glance at his superior and chief executive, Kevin, who had been observing the entire exchange beside him.

"This is turning into quite a long session. You must be tired — shall we take a ten-minute break?"

"Sure, why not. Let's do that."

At the suggestion of a break, Mr. Kang hummed a tune as if to say it was no big deal and fiddled with his phone. Leaving him behind, the two men stepped out of the business suite and quickly exchanged opinions.

"What do you think?"

"...Beyond my expectations."

"I knew it."

"Yes. It's staggering enough that someone that young has such a deep understanding of semiconductor technology, but what's even more astonishing is..."

"...the fact that he seems to already know the answers to technologies that haven't even been developed or commercialized yet."

It was Boyle's honest, coldly objective assessment, untainted by any personal agenda. His initial skepticism had vanished without a trace, replaced by something close to admiration — no, closer to awe.

"Director. This project. We must secure it, no matter what it takes."

Because this was, without question, a business that could not fail.

The two men returned to the suite nearly twenty minutes after their "short" break.

Kevin, wearing a slightly more tense expression than before, spoke first.

"Mr. Kang. I've come with full authority from Ontel to handle this matter."

Kevin was no mere employee — he was Ontel's CTO, overseeing the company's entire technology development. When he'd first said he would come in person, I'd wondered why a top executive would take such an interest, but considering the fallout this situation could bring, it wasn't strange at all. If anything, it was entirely natural.

"So feel free to ask for whatever you want. We'll do our utmost to accommodate you."

"You mean... Ontel is willing to receive my technology transfer?"

"Isn't that obvious? Kicking away a treasure like this sitting right in front of us would be unthinkable."

Kevin shook his head with an exaggerated expression of disbelief at my words. Then, fixing me with an intense gaze that was almost overwhelming, he began to pile on the temptations.

"No — forget the technology transfer. Why not simply join our company and lead the development of this thing yourself? We'd give you the position of project director, plus unlimited support for everything development and research requires."

Promising the industry's very best treatment, Kevin laid out every sweet carrot he could think of.

"We can guarantee a top-tier salary, along with performance bonuses and stock options."

Housing provided, premium health insurance and immigration program support, plus a company car, a personal driver, and even a secretary — he seemed determined to recruit me to Ontel by any means necessary.

And it was remarkably effective.

'...That does sound nice?'

Every technology needed for commercialization was already inside my head. No agonizing over research — I could just lounge around idly, killing time, and toss out the correct answers to the researchers under me. Imagining that honey pot of a situation, I nearly shouted yes on the spot.

Alex, who had been watching the entire scene unfold, glared at me sharply. Under his interrogation, I could only lick my lips and let out a disappointed sigh.

"I'm sorry, but joining Ontel would be difficult."

"Pardon? Is... is it that the terms don't suit you? If so, we can adjust them however you like, so if you'd just reconsider..."

"There's something else I want to do. I can offer advice or help now and then if development hits snags, but committing myself entirely to this work won't be possible."

"I see... understood."

Kevin clicked his tongue as if genuinely disappointed. But he gave up cleanly instead of clinging shamelessly, and moved on to discussing the terms of the technology transfer.

"First, I understand there are no separate patent rights on this paper. Correct?"

"Yes. I published it without filing a patent, so there's no patentability."

"What a shame... it would have been even better with exclusive rights."

Kevin clicked his tongue regretfully at my words, but since I had deliberately chosen not to file a patent, I simply shrugged and said nothing.

It was a technology whose influence and ripple effects were far too powerful for any single corporation or individual to hold alone. So on Alex's advice that it must never be monopolized, I had released it to the public free of charge from the very beginning.

Of course... that didn't mean just anyone could replicate it.

"We'll contract on the condition that we provide all the know-how required for development and collaborate fully. In exchange, the compensation you requested was... 100 million dollars, plus a 15% royalty on sales. Correct?"

"Yes. Is that possible?"

The same proposal Asung Electronics had already turned down. Kevin wore a slightly troubled expression and stroked his chin in thought, but soon gave an affirmative answer.

"...Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible. But given the situation, we'll have to make the impossible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possible. I'll no doubt get hauled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before the board and grilled within an inch of my life... but it can be done. No — it must be done. We're talking about acquiring technology like this."

Kevin declared he would make the impossible possible. Having negotiated the various terms with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠such vigor, he extended his hand to me with a thoroughly satisfied smile.

"We'll have the final contract drawn up and sent to you by the end of the day. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Kang."

"Please, just call me Geon."

"Hahaha. Of course, Geon. By the way, that's quite an unusual name."

"I hear that a lot."

Kevin kept the conversation going in a playful mood right up to the end. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, he asked,

"Oh, by the way, there's one thing I'm curious about."

"Yes. Go ahead."

"You mentioned that before meeting with us, you'd offered this technology transfer to another company... might I ask which one it was?"

Kevin had learned over the phone that I'd already been turned down once before Ontel reached out. He hadn't pried then, but apparently his curiosity had been eating at him, and with eyes full of it, he asked. I gave him the answer.

"It was Asung Electronics."

"Oho... Asung..."

"Why do you ask?"

Kevin murmured the name of Asung with a strangely complicated expression. When I asked about his reaction, he chuckled and replied,

"Oh, nothing... it's just that it's both a pity and pathetic. Ah, though I suppose I should be grateful, too."

"After all, they failed to recognize the gold that rolled right up to their feet and kicked it away in plain sight — leaving it for us to scoop up, every last piece."