Loyalty, Loyalty!
"Of course I know! I know it so well! I'm level 183 in Eternal Galaxy. My tier is Ascendant Archon. I've failed to promote to Eternal Sovereign for two months now, but I still have the highest level in Korea, you know? Wow! This is my first time meeting an Eternal Galaxy player in real life. But what's your tier? What server are you on? Are you over level 100? Isn't Akina just so cute and pretty?"
As Yun Yeong-su poured out his words like a machine gun without taking a breath, Hwang Se-jun hurriedly stopped him. "Hey, hey, Team Leader Yun. You're making the client uncomfortable. Get a grip."
Then, he quickly bowed his head to Jun-ho. "I apologize. Our R&D team leader isn't usually like this, but when it comes to... certain topics, he gets a bit... yes, he's like that. I am truly sorry. Team Leader Yun, what are you doing? Apologize."
"Oh... I'm sorry. It's just my first time seeing a fellow player in real life."
Although he said he was sorry, his expression was anything but apologetic. Instead, Yun Yeong-su was looking at Jun-ho with eyes that sparkled with a somewhat burdensome intensity. Jun-ho tried to smile as naturally as possible.
"Oh, it's fine. It's my first time meeting an Eternal Galaxy user offline, too. But level 183 and Ascendant Archon tier? That's truly impressive."
Yun Yeong-su nodded vigorously with a proud expression. "Yes! I'm the only one in Korea. But what about you, client? What's your tier...?"
"Ah, I only dabbled in it during the indie game days... so I'm still an Outrider. After the official release, I was too busy with work, so I just bought it but couldn't really play."
"Ah..."
A hint of disappointment flickered across Yun Yeong-su's face. Unlike himself, who was the second-highest of the seven tiers, he seemed disappointed that Jun-ho, who had barely moved past the beginner stage, was so low-ranked. Sensing this, Jun-ho immediately continued.
"Besides, the graphics for Akina changed a bit with the official release, right? To be honest, I preferred the modeling and illustrations of Akina from the indie days..."
"Whoa! Really!?"
"Oh, you startled me."
As Yun Yeong-su suddenly raised his voice, Hwang Se-jun, who had been half-resigned, jumped in surprise. Yun Yeong-su didn't even care about his CEO and kept his mouth moving rapidly.
"Me too! Actually, the gameplay definitely improved after the official release, but the character modeling was a bit disappointing, wasn't it? Especially Akina, she really... how should I put it..."
"Would you say her charm from the indie days faded a bit? That mature yet coy image—it was perfectly captured in the old modeling..."
"Exactly! That's it! Wow, we really click, don't we?"
Yun Yeong-su chimed in excitedly. Jun-ho felt his skin crawl, but he smiled as naturally as he could. What he had just said was, in fact, the exact evaluation Yun Yeong-su had given him when they met in the previous timeline, back when he had revealed his obsession with Akina.
'Since I don't know a damn thing.'
Most of Jun-ho's knowledge about Eternal Galaxy came from Yun Yeong-su. Of course, he had studied the basic information about the game before visiting Dow Computing, but the detailed nuances were entirely acquired from Yun Yeong-su.
"Anyway, Team Leader Yun Yeong-su."
"Yes, yes, please go ahead."
To Yun Yeong-su, who was looking at him with sparkling eyes as if all his focus was concentrated on him, Jun-ho smiled and said, "The work I mentioned earlier—will you be able to handle all of it?"
"Of course! Just leave it all to me, from start to finish! We'll use edge computing nodes to independently distribute processing for each zone. For power, we'll apply an energy auto-scaling based failover design and implement a multi-region cloud structure..."
As the conversation veered into territory difficult for a liberal arts major to grasp, Jun-ho quickly cut him off.
"That's good to hear. I'll listen to the details later. But tell me this. If Dow Computing and Team Leader Yun Yeong-su do the work perfectly to my satisfaction..."
"...?"
"You may use 'Akina' as the codename for our shelter's AI computing system."
"...!!!"
Yun Yeong-su's eyes widened in an instant, and his face was soon filled with joy and emotion. Now, to Yun Yeong-su, Jun-ho had become more than just a client or a fellow player—he was a 'comrade.'
"Then, I'll leave it in your hands."
"Don't worry. We will mobilize all of our company's capabilities to ensure we create a result that satisfies you, sir."
Hwang Se-jun replied with a determined face. Jun-ho nodded with a smile.
"Yes. I'll trust you, CEO. But as I mentioned earlier, please send me the estimate as soon as possible. I plan to start construction as soon as the land purchase is finalized."
"Understood. I will make sure to send it within this week."
"No. I think two days should be enough."
"Oh... Team Leader Yun?"
Hwang Se-jun looked at Yun Yeong-su, who had suddenly stepped in, with wavering eyes. But Yun Yeong-su didn't care and spoke confidently.
"The AI computing server and GPU farm will be enough with three or four A100 80GB units. For the storage server, we can configure a 12-bay NAS with RAID10 redundancy. Capacity-wise, about 1 petabyte? For the local network, connecting two 9300 switches with a 10-gigabit core backbone will be stable, and we can pass on the access points for now since we need to see the building and the site. As for the environmental control system including edge computing and power..."
"Yes, yes, I understand. In any case, you're saying two days, right?"
Jun-ho once again cut off the flood of technical jargon.
"Yes. Leave it to me."
Jun-ho, satisfied with Yun Yeong-su's answer, turned to Hwang Se-jun, who was looking at his tactless employee and subordinate with a sense of futility.
"Your R&D team leader said two days, but I'm sure you need time to review it as well. Let's aim to receive the estimate by Friday. And..."
Jun-ho took out his phone and continued. "You brought the preliminary contract, right? As promised, I'll send 10 percent of the contract fee first. Would... 200 million won be enough?"
"Yes! That's perfect! That's more than enough!"
Hwang Se-jun's face flushed red, having achieved about 20 percent of last year's total revenue with just the down payment. Jun-ho signed the preliminary contract and immediately transferred 200 million won to Dow Computing's account.
"My lawyer, Lee Dong-cheol, will contact you within a few days. And this."
Jun-ho handed over a business card and continued. "This is the business card of Mr. Baek Ha-il, who will be in charge of the overall construction of the shelter. He's in charge of everything from the power system to the mechanical equipment, so please contact him to coordinate."
"Understood."
Hwang Se-jun received Baek Ha-il's business card with both hands.
"Then, I'll be going now."
"Yes, have a safe trip."
Jun-ho, who had shaken hands with Hwang Se-jun, smiled at Yun Yeong-su, who was still standing there with a bright face.
"I look forward to working with you, Team Leader Yun Yeong-su."
"Yes!"
"Oh, right."
As if suddenly remembering something, Jun-ho opened the car door and rummaged inside. A moment later, he came out holding a small box. It was the overseas delivery that Jun-hyeok had received on his behalf while he was in Busan.
"I received this through an acquaintance this morning. I think it's better for a true fan like you, Team Leader Yun, to have it than me."
"Huh?"
Yun Yeong-su received the box with a bewildered face.
"Open it after I leave. Well then, see you next time."
Jun-ho, who smiled and shook hands with Yun Yeong-su, got into the car.
"Drive safely!"
Unlike Hwang Se-jun, who bowed politely toward the departing car, Yun Yeong-su just tilted his head, alternating his gaze between the car Jun-ho was in and the box in his hands.
Once the car completely disappeared from view, Hwang Se-jun turned his distorted face toward Yun Yeong-su.
"Haa! Hey, Yun Yeong-su. You punk, I told you so many times not to show your otaku side in front of a client, didn't I! I'm the CEO who pays your salary, and I even asked you a favor—would it kill you to listen?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, senior."
"CEO!"
"Yes, C.E.O."
"Oh, for heaven's sake...! If you weren't my junior from school..."
Hwang Se-jun shook his fist and gritted his teeth at Yun Yeong-su, who was busy tearing open the carefully wrapped box with his fingernails.
"Huh...?"
Yun Yeong-su, who was focused on tearing the packaging without a care in the world, soon looked up slightly.
"Why? What is it?"
Riiip!
Yun Yeong-su, who had completely torn off the packaging with rough, urgent hands, lifted the box up with trembling fingers. Hwang Se-jun frowned deeply and read the English text written on the box.
"What is this? Eternal Code version... Akina Celestial Circuit...?"
"Waaaaaah!!!"
"Geez, you startled me!"
"It's the Celestial Circuit! Akina Celestial Circuit! And it's even a double-digit numbering!"
A super-rare Akina figure released in a limited run of 500. Holding the double-digit numbered product in his hands, Yun Yeong-su couldn't hide his excitement, even tearing up. He had no way of knowing that, originally, about two years later—just one week before the apocalypse—he would have bought a different numbered product on the second-hand app 'Cabbage Market.'
"Haa! Client Lee Jun-ho... You are the true Celestial. Loyalty, loyalty..."
"Yeong-su? Team Leader Yun Yeong-su? I'm the CEO who pays your salary, you know? Shouldn't you be pledging loyalty to me?"
"Ah! I need to write the equipment estimate our Celestial Client requested! I'm going up first, senior!"
"You punk, I'm the CEO!"
Hwang Se-jun raised his voice, but a smile wouldn't leave his lips, having achieved the highest revenue since the company's founding in one go.
"My skin is crawling..."
Inside the car heading to his home in Bucheon, Jun-ho shuddered once. Even if he was preparing for the apocalypse, he never imagined he would buy a beautiful girl (or, strictly speaking, a beautiful AI) figure and even gift it to an otaku.
Originally, his plan was to use Eternal Galaxy and Akina as common ground to build rapport and naturally steer Yun Yeong-su into naming the shelter's AI computing system 'Akina.' But he felt that might not be enough.
He realized that to fully recruit Yun Yeong-su, he needed something more definitive... a finishing blow. That's when he thought of the limited-edition figure that Yun Yeong-su, whom he had met during the apocalypse, had kept in a reinforced plastic case and cherished dearly.
Since Yun Yeong-su had said he bought the same item for 5 million won back then, Jun-ho had coolly set a budget of 10,000 USD and posted a purchase request on an overseas auction site, eventually managing to acquire the figure.
"He'll be thrilled, right?"
He couldn't see it because he was busy acting like a cool young entrepreneur, but Yun Yeong-su was probably dying of happiness. And in proportion to that joy, his favorability toward Jun-ho would rise.
"I'll just have to ask the CEO of Dow Computing to send him on a dispatch..."
Judging by what he saw today, he was certain that Hwang Se-jun, the CEO of Dow Computing, wouldn't be able to refuse his proposal. Jun-ho had already earmarked 2 to 3 billion won for the first phase of building the AI computing system. And that would directly translate into revenue for Dow Computing.
Although he hadn't checked the financial statements, judging by Hwang Se-jun's reaction when he sent the down payment, it was clear that last year's performance had been poor. To him, Jun-ho, who was bringing in over 2 billion won in revenue at once, was nothing short of a client sent from heaven.
If he guaranteed an annual SI maintenance contract worth 200 to 300 million won after the AI system was completed? And if he proposed Yun Yeong-su's dispatch as the sole condition for that? And if he suggested that while Yun Yeong-su's workplace would be the shelter disguised as a pension, it would be fine for him to continue his work for Dow Computing as well?
"He'll definitely say yes."
Jun-ho was certain that Hwang Se-jun would accept his proposal with a 99 percent probability.