Chapter 28
Chapter 28
“First of all, it’s too obvious, so we’ve set up the servers separately. We can’t just put the servers here.”
Instead of using Kiseong IT’s lab, they spent two trillion won installing AI ‘accelerator servers’ at a third-party location.
They had to turn 2D dramas and movies into 3D virtual reality, where users’ characters could enter and interact.
“Can this really be serviced? It requires high skill and extremely high-performance equipment…”
Even converting 2D into 3D alone was known to consume a huge amount of resources. But making it into virtual reality, where users could act organically inside, required equipment of unimaginable power.
“It’ll depend on AI performance and image compression capabilities…”
Oh Gong-tae muttered with a grave expression.
“Isn’t this overdoing it?”
“It’s actually… yes, it’s overdoing it.”
It was a project that, realistically, should only be serviceable twenty years from now. They weren’t filming one movie for the public. Each user would be making their own movie. Incredible imagination, but even if technically possible, to actually service it, every part—from internet bandwidth and streaming tech to AI-dedicated chips and servers—had to be perfect. And the technology to optimize all of that had to exist.
“How much do you think this would cost to service?”
“Well, with two trillion won, a thousand users can test it… to scale to a hundred thousand users…”
Oh Gong-tae didn’t finish his sentence. He couldn’t bear to think of the number.
If two trillion was enough for a thousand users, scaling to a hundred thousand meant around two hundred trillion won.
“What about the service price?”
Go Yun-seok, who had been quietly standing by, spoke up.
“Well, a two-hour movie would be about 250,000 won, and a 30-minute drama around 80,000 won.”
“Oh… so you expect around a thousand concurrent users. That’s about eleven or twelve thousand users a day. That means 1.8 to 2.5 billion won in daily revenue, averaging about 2 billion. So to earn two trillion, it would take a thousand days, roughly three years.”
Go Yun-seok was already calculating the business feasibility.
“That’s for testing; normal service would be different.”
“Two hundred trillion invested for a two-thousand-billion-won daily revenue isn’t bad. Considering hardware will improve and software will be upgraded, the timeline could be shortened further.”
“The challenge will be getting movie and drama copyrights, right?”
“They’ll be fine with it. They’d get about 10% of revenue as royalties… it’s secondary revenue using already filmed movies and dramas. That part’s on them.”
‘Them’ referred to Jérôme Musso. Once JW Dive-In officially launched the business, they planned to invest five trillion won and take a 5% stake.
“We’ll need to add another five trillion. Setting up will cost around two hundred trillion.”
“They won’t hesitate.”
Oh Gong-tae was dumbfounded. The scale was beyond imagination. When he first showed the ‘Dive-In’ project to Jeong Jin-woo, he thought maybe they could raise a few hundred billion won. Two trillion for the initial setup seemed huge, but to actually talk about 100–200 trillion for full service, calmly, without flinching…
Even the Big Five companies in the U.S. would hesitate at such an investment. But Jeong Jin-woo and Go Yun-seok discussed it as if it were pocket change.
“Team leader Jeong… who exactly are you?”
“I’m the Kiseong IT business planning team leader.”
“Be honest. I knew you were rich, but two trillion? That’s not just being rich. And now you’re casually talking about 100 or 200 trillion… even Saeng-song couldn’t handle that.”
“Yeah, probably not. We’d struggle too.”
They’d have to scrape together all the idle capital scattered across the globe.
“You’re not Saeng-song. If Saeng-song were doing it, maybe….”
Jeong Jin-woo looked at Oh Gong-tae as if he’d said something absurd.
“You’re funny…”
“What? What’s funny?”
“You said you wanted this. You wanted it, so we’re examining the feasibility and making it real. And now that we’re making it real, why are you serious-faced?”
“Well, that’s…”
Oh Gong-tae hadn’t expected things to escalate this fast. Asking for two trillion would normally involve a painstaking process, maybe scraping together a few hundred billion first. But now… would they really provide 200 trillion just because he said so?
“That’s impossible. You can’t just ask for 200 trillion and get 200 trillion.”
“You said you needed it, right?”
“I do! But… it’s impossible, that’s why I said it.”
“See? That’s exactly why I said you’re funny.”
Jung Jin-woo shook his head in disbelief. Go Yun-seok, standing beside him, gave Oh Gong-tae a kind smile.
“Oh Gong-tae, imagine anything you want. We’ll make sure it becomes reality.”
“Ah… yes, yes…”
Even though he answered, Oh Gong-tae felt uneasy.
He’d asked for a hundred billion and they brought 385 billion, paying off Kiseong IT’s bank debt. Then he asked for two trillion, and they immediately provided it, perfectly setting up the hardware. Now, 200 trillion…
Exciting, but scary at the same time. These people were not ordinary.
And that Team Leader Jeong Jin-woo—what exactly was he? For 28 years, Oh Gong-tae had encountered things beyond his comprehension.
[Venezuela and Guyana began peace talks this morning, mediated by the U.S.]
[President Chávez of Venezuela and President Rodrigo of Guyana met in person.]
[Both nations’ delegations agreed that the meaningless sacrifice of citizens must stop and entered indefinite negotiations.]
The foreign news was flooding in.
Of course, Jeong Jin-woo had been notified a day in advance by Jérôme that the U.S. would intervene and peace talks would begin. Thanks to that, he sold oil, gold, and rare earths he had purchased at 50% higher than pre-war prices. Soon, all critical resources would return to pre-war prices.
He’d bought one trillion dollars’ worth and sold it for 1.5 trillion, making 500 billion dollars in profit.
500 billion dollars at 1,400 won per dollar? That’s 700 trillion won.
Could this be real? Jérôme was right. Thanks to one good friend, he’d earned 700 trillion won just by sitting back.
He’d been worried about raising 200 trillion for Dive-In, but now, after funding it, 500 trillion remained.
[Jérôme! Dive-In will need 200 trillion. You should invest another five trillion.]
No long explanation needed. Oh Gong-tae had sent a file of a scene from the ‘New World’ movie he made for testing, showing the character entering and experiencing it.
[Wow… you really plan to service this? The quality alone makes me willing to invest another 100 trillion! Unbelievable. Jin-woo! Are you crazy? Amazing! Give me 10% of JW Dive-In, I can invest another 15 trillion, right?]
This friend had earned him 700 trillion; why not give 10% instead of 5%?
[Alright! But remember, absolute secrecy! Meanwhile, expedite copyright negotiations with U.S. and Hollywood studios.]
[Okay, got it.]
A really good friend. Providing information, making money, and investing in the friend’s company. This was what “follow your friends to Gangnam” meant.
Also…
[Jeong Jin-woo! Thanks to you, we earned some profit! Let’s meet soon so I can thank you properly. – Lee Jin-ho]
[From AMG Electronics, Goh Hyeong-woo. Thanks to Goldcoin, resource procurement went smoothly. Without it, we’d have been in serious danger.]
[Visit our company sometime! You’re really amazing! If you don’t have a girlfriend… what about me? Bin-seon here~~]
The five wealthy people had profited greatly. Holding Goldcoin made acquiring oil, gold, and rare earths much easier.
“Team Leader! What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t the CEO tell everyone to gather in the main conference room? Why are you sitting here? We were looking for you.”
Jijeong, a junior staff member, had come to fetch Jeong Jin-woo.
“Ah, I forgot because of work.”
“Focus. No matter how busy you are… let’s go.”
Jijeong led Jeong Jin-woo to the main conference room.
Once, the company had 200 employees. They had reduced their floor, but the conference room, big enough for 100 people, was kept.
Now, maybe thirty people at most. Even seated, it felt absurdly empty.
“The protagonist is here. Everyone here? Looks like everyone’s present. CEO, please speak.”
Director Ki Dong-chan gave his seat at the table to CEO Choi Tae-min.
“Ah! I called you here to deliver some news. Come forward, Director Oh.”
At CEO Choi Tae-min’s words, Oh Gong-tae hesitated and stepped forward.
“Director Oh Gong-tae will be moving to another company as a development director. For now, he will continue overseeing our work, but… this is truly a joyful occasion. He has devoted the past ten years to Kiseong IT. We will honor him as an honorary development director. Everyone, applause.”
[Clap clap clap clap…]
Everyone applauded as Oh Gong-tae bowed his head.
“I originally had no intention to leave. Considering CEO Choi Tae-min and Director Ki Dong-chan, I thought I had to repay their kindness. But I achieved the goals I set, so I am leaving. Yet a part of me will always remain at Kiseong IT. Thank you.”
Agreements had already been made. Oh Gong-tae would take his subordinate, Jeon Gwang-jin, and assume the role of development director at JW Dive-In.
Achieving his goals meant…
“Always welcome. Director Oh Gong-tae’s seat will always remain here. And you heard what Director Oh Gong-tae said—he achieved his goals. Some of you probably understand what that implies.”
CEO Choi Tae-min smiled at the employees. Many were confused.
“For the past ten years, our employees at Kiseong IT had no salary increases. You all suffered with low pay. So… starting next month, as I promised five years ago, all employee salaries will be increased by 100%.”
“What? What did he say? Salaries will increase by 100%?”
“Wow!”
“Ha… ha ha… really?”
The conference room erupted.
Jeong Jin-woo was dumbfounded. Just from a dozen contracts, the CEO would double employees’ salaries?
“Director, is this even possible?” Jeong Jin-woo asked Director Ki Dong-chan cautiously.
“The debt is gone. We had been earning just to pay interest, which is why salaries couldn’t be increased. Now we’re comfortable.”
If Director Ki Dong-chan said so, it must be true. But so suddenly? Twelve contracts, roughly two billion won. An extra six million per month for website management.
“All of this is thanks to the incredible and miraculous achievements of our new Team Leader Jeong Jin-woo. Let’s give him a round of applause.”
Incredible? Miraculous? The praise felt exaggerated. He had just answered some calls and followed through on tasks.
“Me? Because of me?”
Jeong Jin-woo asked in confusion.
“Wow!”
The applause and cheers drowned out his question.