Kim Tae-hyun had already suspected that there was a close relationship between his younger sister, Kim Ah-young, and Lee Hyun-woo.
However, it was still in the realm of speculation as to what stage their relationship was at.
‘But does this proactive help mean that he has feelings for our Ah-young?’
The prediction didn’t turn into a direct question.
Such topic would make things uncomfortable.
If it did, the chances were high that the recent fun and close relationship with Lee Hyun-woo would become distant.
Therefore, he decided to wrap up the conversation appropriately and brought up the topic of the data center.
“I was a bit late because I had to organize some things internally. I delivered it yesterday, so they’ll probably start discussing it among themselves.”
“I don’t plan on rushing things. We need help from the local government after all.”
“If that’s the case, I can take care of it for you. What do you need?”
Help is something that is given and received.
Having received help, Kim Tae-hyun quickly continued to speak, intending to return the favor.
“Do you need permits? Or power? Tax benefits?”
“I’ll handle it for now and let you know if I need anything later.”
“Sure, don’t hesitate to tell me anytime.”
“Yes, hyung. Ah, but we still need servers, so please make sure they don’t get cut off.”
“Got it, I’ll take care of it.”
These days, getting good servers was like picking stars from the sky.
This meant that the accumulation of data was piling up like a mountain.
He requested to secure a continuous supply, and the approval came quickly.
‘As expected, information is money?’
Lee Hyun-woo chuckled inwardly.
Top-secret information that no one else knew couldn’t even be measured in monetary value.
Just by providing information about Misam Group today, he might have helped prevent a potential loss for Guseong.
There had already been servers and MP3 mobile phones before, so it was clear that Kim Tae-hyun didn’t take it lightly.
Even better.
‘It would be really interesting to steer the direction of Guseong in the future.’
Of course, it wouldn’t go as he pleased, but just guiding and observing the direction would be immensely satisfying.
On his way home after parting with Kim Tae-hyun, various scenarios played out in his mind.
‘Park Yong-jin, the president of Samjin, gave up on unnecessary things due to a lack of funds.’
Then how about suggesting new ways for Guseong to use their funds efficiently?
Perhaps he could reduce the overproduction from the past life.
‘Wow, the information is becoming so vast that I don’t know if my brain can handle it.’
No matter how exceptional his memory was, it was impossible for Lee Hyun-woo to contain all the information in his brain.
That’s why he often used notes and blogs.
Today, too, various things were being written in his notebook.
One of them was,
- Having moved Kim Tae-hyun, the next target is Chairman Kim Sung-moo.
An enormous plan, seemingly challenging the impossible, was being written down.
The next day, as soon as Kim Tae-hyun went to work, he contacted the staff in charge of the group’s information.
(Hello?)
“Ah, Mr. Yoon. It’s me.”
(Ah, yes, Director.)
“I have something to look into, so I called.”
(Please go ahead.)
Originally, Yoon Tae-ho, who answered the call, only provided top-secret information to his father.
However, recently, he had begun to subtly inform Kim Tae-hyun, who was positioning himself as the successor.
So this time, he first checked if he could ask for it,
“It’s nothing else, but there are rumors that Misam Group is not doing well.”
(Oh? That’s correct.)
The answer came immediately.
“Really? Is the situation at Misam Group really bad?”
(Yes, it is. That’s why the chairman has been telling us to reduce transactions as much as possible. But how did you know to ask about it…)
“Ah, I heard some things too.”
Of course, it was information he heard from Lee Hyun-woo.
As he recalled their conversation from the previous day, he couldn’t help but be impressed.
‘The power of handling information on a portal site is truly remarkable.’
Kim Tae-hyun ended the call and pondered deeply.
Recently, because of his entry into Japan, he had a lot of interest in portal sites.
He had seen firsthand the new information search form called ‘Knowledge Service’ introduced by Jungle in the second half of last year.
When you entered a search term, ‘Knowledge Service’ would automatically appear as a result, making it impossible not to know.
Then, the previous day, he saw first hand how to extract information from ranking of a search term and realized the power of information.
‘Does this mean it could rival a national intelligence agency?’
He reached a natural conclusion.
Kim Tae-hyun picked up the phone again and dialed a number.
(Hello?)
The recipient was Lee Hyun-woo.
“Hey, it’s me.”
(Oh? Hyung?)
A voice full of welcome could be heard.
Thinking there must be news he was waiting for, he quickly said,
“After looking into it, it seems Misam is quite unstable.”
(Oh, really?)
“Yeah, it might be best to stop your father from proceeding. If it’s urgent, you can use Guseong Trading. I’ll make arrangements.”
(Thank you so much. I’ll discuss it with my father and get back to you. Ah, and thank you for looking into this.)
“Of course, I had to let you know. You’re my cherished younger brother.”
At that moment, Kim Tae-hyun resolved to meet Lee Hyun-woo more often than he had anticipated.
If nothing else, he wanted to somehow utilize the information-gathering capability of the portal site.
Thus, after hanging up the phone, he couldn’t help but ponder.
‘Should we create our own portal site?’
He soon shook his head.
Nowadays, Jungle was proving that it was extremely difficult for latecomers to catch up.
Just looking at how other portal sites that were popping up like mushrooms weren’t being properly managed showed that.
‘It’s already too late. Besides, Hyun-woo is running it brilliantly.’
Everyone has innate abilities, and there are industries that suit those abilities.
Lee Hyun-woo was born to handle portal sites and online shopping.
Recently, Jungle Music had created a huge sensation, establishing a new order in the Korean music market.
Therefore, the relationship with him in the future should be as a ‘collaborator’ or ‘business partner.’
‘By the way, our father is truly an amazing person.’
He felt this anew after talking with Lee Hyun-woo the previous day.
He had been drilled with a sense of crisis all last year, and now, hearing that Boham had collapsed and Misam might follow suit at the beginning of the new year,
‘I need to learn my father’s intuition.’
While Lee Hyun-woo might have confirmed it based on the information gathered from his portal site, his father, Kim Sung-moo, had said it purely based on intuition.
‘I can’t just sit here. I need to go see my father today and find out how this situation will affect us.’
Being grown-ups, they didn’t see each other every day just because they were father and son.
Moreover, it wasn’t widely known, but Kim Tae-hyun, known for his numerous affairs, often enjoyed a free-spirited life and rarely came home.
“What brings you home at this hour today?”
Chairman Kim Sung-moo asked Kim Tae-hyun with his characteristic piercing eyes.
He seemed surprised that Kim Tae-hyun was home in the evening.
“I have something important to discuss, Father.”
“……”
“It’s about Boham’s bankruptcy being certain and Misam following next. There’s a system that can perfectly predict this.”
Kim Sung-moo’s eyebrows raised.
It indicated his interest.
Then he asked, narrowing his eyes,
“How did you know Misam was in trouble?”
“I heard the information from the place I mentioned earlier and verified it myself.”
Kim Tae-hyun vaguely answered, avoiding mentioning that he had run it through the group’s information office.
Instead, he continued to steer the conversation in the intended direction.
“I understand more clearly now what you meant by always saying we were in a crisis. It means that the day will come when even big corporations will collapse.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“Your words have been resonating with me more and more lately. That’s why I came home early today.”
Kim Sung-moo stared at his son for a moment.
Despite scolding him several times for being scatterbrained since he was young, today seemed no different.
Connecting systems and crises without any order.
‘Still, I won’t scold him since he’s willing to listen to my words.’
Instead, curiosity got the better of him.
“What is this system you mentioned?”
“The portal site of Jungle, which predicted the crises of the two companies I just mentioned.”
“What?”
“Specifically, the CEO there receives a daily report. About which words are most frequently searched on the portal site.”
A slight vibration occurred in Kim Sung-moo’s pupils, which no one could notice.
‘Does a portal site gather such critical information so quickly?’
The head of Korea’s top group constantly learns to avoid falling behind.
Naturally, he was well aware of portal sites, search terms, and so on.
However, it was hard to trust his son’s words.
Did Kim Tae-hyun notice this?
He emphasized his point with a firm voice.
“Father, it’s true. And if you can detect a crisis through the frequency of search terms, think about how we can utilize this. I thought it would be best to discuss it with you.”
“If you’re willing to learn, I’m always ready to welcome you.”
Kim Sung-moo was pleased to have a rare opportunity to discuss the future with his son.
Especially since Kim Tae-hyun, who would eventually take over the group, was now proactively talking about crises, unlike before, which he liked.
‘By the way, it seems that the trigger was Jungle.’
Kim Sung-moo was well aware of Jungle.
His interest had grown, particularly because his son and daughter had often mentioned the company at the breakfast table recently.
“You said Jungle uses search terms to detect crises?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But wasn’t this just a coincidence?”
“I thought so too. But thinking about acquiring information quickly in the future, I realized we need to strengthen our relationship with CEO Lee.”
Suddenly, Lee Hyun-woo’s name popped into Kim Sung-moo’s mind, and his eyes gleamed.
‘Lee Hyun-woo…’
He remembered when Kim Tae-hyun had come to him saying he wanted to enter the Japanese market.
He said he would leverage Jungle and Software Bank, based on portal sites and online shopping.
Later, Kim Ah-young also came and said the same thing, but with slightly different details.
It was that Lee Hyun-woo of Jungle was leading the entry into Japan.
Since then, he became aware of Lee Hyun-woo and thought highly of him, especially seeing him frequently in the media later on.
In fact, he couldn’t help but notice the young CEO of Jungle, a company that American and Japanese investors were interested in and that the academic and research communities in information and communication technology were also keeping an eye on.
‘But a person who has no friends is close with Lee Hyun-woo?’
Seeing his son’s face again, Kim Sung-moo became increasingly curious about Lee Hyun-woo.
