After hearing about stepping down from the team leader position, Lee Hyun-woo unexpectedly nods his head.
“Alright. I’ll look for someone to take on the team leader role.”
“Huh? You’re accepting it too easily; it feels a bit disappointing.”
“Instead, I have a new role for you.”
“Huh? No, I said I’ll step down.”
“Yeah, you can take on this new role with that mindset. It’s CTO, Chief Technology Officer.”
“What?”
“It means you’ll oversee all the technology. You’re the best in that field in our company. You can support whenever it’s needed. Isn’t this the best role you can take on while still attending school?”
“……”
“And there’s the advantage of being able to focus on game development immediately. Isn’t that right?”
His feelings of disappointment completely reversed.
This was an incredibly considerate gesture.
Honestly, it was worrisome.
His brother, who always sought fair and impartial appointments, was giving him such a special favor.
But then,
“The term for CTO will be two years. It’s a kind of executive position. And I’m appointing one more person. That’s Jang Yoo-cheol. Considering both of you are still in school, once you graduate, your performance while attending school will be strictly evaluated. If you don’t meet the standard, you’ll have to step down.”
“That… that’s only natural.”
“By the way, Team Leader Woo will also be promoted to COO, Chief Operating Officer. He’ll oversee the remaining team leaders on my behalf.”
“Wow, there will be a significant personnel shift.”
“Yeah, it seems that way.”
“I feel guilty that this is happening because of me.”
“It’s not just because of you. It was originally planned; we’re just moving it up a bit.”
Jungle grows every time you sleep.
And it changes every time you blink.
No matter how much they try to fill the gaps with outsourcing, the 7-story building was on the verge of bursting with the constantly recruited staff.
Finding a new building was a given, but they needed to reorganize before that.
Frequent changes can cause confusion, but Jungle’s growth was causing a transformation greater than the upheavals of the times.
Crucially,
‘I need to delegate more to Team Leader Woo and take a break myself.’
This time, too, Lee Hyun-woo contemplated securing his own time.
If he didn’t do this, the workaholic DNA in his family might turn him back into a work addict.
“Oh, since a new game department is being established, you can select the personnel for that. Got it?”
“Sure, I’ll do that.”
“But I’ll choose the team leader. In consultation with Team Leader Woo.”
“Okay, hyung. Thank you so much.”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled faintly at the genuine gratitude in Lee Jung-woo’s voice.
‘Thank you? I’m always the one who’s grateful.’
In his second life,
His brother’s abilities were being re-evaluated every day.
Now, he seemed to be the core of the core engineers at Jungle.
Of course, genius Oh Min-woo also existed, but in terms of psychological stability, how could anyone compare to his brother?
‘Maybe you are responsible for half of our company’s growth power.’
Looking at it so far, it seems true, and the future holds even more expectations.
The next day, Lee Hyun-woo called in Woo Sang-won.
He then started discussing what he had talked about with Lee Jung-woo the day before.
“Since it’s not easy to handle both school and development, I intend to promote Team Leader Lee Jung-woo and Team Leader Jang Yoo-cheol to CTOs, Chief Technology Officers. Also, we need to appoint a new team leader, so we need to select a COO, Chief Operating Officer, to manage them. I’d like to ask you, Team Leader Woo, to take on this role. What do you think?”
“……”
“I really hope you can take it on. We need someone to manage the new team leaders, and occasionally act on my behalf to oversee the company.”
Woo Sang-won took a moment to catch his breath.
The concept of COO was not very familiar, but trying to understand it better…
‘Does it mean vice president or deputy CEO?’
Looking at his face, Lee Hyun-woo perfectly organized the hierarchy.
“It’s practically the second-in-command. Of course, I’d like you to fulfill the role of an executive in our company along with Team Leader Lee Jung-woo and Team Leader Jang Yoo-cheol.”
“I… I…”
He stuttered due to the sudden news.
It was a request that was almost like a windfall, so Woo Sang-won couldn’t refuse it.
“Yes… I… I’ll do that.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s mouth curled into a smile.
‘Got him.’
He spoke again, looking like he had caught a big fish.
“Alright, first, we need to appoint other team leaders. Personally, I’d like to promote Team Leader Jung Kwang-yeol, Team Leader Lee Won-jong, and Team Leader Yoon Won-gi.”
“Huh?”
Once again, Woo Sang-won’s face showed surprise with a question mark.
It was only natural because these three were key figures in Woo Sang-won’s portal site department.
To be more precise, they were his colleagues from when he was at the PC communications company Hi, and they were his closest friends in the company.
“One of them has to take the team leader role in the portal site department. Who do you think is the best fit?”
“Team Leader Jung Kwang-yeol is the most suitable. He has handled all the overall tasks as my deputy when I wasn’t around.”
“Then let’s go with him.”
“Team Leader Lee Won-jong occasionally supported the online shopping department.”
“Alright, Team Leader Lee Won-jong for online shopping. Then, Team Leader Yoon Won-gi will handle the content department.”
“He is more suited for games than music, but since both are content, it doesn’t seem bad.”
“That’s great.”
“Huh?”
“I was thinking of establishing a game department anyway. Team Leader Yoon Won-gi can handle both music and games, and get help from Team Leaders Jang Yoo-cheol and Lee Jung-woo.”
The appointments were decided smoothly as if Lee Hyun-woo had thought it all through beforehand.
At this point, Woo Sang-won also made a suggestion.
“Do you know that Team Leader Koo Ja-sung likes games?”
“Of course. He even said during the interview that he hoped we would have games in our content.”
“Oh, you remember that from the interview.”
“Of course. Are you suggesting we send Team Leader Koo to the content department to help with game development?”
“Everyone knows that Team Leader Lee Jung-woo is really into games recently. That’s why he even formed a club in the company. Team Leader Koo Ja-sung is part of that club.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded with a smile.
Thinking back, he remembered that Team Leader Koo Ja-sung showed an interest in games during the interview.
He was pleased to finally give him that opportunity and felt reassured that his brother Lee Jung-woo would have a motivated partner.
‘Then are we really going to produce Space Craft in our company?’
The nationally famous game Space Craft.
He believed that with this one game, they could become a globally recognized game company.
“This building is getting too small.”
“Huh? No way…”
“I’m not suggesting we move entirely. I think we need to look for another one.”
“Oh, I see…”
Woo Sang-won slightly trailed off.
Had it even been a year since they expanded?
It seemed like just a bit over six months.
Yet, Jungle was growing at a terrifying pace, rewriting the history of the company.
This was why no one could disagree with Lee Hyun-woo.
In reality, as they continued to hire people and fill each floor, it seemed like it would soon burst at the seams.
“Since we’re talking about it, I’ll push this forward right away.”
“Yes, CEO.”
Thus, Lee Hyun-woo once again had to visit the real estate office.
When Lee Hyun-woo explained his purpose for visiting, the real estate agent couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Again?”
How long had it been since they expanded, and they already needed a new building?
“That’s how it is.”
This proved what Lee Hyun-woo had said before, that the scale of this business was enormous.
“How many floors?”
“A clean 10-story building would be nice.”
“10 floors? Last time you were looking for a 5-story, and now it’s 10. So next time, it’ll be 20 floors?”
Lee Hyun-woo smiled faintly.
‘Well, next time, we might have to move to a different area.’
Lee Hyun-woo had no particular dislike for Seoul.
But he had his own plans, so he just smiled.
The answer lay in a previous conversation he had with Kim Ah-young.
Someday, we’re going to relocate the headquarters.
To where?
To a place with good water and air.
The candidate area he had in mind was Jeju Island.
However, due to Jungle’s rapid growth, they needed more buildings before relocating the headquarters to Jeju.
That’s why he was visiting the real estate office today.
‘When I meet Ah-young next time, I must get a promise from her.’
She had mentioned last time that she owned a lot of land in Jeju.
Thanks to his wealthy girlfriend, he thought he might be able to get it at a lower price.
A smile spread across Lee Hyun-woo’s face.
For a while, the two lovers were not meeting often because of the reporters.
Since the reporters’ interest had waned, Kim Ah-young was planning to move again.
That day, she timed her visit to match Lee Hyun-woo’s departure time.
But as soon as she entered the CEO’s office, Lee Hyun-woo suddenly brought it up.
“You mentioned last time that you have land in Jeju.”
“Yeah, so?”
“How much would you sell it per pyeong?”
“Well, I’d have to check, but are you planning to buy it?”
“Yes.”
When Lee Hyun-woo had mentioned moving the headquarters to Jeju before, she had thought he was just speaking casually.
Was he serious? Was he already thinking of relocating?
‘No matter how you look at it, Jeju is a barren land for business.’
She didn’t know.
One of the two major portals in Korea had its headquarters in Jeju.
Of course, that was in Lee Hyun-woo’s past life.
“I know you’ve thought it through, but why not consider it one more time?”
“I’ve already planned it. If we start now, it will probably take over two years. Oh, let me show you what I’ve drawn today.”
Kim Ah-young followed him as he moved to his work table.
There was a large drawing paper on the table.
While it couldn’t be said that he had a knack for drawing, it was not difficult to understand.
At the very bottom, “Jungle Universe” was written, and various names were written in different areas above it.
“It looks like you’re trying to create the Jungle’s world.”
“Isn’t it a bit absurd? But doesn’t it seem fun?”
“Knowing your thoughts is always fun. And the fact that you realize them. No matter how you look at it, it seems too idealistic to exist in this world, but you always make it happen.”
She definitely saw him through rose-colored glasses.
But what Lee Hyun-woo had shown so far was indeed remarkable.
Using the terms Lee Hyun-woo had mentioned, his actions could be described as reshaping the ecosystem of a new industry around himself.
She had felt it clearly during their visit to the U.S. last time.
While he was a sensation in Korea, in the U.S., the birthplace of the information age, Lee Hyun-woo was treated as a rising star in the industry.
What was most impressive was how he remained calm and natural while influencing the world and people.
Therefore, it was certain that eventually, he would realize the relocation to Jeju and create the “Jungle’s World” described here.
Imagining all this, Kim Ah-young smiled and spoke in a sweet, bell-like voice.
“Then how about leasing it?”
“Leasing? Are you suggesting I pay a little every month?”
“Yeah, as you know, I’m in the hospitality business. I don’t easily sell land. Moreover, if Jungle moves in, the land will become hundreds of times more expensive. I’ll make a lease contract for five years.”
“Wow, you’re such a ruthless hotelier.”
“Instead, I won’t take a security deposit. The lease will be free during the construction period. How about that?”
“I retract the ‘ruthless hotelier’ comment. I’ll call you an angel hotelier instead.”
“It won’t be entirely free. You have to buy me dinner.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t had dinner yet. Alright, I’ll treat you to something delicious.”
“Not today. I have an appointment.”
“Huh?”
Lee Hyun-woo raised his eyebrows.
Wasn’t the reason she came at this time to have dinner together?
“Let’s eat next time. Okay?”
“Uh, okay…”
He tilted his head in confusion but soon assumed she had an appointment nearby and turned his attention back to the “Jungle Universe” map.
Once again, a wave of thrilling imagination washed over him.
Meanwhile, the person Kim Ah-young had an appointment with was Lee Jung-woo.
There was something she had to know by meeting him.
So, when Lee Jung-woo asked,
“What brings you to see me?”
She smiled and asked,
“Do you have any gift recommendations for Parents’ Day that I could give to your parents?”
