Joe Murphy had already received a report from the research lab.
The content sharing on the P2P site could significantly impact Jungle USA’s revenue in the long term.
But looking at Lee Hyun-woo’s face, he seemed to have a solution.
So, he asked,
“Is there any way to stop it?”
Lee Hyun-woo shook his head.
“Through laws and regulations, and with technological advancements, we can reduce illegal sharing. But it’s like a poisonous mushroom growing somewhere out of sight.”
“Ah… I see…”
“Instead, we need to utilize it.”
“Utilize it?”
“Just imagine. What if there was an MP3 file that could prevent illegal sharing?”
“What? Didn’t you just say it was impossible?”
“That’s why I said to use our imagination. We should tell our development team this: ‘We know it can’t be stopped permanently, but let’s stay one step ahead.’”
“I think I get what you mean. So, from now on, there will be an intense battle between those trying to break through and those trying to block them. Of course, our position is defense, right?”
“No.”
“No?”
“We can do both. We can split the team into two. In short, we can have an in-house competition.”
“……”
Joe Murphy, who was thinking deeply, widened his eyes.
“Ah! You mean to divide into a team trying to upload to the P2P site by any means and a team of developers blocking them. And keep having them compete against each other.”
“Yes, if we do that, we should at least be one step ahead of external developers, right?”
Joe Murphy nodded.
And then he said,
“There should be a necessary and sufficient condition. The developers must be top-notch.”
“So here’s a suggestion. The creators of this P2P site are said to be Ray Burrin and Mikhail Faith, Stanford graduates.”
“Yes, I know them too. They actually graduated from Stanford Graduate School. They were called geniuses there. In fact, when I was at the fund company, I thought about investing in them several times.”
“I also tried to scout them once. They are stubborn young people. They probably created the P2P site because they wanted to start their own business.”
“So, are you suggesting we acquire their business?”
“It would be great if we could acquire it. But as I mentioned earlier, they probably won’t sell. So, the next best thing is to outsource to them.”
“Outsource?”
“Of course, we should ask them to find a way to prevent the MP3s we developed from being uploaded.”
“Are you saying to leave the defense to external parties among the mentioned teams?”
“Sometimes we can do the reverse. Just make sure to pay attention to security issues.”
“Hahaha, it’s always refreshing to talk to you.”
Lee Hyun-woo laughed at Joe Murphy’s words.
And he provided one last idea.
“Many hackers are quite skilled. If you look in that direction, you will find many talented people.”
“Ah… Yes, that’s a good idea too. I will look into it right away.”
The discussion with Joe Murphy was an idea that Lee Hyun-woo had thought of all night.
Of course, he never thought they could completely stop illegal sharing.
It was like the ambition to eradicate a virus.
‘I should go to Korea and find some good hackers.’
The next day.
Finally, they headed to the airport to return home.
Joe Murphy insisted on seeing Lee Hyun-woo off, wanting to be there from the start to the end of this trip to the USA.
“Soon, I will also go to Korea with the tech team. Ah, right, there’s one more thing to check before you go.”
“……?”
“What’s the situation in Korea? I heard the exchange rate is rising.”
Joe Murphy was a man from the financial sector.
Even though he left, he couldn’t completely sever ties.
No, he valued connections, so he still kept in touch with his former subordinates.
Moreover, since the funds from Natural Standard Fund flowed into Jungle USA, he couldn’t help but keep up with Wall Street news.
Recently, the instability of the Asian foreign exchange market was a hot topic on Wall Street.
“That’s right. Before I came to the USA, the exchange rate slightly exceeded 900 won per dollar.”
“It’s risen a lot compared to the beginning of the year. A 50 won increase; if it rises more, it will burden import companies.”
“On the other hand, export companies are fine. As always, the umbrella seller smiles on a rainy day, and the shoe seller is happy on a sunny day. It’s just that the weather doesn’t change abruptly.”
“That’s true. Companies need time to prepare when the environment changes.”
“In that sense, it’s been sunny for us so far.”
“Yes, whether it’s a rainy day or a sunny day, it doesn’t matter. Personally, I think this kind of weather will continue.”
“I agree.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded at Joe Murphy’s words while looking into the distant future with a calm gaze.
‘Someday, there will be another bubble, and it will cause problems.’
He wasn’t worried.
If you can read the market signals, you can always prepare.
The same goes for the current situation in Asia.
If you know the signals from foreign exchange and prepare well, you can prevent big problems with small efforts.
‘I did my best.’
Of course, this doesn’t mean he will stop his efforts here.
He will certainly continue to make efforts when he returns to Korea.
For this, he constantly hypnotized himself.
It wasn’t work addiction but a good deed.
But he didn’t expect a big reward at the end of this good deed.
It was quite the opposite.
He already achieved great success by using the cheat key of future foresight after returning to 1996, so it was as if he had already been rewarded.
Then, shouldn’t he now do good for the world after receiving the reward?
At least Lee Hyun-woo thought so as he left the USA and headed to Korea.
But in fact, the efforts Lee Hyun-woo knowingly or unknowingly made so far were bearing fruit in Korea.
He might not know everything, but through the IT company Jungle, he advanced the information society by several years.
Naturally, the speed of information delivery increased tremendously, and the younger generation was accumulating knowledge in their areas of interest.
The same applied to economic knowledge.
The current trend of rising exchange rates stimulated the public opinion of the younger generation, leading the current government to realize that it could no longer deceive the people with mere eyewash and stopgap measures.
Naturally, they refined their monetary policy and started paying more attention to managing financial institutions.
This process, of course, came with pain.
So when Lee Hyun-woo arrived in Korea, several companies were facing bankruptcy crises.
‘So Chamjin Group and Hanip Group are also collapsing.’
On the way home from the airport, he read today’s newspaper and sensed that another two conglomerates would end.
Looking more closely, it was because the government tightened control over financial institutions, making it impossible for them to extend maturity.
His father also read this article in the car and clicked his tongue.
“The economic situation is getting worse. I’m not sure if expanding the business in this situation is a good idea.”
“Instead, you can use these cases as lessons to build a stronger company.”
His father nodded, but his face was stern.
If several companies collapse, consumer sentiment might freeze.
Then, would people care about fashion?
His son explained the answer.
“You might be worried about fashion, but during such times, people tend to buy more cost-effective products. The same goes for clothes.”
“Really?”
“Yes, people can’t stop eating and dressing. So they will look for good clothes at reasonable prices. Basically, people who come to department stores will do that more.”
Strangely, he felt reassured by his son’s words.
It should be the father reassuring the son, but it was the other way around.
‘The leadership of our family is gradually shifting to our son.’
It was bittersweet.
He felt sad to distribute the authority of the head of the family, but sharing the weight of responsibility made his shoulders feel lighter.
When they got home, his wife gave him even happier news.
“Ah-young visited the other day.”
“Ah-young?”
“Yes, she asked me to go to the department store with her.”
“So?”
“She asked, so I went. I bought her some clothes there.”
“Department store… It must have been expensive…”
“It was. Originally, we didn’t go to buy clothes but to spend time window-shopping to relieve stress. But there were some pretty clothes, and I really wanted to dress her up.”
His wife, who always longed for a daughter while raising two sons, wanted to dress her beautifully.
He didn’t understand this feeling well, but seeing her so happy made Lee Jung-yong smile.
At the same time, he looked at his son, and Lee Hyun-woo was also smiling broadly.
‘What blessing has heaven bestowed upon us?’
He could die tomorrow without regret.
The next day was a rest day.
Work was important, but so was his life, so Lee Hyun-woo insisted that Oh Min-woo and Han Se-jin also take a day off from going to the company.
But was the surrounding situation envious of him?
A call came in the morning.
“Hello?”
(Hyun-woo, it’s me.)
“Oh? Professor?”
Hearing the voice, he immediately recognized it was Professor Geum Sang-jun.
So he corrected himself and called him again.
“Ah, now you’re the Director, right?”
Geum Sang-jun was the Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
(Call me whatever you like. Hahaha.)
“Yes, I will. How have you been… Are you healthy?”
(Of course, I’m healthy. But I was upset because you didn’t contact me.)
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ve been a bit busy.”
Saying this, Lee Hyun-woo reflected once again.
In this life, he didn’t want to make the excuse of ‘I’ve been busy, so I couldn’t contact you.’
(I know you’re busy. I heard you just returned from the USA? I called the company, and they said today is a rest day… So I decided to contact you.)
“I should have contacted you first… I’m really sorry.”
(This sounds too formal. I was just joking. And if you’re that sorry, invite me over sometime.)
“What? What do you mean?”
(I want to see your Jungle headquarters. As a professor with a beloved student and as the Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for our nation’s information age… both.)
“Ah, hahaha… Yes, please come anytime. The company doors are always open.”
It wasn’t just the company doors that were open.
Lee Hyun-woo’s doors to meet Geum Sang-jun were also wide open.
‘I have a lot to talk about with the professor. Economics, laws, and regulations.’
Of course, here, laws and regulations referred to those preventing illegal sharing.
But it seemed Geum Sang-jun wanted something else before that.
(Before I go, I need to ask. Do you have any skilled people in your company? In computer security?)
“I don’t know about experts, but there are knowledgeable people.”
He first thought of Oh Min-woo.
When they first met, Lee Hyun-woo asked him to help avoid IP tracing, proving he knew a lot about security.
“But why do you ask?”
(It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but… several government departments were breached recently.)
“Breached? Do you mean they were hacked?”
(Yes. So I was wondering if you have anyone who can help us block it.)
Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes shook for a moment.
Before leaving America, he had mentioned that there were many skilled hackers.
‘Geez… Looks like I have to find them first.’
