In the meantime, a web browser called ‘Forest’ appeared in Korea.
Of course, it was distributed to the public by 【Jungle】, and the method was an internet download.
The price was free.
However, the 【Jungle】 version of the web browser ‘Forest,’ which was made available to everyone, received rave reviews from netizens from the first day and had a record number of downloads, which thrilled Woo Sang-won, who led the development.
That evening, it was for this reason that he conveyed his excited voice to Lee Hyun-woo.
“Already tens of thousands of people have downloaded it. It’s twice as fast as the last MP3 playback program for computers.”
(Wow, that’s amazing. But I knew it would do well.)
“Ha ha, really?”
(Of course. Do you think I’m just saying this now because it’s successful?)
“No, no. How could I deny your sincerity, CEO? You obviously knew it.”
(I hope we can introduce the new web browser to Japan, the U.S., Taiwan, and Hong Kong soon.)
“I’ll do my best.”
After hanging up the phone, Woo Sang-won tried to calm his excited heart.
‘I didn’t expect much originally…’
Although it felt a bit premature to already talk about success, netizens were giving it high scores for being simple and easy.
Interestingly, this was the part Woo Sang-won thought was a weakness.
‘Could it end up beating Internet X Cross and Navigator?’
It might be a bit of wishful thinking, but the sudden confidence brought about ambition.
Naturally, while contacting Joe Murphy in the U.S., his voice gained strength.
“Korea is quite successful.”
(Really?)
“Yes, it’s only been three days, but we’ve already surpassed 300,000 downloads.”
(Wow… that’s impressive. At that rate, it might work well in the U.S. too.)
“Yes, I think we can speed up the development a bit more.”
(Understood. We’ll do that. But there’s really a lot to do. We’re about to launch the online shopping service, MP3 music service is almost ready, and now there’s the web browser.)
“All three could proceed simultaneously. The web browser can quickly be adapted into an English version.”
(Oh, really? I don’t know much about the technical side. Then I’ll discuss it with our technical director to expedite the process. There’s also news that a new version of Internet X Cross is about to be released.)
Woo Sang-won already knew about this from Lee Hyun-woo.
‘Then it looks like there will be a showdown soon.’
Honestly, it was hard to be confident of victory.
Internet X Cross is included in Windows packages and, with an operating system market share of over 90%, surpassing 【Macro Soft】 would be akin to a dream.
‘But I didn’t expect Forest to have so many downloads.’
You never know until you try.
Instead, he would watch this contest with the mindset of enjoying it from the perspective of a challenger.
Meanwhile, in Taiwan, Lee Hyun-woo shared the success of Forest with the executives who came along.
As a result, their reactions were also encouraging.
“At this rate, will we conquer the web browser market too?”
“From portals to online shopping, music, and the cloud market. And if we conquer the web browser too, it will be 【Jungle】’s world.”
Kang Dong-ho and Han Se-jin, who had been assisting Lee Hyun-woo since the early days, spoke their ambitions as if they were dreaming.
Listening to them, Lee Hyun-woo laughed.
‘Please let it happen quickly. Then I can retire early and take a good rest.’
After thinking this to himself, he said he would treat everyone to dinner to boost the morale of the employees who came to the workshop, and everyone cheered.
By the way, when they go to Hong Kong, except for Kang Dong-ho, Han Se-jin, and a few others, everyone will return to Korea.
Then a group of employees from Korea will come in.
Every time they go abroad, they combine it with a workshop, so it’s no wonder employee morale is high.
In war, the side with high morale is bound to win. After dinner, they strengthened their resolve, shouting for the defeat of 【Yaho】 and 【Macro Soft】.
Their voices were so loud that Hyun Chang-soo, the CEO of 【Hyun Entertainment】, who visited at night, mentioned the employees’ morale.
“The employees seem very excited.”
“Really? It must be because I fed them well.”
“That might be it, and also because they say that 【Yaho Taiwan】 or whatever is hardly a match.”
“Did they say that? Oh, they were too confident. What if someone from 【Yaho】 hears it?”
Even as he said this, Lee Hyun-woo smiled as if it didn’t really matter.
Seeing him like this, Hyun Chang-soo guessed.
It seemed that in this portal war, 【Jungle】 was in a superior position.
“By the way, the concert is tomorrow. Are you well-prepared?”
“Ah, yes. I came to tell you about that.”
The primary purpose of this trip to Taiwan was to promote 【Jungle】.
Of course, they were also promoting 【Aejeong Cosmetics】, so Hyun Chang-soo conveyed the same information to both parties.
“The rehearsal is scheduled for tomorrow. Various promotional phrases for 【Jungle】 and 【Aejeong Cosmetics】 will be displayed, so please come early to check them out.”
“Ah, I will. By the way, I’m looking forward to it.”
Lee Hyun-woo had already confirmed that the Korean Wave had taken root in Taiwan.
Believing that the portal site and entertainment were inseparable, he couldn’t help but look forward to tomorrow’s concert.
On the other hand, Hyun Chang-soo, feeling slightly burdened, spoke up.
“I hope our concert will greatly help with the promotion, but I’m a bit worried.”
“It will go well. Don’t worry.”
Lee Hyun-woo was certain of one thing.
The Korean Wave was ongoing and might spread even faster than in his past life.
‘If it doesn’t go well, I’ll intervene again.’
The reason for intervening was simple.
As a Korean, Lee Hyun-woo naturally enjoyed Korean songs more.
Quality music and cultural content emerge more as the industry develops.
‘And if cultural content continues to be popular, 【Jungle】 will benefit from it too.’
Watching the company’s growth in tandem with the Korean Wave would likely be a key highlight of this life.
In that sense, seeing the huge crowd at the concert the next day, Lee Hyun-woo was astonished.
Next to Lee Hyun-woo was Hyun Chang-soo.
Being sensitive to scandals, Sunhwa Choi and Kim Ah-young had to sit separately.
In any case, it seemed impossible to have a conversation due to the concert.
Because of the fans’ cheers and the music.
These two sounds harmonized when Lee Hyun-woo heard Kim Yoon-sun’s ballad.
‘No matter how I think about it, this song found the right owner.’
Of course, the original singer from his previous life sang it well, and personally, Lee Hyun-woo liked that version more, but Kim Yoon-sun’s version wasn’t bad either.
Taiwanese fans seemed to like it too, singing along from beginning to end.
As the song ended, Hyun Chang-soo spoke up as if he had been waiting.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Lee.”
“Pardon?”
Lee Hyun-woo turned to Hyun Chang-soo at the sudden words of thanks.
“To be honest, that song single-handedly revived our 【Hyun Entertainment】. Isn’t it all thanks to you, Mr. Lee?”
“Ha ha…”
Thinking the conversation would get long, Lee Hyun-woo covered it with a laugh.
‘No, it’s all thanks to Yoon-sun singing well and the arrangement coming out great.’
If he said that, Hyun Chang-soo would surely respond by saying it was all thanks to Lee Hyun-woo again.
“Also, the Absolute Pitch kids’ songs are the same. Even though they are remakes, they succeeded because you got involved, Mr. Lee… I will consider you a lifelong benefactor.”
“Oh, why are you saying this? Even without me, those who are destined to rise will rise. Yoon-sun also matched the time of her revival.”
“How could that be? Neither I nor the kids think so.”
No matter how much he tried to avoid it, it seemed the conversation would always return to that topic.
And then.
“But I’m starting to worry about the follow-up song.”
He could almost hear Hyun Chang-soo’s mind working.
‘This guy, why is he preparing the groundwork…’
He had something he wanted.
It seemed he wanted Lee Hyun-woo to make another song.
In the past, he would have ignored such a request as absurd.
But recently, after participating in club activities, Lee Hyun-woo developed a desire.
A wish to perform songs that he wouldn’t be able to hear again in this life with his own hands.
Honestly, one regrettable aspect of returning to the past was not being able to listen to the songs he wanted to hear.
Even now, the song by Cheung Kwok Wing on stage was bringing back memories.
‘It’s the theme song of A Chinese Ghost Story.’
Music, in this way, seemed like a nutrient that becomes the soul’s food while living life.
Since he didn’t have any intention of continuing his side gig, should he challenge himself to songwriting and composing if the opportunity arises?
With such thoughts, Lee Hyun-woo watched the concert until the end.
Today’s concert felt like watching a program called ‘Sugarman’ from his previous life.
He used to occasionally watch that program and reminisce.
After the concert, another unexpected event occurred.
A famous solo singer from Taiwan expressed a desire to remake the song Kim Yoon-sun sang today.
It wasn’t just a polite remark; her agency formally proposed it, which Hyun Chang-soo revealed during the after-party.
“How can I not be grateful?”
Although his voice was low, everyone around knew who he was thankful to.
It was Lee Hyun-woo.
No matter how much they tried to keep it a secret, if more than two people knew, it would eventually spread. The rumor that Lee Hyun-woo made the song for Kim Yoon-sun began to quietly spread among fellow singers.
Clones were also among ‘those who knew,’ and they jokingly said to Lee Hyun-woo,
“We’re always grateful to you, but we wish we could be as grateful as Yoon-sun. So… will you throw us a bone later?”
“Ha ha… I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Alright, alright. I’ll keep it a secret since I have a tight lip. But you must give us that bone I mentioned. Ah, nothing’s free, so I’ll definitely set you up with Wang Ji-hyun.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s expression slightly stiffened at the last mention.
Kim Ah-young was sitting not too far away, so it made him even more cautious.
So, he sighed slightly and said to Clones’ bald friend,
“You know…”
“……”
“My girlfriend is here. So please be careful.”
“What?”
The bald friend looked at Lee Hyun-woo in surprise.
Following Lee Hyun-woo’s gaze, he turned his head,
‘Gasp!’
Confirming that he was referring to Kim Ah-young.
“Ah… okay, I’ll be careful.”
Although it was an unintentional disclosure, many people nearby could instantly sense the relationship between Lee Hyun-woo and Kim Ah-young.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-woo was smiling, and Kim Ah-young, with a sweet expression and a blushing face from shyness, lowered her head.
By the way, tomorrow was a date day for these two.
