The aggressive Billy Cates, with a peculiar smile on his face, tries to provoke Lee Hyun-woo.
“By the way, the upcoming Windows will include Internet X Cross, and PC manufacturers will be required to install it on their desktops.”
“……”
“……?”
“……!”
As the anticipated conversation unfolds, the expressions of the aides on both sides harden.
To them, today’s meeting felt like a rollercoaster.
Climbing slowly uphill, then suddenly plummeting down.
“That’s probably necessary. But what should we do about this? It seems that downloads from portal sites will spread much faster.”
Here, Lee Hyun-woo spins the train around furiously.
Billy Cates joins in the 360-degree spin with a smile.
“You know that the most coveted thing in the information and communication industry is the computer operating system, right? Moreover, we will also launch a portal site by the end of the year.”
“Oh, of course, we desire that too. That’s why we planned to develop a computer operating system until recently.”
“Oh, really?”
“But we changed direction. So, we came out with a web browser instead.”
In reality, they are separately preparing a PDA operating system, with plans to someday connect the world through a mobile operating system.
‘This is something to work on with Tae-hyun hyung.’
Uncharacteristically, Lee Hyun-woo concealed that information.
This showed how conscious he was of Billy Cates.
Billy Cates, who was indeed worthy of being conscious of, responded with a smirk.
“You’ve taken the wrong direction. We already have the lead in web browsers. And among the things our 【Macro Soft】 has taken the lead in, there are very few that we allowed others to catch up.”
“Conversely, it looks awkward for a follower. So, can the portal site from 【Macro Soft】 catch up with 【Jungle】?”
A dignified conversation turns into a straight-on confrontation, with swords clashing.
Did they think they couldn’t just keep watching?
The aides quickly stepped in to intervene in their fierce battle.
“Bill?”
“CEO!”
“That’s enough, it’s sufficient.”
“You might end up fighting at this rate.”
The person most actively stopping Billy Cates was his friend and the second chairman of 【Macro Soft】 in a previous life, Smith Balmer.
Whether this worked or not, Billy Cates suddenly laughs.
“Hahaha, we’re just having a fun conversation. What’s the matter?”
On the other hand, Lee Hyun-woo, with a calm smile, said to his two chief secretaries.
“Don’t worry. It seems like it’s about to end.”
A true duel hadn’t even started yet.
No, this was not a place where such a duel could happen.
The initial purpose was to get a glimpse of life after retirement.
Naturally, Lee Hyun-woo had no choice but to take a step back.
“It seems I’ve taken up a lot of your time. Next time we meet, it would be nice if we could have some fun together.”
“Indeed. Talking in a business setting like this, it’s inevitable that only dry topics come up.”
“Then I’ll visit America.”
“Seattle’s weather is nice in the summer. It always rains.”
“Then I can see you next summer.”
“That sounds right.”
A hint of regret was in Billy Cates’ voice as he spoke at the end.
Suddenly, he thought of Steven Job.
‘Hey, Steve, there’s someone here as interesting as you.’
Maybe when he goes back to America, he should meet Steven Job and tell him about Lee Hyun-woo.
With a calm tone but a young man burning with fire inside, it felt like going back to their past.
‘Would that friend also want to meet this young man?’
Billy Cates, who had reached middle age before he knew it.
Although he didn’t think he was old yet, he somehow envied Lee Hyun-woo, who had both ambition and composure.
‘If we were born in the same era, we could have had a really good competition.’
It’s difficult now.
It’s not that it’s difficult to compete, but Lee Hyun-woo has to grow that much to challenge him.
He would get bored waiting and might crush 【Jungle】 in the meantime.
Then it would fall apart like Steven Job’s 【Pineapple】?
‘Should I go easy on him?’
He was excited enough to have such unnecessary thoughts because today’s meeting was stimulating.
His friend, Smith Balmer, seemed impressed by Billy Cates’ enthusiasm, which he hadn’t seen in a long time.
That evening, after handling various matters in Korea, he casually brought it up.
“Billy, you seem excited.”
“If it looked that way, you saw right.”
“Because of Lee?”
“That’s right. It seems interesting.”
“Should I thank ‘Lee’ too?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, for the past year, I’ve been busy listening to you talk about retiring. And you’ve been pushing me daily, saying I should take over as the next chairman. I was really worried about you suddenly leaving 【Macro Soft】 when I wasn’t even mentally prepared for it. But you started to look a bit different before coming here, and after meeting ‘Lee’ today, it seems like your thoughts have changed.”
Smith Balmer, who had stayed by Billy Cates’ side longer than anyone.
Billy Cates is an eccentric. This is an undeniable fact. That’s why he talked about retiring in his 40s, and it seemed certain he would follow through, which caused some concern.
Currently, 【Macro Soft】 is still synonymous with Billy Cates.
Since he wasn’t confident in filling his void, he couldn’t help but welcome the recent changes.
“Well, not just me, but Steven might like it even more.”
“Steven? Why him?”
“It means he has a formidable rival now.”
“Oh, I see what you mean. ‘Lee’ is not your rival yet, right?”
“I was initially planning to end it all because waiting for him to grow bigger was boring. But after having a showdown with Steven, I’ll fight the winner. Honestly, I’m strongly rooting for Lee. The match with Steven has already been decided. A rematch wouldn’t be fun.”
His eccentricity hadn’t disappeared.
But Billy Cates wasn’t just any eccentric.
He always creates the conditions, situations, and pivotal moments to ensure victory before drawing in his opponents.
When competing, he doesn’t care about the means or methods.
It reminds Smith of when they developed the computer operating system.
- Hey, Smith. It’s not important whether we use what 【Pineapple】 developed or not! The operating system that 【Macro Soft】 started will change the world. Steven will fail because of this! If people criticize us for copying, I’ll take all the blame, so don’t worry!
Smith was overwhelmed by Billy’s charisma at the time.
Usually quiet, but when ambition kicks in, he achieves his goals with terrifying determination.
More amazing is his thick skin.
He had recently met Steven Job, who had been kicked out of 【Pineapple】 because of him, and decided on an investment right there.
They even joined hands to develop a search engine.
‘Well, Steven Job is quite an eccentric too.’
With two eccentrics joining forces, their search engine must be extraordinary.
Maybe Lee Hyun-woo might wither before blooming into success.
‘Unlucky friend. Pity.’
【Macro Soft】’s leadership observed the world in solitude amidst their dominance.
This made them increasingly numb to new sensations.
After Billy Cates stepped down from the chairman position in his previous life, the company failed at everything they touched, and that was the reason.
In that sense, Smith Balmer was also at a crossroads.
Like Lee Hyun-woo’s past life, would he keep missing the mark, or would he hold the highest position in the IT world?
Unaware of this, he was worrying about Lee Hyun-woo.
In fact, Lee Hyun-woo didn’t even desire Smith Balmer’s chairmanship.
Lee Hyun-woo lay on his bed, recalling today’s events.
‘Looking at it earlier, it seems Billy Cates won’t retire anytime soon.’
For some reason, a smile spread across his lips.
It was only natural.
Billy Cates’ retirement, expected to be in 1 or 2 years, had been postponed, promising a much more interesting life.
If he were to compete against 【Macro Soft】 without Billy Cates, it would be quite bland.
‘In that sense, it’s the same for 【Pineapple】.’
Steven Job, who returned to the company he founded to revive it.
He hadn’t yet made a significant impact.
Of course, no one knew how innovative the portal site he created would be when it appeared in the world.
‘Well… the innovative content on portal sites is already taken by 【Jungle】…’
It’s quite a pity.
If Steven Job had jumped into mobile instead, it would have been an interesting competition.
In this new life, he disliked reruns, and obvious battles were no fun.
Nor could he downgrade himself to match his opponent’s combat power.
‘In this life, Steven Job might end up as just another IT hero.’
He had no choice but to smack his lips.
Lee Hyun-woo had already felt a subtle emotion watching the two founders of 【Single】, Michael Face and Ray Burrin, take different paths.
What to say? It felt like they were on a path that wasn’t theirs, even though it wasn’t a rerun.
‘What can they do with just P2P?’
Not to belittle P2P, but thinking about the 【Single】 that dominated the world in his previous life, it seems rather insignificant.
In reality, the creators of that P2P site weren’t making a significant name for themselves in the media.
Moreover, they weren’t affiliated with anyone, so they might end up as slightly above-average IT developers in the future.
‘Then, until I retire, I need powerful competitors to come out actively.’
This was Lee Hyun-woo’s concern.
In fact, this feeling grew stronger today.
Lee Hyun-woo enjoyed competition in his past life.
He was so good at it that he became the youngest executive and was always winning.
Even though he left a stain with 【SPA】 at the end, it was merely a blemish on an otherwise perfect record.
Thus, having this capability and knowing the future of IT precisely, he was almost unmatched in this field.
Other ordinary people probably couldn’t understand Lee Hyun-woo’s current feelings.
In this new life, counting by years, it’s been 2 years; counting by exact time, 1 year and a half.
Lee Hyun-woo, who had led a life with almost no failures, had become nearly perfect.
No, more than that. He was achieving radical success with shocking experiments while maintaining a perfect trajectory.
‘I’m getting a bit bored too.’
Now he could somewhat understand why Billy Cates thought about retiring.
Though it might not be at that stage yet, Lee Hyun-woo could see a few years into the future.
An online shopping mall growing as big as 【Amazones】, a portal site like 【Single】, and an SNS connecting the world more than 【Face Note】.
In addition, he was dominating MP3, cloud, and mobile operating systems.
‘At least in 3 years, the unprecedented company will be born, that’s for sure.’
Without a proper rival, it might unfold as Lee Hyun-woo anticipated.
