As soon as Jamie Wang welcomed him, Lee Hyun-woo cheered inwardly.
‘So, I keep getting entangled with 【Yaho】.’
Things don’t always go as planned, but if 【Yaho】 steps into the console game market, it’s evident that their relationship with 【Jungle】 will become even stronger.
If they could also develop excellent console game development tools, they could have a massive impact on game developers worldwide.
Furthermore, expanding into software development would be like killing two birds with one stone.
Just for a moment, he thought,
“By the way, when will you show us the data center?”
Jamie Wang shifted the conversation away from console games.
“Ah, it’s about time. I think we should start heading out.”
Although they talked about console games, Jamie Wang’s real purpose for visiting was to inspect the data center.
Feeling his excitement, Lee Hyun-woo hurriedly took him to Gwacheon.
A short while later, when they met Kim Tae-hyun, who had been waiting, Lee Hyun-woo signaled to him with a meaningful look.
- So, I kept my promise to introduce him. Now it’s your turn, hyung.
Whether he understood or not, from that moment, Kim Tae-hyun began explaining the power of the data center to Jamie Wang.
He recited the details he had previously told Lee Hyun-woo, from seismic design to temperature and humidity control, and the redundancy power systems, as if he had a motor attached to his mouth. Jamie Wang kept nodding.
“When the U.S. fully deploys ADSL nationwide, data transmission will become enormous. Then, data centers will be indispensable.”
Although the subject wasn’t specified, it implied that the portal site 【Yaho】 would need a data center.
Jamie Wang knew this well.
“Although the costs will be significant, we also recognize the necessity.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Yes, I came to see it firsthand to make a judgment, and today’s visit has been very helpful.”
Jamie Wang’s positive response made Kim Tae-hyun’s mouth curve into a smile.
At the same time, he exchanged glances with Lee Hyun-woo.
‘Thanks.’
‘Hey, don’t let your guard down until the contract is finalized.’
‘Let my guard down? We’re almost there. Once we negotiate prices with the working team, our 【Guseong Electronics】 will be the first company to build a data center in the U.S.’
Seeing Kim Tae-hyun’s excited face, Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t help but smile.
But the person who felt the best in that moment was Lee Hyun-woo.
For some reason, it felt nostalgic.
‘Finally, the era of data centers has arrived.’
He didn’t know how many years ahead of time it was for Korea.
When he thought back, it advanced by at least ten years.
There were data centers then too. Precisely, some companies claimed to have them, but their capacity was just a few mainframes.
It couldn’t compare to the data center built in Gwacheon.
‘It can perform 50 million operations per second and store 10 petabytes.’
A petabyte is 1,024 times a terabyte.
It seemed to be the best data and computation center in the world, except for some built by governments.
For this, they brought in more than 20,000 mainframes.
Even saying he was overwhelmed would be an understatement.
‘Now begins the era of data revolution.’
And it was all thanks to 【Jungle】 and Lee Hyun-woo.
That evening, Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Hyun-woo were once again drinking together.
It was partly a celebration because Jamie Wang had decisively agreed to collaborate with 【Guseong】 to build a data center in the U.S.
“The newspaper headline tomorrow will be something like this: Data centers, opening a new market in the stagnant construction industry?”
“Hahaha.”
The reason for mentioning stagnation was simple.
Last year, South Korea suffered from an economic crisis, and a significant number of construction companies went bankrupt.
To exaggerate a bit, three or four out of ten bankrupt companies were construction companies.
Naturally, the construction market itself shrank, so it was understandable that Kim Tae-hyun spoke with pride.
“By the way, I’m worried that you have more and more responsibilities, hyung. I heard your honeymoon was practically a business trip, so I feel a bit heavy-hearted.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. As I said before, it’s not bad since it keeps giving me opportunities to prove my abilities. Of course, I don’t have much leisure time, but isn’t it said that young people should embrace hardship?”
“Ah, that’s an old saying. Personally, I interpret it as not postponing what you can do when you’re young. There’s a lot you can’t do when you get older.”
“Come to think of it… you’re right.”
Lee Hyun-woo always emphasized the balance between work and life when meeting Kim Tae-hyun.
In fact, those born with a silver spoon don’t understand the life of those with a dirt spoon.
It’s like learning about love from a book, understanding their lives through the news, and treating company employees like components.
“I think this era’s workers are the same. By the time they’ve worked hard and earned money to enjoy something, they’re already old, right?”
“Ah… so that’s why your company seems so relaxed?”
“It may look relaxed, but we get everything done.”
“Indeed, that’s always fascinating. What’s the secret?”
“There’s no secret. As I mentioned earlier, we do our best to guarantee non-working time. I personally make sure of this. Interestingly, when we thoroughly separate working and non-working hours, efficiency increases.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Recently, an American research organization announced that the longer employees stay at the company, the less efficient they become. There are many comparative data on working hours by country. It’s said that in Korea, where employees stay the longest, actual working hours are only two hours.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that.”
It’s true.
However, the basis for the research data was something Lee Hyun-woo encountered in his past life.
“It means they work inefficiently between starting and finishing work.”
“Indeed, I heard that many waste time on the road, and some employees go to the sauna after drinking sessions the night before.”
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Anyway, when you approached it by separating actual working time from non-working time, efficiency increased?”
“Not just efficiency. The willingness to work is also incredible. Why do you think our company keeps collaborating with 【Guseong】? While the idea for this data center was mine, the idea for the PDA operating system came from a subordinate.”
“Ah… I see…”
“The ‘top-down’ method has its limits, as you know. Eventually, collective knowledge will drive the company. Therefore, enhancing their sense of belonging and willingness to work will be the new trend. By the way, we have an open recruitment in the first half of the year, and when visiting universities, the popularity of 【Jungle】 is through the roof.”
This was true, and Kim Tae-hyun had heard it from various sources, so he had to nod.
“The popularity is because of the work environment you mentioned?”
“Yes, according to our department manager’s report at the job fair, that’s a significant reason.”
Lee Hyun-woo repeatedly mentioned the work environment, trying to change Kim Tae-hyun’s perception.
While it was questionable whether this would have short-term effects, laying the groundwork was necessary for future conversations.
And.
‘This is for you, hyung.’
Only by changing the mindset of the future head of 【Guseong】 could a proper succession occur; otherwise, receiving a dubious inheritance would cause nationwide turmoil.
In this sense, Kim Tae-hyun was lucky to have met Lee Hyun-woo, who continuously provided him opportunities to prove his abilities.
As time goes by, the public’s view of chaebol heirs may become more uncomfortable, but if he can demonstrate his capabilities, he could smoothly become the successor of 【Guseong】.
Another day passed.
Jamie Wang took a flight to China, and Lee Hyun-woo called Woo Sang-won to convey 【Yaho】’s intent to enter the console game market.
“This is great news. If console game developers use our programming tools… wow, it’s hard to imagine what could happen.”
“Thanks to Vice President Woo’s insight, we’re not just bystanders.”
There’s hope and anticipation, but all business has two sides.
What if 【Yaho】 cancels their console game plans?
Or if there are delays or suspensions due to funding issues during development?
What if console game developers don’t gather as expected after development?
And so on, Woo Sang-won said it’s hard to imagine, but really, unimaginable difficulties could lie ahead…
‘But we have to try.’
The bowstring was already drawn, and Lee Hyun-woo and the remaining developers at 【Jungle】 had to do their best to succeed.
Fortunately, when 【Jungle】 takes on a project, it has built trust that something new will come out, garnering supportive reactions from both the general public and developers.
The next day, Woo Sang-won finally released a new programming language on the prepared website as open-source, and developers quickly flocked to it.
Although Woo Sang-won, three directors, and 【Jungle】 developers worked on it beforehand, it was a phenomenon caused by the many developers curious about 【Jungle】’s next steps.
Among them were thousands of venture companies and their developers who were members of the 21st Century Venture Business Association.
When Lee Hyun-woo briefly checked the website’s responses, countless enthusiastic comments were posted.
Open source? I’ll definitely contribute! Kim Jin-ik, multimedia tool developer at 【Type Soft】
【Jungle】 is starting another interesting project. Of course, I’ll enjoy it here too. Jung Jin-yong, development manager at 【Ghost】
It feels somewhat like a benchmark of Linus’s operating system, but since 【Jungle】 is leading it, it feels new. How about we combine our efforts to create our own operating system? Lee Han, development director at 【Aon】
Lee Hyun-woo paused at a comment that hit the nail on the head.
‘Let’s do it. Let’s create our own operating system. Not for now, but for the future.’
Especially, if the mobile operating system were created this way, the smartphone era might arrive much sooner.
