Did Lee Hyun-woo read the message that it doesn’t matter if he fails?
While the cautious types, Woo Sang-won and Jang Yoo-chul, were carefully testing the waters, Lee Jung-woo and Oh Min-woo were boldly speeding up various projects.
First, the former aggressively brought in various types of games to the gaming platform.
Since the end of last year, they developed games like Go-Stop, Poker, Blackjack, and Seotda on their own, and this year they incorporated RPGs and sports games from external game companies.
Perhaps it was because they lived together, but Lee Jung-woo seemed to have quite understood Lee Hyun-woo’s platform concept.
Although the games developed independently by 【Jungle Games】 were good, having games developed by external companies enter the platform online brought about a much greater quantitative expansion.
Previously, they would have worried about the number of expanding games because the server couldn’t handle it properly.
But now, things were different.
A data center was established last year, so there were no problems.
Lee Jung-woo finally realized why his brother had been so adamant about the data center.
Thanks to this, the variety of games in Korea had increased in a short period, leading to a remarkable advancement.
Of course, the most standout game was 【Space War】.
Even after almost a year since its development, the game’s popularity did not wane. In fact, it only grew over time.
Especially after the 【Space War】 league held on 【Toonie World】 became a big hit, other animation broadcasters came knocking.
After the Lunar New Year, 【Ani Bus】, known as the rival channel of 【Toonie World】, expressed their intention to host the 【Space War】 league at Lee Jung-woo’s 【Jungle Games】.
Upon receiving this message from his secretary, Lee Jung-woo immediately thought of Jang Yoo-chul.
“Come to think of it, that guy wanted to create a game channel, right?”
With this thought, Lee Jung-woo went to find Jang Yoo-chul.
“Hey, 【Ani Bus】 wants to host the 【Space War】 league.”
“I knew it. I think 【Space War】 will have a long run. Many people have started to take gaming as a profession through the league.”
“Exactly. I read an article saying that there are moves to form professional teams. So, this means we can hold the league regularly, right?”
“Absolutely.”
Initially, they planned to hold it only once a year.
So after last year’s finals, they took a break and were just starting to consider this year’s 【Space War】 league.
“We need to hurry and create the game channel.”
“But doesn’t it take time to create a channel?”
“That’s why we were looking to acquire one. We’ve been checking acquisition prices here and there, but it’s not easy.”
“What’s the problem?”
“The price. No matter how much money we have, we need a reasonable price.”
“True, but we can’t spend all our time negotiating.”
“Then?”
“Let’s work on the acquisition together.”
Lee Jung-woo was better with driving initiatives. Knowing this, Jang Yoo-chul nodded.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
As expected, when the two combined forces, there were no issues with the progress.
Anyway, many channels had sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and some were struggling to the point of worrying about tomorrow.
『【Jungle Content】 Acquires Cable Channel!』
『Cable Channel 【DreamOn】 Joins the Fold of 【Jungle Content】』
【DreamOn】 was originally a fashion-focused channel but had prospered somewhat after hosting Major League games.
However, when the Major League significantly increased broadcasting rights fees, they could not renew the contract due to lack of capital, leading to an identity crisis and record-low viewership. Consequently, they faced severe financial difficulties as advertisers pulled out.
Now, 【Jungle Content】 was planning to relaunch it as a game-specialized channel, and they emphasized this in their press releases.
『【DreamOn】 to Rebrand as a Game Channel.』
Thus, 【GameOn】 was born.
This left 【Toonie World】 and 【Ani Bus】 feeling like dogs chasing chickens.
Would they have been upset? One day, the programming directors of the two channels met for drinks and said:
“A channel that airs only games all day? That can’t work.”
“Of course. The combination of cartoons during the day and game broadcasts at night was perfect. They’re missing a win-win opportunity.”
“【Jungle】 is getting too arrogant and seems to be overreaching.”
“Yeah, they’ll have to experience how tough this field is themselves to learn not to make such mistakes.”
Sometimes, these criticisms reached the ears of Lee Jung-woo and Jang Yoo-chul, but they continued to prepare the game channel diligently.
Meanwhile, they finally announced the second 【Space War】 league through the media and portals.
Compared to the first league, an overwhelming number of gamers applied.
【Jungle Games】, which was hosting the event, corrected the mistakes from the first league and held regional preliminaries, creating a more systematic process that brought about the birth of 16 champions.
『Second 【Space War】 League to Begin Group Preliminaries in the Third Week of March!』
The moment this news broke, advertisements flooded into 【DreamOn】.
This was evidence of the immense popularity of the 【Space War】 league in South Korea.
Watching the progress from beginning to end, Lee Hyun-woo couldn’t hide his inner joy.
“The subsidiaries are collaborating, and they’re managing things quite well.”
They say a position shapes a person. Since receiving the title of CEO, his ability to push projects forward was improving.
To offer some encouragement, he went to see Jang Yoo-chul.
“It’s beyond expectations.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Now that we’ve started a game channel, a music channel should be next, right?”
“Both are in preparation, but we’ll see how the game channel goes first.”
This meant they would prepare the music channel after observing any potential setbacks.
However, Jang Yoo-chul had a different ambition.
That was the combination of web and channel.
When Lee Hyun-woo visited, he slyly inquired about it.
“Sir, do you remember mentioning videos before?”
“Videos? I talk about so many things, what kind?”
“The idea was that anyone could freely upload videos, and others could consume them. Like today’s social media.”
“Ah…”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded as he realized what Jang Yoo-chul was referring to.
“I did talk about the business model of 【We Tube】 once, didn’t I?”
Apparently, Jang Yoo-chul didn’t just listen passively but kept it in his heart.
“Yes, that’s right. You mentioned a few times about a form where anyone could upload and consume videos on the web.”
“I got ambitious after hearing that, but even with a data center, trying such a website would cause too much traffic.”
“That’s why we’re building a second one.”
“Oh, in Jeju Island?”
“Yes, in Jeju Island.”
A bitter smile appeared on Lee Hyun-woo’s face as he mentioned Jeju Island.
Progress was slower than expected.
The biggest issue was power.
Simply moving the headquarters to Jeju Island wasn’t the end.
They needed to build various infrastructures, and they were just in the starting phase.
“But it seems like it will take a bit more time.”
“Yes, because it’s not only our company moving. We also need to solve the power issue…”
“Luckily, large-scale apartment sales are starting this year. I don’t know how competitive it will be, though.”
“Just for our employees alone, we need over a thousand units, right? I need to secure an apartment myself.”
“Indeed. And quite a few partner companies will follow us, so we’ll need to build thousands of units.”
The beginning is half the battle. With thousands of units, the necessary living infrastructure would naturally form, creating a commercial area.
Moreover, with 【Jungle】 growing enormously every year, having over 1,800 employees now, they would likely surpass 3,000 by the time they move their headquarters.
This was the reason for the recent spike in Jeju real estate.
“Anyway, once the second data center is built, we can launch the website we discussed earlier. I feel a bit sorry now that we’ve come to this conclusion.”
“Oh, no. I wasn’t in a rush either as I was still in the planning phase.”
Though he said that, it wasn’t without some regret.
Seeing the ambition in Jang Yoo-chul’s eyes, Lee Hyun-woo could sense his desire to try it out.
“Right, there’s no need to rush. But we can’t just sit idly either, so I’ll see what I can do.”
“Sir, your wedding is just around the corner, maybe I shouldn’t have brought this up. We can do it later.”
Come to think of it, the wedding was fast approaching.
Why did they even divide the subsidiaries in the first place?
“Right, thinking about it, we can do it after the wedding.”
If he got busy again, all the work they had separated until now would fall apart.
Lee Hyun-woo nodded.
“Okay, I’ll give you my full support later.”
That evening, Lee Hyun-woo was preoccupied with his wedding preparations with Kim Ah-young, as he had been recently.
Today, they visited a studio.
This studio was known for specializing in weddings for wealthy families.
Perhaps that’s why everything was lavish, and while it cost a lot…
‘Since I have plenty of money, it’s not a burden at all.’
Lee Hyun-woo was happily accommodating the wishes of Kim Ah-young’s family.
Because of this, Kim Ah-young often asked him if he genuinely liked it.
Today was no exception.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“It’s just… It feels like we’re doing everything my mom wants, so I feel bad for you.”
“There’s nothing to feel bad about. I really like it.”
“Really?”
“Of course, really.”
Honestly, it didn’t matter.
‘In my previous life, I left everything to her anyway.’
There was a difference compared to then. At that time, he did it because of work inconvenience; now, Lee Hyun-woo was doing it voluntarily.
Instead, Kim Ah-young listened to Lee Hyun-woo’s stories late into the night.
“So, I told Yoo-chul that we would proceed after the wedding.”
Tonight, while sipping wine with Kim Ah-young, he recounted the events at the company.
One of Kim Ah-young’s strengths was not only listening to work stories but also asking sincere questions.
“People upload videos they’ve taken, and others consume them? How can that generate profit?”
“Through ads, of course.”
“Ah… like a portal site?”
“Exactly. If such a revenue model emerges, the advertising market will expand tremendously.”
Instead of denying his workaholic nature, Lee Hyun-woo kept talking as long as Kim Ah-young was receptive.
Kim Ah-young laughed and continued to ask.
“If it’s that amazing, you must want to hurry.”
“Even if I hurry, one data center isn’t enough. Videos take up enormous space, so we need to build one several times larger than the one in Gwacheon.”
Going into the details, it was understandable but hard to grasp.
At times like this, she wanted to support Lee Hyun-woo’s wishes actively.
“Then to build such a data center, we lack power. To secure power, we need the help of local government heads or legislators, and we need to talk with 【Korea Electric Power】 too, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“Moving to Jeju Island with the local government and regional legislators could be a good strategy to persuade them, right?”
“……”
“Honey, we were planning to move to Jeju Island anyway. Should we start our newlywed life there?”
“……!”
