As Jang Yoo-cheol’s 【Jungle Content】 shook the world, Lee Jung-woo’s 【Jungle Game】 also made a big splash as if in competition.
However, both places absolutely relied on 【Jungle Data】.
In fact, more than the two affiliates, 【Jungle Communication】 had the most interactions with 【Jungle Data】 recently.
The reason was simple.
The utilization of big data was increasing day by day.
Especially, the system recently applied by 【Jungle Shopping】, which was about to undergo a physical split, was receiving good internal reviews.
It was the product recommendation system.
This system recommended products with high purchase probability to each customer based on data from millions of customers, and sales were increasing day by day.
Oh Min-woo didn’t stop there and was developing a program to apply to inventory management and delivery.
“If you analyze the data, you can know which product sells best when and when it doesn’t sell at all. Ultimately, if you prepare products by predicting the consumer’s purchase data?”
“Inventory would decrease significantly?”
“Of course. That’s the part we’re currently focusing on. We’re preparing the delivery even before the customer purchases.”
“Is that possible? How can you predict people’s minds?”
“Of course, predicting one person’s mind is impossible. But if you gather customers with similar purchase patterns, I think you can measure the delivery volume of products within an error range.”
For an individual, it might be uncertain, but for a group, it meant moving the products to the logistics center near the delivery address in advance through big data, even if the purchase wasn’t confirmed.
“I looked into the areas with high buyer satisfaction in 【Jungle Shopping】 for several years, and it was the price and delivery speed. If you can get cheap products as quickly as possible, there’s no need to switch to another online shopping mall.”
“Great job, Oh Min-woo. Eventually, you might achieve half-day delivery instead of 24-hour delivery.”
“We’re already almost there as the items ordered in the evening arrive the next morning.”
“That’s true…”
“Now we need to expand this nationwide.”
What Oh Min-woo was referring to was Seoul and Jeju Island. 24-hour delivery wasn’t yet implemented in all regions nationwide.
However, since at least one logistics center was established in each region, if the system Oh Min-woo was developing was applied, 24-hour nationwide delivery wouldn’t be a dream.
“So, how much should we sell this for?”
“How much to sell it for?”
“Yes, nothing in this world is free. It’s the same for transactions between affiliates. We have to charge money, of course.”
“Hmm… 【Jungle Shopping】 has recently been struggling with deficits…”
“That’s their problem. If they don’t like it, they should get investments or go public to raise funds.”
“Ugh…”
He shook his head while watching Oh Min-woo talk as if it was someone else’s company.
However, Lee Hyun-woo could understand why Oh Min-woo was acting this way.
Unlike other places, 【Jungle Data】 was a place that sold technology.
If they didn’t earn income this way, they would also fall into a deficit.
“Fine, you handle it as you see fit.”
“Really? Don’t say anything later.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t interfere in such matters.”
Suddenly, Lee Won-jong, who was about to be appointed as the new CEO with the upcoming physical split, came to mind.
He was someone who had been close with Woo Sang-won since the days of the PC communication service 【Hi】. It seemed that he went to Woo Sang-won in surprise after hearing the price tag Oh Min-woo had put on it.
A few days later, Woo Sang-won came to Lee Hyun-woo and started to complain.
“Chairman, 【Jungle Shopping】 is currently struggling with deficits due to directly hiring delivery drivers and continuously building logistics centers. But CEO Oh is asking for 300 million won a month for the new development program fee.”
“Wow, that’s quite high.”
“He’s also raising the product recommendation system fee from 100 million to 200 million. So, in a year, an additional 6 billion won will be spent.”
“But we also need to consider the situation of 【Jungle Data】. Since it’s a place that sells technology, without such income, it can’t achieve balanced finances. They say they’re gathering money to build a larger data center, so it’s hard for me to intervene.”
From the moment he decided to retire, Lee Hyun-woo ordered independent management for each affiliate.
In other words, from the retirement point, most affiliates had to survive on their own, and maybe because of that, people started to become stingy.
“That means you were tricked, Chairman.”
“Tricked?”
“Yes, income from the cloud sector is gradually increasing, and the prospects for social media are getting better. If it continues like this, CEO Oh’s affiliate will make the most money. Do you think he will lower the price then?”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that. But have you talked to CEO Oh about it?”
“Yes, but it didn’t work. They say they still need to gather a lot of money to build the world’s largest data center…”
“Then it’s simple. If you say that a physical split of the cloud and social media parts is happening, CEO Oh will be very surprised.”
“Huh? Really? Are you really going to do that?”
“I can make the gesture. You can use it as you see fit.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s intention was simple.
【Jungle Communication】 had a portal, shopping, and new product planning and development divisions. If these were split into three, they would become 【Jungle Communication】 handling the portal, 【Jungle Shopping】 for online shopping, and 【Jungle Smart】 for devices like e-book readers, smartphones, and tablets.
Since one affiliate was growing too large and being split, why not 【Jungle Data】?
Just giving the nuance that it might happen someday would make Oh Min-woo compromise on his own.
Indeed, a while later, Oh Min-woo visited Lee Hyun-woo in surprise. After hearing that there was no intention to push for a physical split if there was no discord, he adjusted the prices.
But he didn’t back down easily; he stirred up Jang Yoo-cheol and Lee Jung-woo.
He notified them that the technology fees provided to 【Jungle Content】 and 【Jungle Game】 would also be raised.
Hearing this, Lee Hyun-woo smiled bitterly.
‘Preparing for independent management is getting noisy.’
On the other hand, he felt more at ease thinking that retirement was getting closer.
Originally, 【Jungle】 was operated similarly to other Korean chaebol groups, with funds executed as Lee Hyun-woo desired.
This was fine for now, but as time passed, the domestic situation would flow similarly to the US, making circular investments difficult and resulting in significant fines if caught for preferential transactions.
Therefore, he declared independent management to perfectly nurture self-sufficiency before retirement, and they were following it well.
‘I think I can be at ease now.’
They excelled at developing new things but were still poor at balancing income and expenditure.
Seeing them gradually reaching the level was a relief.
At the end of the workday, Lee Hyun-woo stopped by the daycare center at 【Jungle World】.
He was there to take his four-year-old son, Lee Young-jae, home.
As soon as Lee Hyun-woo’s figure appeared, the cute child shouted with clumsy pronunciation.
“Daddy!”
Lee Hyun-woo quickly approached and picked up Lee Young-jae.
“Did anything special happen to my son?”
“No.”
“You didn’t fight like last time, right?”
“No.”
“Is it fun here now?”
This time, he hesitated to answer.
In reality, his son had just started attending the company daycare.
At first, he made such a fuss about not going that it was exhausting to persuade him.
At a young age, it’s natural to prefer being with mom and dad.
‘When will he start to get away from mom and dad’s arms?’
Even though he raised two children in his past life, he didn’t know this.
In fact, he had no way of knowing, as he was always busy working in the company.
When recalling those times, he just felt ashamed.
If he had paid a little more attention, he would have had a harmonious and healthy family in his previous life as well.
‘To avoid regrets, I need to do well in this life.’
With this thought, he held his child’s hand and walked slowly, when suddenly Lee Young-jae called him.
“Daddy.”
“Hmm?”
“I want a sibling too.”
“Haha…”
Lee Hyun-woo let out an awkward laugh.
Why did he suddenly bring up a sibling?
“Young-jae, would you like a sibling?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Just…”
He was still too young to explain the exact reason.
Perhaps he overheard the teacher talking at the daycare?
“Okay. Then I’ll discuss it with mom.”
Lee Young-jae smiled broadly, happy with his dad’s response.
Seeing his cute smile, Lee Hyun-woo wanted to nibble him.
‘How long will he be this cute?’
The sudden desire to have another cute child like him arose.
In fact, he had discussed having more children with Kim Ah-young, but there was a concern.
It was the fear of having another son…
That night, he talked with Kim Ah-young again, and the conclusion was similar.
“Me, my brother, and Young-jae are all boys. If the next one is also a boy… the house might feel a bit dreary.”
“So, you don’t want to?”
“No, that’s not it. The most important thing is securing my time. If we’re going to have more children, it should be after retirement.”
This was the most important reason why they couldn’t decide hastily.
Lee Hyun-woo had vowed many times to be a good parent in this life, making up for his past life’s shortcomings.
What are the conditions of a good dad?
Of course, it’s a dad who spends time with his child.
But he still felt inadequate to be called a good dad to Young-jae.
If there were a second child, wouldn’t the attention he gives be divided into two?
Time would naturally be insufficient, so it had been postponed until now.
‘Seeing today, I think it’s time to prepare.’
With the performance so far, 【Jungle Holdings】’s stock price had surpassed 120 trillion won.
The goal of 150 trillion felt not too far off, so by the time a second child comes, he might be able to live as a complete stay-at-home dad.
That night.
After a long time, he cleaned himself up and whispered in Kim Ah-young’s ear in bed.
“I want a second child.”
“Hmm? Didn’t you say earlier that you weren’t ready yet?”
“Yeah, but thinking about it, it’s not like the baby will come right away. If we start trying hard from today and it happens, it might align perfectly with my retirement.”
Kim Ah-young smiled at her husband’s words.
She was fine with anything.
Whether it was one son, having a daughter, having another son, or having more siblings for Young-jae.
What mattered was Lee Hyun-woo’s mindset.
Unlike her father, Lee Hyun-woo was paying more attention to the family than to work.
“Won’t you regret retiring hastily later?”
“Well, maybe.”
“Then what will you do then?”
“Well, I’ve never lived that kind of life before. I’ll think about it when the time comes.”
