The Chairman Who Wants to Play and Eat

Chapter 45. This is art.

It was a delightful meeting.

I talked with him for a long time until the midday was nearly over.

Perhaps that’s why, even on the way back to the headquarters, George Howard’s words lingered in my mind.

He said this:

“I’ve already met over 200 investors. None of them want to invest in me. Why is that? Surely this business has nothing but a bright future ahead.”

His face was one of utter confusion.

He was sincere.

He genuinely believed that the day would come when 4.5 billion people around the world would be crazy about his coffee.

But I could understand.

I understood the hearts of the investors he had met.

The reason they weren’t investing was something only George Howard himself didn’t know.

Thus, I could sense it. A new opportunity had finally come to me.

“This is it.”

The reason no one was investing in him,

Paradoxically, that would become a great reason for me to invest in him.

“Are you just arriving now?”

By the time we arrived in Santa Clara, where the temporary headquarters of Seonghyeon Electronics was located, it was already past six in the evening.

Assistant Lee Beom-seok was waiting for me alone.

“Have you been waiting?”

I handed him a takeout café latte that had gone cold after five hours of driving.

“What is this, sir?”

“It’s coffee.”

“Coffee?”

But he quickly masked his surprise, as the ace of the secretary’s office, and accepted the coffee cup with a thank you.

The café culture is still not familiar in America.

So for this assistant from Korea, coffee in a plastic takeout cup must have been a sight he had never seen before.

It was my first time too.

That’s why I brought it, out of curiosity.

“While I was gone, nothing unusual happened, right?”

“Yes. More importantly, was everything resolved well during your trip?”

“Well, it went okay.”

It’s nothing much, really. Just a simple follow-up discussion about the payment of royalties for ACCEL.

When I returned to my seat, notes were piled up.

From well-known stocks like Johnson and James (JNJS) and Koko Cola (KOK) to requests for reviews of companies I had never heard of, like Gordon Chems (COC) and InterMills (IMS).

It had been like this since I arrived.

The investment team members all treated me like a deity, seeking my advice.

“You’re a genius in investments, after all.”

“Did you really come from the future, like that machine man Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movies?”

I don’t know.

One thing is certain.

I have no idea which stocks will rise and which will fall.

I’m not a fortune teller.

“How would I know that!”

Of course, I could point to anything.

But I didn’t want to do things that way.

The reason I want to leave the company is simply that I have enough money to live comfortably.

Though it has certainly increased recently.

In any case, my situation is different from theirs.

I couldn’t trample on the dreams of others who work for my sake. I believed I shouldn’t.

That’s when it happened.

“Ugh.”

A strange sound escaped the assistant’s lips. When I turned around, it seemed he had taken a sip of the coffee I had given him.

He couldn’t spit it out, knowing it was from me, and was grimacing in disgust.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

“What’s wrong? Is it bad?”

“…Ah, it’s nothing.”

He managed to swallow the coffee in his mouth and replied.

“It’s nothing, really. Your expression says it all. What’s wrong, does it taste really strange?”

In truth, I already knew the reason.

I had just eaten, after all.

Of course, I wasn’t as shocked as this assistant, but I was quite taken aback at first.

It was the first time I had tasted such a flavor in a coffee from the market.

“That’s just how it tastes. It’s not strange. Just try to drink it.”

“Yes, sir.”

As I said this, I took out the business card of George Howard that I had received earlier and handed it to him.

‘Starfox?’

This was written in his eyes as he held the card.

“What is this, sir?”

“Well, you see the address there? I got it from there. From now on, you will be the one to buy it.”

“Does that mean I just need to buy you a cup every morning?”

I shook my head.

“It takes over ten hours round trip to LA. How could I ask you to buy coffee every day? I’m not that kind of person.”

“Then…?”

“I’m not asking you to buy coffee; I’m asking you to buy that store. That’s what you will be doing from now on. Do you understand?”

The assistant’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What? What did you say?”

But my words were not finished.

“The Future Killer investment profits will be invested here for a while. Let’s have a good talk with Mr. Howard. Let’s open more stores and introduce even better coffee to the world. At least, it would be good to open a branch here in Santa Clara during this vacation. So we can get used to this coffee flavor.”

*

Cupertino.

Returning to headquarters, Steven Jackson headed to the room of his friend and co-founder, Steven Kowalski.

Eventually, he arrived in front of the chief developer’s office.

“Steve.”

He greeted him with a smile. Jackson immediately asked.

“How many people have we hooked by today?”

“The virus, right?”

It was a few weeks ago.

Jackson had brought up the so-called “virus” idea to Kowalski.

Just hearing about the idea, Kowalski was captivated by the concept. Excited, he rolled up his sleeves.

“This sounds fun! Just wait. Everyone will be hooked.”

“Please, Kowalski.”

A massive notice was posted in the lobby of the Appel headquarters.

[If you are infected with the virus, please see Kowalski. Vaccines are being distributed. End.]

After that, it was predictable.

Sounds of surprise popped up from everywhere.

People with unusually high memory usage, those who suddenly couldn’t boot up—symptoms varied. Jackson was watching the situation with keen interest.

Finally,

“Twenty-two people as of yesterday.”

Kowalski, counting in his head, replied with a smile.

“Oh, and seeing Jeffrey wandering around earlier, I think he’ll be coming to me soon too. So that makes it twenty-three.”

“You’re collecting fines properly, right?”

“Of course.”

“You’re kidding. How can I trust you, Koz?”

Koz was Kowalski’s nickname.

He was the kind of generous guy who, a few years ago during the IPO, distributed his stock options to those around him for a pittance, showing little interest in money.

But this time was different.

“I decided to sponsor UNICEF with that money. So I have to get it back at all costs.”

“Yeah, put your life on the line for it.”

Ignoring Jackson’s sarcasm, Kowalski asked what he was curious about.

“By the way, how did it go meeting that friend? Did you have a good talk?”

Hyun Sang-yoon,

After hearing about the virus, Kowalski had become increasingly interested and had completely become a fan after dissecting the Axel code he created.

“Wake up from your dream.”

Jackson was perceptive.

“That guy isn’t a nerd like you who only cares about technology. He’s an elite businessman more interested in making money through technology, like me. Don’t you get it?”

“Don’t joke. That can’t be true.”

But this time, Koz didn’t back down.

“Do you recognize the beauty of the Axel code?”

It wasn’t sarcasm. He respected Jackson.

He knew that if it weren’t for him, the cutting-edge technology of Appel that he had created wouldn’t have spread to so many people.

But I couldn’t tolerate the misunderstanding about Hyun Sang-yoon.

To him, Hyun Sang-yoon was a god of coding.

“Efficient coding that can compress this level of functionality onto a single diskette is impossible without genius. He must be someone proficient in machine language. A person who is that serious about programming wouldn’t be interested in anything other than technology. I’m convinced. It’s art, this is.”

Kowalski fervently argued while sipping the coffee Jackson handed him.

“This coffee is the same. It’s art.”

“Because it’s from Howard’s shop.”

“When are they opening a branch in Cupertino?”

“Who knows? If I had the money, I would have opened it long ago. Koz, how about you invest?”

He laughed.

“Maybe if it were a donation, but I’m not interested in investing, Steve.”

“That makes sense. I’m interested in investments, but I just don’t think coffee can turn into money.”

Jackson scoffed once more.

*

Meanwhile,

Oh Hyun-sik, the head of the finance department at Seonghyeon Electronics, had been oscillating between heaven and hell in recent months.

It started in hell.

The moment he arrived in the U.S., it felt like he was facing a war.

From the pressure of securing funding without the title of a large corporation that only works domestically, to enduring the scrutiny of the domestic tax authorities, who were on high alert for any tax evasion or illegal foreign currency outflows, every day was a continuous battle.

And what was that two million dollars?

“Manager So, what on earth is this? The movie ‘Future Killer’?”

He immediately confronted Manager So Byeong-hwa.

A movie from an electronics company? Anyone would have reacted the same way.

“Oh, that?”

But he merely revealed, as if it were no big deal, that it was money invested by the youngest son of the vice president’s family.

What was going on?

When I first heard it, I thought I was going to die from the tension in my neck.

Time passed, and winter arrived.

Suddenly, heaven came knocking.

“‘Future Killer’ has been number one at the North American box office for a month?”

There was no need to ask.

It was something one could already feel within.

Two million dollars had instantly transformed into a ten million dollar jackpot.

That was just this year’s profit.

No one could predict whether it would become tens of millions, or even exceed a hundred million in the future.

Everyone was going wild in a good way.

Some employees had even pre-selected the cars they would buy with the upcoming bonuses.

And then,

Hell returned without warning.

It was precisely because of,

“Sir, what on earth do you mean by that? You want me… no, our finance team, to relinquish all control of the profits to Young Master Hyun?”

It was due to an international call from President Im Doo-won of Seonghyun Electronics.

– Well, if that’s what you want, then so be it.

“What’s the reason? Even if I have to follow your orders, I’d like to know the reason.”

– The reason?

President Im scoffed.

– The chairman is in charge. If you want to confirm, why don’t you call the head manager and check? If you have the guts to do that.

Even after hanging up, he stared blankly at the phone for a long time.

The war was not over.

No, from now on, the real war had begun.

When Assistant Manager Lee brought the investment proposal to the department head’s office, Manager Oh was still in a bad mood.

“What is it?”

The young master was a young master, and Assistant Manager Lee was merely a subordinate.

“This is the investment proposal you drafted, Young Master.”

“The investment proposal?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Yes.”

“Let me see that.”

He snatched the approval sheet as if to take it away.

What he saw in that proposal was truly astonishing.

‘What? A premium roastery café where employees and customers communicate and share joy and happiness? What kind of nonsense is this, really?’

Even after washing my eyes and looking again, the content remained the same.

I had read it several times.

But nothing changed.

The name of the investment target, the café called ‘Starfox,’

and the fact that I was willing to invest a staggering $2 million in initial funding, with an additional $10 million over the next three years, to its founder, George Howard, was all still there.

“…What should we do?”

The assistant opened his mouth.

“Anyway, I’ll read this, so you can go now.”

“Understood.”

I glared at his back as he bowed his head and left.

But that wouldn’t change anything.

After all, the approval was merely a formality. If the chairman instructed the young master to delegate, then it had to be delegated. This investment would proceed.

But I had to find out what I could.

I immediately picked up the phone.

Silicon Valley is a place where global investment banks are focused. There are many people looking to invest.

If I hadn’t built connections with them over the past few months, I wouldn’t have survived in this jungle called America.

Beep beep,

– Hey, Brian.

“Matthew? It’s Brian. Can I ask you something?”

Brian was his English name.

– I’m busy, but go ahead. If I can answer, I will; if not, I can’t.

“It’s nothing difficult. Have you heard the name George Howard?”

– George Howard?

“He’s a guy who runs a few franchise cafés in LA.”

He flipped through the documents as I passed along the simple information. I could hear the sound of papers being shuffled on the other end of the line as well.

A moment later,

– Ah, here it is.

“How is it?”

– He got burned? Someone even made a note. Says it’s garbage (Bullshit).

I tried calling a few more places.

But the answer was always the same.

There was no place where I could hear about someone named George Howard being invested in.

In the world of Silicon Valley angel investing, where not a single possibility is overlooked, the meaning of an idea that has been so thoroughly dismissed was clear.

It was a complete failure.

‘What on earth is going on? What is Hyun Sang-yoon thinking?’

My head throbbed.

After leaving the manager’s office, Assistant Lee headed to the break room.

His hand reached for the coffee mix. He tore open the packet, poured the contents into a cup, and added hot water.

Soon, the aroma of coffee wafted from the cup.

‘Mmm, nice.’

He picked up the cup and headed back to his desk.

He took a sip.

“This is coffee. Why on earth is the young master trying to invest in a company that sells such bland, watery coffee?”

Nothing changed.

He turned on the computer.

Skillfully using SH-DIR, he executed the program from the Axel directory.

As he carried out the tasks assigned by the young master, he had unwittingly become an Axel expert himself. He could use functions and even draw graphs now.

While working, he thought.

‘But that latte or whatever it was, I do think about it sometimes.’

Was it called Starfox?

He thought he should try it at least once when he went to LA, and began to fill out the documents in front of him.

*

The new year had dawned.

The film industry peak that followed Christmas into the New Year holiday,

The first week box office results for “Future Killer,” which was released nationwide in South Korea, had come out.

[ The best movie of the New Year holiday is ‘Future Killer’ ······ An average of over 10,000 viewers per day, with a first-week total of 100,000. ]

It was a great success.

And there was a pair of anxious eyes watching that scene.

It was none other than Hyun Sang-yoon’s aunt, Hyun Hee-jae.

“Hey, Manager Choi!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get your act together. Do I really have to start my day feeling ruined because I read about this in the newspaper?”

In the president’s office of Seonghyeon Department Store,

Hyunhee Jae was once again shouting at the head of the film division, Choi Seonjeong.

“…So, we’ve prepared a few options, sir.”

He politely handed over a sheet of paper.

“We’ve selected films that could surpass Future Killer among the upcoming Hollywood releases. They’re all highly anticipated. You’ll be satisfied with any choice you make.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

But,

“What is all this?”

With a furious shout from Hyunhee Jae, the papers flew through the air.

“Who on earth wants to watch a movie where a bald protagonist just runs around shooting guns? And what’s this? A monster coming out of a spaceship and killing people? Ugh, disgusting. What are you doing? Are you trying to mess with me?”

There was no response.

“I told you to bring something that could be a hit like Future Killer! Not this garbage! Do you understand?”