The 2002 World Cup drama had finally come to an end.
Just as history had written, South Korea finished in an impressive fourth place, making the tournament a spectacular success.
And when a drama becomes a hit, its lead actors' value naturally skyrockets.
But Taewoo Group had already signed contracts before the drama even aired.
"Hyundai Motors and Samsung Electronics tried to sign advertising deals with the national team but failed."
"It must be because of the exclusive contract clause we included."
"Some companies even offered more than three times what we did."
"Hmm, we did sign them at a rather low price. To avoid unnecessary controversy, let's add a bonus to their advertising fees."
"If we convert the advertisement's impact into monetary value, we've already gained at least 100 times what we invested. No one would question us for paying a bit more."
Thanks to the national team, Taewoo Group was now seen as a patriotic, people's company.
With such massive publicity, money was hardly a concern.
In fact, it wasn't just about money—I wanted to give back in other ways as well.
"Also, help facilitate the players' overseas transfers. I heard that a player from Taewoo Construction's football team is struggling with an international transfer."
"The contract situation is quite complicated. He's currently playing for an Italian club, but the owner is unreasonable. Because he scored against Italy, they've effectively forced him out."
"I heard he's in talks with an English club. Assist with the transfer negotiations—if Taewoo Construction gets involved, we'll gain some positive PR as well."
After all, if our 'actors' did well, Taewoo Group's image would shine even brighter.
Helping a talented player who was being mistreated due to circumstances beyond his control wasn't just a good deed—it was a strategic move.
"The contract is one issue, but to play in the English league, he also needs a work visa. The UK's Home Office handles these, and their requirements are strict."
"What are the visa criteria?"
"Give me a moment. I'll bring the documents."
The planning director rushed out and returned in less than an hour with the details.
"The key factors are the FIFA ranking of the player's home country, the number of international (A-match) appearances, and their club match records. But it looks like this player doesn't meet the requirements."
"So a standard work visa will be difficult. Are there any exceptions?"
"If the player receives strong recommendations from influential figures in the football world, they can make a case for an exception. But a single recommendation won't suffice—he'd need at least three to five letters from football legends."
In other words, we needed multiple endorsements from football icons.
Luckily, that was something I could handle.
"I'll use my connections. In the meantime, check if any other players are facing similar issues."
"I'll contact both the players and their agencies to get a full picture."
Once the planning director left, I immediately called David.
In the end, getting recommendation letters meant persuading people—and that was David's specialty.
[Oh! Boss, congrats! Korea was absolutely incredible in this World Cup!]
"That's actually why I called. I need recommendation letters for a player facing difficulties with an international transfer."
[EPL, I assume?]
"That's right. Can you make it happen?"
[Have you ever heard of this? That some people call the EPL the 'American Premier League'?]
That was the first time I had heard such a thing.
Why would "America" be attached to the English Premier League?
"What do you mean?"
[They say it's because there are more American club owners in the EPL than British ones. If you can get 10 letters of recommendation from club owners, even an unknown player could secure a work visa, don't you think?]
"Just in case, make sure to also talk to the UK's Home Office."
[Don't worry. I'll fly to the UK today and take care of everything.]
Normally, this kind of issue would be handled by an agency.
But what kind of agency could secure recommendation letters from over 10 EPL club owners while also lobbying the UK Home Office?
A documentary produced as part of Taewoo Group's advertising campaign had aired on public television, drawing huge viewership ratings.
While the whole nation was still caught up in the celebration...
The Bitcoin team had isolated themselves, fully focused on development.
Wanting to encourage them, I visited their office.
Despite the busyness, one person stood apart—Chu Min-jeong was staring out the window, deep in thought.
"You seem to have a lot on your mind. Is the development not going well?"
"No, actually... it's going too well. The core structure is already done, and we've moved on to debugging. At this point, I don't even need to be here."
"So it's not that you're lost in thought—you're just bored."
She had been the most dedicated to Bitcoin's development.
But now that the work was nearing completion, her enthusiasm seemed to have waned.
"Are you about to give me another task?"
"We're working on developing a social networking system. Would you like to be part of it?"
"Do I even have a choice? I'm getting paid, so I should do what I'm told."
"If you don't want to, you don't have to."
"No, I'll do it. Sitting around here makes me feel like a freeloader."
"Then I'll arrange your flight and accommodation in the U.S."
"Wait... I have to go to America?"
I had suggested the U.S. for her.
Living there would help her develop her programming skills even further.
But she scratched her head with a dissatisfied expression.
"You don't want to go to the U.S.?"
"...I've never been on a plane before."
"Are you... afraid of flying?"
"...."
"Then you can work from Korea. We can communicate via video calls and email."
Her face turned red.
For the first time, the normally cold and reserved Chu Min-jeong looked adorably flustered.
***
A few days later.
Woo Sung-il, the president of Taewoo Electronics, visited my office.
"Vice Chairman, the SNS development is almost complete."
"Already? Weren't we expecting it to take at least another year?"
"That's what I thought too. But thanks to the person you sent, all the problems were resolved. The platform will be ready for launch in just three months."
Did I just mishear him?
The SNS development team was made up of Mark, the creator of Facebook, along with 100 Taewoo IT employees.
And yet, what they couldn't solve, Chu Min-jeong had single-handedly completed in just a few days.
I knew she was an S-tier programmer, but I hadn't expected her skills to be on this level.
"So this is why they say one genius can feed a hundred thousand people."
"That's exactly why I wanted to ask—what do you think about assigning her to the KakaoTalk project?"
"I'll talk to her."
I rushed over to the Bitcoin development building.
For once, the strict security procedures felt unbearably tedious.
After finally making it inside, I spotted Chu Min-jeong lying on a railing, blankly staring at the ceiling.
"I heard you made a huge contribution to the SNS development."
"They were struggling with something so simple. I just helped a little. But honestly, what they were making was pretty impressive—timelines, feed searches, and even notification functions. I hadn't even thought of those features myself."
"And yet, you were the one who refined them into something actually usable."
"The features were great, but they were just slapped together haphazardly. So I reorganized them to prevent compatibility issues. Oh, and I fixed a few bugs too."
She spoke as if she had just helped an elementary schooler with their homework.
She didn't even seem to realize that she had solved a problem that had kept over 100 developers stuck for months.
"There's something I haven't told you yet."
"Taewoo IT has a performance-based bonus system. Naturally, anyone who makes significant contributions receives a bonus."
"Wait, really? How much are we talking? I mean, Taewoo Group is a major corporation, so I'm guessing it's more than just a few hundred dollars, right?"
"By the end of today, ₩20 million (~$15,000) will be deposited into your account."
"₩20 million? But I only worked for a few days!"
Truthfully, even ₩20 million was too little.
Min-jeong had shortened the SNS launch timeline by nearly a year—she deserved several times that amount.
But I didn't say so.
If she received too much at once, I worried she might disappear.
"Taewoo group can afford it. So, want to take on a new project?"
"Will there be another performance bonus?"
"Of course. The amount will depend on the results, though."
"Then let's start right now! What do I need to do?"
Chu Min-jeong hasld a keen sense for money
She had learned the hard way just how important money was in life.
"Taewoo IT is handling the project, so you can go there to work on it. Just tell them I sent you."
"What exactly do I need to do?"
"Anything and everything you want. Solve whatever problems you can, and you'll receive bonuses based on the issues you fix."
"I'll head to Taewoo IT right now."
Min-jeong grabbed her eco bag and left for Taewoo IT.
Meanwhile, I called Taewoo Electronics and Taewoo IT to instruct them to give her whatever resources she needed.
I had met many geniuses in my life.
My grandfather, who founded Taewoo Group, was one.
Jeffrey, who built Amazon, and Steve, the mind behind Apple, were geniuses too.
But Chu Min-jeong was a different breed of genius altogether.
***
"I heard you fixed all the issues with the KakaoTalk?"
"It wasn't that difficult. Most of the features were based on existing technology, so it was even easier than I expected. Just like with the SNS project, I reorganized everything for better compatibility."
It felt like I had found a magic hammer.
If a goblin's hammer could create gold out of thin air, then Min-jeong could program anything I needed with just a few words.
"Your bonus will be deposited by the end of the day."
"And you look exhausted… Don't tell me you pulled an all-nighter?"
"If I don't fix the problems first, someone else might do it before me. Then I won't get the bonus."
"If you need money urgently, Taewoo Group has an in-house loan system. You can borrow without interest."
"I'm sick of borrowing money. Do you know why I work so hard? I'm paying off my dad's loan shark debt. I'll never borrow money from anyone ever again."
That was something I could take care of.
If she continued working for Taewoo Group, I could make sure she never had to worry about money again.
"Do you have another project for me?"
"Of course. Give me the one with the biggest bonus."
There was, in fact, a project that fit the bill.
An AI project.
One so complex that we hadn't even figured out where to start.
Could she actually solve that too?