A 13-story building on Teheran-ro in Gangnam, Seoul.
The headquarters of Cyber World was laid out spaciously and comfortably, almost like the offices of an IT company in Silicon Valley.
Compared to their old life in a cramped space in a run-down building without even an elevator, where they were always short on operating funds and worked overtime so often it felt like eating meals, hammering at their keyboards with hollow, zombie-like eyes, this place was a difference like heaven and hell.
On the desks, half-eaten cup noodle containers and convenience store lunch boxes used to be piled up like towers, and it was perfectly normal until just a few months ago for someone to be collapsed on the old sofa, catching a short nap as if they had passed out.
Especially in the summer, even with the air conditioner running, the already cramped space turned into a sauna, with computers and tightly packed servers all running at once.
They even had to resort to the farce of bringing in several electric fans just to cool things down and keep the servers from overloading.
But the new office was completely different.
Instead of a rattling old secondhand air conditioner, there was a modern ceiling-mounted climate control system, and the snack corner set up for the employees was always fully stocked with all kinds of snacks and drinks.
Even the desks had been replaced. They were no longer the tiny ones that felt full with just a single monitor on top, but large, spacious desks.
And in the separate sleeping room, there were soft beds, so they no longer had to curl up in sleeping bags or on sofas like before.
More than anything, the Cyber World employees loved the fact that their work computers had been upgraded to desktops equipped with the latest Pentium 4 CPUs.
Since all of this was provided by the company as part of employee benefits, satisfaction was through the roof.
On top of that, the servers that used to share space in the office because there wasn't enough room had been moved to a separate server room on the floor below, making the office even more comfortable.
Of course, there were still all kinds of random clutter and half-finished coffee cups scattered across the desks, but it was undeniably a much better environment than the old office, where it felt like you might get sick just by breathing.
And with their salaries significantly increased as well, the Cyber World employees felt no anxiety at all even though the company had been sold.
They even considered it a stroke of luck that Seok-won, the world's richest man and someone known in the venture industry as having the "Midas touch," had completely acquired the company.
Because of that, and because they didn't want to go back to their old, penny-pinching lives, they worked even harder, volunteering for overtime and even all-nighters without being told.
In a simply furnished conference room, five team leaders sat on either side of a long table, waiting for someone to arrive, their faces a mix of tension and excitement.
True to being an IT venture company, even the team leaders were young, all in their late twenties to early thirties.
"Whew. This is making me really nervous."
Park Jung-hoon, who had a stocky build, took a deep breath and fussed with his tie for no reason.
Since it was the day they would be meeting Seok-won, who had acquired Cyber World, for the first time, his face was full of tension.
Sitting across from him, Son Hyun-deok tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said,
"I saw his photo on the cover of Time not long ago. He looked insanely charismatic. I bet he's like that in person too, right?"
Choi Woong, who had played rugby in college and lived up to his name with a solid, bear-like build, sat beside him and kept glancing toward the door as he replied,
"Probably. His investment track record alone is incredible, but the fact that he spotted and invested in IT ventures that would become huge successes, such as Netscape, Yahoo, and Amazon, from the very beginning and hit the jackpot isn't something just anyone can do. At the very least, he's on a completely different level from those third-generation chaebol heirs who were born with silver spoons in their mouths and just inherited their companies."
The other team leaders nodded in agreement.
There was no need even to look as far as the U.S. With companies like Goldbank, Sewoom Technology, and Hancom Innovation, every company Seok-won touched had achieved major success, making him an object of admiration for Korean venture entrepreneurs.
Of course, with the collapse of the dot-com bubble, the companies mentioned above were also going through major ups and downs, but it was still true that after receiving Seok-won's investment, they had grown explosively, and both founders and investors had ended up sitting on mountains of money.
Because of that, just a rumor that Seok-won was interested in a company was enough to send its stock price soaring or draw in floods of investment.
It had gotten to the point where there were even groups that deliberately spread rumors that Seok-won or Bluehole Venture Capital was going to invest in a certain company, pumped up the stock price, and then cashed out at a high price.
Fidgeting with the collar of his shirt, which was buttoned all the way up to the neck, Park Jung-hoon tilted his head.
"But no matter how I think about it, I just can't figure out why he paid seven billion won to buy our company."
Now in its third year since founding, Cyber World had tried to differentiate itself with services focused on personal information management like scheduling and address books, but it had failed to gain much popularity and was being overshadowed by other internet portals.
With only just over three million users, it was a minor player, so when Seok-won first announced he was acquiring Cyber World, everyone thought it was just speculators spreading a false rumor to pump up the stock price.
Even now, nothing had really changed. In fact, with even more investment being poured in, the losses had only grown larger.
Because of that, even though it hadn't been a year since the acquisition, many employees were worried that Seok-won might decide the company was hopeless and pull out.
Furrowing his thick eyebrows, Son Hyun-deok said, as if trying to shake off his unease,
"He's called the Midas touch of Silicon Valley, isn't he? He must have seen some potential that we don't know about. That's why he invested."
"Right. It has to be that."
Choi Woong chimed in as well.
"There's no way he'd spend seven billion won without thinking."
"He could've just invested, but instead he went and acquired the whole company. That means he definitely has some kind of plan."
"All we have to do is follow his lead."
The other team leaders joined in as well, each adding a word or two, creating an overall optimistic mood.
Everyone looked as if they were so happy with the current situation that they wanted to protect it at all costs, afraid it might vanish like a midsummer night's dream.
Just then, there was a sound of movement outside the conference room, and the door opened. The team leaders, who had been chatting, hurriedly stood up from their seats.
"This is the conference room."
Guided by CEO Choi Do-seon, who was also quite young at thirty-four, Seok-won entered the room together with his executive secretary, Manager Han Ji-sung.
His Italian handmade suit, neatly styled hair, and eyes that carried a gentle yet razor-sharp charisma dominated the room.
When the team leaders, overwhelmed by the atmosphere, could only swallow dryly in silence, Director Woo Gwang-cheol, who had come in with them, shot them a look and urged them on.
"Hurry up and greet him. What are you all standing around for?"
Only then did the team leaders come to their senses and quickly bow in greeting.
"Welcome, Chairman."
"It's nice to finally meet all of you like this."
Seok-won said in a deep, resonant baritone.
Listening to the introductions from CEO Choi Do-seon, who was also one of Cyber World's founding members, Seok-won shook hands briefly with each of the team leaders. When he took the seat of honor in the center, the others followed and sat down in their own chairs.
After a brief, awkward silence, Seok-won slowly looked around at the people seated to his left and right, then broke the silence and spoke first.
"It's been quite a while since I acquired the company, but things have been so busy that we're only now getting to meet face-to-face like this."
Seok-won said with a gentle smile.
"Don't look so tense. Let's start by going over the company's current situation in a relaxed way."
At that, Director Woo Gwang-cheol, who was seated to his left, quickly spoke up.
"Then I'll give the report."
"Please do."
When Seok-won nodded and leaned back comfortably against the back of his chair, Director Woo Gwang-cheol cleared his throat once and began his report.
"Currently, the number of active users using our service is 3.27 million, an increase of 160,000 compared to the previous quarter. We believe that shifting away from focusing solely on club services and moving toward a community portal format played a major role in this growth. In addition, the mini-homepage service we launched in the second half of the year has been receiving a very positive response from users."
While explaining, Director Woo glanced at Seok-won to gauge his reaction, then continued speaking.
"Our daily visitor count is around 500,000. The fourth quarter isn't over yet, but we're projecting this year's revenue at 2.3 billion won, with losses reaching about 7.3 billion won."
As he mentioned the losses, which had grown several times over instead of shrinking, Director Woo's voice grew quieter toward the end.
Although a large part of the deficit was due to Seok-won's own instructions, such as massively expanding the servers and hiring more staff, it still wasn't easy to talk about how much money they were burning.
Fortunately, Seok-won spoke in a calm tone, as if he didn't mind much.
"It's only natural for a venture company, where growth is the top priority, to be running at a loss. Of course, we'll need to turn a profit later, but right now is the time to burn even more money to increase our market share."
Director Woo Gwang-cheol, who had been bracing himself for a scolding, let out a sigh of relief inwardly when he heard Seok-won's words.
Seok-won turned his head and looked at CEO Choi Do-seon, who was seated to his right, and asked,
"What rank is Cyber World among domestic community sites?"
"…Seventh."
"That's basically last place."
When CEO Choi Do-seon closed his mouth with an awkward expression, the other attendees also lowered their heads with gloomy faces.
"Considering you don't even have a solid revenue model yet, pulling in 2.3 billion won in sales is actually impressive."
At words that sounded like they could be either praise or sarcasm, everyone just watched his expression, unsure how to react, while Seok-won continued.
"Still, the effort to create differentiated services and attract users is very positive. In particular, unlike other companies, choosing to differentiate yourselves with personal homepage services rather than focusing on clubs was really well done."
"!"
At the unexpected praise, people hesitantly began to lift their heads.
"I think the direction Cyber World should move toward is becoming a community site where users can build friendships and express themselves."
"..."
"And the mini-homepage will play a core role in that."
Since the mini-homepage hadn't yet exploded in popularity, everyone looked a bit confused.
In contrast, Seok-won sat up straight, his eyes gleaming as he said,
"Being able to easily upload photos and posts on a mini-homepage, communicate with friends, and interact with other people will look very appealing to the younger generation, who like to decorate themselves and show themselves off to others."
"We're hoping for that kind of expansion as well."
CEO Choi Do-seon quickly nodded and picked up the thread.
"I've heard that other companies have been pushing to switch to paid services to secure profitability lately."
"That's right. As you know, because of the impact of the dot-com bubble bursting, investment in the domestic IT industry has dropped sharply, so in reality, we have no choice but to introduce paid services if we want to keep the service running."
It was obvious, like fire, that users would strongly push back, but advertising and affiliate marketing alone could no longer cover the ever-increasing costs.
At the same time, it wasn't a situation where they could bring in new investment to cover the losses, so going paid was the last remaining option.
The other attendees all understood this industry reality as well, so they looked as if there was no helping it.
But when they heard what Seok-won said next, everyone was startled, and their eyes went wide.
"We're not going to switch to paid services. We'll keep providing the service for free, just like now."
"What? But if we do that, the losses will get way too big."
CEO Choi Do-seon looked troubled, but Seok-won said calmly,
"It's fine. We have another way to make money."
"And what would that be?"
"By generating revenue through the mini-homepage."
"…What?"
Not only CEO Choi Do-seon, but everyone in the conference room looked completely puzzled.