God of money

by Stayrr

Is money really everything in a life? If you could live through your life again you must become a God of money. A person who lives for money. A person who treats money with the worth it deserves.

1. 1

God of Money

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Is money really everything in a life?

If you could live through your life again you must become a God of money. A person who lives for money. A person who treats money with the worth it deserves.

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1 coin was worth 18,000 USD.

When the impossible became a reality, everyone became expectant yet worried about cryptocurrency.

This was the beginning of the rise of cryptocurrency. Everyone, even the housewives, entered this frenzy, which made the trading dealers richer and richer.

Of all the dealers, the number one in Korea was Bitmain.

It was a company that allowed fast transactions of various cryptocurrencies, which enabled them to grow in users exponentially. The development team of this company worked day and night to keep up.

"Chief Kang, we have a traffic overload, so we need to add more servers. If this continues, we will be in trouble again."

"Do you think I don't know? I do, but I haven't received an approval. They can't afford more servers yet."

"Are they still holding off on them? We can only do so much with what we have. Are they hoping for all of us to quit?"

Kang Woosung smiled bitterly at Assistant manager Choi's complaint.

Woosung was 36 years old and the current head of the server development team of Bitmain.

"I will take a look, so you can go home now, Assistant Manager Choi. You can also let everyone else know they can leave too."

"What about you?"

"Haha. Are you worried about me?"

"This is why you haven't been able to get married yet. You work late every night, so you never get a chance to meet people."

"I get paid more than you, so I should work harder."

"Gosh, Chief. You are already doing so much… You're going to get sick."

"I'm fine. This isn't my first day on this job. You, on the other hand, are still in your honeymoon phase. You should get home. You better go straight home or else people are going to think that I am making you work late."

"Haha, I'm newly married, so where else would I go other than home?"

Woosung smiled at Assistant Manager Choi proudly. 3 years ago when he started to work here, he was the one who interviewed and hired Choi as an intern. Choi was now an assistant manager and married, and Woosung was proud of him. Bitmain was a new company back then. It was always short on workers, and so promotions were given easily.

One by one, everyone left, and it was finally just Woosung in the office.

Unlike stock brokerages, cryptocurrency dealers ran 24/7. Problems could happen at anytime. Errors could happen in the middle of the night, so everyone needed to be on call at all times. Woosung was the head of the server team and he was doing his best.

Errors needed to be fixed everyday. Daily workload made the days go by fast, and only after everything was done could they have a meeting regarding making improvements and developments.

Working late was necessary, as well as working during weekends.

"Has it already been 3 years?"

Woosung looked outside the window from a small building on Teheran street. 3 years ago, Woosung was working at a company that specialized in finance—SI. He was offered a job at Bitmain through a mutual friend, and after all his hard work, he was promoted to the chief of the server team.

3 years ago.

It was before the cryptocurrency became popular. The dealers at the time barely made any money and couldn't afford to hire many developers. They had to do everything then, including working on the actual apps for android, iPhone, and the web…

Woosung, at that time, needed to deal with every single aspect of the transaction. By now, every related program for Bitmain had at least one of his codings.

He treated his work like his own child to achieve this cryptocurrency transaction system.

"Let's work a little bit longer and go home."

He was lucky if he could leave by midnight, but he felt good knowing the stock options he would receive. Woosung read over the bug reports and started to fix them one by one.Woosung tilted his head in confusion.

"Hmm… this is strange."

He stared at the computer screen.

– Server down. Abnormal trading phenomenon has occurred.

Abnormal trading phenomenon.

This was a critical problem. The report did not include any details, so Woosung started looking through the server codes and data from the Oracle (This is a form of a data system that records data in a table format like Excel.) After a while, Woosung tilted his head again.

"This shouldn't be happening…"

He stood up to stretch and sat down again. He knew that data never lied.

"53.123.111.211, 53.12.78.99, 53.33.67.100. How could this IP addresses trade?"

He re-read them but still couldn't figure it out. Due to heavy traffic, the server was down once today, and all trading activities halted.

During this time, however, these three IP addresses had no trouble buying and selling. Woosung looked up the records from a month ago.

He paid special attention to the days that the servers went down. During these days, these IP addresses never had problems with their transactions. Even when the traffic was so high that the regular users couldn't even login, these IP addresses had no problem making the most profitable transactions. They were able to purchase at the lowest point and sell at the highest point, allowing them to make profits of possibly tens of millions of dollars.

He couldn't believe his eyes, but data were clear. How could something like this happen without him, the chief of the server team, knowing?

Woosung could only think of one way.

Hacking.

Bitmain was being hacked.

Woosung immediately called the CTO (Chief Technology Officer).

Ring… Ring…

Ring…

Ring… Ring…

No one answered, but this was something that needed to be taken care of right away. Woosung continued to make the call.

After his fourth attempt, he was finally answered. But the person who answered was in no condition to work.

"Hello, Chief Kang Woosuuung… What's going on?"

"Who is it, oppa? Who's calling you?"

"It's one of my employees."

"You weren't lying when you said you are a CEO!"

"Hahahaha. Ooof course. You wanna talk to him?"

CTO Jung Jinsup was drunk, and the young female's voice was loud. Woosung wet his lips. This was an emergency. Woosung spoke, "Sir, there are signs that we have been hacked. When the servers were down, certain IP addresses were still able to complete transactions. We need to have an emergency meeting."

CTO Jung Jinsup was only 33, and they usually talked to each other respectfully. But because he was drunk, the CTO said rudely, "Right now? It's past midnight, you fool. You shouldn't work so hard, Chief Kang. We need to enjoy ourselves now."

"But sir, this is an emergency…"

"Did the IP addresses start with 53 by chance?"

"What? How did you know…"

"Oppa! Stop touching me!"

"Hahaha…. Why? You know you like it."

"O-Oh t-there…"

It was awkward for Woosung to continue listening, but he had to find out.

"That's our VIP list, so don't worry about it."

"What do you mean the VIP list?"

"Gosh you are such a straight arrow. Just stop worrying about it and go home."

"Oh! Oppa! I can't wait anymore!"

"Hahaha. Then here I come."

The call ended. Woosung sat for a long time while still holding on to his phone.

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– Cryptocurrency, a new way to become rich or a path to hell?

– A university student commits suicide after losing his tuition money on cryptocurrency.

– Cryptocurrency could be the last hope for the poor. Many have become millionaires from it.

– Cryptocurrency dealers are booming. Related stocks are all going up.

– Even the housewives are into cryptocurrency!

These were the headlines of the newspapers every morning.

It was the era of cryptocurrency.

Transaction fees exceeded 900 million dollars per day. Fees were at an average rate of 0.135%, which meant that there was a daily profit of 1.2 million dollars. The amount of transactions was increasing everyday. Choi Gichul, the Bitmain's CEO and the third son of Daeyang Corporation's Ceo, was a happy man.

One could never have too much money.

He was born to a rich family, but he was still thirsty for more. He grimaced slightly.

"Are you saying that we have been hacked?"

"Yes. This is the proof."

Woosung showed CEO Choi Gichul the report of his findings from last night. CTO Jung Jinsup looked hungover nearby.

Choi Gichul looked at the report and frowned slightly. He glanced at Jung Jinsup, who nodded discreetly.

"Well, Chief Kang, you worked so hard for this… However, I thought our CTO has already explained to you about this situation last night. Why are you here today?"

Woosung suddenly understood. What he heard from Jung Jinsup last night was not a mistake.

VIP list.

Without his knowledge, illegal transactions were occurring behind his back.

'Dammit…'

He knew what would eventually happen sooner or later. It was never the CEO who got caught. It was always the lower ranking employees who ended up getting blamed and prosecuted. Choi Gichul continued to talk slyly.

"I know how hard you worked for this company, Chief Kang. I know it very well. You will be paid handsomely for your next month's incentive."

Hush money. This had to be it.

Choi Gichul.

Third son of the Daeyang Corporation's CEO.

After graduating from Harvard at the age of 31, he created a company from scratch instead of working at his father's company as expected.

To Woosung, Choi Gichul was a snake. He spat out anything bitter, and swallowed anything that was sweet. This was what Woosung learned about him in the last 3 years.

Choi Gichul looked like a successful businessman from the outside, but Woosung believed in his instinct. He was being seduced with a poisoned candy, and if he took it, the time when Choi Gichul would stab him in the back was bound to arrive.

"I believe this is a result of hacking. We need to report to KISA (Korea Internet Security Agency)."

As soon as hacking was suspected, the company was legally obligated to report it to the appropriate authority.

Choi Gichul frowned harshly. Jung Jinshup sighed deeply and said, "Chief Kang. Let's not play this game anymore. How much do you want?"

"… What?"

"Let's be honest here, you are blackmailing us. Just speak frankly, and we will try our best to come up with a reasonable amount."

Woosung felt dizzy all of a sudden. To someone who lived an honest life for 36 years, this was an insult.

Both of his parents lived frugally. His mother clipped coupons, and his father, who worked as a security guard, walked an hour to his work everyday to save money on bus fare.

All their lives, they never stole a penny from anyone. Woosung had learned from them to be honest.

When he worked at a stock brokerage, he believed in the ethics of brokers never trading themselves. He had never even made a trading account for himself.

Other brokers traded anyway, sometimes, under someone else's name. They tried their best to gain insider information for their gain, while Woosung focused on his honest work.

This was how he got to where he was at the moment. He worked his way up honestly. He reach this point with only his effort and ability. He was happy with what he earned, and he didn't want anything he didn't deserve. If he agreed to them now, there was a real possibility that this would not end well for him.

"I… still feel the same way."

Woosung was clearly refusing the money. Choi Gichul looked at Woosung angrily.

"… What?"

"But if you fix the system, then I won't say anything."

This was the best compromise he could come up with. Woosung left the room without waiting for an answer. Choi Gichul,on the other hand, looked at him furiously.He couldn't focus all day.

Was this the right choice?

Would it have been better to just agree and get paid?

Next month, he was getting his incentive bonus. Should he have just waited till then and quit afterward?

He couldn't stop thinking about it.

But it was too late now.

He decided not to regret his decision.

"Chief, chief? What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, Assistant Manager Choi."

"Are you thinking about the stock options you will receive soon? There is a rumor that you will be getting billions of wons in stocks."

"Ha.. Haha…"

"You sound suspicious."

"What are you going to do when you get your stock options?"

"I will buy a house first. It has been very difficult to not have your own house. Soon, I will be a homeowner."

Assistant Manager Choi closed his eyes in happiness.

"Are you thinking about buying in the Gangnam area, Chief? Isn't it about time you leave Hwikyung area?"

"Yes, of course."

Woosung thought of his parents at home. As soon as he was paid his stock options next month, he would quit. He would report to KISA tomorrow, and he would eventually be okay. He estimated that he would be paid 3 billion won in stocks, so he could quit and start anew.

"Oh, and I heard that the company will be throwing a party tonight at a restaurant. It's supposed to be an expensive steak place."

"I like steak."

When Choi left to his chair, Woosung went back to his work. On his computer was a concise report of his investigation. Based on his findings, the company gained over 30 billion won illegally in the last two months. It was likely that Choi Gichul took majority of this money.

'I better create a backup file.'

Woosung copied the report to the USB on his key-chain.

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Chapter 3: Pandora's Box

He was so tired from the late nights he spent awake. Perhaps that was why he felt drunk after downing a few drinks. He felt good. Everyone was having a great time at the party until Choi Gichul raised his glass.

"Everyone, I would like to say something."

The room shushed.

"They say the best thing the boss can do at a party is to leave early, so I will leave the company credit card here and go. Have a good time! You can spend all you want. In fact, if you don't spend as much as our company generates in a day, I will be disappointed."

Bitmain profited an average of 1.2 million dollars per day. Everyone laughed at his generous joke.

"You are the best, boss!"

"Please stay!"

"You need to stay for another round of drinks!"

"Let's party hard tonight."

Choi Gichul waved goodbye to the friendly employees. He then came to Woosung and placed his arm around his shoulder.

"I will, however, be taking our hardest working Chief Kang with me."

-Ooohh!

-We want to go with you too.

-Chief Kang must be your favorite!

Woosung stood up to follow Choi Gichul. He tried his best to hide his confusion.Inside the luxury sedan Benz Maybach S-class, they arrived at a private room in Chungdam. Choi Gichul sat at the head of the table while Jung Jinsup took a seat to his right. Woosung sat down on the left. Choi Gichul poured Woosung an expensive liquor and started the conversation.

"I thought about what you said this morning. Although it was for the good of the company, we did went a little too far." Woosung blinked and took the glass. "However, you must know, Chief Kang, how hard it was for the company at the beginning."

Woosung drank quickly and replied. "Of course, I remember. It was a difficult time…"

But that applied to the employees alone. As the CEO, Choi Gichul forced everyone else to work overtime to meet impossible deadlines. Several unhappy employees left then and only a few could survive this kind of working condition.

"I know how difficult it was for you as well, Chief Kang. Now that our company is in a good place why don't you go on vacation and enjoy your life? You won't have to work so hard anymore. Whatever you saw last night, it's something that will be resolved very soon."

Choi Gichul always had a way of insinuating rather than being direct. He implied that when the company was poor at the beginning; they made a VIP list to make money from these illegal transactions. Now that the company was doing well, this won't happen again. Woosung should forget about the whole thing.

This was exactly what he was saying.

Woosung grabbed the bottle and poured into his glass. The men accepted his silence as an agreement. Choi Gichul decided they settled the deed and clapped his hands to call the hostess.

"We have an important guest here today so bring in your best girls."

The hostess wearing an alluring dress bowed and left. A line of beautiful women then replaced her.After much drinking, Woosung opened his mouth gravely.

"I thought about it and… If you get rid of these illegal transactions within one week, then I will do as you say."

Choi Gichul laughed loudly and slapped Woosung's back. "Hahaha, were you still thinking about that this whole time? That's why you weren't enjoying yourself."

He was drunk, but his mind was crystal clear. "Please promise me. Bitmain is like my flesh and blood. I don't want it to go down."

"Haha, I understand. I got it. I will do as you say. Now my driver will take you home."

"I'm fine. I'll just take a cab."

Choi Gichul pushed Woosung into a mid-size sedan and insisted. "Haha, no way. I can't let our best employee take a taxi. Mr. Kim, please take him home."

The driver pushed Woosung further into the back seat. Woosung was drunk and his body felt heavy. He couldn't fight back and fell asleep in the car posthaste.

'Yes, I've done the right thing. This is… the right thing to do.'

If he reported the incident to KISA, then it was likely that he and other employees wouldn't get the incentive payments next month. People at work would resent him and his parents would show their disappointment at him. He didn't want that to happen. The expensive car drove away in silence. Looking at the car leaving, Choi Gichul murmured quietly.

"Who does he think he is, to tell me what to do…?"

Jung Jinsup, who was standing next to him, shivered as he heard the malicious threat in his voice.He fell asleep.

When he woke up, he was sitting on the ground against a wall. He couldn't move his arms. He could open his mouth. He couldn't move his body at all. He suddenly heard a distant voice.

"We need to make sure it looks like a suicide."

"Don't worry. This isn't my first time."

"So what did the guy do to deserve this?"

Mr. Kim glared at him.

"F-fine. I won't ask questions. I'll finish this job quick."

Was it because of the alcohol? Perhaps someone drugged him? Woosung was losing his consciousness. He tried his best to keep his eyes open but he couldn't. He felt scared, but there was nothing he could do. He then felt something cold on his neck. Mr. Kim was feeling for his pulse. Woosung could hear him talking on the phone.

"Yes, it's done. Yes, we have the official statement ready for the media." Woosung then lost all his senses. He couldn't move a single muscle in his body, but even then, he could still hear Mr. Kim's conversation on the phone. "The headline will say 'Employee kills himself from a guilty conscience after committing insider trading.'"

Woosung gritted his teeth in disbelief.

'That snake!'

He figured it out quickly.

Choi Gichul. It was his doing. It was strange that he wanted to drink with Woosung and even offered to drive him home. He couldn't believe this was happening.

'Dammit! Dammit!'

Then suddenly, he lost the last bit of his consciousness and fell into darkness.

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It was a horrific nightmare. Sweat drenched his body. Woosung woke up suddenly and exhaled down harshly.

"Huff… huff."

Freezing winter wind cooled him down straight away. He became alert.

"That was an awful dream…"

He remembered eating steaks until he felt like he was about to burst. He then gulped down alcohol till he got drunk. He ended up in a private room and drank liquor again. He also remembered getting into Mr. Kim's car.

"There is no way…. It must have been a dream. Murder… that's ridiculous. Phew."

Woosung shook his head thinking it was just a dream. He swallowed. He felt strange. He didn't feel hung over despite all the drinking he had done last night. In fact, he felt great.

36 years old.

He worked late and weekends all the time but never exercised. This made his body weak to a point that getting up every morning was difficult.

But he felt different now.

"Woosung, get up. This is your first day of work so get there early."

"Huh… huh?"

Woosung stood up confused.

"First day? And mom's voice sounds younger…"

Woosung looked for his phone. Seeing it shocked him after finding it out.

It was a flip phone.

It was his old 3g cell phone he used to have before the invention of the smartphones.Three family members sat around an old broken-down table. Beef soup, which was something they couldn't afford often, was steaming. As he lifted his spoon, his father Kang Gichun spoke.

"Now that you got a job, you should work hard to succeed. You should save and get married!"

This was 10 years earlier, and so his father only had a few white hairs.

"This is his first day at work, so I don't think he's ready to get married yet. Eat up and go to work already. Make sure you follow instructions well. Always agree with your boss, ok?"

His mother, Kim Eunjung, added.

She was only in her late 40s but wrinkles and cracks appeared on her hands already. It resulted from her lifelong years of hard work.

"So today really is January 10th, 2008?"

Kim Eunjung shook her head frustratingly.

"Are you still asking me that? Wake up already and eat your breakfast. You'll work better with a full stomach."

Woosung's hand shook as he ate.

'This is really happening.'

He couldn't believe it. Everything showed that today was indeed January 10th, 2008. He checked the date on his phone and news on TV. His parents, the house, and everything else proved that he has traveled back in time. 10 years.

Kang Gichun looked at Woosung worriedly.

"Are you ok? Why is your hand shaking so much?"

"I'm ok. In fact…"

He felt ecstatic.

'God has given me the chance for a revenge against that snake.'

He now remembered what happened yesterday clear as glass. He felt himself dying. Just thinking about sinking into the darkness made him shiver in fear.

'Wait for me, you bastard.'

Woosung stopped eating and panted angrily. Kim Eunjung looked at him in annoyance.

"Kang Woosung. Why aren't you finishing your breakfast? You need to go to work soon. Do you want to be late for your first day?"

That's right. Today was January 10th, 2008.

This was before the existence of the coin.

If he could buy 1000 coins now, it will become 9 million dollars. If he could buy even more, as much as possible, and mine other major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, he could become the richest man in the world.

If this happened, destroying Choi Gichul and Daeyang corporation will be a breeze. Woosung was thrilled and didn't even mind his mother's nagging.On his way to work in Yeouido, Woosung organized his thoughts.

'My first job… so that would be Daesan System.'

Daesan System.

Daesan System was a company specializing in SI finances. It comprised an approximate of 40 employees and a yearly revenue of 4.5 million dollars. He worked here for a year, then 6 years at the ST Data System. Afterward, he joined the Bitmain.

'coin was officially introduced in October so… I should develop mining techniques and make money.'

If he remembered correctly, October 31st, 2008 was the date the coin white paper was published. While on November 9th and on January 3rd, 2009 was when the related codes were registered on , and the world mined the first genesis block. On the 9th, they released the mining program.

The world did not recognize coin as a profitable currency then. At first, they saw it as a game for developers.

There was a famous story of buying pizza with 10,000 BTC. The rise of coin won't happen till late 2009, so there was no hurry.

'Wait a minute… was my memory always this good?'

In the past, he had a general idea of the history of cryptocurrency, but he never knew the dates of all the events.

But it was different today. He could remember the exact dates.

'Well, whatever. I should try to leave work as soon as possible and make plans.'

– Yeouido. This is Yeouido station. The exit is to your right.

Woosung left the busy subway.Woosung exited the Yeouido subway station number 4 and looked up at the building where he used to work. It was a difficult job, but he learned a lot from it. It was a good old time.

'It was hard but I grew a lot here.'

He didn't have much talent in the developing department during his college years. Without any experience, he was thrown into the real world. He had no clue, and with many mistakes and reprimands from his boss, he learned about programming. He worked on HTS program, and since this was a software where customers have a direct connection, there was a lot of VoC (Voice of the Customer). Every negative feedback was for him to bear.

'Let's go.'

Woosung took the elevator to the 7th floor. The official start time for work was before 8 am, which was when the stock market opened.

It was only 7:30 am, but many were already at work.

"Hey Assistant manager Kim, are you sure the HTS login test is complete? When I entered the ID and PW, there was no introductory popup and I couldn't log in."

"That can't be…"

"Go check it right now. If people can't log in when the market opens, we are doomed. You know that, right?"

Woosung was getting to his chair when he overheard this conversation. He looked at them and paused. He remembered this day.

January 10th, 2008. Today was the day the developers nicknamed "the day the gates of hell opened." It was the first day of launching the new system.

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Chapter 5: Close the Gates to Hell

They were familiar faces. Assistant manager King Yonggun and Manager Park Junwoo were staring at the 15-inch LCD monitor, ignoring Woosung. Woosung found his desk and looked at his own LCD monitor.

'Of course… this is 10 years ago…'

Until yesterday, he was using the 27-inch OLED monitor. His eyes were getting tired just from looking at the small LCD monitor in front of him. Taking a seat, he took out his 3G phone.

'iPhones and Android phones were released in Korea in 2009…'

Many took advantages of the introduction of the smartphones and got rich. Woosung had so many opportunities to make money! Smartphones! coins!

'If I could remember the winning lotto numbers, I would buy one… But I can't so I need to be patient.'

He had to come up with a solid plan. Woosung's head filled with many thoughts. Then, someone stood behind him.

"Hey, newbie. If you arrived, you should introduce yourself. What are you doing sitting down?"

It was Daesan System's general manager Yoon Gihwan. Woosung knew he made a mistake. Until yesterday, he was the head of a department. He used to be the senior member, but now he was a 26-years old newbie. Woosung got up quickly and bowed.

"Oh hello. My name is Kang Woosung. It's my first day so I got confused. I apologize."

"You need to be quick around here or else you're out. Do a good job, alright?"

"Of course."

Yoon Gihwan asked Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun to join them.

"Manager Park and Assistant manager Kim, this is the new employee. Say hello. Teach him well."

"Hello. My name is Kang Woosung."

"I'm Manager Park Junwoo."

"I'm Assistant manager King Yonggun."

Woosung smiled. He worked with them for a year here. He used to drink with them often and complain about Yoon Gihwan. He remembered the good times. Yoon Gihwan glared at him.

"You look relaxed. Is it because you're so confident about your skills?"

Woosung continued to smile and answered.

"Haha of course. I overheard about some problems with login. Should we work on that?"

10 years ago on this day, someone else fixed this problem but this time, he could do it himself. At Woosung's confidence, Yoon Gihwan frowned. Others around had the same unhappy expressions. They saw him as an overconfident arrogant pup.The first thing to complete when developing a new program was to create a development environment setup. You had to install the visual studio, set the library version, and download and build the code from SVN. For someone new to programming, this would take hours.

You had to know which version of the program was being used, check the account for SVN login, and know which code to download. You also had to know how to build and get each step checked by a senior member. This was why it took so long.

If someone uploaded a wrong code to SVN and the final version reached the customers, negative feedback would bombard them.

But Woosung was not new to this.

With his experience, he skipped all the unnecessary steps. He installed the program, found and downloaded the code from the SVN, and built it.

It took about 20 minutes. He did it quick asking no one for help. Staring in disbelief, Yoon Gihwan asked Park Junwoo.

"Manager Park… did you already show this guy how to do this?"

Park Junwoo, wide-eyed, shook his head. Kim Yonggun was asked the same question.

"How about you, Assistant manager Kim?"

Kim Yonggun had the same answer. Woosung worked fast and said, "We are good till this step. Now let's see… if we are having a login problem…"

He searched his memories and found the answer. He knew the exact problem because when he used to work here, Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun shared all their information. Woosung spotted the problem on the 132nd line of the file LoginView.cpp on the visual studio program.

"You said the problem was you couldn't log in when you entered the ID and password and the program wouldn't respond?"

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun nodded.

"The problem is that on the server, it's being processed as trim so it looks normal but on HTS screen, it's different. The ID and PW the user typed appeared different from the information on the server."

Park Junwoo asked Kim Yonggun.

"Is that correct?"

"It's definitely possible. The outsourcing company asked us to add this scenario to increase security. We didn't think it necessary, so we didn't check it thoroughly."

"So does that mean we didn't even test this part?"

Kim Yonggun answered nervously.

"The thing is…. As you know, our deadlines moved up. We prioritized and tested only the major parts. We planned on checking the rest later but we didn't have the time… We may have missed a few things."

Park Junwoo exhaled. Yoon Gihwan roared in anger.

"What? We already distributed the product and you're telling me this now? What are you going to do? People already downloaded the program, so what are we going to do?"

Woosung gave a brief answer.

"First, we need to make the login register as a login error. We can add the problem to the other patches. During HTS execution, the current version will be checked and upgraded. We will then recommend to the customers how they should download the newest version. This won't be a big deal."

To Woosung's calm solution, the three became speechless. Has there ever been a new programmer who could be this cool and skillful?

Never in Yoon Gihwan's 20 years of programming experience.

Never in Park Junwoo's 10 years of programming experience.

Never in Kim Yonggun's 4 years of programming experience.

They have never seen someone like him. Woosung wasn't done yet though.

"I only had a quick glimpse of the program, but I already noticed that there was no test code either. Why don't I create a test code now? It would be better to do this than change the actual program."

Test code.

When a program developed, you created a code to test out the program as a trial rather than checking every single steps and function. For example, for an android app, if you checked every function one by one, it would take too long and you may make a mistake. Test code was a better and quicker method.

"You can do that?"

Woosung nodded. The three behind him swallowed audibly.

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Chapter 6: Close the Gates to Hell

After the ordeal, Woosung sat down. He proved his skills, so no one bothered him. It felt strange coming back to his old job.

'It was difficult then but now… it's different.'

His time at Daesan System was the hardest time of Woosung's life.

After the development of the next generation system by Nuri Finances, they worked on what they commonly called the spaghetti code. The program itself worked well but spaghetti code meant that the programmers found it difficult to understand its code.

It used to take Woosung late nights before he could interpret and fix the bugs and incorporate any feedback from the outsourcing company. But that was when Woosung was inexperienced. The thing he ever made using MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes: C language and Windows application programming interface classes bundled in a software application development library.) was a simple online notice board.

HTS program with its hundreds of functions was an impossible territory for Woosung back then.

'But that was 10 years ago. I used to have to work till morning for months and get home by cab. I also had to work on weekends to check the codes.'

Woosung's eyes sparkled as he looked at the codes now.

'But now, that's unnecessary.'

He would continue to work in this company but would also try to make more money on the side. He also had to improve his programming skills. He planned on testing his skills one by one on the Nuri Finances system.

He planned on making his own cryptocurrency dealer to aid his revenge. He swore to bring them down from the top. He would make sure they suffer the pain worse than death for the rest of their lives.

'Just you wait.'

Woosung promised himself.3 pm.

In 2008, the stock market closed at 3 pm. When it closed, workers could relax at last. Yoon Gihwan asked Park Junwoo to join him for coffee and smoke. He asked.

"What do you think? Is it really true that the newbie did it all by himself?"

Park Junwoo sipped on his coffee and answered.

"Yes, I checked it and it's true. He is amazing. He could perform the development environment setting and debugging perfectly."

"That's strange…. Why would someone like him apply to our company?"

"I saw his resume, and he… didn't graduate from a good school. Maybe that's why?"

"Well, I guess. You need to graduate from top universities in Seoul to get into the major companies."

Park Junwoo continued to drink his coffee and said with a frown.

"But there is something strange. I think no one showed him how to find the files with server address and SVN account information… but he found them easily. How could he…"

Yoon Gihwan inhaled his cigarette deep and gave a lazy answer.

"He said he came by before to say hello. Someone probably showed him then. Based on what we saw of his skills, I don't think we need to hire any more help, right?"

Park Junwoo disagreed quickly.

"He's a fresh graduate. He may have done well today, but we can't be sure he would continue to perform well. Do you know how much work we have to do here? We've been working nonstop, day and night, for months now."

"I know, but the headquarters keep telling me they can't hire people anymore. You know, our company isn't doing well right now."

"And that's why I have been patient but only one new employee? We can't do this again."

Yoon Gihwan inhaled deeply and answered.

"It's not that bad, Manager Park. I promise that as soon as we finish this project, we would hire one more. So please be patient a little while longer."

Park Junwoo sighed. He crumpled and threw away his paper cup. He thought of his wife and his new baby and bit his lips.

"This is really the last time."

"I promise. You are being difficult today."

Yoon Gihwan frowned and Park Junwoo became quiet. The atmosphere was becoming tense. Yoon Gihwan patted Park Junwoo's shoulder.

"I know how hard you work. We have to get through this and the headquarters will help us out."

Yoon Gihwan inhaled his cigarette again.

"All right,"

"Just a bit longer,"

Yoon Gihwan left to return to the office.At 6:30pm, Woosung stood up.

"Manager, it's time to go home."

Park Junwoo looked at Woosung in confusion. Woosung said the same thing to Kim Yonggun.

"Assistant manager, it's time to leave. Why aren't you getting ready to go home?"

Yoon Gihwan said in annoyance.

"Hey, newbie! Are you crazy? You said you would create a test code. There is no way you finished it."

"I completed about 15% of it. I will finish it in one week. If you can't believe it, have a look yourself."

"What?"

"You know how to check a test code, right? You are the general manager, so this should be easy for you."

Yoon Gihwan reddened at Woosung's challenge. Park Junwoo watched nervously. Kim Yonggun stepped in.

"We-ell, it IS time to go home. We should all leave. General manager, you should get home too. We'll all go home early for once and have dinner with our family."

To Kim Yonggun's gesture, Park Junwoo also stood up. Yoon Gihwan looked at him and asked.

"Manger Park, did you fix all the bugs from today? How about the requests from the outsourcing company? There are so many things to fix by the end of today. Or are you willing to work overnights starting tomorrow?"

Woosung answered instead.

"We can work on number 43, 44, 45, and 46 of today's bug report together tomorrow. No one wrote the request letter yet. We will need to have a meeting with the outsourcing company tomorrow to sort it out."

Woosung grabbed his briefcase.

"Unless you, General manager, can explain the report. You must understand it better than any of us. If you can, then I will give you a schedule of when the development requests finish. I think Park Junwoo would agree with me. Right?"

Park Junwoo stuttered to Woosung's unexpected question.

"Y-yes. I think that sounds right."

Woosung bowed to Yoon Gihwan sitting in the inner corner of the office.

"Well then, I assume that's it? I will see you tomorrow."

Following Woosung, Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun left quickly. Before Yoon Gihwan could say anything, the three left the office.

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6:30 pm.

It was the end of the official working hours for Daesan System employees working at Nuri Finances. But no one could ever leave on time as far as Park Junwoo could remember, and he has worked here since the beginning of the new generation system.

He felt nervous.

"Is… is this really ok?"

Kim Yonggun felt the same.

"I know… can we… really do this?"

They left the office, but they felt uncomfortable. Kim Yonggun wanted to ask Park Junwoo but looked at Woosung instead. Woosung was extraordinary.

"You guys deserve to go home on time. You've worked so hard."

He had the ability to attract people. Kim Yonggun has known Woosung for only a day, but he felt like he could trust him. He also felt pressured to follow Woosung's lead. Park Junwoo's eyes widened and asked again.

"Hmm…?"

"I could tell how hard you worked from looking at your codes. I can also tell that there will be a lot of problems ahead of us with this system. You must know better than I do those previous programmers messed it up big time. We will have to work hard to fix it."

Woosung paused. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun waited for Woosung to continue. This was no ordinary newbie.

Why was it so easy to trust him?

Because Woosung's behavior and words seemed right.

"I haven't graduated from the top school and I may be new, but I am confident about my skills. The only thing I lack is experience, but if you two can help me out, I know I will be a huge asset and the work will become easier for all of us."

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun looked at each other. They believed him. They hesitated to respond. Woosung added.

"As you know, the gates to hell haven't opened yet. Today was just an open beta but starting tomorrow, the users will log in for real and it will become hectic for us. If we continue to react like today rather than act and think ahead, the problems will pile up and…. You understand, right?"

"We understand what you're saying. So what do you propose?"

"First, you need to study TDD (Test-driven development) by tomorrow. As soon as I complete the test code, our team should change to using TDD."

Kim Yonggun remembered hearing about it at a software conference, but it was a new concept to Park Junwoo.

"Have you heard of it, Assistant manager Kim?"

"I think it's a form of a software development process. It allows a fast development of prototypes to incorporate customers' frequent feedbacks. It is a newer method to the waterfall model."

"I… I see."

They reached the subway. It was now time for them to split. Woosung told them.

"This is the only way to close the gates to hell, so please make sure you study it."

Both nodded.After dinner, Woosung sat in front of his computer at home. He opened Excel.

-January 15, 2018: Death at the age of 36

Woosung wrote the first line and gritted his teeth.

"That bastard…"

He breathed in deeply and controlled his anger. For his revenge against Choi Gichul, Woosung had to plan every single day carefully. The first thing he had to do was to organize what would happen and figure out which events he can use to his advantage. Woosung typed quickly.

– January 10, 2008: 26 years old again. First day of work. Starting the new Nuri Finances project.

– October 2008: World financial crisis.

– October 2008: Paper on coin posted.

– November 2008: coin project registers at

– January 2009: coin Genesis Block mined. Mining program released. First coin transfer made.

– June 2009: First Android phone Daeyang Electronics' Blue S released.

– October 2009: 1500 coin equals 1 dollar.

– November 2009: iPhone released in Korea. Beginning of the rise of smartphones.

– December 2011: Hadoop, a file system for storing big data, released.

– April 2013: Opening of Korea's first cryptocurrency dealer Buybit.

– December 2014: Cryptocurrency dealer Bitmain opens.

– July 2015: Initial release of Ethereum.

– January 10, 2015: First day of work at Bitmain.

– January 2016: Ethereum equals 1 dollar.

Woosung went furious as he looked at the word Bitmain.

"Phew… just relax. Getting upset will not help. He knows nothing at this point, anyway."

Looking at the list he made, he knew he had plenty of opportunities.

Financial crisis.

Cryptocurrency.

Smartphone.

These three alone could make him rich enough to destroy Choi Gichul.

"I now have knowledge of the three biggest events, I will add other smaller details later."

After completing the initial list of future events, Woosung began organizing the current events. He had to remember his present situation.

"I think I had about 26,000 dollars of tuition debt left…"

He started his list.

– 26,000 dollars of tuition debt.

– His parents put 62,000 dollars of down payment on the apartment.

– Of this 62,000 dollars, 35,000 was mortgage debt.

– His current saving balance was 900 dollars.

– His beginning salary was 800 dollars per month for the first three months. It would be 1,700 dollars per month before taxes.

"This is where I start."

26,000 dollars of debt and savings of 900 dollars.

After taxes, his salary will be less than 900 dollars per month, but Woosung was not worried. If he gained 10,000 coins next year, it will skyrocket into 180 million dollars in 2017. This wasn't the only way. Before the release of the smartphones, he could develop an Android game or a chat app like "Coconut," that would be popular in the future. Either way, he could become filthy rich.

To do this, he needed two things.

Money and skills.

"The fastest way to make money now is…"

He couldn't remember any winning lotto numbers or potential stocks, but he remembered that the financial crisis in October 2008 caused the plummeting of KOSPI to its lowest point.

"Should I buy some stocks?"

Day trading was not easy. Then, Woosung suddenly remembered what will happen tomorrow at work. Memories from 10 years ago came back. The answer was there.

"Oh! If I use that method, I should be able to at least pay the tuition debt back and make a bit of money. The programming…."

Woosung looked at the list of future events and decided on what he had to study.

"JAVA and Object C for Android, iOS (iPhone OS), C for coin, and… what was it for Ethereum? What was it…?"

He remembered looking it up out of curiosity. It was an unusual word. It was 2008 now, so he couldn't look it up online.

"Oh! It was the Go from Google."

Ethereum's main programming language was Google's Go. Woosung searched the internet and realized the required compiler or the packages weren't available yet. This meant the first thing to do was to learn Go. Woosung made plans and prioritized.

"Now I just need to follow my plan."

It wasn't even 10 pm. He continued to work till late.

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Next day at work.

Woosung never left his seat and worked nonstop on his computer. Because he did well yesterday, Yoon Gihwan decided to leave Woosung alone for now.

'But if he doesn't do well today, I will give him such a hard time. If his work isn't perfect or he makes any mistake, I'm going to destroy him.'

He gave Woosung an evil look. Woosung must've felt it but didn't react to it. The others, however, watched curiously.

'He's going to end up killing the newbie.'

Park Junwoo looked at them secretly.

'So many staffs left because of Yoon Gihwan's temper… I am worried.'

General manager Yoon Gihwan.

He was known for being good at managing people. There were times when his cruel criticisms made employees cry but strangely, the office atmosphere always remained positive.

"Tsk tsk. General manager Yoon Gihwan has to work so hard because he doesn't have good staffs."

"If you can't take a constructive criticism…"

People blamed his staff members because at the end of the day, Yoon Gihwan had incredible programming skills.

'Even if the newbie is good, he will be no match for the general manager.'

Time passed, and it was finally lunch time.Park Junwoo wanted to lift Woosung's spirit.

"I looked into the agile you mentioned yesterday, and I agree that it would be perfect for our project."

Kim Yonggun chimed in as well.

"Where did you hear about it? There aren't a lot of references for it yet."

Woosung answered evenly.

"It's something I studied before I got hired."

Park Junwoo exclaimed.

"Oh really? And you have a good coding skill too! You must've studied hard at school."

"I did alright." Woosung smiled and looked at Yoon Gihwan.

'Agile, TDD… These are things Yoon Gihwan would've ordered me to work on anyway.'

10 years ago, after only a week at work, Yoon Gihwan made him create the test code rather than working on developing his skills. He gave an excuse that this would be a good coding experience for Woosung. Woosung would never forget the painful criticisms from Yoon Gihwan while learning about coding. Feeling Woosung's stare, Yoon Gihwan looked up.

"So, did you finish the test code?"

Woosung put down his spoon on the table and answered.

"I was going to tell you that after the market closes today, I would like to have a meeting with the outsourcing company."

Thump.

Yoon Gihwan threw his spoon down.

"What? A meeting with the company that hired us? It has only been 36 hours since you started working here, and you think you can call up a meeting? I can't believe how arrogant you are."

To Yoon Gihwan's anger, Woosung answered calmly.

"If you understand why I created the test code on my first day, you must also realize why I need to meet with them."

"There is nothing to understand!" Woosung didn't flinch against Yoon Gihwan's rage.

"We need to stop wasting time on paperwork and develop new prototypes as fast as possible based on the feedbacks. This is the best way to minimize the customer's complaints."

Woosung lifted his spoon again. He ate a spoonful of rice and continued.

"Fast response to customers will maximize their satisfaction in our product. This will decrease the cost of maintaining customers."

To Woosung's explanation, Yoon Gihwan snorted.

"Do you understand the reality of how hard it is to follow that logic?"

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun watched the discussion quietly. They couldn't join this conversation.

"I can give it a try."

Yoon Gihwan became speechless at Woosung's brave words. He just stared. Park Junwoo also stopped eating in surprise.

'I can't believe it! Woosung is actually winning the argument against Yoon Gihwan.'

Yoon Gihwan bit his lips and answered.

"You… better be right about this."

Kim Yonggun and Park Junwoo continued having their uncomfortable mean as the atmosphere remained tense.3 pm.

As soon as the market closed, Yoon Gihwan walked to Woosung.

"Let's see what you have."

Woosung started the PowerPoint presentation.

-Nuri Finances' New System Stabilization.

It was such a big title, especially for a newbie. Yoon Gihwan sneered.

"And how many years of finance experience do you have?"

Woosung thought. 'Including the Bitmain, I would say 10 years.' But he couldn't tell him the truth.

"Skills don't always come from experiences."

"Fine. Continue."

Woosung continued to explain the presentation one page at a time. He explained the need for the change in the development process and what the result would be. It wasn't empty words either. He included example codes. The perfect presentation showed Woosung's 10 years of experience in this field. Even Yoon Gihwan was impressed.

'Is he really new to this?'

Looking at Yoon Gihwan's expression, Woosung gave a triumphant smile.

'These are actually things you did 10 years ago. I just copied your work from the past.'

10 years ago, Yoon Gihwan developed this idea to increase project efficiency as they were short on staff. He would've come up with it a few weeks from now, but Woosung remembered it and presented it first.

"And that's the end of my presentation. The change in the development process will stabilize the Nuri Finances' HTS."

After the 20-minute presentation, Yoon Gihwan swallowed hard. Woosung was the real deal. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun also couldn't hide their shock.

"You are saying that we should show this presentation to the outsourcing company… and apply it for real?"

"Yes. And of course, this shouldn't be free."

"What? Free?"

"As you probably realized, this is a form of IT strategy. If we offer the company a way to decrease IT operation cost, we should, of course, be paid a consulting fee."

"You….are you serious?"

"Haha. Of course. Why should only companies like McKinsey and Accenture provide consultation? Daesan System can be consultants too."

Yoon Gihwan laughed as if the idea was ridiculous. "McKinsey? Accenture?"

McKinsey and Accenture.

These were the best consulting companies in the world. Graduates from best universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford often got hired here with a beginning yearly salary of 100,000 dollars. Park Junwoo continued to look shocked.

"I see that someone from the Nuri Finances is finally here."

Woosung saw someone running into the office.

"Please check the codes on HTS side ASAP. There seems to be a mistake in account balances for the customers."

Account system.

It was a core system that dealt with customers' transactions. In a stock brokerage company, it was the one responsible for buying and selling stocks. It was linked to the system Woosung's project was working on. (Pages that customers saw while making transactions, for examples the online homepage, HTS, and call center.) It was HTS that was responsible for showing the account balance.

And showing the wrong balance to the customers was something that should never happen.

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Field supervisors.

Nuri Finances outsourced software development to Daesan System. Field supervisors were people from Nuri Finances familiar with this program and managed communications with Daesan system.

Woosung's field supervisor was Assistant manager Kwak Jungwook who specialized in HTS.

Five staffs including Kwak Jungwook stared at the computer screen.

–Build started: Project: NuriHTS, Configuration:Debug

Win32—

Compiling…

Linking…

Embedding manifest…

Unit Tests Start.

BuyLimitOrderStockTradingTest à OK!

BuyMarketOrderStockTradingTest à OK!

SellLimitOrderStockTradingTest à OK!

SellMarketOrderStockTradingTest à OK!…

StochasticDayChartTest à OK!

StochasticMonthChartTest à OK!

StochasticYearChartTest à OK!…

100% PASSED

–Complete—

Looking at the word "Complete," Woosung told Kwak Jungwook.

"Test has completed 100%. This means that there is nothing wrong on the HTS side."

Kwak Jungwook asked Yoon Gihwan.

"What do you think, general manager? Can we trust this?"

Yoon Gihwan looked at Woosung.

"I think I should check it myself. Hey newbie, show me the codes."

Woosung stood up calmly and replied.

"Have a seat and take your time."

Yoon Gihwan sat down and checked through the codes hurriedly.

20 minutes later.

Kwak Jungwook asked again impatiently.

"General manager? The account balance is incorrect. If the problem is from the HTS side…. This is going to be serious."

Yoon Gihwan didn't even blink once. He kept staring at the monitor.

"Daesan System may have to pay the penalty and lose this project."

Kwak Jungwook continued to emphasize the gravity of this situation, but Yoon Gihwan knew this already. A problem with the account system meant that this could be the end of Nuri Finances.

After 5 more minutes on the computer, Yoon Gihwan opened his mouth.

"I don't think you need to worry."

"Are you saying that there is nothing wrong with HTS?"

Yoon Gihwan nodded. Kwak Jungwook sighed deeply.

"Phew… Well I guess we can relax if the problem is not from our end."

"But how did this happen? How could there be a mistake in account balance?"

"We don't know yet. Several customers contacted us complaining about the wrong balances. When we checked, we found out that all the other customers' balances were also incorrect. We don't know the exact cause yet."

Yoon Gihwan frowned. If the problem doesn't get fixed soon, customers won't be able to use the HTS tomorrow for stock trading.

"If this persists, it's going to get bloody…"

The headquarter would start an investigation to find whoever was responsible for this error. The accountable developers would lose their jobs and possibly be reprimanded further. If the existing customers lost money by not being able to trade, the situation would become impossible to fix.

The company may have to reimburse the customers' losses. This worried Yoon Gihwan a lot. Kwak Jungwook couldn't hide his worries either.

"If the customers sue…"

Kwak Jungwook couldn't even finish the sentence. He swallowed hard.

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun stood rigidly. The other developers in the office looked as perplexed as them. A palpable tension filled the room. Then, Woosung spoke.

"Oh, I thought something looked strange."

Everyone turned their heads towards him at the same time.

"What is?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What?"

"You need to explain right now."

Everyone including Yoon Gihwan, Park Junwoo, Kim Yonggun, and Kwak Jungwook, all asked at the same time.

"I didn't have the clearance to access the DB (DataBase) so I couldn't connect to it, but I noticed something wrong with the stored procedure in the test DB."

Yoon Gihwan prompted Woosung impatiently.

"Stop stalling and just spit it out."

Woosung looked at Kwak Jungwook mysteriously.

"If we can fix this problem, does this mean that Nuri Finances will feel favorable towards Daesan System?"

Kwak Jungwook replied quickly.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't be surprised if the headquarter will give you the account system contract."

Another company outsourced the account system at the moment. The main partnering corporation, Daeyang System, hired the company called ST for the account system and Daesan for the channel system. Nuri Finances was in partnership with Daeyang as a secondary company.

"Hmm… all right. I will tell you as soon as I check this out."

Woosung started Toad, which was a program to access the DB. He then connected to the Oracle database and searched the Oracle. which was a table of the scheduling program list provided by DBMS.

"If you look here, at around 3:05 pm a batch program was executed, which is the market closing time."

– OP_BATCH_CUSTOMER_TRADING_BREAK_DOWN

This was the name of the Batch program. He pointed at the 256th line.

"Do you see the line that says Try Catch?"

Everyone nodded.

"This checks customers' daily transactions and end-of-the-day balances. It compares the numbers and confirms that everything adds up correctly."

Yoon Gihwan asked abruptly.

"Well, of course, it should do that. Data coherency is very important."

"I agree. But what if it is not working correctly?"

Kwak Jungwook's eyes widened.

"… wh… what?"

"When the errors from the server don't get processed, how do you think this procedure react to the inconsistency?" Woosung said the problem came from the server side. Yoon Gihwan stood up angrily.

"Hey! How can you say that? Did you even look at the server codes?"

Kwak Jungwook also asked impatiently.

"W… wait. Errors on the server side? Are you saying that there is a problem with the stock trading transaction?"

Woosung didn't answer the questions and continued to explain.

"To the Catch line, it just processes it as Exception and moves on."

Everyone was now infuriated. They stopped listening to Woosung.

Kwak Jungwook asked again irritably.

"Again, are you saying that the problems are occurring from the server side? Are you sure? Just tell me."

Yoon Gihwan shrieked.

"You! Newbie!"

"I took a quick look at the server codes on the SVN to help with developing HTS…. How much would you pay for this kind of consultation?"

"What?"

"Well, I'm not saying I need to be paid, but I am responsible for only the HTS. If I work on the server, then that's outside of my contract. On top of that, this is a huge case… Wouldn't you prefer to pay and get it fixed ASAP? If you don't believe my explanation, check the relevant procedure."

Finishing his explanation, Woosung left the room.

'10 years ago, they had to hire several famous developers to fix this problem. They spent at least 100,000 dollars. I remember Manager Park being envious of those developers making the big bucks.'

All these things were in Woosung's memories. These were all the things he could use to make money.

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Yoon Gihwan followed Woosung hurriedly. When Woosung ignored him, he shouted desperately.

"Hey, newbie. Hey! You!"

"I'm not going anywhere. Why are you chasing me?"

"What did you mean? Server problem? And what money?"

"We shouldn't work with them for free. You should contact our sales team and get them to bring us a contract."

"Are you serious?"

"First sales team. Then contract."

To Woosung's determined attitude, Yoon Gihwan became quiet. How could a young 26-year-old be so domineering? Yoon Gihwan wet his lips.

'I don't get him.'

At first, he thought of Woosung as a naïve young pup. He was waiting to show him how the real world worked and train him. But Woosung was not what he expected.

Perhaps a tiger?

No, he was even beyond that. He was a flying dragon.

"Didn't you say yesterday you only finished 15% of the test code? So when did you have the time to finish it and check out the server codes?"

"There is a saying in SI. 'Ask for a longer deadline than needed and embellish the result.' That's why I said I needed more time. And my presentation only included the bare necessities. I had a lot of time left so I looked at this and that."

"Are you serious? I know that you included only the main points in the presentation, but you have been working for only one day! How could you make a PPT, complete that many test codes, AND also look at the server codes?"

"Server codes were nothing special. Looking at the Oracle procedure was also easy. As for PPT, it was simple."

Woosung stretched his arms and continued.

"A lot of unexplainable things happen in the world. I think I worked too hard today. I'm getting sleepy. I will take a quick walk to clear my head so please have the contract ready. Oh! Also, remind everyone that our work hour ends at 6:30 pm."

Yoon Gihwan gasped but couldn't say a word.Strolling outside, Woosung drank a cup of coffee. Cold winter wind snapped him back to reality. He remembered what happened 10 years ago as if it all happened yesterday.

"It was a crazy time. Daeyang had to intervene and hire several famous developers to solve this problem."

Woosung remembered that it took a week to fix. Not every customers' balances were showing up incorrect, so the trading service continued and they fixed any mistakes which follow.

Manual rather than automatic.

They spent countless hours trying to fix the balances. Even 2 months after they solved the problem, everyone had to be on call. It was like hell.

"I wonder if Yoon Gihwan is following my order… I hope he doesn't blow this chance."

Woosung shivered. His ears were itchy, which meant that someone was talking about him.

Go Yungjun, a member of Daesan System's sales team grumbled.

"You owe me big time, General manager. I had to cancel an important meeting to come here for you."

"If this works out, it will be a huge deal. I expect it to be worth at least 440,000 dollars."

450,000 dollars. Go Yungjun wet his lips.

"Did you say 450,000 dollars? You need to explain."

"Nuri Finances is having a problem with their account system."

Go Yungjun answered in shock.

"What? Did we screw up?"

"No, thank god."

"Phew, you scared me."

"We will ask for 200,000 dollars to fix the problem, and 250,000 dollars for future consultations on this subject."

Go Yungjun shook his head nervously.

"General manager, account system is a dangerous territory. If we mess up, this destroys our company. You know this, right?"

"This is our chance. If we don't take risks, we can never grow."

"So you're saying we will now dabble in the account system too?"

"We can't always play it safe. And you remember where I used to work, right?"

"Haha, I remember. So we'll fix this problem and offer a better system? And if our work satisfied them, we will take the account system contract and get paid to maintain?"

"Yes. ST has this contract but as you know, I have a history with Daeyang. We can steal the contract. This will be the beginning of us growing."

Yoon Gihwan was ambitious. Account system was a core part of any finance companies and getting involved in this field was not something everyone could do. Only the best of the best firms would win such contracts. This was their chance.

"Be ready for me. The field supervisor went to have a meeting with his headquarter. We'll find out soon."

Yoon Gihwan called for Kim Yonggun.

"Hey, where the hell is that newbie? Find him."

Kim Yonggun picked up his phone.When Woosung came back to the office and gave his opinion, Yoon Gihwan lost it.

"You… you are crazy!"

"That's my condition. Take it or leave it. If I don't get this, then you can do the work yourself."

Yoon Gihwan stood up in fury. Go Yungjun tried to convince Woosung.

"Woosung, this is very important to this company. If this works out well, then I'm sure our company will compensate you accordingly."

Woosung stretched his neck and replied.

"I know, so I'm asking to be compensated now."

Yoon Gihwan exhaled unevenly. Go Yungjun was getting a headache. Park Junwoo watched tensely nearby. This newbie was impressive.

"I want to be paid 50,000 dollars for fixing the problem and another 50,000 for the future consulting. Total 100,000 dollars. I am not asking for an unreasonable amount. I'm the only one who found out about the Batch procedure problem."Yoon Gihwan stared angrily at Woosung. Go Yungjun remained silent.

"I am telling you that I can fix the problem all by myself by the end of the day. Do you still think it's unreasonable? The company will make an easy 200,000 dollars and get a chance to get into the account system field. This is the least this company can invest for such an opportunity."

"Do you really think you can do this? What are you going to do if you can't fix it?"

"Haha, I will sign a contract that says I will give up my salary for the next 5 years if I'm not successful."

At that time, Kwak Jungwook came back from the meeting with Daeyang System.

"General manager, Daeyang is ready to offer you 150,000 dollars if you can fix the problem. If you don't succeed, then you'll get nothing. The deadline is till tomorrow morning before the market opens."

Woosung smiled.

"I need to tell you also that if I end up needing to work after 6:30 pm, my hourly rate will be 1,000 dollars. It's… 5 pm now."

Yoon Gihwan closed his eyes. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun remained silent. Kwak Jungwook added.

"Oh, and as for the further consultation, if you can complete the task by midnight, they will accept it."

Yoon Gihwan replied slowly.

"So… you want us to prove ourselves first."

He looked at Woosung. Woosung was sitting lazily and smiling.

"Yes. And also, if the problem fixes itself somehow, then the offer is off of course."

Woosung pointed at the clock.

"It's now 5:10 pm."

Yoon Gihwan looked at Go Yungjun.

"Manager Go, please prepare the contract. And you newbie… you better keep your word or else, you will never work in this field again."

"Manager Go, I will now have to work till midnight so please include in the contract an additional 5,000 dollars for the 5 hours of after-hours work. I will give you the first 30 minutes of work for free."

Go Yungjun looked at Yoon Gihwan for an approval. Yoon Gihwan glared at Woosung and nodded.

"Fine."

Woosung cracked his knuckles and placed his hands on the keyboard.

"I don't care if the company is getting paid only 150,000 dollars. I still need to be paid in full. You will also need to find a notary and a lawyer for the contract. I trust that you will take care of it, so I will start working."

Yoon Gihwan gave out a defeated sigh.

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Chapter 11: Close the Gates to Hell

Woosung focused on debugging as he ate a burger for his dinner. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun assisted him while Yoon Gihwan remained nearby. Woosung thought about his situation.

'55,000 dollars for tonight's work. If the consultation project works out, then another 50,000 dollars. Total 105,000 dollars. Not bad.'

The room was tense, but Woosung could remain relaxed because the modifications he had to make for this problem was easy. The problem was something that either one could recognize right away or never understand at all. Luckily, Woosung already knew the answer since he remembered it from the past.

'First, I need to pay back my student loan. I'll give 20,000 dollars to my parents and I will save the rest for future cryptocurrency mining. If I get a chance, I should also buy stocks when the financial crisis happens.'

He filled his head with plans for his money. Because he wasn't paying attention to the work, his typing slowed down. Yoon Gihwan noticed this and whispered to Woosung angrily.

"Hey, do you realize how many people are watching you? You better do a good job, got it?"

It wasn't just the Daesan staffs that were waiting for him. People also came from ST Data System and Daeyang System to monitor him. Woosung asked the crowd.

"Is there anyone who works with the server here? I need someone to look at the updates on the transaction fees and balances with me."

A well-dressed man stepped forward.

"The server developer is working on debugging. I am the PM from the server department. My name is Kwon Hyungeun."

PM.

It was an acronym for Project Manager. PMs managed deadlines, staff schedules, and communications with other companies.

"Oh…. PM Kwon."

It was a familiar face. After Daesan's one-year contract with Nuri Finances ended, Kwon Hyungeun thought highly of Woosung and offered a job at ST Data System. ST was slightly bigger than Daesan and offered a higher salary, so Woosung took the offer and spent 6 years at ST.

"Is there a problem with the updates?"

"After they complete the transactions, it should update balances after the fees, right?"

Kwon Hyungeun nodded.

"And there are two different fee rates?"

Kwon Hyungeun nodded again. Everyone listened to Woosung in fascination.

"To customers who pay the monthly subscription fee of 13 dollars, the transaction fee is 0.00811%. If you don't pay the monthly fee, the rate is 0.011%."

Woosung gave a pragmatic explanation.

"This is how the program should work. It completes a transaction. Based on the customer's profile, the transaction fee is calculated. The fee gets deducted, and the balance gets updated. Right?"

Woosung didn't wait for an answer but pointed at the Visual Studio program on the monitor.

"Here is the implemented code on the server. It starts from the 452nd line of StockTrade.cpp file. On the 512th line is where it determines the transaction fee rate. I will now try to bring up that function."

result value : 0.011.

result value : 0.011.

result value : 0.011.

result value : 0.011.

Same numbers kept appearing on the screen. As Woosung remained silent, Yoon Gihwan became impatient and shouted.

"Hey!"

He then realized that there was an audience, so he added quietly.

"You need to explain."

"Transaction fee rate. It applies the same value to every customer."

Kwon Hyungeun quickly denied it.

"That can't be… I checked the DB value…."

Kwak Jungwook looked at Kwon Hyungeun and asked.

"Are you sure you confirmed it?"

Kwon Hyungeun answered uncertainly.

"I am sure I checked it, but… I will check it again."

He picked up his phone. Yoon Gihwan looked at Woosung and swallowed. Did Woosung get it right? Woosung continued with a smile.

"There is no need to call. That value isn't being used by the codes, anyway."

"W… what?"

"If you look here, the value in const format ends up being used. Wrong transaction fee rate is being called up."

cosnt was a type qualifier that defined the constant values. This meant instead of bringing up the correct rate from the database, a value was hard coded.

Every time it needs the correct rate to determine, the program was changing the code and restarting the server.

Kwon Hyungeun, who was making a call, looked at Woosung's monitor. Other developers nearby also stared at the computer to confirm.

const double GENERAL-FEE = 0.011;

const double SPECIAL-FEE = 0.011:

Woosung was right. Kwon Hyungeun whispered.

"How could this…"

He couldn't believe it, so he kept rubbing his eyes. But it was true. Kwak Jungwook asked irritably.

"Stop standing around and call the server developer to check the code. Run the test!"

"This is such a stupid mistake… he's usually so thorough…"

Kwon Hyungeun still couldn't believe it. But the codes from SVN was definitely from his company. There was no excuse. Woosung said to Kwon Hyungeun.

"Your developer could have missed it while running a test, or a freelance developer may have made the mistake. If you fix this and the Batch procedure I mentioned earlier, everything will work normally."

Kwon Hyungeun left in shock. Woosung looked at Kwak Jungwook.

"If you accept my consultation regarding the change in the development process, something like this would never happen. It would be beneficial to apply my idea ASAP. The longer you wait, the more complicated the codes will become. Maintaining such a system would be costly."

The other developers realized that he had solved the problem. They left one by one. Woosung looked at his watch.

10 pm.

He could check the codes and run the tests by midnight.

He asked Yoon Gihwan.

"I think I can do it by midnight. Make sure you don't forget my 55,000 dollars, ok?"

"You…. You…"

"Yes?"

"WHAT are you?"

"Haha, Somebody asked me that before. Obviously, I am a newly hired developer at Daesan System. Now what you need to do is prepare for the consultation presentation for Nuri Finances. We showed them what we can do tonight, but we still have a long way to go to convince them. Don't forget that my additional 50,000 dollars depends on this."

Yoon Gihwan's eyes widened as he remained speechless.

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Chapter 12: Planning for the Future

They deposited the payment for fixing the server to his account the very next day. Yoon Gihwan was a quick-tempered bully, but he did his job well. Woosung first paid back his student loan and gave 20,000 dollars to his parents.

"Use this to pay back part of the mortgage loan."

Their current house was 62,000 dollars and 35,000 of it was a loan.

"W… Woosung, what is this?"

Kim Eunjung trembled as Woosung showed her the cheque.

"My company paid me a bonus for a big job I completed."

Kang Gichun was in shock.

"You just started working there. This doesn't make sense."

"I'm telling the truth. I did nothing illegal for it so don't worry. You guys did so much for me and now it's my turn."

They still seemed wary.

Woosung added quickly.

"It's actually the money I saved since university from part-time job. Trust me."

"H… how about your student loan?"

"I paid it back, so stop worrying about it."

Even after Woosung explained, Kim Eunjung couldn't bring herself to accept it. Woosung put the cheque in her hand.

"Son…"

Woosung could feel that his parents felt apologetic to him. He could see that things were about to get emotional. He stood up and walked towards the front door.

"I need to get to work, so I'll see you later."

He didn't want to see his mother cry. Woosung left quickly.As soon as Woosung arrived, Park Junwoo greeted him.

"Hello, Woosung."

Kim Yonggeun treated Woosung similarly. They greeted him first before he did. Even Yoon Gihwan, who was already at work, greeted him.

"Hey, newbie."

"Hello. I received the payment. Your personality isn't great, but you do your job well."

Yoon Gihwan closed his eyes. Woosung just insulted him, but he needed to remain calm.

"I told the headquarter that we need you. I also asked to promote you to Assistant manager ASAP."

"Haha, you worked hard for me."

"And as for your consultation presentation, Nuri Finances asked us to arrange another meeting. They asked us to make sure to bring you."

Woosung sat down in his chair and replied.

"It's my job, so of course I'll go. Oh, and I want the consulting team to include Manager Park and Assistant manager Kim. We will also continue to maintain HTS."

"The headquarter promised to send some talented developers."

Park Junwoo.

Kim Yonggun.

10 years ago, they helped him to grow in Daesan System. This was his chance to repay them.

"I don't need talented people. I need people I can trust. I won't do it if I don't have Manager Park and Assistant manager Kim."

"Gosh, do you always have to get your way?"

"I must be learning from you, General manager."

"W… what?"

"You have a horrible personality, but the company is keeping you because of your skills."

Both Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun nodded in agreement. Yoon Gihwan reddened.

"You!"

Park Junwoo watched nervously. He was worried about Yoon Gihwan losing his temper, but strangely, nothing happened.

'Yoon Gihwan is always condescending to me… but he can't win an argument against a newbie.'

It was strange to see haughty Yoon Gihwan like this.

"I'm busy. Let's get to work."

"Fine. Just make sure your presentation is perfect. You need to prepare a proposal as well. You are getting paid 50,000 dollars, so you should do all the work."

"Haha, of course."

Woosung sat down and began. Yoon Gihwan left in mad fury but didn't say another word.Lunch time.

Woosung stood up to go for lunch when guests arrived for him. ST Data System's Kwon Hyungeun was here with another familiar face.

"Hello. I'm sorry that I came by without an appointment but…"

"Oh, why are you here…?"

"I was so thankful for your work yesterday, I wanted to buy you lunch."

The developer next to him frowned.

"I told you I would've fixed it myself."

"Fine. Let's just go for lunch."

Woosung looked at Yoon Gihwan. It was uncomfortable to meet with people from a competing company.

"When did you ever worry about what I think?"

"Ok. Then I will have lunch with my guests."

Woosung was happy to see Kwon Hyungeun. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun were his friends from Daesan, while Kwon Hyungeun was the one who gave him the opportunity to work at ST. Woosung laughed.

"Let's go. By the way, I like sushi."

To his friendliness, Kwon Hyungeun laughed as well.

"Haha, I was worried about what we should eat. That sounds good."

The three arrived at a Japanese restaurant nearby. They ordered expensive sushi dishes. Woosung's mouth watered. Kwon Hyungeun lifted his chopsticks.

"Let's eat."

"Are you sure it's ok for you to buy such an expensive meal?"

"Of course. Oh, and this is the server development PL (Project Leader) Nam Kyungsang."

Kwon Hyungeun introduced the man next to him.

Nam Kyungsang.

Woosung knew him. How could he forget? Because of this man, Nuri Finances lost its confidence in the developers of HTS at Daesan. They had to work late nights for a year because of him.

"Manager Nam, nice to see you. It has been a long time."

Kwon Hyungeun and Nam Kyungsang looked at him strangely. Woosung added quickly.

"Oh…. I think we've met before at the office. It's nice to see you."

Nam Kyungsang replied rudely.

"Really? I've never met you before."

"Oh…well. Perhaps you don't remember me, but I never forget a face."

Kwon Hyungeun didn't want this conversation to get any more uncomfortable so he joined in.

"Haha, Woosung must have a good memory. And he is also very skilled. He was able to fix the server problem so easily."

"Manager, I told you that I could fix it myself. I was almost done fixing it when this guy swooped in."

"Oh… Haha. Of course. I'm getting old. I keep forgetting things. Did you have anything you would like to ask Woosung?"

"I already know everything, so there is nothing to ask."

Woosung looked at Nam Kyungsang unkindly.

'He had such a big ego. 10 years ago, he blamed us for the problem…'

While Woosung was deep in his thoughts, Kwon Hyungeun continued.

"Of course I believe you. But don't you think it would be helpful to us if we know how Woosung fixed the problem?"

Nam Kyungsang refused to budge.

"Nobody knows server codes better than I do."

There was no way to convince him. Kwon Hyungeun gave up and looked at Woosung.

"Let's eat."

Woosung picked up his chopsticks.

It was an awkward lunch.

'If he has something to say, he should just say it. Why is he looking at me like that?'

Nam Kyungsang didn't say a word and kept glancing at Woosung. Kwon Hyungeun noticed how uncomfortable Woosung was, so he asked.

"You seem so young. How are you so good at your job already?"

"I studied hard and learned the new techniques from the internet."

"Wow, you make it sound so easy. But not everyone can become skillful like you, Woosung."

Kwon Hyungeun complimented Woosung. Nam Kyungsang didn't like this, so he added maliciously.

"I'm like that too."

"Haha of course. You can learn so much on the internet, especially from . (One of the world's biggest website for programming information)."

Kwon Hyungeun has never heard of this website before.

"Stack Overflow? Manager Nam, do you know this site too?"

Nam Kyungsang stuttered.

"W… well of course. I've looked at it a few times. There is a lot of information there."

Stack Overflow.

Some IT companies required applicants to include information from this website on their cover letters. It was a very famous site, so if Nam Kyungsang didn't know about it, that could mean only one thing.

'It must not be available yet.'

No one has created the website yet. Now that Woosung thought about it, he didn't remember visiting this site in 2008. This was a second mistake he made today.

'I need to be careful of what I say.'

As Woosung remained silent, Kwon Hyungeun added.

"I can see why you are so good at your job. After lunch, I will go back to the office and look this website up."

Woosung laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, haha… It's nothing. There is no need."

"A programmer should never stop learning. You always need to learn the newest techniques."

Nam Kyungsang added competitively.

"Especially if you are a C programmer, you need to visit MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) often. Right?"

Then suddenly, Kwon Hyungeun's phone vibrated. After apologizing, he answered the phone. His face darkened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry but I need to get back to work…"

"It's ok. I'm full anyway."

"Manager Nam, are you sure you don't need Woosung's help?"

"No. I've been doing this for 7 years."

"Fine. Let's go."

Kwon Hyungeun seemed nervous. Woosung watched him worriedly.

'Now that the gates to hell closed, they must discuss how to prevent such situations in the future. If I remember correctly, they came up with a point system.'

Woosung could guess why Kwon Hyungeun was getting worried.

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Ten people sat around the table in the conference room.

Woosung was showing off his presentation skill in front of the big screen.

"This is a step-by-step method that can decrease your IT cost. We can apply the changes to our system first to see how effective it is. You can then decide whether you want to use it for your system."

Yoon Gihwan sat with his arms crossed while Park Junwoo nodded.

'Not only is he great at programming and paperwork, but he is also awesome at presentation.'

There were many important people in the room. HTS department Manager Kwak Jungwook and IT Department leader from Nuri Finances and representatives from Daeyang System were all watching. Despite the pressure, the newbie didn't seem nervous at all. He continued his presentation without hesitation.

'How could a new graduate be that confident?'

Yoon Gihwan's ears were turning red. This happened when he was in a good mood.

This meant that he was happy about how things were going.

'He can't be real…'

Woosung was like a utility player in soccer. He was great at all positions including forward, defense, and goalkeeping. Kwak Jungwook asked during the presentation.

"You say your idea will decrease the number of VoC and speed up the development of prototypes, right? If it works as you promise, then obviously we will accept your proposal. But I'm wondering if it sounds too good to be true."

"I expect that the number of VoC will decrease by 50% and the number of customers will increase by 50%. Frankly, I'm being conservative with my estimations. Have you ever seen the HTS from other financial companies?"

Woosung paused and looked around the room. He made an eye contact with the IT department leader who had the most decision-making power in this room. He then went on to the next slide.

"Of course you did. On this page is this week's customer feedback from the website of your competition Woosung Finances.

– Complaints RE: Slow speed – 37

– Complaints RE: Frequent errors – 41

– Request RE: Improvement in functions – 30

"This isn't just Woosung Finances. Below list is from KY Finances."

– Complaints RE: Slow speed – 50

– Complaints RE: Frequent errors – 52

– Request RE: Improvement in functions – 42

"And this is from our Nuri Finances."

– Complaints RE: Slow speed – 45

– Complaints RE: Frequent errors – 52

– Request RE: Improvement in functions – 53

Nuri Finances' numbers weren't great. Everyone from the company swallowed.

"This is a problem. If we fixed the glitches suggested by our users, we will attract more customers."

Woosung looked at the IT department leader Jo Youngsuk again. He was looking at the screen intently.

"If nobody has questions, then that would be the end of my presentation."

As soon as Woosung finished, Jo Youngsuk admired.

"You are amazing…"

He then ordered Kwak Jungwook.

"Assistant Manager Kwak, let's do it."

"Yes, sir."

It was such a quick acceptance that shocked Yoon Gihwan. Jo Youngsuk stood up slowly and told Woosung.

"Let's have lunch sometime. There are things I would like to discuss with you. And from now on, join General Manager Yoon Gihwan for our weekly meeting. You could be very helpful."

After making such a shocking decision, Jo Youngsuk and the others from Nuri Finances left the room. Park Junwoo whispered to Kim Yonggun.

"What just happened? Did he get scouted? He got asked to join the weekly PM meetings."

"I… I think so."

"Well, he is too good to be stuck in our company."

"I agree that he is better than me… Perhaps even…"

He looked at Park Junwoo.

"He's definitely better than me too."

Park Junwoo admitted coolly. Kim Yonggun now looked towards Yoon Gihwan.

"Don't you think he's even better than the general manager too?"

"I think so."

They continued to whisper for a while.When Yoon Gihwan came back, he asked.

"So they approved our project. What should we do now?"

"There is something I need to check first. I also want to make sure you will give Manager Park and Assistant manager Kim their bonuses."

Yoon Gihwan opened a drawer and picked up a contract. Woosung, Park Junwoo, and Kim Yonggung's names were on it. It stated that once the project completed successfully and Daesan received the payment, the three will each receive a bonus.

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun were unaware of this, but it still surprised them. As soon as they signed the contract, Woosung started.

"We need to expand the existing test codes for the model and controller. But I didn't find a good library for the view."

There were three parts to the HTS screen. The view was an output representation of information to the users while the model was the central component that managed data. The controller accepted input and converted it to commands for the model or view.

They called this the MVC pattern. Woosung's main worry was the view test. Yoon Gihwan was also worried about the same thing.

"So?"

"I will make it myself."

"… what?"

"I am thinking of creating it into something we can test in the macro format."

Microsoft's Visual Studio 2010 allowed UI test, but the most current version available now was Visual Studio 2005, which didn't have this function. Woosung planned on creating this function himself. Yoon Gihwan knew what Woosung meant, but he asked again.

"So, you'll make it yourself?"

"Yes, and while I'm doing this, Manager Park and Assistant manager Kim should work on the rest of the test codes."

"W… wait. You can really invent that?"

Woosung nodded and started the Visual Studio on his laptop. He then executed a never-seen-before GUI Test Tool.

"I already tried making a login test."

Woosung attempted to log in on HTS and clicked the Stop button, which made the written codes to appear automatically.

"I made it record my screen activities in a macro format. It will then code the input values automatically, which we can use anywhere. I will now try to execute it again."

What happened on the screen shocked Yoon Gihwan and Park Junwoo. The manual process of inputting the ID and PW to log in was now happening automatically. Woosung added quickly.

"This is an example of how it will work. There is one thing you need to do for me, General manager."

"Me?"

"Yes. While we work on TDD (Test-driven development), you need to organize this process in a word document."

Was it because Woosung just impressed him with the GUI Test Tool? Yoon Gihwan nodded without a word. From this interaction, it was impossible to tell who was in charge of this department.

"That document will become the foundation for teaching the other developers our project, so please do your best."

Woosung was clearly in charge now.

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When Woosung suggested that it was time to go home, Park Junwoo shook his head weakly.

"You should go home. I… I still have more work to do."

"How about you, Assistant Manager Kim?"

Kim Yonggun was in the same boat as Park Junwoo.

"I… think I also have more to finish."

"Really? You should go home and just finish tomorrow."

"N… no, Woosung. You go ahead."

He sighed and looked at this screen.

-title : HTS Controller Test

-author : woosung.kang

-email : woosung.

This was the beginning of Woosung's code. It was hard to accept that they had to use the newbie's code. Woosung was better than the assistant manager. He was even better than the manager.

Woosung also said to Yoon Gihwan.

"Well then, General Manager, I will see you tomorrow."

"O… ok."

Yoon Gihwan also looked like he was struggling. When Woosung peeked at his screen, he saw that Yoon Gihwan was looking up TDD on the internet.

"Don't work too hard. Go home early. And General Manager!"

Yoon Gihwan looked up from his computer.

"When you're done with the report, don't forget to run it by me."

"You, bastard…."

Yoon Gihwan exhaled deeply and stopped mid-sentence.

"I just want to chat with you about Kent Beck's work (One of the original signatories of the Agile Manifesto) and how you feel about it."

"Argh…"

Yoon Gihwan groaned as Woosung left the office. Woosung lived about an hour of a subway ride from the office. He zoned out as he waited for his ride.

'Did I get smarter when I traveled back in time?'

It wasn't just the coding. His ability to write reports, do presentations, and control the situation all improved.

'Within the last two weeks, I created so many test codes, wrote an impressive report, and created the GUI test plugin. I am so amazing.'

He knew what the future held, but if he didn't have these skills, it could have been useless, but that wasn't the case. He was more than capable.

'At this rate, I will be fluent in English soon too.'

One of the many things Woosung learned was English. He had to read the original report on coin and the Android specs on the first smartphones.

'Choi Gichul, you just wait. I will destroy you.'

Woosung was determined. He promised to never waste a day. He was single-minded. He focused on the book.

– Sungmoon's English Grammar for the Beginners

It was a famous textbook for students learning English. Woosung has never finished this book when he was still in school. Woosung opened the book.3 pm every Friday.

As soon as the market closed, PMs from the outsourcing companies for Nuri Finances gathered around for a meeting. It was to share and discuss all the issues in different departments including the account system, channel system, and the information system. Jo Youngsuk, the head of the Nuri Finances' IT department, was in charge of this meeting and any final decisions made here.

Jo Youngsuk reprimanded Kwon Hyungeun harshly.

'Manager Kwon…'

Kwon Hyungeun remained silent.

"It has only been a few days since we had that big problem, and already we have 10 VoCs. 10! Do you think this is normal, Manager Kwon?"

"We just launched a new system so we are still in the adjusting period. We are trying our best."

"Manager, this isn't the place to 'try.' You need to 'do' it right."

Kwon Hyungeun reddened.

"…I apologize."

Jo Youngsuk wasn't finished. He was acting very differently than when he talked to Woosung.

"It has already been days since we launched this program. The adjustment period should be over by now. You need to do better!"The room filled with tension. Yoon Gihwan looked nervous, worried that he might be called up next.

'If General manager Yoon is scared of him… Jo Youngsuk must be really terrifying.'

Jo Youngsuk.

Woosung didn't know him very well. 10 years ago, he was only a newbie at Daesan System. He was never promoted high enough to ever meet Jo Youngsuk.

"This applies to everyone here. And from now on, it won't just be words. Starting today, we are implementing a point system for every VoC."

Point system. Also called the reward and punishment system.

At first glance, it looked like a fair arrangement, but it only worked to destroy morale and increase unnecessary competition among co-workers. Some groaned in fear. Jo Youngsuk continued indifferently.

"It's not just punishment. Remember the reward part. If you make a good suggestion or apply new ideas effectively and quickly, you can gain positive points to offset any negative points. Renewing outsourcing contracts will depend on these points. This system starts today and Kwak Jungwook will explain the details to you."

Jo Youngsuk left the room angrily. Kwon Hyungeun breathed deeply and sat silently.

After the meeting, Yoon Gihwan went to talk to Park Junwoo.

"Manager Park, how did you do with the VoC on our end?"

"I am done with all of them from last week."

"How about this week?"

"I had a lot to do this week so…I took care of only the Monday's VoC so far."

Yoon Gihwan sighed and replied.

"… Manager Park, didn't I tell you that you need to take care of all VoCs as quickly as possible?"

He was about to explode. Park Junwoo stiffened.

"But I just don't have the time… I need more time to run tests."

He then glanced at Woosung. Because of Woosung, there was more to do now. He had to make test codes and also study Agile software development. He had more work to do within the same amount of time. He had to prioritize, and one of the things he skipped was taking care of the VoC. Park Junwoo felt resentful for a moment, but not for long.

"They said at the meeting that whatever we missed so far will be forgiven. We are given a fresh start so we're ok. And even if we don't complete it, don't worry about it."

Yoon Gihwan murmured skeptically.

"Will you take responsibility if our company doesn't get its contract renewed with Nuri Finances next year?"

"That depends on you, General Manager. I am referring to the reward points that was mentioned earlier. Jo Youngsuk said that anyone coming up with and implementing good ideas will gain reward points."

"So?"

"We'll focus on those points."

Woosung was from the future.

He knew how HTS was going to improve in the future. He planned to use what he knew. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun began to worry at what Woosung was suggesting.

"W… Woosung. We are already overwhelmed with making the test codes and taking care of the VoC. If you try to start any new project, we won't be able to keep up. Let's just finish what we started first."

Park Junwoo nodded in agreement. Even Yoon Gihwan felt the same.

"If you are just being overconfident, you should stop now. We know you are talented, but there is always a limit to everything."

There were already four things Woosung oversaw.

Agile software development consulting.

Processing VoC.

GUI Test Tool.

Test codes.

GUI Test Tool alone would take over a month to complete. Test codes and VoC were being taken cared off by Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun, but Woosung also helped out whenever he could. At this point, Woosung's hope to make improvements on HTS was an impossible dream. But Woosung felt differently.

'This is a good way to test how far I can go.'

He had to know his limit to make an accurate plan for the future. He wanted to see how much he could accomplish. There was only one solution.

"I can do it by myself."

Yoon Gihwan couldn't help but roar.

"Hey! Didn't you hear a word I said?"

"Worries and concerns are the bugs that eat away the future. Recklessness and persistence can allow you to grow. These are famous sayings from the future."

Yoon Gihwan realized he couldn't change Woosung's mind.

"Well, you never listen so whatever. Do whatever you want."

"Then I would like to have another meeting with the server team."

"… Do you already know what you will do?"

He already knew how HTS would change in the future, but he needed to remember the specifics.

"Well, I know the big picture. I can do parts of it myself but some of it requires new API. If you can arrange a meeting, I will let you know."

Yoon Gihwan pointed behind Woosung.

"There is no need. You can tell him yourself."

Kwon Hyungeun was just coming in with the server developer Nam Kyungsang. They were whispering but Woosung could hear them clearly.

"I'm sure the problem is on the channel system. I checked the server codes several times. This isn't the first time we got blamed because of the HTS problem. We need to nip this in the bud."

Woosung remembered this situation. 10 years ago, this was how he got to know Kwon Hyungeun well and also offered a job at ST Data System.

'Things will turn out differently this time, Manager Nam.'

Woosung smiled and greeted the two.

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Chapter 15: Planning for the Future

Kim Yonggun frowned when he saw Nam Kyungsang. Park Junwoo shut his eyes and sighed. Yoon Gihwan turned away in disgust.

"Hello, Manager Park. We meet again."

"Yes."

"The thing is, we received a few VoC on our end, but they seem like problems related to HTS channel. I really hate to bring this up over and over again, but your mistakes are inconveniencing us."

"I… I'll check it right now."

Park Junwoo did a weak reply. Kwon Hyungeun also seemed to feel awkward. He reiterated the situation in a kinder tone.

"We checked our system multiple times, but we couldn't find anything wrong. We thought it would be smart to cross check with your system. Please don't take this the wrong way."

"I am telling you this is definitely an HTS problem. I called up the Stochastics (Point of a current stock price in relation to its price range over time) graph API several times, but nothing is wrong on my end."

"Well, we aren't sure."

"No, I'm positive."

Nam Kyungsang gave an adamant reply and looked at Park Junwoo.

"I sent the problems to your email, Manager Park. It takes too long to bring up the Stochastics graphs. There were also some other problems, but I didn't read them. They are not my problems. There's nothing wrong on our end. They're HTS errors, so you need to fix them right now."

His voice was rude and condescending, but Park Junwoo couldn't fight back. Yoon Gihwan turned around.

"I checked the email just now. It says there is a delay in bringing up the 'Stochastics monthly graph API.' Are you saying that's our problem?"

"I tested it out many times. When I try it on my end, it only takes 2 seconds, so isn't it obvious? Something went wrong on your side."

Yoon Gihwan couldn't be rude to people from another company, so he replied respectfully.

"How?"

"Handling the screen data is HTS territory. Do I have to explain everything to you?"

Nam Kyungsang became louder and angrier. Kwon Hyungeun tried to calm him down.

"Manager Nam, that's enough. Haha, I apologize General Manager Yoon. Our company is under a lot of stress…"

The now aggressive Nam Kyungsang added.

"Why should I stop? I need to say this. You all heard about the new point system, right? If your channel problems keep appearing as ours, I won't stay silent."

Yoon Gihwan bit his lips. He wanted to say something, but there have been many occasions when problems turned out to be his department's mistakes. Park Junwoo felt the same. Kim Yonggun was biting his nails. This situation was familiar to Woosung. Kwon Hyungeun tried to stop Nam Kyungsang again.

"Manager Nam, stop right now."

He exclaimed causing Nam Kyungsang to quiet down, but then he made eye contact with Woosung and Nam Kyungsang couldn't help himself but continue.

"Lastly, that recent problem was something I could have fixed. What you need to focus on are your own problems."

Woosung remembered Nam Kyungsang from the past.

'He has such a big ego. He really believed his codes were the best. No one could challenge him… Well, he had good skills, so nobody could stand up to him. But things are different now.'

The impatient Yoon Gihwan stood up. Park Junwoo kept repeating miserable sighs. Kwon Hyungeun grabbed Nam Kyungsang's arm and pulled.

"Manager Nam!" He then bowed to Yoon Gihwan. "General Manager, I am so sorry. Nam Kyungsang isn't usually like this. I will make sure he doesn't behave like this again."

He then dragged Nam Kyungsang out of the room.

Crack.

Yoon Gihwan kicked the chair and left to take a smoke break. Park Junwoo asked Kim Yonggun and Woosung.

"Let's go for coffee."

Woosung followed them quietly.

10 years ago, because of Nuri Finances' new system, Woosung had to deal with Nam Kyungsang often. Even after the new system stabled, they still had to maintain a stable meeting among one another. Park Junwoo explained the history of Daesan's slipups to Woosung.

Server crash because of an infinite loop request. Wrong parameter request causing a delay in server development. Failure in updating the screen enhancements provoking the need for a new server. The server team was inconvenience multiple times in the past because of the mistakes from HTS team. It was no wonder Nam Kyungsang fretted about it. Woosung didn't react and listened to Park Junwoo.

"So Woosung, don't feel bad. We did make a lot of mistakes."

A nice guy.

10 years ago, Park Junwoo said the same thing. He was such a nice guy. Kim Yonggun felt different, however.

"Even so, there is no need to be that rude. We all work hard."

"But if they have to work late because of our mistakes, then it's understandable that they get frustrated."

"I know but…"

"Assistant Manager Kim, don't you remember complaining when we had to work late because of the server or infra errors?"

Kim Yonggun reddened in embarrassment.

"Well, you don't have to bring that up."

"I'm just saying it's all good. When a person feels inconvenienced, we all become defensive. Some may react more strongly than others."

Kim Yonggun drank his coffee in silence. Park Junwoo looked out the window. Woosung had a different feeling.

"To me, it looks like ST wants to take everything."

Park Junwoo spilled his coffee in surprise.

"W… what?"

"I told you before. The new point system will decide which outsource company will get its contract renewed with Nuri Finances. That means one or more companies could lose their work next year."

Kim Yonggun swallowed hard.

"So…"

"I don't think ST has protested this much before, right?"

Park Junwoo thought carefully. Thinking about it now, this was the first time they made such a big fuss. In the past, Nam Kyungsang fixed the problems himself to show how good he was.

"So ST wants to take our contract and work on HTS maintenance too?"

Woosung shook his head.

"Who is Nuri Finances' main partner?"

Kim Yonggun answered.

"That would be Daeyang System."

"Our company and ST are secondary outsource companies. We are only 'small fish.'"

"Wow. Only 'small fish'."

"If ST gains the most points in this new system, what do you think would happen?"

Park Junwoo put down his coffee and answered.

"ST can stand equal with the main partners?"

Woosung nodded. Kim Yonggun swallowed again.

"Yes, that's it. They are thinking big."

Park Junwoo looked at him in shock.

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Chapter 16: Planning for the Future

Nuri Finances' primary partnering company was Daeyang System, which was a major corporation. ST and Daesan System were the secondary companies with outsourcing contracts. Ten years ago, Daesan System lost its contract in a year and Woosung left to work at ST. As an employee of ST, Woosung ended up working for Nuri Finances still.

'If I apply what I know of the future, Daesan will become the primary partner…"

However, one thing still worried Woosung. Will he be able to make extra money like the last time using his knowledge of the future, or perhaps gain something else other than money?

He was still working at Daesan because he needed the salary. He didn't know the winning lotto numbers and there were no other ways to earn a stable salary. He even knew who would be the next president, but it was useless information.

'Hmmm…'

Yoon Gihwan suddenly called for Woosung.

"Hey newbie, you need to explain what you said to Manager Park."

Woosung focused on Yoon Gihwan and answered.

"Isn't it obvious? The new point system will filter out weak companies. Only the best will remain and take everything."

"So you're saying that ST is trying to steal our project?"

Woosung gave an immediate reply.

"Yes. You've already asked me that three times."

"But if we complete our new project and apply it to the system successfully ASAP, what do you think will happen?"

"Even then, the best we can hope for is to keep our current contract. It still won't be enough to take over ST's account system. We are not big enough to steal that contract. Unlike us, ST is bigger and has more experiences."

Yoon Gihwan shouted in anger.

"That's not what I want to hear."

"What would you like me to say? By the way, is there a good reason for stealing the account system contract?"

"Obviously we need to get as many project deals as possible for our company to become successful. What a stupid question."

"And you're sure it's not for your personal gain?"

Woosung continued before the other could retort.

"Daesan has never worked for a financial company before. The only reason we got to work for Nuri Finances is your history with Daeyang System. This job is too big for our department, and that is why Manager Park and Assistant Manager Kim are overworked."

Park Junwoo turned himself towards their direction after hearing what Woosung said. Yoon Gihwan's flushed. Everyone knew this, but nobody confronted him like this before.

Yoon Gihwan used to work at Daeyang System. When he accepted the job offer at Daesan, Daeyang outsourced this new project to Daesan. It was a good deal for Daesan to hire Yoon Gihwan, as they gained a contract from a big financial company, they also gained a talented programmer.

The problem was the existing staffs. Yoon Gihwan was familiar with this line of work, but the rest were all new to this field. They had to work overtime to keep up. Yoon Gihwan remained silent and glared Woosung. Park Junwoo tried to neutralize the situation.

"G-General Manager."

He also looked at Woosung.

"W-Woosung. Let's calm down."

Woosung was thinking fast. Yoon Gihwan replied.

"So what are you trying to say?"

"Manager Park asked for more workers a lot but you ignored him. It was because of money. They gave you a set budget for this team and you could keep whatever was leftover. That is why you wouldn't hire more people."

Woosung learned this from Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun 10 years ago while drinking. Park Junwoo looked surprised but pleased.

He offered a subtle nod. Yoon Gihwan directed an accusing glared towards Park Junwoo. Yoon Gihwan now believed Park Junwoo spilled the beans.

"There is no need to blame Manager Park. Everyone knows about it already."

Yoon Gihwan slapped the table and stood up.

"You! Newbie!"

"Sit down and relax. I agree with you we can't lose our contract."

"My patience is running out."

"Well, you must learn to be more patient from now on."

Woosung always had the last words. Yoon Gihwan was getting a migraine from it. He frowned. Woosung added quickly.

"I know what you want to hear. Don't worry. I will complete my new idea and apply it successfully. We won't lose the contract. I can do it."

Woosung's words changed the mood. Everyone, even Yoon Gihwan, relaxed.

"But you have to promise to change how we work here. You need to treat all of us equally and kindly. Stop ordering us around. You also need to teach us more about what you know in the financial field."

Yoon Gihwan answered embarrassedly.

"Of course I will. We are a team."

Kim Yonggun swallowed. Yoon Gihwan said it like he meant what he said.

"We need to avoid late night work as much as possible. You need to make sure nobody is overworked."

"Of course. I have been planning to do all that."

Woosung knew he meant it.

'10 years ago, Yoon Gihwan tried to apply Agile method to decrease the amount of work for this project.'

"And one last thing. Please teach me about algorithm trading."

Algorithm trading, an automated trading performed by computers programmed to take certain actions in response to varying market data. After the financial crisis in 2008, it became the most popular trading method even in South Korea.

Yoon Gihwan stuttered.

"W-what?"

"I know that when you were working at Daeyang System, you specialized in algorithm trading. I also know you had to leave that company because they associated you with an unethical incident."

Yoon Gihwan's eyes widened in shock.

"H.-how do you know…"

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun looked surprised as well. They didn't know about Yoon Gihwan's past.

'10 years ago, you got drunk and told me all about it the entire night. I'm probably the only one who knew about it in this company.'

Woosung needed to learn about algorithm trading. It could help him make money fast.

"I don't care what happened. I need to know about algorithm trading and how it works. If you can do this for me, I promise I will make sure Daesan comes out a winner from this point system."

Yoon Gihwan swallowed. This newbie, who had unbelievable skills and knew about his past, was a frightening enigma.

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After a meeting, Yoon Gihwan wanted to talk to Woosung in private.

"Are you aiming to become a quant?"

Quant.

If you buy at A and sell at C, you could profit 2 cents.

If you buy at D and sell at E, then you could profit 2.5 cents.

But If you sell A at C, you have a 20% chance of losing 7 cents.

If you sell D at E, then you have a 25% chance of losing 10 cents.

With the above premises, which scenario would give you the best chance of profiting the most in a month? A quant was a person who composed complex mathematical models to detect investment opportunities. Companies scouted talented quants. As a skilled quant, you could become successful in both finance and in reputation. You had to be smart, and Yoon Gihwan knew Woosung could be an incredible quant.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Really? Then why do you want to know about algorithm trading?"

"That's not my goal but knowing about it can still make me rich."

"So you are thinking about opening your own business with it?"

Woosung followed with all honesty.

"I am trying to make it into my weapon."

Yoon Gihwan, now more curious than ever, asked.

"All right… but why do you want ME to teach you? If I was the best at algorithm trading, I wouldn't be working at a place like this."

"I need your experience."

Yoon Gihwan laughed.

"Hahaha, newbie. You need something from ME?"

"More like I need experience."

"Yet you still have been so rude to me?"

"As you know, some experiences are…"

"Not important?"

"Something I can overcome with knowledge."

"But algorithm trading is different?"

Woosung sighed. There was no end to Yoon Gihwan's questions.

"You have a lot of questions."

Yoon Gihwan nodded and played with his coffee cup.

"I have been working for 20 years in this field and I have never seen a newbie like you. Of course, I would be curious about you."

"Please teach me how to apply algorithm trading in real life and how to create an architecture in large scale. I need you to help me create a personal and stable algorithm to use in trading. Will you help me or not? I want no more of your questions."

"And all I get is to keep my job as a general manager at Daesan, which is only a secondary outsource company to Nuri Finances…"

Swallow.

Woosung swallowed. After much thinking about his future, the answer he came up with was algorithm trading. It wasn't something that interested him. Only the best of the best can become a quant. He didn't know how Yoon Gihwan got into this field., he only knew of it because Yoon Gihwan mentioned when he was drunk.

'I became smarter after my death, so I think I could make money using the algorithm. If I can apply the concept to cryptocurrency dealing… I should be able to make a lot of money.'

Woosung was confident of the newfound intelligence he gained. What he has done so far was not something he could have done in his previous life. While Woosung was deep in his thought, Yoon Gihwan continued.

"I feel like I should get something more out of it. My experiences aren't cheap."

"Well, if you feel that way, I guess that's that. I will look elsewhere."

Woosung gave up easily. There was no guarantee Yoon Gihwan was good, anyway. Yoon Gihwan seemed confused.

"W-wait."Woosung remained silent. Yoon Gihwan continued.

"Let's do it together."

"What?"

"I want to be your partner in whatever you're planning."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Even if algorithm trading doesn't work out, you will continue to try other things. I will be here to help you with whatever. All I want is for you to share your profit with me."

This piqued Woosung's curiosity.

"I am only a newbie, so how can you trust me, and how can I trust you?"

"I know you will succeed. My instinct tells me so. Even if you don't trust me, you can still use me till you don't need me anymore."

Woosung closed his eyes. What should he do? He couldn't do everything by himself. He also needed help with algorithm trading.

"You'll be able to help me in every way?"

Yoon Gihwan nodded. Woosung expected to have him as an enemy, but having a partner at his workplace could make things easier.

"I will let you have any vacation time, early leave, or late start. I can make things happen for you at work."

It was a tempting deal. Woosung put out his hand and Yoon Gihwan shook it.

"Then let's do it."

"Perfect. I will teach you everything I know, and whenever you make a profit, you must share it with me."

Woosung nodded.

They left the coffee shop and returned to the office. Woosung asked him questions he wanted to know. Unlike before, Yoon Gihwan's manner of answering softened. Things felt right between them. They were even laughing together. Park Junwoo looked at them in confusion. Kim Yonggun also noticed the difference and asked Park Junwoo.

"Manager, what's happening?"

"I don't know. I was worried they might have had a fight but…"

"They look so friendly now. What did the newbie do this time?"

"Believe me, I wanna know too, it's shocking to see Yoon Gihwan laugh like that."

They stopped whispering as the two came close. Yoon Gihwan told them in an unusual caring voice.

"What are you guys still doing here? It's time to go home. Think of your families waiting for you."

Park Junwoo's eyes widened.

Kim Yonggun became speechless.

Woosung looked at them and added.

"Let's get going. The general manager has decided from now on, our department will follow the strict work hour."

Park Junwoo asked in confusion.

"But what about the problems the server team brought up today…?"

Woosung replied.

"I will take care of them first thing tomorrow. I have a good idea of what they are."

Yoon Gihwan smiled and agreed.

"Well, that settles it then, right, or do you still want to work late?"

Kim Yonggun didn't need to ask a second time. He grabbed his bag and stood up.

"Nope! I am ready to go home."

He prompted Park Junwoo. When Park Junwoo stood up, Yoon Gihwan turned off his computer.

He murmured in disbelief.

"This is the first time we all left on time… This feels so strange."

Kim Yonggun nodded in agreement.8PM.

Woosung sat down at his desk at home with a book Yoon Gihwan recommended. It had a title of "Basics of Algorithm Trading."

"The biggest opportunity occurs when there is a big change in the market. This could be my way to make money during the financial crisis…"

Even if he couldn't make enough money during the financial crisis in October 2008, he could still make more with cryptocurrency. The more chances he took, the better. Woosung focused and opened the book.

-History of algorithm trading

The 300-page book started with the history of the system. As he read, Woosung again confirmed he was now smarter. Unlike in his previous life, it was now so easy to comprehend any information. It was effortless; he felt the joy of learning. He used to not be able to read for more than an hour, but now he read the entire book in one sitting.

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Chapter 18: Customer loyalty

Woosung's days were easy. As soon as he arrived at work, he took care of all the VoC. In the afternoon, he worked on GUI Test Tool and the potential new HTS functions. He was working on three different projects every day. Kim Yonggun thought of Woosung as a work monster rather than a newbie.

"Manager, Woosung completed a lot of commits (the act of uploading codes) today again."

On average, Woosung committed thousands of lines per day. Compared to the others who at most could complete hundreds per day, Woosung was doing 10 times the work every day.

"He is awesome, but he still hasn't committed the codes ST complained about last time?"

Kim Yonggun nodded.

"No, he hasn't."

"Hmm… They're gonna complain again soon."

"Well, Woosung said he will take care of it, so we must trust him."

"I guess but…"

"It isn't because he can't do it. I think he's not doing it on purpose. He must have a good reason"

Park Junwoo massaged his neck. "That's what I'm worried about. I don't know what he is planning to do…"

"He is such a great programmer. He's also an awesome speaker and negotiator. Why do you think he applied to work at Daesan?"

"I don't know."

"Even if he didn't graduate from one of the top schools, bigger and better companies would hire him. Is the school you studied in holds such importance?"

Park Junwoo murmured bitterly.

"I would say your school is EVERYTHING. You can't show your skills on a resume."

Kim Yonggun asked sadly.

"We should have been born in a better country. What do you think? Do you think he'll stay here for long? Maybe a year?"

"I don't think so. He already got an offer from Nuri Finances."

Kim Yonggun showed an envious frown.

"I wish someone would make an offer to me too."

"Why don't you focus on your work instead, Assistant manager Kim?"

"Haha, all right, Manager Park."

They returned to the office. Woosung stretched his arms and approached Park Junwoo.

"Manager, I completed developing the speed ordering function. Please have a look."

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun looked at Woosung's monitor.

"Speed is the key to short selling. 0.1 second can make a difference, so I eliminated as many unnecessary steps as possible."

Woosung opened the HTS screen and showed the process of speed ordering. Yoon Gihwan came to observe as well.

"As you can see, the screen itself is simple. I removed the spaces for entering several stocks and user's input text, and also the order button."

Right away, Yoon Gihwan protested against the idea.

"Without the button, it would be harder for the customers to use the program."

"This isn't for everyone. It is only for people who need the fastest transactions."

Woosung continued.

"Firstly, you don't have to input the bidding price manually. Just hover the mouse over the bidding price section and it will automatically fill in the price box. And then they can enter the number and press Enter."

-Your transaction has been completed.

The pop-up appeared immediately.

"What do you think? This is to satisfy the niche market of those who want to trade fast. This function is also usable in the existing API, so there is no need for any changes in the server."

Park Junwoo nodded and answered.

"T-that IS fast…!"

"It's usually a 3-step procedure, but with this function, you can do it in one…"

"Mouse on your right hand while the other on the keyboard and Enter. This is not for conservative traders. It's for people who does scalping."

Yoon Gihwan nodded in agreement.

"You are aiming for the scalpers."

"Yes. It's only a small group of people, but we will gain a lot of customers this way. When you think of Nuri Finances, what comes to your mind first?"

No one could answer Woosung's question.

"With this development, we will now think of scalping trading. No doubt, we will get more users."

Yoon Gihwan asked Woosung.

"How can you be sure we will get more customers with this method?"

"Can anyone scalp trade?"

Scalping.

It is a trading style specializing in taking profits on small price changes, usually soon after they entered a trade and became profitable. This was not something an average person could do.

"Only the expert traders can do this, and new users like to mimic the experts. If you look at the websites made by the expert traders, beginners ask all kinds of questions. One of the popular questions is which HTS the experts prefer to use."

Woosung continued.

"If the expert scalpers use a certain HTS, the average traders will follow."

Yoon Gihwan couldn't help his surprise at Woosung's idea. How could a newbie come up with such an amazing plan? He was only a developer, not a psychologist. Many people believed programmers knew how to code and nothing else. What Woosung suggested wasn't something a new developer could come up with.

'This is something Choi Gichul used to emphasize when Bitmain first started.'

Secure loyal customers. Having user loyalties was Choi Gichul's goal for Bitmain. His dream came true and Bitmain became the best in the country and possibly in the world.

Kim Yonggun replied in shock.

"I-I see."

Park Junwoo asked Woosung.

"I have a question…"

"Sure. Ask me anything."

"It's great you developed a new function, but… What about that VoC from ST? You said you would take care of it, but you haven't. I am worried."

"Oh, that thing about slow stochastic?"

Park Junwoo nodded worriedly. His anxiety of the situation was clear to see.

"I'm already done with it."

"R-really? Then why didn't I get an email about it? Did you send it to Nam Kyungsang, I thought we're supposed to CC work-related emails to everyone…? Didn't Assistant manager Kim tell you?"

Woosung shook his head and answered.

"I know. I didn't do it on purpose."

"… What?"

"It's not an error from our end, so there is no need to reply."

"T-then you should at least let them know it's their error."

"I thought about doing that, but I changed my mind."

Yoon Gihwan asked in an instant.

"Why?"

"Don't you remember what Manager Nam said when he barged in? 'Just take care of your own problems.' So I'm just going to work on our errors only."

Yoon Gihwan sighed. He couldn't understand Woosung's pettiness.

"… What are you planning to do?"

"They started it. So Manager Park, don't worry about this case. General manager Yoon, please call Assistant manager Kwak. I need to get this new function confirmed by him."

"All right."

Yoon Gihwan called in Kwak Jungwook, and after some minor adjustments, they approved the HTS update.

HTS Ver. 1.0.1.47

– Add Speed Trading Function

: Shorten transaction process

: Ask the developers for further details

-Change bidding price pop-up size

– Add the ability to check companies' annual profits

-Fix other bugs and stabilize

They mentioned nothing of the stochastic issue on the report. This only heightened Park Junwoo's worries.

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Jang Gwangchul.

It has been 10 years since he became a successful professional stock trader. Every morning as soon as he woke up, he showered, ate fruits for breakfast, and sat in front of his computer.

He murmured his daily chant.

"God, Buddha, and Allah, please let me make 1% today."

1%.

His trading budget was 10 million dollars.

If he gained just 1% of it, he would make 100,000 dollars.

This amount was something an average person could never even dream of having. His specialty was scalping, and he traded with customized keyboard and mouse. He turned on the HTS.

"Let's see…"

When he clicked the Nuri Finances' HTS icon, a notice for an update appeared.

-HTS update in progress. 1 minute and 04 seconds.

-HTS update in progress. 44 seconds.

-HTS update in progress. 15 seconds.

After the update completed, another pop-up appeared explaining the details. Jang Gwanchul read them over carefully.

"We have added speed trading function. Minor bugs fixed including the screen size adjustment."

Jang Gwangchul always was thorough with knowing the specifics of HTS he used. If there were any improvements he could think of, he often contacted Nuri Finances to let them know.

It was a VVIP privilege.

When his balance on Nuri Finances' website exceeded 4.5 million dollars, no one has ever ignored his suggestions. After reading over the new update, Jang Gwangchul's eyes sparkled.

"This can be very useful…"

Jang Gwangchul specialized in scalping. Every second counted.

8:45 am.

Jang Gwangchul waited for the stock market to open.

Click. Click.

It was the only thing which resounded within his expensive apartment. The sound of typing and clicking echoed throughout the space.

Click.

With a final click, he completed a transaction. The entire process took 3 minutes.

"With this function, I might make 3% today."

Jang Gwangchul couldn't help his smile. It wasn't even noon yet. He still had 3 more hours till the market closed, and he's already earning thousands of dollars.

Click. Click.

Jang Gwangchul's spirit fired up as he stared at the screen.

3 pm.

Jang Gwangchul stretched out his arms and closed the HTS screen. In 2008, Cyworld exceeded's popularity Facebook in Korea. Every day after the market closed, Jang Gwangchul always made a few notes on how he did that day on Cyworld. He had a few thousands of friends on his page.

After he uploaded today's experience, his followers commented on it quickly.

"Wow! Awesome profit today."

"Wow. You're amazing."

"You're the best. Which financial company are you using?"

"I would love an offline seminar from you."

He enjoyed the positive comments from his fans. Jang Gwangchul spent a lot of time reading them. Then his phone rang.

"This is Jang Gwangchul."

He didn't need to say more. The customer service recognized his name and expressed a polite greeting.

"Oh, hello, sir."

"I wanted to talk to you about the new function. I think it's called… speed trading?"

"Yes, it's called the speed trading. Did you have a complaint?"

"No, I just wanted to mention how it is, but there is something I would like to add."

"Of course. Let me know and I will relay your message to the developers."

"Firstly…"

The conversation went on for a few minutes. The customer service wrote all the suggestions from Jang Gwangchul. He was a VVIP with a balance of 9 million dollars. A financial company respected such customers. Nuri Finances always accepted Jang Gwangchul's suggestions without questions.Meeting occurred every Friday at 3PM.

This was the end of the month meeting and there was an extra topic on the agenda.

-January result for the new point system.

As soon as this PPT slide came up, everyone became anxious.

Daeyang System

Bugs occurred: 13

Bugs fixed: 13

Function development: 5

ST Data System

Bugs occurred: 23

Bugs fixed: 20

Function development: 6

M3 Soft

Bugs occurred: 33

Bugs fixed: 32

Function development: 3

Daesan System

Bugs occurred: 19

Bugs fixed: 19

Function development: 1

Jo Youngsuk commented.

"Hmm… ST failed to fix 3 bugs while M3 failed 1."

Everyone quieted. It was the calm before the storm. Kwon Hyungeun replied finally.

"We checked them, and those 3 weren't ours."

Jo Youngsuk rubbed his chin. Kwon Hyungeun added quickly.

"I think they were Daesan's errors and they were just miscalculated as ours."

Kwak Jungwook said hurriedly.

"How can you say that our Deputy general manager made a mistake? They are definitely from ST. I checked the list many times."

Jo Youngsuk asked quietly.

"Open the list."

Kwak Jungwook clicked the Excel file. The list showed the evidences and reasons for each bug. A few of them were highlighted.

-Slow stochastic indicators monthly chart

– Slow monthly candle chart

-Slow monthly MACD indicator chart

These were the problems Nam Kyungsang complained to Daesan. Yoon Gihwan flinched and looked at Woosung sitting behind him. Woosung nodded and whispered.

"Don't worry."

He still couldn't relax. Jo Youngsuk turned to look at Yoon Gihwan, who answered.

"My developer will explain."

Woosung stood up.

"I have an explanation. As far as I know, ST is using their own SNL (ST Network Library) as their network library. Is that right, Manager Kwon?"

SNL. ST data system created this for the convenience of needing less communication-related codes. It allowed developers to focus more on business aspects.

It was a good tool.

Kwon Hyungeun turned around to look at Nam Kyungsang, who nodded.

"That's correct."

"Then did you also know there is a problem with SNL?"

Kwon Hyungeun again turned around, and Nam Kyungsang shook his head. He looked confused and concerned. Woosung followed posthaste.

"When there are over a hundred request threads, SNL either slows down or disconnects. They told me your team tested this library thoroughly, so I assumed you already knew of this problem."

Jo Youngsuk looked at Kwon Hyungeun, who looked back at Nam Kyungsang. Nam Kyungsang finally stood up.

"If you are accusing us of a problem with our SNL library, you better be sure about it."

"I can show it to you right now."

Jo Youngsuk stopped the argument.

"This is ST's job to check. After you find out, please let Assistant manager Kwak know."

He implied ST was at fault. Nam Kyungsang gritted his teeth as he stood up. Jo Youngsuk looked at the list again and added.

"But I admit that ST developed the highest number of new functions. And…"

Kwon Hyungeun smiled as Jo Youngsuk continued.

"Daesan has the least number of developments."

Nam Kyungsang sneered. Yoon Gihwan swallowed hard and looked at Woosung again. Woosung looked relaxed. Then suddenly, someone came to Jo Youngsuk and whispered to his ear.

"Oh really? Hmm. I see."

Jo Youngsuk nodded and turned to Yoon Gihwan.

"Haha, I see why Daesan only had one."

Yoon Gihwan's eyes widened.

"There were many gold level customers who contacted us regarding Daesan's new function."

Gold level.

Only the users with balances higher than 450,000 dollars reached the gold level. Those with over 900,000 dollars were in diamond level. If you had over 4.5 million dollars, you were on the black level.

"They were very pleased with it. It wasn't just a few but…"

Kwak Jungwook finished the sentence.

"27 customers contacted us. More are calling us about it still. There was also a customer who wanted to come by in person to suggest more ideas to improve it."

Jo Youngsuk chuckled.

"Haha. It must be an amazing development to receive such compliments."

Kwak Jungwook said loudly as well.

"In addition, there are hundreds of positive comments on our notice board about how great this new function is."

"Our chairman always emphasizes the importance of choice and focus. I believe Daesan has achieved both this time."

Yoon Gihwan smiled as well. Nam Kyungsang, however, looked uncomfortable. Jo Youngsuk continued.

"I think we should apply the idea from Daesan's previous consultation ASAP. In fact, I will increase the remuneration from 300,000 dollars to 500,000."

Yoon Gihwan beamed with a smile.

"Of course. We will make sure not to disappoint you."

Kwon Hyungeun couldn't help but show his irritation.

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Yoon Gihwan couldn't hide his delight when he returned to the office. He kept patting Woosung's back.

"You were amazing as usual. Loved how you gave it to ST! Don't forget about the bigger pay! If you continue like this, we'll be able to get the account system contract for sure. We might even grow bigger than Daeyang and take over Nuri Finances."

Park Junwoo asked with interest.

"What happened at the meeting?"

Yoon Gihwan explained leaving Park Junwoo dumbfounded.

"5..500,000 dollars?"

"Yes! He suggested it himself. If we do this well, the four of us would earn our company 1 million dollars."

Kim Yonggun was also pleasantly surprised.

"So that would make over 300,000 dollars per person."

"Yup. We can expect to get big bonuses, and you two will have additional incentives from your contracts."

Park Junwoo remembered the recent contract and grinned.

"Oh yeah. That's right!"

Yoon Gihwan looked at Woosung.

"Hey newbie, why are you so quiet? I thought you might ask to increase your fee by 50,000 dollars."

"This increase in payment is all your work. You made it all possible."

Yoon Gihwan asked confusedly.

"… I've never seen you act so modest before."

"Haha. I'm only telling you the truth. You gave permission to a newbie to lead a brand new project. You also approved a bonus of 50,000 dollars for me. You made everything possible.""I know how much you've done for me."

It was so heartwarming. Kim Yonggun felt emotional. Yoon Gihwan couldn't hide his embarrassment. His ears reddened.

"R-really…?

"I am appreciative. You deserve the recognition for this success."

Park Junwoo added.

"That's right. You also made sure we get the bonuses…"

Kim Yonggun agreed as well.

"Yes! So let's celebrate tonight!"

Yoon Gihwan nodded.

"For sure! It's a celebration! You all better come!"

"Of course we'll all join you."

Park Junwoo nodded and asked Woosung.

"You can come too, right? We didn't even get to throw a welcoming party for you. You have to come."

"Haha, of course. Oh, and General manager, I have my graduation on the 21st so I need that day off."

"That's not a problem! I will take care of everything so don't worry about it."

It was clear Yoon Gihwan meant what he said before.They drank. It was great to enjoy such an incredible success. They partied till two in the morning, and Woosung took a cab home afterward. In the taxi, he looked at the streetlights. The cold breeze felt great on his face. He looked at the cars passing by and thought.

'It's 10 years ago but… it's still the same here.'

It has been three weeks since he traveled back in time. Every morning he woke up, he pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and every time he did so, he felt a twinge of pain.

It was real.

He died and came back to life.

"But I… am different. I need to be different."

Woosung sighed. He smelled the alcohol in his breath. He remembered the day he died. It was just like today. He was going back home drunk from an office party, but today was different.

"Yes… I need to be better to destroy that snake. I will make sure he loses everything."

Choi Gichul.

Son of Daeyang Group's CEO.

Woosung planned to destroy not only Choi Gichul but also Daeyang. He knew he could do it. For every level of the industrial revolution, there was always a person who broke the rules. Ford and Carnegie were two good examples.

This time, it was his turn.

The 4th industrial revolution involved keywords such as artificial intelligence, robot, big data, and blockchain. Everybody related all of these to software development, which was Woosung's specialty. He still felt drunk, but his eyes sharpened as he enjoyed the view.Woosung woke up with a groan.

"Ugh… I need to stop drinking."

He felt like someone struck his head with a hammer. He drank a hangover drink, but he still felt nauseous. His head was pounding.

"Son, drink this cup of honey water."

The door to his room opened and his mother handed him a cup of yellow drink. She used to two merciless nagging at him when he would come home drunk, but not anymore. After he gave her that big cheque, her actions changed.

"Ugh."

Woosung moaned and stood up. It was good to be young, however. As soon as he drank the water, he immediately felt better. When he was 36, he took days to recover.

"Ouch, my head."

Woosung massaged the back of his head and sighed. He could still smell the soju in his breath. However, he had to be productive every single day, so he couldn't laze around even on weekends.

Woosung showered and sat in front of the computer. There was a lot to learn today. He planned to focus on algorithm trading today.

If he could find the time, he wanted to use this method in real life to make more money.

Bzzt. Bzzt.

As soon as he sat down, his phone vibrated. It was Yoon Gihwan.

"What does he want? We were together until only a few hours ago."

Woosung answered the phone curiously. Yoon Gihwan's voice was lively even after all the drinking last night.

"Newbie, what's up?"

"Not much. I was reading."

"Then come out. You need to learn algorithm trading."

"… What?"

"Stop reading the books. I will teach you in person."

His voice sounded enthusiastic. He didn't sound hungover at all.

"You know my time is valuable, right? If you will teach me, you better do a good job."

"Haha, of course. I have worked at Daeyang for 20 years. I spent many years focusing on algorithm trading. I will teach you what you can't learn from books."

Was it because of yesterday's success? Yoon Gihwan was being very kind and helpful today.

"Then let me know the time and place. I'll be there."

Yoon Gihwan laughed and replied.

"Time is now. Place is my home. Come on!"

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Chapter 21: Algorithm trading

Luckily, Yoon Gihwan's studio wasn't far from Woosung's place. He found it odd why he didn't live in a multi-bedroom apartment, but as soon as he walked in, he understood.

"Do you live apart from your family?"

"My son and wife live abroad. My son was being bullied at school, so I wanted him to get away from that."

"… Oh."

"You don't have to pity me. This place is wonderful."

Yoon Gihwan was right. The studio was clean and well organized. Even the kitchen shone without a spot of grease. Woosung saw the books he kept around a shelf and asked.

"Did you read all these?"

"I've got nothing else to do, so I read a lot."

Over a hundred IT related books lined the shelves. Woosung picked up a few books. Some titles included "Maintenance and Use of Linux," "Object-Oriented Programming," "Clean Codes," and "Use of Oracle Database."

"You brought your work home…"

"How could I not? Learning never stops. If you don't continue improving your skills, you won't last long in this field."

Woosung nodded to his good sense.

"Well, that's about it for our small talk. Let's begin our session."

"Sure. Go ahead."

Woosung brought out a whiteboard and wrote a few equations.

Call Option equation c=SN (d1) – X e – rT N (d2).

Put Option equation p = Xe – rTN(-d2) – SN(-d1).

What Yoon Gihwan wrote was the Black-Scholes equation. It was something Woosung hasn't seen since university.

"This is the foundation of the options market. Myron Scholes received the Nobel prize for Economic Sciences in 1997 for this. This is an example of an algorithm."

Woosung remembered reading about it.

"But even this equation was useless on October 19, 1987, the Black Monday."

"Wow! You have been studying. You're right. The possibility of Dow Jones dropping 7% was mathematically 0%. When it happened, the Black's system froze, and people became frantic. They ended up all selling, which caused a drop of 25%. No one could do anything."

"Black said you may calculate the stars' movements, but you can't guess people's reactions."

Yoon Gihwan exclaimed.

"Wow! You will make a great student."

"He was originally a mathematician but later turned to economics and financial consulting."

"That's right. He became well known in economics. The stock market used this equation like its the golden rule."

Yoon Gihwan then added more names to the whiteboard.

-David Shaw

-Jeff Bezos

Jeff Benzos was the founder and chairman of Amazon. David Shaw was less well-known, but Woosung remembered reading about him in the book.

"He is the founder of D.E. Shaw. Jeff Bezos is one of David Shaw's quants. He quit that job and later founded Amazon."

Again, Yoon Gihwan was wowed.

"You never disappoint me! If I may add, David Shaw was a genius computer scientist. At the time, talented traders were mostly mathematicians or statisticians. At first, no one paid attention to this computer scientist in stock trading."

"He suggested an algorithm of his own, which Morgan Stanley rejected at the time."

Yoon Gihwan nodded.

"So you read up on the history. Then, my last question is this. Why did I mention these three names?"

"There are many types of quant. Some focus on making the algorithm while others specialize in the computer aspect of it. David Shaw used the computing power to increase the speed of the algorithm, while Fischer Black showed talent in creating the algorithms."

It was a difference between the creator and the user, and rarely, some were talented at both.

Yoon Gihwan put down his marker and asked.

"What do you think you are?"

"I am…"

Woosung became quiet. This was something he considered intently while reading the history of algorithm trading.

Choose and focus.

He only had a limited amount of time, so he had to make quick choices and focus on them. It was true he was smarter, but he wasn't a robot. He also didn't want to become a money-making machine. He wanted to exercise to become healthier and enjoy life while making good money. This was after his revenge though. Until then, he was ready to sacrifice everything.

"I plan on doing both. I will make the algorithm and use it myself to become successful."

Woosung's eyes looked crazy. Yoon Gihwan flinched at Woosung's determination. It looked like Woosung was ready to do whatever was necessary, even murder. Yoon Gihwan knew he couldn't stop Woosung. It seemed pointless to tell him how hard it would be.

"I…I see."

Yoon Gihwan was expecting Woosung to choose one or the other, but now he could only nod to Woosung's answer.

"I plan on continuing to study statistics and mathematics. All you need to teach me is what you learned from your experience."

Woosung understood statistics and mathematics were the foundations of creating algorithms.

"Oh, I see." Yoon Gihwan nodded.Yoon Gihwan stopped asking questions and continued to explain his own past works.

"At first, it was a very simple system. When the golden cross occurred, we bought, and when the death cross occurred, we sold."

Golden cross.

It was a technical indicator occurring when the short term moving average crossed above the long-term mark. When it occurred, it meant there was a change of stock gains on the horizon.

On the other hand, death cross was a sign that short-term momentum in stock was slowing. It happened when a stock's short-term moving average fell below its long-term moving average.

"That was very simple."

"But it was still better than manual trading. Nobody could be as methodical as a computer system."

Woosung agreed. He learned this as the chief of the server team at Bitmain.

"Next must be something more complex."

"Yes. We added more guidelines for the algorithm to follow including the candlestick patterns."

"So basically, you used the trend to follow a strategy?"

"Yup, but then we came to a problem."

"Spaghetti code."

Spaghetti code.

It referred to the unstructured and difficult-to-maintain source code. To explain it simply, it was as if someone drew a yellow line on top of a black line, which they placed on top of a blue line.

"Yes. We also tried to add indicators like MACD and Stochastics, which made it even harder. Refactoring these codes alone took over a month."

"And following the rules everybody already knew wouldn't have made you a lot of money."

Yoon Gihwan nodded and wrote more words on the board.

"So we read the related academic articles. We wanted to make an algorithm the experts in the field already used but an average trader wouldn't know."

Yoon Gihwan paused and looked at Woosung. He was challenging Woosung to guess the answer. Woosung contemplated.

"Are you referring to the pairs trading strategy?"

Yoon Gihwan was again impressed.

"You probably didn't have a long time to study, yet you did well."

"Anything is better than dying."

Yoon Gihwan shuttered at Woosung's dark tone, but he quickly recovered and continued.

"Yes. We used the pairs trading strategy."

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Yoon Gihwan's lesson ended at dinner time.

"Phew, I have told you everything I know."

They started at 11 am and took a brief lunch break. In total, the lesson took 8 hours. Yoon Gihwan was sweating by the end. Woosung thanked him.

"Thank you so much. You really helped me today."

Woosung was sincere. Yoon Gihwan sat down and asked.

"What about dinner?"

"Well, I need to get home."

The now disappointed Yoon Gihwan mumbled behind his breath.

"I wanted to have a drink with you but… I guess you need to go."

Was Yoon Gihwan always like this? 10 years ago in his past life, Woosung, Park Junwoo, and Kim Yonggun used to hate him. As Woosung got to know him better, he could see a different side of Yoon Gihwan. He can't believe it at first, but Woosung was beginning to like him.

Woosung fully recovered from last night's drinking, so he obliged the man's offer.

"Well then, just one drink with dinner."

7 pm.

They only had burgers for lunch, so he was getting hungry. Yoon Gihwan brightened and answered.

"Of course. Pork belly and one drink."

What Woosung learned from his ten years of being an earnest employee was one drink never remained just one.

Again, they drank till late into the night. It wasn't a loud drinking party, however. It was one where they enjoyed their glasses together in a quiet display of camaraderie as Yoon Gihwan talked about difficulties of living apart from his family.

He talked about his son.

He talked about his take on the company and his difficulties at work.

Woosung was such a good listener that Yoon Gihwan couldn't stop talking. Woosung was sympathetic, especially regarding the difficulty of being a working man.

Woosung could also see similarities between them. Yoon Gihwan was let go from Daeyang System because the son of Daeyang's CEO betrayed him.

"So what's your plan?"

Yoon Gihwan had been curious about it for a while now and he now got the nerve to ask.

"First, I will finish developing GUI Test tool and lead a successful consultation."

"Algorithm trading is after that?"

"Yes."

"How about the test tool development?"

"I think I should be able to finish it tomorrow. I will show you the final work on Monday morning."

Yoon Gihwan smiled happily.

"I love it! We might sell that tool elsewhere too, so do your best."

"Oh, I plan on uploading it on the Source Forge for free."

"What? Source Forge? That's a free software was a web-based service offering developers to control and manage free software projects. It was the biggest sharing site before the introduction of , which at this time was a startup site and haven't got many users yet. Woosung planned on uploading on GitHub too.

"I plan on providing it to the public for free. I meant to tell you on Monday… Please make sure the boss understands."

"What? Do you think this is a charity? Why would you give it for free?"

They would include this function in the Visual Studio within two years, so there was no benefit for the company to hold on to the plugin.

"I don't mean to be a charity worker. There is a good reason for it. Think of it as a bait."

It was a bait to attract other developers.

It was easy to buy talented programmers, but he didn't have the money yet. There were many things he wanted to and needed to make, unfortunately, he was just a man.

Good stories attracted good people. Good codes could attract good developers.

Woosung drank the last shot and continued.

"Please make them understand. This needs to be available freely."

"Fine. Let's do that. If you want, I will make it happen."

Yoon Gihwan tried to get rid of his disappointment and stood up. Between the two, they drank three bottles of soju that night.When Woosung returned home, he didn't go to sleep and sat right away in front of the computer.

"If I want to complete it by tomorrow, I better finish what I started this morning."

Click.

Click, click.

As Woosung types fast, the screen quickly filled with c language.@date 2008/02/03

@author woo.sung.kang#include stdio.h

#include string.h

#include "Macro/MacroTrace.h"

#include "Event/EventTrace.h"

He applied all the reference libraries, and then…

GUITestTool:GUITestToll(const TestConfig:

TestConfiglDetail))

Woosung continued without hesitation. When he was coding, he could feel the difference in his ability the most. 10 years ago, he couldn't work this fast.

'I would have spent most of my time thinking or researching on the internet.'

Even after he became the Chief of the Server Department at Bitmain, it remained the same. To complete a single program, he need to allocate extensive energy to search the open sources. He usually ended up using different parts of whatever others had already made. If he couldn't find anything he needed, he wrote the codes himself, but it used to take him ages.

However, now he could feel everything was different. His brain worked in an unprecedented way. In the past, he would have spent 50% of the time thinking, while now he would only utilize 20%.

"Phew… now I just have to finish up tomorrow."

He filled the monitor with new CPP files.

3 am.

Woosung went to bed at last.On the monitor, the arrow clicked the button automatically without the need to move the mouse. The price boxes filled themselves too. The program test on HTS went on like this, they are automatic.

-login test complete.(10%)

-order test complete.(11%)-chart test complete(50%)

-user info test complete(60%)Test complete(100%)

After the test completed, Park Junwoo swallowed.

"Did you really make this all by yourself, Woosung?"

Woosung nodded. Kim Yonggun reacted similarly. They were all shocked.

"From now on, the screen test will involve adding more functions to this."

Park Junwoo called in Yoon Gihwan.

"G-general manager, did you see this? This program can test everything automatically, including the login, transactions, and speed trading."

"Yes, I saw it a few days ago."

Park Junwoo couldn't believe his eyes.

"This is amazing. It used to take us hours at a time manually inputting individual numbers to test things, but now everything will be so much easier."

Yoon Gihwan answered disappointedly.

"I know. And he plans to upload it for free on Source Forge."

This revelation surprised Park Junwoo this most. His voice cracked louder than before.

"What? For free?"

Woosung answered calmly.

"I was meaning to provide the codes so others can add more functions themselves. I don't have the time myself to continue developing this."

"W-Woosung, but that's not right. This is an amazing function and it's the company's property…"

"But if he insists, it's ok."

Woosung looked at Yoon Gihwan.

"Well, let's go then. People are waiting."

"Sure, let's go. Whatever you say, boss."

Yoon Gihwan grumbled as he stood up.

The big meeting room was filled with developers. At the front was a giant screen with a title, "Agile Method User Guide."

People murmured.

"What was the name of the consulting group? Was it Daesan? Have you heard of this company?"

"It's the one taking care of the channel system. They got the contract because of Daeyang. Nuri Finances should have hired a better company."

Most of them were unhappy about this meeting.

"I heard a newbie will lead this presentation. How can anyone trust a new grad?"

"This project will fail, and it will cost more to fix it."

"I heard the manager of the IT team is a strange man. It's hard enough for us to make the codes, but for us to make test codes too? That's not fair."

Everyone was complaining. ST's Nam Kyungsang was especially vocal about his unhappiness.

"He doesn't even know anything about agile, and now he will provide a consultation? This is ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if that last bug was also planted by Daesan."

"No way."

"Think about it. It was odd he found the code errors on the server easily. You can't be that quick unless you wrote the codes yourself. And what about the thing he mentioned about our library? It makes little sense unless he made it happen."

Suddenly, Kwon Hyungeun shushed Nam Kyungsang. The door opened, Yoon Gihwan and Woosung walked in. The room quieted down, and Woosung grabbed the microphone.

"Oh, hello. I am Woosung Kang from Daesan System, and I will lead this consulting presentation."

The room was quieter, but most developers weren't paying attention. Nam Kyungsang sniggered at this show of disrespect.

'I knew it.'

Woosung calmly continued.

"You are all probably wondering about two things. First, what can a newbie Woosung Kang do?"

Woosung paused fixing their attention towards him.

"Second, how effective would my idea be? I will answer the first question."

The next PPT slide appeared, and it was filled with Woosung's recent accomplishments.

He fixed the account system balance problem, created a new function called speed trading, and completed GUI Test Tool.

"And this is the test tool I created in just a month of working at Daesan. For short, it's called GTT. I will show you how it works."

As the program started, the room became silent. Both Yoon Gihwan and Park Junwoo were surprised. One can see the shock in the faces of other developers too.

All of this in one month.

Kwon Hyungeun swallowed and watched the program.

"This is how the test works. I have completed it, and from now on, we will test the HTS screen using this tool. Let me now answer your second question."

The next slide appeared.

-Daesan System Negative point 0. Positive point 5.

-ST Data System Negative point 4. Positive point 0.

-M3 Soft Negative point 3. Positive point 1.

-Daeyang System Negative point 0. Positive point 2.

"These results came from the point system so far. Haha, I don't want to brag, but I might be the reason why Daesan did so well."

It was a joke, but the audience was still in shock as their gazes remained fixed at Woosung.

"Now, I will begin the actual presentation."

The developers' eyes sharpened as they scuffle around trying to look for a pen and paper to take notes.

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After the presentation, it was time for QA.

Many developers raised their hands.

"So is it really true that we need to create the test codes?"

"I realize it might not be possible if you have a lot of other projects to do, but at the very least you need to do them for the main function."

Another developer raised his hand.

"Could you explain further regarding your plan for using the prototype and develop it as you go rather than wait to finish the final product?"

"As you saw during my presentation, we should release a prototype that can do the main function first. It would take too long to release it if we wait to complete the final GTT."

"So you are suggesting we create the PoC (Proof of concept) ASAP and release it first, then continue to work on it using test codes."

"Yes, that's exactly right."

As he answered more questions, the audience appeared to accept Woosung's idea.

"I think it's a solid plan."

"Hmm… The biggest problem when programming is the relationship between the developer and the user. His concept will improve that."

"The customers will get the product quicker, and we will continue to communicate with them and apply their suggestions to further develop the program."

"Hey, did you take good notes?"

"No worries. He said he will send us the copy of his PPT."

"Oh…"

Nam Kyungsang didn't like how this was going.

'He was just an intern, but now…'

Before Woosung came, he had the answers to everything here. He was the one making all the good suggestions, and they always accepted his motions. However, ever since their rival company hired Woosung, Nam Kyungsang's reputation left .as he arrived They now knew him as a person who gives the wrong answers.

This was his chance to embarrass Woosung.

He was well prepared.

"May I ask you a question?"

When Nam Kyungsang raised his hand, Woosung's eyes sharpened. He knew what Nam Kyungsang meant to do.

Something filled Nam Kyungsang's eyes with obvious hate.

"Yes. Ask away."

"Agile's, especially TDD's, biggest advantage is that it allows us to spend more time on coding rather than writing reports, but if we still need to write the same number of output and development reports for Nuri Finances, wouldn't the application of agile method mean more work for us?"

Some developers nodded in agreement. Woosung sighed and answered.

"I already explained this at the beginning of the presentation. Nuri Finances already agreed to decrease the amount of reports we need to write."

Many nodded again to Woosung's clear explanation. This was not the reaction Nam Kyungsang hoped for. He asked again, but this time his voice wavered slightly.

"T-this worried most of us who makes test codes; this on top of all the program codes may be too much for us. How do you plan to fix this?"

Woosung massaged the back of his neck and gave an exasperated answer.

"If you paid attention to my presentation, you wouldn't be asking these questions. This is very disappointing."

Nam Kyungsang's face reddened brightly as Woosung continued.

"When we calculate Man/Month, do we calculate only the quantity of work? No. We consider the quality and complexity of the programming too. The more test codes you create, the easier your workload will become. This concept is already being applied at Google and Microsoft. The effectiveness of this system will easily outweigh the increase in the amount of work."

"I understood that, but what I meant was your plan may work in certain cases but not all. What you said is only an example and you cannot promise anything at this point."

Woosung realized there was nothing he could say to convince him. Nam Kyungsang was refusing to accept it. It was a waste of time.

"Then let's do this. You should continue your work as is. In fact, anyone here who doesn't agree with me can continue to do the same. We will provide those who would like to follow my proposal with all the help you need. We will do a trial of 3 months, and afterward, we can compare the result of the point system."

"I-I didn't mean that I refuse to accept your idea."

"Then do you have a better plan in mind?"

Nam Kyungsang became silent. He had nothing.

The only thing he could come up with was the disadvantage of the agile method.

He wanted to embarrass Woosung in any way possible, so this was what he came up with. Knowing this, Woosung looked at him and continued.

"You think my plan isn't good, so what you need to do is prove that the existing system is better, or do you think you can't do it?"

Nam Kyungsang had to nod to Woosung's public challenge. Kwon Hyungeun grimaced.Leaving the conference room, Kwon Hyungeun asked a worried question to Nam Kyungsang.

"You are confident you can do this, right?"

Nam Kyungsang was a man of determination.

"I looked into it, and agile method is nothing special. It just sounds fancy."

"It's a method Nuri Finances' IT team leader approved, which means it's not nothing."

"He is not planning to apply a brand new system. He is only changing the development method. In Korea, it is best to use the existing Korean method."

"If you say so."

Kwon Hyungeun still looked concerned though.

"You'll see. If I put my mind to it, I will win."

"I don't doubt your skills."

Nam Kyungsang's face darkened as he saw two people nearby.

Kwak Jungwook from Nuri Finances was whispering to Woosung.

Nam Kyungsang couldn't stand it. Until recently, he was the most competent developer, but now, everything has changed.

'I hate his guts.'

As the two soon took the elevator, Nam Kyungsang glared at them.After the presentation, someone called Woosung to visit the CEO of Nuri Finances.

There were a lot of unfamiliar people in the CEO's room.

'I must have done something right if I get to meet the boss.'

In his previous life, he never got to see the CEO, Na Jaeman.

He was an older man who was just losing his hair.

"Haha, so you are the famous developer."

"How do you do. My name is Woosung Kang."

"I see. Have a seat. You too, Assistant manager Kwak."

When they sat down, Na Jaeman introduced them to everyone in the room.

"This is the one who really wanted to meet you, so I arranged this meeting. Mr. Jang, this is the developer you wanted to see."

Solidly built Jang Gwangchul laughed as he offered his hand to Woosung.

"Haha, hello. My name is Gwangchul Jang. You made me a lot of money recently."

Woosung has never seen him before. When he looked confused, Jang Gwangchul explained.

"I am a customer of Nuri Finances. I noticed how great the HTS has become recently, so I asked to see the developer."

He was so confident. He was straightforward and self-assured. Woosung suddenly realized.

VIP.

Jang Gwangchul was probably one of the major traders.

"I appreciate your compliment. I am happy that you like my work."

"Like it? No, I LOVE it. I have been recommending Nuri Finances to every trader I know."

Na Jaeman added.

"Haha, that's why we gained so many new users recently. It was all thanks to you, Mr. Jang."

Jang Gwangchul shook his head.

"Not me. It's all thanks to your wonderful developer."

Everyone was in such a good mood. When the meeting ended, Kwak Jungwook and Woosung left the room. Kwak Jungwook was flustered.

"W… Woosung, I can't believe Mr. Jang was interested in you. Wow, this is unbelievable."

Jang Gwangchul.

Woosung couldn't remember him from his previous life.

"Don't tell anyone but Mr. Jang is our black level customer. His trading limit is 10 million dollars."

10 million dollars.

Woosung was someone who would wield billions of dollars if everything went according to his plan. 10 million didn't feel much to Woosung.

"Oh, I see…"

"He is very famous on the internet too. Do you know how many members he has on his website?"

Before Woosung could reply, Kwak Jungwook answered.

"30,000 people. 30,000…!"

However, Woosung still appeared to be unimpressed.

"Mr. Jang rarely gives out his business card. Take it out and have a look."

Woosung took out the card from his pocket. Paper was usually the material used for a business card but not this, this one was plastic. Jang Gwangchul's name was written on it in bright gold. Woosung asked.

"He likes flashy things."

"That's real gold."

Woosung finally seemed surprised and impressed.

"What? Real gold?"

"He asked people to write his name in 24K gold. If you sell it, you'll be able to get about 200 dollars."

"T-then why did he give it to me?"

"It means that he approved your work."

Woosung murmured.

"I need no one's approval."

Kwak Jungwook laughed.

"Haha, you are so confident. I think that's why the boss likes you even more."

Woosung looked at him curiously when his cellphone beeped.

There was a text message.

"It was nice to meet you today. I heard I am older than you, so please consider me your older brother."

It was a message from Jang Gwangchul. Woosung pressed delete immediately.

"Would you like to delete the message?"

"Yes."

"I am an only child. I don't have an older brother."

"What?"

"Haha, I was just talking to myself."

As they walked back to the office, Kwak Jungwook continued to talk about Jang Gwangchul, but Woosung wasn't listening.

'He thinks he's so great because he's rich. Why would I treat him like an older brother?"

Jang Gwangchul's demeanor reminded Woosung of Choi Gichul. He grimaced.

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As soon as Woosung returned to the office, Yoon Gihwan grinned.

"Newbie's back! You went to meet the CEO, didn't you?"

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun also looked at Woosung with curiosity.

When Woosung nodded, they exclaimed.

"Really? What did you guys talk about? Did he offer you a job too?"

"Nothing like that. He introduced me to some of our HTS customers."

"Customers?"

Park Junwoo asked.

"You mean the VIPs? Didn't we just hear the VIPs loved your work?"

Yoon Gihwan replied excitedly.

"That's right! VIPs!"

"Yes. I met those people. One of them even gave me his business card."

Woosung brought out the shiny golden card.

Park Junwoo didn't seem to recognize it but Kim Yonggung's eyes widened.

"T… this guy! Did you meet him?"

When Woosung nodded, Kim Yonggun explained excitedly.

"This is the founder of the famous website 'Fire Ant Trading Club.' Other famous traders charge money to give lessons, but this guy provides free seminars and does a lot of charity works."

Kim Yonggun stared at the business card. Woosung asked him.

"How do you know this?"

"I… I am a member of that website too. I am interested in stock trading."

Yoon Gihwan reprimanded Kim Yonggun firmly.

"I told you not to get involved in stock trading. You can't get involved as an employee of a financial company."

Kim Yonggun denied nervously.

"I… I'm not doing it. I am just studying it for the future."

Yoon Gihwan repeated himself.

"Do NOT do it, ok?"

Woosung stepped in to change the topic.

"Now that the presentation is over, there will be many people asking for help. Let's make sure we do a good job."

Yoon Gihwan asked Woosung.

"Newbie, are you sure you are new to this? You sound like a PM."

Woosung gave a nonchalant reply.

"Haha, I'm just working hard."

Everyone smiled and went back to work.There were four divisions in the IT department of a stock trading company.

Account.

Channel.

Information.

Infra.

The main aspects of the account system were dealing with transactions and account balances. Channel system focused on HTS and homepage maintenance. Information sector worked on CRM, which was collecting users' data to recommend appropriate products.

Infra dealt with the hardware such as L2, L3, and IBM mainframe.

ST took care of the account system and Daesan managed the channel. Daeyang dealt with information while M3 Soft maintained infra. Daeyang was the head of all these companies as well. The fact that Daesan won the development process consulting deal with Nuri Finances was something Daeyang was not happy about.

Yoon Gihwan forwarded an email to Woosung.

"I just received the word that Daeyang and ST won't follow your idea. M3 will be the only one in this trial."

Woosung opened his email and read the first message.

It was a politely written rejection.

"We researched the agile method ourselves and decided it was not applicable for us at this point. If the trial by other companies shows success, then we will accept the system."

It wasn't a flat-out no. They were being sneaky. Yoon Gihwan murmured cynically.

"So they are saying they won't apply it now. They'll wait and see what happens."

Woosung tightened his lips and nodded.

"They want to see what happens."

"They are always like this. I am used to it. They are trying to minimize their responsibility. Read the one from ST too. They didn't even try to be polite."

"With many years of experience, ST has developed its own system that is both effective and productive. We do not believe agile is better than our method."

"They are more honest about it at least."

Yoon Gihwan murmured in irritation.

"Tsk. What are they going to do when they realize they've made a mistake?"

So it was only M3 Soft and Daesan.

'Agile may not be the answer to everything, but I will make it work.'

He was from the future.

This was an easy game to win.

"We should first arrange a meeting with M3 Soft. They are currently using the system monitoring, right?"

Yoon Gihwan nodded and Woosung grinned.

"Then I have a good idea."

The members shuddered at Woosung's evil smile.When Woosung came home, he sat in front of his computer. He searched the website Fire Ant Trading Club.

Avid followers of the program nicknamed the founder the "Fire Ant."

Jang Gwangchul.

Woosung joined the club posthaste and studied the website. He read the comments and realized that here, Jang Gwangchul was revered as the "God of stock trading."

"I almost lost everything, but you saved me, 'Fire Ant.'"

"I was on the verge of divorce, but your advice really helped. Thank you so much."

"I almost lost all my savings, but you saved me."

It seemed like the members almost saw Jang Gwangchul as a star.

"If these comments are true, he may be an okay guy."

Due to his past, Woosung was always suspicious of everyone nowadays. He didn't want anyone to betray again.

"Huh? He also provided his Cyworld address."

When Woosung clicked it, there were daily reports and photos uploaded by Jang Gwangchul.

"2,100 dollars"

"Not much earning today…"

"8,000 dollars"

"I… think I'm awesome."

"2,200 dollars"

"I don't mind paying high taxes, but this kind of income won't let me."

Even on bad days, he was making at least a thousand dollars a day. Woosung could now understand why people admired him. He was even getting a bit jealous. After reading through the website, he turned off the monitor.

Before the screen darkened, his ID on the website was visible.

"God of money."

That was the name Woosung chose for himself.

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February 21st.

Woosung took a day off from work to attend his graduation ceremony. Those graduates who didn't have a job yet didn't show up while others who got hired by major corporations had a proud smile. They were all familiar faces.

'They look so young.'

He knew how they would look in 10 years. Most would marry and have kids.

Woosung smiled too. His mother, Kim Eunjung, asked.

"What's with your proud smile?"

"Haha. It's just nice to see so many young people."

"You sound like an old man."

Woosung scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

"Oh… Haha."

His father, Kang Gichun, added.

"Now that you're graduated and got a job, it's time to meet a nice young girl and get married."

"Haha, all right, dad. I will get married soon and give you a grandson."

10 years ago, he would have dismissed his dad, but he felt different now. Woosung tried to be understanding and appreciative. Kim Eunjung looked at him funny and asked.

"Oh yeah? Do you even have a girlfriend?"

"Hey, there are many girls who would be lucky to have me. Hey look, they are waving at me."

His friends were calling for him from afar.

They were his classmates from the computer science program at Songwon University.

In his previous life, he stopped attending the annual reunions after two years of working, which meant it had been almost 8 years since he last saw his classmates.

More than anything, Woosung felt strange when he saw Yoon Chanjong.

Yoon Chanjong.

He was a talented developer and graduated top of the class. A major company hired him and everyone was envious of him. Woosung used to be jealous of him too.

"Chanjong!"

"You're here! Haha, I heard you got a job."

Another classmate, Park Jonghyun, greeted him.

"I heard you got hired by a company called Daesan."

When Woosung nodded, he continued.

"Is your salary decent there? If not, you should have waited to find a better job."

"Haha, it's not bad."

"It's a medium-sized company, so it can't be that great."

Yoon Chanjong hushed Park Jonghyun and added.

"It doesn't matter which company you work for as long as you have the skills."

Park Jonghyun didn't agree.

"But it's always better to work at a big company. Chanjong, you work at Daeyang now, so I hope you include me in your Daeyang study group."

Daeyang System.

It was one of the major companies partnered with Nuri Finances and also oversaw its outsource companies. Woosung knew it very well.

"Fine, but you need to work hard. If you don't, you're out."

While the two chatted, Woosung looked around. He still didn't get to see the person he wanted to see the most.

"Huh, Yeoreum is here too. She rarely comes to any of the school events."

Woosung paused, then turned around.

Cha Yeoreum.

She also graduated top of this class and was hired by Daeyang System like Yoon Chanjong. She was also Woosung's first love.

'She looks exactly as I remember.'

Park Jonghyun said enviously.

"Whoever marries Yeoreum is a lucky man. She has such big boobs…"

Yoon Chanjong poked him to make him stop. Refusing to take the hint, Park Jonghyun asked Woosung.

"How was dating Yeoreum? Did you guys do it? Was it good?"

Yoon Chanjong glared at him, but he didn't stop.

"Who cares now? They broke up anyway. Woosung was the only one who got to date her. Tell us about her."Her hometown was Kyungsang province, which was far away.

Her parents were poor farmers, so to not to become a burden, she worked hard to get a full scholarship. Woosung knew how hard she worked. She always had a part-time job just to make a living while attending school. Compared to her, he felt lazy and useless. When Woosung remained silent, Park Jonghyun asked again.

"Now that I remember, Yeoreum lived alone, right? Wow, it must have been great."

Just then, Cha Yeoreum and some other classmates approached them.

Woosung had never been this nervous in his life. It was cold, but he was sweating profusely.

Cha Yeoreum glanced at Woosung briefly and talked to Yoon Chanjong.

"You came too. Where did you apply?"

She looked great in a neat white blouse. Park Jonghyun looked nervous too. Yoon Chanjong answered.

"I applied to get into the solution development department. How about you?"

"Financial department. I heard some promising things about it."

They talked casually. They were now both working at Daeyang System, which meant they probably took the same introductory seminars and spent time together. Woosung gave an envious look at them.

While Woosung focused on Cha Yeoreum, another female classmate asked him.

"I heard you got a job too. You didn't study hard, but you got a job so quickly."

Park Jonghyun teased him mercilessly.

"It's only a medium-sized company called Daesan."

"Well, a job is a job."

Cha Yeoreum glanced at Woosung again. Woosung smiled and answered.

"Haha, it's all thanks to Chanjong. He told me to apply, and I got the job."

It really was thanks to Yoon Chanjong. He encouraged him and even taught him some possible interview questions. Even then, Woosung avoided Yoon Chanjong 10 years ago because he was jealous. Woosung felt like an idiot. He was so young back then. Cha Yeoreum congratulated him.

"Well, I'm glad you got a job. It's all about how good you are in this field anyway, not what kind of company you work for."

Woosung looked at Cha Yeoreum. As the time passed, his nervousness subsided. He now realized what he felt was nostalgia, not love.

"Thanks. I'll do my best."

To Woosung's indifference, Cha Yeoreum widened her eyes in confusion.

"Cool. Good luck."

Park Jonghyun seemed to still be jealous as he added.

"But it's still only a small company. You can't call yourself a success if you don't work for a major firm. You guys are all idiots."

Another female classmate replied in annoyance.

"You don't even have a job."

"Hey, I… I'm prepping myself to get into a big corporation. Chanjong promised to help me, so it will happen soon. You'll see."

"Psh, you're all talk."

Time passed quickly as they talked. Woosung called his parents, who were touring the school.

Ring ring.

Ring ring.

Kim Eunjung answered brightly.

"Son!"

"Mom, where are you? I'm ready to go now."

"Why, son! You can spend more time with your friends if you want."

His mom's voice sounded too cheerful.

"Let me know where you are, I will find you."

The school had a lot of students, so it should have been noisy, but Woosung heard no noise on the phone. He could also hear a stranger's voice talking to his mom.

"Ok. Then let's go."

He sounded familiar.

"Mom, who are you talking to?"

"Are you still near the main entrance? Oh, I'm almost there. Here."

A black sedan approached Woosung's group. It was a Mercedes-Benz. It stopped right in front of Woosung.

Park Jonghyun murmured in surprise.

"B… Benz. It's an S-series too."

Park Jonghyun looked at Woosung.

"Is… is this your parents' car?"

Other classmates murmured curiously.

"Wow. Is Woosung from a rich family?"

Cha Yeoreum also couldn't hide her surprise. Kim Eunjung came out of the car with a smile.

"Woosung!"

Woosung froze. He remembered the day he died.

Black sedan.

A stranger driving a black car.

Woosung shouted.

"Mom, what is this?"

"Hey, why are you screaming?"

Jang Gwangchul came out from the driver's side. Woosung still couldn't calm down.

"Why would you get into a stranger's car?"

Kang Gichun also seemed confused. Jang Gwangchul approached Woosung.

"Don't get mad. I offered to drive them. Your family is now my family too."

Woosung was cold to him.

"You're not my brother. I am an only child."

"Haha, you definitely act like the 'God of money.' Very practical. I like it."

Woosung didn't like this situation. There was no guarantee that Jang Gwangchul wasn't like Choi Gichul.

If he harmed his parents…

Woosung's eyes filled with fury. Jang Gwangchul added kindly.

"Don't look at me like that. I meant no harm. I heard it's your graduation today, so I got you a present."

Jang Gwangchul dropped the car key into Woosung's hand. Woosung's eyes widened in shock.

"You have a driver's license, right?"

Everyone became speechless.

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Chapter 26: God of money

Jang Gwangchul left in a hurry. It felt like a dream, but the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in front of him was real.

Suddenly, Woosung's cell phone vibrated. It was a text from Jang Gwangchul.

"Little brother, do I now deserve to have lunch with you?"

Jang Gwangchul kept calling Woosung his little brother. Before Woosung could process this situation, Kim Eunjung opened the door and said excitedly.

"Woosung, try it out. It's amazing. That man also said he'll pay for the insurance and maintenance."

"Mom!"

"Come on! When will we ever get the chance to drive a car like this? Look at how much your dad loves it too!"

Kang Gichun couldn't take his eyes off the car. It was the same for his classmates. Both Yoon Chanjong and Cha Yeoreum kept looking at the car and Woosung in shock. Woosung was pleased. Park Jonghyun asked.

"W… who was that? You aren't part of the mob, are you? I heard people get involved in illegal online gambling…"

Woosung scowled at him. Kim Eunjung heard this and asked Woosung worriedly.

"W… Woosung, that's not true, right?"

He had to explain.

"He's one of the company's VIPs and he's just thanking me for my work. Don't listen to my friend."

Park Jonghyun continued annoyingly.

"He can't be a stock trader. Didn't you see his face? He looked scary and had a gold necklace. He was definitely a mob."

Kim Eunjung frowned even more. Woosung didn't want to worry his mom. He had to make sure she understood.

'If I had a smartphone, I could just show it to her quickly.'

But then an idea snapped through his mind… Woosung asked Park Jonghyun.

"You have a laptop, right? Give it to me."

"Why? This is expensive. I can't lend it to you."

"I'm not asking to borrow it. I just want to look him up."

Luckily, the school had wireless internet. Woosung opened Jang Gwangchul's Cyworld and showed everyone the man's reports and activities.

Everyone became speechless as they stared at Woosung in shock. However, more than anyone, it surprised Park Jonghyun a whole lot more.

"Why would someone like him be nice to… you…?"

"I guess he appreciates how hard I work. Chanjong, it's all thanks to you. You're the one who told me to apply to Daesan. I will buy you lunch sometime."

Yoon Chanjong nodded. Woosung also looked at Cha Yeoreum.

"I am thankful to you too. You encouraged me to work hard. Let's get together sometime with Chanjong. We'll meet again, anyway."

Cha Yeoreum looked confused.

"What do you mean…?"

Kim Eunjung asked Woosung.

"Son, let's go now. I'm hungry and that man said he made a reservation for us at a restaurant. He said to just let them know his name and they will take care of us."

Kim Eunjung said it loudly, wanting everyone to hear.

"He said to go to the Baekjae Hotel."

Park Jonghyun couldn't hide his envy. After taking back his laptop, he murmured quietly.

"S… should I also apply to smaller companies now?"

Woosung got into the car and Kang Gichun filled himself with an obvious hint of happiness as he drove away.After the meal, Woosung's parents returned home first. Woosung wanted to meet with Jang Gwangchul alone. Sitting at the hotel lounge, Woosung called him. Within a few seconds, Jang Gwangchul showed up waving at Woosung as if he was expecting this.

"Haha, little brother, were you looking for me?"

Woosung was still suspicious about this entire deal.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You are so different from everyone else. Most people would suck up to me by now."

"Then you should talk to them."

"But those people are weak. If you are confident of your skills, then there is no need to bow down to anyone."

When Woosung remained silent, Jang Gwangchul smiled and guided Woosung to a private room.

"Haha, let's go inside. We have a lot to talk about."

Woosung followed Jang Gwangchul.

"How about we have some wine? Alcohol is good for relaxing."

Woosung answered coldly.

"I don't want to drink."

"Did I do anything to offend you?"

"Not yet."

"Haha, I guess that's good."

"I just don't believe in freebies."

Woosung remembered the day he died.

Choi Gichul took him to an expensive private club.

Jang Gwangchul probably wasn't like Choi Gichul, but Woosung still had to be on guard.

'Their last syllables are even the same.'

Jang Gwangchul. Choi Gichul. He just didn't like it. When Woosung frowned, Jang Gwangchul continued.

"Haha, that's true. Then I should tell you the reason."

Jang Gwangchul took out his PDA and connected to his website. He then brought up the posts Woosung uploaded.

"Your nickname is 'God of money,' right?"

Woosung nodded.

"You wrote about the basics of algorithm trading."

Woosung nodded again. When he registered to become a member of this website, one requirement was to upload a few useful posts.

"After reading these, I called Nuri Finances and asked about you. They had a lot of great things to say. On top of the speed trading, you also did a presentation on changing the development process. They know you for being a talented developer, and you're only 26."

"It's true."

"Hahaha. Your confidence is overwhelming."

"Because it's true."

"I agree, and that is why I want to be your friend."

"For my skills?"

Jang Gwangchul got close to Woosung and sniffed him. Surprised, Woosung stepped back.

"I smell money on you. You will be big, and I can't stay away from you."

Yoon Gihwan said the similar thing before.

'What's happening? Did I get more attractive or something?'

Woosung wondered if, on top of becoming smarter, he got better looks too, but that wasn't the case.

"Just like you, I am interested in IT. It's the future, but it is hard to find someone talented in this field. It's even harder to find someone who can see the future as well."

Woosung realized what Jang Gwangchul was talking about.

"Do you think I am that person?"

"They say money makes more money, but what moves money is a person. Someone like you."

It was an overwhelming compliment, but Woosung remained unfazed by it. He just nodded.

"I already know that."

Jang Gwangchul opened his mouth in shock. Woosung agreed with him.

coin. He had the chance of a lifetime in his hand. There was no doubt Woosung will become rich.

"R… really?"

"Yes."

He could have thought Woosung was being arrogant, but Jang Gwangchul thought differently.

"Ha, haha. If you already knew, then this conversation will be quick. I would like to offer you a job."

"Working at Daesan will be the last time I work for someone."

"Then how about becoming my partner?"

Jang Gwangchul was desperate not to lose Woosung. He licked his lips.

'How could he use him?'

Woosung still couldn't trust Jang Gwangchul, but he wanted to still gain something from this without being bound to him.

There was one way.

"I can make the program for you on the side."

"Do you even know what I want?"

"My post on algorithm trading got your interest…. So I assume you want something like it."

"Haha, I knew you would get me. So how much would you charge?"

Woosung didn't care if he would get this job, so he asked high.

"500,000 dollars."

"I'll give you 700,000 dollars. Make me something good."

This time, Woosung was the one left dumbfounded.

"… what?"

"My only requirement is that you make me an algorithmic system you can be proud of."

Jang Gwangchul wasn't shy about giving compliments. He was also very generous. A car and now 700,000 dollars.

He was unexpected.

"Why don't we get a contract today? Maybe after another drink?"

"Well, I guess I can have a glass."

There was no way someone who just offered him 700,000 dollars would mean him harm. Woosung could finally relax a bit.Kim Yonggun looked at the new posts on the website "Fire Ant Trading Club." One of the most viewed was titled, "The basics of algorithm trading."

The nickname of the author was especially memorable.

"God of money?"

It sounded great, so he clicked it.

"The basics of algorithm trading.

"It is a way to buy and sell stocks following strict guidelines. Even if you don't use an automated computer system, if you have your own rules you follow, that would still be considered an algorithm."

'Huh?'

Kim Yonggun always thought algorithm trading only referred to using an automated system, but according to this member, one could just have a personal rule.

"Having rules, or algorithm, is the basis of trading. If you do not have an algorithm, people would sneer at you and call what you're doing a gamble rather than a trade. Therefore, so many people fail at stock trading."

It felt like someone just hit him with a hammer.

"Huh? It's going up. I need to buy now."

"What? It's dropping. Should I sell? Sell??? Oh no. It's too late. Dammit!"

"Shoot! I shouldn't have sold!"

Kim Yonggun has lost a lot in the market. He had no rules; he just bought and sold as he felt. He skimmed pieces of information regarding trading, but it became apparent now that this was not enough.

"You need to make it into a smart investment transaction, not gambling. Then what would be the biggest difference between the two? Gambling depends on your luck but investing depends on mathematical chance, the difference between luck and chance is whether you can or cannot improve it."

This is the biggest and most important difference. Mathematical chance is something you can improve if you put your mind to it.

Kim Yonggun couldn't stop reading this relevant info 'God of money' has posted. Everything he said made sense. He wanted to absorb everything.

"One of the best hedge fund managers was Edward Thorp.

-"He was a brilliant mathematician who turned the game of blackjack into a probability game. He even wrote a book about it. While you depended your victories on your luck when gambling, he calculated the odds and made profits."The post even included a useful example.

"Edward Thorp?"

It was the first time Kim Yonggun heard this name. The only people he knew were Warren Buffett or George Soros. Reading quickly, Kim Yonggun hit the last paragraph.

"Therefore, the basis of algorithm trading is 'mathematical probability'. As you increase the probability, you will improve your earning."

Kim Yonggun clicked the "Like" button for the post made by 'God of money', which already had 3,108 likes.

Woosung's post was the most viewed and most liked post in the history of this website.

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Woosung arrived at work with a frown.

'I didn't even drink that much last night, yet…'

30-year-old Ballantine.

Jang Gwangchul had ordered a bottle which had a cost of over 1,000 dollars. It was so strong that Woosung only drank a little, but he still felt awful the next morning.

'He must be really rich. A hundred thousand dollars must be nothing to him.'

Woosung couldn't even guess how rich Jang Gwangchul was. He had at least 10 million dollars in cash for stock trading, but Jang Gwangchul must also have other investments.

Woosung sighed. He could still smell the alcohol on his breath. When Yoon Gihwan came by, he could smell it too.

"Newbie, did you drink the Ballantine yesterday?"

"… huh?"

"I am a drink expert. Let me see…"

Yoon Gihwan came even closer and sniffed Woosung.

'He acts just like Jang Gwangchul. I'll bet they'll get along great.'

Yoon Gihwan continued.

"Hmm… My guess would be that it was a 30-year-old bottle. Wow. A single bottle costs about 1,000 dollars. How can you afford something like that already?"

He looked a bit disappointed.

Woosung shook his head and answered.

"I drank it, but I didn't buy it."

"Then who bought it for you? It must have been an expensive night. Who could… Wait? Did you…?"

"I need to tell you something. Let's go somewhere private."

Woosung told Yoon Gihwan everything that happened at his graduation. He had no intention of working on Jang Gwangchul's algorithm system by himself. There were so many other things he had to do. He planned to divide the work with Yoon Gihwan, and if he agreed, he wanted Yoon Gihwan to take care of the maintenance too. When he heard Woosung's plan, Yoon Gihwan kept silent. He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth without lighting it. When Woosung struck a strange gaze at him, Yoon Gihwan answered.

"I quit smoking."

"Oh…"

"What do you think? Would it be better than staying at Daesan?"

"It would be better to stay here for now, but when we develop the system, it would depend on how well we do."

"Will you be completely off this project?"

"I…"

After much thought, Woosung answered.

"It would depend on how Jang Gwanchul does."

"So I will act as your scout. I will spy on him for you."

"True, but you will make a lot more money. With your skill, you should be able to go far with the system, but if you don't want to, you don't have to do it."

He didn't think for long. Yoon Gihwan threw away the cigarette.

"I'll do it."

"Good choice. It's a great opportunity for you. I think this Jang Gwangchul character is a good guy."

"At the very least, he's very generous."

"That he is."

They returned to the office.Woosung checked his email when he returned to his seat. After reading all the work emails, he checked his personal ones. One of the new emails caught his attention.

Sender: Microsoft.

Title: GUI Test Tool Use Request

It was an email asking Woosung to allow Microsoft to add the GUI Test Tool function to the Visual Studio.

Woosung had uploaded GTT on Source Forge for the public to use for free. He also agreed to the MIT License, which allowed others to use it freely for business purposes. This meant Microsoft did not have to ask Woosung's permission, but as one of the best software development companies in the world, it wanted to maintain an ethical image. Woosung read the rest of the message out loud.

"And while using my program, they plan to name me the MVP (Most Valuable Professional) of the Visual Studio and Development Technologies department?"

MVP.

It was an honor for Microsoft to name someone an MVP. It also came with benefits of free MSDN subscription and invitations to MS-related global summits. There were less than 100 Koreans part of the MS MVP list.

Yoon Gihwan heard Woosung's murmur and came by to read the email.

"MS MVP? Wow… Newbie, you are so…"

Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun also turned around.

"MS? Are you referring to Microsoft MVP?"

"Yes. They want to name me the MVP."

Yoon Gihwan urged Woosung to read on further.

"In addition, we would honor you to be a guest speaker regarding GUI Test Tool at our 2008 Microsoft Development Conference.

The conference would take place in March."

PDC (Professional Developers Conference).

In 2011, the name of this conference would change to Build. It took place at Seattle, which was where the MS headquarter resided. It was a sought-after event, and it usually sold out within 5 minutes of its release.

Unfortunately, it wasn't an invitation to the PDC.

"It's not an invitation to PDC. There will be an MS seminar in Korea regarding the use of Visual Studio and the future of IT, and they want me to be one of the speakers."

Park Junwoo couldn't hide his excitement. He read the email himself carefully.

"W… who cares? This is still an MS seminar, and they invited you!"

"I… I guess."

"Anyone who speak at these seminars were well-known people!"

Yoon Gihwan glanced at Park Junwoo, who seemed thrilled.

"Manager Park, you seem very interested in MS."

Park Junwoo calmed down a little, but he still had his eyes fixated on the email.

"When I first started out… I dreamt of becoming a famous developer and speak at such events. I would love to work at MS, but I realize now that it's not possible."

Kim Yonggun understood, he added, "Well, every developer dreams of working at MS, Google, Oracle…"

Yoon Gihwan put his hand on Woosung's shoulder and asked.

"Does this mean that among all of us, you are the only one whose dream came true?"

This was becoming uncomfortable.

"It… It's not like that."

Park Junwoo felt different. He smiled bitterly and left the office. Kim Yonggun followed after him. When Woosung tried to follow them, Yoon Gihwan stopped him.

"If you follow them now, they'll feel even worse. I'll go talk to them."

Woosung had to stay put.

Park Junwoo sat on a bench outside. Kim Yonggun bought a can of warm honey water and offered it to him.

"Assistant manager Kim, what have I accomplished with my life so far?"

"Don't think like that. You worked hard. Woosung is an unusual case."

"Phew. I recently realized what a fool I am. Envy, doubt, and jealousy. These feelings have overwhelmed me so."

"Everyone feels like that sometimes. Me too."

"Whenever I see the newbie, I feel like I've wasted my life."

"It's not too late. You can still do whatever you want to."

Kim Yonggun tried to encourage him, but it didn't work.

"Really? I don't know… I have been a failure so far."

"Don't think like that. It's possible. It really is. But…"

After a quick pause, Kim Yonggun continued.

"There is one condition."

Park Junwoo looked at Kim Yonggun curiously.

"You need to be willing to work under Woosung."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you hear the conversation between General manager Yoon and Woosung?"

Park Junwoo shook his head.

"Woosung said he drank the 30-year-old Ballentine. Who do you think bought him such an expensive drink?"

"W… who?"

"I eavesdropped on them. It was the Fire Ant Jang Gwangchul. Jang Gwangchul asked Woosung to make something for him. Woosung then asked the general manager to do it instead."

"And you think we should ask him to include us?"

Kim Yonggun nodded.

"You know how talented Woosung is. If we learn from him and be around him, good things will happen to us."

Kim Yonggun was determined.

"It's not the time to save your pride. I have decided to have Woosung as my boss. I'm sure he'll accept me."

"Boss? Are you suggesting that he'll leave this place and make his own company?"

"Eventually. His talent doesn't stop at developing."

Kim Yonggun continued instantaneously.

"Most people fail at daytime trading because they are gambling."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is something the newbie said.""Woosung joined the website by Jang Gwangchul and uploaded a post. This is what he said in it. I'm sure it's Woosung."

Kim Yonggun followed his statement quick with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Do you know how many views he had on his post? Over 30,000. He is no ordinary man."

Park Junwoo felt bitter. He could never compare to Woosung.

"I have decided. I will follow him wherever he goes. He will be somebody."

Suddenly, someone yelled at them from behind.

"And how do you know he'll take you?"

Kim Yonggun looked around in shock. Yoon Gihwan was standing there. He looked angry.

"G… General manager."

"I was wondering what you guys are doing. You've been having a meeting of your own."

"N… no. It's not like that…"

After a pause, Kim Yonggun went on.

"How much did you hear?"

Yoon Gihwan raised his hand but paused. He then sighed and dropped his hand.

"Who cares? Just continue your story about what Woosung wrote on his post."

Frightened, Kim Yonggun told him everything he knew.Woosung felt awkward when Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun returned. 10 years ago, they helped and encouraged him. If he hadn't met them then, he wouldn't have made it in this industry.

"So you both want to be a part of Jang Gwangchul's project?"

Kim Yonggun gave an empathic nod. Park Junwoo fell silent, but he extended his agreement too.

"I need to warn you it will be a hard road. You won't have weekends off and you may have to work up to 20 hours a day."

Kim Yonggun swallowed hard. Park Junwoo replied slowly.

"MS recognized you. If we can become like you, then…"

Woosung stopped Park Junwoo and added.

"Um… I think you guys misunderstood me. What I'm doing is not charity work."

Park Junwoo flinched to Woosung's cold voice.

"If it doesn't benefit me, I won't do it."

Park Junwoo understood what he did wrong.

"I know well that you two are great people, but that's it. I know you can do your jobs at Daesan, but anything outside, I can't be sure if you have the skills."

Park Junwoo's face reddened in embarrassment. Kim Yonggun realized the situation and objected.

"Then what should we do?"

"Just the fact you're asking me is a problem. You are being too dependent on me. General manager Yoon may not be the nicest person, but he knows what he's doing. He rarely asks for my guidance."

Kim Yonggun closed his eyes. Park Junwoo looked away and asked.

"So you're saying…. no?"

Woosung didn't want to them a flat-out rejection. They gave him a chance 10 years ago, and Woosung wanted to do the same for them.

"Let's do it this way. You two should lead our current development process change consultation. If you can complete it successfully, I'll take you."

Kim Yonggun replied.

"B… but…"

Park Junwoo looked at Woosung with determination.

"That's a good idea. I don't want to be a burden to you, anyway."

"You two will also get bonuses based on the result of this project, so it should be a win-win situation for you."

Woosung went back to his seat. He could see how determined Park Junwoo was. He knew he could trust him.

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6:30 pm.

The end of a workday. Park Junwoo and Kim Yonggun seemed determined as they continued to work. Woosung picked up his briefcase and said his goodbye, but no one even noticed.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Yoon Gihwan was also focused on his monitor.

They all remained seated.

'Is it because of what I said earlier?'

He wasn't a nice guy. He only did things beneficial to him. That meant that he would drop anything or anyone unnecessary. If they wanted to work with him, they had to prove their skills.

'If they want to be with me, this is the least they can do.'

Woosung left the office.

As soon as he left, Woosung received a text.

"I sent you a 100,000 dollars deposit."

Woosung replied immediately.

"Thank you. As I told you earlier, I will send the system to you in a document format by next Wednesday. I will not be able to finalize all the details, so please understand."

"Haha, whatever you say. I trust you, little brother."

Woosung knew what that meant.

"Do whatever you think is necessary."

"You know what to do. Take care of it."

"You can do it yourself."

Vague requests were always the scariest. Woosung replied immediately.

"I will do my best."

"Hahaha. Of course."

Woosung took a deep breath.

100,000 dollars.

He was another step closer to his goal. When he got home, Woosung turned his computer on and checked his bank account.

$122,400.50

In his previous life, he took 10 years to save 100,000 dollars, but this time, it took less than 2 months.

"I will make sure to add a lot more 0's to my balance."

He felt proud of himself. He was going in the right direction. His mother called him just then.

"Son, dinner's ready."

"Be right there."

Woosung transferred 20,000 dollars and left his room.

The dinner table was bare with modest dishes, but it was more satisfying to Woosung than having a meal at an expensive hotel.

"Mom, I just transferred you 20,000 dollars, so pay back the rest of your mortgage."

Kim Eunjung trembled as she asked.

"What?"

"I did another extra project with that guy you met and I got paid more. We need to pay back all the debts first."

"B… but you already gave us 20,000 dollars. You got another 20,000 dollars?"

Woosung tried to change the topic.

"This miso soup is great."

"What? Why would he give you 20,000 dollars?"

Woosung shrugged.

"I'm that good."

Kim Eunjung tried to remain calm. She worried for Woosung as she remembered what his friend said at his graduation. She asked nervously.

"You… you aren't involved in illegal online gambling, right?"

Woosung proclaimed with confidence.

"I told you it's not like that. Jang Gwangchul hired me for a project and I got paid for it."

Kim Eunjung was still anxious. He could see her hand shook in her own agitation.

"B… but why would he give you so much money? I heard the car he gave you is also worth over 100,000 dollars, and he gave you another 20,000 dollars?"

"Not for free. I worked for it."

Kang Gichun turned to Woosung and said seriously.

"Woosung, I make a little over 1,000 dollars a month as a security guard. You told me you would make less than 2,000 dollars a month."

He sounded angry. He thought Woosung was lying to them. Woosung realized his parents would not believe him without proof. He brought out the contract with Jang Gwangchul and showed it to them. Kang Gichun and Kim Eunjung read it carefully.

Their worry turned into joy and pride as they realized that Woosung was telling the truth.

"Woosung…. This is real, right?"

"Yes. Of the 700,000 dollars, my portion will only be about half. I have to pay my co-workers with the other half."

"Even then… it's 350,000 dollars…"

"Just be patient. I will buy you a nice apartment in Gangnam soon."

Kim Eunjung couldn't contain her emotions.

"When did my little boy grow up?"

Woosung became emotional too. If he stayed, they were all going to cry.

"I grew up because you fed me so well. I'm done eating. I have to get to work."

Woosung went back to his room.After transferring 20,000 dollars, he had 102,000 dollars left.

He needed much more money.

Woosung checked the KOSPI first.

1734.

It was too high to buy any stocks right now. In October, it would drop to 900's. That would be his chance to make money. He thought about dabbling in real estate, but he didn't have enough funds.

Woosung deliberated to himself about big future events he could take advantage of. He opened the file he created and looked through it.

"Hmm…"

Nothing major would happen soon, at least not anything that could make him money. The only thing he could do now was work on Jang Gwangchul's system.

Most programming occurred in following steps.

1. Analyze the request. Understand exactly what the customer wants.

2. Organize the list of functions.

3. Design.

4. Develop.

5. Test.

6. Maintain.

He only had a limited amount of time and not enough of it for himself. He skipped the first two steps and went straight to the third stage.

Design.

There were many things to design. He had to decide on the physical servers for the program which functions to upload on each server, the relationships between them, and the software.

"I should check what's available on Amazon Seoul Region."

Woosung didn't want to buy an expensive server. Instead, he planned to use the Amazon Web Services and pay as he goes.

"Thank God EC2 is available. This is the only thing I need."

EC2 service could be the foundation.

"I can upload the program here."

Woosung checked the functions available on AWS (Amazon Web Services) and designed the system architecture.Woosung felt exhausted as he went to work.

Last night he ended up working till 4 in the morning. He almost worked all night except his mother noticed the light in his room and insisted he go to bed. Despite his fatigue, Woosung felt happy.

"My concentration level is amazing now."

It wasn't just his IQ that improved. His concentration and patience all enhanced as well. Woosung was satisfied with the way he was now. He smiled as he greeted everyone.

"Good morning."

"Oh, hi."

"Good morning to you too, Woosung."

"How's it going?"

None of his co-workers looked well. Their eyes were half closed. He spotted cans of energy drinks and coffee all around their desks and some lying on the ground.

'They must be working really hard.'

Park Junwoo stood up and asked Woosung.

"Hey, I made a list of things to inform the infra department. Could you take a look?"

Woosung was glad to help. Unlike his cold demeanor yesterday, Woosung had a tender tone.

"Haha, of course."

Kim Yonggun also stood up and asked for Woosung.

"After you're done there, could you have a look at my test codes?"

"Sure thing."

Yoon Gihwan also asked Woosung.

"Newbie, after you are done with these two, come and see me."

Woosung was about to answer when a stranger greeted him from behind.

"Hello. I'm an assistant manager from Daeyang System. My name is Jaejin Kim. I wanted to let you know that my PM would like to see you now."

Woosung had an idea of what the meeting would be about.

'Is he thinking about giving me that job? This is sooner than I expected…'

Woosung looked at Yoon Gihwan, who reacted as expected.

"You can't order us around like this. You should've at least sent us an email to let us know ahead of time. This is unreasonable."

Kim Jaejin bit his lips.

"G… General manager."

"Dammit, that stupid Kwon Taegyun."

Kwon Taegyun.

He was the PM of Daeyang System. Yoon Gihwan frowned in fury, but Woosung calmed him down.

"Let's just hear him out. There is no need to shoot the messenger."

Yoon Gihwan stood up quick in response. Kim Jaejin looked at Woosung in awe.

'Wow… General manager Yoon actually listened to that guy…'

"Fine. Let's go."

Kim Jaejin sighed and guided them to Daeyang System's conference room.

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Kim Jaejin spoke apologetically as he kept looking at the conference room.

"Haha. He said he'll be done soon. Please wait just a little longer."

They came as asked, but Kwon Taegyun was having a meeting. They've been waiting for over 10 minutes. Yoon Gihwan kept clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Let's go back to our office, newbie. I don't know why we're still waiting here."

"Yes."

10 years ago, something similar to this had happened but in a different circumstance. Yoon Gihwan panted in anger.

"Does he think he owns me? I can't believe he's doing this."

Yoon Gihwan stood up. Kim Jaejin panicked.

"G…General manager. Please. Please just wait a little longer."

"It has already been over 10 minutes."

10 years ago, Yoon Gihwan was as furious as he was right now, but he couldn't express his anger then. Yoon Gihwan was fired from Daeyang, and the only reason he landed on a job at Daesan was because Daeyang made it happen. This meant at any given time they wanted to, Daeyang could take his job away.

However, things were different now. He had a new and improved occupation under Woosung this time.

"It has been exactly 15 minutes."

Kim Jaejin was now drenched in sweat.

"That's it. Let's go."

Woosung stood and silently followed. Just when they turned around to leave, the conference room door swung open and Kwon Taegyun came out with a smile.

"Haha, sorry. My meeting with a new employee took longer than expected. Come on in."

He didn't look sorry at all. Yoon Gihwan grunted angrily.

"You need to learn some manners."

"Haha, but I learned everything from you.""Let's go in. I want to talk about something important. Even Nuri Finances is interested in this topic."

Yoon Gihwan followed him grudgingly.

As Woosung entered the room, he paused.

Cha Yeoreum.

She was sitting in the room wearing a nice suit. It was her first day of work. Her face was flushed.

'So she's here.'

Just like 10 years ago. At the time, she saw him being reprimanded harshly by Yoon Gihwan. It was shameful and horrifying.

At that time, he swore he would become somebody someday.

So 10 years ago, he studied harder than he did in school, and after years of hard work, he made it. He became the head of Bitmain's server team. She was the motivation behind his determination. Kwon Taegyun introduced her to them.

"This is our new employee. She will be working with you along with Assistant Manager Kim."

"Hello. My name is Cha Yeoreum."

Yoon Gihwan bowed lightly.

"I'm Yoon Gihwan from Daesan System."

"My name is Kang Woosung."

Woosung gave her a brief glance and looked away. Cha Yeoreum did the same, hiding her surprise. Kwon Taegyun pointed at the PPT laid out in front of them.

"Now let's get right into it. I think I made General Manager Yoon angry."

He was mocking Yoon Gihwan. Yoon Gihwan glared at Kwon Taegyun, who ignored him and continued.

"We plan to place a customized product ad on the top right corner of our HTS."

Woosung thought in confusion.

'10 years ago, this happened much later in early summer.'

However, this time, it was happening earlier. It seemed as if history had changed because of Woosung.

'I need to be careful not to change the future.'

He couldn't let that happen. Things had to happen exactly like the last time. That was the only way to ensure important events such as cryptocurrency and smartphones happened. Woosung frowned.

At the same time, Cha Yeoreum was also deep in thought.

'The world is so small. So I meet him here…Didn't expect that.'

She had no idea Woosung worked in this department. She got into IT because it was where she could make the most money.

'So he is working at Daesan. Does this mean he is doing well?'

She remembered the car he received on the day of graduation. It wasn't that she regretted breaking up with him.

'He will never change.'

Chan Yeoreum looked at Woosung. He looked very different than in college. He looked more confident and professional.

Kim Jaejin couldn't stop glancing at Cha Yeoreum. She was gorgeous.

'She's hot.'

Meanwhile, Kwon Taegyun continued.

"We'll be adding a banner, so it won't be that big of a job. Especially if we use the agile method as was suggested by… Woosung, right? It will take maybe only two to three days?"

He smirked.

Woosung didn't like him. Yoon Gihwan felt the same.

"Two, three days? Are you kidding? Give us a few hours."

To Yoon Gihwan's confidence, Kwon Taegyun laughed loudly.

"Hahaha. Then you should be able to get it done by the end of the day. Assistant manager Kim will give you the API (application programming interface), and Yeoreum will accompany to learn from Assistant manager Kim."

Cha Yeoreum gave a polite reply.

"Of course."

The meeting took a mere 10 minutes to wrap up. As everyone stood up to leave, Woosung asked hurriedly.

"Wait."

Yoon Gihwan looked at him. Others did as well.

"Who designed this? It's all wrong."

Kwon Taegyun frowned.

"Do you know what you're talking about?"

Yoon Gihwan smiled. He looked at Woosung expectantly.

"Newbie, explain."

"Have you all heard of the company called Apple?"

Everyone nodded. iPhone hasn't been released in Korea yet, but they all knew of iPod and Macintosh.

"Their first rule of design is consistency. Our HTS screen design has always remained consistent to help the customers navigate quickly, but if you place a useless banner on the top right corner, you're ruining the UX."

To Woosung's strong words, Kim Jaejin replied.

"That's very unkind of you. Useless? We have analyzed the big data to put the most appropriate products for the customers."

He proclaimed it with confidence, but Woosung questioned him with a silent gaze. Did he even know what big data was?

Big Data.

In 2008, big data was being actively researched. Large corporations such as Google and IBM were applying it to their technology already, but in Korea, it was a relatively new concept. Woosung asked.

"What do you mean by 'big data?' Are you just referring to the amount of data?"

"Not just the quantity of it. We got the result from handling unstructured data. Our quality should rival that of Amazon."

"Unstructured data? Where are we getting the unstructured data from? I can't think of anywhere on the current Nuri Finances' system where you would get that. As for Amazon, their recommendations are based on product reviews. Do we have a review system that I don't know about?"

Kim Jaejin hesitated to Woosung's explanation.

"T…that is…"

Kwon Taegyun asked instead.

"So are you saying we shouldn't put a banner at all?"

"That is exactly what I am saying, but if you insist, please include in your report that Daesan disagreed with your proposal."

"We are a team. Do we really have to be like this?"

Woosung smirked and answered.

"I'm telling you how it is. We are indeed a team, so if I know our team will fail, then it is my duty to tell you."

Kwon Taegyun frowned again. Woosung continued slowly.

"I am telling you again that this is not a good idea."

Kwon Taegyun realized he couldn't get through Woosung. He turned to Yoon Gihwan instead.

"This is not how things work."

"What are you talking about? You know me. I agree with my guy, so that's final."

Kwon Taegyun gritted his teeth. Cha Yeoreum looked at Woosung in shock.

'Is he crazy?'

He was a new employee and the way he behaved was all wrong. It was also strange how Daesan's general manager reacted to Woosung's actions and how Kwon Taegyun couldn't seem to fight back.

The now angered Kwon Taegyun asked again.

"Do we really have to do this?"

Yoon Gihwan nodded. Daesan had nothing to lose. If this suggestion worked out, Daeyang would take the credit, and if it didn't, they would blame Daesan.

"You know we're right."

Woosung nodded in agreement. Yoon Gihwan was right. 10 years ago, this plan backfired as the customers complained. Daesan System was blamed for everything.

"I agree with General Manager Yoon. I guess that's it. We're done here."

Woosung stood up and left, followed by Yoon Gihwan.

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Yoon Gihwan couldn't stop smiling. Woosung asked curiously.

"Are you that happy?"

"Of course. Hahaha! You made my day!"

Yoon Gihwan explained as they walked together.

"Kwon Taegyun was the reason why I got fired. I focused only on my work and not on office politics. When I realized my mistake, it was too late. He turned everyone against me. At that time a realization hit me that I could now understand how my son would have felt being bullied at school."

Yoon Gihwan laughed bitterly.

"Hahaha… It was only then that I could really understand my son's feelings. I was a bad father."

Yoon Gihwan paused briefly, then asked Woosung.

"By the way, is it really true that Apple's first rule of design is consistency?"

There was no answer. Yoon Gihwan turned around to find that Woosung was not behind him.

"…where did he go?"

Woosung was with Cha Yeoreum. After Woosung left, she followed him. She was curious.

"You…What just happened? How could you act like that back there? This is a workplace, not school."

"Haha. Are you worried about me?"

"Woosung! This isn't funny."

"Thank you for your concern, but there is no need. You saw what happened, right? I didn't lose."

"Well…that's only because we happened to have understanding bosses. If it was anywhere else, it would have been bad for you."

Woosung nodded.

"Alright. I will consider your advice."

"Not consider. You need to take it…"

Cha Yeoreum didn't finish her sentence. She just shook her head and murmured.

"Never mind. It's no use."

"Haha. I never expected to see you here."

"Um…yeah. I didn't expect to see you either."

"Well, good luck to you. I hope everything works out for you. I remember you wanting to help your parents financially and pay back your student loan."

Cha Yeoreum blushed as Woosung brought up their past conversations.

"Why are you bringing back old news now?"

Woosung smiled.

"Haha. It's just nice to see you work hard at your dream company."

She knew Woosung meant what he said. At first, she thought he would never change, but she started to think that perhaps she was wrong then.

He was her first everything. First love, first kiss, first time. She realized she was starting to feel for him again.

"By the way, when did you have the time to study?"

"I…"

It was this day 10 years ago.

10 years ago, things happened differently. It was a bad day for Woosung.

However, he couldn't tell her the truth.

"I…I never stopped studying."

"Well, not when you were in school, but I guess it's still not too late now. Good luck."

He knew she meant it.

Why!?

Why didn't he do better in his previous life? He was disappointed in himself, but he had to move on.

"Well, shall we go now? We are both newbies, so we shouldn't take long breaks."

Cha Yeoreum nodded and turned around. He could smell the light flowery scent from her long hair.

'Maybe…'

Woosung shook his head and walked away.Kwak Jungwook loved his job nowadays. After the newbie was hired for the HTS team, everything in the company had been working out smoothly. Daesan's new employee was creative and productive. His new function was a hit with the VIPs. Not to mention, it also attracted a lot of new users.

If things continued like this, they would become number one in no time. He could understand his boss's insistence on trying to scout Woosung into the headquarter.

"Let's see how many new customers we got today."

Kwak Jungwook loved to check the numbers every day.

"Yesterday, the number of new accounts were 1,225. Today is…1,421!"

Kwak Jungwook clicked the reasons why their new users subscribed to their company.

-Easy to use HTS 53%

-Speed 12%

-Recommendation by an acquaintance 8%Before Woosung, the numbers remained between 500 to 800 tops. This improvement was even better since it was because of the team he was supervising.

"Hahaha. I will get a big bonus this year!"

Beep.

A message popped up on his screen.

New email.

When he clicked it, there was an email from Daeyang System's PM Kwon Taegyun.

"New Product Promotion Banner on HTS

Hello. This is Kwon Taegyun from Daeyang System.

I have received a negative opinion from Daesan System regarding the new banner project.

They claimed that placing a banner on the top right corner would make it difficult for customers to use.

I would like to call a meeting about this."

Kwak Jungwook frowned.

"This is a project my boss is interested in too…I should go and talk to him in person."

He stood up and headed towards Woosung's workplace.

Woosung, Yoon Gihwan, and Kwak Jungwook sat in a conference room.

"Did you read the email from Daeyang?"

"Not yet."

Yoon Gihwan answered.

"They claimed that you disagreed with their banner project. They are asking for a meeting. May I hear why you reject this idea?"

He had to explain it all over again.

Woosung answered impatiently.

"Because it will ruin HTS's UX."

However, Kwak Jungwook wasn't listening.

"This is one of the most important functions of Nuri Finances' new system. 'Product recommendation by Nuri Finances based on big data analysis.' Everyone, including the executives, has high expectations of it."

Woosung frowned at Kwak Jungwook.

"The final decision is Nuri Finances', but please remember what I am saying. This will cause you to lose new customers and receive a lot of complaints."

Kwak Jungwook looked troubled as Woosung said firmly.

"But…wouldn't we be able to sell more products? It will be based on big data."

"No."

"Hmm…Daeyang has worked very hard on this project so I don't understand why you are against it…This is really important…I have to tell the president…"

Woosung closed his eyes and sighed. The room became tense in the blink of an eye.

Big data.

Big data.

Big data.

He couldn't stand how they worshiped the idea of big data. Woosung explained in an impatient and annoyed tone.

"I asked them what they thought big data was.""They answered it was the amount of data and that they collected unstructured data. Large quantity. The amount of data Nuri Finances get is about a million per day. In a month, that would be 30 million. Is this a lot?"

Woosung calmed down and continued.

"If this is considered large, then why are we suddenly calling it big data? Because we've always gathered this amount. The amount of data hasn't increased recently."

Kwak Jungwook couldn't answer Woosung's question. He was sweating.

"As for the unstructured data collection, that's ridiculous. Nuri Finances is currently using the Oracle database. There is no place where you can collect unstructured data."

Yoon Gihwan and Kwak Jungwook couldn't say a word. They could only listen to Woosung.

"We don't have more data than before, and we are NOT collecting unstructured data. Then why are they suddenly calling it 'Big data?'"

Kwak Jungwook hesitated.

"W…well it's because…"

Woosung continued without waiting.

"The developers over there are trying to fool everyone by using a big, unfamiliar word. I don't care what word they use, but lying about the quality of their work is just wrong. Do you really think collection and analysis of data are happening correctly as they claim? Because if they did, they wouldn't have suggested placing a banner. Do you know why?"

Kwak Jungwook shook his head.

"If you want to know, then arrange a seminar for me to speak. Daeyang will have to fund it, and please tell them I am someone who has been invited by Microsoft. They will have to pay me."

Without waiting for an answer, Woosung left the room. Kwak Jungwook asked Yoon Gihwan quietly.

"Do you know the answer?"

Yoon Gihwan scratched his head and answered.

"Um… no."

Yoon Gihwan followed Woosung.

"Hey, newbie."

"I need to get back to work right away if I want to leave on time."

Woosung answered coldly.

"I…I know but you could have told me what you were going to say in there."

"Think. 30 million data."

Woosung then returned to his seat. Yoon Gihwan also sat down and murmured.

"30 million data… 30 million…"

Park Junwoo turned around and asked.

"Are you ok?"

"So the company deals with stock trading and…"

"G…General manager?"

Yoon Gihwan wasn't paying attention to Park Junwoo. He continued to mumble. After a few seconds, Yoon Gihwan snapped his fingers.

"Oh! Most of the data would be stock trading data."

Majority of the data would be related to transactions of stocks, not product purchases. This meant the data they claim couldn't be used to predict the type of products customers needed.

"But…wouldn't Daeyang already know this?"

Yoon Gihwan now could understand what Woosung was trying to say, but he was still worried. Woosung didn't seem concerned, however, as he focused on his work.

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The next day.

Kwak Jungwook called for an immediate meeting.

"As you know, the headquarters is highly invested in this big data project."

Kwak Jungwook continued calmly.

"Daesan had two opinions regarding this project. First is that it will negatively affect the UX. Second, we need to verify the data analysis results."

Kwon Taegyun frowned. He heard about the first part yesterday but was unaware of the second objection.

"I have heard the first one, but you'll have to explain further about the second part."

Kwon Taegyun looked at Yoon Gihwan, who, in turn, directed his gaze to Woosung. Despite everyone's attention, Woosung was deep in his own thoughts.

'We meet again.'

Cha Yeoreum was sitting at the table too. Theis meetif og theirs surprised her but it also pleased her at the same time to see Woosung again. Yoon Gihwan poked Woosung.

"Hey, newbie."

Woosung finally paid attention to the room. Kwon Taegyun was glaring at him with obvious hate.

"There is a saying, 'Empty vessels make the most noise.'"

Woosung looked at Kwon Taegyun and continued.

"Have you heard it before?"

Kwon Taegyun slapped the table and stood up angrily.

"What the hell are you trying to say?"

Kwak Jungwook stood and tried to stop Kwon Taegyun. He waved at Woosung.

"W…Woosung. You need to watch your language."

"No, I don't. The amount of money your company received for this project is about 10 million dollars."

Woosung continued slowly.

"So I looked into where that money was spent. The word 'big data' was all over the invoices. 'New customers attraction using the big data analysis.' 'Increasing the ease of system use with the big data analysis.' 'Increased accuracy in predicting future system errors using the big data analysis.' And so on."

When Woosung tried to continue, someone from Daeyang interrupted him.

"I am Manager Oh Juhoon from Daeyang System. I find your accusations very insulting. Everything we put on the report is true. I don't understand which part you think is fake."

Kwon Taegyun added smugly.

"By the way, Oh Juhoon has a PhD in statistics."

Yoon Gihwan answered.

"All of them." He then smiled at Woosung.

"Are you kidding me?"

Oh Juhoon scowled and answered loudly.

Woosung shook his head and turned on the presentation screen. An excel file opened.

"This is a table I made of the Nuri Finances' data analysis."

-Period: February 21 ~ March 21

-Data on stock trading: 32,222,114

-Number of inquiries to call center: 1,234,523

-Number of visits to the homepage: 1,098,245Woosung asked as he pointed at the screen.

"As you can see, majority of the data is from stock trading transactions. You weren't planning to use this to make product recommendations, right?"

Everyone looked at Oh Juhoon. He adjusted his glasses and answered.

"Hmm…Of course not. That kind of data would be useless when making product recommendations."

Yoon Gihwan frowned. He was right, Daeyang didn't make such an obvious mistake.

"Then this means you used the data on product inquiries for call center and homepage…"

Oh Juhoon swallowed and glanced at Kwon Taegyun.

"T…that's right. We used three years worth of data, so that would be about 30 million."

"And you call that big data? That would be less than 100 gigs."

Oh Juhoon remained silent. Kwon Taegyun sat down quietly and tried to help.

"You are too focused on the word 'big data.' You need to consider the quality of our work instead."

"Quality? Haha, then let's talk about that."

Woosung's mocking tone angered Kwon Taegyun. Kim Jaejin intervened.

"Hey. Don't you think you are being a little rude?"

Woosung gave a quick response.

"No, not at all."

Kim Jaejin stuttered.

"W…what did you say?"

"I said no." Woosung continued. "If you want to talk about manners, how about you making us wait 15 minutes for a meeting?"

Kwon Taegyun tried to answer but Woosung was quicker.

"We keep getting off topic. Let's get back to the presentation."

Woosung clicked to change the screen to PPT.

"Data quality is just as important as the amount of data. An analyst should be ashamed to knowingly using the wrong data, just like in this case."

Oh Juhoon reddened.

Kwon Taegyun.

Kim Jaejin.

They all became silent.

Except for Cha Yeoreum, all members from Daeyang System reddened. Woosung continued.

"Then let's get back to the business. You mentioned quality. The focus of data analysis should be quality of work and the appropriateness of the data."

The room was dead silent except for Woosung.

"The first thing is to set a goal. Then you should work towards the goal, rather than working on unrelated data and call whatever the result to be the 'goal.'"

Woosung continued.

"But in this case, was there ever a clear objective?"

No one could answer.Silence.

Cha Yeoreum looked around the room and turned to Woosung.

'What is happening here?'

This was not the Woosung she knew.

She has known him for a long time. During university, Woosung barely passed to graduate, but the Woosung in this room was a completely different person. She looked at him with curiosity.

'Tell me, what happened?'

Woosung shrugged.

'We haven't seen each other in a while.'

It has only been a year. She continued to look at him, but Woosung looked away.

Woosung finally broke the silence.

"We need figure out what we can do with all the data we have."

The atmosphere in the room was changing. It now felt like a classroom, and Woosung is the teacher.

"The data on stock trading and on the online transactions. We need to combine the two."

With 10 years of experience, Woosung was now the expert.

"We use HTS now, but in the future, more convenient tools will become available."

In the future, MTS (Mobile Trading System) will become the main system. Whichever company monopolizes it will become the top of the food chain.

"We need to become prepared for that time. We need to analyze the available data to determine users' HTS use patterns and improve on it. We need to be ready for the future."

Kwak Jungwook looked at Woosung admiringly, but Yoon Gihwan looked at him oddly.

'Look at this guy.'

Woosung was not providing any specifics of his plan.

Yoon Gihwan didn't know much about mobile transaction systems, but he knew if Woosung's idea was to take place, he needed to have detailed plans. Woosung wasn't providing them. Kwon Taegyun opened his mouth.

"So…what do you propose?"

"Seminar."

"What?"

"I will provide you all the information during a seminar. For Daeyang…"

Daeyang System.

It belonged to Daeyang Group where Choi Gichul's father was the CEO.

Every time Woosung saw the word Daeyang, he felt an incredible anger. This was why he felt no respect to anyone who worked there. After a few seconds of thinking, Woosung continued.

"I will only charge 20,000 dollars."

Kwon Taegyun asked again.

"What?"

"I will provide all the needed details during this seminar."

Kwak Jungwook was already sold on the idea. He looked at Kwon Taegyun and Oh Juhoon.

"What do you think?"

"I think…"

Oh Juhoon looked at Woosung. Woosung wasn't just fancy words, but they have not yet tested his skills Oh Juhoon stood and started to write an equation on the whiteboard.

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r=Ʃ(Xi -X)(Yi-Y)/Ʃ(Xi-X)2/(n-1)/Ʃ(Yi-Y)2/(n-1).

"What is wrong with this equation?"

Woosung stood up and approached the whiteboard. As he added to the equation, he explained.

"It is an equation to find the correlation coefficient, but you used a slightly different version."

r=Ʃ(Xi -X)(Yi-Y)/(n-1)/Ʃ(Xi-X)2/(n-1)/Ʃ(Yi-Y)2/(n-1).

Woosung wrote without hesitation. Oh Juhoon gave out an unhappy nod as a response.

"You're right. I guess you're…good at stats too."

"It's the foundation of data analysis. I try to keep up with it."

Woosung's knowledge was impressive. Cha Yeoreum couldn't hide her surprise.

'Oh Juhoon has a PhD in Statistics…'

An expert in the field asked a question, and Woosung answered it without a second thought. She couldn't understand the equation, but she knew it was not an easy question. Kwak Jungwook felt the same.

"Wow, is there anything you can't do, Woosung?"

Yoon Gihwan laughed and answered.

"Hahaha. Our newbie can do anything."

"I believe that."

The mood lightened in the room. Woosung grinned and answered.

"I honestly don't know if there is anything I can't do."

Kwak Jungwook asked with widened eyes.

"What?"

"Haha. I'm just kidding. It's a joke."

Woosung looked at Kwon Taegyun and asked.

"So what do you think? If you agree to a seminar, I will give you every detail you need."

Kwon Taegyun looked at Oh Juhoon again. He was the actual brain behind this project so his opinion mattered.

Nod.

Oh Juhoon nodded. It was necessary. Kwon Taegyun closed his eyes tightly and scratched his forehead. When he remained silent, Kwak Jungwook spoke out.

"PM Kwon, I don't think it's a bad idea. Why don't we just go ahead with it?"

At Kwak Jungwook's urging, Kwon Taegyun had no choice but to agree.

"Fine."

A tense atmosphere filled the room once again. Woosung had nothing more to say, so he stood up and left, followed by Yoon Gihwan and Kwak Jungwook. Everyone from Daeyang System, however, remained silent in the room.After the meeting, Kwak Jungwook went back to the headquarters. The general manager was very interested in this project, so letting him know of every major event was critical.

When he entered the room, Kwak Jungwook informed Jo Youngsuk.

"Sir, Woosung Kang was right. He explained every point logically and Daeyang couldn't deny anything."

"So he was right…"

Kwak Jungwook remembered Woosung's words.

"He accused them of not even having a clear project goal."

"And Daeyang accepted it?"

Jo Youngsuk couldn't believe it.

"Do you remember Oh Juhoon who wrote the proposal report?"

Jo Youngsuk nodded.

Oh Juhoon.

He received his PhD in statistics from the University of Seoul. He gave an expert and impressive presentation of his project.

"Even Oh Juhoon agreed with Woosung. He approved Woosung's seminar."

"So a newbie who graduated from Songwon University convinced an expert with a PhD from University of Seoul?"

"Woosung was impressive. I am beginning to wonder if there is anything he can't do."

"I want him. I need someone like him beside me…"

"Would you like me to offer him a job on your behalf?"

Jo Youngsuk shook his head.

"No. I need to do it myself in person. Please arrange a meeting with him."

"Ok."

Kwak Jungwook nodded and left the room. Jo Youngsuk's eyes sparkled expectantly.Yoon Gihwan, now more curious than ever, looked at Woosung.

"When did you have the time to study statistics?"

"I thought I told you before. I am studying both mathematics and statistics."

"But you didn't tell me you're good at it."

"Well, fair enough. I'm telling you now. I'm awesome at it."

"…what?"

Yoon Gihwan laughed.

"I am studying college mathematics and linear algebra again as well. I didn't realize how good I am at them."

These were subjects he used to hate when he was still at school. At best, he could get a B grade at the time, but now, things were different. Death has given him a better brain and stronger determination.

Yoon Gihwan smiled and answered.

"Alright, you're great. I admit it."

Woosung smiled as well.

"Haha, I'm kidding."

Yoon Gihwan patted Woosung's shoulder and asked.

"By the way, it's Friday today. Do you have any plans after work? Let's go for a drink."

"Please don't use me because you're lonely."

Yoon Gihwan grunted.

"Huh. What are you talking about?"

"Haha. Drink with Manager Park. I need to finish up preparing for the Microsoft seminar tomorrow."

"Is that already tomorrow?"

"I know. Time flies."

Woosung looked out the window. Winter was almost over and spring was around the corner.Gangnam was now the center of Seoul.

The Microsoft developer conference was taking place at Daeyang hotel placed at the center of Gangnam.

Saturday.

The road was busy, but he still took the car he received from Jang Gwangchul.

"Here we go."

The ride was smooth and quiet. He could feel the eyes of the other drivers on the road glued at him and his ride.

It was 2008. Luxury foreign cars weren't a common spectacle seen in South Korea yet.

"I love Benz."

It was indeed an amazing car.

"I should thank him for this present."

Jang Gwangchul.

He felt appreciative and he knew this was what Jang Gwangchul wanted him to feel.

"You will reach your destination in 100m. Please drive safe."

"You will reach your destination in 100m. Please drive safe."

"You will reach your destination in 100m. Please drive safe."

The built-in navigation informed Woosung.Yoon Chanjong arrived at the Microsoft conference with his colleague Park Jonghyun. Many luxury cars arrived, one could notice the envy in the way Park Jonghyun gazes at them.

"Hey, when will the others arrive?"

"In 10 minutes. Yeoreum will be here too so make sure you watch what you say."

"Hey, I'm not that stupid. By the way, do you know any girl around? Come on, you can introduce me."

"Phew, no. You don't even have a job."

"I keep telling you, it's by choice. I'll get one very soon."

"Jonghyun, I'm telling you as a friend…"

Park Jonghyun's ears were closed as something distracted his attention. He turned around and pointed at a car.

"Hey, look. It's a Benz S-Class 350L. I heard it's worth over 100,000 dollars. It's the price of an apartment."

Yoon Chanjong turned around as well. His current annual salary was less than 30,000 dollars. Even if he saved everything, it would take him years to afford a car like that.

"I can't believe how expensive it is."

"It's not just the price of the car. Maintenance costs a fortune too. Insurance, taxes, and gas…"

Yoon Chanjong licked his lips. He thought he made it by getting a job, but it was only the beginning.

Park Jonghyun continued.

"I would love to be rich. Drive fancy cars and date gorgeous women would be my dream."

As they chatted, a car stopped nearby, and the driver stepped out.

"Huh?"

"W…Woosung?"

"It's him, and that's the car he got as a present at the graduation ceremony!"

Woosung didn't see them. He handed the key to the valet and walked into the hotel. It was very crowded due to the conference. Park Jonghyun ran to catch up to Woosung.

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