Episode 276 [A-Class Awakened Person (2)]
A few days later. The Minister of National Defense held a press conference on the air.
It was an event to announce the clearing of the Kaesong Plain and the march to the north.
[… In this way, our military joined forces with the A-class awakeners and eliminated the ant nests that had settled in the Kaesong Plain. Starting with this operation, the military and government plan to recover the land north of the ceasefire line.]
It was good news for the first time in a long time.
After the presentation was over, reporters poured out questions.
[If you are an A-class awakened person, are you sure you are an awakened person who has been naturalized? Have you become an awakened person belonging to the government?]
[That is an awakened person. Although we are not part of the government, we have decided to continue to cooperate with the government as we do now.]
[Why is the person who did such important work not here? Why is the identity of the awakened person not revealed?] [
He is a citizen of the Republic of Korea. The government has a duty to protect the identity of our citizens.]
[Are you saying the Awakened do not want it?]
[Yes. If he wants, we will let you know right away.]
However, the government did not want his identity to be revealed.
People knew, and his identity would be leaked, but he wanted to buy as much time as possible until he could settle down in Korea. Kyung-hoon shook his head after hearing the press conference playing on the radio.
He was planning on staying in Korea anyway. Without Eve, we couldn’t communicate well except English, and living abroad was just uncomfortable.
Most of the information he knew was about Korea. He also had some American information, but it was difficult for him to do anything on American soil.
The press conference was still going on, but Kyung-hoon turned off the radio.
You have arrived at your destination.
I could see buildings being built outside the car.
Kuromana Digital Complex.
Not long ago, tall buildings were being built where the industrial complex was.
Unlike Kyung-hoon’s world, in this world, the IT bubble of the 90s collapsed with the emergence of monsters.
So, this new business complex that was created later was also being built in the name of fusing new technologies, mana and digital.
Although it was a grand name, it was only a nominal name and only renamed printing houses and apartment-type factories were being built.
Fortunately, engineers who wanted to develop new technologies related to mana maintained small ventures, but they were all limited to small companies.
Most of those companies were gathered in this building.
[Mana Digital Venture Center]
Kyung-hoon parked his car in the underground parking lot and got on the elevator with his companion.
“It was originally a place where a gaming company was located…”
Kyung-hoon’s companion gave him a puzzled look as he muttered to himself.
“Are game companies also entering this venture center? How amazing. I know that most game companies went bankrupt after the IT bubble… “
It wasn’t because of the collapse of the IT bubble. There was no way the game companies could survive while soldiers and awakened people were fighting monsters outside.
Of course, the number of people who wanted to play games at home did not decrease, but in a world like this, there was no way society and the government would understand and support such companies.
“I think I was mistaken for a moment.”
“Ah, yes.”
The middle-aged man smiled vaguely at Kyung-hoon’s words. The person who visited here with Kyung-hoon was an accountant at a large investment company.
As he said, the accountant connected to him by a black marketeer was closer to a multinational company than a black marketeer, the investment company he connected to was no ordinary company.
Thanks to this, Kyung-hoon was able to proceed with work comfortably, but the accountant who was suddenly called in was left wondering how things were going.
Helping young investors investing in Mana Digital companies.
“There is good news thanks to the development of mana generators and item manufacturing, but this is no different from an IT bubble. Other companies don’t have physical products. The development of the mana generator also turned out to be a lucky move. “Honestly, I would advise you to quit,”
he honestly advised when he first met a young investor. It is said that it is easy to lose money when investing in mana-related companies…
But as always, investors did not listen to his words.
‘And then in the end, it goes bankrupt….’
Judging from the fact that he pulled out A-listers like himself, he seemed to have a very good background, but venture investment was not something he did in the background.
Since I had given advice, I had nothing to worry about. All I had to do was do my job and get paid.
He researched the data as requested by the investor, and now it was time to meet with the investment target.
As the elevator went up, he explained what had happened.
“I selected three companies and scheduled three meetings. I mainly looked at the development potential, technological capabilities, and developers’ careers. The company’s financial situation was completely ignored. “It wasn’t very meaningful because the financial situation was tight anyway.” “
Originally, we only selected two companies, but we added the AI development company you mentioned.” There were
more AI development companies that the investor requested additional meetings with than other companies. There were many problems.
Other companies do not have products but still provide intermediate results, but this company did not have anything like that.
It was the first company that the accountant excluded when selecting meetings.
Kyung-hoon and the accountant visited three companies one after another.
“I’d like to say hello. This is Younghyun Yoo, CEO of [Magic Robotics]. “
This is the investor. I am in charge of consulting. “
“Oh, sorry! “I think I was mistaken because you are young!”
The first meeting at the company started with the CEO mistaking the person.
”We are currently developing a robot based on a mana generator. Our goal is to develop multi-legged combat robots first, build up technological capabilities, and finally develop humanoid robots that help humans.” ”How far has the
development progressed?”
”The robot drive has been completed with a mana generator, and the mana for the mounted weapons has been completed. We are developing a part that contains . There was a bit of a problem, but there was news recently that item manufacturers had gained new technology. “If we cooperate with item manufacturers, I think we will be able to overcome the difficulties quickly.”
The accountant frowned at the explanation of the development team leader.
Kyung-hoon could also understand why the accountant was angry.
The development team leader’s explanation was full of typical rosy hopes.
If you listen closely, you will see that almost nothing was actually made.
“In the end, what we have created so far is a mobile multi-legged robot that runs on a mana generator.”
That alone was not a small technological advance, but it was no different from a robot that runs on an electric motor.
It seemed difficult to actually create not only the humanoid robots they dreamed of, but also multi-legged robots to fight monsters.
The mana weapons used by robots were completely different from the item weapons used by humans.
Even if it was engraved with the same pattern, there was no way the bullet fired by the robot would contain mana.
The accountant looked at Kyung-hoon and shook his head slightly. It meant there was no hope.
However, Kyung-hoon told a different story from what the accountant thought.
“I will invest.”
Not only the accountants but also the employees gathered in the conference room for the presentation looked surprised.
However, Kyung-Hoon was willing to pay fully.
There was enough money in the paper company account, and he was able to help with any obstacles.
There were still items left in the subspace.
There were items like the machine gun that had been made for Shane, and there were also combat drones powered by mana stones.
After signing the contract, I was able to overcome the difficulty by simply showing it to the development team.
The president and company employees cheered at Kyung-hoon’s words. My salary was also falling behind, so I was able to take a breather.
The situation at the second company was no different.
“Nice to meet you. This is William Hahn, CEO of [Manarey]. “
I am an investment advisor. The investor is the person next to you.”
“Oh, sorry.” I
started the meeting with the same mistake and said,
“I have many years of experience working at a U.S. military company.” I came back to help my homeland, which was struggling with monsters, and started this company to apply the various characteristics of mana stones to weapons. “
Currently, mana stones can only be used as generators. The goal is to use such mana stones to give abilities to weapons used by ordinary people and awakened people. “If human firepower, such as shells or cannons, hits monsters, the current situation will change quickly.” Perhaps
because the CEO was making the announcement himself, he seemed much more proficient than the first company.
However, Kyung-hoon asked questions like it was his first time at work.
“The explosives won’t work because of the shield. “What do you plan to do?”
At Kyung-hoon’s words, he seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
“Hmm… this is a security issue… but since you are here to invest, I will let you know.” “I
have already found the manajin that can damage the shield. I’ll have to research how to maintain manage and strengthen the attack, but it looks like a missile-level hit could puncture the defense shield.” “Oh, that’s amazing!” The accountant exclaimed in admiration at his
words
. Unlike the first company, the accountant seemed satisfied this time.
But Kyung-hoon didn’t stop asking questions.
“It wouldn’t be profitable to kill regular monsters with missiles. There is no way you can kill an elite level or higher just by punching a hole in their shield.”
The representative’s face hardened at Kyung-hoon’s question.
“So, we are currently experimenting with various explosives. “We are looking for an explosive that is effective against defensive shields and can shock even tough monsters.”
As expected, this company was blocked in an important area.
And Kyung-hoon was able to solve the blockage.
“I will invest.”
The CEO looked at Kyung-hoon with a dumb expression on his face.
In this world, the subway hasn’t been taken over by bats yet.
I had to look elsewhere, but Kyung-hoon was the poop of a bat monster. I knew very well that guano could be used as a monster bomb.
After the second meeting, Kyung-hoon looked disappointed.
“The priority is to develop weapons to deal with monsters.”
The accountant answered Kyung-hoon’s words with a straight face.
“This is a war situation. Society is still running, but right now, the only ones that make money or show potential for development are awakened people and military equipment.” To be
precise, the only industries that are actually growing are those related to awakened people. The development of military equipment continued to fail, and weapons continued to be produced. It was just being wasted.
” So, the previous two companies that develop military weapons are still realistic. But the company we are meeting with this time is so absurd that the accountant shook his head at the door. Above the slightly dirty door was the company name and a large log
. was drawn.
[Eden AI]
“The company name is interesting. Does it refer to the Garden of Eden in the Bible? So does this mean that this company creates new humans?…” The accountant was right. That’s what Eden means
. It was.
Kyung-hoon was looking at the logo under the company name.
There, there was a drawing of a woman holding an apple with a bite.
It was the first woman. ‘Eve.’
