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The Golden Era : Reborn at the Edge of Change

Sashank_Krovvidi
14
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The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 14 chs / week.
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Synopsis
In the 1990s, a man reborn sets out to conquer the world of gaming, beginning with humble black and white game consoles. From those early devices, he meticulously builds an empire, foreseeing and leading every major shift in the industry—from video games to computer games and eventually mobile games. His vision and relentless drive gradually transform him into a global gaming magnate.
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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

"Jang Young, Jang Young, what time do you call this to wake up?"

Jang Young slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Kim Taeho's familiar, rosy-cheeked face. "Taeho, when did you shave your beard? Didn't you always say a beard makes you look more manly?"

"Are you half asleep? When did I ever have a beard? You want to look manly? Try my dad's razor!"

Kim Taeho jokingly rubbed his chin. Is it because I look too young that the girls in class don't notice me? If only I could be more mature, like Jang Young.

Jang Young closed his eyes again, but suddenly snapped them open. No, something was off. The light overhead was wrong—what kind of motel uses such a glaring overhead bulb?

It was a small room, maybe 10 square meters, furnished with a single bed, a chair, a desk, and an old wardrobe.

On the wall, two large posters hung: one of Seo Taiji in his iconic denim and one of Lee So-ra, mid-90s style.

"Hey, hey, what are you looking at? You don't recognize your own home? Yesterday was New Year's Day—did Uncle Jang let you have a drink?" Taeho waved a hand in front of Young's face.

Yesterday? New Year's Day?

Wasn't it just yesterday that a handful of middle-aged, slightly defeated men gathered to drink together? He remembered Taeho proudly bringing a huge bottle of imported soju, supposedly from a relative in Busan.

The five of them downed the whole thing—about five liters. Everyone got dizzy. Did I... come back to life?

The soju Taeho brought… that must have been it.

"Taeho, have you heard of 'Kingdom Heroes'?" (That was a mobile game they'd developed in his former life—a failure.)

"What? Is that a manhwa? Let's talk about it later. It's New Year's, let's gather the others and go roller-skating. I borrowed skates. Hurry up!"

Dragged away, Jang Young felt disappointed. Was he alone in being reborn? Most of what he knew, he'd have to hide deep down.

Stepping out, he saw his dad on the living room floor, smoking. Back then, his father's hair was all black, his face barely lined.

"Dad, smoke less." In his previous life, his dad developed lung disease and died before even getting a pension.

"Look at you, trying to parent your old man! Your mom's teaching night classes today. I won't be here for lunch. I have to check on the factory. Get yourself something to eat later."

"Both of you, be home before dark. Don't wander too far!"

Bundled up in thick, cotton-padded jackets and pants, Jang Young and Taeho braved the cold breeze.

"Hey, isn't your dad the chief engineer at the county electronics plant? Hasn't he gone unpaid for months?" Taeho asked as they walked.

Jang Young recalled his father's struggles. Last year, the factory failed to pay wages. By '92, desperate to support the family, his dad quit and started an appliance repair shop.

Business was decent at first, but as more repair shops opened and the quality of electronics improved, things declined. Then, after being tricked into buying a stolen pager, his dad's license was revoked. After that, his smoking worsened—two packs a day—and eventually, one cough led to a hospital visit and a diagnosis: advanced lung cancer.

If only I could change things, Dad wouldn't have struggled so hard… wouldn't have passed away so young. Since heaven gave me a second chance, I'll change it all!

"Don't worry too much," Taeho said. "If you ask around, maybe Uncle Jang could transfer to another company—still be a manager. You know my parents? If they hadn't pulled strings, they'd be stuck just like your uncle: working with no pay until the New Year."

"At least my aunt's a teacher. That's a steady job—respected, and always gets a salary."

"What about you, Young? What do you want to do?"

Young glanced at Taeho. Funny, in the future you just become a gaming addict, why pretend you want to teach?

"I want to make real money. Lots of it. I want to be a chaebol one day."

Taeho laughed. "Ha! Who doesn't? But how? I heard Sunwoo's big brother went to Busan last year, brought back two bags of electronic watches, and made over 3 million won in one trip!"

"That's more than my dad makes in a year!"

Their parents were both regular workers; together, they earned maybe 500,000 won a month.

"Sunwoo's brother won't take me along, though," Taeho grumbled.

The watches, back then, came up from Busan's Jagalchi market—probably imported illegally from Japan. Down in Gyeongsang-do, they were dirt cheap. Bring them north, and prices skyrocketed.

But in another two years, local factories would produce knockoff watches by the truckload. The price would crash and the opportunity would vanish.

"Even if he's not close to you, do you have the capital? It's better to follow the 'study hard and go to university' plan, anyway. By the way, are we going skating?"

The local middle school: Young vaguely remembered a three-story building and an annex with just one story.

"Let's go to the arcade! Yesterday your high score still stands. Why freeze our ears off skating? I heard the arcade got a new console, straight from Japan, worth over 800,000 won!"

Eight hundred thousand—no way his parents would buy him one.

A game console? That's it. That's how he'd make money.

In his previous life, Young had worked in the game industry—from hosting web games to mobile apps, even developing his own. Over a decade, he'd become successful.

But all the profits got sunk into "Kingdom Heroes," their ambitious mobile project. It tanked. They lost everything… and owed more.

The only industry he truly knew was gaming. But the games he'd developed before were computer and mobile games—way ahead of what was possible now. The computers in 1994—386s and 486s—couldn't begin to run the things he remembered.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't make a name for himself in gaming. There was a guy down south—Bang Jun-hyuk—who started a company with knockoff consoles and eventually became a titan in Korea's electronics scene.

That's his way forward, too. This time, he would seize his chance.