Alumni who had graduated, as well as current juniors from the department, came. Gi-hong sunbae had stayed close with people from the department, visiting the university often even after graduation.
Min-young and Kyeongil arrived together.
"What? Why are you handing out meal tickets?"
"Because I'm the junior. Who else from our company would do it?"
Min-young said worriedly, "Students will probably give 50,000 won at most. If a lot of juniors come and eat, won't Gi-hong sunbae end up in the red?"
"It's fine. I'm paying for everything. Tell the juniors not to worry and just eat. I've arranged for the most expensive meal option too."
Kyeongil said enviously, "Can't you do that for my wedding too?"
"Do you even have someone to marry?"
"I'll start looking now."
"..."
Hearing him say that, it seemed things didn't work out with the female student from Se-in University's airline service department whose number he got based on my sacrifice(?) earlier.
President Im Soo-mi arrived with my mother. Since it was the same building, they just needed to take the elevator down. Several other ladies were with them. For some reason, they all seemed to follow my mother's lead.
"Who are these ladies?"
"Mom's friends. They became close at the members' lounge here."
The ladies eagerly greeted me.
"Hello, CEO Kang Jin-hoo."
"Oh my, fancy seeing you here."
"I've heard so much about you from Madam [referring to my mother]. My goodness, you look even more handsome in person."
"Looks like the Vice President isn't here yet."
President Im Soo-mi whispered to me, "They are wives of prominent figures in the business world."
"Ah..."
Representatives from domestic companies doing business with OTK Company and K Company also came. Not just employees, but executives and presidents.
As chairmen and presidents appeared in droves, the staff became flustered. Sensing the need, President Im Soo-mi personally stepped in to greet the guests.
"Welcome, President Choi Hyung-woon."
"Ah! It's been a while, President Im Soo-mi. Have you been well?"
"Of course. I'll guide you to your seat over there."
As expected, with the president giving directions on the front lines, the staff moved swiftly.
Professor Kim Ho-min arrived neatly dressed in a suit, accompanied by researchers. The presidents who had arrived earlier quickly greeted him.
"It's an honor to meet you, Professor."
"It's belated, but congratulations on winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry."
"I've always wanted to greet you in person."
"As a fellow scientist, I respect you greatly."
Gi-hong sunbae's and Hyun-jung sunbae's parents looked like they were about to faint at the sight of the arriving guests. Relatives and other guests had similar reactions. Come to think of it, there were two Nobel laureates present. And now, even Chairman Im Jin-yong had arrived.
"Im Jin-yong from Seosung Group. Sincere congratulations on Team Leader Jung Gi-hong's wedding."
"Th-thank you, Chairman."
Chairman Im Jin-yong came over to my side and handed me a thick envelope.
"Shall I give you meal tickets?"
"Yes. There are many people I haven't seen in a while, so I should stay and eat. The other chairmen said they'll arrive soon too."
A long line formed to give congratulatory money, and envelopes piled up high. Sang-yeop sunbae slyly peeked into an envelope he had just received. "Wow, President Sung Ji-taek put in dollars." Inside the envelope were about twenty $100 bills.
Sang-yeop sunbae smacked his lips unnecessarily. "You could buy a house just with the congratulatory money."
"You already bought one in Cheongdam."
It's not easy to buy a house in Gangnam by saving up salary these days, but it's possible for OTK Company employees. Still, he said half of it was a loan, so today's congratulatory money would be a big help in paying off debt.
Gi-hong sunbae's cousins arrived late, and Sang-yeop sunbae and I were finally freed from envelope and meal ticket duty.
***
Joo Hyun-jung went to an all-girls high school. Four of her close friends from that time gathered to congratulate her. They had even practiced a congratulatory song together for several days.
"A wedding at the Ceylon Hotel! Isn't this where famous celebrities get married?"
"Right. Hallyu stars Kim Hyuk-min and Shin Hye-in got married here last time."
"It must be incredibly expensive."
"CEO Kang Jin-hoo booked it for them since they're an office couple and department seniors getting married. And guess what's even crazier?"
"What?"
"He's sending them to Cancun for their honeymoon on the OTK Company private jet."
"Aaah! Awesome, awesome. That's insane."
"She really hit the jackpot joining OTK Company. Our company doesn't offer anything like that."
Before going inside, Oh Min-ji suddenly took out her compact mirror to check her makeup.
"What's wrong?"
"There must be plenty of eligible guys there, right? All the OTK Company employees will be there too. Isn't this kind of place where you find connections?"
At her words, the other friends also took out their mirrors in unison. "What if Kang Jin-hoo talks to me?"
"Pfft, stop talking nonsense. Haven't you seen Kang Jin-hoo's girlfriend?"
"That woman is really pretty."
Having perfectly prepared themselves, they went inside and met Joo Hyun-jung in the bride's waiting room.
"Congratulations, Hyun-jung!"
"You look so beautiful today!"
"You little brat. You said you'd marry late, but you set the date right away."
"Girls like this are always the first to go."
Joo Hyun-jung smiled. "Thanks for coming, guys."
"See you later."
Leaving the bride's waiting room, they looked around the wedding hall area. But moments later, an unbelievable scene unfolded before their eyes.
Kang Jin-hoo was handing out meal tickets, and President Im Soo-mi was guiding guests. Presidents and chairmen of major corporations, the kind you only see in the news, filed in one after another. When even Nobel laureate Professor Kim Ho-min and Seosung Group Chairman Im Jin-yong appeared, they were utterly aghast.
"N-no way."
"What is this...?"
"Is this the wedding of some chaebol group heir?"
***
Henry and Hyun-joo noona arrived together with Taek-gyu and Ellie.
Henry, dressed in a suit, exuded the aura of a Hollywood actor. The gazes of surrounding women visibly turned towards him. However, he conspicuously held Hyun-joo noona's hand tightly, and the women quickly looked away.
Taek-gyu wore a newly tailored suit for the first time since losing weight, and Ellie wore a beige dress. I didn't know this, but apparently, it's customary for women to avoid flashy clothes or white dresses and heavy makeup at weddings, to make the bride stand out.
"There was such a rule?"
"Of course. The bride is the star of the wedding."
Being a guy and not having attended many weddings, I didn't know.
As we were talking amongst ourselves, a woman approached and greeted us.
"Hello, Taek-gyu."
"Oh! Fancy seeing you here again."
The woman who spoke was Yang Ha-na. She too was dressed modestly, appropriate for the occasion, avoiding anything flashy. Nevertheless, she boasted a beauty captivating enough to draw the attention of those around her.
"My father couldn't come due to a business trip, so I came instead."
"I see."
I gently nudged Taek-gyu's back. "Show her around a bit."
"Show her what? It's my first time here too."
"..."
That was true.
Yang Ha-na pretended not to hear and said, "Please introduce me to the employees, Taek-gyu."
"Huh? Introduce?"
Taek-gyu reluctantly followed Yang Ha-na. They looked good together, making me want to cheer them on.
I went around greeting people, expressing gratitude for their attendance. In the meantime, the wedding ceremony began.
Gi-hong sunbae's friend acted as the MC, and Professor Kim Myung-joon officiated. A ballad singer recruited by Sang-yeop sunbae through Edm Entertainment and Hyun-jung sunbae's friends sang the congratulatory songs.
The wedding march played, confetti cannons fired, and people applauded.
Thinking about the senior I used to eat jjajangmyeon with at the pool hall, play Starcraft with at the PC bang, and drink with in the department lounge getting married somehow made me feel proud.
Taek-gyu said to Hyun-joo noona, "Noona, you should have a wedding ceremony too. You know Mom and Dad are itching to recoup all the congratulatory money they've spent over the years, right?"
"Later."
Previously, they couldn't hold a ceremony because of the baby, but perhaps now was a good time? However, Hyun-joo noona seemed uninterested in a wedding ceremony. It was actually Henry who wanted to hold one as soon as possible. If they did hold a ceremony, wouldn't it likely be an incredibly lavish wedding, incomparable to this one?
***
After the wedding, the couple left for their honeymoon in Cancun aboard the OTK Company private jet. Since Hyun-jung sunbae was pregnant, the plan was to relax and enjoy the fresh air before returning.
With two people missing from the already small staff, those remaining became even busier. Yuri, who had received a handover of duties in advance, filled in for Hyun-jung sunbae.
During this time, the person Taek-gyu respected most visited the headquarters: Ichikawa Shigeru, the president of OTK Games. Lost Fantasy M, the game he released after leaving Linix Pentagon, became an unprecedented hit in mobile gaming history. Currently, development for Lost Fantasy Online was nearly complete. Closed beta testing had finished, and open beta service was imminent.
"Welcome."
"Nice to meet you. I am Ichikawa Shigeru."
We exchanged greetings and sat down.
He first shared his outlook on Lost Fantasy Online. "This game is a culmination of all the Lost Fantasy series released so far. You can look forward to it."
Indeed, applicants from all over the world flooded in wanting to participate in the beta service, and gaming experts predicted it could achieve at least 300,000 concurrent users. That would be a massive hit. Even if just 500,000 users paid $30 per month, that's $15 million. And that amount would pour in every single month! Whether they could retain those users was another matter.
After discussing Lost Fantasy Online, President Shigeru brought up another topic. "I want to create a game utilizing VR devices."
Taek-gyu asked, "Aren't there already games like that?"
Game companies had continuously researched and developed ways to integrate VR technology into games, and some had released VR gaming devices. However, they hadn't gained significant popularity due to unintuitive controls compared to traditional keyboards or pads, and a lack of compelling content.
"What I want to create is a virtual reality online game."
I recalled what Taek-gyu had told me. "I heard you tried that once before and failed."
After VR devices first appeared, he had ambitiously attempted to merge them with online games. The result was a catastrophic failure. The game was never even released, and huge development costs were wasted.
President Shigeru gave a wry smile. "The technology wasn't mature back then. VR devices were crude, and neither the communication networks nor cloud computing were equipped to handle the flood of information. But the situation is different now. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics technology, wireless communication networks... the technological capability to realize ideas into reality now exists. Just look at the Ani released by Faceit, isn't it obvious?"
IT giants like Npple or Facenote lead in VR technology itself. But the company leading its commercialization and popularization was Faceit.
"Furthermore, Karos is ahead in AI and machine learning technology. Most importantly, OTK Company can provide sufficient funding for development."
Unlike before, the development environment, both technologically and financially, was now adequately prepared.
"But is it possible to create a world identical to reality?"
At my question, Taek-gyu shook his head. "A game doesn't necessarily need to replicate reality. It just needs to be virtual reality, literally."
"Huh?"
"Think about it. Animation still exists even after movies were invented. 2D or 3D doesn't matter. What's important is that the gamer perceives it as reality. We had no problem playing games even back in the pixelated era."
He had a point. Humans can interpret even a few dots and lines as a human face and even discern its expression. That's why we cry and laugh while watching animation.
Let's think. When Microsoft acquired Mojang, the creator of Minecraft, for $2.5 billion, there were significant internal concerns. But Minecraft became one of the best-selling games worldwide and continues to generate vast amounts of content and added value. What if we could create a virtual reality game that people all over the world could enjoy?
"How much development cost are you considering?"
"$10 billion."
At President Shigeru's answer, Sang-yeop sunbae was astonished. "11 trillion won? 11 trillion to make one game?"