I woke up to the sound of the falling rain.
Sometime while I slept, rain had begun to fall outside the window, and Ellie was nestled in my arms.
Her brown hair, which was cut short when I first saw her, had now grown below her shoulders. I could see her long eyelashes extending from between her closed eyes.
Sensing movement, Ellie slowly opened her eyes.
"Mmm, it's raining."
Ellie curled up, burrowing deeper into my embrace. When I kissed her, she spoke with her eyes still closed.
"Really? Are you starting this again first thing in the morning?"
"It's the weekend."
"Ah, right. It's Saturday today, isn't it? Then I don't have to go to work."
Happiness washed over Ellie's face. She looked unbearably cute. We held each other and kissed.
By the time we got out of bed, the raindrops had grown heavier.
We got dressed and went down to the first floor. Taek-gyu didn't seem to be up yet. Through the living room window, rain lashed down fiercely on the garden.
I made coffee and handed a cup to Ellie.
We sat side-by-side in the living room, listening to the rain and drinking coffee. Ellie gently leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Listening to the rain is nice."
"It is."
Once the rain stops, won't the sweltering heat begin?
Ellie drinking coffee looked like a scene from a commercial. Come to think of it, she did get an offer for a coffee commercial.
"It's raining so hard, it'll be difficult to go out."
"Then shall we watch a movie together at home?"
"Good idea. Is there a movie you want to watch?"
"An action movie. Are there any fun ones?"
"Taek-gyu would know."
Ellie spoke as if something had occurred to her.
"Ah! I heard they're making a movie about the Big One in Hollywood now?"
"I heard about it. Apparently, Professor Mohan agreed to be a consultant."
Hollywood movies depict every kind of disaster hitting the US. Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, floods, droughts, terrorism, war, meteor impacts, even alien invasions...
At this point, it's practically hell on Earth. Well, eventually the protagonist solves the problem, and it ends with the Star-Spangled Banner waving.
But the Big One, which occurred the year before last, far surpassed most cinematic imaginations. Hollywood wouldn't miss such a compelling true story.
Several films related to it had already been made. They focused less on showing the horrors of the Big One directly and more on the grief of those who lost family, the bonds between people, and the process of overcoming the tragedy.
However, the movie currently in production was a true blockbuster. Set in San Francisco, it would depict the devastation during the Big One directly.
A-list Hollywood actors were confirmed to star, and the production budget alone was set at $700 million.
The director was the rising star Arthur Farrar.
Given the high praise both audiences and critics had showered on his previous works, anticipation for what kind of movie he would create was quite high.
The fact that a movie directly addressing the Big One was being made signified that the US had recovered significantly from the shock of the disaster.
Ellie sipped her coffee and said,
"Now all that's left is rebuilding the cities."
***
The reason California hadn't been able to even start rebuilding the cities for a year and a half was, paradoxically, because the damage was too immense.
The federal and California state governments focused their resources first on restoring surrounding areas with relatively less damage. In San Francisco and the Silicon Valley area, where entire cities had collapsed, debris removal was ongoing, along with the continued recovery of bodies.
Even now, bodies were being unearthed from the wreckage almost daily, identified, and returned to their families. For families entirely wiped out, the state conducted the funerals.
With the restoration of surrounding areas nearly complete, all eyes now turned to San Francisco.
The state government hadn't been idle during this time. They had been coordinating the interests of landowners and homeowners while formulating urban reconstruction plans.
Since President Ronald championed "America First," the top priority naturally went to American design firms and American construction companies.
However, even mobilizing the full capacity of the US construction industry left a significant labor shortage. The rest would naturally fall to other countries. The crumbs falling from the table would be enough to feed everyone well.
As this was truly the largest reconstruction effort in American history, construction companies from all over the world expressed their interest in participating. This included Chinese construction firms. Trade disputes were trade disputes, but business was business.
The US city reconstruction industry was like rain in a drought for the stagnant domestic construction sector. Everyone had completed their preparations, bolstering their US subsidiary workforces.
Korean construction companies are recognized globally for their capabilities and have experience constructing skyscrapers multiple times.
Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Korea's Ritetower, and even the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, were built by Korean construction firms!
Hearing this much, one might feel proud of Korea's construction technology.
However, a slightly deeper look reveals a completely different reality. Core technologies such as design, foundational planning, and seismic engineering were all dominated by firms from developed Western countries.
This was true even for buildings constructed in Korea. The construction companies merely gathered local workers according to instructions from above and executed the construction according to the blueprints. They were essentially subcontractors.
Hearing my explanation, Taek-gyu said,
"Koreans are naturally good at solving test problems. But ask them to present, and nobody raises their hand."
"That's true."
No country could beat Korea when it comes to executing assigned tasks well.
The reason design capabilities lagged so far behind construction abilities was the lack of proper investment by construction companies. While the degree varies, you need to spend money to get results in anything.
Furthermore, the design field was already dominated by global giants. Lacking experience, they couldn't take on challenges, and unable to take on challenges, they couldn't gain experience—a vicious cycle.
In any case, the core of construction is design. What materials to use and how to build are all determined at the design stage.
ArcIT participated in the design bidding and won the urban design contracts for two locations: Palo Alto and Redwood City. This was a tremendous achievement.
Being in charge of the design meant having the power to influence the construction companies handling the actual building. The added value was also incomparable to that of a construction company.
ArcIT possesses proprietary technology that utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning for design. Going beyond simply using programs in design, it can generate optimal designs just by inputting data.
This method could halve the cost and reduce the work time to one-third.
Beyond the immediate income from the designs, this recognition of their technological prowess opened doors for participation in future design projects.
When the news broke, ArcIT was valued at $10 billion. This amount far exceeded the market capitalization of Eunsung Construction, considered Korea's largest construction company.
***
The world always keeps moving busily.
When I arrived at work on Monday, a pile of reports sat on my desk. Progress on ArcIT's urban design, CarOS's sales market expansion status, OTK Games' relocation, letters of intent to participate in investments sent from private equity funds, and so on.
The state of Michigan and the city of Detroit enthusiastically welcomed the relocation of OTK Games and the development of the virtual reality game.
I was scheduled to go to Detroit soon to meet the governor.
While "governor" might sound like a mayor or provincial governor, their actual status often exceeds that of presidents in many countries.
Being able to meet someone like this so easily was probably due to having a lot of money. In fact, CarOS was largely responsible for revitalizing Detroit.
Once a symbol of urban decay, the city was now being reborn as a center of American manufacturing. Related companies were moving in one after another, and housing prices had risen significantly.
The residents were beaming. Nobody dislikes companies moving in and creating jobs. Although, there are countries that drive out perfectly good companies with useless regulations.
Among the documents my secretary placed on my desk was a letter from a foreign publisher. I opened it and read it.
Taek-gyu asked.
"What's it about?"
"They want to publish a book, offering money."
"Again?"
I had received dozens of similar proposals.
Several publishers offered advances of $5 million. This was likely the highest amount in the publishing industry.
Do books really make that much profit?
From my perspective, it was money I could take or leave, so I refused. Besides, I didn't really have anything specific to write about. I couldn't exactly tell people to invest based on foresight, could I?
"Well, even without me, there are plenty of people dying to publish a book."
Bookstores overflow with all sorts of economics and business books.
People who write books always exaggerate their investment insight and profits. They boast about buying dozens of shares of a particular stock, or dozens of apartments, and making tens of times their investment in a short period.
Of course, among them are people who write books with the genuine intention of passing on their know-how and values to younger generations. Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett would be prime examples.
However, a significant number aim to make money selling books or use the fame from publishing to give lectures.
Even though the authors themselves often live off royalties and lecture fees rather than investment profits, their books fly off the shelves, and people flock to hear their lectures.
Taek-gyu nodded.
"There are so many scammers in this small land. Just look at the Jeil Gold Coin incident."
"Choi Nam-woo is still on trial in detention, right?"
"Yeah. Second trial now. Shouldn't we be more worried about the Chairman? He applied for medical bail this time, saying he wasn't feeling well."
For an ordinary inmate, medical bail wouldn't be granted unless they were practically on their deathbed. But a former president would be different.
***
Senior Sang-yeop was also out on business, and Taek-gyu went with Senior Gi-hong to meet the presidents of the game companies.
I considered just having a sandwich and juice but decided to head to the company cafeteria alone.
As I was eating my meal somewhat forlornly by myself, someone approached with a tray.
"May I sit here?"
"Sure."
I nodded, and Yuri quickly sat down opposite me. Today she wore a gray suit. Her blonde hair was neatly tied back in a single ponytail.
"How's work?"
Yuri smiled and replied.
"I'm working hard with the mindset of learning."
"Isn't that a bit too textbook of an answer?"
"I'm serious."
On a TV in a corner of the cafeteria, an economic channel was playing. A man was giving an investment lecture analyzing unlisted stocks. He looked young and neat, probably in his late twenties.
Yuri asked quietly.
"Do you know who that is?"
I shook my head.
"No. Is he famous?"
"That's Park Ho-jin. He's quite famous in this field these days."
Yuri explained chatteringly.
Park Ho-jin was a self-proclaimed analyst and investment expert who supposedly took a leave of absence from a prestigious university and started investing in stocks in his early twenties, hitting several jackpots.
Currently, he was the founder and CEO of an investment firm called Fantastic Investment, lived in a 200-pyeong (approx. 7100 sq ft) mansion in Cheongdam-dong, and drove a Bugatti Veyron, one of only a few in Korea.
It was the car formerly owned by the late Chairman Im Il-kwon. Chairman Im Jin-yong had sold it off now.
Unlike me, who rarely appears in the media, he not only gave investment lectures but also appeared on various entertainment shows and flaunted his wealth on social media.
He boasted that his investment skills were superior to Kang Jin-hoo's and that he would come out ahead if they competed based on returns.
"Then why didn't I even know he existed?"
"You're in different leagues."
"Still, it's impressive. It can't be easy to achieve that level of success at such a young age."
Yuri stared intently at my face.
"What is it?"
"It's just surprising hearing you say that."
True, the person who achieved the greatest success at a young age was me.
Yuri lowered her voice and continued.
"My dad says that guy seems like a con artist."
"Really? He might actually have real skills."
"Someone like that would probably be quietly growing their wealth somewhere. According to my dad, among those who go on TV bragging about making lots of money, there isn't one who isn't a con artist."
"...That makes too much sense."
In this world, just being famous can be profitable. Fame probably makes it easier to run scams too.
People generally live with an awareness of their own abilities. An ordinary office worker doesn't think they can start playing Go now and beat top players, or start playing soccer and make it to the Premier League.
But stocks are uniquely different. Everyone who enters the stock market is confident that with enough effort, they can achieve greater returns than the experts.
If they thought their own investment skills were inferior to the experts', they would have invested in a fund and entrusted the management to a fund manager instead of trading stocks directly.
In a place where everyone overestimates their abilities, con artists thrive.
The interesting fact is that the line between a brilliant investor and a con artist is paper-thin. If you gather investors' money and make a profit, you become a brilliant investor; if you lose the money, you become a con artist.
Nick Leeson, who bankrupted Barings Bank, is a prime example.
I looked at the TV. There, a young man in his late twenties, wearing a suit, was recommending unlisted stocks with a confident expression.
Which one was he, I wondered?