Chapter 52. CoolCloud (3)

We followed the two people and toured the company.

There were about 90 employees. Considering the company's value, it was an absurdly small number.

However, it wasn't that unusual. For example, DeepMining, which creates AI programs, had only 22 employees but was acquired by Google for $800 million.

In the IT industry, one genius can do the work of 10,000 people. It's people like these who lead the world, I suppose.

Given that it was a startup and an IT company, the atmosphere was quite free. It couldn't be compared to a securities firm.

Even during working hours, employees moved around freely and worked on their assigned tasks in an open space without partitions.

A few employees were playing table tennis at the table tennis table in the break room.

I heard that table tennis is the favorite sport of Silicon Valley employees, and it seems to be true. Good ideas tend to come when you move your body vigorously.

Rolf asked confidently,

"How is it?"

"It's good."

His face was full of pride in the company. Well, if there were a company like this, I would probably like it too.

I pretended to look around the company while checking the faces of the employees one by one. But I couldn't find the face I was looking for.

Surely he didn't skip work today?

Ah! I found him!

I approached a young white man sitting in a corner.

He was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and old Crocs. He had wavy brown hair and still had freckles on his face. He was wearing large headphones.

He was using two monitors, and one of them was playing a movie. I couldn't tell the title, but it seemed to be a zombie movie from the zombies chasing people.

I approached him and lightly tapped his shoulder.

He paused the video, took off his headphones, and looked at me.

"Do you like zombie movies?"

He nodded indifferently.

"Yeah, whatever."

His eyes told me not to talk to him unnecessarily.

I pretended not to notice and continued.

"I know a really fun zombie movie. Do you want me to recommend it?"

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

He didn't seem to want to talk to a stranger and tried to put his headphones back on.

"It's called Sharknado."

At that moment, he turned his head and stared at me.

"Sharknado!"

"You know it?"

"Of course. It's my favorite movie in the world."

David looked surprised. He probably didn't expect to hear about Sharknado here.

"Have you seen it?"

I said matter-of-factly.

"Of course. Is there anyone in the world who hasn't seen Sharknado?"

"Right? But I don't know many people who have seen it. I showed it to a few people, but they said it wasn't interesting. How can anyone say Sharknado isn't interesting?"

David looked at me as if to say, "It's you who's weird for finding it interesting."

He was overjoyed.

"Wow! I didn't expect to meet a Sharknado fan here."

I seized the opportunity to introduce myself.

"My name is Han Meiru."

"I'm Seth Lucas."

I already knew his name. In a few years, no one would be unaware of his name.

He was 22 years old.

That was young, even in the startup industry, which is full of young developers.

Well, Rolf Buchi started his company at 21, so it seems geniuses are all about that age.

"Did you know that the production of the second part was halted due to a lack of funds? I was waiting for it to come out."

Seeing him sigh deeply, it seemed he was genuinely disappointed.

"Don't worry."

"How can I not worry? What if it never comes out?"

I reassured him.

"They'll resume filming soon."

Seth was surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes."

He was curious.

"But how do you know that?"

Because I acquired the production company.

I handed him a business card I had made temporarily.

"If you're curious, give me a call."

As Seth took the card, Rolf approached and snatched it from him, crumpling it in his hand.

He said irritably,

"What are you doing to an employee who's working?"

I pretended not to understand.

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"Is it right to interfere with someone's work?"

His face and voice were full of irritation and suspicion.

Alex said to us,

"You've seen enough. Let me show you out."

Instead of following, I put my hand on Seth's shoulder and said,

"You must be working hard under those idiots."

Everyone was shocked.

Alex and Rolf looked as if they had heard wrong, and David also looked at me with a disbelieving expression.

All the employees stopped what they were doing and looked at us.

A moment of silence followed.

Alex broke the silence.

"What did you just say?"

Rolf shouted, as if about to grab my collar.

"Did you finish talking!?"

I looked at the two of them and said,

"Did you not hear me call them idiots?"

* * *

After Han Meiru and David Rockheart left.

Rolf shouted in disbelief.

"Shit! What the hell is that guy up to?"

Alex was also taken aback.

'Who would have thought I'd hear such a thing to my face?'

Who would dare call a Preston family member an idiot? It was a rather fresh experience.

"What a bunch of scumbags."

After a while of cursing, Rolf asked Alex,

"Aren't you angry to hear that?"

Alex frowned.

"I'm a bit concerned."

"Huh?"

Rolf looked surprised. It was rare for him to be concerned about someone else.

"Is David Rockheart that impressive?"

Alex shook his head.

"No, I mean that Korean guy."

David Rockheart was indeed more impressive than he had thought. He began to understand why his brother wanted him.

But what really concerned him was the Asian who came with him.

'Who the hell is he?'

Alex Preston had been in a position of power since birth.

He inherited wealth, honor, good looks, height, and intelligence from his parents. He never lost his top position in his studies and excelled as a college football quarterback.

This ability was also applied to his investments.

Alex highly evaluated the potential of the cloud industry and quickly entered the market by partnering with Rolf Buchi, a Silicon Valley genius.

He used his unique skills to turn companies into clients, and the company's value soared day by day.

He had met countless people, but few of them were better than him.

Even Aaron Baker, the president of Whitelode, the world's top investor, hadn't achieved this level of success at his age.

Some might call it arrogance, but to Alex, it was an objective evaluation.

The other party was just a Korean of a similar age. No matter how he thought about it, he didn't seem worth much attention.

But something felt off.

Why?

After thinking for a moment, he thought he understood.

"What if he did it on purpose?"

"What do you mean?"

Approaching to invest, touring the company, talking to Seth, and calling them idiots—what if it was all intentional?

Rolf asked, confused.

"What could he gain from that?"

Alex also didn't understand.

Intentional actions have a purpose, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"He's just crazy."

Alex nodded.

"Probably."

The other party was just a Korean, not even worth comparing to him.

'I'll probably never see him again.'

Alex erased him from his mind.

* * *

We were practically chased out of CoolCloud and returned to our accommodation.

David, unbuttoning his tie irritably, asked me,

"I have two questions."

"Go ahead."

"First, what's this about acquisition? Does Continu Capital have that much money?"

I said matter-of-factly,

"Not right now."

David asked again,

"If you don't have the money, why did you say you'd acquire it?"

"Money can be made."

"70 billion dollars?"

"It needs to be negotiated."

"How do you talk a company that won't sell for 70 billion dollars into selling? And can you buy it even if they negotiate?"

Even if it were halved, it would still be 35 billion dollars.

It's a large amount.

I'm also curious how I can make this amount of money.

"Second, why did you say those things?"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Is it right to call someone an idiot to their face?"

I smiled.

"I didn't say anything wrong."

"What?"

"They are actually idiots."

Rolf Buchi and Alex Preston.

Both are geniuses in their own right.

But even the brightest light fades in the sun. In front of a true genius, even the smartest person is just an idiot.

David, looking at my face, seemed to have caught on.

"Did you plan this from the beginning?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To get Seth Lucas's attention."

In the future, Seth would mock the CoolCloud co-founders as idiots. By calling them idiots in front of him, he must feel relieved.

"Why do you need to get his attention?"

"He's a genius."

He's young but was a member of CoolCloud from the early days.

He originally worked at another company Rolf Buchi founded but moved to CoolCloud when Rolf started it and has been working there ever since.

He is now the head of the development team, executing Rolf's instructions. In a sense, he is Rolf Buchi's right-hand man.

In the future, he will achieve something that will completely change not just CoolCloud, but the world. Experts say it completed the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and I agree.

Without him, the virtual reality games I saw before I came back wouldn't have been possible.

"His contributions are overshadowed by Rolf Buchi's reputation, but he handles all the practical work. Without him, CoolCloud would stumble."

CoolCloud is undoubtedly a great company.

No one can deny that it is a promising company that will lead the future cloud market.

But would it still be so without Seth Lucas?

"Are you saying the company won't run without one employee?"

"An ordinary company might not, but startups are different."

Startups don't have much tangible assets like buildings or factories; most of their assets are intangible. And the people are the ones who handle these intangible assets.

CoolCloud has only 90 employees, but its value exceeds 70 billion dollars. By simple calculation, each employee is worth about 800 million dollars.

That's why, when a large company acquires a startup, it usually includes a clause that the founders and employees stay with the company for a certain period.

"And if that person is Seth, it's different."