Chapter 52:

The next day.

After a deep sleep, Woosung woke up and checked his account balance.

From Jang Gwangchul 600,000 dollars.

It was the right amount.

Without the 50,000 dollars being invested, Woosung’s total balance was now about 680,000 dollars.

It was an amount Woosung could never even dream of in his previous life. If he included his investment, it was over 700,000 dollars. It was a lot of money, but it was nothing compared to what Woosung would earn after the financial crisis.

June.

Woosung arrived at the Incheon International Airport. One great thing about programming was he could do it anywhere. All he needed was a laptop.

This was the first time he traveled to the US. He felt his heart pound. He tried to calm as he waited.

“By the time I return, things will be different.”

Woosung was taking the Economy class. He could afford to be on the Business class, but he had to save as much money as possible to invest for now. 10 dollars today could turn into 1,000 or even 5,000 dollars.

Finally, an announcement was made.

“Those about to take Asiana 8121 to Seattle, please move to Gate 42. Again, passengers of flight Asiana 8121 to Seattle, please move to Gate 42.”

Woosung followed the instruction; soon, he was on the plane.

After a long flight, he arrived in Seattle and went straight to the hotel prepared for him. The next day, he went to the conference building for the MVP Global Summit. After registering, he started attending various seminars. He had been studying English for a while, so Woosung didn’t have much difficulty understanding.

But one of the main reasons he came here wasn’t to listen, but to find a talented developer as a partner.

Woosung started to observe the other attendees.

One of the seminars Woosung wanted to attend was on Windows mobile. He wanted to meet people who were experts in this field. There was still some time left till this session, so Woosung sat down at a lounge area. There were other people nearby and Woosung couldn’t help but hear their conversation.

“What are you going to hear?”

“Deep Dive asp.net?”

ASP.NET.

It was Microsoft’s web application framework to be released in the future. Soon, JAVA was to become the main language for the web.

Woosung wanted to tell them what the future held, but he stopped himself.

“Did you hear? Microsoft is preparing cloud services.”

“Really? Was the rumor true?”

“It’s called Azure.”

Woosung knew this service was going to be unsuccessful against Amazon. Again, he wanted to tell them what he knew, but obviously, it was not possible.

Instead, he murmured.

“I wish I could tell them…”

Suddenly, an Asian man approached Woosung. “I wasn’t sure if you’re Korean, but you are!”

The man seemed happy to see another Korean. Woosung quickly glanced at his nametag.

‘Go Sangjun?’

Woosung tried to remember if he heard of this name in his previous life, but he couldn’t. He was obviously not a famous developer like Hong Soobum.

“Hello. My name is Woosung Kang. Haha, it’s nice to see another Korean here.”

Go Sangjun glanced at Woosung’s nametag as well.

“Haha, nice to meet you too. I see that your expertise is in Visual Studio. It’s an unusual field in Korea.” The nametags included the field each MVP specialized in. Go Sangjun’s nametag stated window mobile.

“Haha, I think your field is even rarer. Window mobile MVP? Wow. Could I get your business card?”

“Of course.”

Go Sangjun quickly handed Woosung a card.

“Daeyang System.

IM Business Headquarter Lab Manager.

Go Sangjun.”

Woosung’s guess was right. If he was the window mobile MVP, it was very possible that this man was part of Daeyang’s upcoming new phone Amor development team. Woosung became excited. This could be the man he was looking for.

This could be his chance.

“Could I also get your business card?”

Woosung handed him his card. It was the one Jang Gwangchul made for him as a gift.

“Freelancer.

Woosung Kang.”

It also included his phone number and the email address but nothing else. Go Sangjun stared at the card.

“Wow, it’s cool. I love how your name is in gold color.”

It was the same style as Jang Gwangchul’s card. The name was written in real gold, and Woosung had 200 of it.

“Well, I hope so. It’s written in 24k gold.”

Go Sangjun was surprised.

“What?”

“Haha, a friend made it for me as a gift.”

“Wow…24k…It must be really expensive. Are you sure it’s ok for me to take one?”

“Of course. I am really happy to meet another Korean here.”

Go Sangjun became curious about Woosung, but there was no more time to ask questions. Seminars were about to begin. Woosung guessed Sangjun probably planned on attending the one on Windows mobile. Woosung stood up and asked.

“I was going to listen to the session on Windows mobile…What about you?”

“Great! Me too!”

They started to walk together. Woosung smiled in satisfaction.

Windows mobile.

By 2018, it was an unpopular OS compared to IOS and Android.

The seminar didn’t interest Woosung. Instead, he looked around to observe other people. He wanted to see if he could find any famous people.

Go Sangjun noticed this and asked Woosung.

“Do you see someone you know?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

Woosung continued to look around but found no one.

‘I was hoping…But guess not.’

“Do you see anyone you know, Sangjun?”

“Haha, it’s my first time here so no. I heard there will be a dinner party on the third night, so I was planning to make some friends then.”

Woosung gave it some considerable thought. He didn’t know anyone here and the seminars were useless to him. He had to find another way.

Instead of looking for that someone, he had to make people come to him.

It was finally time for the Q&A.

Woosung raised his hand and asked.

“I find the new functions on the upgraded version WM 6.1 very interesting, but how about the multi-touch function? Also, is there any plan for opening an app store like iPhone?”

The speaker replied using the microphone.

“Oh…We are still working on that. The new WM 6.1 focused more on improving the connectivity between Window mobile and PC. For example, it is now easier to use the Office.”

As soon as the speaker finished answering, Woosung took out the WM 6.1 PDA.

“Easier to use the Office? That’s not true. Trying to work on Excel, PPT, or Word on such a small screen is impossible.” Woosung continued quickly. “As well, the new version didn’t improve on performance. The touch function also became even slower.”

Woosung then took out the iPhone. He held it in his right hand, and the PDA on his left hand.

“On the other hand, I find iPhone very ‘sexy.'”

Woosung brought the MS’s competition to its own seminar and praised it. Everyone in the audience stared at Woosung in amazement.