Chapter 153: <Design>

People were divided in their opinions.

“Korean government is the worst.”

“All rich people are the same. They make money unethically.”

“AI won the game of Go. This is unbelievable.”

“If you create innovative technology, does it make it ok for you to be corrupt?”

“It is only at an internal investigation stage. It’s still possible that he is innocent.”

“Don’t people remember the tax investigation? He got a refund!”

After the game, Lee Myungin visited Woosung.

“I asked my party to help you out. They will try to make the investigation as fair as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“Unfortunately, the majority of the public still doesn’t see you kindly. I guess this is understandable. You are young and rich, and people often feel jealous of people like you.”

“But they will change their minds in time. After the second and third round, they will become shocked and awed.”

Lee Myungin frowned and asked, “Are you saying that Lee Soodol will lose?”

Woosung nodded and replied, “Our AI is continuing to improve every second with the help from my developers. Lee Soodol can’t do that. The human limitation is a sad thing.”

“Hmm.”

“Coconut will win the game. As long as the prosecutors don’t make things up, I will be found innocent.”

Min Giyoon bit his lips. His superior sat in front of him and asked, “What did you find?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you serious?”

“…”

“If I investigate you right now, what do you think I’ll find?”

Min Giyoon knew the answer his superior wanted.

“Something.”

“That’s right. EVERYONE has something to hide. A big corporation like this should have plenty.”

“But it already went through the tax investigation so their financials are clean, and we couldn’t find any proof that the CEO touched the company funds. Besides, the documents we have aren’t enough. We need to get a warrant to search his offices if we want to find something.”

His superior raised his voice in frustration.

“Why can’t you just make something up with what you have? We need something suspicious to get a warrant!”

Min Giyoon became uncomfortable. He knew what he was being asked to do.

“Are you telling me to illegally plant something?”

“Don’t you want a promotion? I am giving you a chance, so just take it! If you don’t, you will be demoted and relocated to a small province.”

Min Giyoon was frustrated. He didn’t become a prosecutor to do such an unethical and illegal thing. He felt angry. This wasn’t the way he wanted.

He replied, “I can’t do what you are asking. It’s wrong, so do whatever you want to do to me. If you have nothing more to say, I have to go.”

He quickly stood up and left.

“W…what the hell? Who do you think you are?”

But Min Giyoon was already gone.

When Min Giyoon arrived at his own office, there was a man in an expensive suit waiting for him.

Min Giyoon asked rudely, “Why the heck are you here?”

“Haha, is that how you treat a good friend?”

“What friend?”

The man took Min Giyoon to a quiet place and asked, “How long are you going to work here with such a meager salary?”

“Why are we still talking about this?”

“1 million dollars! You will be given a million dollars as a signing bonus. Your yearly salary will be 400,000 dollars for the first 5 years! In five years, you will be making 3 million dollars! As a Daeyang lawyer, you will be respected everywhere you go.”

“I said no.”

“Gosh, you’re an idiot.”

“If you will keep talking about this, don’t bother coming.”

“You got my phone number, right? If you change your mind, call me. This world is run by money. The government may change, but the rich will always remain rich. That’s how it works.”

After the man left, Min Giyoon sat down and murmured, “I can’t give up my morals.”

“Coconut I wins the second game as well.”

“Three out of five rule applies. If this AI wins the next game, it will be the ultimate winner.”

“Is AI really the future?”

The entire world was watching the game. America’s CNN, China’s CCTV, England’s BBC, France’s AFP, and Japan’s NHK. They all gathered to live stream the game between the AI and the human.

Despite the internal investigation, Coconut’s stock price continued to soar.

And finally, on the third day, it happened.

Just as Woosung predicted, the AI won the game.

Woosung was interviewed afterward.

“Some say that humans lost, but I don’t think so. Coconut I was created by humans, so I consider this a victory for the humankind. With this, we are one step closer to a better future. The possibilities for Coconut I are endless.” Woosung continued calmly, “And as I promised before, the rest of the scheduled game will continue. There are still two more games left, so stay tuned!”

After his speech, there was a Q&A session. International reporters asked about the future of AI, but Korean reporters were more interested in the ongoing investigation.

One reporter asked, “Do you have an official statement regarding this internal investigation?”

“I have never done anything illegal.” Woosung felt slightly guilty for lying.

Another reporter asked, “Are you confident that the result will be in your favor?”

“Yes, and if they find something on me, then I guarantee that they made it up. It would be a conspiracy against me. As you know, Coconut underwent tax investigation very recently. And what was the result? We got a refund.” Woosung paused for a breath and continued, “Some people may be wondering where the fund for XFeed came from. I know there is a rumor that I illegally used the company money, but it’s not true. It came from my own personal account. I haven’t used any company money.”

More reporters raised their hands, but Woosung had already left the stage.

After returning to his room, Woosung was greeted by Lee Myungin. “I just got a call that the prosecutors are panicking.”

“Makes sense.”

“You were right, President Kang. I think they are being pressured to make something up.”

“I am 100% innocent.”

Lee Myungin looked at Woosung proudly. He has met many businessmen before, but Woosung was the first one that seemed ethical.

Woosung’s phone rang.

“Excuse me.”

His phone has been ringing for a while now. When he checked the caller ID, it was Lee Sunghyun.

Woosung answered.

Before he could say anything, Lee Sunghyun explained frantically, “I used all my connections to find out what’s going on and I learned that they indeed ARE trying to make something up. Now, it gets even more interesting! The main prosecutor in charge is being pressured but apparently, he is resisting it. So this means that you are innocent!”

“Didn’t I already tell you that?”

“Haha, and of course I believed you from the beginning, but I was just worried about the whole situation.”

“Alright.”

Lee Sunghyun could hear the coldness in Woosung’s voice.

He asked, “Are you upset?”

“Not really. My businesses are going great. The only thing is…”

“Yes?”

“I realized how hard it is to build trust.”

Lee Sunghyun remained quiet for a while. Finally, he asked, “Is that why you are spending time with Lee Myungin?”

Woosung laughed. “Haha, it’s just for business.”

“Shouldn’t you be talking to me about those businesses?”

“Alright.”

“We should meet in person.”

After arranging a meeting, Woosung hung up.

When he returned to the room, Lee Myungin asked, “Was that Attorney Lee?”

Lee Myungin had a very good intuition.

After a brief hesitation, Woosung replied, “Yes. He wants to work with me again.”

“Work…”

“So I told him that as long as the investigation is completed fairly and transparently, I will work with him.”

Just then, Lee Myungin’s assistant walked in.

“Sir, it’s time to announce the space research lab project.”

“Alright.”

Lee Myungin turned to Woosung. “Let’s go together.”

Woosung stood up.

While watching TV, Oh Hoon suddenly stood up. Lee Myungin was on TV with an announcement.

“Today, we witnessed the success of Coconut AI. We are now closer than ever to the future where helper robots are available to everyone. AI is the key technology for the future and Gyeonggi Province will be the place where it will be developed. The primary Pangyo is already the place of various tech companies. The secondary Pangyo will also become the next space research center thanks to President Kang Woosung.”

This was what Woosung offered to Oh Hoon before.

Oh Hoon gritted his teeth and threw his smartphone on the ground.