Chapter 136: Developer Forum

The tranquil mountainous region of Chungbuk Goesan.

Few knew that this remote area, overgrown with trees and grass, was the site of the NCC project, which would ensure the safety of South Korea’s national defense.

Early in the morning, Dojin Frontier and Ministry of Defense officials began to gather.

On site, hundreds of heavy equipment, cranes, and drilling machines lined up.

“Wow, all this heavy equipment belongs to Dojin Frontier, right?”

“They were acquired during the Qatar construction project.”

I smiled at Park Cheol-jin’s answer.

As it was a massive $20 billion project, many things remained after the construction.

“First, it would be best to thoroughly re-conduct the foundation survey. There should be no margin of error.”

I gave direct instructions to Park Cheol-jin and other on-site managers.

Director Cha Dong-hyuk unfolded the blueprint beside me.

“The main building will consist of reinforced concrete up to 80 meters underground, with an additional 20-meter buffer layer below. It will be a structure capable of withstanding external shocks and even direct hits.”

“It would be better to recheck the concrete mix ratio. At least twice the strength of the current design.”

Park Cheol-jin looked slightly surprised at my words.

“The existing mix ratio is already at an ultra-high strength level. Increasing it further will significantly raise the construction difficulty.”

I shook my head.

“Any potential missile attacks in the future will far exceed our expectations. So, I want to make it as sturdy as possible. And don’t worry too much about the construction difficulty; I can somehow solve it.”

“Well… since you said you would actively participate in this construction, I can put my worries aside for now.”

Park Cheol-jin knew it didn’t make sense, but he acknowledged that I now had a new approach.

‘Having seen it withstand a direct hit from the Taurus, I can’t help but believe it.’

I smiled and gave additional instructions.

“First, secure as much of the mixture needed for construction as possible. If necessary, you can enter into additional contracts with suppliers in Germany.”

Director Cha Dong-hyuk quickly noted down my instructions and moved swiftly.

Park Cheol-jin joined me in the center of the site to inspect the foundation.

“The hard rock layer is thicker than expected. I think we don’t have to worry about the foundation’s stability.”

“What about the safety factor?”

“It’s about 1.7 times higher than the existing design simulation data.”

I nodded at Park Cheol-jin’s quick calculation.

“It’s not bad, but let’s add some reinforcing pillars to increase durability.”

The durability was already above that of a test bunker.

Park Cheol-jin looked absurd at the suggestion to strengthen it further but soon nodded.

“How is the passage connection construction progressing?”

This time, the on-site manager unfolded the blueprint and explained to me.

“We plan to use slurry concrete to create a multi-closure structure. Installing automatic shutdown bulkheads between each connecting passage will allow independent operation in case of emergency.”

“Hmm… let’s increase the bulkhead thickness from 50 cm to 80 cm and additionally embed high-strength steel inside the bulkhead.”

“Sir… this is almost like a nuclear bunker.”

I smiled and replied to the astonished Park Cheol-jin.

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to build.”

The reason this project was elevated to a national strategic asset was to build a bunker capable of withstanding even a nuclear attack in case of emergency.

Of course, I might be overinterpreting.

My ambition was somewhat reflected in this decision.

If I put my heart and soul into building the bunker, perhaps it could even withstand a nuclear attack.

After finishing the foundation survey and leaving the construction site,

Park Cheol-jin asked in a low voice,

“Sir, you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately. Are you really okay?”

“I’m tired, but I can manage.”

With Dojin Tech, Dojin Soft, Dojin Capital, and even Dojin Frontier to worry about, I felt like I needed ten bodies.

But, being young,

I didn’t feel overly stressed.

And,

“At least for this project, I want to be as involved as possible. I want to build an impenetrable bunker.”

An invincible shield… no, a bunker.

It was a boastful and even far-fetched statement.

But Park Cheol-jin didn’t think it was just empty talk.

“……”

Coex Convention Hall, Seoul.

“Thank you for attending despite your busy schedule.”

Lauri Artonen, Vice President of NokiaTel, greeted me with a bright smile and offered a handshake.

I smiled as I shook his hand.

“NokiaTel’s announcement today will open a new era in the global mobile market.”

When we met at the last negotiation, he seemed somewhat rushed.

But today, Vice President Lauri’s face was filled with ease.

“Thanks to Dojin’s active support, the newly developed 7700 model has received excellent internal reviews.”

Vice President Lauri guided me backstage.

The announcement venue for the 7700 model was packed with reporters and officials from around the world.

Since starting the NCC project led by the Ministry of Defense, every day had been a grueling schedule.

But today, I had to make time to attend.

A few minutes later, the announcement began.

As Vice President Lauri took the stage and unveiled the 7700 model,

flashes went off, accompanied by applause and cheers.

“Our NokiaTel’s newly released 7700 model, equipped with the Lunar OS, will provide users with an innovative experience unlike any before.”

At the mention of Lunar,

the audience stirred.

“Looks like NokiaTel had no choice but to give up on Symbian.”

“Who would use an OS that even developers ignore?”

“Well, even A-ple, which was so wary of Dojin, adopted Lunar. That says it all.”

“Still, Lunar is definitely more user-friendly.”

“I can’t work without KTalk now.”

“Thanks to VoiceTalk, my phone bill has been cut to a quarter.”

As someone at the event said,

the global telecommunications market had been rapidly changing since the launch of the VoiceTalk service on KTalk.

Not only did it offer much clearer sound quality and more stable connections than traditional voice calls,

but it also didn’t incur additional call charges, naturally putting global telecom companies on edge.

Telecom companies in major countries, including the U.S. and Europe, faced a significant drop in roaming and long-distance call revenues.

Consumers were quickly switching to smartphones equipped with Lunar.

In this context, NokiaTel’s decision was highly ‘symbolic.’

“Starting with the release of the 7700, NokiaTel plans to transition to a Lunar-based system.”

Vice President Lauri’s statement once again stirred the audience.

The weight of his words was considerable.

No one else but NokiaTel, the absolute leader in the feature phone market, officially declared that it would completely rely on Lunar, abandoning its proprietary OS.

After finishing the announcement and coming down from the stage, Vice President Lauri approached me with a pleased expression.

“I just received a report. Pre-orders are flooding in.”

For NokiaTel’s previously released 330 model, only 57,000 units were sold in a week.

But for the 7700 model, orders poured in as soon as pre-orders opened.

A staggering 430,000 units were sold in just six hours.

Recently, our Quantum1-A model sold 500,000 units,

so this was a comparable number.

“I hope we can continue to maintain this collaborative relationship going forward.”

Vice President Lauri smiled and responded to my words.

“Of course. Without adopting Lunar, it’s become impossible to survive in the smartphone market. How could we even consider other options?”

As he said, other smartphone manufacturers were also announcing their adoption of Lunar.

Particularly in Europe and China, it was seen as essential.

Lunar’s scalability, compatibility, and user-friendliness already far surpassed existing OSs.

It was only natural.

“Even at our R&D center, there was initially some resistance, but after experiencing Lunar’s usability, everyone fell silent.”

In fact, it wasn’t just other mobile companies that felt Lunar’s performance and scalability.

The same was true for developers in the existing jOS camp.

The reverse compatibility framework strategy using Mirage was working perfectly.

On the way back after NokiaTel’s 7700 model announcement, I stopped by Dojin Soft.

“Sir, the number of applications for this quarter’s developer forum has exploded. Especially, a large number of key jOS developers have signed up for the Lunar SDK tutorial.”

After reviewing the report submitted by Han Yu-ju,

I asked,

“Is there no movement from A-ple?”

“They rushed a jOS update, but it seems ineffective as developers’ interest has shifted to us.”

Han Yu-ju said that due to the update conducted by A-ple, compatibility issues arose,

causing even existing apps to become unstable.

“Nops must be having a headache.”

Hong Jin-man, standing beside me, continued.

“They never thought we would surpass the bridge they laid for us.”

From the moment Nops suggested incorporating the UX compatibility framework into Lunar,

I planned to use it to break down the barriers between Lunar and jOS.

Nops thought they could control Lunar with their technology,

but instead, I used the framework to make it easy for jOS-exclusive developers to create Lunar apps.

“The global mobile app ecosystem is rapidly reorganizing. Major app developers in the U.S. and Europe are also abandoning their jOS-centric strategies and announcing Lunar-first policies.”

“At this rate, jOS will soon be pushed out of the market, except for a few loyal customers.”

Of course, I had no intention of completely destroying jOS.

If I monopolized the mobile OS market,

the U.S. antitrust laws would tighten around my neck.

There was no need to take such a risk.

“A-ple’s Steve Nops has called an emergency meeting in Europe.”

Han Yu-ju continued with additional information.

“There’s an intense debate within A-ple about whether to maintain cooperation with our Lunar or completely withdraw the compatibility framework.”

Their options were limited.

“Withdrawing it will only cause greater confusion. Our ecosystem has grown too quickly and too large. Their only choice is to maintain cooperation with us while gradually finding an exit strategy.”

Han Yu-ju smiled brightly, lighting up the room.

“In the end, A-ple ended up helping Lunar’s expansion.”

I shrugged.

“That was my plan from the beginning.”

Then, my phone on the table vibrated,

and Steve Nops’ name appeared on the screen.