Chapter 156: Another Failure
One week after the Titan 4 release.
Park Ki-beom, the CS team leader at Ahsung Electronics, looked tense.
The stern-faced man went to the office of Cheon Jun-young, the Mobile Business Division Director.
“What’s going on so early in the morning?”
Despite being much older, Cheon Jun-young didn’t hesitate to speak down to him.
Team Leader Park Ki-beom cautiously began to speak.
“Director, recently, the number of complaints related to the Titan 4 battery received by the A/S center and customer center is increasing rapidly.”
“Battery?”
Only then did he look up at Team Leader Park Ki-beom.
“What specifically?”
“Initially, it was just overheating inquiries. It was warm while charging, and the temperature rose quickly during high-spec games. But recently… there have been a couple of reports of suspected cell distortion and battery pack expansion.”
Cheon Jun-young’s expression hardened.
“Has anything been exposed to external communities or the media?”
“Not yet. All cases have been directly reported through the customer center and are being handled internally as Level 1 confidential. But… if this trend continues, we can’t rule out the possibility of it leaking out soon.”
Cheon Jun-young pondered silently for a moment.
He tried to convince himself it was just consumers overreacting.
But in the back of his mind, the words of Team Leader Jo Gwang-seok lingered.
‘The phenomenon of the electrolyte gasifying and pushing out the cell… in a sealed structure, there are potential risks…’
“It hasn’t caught fire yet, has it?”
The words were directed at Team Leader Park Ki-beom, but also to himself.
“First, check immediately if the same symptoms are reproduced in the in-house test samples.”
“Understood. I’ll also collect the samples sent to A/S and analyze them together.”
“This matter must not leak out, so keep a tight lid on it. And if there are any signs of abnormal reactions in the community, notify the monitoring team immediately and handle it according to the manual.”
Park Ki-beom nodded.
“I’ll update and distribute the response manual by today.”
At the same time.
Chilbong, who had been looking at his smartphone and checking something, muttered to himself and entered the CEO’s office.
‘This is strange…’
“CEO, have you seen this?”
I looked up and checked Chilbong’s phone screen.
On the screen was a post from a small IT community.
[Question] Titan 4 users, isn’t it a bit too hot while charging?
└ Yeah, mine too. The temperature rises quite a bit even when playing games.
└ Mine looks like the back of the battery pack is slightly swollen. But is this normal?
“It’s finally blown up.”
My lips curled up automatically as I looked at the screen.
“Do you really think there’s a problem with the battery?”
“Of course. This isn’t just a subjective feeling. The symptoms are becoming more specific. From ‘hot’ to ‘swelling.’ It’ll spread to the media soon, so let’s just wait and see.”
Seong-hwan next to me spoke with a worried voice.
“But is it really okay to just watch? Quantum sales have plummeted by more than 50% compared to last week.”
It meant that the sales of the Quantum 2, which had been doing well, had stalled.
“Don’t worry, just steadily build up the production volume. Everything unsold will be sold all at once.”
But, contrary to my expectations,
Even after another week passed, there was no mention of the Titan 4 issue in the media.
“What’s going on?”
While I was thinking it was strange, Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki came to see me.
“It seems like Ahsung’s monitoring team has been active.”
“Are they managing to keep the complaints from reaching the media?”
“Yes, not only major media outlets but also advertising agencies with portal main editing rights and overseas SNS platforms have been paid significant amounts to control the information.”
At Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki’s words, I let out a dry laugh.
It was typical of Ahsung.
They intended to control the information with a huge amount of money while the product was being improved.
“Shouldn’t we step in and reveal it?”
“No.”
At Seong-hwan’s words, I shook my head.
“That would make us look too desperate.”
“So, you’re just going to keep watching? What if Ahsung fixes the battery problem?”
“That won’t happen. I plan to set up a proper stage where Ahsung’s money won’t work.”
“A proper stage?”
“What is it?”
Seong-hwan and Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki both expressed their confusion, and
Only Chilbong seemed to guess and exclaimed in realization.
“Perhaps… are you referring to the KTalk update?”
“Yes.”
“KTalk update? What does that have to do with Ahsung controlling the media?”
I smiled and answered Seong-hwan’s question.
“A social feed feature will be added in this update.”
“Huh… so you’re saying SNS features like Twister or Outstar will be added to KTalk?”
“Yes. It’s a project that Team Leader Han Yu-ju has been preparing for the past six months, and it’s scheduled to be released along with the KTalk update in about an hour.”
Wow-
Seong-hwan exclaimed in surprise.
“I heard it would take longer, but it’s already completed?”
“The employees at Dojin Soft work hard.”
Originally, it was supposed to take more than eight months.
Thanks to the efforts of Han Yu-ju and others, the period was shortened by two months.
…
…
The KTalk update was released at exactly 2 PM.
Lunar users received a push notification,
And jOS users received a store auto-update notification almost simultaneously.
[New KTalk has arrived]
-
Profile tab renewal
-
Social feed feature added
-
Share with friends and create trends with hashtags!
-
Popular posts will be displayed on the main page
The SNS feed tab was added as a new icon at the bottom of the chat window.
With just one click, the timeline appeared.
This change, which naturally blended into the existing message-centered UI, gave users a sense of novelty rather than rejection.
└ Did you see the feed tab?
└ I just posted, and hashtags work too.
└ Wow, this is way more convenient than Outstar?
└ Not to mention uploading photos, even posting comments and liking is super easy.
└ What’s KTalk Shorts for?
└ It’s a feature not available on Nertube or Outstagram?
Of course.
It would still be a few years before Nertube Shorts and Outstagram Reels would appear,
But the feature was intentionally added during this update to attract users.
As soon as KTalk’s update was completed,
From elementary school students to office workers,
Users of various ages began posting their daily lives, pet photos, book introductions, memes, and fashion shots on the KTalk feed.
Then,
A post with a familiar name caught my eye.
Titan 4 users, beware!
This morning, I left it charging, and the battery pack became like this.
It felt slightly swollen, so I took it to the service center. They said it was normal in front of me but replaced it. Something seems fishy.
2 photos posted
The post reached 900 comments and 8,000 shares within an hour, topping the trending feed tab.
There was no provocative language, just a simple experience sharing, but many people could relate.
└ I have similar symptoms. I should go check it out soon.
└ My mom’s phone also acted strange while charging, so I turned it off.
└ It’s worrying. Should I just switch to Quantum?
Starting with that post, articles about Titan 4 began to sprout up,
And eventually, what was bound to happen, happened.
I left the charger plugged in while sleeping, and the Titan 4 battery exploded!
I woke up feeling something was wrong, and there were sparks flying everywhere, so I jumped out in shock.
Afraid it might turn into a big fire, I unplugged the charger and saw that the battery seemed to have exploded.
8 photos posted
The post quickly became popular soon after it was uploaded,
And numerous comments followed.
└ Wow, this is definitely an explosion.
└ It exploded right next to your head. It’s a miracle you’re alive.
└ Seriously, though, it looks like you got a burn on your hand.
└ I wouldn’t dare use Titan 4.
└ At this point, shouldn’t they recall all units?
└ I knew something was wrong when it got hot just from plugging in the charger.
└ F**k, they were selling this crap as the best hardware?
└ No wonder Dojin hasn’t responded to anything.
└ Lol, I just saw a Dojin ad. It’s amazing.
└ What’s the ad like?
└ It’s faster to see it yourself.
Less than 10 minutes after the Titan 4 explosion post was pinned to the top of the feed tab,
A push notification was sent to all KTalk users.
[Ad] A safer tomorrow in your hands
Quantum 3 - Never explodes, no matter the environment.
Pre-order now and experience the new standard.
[Click to play video]
…
…
[Dojin Smartphone Ad Video]
Soft background music.
In a dark room, a smartphone presumed to be Titan 4 and Quantum 3 are placed side by side.
“No matter how outstanding the performance…”
The Titan 4 fills the screen.
During fast charging, the temperature rises to 46 degrees, followed by a thermal degradation scene.
Cell expansion → Casing warping → Explosion sound with a black screen.
“If it threatens your safety, it’s not a smartphone.”
Next scene.
Quantum 3.
Inside an airplane, high-altitude area, sauna, and even in a multitasking environment with 10 high-spec games running.
“Never explodes, no matter the environment.”
“Unprecedented stability, real technology from Dojin.”
Final scene.
Inside a burning laboratory.
The Quantum 3 is placed in the center, with the screen displaying:
Redefining the standard of stability.
Quantum 3 - Coming Soon.
└ Lol, what is this?
└ Is this ad for real?
└ Is that really fire?
└ What’s Titan gonna do now? Another failure.
└ The timing of the ad on KTalk is just perfect.
Having been prepared and released at the optimal timing,
The response to Quantum 3 was explosive,
And the comments were flooded with inquiries about when Quantum 3 would be released.