Episode 171. There is no game with 0% win rate.
A few days before the World Cup group qualifiers, Jason, a player from the United States, who was traveling to the training ground, asked Soyena, who was in charge of the interpreter.
“Miss So. Since a while ago, the bus driver has been constantly glancing at the monitor, isn’t this a bit dangerous?”
Soyeona looked at the driver’s seat once at those words and smiled.
“Ho Ho. Knight, you are not looking away now.”
Jason tilted his head.
“..while looking at the monitor while driving, isn’t it that you don’t pay attention?”
“It looks like you are seeing the navigation for the first time.”
“Navigation..Gate?”
“In a word, you can think of it as a product that shows the fastest way to your destination. It also informs you of the traffic situation in real time, so the driver keeps checking it.”
Jason’s mouth fell open.
“Are there any such products?”
“yes. It was released a few months ago by a company called YouNavi, and it is absolutely popular. I was quite surprised when I first saw that too… The world has gotten a lot better, right? Now I go to a place I have never been to before, and I have no worries at all.”
Jason gave a thumbs up.
“Korea, it’s amazing. I heard that the company that makes D-Tab is also headquartered here. It seems that all kinds of high-tech products are coming out of Korea these days.”
Soyeona smiled pleasantly at the words of praise for the country.
“Ho Ho. is that so?”
“yes. If it’s a Korean product, I can trust it and just buy it. By the way, is there a navigation system that shows a map of the United States?”
“It may not be exact, but I think I heard that it was released in the US as well.”
“okay? Then I’ll have to buy one when I go back to America.”
Soyena shook her head.
“Um… that would be difficult. When buying a new car, it is sold only for landfill, so it cannot be purchased separately. I wanted to buy one too, so I looked into it, and I did.”
Even at her words, Jason smiled as if there was no problem.
“haha. Then you can buy a car. Thanks for the info. Miss So.”
Those words reminded Soyena that Jason’s annual salary was about $4 million.
‘Well, even if you work for just one week, you’ll still have an accident for a new car. When will I ever receive a salary like that… I’m envious.’
#June 18 evening.
I went to Daejeon World Cup Stadium, where the World Cup Round of 16 was held, with Daewon’s older brother, Director Lee Kuk-hyun, and team leader Park Si-woong all gathered and leading the key executives.
Daewon, wearing a red T-shirt, grumbled.
“Hey, I’m almost going to lose, but do I have to bring him to Daejeon? Just watching it on TV is enough.”
“Are you losing? Long and short, you have to see.”
“Is your opponent Italian?”
At that time, the Italian team was considered the contender for the title.
From Alessandro Del Piero and Christian Vieri to the powerful attacking team, Paolo Maldini, who is considered the best defender of all time, and Gianluigi Buffon, who is called the best goalkeeper in the world.
It was a power that was terrifying and even terrifying.
“There is no game where the win rate is 0% no matter how different the power is. Besides, this time, the match will be held in Korea. The stadium will be familiar and most of the audience will cheer for our country, so the pressure from Italy will be considerable. Korean players must be burning with a sense of mission that they must win. In that sense, I think it’s a game worth trying.”
“..okay? Because you said that, I think it might be true…”
“haha. And what about what? When will we see Italy and Korea’s national team play against each other in front of our eyes again? Whatever the outcome, it will be interesting. For this moment, let’s forget everything and enjoy the D-Tab.”
In my previous life, around this time, I was discharged from the military and was working part-time at a K-com store in Yongsan.
Daewon hyung and I watched this game on the small TV in the store.
It was a pity that I didn’t see him in person after the game was over…
I wanted to see the famous scene in Portugal where Ji-Sung Park pushed the ball into the keeper’s leg, but unfortunately it didn’t happen due to the D-Tab release time.
There were no major problems right after the release, so fortunately, I had time to come to watch the round of 16.
Once we were seated, the match began with the referee whistle.
In the 18th minute of the first half, when Christian Vieri of Italy scored the first goal, Daewon-hyung let out a sigh of disappointment.
“Ah…that goes in…”
And time kept going.
The Korean players seemed to play really hard on the surface.
Italy’s strong defense didn’t show a chance to break through a needle.
The first half ended with a 0-1 lead.
With less than five minutes left in the second half, most of the audience had a foreboding of defeat.
But then, while fighting for the ball in the Italian camp, the ball rolled in front of Seol Ki-hyun.
With all his might, the ball slightly escaped goalkeeper Buffon’s hand and was sucked into the Italian half’s goal.
So the equalizer broke.
People screamed and jumped up.
It was the same with us.
“It’s a tie. It’s a tie!”
My party and I embraced each other and shared the joy.
From then on, the atmosphere heated up.
And an extension of 27 minutes.
In the first half, Ahn Jung-hwan’s header, who almost became a traitor after missing a penalty kick, cut through the Italian net, and the stadium exploded as it was.
“aah! I’m in!”
“It’s a reversal goal!”
“We won!”
The shouts of about 40,000 spectators were so great that their eardrums were suffocated.
Without even having time to feel it, we also shouted together.
“Republic of Korea! Republic of Korea!”
It was a game I already knew the outcome of.
That didn’t dampen my excitement.
It was just thrilling to see something new.
After some victory had passed, we left the stadium.
As I was walking to the parking lot, Daewon-hyung said to me.
“Thank you.”
“It was really fun. It would have been very disappointing to see a match like this on TV.”
“It is worth bringing. It seems like he is too tired from work these days, so this is his own compensation.”
“It was the perfect reward. It feels like all the stress I have accumulated over the years has gone away at once.”
“That’s fortunate. Then, run like crazy again from tomorrow. haha.”
The World Cup, which made the whole of Korea a melting pot of excitement, has finally come to an end, leaving a good memory of the semifinals.
It was busy, though.
There were no more regrets since I had even been to the stadium, which I had not been able to enjoy in my previous life.
When I was busy with the release of D-Tab4 and building the 4G communication infrastructure, Park Si-woong, the team leader of the shopping mall business, visited me.
“CEO. I have something to tell you.”
Manager Park revealed that he was the son of Park Soo-han, the head of the department store in Hwa-dong.
I was quite surprised.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance. I have been procrastinating for fear that there may be unnecessary misunderstandings.”
“Captain Park, I know well, but what is the misunderstanding? But why did you make such a confession all of a sudden?”
“I think offline sales are out of date now. So, like Lude, Hwa-dong gathers and wants to turn it into the online section of the shopping mall, but my father is stubbornly holding it. This is what the CEO wanted me to see my father once.”
I haven’t heard of Hwa-dong in the top 3 department stores in Korea.
In terms of market share, there was not much difference from Lude, who was in third place.
It was a request that was beneficial to me as it would be possible to increase the market share of the clothing division of the shopping mall to 50% if it were able to absorb Hwadong Department Store following Hwadong Department Store.
“I know. When will you come with your father? Let me talk.”
“thank you. CEO.”
“It’s good for me too, what?”
“I will tell you again when we meet.”
TM Display OLED Lab.
In a previous life, he was the director of Hwansung Display OLED Research Center.
Director Hwang Jumin, who had been scouting from Wooshin University after receiving information as a gift last year, displayed the development status data using a beam projector and started a briefing.
“Technology has been developed up to the final process, the encapsulation process. It is currently only applicable to small sizes of about 2 inches, but we plan to gradually increase the size in the future.”
Encapsulation Process
Because OLED devices that directly emit light are very vulnerable to impurities such as oxygen and moisture.
You need a protective film that wraps like a capsule, and this is the process of making that protective film.
Although it is a process that greatly affects the lifespan and quality of OLED, its importance is very high.
It’s not easy to seal it so that even air can’t get in, so I thought it would take quite some time, but it’s already finished.
He was also Director Hwang Jumin.
“It’s only been a year since you joined. Have you already finished developing the encapsulation technology? The speed of development, I really like it. haha.”
“They set up a development line exclusively for OLED, and they provide research funding of more than 10 billion won every month. Shouldn’t he be a pay thief?”
“You are a salary thief. I know very well that Director Hwang works hard beyond what he receives. In that sense, starting next month, your salary will increase by 20%.”
Director Hwang Jumin looked at me with a surprised face.
“..It’s only been a year, but you’re already raising your salary?”
“I am well aware that OLED is more difficult to develop than LCD that uses a separate light source. You raised it to this level in just one year, so it is the treatment you deserve.”
“..thanks for knowing. CEO.”
“haha. Please keep this pace in the future. We will do our best to support you. What are you using as a board now?”
Board.
It refers to the basic board used to stack electronic devices.
Since many processes of the display are performed under high temperature, high pressure, and vacuum conditions, durability must be very good.
Therefore, tempered glass was usually used as a substrate.
“I’m using tempered glass.”
“Tempered glass is good. It is strong and transparent, so it transmits light well. But other than that, there is one more thing I want to recommend as a board candidate.”
“How about PI film?”
“PI? Polyimide film?”
PI (Poly Imide) Film.
It is a plastic film with strong heat resistance and chemical resistance.
Even tempered glass can be broken by a strong external impact.
Since PI film is plastic, it has the advantage that there is no risk.
“Hmm… PI film will endure the process itself, but first of all, it was made on the assumption that all processes developed so far use glass, so we have to develop new ones…”
“Then, while developing a process for tempered glass, start developing the PI film process in parallel.”
“Are you saying you want to use both as a board?”
“yes. The two have different uses. Compared to PI film, tempered glass will have a simpler process and lower unit cost. So, in the early stages of OLED displays, this tempered glass substrate is good for use. But just because we opened the OLED market, there is no law that says we are the only ones doing it, right? Perhaps you and I will jump in when the OLED market grows. We are going to prepare for the PI film process for that time.”
“Prepare for the competition…”
After contemplating my words, Director Hwang widened his eyes.
“Are you talking about a flexible display rather than simply making an unbreakable display?”
flexible display.
It refers to a display that can be transformed into a shape desired by a user.
It was an essential technology to make a foldable phone that can be called a second-generation smartphone.
The beginning of that technology was the PI film.
