episode_0029

Internet payment service.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is a service that supports the Internet ecosystem.

In fact, the principle itself is very simple. It connects the computer networks of various banks to an external network, so that users can transfer money to the desired destination at any time as long as they are connected to the network.

Going a little further, we could say that it mediates the connection between sellers and buyers more easily.

Hey? If it’s this simple, why hasn’t a simple payment service appeared yet?

The answer is simple: we don’t need it yet.

The essence of Internet payment service is literally payment within the Internet.

But what on the Internet requires payment?

The Internet is still in its infancy, focused on the web itself, and not very scalable.

When you spend money on computer programs, you usually buy floppy disks of commercial programs. That means you never have to pay for anything on the Internet.

But for me, this is killing me. The fact that everything requires cash payment is extremely stressful for me, who is used to simple payment and downloading.

“Let’s prepare for the investment briefing again. This time, we have to prepare in more detail than last time, so let’s do our best for the first time in a while.”

“I feel like I’ve been doing more data analysis than game development these days. Is it just me?”

“It’s not because of my feelings, it’s true. Unless you hire separate accounting staff, this will probably happen often in the future, so just get used to it.”

Im Jin-bae had no choice but to cry again today.

So about two weeks later, this time I went to the Silicon Valley Bank office.

“Ms. Lee Seo, it’s nice to see you again. Has it been a little over a month?”

“Thanks to you, I was able to feed my employees. Thank you again.”

First, I’ll show you my favorability rating. It looks like my favorability rating is pretty high.

“First, what I will suggest is a simple payment service within the Internet. In the future, I can present a vision that we will move away from the existing method of ordering items through flyers and word of mouth and instead look at products and order them on the Internet. This applies not only to physical goods but also to stock trading, software purchases, etc. ”

I’m less nervous than last time. That doesn’t mean I remember what I said though.

“…That’s all. I’ll take your questions. ”

“I understand your vision. But… We already operate internet banking, albeit at a simple level. Could you explain why we should partner with you in this situation?”

He explained the sluggish movements of the big banks in just a few sentences. That kind of person should be a professor.

“Let me be honest. The current internet banking system is crude, inconvenient, and rigid. In a word, it is bad. Ordinary users do not even think about using the existing internet banking system. In such a situation, a user-friendly payment system is coming out? That is a window that sucks money from ordinary people to corporations. Naturally, the money from corporations will flow into industrial banks like Silicon Valley Bank. Is this the answer?”

=Ordinary people’s money is rolling in for you. Don’t you eat this?

I think he finally understood after I explained it to him by drawing a picture on the whiteboard.

The second investment briefing session also ended successfully.

Since I first got into Silicon Valley Bank, I guess the name value was strong, so other banks quickly formed partnerships. Of course, I lost some money because I had to take public transportation, but it was worth it for my comfortable retirement.

“So what do you do now?”

A sharp comment from Park Seung-hyeop, who has been a bit lax lately!

“You have to code it. What good is just forming an alliance? You have to create a system to withdraw money from the affiliated banks and exchange it.”

“Ah.”

Tension was injected into KIN’s slack garage, and for the first time in a while, the lights began to turn on even in the middle of the night.

***

“Aaah, what the hell did these fucking bankers make their API like!”

“That’s why you guys who only touch money! Did you create something like this as a banking system?”

As I pointed out, the internet banking of the banks is uniformly poor. To an extent, even.

“After 4 weeks, we’ve barely managed to get something like API information from the bank… If we keep going like this, will we be able to meet the deadline…?”

“4 weeks is exactly as expected. Let’s work hard for 6 months.”

“Should I quit my job?”

“Can I?”

In March 1997, employee Kim Jeong-jun submitted his resignation, but it was not accepted.

…

…

…

…year…month, senior developer Kim Jeong-jun submitted his resignation, but it was not accepted.

***

As the Internet develops, all kinds of personal information are stored on computers and servers.

And this personal information becomes prey to hackers and is released into the world at any moment.

If it’s just a name and phone number, it’s fine, but if something like card information is stored, it could be a real problem.

So what I’m trying to say is…

“You can’t do security like this! This isn’t something as simple as a KINet account!”

We need an extraordinary level of security because if we get hacked even once, all of our customers’ information will be seized, we will be sued, and we will have to pay a level of damages and fines that we cannot afford.

“You can’t be too sure about the level of authority! It’s basic to create your own algorithm and encrypt everything, and there can’t be any vulnerabilities in the server!”

Security algorithms of this era are extremely crude. Even the most reliable hash functions appear to be full of flaws when future knowledge already allows us to break them.

Isn’t this the true curse of knowledge? It hasn’t even been broken yet, but you’re still anxious and afraid. Tony Stark, you’re right again.

“Security is enough with the cerebral ActiveX! Ohmae, you piece of shit, stop abusing the programmer family right away! ”

“ActiveX? Want to get behind it?”

“The family is falling apart, dechaaaat!!!!”

That day, KIN’s garage received three skeletons.

Eventually, after three months, we were able to achieve an ‘operational state’, but we had to conduct endless vulnerability analysis during the remaining time.

“Oh, but would anyone use this? There aren’t many cases where you have to do business online yet.”

“I already have something in mind.”

It was time to meet the owner of a bookstore that only sells books.

***

Zev Peyzos, the legendary man who took over bookstores across America in a week.

When I met him in person, I felt, how could I put it, pitiful.

No, that’s right. At that age, my hair is already… oh my…

The unintentional heliosphere created by the overlapping and reflecting lights on the ceiling is blinding.

My eyes hurt, but I feel more sorry for him than anything else. How can he have such a bad head at that age…

“I have seen the documents you sent. You are looking for a company to use this for online payments.”

“Yes. And I have other suggestions, but let’s talk about them later.”

“Okay, we will definitely introduce the system you showed us. We needed a stable payment model anyway, so the timing was perfect. We will have to discuss the details, but at least we plan to do a trial run before the company goes public.”

“What time do you expect the listing to take place?”

“Um… I’m not sure, but I think it’ll be around this summer.”

“Then, are you thinking of doing one more thing before listing?”

“Please tell me.”

“We are diversifying our products to include not only books, but also DVDs, CDs, computer files, software, electronic products, etc. In fact, it is closer to providing ideas than collaboration.”

“This is something that has been talked about for some time. If the payment is stabilized, it will definitely be a good business. I will strongly suggest it to the company. ”

The negotiation went smoothly. As expected, IT company personnel are different. They communicate well.

“By the way, do I have any hair on my head? Why do you keep doing that…”

The reason is quite the opposite. It is clearly a wicked plot by Zeb Payzos to keep you from concentrating on the negotiation and only looking at your head.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Ahaha… If you keep doing that, I might have to cancel the negotiation?”

“Heeek, sorry! ”

***

At this time, Korea was in a very chaotic situation.

“I see you’re doing well…”

Kim Moo-sik muttered after seeing a small, 10-line article on page 12 of a Korean newspaper about her current situation.

Although Kim Moo-sik was able to avoid the chaos by continuing to use Git to fix bugs and add features to Digital Inside while staying in Korea, the situation was different for other young people.

“Oppose cultural oppression!”

“We have the right to enjoy entertainment!”

“If this is going to happen, regulate baduk and guitar too!”

“What has our country done for us that you are taking away our freedom!”

“Does it make sense for the country to take the lead in draining talent?”

History has a strange path dependence.

Even if it’s a little twisted, what’s going to happen will happen.

The candlelight protests that were supposed to have started when Mytel announced its paid service did not happen because Mytel gave way to WWW too quickly, but the flames of the younger generation accumulated and ignited starting from the arcade gate.

The result was the aftermath of the arcade gate incident and the 1997 arcade protests.

This protest, which had no particular signs until last year, was triggered by the all-out social assault on the youth generation under the pretext of an arcade, which began in January after Yoon Yi-seo left.

This wasn’t just a simple gamer issue, it was an expression of Yoon Yi-seo’s anger toward a country where hard work isn’t rewarded, as she said on the show.

At first, the protests were led only by gamers, but they gradually spread to young people who enjoy new culture, especially music, and eventually developed into large-scale candlelight vigils in which even engineering students, including programmers, participated.

The broadcasting station’s PD was bombarded with letters for being blinded by the momentary viewer ratings, but this was nothing more than a show of affection.

“Why did you send that out…! You said you liked it. If you caught that guy Yoon-seo, you should have made sure he couldn’t leave the country! You could have just made up a charge, but why did you let that go and start this mess!”

There was also an investigator who was forced to pay off his karma by being subjected to absurd punishments.

“There is no sharp solution! What do you expect from college students who spontaneously combust due to social phenomena!”

“Even if it wasn’t spontaneous combustion, but there was a mastermind behind it! Would that many people have come out voluntarily? There must be something behind it, whether it’s North Korea or the National Federation of Student Associations!”

Even the adults above, who keep digging without betraying everyone’s expectations.

Even though [the real thing] hadn’t arrived yet, South Korea was in chaos.

This country was a country that loved its huts so much.