Ch.331326 – Awakening of Insects

A virtual reality conference room.

Older executives more accustomed to holograms than full-dive capsules took their seats using semi-transparent avatars.

NoName, dressed in a black suit with a black skirt, was adjusting her red tie appropriately.

‘This seems more suited for a kindergarten graduation party than a rigid corporate meeting.’

While executives were the type who would employ monkeys if it made them money, they weren’t shameless enough to speak harshly to an 8-year-old child.

Let’s just observe for now.

After signing NDAs, they silently listened to the presentation that would finalize a trillion-won deal.

“Hello, I’m NoName, co-founder of Bio-Akashic. Before I begin my presentation—”

Her voice was quite captivating, aside from the characteristically high pitch of a child.

Some executives’ stern expressions had already softened at her cute gestures.

“Currently, the virus causing multiple sclerosis is a type of herpes called Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)—”

Her background knowledge was impressive. NoName explained the boundaries of human knowledge in the simplest terms possible.

EBV is an extremely common virus that infects one in three people worldwide.

However, most people also have antibodies against it, so they typically show no symptoms.

Occasionally, when immunity weakens, it might cause mouth ulcers.

“But only a very small percentage of people infected with EBV develop multiple sclerosis (MS), which can’t be explained by incubation period alone. I had an idea while watching cicadas during summer. Do you know how often periodic cicadas emerge? Yes, every 13 or 17 years—”

What connection could there possibly be between multiple sclerosis and cicadas?

The executives pulled their chairs forward, showing interest in NoName’s presentation.

“Coming back to multiple sclerosis, it’s an autoimmune reaction by T-cells that damages the myelin sheath. But the root cause isn’t in T-cells but B-cells. B-cells, a type of white blood cell—”

Several executives nodded.

This was because related research had emerged in recent years.

Some competitors’ treatments already focused on suppressing B-cells.

However, indiscriminately suppressing B-cells had the major side effect of increasing vulnerability to infections like pneumonia.

“Retroviruses. Those who’ve seen Planet of the Apes would know that the simian flu ALZ-113 was modeled after this virus. For those unfamiliar, another example would be HIV, which causes AIDS, or HTLV, which causes leukemia—they all belong to this group. Now let me explain how retroviruses and EBV destroy the central nervous system. Bringing back those cicadas, we’ll introduce the concept of periodicity—”

In the blink of an eye, five PPT slides had passed.

The executives panicked.

Were they amazed by her explanation?

No, because at some point they had lost track of her explanation.

It was like dozing off while a university professor was diligently explaining the Pythagorean theorem, only to wake up and find the blackboard filled with incomprehensible formulas.

“So what’s the probability of passing Phase 3 clinical trials? Isn’t it still ongoing?”

The executive asked about the critical issue.

After all, such medical analyses would be verified by the working-level staff below.

NoName confidently loosened her tie and showed the final slide.

“We’ve already had 100 patients in Phase 1 clinical trials achieve complete remission without a single side effect. Of 87 quadriplegic patients, 84% regained the ability to walk. What more do I need to show you?”

These people were truly skeptical.

Nevertheless, NoName willingly gave them time to punch numbers into their calculators.

Once the treatment was released, dominating the market would be just a matter of time.

“Why are you trying to sell?”

Finally, Robert Kim, the Asia-Pacific Vice President, asked.

Even capturing half the market share would easily generate over 10 trillion won.

They could even gather all pharmaceutical companies and have them compete for the patent.

“Because it’s faster. You people who deal with numbers might see this all as money, but all I see are 3 million patients.”

Bio-Akashic actually lacked the facilities and land to mass-produce the treatment.

“And the reason I set the price at 900 billion won is because this treatment won’t sell for long.”

“Why? Is there some major flaw?”

“No. Because I’m going to create a vaccine later. My goal is to eliminate this business entirely.”

NoName leaned back in her chair and arrogantly stated her ambition.

All the executives stared at her with stunned expressions.

Finally, the female CFO burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, I’m tearing up. Instead of wishing success for the business you’re selling, your goal is to eliminate it. You’re admirably honest, Miss NoName.”

“Then we can just acquire the vaccine business too when the time comes, right? It would only be better for us if the business grows.”

“I don’t know about that. I might give up the patent.”

“Like Jonas Salk? If you want to become such a great person, there’s nothing we can do about it. Thank you for the presentation.”

“Let’s move straight to the MOU. No need to see more.”

“Oh, by the way, I can’t hand over the Devil’s Horn.”

NoName added one last comment before standing up.

“Minus 30 billion. But that magic still sells well in Japan for now.”

“That’s fine.”

NoName extended her hand for a handshake with a bright smile.

* * *

Bio-Akashic’s position among Korean startups wasn’t just “rain during drought” or “chicken during a diet,” but rather a “sprout on Mars.”

Their success was expected to spark a new wave in Korea’s biotech industry, create tens of thousands of jobs, and elevate the nation’s standing in the international community, but…

In the challenging red ocean, a shark suddenly appeared and swallowed the golden goose whole.

And this trillion-dollar shark left behind 870 billion won worth of droppings.

Considering that the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ annual 5 trillion won investment yields less than 10% in indirect economic contribution, this was truly golden excrement.

But the problem was the unequal distribution of capital.

The public perception was:

That detestable Japanese faction swooped in and gobbled up 50 billion won.

Several evil securities companies that make money from money swallowed 250 billion won.

The Korean government managed to recover just under 100 billion won, but one particular beneficiary was a thorn in everyone’s side.

-NoName alone got 348 billion? Even after taxes, that’s at least 200 billion?

-Wasn’t this company run just for fun?

-I thought it was just a magic toy company…

-lol This is insane

-What value does this company have to be worth so much money?

-Why does NoName have overwhelmingly more shares than the CEO? I don’t understand.

-So jealous… At 8 years old, she can spend lavishly without worrying about money… Meanwhile I’m working my bones off and still can’t pay off my credit card debt and loans…

-If you get jealous over things like this, how do you even live? Some people are born at the finish line.

-Don’t be jealous of our poor NoName!

In the market, Bio-Akashic’s corporate value was estimated at around 100 billion won, or generously, around 300 billion won.

When news broke of this generous M&A paying ten times the premium, media outlets rushed to report it.

The Financial Supervisory Service belatedly obtained the information and began monitoring and auditing.

How could they complete the MOU and main contract so quickly?

The background was that Bio-Akashic’s list of assets was extremely minimal.

All pharmaceutical equipment had registered market values, and most importantly, the company owned no land or buildings, so they only needed to verify the treatment.

Everything proceeded swiftly.

Warm sunshine melted the frozen Korean peninsula and pushed humans unstuck from their beds outside.

Spring had finally arrived.

* * *

“Achoo!”

I sniffled and vigorously shook a hand warmer, pressing it against my cheek.

When will this winter ever end?

Ipchun, the beginning of spring, had long passed, and we were approaching Gyeongchip, when frogs wake from hibernation.

If they woke from hibernation now, they’d become frozen meat and likely end up on French dinner tables.

Using warming magic whenever it’s cold directly harms the immune system.

Children around my age were screaming and running around in the park.

That’s actually the right approach.

To generate heat in the body, one should move their feet energetically like that, but as we age, we become reluctant to waste energy unnecessarily.

Even now, there was a girl looking around after running into the park entrance.

“Nameeeee!”

It was Baek A-rin, my orphanage friend.

As soon as she saw me, she ran at full speed and hugged me.

Shortly after, her adoptive father, Baek Hochan, joined us and exchanged greetings.

“Hello, A-rin. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Baek.”

Once a young CEO who leveraged his microscale plasticity engineering major from USC Viterbi School of Engineering to lead a business combining microscopes and AI for cellular disease diagnosis.

He had to close his business due to the cascading failures of regional banks in the US, but now he had made a spectacular comeback.

“Why are you saying ‘thank you for your hard work’ instead of ‘hello’?”

“Because you really did work hard.”

“Well, thank you.”

Baek Hochan had truly traded his health for business, carrying various illnesses.

“What are your plans going forward?”

“Me? First, I need to work hard with the research staff to launch Pertuzumab. After that, we’ll need to monitor progress for about a year.”

“And then?”

“Then… I’m thinking of leaving. I need to rest and take care of my health. I’m also planning the business I originally wanted to do.”

While Baek Hochan was the nominal CEO, I actually held the command authority.

With this Bio-Akashic sale, he had also become a multi-billionaire, establishing the foundation to achieve his dreams.

He’s certainly a very ambitious person.

“Name, how much hit your account? You still have 40% of the shares, right?”

“You’re being impolite.”

“We’re not in a relationship where we need to be formal with each other, are we?”

I nodded slightly and opened my securities account to check.

[Payment date: March 1, 2052]

[₩214,105,826,285]

“Quite a lot.”

“Tsk, hiding it! Even local reporters know you have over 200 billion.”

“But it’s about 7.3 billion won less than expected. And it doesn’t matter since I’ll spend it all soon anyway.”

“Haha, all that money? You couldn’t spend it all even if you cast your favorite magic thousands of times!”

He’s not wrong. At least for 5th circle magic.

“Anyway, be careful. When money talk appears in the media frequently, dirty flies always swarm.”

“Then I should spend it all as quickly as possible.”

“Name, are you rich? How rich are you?”

“Why? Is there something you want to eat, A-rin?”

“No. I can just ask my dad to buy it for me.”

We pass the time with trivial conversation.

It’s been so long since I’ve enjoyed such a leisurely day.

“School starts next week?”

I nodded once more at Baek Hochan’s question.

“Third grade?”

“Yes.”

“Wow… I just can’t believe it, I can’t believe it…”

His breath rose with the wind.

I was all too familiar with hearing this by now.

“There are many mysterious things in the world. It’s easier to just accept them and move on.”

Like a comedian-turned-president leading his country to victory in war against a superpower, or Korea reaching the World Cup semifinals while Morocco wins the championship.

If we count my previous life, dragons were flying freely in the sky.

Of course, there were no horned horses even there.

“Most of all, I’m amazed that you practically created this treatment all by yourself. If this gets out, wouldn’t it cause a huge commotion?”

“Well, people tend to forget easily. After a little time passes, it fades from memory.”

“By the way, I heard they’ve even created a religion named after you overseas.”

“What?”

“Oh? You didn’t know?”

I had no idea.

“Look it up sometime on community sites. It’s entertaining to watch people from different religions arguing with each other.”

“Haha…”

I gave an awkward laugh and placed my phone face down on the ground.

For some reason, I had a strong intuition that I shouldn’t look it up right now.