I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 256

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 256
Jessie clipped out an article featuring Sung-guk and handed it to her boss, Miranda Wintor.
“Miranda. Sung-guk has transcended being merely a businessman—he’s becoming an icon of our era. His achievements have been remarkable, but recently he announced internal policies through FaceNote to prevent sex offenders and violent criminals from joining. It’s absurd that we, representing American fashion at Bella, aren’t covering someone like him.”
Miranda Wintor gazed at Jessie while absently toying with the ends of her signature short hair.
“Jessie, didn’t you say Sung-guk and Mark were high school classmates?”
“Yes.”
“Sung-guk has never done an interview with a fashion magazine before. Do you think you can land one?”
“Don’t worry! Miranda.”
Jessie burst out of Miranda’s office.
She immediately called Sung-guk.
She naturally had his phone number.
It had just been a long time since they’d been in contact.
* * *
The phone rang during the meeting, and with Mark and Lim Mi-mi present, I checked the caller ID.
“Jessie?”
Mark showed interest at my words.
“Don’t tell me it’s that Jessie?”
“Yeah. It seems like it really is that Jessie, Mark.”
I answered the phone just before the signal cut out. And I heard the voice I expected.
– Sung-guk! It’s me… Jessie.
“Hey, how are you, Jessie.”
– Sung-guk, do you know your story never stops appearing in the news these days?
“It’s not my story—it’s FaceNote and YouTube.”
– But you’re the one running them.
“Mark’s involved too.”
– Oh, right. Mark’s doing well, right?
“Of course he is.”
– Sung-guk, do you have time this week? Actually, first—do you know I work under Miranda Wintor?
“Who’s Miranda Wintor?”
– I knew you’d say that. She’s the editor-in-chief of the world-renowned fashion magazine Bella. If Miranda Wintor doesn’t get me your interview, she might kill me.
I lowered the phone slightly and looked at Lim Mi-mi.
“Lim Mi-mi, have you ever seen Bella?”
“Sir, didn’t I tell you that I defected because I saw Bella after arriving in Thailand?”
“Lim Mi-mi, you said it was because of hamburgers.”
“I saw Bella at a newsstand while buying hamburgers, and that’s when I decided to defect.”
I picked up Jessie’s call again.
“Jessie, what about interviewing Mark instead of me? Mark is personally running this sex offender project right now. It’s exactly the image our company needs most.”
– Sung-guk… the person I want to interview is an icon of this era. One word from you and ginger tea and kimchi sell out… you put South Korea on the map. And you’re not even twenty yet, but you drive a Porsche. Yet you always wear hoodies and jeans. That’s the kind of person I’m talking about.
“Jessie, listening to you, I’m definitely not a fashionista…”
– Sung-guk, you’re still the same. I’m flying to Silicon Valley this weekend, so keep your schedule clear! This is a visit as a friend. Of course, a very self-interested one.
Jessie made the call.
“Restaurant Owner, are you saying you want to do an interview at Bella right now?”
“It seems like that’s what they want to do… Mark, did you know Jessie works at Bella?”
“Looking at Jessie’s FaceNote, it does seem like she works at Bella.”
“Really? Wasn’t Jessie’s dream to be a news anchor? Suddenly a fashion magazine….”
“Well, it looks like she’s building up her resume in various ways.”
Unlike the indifferent Mark and me, Lim Mi-mi’s face was brimming with anticipation.
“If it’s Jessie, she’s the prom queen Mark had a crush on throughout high school, right?”
“You’ve seen her face before too, Lim Mi-mi. And he had an unrequited crush on her throughout high school and even into college.”
“Sung-guk!”
Mark got unnecessarily heated.
“Mark, calm down. I’m just stating facts, and the person you love most right now is Lim Mi-mi anyway.”
“Mark, I’m fine. A woman like Jessie wouldn’t like you anyway.”
Lim Mi-mi drove the point home.
“Now, let’s talk about that later… Mark, let’s use Bella.”
“What?”
“Bella is a global fashion magazine that women in their twenties and thirties love to read. That means it’s also the group that most advocates for blocking sex offenders… and it seems like appropriate content to convey our vision.”
“Sung-guk, that’s a good idea, but… the thing is… using Mike Tyson as an example to deter… you know….”
“Right. You’re going to do an interview on CNB News tomorrow morning.”
“Do I really have to do this?”
“Mark, I became a target of terrorists targeting Asian companies because of FaceNote. I fought against an unspecified number of people, but you only need to be careful about one person. What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that one person is Mike Tyson!”
* * *
The CNB News broadcast van arrived in front of the office.
Mark straightened the collar of his usual checkered shirt with a slightly flushed face.
I handed Mark a warm cup of ginger tea.
“Mark. Ginger tea is good for nerves too.”
“Sung-guk… can I really do this well?”
“You’ll be a bit nervous since you haven’t done it before, but you’ll do fine. Mark, so… relax.”
“Yeah… I should. But I’m so nervous.”
[Mark, everyone’s nervous the first time.]
From the moment I leave FaceNote for military service and other pursuits, Mark will become the face of this company.
Until then, my goal was to make Mark a representative in my place.
And today is the beginning of that.
Soon the door opened and the reporter and cameraman entered.
“First, let’s take your temperature.”
At my words, the two quickly took their temperatures and accepted the ginger tea.
The reporter naturally approached me.
“Sung-guk, shall we do a practice run for the interview beforehand?”
“Reporter, today it’s not me who will be interviewed—it’s Mark.”
The Reporter looked at Mark with a slightly surprised expression.
“You must be quite surprised, aren’t you?”
“Ah, yes. To be honest, Sung-guk has been handling all the public-facing activities so far. He’s handsome, has great showmanship, and he’s exactly the type the media wants.”
“FaceNote was founded by both Mark and me. Mark has always been quite shy, so I’ve been the one doing public relations work, but this project is one that Mark is leading, so I wanted him to take the spotlight.”
“So the shy CEO is finally showing his face to the media.”
The Reporter quickly extended his hand to Mark in greeting.
It was a gesture meant to coordinate the interview content beforehand and ease Mark’s nervousness.
Mark seemed to be gradually shedding his tension as well.
* * *
“I’m currently standing outside the FaceNote Office Building, where they’ve decided to ban sex offenders and violent criminals from joining. Recently, FaceNote has established an internal policy to prohibit sex offenders and violent criminals from registering. Today, I’m meeting with Mark Zuckerberg, co-CEO of FaceNote, to hear more about this initiative.”
The Reporter smoothly held the microphone toward Mark.
Mark greeted him with a slight shyness and then explained the project.
“As you all know very well, most FaceNote users are teenagers and people in their twenties. Through various channels recently, we’ve discovered that sex offenders have been using FaceNote’s messaging feature to approach users regardless of gender.”
“In fact, this has been pointed out as a problem with many social networks for some time now.”
“That’s right. Since it’s a place where messages are exchanged without face-to-face contact, there’s been an easier point of access compared to anywhere else.”
“So… you’re saying FaceNote will block sex offenders and violent criminals from joining altogether?”
“Yes, since we don’t have access to criminals’ data, we need active participation from our users, which is also why I’m appearing on this broadcast today.”
“That means users have to report them directly?”
“Yes, of course. When we receive reports from our internal team, we’ll thoroughly verify and block criminals’ registrations based on solid evidence.”
From behind, watching Mark’s interview, I whispered to Lim Mi-mi.
“Lim Mi-mi, Mark is doing better at interviews than I expected.”
“Sir, to be honest, I drilled him hard last night with North Korean-style training.”
“Please continue to help him going forward.”
“Sir, but… I have a feeling people would rather see you on camera than Mark.”
“Lim Mi-mi, you’re right, but I don’t have two bodies.”
“Sir, let’s just watch the interview.”
Lim Mi-mi and I focused back on Mark’s interview.
Now there was one important statement left to make.
“So, people who are verified to be sex offenders or violent criminals could be blocked from joining from the start?”
“Of course. That’s why we at FaceNote want to announce that we will permanently ban Mike Tyson, the legendary boxer who served time for actual rape charges, from joining FaceNote.”
“Wow! This is huge news.”
The Reporter stared directly at the camera and began his closing remarks.
“Today, I met with Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of FaceNote. FaceNote is the first social network company to establish an internal policy banning sex offenders and violent criminals from joining. As an example, they’ve announced the permanent ban of Mike Tyson, who served time for the rape of Miss Black America. The impact this declaration will have on SNS platforms, which have become breeding grounds for various sex crimes, is drawing keen attention.”
* * *
As quitting time approached, Mark came over with a deathly pale face.
“Sung-guk… Sung-guk, what do we do?”
“Mark, what’s wrong?”
“Mike Tyson posted this on Twitter.”
– Mark Zuckerberg, wait for me. I’m coming to show you a taste of my knockout punch.
[Hmm… That’s Mike Tyson for you.]
“Sung-guk, what should I do?”
Mark bounced nervously on his feet.
“Just ask Jeon Tae-guk to beef up security a bit.”
“Sung-guk… I think I made a mistake going on that broadcast.”
“Mark, as the operator of FaceNote, you’ll encounter situations like this constantly moving forward. Think of it as a dress rehearsal. Besides, people who make threats like this rarely actually show up in person.”
“Y-you think so?”
“Yeah.”
I worked to calm Mark down.
Based on my experience, the odds of someone who made threats like that actually tracking you down were less than ten percent. The problem was that the remaining ten percent actually did show up.
“Mark, thanks to the publicity about blocking sex offenders and violent criminals from FaceNote, our user registrations surged today. Everyone feels like there’s finally a safety net in place.”
“Y-yeah… that’s good news, at least.”
“Mark, Lim Mi-mi suggested we order Korean fried chicken tonight since you worked so hard.”
“Sure. Korean fried chicken really is delicious. I should head home and grab a beer before bed.”
Mark shook his head slowly.
“Mark, you did well today.”
“Sung-guk, I think I’m starting to understand how much you’ve been through. I’ll do better from now on.”
Just then, a scream erupted from somewhere.
“Aaaahhh!”
I jumped up from my seat and looked toward the source of the scream.
“What’s happening?”
“Um, Sung-guk….”
I heard a terrified employee’s voice, followed by a rough male voice.
“Where’s Mark Zuckerberg!”
[Could it be Tyson?]
I stared at Mike Tyson approaching with barely contained fury.
A massive frame nearly 180 centimeters tall and easily weighing over 100 kilograms strode toward Mark Zuckerberg and me.
Mark cowered behind me in terror.
Mike Tyson then pointed a finger at me.
“There! The guy hiding behind that parasitic-looking Asian! That’s Mark Zuckerberg! The one who said he’d ban me from FaceNote forever!”
I quickly stepped in front of Mike Tyson.
“Mike. Making a scene like this won’t solve anything. Let’s clear up this misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? You guys screwed me over first!”
“Mike, please calm down. Let’s plan how we can resolve this moving forward—”
In an instant, Mike Tyson grabbed me by the collar and lifted me off the ground.
It was the first time in my life I’d experienced my feet leaving the earth at someone else’s hands.
“Everyone’s got a plan. Until they get punched….”
Just then, Mark, hiding behind me, stopped Mike Tyson.
“Mike, I’m the one who said it. Let Sung-guk go.”
“Yeah… Mark Zuckerberg or Jukebox or whatever. Let me give you a taste of my fists!”
The moment Mike Tyson released me and his fist flew toward Mark!
Someone blocked Mike Tyson’s fist with a sharp slap.
It was Lim Mi-mi.
“And who the hell are you?”
“Lim Mi-mi. Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend.”
“You’ve got some nerve calling yourself his girlfriend.”
“Mike Tyson, the moment you lay a hand on my man, you’re finished. Do you understand?”
“What?”
“I’m from North Korea’s special forces.”
At those words, Mike Tyson’s pupils trembled.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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