I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 504

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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 504
The metaverse.
This is the direction we must move toward.
Mark looked slightly taken aback, but soon nodded in agreement.
“I knew you wouldn’t stop. You didn’t budge even when countless people tried to tempt you into selling the company before going public. When I said I wanted to quit and become a full-time housewife, you talked me out of it. The truth is, many Silicon Valley companies create good ideas, sell them off, and then just live the rest of their lives as wealthy people. But you weren’t like that.”
“Mark, it’s only possible because you’re here. You know that, right?”
“Anyway, enough flattery. Sung-guk, this might give you goosebumps, but my life really seems to be divided into before and after meeting you. Before I met you, I was just a nerdy guy who studied a bit. Oh, that’s right!”
Mark clapped his hands sharply.
“Mark, what is it?”
“I just thought of something to add to the speech. I have some memories with you that I think would be good to include. I should add it while I’m thinking of it. Sung-guk, let’s head to the hotel right away!”
Mark quickened his pace.
* * *
Late that night, I reviewed the speech alone in my hotel room.
Mark probably had no idea how long I had been working on this speech.
When I dropped out of Harvard, I already knew I would receive an honorary diploma after FaceNote went public.
Because that’s what Mark Zuckerberg did in my previous life.
So I often spent nights writing and endlessly refining this commencement address.
Perhaps it was the moment I had been waiting for most in my life.
I could still remember my parents’ voices when I told them I had gotten into Harvard.
I wrote that emotion down briefly.
– When I received the email saying I had been accepted to Harvard, I called my father in Korea.
There was a long silence on the other end of the line, and in that moment, I knew my father was holding back tears.
Korean people often cry when something too joyful or unbelievable happens. Men too!
Of course, I included some appropriate humor as well.
“I think this much emotional storytelling should be enough… or is it not enough?”
I skimmed through the speech once more. Then I quietly closed my laptop.
It finally felt like everything was ready.
* * *
Wednesday morning.
The day had finally arrived for the Harvard honorary diploma ceremony and my speech.
I put on the suit I had prepared in advance.
I combed my hair and straightened my tie.
Then I looked in the mirror.
[Really… I look good today too.]
I smiled faintly.
Just then, I heard a knock on the hotel room door.
Who could that be?
“Sung-guk, it’s me. Open the door for a second.”
I heard Mark’s urgent voice.
The moment I opened the door, Mark rushed in looking pale.
“Sung-guk, I’m so nervous I feel like I’m dying. I haven’t slept since dawn. I practiced the speech in front of Mi-mi and the kids over and over, but I keep messing up… I can’t focus.”
I gripped Mark’s shoulder firmly.
“Mark, you’re looking the most impressive right now out of all the times I’ve watched you.”
“That’s because… Tae-guk gave me a suit as a gift, and Mi-mi bought me shoes for the speech. Olivia and Rose picked out the tie….”
“See? You’re carrying everyone’s expectations on your shoulders right now. So are you really going to act this foolish until the very end?”
Mark let out a long sigh.
“I didn’t know I’d be like this until morning. I feel so pathetic and miserable.”
“Mark, you’re not pathetic—anyone feels this way before something like this. So don’t worry too much. If you’re too nervous, take a sedative or have a glass of whiskey.”
“Sigh… Whiskey. I think I need whiskey.”
Mark found a bottle of whiskey in the hotel minibar and took a sip. Just as he was about to drink again, I quickly stopped him.
“Mark, trembling a little is better than giving a speech drunk.”
“Sigh… Okay.”
Mark took several deep breaths and gripped my shoulder tightly.
“Sung-guk, let’s go.”
“Let’s do this!”
* * *
The Harvard Campus in May was warm.
The sunlight was just right, and there was barely any wind.
The podium where Mark and I would receive honorary diplomas and give our speeches was neither too high nor too low.
Mark adjusted his tie.
“Mark, are you calming down?”
“Because of the whiskey, maybe, but this doesn’t feel real right now. It feels like I’m inside a game. I’m just an avatar that I’m controlling.”
“Mark, think of it that way. Your avatar is giving the speech right now.”
“Yeah….”
I turned my head to look back.
Mother, Father, Min-guk, and Ji-hee were all sitting together, looking slightly excited. And sitting next to them were Jeon Tae-guk and Jeon Mi-jin….
My siblings from my previous life were here with me.
This moment and situation felt like a scene from a game to me as well.
[What if I wake up from a dream right now?]
I whispered softly to Mark sitting beside me.
“Mark, could you pinch me a little?”
“What?”
Mark looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Sung-guk, are you nervous too?”
“Not at all.”
“Then why are you asking me to pinch you?”
“In Korea, when a situation doesn’t feel real, people often make that kind of request. When you can’t tell if something is a dream or reality.”
“I have to admit, this situation is hard to believe. When I dropped out of Harvard, I thought only someone like Bill Gates or Charlie Jobs would ever stand on a stage like this. I never dreamed it would be me.”
Mark fell into a moment of reflection.
“Mark, save the sentimentality for later. Now pinch me.”
“Yes, I’ll pinch you really hard!”
Mark did exactly as he said, pinching me hard.
“How’s that, Sung-guk?”
“It’s real. It really hurts.”
While we exchanged our pointless banter, the Harvard President’s brief remarks concluded, and I heard the announcement introducing us as recipients of honorary degrees.
“I’d like to introduce the two individuals receiving honorary degrees today. They are Mark Zuckerberg and Jeon Sung-guk, co-CEOs of FaceNote!”
Mark and I exchanged glances, then rose from our seats.
Together, we walked toward the podium.
“Mark, you go first.”
I gave Mark a gentle push from behind, and he grinned, gesturing for me to go ahead.
“Sung-guk, you should go first.”
“Mark, you’re older, so you should go first.”
“What are you talking about? You have better grades, so you go first. Schools always rank by grades.”
Seeing us bickering back and forth, the Emcee quickly intervened.
“I announced by age order, but I’ve just received updated information showing that CEO Jeon Sung-guk had better grades. Please come to the podium first.”
At this, the audience burst into laughter, and I shrugged my shoulders before walking forward.
And finally, I received my Harvard diploma.
* * *
Mark gave his speech first.
The reasoning was that he needed to speak before the alcohol wore off, and if he went after my speech, he might be completely overshadowed.
The moment Mark stepped onto the podium, his face began to flush.
Lim Mi-mi clicked her tongue beside me.
“Restaurant Owner, what’s wrong with Mark? The kids absolutely shouldn’t pick up this habit.”
“Lim Mi-mi, that’s Mark’s charm.”
“I suppose so.”
Before long, Lim Mi-mi was beaming with a broad smile.
And Mark’s speech began.
“Hmm… hmm… It’s been so long since I attended Harvard… I’m starting to wonder if I even really went here.”
Mark’s speech opened with a dry joke.
The audience still managed to laugh politely.
Mark cleared his throat and continued his speech.
“First, there may be some of you who don’t know that I’m the CEO of FaceNote. In fact, when people think of FaceNote, they often think of both me and Sung-guk, who created FaceNote with me. So some people actually doubt me when I say I’m a co-CEO. They wonder if I’m a fraud. Well, I suppose I’ve now proven that I’m not a fraud, right?”
The audience laughed while beginning to listen to Mark’s sincerity.
“I’ve loved working with computers since I was young, and programming was my hobby. But I never once thought it would lead to something productive. In high school, when I created Face Paper, the predecessor to FaceNote, it was because Sung-guk tempted me with the promise of snacks. As you know, when you live in a dormitory, you’re always hungry.”
Mark spoke with some embarrassment, yet delivered his speech well.
“The reason I brought up the dormitory is because today’s story is actually about a person I met there. These days, people say that true friends don’t exist. Especially as you become more successful. But I’d like to tell you this: having a good friend by your side can change your entire life.”
Sincerity resonated through Mark’s words.
My family, Lim Mi-mi, and Mark’s children looked at me warmly.
Mark smiled bashfully and continued his speech.
“Perhaps my life will be divided into before and after meeting my friend ‘Sung-guk.’ That friend came from a foreign country called Korea, and he was even seven years younger than me. Yet, that younger friend changed my life.”
Mark’s speech, now composed, continued on, and he glanced toward me from time to time.
The theme of Mark’s address was the friends we make in life.
He spoke of how simply recognizing good friends and keeping them close could transform and give meaning to one’s entire existence.
It wasn’t a brilliant speech, but it was undeniably moving.
“Well… yes. It seems my speech has come to an end. Everyone, I have something I’d like to ask of you. If you ever encounter a student like me—with frizzy hair, covered in freckles, and terribly shy—please approach them actively. That friend might just be a computer genius like me.”
With a well-timed laugh, Mark’s speech concluded.
He descended from the stage with a lighter smile than ever before.
The Emcee then called my name.
“It seems we should invite to this stage the friend who recognized that computer genius with frizzy hair, covered in freckles, and a shy disposition.”
I stood from my seat.
* * *
From the podium, I could see my family all at once.
Mark, having just finished his speech, caught his breath and applauded alongside Olivia.
I smiled softly and began my speech.
“My shy friend has delivered a wonderful address. Today, I’d like to share more of my own story—the one that allowed both him and me to reach this point.”
I spoke of Father’s story, just as I had written it in the hotel room. I could see Father’s eyes reddening the moment he heard his own tale.
And then, finally, I broached the main subject.
“What I truly wish to speak about today is the purpose of my life—how I left my family, came to Harvard, and founded FaceNote. Everyone lives with a purpose, yet not everyone strives to achieve it. We often compromise with our weaker selves, and we give up. But I want to tell you this: when I was just beginning to turn things around in a small room in South Korea, I had a thought. In this lifetime, I would become a global billionaire!”
Laughter erupted from the spectator seating.
“You don’t believe it, do you? That a child who couldn’t even babble would think he’d become a global billionaire? But this is my earliest memory, and I have lived my entire life pursuing this goal. There’s only one reason I’m telling you this: even if everyone calls your dream impossible, if you hold passion in your heart, your purpose will be achieved before you know it. Don’t give up. And even if you fail, you’ll have lived a far better life than if you had given up from the start.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“How do I know this? Because I’m the proof standing here before you. If I had lived as an Asian, as someone young, without purpose, there would be no FaceNote, and there would be no me as I am now.”
Now I spoke my final words.
“And from now on, Mark and I will become the generation that helps all of you achieve your purposes!”
The moment I finished, applause erupted from all around.
My family all stood, their faces filled with emotion as they looked at me.
I rushed over and embraced Mother and Father.
Mother and Father held me close, patting my back with pride.
“Sung-guk, congratulations on your graduation!”

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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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