I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 82

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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 82
The opening ceremony at Phillips Academy had begun.
It was an occasion where the family of Koo Soo-young and our entire family had all gathered.
Moreover, as an East Asian student entering Phillips Academy—and at merely ten years old—I couldn’t help but stand out.
On top of that, my grades ranked third among hundreds of students.
I’d deliberately held back slightly, worried that scoring first might make me seem inhuman.
The opening ceremony concluded simply.
And now the time had come to part ways with my family.
Mother and Father’s eyes were already red-rimmed. Min-guk, sensing the atmosphere, had fallen silent. Only Jeon Ji-hee, oblivious to the world, kicked her legs merrily in her stroller, laughing.
Father approached and embraced me tightly.
“Sung-guk, if you miss me, contact me anytime. Understood?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Sung-guk, if things get difficult, we’re here—so reach out.”
“Yes, Mother.”
I gave those answers, but overcoming hardships like this was necessary to become a tycoon leading South Korea!
So why did my eyes keep burning?
“Waaah! Hyung! Hyung!”
Min-guk came running and threw himself into my arms.
“Min-guk, why are you crying?”
“Hyung, let’s go back to Korea together. Let’s play together in Korea.”
[Min-guk, don’t think about going back to Korea with me. You need to study harder if you’re going to study abroad in the United States.]
Mother stopped Min-guk.
“Min-guk, that would make things hard for your brother.”
“Sniffle.”
Min-guk’s tears stopped at those words, and he looked up at me. His compressed lips trembled slightly.
“Hyung, you’ll come back during every vacation, right?”
“Min-guk, study hard and come study abroad in the United States too. Understood?”
“Then I can play with you every day?”
“Yes, then you can study with your brother every day.”
Watching us, Koo Soo-young’s family smiled warmly.
Koo Soo-young’s Wife’s eyes had grown moist.
Their eldest daughter, Ye-jung, looked after her mother.
“Mother, are you alright?”
“It reminds me of when your older brother entered boarding school….”
“Dear, this is Sung-guk’s opening ceremony.”
“I’m sorry. I just thought about how hard Sung-guk must have studied to enter this school at such a young age, and tears came to my eyes. That’s how mothers are, you know. Of course it’s wonderful when our children do well academically, but what we really want is for our children to be happy. Dear, Sung-guk is happy, isn’t he?”
I’m not sure why those words reached my ears.
But one thing was certain.
I quickly went over to Koo Soo-young’s family and bowed respectfully.
“Thank you so much for making it possible for me to study.”
Koo Soo-young’s Wife knelt down and gazed at me intently.
“Sung-guk, take good care of yourself.”
“Yes!”
“Sung-guk….”
“Don’t worry. I’m so happy I get to study here.”
At those words, Koo Soo-young’s Wife’s smile returned.
* * *
After finishing the school tour with my family, it was finally time to say goodbye.
Mother handed me a family photo we’d taken recently.
“Sung-guk, put this on your desk.”
“Okay, Mother.”
“It’s so hard to leave Sung-guk here.”
Father seemed to be in a melancholic mood as well.
I quickly embraced Mother and Father, and Min-guk squeezed in beside me.
“Mother, Father, I love you.”
“Our Sung-guk has grown up so much.”
Father patted my back gently.
In my previous life, I’d experienced countless farewells like this.
I traveled abroad for training every school break.
Most of the time, I went with an entourage instead of my busy parents.
Back then, parting with my family didn’t feel this sorrowful….
Father knelt down and met my eyes.
“Sung-guk, Father loves you very much too.”
Then he showered my cheeks with kisses.
[Dad, come on. I’m ten years old now!]
Father held me tight as I squirmed, hiding his tears.
Seeing Father’s glistening eyes, I patted his back.
[Really, when will Father grow up.]
Father wrapped his arms firmly around me.
“Sung-guk, Father will earn lots of money and come back to America.”
“Okay. Father, fighting!”
* * *
As I entered the dormitory, I kept looking around.
[Mark Zuckerberg must have enrolled this year too….]
The person I was looking for was none other than Mark Zuckerberg.
The founder of Face Paper.
But Mark Zuckerberg was nowhere to be seen.
[Could he not be in this grade? Did I miscalculate….]
I had no choice but to enter my dormitory room.
The dormitory was a two-person room.
At that moment, a male student with a face full of freckles waved at me.
“Hey there—wow, you’re the youngest freshman here. I’m Mark Zuckerberg.”
[Finally, I’ve found him—Mark Zuckerberg.]
A faint smile played across my lips.
Heaven truly does help those who help themselves!
The Mark Zuckerberg I’d been searching for all this time was my roommate.
[Frizzy hair, freckles scattered across his face—he looks exactly the same as he did when we were younger.]
I quickly extended my hand.
“I’m Sung-guk. Jeon Sung-guk. Jeon is my family name.”
“That’s a tough one to pronounce. Don’t you have an American name?”
“No.”
“I thought most of my Asian friends made American names for themselves. Why didn’t you?”
“I haven’t found a name I like. People will get used to the pronunciation eventually.”
[Everyone will be calling this name someday, so you’ll have to get used to it too, Mark.]
I made a silent vow to myself.
Mark shook the hand I offered, and his gaze quickly drifted toward my desk.
“Nice to meet you. But what’s all this stuff?”
Like any student his age, Mark eyed the various equipment from Hyojin Group that I’d brought with me. The company had specially provided me with the latest laptop and all sorts of basic appliances for the room.
“Mark, are you good with computers?”
“Of course I am.”
Pride gleamed in Mark’s eyes.
In truth, Mark and I had a history—though Mark knew nothing of it.
A few years from now, Mark would enter Harvard and create Face Paper, an SNS that would dominate the next century.
Through this venture, he would become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, building a conglomerate whose market capitalization would dwarf Samjeon Group by several times over.
At that time, I had personally reached out to him for a meeting, but Mark brushed me off with excuses about being busy, ignoring a request from me—the vice chairman of Samjeon Group.
I’d even heard through the grapevine that he couldn’t fathom why a group stuck in secondary industry would want to meet with him.
That had wounded my pride deeply.
After that incident, just as I was about to venture into new content industries for the era of the fourth industrial revolution, my fate took a different turn.
In this life, I was determined to thoroughly exploit this bastard.
Mark handed me a Face Paper.
“Sung-guk, look at this. It’s got photos and introductions of all the freshmen. The school hands these out so we can get to know each other.”
“Thanks.”
It was a well-known fact that Face Paper, the freshman directory for Phillips Academy, was the namesake for Mark’s future creation.
“Sung-guk, you’re young, but you’re really handsome. Your photo turned out great too.”
Mark turned out to be quite the talker for his age.
“Mark, you’re really cute too.”
“Don’t patronize me. I’m seriously unpopular with girls.”
[Yeah, I know.]
But I neither confirmed nor denied it.
Mark spread out the Face Paper and pointed to a photo of a girl.
“Sung-guk, this girl is really pretty, right?”
“Yeah, she is.”
Was Mark’s type blonde women?
“Wow, this one’s pretty too. She looks kind of sophisticated.”
Black hair with a short cut?
“Wow, red hair is pretty too.”
[Ah, so any woman will do.]
Mark was clearly a nerd who’d never met a woman in his life.
I played along with Mark’s commentary appropriately. After all, this guy was going to bring me enormous wealth in this lifetime.
After Mark finished looking through Face Paper, he turned his attention to my desk and belongings.
“Sung-guk, you have everything, don’t you? What does your father do?”
“My dad runs a restaurant.”
“A restaurant? He must make good money.”
“Yeah.”
I answered casually.
“My dad’s a doctor, but he’s incredibly stingy. I asked him to buy me a new computer as an entrance gift to Phillips Academy, and he just told me to take my old one. He said he’d buy me one if I get into Harvard.”
“Mark, let’s share my computer. Just don’t download any weird videos.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t know much about programs anyway. Teach me some stuff on the weekend.”
“Of course. I’ve been dying to try your computer anyway. I’ll just download the weird videos on my own computer.”
Mark eagerly examined my computer from every angle.
The one thing I’d specifically asked Koo Soo-young for was this computer.
My parents had even given me a card as an entrance gift, but ultimately bought me nothing.
Koo Soo-young quietly asked me to name one gift, and I requested the latest, highest-spec computer to use in the dormitory.
It was part of my grand strategy to recruit Mark Zuckerberg.
Mark was already completely hooked on the computer.
“Sung-guk, this speed is insane. Is this a South Korean product?”
“Yeah. South Korea makes great electronics.”
“Awesome. Let me play with it a bit more.”
“Go ahead.”
I smiled contentedly.
It felt like I’d given a carrot to a horse.
* * *
“Sung-guk, let’s go to morning class.”
“Sung-guk, let’s grab lunch.”
“Sung-guk, can I use your computer?”
From then on, Mark stuck to me like glue.
Classes at Phillips Academy were harder than I’d expected.
There were many discussion-based classes where everyone sat around tables to conduct lessons. To participate in discussions, we had to prepare materials diligently and actively engage in conversation.
Why did I even bother coming to school? Maybe I should drop out and take the GED to get into Seoul National University instead.
That thought kept rising in my mind like madness, but I had work to do.
“Sung-guk, can I use your computer this weekend?”
“Sure, Mark. But I have a favor to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you about it this weekend. But I’m planning to go to the supermarket nearby on Saturday morning to buy some snacks. Do you need anything?”
“Me? Just buy me some candy. Oh, I’ll pay you back for my candy.”
“No way. Since I’m asking you for a favor, I’ll buy your candy.”
“Okay.”
No one in this world would turn down something free.
* * *
Grace’s car was parked in front of the dormitory.
Every weekend, Grace would visit the school to have lunch with me and check how well I was adjusting. Then she’d stop by the supermarket to buy necessities, drop me back at the dormitory, and return to New York.
“Grace!”
“Sung-guk! How have you been?”
“I’ve been well, Grace.”
“Are you keeping up with your classes?”
“It’s difficult, but I’m managing.”
I smiled.
“How about we go to a steakhouse nearby today?”
“That sounds great. Could we also stop by the supermarket?”
“Of course. Do you need something?”
“I’d like to buy some candy to eat while studying.”
I didn’t mention Mark’s request.
The steakhouse Grace had reserved was perfect in both taste and atmosphere.
“Sung-guk, starting from this winter break, I think you should decide which university to aim for and manage your grades and extracurricular activities. Do you have any universities in mind?”
“Actually, I’m still thinking about it.”
“What’s the dilemma?”
“Whether to go to Harvard or return to Korea and attend Seoul National University.”
Grace looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.
Grace found it remarkable that I was considering Seoul National University in Korea.
“Sung-guk, Seoul National University is excellent. But since you came to study abroad in America, wouldn’t it be a waste to just go to Seoul National University? Seoul National University is the best in South Korea, but American universities like Harvard are the best in the world.”
I understood, but there was the matter of Seoul National University’s network.
For people in business and finance, a Seoul National University graduate inspired more trust than a Harvard graduate, who was often treated as a foreigner with black hair.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Yes, let’s do that. With your grades, you could get into either Harvard or Seoul National University.”
I nodded and ate my steak.
Harvard or Seoul National University—such was the question.
[Being too talented is exhausting too.]
* * *
“I brought candy for Mark.”
I offered a snack to Mark, who was absorbed in his computer.
“Oh, thanks. I’ll enjoy this. Hey, Sung-guk. Didn’t you say you had a favor to ask?”
“Yeah.”
Mark tore open the snack bag and looked up at me.
“What is it?”
“Mark, would you like to go into business with me?”

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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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