209. storm
Howard Bush asked Ho-young if he could give him something to think about for a few more days, and Ho-young accepted.
Then he decided to meet again with the Bush family in a few days, and walked away.
Hoyoung thought that a positive answer would come back, seeing the attitude they showed and the nuance of their speech.
Hoyoung was actually worried about something else.
Just NeoCon.
Neocons refer to American neo-conservatives, who, in simple words, think that the United States can protect world peace and global economic growth only when it actively serves as the world’s police.
They put American values first, and you can even think of them as American supremacists.
‘Fortunately, Governor Bush was not a neo-con.’
In the history of the past, neocons began to rise fully after Governor Bush became president.
As neocons began to occupy important positions in the government, the atmosphere in the US government at the time flowed in a chaotic manner.
For this reason, there was often a war of words over whether or not George W. Bush was a neo-con.
However, in Ho-young’s judgment, Governor Bush thought that he would not be a neo-con.
From the time he entered politics to the time he served as governor, Governor Bush’s political leanings were close to moderate conservatives.
And his father, former President Howard Bush, also showed similar tendencies.
‘As expected, after the 9/11 terrorist attack, it seems that he was swayed by an uncontrollable neocon.’
If it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have agreed with the slogan of Great America.
I learned that Bush was not the main figure of the neocons, but unfortunately, there was no way for Ho-yeong to deal with American politicians right now, so I thought to myself that I would discuss this with Governor Bush later.
While returning from the Bush family’s villa to Ho-young’s lodging, Ho-yeong didn’t say a word because she was thinking about this.
Miru and Smith also did not dare to talk to Hoyeong, thinking that Hoyeong must have been tired from dealing with big players.
And when they arrived back at the hotel, Miru asked Hoyoung sneakily.
“President. So, do we need to stay in America a little longer?”
“Yes.”
“Then I will contact you saying that I will not be able to return to Korea for a while.”
“thanks. The Bush family said they would contact me in a few days, but I don’t know when that will be.”
“Unexpectedly, time has come. Do you have any other plans in mind?”
Hoyoung smiled.
“Of course it is. I want to go up and rest today, and go to Anaheim tomorrow.”
“If it’s Anaheim… Are you going to Blizzard?”
“That’s right.”
Miru nodded.
It was because I remembered that Blizzard had contacted me not long ago that they had started developing a new game.
“All right. If you go upstairs, I will look for a plane ticket, contact Blizzard, and follow you.”
“Please.”
Miru left the hotel first.
After seeing Miru leave the hotel, Hoyeong turned around and spoke to Smith.
“Do you want to go with Smith? You already know Alan Adham and Michael Morhaime from Blizzard, right?”
Smith replied with a grin as if he had laughed at the thought of them.
“Yes. Those young people were very pleasant, but I miss them after a long time. But I don’t think I can go with you this time, is that okay?”
“Absolutely. Is something going on?”
“Oh, no, it’s because it’s ambiguous to keep emptying the company.”
“haha. That’s right. I thought Smith was in the same situation because I was not working at the company.”
Smith was currently controlling both H&H America and Hermes America by himself.
Actually, it’s a very busy situation that it’s hard to be out like this right now, but since Hoyoung came to the United States after a long time, he already subtracted as much time as he could.
“like. Then shall we break up today? I’ll go to Anaheim and call you back.”
“All right. Please go carefully. I will also take care of the overdue work and join you when you come back.”
“yes. Work with your body in mind.”
Hoyoung and Smith briefly exchanged greetings and parted ways.
On the elevator going up to the room, Hoyoung remembered the contact he had with Michael Morhaime a few days ago.
‘boss! Finally, ‘that game’ is in the final stage of development. I really want to show it to you!’
Thinking of Michael Morhaime’s excited voice made me smile.
Currently, Blizzard was slowly building its reputation by releasing handcrafted games such as Warcraft and Lost Vikings.
In particular, Warcraft 2 was released under the subtitle Orcs vs. Humans. The game quality is also game-like, but it received favorable reviews not only from gamers but also from the film industry by inserting a cinematic trailer that looks like a real movie into the game.
And the very game that Hoyoung goes to see makes Blizzard a world-class game company, not just a company that makes good games…
The name of the game that started writing the legend was ‘StarCraft’.
‘Originally, StarCraft was released only in 1998. But at this rate, we should be able to release it next year.’
Hoyoung thought getting Chris Metzen to meet with Blizzard sooner had such good results.
In addition, Hoyoung’s generous transfer of his know-how on game production to Michael Morhaime and Alan Adham must have played a big role in getting StarCraft released two years earlier.
“How many nights I spent in the internet cafe in the past.”
Hoyoung thought of the old days, smiled, and went up to the guest room, looking forward to tomorrow.
.
.
.
“Boss is here!”
When Hoyeong and Miru got off the plane and came down to the arrivals hall, two familiar young men were waving at them.
“Those two don’t change.”
“Iknow, right.”
Miru said with a smile on her lips, as if she remembered how Michael Morhaime and Alan Adham were waving just like that when she came to Anaheim with Hoyoung two years ago.
Apparently, the two young men looked cute.
“You have come a long way. How long has it been… Very nice to see you.”
Hoyeong and Miru pulled the cart to the front of them, and Alan Adham almost ran up to Hoyoung and said,
“ha ha ha. You call often, don’t you?”
“That said, a phone call and a meeting are two very different things.”
“Oh, okay. okay. How’s Michael?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been doing well too. boss.”
Hoyoung and they stood there and exchanged a brief meeting.
“Come this way. Tea is ready.”
“thank you.”
and after a while
Hoyoung couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the car Michael Morhaime was driving in the parking lot.
“No, are you still riding this car?”
“sure. The boss bought it for me, so I have to ride it well for a long time.”
Hoyoung smiled happily.
The car that Michael Morhaime drove was a commuter van that Hoyoung had purchased two years ago.
“Didn’t you buy a private vehicle?”
“I have an old car at home, but I don’t drive it very well. I spend most of my time at work, unless I’m meeting customers very rarely.”
Considering Blizzard’s sales reported a while ago, it would have been possible to change to a better car.
However, their current interest was only in games, so they would not have thought of changing the car.
Hoyoung seemed to sympathize with their feelings.
Once he fell in love with coding, he did not pay attention to anything other than coding while completing the program.
No, to be more precise, it would be more accurate to say that he was not interested.
It wasn’t something he could control at will.
“Okay, I see. I can’t wait to go and see what a great game it is.”
“Yep. I’ll go quickly and show you.”
As the van carrying them was speeding toward Blizzard headquarters, Alan Adham approached Hoyoung, who was looking at the scenery outside the window, and asked quietly.
“There boss.”
“What are you doing?”
“Do you like games?”
Hoyoung said with a puzzled face, unable to grasp what Adham was trying to say.
“yes. I like it a lot. Didn’t I tell you the other day that I invested in Blizzard with the desire to play a good game?”
“You told me. As I said before, isn’t StarCraft, which is currently in the final stages of development, a strategy simulation like Warcraft?”
Even though Hoyoung knows StarCraft better than anyone else, he answered without knowing anything.
“Yes?”
“What that means is that StarCraft is, after all, a game against opponents. You can have fun with a computer, but the best way to really enjoy it is to see it in person.”
Hoyeong didn’t know what Alan wanted to say, but he nodded and answered.
“That’s right. Even in the case of Warcraft 2, it’s more fun to see people sticking together.”
“Exactly. In fact, there was a small event at the company today.”
“An event? What event is it?”
“It was originally an event that had been scheduled for a long time, but I didn’t know that the boss would come today, so I couldn’t tell you anything about it…”
Alan continued with a mischievous look on his face telling a funny prank.
“Actually, today there is a StarCraft competition within the company to commemorate the release of the demo version.”
“A contest?”
Even though Hoyeong was a little dumbfounded, inside she felt a sense of surprise.
Just a few years later, thanks to the sensational popularity of StarCraft, the first e-sports professional league was held in Korea.
Hoyoung thought that Blizzard’s executives saw the potential of StarCraft properly.
“yes. It will be held in a tournament format.”
“What is the winning prize?”
“haha. It’s half fun, so it’s not a big deal. When StarCraft is officially released, we decided to have the first package created.”
“Oh, is it?”
Hoyoung vaguely remembered the story behind the first StarCraft package.
Later, this package is put up for auction on eBay, and the price is a whopping 5,000 dollars (about 5 million won).
Of course, 5,000 dollars wasn’t a lot of money for Hoyoung, but it was a valuable package that many Blizzard enthusiasts wanted to have.
It was also a package that could not be obtained no matter how much money it had, as the buyer never put it on the market again after it was successful.
And since Hoyoung was also an avid fan of Blizzard, he was coveted for the package.
“Alan. Are you still accepting participants?”
“There is nothing grandiose about accepting participants. It’s just writing your name on a piece of paper. There is a small participation fee. I decided to save up the participation fee and go to the beer bar tonight.”
“It’s good. Then, can I still apply for participation?”
“haha. Is there anyone who wants But why are you asking that?”
Hoyoung smiled brightly and said.
“I want to participate in that competition too.”
“yes? But, have you never tried it? We’ve done a lot during testing and development, so there’s a big difference in skill between beginners and beginners.”
“Warcraft 2 was a lot of fun for me, so I’m already familiar with the game format. It’s practice. Why don’t you try a few rounds when you arrive? And if I’m not good at that game, won’t I just be eliminated in the first round? I will definitely pay the participation fee.”
“Well···. Okay. Instead, I will never look down on you just because you are the boss.”
“sure. I don’t want that either.”
Hoyoung seemed to burst into laughter as he saw Alan shining with confident eyes, but he barely held it in and didn’t show it.
‘It’s the turn of Yun Ho-young, a storm zerg after a long time.’
Hoyoung thought to herself and laughed.