Peninsula 2017: Is the system living in the past?

The room wasn't big.

The air conditioning was on full blast.

The reason is the two rows of black steel shelves against the wall.

And six sets of graphics cards and heatsinks running at high speed on the shelf.

Upon seeing this, Park Jiyeon, who also plays games regularly, probably guessed what these things were used for.

Cryptocurrency mining farms.

The mine seems a bit small.

However, she didn't really understand it; she just thought it was small.

Then, just as she had done outside, she looked around the room.

In the corner of the room, leaning against an old lightbox, is the sign for "Starlight Entertainment".

"That was the old one; now this place is called EPOCH."

Jiang Xingchen took a sip of cola, then casually put it aside and picked up a piece of A4 paper that was lying face down on the table.

That was one of the documents he prepared after receiving the message.

There was nothing fancy on the paper, only a few English letters written in black marker – EPOCH.

"This is the company name I've been looking forward to."

His voice was not affected in the slightest by the humming of the mine; on the contrary, it reached Park Jiyeon's ears very clearly.

"I should be able to get the new business license as early as tomorrow."

"And then?" Park Jiyeon, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, asking coldly, "And then you plan to use this to invite me to sign a contract?"

"Of course not."

"Fine, you win..."

"I not only want to sign Park Jiyeon, but also other people."

"You're dreaming."

other people.

It was not explicitly stated who it was.

But women always have a damn intuition at this time.

It hit the bullseye right away.

Park Ji-yeon felt that Jiang Xingchen in front of her seemed to be a delusional patient.

They are indulging in unrealistic daydreams.

Even if T-ara is in decline, it's not up to them to be taken over by an unknown agency that doesn't even have a decent venue.

"Prejudice in people's hearts is like a mountain."

"But what Jiang Xingchen has shown me now is not enough for me to move that mountain."

"Just these few mining rigs?"

"Looks like Park Jiyeon knows about this?"

"I've heard of it, but I don't know the specifics of how it works or how it makes a profit."

The mining machines, mining farms, and cryptocurrencies that promise overnight riches are all the rage online. Unless you don't read the news, almost everyone knows about them.

However, Park Jiyeon did not know the specific method of obtaining it, and she frankly revealed it.

After listening, Jiang Xingchen nodded thoughtfully.

After a moment of hesitation, he slowly spoke.

"A decentralized 'public ledger'."

"For example, if we compare banks in the traditional financial system to village chiefs, in the traditional way of transactions, the money has to go through the village chief to keep accounts. Once the account book is lost or tampered with, everyone is doomed."

"The virtual currency model is essentially decentralized, without the village chief."

"When a transaction occurs, everyone records it in the ledger, and as long as the majority of people's records match, the transaction is legal."

"Furthermore, with so many transactions happening every day, who should keep the records? How can we prevent people from making mistakes in recording transactions? That's why we came up with a game rule—'computing power problem-solving competition,' which is mining."

"Since it's a game, the winner gets a reward, which is virtual currency."

It took Jiang Xingchen a few minutes to explain the basic principles of mining and virtual currency using a simple example.

By the time he had finished explaining, he was already standing in front of Park Jiyeon.

The guarded look in their eyes had relaxed a little.

"Park Jiyeon-ssi, although EPOCH is not up to par right now, it has great potential."

"It just needs a little time to develop."

"I was indeed a fan in the past, but it wasn't just something I did purely out of love."

"They have money, skills, and vision."

"You have value to me, which is why I have taken the liberty of visiting you."

"So, what I'm asking is, are you willing to take a big gamble with me?"

The air in the room seemed to freeze at that moment.

Park Jiyeon frowned slightly as she looked at the man in front of her.

I just feel that the previous explanation of "paranoia" was absolutely correct.

She's not a teenage girl who would naively believe in the platitudes of strangers.

But that piece of white paper with 'EPOCH' written on it seemed to have a kind of magic, flashing through my mind again and again even though I hadn't seen it.

The scene of Jiang Xingchen almost getting a stroke the day before, but insisting on giving her the banana milk, and her eventually chasing after her, also surfaced in her mind.

Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling arose, and I took a deep breath.

They took a step closer.

His eyes were fixed on Jiang Xingchen's eyes.

Clear and deep.

Immediately afterwards, he grabbed the Coke on the table, tilted his head back and took a big gulp, trying to calm his emotions stirred up by the words.

Ten seconds later, the buzzing of voices in the server room resumed.

"Do you know what I want?"

"I know a little bit."

"Let's talk then."

...

...

Next to the mine was an equally rudimentary office.

Park Jiyeon sat on the only worn-out leather sofa inside, her arms wrapped around her knees.

Although she temporarily relented and was willing to listen to Jiang Xingchen's words, she still found it absurd after her rationality returned.

With just a room full of graphics cards forming a mining farm and a blank sheet of paper, she actually believed Jiang Xingchen's nonsense.

"President Kang, since you address yourself that way..."

A few seconds later, seeing Jiang Xingchen put another unopened bottle of ice water in front of her, she broke the silence first, "You said you have money, and for the sake of these mining machines, I'll choose to believe you for now."

"But in this industry, money alone is not enough."

"Just like five years ago, everyone knew we were innocent, but..."

"But it just so happened to wait until the beginning of this year."

At this point, Park Jiyeon's voice lowered.

What happened five years ago is a shadow etched into my bones.

Jiang Xingchen did not speak.

He simply turned around and walked to the only computer in the office, typing a few keystrokes.

Accompanied by the distinctive "buzzing" sound of an old-fashioned printer, a still-warm A4 sheet of paper was ejected.

"We'll settle the score from five years ago later."

He handed the paper to Park Jiyeon, "Right now, why don't you take a look at this first?"

"What is this?"

"I call it a 'script'," Jiang Xingchen said, leaning against the table, her tone casual as if she were talking about tomorrow's weather, "or rather, it's what Kim Kwang-soo plans to do over the next few months."

"What does President Kim want to do?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of doubt flashed in Park Ji-yeon's eyes, and she immediately realized that Jiang Xingchen was just bluffing her.

After all, how could the company president let anyone know what he wanted to do?

However, she didn't ask any further questions, but simply looked down at the documents in her hand.

There is no title, only content.

But when his gaze swept across the paper and he saw the contents of the first few lines, he froze instantly.

"Jiyeon unnie, be careful when you go out these days."

"What's wrong?"

"Don't let anyone take pictures of you making a bad expression."

"Why would I show a bad expression out of the blue?"

"In short, you must manage your facial expressions well."

His fingers trembled slightly.

Just a few days ago, an assistant she hadn't worked with for a long time, when they were alone, hesitantly reminded her to pay attention to her facial expressions lately.

Seeing the black and white words on the paper brought back memories from the corner of my mind.

Out of their strong attachment to and sense of responsibility towards the T-ara group, the four members chose to temporarily renew their contracts to complete their final album and fulfill their scheduled domestic and international concerts and other commitments.

During this period, they were cautious in their words and actions and carried out their itinerary in a very low-key manner.

Isn't the goal to get through this period smoothly and part ways amicably?

But what if the 'script' on this paper is real?

No, it's highly likely that it's already true.

The company may already be secretly plotting to ruin their contracts, which they are not renewing.

......