Chapter 38: Board of Directors Meeting

Tap. Tap.

As I arrived at the headquarters of Aiver and made my way to the meeting room where the board meeting was held,

the sound of my footsteps was slightly louder than usual.

With a heavy expression, Secretary Kim, who accompanied me, seemed to have sensed my mood just from the sound

of my footsteps, as he silently followed me without saying a word.

• “We’ve arrived at the 19th floor.”

Once we took the elevator and reached the top floor, the lively sounds from the lobby suddenly quieted, and the

surroundings became serene.

Only then did I feel my earlier frustration gradually fading away.

“Ah! Director, it’s been a while.”

“…It has been a while.”

As I crossed the carpeted hallway and reached the meeting room, a middle-aged man, who was about to enter,

recognized me and bowed politely.

His name was probably Director Jeong Jae-jin.

Since I don’t particularly remember many people from Aiver except for a few key figures, it took me a moment to

recall his name.

If it weren’t for his noticeably balding head, I might not have remembered at all.

“I wonder how the work you were doing is progressing. I apologize if this is a topic I shouldn’t be asking about…”

“Today, I’m here as an Aiver director, so let’s skip the trivial topics, Director Jeong.”

“Oh, right. I apologize for that.”

Since I don’t frequently appear at Aiver, it was evident that he was trying to establish a connection with me, which

made me respond somewhat curtly out of displeasure.

Immediately, Director Jeong bowed his head and gestured for me to enter.

“Please have a cup of coffee outside, Secretary Kim.”

“Yes.”

In line with this, I moved inside, casually tossing a remark to Secretary Kim.

On a usual day, he would have insisted, saying, “No, I will wait in the hallway,” but today, perhaps to avoid further

irritating me, he nodded and stepped back outside.

It seemed that Director Jeong was running a bit late, as the other board members had already taken their seats by

the time I arrived.

“Director Jeong, why are you so late on a day like this?!”

“I-I’m sorry. As I’m getting older, my constipation has been acting up…”

One of the board members quietly gestured for the late-arriving Director Jeong to sit next to him, seemingly urging

him to hurry up. He appeared to be older than Director Jeong, but perhaps they were close personally, which allowed

for such casual remarks.

Not that it was any of my concern.

“I feel bad that you’ve been coming here so often lately, Director Ryu.”

As I took my designated seat, the chairman, Han Jong-ryul, approached, bowing slightly while facing away from the lit projector.

In terms of rank within Aiver, Chairman Han was technically above me, yet not a single person here found this

situation unusual.

It wasn’t just because I was the CEO of the largest subsidiary under the Changseong Group; rather, everyone present

knew that I belonged in the position that he occupied.

Moreover, I was the only one here who had the authority to unilaterally change the executives.

“I had mentioned that I would refrain from getting involved in management as much as possible, so I apologize for

not keeping that promise, Chairman.”

“It’s not something for you to apologize for, Director. It’s just our lack of ability that has caused you trouble.”

I was relieved to hear that.

Had he inadvertently expressed any concerns about my frequent appearances despite my previous declaration to

step back from management, I would have immediately turned the situation upside down.

“First, I would like to thank all the executives for attending today’s board meeting without fail.”

After a few formalities, Chairman Han Jong-ryul returned to his seat, and the host, holding the microphone, began

to speak in a trembling voice.

Normally, the person running the board meeting wouldn’t show such nervousness, considering they see the

executives regularly.

However, there was a reason for the host’s tense expression today.

He was the head of the development team for the Cheez platform, the very person I had insisted that Chairman Han bring along.

“I sincerely apologize for the shortcomings of our platform development team and management department, which

have caused inconvenience to the company.”

Stepping out from the podium and bowing deeply, the man began to control the projector with a remote.

“Regarding our internet broadcasting platform, Cheez, which launched around March this year, there have been

quite a few issues mentioned among users recently. Today, I would like to clarify those points and discuss the

resolution process moving forward.”

The detailed mention of the issues and the subsequent discussion wasn’t bad. However, the crucial point was how

they planned to resolve these matters.

As I crossed my arms and stared at the projector, the man, who had been glancing at me with a tense expression,

pressed the remote button again.

“Currently, due to an unauthorized program colloquially known as a viewbot, you can see that many streamers who

originally had few viewers are now ranked high on the site.”

Beep.

As he changed the slide, the main rankings of Cheez appeared, showcasing several streamers with viewer counts

nearing 5,000, typical of major corporate streamers.

After displaying screenshots taken from their individual broadcasts, the chat reactions clearly indicated the use of viewbots.

“Ordinary viewers have no choice but to frequently click on the broadcasts of so-called major corporate streamers

exposed in the top rankings. This means that streamers who originally held top positions may see their rankings

decline, resulting in direct harm to them.”

Given that many board members were older, they initially showed signs of struggling to understand, but gradually

began to comprehend the explanation from the development team leader.

“Moreover, this has significantly diminished the trust among platform users. In fact, if we check the reactions in

communities, many express that we have no merits compared to our competitor, S platform.”

That was to be expected.

While the development team leader only mentioned the viewbot situation, Cheez was actually facing many more

issues than anticipated.

In particular, many of the systems mentioned at the start of the service still hadn’t been properly established, leading

to significant user complaints about those points.

The most notable examples were the replay function and clip function, services originally supported by Twip.

“That’s a serious problem.”

“What was the development team doing until it got to this point?”

“I’m sorry; it’s all due to our lack of capability.”

When the current decline in Cheez user numbers was shown with specific graphs, the board members, who had been

indifferent, changed their expressions and began to criticize the development team leader.

Despite the leader bowing deeply and apologizing, my heart didn’t lighten at all.

From the standpoint of a pure customer who uses Cheez, the inconvenience was particularly great.

“Team Leader Kim, so are you still unable to present specific solutions?”

“N-no, that’s not the case. First, our development team is working hard to implement the replay and clip functions

that we originally promised. We’re also building a system to detect viewbot programs. However, due to server issues

and various other reasons…”

While he spoke at length, what he was really implying was that it would be difficult to solve the problems

immediately.

Of course, as someone managing the company, I understand that there can be unavoidable circumstances. They

surely aren’t ignoring their responsibilities willingly.

But there’s a limit to what can be tolerated.

The services that had been promised since the launch were not even implemented, and they had already caused

inconvenience to the streamers we needed to prioritize. Did they think it was acceptable to drag this on?

“One week.”

“…What?”

Feeling that I could no longer remain silent, I extended a finger and spoke firmly.

Thinking he had misheard, the development team leader looked dazed and leaned forward, straining to hear my

voice. I reiterated the deadline.

“I’ll give you exactly one week. Within that time, I won’t even expect you to have a viewbot detection program ready.

Just expand the server and monitor the noticeable viewbot users to expel them. You should issue a public apology

starting today.”

“A, a week… are you serious?”

Sitting with an awkward posture while he was sweating profusely, I responded with an attitude that suggested if he

had any complaints, he could voice them.

“Why? Is it too difficult?”

“N-no, not at all. I’ll do my best to filter them out as quickly as possible, and we’ll make sure to develop the detection

program within at least a month.”

“That sounds good.”

User complaints are a problem, but moreover, the viewbot program also acts as a deterrent to the streamers we’ve

brought into our fold.

That’s why I thought this was the top priority to resolve, and it seemed the development team leader felt it didn’t

even need to be discussed, showing his determination to solve it soon.

Good. If they start by issuing an apology, users will recognize that the platform acknowledges the problems and has

the will to change, which will buy us some time.

Even if they filter out the noticeable viewbot users, it should ease the public sentiment until the detection program is

developed.

As it seemed we had established a certain solution, I gazed quietly at the development team leader organizing the

details before cautiously speaking up.

“And make sure to implement the replay and clip functions as soon as possible. I also believe the subscription icon

system hasn’t been introduced yet, and you’re aware that the demand for that is high, right?”

“Of course. We aim to have that service ready within two weeks.”

With that satisfying response, the development team leader began typing my instructions directly into his laptop to

add to the summary.

At that moment, I was able to nod with a faint smile.

Hmm. This is a system that’s absolutely necessary for our customers. I merely asked them to implement it quickly,

without any other intentions.

It’s not that I want to watch the replay video of Mr. Woo-joo that I missed on a busy day as soon as possible, or that I

want to save specific clips on my phone to watch whenever I feel bored while driving.

I also don’t want the subscription icon to disappear from the chat because it feels a bit dull; it’s not that Mr. Woo-joo

has been eagerly asking to use it again at any cost.

Therefore, this should be seen as a reasonable directive based on my understanding of user needs as a member of

management, not as a personal opinion.

Yes, indeed.