Born to Rise : Becoming Vice President

Chapter 60 – Under Pressure, Above Hope

The SeoulPot meeting room fell silent again after Jiwan finished presenting the investment projections. The projector showed a sharply rising graph… but behind those numbers, external pressure was mounting. Mi Yong's phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Notifications from the media, emails from her family's TV network, and cryptic messages from "important people" all urged her to distance herself from Project ASTRA.

"I just got a message from the broadcasting director," Mi Yong said quietly. "He said, 'Be careful—many eyes are targeting SeoulPot now.'"

Haesung opened a folder stuffed with documents. "Three legal firms are gathering evidence to claim ASTRA's tech violates old patents… even though it's complete nonsense."

"And two major universities are accusing us of plagiarizing their research," Eunwoo added, sliding his iPad across the table. "But all they have is a thesis on a smart toaster…"

Gevran stared at the ceiling for a moment, then stood. "We knew this was coming. The world isn't ready for AI and robotics—because they're afraid. But that's exactly why we have to keep going. If we must, we'll take ASTRA abroad."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"ASTRA isn't just about machines. It's a symbol. A message that our generation isn't just inheriting the world—we're creating it," Gevran continued. "We'll run the prototype test next week. If it works… the world won't be able to ignore us."

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A Few Days Later – The ASTRA Lab

The ASTRA prototype stood in the center of the lab. Its design was minimalist—sleek metal with matte finish and glowing blue accents. It wasn't perfect, but it was the first humanoid robot built by young minds in South Korea.

"Program starting in 3… 2… 1…"

ASTRA raised its hand. And then, it spoke.

"Hello, my creators."

They all froze. Silence. Then cheers erupted.

"This is…" Mi Yong covered her mouth. "This is insane. It talks like a human."

"I programmed it to learn from all our conversations last week," Jiwan explained. "That's how it knows who we are."

ASTRA turned its head. Its glowing eyes fixed on Gevran.

"Am I… alive?"

Gevran said nothing.

But before he could answer, the university's security system blared an alarm.

"ALERT: Major cyberattack on the university's internal network detected."

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