The main conference room of the R&D center.
There, I laid out as concisely as possible a new business model that combined CRISPR gene-editing technology with veterinary care and clinical plans.
“This technology is an innovation that will shake up the entire healthcare industry. And right now, we have the chance to beco the very first mover. Think about what it ans to be the company that applies CRISPR technology to animal clinical practice before anyone else.”
I absolutely needed this to happen for my own sake, but..................
In fact, from Gerard’s standpoint, this CRISPR project was hardly a losing deal either.
“First, from a technical standpoint, you secure a proprietary platform that competitors can’t easily copy. The precision of diagnosis and treatnt jumps to a completely different level from what we have now, and we’ll be the ones to build up real clinical experience based on actual data.”
This wasn’t just about adopting a new technology.
Becoming the first mover in a new field also ant becoming the one who directly shapes the industry standard.
The experience of getting one step ahead of everyone else would soon beco the power to lead the entire market.
“On top of that, you can’t ignore the impact on the company’s image and PR. The phrase ‘the first to perform CRISPR animal clinical trials’ will instantly draw attention from academia and industry, both at ho and abroad. That title will beco a powerful branding asset that can give you a decisive edge anyti in future—whether it’s expanding into new business lines or signing global partnerships. This isn’t just about adding one more source of revenue. It’s about solidifying your position as a leader of technological innovation and directly securing the company’s future growth engine.”
Beyond short-term profits, this business itself could beco a turning point that redefined the company’s na and its future.
Just standing at the forefront of that innovation would earn you no small amount of trust and potential value in the market and in society.
Gerard watched the whole ti, his brows drawn together.
“Okay, I get what you’re saying. But to be honest, I’m really reluctant to expand all the way into the veterinary business. We’re already swamped just developing new products in the food division. If we stretch ourselves into animal hospitals on top of that, the work’s going to get scattered, and eventually we’ll start making mistakes all over the place.”
Rejection.
Still, that was the response I’d expected.
I’d only just started the engine.
“I understand your position, of course, but when it cos to innovation, timing is everything. Three of our competitors are already making similar moves. If we sit around waiting until everything is perfectly prepared, the market will already have been taken by soone else. Are you really going to let this opportunity just slip by?”
But after listening, Gerard simply folded his arms and leaned back deep into his chair.
“Even so, this isn’t sothing we can just jump into lightly. The regulations won’t be a joke, you know. With gene-editing technology, the risks are going to be massive.................”
“Animals have a much lower entry barrier in relative terms.”
“Relative or not, there’s still plenty of regulatory risk on that side too.”
That was true as well.
Even if the regulatory wall was lower than it was for humans, gene editing on animals still couldn’t ever be completely free from the criticism that it was “trespassing into the realm of God.”
Ethical controversy, public backlash.
No one could say for sure that the governnt would be quick to grant approval while carrying that kind of baggage.
However.
“With the Marquis family’s political network, isn’t that sothing you can handle?”
The Marquis family was old money with a solid, far-reaching political network.
“Above all, you have a special relationship with the president.”
Gerard had been an active supporter since the early days of Trenton’s presidential campaign.
The First Lady had even entrusted Rachel with the entire White House interior design, for crying out loud.
“And there’s the Delphi Institute.”
It was the key think tank that influenced the president’s decisions.
With that level of network, there was no way they couldn’t resolve a single regulatory risk.
Even so, Gerard’s expression sank into a dark frown.
“To pull that off, I’d have to go out there in person and start coordinating and smoothing things over with everyone, wouldn’t I?”
“Realistically, yes.”
Applying CRISPR to animals was anything but a simple matter.
He would need to et the key policy makers in Washington one by one and persuade them, and he might even have to et the president face-to-face.
Gerard clearly didn’t like the idea of getting that deeply entangled in sothing like this.
“If soone could at least take that burden off my shoulders................Honestly, wouldn’t it be better if you stepped up instead?”
He was telling to move personally under the na Ha Si-heon.
But I firmly shook my head.
“That would be difficult for . I don’t have any ‘background’ to stand on.”
No matter how hard I worked, I was still an immigrant at the end of the day.
On the surface I could pretend to be on friendly terms with them, but in actual policy matters, it was hard to imagine my voice carrying any real weight.
More than anything................
“I’d really prefer not to get any more tangled up with them.”
I was already involved with Trenton more than enough to feel uncomfortable.
I couldn’t afford to get any closer.
Gerard let out a long sigh, then continued in a low voice.
“This is hard for too.”
He clearly didn’t sh well with Trenton either.
He didn’t go into detail, but every ti that na ca up, his face showed a mix of exhaustion, so kind of deep fatigue, and a hint of disgust.
“More than anything, not all opportunities are created equal. With this one, the gains are big, but the risks we’d have to take on are way too high. And to be honest, I’m not thrilled about getting tangled up with you, either. Have you ever handled anything quietly in your life? If I start moving together with you and things blow up, my biggest worry is that the sparks are going to hit too.”
Another firm rejection, as expected.
“The biggest problem is the impact it could have on our corporate image. These days, just hearing the words ‘animal testing’ is enough to set off a firestorm of ethical debates. And now you’re talking about CRISPR on top of that...................... Our brand image could collapse in an instant. If that happens, it’ll hurt our other businesses too.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Animal rights groups were especially loud these days.
If a boycott broke out, Marquis could suffer severe damage not only in the animal hospital business but across its entire pet food division.
“At this point, I have too much to lose to move carelessly. If I make a mistake, I’m not the only one who goes down. The company and all of our employees will be affected too. Now, whenever I see a storm coming, the only choice I have is to avoid it as much as possible. You’re a CEO yourself, so I’m sure you understand.”
Gerard shook his head with a helpless expression.
However..................
“I figured as much.”
Up to this point, everything he’d said was exactly what I’d expected.
In other words, this was the mont when I finally had to start “real” persuasion.
I nodded, my voice softer but filled with conviction.
“You’re absolutely right.”
“...Huh?”
Gerard looked at , surprised.
“This project is definitely going to be a ‘storm.’ And it’s going to kick up a pretty big racket.”
I openly acknowledged the likelihood of a major incident.
The odds of that happening were actually quite high.
“Besides, you wouldn’t believe if I said, ‘Nothing like that will happen’ anyway.”
No matter how much I insisted there was nothing to worry about, Gerard would still feel uncertainty.
And that kind of uncertainty was the worst enemy of persuasion.
From the beginning, it was far more effective to sweep all that away and leave him with only a clear set of choices.
So I drove the point ho without hesitation.
“Whether you work with or not, the storm is going to hit. And Marquis is going to get swept up in it, no matter what.”
First, I erased the option he wanted most.
In other words, the path where he could “avoid the storm” altogether.
“What do you an we’re just going to get swept up in it no matter what.........?”
“Because collaboration with an animal hospital is essential to my plan. Now, if I pass over Marquis—which runs the largest animal hospital in the country and also happens to have a personal connection to —and choose so other partner instead, people are naturally going to talk.”
“......”
“Rumors might start spreading. If it were just gossip about so falling-out between us, that’d actually be the best-case scenario. But what if it doesn’t stop there, and people start saying things like, ‘There must be sothing fatally wrong with Marquis’s animal hospitals, so he’s deliberately avoiding them’? Wouldn’t that put you in a tough spot too?”
Either way, there’s no avoiding the storm.
No matter what Gerard says, it still ans Marquis is going to end up taking a direct hit.
And that’s not all.
“If, by any chance, so other animal hospital that partners with ends up succeeding, they’ll beco the frontrunner in the industry. And when that happens, people are inevitably going to start questioning the CEO’s judgnt.”
Right now, Gerard’s position as CEO looks more or less safe.
But what if he lets an innovation slip by that’s basically the “smartphone” of the healthcare industry?
Do you really think his uncles will just sit quietly and wait like they are now?
“Are you really okay with handing your uncles a perfect excuse to push you out?”
Seeing Gerard’s stiffened face, it finally looked like the whole picture had clicked into place for him.
Right.
Even if he tried to put so distance between himself and this storm, there was no way he’d be safe.
The company was going to get sucked into this whirlwind no matter what.
And Gerard himself would most likely be forced out of the CEO seat.
But.
What if he worked with ?
“On the other hand, if you decide to join forces with , the story changes. We use this opportunity to completely overturn the landscape of the veterinary hospital industry. Like I said before, CRISPR is the kind of technology that’s going to beco the ‘smartphone’ of healthcare.”
This wasn’t just about survival.
This was the perfect chance to beco the main character in the kind of “Steve Jobs legend” every CEO dreams about.
But after hearing out to this point, Gerard gave a bitter little laugh.
“There’s still no guarantee things are actually going to work out the way you say they will, is there?”
“Of course not. There are very few sure things in this world. But I think the only people who deserve to be called ‘real leaders’ are the ones who take that step forward when everyone else says it’s impossible and just sits down.”
“......”
“I was sure you were that kind of leader................”
The corners of my mouth slowly curled upward.
I added, slowly.
“Or… did I misjudge you?”
He was clearly starting to waver.
But I still had one last finishing blow left.
“And as for the ethics issue you’re worried about............. people will understand. Everyone already knows I have a very good reason for pushing CRISPR this aggressively.”
“......!”
Yeah, the reason I’m pushing CRISPR.
As far as the public knows, there’s just one.
Talia.
The girl who had set social dia on fire recently and moved everyone to tears.
What was the purpose of her death, the one the whole world had grieved so deeply over?
It was all to complete this technology.
“Everyone knows that bringing CRISPR into veterinary dicine is about carrying out Talia’s legacy, fulfilling her last wish.”
That made an enormous difference.
“Ordinarily, people would have condemned it as nothing more than corporate greed chasing profits, but at this mont, we can truly say we’re acting for a greater cause. Which is why now is the ti. In fact, it has to be now.”
Right now, while Talia still lives on in the world’s mory, this mont is the one and only perfect chance to bring this technology into reality while dodging the worst of the ethical backlash.
Gerard was shaking internally, hard.
But.
I still had one last shot to fire.
“And believe it or not, that’s still not everything.”
I let out a small, amused laugh.
“Orange Blast.”
“...?”
“If the person carrying on Talia’s wish were to release a product like that into the world............ what do you think people would see it as?”
Yeah.
Orange.
The very color that made people think of Talia.
And as it happened, the new product Gerard was pouring his energy into was also “orange.”
Pure coincidence—or maybe not—but it was the very sa product he was trying so hard to push with viral marketing on social dia.
“Talia was a social dia star. And her fans are exactly the core demographic that lives on social dia. Now imagine the person inheriting Talia’s will being the one to bring ‘Orange Blast’ into the world................”
In that instant, the product stops being just another viral item and becos sothing with special aning—sothing people who support Talia have to buy.
The ripple effect would be beyond anything you could imagine.
Sales would skyrocket.
It would be the first major project Gerard pushed through after becoming CEO.
And if its success beca a record that remained in the industry—and in everyone’s mory—for years to co?
His position would beco sothing no one could easily shake.
I quietly held his gaze and asked.
“Even after all that, are you really going to turn down?”
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