In 2014, Patrick Castle, a 19-year-old Stanford Ph.D. with an IQ of 177, founded Nautlix in Menlo Park, which went public in 2018. Starting with factory quality control, Nautlix rapidly expanded into AI, nuclear fusion, terraforming, and aerospace, eventually surging to a 25.6 trillion dollar valuation and making Castle a multi-trillionaire by 2026. Nautlix innovations successfully reversed glacial melting and cleaned the global oceans using geothermal OceanForce rods.

This ecological revival triggered a massive shift toward aquaculture. To solve mercury accumulation in farmed fish, Japanese aquaculturist Takahashi Shoji invented nanoscale mesh filters, but the Japanese government restricted the patents to domestic firms. Viewing this as a threat to national food sovereignty, South Korean President Lee Gi-Beom launched a state-backed initiative to domesticate the technology.

Recruited by LG for your expertise in nanoscale devices despite public skepticism over hiring a foreigner, you arrive in Seoul to lead the project. Met by your 26-year-old secretary, Ji-Hyeon, who greets you with high expectations from the CEO and the nation, you step into your new laboratory as the intense race to secure South Korea technological independence begins.