Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Translation: Godtl
"So, how's the divestment process coming along?"
"Yes. According to President Jeong's instructions, we've initiated the divestment from shipping as swiftly as possible. Several European companies, primarily from the EU, have also participated in this project."
Uneasy murmurs rippled through the room.
This so-called "divestment" was little more than outright plunder, after all.
"And the price?"
"They're aiming for top market rates. Fortunately, the EU doesn't seem inclined to haggle over it."
"Well, of course. Isn't the BDI index going berserk right now? If those vultures trying to snatch up our company daily tried to lowball us on price too, we'd have no choice but to fight tooth and nail."
Yet the discomfort lingered.
No—it was more like he wanted to leap out of his skin in agitation.
This must be what it feels like to have your nose cut off right before your eyes.
"Vice Chairman."
"Yes, Chairman."
"How is President Jeong holding up? He must be devastated. He tells me he's fine, but honestly, how could anyone be fine with this?"
"Yes. I was worried about that too, but... he's handling it much better than expected."
"Oh?"
"Even when I separately questioned the staff working closely with him, they said he's never once shown frustration or distress over the matter."
The executives gasped in admiration.
"As expected of President Jeong's mental fortitude..."
"When the person most entitled to anger shows none—that's the mark of a true leader, haha!"
But Chairman Hwang had a different thought.
"You're saying Jin-ho's showing no reaction at all?"
"Yes. He's working as usual."
For some reason, a chill ran down Chairman Hwang's spine.
Jin-ho was an honest kid.
He knew this from years of gaming together.
Wasn't gaming where people's true emotions surfaced most clearly?
That's why he knew Jin-ho could get angry when anger was warranted.
But if he wasn't angry at all... what did that mean?
It meant he didn't need to be angry.
In fact, Chairman Hwang couldn't shake the feeling that Jin-ho might be laughing right now.
"Where is President Jeong focusing his efforts currently?"
"Lately, he's shown interest in Hong Kong. But his primary focus is squarely on the UK. As you know, a significant amount of capital has recently flowed into British pharmaceutical companies like AstraZenon."
"Right, that. I've been curious about that too. I didn't want to pester him with questions since it's not my area of expertise—just been observing quietly."
The executives shared this curiosity.
British companies were practically having a fire sale right now.
Yet Jin-ho hadn't even glanced at other sectors, pouring money exclusively into pharmaceuticals.
Some were even speculating that Jin-ho had orchestrated Britain's economic collapse specifically to acquire those massive pharmaceutical firms.
"To be honest, I can't quite grasp President Jeong's intentions either. However, I've heard he's redirected all personnel from the merged companies toward vaccine development. More precisely, they're developing technology to produce vaccines at maximum speed... Though I must admit, this is outside my expertise as well."
"Is that so?"
Until now, whenever provoked—whether by corporations or nations—Jin-ho had crushed them all indiscriminately.
That's why Chairman Hwang had been concerned upon hearing about the forced corporate divestment.
He'd wondered what form Jin-ho's retaliation against the EU might take this time.
Yet there'd been no retaliatory moves whatsoever. Instead, he was investing heavily in pharmaceuticals, building an enormous drug development pipeline.
If Jin-ho were openly preparing something against the EU, that would be one thing.
But this was far more unsettling and terrifying.
Clearly, Jin-ho was preparing something.
The problem was, no one could even begin to guess what.
But one thing was certain:
Jin-ho was sharpening his blade right now.
＊＊＊
Thwack!
A crisp sound echoed through the living room.
"Ooooh! It's going! It's going!!"
Mom and Dad, who were watching the game together, were shouting excitedly, completely worked up.
[Left field wall!! It's over!! Home run!!]
"That's right—!!"
Originally, our family wasn't big on sports.
Not even baseball, which was supposedly the nation's favorite.
But ever since Gwangun Prime was formed, they'd been following the season religiously from the start, and now here we were.
[And once again, Gwangun takes the victory! What an absolutely terrifying momentum! They've already racked up 17 consecutive wins and are charging toward a new record for the longest winning streak in history!]
"Heh—. This is why I watch baseball. Huh? Jin-ho. You really bought a damn good team. Where the hell did you even find players this incredible?"
I knew there had been a lot of criticism when Gwangun Prime first debuted.
Especially regarding the players.
Because they were all budget picks—players who hadn't even been drafted elsewhere.
So much so that fans had mockingly called Gwangun Prime a "scrap heap."
But defying all expectations, Gwangun Prime was now sitting firmly in first place.
Their momentum was genuinely terrifying.
"Your father has never once in his life suggested going to a baseball game, but after I dragged him along last time because he wouldn't stop singing their chants, guess what? He came back with a team jersey."
"Heh heh. Cheering with the crowd just made it more fun. Next time, you should come too, Jin-ho."
"Yeah. I'll see when I get the chance."
Though I felt a little bad for our Gwangun Prime, I still hadn't actually watched a single full game of theirs.
I only caught bits and pieces of news here and there.
I was the one who'd pushed hardest to acquire the baseball team, yet I didn't even watch the games.
Even I had to admit that was weird.
"······."
But what had been bothering me for a while now was my younger sibling, who had been staring blankly at their phone instead of watching the game, their expression troubled.
"Something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, no. It's nothing."
I'd known them long enough to tell.
That was definitely the face of someone with something on their mind.
Sure enough, the moment our parents stepped away, they hurriedly called me over.
"Oppa. I need some advice."
"Yeah. I could tell something was up. What is it?"
"You know how I told you before that I've been seeing someone?"
"Ah. Hold on. I'm not great with relationship advice."
"Just listen. It's not that kind of thing."
I leaned in to hear them out.
"So... the guy you're seeing is from the Kangsung Group family?"
And it turned out to be far more interesting than I'd expected.
"Yeah. I had no idea. Normally, chaebol family members act all high-class and throw money around, right? But he never gave off that vibe at all. Then, as we got more serious, he finally confessed."
"Why didn't he say anything sooner?"
"He said he didn't want me to judge him based on preconceptions... I don't know. Remember how I told you before? That Kangsung Group tried to set up someone from their family with you."
This wasn't exactly a secret.
Chairman Kang Sung-ho had been blatantly trying to arrange a meeting between us.
"But since you showed absolutely no signs of budging, I'm starting to think... maybe I was the real target all along."
That... made sense.
"So you're saying you don't think he actually likes you?"
"Yeah. When we're together, he's really sweet, but after hearing that, I just... I don't know."
From their perspective, it was more than enough to be suspicious.
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
"Do you have any pictures with him?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Here."
A warm-looking guy, smiling alongside my sibling in the photo.
I hesitated for a moment before reaching out to touch the photo.
"...!"
Instantly, a vision flashed before my eyes—the two of them sharing happy smiles as they went about their daily lives. Along with the images came a warm, pleasant emotion that seeped into me.
"Just keep seeing him."
"Huh? Really?"
"You do like him, don't you? And I think you're also overthinking things because of me."
"Well... I guess so."
"Don't worry about me. If you two are happy together, keep dating. At least he doesn't seem like the type to make you cry."
"What? How can you tell that just by looking? Can you really see that in his face?"
"Hmm~. I just get a good feeling about him."
My sister burst into a pfft of laughter.
But since she didn't seem to dislike the guy, her troubled expression quickly faded.
"Alright. I'll give it a shot, even if I end up getting fooled."
"Yeah. And if he ever gives you trouble, let me know. I'll personally file a complaint with Chairman Kang Sung-ho."
"Gasp. Y-you don't have to go that far...!"
I was half-joking, half-serious.
But if that guy in the photo ever made my sister cry, I really would go find him.
"Oh dear. What on earth is this?"
"Oh my. Isn't this too much?"
Just then, my parents returned to the living room and let out sighs as they stared at the TV screen.
"What's wrong?"
"Jin-ho, look at this. Isn't it horrifying? What is the world coming to these days?"
I was startled when I saw the news footage.
It was the exact scene I'd witnessed in my vision before.
The military brutally crushing Hong Kong protesters.
＊＊＊
"You were right, sir. China is truly deploying military force to suppress the protesters. What's being broadcast is already toned down for public viewing, but the actual scene is reportedly far more horrific."
China had previously allowed "one country, two systems."
Their acceptance of this principle was solely aimed at peacefully absorbing Taiwan.
"But now China has decided to change its stance. They've concluded that delaying reunification for the sake of peace would lead to irreversible consequences."
Hong Kong was just the beginning.
With anti-China sentiment growing too strong in Hong Kong, they decided to crush it with force before it could spread further.
The result was a violent crackdown—batons swinging as they forcibly dispersed a protest of over a million people.
"This sends a clear message from China: there will be no more peace. This is undeniably directed at Taiwan."
"And no more 'one country, two systems' either?"
"Correct. They'll maintain the facade until 2047 as previously negotiated, but in reality, they're pushing for full communist control. They've already filled Hong Kong's government entirely with pro-China figures."
Until now, many believed that since Hong Kong served as Asia's largest financial hub, the Chinese Communist Party wouldn't dare use brute force.
But watching China bulldoze Hong Kong with sheer power, people finally realized:
Hong Kong's democracy is over.
"That's why we're seeing so many 'Free Hong Kong' posts on PicPic and other SNS platforms right now. Even in our country, posts about freeing Hong Kong are spreading like wildfire."
My intuition had foreseen this crisis.
One strange thing, though—usually before such events, my intuition would point out which stocks to invest in.
But this time, oddly enough, it didn't recommend any.
Even though it was obvious capital flight would become severe from this crisis.
If I'd shorted some stocks, I could've made a tidy profit—yet not a single stock made my intuition flare up.
"Sir, about investments... how should we...?"
"Hold for now. But is there any other data available?"
"Ah, yes. There's one more thing. Shocked by Hong Kong's effective transition to communism, massive capital movements are underway. Many wealthy individuals are deciding to emigrate. However, transferring that money to the U.S. would incur substantial taxes, so there's really only one place where the money can flow."
"Singapore?"
"Yes. Here's the relevant report."
But it seemed my intuition was looking elsewhere entirely.
"...!"
My intuition, which had been unusually quiet during the Hong Kong situation to the point where I thought it might be broken, suddenly went wild the moment I opened the Singapore report—so violently that I had to quickly close the document.
"Could you open an account for me in Singapore?"
＊＊＊
The employees returned to the office after the meeting, each wearing puzzled expressions.
"Strange, isn't it?"
"Yes, definitely."
"What is?"
"No, I mean the Chairman. Normally when he predicts events like this, he either shorts the market or buys up related stocks in advance. And just as he predicted this time, China is indeed crushing the Hong Kong protests with force."
Chairman Jeong Jin-ho only ever makes shocking predictions.
The Hong Kong crisis was no exception.
While everyone expected China to back down to avoid damaging its financial hub system, they instead stained Hong Kong with blood. And Jeong Jin-ho was the only one who saw it coming.
Given that, he should have profited by buying related stocks as usual—but this time, he didn't.
"I thought that was odd too. The Chairman predicted this crisis weeks before it happened, right?"
"Yes. Do you think he's been too preoccupied with the pharmaceutical company and the Gwangun Shipping situation?"
"No way. Has our Chairman ever once let his judgment waver? He must be seeing a higher landscape that we mere sparrows can't even glimpse."
That was Deputy Director Seo, for whom Jeong Jin-ho was practically a religion.
And the same went for the other employees present.
But the problem was, just as we can't fathom divine will from the start, neither can we comprehend Chairman Jeong Jin-ho's intentions.
"Instead, he suddenly asked to open an account in Singapore—that's unusual."
"Right. We've never invested there before, have we? So why there all of a sudden...?"
Just as the employees were exchanging these thoughts—
"Ah! I've got it!"
Deputy Director Seo suddenly clapped his hands loudly, drawing everyone's attention.
"What, what is it? What did you figure out?"
"Hoho. You all still have a long way to go. Can't you see the Chairman's deeper intentions yet?"
"...?"
"Remember what he said before? That he wants to make our country Asia's premier financial hub."
"Ah~ At the last company dinner? But honestly, is that even possible? Our country's regulations are strict, and above all, there's Singapore as an alternative market."
Singapore and Hong Kong compete for the top two financial hub spots in Asia.
If Hong Kong falls, it's only natural for capital to flow to Singapore.
"Right. The Chairman obviously knows that. That's why he opened an account in Singapore."
"...Huh?"
"Honestly, how dense can you be? Even after this explanation, you still don't get it?"
The employees rolled their eyes in thought.
If Hong Kong collapses, capital will move to Singapore.
But... what if, just what if, Singapore were to collapse too?
"Wait. You don't mean... making Korea Asia's representative financial hub...?"
"Exactly. If even Singapore falls, where else would the money go? Japan? They were already wrecked by us long ago. That leaves only one option."
"!?"
Only then did the employees realize the blueprint Chairman Jeong Jin-ho was envisioning.
"So this time... he's targeting Singapore...!?"
His desire to make Korea Asia's premier financial hub.
Those words weren't just empty talk—they were dead serious.