Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Translation: Godtl
"This is the first time we're seeing each other's faces like this."
Due to the pandemic, gatherings of four or more people were currently banned across nations.
Most companies had shifted to remote work, and even institutions that needed to make critical decisions had to resort to video conferences like this one.
Having to see faces they usually met in person through a screen—it was both absurd and bitter.
But as the standing chairperson of the European Union, she had to gather the leaders of each country to quickly devise a solution to overcome this European crisis.
While the standing chairperson didn't have decision-making authority, it was her role to lead meetings like this, bringing together the leaders of member states and key EU personnel.
"I've received the reports sent by each country. The infection rate from the Wuhan pneumonia—or rather, the coronavirus—is absurdly high, far beyond what we anticipated. The death toll is also steadily rising. It seems we need additional countermeasures."
[What more can we possibly do at this point? We've already closed our borders and blocked all travelers. Do you have any idea how much economic damage we've suffered just from that alone?]
What comes to mind when you think of Europe?
Tourism.
Tourism revenue makes up a massive portion of national economic income in Europe.
The problem was that with the pandemic restricting foreign visitors, significant economic damage was inevitable.
"I'm aware. It's an extremely serious issue. But the bigger problem is that if we don't stop the virus from spreading further, this level of loss will only be the beginning."
Chairperson Charol displayed a chart on the screen for everyone to see.
It showed the projected tourism revenue loss if border closures continued throughout the year due to the virus's unchecked spread.
[...]
The leaders and EU officials attending the meeting were momentarily speechless after seeing the data.
"1.5 trillion dollars. That's the estimated figure calculated by the EU. In other words, it could end up being even higher than 1.5 trillion dollars."
They had expected it, but the scale of the blow was still staggering.
The problem was that this figure only accounted for tourism revenue.
"If we factor in the overall industrial costs beyond tourism... it's truly catastrophic."
They had braced themselves for some impact.
But they hadn't expected it to be this severe.
[So, what do you propose we do?]
"There's only one solution. Vaccines. We need to produce them as quickly as possible."
[At this rate of spread, wouldn't herd immunity be a better bet?]
"That's nonsense. For that, over 70% of a country's population would need to be infected. The resulting death toll would be enormous, and above all, this virus is capable of evolution."
[Evolution? What are you talking about?]
"It mutates. That's why vaccines are even more critical. They allow us to respond accordingly, and booster shots can block mutated variants. Without vaccines, COVID will never end."
The terrifying infectiousness of this virus was one issue, but its ability to mutate was the biggest problem.
Even if someone developed immunity after contracting COVID, the risk of reinfection with a mutated variant was extremely high.
Without preemptive prevention through vaccination, the pandemic would never cease.
[Where did this virus even come from? I heard it leaked from a lab in Wuhan.]
"I don't know about that. The WHO seems to place more weight on natural origins."
[You're saying this occurred naturally? That's ridiculous. If this were truly natural, it would've spread and caused chaos much earlier.]
"Mr. President, now is not the time for that debate. We can assign blame later—right now, we need to focus on solving the problem."
As the chairperson said, they couldn't pin the blame on anyone at this moment.
The immediate fire needed to be put out first.
[Where can we even produce a vaccine?]
"There's only one place on Earth capable of doing it swiftly and accurately: AstraZenon. Their mRNA technology allows for rapid vaccine production, and their technical expertise is currently the best in the world."
[Wait. AstraZenon... isn't that a British company? Things are already tense between the EU and the UK. Are there no alternatives?]
"There are other pharmaceutical companies, of course. The issue is that they would take over twice as long to develop a vaccine compared to AstraZenon. Can you afford to wait that long? I just showed you—we're looking at 1.5 trillion dollars lost this year alone."
[...]
"Moreover, AstraZeneca has been developing the vaccine since WHO released the genetic sequence—they're already in the final stages."
[Then exactly when can we expect distribution?]
"As you all know, vaccine development typically takes over 10 years. Including clinical trials and obtaining approvals from each country, that's an additional 3 years. But if we minimize that period, distribution could be possible within 6 months."
Six months.
Everyone had assumed it would take years at the very least—not even a full year, but half that.
[I-Is that speed even possible?]
"That's why mRNA technology is called revolutionary. Of course, we'll need to see the clinical trial results, but they're confident of success. So if each country provides the necessary investment funds, they'll produce as much as we need. Most importantly, AstraZeneca is no longer a British company."
[Then?]
"It's a Korean company now. Gwangun absorbed their controlling stake long ago and became the new majority shareholder."
[G-Gwangun?]
Another wave of murmurs swept through the room.
Wasn't Gwangun the company the EU had forcibly dismantled in the shipping industry?
They'd be better off negotiating with Britain than dealing with Gwangun!
And Gwangun was operating the company from Britain, no less!
Didn't this mean they'd have to contend with both Britain and Gwangun simultaneously?
"I'm well aware that relations between Gwangun and the EU aren't exactly cordial. But Gwangun is still a corporation, isn't it? If they receive funding and can sell vaccines, they'll quickly forget past grievances."
That's how corporations operate.
They hold grudges viciously, but the moment compensation is offered, they forget everything.
After all, money is their language.
In the face of profit, even sworn enemies will shake hands and smile.
"If anyone insists on refusing to work with Gwangun, I won't stop them. But you must remember one thing: other countries are already swiftly coordinating with AstraZeneca and sending investments. While they escape the nightmare of COVID, our citizens will suffer for much longer."
With Gwangun, production could begin immediately if vaccine regulations were lifted, but anywhere else would require waiting at least twice as long.
The economic losses and death toll during that period would be beyond anything they could handle.
[Am I the only one who finds this absurd?]
"Pardon?"
President Péron, who had remained silent until now, wore a self-deprecating smile.
[Don't you find this situation laughable? That we have to beg the very company we forcibly dismantled for vaccines. And what happened to all those shipping companies Gwangun sold at exorbitant prices?]
"Well..."
[They're all on the verge of bankruptcy. They overextended themselves with aggressive acquisitions, believing predictions of explosive growth in shipping—only to be buried under mountains of debt.]
Shipping had suffered the most from this pandemic.
Travel restrictions tightened due to COVID, and with factories and businesses temporarily shutting down, there was naturally no work for shipping either.
"Couldn't they hold on a little longer? Things will improve soon, won't they?"
[As you said, once vaccines are distributed, some normalcy will return. The problem is they don't have the resources to last until then. When acquiring shipping companies from Gwangun, they all took on massive debts in their rush—and now they're paying the price.]
The real issue was that almost none of the remaining shipping companies could survive until the industry stabilized.
[Gwangun cashed out all the shipping companies at their peak, used that money to buy AstraZeneca, and now sells us vaccines... No matter how I look at it, doesn't it feel like we're dancing in the palm of Gwangun's hand?]
To deny it would be a lie.
[There are even rumors that Gwangun mobilized the National Pension Service to execute short selling worth tens of billions of euros worldwide. At this point, I'd believe Gwangun is behind everything.]
"So is France refusing to cooperate with Gwangun?"
[We can't. Haven't you heard? The U.S. and Asian countries are already partnering with AstraZeneca. What if Europe alone keeps struggling with COVID?]
You could almost hear approval ratings plummeting.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
[It's checkmate. Gwangun holds a hand we can't refuse, and we have to play along. What choice do we have?]
It wounded their pride, but as President Péron said—they had no choice.
Because right now, Gwangun holds the hilt of the knife.
But once this is all over and some stability is restored...
Who knows what might happen then.
＊＊＊
"After calculating all the investment results this time..."
Everyone swallowed dryly as they waited for the department head's next words.
"If we liquidate all investments now, the total comes to 1,000 trillion won."
"A t-trillion?!"
"You're serious?!"
Soon, the conference room erupted in heated cheers.
It wasn't just the chairman who had been losing sleep, trembling with anxiety day after day.
"Moreover, the actual investment was only 500 trillion won, with the remaining 200 trillion used entirely as margin. Yet we've earned over 300 trillion in profit."
They would have loved to throw all 700 trillion into short selling, but they couldn't violate the margin system, so they had to leave 200 trillion as collateral.
"So what you're saying is... we made over 50% returns? But the overall market fell by less than 30%, didn't it?"
"Yes, on average. But some of our positions were leveraged, we had several derivatives, and there were stocks that actually dropped by 50%."
"So you're saying you followed Gwangun's stock picks exactly?"
"Correct."
1,000 trillion.
The day had finally come when the 700 trillion won National Pension Service surpassed 1,000 trillion in assets.
And to earn 300 trillion in such a short time would be unprecedented in financial history.
"But Chairman... While this is certainly joyous... Is this really okay?"
"We didn't disrupt the market, did we? We minimized the shockwaves."
"Yes. But once we withdraw our funds, rumors will spread like wildfire. Many countries will start sharpening their knives."
But those knives won't be pointed at the National Pension Service.
Because unless they're fools, they'll know Gwangun stands behind the pension fund now.
"We must deny everything. Say we have no connection to Gwangun. That this was entirely my independent decision."
"Even so, everyone will suspect. Especially Gwangun—they'll face countless sanctions. Perhaps even this Wuhan pneumonia came from—"
"Sigh. I told you not to say that."
"Ah! Y-yes. My apologies."
He hadn't said it outright.
But watching how things unfolded, the chairman couldn't help but entertain all sorts of thoughts.
Was this Wuhan pneumonia Gwangun's doing?
Though there were claims the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab...
But doesn't Gwangun have deep ties with China too?
And in the end, one thought always surfaced:
Just how terrifying is the person I've gotten involved with?
'What am I even thinking?'
Right. Let's not dwell on that.
Thanks to these profits, he's the hero who postponed the National Pension's depletion far into the future.
Future generations should praise the name Jeong Jin-ho.
Today, he saved Korea from chaos.
Well, not entirely, but—
"This isn't the time."
After the meeting, the chairman immediately called Jeong Jin-ho.
[Yes, Chairman.]
As always, his voice sounded as gentle as his appearance.
Yet in reality, he was a ruthless, terrifying man.
Which only made the chairman more nervous.
"Yes, sir. I called to express our gratitude. You've received the documents we sent today, haven't you?"
[Ah, yes. I have. Not bad returns.]
Not bad?
Does that mean they weren't even good?
"We're planning to gradually unwind our positions now. We'll reinvest in safe assets like before."
[...]
"Sir?"
[Ah, yes. It is about time to unwind.]
So it really is time to exit.
Relieved at finally escaping these tension-filled days, the chairman let out a sigh.
[But...]
Here it came.
But—
[Wouldn't it be a shame to stop here?]
"Excuse me? Wh-what do you mean...?"
[If stocks have hit bottom, wouldn't they rebound now?]
"You're saying we should go long now?"
[Yes.]
The chairman blinked several times before hesitantly asking:
"Are you suggesting... safe assets...?"
[No.]
"..."
[...]
The chairman clutched his dizzying thoughts.
"So you're saying we should pour all 1,000 trillion into going long? Not safe assets, but regular stocks?"
Then, a voice that seemed to smile came through the receiver:
[Exactly.]