Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Translation: Godtl
"So what you're saying is... You didn't secure ownership of the tower, not even the sales rights—you just spent a whopping 2 trillion won solely to lease hotel space?"
As I listened, it was so absurd that I stopped cutting into my steak mid-motion.
"Haven't spent it yet. The Group needs to provide the support. And it's not just a simple lease. It's business rights that'll take us straight to the top of the industry."
"Anyway, you're not buying LK Tower, just leasing hotel space, and you're burning 2 trillion won on that?"
"If we pay the 2 trillion upfront, we won't need to pay lease fees. We can operate Baekje Hotel in LK Tower indefinitely. With just 2 trillion, how could we buy LK Tower outright? Its current valuation alone is over 6 trillion."
"And you're sharing hotel profits with them, right?"
"Sharing? We're just giving them a portion, just a portion!"
"And that's after handing over 2 trillion won first?"
Kang Mi-ra knew it too.
That this was an insane waste of money.
"It's about solidifying our position as the industry leader. Father always said it—whatever you do, be number one."
"Do you really think Father wouldn't have told you to reconsider spending 2 trillion won?"
"No. So, are you going to help me or not? Honestly, 2 trillion is pocket change for Kangsung Electronics."
The Kangsung Chairman let out a short sigh and took a sip of wine to wet his lips.
"Expensive pocket change. Do you think 2 trillion is the name of some neighborhood store? And are you really doing this just to be industry leader? Or is it because you just wanted to get into LK Tower?"
"I can't say it's not at all. That's why I said it before—since LK Group is building such a tower, we should build an even taller one."
"Right. And look what happened to LK Group because of that? They're about to lose their tower to some unheard-of securities firm and even hand over hotel business rights to us."
In the end, Kang Mi-ra couldn't hold back her irritation.
"So, are you going to help me or not? If we miss this chance, we'll never catch up to LK Hotel."
"Is the Group's money yours?"
"I know. It's Oppa's, right? But when have I ever been greedy about Group management? Have I ever once opposed Father's decision to pass everything to the eldest son? You can do this much for me."
"You always say that when things aren't in your favor."
But her younger sibling wasn't wrong.
Kang Mi-ra had always unconditionally supported her father's decision to pass succession to the eldest son.
She used to think it was natural, but seeing how LK Group was turned upside down by a succession war, maybe this was actually a blessing in disguise.
"So 2 trillion will do it?"
"Ah. One more thing. It seems the LK Group bastards are pulling strings in politics, throwing money around to avoid losing the tower. We need to handle that too."
"So now we're paying the money and doing the dirty work in place of Gwangun Securities?"
"What else can we do? We need those bastards if we want to get LK Tower."
"Let's be clear. We're handing LK Tower over to Gwangun Securities. We're just borrowing the hotel business rights."
"Ugh. You're so nitpicky. Just eat your steak. It's getting tough. Anyway, you'll do it, right? Hmm?"
Her sibling was grinning from ear to ear, clearly in a good mood.
Back when LK Tower was under construction, how much had they whined about how perfect it would be to run a hotel there?
Now that dream was coming true.
At the cost of a staggering 2 trillion won.
'If this goes through, Gwangun Securities—those bastards are the only ones getting a free ride.'
Gwangun Securities.
That name had been popping up a lot lately.
And now they were trying to take LK Tower without spending a single penny, using Kangsung Group as their tool.
"You can get it done as soon as possible, right?"
"Yeah. We've got a new smartphone launch coming up soon anyway, so we won't have time to focus on other things. Let's wrap this up quickly."
"Ugh. If I do this, I swear I'll never meddle in hotel business again. Promise~."
They were utterly shameless bastards, but in the end, it seemed things would go their way.
＊＊＊
Currently, South Korea is in an uproar over LK Tower, all because Kangsung Group suddenly decided to join the fray.
We were focused on something else entirely.
"Wow... They must be truly insane."
"Did this really pass?"
The UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Commonly known as Brexit.
After the Prime Minister's announcement, they swiftly prepared a national referendum and counted the votes.
By a narrow margin of just 2%, Brexit was ultimately approved.
Now the UK would leave the EU.
This had become official.
European nations assessed it as follows:
A global betrayal.
"How are the positions we've taken looking?"
"Yes. As expected, they're fluctuating wildly. Especially the pound—its value is plummeting dramatically."
Plummeting meant we were making that much money.
We'd anticipated Brexit and had already shorted the pound along with various other positions, simply holding our ground.
"Have they collectively lost their minds? Withdrawing from the EU clearly brings more losses than gains."
"It just shows how much fear and resentment toward immigrants has grown. The recent terrorist attacks must have been the final blow."
The reason British citizens disliked immigrants was that they were taking jobs en masse at extremely low wages.
But kicking them all out wouldn't create new jobs.
Higher wages would reduce employment, while product prices would rise instead.
Moreover, with the disappearance of tax benefits from EU trade, there was no telling how the UK's economy would fare from now on.
"Chief, should we pull out now and try day trading?"
"But if we liquidate all the positions we've spread out, the profit margin is already at 30%."
"Even though money is flowing out due to the Brexit shock, couldn't it rebound immediately?"
From 1 trillion to 30%.
A single Brexit move had earned us 300 billion.
The scary part was that this wasn't even the end.
The pound, banks, all British companies that had benefited from the EU.
Not a single one was stable right now.
They were all in freefall, endlessly plummeting as if carpet-bombed.
Of course, as the employees said, they might rebound.
"..."
I touched each item on the list one by one.
No intuition came to me.
Was I just worried that pulling out to day trade might actually result in losses when reinvesting?
If so, there was only one approach I could take.
"Let's hold."
Amid this turbulence, all we had to do was leisurely sip our tea and wait for the money to roll in on its own.
＊＊＊
"Wow. Kangsung Group really is Kangsung Group. All those articles criticizing Gwangun Securities have completely vanished."
For a while, articles condemning Gwangun Securities had flooded every media outlet.
LK Group had been orchestrating a media blitz.
But after the dramatic settlement with CEO Kang Mi-ra, those articles disappeared as if they'd never existed.
"Look at this—there are even articles praising Gwangun and Baekje Hotel for promoting national prestige."
Is this the power of Kangsung Group?
Kangsung Electronics, the core of Kangsung Group, holds cash assets alone worth 70 trillion.
Combined with all liquid assets, it surpasses 140 trillion won—the top conglomerate in South Korea.
Moreover, it had deep roots in politics for decades, and the media, as always, sided with the wealthy.
"All the political pressure has disappeared too?"
"All that nonsense about the Financial Supervisory Service launching some investigation—they've all tucked their tails between their legs."
"It just goes to show Kangsung Group's word carries more weight than LK Group's."
At this point, even LK Group would have no options left.
Bank loans were already blocked, and the moment news broke of Kangsung Group and Gwangun joining hands, funds began scrambling to pull out.
Everything was going according to plan.
Jeong Jin-ho's plan, to be exact.
"Partnering with Baekje Hotel was one thing, but offering 2 trillion won as the sale price in front of that notoriously strict CEO Kang Mi-ra? How many hearts does this guy have?"
"I thought Chief Jeong was trying to flip the table back then."
"But who would've thought they'd actually accept such an absurd demand..."
When he read Jeong Jin-ho's message demanding 2 trillion won from CEO Kang Mi-ra,
Honestly, Hwang Dae-un felt dizzy.
But what was his principle?
Once he decided to trust someone, he would believe in them to the end—even if it meant getting stabbed in the back.
And Jin-ho repaid that steadfast faith.
By transferring the hotel business rights for a staggering 2 trillion won, Gwangun Securities was now able to acquire LK Tower without spending a single penny.
"Ah, of course, we'll have to repay the debt LK Tower owes to the bank. That amount is roughly 700 billion won."
"So we deliver 1.1 trillion to LK Group, use 900 billion to pay off the 700 billion debt... That leaves us with 200 billion, right?"
"Yes. It's an incredible achievement. Even after acquiring LK Tower, we still have money left over."
He still couldn't wrap his head around it.
How could something more magical than magic itself unfold like this?
Ever since he started working with Jin-ho, it had been one miracle after another.
"That's the talk in financial circles. They say Gwangun Securities devoured both LK and Kangsung at the same time."
"But I haven't seen any articles like that in the media?"
"Of course not. Publishing such stories would only provoke Kangsung Group's displeasure."
But anyone working in this field would know.
That Gwangun had struck gold.
"Well, it's not like Kangsung walked away empty-handed either. They completely crushed LK Hotel."
"Yes. That must be good news for Kangsung Group too. Baekje Hotel had always been overshadowed by LK Hotel until now. And with LK even losing its duty-free shop privileges, they won't have to worry about competition anymore."
A long, long—no, not even that long.
Then was it tenacious?
No. This was more like beating LK Group into submission without much of a struggle.
They won without even doing much.
Just like how Jin-ho somehow managed to clear raids in games with those old-timers he dragged along, he was doing the same here.
"But there's a problem, Chairman. We need to give Manager Jeong Jin-ho his incentive, but this time, I'm not sure how much we should allocate..."
Just the profits from investments alone amounted to hundreds of billions.
And now, with bets placed on Brexit, profits were rolling in from there too.
But the biggest achievement was undoubtedly LK Tower.
How on earth were they supposed to evaluate and compensate him for that?
"If we try to give him cash, Jin-ho won't like it. Because to pay out the performance bonus immediately, we'd have to withdraw part of the investment funds he's currently holding."
Jin-ho absolutely hates it when his betting capital gets reduced.
"What about giving him equity?"
"Stock options?"
"Not stock options—I mean actual equity shares."
Dividing up shares.
Currently, Gwangun Securities is an unlisted company.
At one point, they had dreamed of becoming Gwangun Financial Group and pursued an IPO, but they were pushed out by competitors and had to shelve that dream for a while.
"Allocating a portion of the performance bonus as equity doesn't sound bad. And I'm also concerned about Jin-ho remaining just a manager. Even when meeting with Baekje Hotel, people gave him strange looks when he introduced himself as a manager."
Meaning he should be promoted to an executive position.
No one objected to the idea of elevating Jeong Jin-ho—who hadn't been with the company long—to an executive level.
"Sounds good. If it's Manager Jeong Jin-ho, promoting him to executive shouldn't be a problem."
"Honestly, even if we had to treat him like our lord and master, I wouldn't complain."
But even if they gave him an executive position, which one would suit him best?
Even as an executive, he'd likely stay in the current Prime Department to continue investing.
"Is there any usable office space in LK Tower?"
"Ah, yes. Baekje Hotel is taking most of it, but there are areas we can utilize. Are you thinking of moving the chairman's office there? LK Tower is definitely much more spacious and nicer than here."
"No. What would I do there? This place is enough for me. If anything, it should be Jin-ho who moves there."
"Then perhaps a dedicated space just for Manager Jeong Jin-ho..."
"Yeah. Look into what kind of space is available there. I'm thinking of relocating his entire department—starting with the research team—along with any other teams Jin-ho might need."
Since Jin-ho had just been allocated space in LK Tower, the Chairman thought it would be good for him to commute comfortably from there and even take naps whenever he wanted.
But one issue still remained.
"An executive position..."
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
Director, department head, managing director, vice president—
Even these titles now seemed too light for Jin-ho.
He needed something with more weight.
"If I'm going to do this, should I just establish a subsidiary for him?"
A new investment company—of, by, and for Jeong Jin-ho alone.
＊＊＊
"No, seriously, I was completely shocked. There was Oppa, sitting right next to the CEO of Gwangun Securities in that crucial meeting. He looked like a completely different person."
My younger sister had been repeating the same story all weekend.
The funny thing was, Mom and Dad listened each time as if hearing it for the first time, hanging on her every word in awe.
"I saw it clearly. The Gwangun Securities CEO whispered something to Oppa, and suddenly, he threw out a figure of 2 trillion won. The way our CEO and executives panicked, their faces turning beet red—ugh, it still gives me chills."
"So? What happened then?"
"What do you mean, what happened? At first, they made a huge fuss, saying it was impossible, but in the end, our CEO backed down. And seeing those executives who always yell at us too afraid to say a word in front of Oppa—it was so satisfying."
Yun-ah was hyping me up in front of our wide-eyed parents.
It felt good to be acknowledged by my sister, but that day, I thought she looked pretty impressive too.
Dressed in a flawless suit, standing confidently in front of all those people without a hint of nervousness during her presentation—she seemed different.
The fact that she was entrusted with such an important presentation meant she was being recognized for her skills.
Now I understood why she refused to quit her job and live off my money, insisting on working hard instead.
She was building her own career, chasing her own goals.
What a cool kid.
When did she grow up like this?
"Our son is already at an executive level?"
"Well, of course. They gave him a car, a chauffeur, and an insane amount of money. No wonder he's meeting with people from Kangsung Group for discussions."
"Exactly. Our CEO is someone from Kangsung Group, and I've never seen him so flustered before. Heehee."
Being showered with praise like this while on a plane made me a little embarrassed.
But it felt nice.
So this is what it's like to be someone your family is proud of.
"Hey, what's this?"
I pointed at a shopping bag placed on the seat.
"Huh? Oh~ It's the new model from Kangsung Electronics. The K7. It's not officially on sale yet, but they did a lottery for employees. And guess what? I won! So I brought it. I only just got a new phone, though—the one you bought me last time. Oh, since it's like this, why don't you take it?"
It wasn't like I played mobile games or anything, so my current phone didn't bother me, but...
Hmm. Now that I thought about it, maybe it was time for an upgrade.
"Can I take a look?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
So this was the new model.
It wasn't officially out yet, but the marketing had been intense.
"How is it? Pretty good, right?"
It was definitely much lighter than my current phone, and the design was sleek.
Especially the touch sensitivity—
Zap—!
"Gah!"
A sharp spark shot out, startling me so badly I dropped the phone.
Once on the edge of the table.
Then hard on the floor.
"..."
And thus, the phone met its heroic demise.
"You didn't have to break it just because you didn't like it..."
"No, sorry, I didn't mean to."
"It's fine. It was just a prize anyway. Still, what a waste. This one was really well-made."
"If you need one, should I buy you a new one?"
"Nah, it hasn't been that long since I got a new phone."
I poked the broken phone lightly.
What the hell just happened—ow, hot!
I winced, rubbing my stinging finger before shoving the phone away.
"What the hell?"
Why did it give off such an intense reaction?