Chapter 53

Translation: Godtl

"Oh my. I apologize for suddenly arranging this meeting when you're all so busy."

Executives from various financial institutions.

The reason they had all gathered here was none other than President Hwang Dae-un.

If this had been the old Gwangun Securities, they wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even have heard of President Hwang's name.

Even if they had, they would've made excuses and declined his invitation.

But now, things were different.

Both Gwangun Securities and its CEO Hwang Dae-un had risen to a completely different status.

"Of course we'd come when President Hwang calls. Aren't you the hottest name in finance these days? Haha."

"It's not easy to become a hero while running a securities firm. You've shown truly admirable decisiveness."

"Now, now, you all know better than this. It's just that those Neriot bastards made such a mess that I ended up wearing clothes that don't even fit me properly."

They were also curious why Hwang Dae-un had gathered them all here.

"Here's how things stand. I'm trying to properly revive Hanjong Shipping. That's why I even changed the name to Gwangun. I thought it wouldn't be right to flip-flop on decisions like turning over one's palm. But the thing is... the company's piled-up debts are just too much."

Ah. So he called this meeting because the debt burden was too heavy.

"Aren't all of you here members of the Hanjong Shipping syndicate loan?"

A syndicate.

When lending large-scale assets, a single financial institution can't shoulder the risk alone, so they form a syndicate loan.

It's a massive creditor group where multiple financial institutions come together and each take a share.

The members gathered here were precisely those who had lent enormous sums to Hanjong Shipping through this syndicate.

"..."

They straightened their backs.

They were now waiting to see how much Hwang Dae-un would grovel and flatter them.

"But here's the thing. There's more than one or two strange aspects to this. Why would anyone lend 5 trillion won to a company like Hanjong Shipping? Doesn't that strike you as odd too? Hanjong Shipping isn't even a major company, so why lend them that much money?"

"Well..."

"That's why I went through the contracts meticulously. And I found some unusual clauses. You're all familiar with them too. The debt transfer special provisions."

Hwang Dae-un observed the changing expressions of the financial executives in real time.

Most looked shocked.

"Wait. Debt transfer provisions? There were such clauses?"

"Yes. In fact, there was even a mechanism where if Hanjong Shipping went bankrupt, those contract terms would vanish as if they never existed."

"Wh-what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kind of—!"

Their shock was understandable.

Because they hadn't made these contracts themselves—their predecessors had.

"Your surprise is warranted. It's a contract unlike anything you've ever seen or heard of. When I looked into it, I found that all the former branch managers resigned right after making these contracts with Hanjong Shipping, before any trouble started. Just business as usual, right?"

Our country has a rather unique system.

The privilege of former officials.

After doing dirty work for corporations, they get hired under the fancy-sounding name of "privilege of former officials."

A cultural peculiarity unique to our country that you won't find overseas.

"If this contract gets exposed to the media, the responsibility will fall entirely on you."

"!?"

They weren't fools either.

Having worked in this field for so long, their instincts were razor-sharp.

They immediately realized why the Hanjong Shipping crisis had occurred.

Dumping all the bad debt into Hanjong Shipping and sinking it.

Then making the successors take the fall.

It was a trap set by their predecessors.

"This is unjust, CEO Hwang."

"Exactly. It seems the former executives were trying to make a killing while leaving us to take the blame."

"Right. This absolutely cannot stand."

Hwang Dae-un gently soothed the executives who were breaking out in cold sweat.

"I've always been too sentimental for my own good. Especially toward colleagues in the same industry. When it was someone else ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who stabbed you in the back, why should you all be the ones to suffer?"

Their eyes changed.

"What should we do, CEO?"

Now it seemed they could finally communicate.

"You only need to do two things. First, claim ignorance. You genuinely didn't know, right? It was all set up by your predecessors. And second, fulfill the contracts as quickly as possible."

"Are you saying we should transfer all debt responsibility to Hanjong Group?"

"Exactly. As I mentioned earlier, with utmost speed. Before this leaks to the press and investigations begin, shouldn't you prepare your escape route in advance?"

The executives exchanged glances, then began rising from their seats one by one.

"It seems we won't be able to have dinner today after all."

"I should probably leave quickly too..."

"That's fine. Once everything is settled properly, we can share a meal then."

"My apologies. Well then—"

They all rushed out in a flurry.

They probably didn't have time to sit around here any longer.

With fire already at their feet.

Truth be told, President Hwang had anticipated this—he'd only paid for the venue reservation without ordering any food yet.

"Whew."

Only after everyone had left did Hwang Dae-un finally relax his tension.

He'd tried hard not to show it, but his entire body was already drenched in sweat.

"How did I end up playing in such deep waters?"

＊＊＊

[It's truly deplorable. We couldn't help but feel fear at Hanjong Group's shamelessness—using Hanjong Shipping to create slush funds while causing massive damage to shareholders, then deliberately engineering bankruptcy to erase all debts owed to various banks.]

The representative of Hanjong Shipping's syndicate loan appeared at a press conference, revealing to the world what sinister plans Hanjong Group had been scheming.

The reason they made the disclosure themselves rather than through Gwangun was to strongly emphasize that these were their predecessors' actions, not their own.

"Apparently Hanjong Group is in complete chaos now."

"Naturally. If this blows up, Vice Chairman Hyun—who just completed the succession process—could be dragged off to prison."

Hanjong Group had only one option left.

To calm things down by claiming everything was a misunderstanding and quickly cough up 5 trillion won.

"Even for Hanjong Group, 5 trillion won would be a devastating blow, wouldn't it?"

"Especially since they must have already spent heavily on the succession process."

Frankly, that wasn't our concern.

Since it was money they spent themselves, shouldn't they naturally pay it back?

"So we've acquired Hanjong Shipping completely debt-free?"

The massive burden attached to Hanjong Shipping had fallen away.

Actually, the biggest problem when acquiring any company is precisely the debt it carries.

But we not only acquired Hanjong Shipping for 1 trillion won—we even managed to dump all its debt back onto Hanjong Group.

Hanjong Group had fallen into the trap they'd dug themselves, while we got to feast on Hanjong Shipping for free.

"I heard the Hanjong... no, Gwangun Shipping now, right? That they're issuing about 500 billion won in bonds?"

"Yeah. President Kim Du-yeong mentioned it in his inauguration speech. Said he'd normalize operations through active investment and hands-on management."

President Kim Du-yeong became the new captain of Gwangun Shipping.

He promised to utilize his accumulated expertise and routes to reclaim the top domestic shipping position and become a global maritime company.

But since operational funds were needed for this, they decided to issue bonds worth 500 billion won.

"We'll be buying about 300 billion of those bonds through Gwangun."

"Chief. Does that mean our investment funds will be used?"

"No. We've already put in about 1 trillion won. It'd be difficult to invest more here. The president said we'll make the investment through assets at Gwangun Securities, not our department."

Now Gwangun has its own subsidiary too.

And typically, the best way to provide funding to a subsidiary is to issue new bonds and purchase them ourselves.

Part of it was also to demonstrate Gwangun's serious commitment to the shipping business by injecting 300 billion won.

"The problem is the outlook for the shipping industry is just too bleak."

"Exactly. The reason our country's shipping industry, which was once thriving, ended up like this is largely due to China's influence. Since China operates at much lower costs than other countries, we inevitably fall behind in competitiveness."

The decline of the shipping industry began when China aggressively entered the market. Naturally, companies preferred China, where shipping costs were cheaper compared to other countries, and as a result, our nation suffered the consequences.

"On top of that, low oil prices played a big role too."

Oil prices have an enormous impact on the shipping industry—so much so that 50% of operating costs go toward fuel.

"Seriously, how is it that even when wars break out, oil prices refuse to rise and just keep dropping? It's bizarre."

"When I was young, people were in an uproar about oil running out, but now they've discovered massive reserves again, haven't they?"

At one point, the entire nation was in chaos, insisting we had to develop alternative energy to replace oil.

But once they realized the Earth had far more oil than anyone had imagined, all that fuss died down long ago.

"Anyway, because oil prices are so low, China can set shipping rates even cheaper. That's why everyone's pessimistic, saying our shipping industry can never compete with China's."

Gwangun Shipping had shed its debts and replaced its entire executive team for a fresh start.

But the outlook wasn't great.

There were just too many companies, including China's, operating at a loss, sustaining their businesses with rock-bottom prices.

"It's essentially a chicken game. And China's banking on it. They're pushing unsustainable low prices now, waiting for all the other companies to die off so they can monopolize everything."

It was a brutally cruel game.

Having to carve away at your own flesh and bones until only one remained standing.

And the market's verdict was clear: Chinese companies were unbeatable.

Then we're screwed.

Gwangun Shipping is a company where our blood-like investment funds are tied up.

Not to mention, it's the first subsidiary my brother and I acquired. Barely extending its lifespan wasn't going to be enough.

There's got to be something that can help...

So I gathered all the shipping-related documents and combed through them.

But no matter how much I pored over the material, nothing clicked.

This can't be right.

Even after searching all night, the result was the same.

No sudden epiphanies, no flashes of insight.

Nothing at all.

I was sure I'd invested in shipping based on my instincts.

But now, there was nothing I could actually do about it?

Or was I supposed to wait for something?

"Assistant Manager, aren't you leaving for the day?"

"Ah, yes. I think I need to review the shipping documents a bit more. You should head home, Assistant Manager."

"Yes, sir. Then I'll be going first."

I thought Assistant Manager had bowed and left for the day, but—

Not long after, she returned to my office.

"Hm? Weren't you leaving?"

"Ah, I was about to, but it seemed like you hadn't eaten, sir. So I thought you should have something, so I bought some gimbap. Is that okay?"

As always, Hye-rin is the only one who looks out for me.

A thick wave of emotion surges in my chest.

"Of course it's okay. Thank you."

"Yes, sir. Then I'll just set it here—oh!"

As Hye-rin placed the packaged gimbap on the table, it collided with a stack of documents, sending papers scattering across the floor.

"I—I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine."

"I'll clean it up myself. Please focus on your work, sir."

"Don't worry about it. This much is nothing."

While helping Hye-rin gather the fallen documents—

"...?"

I noticed that from one of the documents Hye-rin picked up, a golden powder was slowly scattering out.

"Wait a moment."

"Huh?"

At first, I thought it might just be dust falling, but that wasn't the case.

It was a shimmering powder-like substance that only I could see.

'Don't tell me...'

Just as I suspected.

The moment I touched that document, an intense sensation I hadn't felt in a long time spread from my fingertips throughout my entire body.

[OPEC Oil Production Cut Scenario]

＊＊＊

Even before becoming an executive, and after rising to executive status,

Chairman Kim Du-yeong had been striving desperately in all directions to save the crumbling company.

That didn't change even after he became chairman.

He was working with the single-minded determination to save the company at all costs, but the wall of reality wasn't easy to overcome.

"It seems all contracts have gone to the Chinese side. Not just us, but Daegwang too. Even Maersk, the current industry leader, is having all its work taken away by China."

This time, China was determined to strangle shipping companies to death.

With their aggressively low shipping costs at the forefront, even Maersk, the world's number one shipping company, was screaming in pain.

"So the solution is to lower costs even if it means taking losses..."

But then, wouldn't it be no different from the Hanjong Shipping incident?

The only difference this time was that they'd raised funds by selling bonds worth 500 billion won.

Seeing Gwangun declaring they would revive the shipping business and aggressively investing, the market seemed moved—thanks to that, the bonds sold out in an instant.

But now it looked like all that money would be meaninglessly wasted.

"But how am I supposed to accept this?"

On top of that, there was another dilemma.

After securing the 500 billion won, a message came from the securities firm.

To be precise, it was a directive from Senior Manager Jeong Jin-ho.

"Buy up all the oil with the 500 billion?"

Originally, this 500 billion was meant to repair the creaking company.

And for now, they planned to forcibly lower costs to maintain the situation temporarily—but to take all this money and buy oil?

"Stockpiling isn't a bad idea, but isn't 500 billion too much?"

"With that much oil, the storage facilities would be packed."

"Not to mention, buying that much oil would be a loss."

Currently, oil prices were fluctuating around $38-40 per barrel.

And experts were predicting that with the current oversupply, prices would drop to $35.

"Is there any chance oil prices might rise...?"

"Unless a major war breaks out, that's unlikely."

"Even if one did break out, who knows? There's already a war raging in the Middle East."

Europe was even actively participating in the war, shouting about eradicating terrorism.

Yet oil prices kept falling.

"..."

Buying oil in this situation.

And in the hundreds of billions?

No matter how you looked at it, it was insane.

But Chairman Kim Du-yeong suddenly recalled a conversation he'd had with CEO Hwang Dae-un before taking office.

'Our company has two rules.'

'Two rules?'

'Yes. First, you must fully comply with Senior Manager Jeong Jin-ho's investment opinions.'

Following the words of a senior manager, not even an executive, without question.

'Then what's the second rule?'

'Remember the first rule.'

'...?'

It was an undeniably bizarre conversation.

But at the time, CEO Hwang Dae-un's eyes had been deadly serious.

'It might sound like a strange rule, but trust me. If you just believe and follow Senior Manager Jeong's words, you'll get rice cakes even in your sleep. Haha.'

In other words, even the CEO followed Senior Manager Jeong Jin-ho's words without a single objection.

Chairman Kim Du-yeong closed his eyes briefly, lost in thought.

But that moment didn't last long.

"...Check if we have enough storage space if we buy oil in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bulk."

"Huh? S-sir, are you really going to buy?"

"Yes. Not just the 500 billion—mobilize all remaining company funds to stock up."

No matter how much he thought about it, it made no sense logically—.

But wasn't there a saying?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.