Chapter 96
Chapter 96
Translation: Godtl
"What the hell is all this sudden talk about? Why are they suddenly pecking at us from France?"
After the policy announcement in France, every major corporation found themselves with fires to put out.
It was essentially President Péron declaring war on foreign conglomerates.
And among them, Gwangun was poised to take the biggest hit.
"President Péron and his party members actually raised oil taxes once earlier this year."
"And?"
"Now that they're trying to raise them again, they're afraid of public backlash. So they're putting on a show while also lining their pockets by suddenly beating up foreign corporations like ours."
Anyone could see that France's recent policy announcements heavily favored domestic conglomerates.
On top of that, they're using environmentalism as an excuse to raise oil taxes and fill state coffers.
If they push through as is, they anticipate massive public outcry, so they're attacking foreign companies to create this narrative that they're plundering France.
"Every country brings in external factors to create issues for approval ratings, don't they? This is just another example of that."
"What a bunch of thugs."
"France has always been notorious for that sort of thing. They're the gangsters of Europe."
"What is it with Europe having so many gangsters? First the UK, now France."
"But the real problem is how this policy seems specifically designed to target our Gwangun."
France was blatantly focusing its attacks on Gwangun.
Every single one of their policies seemed designed to inflict damage on Gwangun specifically.
"Why us?"
"From the French government's perspective, Gwangun is absolutely a threat. Didn't Rusk, Denmark's largest shipping company, collapse? And we absorbed them whole. Not to mention our penetration into SNS, cryptocurrency markets, automobiles, semiconductors—all sorts of fields. They're trying to put us in our place while they have the chance."
In this situation, there was only one solution.
Meet with members of France's current ruling party and bring them over to Gwangun's side.
Call it lobbying if you want to be polite.
Call it bribery if you don't.
"Other corporations are apparently throwing around quite a bit of money."
"Yes. That's precisely how foreign conglomerates have survived in Europe until now. They spend astronomical amounts on lobbying. And it turns out to be far cheaper in the long run."
"So you're saying we should do the same? No—we wouldn't even know where to begin with that sort of thing."
Hwang Dae-un had never engaged in lobbying in all his years running the company.
He'd barely done it domestically, and now they were telling him to go to France for it?
"Given the company's explosive short-term growth, I think it's become a necessary step now."
The larger a corporation grows, the more it inevitably faces opposition.
And when governments decide to crack down, they can make life absolutely suffocating.
The silver lining was that government officials always had their pockets open.
Fill them right, and what was once opposition becomes mere posturing before quietly backing off.
Then when the pockets lighten again, they harass corporations until they're filled once more.
Every government system operated that way.
The real problem was how to lobby French politicians when they hadn't even done it with domestic ones. They didn't even have connections to open those lines of communication.
"What about President Jeong? What's he doing?"
"Well... President Jeong Jin-ho is currently recalling all the funds that had been distributed."
"Recalling them?"
"President Jeong Jin-ho had access to 10 trillion won in the Prime Department's discretionary funds. He couldn't just let it sit idle, so he'd been investing it here and there in safe assets, but..."
"But?"
"He's ordered it all withdrawn."
A fleeting, dizzying thought flashed through Hwang Dae-un's mind.
"...Why?"
"We're not entirely sure yet. We're still in the process of recalling the funds, after all. But we've heard he's opening accounts in the French stock market."
"W-wait a minute. Surely he doesn't plan to pour the entire 10 trillion won into the French stock market all at once?"
At those words, the executives began murmuring among themselves.
No matter how much larger the French stock market was compared to Korea's—over twice the size—dumping 10 trillion won into it at once would be an act of sheer financial violence.
"Chairman Jeong has transcended the realm of investment prodigies to reach divine heights. Even he wouldn't make such an extreme choice."
"With sanctions coming down even for injecting 1 trillion won at once, do you really think he'd do that?"
Logically speaking, this made sense.
What financial regulator would stand idly by if some madman showed up throwing around 10 trillion won in their stock market?
"..."
But Hwang Dae-un realized the executives were overlooking one crucial fact.
France had just poked the whiskers of a sleeping lion.
＊＊＊
[With Brexit negotiations, the U.S.-China trade war, and the collapse of Japan's YCC policy, all global securities markets have frozen solid.]
I chewed my bread absentmindedly while reviewing research reports sent by the analysis team.
Though it was lunchtime, I had no leisure to visit the cafeteria for a proper meal.
Because the French situation demanded immediate action.
'Certainly all markets are unstable right now.'
This year is particularly worse than last.
Especially with the global ripple effects from Japan's YCC policy collapse.
"Chairman, we've just recalled all investment funds."
"Didn't everyone go out for lunch?"
"How could we dare... when you're working like this, Chairman? Ah—after recalling all funds and calculating, we've made approximately a 2% return."
2%.
2% of 10 trillion won is about 200 billion.
"Modest."
"Yes. 200 billion is substantial money, yet it feels strangely small. Being around you makes even 200 billion seem insignificant, haha."
Well, that's because profit wasn't the goal when deploying those funds.
But earning 2% in such a short timeframe was still meaningful.
"What's French public sentiment looking like now?"
"Still divided. Some support it, others oppose. Since the policy isn't implemented yet, many remain unaware."
"Analysis team predicts opposition will emerge, but the government will likely ignore it and push through. Most importantly, domestic elites have zero reason to oppose it, so government momentum will only grow stronger."
In other words, when the powerful consent, the powerless can only endure.
"But this policy... while targeting foreign corporations, it's terrible for French citizens. Why is everyone staying silent?"
"Section Chief, it's not as simple as you think. As I said, the powerful currently support this government. Anyone opposing would get crushed by force. And mass mobilization isn't easy either."
That's why this policy was progressing so smoothly.
Everyone opposed it in their hearts, but acting on it was dangerously difficult.
"Chairman, how much capital do you plan to inject after opening French accounts?"
Our current funds total 10 trillion.
An astronomical sum.
But I hadn't withdrawn it all to dump into French markets.
If my intuition's vision holds true, a major incident will soon erupt in France.
Meaning the French market will tremble, shaking all European markets, with tsunami effects spreading everywhere—in which case any investment would inevitably lose money, hence the withdrawal.
'Let's start with 1 trillion won.'
I wrote the amount down in my notebook.
But I didn't feel anything special.
Right. There's no way I'd be satisfied with just 1 trillion won.
'2 trillion?'
Still no reaction.
Last time, I played big with 2 trillion won, so this must feel too insignificant too.
'Then 3 trillion?'
...The problem was, there was still no reaction.
4 trillion, 5 trillion, 6 trillion, 7 trillion.
As the numbers climbed, my hands began to tremble involuntarily.
'Am I insane?'
How far was this going to go?
And then, I finally reached that amount.
'10 trillion.'
The moment I wrote down that number, an intense tremor violently shook my entire body.
"..."
Unable to believe it, I reached out to touch the number again.
"!?"
Then, as if struck by a taser, a powerful electric current jolted through me.
If I tried this one more time, it felt like I might genuinely pass out.
"...Let's go with 10 trillion won."
"Excuse me?!"
"Y-you mean all 10 trillion won?!"
But it seemed my team members were the ones about to faint first.
＊＊＊
Marcus, the founder and CEO of FaceWeb, hadn't been in a good mood lately.
The dedicated FaceWeb coin he had ambitiously prepared had faced fierce opposition from numerous governments, causing all partnered companies to withdraw and the coin project to be naturally scrapped.
Because of this, people were now saying this about Marcus:
'That bastard crawled under Gwangun's skirt.'
People claimed Marcus had deliberately orchestrated this to revive the collapsing Bitcoin prices.
That was what stung the most.
He never had any such intention.
Why would he personally step forward to do Gwangun a favor when he'd love nothing more than to tear them apart?
It was simply that the coin craze was at its peak, and he had wanted to use this opportunity to expand FaceWeb's versatility. It was a project he had meticulously prepared for quite a long time, but in the end, it only ended up benefiting Gwangun.
"And now France is pulling this shit too?"
Already bitter about that, French President Péron had suddenly started playing the role of a righteous crusader, cracking down on foreign companies.
"They're saying if we use tax havens, we have to pay five times the current tax rate?"
"Yes. Not just us—they're trying to impose excessive taxes on all foreign companies right now."
"What about the funds we funneled to their politicians?"
"Well... The current administration is exceptionally strong, and President Péron's power is at its peak. So it seems difficult to push back."
Already reeling from the double blow of a security breach and the coin debacle, FaceWeb was losing users to PicPic, and now France was poking at their nerves.
"What's the countermeasure? Are we just supposed to take the tax hit? Shouldn't our government step in at this point?"
"Well... The U.S. government is too busy fighting with China, and they've already dropped tariff bombs on Europe. This could be seen as France's retaliation."
In short, the damn government was useless.
What else was new?
It had always been like this.
That meant the only way out was to break through this situation himself.
"So you're saying we should just pay the taxes quietly?"
"If we push forward like this, we might have no choice. But... there are a few posts and videos circulating on social media lately."
"What kind?"
"Posts and videos capturing the voices of citizens opposing this policy. Especially videos strongly criticizing Péron as the president of the rich—they've been trending recently."
Hearing that, Marcus's brow twitched.
"They're showing up on PicPic too?"
"Yes. Short videos calling for collective action keep getting uploaded. Some are even making it to the trending section."
"In France?"
"Yes."
"Is there any possibility that PicPic is intentionally pushing those videos to be shown more frequently?"
"...I wouldn't say it's entirely impossible."
That's when Marcus got an idea.
"You mentioned similar videos and posts are appearing on our platforms too?"
"Yes. It seems the people uploading to PicPic are also posting on FaceWeb and NewTube."
Then a sudden thought struck him.
Is Gwangun thinking the same thing I am right now?
Could this be the signal?
What makes social media so terrifying?
Its power to make disconnected people empathize with each other and unite as one.
While it can be used merely as a tool for dopamine hits, what if major social media companies band together for a single purpose in a situation like this?
"From now on, boost exposure for every post opposing this policy."
"Every single one?"
"Yes. And not just in France—make sure people worldwide can see them. And if no one's posting, our company can create the videos and articles ourselves, right? Make them as provocative as possible about how this policy only benefits the wealthy, then spread them far and wide."
He didn't know for certain whether PicPic was deliberately curating and promoting those specific videos, but if Gwangun was as meticulous as he thought, they'd undoubtedly be leveraging their influence to the fullest.
'Just this once, Gwangun.'
He never imagined the day would come when he'd join hands with those bastards.
Strangely enough, the thought of being on the same team as Gwangun made him feel more secure than anything else.
＊＊＊
President Péron thought everything was going smoothly.
Having campaigned on centrist politics and enjoyed overwhelming public support, he'd successfully completed his first year in office with high approval ratings.
So he'd assumed people would accept his policies favorably.
But perhaps that assumption was arrogance.
Or...maybe someone was interfering.
"300,000 people?!"
"Yes. It's called the Yellow Vest protest movement. People opposing both the fuel tax hike and the tax cuts for the wealthy have gathered in the streets for massive demonstrations."
Any policy inevitably faces opposition.
This particular policy was especially sensitive since it included both tax cuts for the wealthy and a fuel tax increase. So he'd deliberately diverted attention elsewhere—to foreign corporations.
The strategy had always worked before: frame them as predators exploiting France, let people vent their anger and hatred toward them, then push the policy through while they were distracted.
But not this time.
"How could so many people mobilize at once?"
"Social media."
"Social media?"
"Yes. It's as if they made some coordinated plan. Right now if you open PicPic, FaceWeb or NewTube, all you see are posts and videos about the Yellow Vest movement."
What did it mean when videos like these appeared simultaneously across the three major social media platforms?
The voice of the people?
No.
Those bastards had manipulated people to make it seem like the people's voice.
"Those...those bastards!"
Péron's normally gentle, refined face twisted violently.
It was clear—these rival corporations who'd been too busy competing had now joined forces.
"Insolent wretches. This is a direct challenge to our administration!"
"This isn't the time to worry about them. You know what happens once protests start in our country."
There's a stereotype that France is a nation where protests break out at the drop of a hat.
And it's true.
Once protests begin here, setting things on fire is practically a national tradition.
The problem was that while 300 protestors could cause chaos, this was 300,000 people.
"Already countless shops are being looted, buildings set ablaze—the damage is escalating uncontrollably."
Just watching the news footage made the severity of the situation clear.
Yellow-vested rioters were turning the streets upside down.
Yet he couldn't even call them savages.
Because this nation was built on the fires and violence of angry mobs like these.