The Guillotine Turns on Its Master
Daeseong Securities, main conference room.
Under normal circumstances, the air in this room should have crackled with tension — but today it carried something strange, something almost unplaceable.
"……"
Seated at the head of the table, CEO Kwon Junyong closed the document in front of him.
"I imagine everyone here already knows why I've called this executive meeting on such short notice. It concerns the disciplinary committee paperwork submitted by Managing Director Park."
Across from him, Managing Director Park was drowning in sweat under a dreadful pressure that felt like his tie slowly strangling him.
Barely a few hours ago, that document had been a flawless guillotine — one built to sever every neck in Geum Gaho's line, clean through.
The pretext of the Rare Earth DLS investment failure had been the perfect weapon, one that no one in the room could have refuted.
But the head rolling onto that guillotine's block was not going to be Geum Gaho's.
It was going to be Managing Director Park's own.
"Managing Director Park. You know better than anyone that in Yeouido, time is money. That's why I don't call meetings without good reason. If I've gone so far as to convene a disciplinary committee, surely there must be justification. Go ahead. Brief us."
"……"
Park swallowed dryly and rose from his seat.
"My apologies for the inconvenience to everyone. This disciplinary committee is entirely my own mistake. So I propose that we treat this agenda item as… "
"As if it never happened? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes… I'm sorry. To everyone."
His voice shriveled to nothing as he bowed his head.
But unfortunately for him, Kwon Junyong showed no intention of letting the matter slide.
"Then allow me to give the briefing in your place. You called for this disciplinary committee because of the Rare Earth DLS. Everyone here knows how complex the products handled by Delta One can be. But this particular product was structured so that anyone with even a basic grasp of finance could see, at a glance, that Daeseong Securities was guaranteed to suffer massive losses."
The executives knew about the Rare Earth DLS affair, too.
They had ears to hear and eyes to see, after all.
"Managing Director Park pushed a matter of enormous consequence — one where a single misstep could vaporize hundreds of billions of won — straight up to headquarters without so much as a discussion with me or any of the executives in this room. And headquarters approved it directly."
"……"
"That alone constitutes a gross overstep of authority. Yes, headquarters gave direct approval — but is it remotely acceptable to submit an investment proposal to headquarters without the authorization of me, your CEO? And then, as if that weren't enough, Managing Director Park placed all responsibility on exactly two people: a Team Leader and a Deputy. And at the same time, he prepared the disciplinary paperwork to bury them."
Park had been struck dumb, as if someone had stuffed his mouth with honey.
Because every single word being laid out was one hundred percent accurate.
"Isn't this shameless, even for you? It reads as nothing more than a scheme to snare a specific individual in a trap."
"Th-that's a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
"Headquarters gave its direct approval because of the track record Deputy Kang Suho has built. That's precisely why I deliberately designated only Team Leader Song and Deputy Kang as responsible parties — to credit them alone with the achievement."
"So everything is truly just a misunderstanding? Going over our heads to get direct approval from headquarters — and preparing disciplinary documents this meticulously on top of it?"
"Th-that's correct."
BANG—!
Kwon Junyong slammed his fist down on the table.
Coming from a man who so rarely showed emotion, the blow startled the executives so badly that they flinched in their seats.
"Managing Director Park. Enough with the word games. Everyone in this room knows. They know that you deliberately set that trap to bury Deputy Kang Suho."
"A-a trap? Absurd! And besides — didn't the Rare Earth DLS investment deliver staggering results?!"
"Yes. It's posting an absolutely insane rate of return. Though that hardly came from your generosity, did it?"
"Had I not gotten it approved, that return would never have been possible."
"And yet only two names are listed as responsible parties on the DLS paperwork. Yours appears nowhere in it, does it?"
"That's… "
In the end, all that remained was the document, wasn't it?
Who took the blame if the investment failed — and who received the reward if it succeeded.
Only two names were written there.
Which was why the disciplinary committee had been convened: to hold those two accountable.
"If you intend to keep denying it, then I have no choice left. As of today, Managing Director Park, you are no longer an executive of this Daeseong Securities."
"…I'm sorry?"
"I'm firing you. On my own authority."
"Y-you can't do that! Headquarters will never allow it! This is… "
"An overstep, you say? Then let me try my hand at this overstepping you're so fond of. And frankly, I doubt anyone at headquarters will blame me for throwing you out. Why don't you step outside and make a call to find out?"
"……"
Park knew it too.
He knew that the Rare Earth DLS hadn't boxed in Geum Gaho and Kang Suho at all — it had widened their position instead.
Headquarters, which had trusted Park as if he were carved from iron, had been slapped across the back of the head.
How vast their fury must be.
"It's better that I dismiss you myself, Managing Director Park. Before a direct order comes down from headquarters."
"……"
"So stop making a scene and leave."
Head hanging low, Park shuffled out of the conference room.
The executives, having just watched a man's career evaporate in real time, found themselves unable to speak easily.
"Now, then. About the Rare Earth DLS."
As though he had already forgotten the man who'd just left, Kwon Junyong reopened the documents.
"What are our current profits?"
Someone answered.
"Ninety billion won."
"……!"
Low gasps escaped from every corner of the table.
"And that's the minimum estimate at this point, I take it?"
"Yes. There's a strong possibility it will climb further. Position unwinding is still in progress as we speak. We're projecting returns of one hundred fifty billion won. It could go even higher."
A hollow laugh slipped out of Kwon Junyong.
No one could say how far rare earth prices would climb, but they were already sitting on an enormous windfall.
And all of it thanks to a single man.
"The brokerages that bought this product from us are the ones who ultimately have to pay up. Can they even absorb it?"
"Fortunately, the firms involved are all well-capitalized, so there shouldn't be any solvency issues."
This product had been a zero-sum game from the start.
Of the two sides, one was always going to pay a staggering price.
The problem was that, statistically, the normal outcome would have been Daeseong bleeding out and collapsing under catastrophic losses. Instead, the tables had turned completely.
"Right about now, the fires are licking at everyone's heels over there. They're about to owe us a fortune, after all."
A bloodbath was likely underway at those firms even now.
"You know, sir — forgive my boldness, but this Kang Suho fellow. Frankly, he frightens me a little. From the Research Center all the way to Delta One now. Isn't he posting enormous profits in every single department he touches?"
"He is. Where on earth did Director Geum find this monster…?"
The executives clicked their tongues.
They had seen plenty of prodigies soar through Yeouido in their time, but never anyone like this.
Pinpoint market prediction, plus the meticulousness to flip that conniving Managing Director Park's own trap against him. As someone had put it, his skill went beyond genius — it was monstrous.
"Well, the boy's talent is one thing, but none of it would've been possible without Director Geum backing him, wouldn't you say?"
Director Geum's backing, is it.
Kwon Junyong shook his head.
There had been a time when he'd served as the man's right hand, attending him from the closest seat of all.
'But this isn't his style.'
This investment had been meticulous, strategic, airtight.
Engineered — chillingly, perfectly — to humiliate Managing Director Park and the headquarters backing him.
Director Geum would never have done it this way.
His style wasn't careful design; it was the bulldozer approach — raw, unstoppable momentum.
'Which means every bit of it, from start to finish, was that Kang Suho fellow's own work…'
By now, Kwon Junyong's curiosity had sharpened into genuine fascination.
Where in the world had Director Geum found a genius strategist like Kang Suho?
"Mr. CEO. At this point, I'd say we're more than justified in calling Deputy Kang Suho an All-Rounder. Show me another place in the country where he isn't proving it himself, right now?"
"Agreed. It's time we started settling him into a permanent department, so… "
The executives, as if they'd only been waiting for the opening, raised their voices at once.
"Then obviously he belongs in our Trading Division."
"Please. He should come to the Research Center. What's this about Trading?"
"Does research make money? He comes to Trading, that's where the real profits are."
"Research is the very compass that steers a securities firm! That simplistic thinking of yours… !"
"He should just stay in Delta One! He's producing the highest returns in company history!"
"What about our Bond Division? We haven't even had a taste!"
Every last one of them was desperate to claim Kang Suho for their own department.
The once-sedate conference room had, at some point, transformed into a market floor.
"Kang Suho! Kang Suho! Kang Suho!"
"……"
Was this really the Delta One office I knew?
The people here were, well… how should I put it.
Robots parked in front of their monitors, more or less — barely a word of conversation, everyone mechanically hammering away at their keyboards.
But today was a completely different animal.
It was as if they'd had an alarm program surgically implanted in their bodies — every few minutes they'd abruptly spring to their feet and chant my name at the top of their lungs.
"C-could you all maybe cut it out now…?"
"Not a chance. The party's just getting started."
"He's right. We must worship Deputy Kang."
I had no idea these people were capable of this much energy.
Honestly, I'd often wondered whether they were machines that had transformed into humans, and not the other way around.
"Cut him some slack. Even the people here have never seen results this big, so it's only natural. Barely a few days ago, these same folks were worrying the whole team was about to be fed into a wood chipper. They've been dragged from hell to heaven and back — of course they've lost their minds a little."
"Fair enough."
"Plus, thanks to Deputy Kang, we're all getting a massive incentive payout, right?"
That was the one genuinely great thing about working at a securities firm.
Deliver results, and the money always finds its way back to you as incentive pay.
"We're getting ours too, right?"
"Of course. All thanks to Managing Director Park… no, wait. He got fired, so he's just an ordinary civilian now. Anyway, thanks to that gentleman writing only the two of our names into the paperwork, we're set to receive the largest incentive payout on the books."
I'd heard roughly how big the returns on this investment were.
But incentive calculations differed from department to department, so all I had was a vague hope that it might come out to around 700 million won, like last time.
Seven hundred million.
Mmm~.
I could already smell it, sweet and warm.
It would be tight, sure, but at that amount I figured I could set my sister up with the café she'd always dreamed of, right next to Mom's diner.
"Honestly, with a rate of return like this, the payout will probably be at least 5 billion won."
"…?"
For a moment, I doubted my own ears.
"Not that money means much to you anymore, Deputy Kang. And… this whole business settled something for me, once and for all. Whatever Deputy Kang does from now on — whatever he plans — I'm giving him my unconditional support. Even if the investment proposal sounds completely insane, I will never, ever doubt it… "
No offense to Team Leader Song, but not a single word after that actually reached my ears.
The instant I heard the number 5 billion, my mind had already left the building entirely.
'Really…? Five billion won?'
…Then forget a café — couldn't I just buy an entire building?
There, standing in front of Team Leader Song, I froze solid.