Private Audience
Looking at Kang Jung-gil, Im Seong-woo could scarcely believe what he was seeing.
The pressure he was applying now was the same force that had crushed Jeon Dok-jin. Kang Jung-gil was no Awakener, yet he was stronger than Jeon Dok-jin — so pinning him down this thoroughly should not have been easy. Still, Im Seong-woo had been certain he could at least apply real pressure.
More than that, he could control his Psychic Energy with far finer precision than he had a year ago. Back then, releasing this much force to crush an opponent would have sent the energy blasting outward beyond his intent. That was no longer the case. If he wished, he could confine the pressure strictly within this room. As a result, no one outside would enter — because no one outside could feel a thing.
Which meant that even though this was the same pressure that had flattened Jeon Dok-jin, he was concentrating it even more tightly on Kang Jung-gil than he had then.
And yet.
The man was smoking as if he hadn't a care in the world. As if nothing happening to him was worth the slightest attention. He calmly tapped the ash from his spent cigarette into the ashtray.
"Managing Director, spare yourself the pointless theatrics. Pressure like that will neither make me yield nor put me under any real strain."
This man…
Im Seong-woo regarded Kang Jung-gil with eyes that had grown outwardly calmer. His interior was anything but. The more composed he appeared on the surface, the more it was a mask for the disquiet underneath. That was exactly where he stood now.
If this level of force failed to press him, Im Seong-woo could simply pour out more. But look at the man. Smoking in perfect ease. Which meant he was under no pressure even now — which in turn meant that no matter how much more power Im Seong-woo threw at him, he would be fully capable of answering it.
Im Seong-woo reined his energy back in.
"If you want a match, we can have one."
Kang Jung-gil ground the cigarette butt out in the ashtray.
"If the Managing Director wishes it, I'll oblige. However…"
His expression hardened.
"If you fight me, one of us will not be able to guarantee his life."
In that instant, a cold chill ran down Im Seong-woo's spine.
I… tensed up?
And the fact that he had tensed at all hit him with a second shock.
Even before he became an Awakener, Im Seong-woo had been a crown prince. Being the heir to one of the ten great conglomerates was a station no different from a prince looking down upon the people. Everyone had scrambled to curry favor and bowed their heads before him. Now it was worse still — he possessed the overwhelming ability and power of an Awakener. Some called him arrogant and haughty for it. Im Seong-woo never saw it that way. The heir to a conglomerate stood higher than the nobles and yangban of old. Just as a noble looked down on commoners, looking down on the people was only natural.
He had already investigated Kang Jung-gil thoroughly — the life the man had lived, the family he came from. The result: a man of the lowest class, whose father had been a gambling addict who turned to drugs and finally took his own life. Until the year before last, Kang Jung-gil had been scraping by in a goshiwon. Then, in a single stroke, he had reversed his fortunes, become the heir of the Joongang-hoe, cut a spectacular path, and risen to his present position. Even so, his origins were the bottom of the bottom among commoners.
An ordinary human who stood on equal footing with Awakeners. No — an Absolute who looked down on Awakeners. That was the assessment and the standing of Kang Jung-gil.
Im Seong-woo had not liked it. So he had prepared for a full year, and when the fruit was ripe he had used the Monster Holes as a pretext to step forward and remake the order.
In America, in Europe, across the entire world, the age of Awakeners had arrived. No power broker or politician could exclude them or ignore their wishes. The claim that America's three Skies were deeply entangled with the U.S. government was not empty talk, and it was no coincidence that China's one-party socialist regime went out of its way to accommodate Awakeners and guarantee them discretionary rights over Monster Holes. The age of the strong had come. And just as with Jon Davis, whom Japan had announced, Im Seong-woo knew that Yamanatsu Keichiro — the newly appointed chairman of the Yamatsu Group who had likewise reached the realm of the divine — wielded enormous influence over the Japanese government.
With Awakeners beginning to stand at the center of the world, Im Seong-woo believed South Korea should be no different. He believed he himself should stand at that center and lead. Today was supposed to be the starting point.
In the end, Kang Jung-gil was an ordinary human. He might have seized strength beyond a certain level, but that was by the standard of ordinary Awakeners. A Sky who looked down on Awakeners was different. Kang Jung-gil, too, ought to be looking up at the Sky.
In this moment, however, Im Seong-woo revised his thinking.
Perhaps… he is stronger than I imagined.
He did not believe the man was stronger than himself. But those words were the kind only someone with the skill to back them up could speak. And if they clashed as things stood — even if Im Seong-woo won — the external situation would not be favorable.
"What does the Managing Director think?"
Kang Jung-gil asked it almost amiably, as if inquiring whether Im Seong-woo was game for a round — the bloodthirst of the content utterly at odds with the tone.
"I… came to talk. Not to brawl like some brute."
"I thought as much."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Im Seong-woo asked, his face stiff.
"It means that as the heir to one of the ten major groups representing this country, that is naturally the answer befitting your station."
Depending on how one heard it, it could have been respect — or a deliberate dig. Either way, Im Seong-woo was not pleased. And what truly displeased him was not the answer itself, but the fact that the situation was not flowing as he intended. This had never happened to him before.
"I'm well aware that discontent is running high among the Awakeners," Kang Jung-gil said, leaning back comfortably and crossing his legs. "I also know that the Awakeners cheering your moves so passionately are not limited to the guilds under the Cheonseong Guild's line."
"Does that mean you're willing to negotiate in a favorable direction?"
"Rather than a negotiation, allow me to make a proposal."
"A proposal…?"
"I'll release half."
"?!"
"Regardless of the number that appear, we'll divide them alternately — one for the National Safety Group, one for the private sector."
The longer the conversation had gone on, the more Im Seong-woo had felt things slipping out of his control. And now this. Kang Jung-gil had made an extraordinary offer. Half. And if the method was to alternate one by one, it was a remarkably bold proposal indeed.
Some time later, both sides' people returned and took their seats, and the two men relayed the result of their private audience. At those words, Jeon Dok-jin and Jeong In-su were badly shaken, while Park Chang-jun, Seo Gang-jae, and Lee Seok-pil were privately delighted. Even at half, from the National Safety Group's perspective this was a considerable concession.
Kang Jung-gil instructed over the intercom that a press conference be prepared in ten minutes, and that he would stand at the front with Managing Director Im Seong-woo.
"I don't understand this."
Once Im Seong-woo, Park Chang-jun, Seo Gang-jae, and Lee Seok-pil had left and only their own side remained, Jeon Dok-jin pressed him almost accusingly.
"Even if they came fully prepared, a concession of about a third would have been the realistic expectation. And yet you're giving up a full fifty percent? I cannot understand the Director's concession."
Jeon Dok-jin looked as though his pride had been deeply wounded.
"Deputy Director, are you unhappy that I made a concession?"
"I am."
"Heh heh heh…"
Kang Jung-gil laughed softly under his breath.
"In ten minutes, when the announcement is made, the Awakeners will pour enthusiastic support onto Im Seong-woo — and that makes you laugh?"
A concession of half would build formidable prestige for Im Seong-woo.
"I suspect you have something in mind…"
Administrative Director Jeong In-su spoke up then.
"What do you mean by that?"
Jeon Dok-jin asked, puzzled.
"The Director I know is not a man who would simply hand over a share out of pure generosity."
"Which is exactly why I don't understand it either."
"Can you tell us the reason?"
Both men looked at Kang Jung-gil. But Kang Jung-gil only smiled and gave no answer.
"This is an extraordinary achievement!"
Once the four men had been shown into the VIP lounge and fresh cups of coffee set before them, Park Chang-jun exclaimed in admiration as the attendants withdrew.
"Just as the Deputy Director said — a truly extraordinary achievement!"
"As expected of the Managing Director…!"
Seo Gang-jae and Lee Seok-pil likewise heaped praise on Managing Director Im Seong-woo for securing a concession of half.
Something's off…
But Managing Director Im Seong-woo could not shake a lingering unease. The Kang Jung-gil he had actually met was more dangerous than he had imagined. And reading what the man was thinking inside was no easy task. Above all, he had smoked in perfect composure under Im Seong-woo's own killing pressure. At the very least, even if he was not on Im Seong-woo's level, he was clearly strong enough to have earned the renown of the Absolute.
"With this announcement, the Managing Director's name will resound across the entire country…!"
Having already made a verbal misstep earlier, Seo Gang-jae could not help but be overjoyed at the outcome of the negotiation.
And so the three of them spent the ten minutes in high spirits, while Im Seong-woo sat with that uneasy feeling still gnawing at him — until at last a secretary guided them toward the press conference hall. Reporters were already arrayed and holding their positions. When they entered the waiting room, Kang Jung-gil was already there.
"Shall we go out together?"
At Kang Jung-gil's courteous invitation, the two of them stepped out side by side into the conference hall. Flashbulbs erupted. With every eye fixed upon them, they took their places at the front where the live cameras were rolling.
"An important discussion took place today. And regarding the result of that discussion, I stand here together with Managing Director Im Seong-woo to announce it."
With the full weight of attention upon him, Kang Jung-gil opened his mouth.
"Going forward, we have decided to transfer fifty percent of all Monster Holes — fully half — to the private sector."
"They're transferring them to the private sector?!"
"Is that true?!"
"I can't believe it…!"
Astonished cries burst out from every direction.
"As for the method…"
Because Monster Holes did not appear in even numbers, he explained, they would rotate in an alternating fashion — one turn each. The further the explanation went, the more the watching reporters and officials alike looked thoroughly stunned. Im Seong-woo was among them.
So it was needless worry after all.
He wondered whether the unease he had felt had simply been the dissonance of seeing the man's true face. But Kang Jung-gil was not finished.
"…And so. The rights to half of all Monster Holes will be transferred to the Cheonseong Guild."
"Th-the Cheonseong Guild?!"
"Then half the rights to the Monster Holes are going to Cheonseong?!"
"This is enormous!"
Not only the reporters — Park Chang-jun, Seo Gang-jae, and Lee Seok-pil, watching from the side, looked just as shocked. Amid the general amazement, only one person reacted differently.
Im Seong-woo's face went rigid.