Chapter 43
Chapter 43
The KCTC Scientific Training Unit was established to improve combat capability through real combat style training and is located in Inje, Gangwon Province.
Anyone who has gone through that training even once trembles at the memory and refuses to go anywhere near Inje again.
The training is that physically exhausting and grueling.
On top of that, trainees spend an entire week being mercilessly crushed by the opposing force that plays the role of the enemy.
It shatters not only the body but the mind as well.
But in the history of the training unit, there was one extraordinary incident.
The opposing force that usually shattered the trainees’ morale with pride was once completely destroyed by a communications company.
Not an infantry rifle company.
A communications company.
And it had been led by a female company commander.
Because of that, there was even a rumor that the opposing force’s company commander refused to eat or drink for a week.
With tactics surpassing Zhuge Liang and flawless command of her unit, she used the combat strength of a communications company to overpower an opposing rifle company.
And when she was the last one left alive, she refused to give up and wiped out an entire platoon of the opposing force by herself.
It was legendary.
That very Kim Yuri was now tracking the hidden force behind Goguryeo Ayeon.
Her persistence was frightening.
She began by contacting all of her domestic and international personnel.
Then she reached out to people working in the financial world, friends from elementary school, middle school, high school, and university, seniors and juniors, and even acquaintances from wealthy conglomerate families.
She asked them relentlessly.
Among them were a few friends and acquaintances who worked at Goguryeo Ayeon.
Through them she was able to gather information.
After compiling everything, the hidden force was identified as KYG Capital.
She also discovered that employees from KYG Capital were working out of a suite room in the Imperial Hotel.
To learn more about the opponent, she went to the hotel herself.
And there she met someone she never expected.
Imperial Hotel suite room.
Kim Yugeon and his subordinates were gathering shares of Goguryeo Ayeon.
After the media articles painted Youngpo and Mirae Securities as immoral forces, securing shares became much easier.
Because of that, they currently held a one percent advantage over the Youngpo and Mirae Securities alliance.
At this rate, they could seize Goguryeo Ayeon.
Victory was right in front of him.
As the long awaited victory approached, Kim Yugeon’s heart beat faster.
He would be able to crush Kim Deoksu, the thorn in his side, and earn recognition from Chairman Seong Jeongui.
“Director, the stock market has closed. We secured fifty thousand shares today.”
“Good work. I’m going to work out for a bit, so you guys take a break too.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Yugeon left the room and walked down the hallway toward the elevator.
A moment later the elevator door opened with a soft alarm.
“Uh…”
There was a face inside he did not expect.
It was his younger sister Yuri.
“Oppa!”
“Kim Yuri, what are you doing here?”
“What about you? Were you just coming from the suite room?”
“Su… suite room? What are you talking about?”
Kim Yugeon stammered like someone whose secret had just been exposed, then suddenly snapped.
Kim Yuri saw that reaction and immediately sensed that her brother was a key figure connected to KYG Capital.
She asked again.
“Are you the one behind Goguryeo Ayeon?”
“What do you mean behind it? I’m busy, so I’m leaving.”
Without answering, Kim Yugeon hurried into the elevator.
Watching the closing doors, Yuri became certain that her intuition was correct.
The person responsible for executing this operation was her own older brother, Kim Yugeon.
He was currently a director at Soft Investment.
There was no way he could carry out something like this independently.
He also did not have the hundreds of billions of won needed.
That meant the real power behind him was Soft Investment’s Seong Jeongui.
That part was easy to deduce.
But a question arose.
Why is Seong Jeongui handling things in such a complicated way?
She tried to think through it, but she could not find the answer.
Right now, finding the answer was less urgent than informing Deoksu.
She took out her phone.
“I closed my Mirae Securities account.”
“I shorted Youngpo.”
“Let Youngpo collapse. And Mirae Securities too.”
“No, let the entire Mirae Group collapse.”
After looking at the news and internet comments, I sighed without realizing it.
There were endless negative articles and malicious comments about Youngpo and Mirae Securities.
In a hostile takeover, something just as important as money is public opinion.
You might have the financial power to acquire a company, but if public opposition grows strong enough, everything can collapse.
Ridiculously, that was exactly the situation I was facing.
Before the flood of negative articles, we held about a one percent lead in shares.
But after public opinion turned against us, the Goguryeo Ayeon side absorbed shares from minority shareholders and reversed the situation.
According to the TF team’s analysis, Goguryeo Ayeon now held a one percent advantage.
We had to reverse the situation.
To do that, we needed solid evidence that could turn public opinion around.
We had to reveal the hidden forces behind Goguryeo Ayeon and secure proof that they were manipulating public opinion.
Only then could we flip the narrative.
But it was not easy.
Yuri had not even come to work.
She was tracking the hidden force.
She was gathering information through every connection she had.
Our team members were doing the same.
They were searching not only the internet but also contacting people from elementary school, middle school, high school, university, graduate school, religious communities, relatives, and even distant in laws.
But nothing was coming up.
“Team leader, this is very strange. These people don’t seem ordinary.”
Assistant Manager Choi Choongsik said.
“I know. With this much effort, something should have appeared by now.”
“I’ve been in Yeouido for over ten years. I asked every trader, analyst, angel investor, and asset management employee I know, but I couldn’t find even a trace.”
“What exactly are they trying to do… They must be planning something shady. And they might not just want to be financial investors in Goguryeo Ayeon. Otherwise, there would be no reason to hide their identity this thoroughly.”
The assistant manager nodded at my words.
“Could they be a capitalless M&A group like Na Uiri’s organization or stock manipulators?”
I shook my head.
“For something like that, Goguryeo Ayeon is too big. Corporate raiders usually target small companies with market caps under one hundred billion.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
“Then maybe something like the Triads, Yakuza, or the Mafia…”
At that moment something struck my mind.
Until now I had only assumed it was a domestic force.
But that might not be true.
It could be a global force.
Not a crime syndicate, but something even more ruthless.
A hedge fund or vulture fund.
Right now they might be pretending to be financial investors behind Goguryeo Ayeon, but in the end they might be planning to seize the company.
Otherwise there was no reason to hide their identity so thoroughly.
“Team leader?”
Assistant Manager Choi pulled me out of my thoughts.
“Ah. I suddenly thought the group we’re chasing might not be domestic.”
“If that’s true, this is no ordinary matter. Goguryeo Ayeon supplies minerals that are extremely important for advanced industries like semiconductors and secondary batteries. If that falls into foreign hands, it could threaten industrial security.”
“You’re right.”
Just then my phone rang.
It was the call I had been waiting for.
“Director, how did it go?”
“I found it.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am? I’m the Smiling Wolf. Once something gets caught by me, it can’t escape. I’m heading there now, so wait.”
“Yes.”
Twenty minutes later the director entered the office.
She gathered everyone with the rank of assistant manager or higher into her office.
Although he was not at that rank, Manager Kim Yuseong was also told to attend.
“I’ll explain what I found.”
She began briefing us about the hidden forces behind Goguryeo Ayeon.
“A special purpose entity called KYG Capital is funding Goguryeo Ayeon. And the major shareholder of that entity appears to be Soft Investment.”
“Team leader mentioned something similar earlier. He said it might be a global force. Soft Investment is definitely global.”
“Soft Investment? Do we have proof?”
Manager Kim Yuseong asked.
“One of the directors of Soft Investment was the CEO of KYG Capital.”
“KYG Capital? KYG… could it be? That director…”
The director quickly cut off Kim Yuseong’s words.
“Right now who that person is isn’t important. The connection with Soft Investment isn’t the key point either. What matters is that KYG Capital is manipulating public opinion.”
“Then the reporters must have been bought by them.”
“We need to expose that…”
At that moment someone came to mind.
I turned to Assistant Manager Seok Dongmin.
“Wouldn’t that crazy prosecutor like a source like this?”
“Ah! He’ll go crazy over this. And he said he wanted to repay the favor. I’ll contact him right away.”
“Please do.”
“Yes, team leader. I’ll tell him immediately.”
Seok Dongmin stood up and left the room.
“Prosecutor Kang, it’s me.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’ve got something good for you. You know about the management dispute between Goguryeo Ayeon and Youngpo, right?”
“Yeah. Your company’s involved in it and getting a lot of criticism.”
“The truth is, it’s manipulated. The reporters are being paid to write those articles.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Remember you said there was a benefactor using a Mirae Securities account who helped catch criminals?”
“Of course. That person helped avenge my parents. If I ever meet them, I’d kneel and bow.”
“That person is in trouble because of this acquisition battle.”
“Really?”
Seok Dongmin explained everything he knew.
After hearing it all, Prosecutor Kang Cheolho spoke.
“How should I help? Just say it. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Seok Dongmin told him the most urgent help they needed.
Inside a small blood sausage soup restaurant in Jongno.
Several reporters and one prosecutor sat together eating.
The prosecutor said nothing.
He simply ate his soup.
Occasionally he crunched loudly on a cube of red radish kimchi while glaring at the reporters.
Whenever their eyes met his, they quickly looked away.
After a long silence, one reporter who was older and whose pride was hurt spoke.
“Prosecutor Kang, if you called us here, you should say something. This is uncomfortable.”
Kang Cheolho replied.
“If you write articles, you should at least provide evidence. Writing things without proof makes people uncomfortable.”
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying we fabricated stories?”
Kang Cheolho smirked.
“KYG Capital.”
Instantly the reporters’ faces turned pale.
“Wh… what is that?”
They pretended not to know.
“Hah. Don’t you know what all of you here have in common? Or should we continue this conversation at the investigation room? There are investigators waiting outside.”
“N… no, what do you mean, Prosecutor?”
“I know you’ve eaten plenty over the years. You all know I’m the crazy one at the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, right? Even the chief prosecutor can’t control me.”
…
The reporters’ hands trembled.
They knew his reputation well.
Money and power did not work on him.
If that crazy man caught you, it was over.
One reporter who had taken bribes before had been stripped bare by Kang Cheolho and sentenced to five years in prison with a three hundred million won penalty.
“Recently, when I crushed Na Uiri’s organization, I received help from a benefactor using a Mirae Securities account. That person is having a hard time lately because of Goguryeo Ayeon.”
“Why bring that up now…”
Clang.
Kang Cheolho slammed his spoon down on the table.
The reporters flinched.
“Figure it out yourselves. Honestly, I want to drag all of you to the investigation room and run you through the grinder. But something else is more important right now, so I’m holding back.”
…
“Write your articles properly. You all know what writing properly means, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Act wisely.”
After saying that, Kang Cheolho left the room.
4:30 in the morning.
I woke up to the sound of the alarm.
Recently the Goguryeo Ayeon issue had been very stressful.
I had not been sleeping well either.
My body felt heavy, but I immediately got out of bed.
At times like this, light exercise was better.
After sweating a lot, I always felt refreshed.
I changed into my training clothes and went outside.
The sky was still dark.
After some simple stretching, I started running toward the company.
I cleared my mind and focused only on my breathing and running.
When your mind is empty, better ideas appear.
After running for an hour, I arrived at the company.
I washed the sweat from my body and went up to the office.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
Many team members were already there.
Seok Dongmin spoke to me.
“Team leader, the tone of the articles about Youngpo and Mirae Securities has changed.”
“Really?”
He handed me a report summarizing the media coverage.
The tone was completely different from a few days ago.
Before, we were portrayed as corporate raiders chasing money.
Now we were described as financial investors.
“Public opinion is changing too.”
“That’s great. Did you do this, Assistant Manager Seok?”
“I didn’t. That crazy prosecutor did it.”
“He’s really capable. This was exactly what we needed.”
“Exactly. With the shareholders meeting approaching, creating favorable public opinion is critical.”
“Good work.”
I took out my phone and called Chairman Jang Sugi.
“Chairman, this is Kim Deoksu.”
“Ah, I was just about to call you. The tone of the articles has changed. How did you manage this? Do you know how difficult that is? You’re really impressive.”
“It wasn’t me. It was my team.”
“Creating an environment where your team can show their abilities is also a skill. You’re truly remarkable.”
“That’s not true.”
“Nonsense. Anyway, public opinion is solved. What’s the next step?”
“We need to launch a tender offer.”
“A tender offer… Then the problem is funding.”
In the end it came down to money.
How could we overcome Choi Beomsu’s massive financial power?
For a moment I even thought about putting in my own money.
I had more than two hundred billion won in my account.
But that was the last resort.
We had to bring in another investor.
Someone trustworthy.
I thought carefully.
Was there anyone I knew who could invest?
At that moment I saw the business card case sitting in front of my monitor.
I opened it and flipped through the cards one by one.
Chairman Jang Sugi of Youngpo.
Choi Beomsu of Goguryeo Ayeon.
President Yoon Jeongmin of Samjin Semichem.
Aton Partners.
Many business cards from people I had met.
Then a thought occurred to me.
When we selected TF team applicants before, I could smell scents from their applications.
That meant the card that could help me would give off a scent.
I flipped through the cards one by one while imagining asking them for financial support.
When I imagined asking President Yoon Jeongmin of Samjin Semichem, I smelled a refreshing herbal scent.
It felt like a scent that could solve the suffocating situation we were in.
Next I imagined another card.
Aton Partners.
I smelled another scent.
It was one I had never smelled before.
A woody scent like something coming from a massive tree hidden deep inside a forest.
It felt secretive, but not unpleasant.
It felt like a dependable source of strength.
What does this new scent mean?
For now, I decided to call President Yoon Jeongmin of Samjin Semichem