Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Savior Pulse
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“Let me meet the VIP just once!! Didn't I say I can explain everything?!”
“The VIP has clearly stated he has no intention of meeting with the chairman. Just accept it quietly.”
Bang!
A man closer to old age than middle-aged slammed his fist on the desk.
“Do you know who I am? I'm Kim Hyun-woo! Kim Hyun-woo of Daewoo Group, the fifth-largest conglomerate in Korean business! How dare you insolent fools...!”
“If you keep this up, we'll have no choice but to proceed according to procedure. Chairman—no, I suppose I should call you Mr. Kim Hyun-woo now.”
“What?”
Kim Hyun-woo was too flustered to continue.
Just a month ago, this very man in front of him had casually asked if everything was okay and suggested they play a round of golf soon.
Central Investigation Department Chief An Sung-yoon of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
The Special Division was known even within the Prosecutors' Office as a gathering of the absolute elite—a direct path to Prosecutor General. Unlike regular criminal prosecutors, they handled only the biggest cases.
For instance, targeting major conglomerates or politicians and crippling them nearly beyond recovery was their primary mission.
'Cha... Chairman! This is bad!!!'
When he first heard that this Special Division had targeted Daewoo Group—where Kim Hyun-woo was chairman—for investigation, he thought it had to be a mistake.
But,
- The current foreign exchange crisis in Korea is a national disaster compounded by mismanagement and accounting fraud at certain misguided companies! To prevent the flames from spreading into a greater inferno, the current administration is acting with resolute determination...
After the president's address was broadcast, he had no choice but to realize it was real.
It wasn't just the Supreme Prosecutors' Special Division.
The Financial Supervisory Service announced an external audit of Daewoo Group, stormed in without warning to seize accounting records, and soon requested delisting from the stock exchange.
As if waiting for that very moment, the stock exchange slapped trading halts on all of Daewoo's affiliates.
The Industrial Bank of Korea also immediately halted loans it had extended to Daewoo and announced it would forcibly recover them.
The Board of Audit and Inspection and the Ministry of Economy and Finance—which should have stepped in to block these outrages—turned a deaf ear no matter how much Kim Hyun-woo begged over the phone.
As things escalated this far, even Kim Hyun-woo wasn't a fool. He realized the government was behind it all.
- You had it coming. Don't call anymore. This is the last time.
President Han Geon-woo had coldly cut him off.
“What the hell... are they thinking?! If Daewoo collapses, the Korean economy collapses!!! Are you trying to ruin the country over some accounting tricks?!”
Kim Hyun-woo's impassioned outburst, born of his refusal to go down without a fight.
Pfft.
But Division Chief An Sung-yoon merely scoffed at it dismissively.
“You're laughing? Do you have any idea how serious this is...”
“Listen up, Hyun-woo. Your company's new owner has already been decided.”
“What?”
“You think the government would do this without a plan for the aftermath? From now on, just play dumb, Hyun-woo. Keep being a nuisance, and we'll really cut you down?”
Kim Hyun-woo had no words left at An Sung-yoon's final warning.
Thud.
His strength drained from his body, and he collapsed into his seat. His gaze drifted to the TV in his chairman's office.
- Today we have a special guest: Seon Woo-hyuk, Korea's foremost 20th-century entrepreneur and genius developer!
The screen showed Seon Woo-hyuk, CEO of Savior, who was more popular than any celebrity these days.
“Hmm... For starters, we've secured the state-owned land the government had on hand. It's incredibly cheap compared to the locations—leave it be, and in a few years, we could flip it for several times the price.”
Scarlett was buzzing like a real estate agent as she pored over the map. Calming her down took some effort.
“Huck! Why don't we just pivot to a real estate company? Scoop up land with our $4 billion, and we could end up owning Seoul someday!”
“Calm down. That land's for the AI lab and the foundry factory.”
“I know. I just can't help getting excited when we're snagging prime real estate for pennies.”
It was understandable.
Not in America, but prime plots in the Korean capital region—all for under $100 million. As Scarlett said, selling them in a few years would net a fortune, no question.
But,
- Mr. Seon Woo-hyuk, as you know, this was a major concession from the government. Despite all the problems, disbanding Daewoo Group and letting you acquire the companies on your list without a fuss was all for the sake of the nation.
Prime Minister Kim Jae-sik, the ruling party's powerhouse, certainly wielded impressive influence.
The moment negotiations with me wrapped, he mobilized the full might of the government to bulldoze Daewoo's dissolution.
In the original timeline, this crisis had sunk the president, but things might turn out differently this time.
Anyway, Prime Minister Kim Jae-sik wasn't a fool handing these over to Savior out of charity.
'If we try to flip them for profit, he'd turn that blade from Daewoo on us.'
Investment.
In exchange for letting us take them dirt cheap, the condition was to hold and operate them—not sell. That's why they were helping so fully.
For example, we had a secret agreement to retain at least 70% of Daewoo Electronics' staff.
The government wanted to minimize the IMF fallout, and it wasn't a bad deal for me either.
'I planned to make Korea Savior's forward base anyway, so long-term operation fits perfectly.'
It wasn't just Daewoo.
We were also in the process of acquiring Sambocomputer, teetering on bankruptcy.
- We'll adjust Sambocomputer's production lines as quickly as possible to start manufacturing the 'Savior Pulse.' It could be ready in as little as two months.
Greg was handling those negotiations.
“Remember when I said we should acquire UMC, Scarlett?”
“Of course. But we don't need to anymore.”
Acquiring UMC, Taiwan's foundry specialist, would have cost around $1 billion right now.
$1 billion.
Even for Savior's growing scale, that was a hefty sum to swallow outright. But Korea had a perfect alternative.
Jungbu Electronics.
Battered by the IMF crisis, Jungbu had focused solely on non-memory and GPU production while conglomerates like Oseong and Daewon chased memory.
With its 6-inch wafer lines, combining designs from our NexGen and 3Dfx would let us produce CPUs and GPUs in-house immediately.
And we were on the verge of acquiring it too. The 'Savior Pulse' project was almost complete.
“Who in the world would believe we poured $4 billion into this just to make a handheld game console?”
Scarlett grumbled, but her face was beaming.
Only I, Greg, and Scarlett knew the full scope of the Savior Pulse project.
And she was the most excited when she heard it.
“But we still have some issues left.”
“Issues?”
“Uni hooked us up with Surf for displays, but we have zero plans for memory supply or distribution networks.”
“Oh, didn't I mention?”
“Huh?”
“I'm heading out to sort that today too.”
Scarlett was right—memory sourcing and handheld distribution were unsolved.
But I wouldn't have overlooked that.
Ding.
My cellphone chimed right on cue.
'This thing needs to shrink fast too.'
Still bulky as a weapon, I pulled the phone from my bag and checked.
- Dinner meeting set for tonight.
The message I'd been waiting for had arrived.
“Hoo...”
Seon Woo-jin exhaled softly, struggling to compose himself.
He'd risen from employee to Oseong executive, weathering countless crises big and small. But today, calming his nerves was harder than ever.
Slide.
The sliding door opened moments later. Seon Woo-jin shot to his feet and straightened up.
“You've arrived, Chairman.”
“Haha, how could I ignore a summons from the grim reaper clutching dollars?”
“I'm sorry. My son is still young and rude for...”
Seon Woo-jin bowed as if to apologize on his behalf, but,
“No need. I've been wanting to meet your son myself.”
“Your kind words leave me at a loss.”
“Where else in the world could a father have a son like yours? You've raised yours better than I have.”
Seon Woo-jin couldn't relax despite the man's grandfatherly smile.
Oseong Chairman Lee Jung-cheol.
The titan who had globalized Oseong—once Korea-bound—and succeeded in semiconductors when everyone called it folly.
He was even the one who proposed Seon Woo-jin's North American posting. Famous for his foresight,
'I can't ignore my only son's request...'
At his son Seon Woo-hyuk's request, Seon Woo-jin had arranged this private meeting with Chairman Lee Jung-cheol. His stomach churned despite not eating.
- Dad, can you come to Korea with me this time?
He'd agreed lightly, thinking it a good chance to visit Korea after ages. But upon arrival, his son sprang the request to broker a meeting with Oseong's chairman.
Even as an Oseong executive, arranging a sit-down between Chairman Lee Jung-cheol and the hottest entrepreneur in Korea and America wasn't easy.
But he couldn't refuse his son's first-ever request—he'd never asked for anything before. So he'd mustered the courage to approach Chairman Lee,
- Sounds good. That boy's bold. How about dinner tonight?
And surprisingly, Chairman Lee accepted readily.
The two sat after a brief chat about Seon Woo-hyuk.
'Why the hell is that kid taking so long?!'
As Seon Woo-jin grew anxious over his no-show son,
Slide.
“Sorry I'm a bit late.”
The rascal himself appeared, opening the door.