Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Heavenly Kingdom (4)
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Seoul Gangnam, SA Group building.
Pushing all other business aside, Vice President Im Jae-ho continued a marathon meeting with a tiny core team.
He rubbed his bloodshot eyes with his fingers, then slipped his silver-framed glasses back on and turned to the executives.
“So, you’re saying this final figure is reasonable?”
“Our SA finance team and the external consultants all came in under this range. It’s solid.”
Tap, tap. Vice President Im Jae-ho drummed his fingers on the document containing the final results.
At his fingertips, a single number derived from complex calculations carried multiple meanings.
-Fair acquisition price: Minimum $4.1 billion USD, maximum $4.7 billion USD.
“…In the end, Father’s benchmark was right.”
The midpoint came out to $4.4 billion USD, just shy of 5 trillion KRW in fair acquisition estimate.
Vice President Im Jae-ho closed his eyes briefly and let out a small sigh. He bit his lower lip, looking pained, and in his ears rang the vivid voice of Chairman Im Gye-hyeon, absent from the room.
‘3 trillion KRW. Even in the worst case, no more than 5 trillion.’
The insight of an aging giant who had lived his life for the good of business and country.
When he’d first heard those words, Im Jae-ho hadn’t grasped the reasoning. Now, belatedly, he hunched his shoulders at his father’s foresight.
‘Start with 3 trillion from group reserves. Even with a bank consortium, don’t exceed 5 trillion. Anything more shakes the group’s foundations.’
Yet that fireside wisdom pierced a reverse scale no son could admit aloud.
The painful curse of “a tiger father with a dog son.”
“Even in this, Father was right. His eye for business, every projected number…”
“Vice President? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. Just… form a negotiation team at this price point and push forward. Send reports up on time after that.”
A silent wave of emptiness washed over him. The strength in Im Jae-ho’s fingertips drained away as lethargy enveloped his body.
He handed everything off to the executives.
“Is the only place I can stand… in Father’s shadow?”
Head bowed, he murmured a quiet lament.
But that head, which seemed it could sink no lower, slowly lifted at a frantic shout from someone nearby.
“V-Vice President! Breaking news—breaking news!”
A finance executive with a face pale as a sheet.
Whatever it was, it must have been urgent—his loosened mustard-yellow tie looked like a noose around a condemned man’s neck.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Saudi! The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund… they’re suddenly joining the J-Coco acquisition!”
“What…!”
Sudden bad news.
They’d judged Saudi had no bandwidth after the recent oil field fire disaster, yet the board flipped in the most absurd way.
“And there’s confirmed info on the amount!”
The finance executive’s next words.
To SA Group as a whole, it was the worst of bad news. But to Im Jae-ho personally, it was a double-edged coin.
A key to decisions beyond Father’s shadow.
“Their bid is $7 billion USD! Roughly… close to 8 trillion KRW!”
* * *
The last day of the U.S. trip.
Far off, against the massive white Hollywood sign midway up a barren hill, Uncle Kim Won-cheol snapped a selfie.
“Ah, hold on. Again, again.”
“What’s with retaking it? Just get my face in there.”
“Nah, I’ve got something in mind.”
Honestly… it was baffling.
It wasn’t about needing the sign in the shot—that could be written off as cute.
“Okay…! That’s it. Heh heh heh, now that’s art.”
What left me chuckling in disbelief was the plank they’d added next to the sign with English letters.
‘HOLLYWOONCHUL,’ utter Konglish nonsense.
“Hollywood Uncle… a boy at heart forever. Kinda enviable mindset, in a way.”
“Living young is the best way. Couldn’t pull stunts like this before stamping that divorce paper with the wife. Anyway.”
Satisfied, Uncle Kim Won-cheol tucked the Polaroid camera into his bag.
Inside the small hand pouch, a few photos bundled haphazardly with a rubber band.
From that bizarre Hollywoonchul shot to pics of J-Coco’s interior facilities—everything.
“Whether Vice President Im Jae-ho buys the Saudi investment bluff or not, don’t matter.”
“Whether he does or doesn’t, it’s irrelevant. Two choices, but the outcome’s the same either way.”
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, a colossal player crashing the table and scattering everyone’s hands.
Even if it was pure posturing, that dinosaur’s move was the variable I’d meticulously tossed in.
Last night, I’d called Bin Salman with a small favor.
‘Just bluff it out.’
A bluff.
No real investment, just empty posturing.
Even if the world knew it was mere intimidation, it didn’t matter.
A giant player at the table staring down the game forced every strategy back to square one.
‘Just light the fuse on the mood. I’ve got zero interest in buying the whole company anyway.’
‘Intriguing. Chairman Han, you’re after something else?’
No capital at risk, no political headaches—Prince Bin Salman readily agreed.
No, he didn’t even see it as a favor.
He just gave me a voice brimming with bizarre anticipation.
‘Playing a bit part here myself—mind giving me a preview of this play?’
‘I’ll poison the grossly inflated goose.’
J-Coco, the goose.
I’d smear its twice-overinflated belly with Chinese capital poison.
From my past regression, I knew all too well the U.S.-China hegemony war splashed across newspapers daily. How that spark ignited a massive explosion.
‘Stir the chef’s ire before final inspection?’
‘Something like that. A prick of displeasure in the hand of the world’s hegemon.’
‘Oh ho! Dragging in the U.S. government? Worth the hype. Ha ha ha!’
Laughter followed by Prince Bin Salman’s praise.
I repeated my final words from then to Uncle Kim Won-cheol now.
“The risk of a company with next-gen IT core tech falling to China? The U.S. Commerce Department won’t sit idle.”
“Our Chairman’s plan is perfect and solid…”
Uncle Kim Won-cheol turned serious. He pondered a moment, then asked.
“So, how you gonna pin that Chinese capital on SA? That’s the tricky part, ain’t it?”
“Piece of cake.”
A fake broker to tie Chinese capital to SA Group.
Perfect guy for the job. Annoying as hell, but after working together so much, I’d grown oddly fond.
“Kicked out from Ammunition now a free agent, but who pops up first for China?”
“Oh, wait. You don’t mean…?”
Former Ammunition Electronics hardass manager, no talent for gambling.
Hated by Guangzhou locals, even moonlighted as my Thailand informant.
“Ammunition’s troublemaker. Former President Lee Taek-gyu.”
* * *
Chairman Im Gye-hyeon’s frail body, festooned with complex medical devices.
His heartbeat dwindled steadily. The old man’s body inched toward death, step by step.
The machines beeped indifferently, signaling the fading embers. The family physician for the SA Group clan looked flustered as he addressed Chairman Im Gye-hyeon.
“I’ve told you several times, but… honestly, in your current state, I strongly recommend immediate hospitalization.”
“Judging by your face, it’s worse than last time, eh.”
With the oxygen tube aiding his exhale, Chairman Im Gye-hyeon finally spoke.
The giant who’d dominated an era crumbled from within.
“With age and overlapping conditions… think of it as life-support lights winking out one by one.”
“This pains my heart.”
Eyes misty, Chairman Im Gye-hyeon gazed out the window.
Not his own decaying flesh that hurt him.
He saw all too clearly the future awaiting his inadequate son, his successor.
“That boy lacks the wisdom to face the world, yet heaven hounds me… Cough! Cough!”
“Chairman! Are you all right?!”
Chairman Im Gye-hyeon hacked up blood in dry spasms. His top secretary rushed to his side.
“I’m fine, fine… Hey, Im Ja.”
“Yes, Chairman. Speak.”
“Guess it’s time to heed the doctors. Gotta force life into this husk.”
The old man’s twig-like hand.
Chairman Im Gye-hyeon squeezed every last drop of vitality to grip his secretary’s hand.
Then, a whispered plea pressed into the secretary’s ear.
“So, I trust only you.”
“Chairman…”
“Even if Jae-ho makes wrong choices, it’s fine. Just prevent irreversible catastrophe… Cough! Cough!”
Blood soaked one side of the blanket crimson. Alarms blared, filling the room.
“Hurry! Get him to the hospital now—right now!”
The giant’s vision blackened. For the wind-eroded elder, only a brief respite awaited before death’s gate.
“Jae-ho… my poor son… doomed to fill such a small vessel with so much…”