Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Blueprint of the Future (2)
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-3,800,000,000,000 won
The black numbers, hammered into the glowing white background like nails, exuded a pressure as immense as a mountain.
Roughly 3.8 trillion won. A compensation amount so staggering it felt like it could choke the breath right out of you.
Even the executives—those giants of the Ammunition Group, with their name badges pinned to their chests—were holding their breath, shrinking in on themselves. You could practically see it.
“Ahem, how are we supposed to handle that kind of money….”
“Even looking at it again, that figure’s too much. Sigh, how did the Group end up in a crisis like this….”
Voices crawling in half submission from those with no intention of taking responsibility.
Their pathetic groans reached my ears.
I couldn’t let that kind of noise keep echoing through the conference room, even if it was just static. So I opened my mouth and laid out my stance right away.
“The key points are two. First, minimize the losses. Second, turn the crisis into an opportunity.”
With the whir of the mouse wheel rolling down, the scroll bar on the right side of the screen began to move.
And there appeared the detailed breakdown of the damage compensation.
The tangle of numbers was as hopelessly complex as a ball of yarn—or sheet music too intricate to play.
Like a staff filled with grace notes, ties, and fermatas, untouchable even by the boldest hand.
“Minimizing losses and turning crisis into opportunity. They may seem separate… but in truth, they’re one and the same.”
But if you didn’t get dizzy from the numbers and just followed the melody calmly, everything became strikingly simple.
The white keys of the accounting ledger beneath my fingertips.
As the piano strings began to vibrate, only the main melody of the score filled the conference room.
“The total damage from the Gumi Munitions Factory explosion is 10.3 trillion won. Of that, the insurers will cover 6.5 trillion won. Next.”
At my cue, Yoo Se-na flipped to the next PPT slide.
The screen filled with logos of domestic and international insurance companies.
The clack of the keyboard rang out once more, and numbers popped up over each prominent logo.
The insurance payouts that the insurers would have to shoulder instead of Ammunition Group.
“So, the remaining 3.8 trillion won that Ammunition Group would have to bear. Do we really have to cover the whole staggering sum ourselves?”
“Money that didn’t need to leave our wallet is slipping out anyway?”
As I tossed out the question, Seo Taehu raised one eyebrow, her expressionless face hiding a flicker of amusement.
Nodding, I turned to Grandmother—the decision-maker in this room—and spoke.
“Isn’t that just how idiots operate? They can’t even recognize when they’re getting fleeced, mistaking a thorny path for a bed of roses.”
My gaze stayed on Grandmother, but the barb was aimed squarely at Uncle.
Listening to that moron second son Han Seo-hu and plotting financial fraud? Calling him an idiot was generous.
I didn’t care about the murderous glare Uncle was no doubt shooting at my back.
I just had to say what needed saying.
I paused for a moment and scanned the room.
The desolate conference room came into full view at a glance.
People who could become rivals, allies, or bargaining chips.
From now on, I would present them with a way to dissect the current crisis. And at the same time… point the path forward into the future.
“Ammunition Heavy Industries, the main culprit behind the Gumi Munitions Factory incident. First things first—we rip off its arms and legs.”
* * * *
A man more suited to loyalty than leadership.
He had spent his life in the fortress of Ammunition Group, serving two chairmen—and now he would serve a third.
Yang Taek-su, Vice President, moistened his throat with water from a glass and fiddled with the notepad in his jacket pocket.
‘Bold… and fresh. How does he come up with ideas like this? It’s not just youth.’
Full loss transfer.
The insurer covers the entire damage in exchange for taking all assets.
At center stage under the spotlight-like podium, the plan called for spinning off the Gumi Munitions Factory corporation under Ammunition Heavy Industries as a separate entity.
Per the insurance contract, handing over all rights to that corporation meant the massive compensation would fall entirely on the insurer.
A single stroke to sever the hopelessly entangled web of rights and obligations.
‘Almost like he saw the answer from the future and came back….’
Yang Taek-su shook his head with a small mutter that it couldn’t be.
Was it the desire to test this young man’s capabilities just a bit more that made his slowing heart race again?
A flush of color returned to the white-haired veteran’s face for the first time in ages.
And then, a loud voice from the corner seat.
“Y-Yes! That’s it! There was a way like that! Director! Ammunition Group is saved now!”
The excited voice belonged to Gu Seok-su, President of Ammunition Securities.
Was it because he was a finance veteran from the rank-and-file?
Or was he thinking of breaking from Han Hwa-gi’s grasp and latching onto the new heir apparent?
Gu Seok-su neatly summarized and explained the just-announced proposal in accessible terms.
“…If Strategy Director Han Seo-jun’s plan goes through, the insurers might cover 100% of the compensation.”
“Hey, President Gu. You mean those bastards would swallow the full 3.8 trillion?”
Unable to meet Seo Taehu’s gleaming, intrigued eyes directly, Gu Seok-su dabbed at his cold sweat with a handkerchief.
Yang Taek-su watched him and smiled faintly without a word.
‘Only the master can speak with authority. President Gu.’
Gu Seok-su, President of Ammunition Securities, shrank with hunched shoulders.
Yang Taek-su shifted his gaze to the only one qualified to answer Seo Taehu’s question.
A knot tangled beyond anyone’s ability to unravel.
The solution, obvious to all yet grasped by none, lay in a single sword.
‘Alexander the Great cut the Gordian Knot and became king of Asia Minor, didn’t he? Then what about Han Seo-jun….’
The screen projected by the beam projector changed.
Ammunition Heavy Industries’ divisions, sliced apart like a knot severed by a sharp blade.
Seeing it, Yang Taek-su seemed to make up his mind—his grip tightened.
Deep in his inner pocket, he clutched the vault key from the previous chairman, one he intended to hand to Ammunition Group’s new successor.
‘Next year on the anniversary, I’ll visit the previous chairman with a smile. Telling him his son… might surpass even his father.’
The admiring murmurs from the surrounding executives didn’t reach Yang Taek-su’s ears.
For this veteran with few days left, the only thing ringing clearly was one thing.
The confident voice of the third chairman he would serve until the end.
“3.8 trillion won. We can make the insurers bear the full amount. I’m certain.”
* * * *
Yangpyeong fishing spot.
Kim Won-cheol, Deputy Director, and Yang Taek-su, Vice President.
The two staff-officer types sat side by side in folding chairs.
The two men stared blankly at the motionless bobbers amid the chirping of grasshoppers.
“Whew, it’s pretty hot out today.”
Was it the midday sun blazing down?
Yang Taek-su fanned himself with his hand, pulled two iced waters from the cooler, and offered one to Kim Won-cheol as he spoke.
“You were right about what you saw. Looks like the name Kim Won-cheol hasn’t gone bankrupt yet.”
“Vice President, come on… You’re clearly pleased, but you just had to say it like that again.”
After the sound of cold water sliding down his throat, Yang Taek-su opened his mouth.
“Ha ha, it’s just that your boasts were always so over-the-top until now. Anyway… so just the password’s left now?”
“Well, yeah. Now it’s just my poor hair falling out over it. That guy’s no easy mark.”
“Enough. Seems like someone I shouldn’t know about, so I won’t pry. Anyway….”
The seasoned veteran drew a deliberate line.
With everything he could test and verify already done, he had no desire to stir up needless noise.
Yang Taek-su reeled in his line, which hadn’t so much as twitched.
He rebaited and cast the rod with all his might toward the middle of the lake.
“President Park Han-i of Heavy Industries was popping veins in his neck, screaming his head off. You should’ve seen it.”
“He’s desperate to protect his rice bowl now that the company he runs is getting chopped up.”
That day, after the presentation, the Group’s morning meeting decided to carve up Ammunition Heavy Industries and offer it to the insurers.
Ammunition Heavy Industries, fragmented by division. Predictably, President Park Han-i—who’d suddenly become a sitting duck—put up fierce resistance.
“Didn’t know President Park had guts that big. A tantrum in front of the old hag… I mean, the Director.”
“A servant who strays from his master’s will ends up as a sacrificial pawn. He’s in too deep with Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi to cut loose now.”
* * * *
Park Han-i, President of Ammunition Heavy Industries.
Having hitched his wagon to Han Hwa-gi’s line, he was already on shaky ground over the KS Industries mess.
That’s why he had to defend his cornered master with everything he had—even the most absurd logic.
“N-No! Impossible! Even at swordpoint! Splitting Heavy Industries? How dare you suggest such madness!”
Park Han-i was on the verge of foaming at the mouth.
At my words about tearing apart Heavy Industries, his face drained of color as he unleashed a torrent of rebuttals.
He even stood from his seat and approached Grandmother—the decision-maker here—pleading desperately.
“Ammunition Group’s roots are in defense contracting. Heavy Industries oversees that defense division! We can’t yank out the cornerstone just because it’s urgent!”
The icy glare behind Seo Taehu’s glasses.
Like a metal statue, Grandmother said nothing.
Not because her resolve weakened at the pleas of the fat man kneeling before her.
Defense contracting.
It seemed the pivotal role Ammunition Heavy Industries played in the Group’s foundational business was the sticking point.
“Hey, President Park.”
“Y-Yes! Director! Please, speak!”
“I heard you out. But if so, what part of Heavy Industries do we hand over to the insurers?”
The subsidiary under Ammunition Heavy Industries owned the Gumi Munitions Factory site.
Handing over just the Gumi land wouldn’t cause much issue, but that subsidiary held one fatal business right in its grasp.
And as if seizing the opening, Uncle—who’d been silent—spoke up in place of Park Han-i.
As if he could flip this desperate situation in one go.
“That’s….”