Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Triumphant General (3)
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“Now, hope is beginning to sprout anew for the group's fortunes, which were once like a candle in the wind.”
Group morning meeting.
Today's agenda was the official report on securing the comprehensive Saudi military defense reform project.
I stood up and began presenting the specifics.
Soon after, the black letters reading "Hanwha 90 Trillion Won" appeared against a white background.
Toward the audience staring blankly at the glowing stage, I delivered my closing remarks.
“From our performance in Saudi Arabia to resolving the Gumi Munitions Factory incident. Through this deal, Ammunition Group has captured both rabbits.”
The executives' pupils wavered.
The lines had already split earlier, but they were still whispering among themselves.
They seemed to be agonizing once more over which side to align with.
In such a situation, I needed to give a clear signal to these wandering sheep. That even if they served a new master, they wouldn't be slaughtered cruelly.
“Turn crisis into opportunity! In the Ammunition Group that 'I' will lead from here on, 'talented individuals' with an entrepreneurial spirit must step to the forefront. Thank you!”
I could almost hear the sound of eyeballs rolling.
A brief silence descended, filled with subtle power plays.
Just as those already on my side were about to clap and raise cheers of praise.
Applause erupted from the opposing side, from those who had been racking their brains.
Their faces were awkward, as if they'd reluctantly made their decision.
*Clap clap clap clap!*
“This is an unprecedented achievement in group history! We're truly looking forward to the future led by our brilliant Strategy Director!”
“Absolutely. We executives must embody the entrepreneurial spirit you mentioned, Strategy Director, and pour our efforts into self-development as talents worthy of it.”
Subtle reactions.
Smiles on their lips contrasted with eyes frozen in place. Awkward.
I'd extracted oaths of loyalty from my former opponents, but even without being King Gyeon, I could tell it was only superficial.
Even as they rubbed their palms and bowed their heads outwardly, their gazes were still fixed on my uncle.
‘So even this massive 90 trillion won scale is just a temporary shift in the balance of power...’
It seemed I truly lacked the time to build my own loyal faction.
No, to be precise, reaching this point in just a month and a half after regression was nothing short of a miracle.
“Thank you. With your support, I'll work even harder.”
After bowing in gratitude, I raised my head and scanned the room once more.
Incompetent executives with little to offer. Preservationists desperate only to keep their seats.
However... amid this pile of trash, there were definitely gems.
That man wiping away his nonstop sweat with a handkerchief wasn't applauding me like the others. Instead, he wore a bewildered expression.
“Oh man, what am I supposed to do now...”
Gu Seok-su, President of Ammunition Securities.
Anxiety beyond endurance etched on his face, he alternated glances between me and my uncle like he'd committed a crime.
* * * *
Let's rewind time a bit, to early morning before the group morning meeting began.
Gu Seok-su, President of Ammunition Securities. Originally from the group finance headquarters, he'd been promoted to president of Ammunition Securities just a year ago.
Thus, his successor at group finance headquarters, Executive Director Jeong Cheol-sik, often called Gu Seok-su for advice whenever tricky issues arose.
Just like in this case.
“Ha... Hyung-nim Seok-su. That Finance Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi. I have no idea why he's dumping this on me outta nowhere. He just drops a workload bomb and leaves, ya know?”
Gu Seok-su was in the thick of a busy morning preparing for the group meeting.
He'd reviewed all the related documents and was leaning back in his chair for a breather when the call from his junior came in. He answered brightly.
“Aigoo, Cheol-sik, whether it's you or me, we're suffering past fifty because of the Han family heads.”
“Even with executive titles, we're still like errand boys. What rotten luck.”
“Anyway, what's the issue this time?”
“That Han Hwa-gi calls me at dawn outta the blue, tells me to sort through fifteen years' worth of accounting data from scratch and send it up. Within a month.”
“Fifteen years... within a month? No tax audit or Fair Trade Commission probe or anything?”
An order that was utterly unprecedented.
A red alert blared in Gu Seok-su's instincts.
Staring at this baffling puzzle piece in his mind.
Executive Director Jeong Cheol-sik, hopeless at office politics, just kept saying his piece oblivious to it.
“Yeah! We haven't even gotten extra manpower yet. No clue what he expects with this. Even if it's for internal audit...”
“Internal audit? Did Finance Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi say that himself?”
“Y-yeah. Said someone screwed up overseas, and to attach separate records of transfers to foreign accounts.”
Fifteen years' worth of data. Calibrated against foreign account transfer records.
The feeling... wasn't good.
Gu Seok-su fell silent for a moment, and a memory he'd forgotten—no, one he'd had to forget—resurfaced.
“The former Chairman's... slush funds?”
Before transferring to Ammunition Securities, back when Gu Seok-su was an executive in finance headquarters, there was one thing he'd paid special attention to.
Foreign currency trickling out bit by bit from various points in the group's overseas divisions, like oil leaking one drop at a time from some pipe.
‘What the hell...’
Suspicion was definitely there.
Money leaves footprints when it moves.
The bundles of dollars had flowed through a small island nation in the Pacific to Macau, then to European tax havens.
Gu Seok-su had racked his brains over this cash flow that others overlooked.
In the end, he'd gone to Kim Won-cheol, the former Chairman's closest aide.
Gu Seok-su had sought a clear answer.
But the response was beyond expectations.
“Heh heh heh... What do we do now? Looks like it's time for us to part ways. See you next time.”
“What do you mean...”
“Executive Director Gu Seok-su is sharp, but lacks the guts for something this big. You get it, right?”
“......”
“Personnel changes are coming soon. You'll be promoted to President of Ammunition Securities, so please don't ask or pry into this anymore.”
A promotion that was half enticement, half threat.
Realizing he'd glimpsed information too vast to handle stirred fear in him.
From that day on, Gu Seok-su desperately tried to erase the former Chairman's slush funds from his mind. No, he had to.
And now, that very slush fund he'd tried so hard to forget was about to burst into the open.
“Hyung-nim? Hyung-nim? Speak up a bit. Phone's acting weird; I can barely hear ya.”
“Huh? Oh... No. Just talking to myself. Uh... Cheol-sik.”
“Yeah, Hyung-nim. Go ahead.”
Gu Seok-su couldn't continue.
Unbeknownst to himself, he was smack in the eye of the storm swirling around the throne.
He tore at his hair, agonizing over and over.
Glancing at the clock, he saw just over an hour until the group morning meeting. In that short time, Gu Seok-su had to decide.
Which lifeline to grab for survival: Han Seo-jun or Han Hwa-gi.
“Cheol-sik... Do you trust me?”
“O-of course! Without my loyalty to you, I'd be nothing. From our college boarding house days—if not for you, Hyung-nim, I'd have been beaten down and never risen this far.”
The former Chairman's slush funds.
With Kim Won-cheol involved, it was highly likely in Han Seo-jun's hands.
And Han Hwa-gi was scheming to use it as leverage for a big blow.
Hands trembling violently. Gu Seok-su clenched his fists tight, exhaled deeply, and spoke.
“Whew... Don't follow Finance Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi's orders.”
“Hyung-nim? What're you saying? I don't quite get it.”
“You'll understand once you start sorting fifteen years' worth. Whatever else... for the foreign account transfers, just omit them.”
Gu Seok-su briefly explained the suspicions around the former Chairman's slush funds.
Having finished agonizing, Executive Director Jeong Cheol-sik from finance headquarters replied.
“Guess there's something we shouldn't touch. Yeah, got it. I'll go with what you say, Hyung-nim, so don't worry.”
“Thanks for trusting me, Cheol-sik.”
“No need. Looks like we'd get smashed if we poked it wrong. Your call's right anyway. Head in now.”
Ending the call, Gu Seok-su turned to the clock. Just over 40 minutes until the group morning meeting.
Time was short.
He picked up the phone again, still warm from his ear, and dialed somewhere else.
-Ring ring ring
The connection tone rang endlessly. Sweat poured like rain from the brow of this bookish man who'd always kept his distance from power struggles.
“Pick up... Please pick up...”
Han Seo-jun.
The unproven rookie horse that Gu Seok-su was betting his life on for the first time.
The reason he was staking everything on this novice wasn't just the Saudi deal.
“[Cocoa Bank]. I wondered how he'd convinced that Ming-dong loan shark Yoo Tae-chon, but to think he had this in mind...”
Yoo Tae-chon, who'd practically lost his Ammunition Securities stake to Han Hwa-gi. His unusual moves were always on Gu Seok-su's radar.
And within Gu Seok-su's line of sight was Han Seo-hee of the Han bloodline as well.
Since they were tied as financial affiliates, reports on her actions reached him, if a bit delayed.
“Huh, Han Seo-hee had been unusually quiet at Ammunition Capital lately. Never imagined a board like this was being set...”
An innovation Han Hwa-gi and his foolish sons couldn't dream of: a smartphone-based internet-only bank.
Bypassing the separation of banking and commerce in a scheme Gu Seok-su himself never conceived—from Han Seo-jun, the future felt vividly real.
And that future was closer than he thought.
*Click*. A young man's voice came through to Gu Seok-su's ear.
“This is Han Seo-jun. Is this President Gu calling?”
“Yes. President Gu Seok-su speaking. Strategy Director, by any chance... is Deputy Director Kim Won-cheol there with you right now?”
The distinctive thin voice came immediately through the receiver.
At Gu Seok-su's request to switch to speakerphone, he cut straight to the chase with Han Seo-jun and Kim Won-cheol.
“Strategy Director Han Seo-jun, Deputy Director Kim Won-cheol.”
“Please speak. What... is it?”
“Whew... The former Chairman's slush funds. Finance Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi knows about them. And he'll use them to attack you, Director.”