Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Hunter (1)
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Isolation without aid.
If one had to sum up the tangled mess of emotions churning inside Han Hwa-gi in a single phrase, those words would fit best.
Han Hwa-gi, left alone in a barren wasteland.
‘I saw it coming… but the onslaught is fierce. That bastard’s son of a concubine is ruthless. He won’t let go of an opportunity once he’s got it.’
His nephew, who had somehow turned into an eloquent speaker overnight, was relentlessly touting the results of his surprise maneuvers to the audience.
It was fine. It didn’t matter. He had already steeled himself for this in his heart.
Even though he’d been hit with an unimaginable curveball—the coup in Saudi—he still had plenty of room to make a comeback.
Han Hwa-gi rested one hand on his chin, calmly observing the situation.
Finally, having sorted through everything playing out in his mind, he reached a conclusion.
‘What I need right now is time.’
He possessed a single dagger coated in poison.
The secret funds of his predecessor.
A weapon that could dispatch his rival nephew with one strike.
But having only just caught wind of its existence, Han Hwa-gi needed at least a month to prepare.
“Keh, isn’t it a great blessing that the Strategy Director is with our Ammunition Group?”
“Exactly! A young man like him achieving this much already… This old-timer can’t wait to see what future he’ll carve out.”
As the solo performance ended, flattery poured toward his nephew.
At the same time, the executives’ eyes kept flicking furtively toward Han Hwa-gi himself.
Like dogs ready to wag their tails again the moment the winds shifted.
‘Those parasites are watching my every move. The executives haven’t fully turned yet. But…’
Han Hwa-gi turned his head to gaze straight ahead. He carefully studied Seo Taehu’s expression as she sat in the chairman’s seat.
As always, an icy glacial wall devoid of any emotion. Even as his blood-related mother, she was suffocatingly unyielding.
She showed no maternal affection toward her youngest son whatsoever, adhering strictly to principles alone.
Even now, she seemed to be ceaselessly evaluating the successor.
‘Is she praising him? That bastard’s spawn?’
Seo Taehu had declared three months when she gathered the two successors.
Half the time remained, but decisions could be made at any moment within it.
And Han Hwa-gi’s unease became reality with a single remark from Seo Myung-hee’s lips.
“Well done. Strategy Director. You’ve worked hard.”
“You’re too kind, Grandmother… No, Director.”
“No empty boasts followed by running away—that ridiculous sight is nowhere to be seen. I’m glad you didn’t show it.”
Han Hwa-gi’s face twisted in a frown.
Like a statue cracking and crumbling, the fragile balance of his hard-maintained composure was steadily collapsing.
Seo Taehu’s words seemed curt on the surface.
But Han Hwa-gi knew. He understood the unspoken praise hidden within.
‘Damn it… Has she already made up her mind?’
Impatience and urgency.
Anxiety that he might lose to that twenty-five-year-old illegitimate nephew.
And shame at even entertaining such thoughts.
That swirling mass of emotions, on the verge of collapse, was enough to make his fingers toy with the handle of the poison-coated dagger hidden tightly in his breast pocket.
‘The situation requires time to perfect…’
The secret funds card of his predecessor.
The worn dagger in Han Hwa-gi’s pocket, missing teeth here and there, still had a dull blade.
It meant nothing unless solid evidence was presented from the Finance Headquarters.
Feeling cornered with no escape, Han Hwa-gi’s shoulders slumped.
‘I’ve taken a fatal blow. I can only survive by flipping the board. So… what move should I make now?’
Han Hwa-gi, pushed into a defensive position. Yet he never acted rashly.
He merely let out a deep sigh, then calmly opened his eyes to review the overall game.
On the Go board, his nephew’s black stones advanced boldly, pressing the attack.
His own territory swallowed up in an instant.
And then, as if to end it all, the challenger’s fingertips grasped a black stone aimed at the decisive blow.
“Director? If I may have a word on an urgent matter, using this opportunity.”
“Speak, Strategy Director.”
“After handling things in Saudi, I’ve started seeing things anew. For instance… the deep-rooted complacency within the Group.”
Han Hwa-gi barely concealed his startled expression.
It seemed like a brilliant move, but… his fingers trembled with haste.
The direction veered from danger into certain death—an awful blunder.
Han Hwa-gi’s eyes remained fixed on his opponent’s fingertips.
And the black stone placed on the board.
“That complacency turns simple fixes into ordeals. And… it only fattens the rats inside.”
“You seem eager to take some drastic measure. Want to dance with a blade?”
“The KS Industries embezzlement case from before—it’s the same vein. Don’t we need a full-scale internal audit?”
“An internal audit…”
An awful blunder.
As if heaven itself were helping, a black stone placed right on the spot where Han Seo-jun was strangling himself.
Seeing it, Han Hwa-gi calmed his wildly pounding heart.
‘Fool! He can’t control his youthful hot-bloodedness. He aimed for the end, but it’s a self-inflicted wound.’
Euphoria at the prospect of turning the tables.
And just then, Seo Taehu’s voice seemed to offer him an opening.
“…On this, I can’t ignore the Finance Headquarters Director’s words. You there—what do you think of the Strategy Director’s proposal?”
“It’s time for an internal audit. I agree with Director Han Seo-jun on this.”
“What…?”
Seo Myung-hee, the Director, raised one eyebrow. She seemed somewhat surprised by her youngest son’s unexpected response.
Han Hwa-gi hurriedly continued.
“We were already preparing an audit of the Group’s parasites from Finance Headquarters.”
It was a hard-won opportunity.
One he couldn’t let slip, like rain in a drought.
To a wanderer in the wasteland, a hazy mirage appeared—and in Han Hwa-gi’s eyes, impulse began to eclipse reason.
“One month. Please grant me just one month. I’ll show you everything then.”
Han Hwa-gi, brimming with confidence, unwittingly smiled.
A flicker of unease passed through the eyes of the executives who had just been fawning over his nephew.
“Hey… Executive Yoon. Aren’t we getting played here? Did we switch sides too soon?”
“Let’s wait and see for now. Keep some distance from both, then bow to the winner after the month.”
The conference room filled with whispers of the executives’ craven attempts to hedge their bets and side with the strong.
Han Hwa-gi quite liked their display.
In a month, using that self-inflicted blunder as a springboard to seize control of the board, they would soon bow at his feet.
But… he didn’t notice.
“…He’s taken the bait.”
“Indeed.”
Directly across from his seat, in the thick underbrush, a hunter’s bowstring was quietly drawn, targeting him.
Nor did he realize the noose at his ankle was about to tighten and tear into his flesh.
* * * *
I had agonized over it.
Through the Saudi matter, I’d successfully wrapped up the Gumi Munitions Factory explosion cleanup as well.
But that alone wasn’t enough to uproot my uncle’s influence and make myself the center of power.
Then, just forty minutes before the Group morning meeting, a call came from Gu Seok-su, president of Ammunition Securities.
‘Whew… The predecessor Chairman’s secret funds. Finance Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi knows of them. And he’ll use them to attack you, Director.’
No need for detailed explanations—my judgment of the situation crystallized instantly.
My father’s secret funds. Clearly, he planned to use them to go after me.
And that crude, incomplete scheme bore my uncle’s temperament like a signature.
Impatience, urgency, anxiety.
The suffocating pressure of needing to buy time until the promised date.
That’s why I was confident.
If I placed a stone that looked like a suicidal blunder in the wrong spot, he’d surely bite.
“Excellent. With my esteemed Finance Headquarters Director joining me, Ammunition Group’s future looks promising indeed.”
I played the role of a hot-blooded youth whose eyes had rolled back in overconfidence bordering on arrogance, pouring my all into it.
The prey was my uncle, the bait was me.
An internal audit? I didn’t mind at all.
My father’s secret funds hadn’t fully fallen into my hands yet, not to the extent my uncle imagined.
And above all, when the audit happened, the one bleeding wouldn’t be me—but my uncle.
“…I look forward to it. To the Strategy Director’s showing in a month.”
My uncle, caught in the trap I’d laid even at the cost of some reputational damage.
He had no idea.
That Iraq seawater desalination plant project he thought he was supporting out of loyalty to his side.
What shoddy work, embezzlement, and cooked books it hid.
And that once tied to it, there’d be no escaping.
“The prey… doesn’t even realize his vision’s darkening bit by bit.”
I murmured to Uncle Kim Won-cheol beside me, just loud enough for him to hear.
“That’s what happens when you fall into a trap. Think of it as a lesson so you don’t make the same mistake later.”
I nodded in response to Uncle Kim Won-cheol’s words instead of replying.
Mistakes? I’d made plenty before the regression.
Now… I just planned to corner the trapped uncle with no escape and sever his lifeline.
“Then, it’s time to rise. Today’s Group morning meeting ends here.”
At Grandmother’s command signaling the close, the executives stood and bowed in unison.
As my uncle exited first, my gaze shifted to the three men right in front of his back—unwittingly playing the trap’s role.
Heavy Industries, Construction, Shipbuilding & Marine. The three presidents. Their faces pale as ghosts, as if they sensed their fate.
“They’re a sight, huh, Deputy Director? At least they know what mess they’ve made.”
“When the audit storm hits… they’ll be the first to fall. Been a while since I’ve seen some head to prison.”
Forming a triangle, facing each other.
Fearing eavesdroppers, they whispered their secret talk as quietly as possible.
Without noticing me approaching.
“…So, if this goes on, the three of us’ll end up hanging from some wild mountain tree, swinging like pendulums!”
“What fun conversation are you gentlemen having?”
“Oh. N-nothin’ much, don’t interrupt… Uh, uh, Strategy Director Han Seo-jun…”
To them, looking like they’d seen the grim reaper, I tossed one sentence and left.
“If you need a rat hole to escape through, call anytime. No need to experience hanging firsthand.”