Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Self-Destruct Button (6)
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Han Hwa-gi, who had climbed onto the podium, slowly turned his head, scanning the audience as if sweeping his gaze over them.
Executives with anxious eyes—those he could call his own people.
These sheep-like figures, waiting for the shepherd dog to lead them, clearly desired conviction. Even if it was fierce and ruthless, the kind they had no choice but to follow.
And so, he... could not stop.
Han Hwa-gi's figure, eyes bulging wide, fixated solely on the spot where his own nephew sat, as if the air reeked only of blood.
‘Opportunity comes once... end it in one breath.’
His mouth began to open little by little, as if he were about to lunge and tear into the nape at any moment.
“The internal audit results. We’ve reached a significant conclusion. One that could change the current state of the Ammunition Group... entirely.”
Han Hwa-gi’s voice unfolded calmly.
The executives surrounding him seemed to instinctively sense a feeling completely opposite to that of their previous defeat, even before his first sentence ended.
They whispered to each other, shifting lines like fickle sheep in heat.
As if he heard not a single murmur from the restless crowd, the shepherd dog’s sharpened fangs slowly emerged from his mouth, claws at the ready.
“It’s not some provocative smear campaign, like the Strategy Director claimed at the last meeting, simply about rooting out internal parasites.”
There was even a sense of leisure in Han Hwa-gi as he stepped out from between the bushes, revealing himself.
A low growl in his voice. Confidence that he could instantly chase down and corner his nephew even if he bolted from this very spot right now.
Like a front paw extended before leaping forward, provocative phrases poured from his mouth in succession.
“If the internal audit was just about finding a speck of dust, slapping a dunce cap on someone, and subjecting them to a witch hunt out of impure motives, we wouldn’t have even started.”
“…….”
His nephew sat there, neither angry nor fleeing, simply listening to Han Hwa-gi’s words with an indifferent expression.
‘He still... has no idea what’s about to happen.’
A thunderous heartbeat.
Vague speculation rode the atmosphere, swelling into conviction that pounded his heart wildly.
At last, the beam projector descended with a dull mechanical whir.
Having cornered his prey in a tight spot, Han Hwa-gi leaped high, pointing to the brightly glowing screen.
“The Finance Headquarters scrutinized the Ammunition Group— this massive conglomerate—like it was under a microscope. And the results are.”
A white screen detailing the additional contract plans and funding status for the Iraq seawater desalination plant project.
There was no room for verbose embellishments. It was filled to the brim solely with rows of numbers.
Hundreds of billions of won. No, projected net profits far exceeding trillions, beyond imagination.
“Whoa... is this real? Possible?”
“The bank consortium loan is already approved, so feasibility is guaranteed... but damn, it’d be a shame to abandon the Iraq market now.”
“The funding proof for the balance looks solid enough... As expected of Headquarters Director Han Hwa-gi. Not one to just take it lying down.”
The executives, their faces paling in the light beaming from the screen, were busy tapping away at mental calculators.
A massive construction project. Hope that their own interests could surely fit somewhere in the mix pointed toward loyalty to the new master.
“The Iraq seawater desalination plant project. Rediscovered and brought to light through this internal audit. It nearly vanished, overshadowed by the uncertain fantasy of Saudi Arabia. In other words.”
“…….”
The fangs, sharpened to a ruthless edge, drew near his nephew’s nape.
Irrefutable justification and achievements. And the erosion of his rival’s accomplishments.
‘I’ve won!’
Han Hwa-gi, having seized the momentum.
After swallowing bile for the past month and a half to devise this plan, seeing such perfect results made the blood rushing past his temples feel like a tidal wave.
“I want to state here that the Ammunition Group’s helm should not be entrusted to the luck of an amateur upstart.”
A solemn silence settled in.
With everyone’s lips frozen as if in ice, no one dared move at his explicit declaration of himself as the owner of the Ammunition Group’s crown.
“…….”
“…….”
One by one, they exchanged glances, agonizing over which line to join.
And the sheep’s silence broke first with the subservient applause from Park Han-i, President of Heavy Industries.
-Clap clap clap!
“Kha... truly, truly brilliant! This is real business! Not some lottery win from a Saudi prince and dancing around like fools—this is proper work!”
At the cry of one sheep that had crossed the fence, the others, who had been trembling on shaky legs, suddenly flocked one by one to Han Hwa-gi’s side, opening their mouths as if nothing had happened.
“I’m deeply moved, Headquarters Director! That insight you just showed... how I wish I could absorb even half of it!”
Na Deok-sul, President of Construction, followed immediately.
“Why not turn this into training materials for all employees and distribute it through HR?”
“I strongly agree! From new hires to top executives, everyone should etch it in their minds and keep it in their hearts!”
The quick-witted executives competed like scavengers at a feast, each singing their own praises.
“…….”
And one person watched every scene unfold without missing a beat, maintaining a cool composure.
‘They’ve switched sides.’
* * * *
Seo Taehu observed the power play with cold eyes through her metal-framed glasses.
The illegitimate grandson she’d pinned hopes on even more than her own child—a card now seemingly trapped with no escape.
She felt a pang of regret for her grandson, reduced to mere prey.
‘My youngest son framed it well. The Saudi deal was a big win, but he demoted it to mere beginner’s luck.’
Seo Myung-hee, the Director clad in referee’s garb at the center of the tilted field, now had to blow the whistle around her neck.
‘It’s a shame. But... we must follow the rules.’
She didn’t grimace or squeeze her eyes shut in anguish.
As if she’d listened well to Han Hwa-gi, Seo Taehu nodded.
Turning to the opposite side, she opened her mouth toward her grandson, as if granting a condemned man his final words.
“Well then, Strategy Director, do you have anything to say?”
Though unseen, the killing intent was palpable behind her back.
Her youngest son would surely not let this twenty-five-year-old rival live.
‘If you admit defeat meekly now, I’ll somehow smooth it over with exile. You may never set foot on Korean soil again, but...’
Though defeated in this power struggle, he had shown her ample intelligence.
Thus, Seo Taehu hoped this grandson, who so resembled her late eldest son, would calmly accept the outcome.
At least, until she heard his response.
“Well... it’s such a barrage of serious nonsense that I don’t even know where to start debunking.”
* * * *
Wrinkles creased her furrowed brow.
At my firm words, Grandmother couldn’t hide her contorted expression. She must have realized her protection had reached its limit.
New power is bound to be endlessly cruel to those who refuse to surrender.
“Ahem, it seems the Strategy Director isn’t judging the situation properly. Maybe shed a bit of that immaturity?”
And soon, criticisms flew from the executives, as if someone had fired a signal flare toward me.
“I didn’t want to say this, but... grow up already! Strategy Director!”
“Sigh, I told you. Han Seo-jun, the Strategy Director... his background’s the issue from the start. An illegitimate from some floozy thinking he can become Chairman...”
Pretending to mutter, to slip up, to whisper among themselves. But the sharp barbs were unmistakably aimed at me.
It didn’t matter. I was fine.
Unaffected in the slightest by the cries of these small fry.
“Those playing both sides sure have a lot to say. The loyalty contest is over—the lines are drawn—so shut your mouths. I’d appreciate it.”
“You... you! Shut up? How dare you say...”
The only face in my sight was my uncle’s, as if he were savoring this moment.
His expression, pondering how to make the already-caught prey even more wretched, brimmed with smugness, as if he were already the Ammunition Group’s master.
“Finance Headquarters Director? I sat quietly and listened to what you had to say. But the more I heard, the less sense it made.”
“...Disgusting. You think that Strategy Director title and a couple of lucky breaks are still your real skill!”
My uncle shed the polite mask he’d barely maintained, baring his claws at me.
Having stepped down from the podium center, the light beaming from the white projector resembled the fierce glare of a wild beast facing the evening sun.
“A lowborn wretch with neither ability nor pedigree dares covet the Ammunition Group Chairman seat! Because of your greed, the Iraq project nearly got buried!”
My uncle advanced toward me, step by step from the podium.
With cliffs blocking both sides and the rear, no one dared speak as he cornered his prey with nowhere to flee.
‘Just a bit more... right now!’
The final step.
His face, ecstasy mingling with the intent to tear my body to shreds.
Like leaping toward the crown’s brilliant light, my uncle thrust his bluish claws at me.
Unaware of where he would land.
“The Iraq seawater desalination plant project! You dared try to overturn this venture on which the Group’s fate hangs!”
“You don’t think I overturned it precisely because the Group’s fate hangs on it? Finance Headquarters Director.”
“What...?”
A deep depression in the ground.
And my uncle’s one foot, trapped in the pit lined with sharp thorn-like stakes, unable to move.
Gazing at my stunned uncle from the unexpected counterattack, I instructed the staff handling the meeting to display the materials I’d mentioned in advance.
The real ledger that would slit the throat of the beast in the trap—a blow my uncle hadn’t anticipated.
“A failed project. It’s like cancer cells lodged deep in the Ammunition Group’s bones, devouring its life.”
-Flick!
The screen changed in an instant.
There, etched in detail, was the catastrophe born of the desires of Heavy Industries, Construction, and Shipbuilding & Marine—the misjudgments of my uncle, blinded by the target before his eyes.
“This... is too much. Construction progress is still in the 10% range?”
“They used crap-tier parts. No wonder the trial run had issues.”
“Whoa... if this is true, cooked books will blow up too! Director! We need to contain this before it leaks outside!”
The conference room atmosphere flipped completely. The executives’ murmurs, like sheep, clearly proved the scales of power tipping back toward me.
“That’s why... I just couldn’t understand. Why the Finance Headquarters Director would pour in trillions in bank loans to this rotten swamp.”
“This... what nonsense is...”
Like a man turned to stone after misreading a snake’s eyes, my uncle’s face was one of utter bewilderment.
Now it was my turn.
Toward the wounded beast deep in the inescapable trap, I hurled my spear with indifference.
To end his breath.
“As you said earlier, being lowborn and talentless, I just didn’t get it. Why you cherished this trash project so dearly.”
That day, with my own hands, I placed the crown upon my head.
The crown called the Ammunition Group Chairman seat. And the coronation began.
“They say knowing makes you complicit, ignorance incompetent. Seems like both... but if you know the answer, care to enlighten me? This lowly soul.”