Chapter 4
Chapter 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Chairman's Qualifications (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*Knock knock!*
The knock he'd been waiting for all day. Han Hwa-gi, Finance Director of Ammunition Group, cleared his throat to steady his voice and reined in his emotions.
Once the face in the mirror returned to its impassive state, he responded to the man outside the door.
"Come in."
He had handed off the matter that had been nagging at him recently to a subordinate.
His nephew, Han Seo-jun. Clearly the kind of dimwit who could only serve as a pawn in his plans. Indecisive, utterly incapable of reading the board, tainted by his lowly mother's blood—and thus perfect for shouldering all the blame.
And now, his mother, Director Seo Myung-hee, had suddenly decided to assign someone to that nephew. Kim Won-cheol, no less—the late chairman's closest confidant.
"Did you look into what I ordered?"
"It's true that Director Seo Myung-hee contacted Kim Won-cheol. There was a confidential review of personnel transfers in the group headquarters."
Yoo Ji-won, Audit Team Leader of Ammunition Group, reporting to his master.
Was it his instinct to sense when this cold man before him was in a foul mood?
Incongruous with his burly frame, he clasped his hands demurely.
Han Hwa-gi's brow furrowed.
The rustle of the top page of the report crumpling in his grip accompanied the opening of his mouth.
"That damn old hag. What whim is she indulging in now?"
"There were no unusual signs within the group, but there was something odd in the Pyeongchang-dong residence."
"At the main house? Ha! Don't tell me Mother is suddenly showing mercy to that concubine's whelp?"
A concubine who stained the bloodline. Director Seo Myung-hee despised anything that cracked the legitimacy of the Han family of Ammunition Group.
There was no way the iron-willed Seo Taehu would budge now out of pity.
"It's not related to the Little Madam... but piecing together the rumors circulating among the drivers."
The thick stack of documents crumpled in Han Hwa-gi's hand. Yoo Ji-won, Audit Team Leader, caught sight of Han Seo-jun's photo sandwiched between the pages—the subject of the report.
Careful not to irk his master as much as possible, he continued in a cautious tone.
"The conclusion is that Han Seo-jun's own abilities have suddenly blossomed."
"Team Leader Yoo, I didn't know you had a sense of humor. Or that you're disposable now, too."
Han Hwa-gi seized the report—over thirty pages thick—and tore it to shreds.
Was it because he faced this ominous fury head-on?
He hurled the quartered stack straight at Audit Team Leader Yoo Ji-won.
"......"
"You think that makes any sense? Han Seo-jun, that useless bastard from the concubine?"
Audit Team Leader Yoo Ji-won clamped his mouth shut. Every one of these Han family folks was prickly in their own damn way.
He had braced himself for undeserved abuse ever since the final review of the report. A purple bruise on his left shin was just something to endure.
He gritted his teeth in preparation for the storm to come when suddenly the phone rang.
*Ring ring ring!*
A familiar number on the desk phone's screen. It was Director Seo Myung-hee's.
"Yes. Mother. No, Director."
"Cancel your evening plans and be at Pyeongchang-dong by eight. Don't be late."
Han Hwa-gi rarely contradicted Director Seo Myung-hee's words.
But after the irritating report about his nephew earlier, was that why? He went against his usual instinct with an uncharacteristic question.
"...What is it?"
"Ha! Now you even question me? Has my youngest son's brain finally grown overnight?"
My youngest son's brain 'too.'
His grim premonition hit the mark. Just as the nephew's photo had crumpled in his fist, so too did his expression twist into a scowl.
"...No, Director. I'll see you this evening."
*Click!*
The silence after the call didn't last long. Han Hwa-gi, teeth clenched, pointed at the scraps of paper scattered on the floor and said,
"Hey. That stuff written on those paper bits down there. Sum it up in one sentence."
A boss ordering him to condense over thirty pages. From overhearing the call, it seemed Audit Team Leader Yoo Ji-won's original findings were spot on.
'Hah, that son of a bitch...'
The curse bubbled up, but he had to swallow it down.
With his daughter's U.S. tuition to pay, he had to hold this position—no matter what, endure and endure some more.
"...Han Seo-jun said the key points are heavy industries, construction, and shipbuilding & marine."
"Heavy industries, construction, shipbuilding & marine... Has that idiot really opened his eyes? And Mother plans to attach Kim Won-cheol to it, too."
Han Hwa-gi gazed at the chessboard ornament in the corner of his desk.
A black knight lurking among the other pieces, biding its time for its turn. In just a few moves, it would charge straight at the enemy king.
And right now, a white bishop was blocking its path—a bishop wearing a mitre Han Seo-jun had never shown before.
"...I need to reset the board for the succession game."
"Director?"
"Why the dumb look? Go figure out what that old hag is thinking!"
Suddenly dismissed. Audit Team Leader Yoo Ji-won, shoved out the door, fiddled with the cigarette pack in his pocket and muttered under his breath.
"Hah... If I could just bash our master's thick skull once, all my wishes would come true."
* * * *
Before the inevitably tense dinner with Grandmother and Uncle. I was preparing to take responsibility for the bold claims I'd made.
"Even looking again, she's no fairy—just a total nutcase, our Ammunition Group."
Scattered across the desk were Ammunition Group's full financial statements and papers on the current state of international finance.
-Research on the Scale of U.S. Subprime Mortgage Derivatives
-Analysis of Correlations Between Large-Scale Engineering Industries and Liquidity Crunches
Heavy industries, construction, shipbuilding & marine.
The moment the 2008 fall financial crisis hit, these business plans would freeze up with cash shortages in an instant. They were Ammunition Group's pride now, but soon to be shackles dragging them down.
"Those money-devouring hippos all need to be turned into jerky. The group's fundamentals aren't even worth a hollow bun. And..."
Following the funding matters, a summary report on the current tech landscape caught my eye.
No drones freely roaming the skies yet. No high-performance, high-efficiency secondary batteries. No AI to handle big data.
No nuclear fusion power tech that would emerge in the future, no space industry tech—a pre-Fourth Industrial Revolution world.
"Still, I just need to set the big direction. The details can be handled by the rank-and-file... The problem is the investment capital."
Time and budget. The eternal trade-offs when tasking engineers with future tech development.
Time's solvable by throwing bodies at it. They built pyramids; 21st-century engineers can handle tech dev.
But budget? That's different. Astronomical sums of capital need to be injected boldly at the exact right moment.
"Trillions at minimum, up to hundreds of trillions at max. What is this, Zimbabwe? The currency units feel off."
The flashiest way to rake in cash is crypto, but it's 2008 now. Gotta sit on it for ten years straight before it pays off.
"Coin's like kimchi in the fermenting jar—wait till it's properly aged. Need other options for now..."
As I mulled over funding strategies this way and that, someone knocked on the door.
It was the maid, Cheongju-ssi.
"Young Master. May I come in?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Director just arrived. Seems like she'll wrap up the talk first then have dinner. She says come straight to the study."
I sensed someone else outside the door, and sure enough, Mom was standing there, looking my way.
Her eyes brimmed with anxiety, worried for her son.
"This little thing's already grown so big..."
I shot up from my seat. Approaching Mom with her arms crossed, I flashed a grin.
"I'll do great. You can look forward to it."
* * * *
Would a girls' dorm matron's final evolution look like this?
Director Seo Myung-hee stared silently at the two men before her.
Her illegitimate eldest grandson, Han Seo-jun, and her second son, Han Hwa-gi.
By primogeniture, the grandson was first in line for succession, but his illegitimate status was a weakness, and his abilities unknown. The second son had solid experience in finance, but he wasn't chairman material.
'I need to put one of them in the chairman's seat soon. The problem is the group's situation...'
Her first son—and the predecessor chairman—died in the Gumi factory explosion. Compensation payments due by year-end totaled a staggering 3.8 trillion won.
For Ammunition Group, already shaky from overextended investments, it was a fatal blow.
'Put a captain at the helm to weather the storm, or... as the clan elders say, push forward a bullet sponge to take the blame.'
Originally, Seo Taehu had planned to use the bullet sponge.
Make the foolish, dimwitted illegitimate grandson play scapegoat right away, then sideline him for reflection.
In the meantime, stabilize the group via her finance expert second son.
'But what if that discard card of a grandson is actually a diamond in the rough?'
Heavy industries, construction, shipbuilding & marine.
The moment the grandson pinpointed the group's weak links. It was like a gleam shining from what had seemed worthless black stone.
Recalling that memory, Director Seo Myung-hee. Her chaebol instincts seemed to whisper:
'Even if the chairman endorsement is delayed a bit, I need to check if he's real timber.'
It wouldn't take long. Just three months—endure the clan council's pressure that long, and she'd see how this sprout would bloom.
Seo Taehu, her deliberations finally over. She looked at the two men before her and spoke—bluntly, to the point.
"You both want the Ammunition Group chairman position, right? Don't deny it."
"......"
"......"
Neither Han Seo-jun nor Han Hwa-gi answered immediately.
As if running their own private calculations in their heads, neither revealed their true thoughts easily.
And as if she'd expected as much, Director Seo Myung-hee snorted. She slid something toward them.
*Slide*
On the mahogany desk, her wrinkled hand. And documents on group headquarters personnel transfers, handed one to each man.
There lay Director Seo Myung-hee's hard-won conclusion.
-Promotion: Han Hwa-gi, Finance Director (Executive Director level) to Finance Headquarters Director (VP level).
-Promotion: Han Seo-jun to Strategy Director (Executive Director level).
Wholly unexpected?
The two men taking the documents had eyes wide as saucers.
Unconcerned with their reactions, the lady of Ammunition Group held up three fingers and declared:
"Three months from now. I'll watch your results from your assigned positions. Succession will be decided then."