Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: How to Scout Talent (5)
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“Keuheuk… Our Red Riding Hood Chairman’s words just won’t leave my head. One for Ammunition Group! Two for reform!”
“Sigh, I really didn’t want to do that whole thing.”
Whether he’d come to report or just to get under my skin, Kim Won-cheol stood before me with his usual infuriating grin.
To make matters worse, the Ammunition Group logo emblazoned on the report cover was a red flame design.
I pulled out my fountain pen, scribbled my signature haphazardly, and shook my head as I replied.
“No more of that mock boot camp nonsense. It’ll probably go down as the last entry in Ammunition Group history.”
“Must’ve really gotten under your skin, huh? The rank-and-file are saying it was pretty refreshing, though.”
Ammunition Group was infamous for its military-style corporate culture.
Especially Ammunition Electronics, where the irrationality was at its worst.
After that day, the reactions on a certain online community popular with office workers were beyond imagination.
-Ammunition Group’s new Chairman apparently smashed the military culture by telling the execs at Ammunition Electronics, “You try it!” Real deal boot camp style.
-Ah, when the Chairman himself ran out front with a full 40kg pack, what could those boomer execs do?
Contrary to my worries, the responses were mostly straightforward and positive.
In particular, the Ammunition Group employees—identifiable by their tags—treated him like a messiah who’d crushed the oppressors and ushered in a wave of liberation.
-I work at Ammunition Electronics. Those execs who were Lee Tae-gyu’s former president lapdogs got a humility injection from the Chairman and actually mellowed out. Life’s worth living now.
-Current Ammunition Training Institute employee here. That day was legendary… The execs who’d done that crazy cosplay following Lee Tae-gyu all turned into meek lambs in front of the ‘real madness.’
The better-than-expected reactions brought a smile to my lips.
Of course, I still couldn’t quite grasp why I’d ended up with this enigmatic title of ‘real madness.’
“Heh heh heh. Using this method occasionally on execs who won’t listen? Not a bad idea. Right?”
“Never again. If I start abusing that kind of necessary evil, I’d be no different from former President Lee Tae-gyu. Anyway…”
Flip. The report was so thick it was stacked like a book, and as my fingernail scraped along the edges, I came across a marked page.
There, alongside a copy of an official government document, was one highlighted in red ink.
It was a complaint filed with the Labor Office.
“Didn’t expect the Labor Office to make the first move.”
“Former President Lee Tae-gyu was such a tyrant. Looks like a few of those ‘runaway ninjas’—er, young employees who quit—banded together on this.”
Former President Lee Tae-gyu’s fate wasn’t one to end with a simple dismissal.
Dawn PT runs, Seoraksan climbs, Knights of the Round Table antics. Add to that the verbal abuse, curses, and humiliations disguised as surprise site inspections.
That karma had finally coalesced and come flying at the back of his head.
In the form of workplace harassment complaints from the runaway ninjas.
“I’m not saying bury it, but make sure it doesn’t negatively impact the entire Group. Handle compensation and apologies properly.”
“Michelle’s already on it. Says we need to quickly address not just the runaways but all the built-up grievances from existing staff.”
“Hmm…”
The vast blood-soaked mat of the former Lee Tae-gyu faction at Ammunition Electronics, after the brutal sword dance.
On the stage I’d set, President Michelle could now move freely without obstruction.
Experimental structures like project-based teams, one day of remote work per week, CIC (in-house independent companies).
A wind of radical change was blowing, and the seeds of innovation were being sown little by little.
“It’ll take some time to roll out the experimental organizational culture from the Future Business Division across all of Ammunition Electronics.”
“I’ll allocate some of the Group headquarters’ special budget, so tell her to hurry it up as much as possible. But this…”
As I reached the end of the report, my gaze halted abruptly, like a car snagged on the chin of a cliff.
A sense of unease and déjà vu, a strange discomfort—my intuition was screaming silently.
Something I hadn’t yet recognized… was going wrong.
“I thought we’d put out the urgent fires, but the resignation rate for key talent at Electronics has spiked?”
The sudden resignations from Ammunition Electronics researchers.
With non-compete clauses in place, they had nowhere obvious to jump ship. The anomalous data was enough to raise red flags.
“Yeah, I looked into it because of that. Turns out all the quitters’ final destinations converged on one place.”
“One place?”
Kim Won-cheol stood and took a step to the side.
At the same moment, a large wooden globe on the floor began spinning on its axis.
After a bit, as the momentum faded, the rotation slowed.
Finally, with a creak, it stopped—Kim Won-cheol’s thick finger pointing at a spot.
“Here…”
He nodded.
The location he named signified that they—[Shanghai Capital]—had reorganized their front lines far faster than anticipated.
“China, Guangzhou IT Industrial Park. Via… Shanghai.”
* * * *
Macau, just a stone’s throw from Guangzhou.
In a suite at a five-star hotel in the city center, the laughter of a young man and woman showed no sign of stopping.
Seo Yun-ji and Kim Beom-ho, tangled under the covers and showing no intention of emerging.
Red-faced from drink, they embraced, gazing at Macau’s nightscape beyond the window, their hands wandering each other’s bodies without needing prompting.
“That good, huh? God, Kim Beom-ho, you look like the cat that got the cream.”
“Heh heh heh. Of course. Good call coming here. They say listen to Seo Yun-ji and rice cakes fall into your lap even in your sleep.”
Grinning slyly, Kim Beom-ho tossed out his flippant remarks.
He got out of bed and unlocked a black briefcase.
Click. Bundles of green dollar bills came into view with the metallic snap.
Like a kid who’d just unwrapped a toy, Kim Beom-ho threw his arms skyward and yelled.
“Vacation spot: Macau. Macau means casino. Casino means what? Heh heh heh. Slush funds!”
“Not a kid anymore, and here you are losing your mind over it.”
Her words said one thing, but Seo Yun-ji didn’t seem entirely displeased by her lover’s pathetic display.
She prodded his back with her toes as she added,
“You won a decent haul today, so don’t get greedy tomorrow and turn into a known face. Just sightsee quietly or hole up here. I told you I have plans, right?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
Officially, it was a business trip masking their Macau frolic.
Lately, she’d sensed people tailing her, making secret meetings at Yeouido’s K Hotel impossible for a while.
In the end, she’d had to use work as an excuse to slip overseas. Work was serious business for her, too, of course.
“Always so busy for no reason. What’s this schedule again?”
“The Ammunition Group researchers entered China, didn’t they? We’ve invested so much effort and money, so we need to put them to use ASAP, don’t we?”
Business talk soured her mood. Rubbing her temples, Seo Yun-ji slipped into the whirlpool tub in the middle of the room.
Seeing her like that, Kim Beom-ho shook his head in exasperation and spoke.
“There’s always the option to live easy like me. Bastards like us have no tomorrow anyway.”
Hearing that, Seo Yun-ji climbed out of the tub, water dripping from her body.
She shuffled to the bedside, grabbed Kim Beom-ho in his bathrobe, and dragged him back toward the tub.
“Our pathetic Beom-ho. Still haven’t come to your senses?”
“Ow! Coming at me so boldly like this—how could I?”
Splash. Water sprayed across the marble floor as the two piled into the tub.
Seo Yun-ji sat below, pulling Kim Beom-ho atop her stomach and into an embrace.
Their noses touching, she grazed his upper lip with her teeth and said,
“Bastards have no tomorrow because they lack ambition. Like you.”
“Heh heh heh. Then what’s this? Overflowing with ambition?”
Kim Beom-ho teased, pointing at her chest with wriggling fingers.
Seo Yun-ji smirked playfully, locked her arms around his neck, and dunked his head underwater.
“Glub! Mmph! Hey, Seo Yun-ji, you…!”
“Useless bitches born on golden spoons. A baby brother who can’t even pee straight. If I can’t devour them like this, I’m just as much a retard. Right?”
Kim Beom-ho flailed with his head submerged. Watching him, Seo Yun-ji’s face flushed red.
Someday… when she ended the Iron Flower Group Seo family’s sham playtime, she’d plunge those hated family members’ heads into a sea of despair.
They’d surely thrash hopelessly before her eyes then, too. Gasping, floundering with their entire bodies.
“Pwah! Ah, damn. Water up my nose…”
“Stop showing off how dumb you are and get out already. I’m getting hungry. No room service—we’re going down to eat.”
Kim Beom-ho grumbled as he toweled off and dressed.
Drying his hair with the blow dryer, he tossed out a casual remark.
“But those Ammunition Electronics lab kids. You got them fake jobs at that Chinese shell company, right? To dodge the non-compete.”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Heh heh heh. That Chinese shell company, by any chance… know who the real owners are? The ones you’re collaborating with.”
A probing question, just in case.
But the way his lover fixed him with her gaze made him feel caught out.
Flinch. Kim Beom-ho tucked his head between his shoulders.
“N-No, I’m not buying shares! You don’t trust me? I don’t even have money to invest these days. Just curious, that’s all. Really.”
“Always thinking about stocks… No need anyway. It’s a place you couldn’t touch even if you tried.”
Seo Yun-ji applied lipstick while eyeing her reflection in the mirror.
His cowering seemed oddly cute. With a light scoff, she capped the lipstick and slipped into his arms.
“Listen up, Kim Beom-ho.”
“Yeah. Got it. I won’t cause trouble, I swear?”
Seo Yun-ji left a deep pink lipstick mark on his nape.
Peeling her sticky lips away, she spoke with a chilling smile.
“They’re dangerous people, so don’t get tangled up. [Shanghai Capital]… those guys are sharpening their knives for Han Seo-jun.”