D-1
At that hour, Colt was already wrestling with the pile of approval documents that had come in, to the point that he had to call in Vice President Son as well.
"Yes, sir, President."
"I was going over the current state of our TY Telecom facilities, and..."
"Ah. Yes. Our base stations and data center facilities are currently..."
Thud.
Colt set an approval folder down on the table, cutting Vice President Son off mid-sentence.
"The facilities are badly outdated, aren't they? I can understand the ones that have already passed their depreciation life span, but we're dealing with frequent breakdowns and patchwork replacements."
It was the section on aging equipment that James had specifically told him to review. James's meticulous notes were also recorded in the documents.
"...Yes. A full replacement would cost quite a lot. If we keep patching things and using them, it will raise the company's added value..."
"How many years has it been since the last accident, and you're still making such complacent judgments?"
"Th, that is..."
"It's not even been two years since that incident. What happened back then was the trigger that started TY Telecom's collapse!"
"...That's correct."
"And yet you're still refusing to replace the same equipment that caused the accident? Do you want to recreate that disaster?"
Vice President Son had no choice but to offer a feeble excuse.
"Maintaining those facilities was an order from the former president..."
The problem with TY Telecom had always been Choi Jeong-san.
"Is that president still ordering you around, Vice President Son?"
"No, sir."
"The old ruling family and we are completely different. They're gone now. You can't even find a trace of them in our group anymore. Right?"
"Yes. On the surface..."
What he meant was that although they had been separated from the former ruling family on the outside, inside the company he still thought they remained closely tied to Chairman Choi Tae-yeong.
"Think that way in reality, too. From now on, I make the decisions, not them. Check the details on the equipment we're replacing this time, and also the old equipment replacement plans, then bring them back to me. No matter how much money it costs, we'll replace everything."
"Yes, sir!"
It would take a great deal of money, but Colt made the decision without hesitation. When TY Telecom had nowhere left to fall, new facility investment would be a positive factor for the market.
"Next is the event that deceives the customers. Who on earth would welcome this kind of thing?"
"......"
The event being run for telecom subscribers was also one of Choi Jeong-san's creations, carried on from his time as president. James's comment on it was brief, nothing more than four characters.
Sand fields becoming blue seas
It meant everything had to be overturned and done over from scratch.
"An event can only be called an event if our customers can actually feel the benefits! What's the point of handing out free data coupons most customers don't even know exist?"
"The less people use them, the better, he said..."
"That was the former president's idea too?"
"Yes..."
"That's exactly why he was driven out. I don't suppose Vice President Son wants to follow the same path?"
"I'll correct it..."
"Rework it as an event that gives subscribers real benefits. It has to be the kind of event even customers of other telecom companies would envy!"
"Understood!"
It was TY Telecom, something Colt would have to revise and transform from start to finish. On the strength of that thought, he picked up the intercom.
-Yes, sir.
"Call Director Kang Dong-hwi from the strategy office in."
-Yes. I'll summon him right away.
Then he explained to Vice President Son why he had called for Kang Dong-hwi.
"I'll go around the provinces with Director Kang and inspect our facilities in person. I think that's the top priority right now."
"The President himself is going..."
"I'm not going alone. Vice President Son, you'll come with me too, so get ready and come down."
"!"
Colt was the type who meant it when he said he would do something.
* * *
Tonight was the night before the D-Day James had already discussed in advance with Director Park.
"Then... tomorrow's schedule will proceed according to the plan we've discussed so far."
Since tomorrow was the final day of action, James met with Director Park once more to go over the plan.
"Steel yourself. Once this is over, it's ten billion won."
"...Yes."
After finishing their conversation by the Han River, the two were each heading home in their own cars.
......
James had something to take care of before D-Day.
Chairman Choi Tae-yeong's share cleanup was finished a few days ago too.
While Choi Jeong-san was hiding in the officetel, Chairman Choi Tae-yeong had sold off all 20 percent of the shares he held, along with the 7 percent shares Choi Jeong-san had fled with from the main house. However, the 1.5 percent each held by his two sons, Choi Tae-jin and Choi Yeong-jin, were harder to dispose of because divorce talks were already underway. Now that he'd even cut off contact with Chairman Choi Tae-yeong, the divorce was effectively a foregone conclusion.
That's enough.
James was in the middle of gathering the TY Telecom stock that had been scattered under nominee names into one place, which was why every five days lately he had been continuing to disclose the shareholdings. In the process, Colt's stake as the new president had also been created. It was partly because a CEO acquiring shares in his own company was seen as a bullish signal in the market, but also because he had let word leak that James would soon be making a new move. Of course, it had nothing to do with the secret operation that would unfold today and tomorrow.
It's about time to support the stock price that's been beaten down.
This whole thing was tied to why James had told Colt to inspect the old equipment. He intended to make the competitor experience the same base-station incident TY Telecom had suffered in the past.
TY Telecom, which repaired the stable after learning from the past; a foolish telecom company that saw its neighbor lose the cow and did nothing at all.
James was aiming for a starkly visible contrast.
* * *
Whoooom.
Driving along, James let the company matters fall behind him and thought of Chairman Choi Tae-yeong.
Even after your son went missing...
That day, after confirming that Choi Jeong-san had fled to the officetel, James had slipped back into the main house because he was curious how Chairman Choi Tae-yeong would react.
Even after hearing that Choi Jeong-san had escaped from the main house and disappeared, Chairman Choi Tae-yeong only furrowed his brow slightly.
"When we came in to check, he was already..."
"Enough. Get back to work, all of you."
"Yes, Chairman."
"I'm not the chairman anymore!"
"......"
After that, he chatted with the personal doctor he had called over while drinking tea, ate a fine dinner, and then went to bed in comfort.
......
He did not care even a speck about his son's existence. Even after that, Choi Jeong-san's whereabouts remained unknown, but his daily life changed very little.
Choi Jeong-san. The Chairman you worry about...
That old man went on living an ordinary life as if he had never had such a son at all. Calling in his second son, telling him that James was his blood relative, and urging him to resign voluntarily, or sorting out the shares, were merely incidental details in that ordinary life.
"Isn't your life boring now?"
Today, James intended to put an end to that dull existence.
"You'll meet soon enough."
The place where the two would face each other was not in this world, but the next.
Whoooom.
James's car sped powerfully toward his house.
First, I'll leave my car at home.
* * *
-...TY Telecom has recently been focusing on facility investment, and the customer appreciation event held after the shareholders' meeting has also made quite an impact....
That day too, Chairman Choi wrapped up his day by watching the news. Near the end of the broadcast, there was even a segment about TY Telecom's dazzling recent changes.
"Hmm. They're doing fairly well, I suppose."
-Also, TY Telecom founder and former chairman Choi Tae-yeong and those in special related relationships have sold all of their shares on the market, completely losing their control over TY Group. By contrast, outside forces, including Colt Evans, who entered TY Telecom, have been increasing their holdings and firmly securing their majority position...
Watching the media work unfold exactly as James intended, Choi Tae-yeong let out a thin smile.
"Forget it all, you swine."
Not much time had passed since the shareholders' meeting, but already the bad news was being diluted.
-Consumers who had turned their backs on TY Telecom are coming back as well. Subscribers are rising slightly, and there are signs that it will once again reclaim the industry's number one spot.
-Thank you for listening. This has been reporter Kim Dream. Next, weather caster Kim So-hyun will bring you tomorrow's weather...
Beep.
Choi Tae-yeong turned off the news and sneered with a twisted mouth.
"That's why you're called swine. How long has it been, and you've already forgotten us?"
He poured a stiff brandy from the crystal bottle on the table into a small glass.
Glug, glug, glug.
As he tipped the glass back toward his mouth, the line of his lips returned to a normal smile.
"Heh. Thanks to that brat, my liquid funds have only grown."
By selling his own shares along with his son's stake, Choi Tae-yeong had cashed out a total of 27 percent and now held a considerable amount of money. And he was lending that money to an acquaintance who controlled the Myeong-dong loan market, earning interest and growing his assets even further. Ordinary companies might knock on a bank's door when they were short on operating funds, but large corporations often secured the borrowing they didn't want to reveal to the public from the private-loan market. Among them, the Myeong-dong loan market was the most trusted.
"Discounting bearer bonds that are easy to pass around is really quite profitable."
Especially for illegal funds, it was hard to cash out at all unless they went through the Myeong-dong loan market. Bearer bonds received by politicians, and underground income earned by criminals, all of it was being laundered through this place.
......
James was one of the few people who had thoroughly grasped Choi Tae-yeong's recent movements. No, apart from Choi Tae-yeong himself, he was the only one.
Your money will all be put to good use, Choi Tae-yeong.
The massive sum of money he thought he was lending out to operate in the Myeong-dong loan market had actually been donated under his name to international relief organizations. Soon his name would be mentioned in the news.
It'll be used for starving people in Africa and underprivileged children around the world.
But he still hadn't realized that.
"Heh heh. And the interest rate is good too..."
He lifted the glass again, laughing as he looked at the paper in his hand.
He thought the paper he was holding was a contract for money he had loaned to the private market. A contract that promised to pay interest equal to no less than 12 percent of the principal. But in reality, he was laughing while holding a donation receipt proving that he had paid a trillions-of-won donation.
Human greed has no end, and people always repeat the same mistakes.
Chairman Choi Tae-yeong was deeply under the influence of James's suggestive magic. It was the same kind of case as when Choi Jeong-san had mistaken his hidden funds for a legitimate investment. Without James's magic, there was no way he would ever have handed over such a huge sum to an international relief organization.
"What would a kid whose hair hasn't even dried from birth know about management?"
"!"
His true thoughts were beginning to surface one by one in the empty room.
"If I make things a little harder, he'll start whining and come running to me."
Choi Tae-yeong intended to manufacture crises in TY Telecom and TY Chemical. It would not be difficult if he mobilized the government connections he had built up over the years. Merely excluding them from the next allocation of new telecom frequencies would be enough to put TY Telecom in crisis, and he could also exert pressure on the telecommunications business, which operated by government permit.
"When I use this money then, TY Group will end up moving at my hand, won't it? You're still too young, you brat. Hahaha. Don't think you've got TY Group in your hands. It's not yours. Did you really think the throne would pass over so easily?"
......
James had considered lifting the suggestive magic placed on him, but decided to leave it as it was.
If he goes out smiling, is that a good death? Either way, you'll never be TY Group's chairman again.
"Heh heh. The liquor tastes especially good tonight."
Drip, drip.
Choi Tae-yeong was refilling the empty glass with strong liquor.
...Goodbye.
It spilled over, wetting the table, and the liquor that overflowed from the table dripped onto the carpet.
Drip, drip, drip.
He had frozen with the glass tilted in his hand.
In your next life, try to live a little better.
The gray mana of chaos, guided by James's hand, had been seeping into his nose for some time. From that moment on, his brain had stopped functioning, and the body governed by that brain had stopped as well.
"!"
Small capillaries burst from his eyes. The same thing was happening in his brain.
Drum, drum, drum.
That was the sound ringing inside his head. The blood vessels that should have supplied oxygen to the brain were bursting.
Thunk.
The bottle, now completely empty, slipped helplessly from his grasp and fell onto the carpet, and
Thud.
Choi Tae-yeong's head came to rest on the table soaked with brandy. Today was the last day of founder Choi Tae-yeong's life as the founder of TY Telecom.
......
James, watching his death, could not feel sadness. Only a terrible emptiness remained.
......
To shake off that hollow feeling, James quickly turned and left the house.
Whoosh. Swoosh.
The remaining corpse was still with its head pressed to the liquor-soaked table. The crooked smile he had worn just before dying still remained at the corner of his mouth.
......
Whether his death was a good death or a horror, no one could say. But to James, it was horror.
---