[Merrill Land (1)]
“Wow, these conditions are so good they’re practically begging for an investigation into collusion between politics and business.” At Choi Deok-bae’s words, Ryu Geun-tae nodded.
“You’re telling me. I didn’t expect there to be as many as five places offering a total exemption from local taxes.”
“On top of that, they said they’d push the paperwork through without asking any questions. Those mayors must be desperate.”
“Well, doesn’t that just go to show how clean our YK is?”
Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Deok-bae were busy patting each other on the back while reading through the documents from the five candidate cities. Yoon-gi was doing the same. After reading through the files for Daejeon, Daegu, Jeju, Jeonju, and Wonju, he stretched his arms.
“Chairman, have you reached a decision?” at Ryu Geun-tae’s question, Yoon-gi nodded.
“Yes.”
It was a faster decision than expected. They had assumed he would read the reports and then move to a second round of negotiations, but Yoon-gi had already made up his mind.
“Oh? You’ve decided already? Which one are you going with?”
“Daejeon.” Yoon-gi’s answer was swift.
“Huh? Daejeon?”
“Yes. While Jeju Island is a famous tourist destination, the risk during a tourism slump is too great. Plus, the construction costs would undoubtedly be astronomical. While the Jeju City government’s offer of a local tax exemption is incredible, it’s hard to offset those construction costs.”
“That’s certainly true. Then, what about the other three?”
“Daegu is too far to travel from Seoul or the capital area. Jeonju is the same. And Wonju, while the straight-line distance might not be that far, the transportation infrastructure is poor.”
“Everything has a reason, I see.”
“Actually, luck played a part.”
“Luck?” At Choi Deok-bae’s follow-up question, Yoon-gi nodded.
“Yes. If the people from the other four cities had been the mayor of Daejeon, then the amusement park would have been built in the cities where those people work.”
“Ah, I see what you mean.” Choi Deok-bae understood immediately. The concept of luck Yoon-gi was talking about—all five locations had offered the exact same top-tier conditions. But only one could be chosen. Ultimately, external factors were the deciding element, which could only be seen as luck.
“I can certainly empathize with that element of luck.” Choi Deok-bae recalled Ryu Geun-tae’s background and gave a bitter smile. But Ryu Geun-tae wasn’t finished.
“However, sometimes that ‘luck’ turns into a blessing in disguise. If I had been working at a normal place like Daeyoung or Shin-sang, I wouldn’t be in this position today. Perhaps the other regions will find benefits in other ways?”
At the apt analogy, Yoon-gi smiled.
“That’s true.”
To begin with, Yoon-gi had no intention of dumping all his resources into a single region. If he only wanted to make money, he could have just developed Seoul like in the original history and raked in the cash. But Yoon-gi’s ultimate goal was ‘something more’ than just money. That was why he decided to build the amusement park in Daejeon. His goal was to reduce the population of Seoul while increasing the total population of South Korea.
“By the way, Yoon-gi. You always have a plan, so I don’t want to make an issue of it, but I have a question. Is that okay?” Choi Deok-bae suddenly wore a serious expression.
“Yes, please, go ahead.”
At Yoon-gi’s words, Choi Deok-bae scratched his sideburns with his index finger and spoke with difficulty.
“I heard you were building an amusement park, so I looked up the construction costs. It’s no joke. Will you be okay?”
Choi Deok-bae’s concern was clearly well-founded. Even Ryu Geun-tae’s expression had darkened slightly.
“Actually, I looked into the construction costs for the theme park myself. And it was… a bit expensive.”
In reality, the construction of Lotte World took four years and cost 550 billion won. In the case of a place like the famous Disneyland, it took one year of construction in 1954 and cost 17 million dollars. Since the value of the dollar in 1954 compared to 2018 is about 9.5 times different, even a simple calculation at 1,000 won per dollar comes out to about 161.5 billion won. In short, to build a ‘proper’ theme park, one would need to invest roughly 200 billion won based on the 2010s standard.
“My assets should be more than enough, though?” Yoon-gi was brimming with confidence. Indeed, his current assets were more than enough to build the theme park. The oil field that was worth 1 trillion won when discovered. Microsoft stock that was worth 700 million dollars at the time of its IPO. The money coming in from Hollywood film investments. The astronomical profits from the AIDS medication. Of course, even if you add all of these up and take their maximum value, it wouldn’t exceed 4 trillion won as of January 1988. Even if you were being very generous.
However, this was only the current value. While the value of the oil field is currently undervalued due to falling oil prices, Yoon-gi knows better than anyone that oil prices will inevitably rise until shale gas becomes mainstream. On top of that, Microsoft stock will rise more than 200 times by the 2010s, Hollywood films are also raking in massive amounts, and the pharmaceutical company is literally scooping up dollars with a rake. In short, there’s no need to worry about money.
Furthermore, Yoon-gi’s wealth didn’t end there; there were countless companies under his umbrella, including YK Department Store. These companies were all still private. If Yoon-gi had made ‘chaebol’ his life goal instead of ‘manager,’ he would have already taken all these companies public. But Yoon-gi’s goal was always to be the ‘supreme manager.’ That was why he held onto all the operational control.
“Hmm~ should I think of it as spending 25 percent of your salary?” Choi Deok-bae’s expression was unexpectedly appropriate, but slightly off-target.
“Rather than that, shouldn’t we think of it as spending 25 percent of your total assets?” When Ryu Geun-tae corrected him, Choi Deok-bae slapped his forehead in agreement, and Yoon-gi added a word.
“It’ll be lower than 25 percent.”
Yoon-gi’s words indirectly revealed the scale of his wealth. Ryu Geun-tae and Choi Deok-bae thought about the theme park construction costs they had researched, estimated Yoon-gi’s wealth, and were inwardly awestruck.
‘If we’re talking purely about his assets, he’s at a level where he could have local specialties from every country flown in by air for every meal and it wouldn’t matter.’
While Ryu Geun-tae was thinking about Yoon-gi’s daily consumption habits—eating ramen or tteokbokki without a care in the world—Yoon-gi was thinking something else.
‘They seem so anxious about me spending money on building an amusement park? I suppose I’ll have to release the second seal.’
Only Choi Deok-bae noticed Yoon-gi’s inner thoughts, which sounded like he was suffering from a case of ‘middle school syndrome’ (chuunibyou).
* * *
Releasing the seal. If there are web novels in Korea based on the 2010s, there are light novels in Japan. The term ‘middle school syndrome’ originated from Japanese light novels. Light novels where the protagonists are generally middle or high school students. However, their behavior is so embarrassing that you’d want to kick your blanket when you become an adult, hence the term ‘middle school syndrome’ was coined.
“Heh, don’t push me too far, okay? Because the Black Flame Dragon in my right hand is trying to break through its seal.”
It was a perfect example of middle school syndrome. Naturally, Yoon-gi’s talk of releasing a seal didn’t have this intention. The several seals Yoon-gi had prepared when he was 10 years old. He had released the first one a long time ago, and now it was time to release the second. Not the Black Flame Dragon of middle school syndrome, but a surging black dragon made of liquid.
“Ooh! Texas, the city of real men who act before they think!”
The limousine Yoon-gi was currently riding in was driving along a desert road in Texas. And the bodyguard sitting next to him was none other than Bill.
“Is it nice to step on American soil after so long?”
Bill shook his head with a bright smile.
“No, not at all!”
“I suppose that’s a distinct possibility.” As Yoon-gi nodded, guessing the reason, Bill flashed his white teeth and grinned.
“To be honest, it’s hard for a Black man to live in America. If I were driving this car alone with the windows down, a police car would be tailing me in no time.”
A Black man driving a limousine in the 80s. In this case, there is a very high probability that a white police officer on a motorcycle or in a police car would follow him. Of course, this is something that still happens quite often in the 2010s.
“And they’d make me get out of the car and handcuff me. Then they’d check the car and the registration.” Bill suddenly made a playful face. “And I’d end up in prison. Because, obviously, that car wouldn’t be mine.”
Yoon-gi and Bill burst into laughter at the same time. As they say, racism is something that makes you angry when you’re on the receiving end, but it becomes a comedy cheat code when you use it for satire yourself. It’s not for nothing that Black comedians in American stand-up comedy programs use racism as a theme. Since even white people often use racism as a subject by twisting clichés, Bill’s joke was undeniably effective.
“Still, Bill, at least you have a chance to go to prison. The police would probably just shoot the tires first if it were me.”
“Nah, Chairman, they wouldn’t do that to you. Because you’re famous.”
Certainly, Yoon-gi was in a situation where quite a lot of people recognized his face. Just as Yoon-gi was about to nod, Bill shook his head as if to retract his statement.
“Ah, my mistake. This is Texas, isn’t it? Then there’s a high chance they won’t recognize you.”
“True, this is the city of real men.”
“To put it nicely, it’s the city of real men; to put it badly, it’s the city of lunatics.” Bill’s assessment was quite cold.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Right now, Texas is one of the places where racism is at its worst, isn’t it? Furthermore, the people here don’t call the police when they’re upset. That doesn’t mean they use their fists, either. They just bring out a double-barreled shotgun if they’re angry.”
“I’ve heard stories, but is it really that bad?”
Yoon-gi had never been to America during his days as a laborer. Furthermore, anyone who has worked in manual labor knows that it’s extremely rare for the members to praise the government. [We Are Hell Joseon]. As such, America was conversely portrayed as an earthly paradise, but Yoon-gi was realizing through his current life experience that much of it was exaggerated.
“Of course. The KKK is still actively operating here, for starters.”
The KKK, a group of white supremacists. In reality, even in 2020, if an Asian person is racially discriminated against and reports it to the police, the police drag the Asian person away in Texas. As such, what would the 80s be like? “Anyway. If they were people with their heads screwed on straight, they wouldn’t dare touch you, Chairman, but there are a lot of people here who aren’t. Be careful. If you live your daily life in America, you’ll meet people who lack common sense beyond your imagination.”
“I’ll take that advice to heart. Oh, and by the way.”
“Is there something you’d like to say?”
“Yes. After this American schedule is over, I’ll buy you a foreign car, so take a look if you see any catalogs.”
“Excuse me? Is that for real?” Bill asked back in shock. He had followed Yoon-gi because he said he was going to America and thought it would be ‘fun,’ but a foreign car out of the blue? This was the same as finding hundreds of millions of won on the street.
“You did a great job with the Morse code last time, didn’t you? You deserve a reward. I’ll get you one with all the options.”
“Hey, that was something anyone could have done if they were a soldier… Ah… Thank you.”
Bill, who had been speaking up to this point, realized why Yoon-gi was buying him a foreign car and bowed his head deeply. In short, it was Yoon-gi’s way of saying he liked him. Because of that, loyalty sprouted even more deeply in Bill’s heart.
‘I have to do even better.’
Amidst the heartwarming conversation, the limousine finally arrived at its destination.
“This place will help our YK take a leap forward—no, several leaps forward.” Yoon-gi’s bright smile spread as if it were radiating light to the surroundings.