Chapter 148

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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This intuition ability has a limit.

When I had just joined the securities company, not knowing this, I recklessly used this power for day trading and got overloaded, even falling asleep during work once.

So now I regulate it somewhat.

Even when I have to stay up all night doing day trading like before, I pace myself.

Of course, even doing that, I eventually reach my limit and have to rest for a few days.

On top of that, now my intuition doesn’t just tingle—it shows full visions, so the consumption is even faster.

The more vivid the vision and the longer the footage, the more completely I collapse after watching.

“This must be something like that too?”

Besides this “Life’s Answers” book, I checked whether I got intuition from other books as well.

But no feeling came from any other book except this one.

“Is it because of the number of characters?”

Other books have pages packed with text.

Unless it’s a picture book, most books are like that.

But this book has one line per page, sometimes just a single letter—purely minimal content.

Yet paradoxically, this was the perfect book for my intuition.

Unlike pages filled with letters and sentences, it could give me answers in short, simple phrases.

“Ugh. My head hurts.”

If I utilized this book, I might be able to get clearer answers, but that didn’t mean I could use it recklessly.

I hadn’t even used it many times, yet I was already feeling this strong pain in my temples.

“Then what’s the last piece of advice you can give me?”

The smell of my temples burning filled my nostrils while a tingling signal came to my fingertips.

I immediately opened the book.

[Live a self-directed life.]

A self-directed life.

It was a subtle piece of advice.

The reason I started feeling sick of the securities company work was because I felt like I was working according to someone else’s will, not my own.

It was advice that seemed to pinpoint exactly that.

“Plus when I asked if I should quit work, it said don’t pull that bullshit.”

I was honestly a bit scared then.

The thought even crossed my mind that this intuition might not actually be for me, but something planted by someone else to control me.

But thinking about it carefully, that wasn’t quite the case.

I’m someone who lived the most spectacular securities man’s life, moving hundreds of trillions of won, more than anyone else.

If someone like me suddenly went back to being a gaming shut-in like before,

could I feel the dopamine and joy I felt then inside those games?

‘People like us can never escape this position.’

That was something Chairman Kang Seong-ho said to me before.

He too sometimes wanted to abandon his chairman position and live ordinarily like others, but the taste that chairman position gives him, and because it’s his driving force for life, he can’t leave.

I think I’m the same.

Even if I quit being president of the securities company, I would eventually long for these days, and the day after opening my eyes, I’d clearly live an empty life having lost my purpose.

I’ve already immersed myself deeply in this world.

And I’ve become someone who can no longer return to before.

Wasn’t my intuition telling me exactly that?

***

“President. Here’s the report.”

Originally, the department head personally delivered the daily reports.

But today, instead of the department head, the Vice President came in.

“Is there something you want to say separately?”

“Yes. I came about the Faceweb matter. As you’ll see in the report, Faceweb’s market cap has dropped to $250 billion. I really felt I needed to ask you about it.”

“About what?”

“President. Are you really trying to do a hostile acquisition of Faceweb?”

“……?”

I paused for a moment.

Hostile acquisition?

“Faceweb’s stock price has been continuously falling, and you’ve been buying it up steadily. So even externally, there’s a lot of talk that Gwangwoon has entered the process for a hostile takeover of Faceweb.”

I was buying Faceweb stock simply because only that stock among all of Nasdaq was shining with bright light.

But from an outside perspective, this could only look like preparation for a hostile acquisition.

“But as you know, President, Faceweb is a place where hostile acquisition is impossible. Unless the founder who holds majority voting rights gives up his stake.”

Dual-class voting rights.

Most large American companies have that structure.

Faceweb is the same.

That’s precisely why I hadn’t even thought about acquiring Faceweb.

I really just followed my intuition, purchased thinking the price would rise,

“……….”

But thinking back, from other people’s perspective, it could only look like I was preparing to acquire Faceweb.

And actually, maybe my intuition really was telling me to purchase shares for a Faceweb acquisition.

“President?”

I was lost in thought for a while.

Because even I didn’t know what intention my intuition had for purchasing Faceweb stock.

“Vice President, could you come back later?”

“Huh? Ah… Yes, understood.”

After sending off the Vice President, I opened my bag first.

Because I’d brought the book from home just in case.

“…………..”

I fingered the book for a moment, then asked.

“Were you really trying to acquire Faceweb? Was that the reason you showed me that stock through intuition?”

While handling the thick pages, before long a signal came to my fingertips.

The phrase written on the page I opened was:

[What matters is your will.]

What matters is my will?

“Then if I want to buy, you’ll help, and if I don’t want to buy, I don’t have to?”

I closed the book then opened it again following the feeling.

Chillingly, the same page, the same phrase came up as just before.

“What matters is your will……………………”

In other words, it would follow my will.

Finally, I could make a choice too.

“No. Maybe it was possible from the beginning.”

Until now, I had only passively followed my intuition. I thought I understood why it told me yesterday to live a self-directed life.

“…………”

Acquiring Faceweb.

What benefit would that have for our Gwangwoon?

Probably the advantage of eliminating PikPik’s biggest competitor.

PikPik is competing with Faceweb for the number one spot in SNS.

But if we acquire Faceweb and absorb all their members?

Then for the next 10 years—no, even longer—the number one SNS will be PikPik.

“But how do I acquire this? Is it even possible?”

If the founder Markus stubbornly refuses to sell the company, acquiring Faceweb is impossible. But before long, another feeling transmitted to my fingertips.

[There’s nothing impossible in my dictionary.]

The phrase exuded confidence.

Even if it seems impossible to us, it’s saying it’s possible for itself.

Then all that remained was my decision.

“Acquiring Faceweb, huh……..”

TBTF.

Too Big To Fail.

If I really succeed in the acquisition, it would mean getting my hands on a representative “too big to fail” company.

On top of that, isn’t Faceweb a mega-large SNS company with 4 billion subscribers?

And I’m acquiring that place?

Dopamine was already tingling throughout my entire body.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

I don’t know exactly how it plans to acquire that place, but let’s try anyway.

Then what should I do first?

Should I buy more Faceweb stock now?

Or use SNS and media for a media campaign?

Meet with the founder Markus for a conversation?

Or just send an acquisition proposal out of nowhere?

As various thoughts flashed through my mind all at once, an intense vibration came to my fingertips and I quickly opened the page.

[Don’t make such a fuss.]

“………”

It seems like becoming friends with this thing is out of the question.

***

“What does Jin-ho say he’ll do?”

“He said to slowly purchase volume like we’re doing now.”

“Huh. Then really…?”

“Yes. It seems he’s seriously trying to acquire Faceweb.”

“But is that possible? It’s not a place you can take over just by buying a lot of stock.”

To make a comparison, Faceweb is like an impregnable fortress.

It’s a place that can never be conquered unless the lord opens the gates.

That’s why Hwang Dae-woon was puzzled.

How on earth does he plan to devour the giant dinosaur called Faceweb?

Even if Faceweb fell from the $1 trillion club to $250 billion,

its weight class remains the same.

“But Chairman, I think this might actually be possible.”

“Hm? What do you mean? How is it possible?”

“As news spread that our Gwangwoon is trying to acquire Faceweb, several large investment firms have started providing supporting fire.”

Supporting fire?

Large investment firms that only chase money are suddenly helping Gwangwoon?

“In the end, what funds and investment firms ultimately aim for is money, isn’t it? And they’ve judged that it’s more profitable for Gwangwoon to take over Faceweb.”

“How?”

“We recently issued KW Coin, didn’t we? An algorithmic stablecoin system with KW Coin and KW2 Coin. Two coins in total.”

Coins issued by distributing over 2 trillion won to people who suffered losses from the Luna coin and FTX bankruptcy.

“That marketing effect was truly incredible. Thanks to that, even Bitcoin skeptics were buying our coin.”

“So the investment firms currently supporting us are among them?”

“Yes. According to rumors, after seeing our Gwangwoon refuse to list Luna coin, Gold Reagan was the first to cut losses on Luna coin and mass purchase our KW Coin. Following that, other heavyweight investment firms and funds also bought our coin.”

In other words, for them to make money, KW Coin needs to moon.

“That’s why investment firms on Wall Street are now simultaneously attacking Faceweb. Through negative articles and reports via various media outlets.”

Only then could Chairman Hwang Dae-woon understand why Faceweb’s stock price had fallen this much.

Even though Gwangwoon is aggressively purchasing shares, the price keeps falling.

“Moreover, Faceweb shooting themselves in the foot was huge. Suddenly going on about metaverse this and that, pouring money into strange directions, and losing a whopping 50 trillion won. Also, Chinese cities were put under forced lockdown, and this time Ampl’s iOS comprehensive security update blocked Faceweb’s advertising.”

It was a situation where one might wonder if such bad luck could exist, as Faceweb was hit with consecutive disasters.

With Wall Street attacking on top of that, they had no way to endure.

“Does destroying Faceweb benefit Wall Street?”

“If it was just a fight between PikPik and Faceweb, Wall Street would have joined the fight while hovering around looking for scraps to pick up. But this is an overwhelmingly tilted fight. Because of KW Coin.”

KW Coin can be used on all platforms operated by Gwangwoon.

And in that situation, if Faceweb with 4 billion members falls to PikPik?

“Then all those members would be able to use KW Coin. That would increase the value of KW2 Coin even more.”

They could use KW Coin like actual currency.

“Faceweb once tried to list a coin targeting that advantage but was blocked by the US government. But this time the situation is different. Through Kangsung Pay, KW Coin usage is already active in our country, and KW Coin usage is exploding globally as well.”

Most importantly, it was KW Coin’s beginning.

KW Coin distributed relief funds of over 2 trillion won—something even the US government hadn’t done—winning people’s hearts.

“That was truly decisive. President Jeong Jin-ho first secured public sentiment so they couldn’t object. Also, since Wall Street is mass purchasing these coins, the US government can’t touch it carelessly either.”

Already, $40 billion was wiped out from the Luna coin incident.

If the US government suddenly steps in to regulate KW Coin at this point?

First of all, Wall Street, which is pouring enormous money into it, wouldn’t allow it.

And if KW Coin is really destroyed as the US government intends, tens of billions more dollars would evaporate, and Aiden couldn’t handle that public backlash.

“In short, KW Coin was President Jeong Jin-ho’s brilliant setup.”

“In order to acquire Faceweb?”

“Yes. If they acquire Faceweb, they can expand KW Coin even further, so there’s no reason for Wall Street not to help President Jeong Jin-ho. President Jeong Jin-ho saw the single move that could bring down the impregnable fortress called Faceweb.”

After hearing that, Chairman Hwang Dae-woon felt chills run through his entire body.

Is this what they call a divine move?

Faceweb wouldn’t have expected it at all either.

That Jin-ho had laid out such a setup.

And that divine move was now advancing to capture the giant called Faceweb.

<End of Chapter 148>