Chapter 161

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Sir. Here is the list.”

I tilted my head at the list the Vice President handed me.

“What list is this?”

“The Chairman will be visiting the United States soon, and he asked for advice on who would be good to meet over there.”

“Did the Chairman request this personally?”

“No. It seems the Strategy Team separately sought advice. I hear that for the past few years, they’ve been gradually expanding their network to widen Gwangwoon’s presence in the United States. But since he can’t meet everyone individually this time, it appears they sent this request wanting to hear your insights on which government officials he should contact.”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was even qualified to offer advice. I didn’t know much about American politicians, and I had no idea who would be beneficial to our company—’or so I thought.’

The names on the list began to light up like blinking lights. Since these were people my brother would be meeting in person, I couldn’t let him waste time meeting just anyone.

I examined the list carefully. I cross-checked multiple times, selecting only the names where my intuition blazed bright.

“Tell them to prioritize scheduling meetings with the people I’ve checked here.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll pass this along to the Strategy Team right away.”

“Yes. Also, I’ve heard there have been frequent gun incidents in the United States lately, so double the security personnel and make arrangements thorough. I don’t care if people say we’re being overly dramatic. Make sure to convey that we should absolutely not skimp on money.”

“Yes. I’ll make sure to relay that.”

It was already a turbulent time. The Russia-Ukraine war had broken out, the former Japanese Prime Minister had been assassinated, and in the United States, gun incidents were continuously erupting from elementary schools to public facilities.

Given all this, I couldn’t help but worry about my brother’s safety.

“By the way, will the Chairman need to keep traveling back and forth to the United States going forward?”

“The Chairman’s position is that it would be better to meet people in person and build relationships himself.”

“He can do that in the beginning. But I’m not comfortable with him having to make all those exhausting trips. He already has a terrible time with jet lag every time he goes on a few business trips.”

My brother wasn’t fond of overseas business trips. He was the type who would rather play games at home than travel abroad. More than anything, he often mentioned how jet lag became harder to deal with as he got older.

That was what weighed on my mind.

“Then rather than having the Chairman personally travel overseas for meetings going forward, we should appoint someone who can handle the work in his place overseas.”

“Yes. Unless it’s a truly critical meeting, I don’t want the Chairman to keep making those exhausting trips either. Could you work with headquarters to see if there’s someone suitable? It doesn’t have to be someone internal. Recruiting the right person from outside wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Yes. I’ll look into it.”

“Yes. I’ll discuss that with headquarters as well.”

I had forced a man who was about to retire into the chairman’s seat. So I felt quite guilty about him having to work busily every day because of me.

But if we set this up, he wouldn’t need to make those arduous business trips going forward. This absolutely wasn’t because the important raid commitment this week had fallen through due to my brother’s travel schedule.

***

“Is this the meeting schedule?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Hwang Dae-woon scanned through the schedule. It was quite a tight itinerary. But compared to what Jin-ho did for him, this level of effort was honestly nothing.

“So they’re saying it’s efficient to meet these people? The Strategy Team, I mean.”

Below the schedule were detailed profiles of the people he would be meeting. How to win them over to Gwangwoon’s side now depended on Hwang Dae-woon.

“Yes. But actually… this list wasn’t decided by the Strategy Team.”

“Hm? Then who?”

“I heard that President Jeong Jin-ho personally selected the list and gave it to the Strategy Team.”

“What? Jin-ho did it himself?”

“Yes. The Strategy Team had been putting together a list to some extent as well, but they determined it would be best to seek President Jeong Jin-ho’s advice.”

Hwang Dae-woon nodded. He hadn’t wanted to trouble Jin-ho with things like this, but seeking his advice had been the right call.

“Well, if Jin-ho recommended them, that puts my mind at ease.”

“Yes. I’ve looked at the list, and the Strategy Team says it seems like an excellent recommendation as well. It’s composed entirely of people who would truly be helpful if they collaborated with our company.”

Just looking at the résumés was impressive. Federal Trade Commission Chairman, DOJ Antitrust Division Chief, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman, Speaker of the House, and more. Among them, the one that stood out was the Secretary of Commerce.

“Does the Secretary of Commerce have any connection to our company?”

“The Commerce Department’s biggest concern is China. It’s the body that oversees U.S. industrial competitiveness, especially the tech hegemony competition with China. They might conclude that collaborating with our Gwangwoon would allow them to counter China more effectively.”

“Does this person have significant influence internally?”

“Yes. The Aiden administration considers countering China its top priority, right? That’s why they placed a close aide as the Secretary of Commerce.”

Aiden had been calling for countering China since his days as Vice President. After becoming President, he introduced numerous bills aimed at countering China and remained vigilant about China seizing global economic hegemony. Just looking at his core legislation, it was clear they were cornerstones for keeping China in check.

“We need to make sure they understand clearly how Gwangwoon can work with the U.S. government to pressure China.”

“Yes. That would be the key point. The Strategy Team has already prepared materials on that.”

“Then what else do we need to know about this Henderson fellow, the current Secretary of Commerce? His hobbies, maybe? If he likes golf, we could chat while playing together.”

“Yes. Secretary Henderson does play golf, but he doesn’t seem to play often. From what we’ve found, Secretary Henderson generally prefers staying at home. He works when he works, and rests only at home. So his hobby is said to be gaming.”

“What? Gaming?”

“Yes. I found that in an old interview.”

Gaming. I had a feeling things were going to work out well. Didn’t old gamers have a certain unspoken connection?

“Do you know what games he plays?”

“Yes. That far… shall I look into it?”

“Find out quickly. Before the meeting.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

But a thought suddenly crossed his mind. The people on this list were all so busy they probably couldn’t even sleep—would they even have time to meet him?

“That’s not something you need to worry about. When we inquired, they responded that they would cancel all previously scheduled appointments just to meet the Chairman.”

These busy people were canceling their schedules just to meet Hwang Dae-woon. He could now tangibly feel the stature of Gwangwoon. This was all thanks to Jin-ho.

“Oh, and apparently they’ve tripled the security personnel in the United States on President Jeong Jin-ho’s orders.”

At those words, Hwang Dae-woon let out a hollow laugh.

“What? That many? That’s not necessary.”

“Yes. But he says he’s deeply concerned about your safety and absolutely will not compromise on this.”

“Well, if Jin-ho insists, I suppose there’s nothing to be done. He’s only doing it because he’s worried about me.”

In any case, Jin-ho was a brother who worried about him terribly. And so he was truly grateful today. That there was a brother right beside him who took care of him even more than family did.

***

“Did you all see that? The Gwangwoon Group Chairman’s visit to the United States.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t know about it. It was such big news that Wall Street was buzzing.”

“Did you see the security detail guarding Chairman Hwang Dae-woon? At first, I thought the President himself was visiting. I mean, who uses that kind of security detail…”

“He’s a person of concern. On top of that, he probably wanted to show off his own power.”

Accompanied by an imposing security detail, Chairman Hwang Dae-woon was busy meeting with political figures.

Usually, when meeting with people in politics, such gatherings were held in secret, but he paid no attention to the public eye.

“It’s intentional, of course. On top of that, even scheduling meetings months in advance wouldn’t have been enough, but they arranged them right before his visit to the United States. As a result, many people canceled all their previous appointments to meet Chairman Hwang Dae-woon. From start to finish, everything was laced with ulterior motives—to demonstrate Gwangwoon’s power.”

But there was no legal basis to sanction such actions. How could one stop someone from visiting the United States and meeting people?

And these people had all canceled their own schedules just to meet Hwang Dae-woon.

“Gwangwoon is acting as if there’s absolutely nothing to fear right now. They need to be crushed while there’s still time. You all know this, don’t you? Gwangwoon’s influence is so great that Wall Street trembles at their every move.”

Antitrust Division Chief Eileen was wary of just how massive Gwangwoon had become.

They had devoured Faceweb, and this time they had swallowed up Bluezone as well.

“Faceweb is one thing, but there’s absolutely no way we can let Bluezone go as well. We need to impose strong regulations to force them to divest Bluezone and break it up somehow.”

“That would cause even greater backlash. Look at public opinion right now. The recent Elliott storm caused immense suffering for countless people. And Gwangwoon donated a whopping one billion dollars to help our citizens. Meanwhile, every other company just watched from the sidelines.”

“Are you defending Gwangwoon right now? Surely you know their actions weren’t born of good intentions?”

“Even if the intentions weren’t good, that’s still one billion dollars. What other company would throw around that much in donations? And Gwangwoon hasn’t stopped at one billion—they’ve already announced plans for additional donations to help even more American citizens.”

“You’re aware that all those donations are being made in KW Coin, right, Minister?”

“What does that matter? What matters is that they’re helping!”

Eileen glared at the other person sharply and snapped back.

“I know that you and Chairman Hwang Dae-woon met recently, Minister. It seems you’ve already decided to side with them?”

“Ahem. That’s a rather uncomfortable way to put it. I’m simply thinking of America first, as I always do. And my job is to prevent China from seizing global hegemony. In that regard, Gwangwoon’s strength is desperately needed.”

“There are plenty of other companies that could replace Gwangwoon.”

“Really? What if Gwangwoon decides to side with China? Their infrastructure, semiconductors, resources—if those fell into the hands of a hostile nation, it would be catastrophic for us. I’m not here to engage in politics for politics’ sake. This is about America’s security and future.”

“I also believe that’s correct.”

“What on earth is wrong with everyone!?”

It wasn’t just the Secretary of Commerce defending Gwangwoon. Their position was that rather than checking Gwangwoon right now, they needed Gwangwoon to counter China and Russia.

Eileen was frustrated. Gwangwoon was trying to devour the United States whole, yet these people still believed America’s primary enemies were China and Russia. But the real enemy was already inside the gates!

“Mr. President, please say something. You know as well as anyone that this situation isn’t normal.”

That was why Eileen had appealed to Aiden.

Aiden had thus far led his inner circle with strong leadership. He was a stubborn man who never reversed a decision once he’d made up his mind.

If he used that same strong leadership to control the situation internally, he could bring his aides—who had been thrown into disarray by Gwangwoon—back together again.

“……”

But Aiden said nothing. In fact, his eyes seemed somewhat vacant.

She had heard that he was deeply shaken by the sudden resignation of his close aide, the Chief of Staff. But even so, he was always someone who maintained focus during meetings like these.

“Mr. President…?”

“Ah.”

Only then did Aiden seem to come to his senses.

“Eileen.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Have we… eaten dinner?”

Aiden and everyone else in the room leaned in.

“…Excuse me?”

The stunned aides didn’t know how to respond.

“Mr.-Mr. President, we all had a quick sandwich together before the meeting?”

“Hm? We did?”

“Yes. If you’re hungry, shall I have an aide bring you something to eat?”

“…………”

Eileen studied Aiden’s eyes carefully.

How should she put it? They seemed unfocused.

“Ah. Right, right. I must have been confused for a moment. Ha ha.”

With that, Aiden stood up from his seat.

“Let’s call it a day. I’m tired—I’m going to go rest.”

“What? But, Mr. President. We need your input on this matter…”

“Next time. Let’s do it next time, Eileen.”

With those words, Aiden actually walked out of the conference room.

“…………”

They could only stare at each other, dumbfounded.

And there was one thing they all realized.

They were all thinking the exact same thing.