Chapter 176

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Ample is the champion of smartphones.

They were before, they are now, and they will be in the future.

No. That’s what everyone thought it would be.

“So you’re really saying you can’t do the shipping?”

“Yes. The rebels attacked so fiercely that the ship almost sank. Thankfully, Sentinel rushed in and blocked them just in time, but the goods in transit were all damaged, so shipping is practically impossible and using them will be difficult too…”

Ample’s CEO, Tim Hook, had a splitting headache.

“Does everyone understand how serious this situation is? Our new product launch is imminent. But after getting hit in Turkey first, now we have an accident during shipping. How can things be like this!?”

The executives had nothing to say either.

Because it was awkward to blame anyone for this.

If they had to assign blame, it was Tim Hook’s misstep in pouring astronomical sums into Turkey and building factories there en masse.

“Building factories in Turkey was an unavoidable choice. Everyone knows that, right?”

Ample held the position of world’s number one smartphone company and believed they would maintain that weight class forever.

Kangsung was chasing from behind, but that gap that had already opened was impossible to overcome.

But then an uninvited guest called Gwangwoon appeared, and the situation changed.

“After Gwangwoon allied with Kangsung and seized semiconductors, they’ve been continuously checking our Ample. All our attempts to build factories in Asia were thwarted by Kangsung and Gwangwoon’s interference.”

Yet they couldn’t express dissatisfaction because of the semiconductors that Kangsung and Gwangwoon controlled.

If those bastards refused to supply semiconductors, Ample would essentially be unable to produce smartphones at all.

“The only silver lining is that those two companies have almost never directly attacked us.”

Of course Kangsung and Gwangwoon wanted to attack Ample.

But they couldn’t because of Ample’s prestige.

Ample is the company that American citizens are most proud of.

Pioneers of the smartphone, leading the pack.

For those foreign companies to attack them?

Of course there would be backlash, and that would soon become a political issue.

That’s why they couldn’t openly attack Ample.

“Seeing Blue Zone fall and now even Wizny crumble, I knew Gwangwoon’s arrow would eventually target us someday, but to think it would be like this…”

“You believe Gwangwoon deliberately orchestrated this, CEO?”

“Of course. Who do you think blocked us from building factories? It was Kangsung and Gwangwoon. Then after Gwangwoon opened up foreign investment in Turkey, we immediately entered that market, didn’t we?”

Even then, he did have some questions.

Because Gwangwoon didn’t stop Ample from pouring investment into Turkey and building factories en masse.

And now he realized that was exactly Gwangwoon’s strategy.

Those bastards deliberately lured Ample into building factories.

So they could destroy them all with this earthquake!

“CEO, even so, the idea that Gwangwoon deliberately caused an earthquake is a bit…”

“Exactly. Who in the world can intentionally cause an earthquake? If that were real, the US government wouldn’t have stayed quiet.”

Tim Hook was frustrated at these naive executives.

Do they still not know about that evil Gwangwoon!

“All the American agents who were about to pierce Gwangwoon’s heart died in this earthquake. That’s not all? All the legislators who had united to stop Gwangwoon’s ambitions have disappeared. On top of that, Anti-trust Bureau Director Eileen resigned, and now that position is vacant. Do you know what that means? The government agency that should be checking monopolistic companies has stopped.”

One of the biggest reasons Kangsung and Gwangwoon hadn’t touched Ample was the Anti-trust Bureau.

Wasn’t it a place that had its eyes lit up waiting for Gwangwoon to make a mistake?

But even that defense line had crumbled with this Turkey earthquake.

“The shackles on Kangsung and Gwangwoon have been released. So now they’re starting to act without caring about appearances.”

The Turkey earthquake dealt enormous damage to Ample.

With all the factories collapsing, all the core components needed for Ample smartphones were buried under debris, and the factories would need to be rebuilt from scratch.

So in desperation they pulled together all other factories and were moving components via shipping.

Then suddenly this situation broke out.

“The Panama Canal operations suddenly stopped due to record drought. Gwangwoon is already causing earthquakes, so how hard would it be to manipulate weather? Plus the Yemeni Houthi rebels who rose up saying they’d support Hamas suddenly attacked our ship passing through Suez Canal. Do you really think this is all coincidence?”

“…”

It was hard to believe rationally.

No matter how much the world has advanced, technology to manipulate natural disasters?

But denying it was hard given the circumstantial evidence.

As if on cue, starting from Turkey, wasn’t Ample suffering all kinds of ordeals?

“On top of that, before we could even announce our damage situation, media that already had the scoop is pouring endless attacks saying our new product launch is impossible, that our leadership is at fault. As if they’re following a well-crafted script.”

Ample felt wronged.

The earthquake wasn’t their fault, and the incidents at sea weren’t their fault either.

If there was anyone at fault, it was all Gwangwoon.

The ones who caused the earthquake, manipulated weather to block the Panama Canal, and even mobilized rebels to deliberately attack ships carrying Ample’s components. those bastards were at fault.

“So you’re saying Gwangwoon is doing groundwork to acquire our Ample, CEO?”

“That doesn’t make sense. You know our Ample’s market cap, right? It’s a full $3 trillion. $3 trillion. And you’re saying they’re trying to swallow this?”

“Thanks to today’s media frenzy, it’s dropped back to $2 trillion, hasn’t it?”

“Even so, our Ample’s walls are still high. The new product launch getting canceled is unfortunate, but just this much won’t bring Ample down.”

“Blue Zone and Faceweb probably thought the same thing. These were places that once broke through $1 trillion market cap.”

“…”

Actually, that was still shocking.

Who could have imagined that Blue Zone and Faceweb, representatives of their respective American industries, would end up in Gwangwoon’s hands?

Even Wizny and Jackson Mobil are under Gwangwoon’s control.

“What’s scary is that Gwangwoon, which clearly violates anti-trust laws no matter how you look at it, has been unscathed until now. And in this situation where the Anti-trust Bureau itself has stopped, do you really think our Ample is safe?”

***

These days I feel like I’m coming to the office every day without rest.

Because ever since Guyana, incidents and accidents haven’t stopped.

“The Panama Canal situation still isn’t resolved?”

“Yes. Since it’s due to drought, they say they’ll operate at 50% for the time being.”

“What about Suez?”

“Sentinel is doing intensive escorts there. The Yemeni Houthi rebels also retreated after the initial skirmish. Thanks to help from surrounding countries.”

It was fortunate that Suez Canal was resuming normal operations.

“Delivering Ample’s goods will probably be difficult?”

“Yes. We used all resources to support Kangsung, so saving Ample too is difficult.”

“Then we’ll need to pay compensation.”

“Yes. But since this wasn’t caused by our mistake, compensation terms will need to be negotiated.”

Even so, I didn’t want to be stingy. Even if it wasn’t due to internal reasons that we couldn’t deliver, breaking the contract was still a fact.

“But President.”

“Yes?”

“There’s a strange rumor circulating on Wall Street now too.”

“A rumor?”

“Yes. That… our Gwangwoon orchestrated this deliberately to acquire Ample…”

I burst out laughing incredulously.

“Us?”

“Yes. It’s really absurd, but rumors are seriously circulating that we’re targeting Ample for acquisition.”

“No, so are they saying we deliberately caused natural disasters and moved rebels to block shipping? Plus, we don’t even hold any Ample shares.”

“Actually, we do hold a small amount of Ample shares. A really tiny amount. This isn’t our Prime Division. it’s shares that KW Securities itself is holding.”

But that was for long-term investment, not acquisition purposes. just shares the company had been holding since the old days.

Other securities firms probably also hold some Ample shares through ETFs and long-term investments.

“Why on earth would anyone think that?”

“Because the damage to Ample this time is larger than expected. With the Turkey earthquake collapsing all their factories causing losses in the tens of trillions of won, and now the shipping mishap essentially canceling the new product launch. Conspiracy theories are bound to emerge.”

Being in this position, I’ve received so many misunderstandings.

But now to think I’d be misunderstood for plotting to acquire that Ample.

“I usually just stay quiet, but this needs action because it could also harm Kangsung.”

Kangsung and Ample are competitors who have fought fierce lawsuits, but at the same time they’re partners who help each other.

If this causes unnecessary deepening of conflict, it could hurt Kangsung too.

“Please put out an official statement on this. That we absolutely have no intention of acquiring Ample. I mean, it doesn’t even make sense. How can we acquire a company that fluctuates between $3 trillion market cap?”

“Yes. I’ll put out an official statement as quickly as possible.”

“Yes. Before it starts hurting Kangsung.”

Thinking about it again, it was absurd.

Why would we acquire Ample?

“And President, the Foundation sent this.”

“…ESG?”

Environment, Social, Governance.

In the past, companies were evaluated solely on financial performance like revenue and operating profit.

But as industrialization progressed, workers’ rights were violated, environmental destruction and unreasonable governance structures became hot topics, and that’s how ESG evaluation was born.

Now companies aren’t just evaluated on revenue and operating profit, but whether the company is clean environmentally, socially, and in terms of governance structure.

There’s a reason why companies these days focus on eco-friendliness and spend massive amounts on marketing to boost brand image.

“Wingard and Whiterock have actually announced they’ll never invest in companies with low ESG ratings. Also, companies not properly meeting ESG standards are getting bad images that significantly impact sales.”

ESG has become especially important for companies with the development of SNS.

“But because of this Turkey incident and the many workers still in poor conditions, the Foundation is suggesting Gwangwoon should create a new ESG association. Evaluating ESG to higher standards than now. Classifying it as Ultimate Tier.”

“And actively promoting this through our SNS and media?”

“Yes. Haven’t the Foundation employees been meeting workers in terrible conditions all over the world during their travels? That apparently upset them.”

I understood the Foundation people’s feelings.

Having gathered only angels there, they couldn’t stay still when they saw such pitiful people.

“The intention is good.”

“Yes. The intention is good, but if the evaluation standards are too strict, there will be complaints from headquarters too.”

“But it’s work that considers the environment and society. Isn’t climate change getting really severe these days?”

So if it could help even a little, it seemed like a project worth pursuing.

Improving workers’ rights and minimizing environmental destruction was the goal, wasn’t it?

“The problem is how headquarters will receive this…”

I closed my eyes briefly and waited for my intuition to come.

Should I proceed with this, or should I tell them to discuss it more?

“…”

Then my intuition flashed through my mind.

It was a positive signal.

***

“Aigo, hyungnim. I heard you gave us big help this time.”

“Hm? Big help?”

“You know all about it. When the Ample situation blew up this time, didn’t the Gwangwoon marketing team move quickly to spread rumors through media and SNS?”

“Haha. They would have done it from your side even if we didn’t.”

“We did too. But we can’t match Gwangwoon’s power.”

Hwang Dae-woon happily smiled as he received the glass Kang Seong-ho politely poured for him.

It’s really amazing to see after living so long.

Back then, Kang Seong-ho was so high up that he could barely even see his face, but now they’re on sworn brother terms, pouring drinks for each other.

“But I think I jumped the gun a bit.”

“Pardon?”

“Seong-ho, you must have seen the article too. About Jin-ho releasing an official statement through the securities firm this time.”

“Ah… that?”

The article saying Gwangwoon has absolutely no interest in acquiring Ample.

Seeing that, Hwang Dae-woon felt somewhat embarrassed that he’d been getting excited all by himself.

“Rather, I felt a strong will to definitely acquire Ample.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Chairman. Did you hear that Gwangwoon is trying to create a new ESG association? Under President Jung Jin-ho’s leadership at that.”

“Ah, yes. There was a lot of internal talk about whether it’s really okay to do this. But since Jin-ho is pushing it, everyone’s going along.”

“My goodness, Chairman and the executives have been working with President Jung all this time and you still haven’t noticed?”

“…?”

Hwang Dae-woon tilted his head.

What meaning could there be in ESG that was started with good intentions of thinking about society and environment?

“Think about it. It’s an ESG association created by Gwangwoon of all places. Not a small ESG that nobody pays attention to made by some small company, but an association created by the world’s most influential company. The moment this association opens, how many places will try to join?”

“That… that’s true.”

“Unlike before, brand value is important these days. People don’t just look at product quality anymore. That’s why Wingard and Whiterock take ESG seriously. It’s directly connected to sales, isn’t it?”

“So then?”

“But this ESG association Gwangwoon is establishing is going to evaluate very strictly through a separate Ultimate Tier. And publicize those evaluation results widely through SNS and media.”

“Right. That’s why even we at Gwangwoon are worried. We don’t honestly meet those evaluation standards either.”

“Yes. But would President Jung create an ESG association out of nowhere just to cause internal harm?”

At that, Hwang Dae-woon’s eyes widened too.

“So Jin-ho is making a weapon right now?”

“Yes. He’s sharpening a spear to stab someone properly. Who do you think that target is?”

“The target would be…”

At that moment, one company flashed through his mind.

“Could it be Ample?”

“Yes. Ample is originally famous for sprouting factories everywhere with low labor costs. Then as our Kangsung and Gwangwoon checked them, they dug deeper into remote areas. But if the ESG association Gwangwoon created starts evaluating that Ample, what do you think will happen?”

Ample’s brand image won’t collapse immediately.

But if they steadily nibble away at Ample’s image through media and SNS?

“Just like an apple gets completely nibbled away by small bugs, Ample will end up the same way.”

And those bugs were already moving to eat the apple called Ample.

Under the slogan of caring for the environment and society.

End