Chapter 181

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[Does this child even know what feeling full is like?]

There are donation advertisements that occasionally appear on TV.

No, these days I barely watch TV, so donation-related content comes through SNS or internet ads.

Donating is truly a great thing, but I don’t think ordinary citizens need to donate while scraping together their money.

That’s something companies making lots of money should handle.

Using a portion of profits earned from selling products to customers for donations.

That way, customers spending money, companies building brand image, and people receiving help from that money. everyone benefits.

“Wow. One of Korea’s greatest rich people is eating triangular kimbap and cup ramen for lunch.”

“What? Weren’t you at work?”

“I took the day off today. This house is too big. Even in the same house, we can’t tell if each other is there or not.”

My younger sister took salad out of the refrigerator and started nagging at me.

“Seriously, you still haven’t broken your habits from living in PC rooms, have you?”

“What’s wrong with triangular kimbap and cup ramen?”

“It’s because you eat like this that Hye-rin nags you every day out of worry. Order hotel service and eat something nutritious.”

She wasn’t wrong.

When I was a shut-in, what I always ate was cup ramen.

When I went to PC rooms and played games all day, I often ate cup ramen too.

But that habit must have stuck until now. I occasionally boiled and ate cup ramen alone.

“Fine. I’ll eat properly from tomorrow.”

“Not from tomorrow. from tonight!”

“Okay.”

While eating cup ramen again.

“……”

I could feel my sister staring at me.

“What?”

“Just one bite.”

Setting aside my dumbfounded expression, my sister slurped up a big mouthful of noodles.

“Ou weguwesentative…”

“Finish eating first and tell me.”

“Ahem. Ah. Our CEO was asking when you were going to visit the hotel.”

“Suddenly? We’re working in the same building anyway.”

“Still, she wants you to come down when you have time. For hotel promotions, to take photos together, to talk and stuff. Your image is pretty good these days after all.”

“My image?”

“Are you pretending not to know?”

I tilted my head.

“What? You don’t even search for articles about yourself?”

“I’m not a celebrity. why would I search for that?”

I’ve never specifically searched my name, and I don’t use SNS, so I don’t know trendy expressions or memes at all.

“Wow. The person running the world’s largest SNS doesn’t even use it?!”

“I’m not running it. I just invested. And I barely watch Enflix either.”

“Then what do you do when you rest?”

“Games? Or watching economic news?”

“Do you have to live like this to succeed?”

Even I wondered if I have too few hobbies.

“You don’t know because you’re out of the loop, but right now people have a really good impression of you.”

“I haven’t appeared in media and done anything?”

“But you appeared at the ESG association event last time. Since then, tons of news articles have been coming out and you keep appearing in SNS shorts videos. Every time I’m lying down mindlessly looking at my phone, I get startled.”

My sister showed me several videos.

Listing the achievements I’ve accomplished so far, calling me the god of investment, the genius of investment, Korea’s hero, and so on.

“……”

My face was flushed red. they were just full of praise.

“Looking at this, won’t people actually criticize me? It seems too much like marketing.”

“No. Look at the number of likes and comments. The reactions are really good. Plus, people are learning that you’ve been doing good deeds by donating 1 trillion won from your personal assets through your foundation, so your image is really friendly.”

Actually, the reason I’ve been consistently donating and pouring in large amounts isn’t to receive praise from anyone.

As I said, since I built wealth with ordinary citizens’ money, I think it’s right to return it to society.

It’s not like I’m going to take all my assets when I die. And I have nowhere else to spend it.

So that’s part of why I put effort into donations.

The fulfillment I feel from my donations becoming a great help to someone, and seeing them smile. that alone makes me feel proud.

“I’m happy that you’re doing well and getting recognition, but there’s one problem.”

“Hm?”

“Every time I go on SNS or NewTube after watching your videos a few times, it’s nothing but your videos. It’s driving me crazy.”

“……”

Actually, I had heard that the marketing team was preparing PR about me according to Hyung-nim’s instructions last time.

Since it was the Chairman’s instruction, they probably prepared too excessively… but making someone into a national hero is too much, isn’t it?

***

“Ah, those videos. I saw them too. Haha.”

Manager and the employees all seemed to have seen videos about me at least once.

“But President, I heard that while there are some our marketing team distributed, there are far more videos people just make on their own.”

“Why?”

“Well… how should I put it? It’s called national pride. Isn’t Gwangwoon evaluated as the world’s top group right now? Famous companies are all owned by us. People feel pride in that. Video creators use that to make videos and satisfy that need.”

In other words, making videos about me is profitable.

“And honestly, nothing in those videos is wrong. Thanks to your bold investment with the national pension, you solved a national problem, and with your undefeated investing, you brought in enormous money and raised our Korean company Gwangwoon to its current position. It’s definitely something any Korean would be proud of.”

“That’s right. Thanks to you, President, not only Gwangwoon but Korean companies all grew together. They say KOSPI will soon hit 4,000. Thanks to our Gwangwoon.”

“And among the achievements you’ve built, there are quite satisfying ones too. Bringing down Japan that was threatening our country, making the EU surrender, and so on. There are too many sources that would drive people crazy.”

I have no desire for fame, and the thought of becoming famous is even more nonexistent.

Isn’t there a saying? It’s much better to be rich without anyone knowing than to make money by having your face known.

“Since Gwangwoon is now a top-tier company, the more positive stories there are, the better for protecting the brand image. If the company image worsens, all the other subsidiaries will suffer too.”

That’s why I created the ESG association to completely revamp everything from bottom to top.

In other words, from the moment Gwangwoon grew to global scale, it means I can’t hide my face and move around.

“Fortunately, your popularity is very high, President. Especially since you showed your face at the official occasion last time, you’ve become even more likable.”

Looking at the comments, probably because I’ve done many good things, they say I have an angelic and kind appearance that older adults really like.

Looking back, the reason I worked hard at company work wasn’t really to become a company that the citizens could be proud of. it’s just because I’m a dopamine addict.

So sometimes I think this.

If not for Gwangwoon, wouldn’t I have been addicted to gambling?

“But President, your story is so prevalent on SNS these days that many broadcasts are sending casting offers. There are many interview requests too.”

Broadcasts.

Just thinking about it, camera jitters came up.

“I don’t want to.”

“But the marketing team keeps recommending that you appear on one or two really influential broadcasts. There’s a program hosted by two MCs in interview format.”

I know what it is.

But I’m worried I’d be so nervous I couldn’t speak properly.

So I was going to decline.

“……”

But I felt my intuition strongly stimulating me.

As if encouraging me to go on just once.

“Then… tell them to set up just one or two.”

“Yes!”

“Wow. President, you’re finally going on public broadcast?”

“I’ll definitely watch the live broadcast. President!”

“……”

Did I say I’d go for no reason?

I’m already so nervous that cold sweat is flowing.

***

The marketing team used to focus on how to show innovative advertisements.

Of course, they’re still consistently trying to create groundbreaking ads, but there’s something more important.

That’s the company’s brand image.

With the development of SNS and networks, the world’s surveillance has intensified compared to before.

So if a restaurant does business strangely and treats customers poorly, it spreads to SNS and communities and eventually goes out of business.

Also, if a famous person commits an unconscionable act, content about it spreads widely, advertisements get cut off, and massive lawsuits are filed.

It’s become an era where you can no longer act recklessly like before.

It’s the same for companies.

If a company commits unreasonable acts against workers, or lies about product specs, or freely sells personal information or gets hacked, and so on.

Things that companies used to bury by throwing money at them are now exposed by citizens and spreading uncontrollably.

“But that’s what people are most mistaken about.”

“What?”

“That it’s uncontrollable. That companies can’t block citizens’ networks like before. It’s half right and half wrong.”

Kim Yoon-sung, the division head leading the entire Gwangwoon marketing team, was sipping coffee and watching TV.

On TV, President Jeong Jin-ho was sitting between two MCs, showing a bright smile.

“Other companies can’t control public opinion. They don’t have that power. But our Gwangwoon is different. If the team leads here all join forces, we can completely control every Gwangwoon article, from SNS to community content.”

What Gwangwoon cares most about through the strategy team is the marketing team.

Their role is one.

Protecting Gwangwoon’s image.

And above all, protecting President Jeong Jin-ho’s image.

This was the company’s top priority, more important than the company called Gwangwoon.

The policy is that even if the company is harmed, anything is fine as long as Jeong Jin-ho’s image can be protected.

So they controlled and operated all major SNS and domestic communities.

People would never know.

That the largest communities they use are all manipulated by Gwangwoon.

Also, through recently released AI, they’re automatically filtering out all negative content about Gwangwoon, and if someone intentionally tries to write defamatory posts, they automatically delete the post and even block them.

AI is doing all of that.

The world has changed.

“But Division Head, conspiracy theories about Gwangwoon are still steadily coming out. why do you leave those alone?”

“Because there’s no need to get rid of them.”

“What?”

“Think about it. If someone told you that a person succeeded in every investment and killed prime ministers and various politicians and even caused earthquakes on purpose to control the whole world, would you believe them?”

“…No.”

“Right. If you frame it as a conspiracy theory, most people don’t believe it. Rather, that becomes a form of marketing.”

“Ah…”

“Our ultimate goal is one. To make people not just in Korea but around the world like President Jeong Jin-ho. To instill such strong trust that no matter what corruption allegations come out, people say President Jeong Jin-ho would absolutely never do that. that’s it.”

Surprisingly, this was something Chairman Hwang Dae-woon personally told Division Head Kim Yoon-sung.

It meant Jeong Jin-ho’s image was far more important than the company image.

“And look at his appearance on that broadcast right now.”

“He looks… really nervous?”

“Yes, since it’s his first time on such a broadcast, he must be nervous.”

“Tsk tsk, you all still have a long way to go. Does that really look like genuine nervousness?”

Division Head Kim Yoon-sung let out a chuckle.

“Why do you think President Jeong Jin-ho suddenly said he’d go on broadcast? He always quietly stayed hidden without showing himself in media.”

“Well, that’s…”

“It means the time has come to come out to the world. Once you become this famous, it becomes hard to touch you. If you build a kind image and become a national hero? It becomes hard to touch you not just domestically but internationally too, because it becomes a diplomatic issue.”

“Ah~”

That’s why President Jeong Jin-ho decided to step out now.

“He’s coming from the shadows into the light and deciding to become a sanctuary himself. A sanctuary no one can touch. That’s why he’s deliberately showing that image now.”

“What? Then that’s all acting?”

“Yeah. This is someone who moves trillions without blinking an eye. He’s at the center of the incidents circulating as conspiracy theories. Would he really be nervous over something like this?”

“!?”

The team leads who were watch the live broadcast with the division head were all shocked.

Was that nervous and naive appearance all an act?!

“Right now you also got completely fooled by that and even started feeling a sense of closeness, didn’t you?”

“T-that’s right. I just thought he was a scary person, but he was so different from the image I expected…”

“Right. That’s exactly what he’s going for. Friendliness, purity. an enormously rich and even young person who isn’t arrogant but humble, people can’t help but like them.”

Only then did they understand.

Every single appearance shown on that broadcast was strategy.

The acting ability gave chills.

“Alright, so now you know what we need to do?”

“We need to maximize that image from the broadcast even further.”

“And spread it domestically and internationally indiscriminately to induce people to feel familiarity.”

“Right. He went on broadcast himself and laid out the board. we just need to spread the materials.”

So that the moment people hear the three characters Jeong Jin-ho, the image of a pure and respectable businessman comes to mind first.

End