Chapter 72

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Thud!

Chairman Kang Seong-ho gulped down his drink and let out a refreshing “ahh~.”

In the past, what should I say.

He never showed a casual side to maintain dignity as chairman of Korea’s number one group, but now he feels like some neighborhood hyung.

“Ha ha. Hey. Well said. Should I just move next to your place?”

“My place is a penthouse so there’s no next door.”

“..Then upstairs?”

“No upstairs either. I’m on the top floor.”

“Ugh. Then below?”

“Our chairman lives there.”

“What? When did that gentleman sneak in?!”

Saying he was one step late, Chairman Kang Seong-ho was very disappointed.

“Aren’t you living in an enviable mansion in Pyeongchang-dong?”

“That was ages ago. Especially as times progress, new construction technology and design ideas come out, so building new is ultimately best. What can I do? It’s a place my father lovingly made. I have to live there for a long, long time.”

While saying that, he emptied another soju-beer mix glass refreshingly.

“Wow. This gopchang is killer. Goes well with soju-beer mix as expected.”

If you just covered his face, he was really no different from a neighborhood hyung.

“What can I do? Even before becoming Kangsung Group’s chairman, our company’s marketing team was dedicated to me doing thorough image-making. So people only think I’m really genteel. Sense of humor too, and because I resemble dad, they think I don’t talk much.”

I also thought so at first.

Wasn’t he frequently exposed to media even before rising to the chairman position?

Genteel, smart enough to graduate top of his class, shows excellent work abilities, etc.

“You could say it’s an image planted in people through media. Others think even when I say one word, I say it heavily, but you know. That I like talking.”

“It’s a problem because you like it too much.”

Before drinking it’s still okay.

But once alcohol enters, he holds you captive for hours unpacking stories.

If you put him with a certain famous baseball player, the two would probably just talk until the world ends.

“So, the lands you’re holding. What will you do with those? How did you know we’d build a new semiconductor factory and buy them all in advance?”

“Is that true?”

“Seems like it jumped 10 times. Will you sell?”

“If you ask for it, I should give it.”

“Never mind. I already know what you’re trying to do with it. Plus you also bought it in advance to build a semiconductor factory there, right?”

Not at all.

I was just looking for sites to build our guild’s landmark.

I never even thought about a semiconductor factory.

“The site location is too exquisite. President Jeong, you also have an eye for land? If we build an AMC-dedicated factory here, it’s right next to our Kangsung so technical cooperation is possible, and it’ll help AMC’s development in various ways. Then Amvidia bastards’ pie will naturally shrink, right?”

Right there, electricity flowed through my body.

So that’s why my intuition made me buy these lands.

“Didn’t Kangsung want to do well with Amvidia?”

“Well, if things go well with Amvidia, I’m also happy. But you saw. Those bastards absolutely won’t give up TSNC. Probably because they have to massively change production structure. If we keep sharpening blades against each other like this, even if they use us for now, they’ll eventually switch to another company. Rather than that, isn’t it better to eat everything with my eternal ally?”

Chairman Kang Seong-ho personally mixed a soju-beer and handed me the glass.

“We’re eternal allies, right?”

“I told you last time too. I really want our country’s companies to do very well.”

“Ha ha. Right. Why would we fatten other countries’ companies? We should eat well and live well first.”

“But can we immediately proceed with factory construction?”

“Yeah. Kangsung Heavy Industries will handle construction. We’ve built semiconductor factories more than once or twice, so we’re experts in this area. Also, we’ll establish a new team so technical cooperation with AMC can happen as quickly as possible. How’s that? A reliable ally, right?”

Once again electricity flowed through my body.

I smiled and poured alcohol into Chairman Kang Seong-ho’s glass.

“Are we ordinary acquaintances, Chairman?”

“Right. I’m not even this relaxed at home. I’m only like this in front of President Jeong, you know? Ha ha. Shall we toast?”

“Yep.”

We clinked glasses.

I also like Chairman Kang Seong-ho as a neighborhood hyung much better than the stiff, charismatic Kangsung Group chairman.

***

“Come on now. I told you to call me hyung, okay?”

“Oh my. You’re drunk again. Please go in quickly, Chairman.”

“Hmm. It’s strange but this doesn’t make you budge. It’s hard to be informal with you.”

“Come, come. Watch your head when sitting.”

“I’m not drunk.”

“I saw you staggering? Go in carefully, Chairman.”

Kang Seong-ho smiled pleasantly and nodded.

And thud! As soon as the door closed, his face that was relaxed like a fool turned cold again.

It’s not deliberate.

It’s just instinctive.

It was truly strange.

Even if he always goes with a firm mindset, after drinking a few glasses with Jeong Jin-ho, his posture relaxes without him knowing.

Chairman or whatever.

It feels like meeting a really close younger brother and releasing pent-up feelings.

Jeong Jin-ho has that gentle yet fatal something that disarms people.

But once this car door closes, he returns to normal like a ghost.

As Kangsung Group’s chairman, Kang Seong-ho.

He forcibly pushes away the intoxication rising to his head and looks at employees with a stiff face.

“Chairman. Are you alright? Should I get hangover relief medicine..”

“No. I’m fine. Contact Heavy Industries. We need to build several factories, so tell them to draft a proposal. It’ll be facilities for making our semiconductors while simultaneously providing technical cooperation for AMC.”

“Ah, did President Jeong Jin-ho decide to provide the site?”

“Not providing exactly. We’re not building our factory but actually building AMC’s factory. Tell them to build thoroughly without missing anything. It might become our lifeline going forward.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Actually Chairman Kang Seong-ho had subtly tested Jeong Jin-ho.

Whether he really purchased that site in advance to build a factory.

‘But seeing factory construction talk comes up immediately..’

Jeong Jin-ho had really been planning this for a very long time.

Every single action was by precise and meticulous strategy, confirmed once more.

That means he’d been building up even before buying the land.

How that’s possible with a human brain is still incomprehensible.

When drinking together, he just seems so pure that it seems he wouldn’t make any meticulous plans at all.

‘This is why father always said not to judge people only by outward appearance.’

Father also looked gentle outwardly, but inside he truly held a fierce beast.

And he watched from the side until sick of it how difficult life becomes once marked by that kind of person.

‘Must never make him an enemy.’

And it’s gone too far to make him an enemy.

Beyond business relations, he truly likes the person named Jeong Jin-ho as human to human.

Enough to madly envy Chairman Hwang who’s on informal terms with him.

***

The land of oil, the blessed land, Saudi Arabia.

But all that wealth and honor was monopolized by the Saudi royal family.

Personal GDP exceeded $20,000, but wealth distribution was very unequal, youth unemployment was also high, and workers’ wages were also low.

Moreover, when oil prices were low, the severity increased so citizens’ complaints were considerable. So they decided on massive cuts.

“But if the royal family stands straight, it doesn’t change anything even if those below die a little.”

The Salam family ruling Saudi has thousands of royals.

And all of them currently possess considerable wealth.

The Saudi royal family’s estimated wealth currently estimated externally is $1 trillion.

Having a lot of money is good, but it was actually dissatisfying that everyone is tearing apart and holding this wealth.

And quite a few princes didn’t like that Hamud Salman was appointed crown prince and is essentially playing king now.

“To seize power, our capital needs to be solid. What on earth happened?”

Even though Saudi royal power is concentrated in Hamud Salman now, the crown prince position changing was actually a frequently occurring event.

In the past too, now, and in the future too, fiercely waging bloody battles over the throne is the same in all worlds.

Abdul Hadim was also one of many princes dreaming of the throne.

It’s just that Hamud Salman is occupying that seat now.

So before Hamud Salman really becomes king and proceeds with large-scale purging, they must hurriedly snatch that position.

But a problem arose.

Investments scattered throughout the world are all becoming a mess.

“TSNC is now at production halt crisis so stock prices are falling overall. At least AMC miraculously received investment funds and is reviving, so stock prices are skyrocketing again.”

“But conversely, all the stocks we put in got bombed?”

“Yes..”

“What kind of people are you? You said the semiconductor and graphics market would grow tremendously with the Bitcoin craze? I put money in believing only that, and you cause this loss!?”

“We’re sorry. But because Gwangwoon and Kangsung joined hands and pulled off an operation..”

Gwangwoon. Gwangwoon again.

From the last oil price turmoil to shipping, and now even the semiconductor market.

Gwangwoon was spraying shit on every place Abdul Hadim put money.

At this degree, it seems like they deliberately caused incidents in collusion with Hamud Salman.

“So that’s how it is.”

He had no intention whatsoever of just sitting quietly and taking it like this.

***

“Enflix says they’ll proceed with filming as the president checked. First they’ll focus on Mugunghwa Game and Palace of the Dead.”

Palace of the Dead is a Joseon-era zombie drama.

The idea is also fresh, and this also seemed to have quite good color, so I proceeded with investment.

“But for Mugunghwa Game, they didn’t even expect it to be selected, so nothing is prepared in advance, so filming will take quite a while. Estimated time is probably about 2-3 years. But it has the advantage of low filming costs.”

There was a reason Enflix is interested in Korea.

First, me being the largest shareholder is one reason, but above all, our country’s costs are cheaper than Hollywood.

Because with just the cost of casting one famous actor, you can whip up a drama in our country.

Also, since Paper Tower showed non-English dramas can also succeed, they’re trying to invest even more aggressively in other countries.

“Ah. And this is a proposal that Saudi is recently distributing to companies in each country. Documents came to our Gwangwoon side this time too.”

I received the file the vice president handed over.

“..Neom City?”

“Yes. It’s a project that Hamud Salman, appointed crown prince last year, wants to proceed with on a large scale. Just looking at the scale is tremendous. They want to build the most beautiful city in history, so it really feels like reading an SF novel.”

Neom City.

It was Saudi’s future city-type development project where at minimum tens of trillions of won would be invested.

“Not only our country but various companies overseas are all submitting documents to participate in this project now. Since Saudi has certain capital, and companies can also fill their bellies through such large-scale projects.”

Just looking at the design made my jaw drop.

Enough to think is this really possible?

If it were another country, I’d have dismissed it as a scam, but since it’s Saudi with the world’s most money, it strangely drew interest.

“So they’re telling us to invest too?”

“Yes. They’re actively receiving investment from famous investment institutions. It means they’ll definitely make infrastructure and create a global metropolis.”

That’s what it means.

I carefully examined the Neom City project.

“..?”

But from the middle stage of reading the proposal, black energy suddenly started creeping up. As if black hands were trying to pull me, I was startled and closed the report.

“..President?”

“Let’s not do this.”

“What? But this is a good opportunity that all major companies are trying to jump into..”

“Let’s discuss this next time. Give me another report.”

“Ah, yes.”

I don’t know what it is, but it seemed better not to touch that.

“This time, these are investment proposals that came to our Gwangwoon side collected together. Look carefully.”

As Gwangwoon’s scale grew, investment proposals come from here and there.

Before I personally searched around, but now if I wait, lucky fortunes roll in on their own.

“..Mega Lucky?”

Exactly like this proposal.

“Ah. It’s a medium-sized planning company in our country. Not the size of the top 3 agencies.”

“But the sales are solid?”

“Yes. Sales aren’t large, but net profit is quite high. It’s a cost-effective place.”

But the radiance flowing from here is unusual.

I turned to the next page.

“!?”

More than the Mega Lucky Entertainment that just appeared, light like bombs exploding was bursting from one certain list.

“SPS?”

Super Boy Band.

Since I only watched idols in the military and naturally didn’t look up male idols, I was an outsider to this entertainment market.

Plus until now various investment proposals came from entertainment, but seeing this level of reaction is the first time.

Something exploding like bombs, could it have some other meaning?

“Mega Lucky Entertainment, could you bring materials about this place and this idol group called SPS?”