Chapter 72
Translator: Dreamscribe
Tak-!
Chairman Kang Sung-ho was letting out a refreshing “keuh~” after downing his drink in one go.
Back in the day, well, how should I put it.
As the chairman of the number one conglomerate in South Korea, he never showed a casual side, maintaining his dignity at all times. But now, he feels like that friendly hyung next door.
“Keke. Hey. You said it well. Should I just move next to your place?”
“Our place is a penthouse, so there’s no next-door unit.”
“……Then upstairs?”
“No upstairs either. We’re on the top floor.”
“Ugh. Then downstairs?”
“That’s where our Chairman lives.”
“What- when did that guy sneak in?!”
Chairman Kang Sung-ho looked genuinely disappointed, saying he was a step too late.
“Isn’t he living in that enviable mansion in Pyeongchang-dong?”
“That’s old news. Especially with construction, the more the times progress, the more new architectural technologies and design ideas emerge, so newly built places are ultimately the best. What can I do? My father built that place with great care. I have to live there for a long time.”
With that, he downed another glass of soju-beer mix refreshingly.
“Whew. These beef intestines are amazing. They really go well with somaek.”
Cover his face, and you’d think he was just some local hyung from the neighborhood.
“What can I say. Even before I became Chairman of Kangseong Group, our company’s marketing team had a dedicated task force managing my image. That’s why people really think I’m dignified. They assume I got my quiet nature and lack of humor from my father.”
I thought the same at first.
Even before he became Chairman, he wasn’t often exposed to the media.
Dignified, intelligent, graduated top of his class, demonstrated outstanding professional skills, etc.
“You could say it’s the image planted in people’s minds through the media. Most think I only speak when it’s serious, but you know me. I love talking.”
“You love it too much, that’s the problem.”
Before drinking, he’s still somewhat tolerable.
But once he starts drinking, he’ll sit you down for hours and unravel story after story.
Put him next to a famous baseball player, and the two of them could probably talk until the end of the world.
“So, what are you going to do with that land you’re holding? How did you know we’d be setting up a semiconductor plant and manage to buy all that land in advance?”
“Is it true?”
“Looks like it’s gone up tenfold. Are you planning to sell?”
“If you want it, I should give it to you.”
“No need. I already know what you’re planning to do with it. You bought it in advance because you’re planning to set up a semiconductor plant too, right?”
Not at all.
I was simply looking for a site to build our Guild’s landmark.
I never even considered a semiconductor plant.
“The location of the site is too perfect. Our CEO Jung, turns out you’ve got an eye for land? If we build an AMD-exclusive plant there, it’ll be right next to Kangseong, allowing for technical cooperation, and in many ways, it’ll help AMD grow. Then, the share those NVIDIA guys have will naturally shrink too, right?”
That’s when I felt an electric jolt run through my body.
So this is what my intuition was pushing me toward when I bought that land.
“Didn’t Kangseong want to maintain good relations with NVIDIA?”
“Well, if things go well with NVIDIA, that’s good for me too. But you saw it. Those guys, they’re clinging to TSMC like mad. It’s probably because they’d have to drastically change their production structure otherwise. When things are this tense between us, they might use us for now, but eventually, they’ll just switch to another company. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to go all-in with an eternal ally and take it all together?”
Chairman Kang Sung-ho personally mixed a somaek and handed it to me.
“We’re eternal allies, right?”
“I told you last time too. I really want to see our domestic companies succeed.”
“Haha. Yeah. What’s the point of fattening up foreign companies? First, we need to eat well and live well ourselves.”
“But should we start construction on the plant right away?”
“Yeah. Kangseong Heavy Industries will take care of the construction. It’s not our first time building a semiconductor plant, so this is our specialty. We’ll also set up a team to enable technical cooperation with AMD as quickly as possible. How about that? A dependable ally, right?”
Once again, I felt that electric jolt run through my body.
Smiling, I poured Chairman Kang Sung-ho another drink.
“Are we just any ordinary relationship, Chairman?”
“Exactly. I’m not this relaxed even at home. I only act like this in front of you, CEO Jung. Haha. Shall we toast?”
“Yep.”
We clinked glasses.
Honestly, I prefer this version of Chairman Kang Sung-ho, more like a friendly neighborhood hyung, over the stern, charismatic head of Kangseong Group.
***
“Ah, really. I told you to call me hyung, didn’t I?”
“Aigoo. You’re drunk again. Please head inside, Chairman.”
“Tsk. For some reason, I can’t get you to budge with things like this. It’s really hard to get to that level of calling each other hyung and dongsaeng.”
“Come on. Watch your head when you sit down.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“I saw you stumbling, okay? Please get home safely, Chairman.”
Kang Sung-ho smiled happily and nodded.
And the moment, tak!, the car door closed, the silly, grinning face he had moments ago turned cold again.
It wasn’t intentional.
It was purely instinctive.
It was such a strange thing.
No matter how mentally braced he was, after having a few drinks with Jung Jin-ho, he would unconsciously let his guard down.
Titles and all meant nothing.
It felt like meeting up with a truly close younger brother and letting loose for a bit.
There was something gentle yet lethally disarming about Jung Jin-ho that made people lower their defenses.
But the moment that car door closed, he snapped back to normal like a ghost.
Back to Kang Sung-ho, Chairman of Kangseong Group.
He forcibly pushed back the drunken haze that had risen to the top of his head and looked at his employees with a hardened face.
“Chairman. Are you all right? Should I get you a hangover cure…?”
“No. I’m fine. Contact Heavy Industries. We need to build a few plants, so tell them to put together a proposal. We’ll be manufacturing semiconductors, and the facilities will also be for technical cooperation with AMD.”
“Ah, did CEO Jung Jin-ho agree to hand over the land?”
“He didn’t hand it over. We’re not building our factory, technically, we’re building AMD’s factory. Tell them to construct it thoroughly without cutting any corners. It could become our lifeline in the future.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Truthfully, Chairman Kang Sung-ho had subtly been testing Jung Jin-ho.
He wanted to know whether he had really purchased that land in advance to build a factory.
‘But hearing factory construction come up right away like that…’
It meant that Jung Jin-ho had really planned this out a long time ago.
Each and every move confirmed once again that it had all been part of a precise, meticulous strategy.
That meant he had been building this plan even before purchasing the land.
He still couldn’t understand how that was even possible for a human brain.
When they were drinking together, he came across as so pure that it seemed impossible he’d ever come up with such detailed planning.
‘This is why my father always told me never to judge people by their appearances.’
His father also looked gentle on the outside, but inside, he carried the nature of a truly ferocious beast.
And he had witnessed, more than enough times, how miserable life could become once such a person marked someone.
‘I absolutely cannot make him an enemy.’
And by now, it was far too late to consider that anyway.
They had come too far to be enemies.
Beyond business, as human to human, Kang Sung-ho genuinely liked Jung Jin-ho.
So much so that he was insanely jealous of Chairman Hwang, who was already on that level of calling each other hyung and dongsaeng.
***
The land of oil, the blessed land, Saudi Arabia.
But all the wealth and honor were monopolized by the Saudi royal family.
While the GDP per capita exceeded 20,000 dollars, wealth distribution was extremely uneven, youth unemployment was high, and worker wages were on the lower end.
Moreover, when oil prices dropped, the situation worsened significantly, and public discontent was through the roof. That was why they had decided on sweeping cuts.
“But if the royal family stands firm, nothing changes just because a few commoners suffer a little.”
The ruling Salam family in Saudi Arabia had thousands of royal family members.
And all of them held considerable wealth.
The current externally estimated total wealth of the Saudi royal family was one trillion dollars.
Having money was great, sure, but the fact that this wealth was divided up among so many people was honestly a source of frustration.
And quite a few princes were not happy with the fact that Hamud Salman had been named Crown Prince and was effectively acting as king now.
“If we want to seize power, our capital needs to be rock-solid. So what the hell is going on here?”
Although all power within the Saudi royal family was currently concentrated in Hamud Salman, it was still true that the position of crown prince changed fairly often.
It had happened in the past, was happening now, and would continue to happen in the future, the fierce battles for the throne were the same everywhere in the world.
Abdul Hadim was one of many princes who dreamed of the throne.
It was just that Hamud Salman currently held the seat.
Therefore, before Hamud Salman actually ascended the throne and launched a full-scale purge, he had to be dethroned quickly.
But a problem had arisen.
All the investments spread across the globe were turning into disasters.
“TSMC is currently facing a production halt crisis, and as a result, stock prices are falling across the board. Fortunately, AMD miraculously received investment funding and has been revived, so its stock prices are now soaring again.”
“But on the other hand, the stocks we invested in have all been bombed?”
“Yes…….”
“What the hell are these people doing? They said the Bitcoin boom would lead to massive growth in the semiconductor and graphics markets! I put in money based on that alone, and now we’re taking losses!?”
“I’m sorry. But because Kwangwoon and Kangseong joined forces and started manipulating the market…”
Kwangwoon. Kwangwoon again.
From the oil price shock last time to shipping, and now to the semiconductor market.
Everywhere Abdul Hadim had invested, Kwangwoon was dumping shit all over it.
At this point, it was hard not to suspect that they were working in collusion with Hamud Salman, orchestrating all of this on purpose.
“So that’s how they want to play it.”
He had absolutely no intention of sitting still and taking it.
***
“Netflix says they’ll proceed with filming as you reviewed, sir. For now, they’re prioritizing Squid Game and Kingdom.”
Kingdom was a Joseon Dynasty zombie drama.
The idea was fresh, and the overall tone looked quite promising, so I decided to invest.
“But it seems like Squid Game wasn’t even expected to be greenlit, because there was no pre-production done at all, and filming is expected to take quite a while, about two to three years. Still, the advantage is that production costs are low.”
There was a reason Netflix had taken an interest in Korea.
Sure, one reason was that I was the largest shareholder.
But more importantly, production costs in Korea were much cheaper than in Hollywood.
The budget needed to hire one A-list actor over there could fund an entire drama here.
Also, Money Heist had proven that even non-English dramas could succeed, so Netflix was becoming even more aggressive in investing in foreign content.
“Ah, and this is the proposal Saudi Arabia has been distributing to companies around the world recently. We received a copy at Kwangwoon as well.”
I took the file handed over by the Vice President.
“……NEOM City?”
“Yes. It’s a project Crown Prince Hamud Salman launched last year on a massive scale. Even just the concept is overwhelming. They want to build the most beautiful city in history, it feels like something out of a sci-fi novel.”
NEOM City.
It was Saudi Arabia’s future urban development project, expected to cost at least tens of trillions of won.
“Not just our country, but companies from all over the world are currently submitting proposals to join the project. Since Saudi has such solid capital, companies stand to make a fortune through such a massive development.”
Even just the design left my jaw wide open.
Was this really possible? That was the kind of feeling it gave.
If it were any other country, I’d have dismissed it as a scam, but this was Saudi, the wealthiest nation in the world. So naturally, it piqued my interest.
“So they’re asking us to invest as well?”
“Yes. They’re actively seeking investment from major institutions. I think they’re planning to build proper infrastructure and turn it into a global megacity.”
I see.
I carefully examined the NEOM City project proposal.
“……?”
But midway through reading the proposal, a dark energy began to slowly creep up.
It was like a black hand was trying to drag me in, and startled, I quickly closed the file.
“……CEO-nim?”
“Let’s not do this one.”
“What? But this seems like a golden opportunity that all the major conglomerates are jumping at-”
“Let’s table this for another time. Give me the next report.”
“Ah, yes.”
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it felt like something best left untouched.
“These are the investment proposals that have recently come in to Kwangwoon. Please take your time reviewing them.”
As Kwangwoon had grown in size, investment proposals were now pouring in from all directions.
In the past, I had to seek them out myself, but now, if I just waited, the good ones would roll in on their own.
“……Mega Lucky?”
Just like this proposal here.
“Ah. It’s a mid-sized entertainment agency in Korea. Not quite on the level of the Big 3.”
“But the revenue looks solid?”
“Yes. While the total revenue isn’t huge, their net profit margin is quite high. It’s a high-efficiency operation.”
But the light emanating from this one was unusual.
I flipped to the next page.
“!?”
Compared to Mega Lucky Entertainment just mentioned, one listing seemed to be radiating light like bombs were going off, blindingly bright.
“SPS?”
Super Boy Scouts. (TL Note: Rip-off of BTS, aka Bangtan Boys or Bangtan Boy Scouts)
I’d only ever seen idols in the military, and male idol groups were naturally not something I paid attention to, so I was completely ignorant when it came to the entertainment industry.
Besides, I had received multiple entertainment-related investment proposals before, but never had one provoked this kind of reaction.
The way it was bursting like fireworks, was there some deeper meaning to this?
“Could you bring me more detailed materials on Mega Lucky Entertainment and this idol group called SPS?”
*****
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