In my past life, I was only named as the successor after graduating from college and rolling around at the bottom for a long time.
"From now on, Mu-hyeok is my successor."
Although it had not been officially acknowledged, most of the people connected to Grandfather already thought of me as the successor. However, saying it officially at a family gathering carried a different weight. It meant passing over a generation to hand everything over to a grandson, and a Kim at that, rather than a Cheon.
"I will give the other children a fair share as well, but do not be greedy for more. Know that if you show more greed, I might take back even what I have given."
The reactions of the three were all different. Cheon Ji-won, whose face had been intimidated the entire time, had a slightly distorted expression. Cheon Ji-soo showed no change in expression at all, and Cheon Ji-young was as happy as if it were her own business.
"Congratulations, Brother Mu-hyeok."
It was Ji-young who genuinely congratulated me, and Cheon Ji-won and Cheon Ji-soo who offered formal congratulations because they were conscious of Grandfather. With those words, the family gathering for Grandfather's birthday came to an end. Grandfather left first for Pyeongchang District with Manager Ha, and Ji-young followed along.
Cheon Ji-won also left the hotel with a distorted face. But Cheon Ji-soo held me back. She asked me to spare some time for her.
"It ended up like this in the end, huh?"
I looked at Cheon Ji-soo's face without answering.
"You will keep your promise, right? You did not forget that you would help me swallow Ilseong, did you?"
It was a completely different reaction from Cheon Ji-young. Even so, there was no way Cheon Ji-soo did not know what Cheon Su-man had done.
"What my father did is not my responsibility. I hope that does not cause any setbacks in our contract?"
I was dumbfounded by Cheon Ji-soo speaking with such a shameless face.
"Shouldn't you at least offer empty words like, 'I am sorry for what my father did to our aunt'?"
"I did not know about it, so is that something I should apologize for? My dad and I are different. And dad is receiving enough punishment, isn't he? He can never return to Korea as long as Grandfather is alive. Is that not enough?"
Cheon Ji-soo, who I thought was a sly fox, was not a fox at all. If she were, she would have apologized even with empty words to appease my mood and gain whatever she could.
"Is it not enough?"
"A promise is a promise. I will believe that you will keep it."
Whether I sneered or not, Cheon Ji-soo stood up from her seat as if she was done speaking. Did she think being shameless would change anything? I watched her retreating back and fell deep into thought.
'I was planning to stab her in the back while pretending to help... but there's no need for that. I will make sure she gets absolutely nothing.' I organized my thoughts and got up from my seat.
Just then, a phone call came.
"This is Kim Mu-hyeok."
"Hey, let's have a drink. I'm at the nightclub in the hotel."
It was Cheon Ji-won, who had left earlier. 'These brats are acting up as a pair.' They were siblings that naturally made me sigh.
I thought about ignoring him, but I wanted to hear what he had to say. I went down to the nightclub and told the waiter Cheon Ji-won's name, and he immediately understood and guided me. I followed the guide into the room and found Cheon Ji-won drinking alone.
"Why did you call me? We are not on good enough terms to drink together, are we?"
"Just sit down first. Don't be so on edge."
When I sat down, Cheon Ji-won poured me a drink without a word and then drank by himself again. He kept trying to say something but stopped, only drinking down glass after glass. He did not seem like the arrogant Cheon Ji-won I used to know.
"Um, I am sorry. I really did not know about our aunt's matter."
It was a sentence he spat out after a long time.
"What?"
"I said I am sorry. Damn it, no matter how much trash I am, that was just wrong."
I never expected Cheon Ji-won to apologize. What is his hidden motive?
"I am not asking you to forgive me just because I didn't know. I just wanted to say it to your face once."
Cheon Ji-won did not speak anymore. I silently watched him drink as if he was done saying his piece, and then I got up from my seat. 'Cheon Ji-won and Cheon Ji-soo...'
My thoughts were not organized until I arrived at Pyeongchang District and entered the house.
"Ji-won and Ji-soo will not be your competitors anymore. Do not burn with a desire for revenge against them too."
Grandfather seemed to think that I might take revenge on them after he died. The fact that he purposely called the family together to say it, when I was already as good as the successor, was a message meant for me more than anyone else.
Rather than its literal meaning, it was a message asking me to just leave them be, since they would not be able to do anything anyway.
"I understand."
"Good. I ask this of you."
Grandfather drank a cup of the tea in front of him and changed the subject.
"Are you still seeing Chairman Song's granddaughter?"
Grandfather showed a smile as he put down his teacup.
"Do you not like her?"
"No. I have met her a few times."
"Bring her over sometime."
"We are not at that stage yet."
"I should see her for myself. Did you say her name was Song Hyeon-ji?"
"Yes."
"Seeing that you say 'yet,' it seems you like her too."
After meeting her for the first time at Chairman Song's house, we had met a few more times. The more we met, the more I liked her.
"Next time, if I really think about dating her properly, I will bring her to the house then."
"I don't know when I will die... I want to see you get married before that happens."
"Grandfather."
Perhaps he liked seeing me flustered, as Grandfather laughed heartily.
"Just because I told the family you will formally succeed me does not mean I will hand over everything right away."
That was exactly what I wanted. During the IMF crisis, there were things I needed to do while hiding behind Grandfather.
"Do not give up on the private loan market. For there to be light, there must also be shadows. That is an unchanging rule even if dynasties change and eras shift. Everyone must do their part in their own domain for the country to function properly."
"Yes, Grandfather."
A spacious traditional house on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. The faint voice of an old man could be heard. The person on the other end of the phone seemed to be quite a high-ranking individual, as the old man continuously replied only with "Yes" in Japanese.
Soon after hanging up the phone, the old man's face was flushed red. The old man walked out of the room. On the wide wooden floor, people were kneeling on both the left and right sides.
The old man walked across the space between them and sat down in the seat of honor.
"Just what are you all doing!"
The old man's voice was surprisingly loud for his age. No one answered. Everyone kept their heads bowed and did not move.
"Prime Minister Lee, does the president really have no intention of changing his mind?"
The man called the Prime Minister raised his head.
"Association Leader, no matter how much we try to stop him, he refuses to listen."
The old man's identity was none other than the Association Leader of the Blue Wind Association.
"Just what does he gain by rejecting Japan's offer to be this stubborn?"
"I am sorry."
"Hah... To think that someone who became the president with our support would stab us in the back like this."
"It was an unavoidable choice. If we had not chosen him, the regime would have fallen to the opposition party."
The Association Leader rubbed his forehead as if his head ached.
"Phew... He means to demolish the Japanese colonial headquarters, the legacy of the Japanese Empire, on the anniversary of the end of the war."
He was using the expression "anniversary of the end of the war" instead of "Liberation Day," but no one raised any objections.
"Stop it. Stop it no matter what it takes."
"There is no way. Everyone who opposes it is either being pushed into marginal posts or being forced to resign. He is holding out against our pressure by relying purely on his public approval ratings."
"Finding a way is your job."
No one could answer, and they only broke out in cold sweat. Just who could stop the actions of a president who currently had a public approval rating of over 80%? The old man clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"We should have taken action when he was purging our forces. We made a mistake."
Hana-hoe was a pillar of the Blue Wind Association. It had been the best card to pressure the president using the military, but they missed the timing to intervene because he carried out a massive military reorganization before they could even react. It was from then on.
That the president started moving entirely according to his own will. As the wrinkles on the old man's forehead deepened, the atmosphere sank even further. Just then, the man sitting opposite the Prime Minister opened his mouth.
"Um... Association Leader."
The Association Leader looked at him unenthusiastically.
"Right, Kim Do-seong, do you have anything? Mobilize the prosecutors and expose some corruption around the president at least."
"The Prosecutor General is the president's man. As a deputy chief prosecutor without real power, there is nothing I can do. Unless the Prosecutor General resigns, that is."
"Two years, it's been two years. Demolition was discussed, and during that time, no one has been able to break the president's will. Just what are you all doing? Japan said they would bear all the relocation costs, yet you cannot even manage this?"
Everyone bowed their heads and could not answer.
"What are we supposed to do about this."
The sound of clicking tongues echoed throughout the hall. Lee Yong-hyun, the Association Leader of the Blue Wind Association. As Kim Mu-hyeok expected, he was unable to pay attention to Kim Mu-hyeok's existence due to the issue of demolishing the Japanese colonial headquarters.
August arrived.
I went over to America to match Netscape's IPO schedule. The face of Han Gyeong-yeong, who came to pick me up at the airport, had changed beyond recognition.
"Hey~ Mu-hyeok!"
He ran toward me and hugged me fiercely.
"How long has it been?"
"You've changed a lot too."
"Let's go for now."
We got into the limousine that Han Gyeong-yeong had prepared.
"How is it? I prepared it because you were coming."
Thanks to the spacious interior, we could talk in a comfortable posture.
"How are the IPO preparations?"
"No big issues. The offering price was $14, but it overheated so much that they doubled it to $28." It was no different from original history.
"If we clear it at $40, what is our expected profit?"
"It's expected to be around $1 billion, but are you going to clear it?"
It would rise to a peak of $80 shortly after, but there was no reason to go out of our way to hold onto it. Since it was destined to be pushed out by Microsoft in the end.
"That's fine. You negotiate with Andreessen. Tell him we'll hand over our stake at $40 after it goes public. If he doesn't take it, take care of clearing it yourself."
"Understood."
We couldn't talk about anything important because of the driver. It wasn't until we arrived at Han Gyeong-yeong's house that we could seriously discuss establishing shell companies.
"How much progress has been made?"
"About 30%? I think we'll have to keep doing it until next year."
It was taking longer than I had thought.
"Did you clear out all the yen?"
"Yeah. Finished liquidating a few days ago. The return rate is over 300%."
Since the amount had grown, it was difficult to eat dozens of times the profit like before.
"Good job. What's the total asset?"
"Don't be surprised. $82 billion. Haha, you are the richest person in the world."
"Word hasn't gotten out, right? During the Mexican peso crisis, you had no choice but to step forward, but with the yen, we invested in an existing product."
"Probably? But the US government probably knows." $82 billion, it was indeed a lot of money.
Even calculating with an exchange rate of 800 won, it was an amount approaching 70 trillion won. However, as for being the richest, well, there were far too many hidden wealthy people in the world.
"Exclude $20 billion and scatter the rest. How many pieces did you plan to split it into and how many to merge it back into?"
"It's a job for the team handling it, but the plan is to split it into about 500 pieces and then merge it into a total of twelve companies. $5 billion each."
"That's too small. Increase it. Split it into thousands of pieces and then merge it into thirteen companies. One will be my secret fund."
"Huh, the fees are going to be massive."
"It's better than you ending up in prison for the rest of your life just to save on fees."
Han Gyeong-yeong looked appalled and waved his hands.
"Don't say scary things. Don't complain later that we paid too much in fees. Because I'm going to spend a truly huge amount on it."
"Hahaha."
After our conversation ended, Han Gyeong-yeong went outside, telling me to get a good rest. I was left alone in the room with Section Chief Ma. As if I had never laughed, my face turned cold.
"Section Chief Ma, do you know anyone reliable? Someone from a mercenary background who can be used as a bodyguard and a watcher. Not a Korean, but a US citizen."
"I will look into it."
"Don't worry about the money, just someone you can trust. Someone who will never be won over by Han Gyeong-yeong."
I trusted Han Gyeong-yeong. No, I wanted to trust him. But I knew better than anyone just how terrifying money could be.
There was no need to look far. South America, Southeast Asia, there were plenty of places where you could get someone killed for $1,000. It was a world where human lives were traded for a mere 1 million won. If Han Gyeong-yeong was consumed by the monster called money and betrayed my trust...
I would throw him away.
Finally, Netscape was listed on the Nasdaq. It started at $28 and went up to a peak of $78, but it closed at $57. Han Gyeong-yeong poured cold water on Andreessen and the company employees who were raising a toast. "Andreessen, we are going to clear out all the shares we hold. Would you like to take them over? At $60 a share." I told him to clear it at $40, but when it came to money, Han Gyeong-yeong was even more ruthless than I was. < From now on, Mu-hyeok is my successor. > The End