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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Securing the Funds
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Kim Jae-un saw through Lee Dae-hyuk's thoughts.
If the goal wasn't simply making money, then he must be envisioning a future of friendly relations with these companies.
"Of course, that's something that'll happen at least a few years from now."
Lee Dae-hyuk's voice was calm.
He was drawing a big picture, but it was still just a vague sketch at this stage.
For now, it was better to mull it over in his head rather than speak it aloud.
But even for this sketch stage, money was needed.
"I was also thinking of adding about 100 billion won more."
Unlike the tense Kim Jae-un, Lee Dae-hyuk casually mentioned 100 billion won.
He already had a way to secure it in mind.
"I'll let you know as soon as there's a result on that front. As I said when we first met, you don't need to worry about the seed money."
Kim Jae-un nodded at Lee Dae-hyuk's words.
He had now expressed all his own opinions. The rest was up to Lee Dae-hyuk.
As Kim Jae-un fell silent, Lee Dae-hyuk smiled faintly and laid out a task.
"There's 100 million won in the stock account we set up. While I secure the remaining funds, feel free to trade with it however you like. Even if you lose it all, it's fine."
"Pardon? Even if I lose it all... it's okay?"
"Yes. And you can keep all the profits except the principal."
"Even so..."
"It's to build your real-world trading sense. I think 100 million won is a cheap price for that."
Lee Dae-hyuk shrugged.
Kim Jae-un was someone who would soon manage hundreds of billions.
He already had the knowledge and eye for handling large sums, but he suffered from a 'lack of experience.'
In fact, Lee Dae-hyuk had sensed that lack of experience in the way Kim Jae-un's eyes wandered around the officetel room in wonder.
It was unavoidable.
Those who hadn't possessed such things tended to feel intimidated when exposed to environments they'd never seen.
It was a kind of instinct.
Theoretically, Kim Jae-un had already moved and earned hundreds of billions.
But in reality, he had lived a impoverished life, filling his meals with cup ramen at a PC bang.
If someone who lived like that suddenly handled large sums, their judgment could cloud, leading to mistakes.
Lee Dae-hyuk planned to start with 100 million won to hone Kim Jae-un's 'sense for money.'
"It might take a few months to secure additional seed money. But about 10 billion won will be deposited in a week. I'll contact you again after that."
Lee Dae-hyuk rose from the sofa, gave Kim Jae-un a slight bow, and left the officetel.
And then.
"..."
Kim Jae-un remained speechless for a long while after he left.
.
.
.
'He really is an amazing person.'
He knew something about Lee Dae-hyuk's situation.
It was still just internet rumor level, but there were whispers that Lee Dae-hyuk was the illegitimate son of Chairman Lee Myung-guk.
Whether it was because of that or not, it was widely known that Lee Dae-hyuk had no base or influence within the Daehan Group.
In that situation, securing 100 billion won as he claimed wouldn't be easy.
Still, Kim Jae-un felt a strange excitement and anticipation building within him.
Whether Lee Dae-hyuk could really bring in 100 billion won as boldly promised.
If he did, then he couldn't afford to waste time like this.
He had to show that he, Kim Jae-un, was a worthwhile person, matching Lee Dae-hyuk's efforts.
Click—
Kim Jae-un sat down at the computer and double-clicked the stock program.
***
After meeting Kim Jae-un, Lee Dae-hyuk returned home and crossed his arms, lost in thought.
To seriously gather funds, he needed manpower.
'Hmm. I do have a way to get the money, but...'
Lee Dae-hyuk pondered deeply.
If he took on a bit of risk, securing 100 billion won was possible.
The first method was to siphon off Seojin Group's slush funds.
Seojin Group put so much effort into networking that they even created an external personnel management team within the group to recruit political and business figures.
And that team had one notable feature: they won over targets by gifting them expensive artworks.
'The even more shocking fact is that these artworks are smuggled goods from home and abroad.'
To sum it up simply:
- From famous paintings to ceramics and crafts. They use impossibly expensive smuggled items that ordinary people couldn't even imagine to win hearts.
- The entire process of acquiring, storing, and gifting these smuggled goods is handled by the 'external personnel management team.'
They called it an external personnel management team, but it was essentially a criminal organization.
And during his time as Kim Geon-woo, Lee Dae-hyuk had once served as the team leader of that external personnel management team.
'A conglomerate running a crime syndicate... How did they even come up with that idea?'
Lee Dae-hyuk thought of Seojin Group's previous chairmen and let out a wry chuckle.
They presented themselves as intellectuals leading Korea's economy on the surface, while behind the scenes, they schemed every trick to reduce taxes and create slush funds.
If anyone dug into the crimes arising from those schemes, they were either bought off with bribes or disguised as accidents and assassinated via off-the-books organizations.
For their Seojin Group—no, for their own wealth—they resorted to every illegal means, even the most taboo acts.
In that sense, Yu Jae-man, the youngest son of previous chairman Yu Geon-ho, was the man who best fit the role of Seojin Group's chairman.
At this point in time, Yu Jae-man had barely claimed the chairmanship after power struggles with his siblings alongside him.
But because Yu Jae-man's power base was weak, the battles with his brothers continued even after he took the seat.
On the surface, it was a legitimate fight for management control through stock acquisition.
Behind the scenes, they were sending off-the-books teams to attempt assassinations.
In that chaotic brawl, he—at this time, Kim Geon-woo—had desperately protected Yu Jae-man.
And the reward for that effort... was death.
'I did something stupid.'
Lee Dae-hyuk's eyes sharpened as a bitter smile crossed his face.
No time for sentimentality.
He knew the warehouse where the smuggled goods were stored and the access code.
'Is it because I'm younger? Memories from decades ago are this vivid... Amazing.'
He also knew the warehouse location, so he just needed people to extract the items.
But this was a crime.
He couldn't involve Yoon Tae-ho or the bodyguards.
And even after taking the items from the warehouse, that wasn't the end.
He needed someone from that world to turn the high-value smuggled goods into cash.
In that case.
'Who would be suitable?'
Lee Dae-hyuk carefully rummaged through his past memories.
First, someone he could help.
Someone who knew how to repay a debt, who understood loyalty.
'I need to be cautious.'
There was still plenty of time.
He had to select the person slowly.
Not just for handling the smuggled goods, but ideally someone who could continue helping him long-term.
'Of course, to avoid creating a second Oh Tae-gyu, I need to draw a clear line.'
He would never suffer such a horrific betrayal again.
Even if he kept someone close, he couldn't lower his guard.
'Right. No need to worry about it prematurely.'
With a wry smile, Lee Dae-hyuk began recalling people who fit his criteria one by one.
And then.
'That woman exists.'
Lee Dae-hyuk remembered the female powerhouse who dominated the underground economy before his regression.
A woman who had manpower ready to deploy at any time and the ability to turn smuggled goods into money.
'Jung Hee-joo... What a woman.'
The big player in the loan shark world called 'Godmother,' who a decade later would control the underground economy and become another business partner of Yu Jae-man.
She wielded such influence that the moniker 'Owner of the Underground Economy' suited her perfectly.
And Yu Jae-man, who sought to bring even the underground economy under his feet, had once used Kim Geon-woo to build friendly ties with her.
Specifically, by entrusting her protection to Kim Geon-woo's organization, the Hanseong faction.
Thanks to that, Kim Geon-woo had gotten close enough to drink alone with Jung Hee-joo and hear many stories from her.
***
"I lived just as shitty as you did. You know what it was like 15 years ago? I nearly died every month—no, every week. But I survived, clinging on desperately until I climbed this far."
Her voice, slurred with drink, carried deep resentment.
Jung Hee-joo had once lived an ordinary life.
When drunk, she'd recall those days and pour out her sorrows in a wistful voice.
Lee Dae-hyuk would always listen silently to her drunken rants.
He knew that sometimes just listening was comfort enough, so when she got drunk, he'd quietly sip his drink alone.
Her life had gone awry due to her father, Jung Min-jun's, death.
September 7, 2006.
The day the gangster boss and loan shark who ruled the underground economy, Jung Min-jun, was killed in an ambush by the rival Minsang faction.
Cause of death: excessive blood loss from twenty-one stab wounds.
For a man who led a massive organization worthy of a senior figure even to Kim Geon-woo and ultimately became the underground economy's king, it was a pathetic and gruesome end.
And the one who delivered that gruesome death was a rookie gangster who had just graduated high school and joined Minsang faction.
But the detective in charge must have taken bribes from Minsang faction, as he ruled it a simple robbery-murder and didn't even investigate them.
Jung Hee-joo was furious.
Since her father's killer faced no punishment, she suffered guilt even after the funeral.
Moreover, something happened to fuel her thirst for revenge.
Namely,
September 13, 2006.
The day Jung Hee-joo, returning home after her father's funeral, was ambushed by Minsang faction members.
At that time, Jung Hee-joo was still an ordinary woman, not yet the godmother.
She would speak of that day like this:
If only... she hadn't been stabbed by the knives of those bastards who suddenly attacked her...
Then she never would have set foot in this world.
"They scarred my pretty face. That's when it hit me. My dad... must have hurt so much. If a little scratch hurts this bad, how much pain was he in? That's when I decided. Revenge."
One of Jung Min-jun's subordinates had fought the attackers to the death, allowing her to survive. Losing her father and now her lifesaver deepened Jung Hee-joo's vengeful resolve.
But powerless as she was, all she could do was sort her father's belongings.
While brooding over her helplessness and organizing his things, she found a USB drive he had hidden.
That USB was a kind of ledger her father left behind.
A secret ledger capturing powerful figures who came to deal, filmed via hidden cameras and bugs in his office.
"Chaebols, soldiers, judges, prosecutors, even congressmen. Anyone who needed money came to my dad. He didn't deal with ordinary folks. So he got insurance for emergencies."
Jung Min-jun was meticulous.
Knowing debtors might target him, he prepared insurance in advance.
But tragically, he died without a chance to use it. Discovering the USB hidden in a book of poetry on the shelf, Jung Hee-joo took his place to avenge him.
"The organization guys all opposed it. To them, I was just a naive girl clueless about the world. So I threw a fit, saying if they didn't put me in the boss seat, I'd release the USB. That's when they finally gave up. Hahaha."
She laughed boldly, but Lee Dae-hyuk's heart always ached.
He could read the sadness hidden in that laughter.
***
The friendship between Jung Hee-joo and Lee Dae-hyuk was genuine.
They had occasionally come close to crossing the line.
But without either making the first move, they avoided developing into lovers.
Both lived lives where a knife could strike from behind at any moment, so they needed comrades more than lovers.
If they had been lovers, he probably couldn't seek her out now.
"Good thing."
Lee Dae-hyuk murmured as he glanced at the calendar on the wall while thinking of Jung Hee-joo.
Today was September 11th.
"It's not too late yet."
Two days from now, at midnight. Jung Hee-joo would fall into danger from Minsang faction's sudden ambush.
To gain her trust and make her an ally, he had to rescue her that night.
But before going to save her, there was an issue to settle with Yoon Tae-ho.
'Right. It's something I need to address once and for all.'
Saving Kim Jae-un could pass as a one-time deviation.
But twice was different.
And this time, it was saving a criminal's daughter.
So while keeping Yoon Tae-ho quiet was important, he'd need to manage the other bodyguards too.
'How do I persuade and explain this?'
Lee Dae-hyuk pondered.
But what could he do?
To achieve his goals, he needed Yoon Tae-ho's help.
Steeling himself, Lee Dae-hyuk picked up the cell phone on the desk.
"Manager Yoon. Are you outside?"