12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

‘Okay, let’s sell it all at the closing price today.’

I sold the stock that I was holding using the keyboard and mouse. The last sell order was completed. I calculated that the money I had earned today was about three million dollars. Even though the money was what ordinary people might not earn in a lifetime, I reacted calmly on seeing it.

‘Uh… my eyes hurt.’ I just rubbed my eyes at that idea. When I looked at the monitor all day, my eyes used to be dry. It would be fair to say that it was a professional disease. When my eyes were a little looser, I turned and checked the date today. It was October twenty-sixth. October was already over. As for summing up the account this month, I made about forty million dollars, this month a little better than other months.

Rather than being good at it, the news of 12 Hours After and 12 Weeks After was just good, but I’d made some improvements and I’d been gradually mixing up single-stock futures and options to increase my profit margin these days. Due to the nature of the news of 12 Hours After, there was not much news that could be used for single-stock futures and options, but it was sometimes usable as a bonus.

What was a little bit disappointing was that the news in 12 Hours After was not specialized for the economy, but also covered the Spanish tomato festival, the war with ISIS in the Middle East, and a Mexican-born white calf; they were so heavily mixed that it was difficult to be efficient right now unless something was changed.

‘As for the new excellent companies like Kai Games and Hyun Young Pharmaceutical…’

Such companies would dramatically increase my assets, a company releasing a game to dominate the world, or a company making new drugs. But such news didn’t come out. It was natural, if I thought about it. Such companies couldn’t come out often in the first place. But if I thought about it the opposite way, it was hard for such a company to avoid my eyes now.

As I had seen almost all the news that had been on for almost a year, a company that had been often mentioned in the news was bound to be captured by my eyes. Until then, I would have to accumulate cash quietly. ‘There is a stock proverb that says, “Don’t be disappointed that you don’t have the chance, but be wary that you’re not prepared.”

‘Then let’s go home now for today. I don’t think there’s work to do.’ I picked up the phone thinking that. “Seo Secretary”

“Yes, boss.”

“I don’t have anything on the schedule this afternoon?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll go home. Get ready to leave the office with Secretary Park.”

“Yes, boss.”

After the phone call, I put on my overcoat and came out of the office. Outside, both secretaries were also ready to leave work.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

I asked Secretary Seo in the elevator, “Do I have work to do tomorrow?”

“Yes, boss. There is a welcoming ceremony for the new recruit. And you have an award ceremony for the outstanding employee.”

“Oh yes… what about the day after tomorrow?”

“You have a photo shoot and an interview with the Fortune Magazine the day after tomorrow.”

“Ah… I see.”

In the past, there used to be more days away from work than at work, but these days it had been the opposite. There were few days without a schedule, as I had more companies and more people to manage. Even if I delegated a lot of work to Vice President Jang, there were some things I had to do.

“What did Fortune Magazine say? How rich am I in the country?”

“They say you’re in twenty-seventh.”

“Really? Twenty-seventh?”

“Yes.”

‘It’s probably decided by only the exposed shares. A 100% stake in Invictus Investment, worth of 1.3 billion dollars. Of course, I have personal assets, but so do others. Or, if I think about it, I have to say that I have a small amount of unexposed assets.

‘I have no real estate, no vaults containing a bundle of cash, no assets overseas, no paper company. However, the people of Susung, Mirae, K, and LC, who have lived as men of great wealth in Korea for decades, possess many buildings, land, and artworks under borrowed names. There are even people who were found to have stocks of their own companies under borrowed names. So, this twenty-seventh place means that I am comparable to what the rich have now on their hands. In fact, it is obvious that my ranking would be a little lower, because I have honestly showed the money I have.

‘It’s probably much less than Tak Mun-su of Suyeon or Jang Han-sul of KJ Shopping…’

I searched for ‘Fortune’s one hundred richest people in Korea, last year’ on my cell phone on my way home.

[Vice Chairman Tak Mun-su of Suyeon Electronics, ranked tenth, inherited 3.64 billion dollars.]

[Chairman Jang Han-sul of KJ Shopping, ranked 15th, inherited 2.78 billion dollars.]

The third generations of the chaebols, now in the Fortune Magazine, had two or three billion dollars. But this was not the end, because they had inherited only some portion from their parents. Tak Mun-su’s father Tak Woo-kyung, chairman of the Sueon Group, had twelve billion dollars, and Jang Han-sul’s father Jang Chul-yong, chairman of the KJ Group, had ten billion dollars, so the money would naturally go to them in time.

‘Hmm…’ I thought about the invitation letter to Garden Royale, which was still at home. ‘Now they put me in the Royal Family… Is that it?’

I hadn’t made up my mind yet whether I would go there or not.

One thought, ‘Shall I go and meet them? I can see what they are playing with,’ and the other thought, ‘I’m sure they are elitists. What am I doing talking to them there?’ came up alternatively.

————————–

Late October, I met Crow in our parking lot, who had returned from his investigation. He brought me a slightly thinner report than usual. The title of the report was ‘Internal Survey Data of the Suyeon Group of Tak Joon-gi.’ To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the thinness of the report, but I didn’t express it.

“Thank you for your good job, Crow.”

It was not because Crow hadn’t been able to work, but because of the lack of research by Tak Joon-gi.

“Yes, sir.”

After Crowe vanished into the air, I returned to my apartment with it and began to read it. The data that Crow had investigated, to be exact, was thin, but there were some things to read.

‘The CEO of Suyeon Chemical is sponsoring Lee Hye-shin, a beautiful entertainer.’

‘The president of Suyeon Telecom lost thirty million dollars in FX futures.’

‘Kim Chan-yong, director of Suyeon Electronics, is a key figure in the anti-Tak Mun-su faction’s rebellion.’

‘Lee Jun-hee, chairman of Suyeon Fashion, a figure of anti-Tak Mun-su, says, “If I rise in revolt, he will stand on my side.”‘

But to be honest, it wasn’t enough information to attack the Suyeon Group. In particular, there was no such information like a critical blow to Tak Mun-su. ‘With this…’

I read it with my head tilted, thinking as I read.

Tak Joon-gi’s remark, ‘My final goal was Suyeon,’ was nothing more than a last attempt to blackmail Tak Mun-su. It was nothing more than bluffing, no matter how many times I looked at it; he couldn’t take the chairmanship by knocking down Tak Mun-su.

‘It’s either one of the two. There’s really no such thing, or… he didn’t document it and he just kept it in his own mind… It must be a big secret.’

I turned over the report thinking that way. However, there was a slightly unusual sentence written in the last line, on the last page, ‘The nuclear bomb will be fired when Tak Woo-kyung dies or is about to die.’

‘Is this…?’ Tak Woo-kyung was the chairman of Suyeon Group, which he was currently leading. He was a tycoon of the Korean business community, who often appeared on TV. He was also an uncle of Tak Joon-gi, and the father of Tak Mun-su. It was clear what the words were saying. Tak Joon-gi had been writing a scenario. When Tak Woo-kyung would die and Tak Mun-su would appear at the front, he would expose something that would be a nuclear bomb in the succession process and then he would succeed at the position.

‘How old is Tak Woo-kyung?’ I picked up my cell phone and searched for him. He was seventy-one years old. He had gray hair, white eyebrows, and was completely white, but he looked quite healthy. ‘I don’t think he’s going to die right now.’

Well, Tak Joon-gi probably thought ahead ten or twenty years when writing this scenario. However, he had been caught by me and his everything had been cut off, and Tak Mun-su had killed him.

‘Well… that would be the only chance. Usually, when a king dies or is about to die, the nation becomes confused, since there’s a fight between the princes over the next king. The subjects line up behind the princes, and even before the king’s death, they have a battle for their lives in each faction. Recently, Chairman Jeon Hee-joong of Masung Group was a good example. While fishing, he died of a heart attack on the fishing grounds, causing the princes to battle among themselves.’

Now my question shifted to the next. ‘How’s the inheritance going on?’

‘Korea will apply a maximum tax rate of 50% when the inheritance exceeds three million dollars. Mr. Tak’s fortune is more than ten billion dollars, according to Forbes last year. Well, I don’t know how much money he has concealed. At any rate, it’s the amount when I look at the stocks that have been revealed. When Tak Woo-kyung dies, he has to pay five billion dollars out of ten billion dollars in inheritance tax, by selling off shares of Suyeon Group.’

‘If I attack then… it might be possible to take the Suyeon Group. It’s going to be hard, but… …it’s worth a try…’

I flicked the last sentence of Tak Joon-gi with my fingers. I was not sure, but I might be the one to implement the plan of Tak Joon-gi and become the head of the Suyeon Group.

‘The more I think about it, the more strange it is. It was an ill-fated relationship when he was alive…’ As I thought of that, I lifted the bed metrics and threw the document under there. As a result, naturally, the letter that was left there caught my eyes: the invitation letter from Garden Royale.

I took it and looked at it again. ‘On Saturday evening, November third. We invite you…’

The date of the appointment was not far away. As I watched it, I decided. ‘Maybe, this could be a chance at tens of billions of dollars…’

The inviter was Jang Han-sul, but Tak Mun-su would be there. I decided to go there and have a talk with him. He would definitely treat me with a well-organized smile, but seeing him in person might be different from what I imagined.

I then checked the place again. ‘Myeon office of Su Dong-myeon in Namyangju City, Gyeonggi-do Province’

‘No, but… what the hell are they doing in a small country office?’

I should be fully prepared for my safety. ‘Well… I’ll have to go with Secretary Park. And before that…’

—————————-

Nine p.m, I entered Han Sang-hoon into the People Search. Of course, when I typed it in, it was usually National Assemblyman Han Sang-hoon who came up on the portal first. These days, the opposition party had become weak, and he was still doing well with his strong voice.

‘Let me pass over you this time.’ I pressed the search button thinking about it.

‘Oh!’ Fortunately, my own article came up first on the news in 12 Weeks After.

[Han Sang-hoon, the twenty-seventh rich man in Korea, visited the Children’s Cancer Foundation in person and donated three million dollars.]

“Ah. This!” Last week, I had decided to donate three million dollars for the Children’s Cancer Foundation I had happened to see while surfing on the Internet.

“Secretary Seo, look at my schedule to visit there,” I said. This was why I got the story. ‘Ah, I’m going to the Children’s Cancer Foundation in three weeks.’

‘If I attend that meeting, and something goes wrong, there’s going to be correction news, as the dead can’t make a direct visit to the Childhood Cancer Foundation. All right, with this, I secured my safety.’ With that thought, I threw the Garden Royale’s invitation letter back under the mattress.