12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

People seemed to love stories of a person’s ruin. I was able to realize that all over again this time.

[Invictus Investment’s failure to invest in China has resulted in a huge loss.]

The news, which came out a few days ago, reached the top of the news list in days. As the number of views increased, a follow-up article appeared.

[Invictus Investment, which had been on a roll, is facing a crisis.]

[A big mistake for the arrogant genius? CEO Han Sang-hoon’s investment in China has lost a lot of money.]

Nothing had changed. These were novels that said our company had invested in Chinese companies and had lost a lot of money because they had gone bankrupt. It wasn’t a very unlikely piece of writing. There were so many investment companies that had lost money in investing in China, so they made our company one of them. In fact, it was more unrealistic to predict the Great Chinese Depression in advance and hold a selling position half a year ago.

When I had started this project in the first place, even my closest aides had tried to stop me.

“It’s dangerous, Mr. President.”

“It’s too low a chance to bet our company’s future on, Mr. President.”

“Please think again.”

Now that it had happened, if someone had gone back a year ago and bet five billion dollars on the Great Chinese Depression, everybody would have pointed fingers at him because he was crazy. Even though it actually happened.

In any case, the rumor of Han Sang-hoon’s ruin continued and continued even after the new year was bright in January 2022. There were a series of follow-up articles, followed by rumors. But I didn’t respond very much, as all the people I cared about knew the truth. More than that, I decided to concentrate on exploring the companies that were going bankrupt.

Obviously, there would be good business in Korea, which had temporarily been credit-tight. I calmly looked for the opportunities quietly, reading the current, future news. However, even if I read the news a year from now, there was not much hopeful news. Due to the government’s hurried response, the urgent fire was put out for now, but the economy and asset prices still showed no signs of rebounding. The whole world had fallen into a swamp of long-term depression.

‘Well… maybe I shouldn’t rush to buy assets…’

As a result, neither I nor the company had much to do.

‘An investment company is lives on the buying and selling, whether it is a recession or a boom.’

However, the economy was now completely dead and crawling on the floor. There was nothing to sell, nothing to buy. I decided to wait for a little more time after holding my breath.

——————————

I looked at the screen with my arms crossed.

“Daughter, go on ahead; we will talk to each other like men.”

On the screen, Michael Keaton, who played Vulture, was performing so hard. Today’s film was a blockbuster hero movie that had been out for quite some time, and I’d seen it over and over again. Not to see Spider-Man, but to see the villain, Michael Keaton. He was also one of my favorite actors from “Birdman,” which I had recommended to Ah-young before. Tom Holland, who played Spider-Man in the film, was said to have been genuinely terrified by Michael Keaton’s eyes, and didn’t have to act that out.

‘It’s so fantastic.’ As I was admiring it, a text message came in. I glanced down.

It was from Secretary Park. – Boss, we have a visitor. It is Director Bang Young-woo of KJ Products.-

I saw the text and thought for a moment, ‘KJ Products? Why from there?’ I got up right away. It had nothing to do with me, but had to do with Jang Han-sul, who would be the next chairman of KJ Group.

I had a gut feeling. ‘She sent out another high-ranking official as a mailman.’ He came to our company as a postman for Garden Royale.

“Huh.” I closed my mouth and looked down at it. I was going to watch a movie quietly because I wanted to stay home from work. However, I could not help but go down, because an executive was here. The Garden Royale’s invitation was like registered mail, I didn’t let anyone else take it.

“It’s a funny part…” I paused the movie and replied to my cell phone. – I’ll be there in a minute.-

I got up and headed to the closet. It took about forty seconds to get out of the private theater and walk across the living room to the closet. In the meantime, I was worried about what to put on. Anyways, I just had to go down and accept the invitation.

‘Do I have to wear a suit?’ After a moment of thought, I got on the elevator, dressed in jeans and a shirt. But when I looked in the mirror in front of the elevator that was going down, my hair was a little disheveled and my beard was unshaven. It was because I hadn’t thought of going to work this morning.

‘.. It’s a little disrespectful, but… I don’t care anymore, as I’m also the richest person in Korea. Do I need to look at anyone’s notice?’ I came down to the floor with the president’s office, thinking about it.

A middle-aged man was waiting for me in front of the president’s office.

I reached out to him and said, “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I am Han Sang-hoon from Invictus Investment.”

“This is Director Bang Young-woo of KJ Products. Nice to meet you, CEO Han.”

I came into the office with him. Knowing everything in my heart, I spoke to him, “By the way, what brings you here?”

Sure enough, he took out an envelope from his arms that said ‘R’ and handed it to me. “Nothing, but our Chairman Jang Han-sul asked me to deliver this…”

I said, accepting that, “Yes, please tell her I received it.”

His business was over. I was going to finish the meeting right there. I had to go back up and finish watching the movie I had started.

But he took out one more word, “Yes, and… she asked me to ask if you’re okay these days.”

At this time, I answered in a blunt manner. “Yes. Well. I’m good.”

I thought it was just a simple hello, and I told him, “Please say hello to her and wish her a happy New Year.”

“Ah… yes, CEO Han. I will do it.” But strangely, he looked at my face as he said it, and smiled.

I realized just now that the regard he had just made was not a simple greeting. After he left, I just replayed the situation, holding the invitation from Garden Royale. ‘If you’re okay these days…’

Jang Han-sul, who sent the invitation, also seemed to be paying attention after hearing rumors that Han Sang-hoon had gone bankrupt. So when she sent that fat executive, she asked him to ask me how I was doing and watch if the rumors were true or not. Meanwhile, I came down in jeans, with my hair disheveled and beard unshaven. Perhaps, it would cause a misunderstanding on her side, as well.

‘It’s strange that I’m constantly getting misunderstood…’

Or maybe it was all because people wanted me to go bankrupt. ‘People often see what they want to see, and believe what they want to believe.’

The rumor ‘Han Sang-hoon is ruined’ met the expectation of ‘I wish it would be real,’ and it caused such misunderstandings.

‘No, if I think about it… it is polite to not say anything if she is really worried about me. At some point, there are people who enjoy other’s mishaps when they are in trouble, and pretend to comfort them on the outside. If it’s Jang Han-sul, I’m sure she is that type of human being.’

After watching me for more than a year, Jang Han-sul was a jealous person. Even though she was from one of the richest families, she didn’t like seeing others doing well. I looked at the invitation from Garden Royale.

‘Shall I not go there now?’

For a year or so, I had attended the showy social gathering of the top class, but now it was getting boring. I was going to tear it apart, but instead, I stopped and gently opened the envelope.

Now it was a gathering of people whose assets were lower than mine, but they still had some decent information on Korea. They would have been similar to me in the way they coped with this credit crisis. They would try to buy a cheap but good company.

——————————

Garden Royale’s New Year’s party…

‘The economy runs in recessions and booms. During boom times, jobs are added, incomes rise, and asset values, such as real estate and stocks, rise. The working class is well off and the rich are better off. IN contrast, in times of recession, massive layoffs occur, income decreases, real estate is auctioned off, and stocks fall. The common people find living hard, but the rich are still well off.’

That was what I thought here. Unlike ordinary people in the outside world, there was no shadow of recession on their faces. In a way, it was natural. At first glance, the rich seemed to only make money during the economic boom, but it was not true. In times of recession, all assets came cheap in the market.

‘During a recession, businesses go bankrupt, real estate and stocks are very cheap, and the working class can’t buy or do anything, since they don’t really have any money. It is the rich who buy assets cheaply at that time: people with cash, or people who have the credit to borrow cash. They may not make crazy profits from selling position bets like me, but they also make money slowly. If they stand still, someone dies and disappears. All they have to do is pick things up cheaply with the cash they have. Then, prices naturally go up during the boom at a price so high that ordinary people will not dare to look up.’

“How has KJ been these days?” Jung Sung-soo, vice chairman of Mirae Motors, asked.

“Well, it’s hell. Our business in China is so hard,” Jang Han-sul, chairman of KJ Shopping, answered.

But even as she said that, she had a smile on her face. Perhaps because they had already suffered decades and years of depression with vested interests, they might have recognized that a crisis was an opportunity.

This time, Ko Jin-hee, chairman of JISUNG Fashion, asked Huh Joon-ik, president of LC Construction. “Mr. President, how about LC Telecom? Don’t you think it’s the best time to buy?”

Huh Joon-ik answered, “Just wait a little longer. The ants’ selling with a loss isn’t over yet. If it reaches $240, you can buy it, and you won’t lose in the long run.”

‘They, too, have been squeezed out of their assets, but they can bear it. They’ve lost tens of millions of dollars in the financial records, but they can live without the money. If they wait, the price goes up again. They have a lot of cash and credit in Korea, so all they have to do is buy assets that have come down at a steady pace. It is only the clumsy rich who crumble in times of crisis.’

This time, President Kim Shin of Susung Planning asked, “Hey, CEO Han, how about your company? There’s been a strange rumor going around these days.”

I looked at him and could feel that he saw me as one of the clumsy rich. I said with a slight nod, “It’s not easy.”

Also, instead of lying, my words led them to more misunderstandings. He laughed at my words. He seemed to think I had lost a lot of money, because of the article.

‘I’m not the one who is a clumsy rich, but you, I thought, but didn’t say it. They would find out in time that they were wrong.

In the meantime, Kim Shin kept talking, “You won’t get an invitation if your assets fall below some amount. Be careful, CEO Han.”

I answered with a smile, since it was really funny, “Ah, yes.”

However, it seemed that I looked a little crazy. Jang Han-sul came closer to me and asked, “What’s the matter, CEO Han? Is it really hard these days? Did you invest a lot in China?”

I said it almost with a sigh, “I invested a lot, almost all-in.” It was not a lie, either.

The eyes of Jang Han-sul were getting bigger. “Oh, really? Then…” She couldn’t say any more.

Ko Jin-hee looked around and said, “What kind of attitude is that? Are you going to kick him out of here since CEO Han has lost some money? What a pity!”

And then finally, Tak Mun-su appeared and said, “We can`t kick Han Sang-hoon out, even if it true.”

I looked at him. He always spoke well of me, as usual.

“He used to give us advice sometimes. We’ve been helped before, so we should help him in times of need. Don’t you think?”

But when he said that, he suddenly hit his wrist with one hand. The gesture brought back old memories. It was definitely the sign that he had used when he had sent off Tak Joon-gi…