12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I concentrated on the voice coming from beyond the phone. “Do you really have to do that?” he asked.

Tak Mun-su had a slightly different way of speaking, though it was fine. It was slightly higher than usual, and slightly faster than usual.

‘He got riled up.’ I thought and focused, just to pick out the words Tak Mun-su would like to say. “Yes. We’ve been tracking Ullim Electronics for a long time. I don’t want to give it to anyone.”

“…”

Once again, there was a brief silence. He said nothing, but I expected him to be shaking with rage. Tak Mun-su had also been tracking Ullim Electronics for a long time, and he wouldn’t want to hand it over to anyone. However, to all observers, we, Invictus Investment, were the first to put an offer in for Ullim Electronics. If they came in now, it would give the ugly appearance of a big company interfering with the takeover bid.

‘But I originally followed you.’ I was thinking about it with a big smile, as Tak Mun-su said, “As CEO Han says so, I’ll be honest. Our company has been watching this company for a long time. And, considering our Suyeon Electronics and synergies, it’s a necessary company. I really want to buy it.”

He began to be more honest than I thought. In Garden Royale, he used to have good words all the time:

“Oh, really? That’s great.”

“That sounds fun. That’s good.”

“That’s a good idea.”…

However, he was dry and sharp when it came to his interests.

I spoke to him, “Really? Then what? We’d like to take this over, too. If we compete with Suyeon Group…”

When I blurred my words, he spoke with delight, “Right. I don’t want that either. If CEO Han makes a big concession this time, I’ll thank you very much.”

He must have thought I would lower my tail at the power of the Suyeon Group. I told him, “No, I don’t have a mind to make a concession. I was going to say that if we competed with the Suyeon Group, our acquisition price might go up…”

“What?”

He had to show off his embarrassment in the end. He must have never thought I’d ask for a head-on confrontation.

“I didn’t expect Suyeon Group to be aiming for it. It means that Ullim Electronics has high potential. I’ll put in an offer at a higher price than I originally thought. If you want to participate in the acquisition deal, you’ll need to bring a lot of money.”

When I said that, he couldn’t stand it any longer. “CEO Han, what you are saying now sounds like you’re going to compete with our Suyeon Group. Are you sure?”

I thought for a moment here. ‘Tak Mun-su is trying to put pressure on me here. Should I lower my head and stab him in the back? Or should I raise my head stiffly and have a direct confrontation?’

No matter how much I thought about it, the latter suited me. I answered in a dutiful manner, “Then I can’t help it.”

He finally showed his anger to me. “Yes. I can’t help it if CEO Han says so. You and your company have become enemies of me and our Suyeon Group today.”

“I’ll give it back to you, as it is. You and Suyeon Group have become enemies of me and our Invictus Investment.”

When he heard the remark, he laughed out loud, “Hahaha! Okay. Okay. I’ve been thinking that you were an unusual person since I first met you, but I can’t believe you are going to do this… I really didn’t imagine it. How dare you defy Suyeon Group…”

He still seemed to think he was stronger than I was. I replied to him, “Me too. From the first time I saw you, I thought you were an unusual person. But… you were just as good as I expected.”

“What?”

“… you’ll soon know what I mean.”

“Okay, what a surprise to me in many ways. All right, let’s see how long you can hold out after turning our Suyeon Group into an enemy.”

“I’m also looking forward to it.”

After the violent call, I put down the phone, and thought, ‘I was just going to get outboxing and only tease him, but somehow it turned out to be an all-out war.’

He had always played the role of a good man when he was wearing a mask, but when he took it off, he revealed his greed, pride, and anger without mercy. He might have thought I’d lower my tail if he revealed himself like that. He would never do it unless it was for his interests.

He was trying to take advantage of me by threatening me. He was like a lion, kicking out at a hyena that was trying to steal his prey. But the problem was, I wasn’t the one to give in to that. If he was a lion, I was a rhino, and if he was a rhino, I was an elephant. Now, I was stronger than anyone in Korea. But he didn’t know it…

‘All right, if we’re going to an all-out war, I need to get ready, right? I don’t want to be bothered and have to prepare in advance.’ I thought for a moment with my arms crossed. ‘How will he attack me?’

Suyeon Group had a close relationship with the political community, having ruled as a chaebol in Korea for fifty years. Perhaps that was the fastest way forward. But the current president Joo Sung-won was on my side…

‘All right, let’s start with the shield.’ I picked up the phone and said to Secretary Park, “Contact CEO Chung of Oracle News. I have something to write about.”

“Yes, boss.”

When I finished my phone call, I went straight into writing the manuscript. ‘Market monopoly of large enterprises – A key problem that weakens the competitiveness of Korean companies.’

I picked the title, and on the first line of the A4 paper, I wrote it down.

‘The content is criticism of Suyeon Group… I don’t need to mention the Suyeon Group, but I need to remind them of the Suyeon group.’

With this, the Blue House would also cooperate in the manner of one being unaware of something. Come to think of it, regardless of what kind of government they were in, they tended to meet with big companies and fight one another first.

“I’m the president and I’m a living power, so please cooperate for five years. Please pay a lot of taxes on time. Don’t increase the number of unemployed people, huh? Hire a lot of employees, and don’t retire them too early, okay?”

“Yes, sir. But the presidency is five years, and we have money forever. The judges, prosecutors, and reporters who have received our company’s money are lying in the streets near the Blue House, so please be moderate. Okay?”

However, as soon as the current administration entered the country, the problem in China exploded and the process had been delayed a little. Now that we were at a stable stage, there was a chance that they could tie up the Suyeon Group. On top of that, President Joo Sung-won’s presidency was very strong.

Originally, the first-year President had great power because of his high approval rating, which currently was higher than when he had been elected, thanks to his preemptive handling of the Chinese issue. If he cooperated with me, I was very unlikely to be attacked in the political world.

‘All right, well, I am going to defend that side like this… Next is the attack. Where shall I dig?’

But when I thought of the attack, something popped into my mind. Tak Mun-su’s father, Tak Woo-kyung had been hospitalized in a VIP room on the top floor of a hospital under the Suyeon Foundation since he had fallen to a heart attack last year. At that time, the news came out.

[Chairman Tak Woo-kyung of Suyeon Group is in critical condition due to a heart attack.]

[Chairman Tak Woo-kyung is not conscious, but his life is fine.]

However, there were no more follow-up stories. Now as the year went by, strange rumors were coming out. ‘Chairman Tak Woo-kyung was already dead when he had a heart attack. However, they did not announce his death to reduce the inheritance tax.’

‘I am a little bit sorry for attacking someone else’s life and death… But I can’t help it when his son turns out to be my enemy. In war, I must attack the enemy’s most fatal spot. His cousin, Tak Joon-gi also said, “I will detonate the nuclear bomb when Tak Woo-kyung dies or is about to die.”

I don’t know what the nuclear bomb is yet. Anyways, when Tak Woo-kyung dies, it is an opportunity. If that happens, Tak Mun-su will have to pay an astronomical inheritance tax. Currently, Tak Mun-su’s personal assets are only worth two billion dollars. His father has assets worth more than ten billion dollars, and they were predetermined to go to Tak Mun-su. He has been treated as one of the richest men in the country. If he loses half of his father’s assets, he really becomes a minnow who is no match for me…’

‘If it’s the VIP room on the top floor of the Suyeon Foundation Hospital… I’m sure the security is tight. The doctor must have been paid tens of million dollars, and the nurses get paid hundreds of thousand dollars a year. Especially if there is a big secret concerning Tak Woo’s life and death…’

However, there was something that the top floor of the Suyeon Foundation Hospital could not stop: a crow’s eye flying in the sky. I opened my mailbox of 12 Hours After and put the cursor on the Crow Summoning Link at the bottom. ‘Would you like to summon the Crow? (One time is left).’

This month’s Crow summon was left unused. When the negotiation with Ullim Electronics was under way, it was part of the necessary verification process that had begun when we had taken over the former Changhae Food, finding out if there was anything rotten inside. It was a needed investigation for a certain CEO-me before taking over a company…

‘But this time… I don’t mind skipping…’

The executives who had investigated this case all said:

“Chairman Oh Kyu-seok is respected both outside and inside the company.”

“There is no spouse and no heir, so the equity relationship is clean.”

“When he retires, he is going to build a foundation to donate.”

Of course, its reputation was not great, but if Suyeon Electronics tried to take over it without saying a word, its finances would be clean.

‘Please specify the location and time to summon.’ I took my mouse on the flashing cursor and wrote, ‘the penthouse on the top floor of the Invictus Investment Building, 7:30 p.m. today.’

————————–

At 7:30 p.m. today, the next evening…

“Did you call me, sir?”

I met Crow on my outdoor terrace. It was from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., while Ah-young called in a Pilates instructor from the gym into the penthouse to take private lessons. There was no one else who could see our meeting. I gave him the summary I had prepared for a quick request.

“Please investigate this guy, and find out whether he is alive or dead. If he is dead, how are they keeping it secret… Please find out.”

The summary also showed Tak Woo-kyung lying in the hospital room. Crow read my summary and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Then, I’ll ask you for a good investigation. And please leave quietly so that Ah-young won’t find out when you go out.”

“Yes…”

I purposely turned my head so that he could quietly disappear, and watched the night view of Seoul in the distance for a moment. Soon there was a flapping sound where he had been standing. When I looked back, there were only one or two black feathers drifting down, and Crow was gone.