12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I saw the calendar application go off.

[AAOOO]

I’d already memorized it by looking at it several times, so I knew it.

“Announcement of Als Aluminum’s Obtain Order., OK.”

After aiming to take over Kai Games, I was busier than ever. Surprisingly, because of the money, I didn’t think money would actually be a problem after the Platinum and the Master Class, but this time I was in a bit of a hurry. It really was a matter of money. I wanted to make more money.

‘Money is magical. It makes even rich people fret.’

‘Then I’ll sell the Daeshin Battery until the 5th, and then I’ll buy Als Aluminum.’ As I was thinking about it, the phone rang.

“Boss, this is Vice President.”

“Yes, please come in.”

——

Soon Vice President Jang opened the door and came in. He had a carry-on in his hand.

“I’ll be back soon then.”

“Yes.”

Vice President Jang decided to travel to Shanghai, instead of me, to visit Zhiyan Limited, the parent company of Kaisoft. Zhiyan Limited had a branch office in South Korea, but the decision maker was in mainland China.

At the words, “We’d like to buy a stake in Kai Games,” they had replied, “Then come to China.”

That’s why Vice President Jang decided to go there himself. We asked for a deal, but they set the negotiation table. That did not mean there was no intention of selling.

“As I’ve said before, I’ll ask you to make an agreement as much as you can, even if they call it expensive.”

“Yes, boss.”

I was counting on this deal to be made, because they had a reason to sell. “I’m sure you’ll be smart. Unlike three years ago… they’re probably suffering from the Hanhanlyeong.”

“Yes, boss, I’ll focus on that.”

‘The areas blocked by Hanhanlyeong are cultural content industries such as tourism, games, and entertainment. In the case of tourism, Chinese people come to Korea and spend money. If they stop doing so, there is nothing to lose except Korea, and entertainment or games imported from Korea. They banned the cultural contents with intensity.

‘On the other hand, items such as semiconductors and electronic components were left untouched. Because while imports of tourism and cultural content are simply areas where only Korea takes the money, semiconductor and electronic components play a large role, they become money for those who sell them all. In a world, they were angry, saying “Why did you do this to me? Apologize!”, but they also said, “I’ll take this, not that.’ It’s very cleverly protecting their own interests.

‘Sometimes, of course, there are also people who lose money in China in the process. They are companies that have invested in Korean companies in the cultural content business.’

Zhiyan Limited was such a case. They imported Korean games to China and sold them there. They paid royalties and bought a Korean company to take them back. However, the import of Korean games was recently blocked by the Hanhanlyeong.

‘This is in our favor, and they must be anxious.’

That was my idea. Of course, they would have thought of holding it a little bit more after seeing the potential of Fantasy War Ground, but these people wouldn’t know it would be a big hit around the world, either.

‘Maybe they will bet a little bit more expensive.’

That would be enough, if I could make more money and cover it. I decided to make as much money as I could until Fantasy War Ground was released. First, I would buy Kai Games using the capital increase of Invictus Investment, and then I would buy more Kai Games with the rest of my money.

‘This is a very big prize. This opportunity is worth $100,000,000. No, it’s going to be more than that. Yes… then… it wouldn’t be a job to break the Master Class, would it? If I have the money, the acquisition is a matter of procedure.’

I thought so, but the phone rang again.

“Boss.”

“Your order, the Bentley, is here.”

“Oh, yeah?”

The Bentley, which I had signed the contract for after acquiring OH Entertainment last time, seemed to be here. I had checked out all the options and spent nearly $400,000, but if I had the idea of buying the Kae Games at that time, I wouldn’t have bought it. But it was late to regret it now.

“Then when we get off work, let’s go over and take a look.”

“Yes, boss.”

————————————–

I saw my new car, a Bentley Bentayga. Unlike Porsche, it was slightly lighter, and had a rather profound look. That was great, but I was a little bit concerned. With this money, I could have bought a couple of hundred thousand more shares in Kai Games. But if I thought that way, I would die without spending any money.

The dealer came up to me and apologized, “I’m sorry I’m late. This model was so popular that our orders have been piled up, Mr. President.”

‘The price of this car is at least $340,000, but the order has been piled up. As expected, the economy is said to be in bad shape, but only for the working class.’

I waved the car keys with the ‘B’ symbol on the wing, and said, “I’ll head home with this car. Secretary Seo, you can go home, too.”

“Yes, boss.”

I took my new Bentley and headed home. A Bentley was definitely the car that everyone stayed out of its way, even in Gangnam. Even in a situation where they struggled to go first, they saw my car and made way so I could pass.

“That’s convenient.”

‘Although having a lot of money doesn’t mean happiness, it seems to make a person feel comfortable.’

On the street or at home, money made me comfortable. I came into the parking lot of my studio in my new car. A Bentley was also rare in our studio parking lot, which was full of expensive cars. I could feel the sense of getting out even here, where the rich were everywhere. I opened the door and got out of the car, and a strange voice reverberated in the parking lot.

“A Young!”

‘What’s this?’

“A Young!”

The voice was heard once again.

‘A Young?’

I turned my head towards the sound. A tall blonde woman was holding on to the car door and shouting. “A Young!”

It was a strange situation. I looked up at it. From a closer look, the blonde woman wasn’t dyed but real white. Her skin was white, her nose was tall, and she was a typical white beauty. She was slightly shorter than me, but her legs seemed to be longer than mine.

‘Is she a model?’

I was wondering, and she shouted once more, “A Young!”

Her voice seemed to be in a hurry. I walked closer to her, and she let go of the car door. She was holding someone in the passenger seat, a person whose face I knew. It was Lee Ah-young, the owner of my studio.

‘Huh? Ah!’ I now realized, ‘A Young was Ah-young.’

‘If we write Ah-young in English, it will be about A Young. If a foreigner with poor Korean pronounces it, it will be like A Young.’

The white beauty kept trying to shake her, “A Young!”

But she didn’t seem to be conscious of what was going on.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

By the way, as I got closer, I smelled alcohol. I could not be sure what kind of alcohol was, but it smelled like fine alcohol anyway.

‘What? Is she drunk?’

I’d seen her come in one day after drinking, and so it was today. As I approached, a blonde beauty looked at me and spoke to me first, “Can you help me?”

She seemed to be asking for help because she couldn’t move Lee Ah-young.

“Yes, sure.”

I approached her and gave her my back. The blonde helped me to get her on my back. The combination of perfume, alcohol, long hair, and soft touch came all at once as she got on my back. She was a little heavier than I thought, but it wasn’t that difficult for me, who had carried men on numerous occasions in judo. I carried her on my back and walked toward the elevator. The blonde followed me and hit the up-button of the elevator.

Soon the elevator arrived with a chime, and I got into the elevator with her on my back.

The blonde beauty spoke to Lee Ah-young on my back in English, “A Young, what’s your address?”

But Lee Ah-young was completely insensitive. She couldn’t even answer.

I told her the number of the floor, “Twelfth floor.”

She hesitated a little when she heard me. Maybe it was because my pronunciation was weird. I was good at reading and listening, but I was not good at speaking because of improper education in English in Korea. I tried to say it again, but before that, the white beauty pressed the 12th floor.

‘Did she understand me?’ I was thinking, and she said to me, “How do you know that?”

I thought it probably seemed a little suspicious for her because I knew the address. I answered very briefly and simply, “I’m a neighbor,” instead of telling that she was my landlord and I was living next door to her.

“Ah~ okay.”

She must have noticed the word ‘neighbor’. I came to her room with Lee Ah-young on my back. But again, there was trouble: the room password. Even I didn’t know it. I said to the blonde, “I don’t know the password.”

“Ah!” She was also embarrassed. We had brought her to her room, but we couldn’t get inside.

‘Should I take her to my room first?’

As I was thinking, suddenly the white beauty stepped forward and began to press a password outside the door.

“Hmm. Wait a minute.”

‘525720’ I watched it without realizing it, but she didn’t think of pressing the password and clicking the asterisk.

‘In our studios, we all have to press the asterisk at the end of the password.’

Sure enough, there was an indication that the password was incorrect. The white beauty said with a tilt of her head, “Isn’t this it?”

Once again, she pressed ‘525720’ and stayed still. In a little while, it would say it was wrong again. I could no longer wait, and I pressed an asterisk at the end of the password. ‘525720*’

The door opened with a chime. She exclaimed in surprise, “Oh! Thank you.”

I was surprised, too. ‘You don’t know the address, but you know the password?’

I had to take her inside the room anyway. I went into the room with Lee Ah-young on my back.