12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I tapped on the desk and looked at the screen. There was a notepad on the monitor, with four names on it: the ruling party – Joo Sung-won; the opposition party – Han Sang-hoon, Lee Soo-won and Jung Kyung-wha; the second opposition party – Kwak Ji-won, Ahn Sang-jin. They were the six most likely presidential candidates under the current circumstances. The names I had heard on the cruise were four, but I arbitrarily added two more here.

‘Well… if the constitutional amendment is passed, there’s about twenty months left until the presidential election.’ I was not sure who would be the next president right now. Politics was so variable that no one knew what would happen. Right now, the people knew they had two and a half years to go to the presidential election. So an article predicting the next presidential election coming out was still in the distant future.

‘I’ll know who it is going to be in eight months.’ With twenty months left, if eight months passed, I would know who would be the president through the news in 12 Months After.

‘Then let’s move on; when someone I don’t like comes up, I’ll dig him up.’

But I thought it might be a little late if I moved then. ‘Politicians have as big a mouth as the chairmen of a large corporation. Especially if there’s something dirty, they become desperate to stop it. In particular, it will be blocked at the party level when it is time for the presidential candidate to rise and fall. If it is the ruling party, the president would be protected first.’

I changed my mind. ‘I don’t have a place to send Crow. Let’s dig up information on all six of them from now on. Crow can only be used once a month. It will take half a year to investigate all six. In addition, if they enter the election, someone may appear to be a sensation during the middle of the election.

‘When I get some information, I will hold and expose it at the most dramatic time while watching the presidential race. Is there anyone who is a politician who doesn’t have anything to do with it? If I put the Crow on them, something will pop out in no time. Even if he becomes president later, the information will be useful. I will be a big hand to shake the presidential race.

‘The first target…’ I searched for ‘Han Sang-hoon’ in the portal window. At the top of the list, Rep. Han Sang-hoon appeared. ‘I hope you’ll be my first target. I don’t have any bad feelings towards you, who has the same name as me, but frankly, for my benefit, you should be put on the inspection table first.’

My introduction ‘CEO Han Sang-hoon of Invictus Investment’ was under his. I couldn’t help that for now.

‘If something bad comes up, your political career will be finished. However, I’ll do the same for others, so don’t be too disappointed.’ I went on to search for any suspicious things that Rep. Han Sang-hoon had done in the past.

‘Bingo.’ As expected, something came out right away. [Rep. Han Sang-hoon, who was on the list of Gu Soon-gil, took a breather after the acquittal.]

I clicked on it. [Han Sang-hoon, who was on the list of candidates for Chungjin Construction, was found not guilty this morning.]

“Ah, this case.” Looking back now reminded me of the Gu Soon-gil List incident. Two years ago, a construction company CEO named Gu Soon-gil had committed suicide before being questioned by the prosecution. He had called a few lawmakers before he had been questioned, but they all had refused to help him, and he had committed suicide and had written down all their names in a suicide note. ‘Han Sang-hoon $200,000, Kang Yong-joon $140,000, and Ji Jeong-hwan $100,000.’

When the person had died, all the people written there had been found innocent. This had been a clear case, and Crow could dig it out.

‘Then I’ll start with this first.’ With that thought, I entered the email and decided where to meet Crow.

‘Well… it was delicious there.’ It was one of the restaurants near my place, and I would buy him unlimited spicy chicken.

Tiriri~ There was a phone call; it was Secretary Seo.

“Hmm?”

“Vice President Jang is here.”

“Oh, please let him come in.”

“Yes, boss.”

Soon, Vice President Jang came into the president’s office and said hello. He asked me as soon as he came in, “So, have you made up your mind?”

“Oh, I was going to talk to you. Have a seat, please.” I sat him down and took a report out of my desk. It listed the views of several buildings. I said, pointing to a building there, “I like it. What do you think?”

It was a building near Samsung Station, one of the candidates for our new office. The relocation of the office building had been under discussion since early this year. Invictus Investment, where Jang had first attracted acquaintances and hired around twenty people, had grown to one hundred and fifty employees.

Fortunately, the building now had had a vacancy, so we had increased the size of the company by increasing the number of rental floors, but now that we couldn’t do that anymore, we decided to relocate the office. It was not a lease, but a purchase.

“Oh, this is the place I thought was the best. But… it’s expensive…” Vice President Jang had always had a habit of buying things cheap. He had been an investor his whole life, so it was natural, but there was something that didn’t suit me.

‘It’s the difference between someone who’s sure his assets will increase every day and someone who isn’t.’ I told him, thinking that, “Vice President Jang, don’t think so much. Kai Games is up four percent today. Its market capital is 1.6 billion dollars, and our company’s share value must have gone up more than thirty million dollars. You don’t have to find something that’s too cheap.”

Vice President Jang smiled and nodded at my words. “You’re right, boss.”

“Then why don’t you go with me tomorrow… or today?”

“All right, boss.”

I nodded with a satisfied smile. Vice President Jang brought up the following agenda. “And for the next one, Jiwoo Entertainment will be managed by President Kwon Oh-hyuk himself. He says there will be no problem for its size. I’ll deal with it as long as the boss confirms it.”

“We’re at ease with that. Tell him to do that.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Then go and contact the building. We’re going to see it today and make an appointment.”

“Yes, boss.” After bowing, Jang left the office.

———

The acquisition of Jiwoo Entertainment was completed smoothly. The seller wanted to sell it quickly, so if we checked a few things; there was nothing else to check separately.

‘All right, so I will own six companies with this.’ There were four more to reach the Grandmaster Class. In fact, the total market value of ten billion dollars was much more important than the number of companies now.

‘Ten billion dollars… if the market value of Kai Games and Hyun Young Pharmaceutical goes up more than two billion dollars each… It will be about five billion dollars temporarily. However, it is still short of five billion dollars.

‘A company worth five billion dollars…’

‘The easiest way is to list Invictus Investment. Whether it is an IPO, KOSPI, KOSDAQ, or just listed, it is highly likely that it would be valued at two to three billion dollars. Because my reputation in the investment industry has been strong these days, the premium will be quite high.

‘There are still a lot of people asking me to take care of their money. If our company is listed, they will be anxious to buy our company’s stock. But I don’t want that, because if I have an initial public offering, I will have to share my profits with unknown shareholders. I have won one hundred percent of my own money, anyway. Therefore, I want to grow by monopolizing a hundred percent, rather than drawing in other people’s money for a few billion dollars right now.

‘So I’m done with the IPO. I’ll take one or two more companies like Kai Games and Hyun Young Pharmaceutical…’ Thinking of that, I suddenly entered an email, clicked the news 12 Months After, and scrolled down. I then went into the Ranking News.

‘I didn’t use it this month.’ I had a chance to use Ranking News once a month. To be honest, I had used it to check what the hottest news in 12 Months After was because even if I had used it, I had not had anything very good. If it was the hottest news in 12 Months After, whether it was any politician, entertainer, new technology, new product, new medicine,or so forth, it might be money.

‘Ranking News… category… Economy.’ I clicked it and pressed OK. There was more surprising news than I had expected.

[AI Company FutureSync is taken over by Amazon at two billion dollars.]

‘FutureSync?’ I’d heard of this company. It was an AI company started by IT geniuses in Korea. ‘But will it be sold at two billion dollars?’

I read the article about the news of twelve months from now. I searched for FutureSync.

[Futuresync, the ideas of the future becomes a reality.]

On the homepage, it said its capital was five million dollars, unlisted.

‘Then, the five-million-dollar company will be sold for two billion dollars to Amazon?’ It meant that within a year, they would develop something huge. ‘This is really… walking gold.’ On the Ranking News of 12 Months After, it got the top, and it was certainly shocking news.

I clicked on the article to read the full text. The content was as it was titled; Amazon bought a hundred percent stake in FutureSync. It was exactly 2.02 billion dollars.

‘This… this is what I need to buy first?’ I was thinking that, the phone rang. I picked up the phone and answered.

“Boss. Vice President Jang called me and said, ‘We are welcome at any time.’”

I went through the article once more as I listened to him. I memorized the article quickly. I said to Secretary Seo as I closed the window, “Oh really? Then get ready to go out right away. You guys get ready, too.”

“Yes, boss.”

——————————-

Vice President Jang, my two secretaries, and I wandered around the building, listening to the explanation of the staff in charge. The staff explained while walking around the first floor of the forty-story building.

“As you can see, the bank and the cafe on the first floor have a long-term contract. So does the family restaurant on the second floor. Up here, they are all offices, but there are almost no vacancies.”

Then we went up, and up.

“Our building is an eco-friendly building with a BIPV installed on an incline of fifteen degrees between floors, increasing the light collection rate. There’s a company that just got out of contract, so you can choose anything between the twenty-sixth and fortieth floors. You can rent the remaining floors again.”

It was the case in the portfolio, but I liked all the floors. I decided to buy, especially when I saw the penthouse above the top floor.

“This is seven thousand one hundred and seventeen square feet. As you can see, it has a fitness center, a spa, a swimming pool, and a theater. But the rent’s so high that it’s been vacant for months now. You can rent it separately, or to one of the people in the company…”

The person in charge looked at me, smiled and said, “I think you could buy it.”

I looked around the house, listening to him. It was definitely good. It was like a house belonging to American celebrities, or rich people. The house had a perfect swimming pool, a tennis court, a fitness center, and a spa. I especially liked outdoor spas. I thought it would be great if I took a hot bath here and had a glass of wine with a night view.

“You’ve seen all of our building. Think about it and…” The clerk in charge kept following me and muttering.

I cut him off. “I’ll buy it.”

“What?” the clerk asked me back, astonished.

I replied in a clearer voice, “I’ll buy this building. Please prepare the contract.”