Free Web Novel“Hey, you’re kinda scary, you know that?”
A U.S. citizen.
That was the core of everything I had planned.
“I’m the one who found where you were hiding, hyung. You think I wouldn’t know something like your citizenship status? Anyway, you still have it, right?”
Han Kyungyeong nodded.
“Yeah, but why?”
“Wrap up your stuff in Korea and head to the U.S. Set up an investment firm there. I need you to recruit the people I tell you to.”
“An investment firm? Couldn’t we just do it here in Korea?”
“No. We need people to think it’s American capital. That’s why I need you. Once you’re established there, set up a Korean branch a few years later.”
“I don’t get it. What the hell are you thinking...”
Kyungyeong shook his head with a confused look.
Of course he didn’t get it—yet.
I just smiled faintly.
“Once the firm is up and running, about 400 billion won will be transferred into the company’s account.”
At that, Han Kyungyeong spit out the water he was drinking.
Thankfully, it didn’t hit me.
“Keh, keh. Fou—four hundred billion?!”
“Yeah.”
“Not four hundred million. Four hundred billion?!”
I frowned at the now-drenched table and added calmly,
“Use that to invest in the places I tell you, and manage the rest as you see fit. The U.S. stock market will be booming for a while, so unless you’re deliberately trying to screw me over, you’re not going to lose it.”
Han Kyungyeong stared at my composed expression, then let out a long sigh when he realized I wasn’t joking.
“...I can’t do it. Four hundred billion? That’s over four hundred million dollars. How the hell am I supposed to touch that? My hands shake even with just one billion won.”
“Don’t be scared. You can do it. Just recruit the people I tell you to, and they’ll handle their parts. You just need to oversee the flow. I can’t exactly go to the U.S. myself.”
“...Is there a reason you trust me this much?”
His eyes trembled as they locked onto mine.
I calmly shook my head.
“It’s not you I trust—it’s my judgment in choosing you. And besides... are you bold enough to even think about double-crossing me?”
The reflection of my face in his eyes was smiling.
But Han Kyungyeong shuddered like he’d just seen something unholy.
“Ugh, creepy. Don’t smile like that.”
“Hahahaha.”
“Ugh... four hundred billion. I can’t even wrap my head around that kind of money.”
He shook his head a few times like trying to shake away the thoughts, then looked at me and grinned.
“Alright, then. Should I pack up and leave now?”
“No, not yet. I need you to take care of a few more things before you go.”
“Like what?”
“Use your current account to fund the company setup in the U.S., and open one new account under your name.”
“In my name?”
He looked at me suspiciously like I was talking in riddles.
“I’ll deposit 10 billion won into that account. Starting the 13th, all stocks are going to crash. When that happens, buy up all Ilseong Group affiliate stocks that hit their lower price limits. No matter what others do—buy. Since you’re the buyer, prices won’t spike right away, so just go all-in on Ilseong affiliates.”
“Ilseong? But why my name?”
“I’ll need it later.”
“So something’s definitely happening on August 12. That bet you made with me—you already knew?”
I just smiled without answering.
Kyungyeong frowned, then sighed.
“You... If you ever become a con artist, you’ll be a legend. You’re evil.”
“Ilseong. Don’t worry about anything else. Just Ilseong.”
“That much is easy. Now I’m excited for August 12. Wonder what’ll happen.”
As he laughed nervously, I subtly shifted the subject.
“Want a drink? You’re going to be swamped starting next week.”
“Yeah, why not? Let’s drink. It’s been a while.”
Kyungyeong stood from his seat with me—still completely unaware of what was about to unfold.
* * *
A dark nightclub in a hotel in Haeundae.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of shoes quickly descending stairs was soon followed by men shouting as chaos erupted.
“Hey! What the hell?!”
“Crazy fuckers—do you know where you are?! I’ll kill you!”
As brawny men clashed and chaos unfolded, three others calmly walked through the mess.
“Get that bastard!”
“Stop them!”
They ignored everyone else and opened the door to one of the VIP rooms.
It was Park Dongsu, Yang Soohyeong, and Lee Sanggeun.
“What the hell? Isn’t that you, Dongsu?”
A sharp-eyed man sitting at the head of the table glared at Dongsu. Several bulky men beside him followed suit.
Dongsu sighed and stared coldly at him.
“Phew... I told you to make this easy, didn’t I?”
“Bullshit. Hey! Everyone in Busan knows you betrayed Brother Saseong. What kind of mutt bites the master who raised him?”
Dongsu let out a bitter laugh.
At first, comments like that used to sting. But after hearing the same lines over and over, they just felt pathetic.
“You sure talk a lot of shit, asshole.”
Without warning, Dongsu lunged at him. The henchmen leaped up to stop him.
Simultaneously, Sanggeun and Soohyeong jumped in and intercepted them.
While the others handled the bodyguards, Dongsu stepped on the table and charged straight at the man seated at the head.
“You piece of shit!”
The man drew a sashimi knife from his coat and shouted.
Wham!
In the blink of an eye, Dongsu dashed across the table and slammed his fist into the man’s jaw.
Reeling from the hit, the man wildly swung the knife.
The blade grazed Dongsu’s forearm, and blood immediately seeped through his suit.
But unfazed, Dongsu pounced on the staggering man and aimed another punch at his face.
Wham!
With his left hand, he parried the incoming knife, and with his right, he struck the man’s face again.
Then, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the table, he smashed it over the man’s head as he swayed backward.
Crash!
Glass shattered and blood flowed down the man’s face.
“You dumb bastard. Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d just listened? Brother Manseok, right? I’m in a hurry here. If I’m wasting time with guys like you, I can’t show my face to the little bro.”
He tossed aside the broken bottle and turned around.
Sanggeun and Soohyeong had already taken down the rest.
“Soohyeong, grab him!”
At his command, Soohyeong dragged the dazed Lee Manseok onto the table.
“Let’s end it here. Quietly retire. I’ll make sure you can still run a bar and get booze deliveries. Just take that and be satisfied. Got it?”
That day, Park Dongsu eliminated every faction that had opposed him.
He forced all mid-level bosses and above into retirement so none of them could ever challenge him again.
“Phew... That should be enough not to embarrass myself in front of Muhyuk. Right, Sanggeun?”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
It was the evening of August 12.
All regular broadcasting was interrupted for a live emergency presidential address.
— “At this solemn moment, I hereby declare, under Article 76, Clause 1 of the Constitution, the ‘Presidential Emergency Decree on Real-Name Financial Transactions and Privacy Protection.’ Furthermore...”
It was an unexpected, sweeping announcement of the Real-Name Financial System.
— “Dear citizens, the time has come. We are now implementing the Real-Name Financial System. From this moment on, all financial transactions must be conducted under real names.”
A reform even military regimes had failed to implement was now announced.
“Huh...”
Chairman Cheon, watching in his study, let out a dry laugh.
“Chairman...”
Standing before him, Chief Ha looked grim.
“Did we get any contact from the Economic Secretary? What about the Senior Civil Affairs Secretary?”
“No, sir.”
“...Are they really trying to stab me in the back? Try contacting them.”
As Chief Ha picked up the phone and made a call, Chairman Cheon sank into deep thought.
‘To think he’d act this quickly. I really can’t read that president at all...’
After a moment, Chief Ha hung up.
“He says... he didn’t know either.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? If the Economic Secretary didn’t know, then who the hell did?!”
“He says he only realized what this address was about when he saw it on TV.”
“And Civil Affairs?”
“He’s not answering.”
“Phew...”
Suppressing his rising anger, Chairman Cheon sighed.
“How much have we cleaned up?”
“Thankfully, we started early. All accounts under dummy identities have been cleared. But we still have about 400 billion won in accounts under borrowed names.”
“Less than I expected.”
“Most were under dummies, so we were able to liquidate them quickly.”
“Can we recover the borrowed-name accounts?”
Chief Ha paused, then nodded.
“About half are under names of people from Myeongdong, so we don’t expect major issues... but the rest are under debtors’ names. We should move fast before they get any funny ideas.”
Clicking his tongue, Chairman Cheon frowned.
“Nonsense. No one can be trusted when it comes to money. Mobilize everyone. Collect those passbooks and head to the banks. I’ll call the bank presidents myself—don’t forget to bring ID.”
“Yes, sir. And the ones who refuse...” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Refuse?”
A chilling smile crept across Chairman Cheon’s ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ face—a smile he had never once shown in front of Kim Muhyuk.
“That’s your problem. Take action first, report later. Get it done by tomorrow. The longer this drags on, the more they’ll think.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And call Muhyuk. Tell him to come home immediately.”
As Chief Ha left with a bow, Chairman Cheon finally relaxed.
“Huh~ That little brat... Did he actually predict this? He’s a real piece of work...”
* * *
“Wait... this is what you were talking about?”
I nodded casually.
Watching the broadcast with me, Han Kyungyeong sat there with his mouth open, stunned.
“Wow... the market’s going to crash hard. You knew this was coming?”
“No. I just read the signs.”
“You expect me to believe that? You predicted August 12 just from vibes? Come on. You knew. Still... yeah, the guy with the info is the one who makes money.”
His eyes were filled with awe as he looked at me.
“So from tomorrow, we scoop up Ilseong affiliates, yeah?”
“Yeah. They’ll keep dropping. Once they hit the lower limit, start buying. It won’t take more than a few days for the chaos to die down and the market to rally.”
“A few days? That’s it?”
“That’s right. The panic will settle quickly. And once the market steadies, it’ll climb again. Just make sure to grab as much as you can before then.”
“Got it. With intel like this, if you don’t make money, you’ve got no business trading.”
He nodded.
At that moment, my phone rang.
“This is Kim Muhyuk.”
— “Young master, this is Ha Myeonghun. The Chairman asks that you return home immediately.”
“Ah, Grandfather? Got it. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
— “Understood. I’ll let him know.”
I hung up, a grin forming on my face.
Time to reap the rewards of the seeds I’d sown with all the talk about real-name financial reform.
“Hyung, take care the next few days. I’ve been summoned, so I’ll be heading out.”
“Huh? You’re leaving?”
I waved and stepped out of Kyungyeong’s house.
By the time I arrived at the house in Pyeongchang-dong, Grandfather was waiting in his study, expression stiff.
“You called for me?”
“You called for me? That’s what you’re going to say right now? How did you know about the Real-Name Financial System?” freewēbnoveℓ.com
He jumped straight to the point. I stifled a laugh inside.
“I wouldn’t say I knew... more like I anticipated it.”
“Anticipated?”
“Yes. I made the call based on the President’s personality and his campaign promises.”
“Anticipated? You kept insisting on it over and over... It really felt like you knew it would happen this year. Am I wrong?”
Even as he spoke, Grandfather studied my face and reactions.
I calmly smiled and met his gaze.
< We Are Implementing the Real-Name Financial System > End.
