God of Money

When Woosung returned to the office, Jang Gwangchul was waiting for him.

“I was just about to call you.”

“Did they finally contact us?”

“Yup. They suddenly are very interested and want the paperwork right away.”

Woosung smiled mysteriously and replied, “Haha, I can guess why.”

“What did you talk about with Kim Manhyun?”

“I pushed a little.”

“Pushed?”

“As you know, the liberal party didn’t do very well in many of the smaller provinces.”

“So?”

“The party wants a scapegoat, and it seems like the representative head of the party is being blamed.”

“So Kim Manhyun asked you for a solution and you…advised that it would look good if he becomes the first politician to push the mobility cost reduction plan?”

“Haha, something like that.”

“So Lee Sunghyun now needs to make it happen even faster. He wants to make this project be his father’s accomplishment, but now Kim Manhyun is trying to steal the idea.” Jang Gwangchul smiled. “So this is going to happen very soon.”

“I think so. We need to go over the plan one last time to make sure it’s perfect.”

“It’s happening as we speak. The developers we hired from Europe are doing an amazing and efficient job. They also finished the LTE plan.”

“So now, our success will depend on what frequency we get assigned.”

“Yes. We need a good one.”

“You told me last time there is a problem with 900MHz. We can’t use LTE with this frequency.”

“That’s right. We need the 850s, currently monopolized by TK. We need to get as many frequencies as possible so we can increase the download speed.”

Woosung murmured at Jang Gwangchul’s explanation, “Do I have to do the project loon just like Google?”

A similar project was being done by Facebook too, but Woosung quickly shook his head.

Jang Gwangchul asked, “What?”

“Haha, nothing.”

“TK will not give up easily.”

Woosung nodded gravely.

Jang Gwangchul continued, “This will be a messy battle. If an auction format is used, it will cost us a fortune. At least, it’s a good thing that you have friends in the political world, but…I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be so deep in politics. When a different party takes over the power, it could be the end for us.”

“Haha, you don’t have to worry about that. You just don’t understand. By the way, I haven’t done anything official for the current party.”

“But…”

When Jang Gwangchul tried to continue again, Woosung narrowed his eyes. “Do you know why Daeyang and TK can’t be touched by the prosecutors?”

When Jang Gwangchul couldn’t answer, Woosung continued, “Because of the influence they have in politics. There is a saying that if you kill one person, you are a murderer, but if you kill a thousand, then you are a hero. Daeyang is the hero, but we aren’t there yet.”

Jang Gwangchul realized what Woosung was saying.

Money.

Money could buy you anything.

Which meant they needed to go back to the beginning. They needed to make more money.

Jang Gwangchul asked, “By the way, how did you make your slush fund?”

“Shush! It’s not a slush fund! I just happen to have money on the side for personal use. You don’t have to worry too much about money right now. Just worry about the business. By the way, how is it going with hiring a financial expert?”

“There are so many people applying for the job. I am trying to narrow it down.”

“If you can find someone from abroad, that would be a good idea. We need someone innovative that can think outside the Korean box.”

“Alright. I will look into it.”

“Also, Mayor Oh called me again. He is desperate. I think he wants to announce the big project to gain the people’s approval.”

“It makes sense that he wants to solve the Yongsan project problem.”

“Do you still think it’s a bad idea for us to take it on?”

“Unlike IT, it takes a lot of funds and the profit can be questionable. I just don’t see the point of getting involved.”

“But the influence we will gain from it! There are also many ways we can make it profitable with minimal risks.”

“We are getting into so many different businesses. What is your goal exactly?”Jang Gwangchul asked, “I need to know the big picture so I can support you. I think you have a singular plan rather than just trying to make as much money as possible.”

“As much money…” Woosung paused, then continued, “My final goal is to make enough money so that I can become bigger than Daeyang.”

More specifically, Woosung wanted to destroy Choi Gichul, but he didn’t say it out loud.

At the mention of Daeyang, Jang Gwangchul widened his eyes and asked, “Do you have something against Daeyang?”

Woosung trusted Jang Gwangchul. He decided to give him at least a part of the truth.

“Daeyang did an unforgivable thing to me.”

Jang Gwangchul tried to think of an answer. He knew Woosung’s parents were still alive and as far as he could remember, Woosung didn’t have a relationship with Daeyang.

While Jang Gwangchul was deep in thought, Woosung continued, “This is a game where it will end only when either I or Daeyang dies.”

“Hmm…”

“Don’t worry. KND will win. We will take over Daeyang and rule the world.”

***

TK Telecom headquarter.

Jun Taewon gritted his teeth. “So the official business announcement will be made.”

“Yes. With the credit card fee reduction plan, the government gained a 7% increase in approval rating. With the new mobile carrier, it is expected to increase even further.”

Jun Taewon’s face crumpled. “How is the Congress reacting?”

“I’m not sure what Kang Woosung did, but the liberal party is all for it. They have contacted us to apologize. They said they had no choice.”

“…I can’t believe it. I gave them so much money, yet they repay me this way!” The secretary cowered at Jun Taewon’s outburst. “And the democratic party is also welcoming the idea.”

“So that means nobody will support us at the Congress.”

“There is another problem.” Jun Taewon sighed roughly. “There is a rumor that KND has completed the PoC of 4G technology.”

Jun Taewon stood up. “W…what?”

“They apparently hired many programmers from Europe. We are also nearly done with our development, but we are holding off because we need to continue with 3G a little longer to come out even on the 3G development cost.”

“I thought we already made a profit from 3G?”

“We just evened out and whatever we make from now will be profit. This means the longer we delay 4G, the better.”

“How much will it cost to start 4G nationwide?”

“3 billion dollars.”

“…that’s a lot. Just where did Kang Woosung get that much money?”

“If you add the cost of purchasing the frequency, it will be more like 5 billion dollars.”

“So where did he get 5 billion dollars? Is he using everything he made from Blue S2 on this project?” Jun Taewon tried to calm down and think.

The secretary replied, “Thousands of Blue S2 are being sold daily in Korea alone. Worldwide, it’s most likely tens of thousands of phones per day. Should we report him to the Revenue agency for an investigation? His company grew so fast, there must be at least some corruption involved. He probably also has slush money stashed.”

Jun Taewon rubbed his chin. “Probably. That would make sense.”

Jun Taewon nodded and the secretary picked up the phone.

***

Tax investigation.

The investigators from the Revenue agency made a surprise visit, but Woosung welcomed them.

Jang Gwangchul whispered to him, “It’s good to be rich. They already called us in advance to warn us of this ‘surprise visit.’”

“We bribed them enough that this is the least they can do.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Per your order, we have been keeping our noses very clean.”

“This is a very sensitive subject for the public. We need to remain clean and transparent. We can’t get involved in a tax evasion controversy.”

Suddenly, Woosung’s phone rang. It was from Alex.

“Boss, it’s done! We finished the deal with Space X.”

Woosung turned on the TV.

Naro was falling in flames from the sky.

After hanging up, Woosung said to Jang Gwangchul, “Naro just exploded. It’s time.”

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

Woosung called Lee Sunghyun.