WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈

Chapter 11

──────

President Jeong’s whole body tingled.

At last, it felt as though he had found the final piece of the enormous picture this young genius had been drawing.

Two months ago, when the market was at the height of its boom, the vice chairman had suddenly halted all new PF projects.

At the time, President Jeong had thought the vice chairman was an inexperienced coward.

But today, as Shinae Construction collapsed, it had been proven that the decision was a masterstroke that saved Daeseung Construction.

And now, just as everyone else was gripped by fear and holding back, the vice chairman was ordering him to advance once more.

No, this was not an advance.

It was time to hunt.

While everyone in the market greedily feasted, drunk on their own avarice, the vice chairman had quietly sharpened the knife that would slaughter those fat pigs!

They would not realize, even as the blade reached their throats, that all of this had been perfectly controlled in the palm of the vice chairman’s hand.

“Vice Chairman, I, Jeong Geonju, finally understand your profound intentions!”

A domino collapse in the construction market, beginning with Shinae Construction’s workout.

Countless prime plots and development rights that would naturally flood the market.

An empty hunting ground littered with bleeding, fallen competitors.

And the Group’s enormous cash reserves, enough to scoop it all up at bargain prices.

With the vice chairman having laid out such a feast, how could he call himself a proud member of Daeseung if he let this chance slip away?

“Leave it to me! I’ll write a new chapter in Daeseung Construction’s history!”

“Hmm, all right. Market conditions do seem a little difficult, but... do your best, President Jeong.”

“That’s right, Vice Chairman. It is a harsh winter for those who are unprepared.”

“...What? Anyway, don’t leave any bullets behind. Spend the entire budget, down to the last cent.”

“Understood! I’ll pour every last penny into it!”

President Jeong solemnly bowed at the waist to ninety degrees, then turned and left the vice chairman’s office.

President Jeong did not hear the young vice chairman muttering to himself behind him.

“Winter? Did I set the air conditioning too high?”

.

Office of the Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Government Complex.

A heavy air hung in the room.

On one side sat the haggard-looking president of Namsang Construction, desperation in his eyes. Across from him, the Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport leafed through documents with an unreadable expression.

“Vice Minister! Please, save Namsang! The projects we have under way are genuinely prime assets. Once they are completed, sales will be a huge success. We’ll have more than enough to repay every loan. If the government would just provide liquidity, give us just a little room to breathe...”

The president of Namsang Construction practically begged.

The vice minister looked up from the documents and regarded the president.

“Ahem. We are well aware of the circumstances of Namsang Construction and the Namsang Group. Why would we not find it regrettable? But taxpayer money, government support, always comes with a political burden...”

“You call it taxpayer support, but it is essentially a secured loan, isn’t it? The value of our real estate holdings and development rights is more than sufficient collateral! Once the projects are completed, we will repay it all through sales revenue, and the government will profit from the interest as well!”

The president raised his voice in frustration, but the vice minister gave a faint, bitter smile.

‘This person still doesn’t understand reality.’

“Do you think the public and the press will care about all those complicated details? If a headline simply says, ‘Government Provides 1 Trillion Won to Insolvent Construction Firm,’ over half the country will think we handed a failing company one trillion won in cash for free. And local elections are coming up soon...”

“Vice Minister!”

Despair flickered across the president’s face.

The vice minister straightened up and spoke more gently.

“I fully understand what you are saying. We, too, absolutely do not want sound construction companies, including the Namsang Group, to collapse overnight. We must consider the repercussions for the national economy as a whole. However... for now, perhaps the proper course is to leave some of this to the market’s ability to correct itself. Someone will surely try to seize an opportunity amid this crisis, and in that process, the worthy may naturally be separated from the unworthy, allowing restructuring to take place.”

‘There have already been reports that places like Daeseung are moving...’

The vice minister thought to themself.

“Leave it to the market? Vice Minister, there is not a single construction company in South Korea that does not engage in PF! Every construction company, large or small, is tied to this PF crisis directly or indirectly! Do you think it will end with Namsang’s collapse? The secondary and tertiary financial institutions that loaned money to construction companies will also... it will explode beyond control!”

The president pleaded almost as if screaming in anguish, but the vice minister’s expression did not change.

Then the office door quietly opened, and a young secretary approached to whisper something into the vice minister’s ear.

“Hmm?”

The vice minister’s expression shifted subtly, then they nodded as if in understanding.

After the secretary withdrew, the vice minister looked back at the president of Namsang Construction.

“Have you... not heard the news yet?”

The vice minister asked carefully.

“What? What news?”

The president of Namsang Construction was seized by a dreadful feeling.

Just then, the phone in the president’s pocket began ringing loudly.

It was the company’s finance team manager.

“Ah... excuse me, just a moment...”

Flustered, the president tried to reject the call.

“That’s all right. Take it. It may be urgent.”

Instead, the vice minister generously gave permission.

“Ah, yes. Then please excuse me...”

With trembling hands, the president pressed the accept call button.

The finance team manager’s urgent, agitated voice poured from the phone.

In an instant, all color drained from the president’s face, which twisted in shock.

“What? Daeseung?! Are those bastards insane?! For how much? Eighty billion won? Hey! How can we let it go for that price? Do you know what its book value is? Reject it immediately...!”

The president nearly screamed.

But the situation on the other end of the line did not seem to be going as the president wished.

Watching the president, the vice minister quietly shook their head.

“I am sorry, but I do not believe we can provide your company with direct financial support under the present circumstances.”

The vice minister paused, then added while looking meaningfully at the president.

“You know Chairman Kang’s temperament well, do you not?”

“...”

“As you know, if we so much as appear to favor the Namsang Group right now, tomorrow morning’s front pages will be plastered with articles attacking me. Something along the lines of, ‘Incompetent bureaucrat keeps failing company alive with taxpayer money.’ At the next government audit, I...”

The vice minister trailed off.

Their career as a public official was at stake.

“But Vice Minister, rumors have been circulating for more than six months that Chairman Kang is lying unconscious in the intensive care unit. Is he not in a state where he cannot exercise real influence?”

Clinging to his last shred of hope, the president asked the question.

But the vice minister shook their head.

“Ha ha, they say his grandson, Vice Chairman Kang Daeun, is no ordinary person either. No, some even say the vice chairman is more unpredictable and frightening than Chairman Kang. Have you not seen what is happening at Daeseung Shopping lately? Even Hanseong, the industry leader, has been left trembling. What determination such a person might have for this acquisition...”

The vice minister chose their words carefully.

“Haah...”

Only a deep sigh escaped the president of Namsang Construction.

After a moment of silence, the vice minister spoke in a somewhat comforting tone.

“For now... accepting Daeseung’s terms may be your best option. Once you divest the business divisions they are demanding, I understand that the Namsang Group’s overall debt ratio will improve considerably, allowing you some room to breathe. If the company then shows even signs of returning to normal, the government will look for some way to help, whether through policy financing or otherwise. But for the moment... there is nothing we can do.”

The vice minister’s words were cold, but they were realistic advice as well.

The president of Namsang Construction stared blankly into space.

It was difficult to accept having to hand over part of the company he had built over a lifetime to a competitor, and at a bargain price at that.

But there was no other choice.

Slowly, the president lowered his head.

The finance team manager’s urgent voice still rang from the phone.

.

The vice minister watched the door through which the president of Namsang Construction had disappeared for a moment, then pressed the intercom button on the desk.

“Secretary Kim, come in for a moment.”

When the young secretary entered, the vice minister looked out the window and asked quietly.

“How is the situation at Daeseung these days?”

“Yes, Vice Minister. Daeseung Construction announced that this morning alone, it would acquire three additional PF project sites in the Seoul metropolitan area. All of them belonged to small and medium-sized construction companies on the verge of default.”

“I see... that young vice chairman truly is no ordinary person.”

The vice minister smiled in satisfaction.

If the government stepped in directly to rescue failing companies, it would have to endure accusations of favoritism and all kinds of political burdens.

But if a sound private company appeared to acquire distressed assets according to market principles, the government would gain both the justification of having respected market autonomy and the practical benefit of successfully managing the crisis.

Daeseung’s young vice chairman was painting exactly the picture the government wanted.

.

‘Oh, nice.’

I was nearly lying down on the sofa in the vice chairman’s office as I watched the TV news.

It was reporting that the government was reluctant to support failing construction companies.

Of course they were.

Taxes were not personal spending money. Why would they pour money into companies that were going under?

In any case, this was the best possible news for me.

If the government did not help, Daeseung Construction could fail faster and more certainly.

President Jeong, how exactly did you plan to hold out now?

Humming to myself, I changed the channel with the remote.

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