WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈
Chapter 28
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I was leaning against the sofa, drifting between dozing off and wakefulness.
Maybe it was the fever, maybe it was the cold medicine, but my head was so foggy that I barely remembered what I had said.
I had just rambled on about whatever game-related thoughts came to mind.
“J-Just a moment! One final question, please. Could you briefly tell us what direction you wish to lead Daeseung Group in? Your vision, Vice Chairman.”
Clutching my throbbing head, I squeezed out the last of my strength through my hazy consciousness.
What did I want to do with this damned Daeseung Group?
“...It needs to be dismantled.”
Right. That was what I had really wanted to say.
I couldn't say it carelessly because it might count as breach of trust or something, but it was the goal I had kept buried deep inside.
Maybe I had been especially stressed lately because it felt like that goal was getting farther and farther away.
“Today... I have received a truly valuable lesson, Vice Chairman.”
I was too sleepy. I couldn't stay awake any longer.
But why did that mustached man look so moved?
Had what I said actually helped him?
Then again, older people might not know much about these game systems.
My advice to keep up with patch notes from Japanese and Chinese game servers must have left an impression.
Had that man, like me, ever missed a limited character and felt miserable?
For some reason, I felt a sense of kinship with him.
The next time we met, I should give him some useful tips, like which characters to build and where to spend resources efficiently.
With that final thought, I fell into a deep sleep.
.
It had been a long time since I had slept so deeply.
I felt better than I could ever remember feeling. Every sore muscle in my body had loosened, and the headache that had been pressing down on my mind was completely gone.
When I opened my eyes with a clear head, I saw the familiar ceiling of the penthouse.
It was already bright outside.
“You're awake, Vice Chairman.”
Hearing me stir, Lee Jinju, the Chief of Staff, came in from the living room.
She held a cup of warm water.
“You slept for an entire day.”
A day?
Only then did I snap awake and remember yesterday's interview.
I vaguely remembered babbling nonsense while burning with fever.
Especially at the end, I seemed to have said something irreversible, like that I would dismantle Daeseung.
“Um, what happened with that newspaper interview yesterday?”
Trying to sound calm, I took the cup of water Lee Jinju handed me and asked.
Inside, my heart was pounding.
Had I finally caused a disaster?
Had I succeeded in driving the group's image into the ground?
Surely it was covered in articles and hateful comments by now.
Lee Jinju looked puzzled at my question for a moment, then smiled faintly as though she understood.
“Ah, you mean the interview article. You needn't worry. It seems the Vice Chairman's profound intentions were conveyed well. The response has been explosive. Naturally.”
Lee Jinju picked up the crisp new newspaper resting on the living room table and handed it to me.
It was the front page of Goryeo Ilbo, said to be South Korea's most influential newspaper.
Then I froze when I saw the headline.
[Daeseung's New Declaration: ‘Deconstructive Creation.’ Kang Daeun Rewrites the Rules of the Korean Economy]
Smaller subheadings lined up beneath it.
<The probabilistic mastery of ‘fortune,’ market forecasting through rigorous overseas-market analysis... A new management paradigm emerges>
<Expert: “Vice Chairman Kang's philosophy is the spirit of the age that transcends management... True leadership for the Fourth Industrial Revolution”>
“W-What is this... I said all that?”
At my words, the Chief of Staff looked at me with pity and respect.
“Ah... To think you were in such poor health that you cannot remember. I should have taken better care of you... I am truly sorry, Vice Chairman.”
She paused before adding in a voice full of reverence.
“Yet even in that state, you said such things... So these were management principles you had always kept in your heart.”
“...”
This was hopeless.
It didn't seem like I could make myself understood anymore, so I continued reading.
The nonsense I had blurted out while feverish had been perfectly reconstructed into a profound management philosophy, as though it were a meticulously written academic paper.
The article interpreted the “fortune” I had mentioned as a fundamental acknowledgment of market uncertainty.
“Number of attempts and probability” became a cool-headed probabilistic resource-allocation strategy based on the law of large numbers.
“Go all the way” became unlimited responsibility until success was assured.
And “foresight” became macro-level insight gained through analysis of leading-market data.
Finally, “dismantling”...
<And at last, he declared “dismantling” as his vision. This does not merely mean dismantling the chronic ills within the group. It is the opening act of “deconstructionist management,” which seeks to destroy the outdated practices and inefficiencies of existing industries, in other words, “everything nonessential,” and create a new order made only of “essence” upon those ruins. His revolution has already begun.>
The article ended with this final line.
<Vice Chairman Kang Daeun is currently formatting the outdated operating system of the Korean economy.> → Related articles on pages A3-5
I was so drained that I did not even notice the newspaper slipping from my hand.
‘...So this is why people call them hack reporters.’
I was doomed.
This time, too, I was completely doomed.
“Vice Chairman, you don't look well. Is your fever still...?”
Lee Jinju studied me with worried eyes.
The refreshing morning I had enjoyed for the first time in a while had vanished, leaving only bewilderment behind.
.
Once the article was released, Kang Daeun's interview became a new social phenomenon.
The terms “deconstructionist management” and “destructive essentialism” filled reports by securities analysts and economic YouTube channels. They even began to be discussed as major topics in graduate management lectures.
Stock communities and the economic sections of major portal sites began analyzing his philosophy, even coining the new word “Daeunism,” while Daeseung Group's stock shot straight to the price limit the moment the market opened.
Above all, the greatest change was the atmosphere within Daeseung Group itself.
Kang Daeun's Goryeo Ilbo interview was immediately clipped and posted on the main page of the company intranet.
Every employee reread the article dozens of times as though studying required reading for an exam, striving to apply the new leader's teachings to their work without missing a single word.
In office hallways, break rooms, and even restrooms, employees discussed “essence” and “dismantling.”
.
Daeseung Chemicals' New Business Planning Team office.
Manager Choi could not take his eyes off the proposal displayed on his monitor.
Deep lines creased his brow, and he habitually chewed on the end of his pen cap.
After sitting like that for a long time, Manager Choi suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted.
“Hey, Manager Kim. You know that project I gave new instructions for two months ago. Team One is handling it, right?”
“Ah, yes, Manager. You mean the metaverse-based virtual showroom project? Team One is handling it.”
Manager Kim rose from his seat as he answered.
It was a project Manager Choi had ambitiously pushed forward, intended to build a next-generation marketing platform.
They had allocated a budget of several billion won to keep up with the latest trends and avoid falling behind competitors.
“Right, that. That project.”
Manager Choi called Manager Kim over to his desk and pointed at a line on their monitor.
‘We must focus on essence.’
“Manager Kim, do you think this metaverse showroom aligns with the ‘essence’ of Daeseung Chemicals?”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that...?”
“No, think about it carefully. The Vice Chairman spoke of irreplaceable value, of essence, not flashy appearances. So what are we trying to do now? Aren't we just following along because everyone else is doing it, because it’s trendy these days? Can customers truly experience the essential value of our chemical products in this virtual space? Or will it just end as an amusing spectacle?”
Manager Choi's voice grew louder and louder. Then, as though he had found the answer to his own question, his eyes shone with confidence.
“This is nonessential. It's exactly the sort of outdated practice and inefficiency the Vice Chairman told us to dismantle! Stop it immediately and come up with something else. Something truly essential.”
Manager Kim stood there with a blank expression.
A project they had spent weeks preparing through sleepless nights was being blown apart in just five minutes.
‘We opposed it, and you're the one who insisted on pushing it through, you lunatic!’
That inner thought could not possibly be spoken aloud.
“C-Come to think of it, you're right. Essence... We need to focus on essence!”
Manager Choi sat back down with a satisfied expression.
For the first time, he felt proud that he truly understood the Vice Chairman's profound philosophy and had joined the Vice Chairman's great deconstructive creation.
This voluntary dismantling erupted simultaneously in every department of Daeseung Group.
Outside meeting-room doors, scheduled meetings were cancelled one after another beneath Post-it notes asking the piercing question, “Is this meeting truly essential?”
New business proposals with budgets ranging from billions to tens of billions of won were shredded before the fundamental question, “So what is our essence?”
“Because competitors are doing it” and “because it is the latest trend” no longer worked as reasons.
Every project now had to pass the new standard of review known as “Daeunism.”
As a result, the bureaucracy and inefficiency that had permeated the entire group began disappearing beyond control.
New businesses that had received scattered, overlapping investment from multiple affiliates were sorted out, while the time once spent preparing useless reports was directed toward core technology R&D.
Budgets wasted on performative events were converted into employee benefits and performance bonuses.
Amid the terror of dismantling, employees instead felt an unprecedented sense of stability and belonging, and creative attempts focused on essence began springing up without fear of failure.
As a result, contrary to Kang Daeun's intentions, Daeseung Group was becoming a more powerful organization, more efficient and focused on essence, than at any point in its history.
.
The atmosphere in the senior executive team meeting room on the thirtieth floor of Daeseung Group headquarters was heavy.
The regular meeting to discuss the group's overall management direction for the next quarter had just ended.
Vice Chairman Kang Daeun had said little throughout the meeting, merely flipping through documents before leaving as soon as it ended.
In that brief one-hour meeting, the only things the Vice Chairman had said were, “Sounds good,” and “Do that.”
Only after the heavy doors closed and the Vice Chairman's footsteps had completely faded did suppressed breaths escape from all around the room.
President Kim of Daeseung Chemicals broke the silence first.
Wiping his sweat-dampened hands on his trousers, he spoke in a voice still tense.
“Hah... He is completely accustomed to the throne now. Such incredible charisma.”
“Indeed. His silence now feels ten times heavier than when the Chairman used to shout at us. It seems some people are born with the makings of a king.”
Jeong Geonju, President of Daeseung Construction, chimed in with a deep voice.
Cold sweat beaded across Jeong's forehead as well.
The presence of the young leader Jeong had once disregarded had now become an absolute pressure that dominated the atmosphere of the meeting room itself.
Jo Eungsu, President of Daeseung Shopping and the first to pledge loyalty to the Vice Chairman, clasped both hands with the moved expression of an apostle receiving divine revelation and said...
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