WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈

Chapter 6

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‘Ah, shit, you scared me!’

The moment I saw that expensive-looking watch, only one thought crossed my mind.

‘Even if Daeseung goes under, if I hold on to one or two watches like that and sell them later, wouldn’t I still be able to make a living?’

Revenge against Grandfather was one thing, but I would still have my own life afterward.

Afterward, it might serve as a kind of emergency fund for my old age.

But the moment President Jo Eungsu spoke to me, my face stiffened before I knew it, as though he had somehow seen through my dark thoughts.

I quickly relaxed my expression and spoke.

“Haha, sure. I was looking at it anyway, so let’s take a look.”

Hm?

Why did he look flustered when he was the one who suggested it?

“I apologize, Vice Chairman!”

“?”

I had no idea what he was apologizing for.

.

President Jo Eungsu’s face was familiar to the department store employees.

Anyone who came as far as the luxury wing was clearly a VVIP, but they had never seen a young man before whom President Jo grovelled so desperately.

The select shop manager, several times more nervous than usual, carefully unlocked the display case.

.

The employees were all almost excessively attentive, and though I did not know much about the items on display, they all looked luxurious.

‘What am I doing, coming here to see how to ruin the place and leaving impressed?’

I needed to get a grip.

“Only two of this limited edition were officially imported into Korea. Our Daeseung Department Store secured one of them.”

“Really?”

That must be something impressive.

“Then where’s the other one?”

The question came naturally after hearing that.

“It is... at Hanseong Department Store.”

President Jo bowed his head again.

I did not know why that warranted a bow.

‘It looks expensive, but would it even sell somewhere like Cucumber Market?’

As I stood before the watch, thinking about how much I could resell it for, Chief of Staff Lee Jinju apparently misunderstood something and chimed in.

“Do you like it? At that price, the finance team will not make much of an issue of it even if you purchase it personally, Vice Chairman.”

Her words gave rise to another genuine question.

“But if there are only two limited editions in Korea and I buy one, what are you going to sell to customers?”

There did not seem to be many watches here in the first place. Were they going to sit around twiddling their thumbs after selling them all?

.

The moment he heard the Vice Chairman’s words, Jo Eungsu realized he had completely misjudged the young Vice Chairman.

The Vice Chairman had not the slightest interest in personal luxury.

His gaze was already directed beyond that, toward higher things: company profits, customer trust, and brand value.

His question had been a rebuke. Corporate sales opportunities mattered more than personal greed.

‘Preventing the Hwasu Heavy Industries crisis was never a coincidence...! Then the way his face stiffened earlier was...!’

Goosebumps rose all over Jo Eungsu’s body.

The Chairman’s grandson had seen through everything!

He had seen through the hidden motive for suggesting the department store inspection, through every childish trick meant to curry favor by showing him watches, and was testing him this way.

“I am deeply sorry, Vice Chairman! You are right...! This limited-edition watch is not simply merchandise. It is a promise to our most valued customers who place their trust in Daeseung Department Store, and it is also our pride. It was my failing to forget that value and concern myself only with your personal preferences!”

Jo Eungsu’s voice trembled with heartfelt reverence and remorse.

.

The next morning, an hour before the presidents’ meeting, the conference room on the thirtieth floor of Daeseung Group headquarters was already filled with the presidents of every major affiliate.

They had gathered to hear about the experience of Jo Eungsu, president of Daeseung Shopping, who had attended to Vice Chairman Kang Daeun throughout the previous day.

“The Vice Chairman... was truly an extraordinary person.”

With everyone’s attention focused on him, Jo Eungsu began speaking in a voice full of reverence, like a believer who had just met a saint.

“He was generally a man of few words, but every occasional remark he made contained a depth of wisdom and philosophy that an ordinary person like me could scarcely fathom.”

Jo Eungsu recalled that his conversation with Vice Chairman Kang Daeun that day had been like a Zen koan exchange with an enlightened monk.

Even in that brief conversation, many things had struck Jo Eungsu as astonishing. Yet after the Vice Chairman left and he slowly reflected on their exchange, he realized it contained even deeper meanings.

But Jo Eungsu’s manner, almost like a religious testimony, paradoxically made the other presidents gathered in the conference room skeptical.

‘Even if he is the Chairman’s blood relative and possesses the extraordinary insight that prevented the Hwasu Heavy Industries crisis, that is not how a young man who is only twenty-six could possibly act.’

‘President Jo has really committed himself. If you’re going to flatter someone, you have to put your soul into it like that. You have to believe it sincerely yourself before flattery can come out so naturally.’

President Kim of Daeseung Chemicals calmly tried to settle President Jo down.

“All right, President Jo. I understand well enough what you felt. But we need more objective facts. Tell us exactly what the Vice Chairman said and did, without changing a single word. We’ll judge for ourselves.”

Looking aggrieved, Jo Eungsu took a deep breath and began explaining what had happened the previous day as objectively as possible.

Even so, Jo Eungsu’s explanation could not be perfectly objective, and as Jo Eungsu spoke at greater length, the expressions of the executives subtly changed.

‘It doesn’t sound like he said anything that remarkable...’

‘He doesn’t seem like an ordinary man in his twenties, but is he really as capable as President Jo says?’

‘Is that what it means to be the Chairman’s grandson?’

As everyone reflected on Jo Eungsu’s words with different impressions, the conference room door quietly opened, and Lee Jinju’s voice cut through the silence.

“The Vice Chairman is arriving.”

.

I had received a detailed management report on Daeseung through Lee Jinju, but I had failed to form even a rough outline in my head of the colossal beast that was Daeseung.

Still, I could not sit silently at the presidents’ meeting the very next day like a mute who had swallowed honey. So I focused mainly on Shopping, since I had at least inspected the department store once.

In other words, Daeseung Shopping was today’s target.

Besides, I had met President Jo yesterday, so he seemed easier to deal with than the other unfamiliar old men.

When the conference room door opened and I entered, the gray-haired men filling both sides of the long table all rose at once.

‘What’s with those old men’s looks...?’

Most were in their sixties or older.

They were old enough to be watching their young grandchildren act cute at home.

But as far as I knew, these were the living legends who had built Daeseung from nothing alongside Grandfather, the founding contributors to his empire.

After a brief greeting, I got straight to the point.

The more I said, the more I would reveal how little I knew.

“First, President Jo Eungsu of Daeseung Shopping.”

At my call, President Jo Eungsu, whom I had seen yesterday, sprang to his feet in surprise.

“Yes, yes! Vice Chairman!”

“You’re fourth in the industry right now, correct? What are the profit margins for the marts, department stores, and online shopping malls?”

President Jo seemed briefly flustered by my question, but as if it were simple, answered smoothly without even looking at the tablet in front of him.

“Yes, Vice Chairman. Daeseung Shopping has maintained an average operating profit margin of around 8 percent over the past three years. That is more than twice the industry average, and it is the result of following the Chairman’s instructions to focus on strengthening our fundamentals rather than pursuing superficial growth.”

President Jo finished his answer with his back straightened proudly.

His voice carried pride in Daeseung and deep respect for Grandfather.

‘What? Why is it so low?’

But I doubted my ears.

Only 8 percent?

Was President Jo proudly calling that the best in the industry?

Even the barbecue restaurant where I worked made much more than that after ingredient costs.

Knowing nothing of the structural characteristics of the enormous retail industry, I saw 8 percent as nothing more than proof of terrible management performance.

This old man was more incompetent than I thought.

‘Got you.’

I cheered inwardly.

At that level of profit margin, getting rid of it would not be a major blow to the entire Group, but it was a perfect opportunity to thoroughly wreck an affiliate.

I looked at President Jo with an indifferent expression.

“I have no intention of making money by running little corner stores like marts.”

“Pardon?”

My cold voice froze the air in the conference room, and President Jo’s face turned bright red at the insulting term.

Like a finishing blow, I struck again.

“Cut prices by 8 percent. At the marts, department stores, and online shopping malls. All of them.”

Eight percent.

The exact same figure as the operating profit margin President Jo had just proudly reported.

“V-Vice Chairman! What do you mean by that... To cut prices across the board by 8 percent...”

President Jo Eungsu finally came to his senses and spoke haltingly.

His face, which had reddened with anger, now turned as white as a sheet.

“Please reconsider, Vice Chairman! An 8 percent price cut is the same as giving up all our operating profit. The company will go under!”

‘That’s what I’m saying, but...’

But President Jo Eungsu’s desperate reaction only left me even more puzzled.

‘This old man is really funny.’

It was only 8 percent.

Even at the neighborhood mart where I lived, flyers had phrases like, “10 percent off today only,” printed prominently in large letters.

Convenience stores were full of buy-one-get-one and buy-two-get-one deals. Even at the barbecue restaurant where I worked, we gave groups a few bottles of soda for free.

Yet here was the president of a Group affiliate, acting like the company would collapse over a mere 8 percent discount.

No wonder the profit margin was so pathetic with someone like that in charge.

It was enough to make me let out a hollow laugh.

In any case, it worked out well for me.

If I used this incompetent old man to thoroughly ruin an affiliate, I could make the first crack in Grandfather’s empire.

Footnotes:

Cucumber Market is a playful fictional marketplace name. “Oi” means cucumber in Korean, evoking the real Korean secondhand platform Karrot Market.

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