WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈

Chapter 7

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“Ah, and one more thing. Don’t squeeze the suppliers dry because of this price cut.”

President Jo’s eyes widened further at my words.

“Don’t pressure them to lower their supply prices to make up for the discounts. That kind of outdated thinking, don’t do it. You know everything gets posted online these days, right? I’m telling you not to let stories come out about abuse of power or whatever, stories that tarnish Daeseung’s name.”

On the surface, it sounded like a reasonable order meant to protect the Group’s reputation.

But the real intent was obvious.

Daeseung Shopping would have to bear the full losses from the price cuts alone.

“Vice Chairman.”

President Jo cautiously spoke again.

He was far more respectful than before, but still seemed determined to say what needed to be said.

“We can proceed as you instructed with the marts and online shopping mall, but department stores are a little different. Department stores do not directly purchase and sell goods. Our business model is to rent store space to tenant companies and collect commissions. Therefore, we cannot simply order them all to lower their prices...”

President Jo spoke as though clinging to his last thread of reason in resistance.

The other presidents looked at me with faint hope at his logical objection.

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

I asked arrogantly.

‘Of course I didn’t know.’

I had just learned that department stores worked that way.

But my expression did not waver in the slightest.

“Then give customers who bring in their receipts Daeseung Department Store gift certificates worth 8 percent. Figure out how yourselves. In any case, the target is a 0 percent operating margin. Understood?”

For something I had come up with on the spot, it seemed like a decent solution.

The cost of issuing those gift certificates would also fall entirely on Daeseung Shopping.

A hollow laugh escaped President Jo.

‘Hm, was that a little too much?’

But then I realized something important.

Since ancient times, wasn’t the most dangerous person not a capable enemy on the outside, but an incompetent ally on the inside?

Wasn’t President Jo Eungsu exactly the sort of person I needed to actively support and empower?

Someone like that needed to remain firmly seated as president for my plan to go smoothly.

I felt I should placate President Jo Eungsu a little.

I did not know why someone like him belonged to my grandfather’s executive team, but he could be exactly the person I needed to achieve my goal.

“Ah, President Jo?”

His empty eyes turned toward me.

“Let’s renegotiate your salary. We’ll start by doubling it. If you achieve a 0 percent operating margin, I’ll give you a generous bonus as well.”

“...?”

For a moment, every president in the conference room froze.

They looked at one another with expressions of utter incomprehension.

At the same time, though, it was an irresistibly sweet offer.

It did not take long for President Jo to finish the complicated calculations in his head.

“Th-that...! Understood! I accept your command!”

As though he had never argued with me, President Jo sprang to his feet and gave a booming salute.

“I’m tired.”

I lazily stretched and cut the meeting short.

“If there’s nothing urgent, I’ll hear about the other affiliates next time. We’ll end things here today.”

I fled the conference room just like that.

If they asked me about any affiliates other than shopping, I would have had nothing to say.

‘Even ruining a company isn’t easy.’

.

Until Vice Chairman Kang Daeun left and the heavy door closed behind him, no one in the conference room dared breathe.

It was like the stillness left behind after a storm had swept through.

The one who broke the silence was President Park of Daeseung Heavy Industries.

He rose so violently that his chair nearly tipped over and shouted.

“What the hell was that... Has he lost his mind? He’s telling us to run the company into the ground! And you’re saying you’ll do it just because he offered to raise your pay? President Jo, are you in your right mind?”

But President Jo Eungsu was not his usual self.

Instead, he answered with a detached expression, not even blinking at President Park’s harsh rebuke.

“President Park, have you still not grasped the Vice Chairman’s profound intentions?”

“What? The Chairman has always said it himself! A company’s greatest goal is pursuing profit! Making money! This is a matter of common sense!”

“President Park. Be quiet. The Vice Chairman has declared a new war. A truly vicious war that will not end without bloodshed.”

President Kim of Daeseung Chemicals, the only person besides Chairman Kang Sinsu who could calm President Park, spoke.

“Hyung, what do you mean by that? Give up all the profits of Daeseung Shopping, which supplies our Group with cash liquidity, and do not touch the suppliers. Isn’t that... practically suicide?”

A distribution company owned by a large corporate group served as the entire Group’s cash cow and cash reservoir.

When short-term cash flow was blocked, when a massive investment was needed, or when the Group faced a crisis.

In all those situations, the first place to draw cash from was not finance, but distribution.

“That is precisely the point.”

Full of confidence, President Jo Eungsu continued, tapping the table with a finger.

“The Vice Chairman did not tell us to make money. He told us to achieve a 0 percent operating margin. And he promised enormous rewards in return. This is not an order to balance the income statement. It is a battle order to overturn the entire market!”

President Jo Eungsu’s voice gradually filled with excitement.

“Lower prices, reduce the operating margin, and maintain suppliers’ unit prices. What do you think that means? He intends to begin a loss-making war that our competitors can never match.”

At President Jo Eungsu’s explanation, some of the other presidents unconsciously nodded as though they finally understood.

“Then... his order to achieve a 0 percent operating margin means...”

“It means we do not need to make money until we become number one in market share. It is a chilling declaration of war to pour all the Group’s capabilities into starving out our competitors until they all fall to their knees and surrender.”

At present, operating margins in South Korea’s distribution industry stood at around 2 to 4 percent.

But until now, Daeseung Shopping had treated Chairman Kang Sinsu’s management philosophy as sacred: build substance and raise profit margins rather than pursue growth in scale.

That was why President Jo Eungsu had taken such great pride in its high 8 percent operating margin.

But now, a new era had arrived.

The Vice Chairman intended to boldly discard that old formula for success and begin a chicken game that sacrificed profits to secure overwhelming market share!

“Only we can do this. We at Daeseung Shopping, whose scale may have lagged somewhat behind the rest of the shopping industry but whose operating margins have always been overwhelming, are the only ones capable of leading this insane loss-making war!”

Only then did the presidents of the other affiliates begin to vaguely understand the vast war Vice Chairman Kang Daeun was laying out.

But not everyone agreed.

“However... the Chairman pursued stability, at least in the distribution industry. He said that otherwise the risk could spread to the entire Group.”

Several presidents nodded in agreement.

“I understand the Vice Chairman’s intentions, but do we really need to take such a risk? This may be an excessive move just to show that he is different from the Chairman.”

The meeting dragged on as relatively cautious opinions emerged, but the Vice Chairman’s order had already been given.

Meanwhile, President Kim of Daeseung Chemicals felt that something was not quite right.

‘Why now, of all times? The Group is already struggling just to stabilize after being shaken by the Chairman’s absence, and he wants to take this kind of gamble? Could this really be nothing more than an immature act meant to impress upon everyone that he is different from the Chairman?’

He was the Chairman’s grandson.

What if, as President Jo Eungsu had said before today’s meeting, the Vice Chairman truly possessed a genius instinct for management?

President Kim of Daeseung Chemicals closed his eyes.

He cast aside all thoughts of dismissing the Vice Chairman because of his youth and reconsidered the entire situation from the beginning, imagining that today’s strange order had come directly from the Chairman.

Then, at last, the scattered pieces came together into a single picture.

A chill ran through his entire body.

“I-I can't believe it!”

President Kim shot to his feet without realizing it.

Every president turned toward him at his sudden action.

“Now... It had to be now!”

“President Kim, what do you mean?”

Bracing himself against the table with trembling hands, President Kim shouted.

“Hanseong... Every spearhead of the Vice Chairman’s plan had been aimed at Hanseong from the start!”

“Wh-what are you talking about, hyung? No, President Kim. Please explain in detail!”

At the mention of Hanseong, President Park, who would leap out of bed at the very name, pressed President Kim.

“Think about it. Hwasu Heavy Industries! Thanks to the Vice Chairman seeing through the hidden insolvency within it, we preserved several trillion won in acquisition funds. And who is acquiring Hwasu next?”

“Hanseong. Because of us, those bastards will be able to acquire it much more cheaply.”

“But the scale of Hwasu’s insolvency is not something that can be recovered in a short period. In any case, Hanseong will have no choice but to keep pouring cash into Hwasu for the time being.”

“...Ah!”

Brief exclamations erupted throughout the conference room.

The scattered puzzle pieces were beginning to fit together.

President Kim delivered the decisive blow.

“Do you understand now? The reason we could not recklessly begin a chicken game in the distribution industry was Hanseong, which had financial power equal to ours. But what about now?”

In response to his question, President Jo Eungsu, who had realized everything, completed the answer in a trembling voice.

“Even if we begin an unlimited loss-making war in the distribution industry, Hanseong will never be able to enter this war! They will have to sit by, helplessly watching Daeseung Shopping swallow up the market!”

The conference room fell into complete silence.

President Kim’s interpretation was far grander, crueler, and more meticulous than President Jo Eungsu’s.

The Hwasu Heavy Industries incident and this price-cutting policy, two events that had seemed completely unrelated, were perfectly linked under one objective: the destruction of Hanseong Group.

“As expected... The Chairman’s bloodline truly is different.”

“What an extraordinary person. Didn’t he reveal this entire strategy to us with just one remark that Shopping’s operating margin was too high?”

“Of course the Vice Chairman is remarkable, but President Kim, who immediately recognized his profound intention, is truly remarkable as well.”

“Ho ho, did I figure it out alone? All of Daeseung’s executive team put our heads together and figured it out.”

-Hahaha!

The conference room, as though nothing had happened, filled with warm laughter.

The executives traded compliments and modest words, and their mood grew even brighter.

But deep in their hearts, fear of this new ruler, only twenty-six years old, had taken firm root.

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