For some reason, after that day's revelations, Shinjeon Group's attacks came to a complete halt.
The paid commenters who had been dominating online communities on Shinjeon's behalf vanished without a trace.
And the media, too, almost completely stopped reporting on suspicions surrounding Luktic Drink.
The reason was simple.
Korean society's main focus had shifted.
To the cover-up of industrial accidents by Shinjeon Group.
With an audio recording of such extreme immorality and shocking content made public,media outlets—forever chasing views and ratings—had no interest in something as comparatively blandas approval disputes over Luktic's products.
Instead, they replayed the recording I provided endlessly,day and night,tearing into Shinjeon Chemical and Chairman Ji Heon-cheol without mercy.
At this point, the old logic that Shinjeon Group was a major force in the advertising marketno longer held.
Public outrage was already raging like a wildfire,and media companies no longer hesitated to criticize Shinjeon Group openly.
The fact that Daesung Group stood behind Lukticalso gave reporters and editorial teams significant courage.
[Shinjeon Group's Industrial Accident Cover-Up – The Ugly Truth Exposed]
[Comments: 11,984]
viae**:** Damn, these people are absolute trash…
hsrt**:** Anyone who hasn't seen it yet, go watch the leaked recording on YouTube. The way that so-called chairman talks is unbelievable.
gwio**:** All those posts trashing Luktic on community boards disappeared overnight. It felt fishy from the start—everything getting pushed to "popular" at once was obviously manipulated.
vfie**:** And the max sentence for this kind of crime is just one year in prison? How does that make sense? Shouldn't the law be revised?
fact**:** The Serious Accidents Punishment Act was enacted recently, but the Shinjeon Chemical incident happened before that law existed, so retroactive application isn't possible.
[Research Began for an Injured Father – Luktic CEO's Press Conference Moves the Nation]
[Comments: 2,843]
fava**:** Wow… that's incredible. I always wondered why they sold such insanely effective products so cheaply. Now it makes sense.
wioa**:** Everyone who jumped on the bandwagon trashing Luktic a few days ago should bow their heads in shame.
ivfh**:** Has there been a proper interview with CEO Hyun Si-woo yet? I really want to see one.
grei**:** Seriously, where did all the people bashing Luktic and Hyun Si-woo go? lol
Shinjeon Group and Chairman Ji Heon-cheol were summoned for police questioning.
Granted, under current law, the maximum punishment for attempting to cover up industrial accidentswas no more than one year in prison or a fine of up to ten million won,so they were unlikely to receive severe penalties.
But what mattered was this:
Shinjeon Group's crimes had been exposed to the entire world,and my father's honor had been restored, at least in part.
Perhaps soon, my father and the other victims of Shinjeon Chemical's industrial accidents—and their bereaved families—would finally have those accidents officially recognized by the courts.
I was at the VIP hospital room where my father was staying.
He still lay there with his eyes closed,his expression peaceful.
Thanks to the effects of the Elixir, his complexion was far better than before.
The bitter days when I could do nothingbut curse the heavens in despairbefore Shinjeon Chemical's tyrannyflashed through my mind like a slideshow.
I spoke softly to my father.
"Dad… the things Shinjeon Chemical did have finally been revealed to the world.The chairman is under investigation now, and punishment will follow.Soon, your industrial accident—and those of your coworkers—might be officially recognized."
Even as I told him the news he had wanted to hear so badly,there was no change in his expression or body.
I hoped with all my heartthat he would open his eyes soon and see this moment for himself.
"Someday, I'll wake you up.And I'll show you the world we dreamed of—the world we've finally begun to change."
After saying that, I quietly left the hospital room.
A few days later, I received a call from the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
[CEO Hyun, regarding Shinjeon Group's complaint, the government will handle it appropriately, so please don't worry. The social benefits created by your products are being highly evaluated at the national level.]
"Really? Thank you very much, Vice Minister."
[Additionally, the President asked me to pass along a message:from now on, you don't need to worry about Shinjeon Group at all.]
"…The President said that himself?"
[Yes.The President has high expectations for Luktic and for you personally.He has ordered further streamlining of the approval process,so there's a strong possibility that Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials will be conducted simultaneously. We look forward to continued cooperation, CEO Hyun.]
Phase 2 and Phase 3 conducted at the same time.
If that really happened, approval could be completedin an astonishingly short period.
I wasn't sure exactly why the President had gone so far as to saywe no longer needed to worry about Shinjeon Group,but one thing was certain—
For several days now, Shinjeon Group's attacks had completely stopped.
Perhaps pressure had been applied from the presidential residence.
Either way, thanks to the government's cooperation,the approval issues Shinjeon Group raised regarding Luktic Cream and Luktic Drinkwould likely be smoothed over.
At last, Luktic could return its focusto what truly mattered:
expanding the business.
Signing the Investment Contract
The time had finally cometo sign the investment agreement with Chairman Choi Chang-sik.
"CEO Hyun, looks like you handled your first major crisis quite well," he said with a laugh."I watched it on TV—it was highly entertaining. Hahaha."
"That was only possible because you helped us, Chairman.If that press conference hadn't happened,Luktic would have been completely crushed by Shinjeon Group's schemes."
"Haha. I merely provided the venue.Still, it was a fascinating response—almost like something a politician would do.But incidents like this will happen again.Luktic is simply too outstanding to escape attention.Never let your guard down."
"Yes. I'll take that to heart."
Chairman Choi and I signed the investment contractand stamped it with our seals.
With that, Luktic secured 500 billion won in cash.
Planning the Next Expansion
Dong-sik and I entered a special strategy meetingto decide the direction of Luktic's next expansion.
"Si-woo, that press conference was insane.Even watching it, my blood was boiling.These days, that's all the internet talks about."
"Haha… is that so?I heard Luktic's products are receiving even more attention after the incident.People are asking just how amazing they must befor Shinjeon Pharmaceutical to go that far to suppress us."
"Yeah.It almost feels like we turned a crisis into an opportunity."
"But now that 500 billion won has come in,we need to decide how to use it."
"Expanding the company's scale seems like the obvious answer.Demand and orders far exceed our current production capacity."
He was right.
After the conflict with Shinjeon Group,public interest in Luktic's products had only increased.
Overseas direct-purchase orders were also steadily growing.
In fact, U.S.-based forwarding companies that handled Korean proxy purchaseswere reportedly acquiring new landto expand their logistics hubs in Korea—
all because of the surge in orders for Luktic products.
"Dong-sik, if we expand the factory again,we'll be crossing the line from a mid-sized companyto something approaching a major conglomerate.Wouldn't we need a proper office building by then?This shabby little warehouse office won't cut it anymore."
"True.I think you're right—it's time to build a real organizational structure.We can't keep managing everything ourselves forever.We need a system where dozens of office staff handle operations professionally."
Exactly.
The time had cometo fundamentally change Luktic's corporate structure.
From a small company run by just the two of us—
to a large-scale enterprisewhere specialized departments divided responsibilitiesand managed the company systematically.
For that transition,Chairman Choi's eldest son, Choi Eun-hyuk,who was set to join us soon,would likely be of great help.
…As long as his relationship with Dong-sik could be managed.
And there was one more personwho could advise us on building a large-corporation system.
I had already told Dong-sikthat a new member would be joining us soon.
"Ah, Dong-sik. He should be arriving any—"
"Oh! The new hire you mentioned earlier!How should I 'take good care' of him? Hehehe."
I had no idea why he was so obsessed with "taking good care" of new hires,but Dong-sik was clearly excited.
However, the identity of that new hire was…
A car pulled into the parking lot of our factory site,and a middle-aged man stepped out.
Dong-sik looked at me, confused.
"Huh? I've never seen him before.Who is that? Do you know him, Si-woo?"
"Yeah.That's the 'new hire' you keep talking about."
"…What?!"
The man was Kang Joo-tae,until recently the CTO of Shinjeon Pharmaceutical.
He had resigned of his own accord just days earlier.
I had asked him for advice—on how Luktic could build management systemsto grow from a small company into a true large-scale enterprise.
Between Choi Eun-hyuk,who had elite education but little practical experience,and Kang Joo-tae,who possessed decades of experience and insight,
I personally believed Kang's advice would be far more valuable.
I explained everything to Dong-sik—including the fact that Kang Joo-taewas the very person who had given usthe recording that cornered Chairman Ji Heon-cheol.
"I-I see…So this is the person you were talking about.That's… incredible."
"Exactly.He's practically a living history of Korea's pharmaceutical industry.We need to treat him with the utmost respect."
Dong-sik suddenly looked a little disappointed.
"If he were a real newbie,I was planning to dote on him…"
…What on earth was going through his head?
Leaving Dong-sik to his incomprehensible emotions,I went out to greet Kang Joo-tae.
"Director Kang, thank you sincerely for coming all this way."
Despite being much older,Kang Joo-tae bowed politely to me.
"No—this is only right,considering the wrongs I committed against you and your father."
He still carried deep guiltover having stood by during Shinjeon Chemical's cover-up.
"That's not the case.Thanks to your courage, Luktic escaped a grave crisis,and my father's honor was restored.From now on, please walk with us.Luktic desperately needs your experience and wisdom."
"…If an old man like me can be of help,that alone would be an honor.If I can contribute—even a little—to helping the sick and suffering through Luktic's technology,my life will have been worthwhile."
"I promise to do everything I canto make your ideals a reality.This is Kim Dong-sik, my partner who co-founded Luktic with me."
Dong-sik bowed awkwardly.
"Nice to meet you, Director Kang.I'm Kim Dong-sik."
"I've heard much about you—the co-founder of Luktic.It's a pleasure. I look forward to working with you."
A warm atmosphere settled over us.
True to his ideals,Kang Joo-tae had a gentle, sincere demeanor.
Perhaps he would becomea guiding elder within our company.
Someone who would help uswhenever we lost our way.
With Kang Joo-tae's help,we began designing the new structure and systemsfor a stronger, more mature Luktic.
Meanwhile, despite all the turmoil,production of Luktic Drink continued nonstop.
The confrontation with Shinjeon Group had unfolded in just a few days,leaving no time to halt sales or suspend production.
That uninterrupted production also meant something else:
The progress of the Stage 1 Elixirwithin the Akashic Recordshad continued to increase.
I accessed the Akashic Records through the quantum computer.
A window appeared.
[Stage 1 Elixir] (Tier 1)Progress toward next knowledge: [500 / 500]
Congratulations!You have reached the required progress to unlock the next knowledge.
Just like when I completed the progress for the skin regeneration agent,the text flashed brilliantly,accompanied by a fanfare-like sound.
Once again, a new technology and new knowledgewere about to be unlocked.
At the bottom of the Akashic Records interface,several boxes flickered and began to change.
Letters inside them scattered into pixels,then reassembled,slowly forming recognizable shapes.
What kind of technology would appear this time?
My heart began to race.