Chairman Ji Heon-cheol of Shinjeon Group was facing the greatest crisis of his life.
Ever since Hyun Si-woo's press conference, an overwhelming wave of public condemnation had been crashing down on him.
To be fair, even before that, his public image had never been particularly good.
He was known for flying into rages and verbally abusing subordinates at the slightest provocation,and the language that spilled from his mouth could hardly be described as refined.
On top of that, a series of previously exposed power-abuse incidents and nightlife-related scandalshad already dragged Ji Heon-cheol's reputation to rock bottom.
But the criticism he was facing now was on an entirely different level.
"Murderer.""Shameless criminal.""A disgrace to his family.""Trash of the century."
The most vicious and degrading expressions the human language could producewere raining down on him day after day like a torrential storm.
Worse still, the recording Hyun Si-woo had revealed at the press conferencehad triggered an official police investigation into the cover-up of industrial accidents.
At this rate, criminal punishment was no longer a distant possibility.
"Damn it! What the hell is this?!What did I do that was so wrong?!Accidents like that happen all the time in large factories, don't they?!"
Even now, Ji Heon-cheol showed not the slightest hint of remorse.
Rather than reflecting on why he had ended up in this situation,he chose the easiest response—blaming someone else.
"How the hell did that recording end up in that bastard's hands?!"
He began retracing his memories.
The secretary who had been speaking with him in the recording.
But the likelihood that the secretary was responsible was extremely low.
That secretary was still loyally serving him even now,and if the recording became public, the secretary—who had helped plan the cover-up—would also become a criminal.
There was simply no reason for him to hand the file to Luktic.
Just in case, Ji Heon-cheol summoned the secretary, questioned him repeatedly,and even ordered a background investigation.
As expected, nothing suspicious turned up.
If the secretary had betrayed him,there would have been signs—money, favors, or contact with Luktic.
But even after hiring a private investigator,no such evidence was found.
Ji Heon-cheol pushed his thoughts further.
Was there anyone else who might have heard that conversation?
Thinking back…
At the time—just before the labor authorities were scheduled to investigate the accident—he had gone to Shinjeon Chemical's CTOto receive technical advice on modifying the Yangseo County factoryto comply with safety regulations.
That CTO had been Kang Joo-tae.
It had been an unusual personnel decision—temporarily assigning Kang Joo-tae, who normally worked at Shinjeon Pharmaceutical,to Shinjeon Chemical for two years.
Because of that, the memory was still vivid.
When that realization hit him,Ji Heon-cheol's face turned pale, and he muttered in shock.
"N-No way…That old man…?Come to think of it, his expression didn't look very good back then…"
Not long ago, during an emergency executive meeting,Kang Joo-tae had openly defended Luktic,greatly irritating Ji Heon-cheol.
Because of that, Ji Heon-cheol had already been planningto dismiss Kang Joo-tae and appoint a new CTO.
He had given advance instructions to the Strategy Planning Office,and rumors had already spread among executivesthat Kang Joo-tae would soon be pushed out.
That was why, when Kang Joo-tae submitted his resignation,Ji Heon-cheol had thought,
"So he's sharper than I expected.Then why did he open his mouth back then…?"
And approved it without hesitation.
But now—
Did he record the entire conversation between me and the secretary…and take that file straight to Luktic?
The thought made Ji Heon-cheol's mind go blank.
Just then, someone burst into the room.
"Chairman…! Chairman…!"
His train of thought abruptly cut off,Ji Heon-cheol snapped irritably,
"What is it now?!"
"Former Shinjeon Pharmaceutical CTO Kang Joo-tae…!"
"I was just thinking about that man.What about him?"
"He's accepted the position of CTO at Luktic!"
"…What?!"
Ji Heon-cheol's eyes burned with fury.
"So he really recorded it…and took the file straight to Luktic?!That ungrateful old bastard!"
In truth, it was Ji Heon-cheol himselfwho had tossed Kang Joo-tae aside like a worn-out shoe.
But that inconvenient facthad already vanished neatly from his mind.
"Damn it…!If it weren't for the President…!If it weren't for Daesung Group backing them…!I would've crushed Luktic cleanly by now!What the hell did I do wrong to deserve this?!"
He roared in rage.
"Just you wait…One day I'll repay this humiliation…Kang Joo-tae, you traitor—and that kid… what was his name… Hyun Si-woo?! Grrr…!!"
But the President's warning echoed clearly in his mind.
If he attempted to attack Luktic unfairly again,a full-scale prosecution into his succession-related corruptionwould be ordered.
That meant—
For at least the next four years,the remainder of President Kim Sang-hyun's term,Ji Heon-cheol could do nothingbut watch Luktic and Hyun Si-woo from the sidelines.
That was reality.
Remembering this,Ji Heon-cheol twisted his face in frustration and screamed,
"Aaaagh!!This is infuriating!Isn't there some way around this?!"
***
[Time Remaining: 6 hours, 17 minutes, 51 seconds]
The manufacturing method for the hair-growth agent—in other words, the hair-loss treatment—was being decrypted smoothly.
By the time I got home from work that evening,the decryption would be complete.
I arrived at our office,which was still located in the small warehouse on the factory site.
Once we moved our headquarters to the newly leased ten-story building in Jongno, Seoul,this place would become nothing more than a relic of the past.
After arriving, I checked Luktic's official email inbox.
There, I found a single unfamiliar message.
Both the subject and body were written entirely in English.
Relying on the English I had studied back when I was a job seeker—desperately trying to raise my TOEIC score—I began translating it.
Fortunately, since it was a business email,the vocabulary level was well within what I'd learned back then.
The contents were roughly as follows:
The sender introduced himself as Howard,a planning executive at a U.S. distribution company called Target.
He said he was very interested in Luktic's productsand wanted to discuss the possibility of importing and distributing them in the United States.He asked whether a meeting would be possible.
"…Wow.So the rumors about Luktic spreading on overseas social mediahave finally led to emails like this."
I opened a browser and looked up Target.
Just as Howard had written,Target was a massive U.S. retail corporationoperating supermarkets and discount stores nationwide.
But as I skimmed through the company profile,I nearly jumped out of my seat.
"What the—why is their market cap this huge…?!"
Target's market capitalization was over $80 billion—well over 100 trillion won.
Among Korean companies,only Daesung Electronics and Hynox Semiconductorwere larger, as far as I knew.
Both were global semiconductor giants,responsible for Korea's key export industry.
In other words,out of all Korea's major conglomerates,only two were larger than this single U.S. distribution company.
And what made it even more absurd—
Target wasn't even number one in the U.S. market.
It ranked around fourth, behind Walmart, Amazon, and Costco.
And yet, its scale crushed the vast majority of Korean conglomerates.
Once again,I felt the overwhelming size of the U.S. marketand the sheer scale of the world's strongest superpower.
I discussed the matter with Dong-sik.
"To be honest, even with Daesung Group's support,entering the U.S. retail distribution network won't be easy.This might actually be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"True…Daesung Group's influence in retail distributionis basically limited to Korea."
"The real problem will be the massive demand the U.S. market will create.Once our products are officially exported,they'll definitely become popular there too."
"Yeah…Luktic's products would stand out even in the U.S.with their unmatched quality and effectiveness."
"Dong-sik, do you think our current production linescan handle the demand the U.S. market would generate?"
"Well, since it's overseas export,even if we hold a meeting right away,a contract probably won't be signed immediately.And exports wouldn't start right away either.By the time things really get moving,the large production facilities we're building nowshould be completed… so maybe we can manage."
"That's true.In any case, it seems like meeting this Target representativewould be a good idea."
"Agreed."
I replied to Howard's email.
I thanked him sincerely for his interest in Luktic's products,said we were open to discussions regarding U.S. distribution,and explained that due to recent business expansion,traveling overseas was difficult at the moment.
I asked whether he would be willing to come to Korea instead,and if so, what dates he had in mind for a meeting.
Then I waited for his response.
If we could directly enter the U.S. market,Luktic's growth potentialwould enter an entirely different realm.
Meanwhile, interior construction was in full swingat our newly leased ten-story headquarters building in Jongno, Seoul.
Soon,large-scale recruitment would begin—
both office staff to fill the headquartersand production workers to operate the massive new manufacturing facilitiescurrently being built at our factory site.
To attract the best talent,we offered salaries at the top tier of the industry.
Given Luktic's extraordinary profit margins,personnel costs were more than manageable.
According to Dong-sik,online job communities were already buzzing.
The salaries and working conditions we had announced were excellent,and Luktic's technology had been thoroughly validatedthrough recent events.
People believed in Luktic's future.
I could only hopethat many outstanding talents would join us.
…Suddenly, I remembered my own past—back when I was a job seeker before obtaining the quantum computer.
I had been the one desperately sending resumes and cover letters,begging companies to give me a chance.
And now,I was on the other side—preparing to welcome applicants to my company.
Life truly was unpredictable.
Not long after,I heard that interior work on the new headquarters buildingwas largely complete.
Together with Dong-sik and CTO Kang Joo-tae,I visited the building again.
At the top of the ten-story exterior wall,the Luktic logo was boldly displayed.
The same logo stood prominentlyon a large sign at the main entrance on the first floor.
Dong-sik stared at it in awe.
"Wow…So this day really came.It feels like just yesterdaywe were using a tiny room attached to a warehouse as our office."
Director Kang spoke calmly.
"Now we'll need to begin large-scale recruitment soon.For executive-level positions,it would be best to headhunt experienced professionals."
Before long,mass recruitment would begin in earnest.
Ordinarily, preparing something of this scale so suddenlywould have been overwhelming.
But thanks to Chairman Choi Chang-sik's promise,Daesung Group was providing guidance and consulting,which eased the burden considerably.
The day when Luktic would truly look like a major conglomeratewas fast approaching.
***
When I returned home that evening,the decryption of the hair-loss treatment manufacturing methodhad finally completed.
[Knowledge decryption complete!][Would you like to view it now?]▶ Yes / No
I immediately checked the recipe and materials.
But the moment I reviewed the method,I froze.
"…Huh?This is…?"
I had been worried that obtaining pharmaceutical sales approvalfor the hair-loss treatmentwould take a very long time.
I had even been considering another high-stakes negotiation with the governmentto further shorten the approval process.
But after reviewing the manufacturing method—
That might not be necessary at all.
If anything,this could be commercialized much faster than I'd expected.