12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Returning from the shareholders’ meeting, I set out on the very next project.

What Tak Mun-su should unveil next, when he had been given a fatal blow during the general meeting of shareholders, was the emergence of Deep Blue Corporation. ‘You didn’t expect this, did you?’ He must be thinking that, but it would also be mistaken.

I collected Crow’s research and made two more articles.

The first version was focused on “How Deep Blue Corporation has hurt Suyeon Construction shareholders’ profits and funneled money into Tak Woo-kyung’s pockets.” The targets were the stock investors of Suyeon Construction. This would incur investors’ anger, as it was a clear breach of trust, in which the CEO had extorted money that was meant to go to shareholders. In addition, it was enough to create distrust in the whole Suyeon Group.

The second version was focused on “How Tak Woo-kyung evaded taxes while establishing Deep Blue Corporation.” The targets were ordinary people who lived faithfully paying taxes, and current government officials and President Joo Sung-won, who were struggling with insufficient tax revenues.

The first version was scheduled to appear in the economic media, including the Daewon Daily News, while the second version was to be released on Internet news by Oracle News. When this went out, there would be a lot of repercussions on both sides.

I sent Crow to the Cayman Islands to add heat to the fire, as I didn’t know how far the potato vines were connected. As soon as it came out, I would write follow-up articles and make the people feel that Suyeon Group was a hub of corruption.

———————

August fifteenth, 2022, the Liberation Day…

Before the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting, the media, including the Daewon Daily News and Oracle News, once again hit Suyeon Group. The reactions blew up like fire.

– Wow, Suyeon Group is a real scumbag. Huh, Tak Woo-kyung…-

– Tak Woo-kyung is a very meticulous man. He does tax evasion both when he lives and dies.-

– Is Suyeon Group a company in our country? Let’s dismantle it this time and send it abroad. Why are they doing business in Korea without paying taxes?-

– We should not blame a food truck. I can’t believe a big company has been doing tax evasion for billions of dollars.-

Deep Blue Corporation had already purchased a considerable stake in Suyeon Electronics, but less than 5%. However, it was now impossible to come to the fore. If they raised their hand at a shareholders’ meeting, a crowd of reporters would rush in.

I laughed and thought, blocking the last hole of the fleeing mouse. ‘If Deep Blue Corporation is blocked… how will Tak Mun-su react? Now that he’s lost his hands and feet, there’s nothing more he can do, right?’

But that was my illusion. A mouse with all the holes blocked eventually chose to run directly to a cat. That evening, I searched the news under my name as usual, but I got a strange piece of news. [CEO Hang Sang-hoon of Invictus Investment was attacked by an unidentified man.]

I opened my mouth wide, “Huh…really?” But I soon came to my senses. ‘Isn’t this also one of his methods, as expected? If anyone who plays baduk together and realizes he can’t win, the only method he can nullify the game is to dump the baduk board upside down.

‘It was supposed to happen… It is now impossible to block my M&A with the normal methods; of course, protecting their equity with a paper company is not the normal way to do it, either. However, when I die, there is no one to run the company instead of me, since Invictus Investment is 100% owned by me.

‘My property will also be scattered to my family like Tak Woo-kyung’s, and the M&A will come to nothing. Without me, President Joo Sung-won or CEO Lee Won-jae can’t defend our company. So, even if it is risky, Tak Mun-su decided the last means, after which the reward is certain.

‘… the vice chairman of a large corporation, after everything, did this.’

After all his methods were blocked, he finally crossed the line. He did what he shouldn’t do. It was probably because he couldn’t accept his defeat. If he had suffered one or two defeats so far, he would have known how to step back from unavoidable circumstances. However, he did not. Having never lost before now became his weakness.

‘All right, well, let’s see where and how he will attack.’

I read the article. [CEO Han Sang-hoon of Invictus Investment is in critical condition after being attacked by an unidentified man. August twenty-fourth, Han Sang-hoon, who had returned from a pediatric cancer charity event at a hospital in Gangnam, was ambushed by an unidentified man who was waiting with a knife while waiting for an elevator in his own Invictus Investment building.]

August twenty-fourth was about a week from now. I thought about the schedule for that day. ‘Apparently, there is a pediatric cancer charity event. Getting out of the Invictus building these days… He picked a good day because I have few external events.’

I held a regular pediatric cancer charity event twice a year; once in the first half and once in the second half. I wasn’t a charity worker like Jesus who told them, ‘Don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing,’ so a single search was enough to let the public know my schedule.

‘Dinner schedule: when I finish there, I come back to the parking lot of the Invictus building. It’s just that far that Secretary Park accompanies me. He does not follow me to the elevator. If I take the elevator up, it’s the house where Ah-young is waiting. The criminal seems to be aiming for that, too.’

‘By the way, who is the killer?’

I scrolled down a little more. [… after confirming CCTV, it is known that the killer is a giant, about 190-centimeter-tall… Based on this, the police will investigate…]

That was roughly right. The height of the guy who had been escorting Tak Joon-gi was 190 cm. I hadn’t seen him since the Crow’s dream, but he probably was resting with a proper reward from Tak Mun-su. It was not easy for a person to kill. If I thought about in that context, no one except him was as qualified for the job. He already had blood on his hands. I didn’t know how Tak Mun-su talked him into doing this.

‘… I’ll have to catch him and have him confess everything. With that, Tak Mun-su will be completely out of society as an attempted murderer, and if I do well, I can make the guy talk about the murder of Tak Joon-gi, also a successful murder. With two, Tak Mun-su will have to live in a cell until he is old and dead. In this case, no matter how much he whines in a wheelchair, the judge won’t let it go.

‘It’s the worst scenario for Tak Mun-su… I wouldn’t have done this much either… but I can’t help it now. I’ll have him eat his meals in a cell for the rest of his life.’

Tak Mun-su didn’t know he was in a trap. The more he tried to escape, the more the snare tightened. If he had cut off one foot and run away, he could have lived. However, he tried to destroy the trap, and he would be finished.

I called in Secretary Park the next day, after I knew Tak Mun-su’s plan.

“Secretary Park. Do you remember what my father used to say?”

“What do you mean?”

“Never fight an enemy with a weapon.”

“Oh, I remember.” He grinned as he thought of the old days.

“What do you think of that?”

“That’s very true. No matter how strong you are, it’s not good to fight with someone who uses a weapon. Even if it’s a weak old man or a slim woman with a knife, the basic rule is to not fight. Well, I’ll win somehow, but if I’m unlucky, if I get hit in the wrong spot… I could lose my life. If he is a trained expert, it’s 100% better to run away.”

“Well, I suppose so.”

I recalled my old memory for a moment, after I saved Oh Hyun-joo, four years ago. At the time, I shoulder threw a man with a deadly weapon, but if I was told to do it again, I didn’t know whether I could.

“How about you?” I asked Secretary Park again.

“What?”

“What about you, if you are facing an enemy with a deadly weapon?”

“If I have a long handkerchief, I can safely subdue an ordinary man.”

“Well, what if he’s an expert? What if he is a giant like you and a man using a knife?”

“Well… I think it’s not easy either. It depends on how good the expert is, but it’s going to be a life-threatening fight.”

I stroked my chin. “I see…”

Perhaps because I suddenly brought up a weapon story and my father’s words, Secretary Park asked me with his head tilted. “By the way… why are you asking me that?”

———————

On August twenty-fourth, 2020, it eventually became D-Day. The Bentley, carrying me, entered the underground parking lot of Invictus Investment building. Secretary Park pulled over the Bentley to the spot where it was supposed to be. I walked out of the car and Secretary Park bowed to me, handing me the Bentley key with both hands.

“Thanks for your work.” I took the Bentley key and raised my hand slightly to say goodbye to him. I then stood in front of the elevator, throwing the key into the air a couple of times.

I pressed the up button and waited for the elevator to come down for a second. At that moment, I turned my head at the sound of someone running towards me. There was a giant in a black mask charging with a shiny weapon. If I was an ordinary man, I couldn’t move properly being surprised, but I took out a taser gun I had hidden without a moment’s hesitation and shot him. The taser gun fired and hit his chest, and the giant collapsed on the spot with a flop.

Looking down at him, the policeman who had been playing me, lifted my suit slightly, and said,

“Cleared, senior superintendent.”

‘Cleared, senior superintendent.”

When I heard the radio, I turned my head and saw the man standing next to me. Senior superintendent Shin Hyun-chul spoke to me in a soft voice. “As you can see, it’s cleared, Mr. CEO.”

I had been looking at the situation, and I pointed to the CCTV screen. “That guy should not die. He might try to kill himself.”

When he heard me, he reassured me, “Oh, don’t worry, sir. He can’t bite his tongue because of the effect of getting hit by a taser. Plus, I think my men are doing a good job cleaning up.”

As he said that, Seo Joon-sik, the detective who had played my part (his age and physique were similar to me, but his voice was so different that he had decided not to speak) took off the giant’s mask, sealed his mouth with the gag he had prepared, and carefully handcuffed him.

I asked senior superintendent Shin Hyun-chul, “Then, can I go down and see him?”

He looked a bit embarrassed, but soon nodded. “Let’s go together, then.”

————

I went down to the parking lot with him on that elevator that the detective had called down. I found that the unidentified man who had been trying to attack me was still struggling on the floor. I glanced at his face; he was the very one I had seen in the Crow’s dream, the same man who had killed Tak Joon-gi.

‘… surely.’

I only glanced at him, and then nodded slightly at senior superintendent Shin Hyun-chul. As he had done a good job, an article praising him would be in the Oracle News. I didn’t know the ranks of police officers, but if there was anything to be promoted, the top position would be his. Several police cars were coming into our company’s parking lot. I looked over and gestured at Secretary Park standing next to him. He came over to me at once.

I said, pointing to the assailant still struggling on the floor. “What do you think about what would have happened?”

“I saw him charging with a knife… I think I’d have won, even if I’d had to fight.”

“Hmm. You told me it’d be better not to deal with even an old man or a woman with a weapon.”

He spoke with a shrug of his shoulders. “There’s a class difference, though.”

I replied after listening to his confident voice. “Hmm… I didn’t expect to tell you the same story as my father. Don’t fight with a knife guy, either. You have to stay with me for a few more years, and just in case, you should not be stabbed.”

Secretary Park replied, smiling bashfully, “Yes, boss!”