Managing a considerable sum like 20 billion won would be best entrusted to family, but even blood relatives could succumb to temptation in the face of such large amounts of money.
If he asked his uncle, who was still young and full of energy, it might end in squandering everything, and his paternal grandfather was the type of doctor with a strong sense of service, likely to spend it all on expanding the hospital facilities and helping unfortunate patients.
This is a good opportunity to expand Grandpa’s hospital too.
He’d discuss the hospital matters separately with his dad, and he asked his mom if it would be okay to entrust it to his maternal grandfather.
“Of course. Your grandfather is retired and resting at home now, but he has a wide network and plenty of ability. He’s not the type to swindle his grandson’s money, so don’t worry.”
“He’d definitely haggle down the real estate prices rather than get ripped off.”
“He’s been bored with nothing to do lately, so if you ask him to buy real estate for his grandson as a pastime, he’ll be thrilled.”
After spending a week at his paternal grandparents’ house, they visited his maternal grandparents, who lived in a rural home and warmly welcomed their grandchildren whom they hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Oh my. Our little puppy has grown up so much.”
“Jaeeun is turning into a young lady too.”
“Grandpa~”
His sister had grown noticeably since starting middle school, but she still showed her lively affection as the granddaughter.
“From the looks of it, life in America suits you well. Seeing how Korea is these days, it seems like you made the right choice.”
Jaesung’s maternal grandfather had bushy eyes and a square face overflowing with charisma, but upon seeing his grandchildren after so long, he was melting into a puddle.
“I heard Jaesung is being a proper filial son in America—I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks to our son, I’ve even appeared in an American movie and walked the red carpet with Hollywood actors.”
Titanic hadn’t been released in Korea yet, and Mom said to make sure to go see it in the theater when it comes out.
They caught up on stories they hadn’t shared in a while, and once things settled down a bit, Mom told Grandfather that Jaesung wanted to buy real estate.
“Good thinking. Nothing’s better than land. Prices will keep dropping for a while, so it’s smart to prepare your own home in advance during this opportunity.”
“But we have to go back to America next week, so we can’t go look at houses ourselves. Dad, could you handle the contracts for us?”
“I have juniors in construction and real estate—I’ll look into good places for my grandson.”
Jaesung told his grandfather that he’d already decided on the areas to buy in, and to wait for a while and purchase good properties when they come up as urgent sales.
“You’re not buying just one, but several? That’ll require a lot of money, won’t it?”
“A few days ago, Jaesung and I went to the bank and exchanged 20 billion won in cash. It’s in the account, so you can use it right away.”
Grandfather’s eyes lit up at the mention of 20 billion won in cash in the account, and he was shocked that they’d brought such a huge sum.
“My daughter’s son has way more money than I thought.”
The surprised grandfather pondered with a serious expression for a moment, then said he’d take responsibility and buy good properties.
“It would be hard to ask anyone else, but I can trust you, Grandpa.”
“Of course. Just rely on your old grandpa.”
Jaesung’s maternal grandfather—his mom’s dad—was a retired former military man, still with networks and influence in various fields.
He was the type whose body was ingrained with discipline and following regulations to the letter, so Jaesung could entrust him with the 20 billion won without worry.
He told Grandfather which specific apartments in which areas to buy, and to purchase buildings in upcoming commercial districts and factory sites if good deals come up as urgent sales.
“Focus on buying in these areas, but even if it’s not exactly here, if a really urgent sale with a hard-to-get property comes up, go ahead and buy it at your discretion. For the apartments, distribute them evenly under my name, Mom’s, Dad’s, and Jaeeun’s; for the buildings and land, put them all under my name.”
“Heh heh. You’ve become a completely different person since going to America.”
“I guess meeting all those impressive people there changed me a bit.”
He used to be scared of his general grandfather, but after hanging out with influential grandpas in America, he now just felt like a kindly grandfather.
“I’ll come back during summer vacation, so don’t rush into contracts—only go for really urgent sales on properties that are usually hard to get.”
“Alright. Your grandpa will handle it wisely, so don’t worry.”
He already had some wealth and power, so he wasn’t the type to covet his grandson’s money, and as the son of his cherished daughter, he’d do his best no matter what.
With the Korean real estate purchase issue resolved, Jaesung could comfortably enjoy his winter in Korea.
“Jaesung. My younger acquaintance that your uncle knows really wants to meet you—do you have a moment?”
“What kind of person wants to meet me?”
“He’s a young guy who started a computer programming company. When he heard my nephew made a program and sold it expensively to Microsoft, he insisted on meeting you.”
His uncle and grandfather had been bragging about Jaesung to everyone around, and his uncle’s acquaintance had begged to meet him.
Mom gave him a smack on the back for blabbing unnecessarily, and after getting a taste of his sister’s hand after so long, Uncle took Jaesung to a tonkatsu restaurant.
“Do you know how much your sister scolded me because of you?”
“Hyung. Thanks. But you’re even more handsome than I thought.”
“Our sister was an actress, remember? And your brother-in-law is overly handsome for a doctor—it’s good bloodlines we’re inheriting.”
Uncle’s acquaintance said he ran a company developing internet-based enterprise software.
They made groupware for corporate supply and HTML editors, and partnered with Microsoft to build groupware and install it for various companies.
“Is it true you made a program and sold it to Microsoft?”
“It’s been a while, but I created the Start button, maximize, minimize, and hide functions for Windows 95. I even commuted to Microsoft for a time to work on it. It’s already been three years—time flies.”
When the man looked shocked and disbelieving that Jaesung had created the signature features of Windows 95, Jaesung showed him photos taken with William Gates and from when he worked at Microsoft headquarters.
“My parents and sister came to the announcement event too, but the executives got so excited introducing the program that they started dancing, which was awkward.”
As Jaesung detailed his experiences at Microsoft, his uncle and the acquaintance were captivated by the rare stories and listened with great interest.
“I’d love to hear more over a drink, but it’s hard to believe you’re still a first-year high schooler.”
“If you give my nephew alcohol, my sister and dad will shoot me. Don’t even dream about it.”
He was a bit intrigued by the mention of alcohol, but Jaesung, in his prime growth years, was avoiding anything bad for his body as much as possible to grow even a little taller.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Kim Jintaek, the CEO of MC Soft.”
Jaesung was startled when an completely unexpected name popped out, and he looked again at the business card and the man in front of him.
“It’s a company, but Korea’s software market will keep growing, so the future looks very bright.”
Though the economy is struggling, the government will invest heavily in fostering the IT industry through the IMF, and as the market expands, rapidly growing companies will emerge in Korea too.
MC Soft started as a groupware subcontractor. They haven’t made Lineage yet.
Though they’d get flak for various issues in the future, the fact that the CEO of a company that would rake in enormous money with Lineage One Tool wanted to meet him was intriguing.
“Internet companies are growing fast in America too, right? What do you think will happen to this industry going forward?”
“Software and portal sites will grow, but dominating the Korean market will be tough due to fierce competition. And expanding overseas has language barriers.”
“That’s true, but the Korean market isn’t small either.”
“So, I think targeting the game market would be better. Games are easier to export than other programs and have high profitability.”
“One of my juniors makes games—I should meet him and talk about it. Games, huh.”
Kim Jintaek, who had been listening to Jaesung’s stories with interest, gradually opened up and started grumbling about how hard it was to run a business in Korea.
“Just when I started the company, the country hit hard times, and bank loans are practically blocked.”
“You’re not the only one struggling? Everyone’s just watching to see who falls first these days.”
“It’s heartbreaking to see good companies and projects collapse due to lack of budget.”
As Kim Jintaek grumbled about not being able to find investors, Jaesung’s hidden investment instincts stirred.
Soon, they’ll acquire Song Jaeyoung’s team, who handled the development of Baram, and create Lineage at MC Soft.
Investing now could yield profits for years to come.
From Jaesung’s memory, Lineage recorded cumulative global sales of 7 billion dollars by 2023.
Though it got criticism for its pay-to-win policies, it was still a formidable game that opened users’ wallets for nearly 30 years.
However, Korea’s top game revenue earner was Dungeon Fighter, which exploded in China and induced massive spending from Chinese users, showing overwhelming dominance.
In Korea, the user base shrinks, but overseas—especially in China—it becomes a national game, raking in over 4 trillion won in a single year.
I need to invest in Nexon too.
Native Korean IT companies will emerge soon, so besides real estate, I should start investing in companies.
For now, he decided to start with Kim Jintaek’s MC Soft, who was grumbling right in front of him.
“I’ve been planning to invest in Korean companies with the money I earned in America. From what you’ve said, you seem capable—would you be okay with personal investment?”
“Jaesung. Even if it’s an acquaintance, you shouldn’t invest like that.”
“Hyungnim. That’s hurtful. If your nephew decides to invest, how can you stop him? Right. I actually prefer personal investment over banks. How much are you thinking of investing?”
Jaesung, accustomed to American investment scales, pondered briefly before cautiously stating the amount he had in mind.
“Rather than investing too much, I’m thinking modestly around 1 billion won.”
“Gasp! 1 billion?”
“Jaesung. Isn’t 1 billion too much? I need to tell your sister.”
Thinking the still-young Jaesung didn’t realize how big 1 billion was and was speaking lightly, his uncle tried to stop him, but with the exchange rate up, it was only about 500,000 dollars.
“Can you really invest 1 billion in cash?”
“I have it in cash in my account right now—I could transfer it immediately. In return, I’d like shares. Is that okay?”
“Of course. For 1 billion, you definitely get shares. Let’s go sign the contract right now.”
Korea was in a drought of cash right now, making investments extremely hard to come by, and the 1 billion Jaesung mentioned was enough to run the company stably for several years.
Thus, Jaesung secured 20% shares in MC Soft and immediately transferred the 1 billion to Kim Jintaek.
“How did you take my nephew and get him to invest in your acquaintance’s company?”
His now middle-aged uncle got another smack on the back from Mom, but Jaesung, knowing MC Soft’s future success, quietly let it pass while thinking he’d buy him a meal later as thanks.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.