Chapter 81: After the Proof

I was puzzled.

‘After death, the merits and sins one accumulates in the mortal world are tallied in the afterlife to determine the next life. That’s what I’ve always known, right?’

[Correct. So, you should see this as a truly exceptional case.]

The Grim Reaper nodded.

[Though the net of Heaven is vast and wide, not even the smallest thing escapes it.]

It meant that even though the net of Heaven seemed big and loose, nothing could ever slip through.

[You decided to save lives, even at your own loss. That itself is a great virtue.]

The Grim Reaper spoke.

[The virtue you accumulated today will soon return to you several times over, as a reward. His Majesty promises it.]

Hold on. Wait a minute.

‘I haven’t lost anything yet, though?’

Are they saying the afterlife is taking pity on me just because I handled Taeseong Chemicals’ promissory notes and handed them off?

Unbelievable.

‘Hah, everyone knows borrowing money to invest is the scariest thing. I’ve seen plenty of families go bankrupt after leveraging themselves to the hilt and putting everything into coins, stocks, or real estate. Why would WooKwang be any different?’

Am I supposed to explain to the Grim Reaper that the second oil shock will break out soon?

WooKwang’s short-term promissory notes—those can’t be paid off even if there isn’t a fire.

With less than a year left until the oil shock, how could WooKwang possibly devour Taeseong Chemicals so easily?

‘Why do you think I dragged WooKwang Securities in as collateral?’

My plan was to not only take Taeseong Chemicals, but WooKwang Securities as well.

I guess this isn’t counted since it doesn’t directly cost a life.

So, this sort of trap is seen not as evil, but as legitimate competitive strategy.

Aha, I get it now!

‘Well, using future knowledge to set a trap isn’t exactly a sin, is it?’

The Grim Reaper nodded again, without complaint.

[With your actions today, you saved 23 lives that were fated to die, and prevented suffering for another 166 souls. His Majesty is extremely pleased.]

The human casualties from the Taeseong Chemicals fire.

That’s what the Grim Reaper was talking about.

[Perhaps things are different in the mortal world, but here, nothing is valued more than human life. That’s why His Majesty insisted on a special, real-time calculation of your merit—a privilege indeed.]

Nice!

‘So, if I save people in the future, King Yeomra will tally up my merits in real time?’

[Yes. His Majesty said, ‘Saving others is the path to saving yourself; giving life to others is the path to giving life to yourself.’]

The Grim Reaper smiled in satisfaction.

[So His Majesty has decided to grant you a very special connection.]

A special connection.

[Originally, you would never have had the chance to meet this person. His Majesty has chosen a powerful figure who will be of great help to you in achieving your goals.]

That was tempting.

It’s hard to gain a connection with a big shot.

Everyone wants to rub shoulders with influential people, but in the end, it’s always like attracts like.

Unless there’s an extraordinary opportunity, meeting people higher up is next to impossible.

Suddenly, I recalled the conversation I had with King Yeomra in the afterlife.

-Is this luck you speak of like winning first prize in the lottery every time, getting a perfect score on exams by guessing, or stumbling into a windfall on the street—things like that?

-Hahaha, sometimes you may get lucky like that. But you can’t go through life expecting only such fortune every time. That’s not what life is about.

-That’s exactly why I’m asking.

-When you were punished, everything you tried kept getting sabotaged, right? This time, it will be the opposite.

-Oh!

-Good connections will gather, bringing big and small opportunities, and if luck happens to follow as well, life will feel worthwhile. That’s what true fortune is.

King Yeomra emphasized it again.

-So be very careful in making connections. In the world of men, luck always originates from ties to others.

I stroked my chin.

‘A benefactor who brings great fortune—a big shot who’ll help me in the future, someone I would never have met otherwise. Who could that be?’

The Grim Reaper smiled gently.

[It’s a connection prepared by Heaven. You’ll find out soon enough.]

The Grim Reaper vanished like a wisp of smoke.

---

“Young master.”

President Shim called to me.

He was handing me a three-page contract.

‘Wow! That’s an incredible golden glow!’

When I typed it up earlier, it definitely didn’t shine this brightly.

But after Chairman Kim of WooKwang signed it, it suddenly began to gleam like this.

‘This actually works?’

This was amazing.

I’d seen notes I wrote glow golden immediately before, but never a contract that became even brighter after it was signed and sealed.

I got curious.

“When you drafted the contract for WooKwang’s acquisition and merger with Taeseong Chemicals earlier, did you add anything extra?”

“If you mean an addition... yes, there was one thing.”

“What was it?”

“I didn’t consult you, young master, but since we were taking a big risk anyway, I thought we might as well make it more secure, so I added one more clause.”

“One more clause?”

I looked over the contract’s special terms.

Now that I noticed, there was a handwritten clause added.



President Shim explained.

“I simply replaced your term ‘loan shark rules’ with language more fitting for our side.”

Could it be that this single word changed the brilliance of the golden glow?

Fascinating.

“Young master, you’re still young, so you may not grasp just how vicious the phrase, ‘the collateral of WooKwang Securities will be handled as a renegotiation condition,’ really is.”

Oh, I get it.

I’d slyly hidden that intent under the phrase about handling things according to loan shark rules; he’d just made it an explicit clause.

“WooKwang is the ninth largest conglomerate in Korea. If they shifted all of their affiliate sales to Taeseong Chemicals, they could pay off the notes. However—”

“You mean WooKwang will make Taeseong Chemicals’ notes their lowest priority, right?”

“Yes. With such a large sum, if trouble arises, the Blue House will likely intervene. WooKwang saw no reason to rush to settle Taeseong’s notes.”

Even if there was no fire at Taeseong Chemicals, WooKwang would just ignore those short-term notes and end up hurting themselves.

That’s why I brought up loan shark rules, to tie the notes together.

‘Our methods differ, but our goals are the same. Yet, just this clause changes the contract’s value?’

I looked down at the contract, which now glowed with a bright golden light.

‘If possible, it’s better to follow the rules out in the open and use legal means.’

Now that I think about it, that’s true.

Legal methods carry far less risk than illegal or dubious ones.

And it’s easier to gain others’ recognition.

‘Good lesson learned.’

I was very pleased.

President Shim seemed positively adorable for handling this matter so well.

“You’ve worked hard. Especially this final special clause—I love it.”

I pressed my hands together and bowed deeply.

“Thank you for teaching me such an important lesson. The rules of the chaebol corporations. Thanks to you, I learned them clearly.”

“You’re astute indeed. I didn’t expect you’d catch my hidden intentions… The future of Taeseong is bright.”

Feigning ignorance, I asked slyly,

“If, by any chance, my prediction turns out wrong—aren’t you worried you’d be treated like a bastard who colluded with WooKwang to snatch away Taeseong Chemicals? Wouldn’t it be hard to prove your true loyalty to Taeseong then?”

“You think I was worried about that?”

President Shim got down on one knee to face me.

“I trust the Chairman. That’s why I never worried about such things.”

His expression was gentle and his eyes soft.

“The Chairman knows the tricks chaebol corporations use to devour struggling companies. Just by mentioning you’d brought in WooKwang Securities as collateral, I’m sure he grasped my intent.”

“Ah…!”

“In truth, the one I worried about was you, young master.”

“Me?”

I blinked my wide eyes slowly.

I didn’t quite get it.

“If my prediction was right—in other words, if WooKwang ended up paying off the short-term notes properly in order to acquire Taeseong Chemicals…”

While I assumed WooKwang would default on the short-term notes, President Shim was assuming they’d pay them properly as a basic premise.

“Why do you think Taeseong painstakingly organized a negotiation team, enduring bloody battles at the table for months or even years? It’s because, for a company, losing its credit means losing everything.”

Credit.

A word not highly valued in the backstreets I came from.

“I didn’t think WooKwang would go as far as bankrupting WooKwang Construction just to snatch Taeseong Chemicals. That’s why I felt it was such a waste for Taeseong to suffer losses from using expedients.”

I suppose for chaebol companies operating in broad daylight, credit has a much weightier value than in my world.

I hadn’t considered that.

“But after actually facing WooKwang’s people, I realized—150 billion won is enough to cast aside 40 years of friendship and even a company’s credit. It was disheartening.”

150 billion won would be about 750 billion in today’s money.

Who would value 40 years of friendship over that kind of money?

“To be honest, your bait was just too good, young master. Not only Chairman Kim of WooKwang, but even their affiliates and myself were all hooked. It was a bold move.”

President Shim gently grasped my shoulder.

“Your fierce drive towards your goal, your fearless audacity, bold tactics, and the keen insight to see through the other side’s intentions.”

He smiled in deep satisfaction.

“Excellent. For an eight-year-old, it’s almost unbelievable. I, Shim Woncheol, will protect you.”

“So, does this mean all the tests are over now?”

“…You knew?”

“Thank you for your hard work. It can’t have been easy pulling such stunts just to match an eight-year-old’s perspective.”

President Shim’s pupils shook as if in an earthquake.

“I suppose I got outmaneuvered here.”

“You were half-convinced, weren’t you? Yet you still pushed ahead with my plan.”

If I hadn’t judged him as someone who could treat me according to my ability, I wouldn’t have revealed my intentions.

“The fact you conducted negotiations while feeling out my intentions means you have the ability to support me, no matter what I ask you to do.”

President Shim had even cut short talks with WooKwang to rush to my side, just to see what I would decide.

He’d been so composed, even while getting squeezed by forty WooKwang affiliate presidents, that he could still try to read me.

He deserved extra points for that.

‘Grandfather would never have entrusted me with full authority over Taeseong Chemicals’ acquisition negotiations if he didn’t think I was capable. Second uncle wouldn’t have coveted it otherwise.’

President Shim had acted shrewdly, even in front of my second uncle.

For him to reveal himself so openly to an eight-year-old like me was clearly intentional.

Since such a man now pledged to work for me, I couldn’t help but be happy.

“How were you planning to cover things on your end?”

“You set the trap, young master. I intended to conduct the drive hunt. All I need to do is stir things up so WooKwang can’t easily repay those short-term notes.”

Hmm?

“Right now, WooKwang’s cash flow is already on the brink. If promissory notes start bouncing all over the place, there’ll be a wave of bankruptcies. That’ll force WooKwang to the renegotiation table.”

That kind of line sounded like something out of the back alleys.

He didn’t need to go that far—WooKwang would have no choice but to come to the renegotiation table before long anyway.

‘Seriously. I can’t talk about the Taeseong Chemicals fire, can’t mention the oil shock that’ll hit within a year, or say with certainty that when that happens, not just Taeseong Chemicals but even WooKwang Securities will end up in our hands. There’s just no way to explain it, is there?’

Still, I liked this kind of aggressive attitude that never misses a chance!

Knock, knock, knock.

The president of WooKwang Construction opened the secretary’s office door with a sly grin.

“From the moment you signed the Taeseong Chemicals acquisition and merger contract, everything in this place—every document, every item, every asset—belongs to WooKwang. Outsiders, kindly leave.”

WooKwang’s order of expulsion.

President Shim shot him a look that said, ‘Perfect timing!’

“Chairman Kim says he’ll issue the notes in the name of WooKwang Construction. Is that all right?”

President Kim of WooKwang Construction’s face twisted in an instant.

Of course, there was no way it was all right.