All the news channels were talking about the Seonghwa Group.
The Seonghwa Group, called the top of the Korean Empire’s business world, was the site of an unprecedented event: the poisoning of its Owner Family.
Naturally, the market was thrown into a panic.
The stock prices of Seonghwa Group’s affiliates hit their daily price limits the moment the incident occurred, and not just investors but the general public was thrown into massive confusion.
The reason was simple.
It was all too sudden.
The owner of the Seonghwa Group had vanished overnight.
No, to be precise, it was more accurate to say the Seonghwa Group itself was on the verge of being blown apart.
Because of that, people wanted a statement faster than anyone else.
What would happen to the Seonghwa Group now?
Who would take charge of the company?
Was this incident a simple accident, or a deliberate crime by someone?
But hours passed, and the Seonghwa Group remained silent.
Perhaps that was only to be expected.
The leader and even those who could have given orders in his place were all dead.
So they couldn’t release an official position, hold a press conference, or do literally anything.
And amid that suffocating atmosphere, a Neotube notification spread to the Seonghwa Group’s Subscribers.
「Emergency Live Broadcast Scheduled」
「Urgent statement from a Seonghwa Group representative」
That news began spreading rapidly across the internet, and broadcasters had no choice but to focus their lights on it as well.
But for some reason, the person who appeared on that screen was….
─Hello. I am Kang Geon, the 3rd Chairman of the Seonghwa Group.
It was a stranger of a boy introducing himself as the new Chairman of the Seonghwa Group.
Of course, the appearance of such a boy sent the internet world into a frenzy.
[Video) Seonghwa Group Chairman (real) speech video]
└Seriously, stop with the AI. How can some high schooler be the chairman of the top company in the Korean Empire?
└I thought it was fake at first too, but it was a Neotube livestream. The video is still up.
└Wait, isn’t he an Illegitimate Child?
└They say the entire Owner Family died at once except for him. Is there really any other option?
└They could just hire someone from outside.
└What’s the point of raising some hired hand and stuffing him full? He’ll get delusions of grandeur and run the company sloppily.
└Honestly, most companies including the Seonghwa Group do follow Bloodline Succession as a principle… It’s common sense even the Imperial Family acknowledges.
└I think it’s fine even if he’s an Illegitimate Child, since the Blood of Sunghwa flows through him. Founder and Chairman Kang Seongcheol also built Seonghwa up at a young age and made it the best company.
└Old man… are you seriously comparing then and now?
[Am I the only one who finds this a bit unexpected?]
└What?
└If he’s an Illegitimate Child, shouldn’t he have more resentment toward Seonghwa? The fact that his name was never even known until now says everything about how he was treated.
└I too am a person who inherited the Blood of Sunghwa. So let me use this opportunity to say it clearly. I will not run from my responsibilities. <- That line was kind of a killer, honestly.
└Well, I’ll at least give him credit for not running away lol.
└I fell for him when he said at the end that he would make sure the culprit pays for their crimes. That look in his eyes.
└A tiger’s cub is a tiger after all.
[But honestly, just doing a Livestream in that situation is no joke]
└I couldn’t do that even with a Script lol.
└I’d probably just freak out and run away.
└He didn’t even stutter.
└That’s why I’m going to trust him for now. (I just got a job at Seonghwa Semiconductor. If the company goes under, I’m screwed.)
└I believe in him no matter what. (It’s definitely not because I’m stuck holding Seonghwa Group stocks.)
└You still haven’t sold??
└Ugh… I wonder what the temperature of the Han River is.
└If you’re a Seonghwa Group shareholder who wants the bastards who caused this situation to get caned, then fine.
└The hell is caning? Just do proper flogging.
└Burn them at the stake.
└Let’s go with burning.
The internet was buzzing with heated debate over Kang Geon.
But there was one emotion strong enough to push aside all that arguing.
Rage.
And specifically, rage at the culprit who had caused this whole mess.
On top of that, Kang Geon had emphasized that point even harder.
That someone was trying to bring down the Seonghwa Group itself, and that this was a despicable act holding the daily lives and livelihoods of the people hostage.
The more you thought about it, the more true it rang.
If they hadn’t committed the absurd act of poisoning the entire Owner Family, this situation wouldn’t have arisen in the first place.
And it was right as the people’s rage was growing beyond control.
“What the hell was Department Head Kim doing while things got to this point!”
Bang-!
With those words, a man slammed his fist hard against the wall of the office.
It was Jeong Mincheol, the Director of the Future Strategy Planning Office.
His face flushed bright red as he shouted.
“You can’t handle a single high school student we’ve been managing all this time? Has he still not figured out his place?”
“……”
Then Yun Changseop, the Former Chief Secretary who had been quietly watching his fury, opened his mouth.
“Department Head Kim is good at doing what he’s told, but in the end, the man himself is decent. So I forcibly put a leash on him, but….”
“What should we do?”
“For now, tell him to lie low and stay quiet.”
Jeong Mincheol nodded as if he understood.
In truth, the Department Head Kim situation wasn’t that important right now.
What mattered was Kang Geon’s very existence and his boldness.
Even if Department Head Kim had failed, Yun Changseop was confident the plan hadn’t suffered any major setbacks.
Even if he carried the Blood of Sunghwa, he was still just a high school student who knew nothing of the world, wasn’t he?
In simple terms, it meant he would be easy to manipulate, and if the opportunity arose, he could be eliminated at any time.
But it seemed that was a grave miscalculation.
Yun Changseop had seen it.
The boy, who had been forced to live hidden in the shadows until now, standing more proudly than anyone else under the world’s spotlight.
And the sight of him declaring his true intentions to the people with an unwavering gaze.
Watching the boy’s display, a thought suddenly crossed Yun Changseop’s mind.
‘He reminds me of Him….’
As the Former Chief Secretary, he was an employee who knew the Seonghwa Group better than anyone.
He was practically a living fossil of Seonghwa, having served at the side of the 1st Chairman Kang Seongcheol, the 2nd Chairman Kang Taesu, and Kang Junhyuk, who was to have been the 3rd Chairman.
And so, he instinctively had no choice but to reach this conclusion.
The founder of the Seonghwa Group and its 1st Chairman.
Chairman Kang Seongcheol, whom Yun Changseop deeply respected from the bottom of his heart, and this boy….
They overlapped far too much.
He let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.
Chairman Kang Seongcheol was a man called the Mountain Lord.
He was bold, knew no fear, and was, quite literally, the greatest leader.
But not a single trace of that could be found in his grandsons and granddaughters.
And yet.
Why……
Why was it that he could see those traces in the boy called the stain of the Seonghwa Group?
Yun Changseop wanted to believe it was a cruel twist of fate.
If he had learned of the boy’s true nature a little earlier, could a slightly different future have unfolded…?
‘No, it wouldn’t have.’
At least as long as the Owner Family was alive and well, the future wouldn’t have changed.
Yun Changseop let out a small sigh.
Regardless, survival was the top priority right now.
This wasn’t the time to be lost in sentiment.
The game had already begun.
And there was no turning back.
Yun Changseop slowly organized his thoughts.
This incident was by no means a crime committed on impulse.
It was a plan prepared meticulously over a long period of time.
The poison had been chosen from a type that left no traces, and the method of administration had been dispersed across multiple stages.
Even if they caught a few low-level employees, nothing would come of it.
All the loose ends had already been cut.
He was confident that at least no suspicion would fall on their side over this.
And in the worst-case scenario, they could just use that ‘method.’
So now, what mattered was how the boy who vowed to catch the culprit would act.
Whether intentional or not, through the Livestream, the boy had created a situation favorable to himself.
He had introduced himself to the entire nation as the 3rd Chairman of the Seonghwa Group and publicly declared he would take responsibility.
That also meant no one could touch the boy for the time being.
Right now, to those who supported the Seonghwa Group, the boy had become the last spark of hope.
But if that spark were to be snuffed out as well.
‘A massive riot would probably break out. And to soothe public sentiment, even the Imperial Family would step in actively.’
Then the Seonghwa Group would be finished.
That was absolutely not the outcome Yun Changseop wanted.
Still, he thought nothing much would happen today.
Having dropped the huge bomb of an easily accessible Neotube Livestream, they would need some time to catch their breath.
But.
“H-He has just arrived at Building A!”
……
Yun Changseop could no longer predict the boy’s next move at all.
***
Without any prior notice, Kang Geon entered Seonghwa Center Building A with Choi Yuna.
He immediately summoned the key figures under the pretext of an Emergency Meeting.
Fortunately, thanks to the previous Emergency Management Committee, the core personnel were still at Center Building A, so gathering them was a simple matter.
It was just that the executives who had been summoned by the new Chairman couldn’t hide their odd expressions.
Dismay.
Discomfort.
And a cautious wariness.
The reason was simple.
Their counterpart was far too young.
On top of that, he was an Illegitimate Child whose very existence had to be thoroughly concealed from birth.
A person they had never once seen in their lives.
And that boy had summoned them overnight in the name of the Chairman.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say it wasn’t absurd.
But even so, no one dared to openly voice their displeasure.
The Seonghwa Group was a company that operated on the strict principle of Bloodline Succession.
And at this point in time, Kang Geon was the only person who carried the Blood of Sunghwa.
That meant he was someone they had to acknowledge, even if they didn’t want to.
Creak─
At that moment, the door to the conference room slowly opened.
At the end of everyone’s gaze stood the boy in question, Kang Geon, with Choi Yuna by his side.
The boy took a sweeping look around the conference room, and his gaze naturally came to rest on one person.
It was Yun Changseop, the Former Chief Secretary attending the meeting in the capacity of an Advisor.
But Kang Geon, acting as if it were nothing, immediately headed for the empty seat of honor.
As he sat down, the executives followed suit and took their own seats.
And then.
“I believe the culprit behind the poisoning of the Owner Family is someone inside this company.”
He dropped a bombshell from the very start.
Thanks to that, the air in the conference room froze solid in an instant, and Kang Geon continued speaking as if nothing was wrong.
“This crime would be impossible for anyone who didn’t know the internal affairs of the Seonghwa Group in great detail. In that sense, I absolutely cannot rule out the possibility that the culprit is among those of you here.”
“…C-Chairman.”
Someone tried to speak in a flustered voice, but.
“So I’ll ask simply. I want to hear from each of you one reason why you are not the culprit of this incident. I’m in a position where I’d like to trust all of you as much as possible.”
This was a development no one in the conference room had expected.
Even if the culprit really was here, how would he find out if that person just lied?
So the executives in the meeting couldn’t help but wonder why he would even ask such a question.
But what could they do?
“Then let’s start with the head of the Management Support Office.”
If the Chairman said to talk, they had to talk.
And so, each of them began explaining their own circumstances.
Roughly speaking, their alibis, how they had benefited from the Seonghwa Group, and how someone in their high position would never do such a thing.
Naturally, most of the answers were similar.
Yun Changseop was no exception.
“Seonghwa has given me more than I deserve. It raised me, who started as a low-level employee, all the way to Chief Secretary, and I received industry-leading salary and treatment. And above all… I’m already a man who has plenty. What more could I possibly want that I would kill the Owner Family?”
Yun Changseop skillfully answered the question Kang Geon wanted.
But for some reason, the more he spoke, the wider Kang Geon’s grin grew.
…He had no choice.
Because.
‘I found you.’
Because his ‘Intuition’ hadn’t missed the deep-seated grudge hidden beneath the eyes of that sly, cunning fox.