A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 11

A luxury hotel lounge in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

I, Lim Hyunjun, who came with Choi Seo-jun, was sitting quietly in a seat by the wall dressed in a neat black shirt.

My face looked quite young, but a sense of weight was felt in my eyes.

After a while, a man dressed in a modified hanbok quietly approached us.

The man called the ‘Big Hand of the stock world’.

It was Lee Jin-myeong.

Unlike the existing wealthy, he always insisted on traditional attire.

He was a person who overwhelmed the opponent with just his gaze and atmosphere rather than words.

Choi Seo-jun and I stood up and bowed to Lee Jin-myeong.

“I am Choi Seo-jun, the CEO of HJ Partners.”“Hello, Elder. I am Lim Hyunjun.”

Lee Jin-myeong nodded slowly and sat down.

“...A young person.”

Lee Jin-myeong glanced at Choi Seo-jun and then moved his gaze to me, Lim Hyunjun, who was sitting quietly in the next seat.

Normally, when people make eye contact with Lee Jin-myeong, they turn their gaze elsewhere, but my eyes did not waver at all.

He moved his gaze to look at Choi Seo-jun and spoke.

“What is the reason for wanting to meet me?”

Choi Seo-jun took out the tablet he brought and pushed it in front of Lee Jin-myeong.

“This is the recent stock price flow of Universe Games.”

Choi Seo-jun took out other documents he had prepared and began to explain step by step.

The documents included past trading patterns, account movements, and information about upcoming games.

Lee Jin-myeong glanced at them and opened his mouth.

“Do you think I don'

t even know how to look at a chart. Say what you want to say. I am not a person with a lot of time.”

When Choi Seo-jun hesitated at Lee Jin-myeong'

s firm attitude, I stepped forward.

“As you already know, Elder, this is the same as a rigged game of Go-stop.”

“Do you think information has been leaked?”

At my bold remark, Lee Jin-myeong snorted as if it were absurd.

However, I was not discouraged by such things at all and continued what I had to say.

“CEO Ma Sang-woo of Universe Games is intentionally bloating the stock price.”

“......”

“You would have noticed if it were you. Isn'

t that right?”

“So what are you telling me to do? It'

s not like I did anything wrong.”

My sharp gaze headed toward Lee Jin-myeong.

“Originally, the news of global market entry would have been disclosed along with the new work announcement. However, for some reason, the announcement is being delayed and there are only traces of collecting volume. You also know that even retail investors, the ants, have flocked in now!”

They bloat the stock price and wait for the ants to flock.

Then, it was a typical method of passing the volume entirely to the small shareholders.

The profit is taken entirely by the manipulation forces and the damage is mainly borne by the small shareholders.

Lee Jin-myeong put down his glass and looked at the two of us with his hands interlaced.

“Isn'

t that kind of thing common as can be. I wondered what the matter was.”

“Of course, since you know how to read the flow, you would escape well before then.”

Lee Jin-myeong did not deny my words.

His eyes shone sharply.

“Please officially announce a motion for the dismissal of CEO Ma Sang-woo.”

At my words, Lee Jin-myeong asked.

“Why should I do that?”

“Because you are not a simple shareholder. It is because you are a person regarded as a symbolic existence in the market.”

Lee Jin-myeong stared at me without a word.

For him, it was a matter he could just refuse.

But for some reason, Lee Jin-myeong'

s heart wavered a little at the young fellow'

s words.

“Universe Games is a company that would have risen even if CEO Ma Sang-woo hadn'

t made it like this.”

“Fine. Let'

s say it'

s as you say. If I move to change the CEO, what do you plan to do next? What would change by just swapping out one CEO.”

I rebutted with a firm tone.

“If you move, the story changes. Because that itself will be accepted as a warning.”

“Hahaha.”

Lee Jin-myeong laughed heartily.

“I didn'

t know I was that influential.”

“You are greater than you think. And if the stock price normalizes through this matter, there is actually a practical benefit for you too. Because you will gain the trust of the market.”

In fact, my words made sense.

The stock price might drop in the short term, but it was something worth doing in the long term.

I drove the wedge into the agonizing Lee Jin-myeong.

“The only person who can settle this board is you. The only person who can bear that weight is also you.”

Lee Jin-myeong'

s expression brightened as if he liked my words.

In fact, there was something I felt after meeting Lee Jin-myeong.

He liked revealing himself to others, and his desire for honor was as large as his greed for money.

A moment of silence flowed, and only quiet classical music was flowing in the lounge.

Lee Jin-myeong called a staff member and requested a beer.

Seeing that, Choi Seo-jun changed it to two beers and one beverage.

Soon, two beers and an orange juice came out.

Choi Seo-jun handed the orange juice to me and said.

“Drink after you become an adult.”

“Ah, yes. I should do that.”

Fortunately, they spoke in a small voice, so Lee Jin-myeong did not hear.

Moreover, as soon as he saw the beer glass placed in front of him, he was drinking it down in one gulp.

Watching that scene, I felt envious for the first time.

“Kyah! As expected, a cool beer is the best for thirst.”

Choi Seo-jun also took a few sips and agreed.

“It seems to be especially more enticing when the weather is hot.”

“Right, you too, don'

t you?”

Lee Jin-myeong, who drank several glasses in a row like that, stood up and thumped his chest with his fist.

“Fine. I'

ll do that dismissal matter.”

***

A huge wave swept through Yeouido.

A single official document in Lee Jin-myeong'

s name shook the brokerage world.

[Submission of request for convening Universe Games general shareholders'

meeting and motion for dismissal of the representative director]

The weight was different with just that name alone.

The stock market reacted immediately.

From the beginning of the market, the trading volume exploded and news articles decorated the headlines all at once.

[The big hand of the stock world, Lee Jin-myeong. Requests dismissal of Universe Games CEO... what'

s happening?]

[Announcement of dismissal motion amid suspicions of Universe stock price manipulation theory...]

The exact details were not disclosed, but a single perception began to spread in the market already.

Something went wrong!

That news reached CEO Ma Sang-woo, who lives in a luxury penthouse with a view of the Han River.

He was clutching his cell phone in front of a wide glass window.

On the wall-mounted TV, news about the ‘dismissal of CEO Ma Sang-woo’ was coming out one after another.

“Damn it. How did this happen.”

Ma Sang-woo hurriedly pressed the call button.

The opponent was none other than Taeseong Ilbo CEO Jeong Tae-jun.

The call was cut off after two signals.

Soon another number popped up and Ma Sang-woo'

s cell phone rang.

“CEO Jeong, we'

re in big trouble. Lee Jin-myeong personally put in a motion for dismissal.”

Unlike the desperate-looking Ma Sang-woo, Jeong Tae-jun'

s voice was calm.

“What does that have to do with me. Don'

t call me from now on. Because I have nothing to do with this matter.”

“What does that mean. Who set up this board. You'

re the one who did it!”

“Hey! Ma Sang-woo. You listen carefully.”

Jeong Tae-jun'

s cold voice flowed from the cell phone.

“Do you have evidence that I did it?”

“You son of a bitch... Do you think I'

ll die alone?”

“Hahaha. You pathetic bastard. That'

s just how the world is.”

Jeong Tae-jun hung up the phone after those words.

Ma Sang-woo'

s hand trembled as he heard the end-of-call tone.

Everything of Ma Sang-woo'

s crumbled overnight.

***

The main auditorium of Universe Games headquarters.

Today, this place was filled with an extraordinary tension.

It was because an extraordinary general shareholders'

meeting was being held.

There was only one agenda.

The motion for the dismissal of CEO Ma Sang-woo.

Major domestic media and investors flocked in large numbers to this place where the dismissal of the CEO was at stake.

In the midst of that, there was a person who entered the meeting room quietly, hiding his face with a hat and a mask in ordinary clothes.

It was me, Lim Hyunjun.

I hid myself as much as possible and walked in with the reliable Choi Seo-jun.

Choi Seo-jun asked me.

“Will you be okay, CEO?”

“I'

m just in a position of coming to watch.”

I sat down with an expressionless face.

At that time, Ma Sang-woo, who was waiting nearby, was repeatedly flipping through documents with a stiff expression.

The moderator announced the start of the meeting and declared the agenda.

“Agenda item number 1. Motion for the dismissal of Representative Director Ma Sang-woo...”

With those words, the door opened and Ma Sang-woo came inside.

As he walked forward and stood before the shareholders, it was noisy with sounds mixed with boos from here and there.

Ma Sang-woo also seemed to have expected it, as he did not show it and stood in front of the microphone to begin his defense.

No one raised their hand for Ma Sang-woo at his words, which were nothing more than excuses.

Eventually, Ma Sang-woo was dismissed from the position of representative director.

Ma Sang-woo, unable to accept it, even used profanity and caused a disturbance.

Camera flashes went off repeatedly toward such a Ma Sang-woo.

As people rushed in unsightly and forced Ma Sang-woo out, our eyes met.

In that fleeting moment.

The front of my eyes changed and I saw a piece of the future that flowed in like a short fragment.

A shabby basement office without a single window.

It was a place where even the air looked heavy.

Jeong Tae-jun was sitting there.

In front of his eyes, Ma Sang-woo was kneeling, bowing his head with a face soaked in sweat.

Jeong Tae-jun pushed an envelope placed on the table without a word.

And he spoke with a voice sharp as a blade.

“Sign this document. That way you can live too.”

Ma Sang-woo opened the envelope with trembling hands.

In the documents, things like ‘Stock transfer agreement’, ‘Memorandum of responsibility for disclosure of confidential internal information’, and ‘Overseas departure plan’ were seen.

“CEO Jeong. No, CEO Jeong, this is too...”

“Too? Look at this bastard. It'

s all something you brought on yourself.”

Jeong Tae-jun let out a sneer while leaning back.

“How dare you mention my name.”

“I didn'

t mean to do that...”

Jeong Tae-jun'

s fist struck Ma Sang-woo'

s cheek harshly.

Ma Sang-woo'

s body was slammed to the ground.

Jeong Tae-jun did not end it there but grabbed Ma Sang-woo'

s collar and pulled him up.

“So sign the document. Then I'

m saying I'

ll let you live.”

“......”

Before he knew it, two men in black suits were standing behind Jeong Tae-jun.

They were like machines without emotions.

Ma Sang-woo signed as they told him to, trembling in fear.

And the scene cut off there.

I blinked my eyes.

My hands trembled minutely.

Afraid that Choi Seo-jun might notice, I desperately suppressed my rapidly thumping heart.

‘The fellow who set up this board was someone else.’

The real monster wasn'

t Ma Sang-woo, but Jeong Tae-jun, my eldest aunt'

s husband.

I turned back and looked at Ma Sang-woo being dragged out again.

Right now, this man was struggling with all his might to prevent the dismissal in a state where he didn'

t even know what would happen to him.

I quietly clenched my fist.

Ma Sang-woo was just the beginning.

The look in my eyes changed.

It wasn'

t the gaze of a boy who didn'

t know the world.

To me, Jeong Tae-jun now looked like a monster who held both the media and power at the same time.

I couldn'

t understand at all what makes a person so hideous.

As a human, there is a final line that must be kept.

However, these people didn'

t even have that.

Even while living through all sorts of hardships in my past life, I lived while keeping the final line.

However, looking at these hideous people made me feel nausea rising up.

I couldn'

t just leave it alone.

They looked like vermin parasitizing and sucking the blood and sweat of other people without a second thought.

Appropriate retribution must be waiting for those vermin-like people.

That is exactly the retribution for evil karma.