The Former Mercenary is a Chaebol Heir

Episode 32: No Old House, Only New Ones!

【US, LIVIO SOFT Goes Public! Stock starting at USD 32.33, now rising to USD 137.43 and climbing…】

【A transformative new image: LIVIO SOFT’s mind-mapping program, recognized as the future of presentations, is now valued at approximately $4.2 billion, which is estimated at around 5.6 trillion KRW…】

With the patent issues fully resolved, LIVIO SOFT’s listing proceeded without any obstacles. Consequently, as companies and individual investors alike scrambled to buy shares, the stock price surged immensely.

Among them was MH Group.

Unlike other companies, MH Group had secured a 7% stake in advance, enabling it to earn profits and gain an additional 0.5% share.

The cost for this 0.5% alone was about 28.3 billion KRW. This amount was nearly the same as the 30 billion KRW initially spent to acquire the first 7% stake.

That initial 7% stake, however, had now grown sixfold in value, amounting to about 400 billion KRW. And it was still rising.

While reading this news with mixed feelings in his office, Myung In-chul looked over at Myung Un-seok, who was seated by the sofa, and rose to his feet.

“What kind of work are you doing out there?”

“…….”

He was referring to the LIVIO SOFT investment deal, which had been taken from him by none other than Baek Shin-woo.

Although Myung Un-seok knew the reasons, he was at a loss for words.

“You let it slip right under your nose? And practically handed it to him? Do you even have a brain?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Ha… You were doing well up until now, so what happened? Otherwise, you should just play it safe and hold your position.”

He wasn’t expecting a project that would immediately bring in trillions of won.

Simply holding on to his position with caution and rising steadily over time would have sufficed.

Knock knock—

At the sound of a knock, Head of Security Park Sang-kyu entered.

Exchanging a glance, Myung In-chul sighed and spoke to Myung Un-seok.

“For now, don’t cause any unnecessary trouble and keep a low profile.”

“…Understood.”

As Myung Un-seok left, Park Sang-kyu, who had been standing at a distance, approached.

“It seems the higher-ups won’t stay quiet this time.”

“So they’ve decided to take action?”

“It’s the second time already. Although we haven’t identified the information leak yet, the higher-ups believe they can’t just sit back.”

At this, Myung In-chul stroked his stubbly chin.

“Now isn’t the time for such attention.”

They were talking about Baek Shin-woo.

In the recent second investment project, some of TSF Investment’s stock schemes had surfaced earlier than planned.

“But the higher-ups insist they can’t ignore it any longer.”

“Are you even aware of Baek Shin-woo’s current standing?”

Aside from his position as Director of Strategic Investment Operations, he was also the CEO of KITE, MH Tech’s subsidiary in charge of security and protection services.

Furthermore, KITE was racking up numerous achievements, including handling the security for the national celebrity Yoo Ha-yeon.

Naturally, targeting KITE’s CEO, Baek Shin-woo, could present significant challenges.

“TSF has suffered losses amounting to billions due to this. Regardless of the difficulty, they deem it necessary.”

“In what way, exactly? Don’t you realize that Chairman Myung’s attention is also on Baek Shin-woo right now? If a suspicious issue arises, it could hinder not only your position but also disrupt the plan. And wasn’t your security team defeated by him once already?”

Because of the complications caused by Baek Shin-woo, Myung In-chul had been preparing to accelerate his plans.

In this situation, another setback in his plan was unacceptable.

“We’ll make it look as natural as possible.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“The upper management’s task team will handle it, so you needn’t worry.”

With this suggestion, Myung In-chul took a moment to think.

At present, Baek Shin-woo’s presence was a considerable obstacle.

“Ensure that not a trace is left.”

“We’ll handle it without issue.”

With a nod, Myung In-chul watched Park Sang-kyu exit the room.

***

Meanwhile.

Shin-woo was in the office of Strategic Investment Headquarters, having been summoned by Im Hee-yeon.

“…Once again, Director Baek pulled off a major success.”

“Not bad, right?”

Despite having turned 30 billion KRW into an asset worth 400 billion KRW, his reaction was rather indifferent.

Watching him quietly from her desk, Im Hee-yeon walked over and sat down on the sofa.

“So, what do you want this time?”

Without much thought, Shin-woo looked directly at her and spoke.

“I think it’s about time for a reorganization of the Strategic Investment Headquarters.”

At that moment, Im Hee-yeon’s expression hardened.

It was something she had been considering and planning with Song Tae-hoon for some time.

However, hearing about this supposedly secret plan from Shin-woo’s mouth caught her off guard.

“How did you know?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Dividing into a planning office and an operations office seems overly cumbersome. Moreover, it didn’t seem necessary for the capital management subsidiary that you and the chairman have in mind.”

Working within the company, Shin-woo had come to understand many things. Additionally, the rough experiences he had gone through before returning had greatly contributed to this knowledge.

“And you deduced that just from observation?”

In truth, along with his assumptions, it was thanks to Jang Man-soo’s LEUCO, which had fully seized control of MH Group’s network.

“Catching the stumbling mice, whether moving forward or backward, is all that matters.”

“Your analogy is… not exactly pleasant.”

“So, I do have something I’d like to request in exchange for this success.”

“…What request?”

After a brief pause, Shin-woo replied.

“When the restructuring happens, I’d like all the current team members, except for Section Chief Jang Man-soo, to be transferred elsewhere.”

“That’s impossible. It would cause problems.”

“Currently, Teams 1 and 2 are only working on projects transferred from the Planning Office. I believe they would fit well back under the Planning Office.”

“But then there’d be no one left in the Operations Office.”

“Section Chief Jang Man-soo is still here. And we plan to recruit additional personnel as well.”

Feeling a headache coming on, Im Hee-yeon pressed her fingers to her temples.

“And what exactly do you plan to do with these new people?”

“There hasn’t been an issue so far.”

“Of course, things are fine now, but how long do you think that will last? The scale of capital management will only grow larger in the future.”

“I understand that. But that doesn’t mean we can continue to drag along people with ulterior motives.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Shin-woo looked visibly irritated.

“Team Leader Kim Jong-soo of Team 1 reports to Executive Director Lee Myung-jin, Team Leader Ji Young-sook of Team 2 answers to Executive Director Park Tae-wook, and Assistant Manager Im Seong-joo of Team 1 is under Director Go Seok-hyun. Not to mention, behind them are your half-siblings. And there are more as well.”

The names that just came out of Shin-woo’s mouth were those of the executives at the headquarters. And Im Hee-yeon knew exactly who was behind them. However, she didn’t know which employees they had exactly recruited.

“How did you know?”

“I have my own ways. In any case, please follow my request. I’ll fill in any vacant spots myself.”

After saying that, Shin-woo nonchalantly stood up and left the room.

***

【Strategic Investment Headquarters Restructuring Details】

▷ Strategic Investment Operations Office → Strategic Investment Operations Division 1

▷ Strategic Investment Planning Office → Strategic Investment Operations Division 2

▷ Strategic Investment Audit Office → Strategic Investment Audit Division

【Personnel Appointment Notice】

▷ Deputy General Manager of Strategic Investment Planning Office, Myung Un-seok → Head of Strategic Investment Operations Division 1

▷ Deputy General Manager of Strategic Investment Operations Office, Baek Shin-woo → Head of Strategic Investment Operations Division 2

▷ Team Leader of Team 1 in Operations Office, Na Jung-hyun → Deputy General Manager of Strategic Investment Operations Division 2

▷ Team 1 in Operations Office → Team 4 in Strategic Investment Operations Division 1

▷ Team 2 in Operations Office → Team 5 in Strategic Investment Operations Division 1

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A few days later.

The Strategic Investment Headquarters underwent a major restructuring based on their performance in the first and second quarters of this year. The Planning and Operations Offices, which had previously operated separately for project and investment management, were now fully divided.

One notable change was the expanded office space for the newly enlarged Strategic Investment Operations Division 1, which now required construction for a larger office. Meanwhile, Shin-woo’s Division 2 had reduced in size, proportional to Division 1’s expansion.

Jang Man-soo, stepping out of the elevator, entered the new office space and was left speechless.

“Wow… Isn’t this a bit much?”

The Strategic Investment Operations Division 2 office now had no private room for Shin-woo, with only six desks set up in clusters of three.

Shin-woo, who had arrived earlier and was sitting at his desk, looked up at Jang Man-soo.

“You’re here?”

“They really set it up like this in such a huge office? Sure, it’s just the two of us in this division, but this is really too much.”

“The only thing that’s too much right now is probably your outfit.”

Currently, Jang Man-soo was dressed in a green jacket and pants, paired with a blue shirt and shoes that seemed to represent water. Although his look wasn’t as attention-grabbing as it used to be, the colour combination was still hard to take in comfortably.

“What’s wrong with me? Since it’s a newly restructured office, I decided to go with a fresh style and bought some new clothes.”

Jang Man-soo spun around in the middle of the spacious office.

“…New clothes? That?”

“Yes! They’re new!”

“……”

While Shin-woo was at a temporary loss for words, Jang Man-soo set his backpack down on the floor and hung his jacket on a chair. From his bag, he pulled out a large thermos.

Seeing this, Shin-woo tilted his head.

“Did you bring beef bone soup or something?”

“No way.”

Inside the open thermos, colourful USB drives and devices the size of fists spilled out.

“What did you bring?”

“Bug detectors and camera detectors. Hey, you haven’t turned on your computer, right?”

“Not yet.”

“Hold on.”

Man-soo turned on all the computers in the room, inserting USB drives into each of them. After assembling the devices from his thermos into a forearm-sized detector, he began testing the room.

“Do we really have to go this far?”

“You never know.”

“Anyone would be crazy to try it again after getting caught last time.”

Despite Shin-woo’s remark, Man-soo swept the detector around the office. Aside from the desks by the windows, the break room, conference room, and OA Room with the multifunction printer, the room was completely empty.

“No bugs or cameras detected. The computers seem fine too.”

He ran diagnostic software on the computers with the USB drives he’d inserted and finally let out a sigh of relief.

“They won’t be able to act recklessly inside the company.”

“So, does this make this place our hideout?”

“Something like that.”

After confirming everything, Shin-woo pulled up the documents that needed reviewing on his computer.

“Now that we’ve acquired LIVIO SOFT, what’s next? Continue with investments?”

“Keep it going. Since Myung Un-seok’s been taken down, Myung In-chul won’t stay idle either.”

“But you know…”

Man-soo turned his gaze to the nameplate on the partition.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“You’re a division head now, so why am I still just a team leader? Honestly, I handled all the work this time.”

“…Did you actually care about promotions?”

Originally, Man-soo wasn’t even keen on coming to the office. Lately, though, he seemed to enjoy it, judging by the fact that he dressed up every day.

“Well, it’s not that I’m obsessed… It just feels a bit disappointing.”

“You practically own LIVIO SOFT anyway. Why does a promotion even matter?”

Currently, Jang Man-soo held the largest share of LIVIO SOFT, with a 42% stake worth approximately 2.3 trillion KRW. Although it was an astronomical amount, he couldn’t reveal his identity, so his proxy, Lillian, was listed on the surface.

“That’s true, but… still…”

Beep beep—

At that moment, a security authentication sound echoed from the entrance connected to the elevator hallway. As the door opened, someone walked in, carrying a box about the size of their torso.

—