I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 173
I gathered with all the employees of SpaceZ to discuss Jim’s whereabouts.
Tom scratched his greasy hair.
“Well, in a situation like this, wouldn’t he naturally have gone to the airport? Elon, what do you think?”
“Right. He probably rushed off to meet his girlfriend.”
But I thought differently.
When Jim borrowed a fishing rod this morning, his face showed no sign of distress.
As always, he was worn down by fatigue, starting his day with coffee.
His only concern this morning was whether to trim his beard a bit.
“Elon, if he went to the airport, wouldn’t he have taken his passport or ID with him?”
At my words, a colleague hurried to Jim’s room and returned.
“He left everything behind. Actually, he didn’t take anything at all.”
At that moment, Tom’s expression grew serious.
“This guy… don’t tell me he’s thinking something reckless?”
Elon’s brow furrowed.
“This can’t be happening…”
Elon looked at me.
“Sung-guk, didn’t you say earlier that you had a way to find Jim?”
“Hmm… yes. First, I’ll stay here and get Jim to come back. Just in case, everyone else should go out and search for him.”
Tom looked at me with irritation.
Tom had disapproved of me from the first day I arrived at SpaceZ.
The founder of FaceNote, working twenty-four hours alongside them, yet appearing as if I were here on vacation.
“Elon, what is this? In the end, we’re the ones doing the legwork.”
“Tom. We don’t have time for this now. We can settle scores later—let’s just find Jim first.”
“Ugh…”
Tom left the office with the other employees.
Elon looked at me with slight disappointment.
“Sung-guk, you definitely said earlier that you had a solution.”
“I do.”
I opened my laptop and logged into FaceNote.
Elon scratched his forehead.
“Sung-guk, are you seriously just going to post about Jim’s disappearance on FaceNote? This is the Marshall Islands. How many people in the Marshall Islands do you think even use FaceNote?”
“…”
I didn’t respond to Elon’s words and left a post on Jim’s FaceNote page.
– Jim, your mother is desperately looking for you. Come back to the SpaceZ office right away.
Elon’s brow furrowed even more.
“Sung-guk, what are you doing?”
“Elon, you said South Korea has a military too, didn’t it? Just trust me once. By the way, Jim took his laptop and phone with him. I don’t think he’s trying to… I think he’s just lying low for a while.”
“Sung-guk, I hope you’re right…”
There was no certainty in Elon’s words.
Of course, I wasn’t certain either.
If Jim didn’t return despite my efforts, my investment in SpaceZ would fail.
At the same time, I might leave this place and return to FaceNote, or perhaps head back to South Korea to endure difficult times alongside Bang Mu-hyuk.
What I was banking on was that Jim had spent the past week talking extensively about his girlfriend, and more importantly, about his parents who raised him—especially his mother.
And whether in South Korea or the United States, a man in his twenties still needs his mother.
Elon grabbed a bottle of water and left the office.
“Sung-guk, I’ll search for Jim with the employees too.”
“I’ll wait here for Jim’s call.”
“Alright….”
Elon let out a heavy sigh and departed.
* * *
My phone rang loudly.
Less than ten minutes had passed since I posted on Jim’s FaceNote.
I quickly checked the caller ID.
It was Jim, of course.
I answered in a calm voice.
Jim’s urgent voice came through the phone.
– Sung-guk, what’s going on? Why is my mother looking for me?
“Jim, first of all, where exactly are you right now? Everyone here is in a panic looking for you.”
– That’s… I’m sorry. I just wanted to be alone for a bit….
“Come back to the office first. Then we can talk.”
– Yes, I’ll be there soon.
I immediately called Elon.
“Elon, Jim is coming back to the office.”
– Really, Sung-guk?
“Elon, how about giving Jim a few days off once he returns?”
– Yeah, let’s talk to Jim about that first. I’m heading to the office right now.
I hung up the phone. And I smiled with satisfaction.
[SpaceZ secured too!]
* * *
Jim stood before the employees, scratching his red hair.
“I’m sorry for alarming everyone. First, my apologies.”
“Jim, you should at least tell someone if you’re going somewhere!”
Tom still scolded Jim with an irritated tone.
“Tom, I’m sorry. I just….”
Elon quickly stepped in.
“Tom, this isn’t something to be upset about. Be grateful Jim came back safely. Honestly, what man wouldn’t lose his mind if his girlfriend was meeting someone else? Especially when we’re in the Marshall Islands.”
Jim’s face turned red up to his ears.
“Elon, and Tom… I’m really sorry to everyone. To Sung-guk too.”
Elon quickly put an arm around Jim’s shoulder.
“Jim, get some proper rest today. You’re not having any strange thoughts, are you?”
“Elon, absolutely not. I have a precious family.”
Tom also patted Jim’s shoulder reassuringly.
“That’s right, Jim. We all have families we cherish. I haven’t seen my wife’s face in over three months.”
“I’m sorry, Tom.”
“Rest well today, and we’ll think about tomorrow’s work tomorrow.”
“Yes….”
Jim answered, his spirits visibly dampened.
I quickly approached Jim.
“Jim, want to go fishing?”
“Sung-guk, but that comment was too much. What if we actually sold my mother? She was so shocked thinking something had happened to her.”
“It seemed like the only way to get you to respond immediately. I’m sorry. In exchange, I’ll buy unlimited beer for everyone today.”
“Hehe… I’ll forgive you for that.”
Jim seemed to regain some of his spirits.
Elon draped his arms around both Jim’s and my shoulders.
“Sung-guk, Jim. You two go fishing and rest today. I’ll join you for beer this evening. Save some for me, got it?”
“Of course, Elon.”
I winked playfully.
* * *
Jim strode ahead, fishing rod in hand.
The beach with its gentle waves was truly a magnificent sight.
We settled beneath the sprawling palm trees.
Perfect shade and breeze. This place was truly paradise.
“Jim, how have you kept such a wonderful place to yourself all this time?”
“This is my hideaway. When I want to be alone, I just stay here for hours and everything seems to sort itself out. I haven’t told anyone about it. Once you tell people, it’s not a hideaway anymore.”
“We’ve intruded on your time today. I’m sorry.”
“No, it was understandable. Getting a message that your girlfriend was dating another man would make anyone disappear. Everyone was shocked.”
We settled in a good spot and pulled out the cooler full of beer and water bottles we’d brought.
Jim drank some beer and gazed contentedly at the sea.
“This place really is like paradise.”
“Jim, but would paradise be fun?”
“Sung-guk. Paradise isn’t fun precisely because it’s not, which is why this place feels like paradise.”
Jim smiled bitterly.
Then he took several more gulps of beer.
I drank plain water and spent the time staring persistently at my fishing rod, which hadn’t gotten a single bite.
Jim was silent for a while before finally speaking.
“Sung-guk, actually there’s something I’ve been thinking about more than my girlfriend dating someone else.”
“What is it?”
“I received a recruitment offer from another company.”
[Hmm… that’s certainly worth considering…..]
At SpaceZ, if you just close your eyes and push through five years, some compensation is guaranteed. Make it ten years, and you become a multimillionaire.
But who would be thrilled if you told someone in their twenties: “Work like a madman at SpaceZ for just ten more years, and you’ll be rich”?
Jim stared at me.
“Sung-guk, I’m your biggest fan. If you were in my position, what would you do?”
“Hmm….”
I paused to consider.
Everything I say is revealing secrets that should remain hidden.
In truth, this is a matter where only I need to know and prosper in this world. But Jim seemed to need a glimpse of my forbidden knowledge right now.
Jim gulped down more beer in the meantime. Several empty cans were already scattered beside him.
“Jim, if I were you, I’d stake my life on SpaceZ.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I nodded slightly and continued slowly.
“If Jim leaves SpaceZ and gets recruited by another company, what’s guaranteed?”
“A stable salary in Silicon Valley and a stable job. And well, I’d probably go looking for dating prospects every weekend. Then one day, when someone I like appears, I’d fall in love… have kids… and just grow old that way.”
As Jim spoke, his energy gradually faded.
“Jim, how old will you be in five years?”
“Twenty-nine.”
[NASA needs at least five years to secure proper investment… Jim, listen carefully to what I’m about to say. I don’t tell this to just anyone.]
I gulped down some plain water and gazed out at the beach.
“Jim… if I were you, I’d bet my twenties on this company. If after five years this company still seems hopeless, then restarting life at thirty won’t be too late. In your twenties, it feels like everything ends when your twenties do, but the rest of your life is so much longer.”
“Sung-guk, when I saw ‘FaceNote’ too, I wondered—is your birth certificate wrong or something? You’re not a teenager, right?”
[I died prematurely at forty in my past life, and in this life I’m only fifteen by Korean age….]
“I’ll be sixty soon.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Jim chuckled and gazed back out at the beach.
“Just five years… five years in this vast ocean….”
Jim still didn’t seem confident about the future.
[Jim, I’m doing you a favor because your girlfriend dumped you.]
“Jim, if SpaceZ offered some benefits, would you stay here on the Marshall Islands and keep working?”
“Hmm…”
Jim’s eyes grew dreamy as he let his imagination soar. Finally, he opened his mouth.
“Hmm… the freedom to fish like this for half a day each week while drinking beer… and when I take vacation home once a year, business class instead of economy… Pfft. Sung-guk, just imagining it feels good?”
“You’d really stay here if that happened?”
“Oh, there’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I wish you’d change the bed mattress. The current one is absolutely terrible!”
“Hmm… I can arrange all of that for you.”
“Really? You, Sung-guk?”
“Yes. Because I’m going to become an investor in SpaceZ from now on.”
At that moment, the fishing float bobbed up and down violently.
“Jim! I think it’s a big one! Help me out!”
“Sung-guk, grab the rod tight!”
We both seized the fishing rod simultaneously and pulled with all our might.
* * *
“What? You didn’t catch anything?”
Elon, who arrived late, muttered while staring at the empty bucket.
“Elon, Jim and Sung-guk and I caught a shark just a moment ago.”
“A shark? Where is it?”
I pointed across the vast expanse of ocean with my finger.
“In the sea. A bucket would be far too small to hold a shark.”
Elon looked at me with an incredulous expression.
“Sung-guk, so you basically lost it, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t lose it—I’ve stored the shark in the ocean’s bucket. We can catch it again whenever we need to.”
“Well, the interpretation is better than the dream itself.”
Elon glanced at Jim.
“Jim, have you sorted out your thoughts?”
“Yes, Elon. I’m sorry for worrying you. It won’t happen again. By the way, is it true that Sung-guk is investing in our company?”
Elon looked at me with momentarily flustered eyes.
[Elon, promises must be kept.]
“Right, Elon—let’s settle our story too.”
“Uh, Sung-guk….”
We walked along the beach, leaving Jim behind.
“Sung-guk, what on earth did you tell Jim?”
“Elon, Jim really is essential talent for SpaceZ, isn’t he?”
“Of course. Without Jim, SpaceZ loses one of its pillars.”
“Jim needed time to think today because he received a recruitment offer.”
Elon’s face contorted.
“Elon, don’t worry. I’ve agreed to all of Jim’s demands and kept him at SpaceZ.”
“What are those demands, Sung-guk?”
“Half a day each week for fishing and beer. Business class round-trip airfare home during vacations. And finally… a new mattress for his bed.”
“We don’t have that kind of money….”
Elon was taken aback.
“Elon, you promised me. You said if I brought Jim back, you’d let me invest in SpaceZ. Jim’s demands will be the first step of my investment in SpaceZ.”
I broke into a broad smile.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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