I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 296

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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 296
The battle between Twitter and FaceNote.
Who in 2010 would know how this conflict would end?
Only me.
I alone in this entire world.
I leisurely sipped my beer and held out my empty glass to Jack Dorsey.
“Jack, my glass is empty. Isn’t it proper etiquette for the host to refill the guest’s glass?”
“Sung-guk, drink it yourself!”
Jack Dorsey hurled crude insults at me before disappearing into the crowd.
Watching his retreating figure, I smiled knowingly.
“Sung-guk, one thing’s clear—Jack Dorsey is absolutely furious right now.”
Lim Jin-seo had read the situation perfectly.
“And everything is unfolding in our favor.”
I answered with confidence.
It was obvious why Jack Dorsey was so irritated—I had monopolized all the spotlight.
That’s when it happened.
From somewhere, I heard slurred speech from someone who’d had too much to drink.
“Listen here—what I’m saying is—”
There was no doubt it was Jeon Tae-guk.
I quickly grabbed Lim Jin-seo’s arm.
“Our biggest risk has materialized. While I call Secretary Park, please keep Jeon Tae-guk’s mouth shut.”
“Yes, CEO!”
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk was completely drunk.
Secretary Park Sung-hee and the entire secretarial staff of Samjeon Group mobilized to move him, practically confining him to a room to contain the situation.
Fortunately, at the Twitter party venue, Jeon Tae-guk merely raised his voice.
The music blaring throughout the venue conveniently drowned out his words.
Having spotted the problem early, I quickly summoned Secretary Park Sung-hee, and Jeon Tae-guk was smoothly escorted out of the party without incident.
Phrases like “Do you know who I am?” or “Don’t you know I’m the heir to Samjeon Group?” and “I’m Jeon Tae-guk!” were fortunately only heard by those nearby, and since most South Koreans already knew that Samjeon Group’s heir Jeon Tae-guk was a reckless troublemaker, no one was particularly shocked.
After Jeon Tae-guk finally fell asleep, Secretary Park Sung-hee emerged from the room.
Beads of cold sweat dotted her forehead.
“Secretary Park, is my brother asleep?”
“Yes, barely.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“It was nothing for us. But it seems the young master is quite upset.”
“Today wasn’t an occasion where the spotlight fell on Samjeon Group.”
At my words, Secretary Park Sung-hee hesitated for a moment before carefully speaking.
“Sung-guk, please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say.”
[Why is she suddenly like this, Secretary Park?]
“From what I can see, the young master harbors contradictory emotions. He finds being the heir to Samjeon Group burdensome, yet he’s offended when others disregard that fact.”
“Of course that’s obvious. But before that, we need to make sure other people can’t ignore him.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee smiled ambiguously.
“Sung-guk, you probably find this hard to understand. You’ve always attracted people’s attention.”
“Secretary Park, do you think I was always that kind of person?”
My question caught Secretary Park Sung-hee off guard for a moment.
“I was far more often the opposite. When did people recognize me for my handsome face? During ‘Five Men and a Baby Basket’? Of course then. But before that, I was a poor child from a struggling family who nearly failed auditions because I was overshadowed by other babies with better financial backing.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee’s eyes widened at my words.
“You remember that time, Sung-guk?”
“My mother told me about it.”
[Of course I remember it all. My sorrows are so vast that if written as a book, it would easily exceed ten volumes.]
I barely suppressed the overwhelming emotions welling up inside me and continued.
“Secretary Park, no one can be the center of the world. Everyone lives on the periphery for various reasons at some point. The fact that Tae-guk can’t accept that shows he’s lived too long at the center.”
“Yes, I understand that well.”
“I know well that a life rising from the periphery to the center is easier than a life falling from the center to the periphery.”
It was exactly how I felt when I was reborn into this world.
From being the next chairman of Samjeon Group to the eldest son of a young couple in a single-room apartment?
This wasn’t the periphery—it felt like taking a direct elevator from heaven straight to hell.
“But Secretary Park, Tae-guk needs to experience this kind of treatment so that later he can become a better owner.”
This was sincere.
“Sung-guk, sometimes you’re truly remarkable. At only twenty years old, you speak words worthy of respect.”
“Secretary Park Sung-hee… I’m curious about something. How are things going with Jung-hee?”
Secretary Park Sung-hee smiled brightly at my question.
“How are things going? Well, we actually dated and broke up. Already…”
“But why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Hmm… well… both the young master and Sung-guk are hopeless when it comes to romance.”
I had nothing to say to that.
Of course, in my previous life I was a master of romance, but in this life I was inevitably a hopeless romantic.
“Secretary Park, I hope you parted on good terms.”
“We just parted like ordinary lovers do. Well then, I should be going. Sleep well.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee hurried out of the home.
And I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a can of beer.
[She already dated and broke up with Jung-hee?]
In this life, I simply had nothing to say to the connections from my previous life.
[I hope you meet another good man and find happiness. I was truly a terrible man back then.]
I chugged the beer with a long sigh.
* * *
– The charismatic man who appeared at the Jjak Jjak Event Venue, Jeon Sung-guk! He shone brighter than any idol.
– The baby from ‘Five Men and a Baby Basket’ has returned as the CEO of the global company ‘FaceNote’.
– Just, now middle-aged. Where did that youthful charm go?
– Who is Jeon Sung-guk, the FaceNote CEO who tore up the Jjak Jjak Event Venue, a competitor of ‘FaceNote’? Already a top male star called the charismatic man in America!
– Just’s era has passed, and now it’s the age of Jeon Sung-guk!
– Twitter’s unexpected advertisement. Can it really suppress the popularity of Jeon Sung-guk, who has emerged as the trend-setter in South Korea?
I searched through every article that appeared on the portal sites.
All of them lavished praise and expectations upon me without filter, while reporting on Twitter and Just’s movements with ambiguous coverage.
The Samjeon secretary team’s assistance was invaluable in gathering information, but ultimately, the results were because of me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
[Everyone knows I’m handsome, after all.]
Just then, I heard Jeon Tae-guk’s voice crawling out from the room.
“Sung-guk….”
When I turned around, Jeon Tae-guk emerged looking haggard, practically dragging himself along the floor.
“Brother, are you alright?”
“After seeing me like this, you still ask that? Ask Secretary Park Sung-hee to order some hangover soup for me.”
“Secretary Park already contacted me ten minutes ago saying she’s bringing hangover soup.”
“Really? Ah, I feel like I’ve been brought back from the dead. By the way, Sung-guk… did any articles about me come out?”
“Of course. Would you like me to read them?”
“Yeah….”
[He’s going to be hurt.]
Still, I read him a few of the softest articles that had come out.
– The Samjeon Group heir, 2% short of becoming a celebrity.
– The Samjeon Group heir who became Jeon Sung-guk’s shadow, Jeon Tae-guk.
– A small step toward succession. Jeon Tae-guk, Asia’s General Manager of FaceNote! But still brimming with an amateur feel!
The headline of the last article was clearly one where Samjeon had pulled some strings.
Jeon Tae-guk drank water with composure.
“At least there’s nothing saying I’m ugly or anything like that.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Then that’s good enough. Honestly, 90% of South Korea’s population would envy me for being born as the Samjeon Group heir, so if I were also exceptionally handsome, it wouldn’t work out. It would create a sense of incongruity.”
[Let me at least offer some consolation.]
“By the way, Sung-guk. Today’s the weekend—can I take a break?”
“Brother, you just attended the Twitter party yesterday.”
“So?”
“Twitter is going to launch an offensive regardless—whether they flood the market with advertisements or sheer volume. And you think we can afford to rest?”
“Well… that’s….”
“We can’t, can we? Get ready for work. Oh, and Secretary Park Sung-hee’s hangover soup has been delivered to the company. I forgot to mention that.”
“Jeon Sung-guk! You demon!”
I quickly got up from my seat and hurried to prepare for work.
In my previous life, I took exactly three days off a year. Lunar New Year, Chuseok, and Independence Day.
[Taking more than three days off isn’t the mindset of an owner.]
* * *
Director Kim Se-bang entered the advertising pitch presentation he had spent all night preparing.
“The concept of this advertisement is FaceNote, the SNS that transcends generations, as I mentioned before. And through several meetings, we’ve discussed extensively within our team how Representative Jeon Sung-guk can be seamlessly integrated into this advertisement.”
Kim Se-bang took a sip of water.
“Recently, Jeon Sung-guk reached out and said he wouldn’t appear in the advertisement at all. I hope you understand how much trouble we’ve had revising all our plans because of that.”
At Kim Se-bang’s words, Lim Jin-seo fixed me with a sharp gaze.
“CEO, what on earth is going on?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? It’s exactly as I said. I won’t be appearing in the FaceNote advertisement.”
“So you’re just going to take this lying down from Just?”
“At first, I was obsessed with the idea that I had to do something to counter Just. Honestly, Twitter’s campaign is simple and crude. But after thinking about it carefully, I realized that getting worked up like this might be exactly what they’re waiting for.”
I laid out everything I’d been thinking.
“Just is a washed-up group anyway. Honestly, most people don’t care whether they reunite or not, and most of their former fans are now college students or working adults. The reason Twitter recruited them, as I see it, was to focus on that demographic.”
“So while they’re targeting you, they’re trying to secure the former Just fanbase that’s now become the primary demographic of SNS. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Exactly, Lim Jin-seo!”
Lim Jin-seo quickly grasped the core issue, as expected.
“If we make a counter-advertisement in response to their attack right now, it could backfire. I’ve already gotten the spotlight with one striking photo.”
“It was certainly striking. CEO, aren’t you getting offers to be an advertisement model?”
“Even if I do, I won’t accept them, Director.”
“We’re losing another talented person like this.”
Kim Se-bang looked disappointed.
[Of course, someone like me with this physique… it’s not easy.]
Regardless of that, FaceNote had to move forward. I looked at Kim Se-bang.
“Director, let’s proceed with our original plan for the advertisement.”
“Pardon? What about everything we planned all night?”
“Mix it in appropriately within the bounds of the original plan. By tomorrow.”
“By tomorrow? Tomorrow is Sunday, isn’t it?”
Kim Se-bang showed reluctance.
“I work on Sundays. So that means I don’t want to wait until Monday.”
“Ah, understood.”
* * *
Kim Yeo-na finished her makeup and appeared on the film set.
Gasps of admiration naturally escaped from all around.
In a word, a majestic princess who seemed to exist only in fairy tales. No—a queen.
Jeon Tae-guk stared at Kim Yeo-na with his mouth hanging open.
Just then, someone tugged at my pants.
It was Ji-hee.
Ji-hee and Huin-dung-i were also scheduled to appear in this shoot.
“Brother, will you make me and Huin-dung-i look this pretty with makeup too?”
“Of course, Ji-hee. Our Ji-hee and our youngest, Huin-dung-i—are you ready?”
Ji-hee raised her hand high along with Huin-dung-i.
“All set!”

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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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