I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 336

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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 336
Monday arrived.
We reported to the office as if nothing had happened over the weekend.
Secretary Park Sung-hee sent me Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa’s movements throughout the weekend.
– Han Myung-seok: didn’t leave the officetel once. Chinese food and pizza were delivered mid-day, both from nearby vendors with nothing suspicious detected.
– Lee Sun-hwa: didn’t leave the officetel after 11 PM Saturday. No deliveries either.
In any case, both of them remained inactive throughout the weekend.
Now I had to quickly confirm whether Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa were on the same team.
The moment I arrived at the office, I convened the Messenger Project team, including Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa.
“Let’s get straight into the meeting.”
Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa entered the conference room as usual.
* * *
Whoosh—
I deliberately closed the conference room blinds.
It wasn’t so much to create tension as to establish an atmosphere emphasizing how important the project we were undertaking truly was.
“Everyone had a good weekend, I hope?”
“Yes….”
“From now on, we’ll be moving forward with the project in earnest. To that end, we’re planning a workshop this weekend—just our team. The location is a condo in the Seoul Suburbs.”
I watched Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa’s reactions carefully.
If I put the two of them together and observed, I might be able to tell if they were working in collusion.
“Yes, that sounds good.”
Han Myung-seok answered immediately.
“Me too!”
Lee Sun-hwa was the same.
Even as she answered, Lee Sun-hwa glanced at Adam.
Despite his earlier enthusiastic commitment, Adam had been sweating profusely since Monday morning.
[How can you possibly act like this, Adam!]
After the meeting ended and everyone left, Adam quietly pulled me aside.
“Sung-guk… I don’t think I can tell Lee Sun-hwa that I want to date her.”
“I figured as much, Adam. But shouldn’t you at least respond to her confession? If you don’t answer, she’ll think it’s even stranger.”
“That’s… I’m planning to use the workshop as an excuse and postpone it somehow. Sung-guk, I have a request.”
Adam looked at me with desperate eyes.
What is it?
“Tell me, Adam. And stop looking at me like that.”
“It’s… Sung-guk, this is a real request. Before I reject Lee Sun-hwa’s proposal, please find the mastermind behind Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa’s spying so I don’t have to say anything. Please.”
“Adam, I’ll try my best. But it might not work out.”
“Yes, I know. Still… please hurry.”
Adam wiped the cold sweat from his brow and left.
Beyond Adam’s request, Han Myung-seok and Lee Sun-hwa were genuinely delaying the actual project progress, so I too wanted to root them out quickly.
* * *
I deliberately stayed late at the office, waiting for someone.
Adam said something as he clocked out last.
“Sung-guk, go ahead and leave.”
“I’ll be staying late tonight.”
“Don’t overwork yourself.”
“Thanks, Adam….”
After Adam left, the office fell into silence.
Then I heard heavy footsteps echoing down the corridor.
The person I was waiting for was none other than—
Click.
The door opened, and a familiar face stepped into the office.
Sergey Brin.
Google’s CEO himself.
The man they called the Russian Fox.
I stood up from my seat.
“Sergey, it’s been a while.”
“Sung-guk, how have you been?”
“Quite well. Though in an office, all I can offer is coffee….”
At that moment, Sergey Brin held up a bottle of vodka he’d been carrying.
“Vodka. I picked it up at duty-free.”
“Then shall we go with vodka tonight?”
“Sounds good.”
* * *
After we each had a glass of vodka, Sergey Brin’s expression relaxed slightly as he looked at me.
“Sung-guk, this is my first time in Korea… I never expected to come here for something like this.”
“Next time, I’ll extend a proper invitation.”
“I hope so.”
Sergey poured vodka into his empty glass.
“By the way, that Han Myung-seok you asked me to look into last time—is he still with the company?”
It was Sergey Brin who had provided the information about Han Myung-seok.
“Yes. I’m keeping an eye on him.”
“If it were me, I would’ve fired him on the spot….”
“It’s not just about Han Myung-seok. Industrial espionage is a problem across South Korea’s entire industrial sector. I’m trying to find the mastermind through Han Myung-seok.”
“You’re young, but there’s something about you—a sense of purpose in your business endeavors.”
[Chairman Jeon Ju-shin of Samjeon Group, may he rest in peace, always used to say that a businessman without a sense of purpose is no different from a common merchant. Sergey.]
I simply smiled and took a sip of vodka.
“But Sergey, you say that, yet you have a sense of purpose too—that’s why you came all this way, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps… I simply received premium intelligence, and I wanted to deliver that premium intelligence to you personally here in Korea. I’m also attending the Asia-wide Google conference being held in Hong Kong anyway.”
Sergey Brin made the excuse that he was visiting Korea in conjunction with attending the Asia-wide Google conference in Hong Kong, but he wasn’t the type of man to move for something so routine.
Yet, as always, Sergey Brin did not easily reveal his true intentions.
I asked casually.
“What’s this premium information you’re talking about, Sergey?”
“Well, you yourself are a walking corporation, aren’t you? Even without all that noise about your relationship with Emma Watson, everyone’s paying attention to you anyway.”
[Sigh… why is Emma Watson coming up now? This is exactly why public relationships are a bad idea….]
I downed the bitter vodka in one gulp.
Sergey Brin followed suit, drinking vodka repeatedly before continuing.
“From the moment you established a company in Korea and launched something new into the world, it’s no exaggeration to say the entire globe has been watching you.”
I nodded.
[Well, that’s obvious enough….]
“Attracting attention means there are plenty of people who want to steal your ideas and technology. And recently, I received a very strange proposal.”
“A strange proposal?”
“Yeah… a very peculiar email arrived. It asked if I had any interest in reclaiming YouTube.”
What was he talking about?
I furrowed my brow.
Sergey, as always, continued speaking calmly with an unbothered expression.
“At first I thought it was a prank email, but out of curiosity, I looked into who sent it. Turns out it was the KGB.”
The KGB was Russia’s secret intelligence agency.
“The KGB sent you an email?”
“It’s already well-known that after the Soviet Union collapsed and their funding dried up, KGB operatives have been doing various jobs for money. They probably approached me because of my Russian heritage and the prospect of financial gain.”
“Hmm….”
I took a drink of vodka.
It seemed this was why Sergey had brought vodka today.
“After verifying through multiple channels, the email was indeed sent by intelligence operatives from the KGB. And what they wanted was money.”
“But why specifically ask about reclaiming YouTube?”
“I was curious about that point too, so I made discreet contact with those people.”
[Surely Sergey isn’t trying to backstab me?]
Sergey seemed to read my expression and laughed awkwardly before continuing.
“Sung-guk, I was genuinely curious. And I thought if I didn’t find out who they were now, they’d make even more demands in the future. That’s the only reason I met with them.”
“Go on, Sergey.”
Sergey set down his vodka glass.
“From here on, this is serious business.”
“I’m ready.”
“I met with the KGB agent who sent me the email under strict security. According to him, Russian-backed industrial spies have spread like a spider’s web across Silicon Valley and various places around the world. And he had a list.”
A list….
“Sergey, did you buy that list?”
“Of course. If I hadn’t, I might not be alive right now….”
Sergey offered a bitter smile.
Becoming a billionaire wasn’t as happy as one might think.
The world’s attention focused on me, and threats of all kinds existed whether I wanted them or not.
“Is there anyone on that list I should know about?”
“That’s why I stopped by Korea for a bit. I think that KGB agent meant for me to reclaim YouTube with this.”
“How so?”
“There are already several operatives embedded in FaceNote headquarters. And of course, here in Korea as well.”
“Hmm… I suspected as much, but there seem to be more than expected? Still, can we trust this information?”
Sergey downed his vodka in one gulp.
“I leaked information to a few companies on the list in Silicon Valley. After investigation, they all turned out to be Russian industrial spies, and they’ve all been purged.”
“Then rumors must be spreading all over Silicon Valley by now.”
“You know as well as I do how oblivious Mark can be….”
I nodded slightly.
Mark was a genius, but when it came to human relationships, he often remained vague and detached. Lim Mi-mi wouldn’t let that slide….
I quickly glanced at Sergey Brin.
“Sergey, are you thinking of selling that list to me as well?”
I asked directly.
Sergey Brin smiled faintly.
“How much would you pay for it, Sung-guk?”
I understood exactly why Sergey Brin was smiling like that.
“Sergey, tell me what you want.”
* * *
I examined the list I’d received from Sergey.
Two operatives at FaceNote headquarters. And one here in Korea.
The spy in Korea was naturally Lee Sun-hwa.
[I thought it was the Chinese side… but it was Russia?]
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
So Lee Sun-hwa and Han Myung-seok weren’t working together after all….
Now I knew who Lee Sun-hwa’s handler was.
It was the KGB.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knock sounded, and Secretary Park Sung-hee entered.
“Sung-guk, do you realize it’s 2 AM?”
“Of course.”
“Yet you haven’t even left work… and you’ve been drinking?”
“Yes, Secretary Park. It’s urgent and needs to be handled quickly.”
“You’re talking about the spy.”
“Yes….”
I nodded.
“Wasn’t Adam’s confession supposed to help us find Lee Sun-hwa’s handler?”
“I found Lee Sun-hwa’s handler. It’s the KGB.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee’s eyes widened at the mention of the KGB.
In fact, the KGB was an organization that even Samjeon couldn’t easily touch. After all, it was an organization connected to the Russian government.
“The KGB is an organization from which even we at Samjeon cannot extract information.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
[I was a former Samjeon man myself, Secretary Park Sung-hee.]
I finished the remaining vodka.
“I plan to have Lee Sun-hwa called in as soon as she arrives and terminate her employment.”
“Just like that?”
“Of course, I’ll tell her we discovered she’s an industrial spy. And I’ll mention that we’re strengthening security after the workshop. That should prompt Han Myung-seok to make his move before the security upgrades take effect.”
“Release one, catch one. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it, Sung-guk?”
“Yes.”
The KGB, Lee Sun-hwa’s true master, was ultimately an organization we couldn’t touch.
“Sung-guk, what else can I help you with?”
“Please verify this information thoroughly through Samjeon. Before I let Lee Sun-hwa go tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee took the list.
“But Sung-guk, where did you get this list?”
“I bought it from Sergey.”
“How much does a list like this cost?”
“Well….”
I finished my vodka and smiled faintly.
* * *
Inside the car heading to the airport.
Sergey Brin’s secretary watched the slightly intoxicated Sergey Brin.
“Sergey, what did you do with that list?”
“I sold it well to Sung-guk.”
“So you recovered some YouTube shares?”
Sergey shook his head with a smile.
“No.”
“Did you at least get paid?”
“I got this.”
Sergey Brin held up a shopping bag.
“What is it?”
“They call it Korean vodka. Soju, they say….”
“You gave away that expensive list for just this? You should have at least recovered some YouTube shares!”
Sergey Brin shook his head.
“If Sung-guk hadn’t managed YouTube, we’d be drowning in losses right now. Thanks to him running YouTube, we’re making profits. Yes, I gave away a lot of shares, but we’re earning far more money now than when we owned one hundred percent of the shares. Taking shares away from someone like Sung-guk who works so hard would be like not feeding a hardworking ox.”
“I don’t quite understand, but you gave him the list as a way of telling him to work harder, right?”
“Yes, and I got soju too.”
Sergey Brin smiled contentedly.

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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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