New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 90

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 90. To Korea (5)

 

Accountant Kim Do-yoon was definitely outstanding.

 

True to someone with 15 years of experience at one of the Big 5 Accounting Firms in the United States, he found all the materials I wanted in just one day.

 

“Looking at Daehyun Delivery’s situation alone, it’s not bad. They recorded 150 billion won in revenue last year, with operating profit reaching 10 billion won. The corporate value is around 70 billion won. However, they’re under various pressures due to Daehyun Group’s financial difficulties.”

 

“Is there anything special?”

 

“It hasn’t been completely confirmed yet, but it seems some of Daehyun Delivery’s logistics centers and vehicles are being held as collateral for Daehyeon Construction.”

 

This was the source of the discord flowing from Daehyun Delivery’s structure.

 

When I was checking the materials, I couldn’t identify exactly what part was problematic.

 

But Accountant Kim Do-yoon dug into the parts I suspected and eventually uncovered the suspicions.

 

“If they’re using Daehyun Delivery as collateral, Daehyeon Construction’s situation must be very bad.”

 

“Just looking at the accounting data, it’s the worst. Without help from headquarters, bankruptcy is possible.”

 

“Even after investing 2 trillion won in Daehyun Electronics, the situation is still difficult.”

 

“Daehyeon Construction needs that level of investment to survive too. Their debt alone exceeds 4 trillion won, and unpaid construction costs due to the Middle East war have blocked their cash flow.”

 

Daehyeon Construction, the center of Daehyun Group.

 

But now it had fallen to become an affiliate company dragging down Daehyun Group.

 

“This is enough investigation on Daehyun Delivery. Please investigate other companies.”

 

“Thanks to the General Manager sending even Financial Services Commission materials, more detailed investigation became possible.”

 

“I’m on my way to see the General Manager now, so I’ll convey my gratitude directly.”

 

Accountant Kim Do-yoon put his glasses back on and buried his face in the documents.

 

Seeing him like that, I could understand why he hadn’t been promoted at the American accounting firm, and conversely, why the partner accountant who caused the accounting manipulation wanted to keep him as a subordinate.

 

Accountant Kim Do-yoon was someone who lacked social skills but had outstanding abilities.

 

And I resolved to make him one of the central pillars of the plan I had in mind.

 

***

 

I went to find the General Manager who was working in his private office.

 

Seeing his good expression, it seemed the American IT technology stocks had fallen again today.

 

“Do you have something to report?”

 

“I found the company we should acquire first.”

 

“It was worth getting even the Financial Services Commission materials for you. Which company are you thinking of acquiring?”

 

“Daehyun Delivery.”

 

Was it an unexpected answer?

 

The General Manager smiled mysteriously.

 

“A delivery company. It has no relation to Nexpin at all, and doesn’t seem to have much connection to Rollbook either. But you must have a reason for wanting to acquire Daehyun Delivery?”

 

“Delivery companies, as well as many other industries, are currently operating only offline. But when connected with IT, their growth potential becomes limitless. Especially delivery companies can link with internet commerce.”

 

During the IT bubble.

 

Many companies carved IT into their names to ride the bubble.

 

But that was just wordplay, and companies that could truly connect with IT had a high chance of surviving even after the bubble burst.

 

“Should I think of it as preparing in advance for the real IT boom that will come in the future?”

 

“It’s work that will require 10 years of hardship, but it’s also a method with high success potential.”

 

“If it’s what Employee Lee wants, we should naturally do it. How shall I arrange a meeting with Daehyun Delivery? Daehyun Delivery is an affiliate of Daehyun Group’s second son line.”

 

Daehyun Group had already been split up.

 

The eldest son took automobiles, and the second son became the actual owner of Daehyun Group, taking many affiliates.

 

“I’m planning to proceed with this matter in connection with Daehyeon Construction.”

 

“Handle that as you see fit, Employee Lee. Shouldn’t you now independently judge and choose what happens in Korea?”

 

“I still lack in many areas. Especially, I’m very short on connections.”

 

“Those parts will naturally be filled in time. I’ll just help with those aspects.”

 

The General Manager and I were in similar situations, in a way.

 

The General Manager filled his lack of connections with US political circles and financial authorities through the Chairman.

 

And I was filling my lack of connections in Korea through the General Manager.

 

“I’ll proceed carefully to ensure no problems arise.”

 

“Employee Lee will handle it well on his own. More than that, there’s some good news.”

 

“Is it news related to short selling?”

 

“The publishing contract with the famous American game company you requested before has been finalized.”

 

Neo Marvel, which Tiger Fund acquired.

 

More precisely, for Neo Marvel, where I and Tiger Fund split the equity shares, a publishing contract with a famous game company was needed.

 

“The contract was finalized this quickly?”

 

“Thanks to Tiger Fund’s reputation. And Chairman also stepped in personally.”

 

“Chairman Robertson personally?”

 

Tiger Fund’s reputation was within expected range.

 

But I never expected the Chairman to step in personally.

 

“Should I say he’s become a different person lately? Or should I say he’s returned to his old self? Anyway, he’s actively meeting people and handling company business.”

 

“Did the Chairman personally attend to finalize the contracts with the game companies too?”

 

“That’s right. Since the Chairman stepped forward personally, the game company CEOs trusted us and signed the contracts.”

 

Chairman Robertson’s reputation was worth more than Tiger Fund’s name value.

 

He remained a legend on Wall Street and still wielded influence in many places.

 

So the game company CEOs could entrust publishing to an unknown game company.

 

“Since the Chairman stepped forward, I’ll make sure to produce solid results.”

 

“The amount invested isn’t small. We paid 4 million dollars upfront and contracted for a 4:6 revenue split.”

 

“We get the 4?”

 

“Of course. They wanted 3:7, but the Chairman negotiated it to 4:6. The upfront payment got a bit higher in that process.”

 

“If we can’t generate at least 5 billion won in revenue, this will definitely be a losing contract.”

 

We had already spent 5 billion won.

 

And with a 4:6 revenue split.

 

We needed at least 12.5 billion won in revenue to make it profitable.

 

Of course, with marketing costs, localization costs, server operations, and customer support costs added on top, we’d need over 20 billion won in revenue just to break even.

 

“Still, these are very popular games, and the contract period is 5 years, so we should be able to make a profit within that time, right?”

 

“I’ll turn it profitable within 1 year, not 5 years.”

 

“If someone else said that, I’d say it’s impossible, but since it’s Employee Lee, I have faith.”

 

“There might be some slightly complicated issues, but please trust me.”

 

I had already thought of a new revenue structure model.

 

I had acquired Neo Marvel to realize this revenue structure, and it was a method that American game companies couldn’t even imagine.

 

***

 

I visited Neo Marvel.

 

Neo Marvel was still operating from a small office in the Seoul suburbs.

 

The atmosphere was chaotic, probably because they were scheduled to move to the Nexpin Building soon.

 

“CEO Park Min-hyeok, it’s been a long time.”

 

“After acquiring Neo Marvel, there was no contact at all, so I thought you had forgotten about us. The promises you made when proposing the acquisition weren’t all lies, were they?”

 

CEO Park Min-hyeok spoke while suppressing his anger.

 

It was a natural reaction since I had made all sorts of sweet promises when proposing the Neo Marvel acquisition.

 

For him, I offered real candy instead of sweet talk.

 

“I was a bit delayed because of publishing contract negotiations.”

 

“Did the contract go through by any chance?”

 

“We secured the publishing contract for Soccer 2001 from WA Games in the United States.”

 

“Is, is that really true? How could you get Soccer 2001 of all games?”

 

CEO Park Min-hyeok couldn’t close his mouth.

 

WA’s soccer games were popular even in Korea, and Soccer 2000, released last year, was such a major game that it ranked 4th in Korean game sales.

 

“Tiger Fund Headquarters moved to negotiate with WA.”

 

“Still, I don’t understand. WA Games operates WA Korea internally to handle Korean distribution. How is it possible for them to entrust publishing to us instead of using their own company?”

 

It was naturally close to impossible.

 

I had thought so too.

 

But Chairman Robertson had stubbornly gone to WA and secured the publishing contract.

 

“WA Korea exists, but it’s closer to a distributor. So we were able to secure exclusive Korean distribution rights including all operational authority.”

 

“Now that you mention it, there have been cases where several WA games were published by Korean distributors before.”

 

“Now Neo Marvel will have exclusive distribution for 5 years. Unfortunately, the revenue split was set at 4:6.”

 

CEO Park Min-hyeok frantically waved his hands.

 

He continued speaking with a face on the verge of tears, choking up.

 

“For WA games, even 20% instead of 40% would be enough! I can’t believe our Neo Marvel gets to publish WA games. Thank you so much!”

 

“This is just the beginning. Depending on how this performance turns out, we can set better revenue split conditions and sign contracts with other game companies too.”

 

“I’ll prepare perfectly even if I have to grind away the time!”

 

I had already made the plan.

 

Neo Marvel just needed to move according to the plan I had set.

 

“I understand you already have experience with Korean localization and other localization strategies.”

 

“Since we’re a game company that lives off publishing, we naturally have abundant experience with that. We also have specialized Korean localization personnel.”

 

“But we plan to use a completely different strategy from your publishing strategies so far.”

 

“What kind of strategy?”

 

I caught my breath for a moment.

 

I could predict what kind of reaction would come when they heard the strategy I had planned.

 

“We’re thinking of releasing Soccer 2001 as an online game. And we’ll make it playable for free on the Neo Marvel website.”

 

“You’re saying you’ll make the game playable for free? Then there’s no way to generate revenue. Is it to promote Neo Marvel? Even so, if you release a WA game for free, the losses will be enormous!”

 

It was indeed the expected reaction.

 

Abandoning the revenue structure of selling CDs for profit was crazy in the current game market.

 

“We’ll create a new online-centered revenue structure. Selling one CD only generates about 30,000 to 50,000 won in sales. Taking 40% of that leaves about 20,000 won in profit. Considering other costs, we only make 10,000 won per CD sold.”

 

“10,000 won per CD is enormous profit. And considering Soccer 2001’s fame, we could sell at least 100,000 copies. That would achieve at least 1 billion won in profit.”

 

He could say that because he didn’t know the advance payment amounted to 5 billion won.

 

Selling 100,000 copies would only bring in 1 billion won, and they’d need to sell 100,000 copies every year for 5 years just to break even.

 

“Please trust me and follow my lead. I’m going to add monetization elements to the soccer game.”

 

“How can you add monetization?”

 

“The United States has a sports card collecting culture. In Korea too, there are many people who spend hundreds of thousands of won collecting cards of professional baseball or soccer players.”

 

“Are you saying you’ll introduce that system into the game?”

 

“To play with good players, you’d have to draw that player’s card first. And if we introduce a card enhancement system on top of that, we can maximize revenue.”

 

It was a game that dozens of people had spent years carefully creating.

 

But the compensation for all that was just a single package sale – it was completely incomprehensible.

 

However, by introducing this kind of monetization system, they could create repetitive revenue not just once, but hundreds or thousands of times.

 

Annual Salary 1 Trillion New Employee Chapter 90

 

E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27

 

Author | Seo Oh

 

Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won

 

Publishing House | Poten

 

Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul

 

Phone | 02-6320-8500

 

Fax | 02-6320-8585

 

ISBN | 9791175305892

 

Price | 100 won

 

ⓒ Seo Oh 2025

 

This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law.

 

This e-book is published under the author’s contract, so unauthorized reproduction, copying, distribution, and sharing are prohibited without written consent from both parties.

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