New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 92
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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 92. The Architect (2)
The General Manager urgently sought me out.
I felt strong resistance since I hadn’t finished my daily routine yet.
But upon arriving at the Fund Office, I had no choice but to understand immediately.
“Chairman Wang of Daehyun Group has informed us he’s coming to visit.”
“Are you saying Chairman Wang will personally attend this negotiation? But hasn’t Chairman Wang retired?”
“The fact that a retired person is moving shows how important this negotiation is.”
The importance was beyond question.
If this negotiation went awry, Daehyeon Construction, the core of Daehyun Group, could collapse.
“It seems Daehyun Group is using the same strategy that Chairman Robertson used.”
“I had the same thought. It’s a strategy to seize control of the negotiation through name value.”
“The negotiation will become a bit more difficult.”
Chairman Robertson had actually led several negotiations favorably with this strategy.
He personally attended negotiations with Apple and US Game Companies, successfully closing contracts under favorable conditions.
“No one in Korea can treat Chairman Wang carelessly. How about it, shall I attend this negotiation to help you?”
“No. Rather, shouldn’t a young pup like me step forward so I can act boldly without knowing how scary the tiger is?”
“You might get devoured doing that. It’s not that I’m underestimating Employee Lee, but Chairman Wang’s presence is truly extraordinary.”
I already knew this from experience.
I was in the Negotiation Room during the 2 trillion won Daehyun Electronics investment.
Of course, back then the General Manager led the negotiation, and I only played a supporting role, so the situation was very different.
“Still, I can’t rely on the General Manager forever. Don’t you have to handle investments for US Headquarters and Global Branches worldwide? That’s why Song Sang-yeon is also focusing more on Asian investments.”
“That’s true. The Korean Branch will ultimately have to be handled by Employee Lee. But I’m saying this because I’m so worried.”
The General Manager kept calling me Employee Lee.
Since “employee” was a more affectionate term than “deputy branch manager,” I felt he was speaking out of genuine concern for me.
“It’s fine. And this negotiation is actually similar to feeding a tiger caged in a zoo.”
“You’re saying there are no variables. I understand. Even if the negotiation doesn’t go well, it doesn’t matter, so proceed with the deputy branch manager taking the lead.”
The title changed again.
The General Manager was now calling me deputy branch manager instead of Employee Lee.
It was filled with the meaning that he trusted me and would entrust me with the work.
***
Chairman Wang of Daehyun Group really came to visit the fund office in person.
And he came alone without any security guards or even a single accompanying secretary.
“Thank you so much for coming all the way here.”
“The one in need should dig the well, shouldn’t they? So, could you give me a glass of water?”
Chairman Wang started the conversation in a straightforward manner.
I thought this current appearance wasn’t an act but Chairman Wang’s usual demeanor.
It was so natural that even an actor couldn’t pull it off.
“Since this is an American fund, you drink very high-quality water. It sticks to my mouth so nicely.”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
“But no matter how much water I drink, my throat is burning. Not just my throat, but my insides are burning up.”
Chairman Wang took control of the negotiation with his pitiful tone.
When Chairman Wang, who was the head of the number one business group, came out like this, who would dare to take a strong stance?
But I was different.
I had already made all my plans, and I intended to move according to the plans I had set.
“Is it because of the Daehyeon Construction problem?”
“Daehyeon Construction is about to collapse because of those Middle Eastern people. But I heard from my son that Tiger Fund threw down a lifeline?”
“To solve the outstanding receivables problem, it’s difficult for Korean companies to step forward. Ultimately, American companies must step up to find a solution, and this is close to gambling from Tiger Fund’s perspective as well.”
I wasn’t pretending to be weak.
The outstanding receivables problem actually had a high possibility of failure.
Of course, it was also true that Tiger Fund stepping forward had a higher success rate than Daehyun Group stepping forward.
“Is it correct that you’ll buy the 900 million dollar receivables bond for 600 million dollars?”
“And the condition is to also receive Daehyun Delivery.”
“You want to receive it for free?”
“Many of Daehyun Delivery’s assets are tied up as collateral for Daehyeon Construction. So I think acquiring Daehyun Delivery to solve the Daehyeon Construction problem isn’t an unreasonable condition.”
What would Daehyun Delivery matter in this situation?
Daehyun Delivery’s corporate value was at most only tens of billions of won.
Compared to the outstanding receivables problem involving thousands of billions of won, Daehyun Delivery was nothing more than child’s play.
“Hmm, is there a reason you specifically chose Daehyun Delivery instead of other affiliate companies?”
“Purchasing receivables bonds is a really high-risk action. Then we also need to gain something from it, but… among Daehyun Group’s current affiliate companies, there’s nothing decent except Daehyun Delivery. And it’s also a scale that’s not burdensome for both sides to give and take.”
“Haha, I don’t know how Daehyun Group ended up receiving this kind of treatment.”
Chairman Wang, who had built Daehyun Group into the top conglomerate, let out a sigh.
Due to the prince’s rebellion, Daehyun Group had already been split into several pieces, and he knew well that they could never regain their former glory.
“Now we must adapt to a new era. And to adapt, we must first survive before we can plan for the future.”
“There’s no one else but you who can say such things to me. Everyone else just speaks empty words while acting differently.”
“I’m only speaking the truth as it is. And time is running short. The longer we wait, the less likely it becomes to resolve the outstanding receivables. Right now we’re purchasing at 600 million dollars, but in just one month the price will drop to 500 million dollars.”
Chairman Wang let out another deep sigh.
However, he seemed to agree that there was no other way to save Daehyeon Construction, nodding his head.
“But is it really only 600 million dollars?”
“To be more honest, without us, Daehyeon Construction’s outstanding receivables problem will remain an eternal challenge. I guarantee that even after 10 or 20 years, they won’t recover even 10%.”
“You’re saying they won’t even get back 100 million dollars.”
“And the value of 100 million dollars ten years from now is different from 100 million dollars today. It’s not simply about currency devaluation due to inflation, but right now it’s an amount that can even buy opportunities.”
After Daehyeon Construction went bankrupt, receiving the outstanding receivables would be of no use.
Considering inflation and opportunity costs, they had no choice but to accept our conditions.
“Phew, I understand. I’ll accept Tiger Fund’s conditions. But may I make just one more request? This isn’t a contract condition, just a request.”
“I’m listening.”
“Please help Daehyeon Construction survive.”
“With 600 million dollars being injected, shouldn’t that at least put out the immediate fire?”
“600 million dollars is less than 700 billion won, isn’t it? That won’t be nearly enough.”
I could understand what Chairman Wang was worried about.
Daehyeon Construction’s debt was approximately 4 billion dollars.
Having borrowed well over 4 trillion won, he couldn’t help but worry about the future.
“I can promise you one thing. I’ll help ensure Daehyeon Construction remains with the Daehyun Family.”
“You’ll ensure it remains with the Daehyun Family, not Daehyun Group? That’s a statement with many meanings. But hoping for more than that would be greedy, wouldn’t it? Heh heh heh.”
“When a strong typhoon comes, a tree might be uprooted and blown away. Tiger Fund will strive to replant that tree on the Daehyun Family’s land.”
This time Chairman Wang was smiling instead of sighing.
He seemed to think that thanks to Tiger Fund, they could avoid the worst-case scenario.
“Asking you to stop the typhoon would be greedy. Just replanting the tree in the ground so it can grow well again would be something to be grateful for. Heh heh, if only I had met someone like you when I was a bit younger.”
“You’re too kind. And there’s still plenty of time ahead.”
“You may have plenty of time, but I feel like I don’t have much time left, which is why I’m saying this. I’ve taken up too much of a busy person’s time. Give me the contract.”
I handed over the contract I had prepared in advance.
It was a contract containing the conditions for selling 600 million dollars in receivables bonds and the conditions for selling Daehyun Delivery for 40 billion won.
It contained the terms that Tiger Fund would pay a total of 700 billion won to Daehyun Group.
***
The contract was finalized.
I very courteously escorted Chairman Wang all the way to his car.
When I returned to the office, the General Manager was reviewing the contract.
“So you managed to close the deal with these terms.”
“Thank you for trusting me with this.”
“I did trust you with it, but the risk is too great. I’m not sure if we can collect the outstanding receivables from the Middle East region.”
It was literally a contract where the tail was bigger than the dog.
We had essentially bought over 600 billion won worth of receivables to acquire Daehyun Delivery worth 40 billion.
“If we use Tiger Fund Headquarters’ power, wouldn’t collecting the receivables be possible? Of course, 100% recovery would be impossible, but I judged that 70-80% recovery was feasible.”
“It might have been possible in the past. That’s also why PwC approached Daehyeon Construction.”
PwC had tried to buy the receivables bond at 90% of face value.
Of course, the contract ultimately fell through. But they must have made that approach because the recovery prospects were high.
“I understand the situation has changed due to political issues.”
“That’s right. The US presidential election, America’s biggest event, is now just a few months away. And both parties have no choice but to advocate for economic sanctions on Iraq to rally votes.”
“Even if that’s the case during the election period, couldn’t the situation change once someone is elected?”
“The situation won’t change dramatically in the short term.”
I wasn’t hoping for a complete change in the US Government’s position.
We couldn’t possibly influence the US Government’s direction just to solve the receivables problem.
But it seemed we could create a very small opening.
“Still, depending on how we handle it, couldn’t we solve at least the receivables problem?”
“It would be possible if we could get on the next President’s side. Though we’d need to sponsor an astronomical amount to completely solve the receivables problem.”
“Exactly how much would we need to sponsor?”
“Just to have a meeting with a presidential candidate, you’d need to sponsor about 10 million dollars, and to make a request, you’d need 50 million dollars or more.”
Ten million dollars for one conversation.
And fifty million dollars for one request.
Actually, it wasn’t that expensive.
For the cost of being able to use the US President’s power, it could be considered cheap.
This was an amount that was only possible because they weren’t President yet.
After the election, even sponsoring 100 million dollars instead of 50 million wouldn’t allow you to make a request.
“Fifty million dollars is more than enough profit. We bought 900 million dollars in outstanding receivables bonds for 600 million dollars, so even if we sponsor 100 million dollars instead of 50 million, we’d still profit as long as we can collect the receivables.”
“Even with the US President’s help, it’ll be difficult to collect all the receivables. At most, we’d get about 800 million dollars. And with related costs, fees, and greasing palms everywhere, we’d end up with only about 700 million dollars.”
It wasn’t a deal that would yield huge profits.
But since we couldn’t let the receivables bonds we’d acquired become worthless paper, we had to take this gamble.
“Has Tiger Fund decided which candidate to sponsor?”
“Not yet. With so much happening earlier this year, we haven’t been able to focus on the presidential election. But traditionally, Wall Street financial companies either sponsor both parties or slightly favor the Republican Party.”
“Has Tiger Fund decided to follow Wall Street’s trend?”
Now all decisions were made by the General Manager.
Since the final decision on sponsoring US presidential election funds also depended on the General Manager’s decision, I asked this question.
“Political matters are so sensitive that we need to at least pretend to follow Wall Street’s trend on the surface.”
“Does that mean you could sponsor separately behind the scenes?”
“We could, depending on what benefits us.”
“Then I’d like us to provide additional sponsorship to the Republican Party.”
I pointed to the Republican Party.
More precisely, I had George W. Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, in mind.
Annual Salary 1 Trillion New Employee Chapter 92
E-book Publication Date | 2025.11.27
Author | Seo Oh
Publishers | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Published by | 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, duplication, 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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