The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 105

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

Regression of a Fallen Chaebol Heir — Episode 105
“You have one month. Two objectives.”
The moment the Small Conference Room door closed, Im Do-hyeon opened his mouth. Standing before the whiteboard, he picked up a marker and looked at us.
“The ultimate goal is for this Task Force to bring both an investment scenario and a divestment scenario up to the chairman.”
A Task Force was assembled when urgent matters arose or core projects needed driving—it was the most critical initiative in our current situation.
“The reason we’ve called you two is to structure this Task Force.”
Im Do-hyeon drew a rectangle on the whiteboard.
“Which departments to pull from, who specifically, and how to divide the workflow. Our goal is to have this structure ready within four days.”
Im Do-hyeon began filling in the whiteboard as he spoke.
Data Team. Field Team. External Analysis. Finance.
He listed four functions in a row, adding department names below each.
‘He’s quick.’
The moment he received his instructions, he’d called us in and was already sketching out the structure on the whiteboard.
Given the four-day timeline, the speed might be expected, but not many people could sketch things out this instantly.
Im Do-hyeon was demonstrating how thoroughly he understood the company.
“I think the data side should be sourced from Planning Division and the Sales Division. Field operations from Operations Division. Finance and external analysis from the Finance Team, and I think our Planning Team should handle the simulations.”
He turned his gaze to Kim So-mi.
“So-mi, pull together a list of department leads so I can contact them.”
“Understood.”
Im Do-hyeon studied the whiteboard intently again, his expression suggesting something was bothering him.
“The problem is sequencing.”
He continued staring at the whiteboard, muttering to himself. It overlapped with how I looked when I was thinking, and I had to suppress a laugh.
“Do we gather data first, or design scenarios first?”
It was a fair question. The timeline—gathering data, organizing it, creating two scenarios, and submitting them upward—all within a month. Sequential execution wouldn’t just be tight; it was impossible.
Gathering data first would obviously take time. Each department had different standards for handling figures, and consolidating and organizing alone would require at least two weeks.
Subtract two weeks from a month, and there’s no time left to write scenarios.
‘I should speak up.’
Since Im Do-hyeon had brought me onto this team and laid the groundwork, I didn’t need to hesitate.
“Team Lead, may I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“If we gather data first, it will take time. Each department has different standards, and consolidating and organizing alone will likely require two weeks. That leaves almost no time to write scenarios within a month, doesn’t it?”
Im Do-hyeon looked at me.
“What if we run Data Consolidation and Scenario Design in parallel? While the data team gathers numbers, the scenario team frames things first. When the numbers come in, we plug them into the framework.”
Im Do-hyeon’s eyes shifted to the whiteboard. He studied what he’d just organized, then looked back at me.
“Then we’d need to split into two teams, and that means we’d need additional personnel.”
“Isn’t there two Planning Teams in the Planning Division?”
Im Do-hyeon stopped writing and considered this.
After a brief silence, he looked at the whiteboard, then picked up the eraser and began wiping away the draft he’d spent twenty minutes organizing.
‘This guy doesn’t hesitate to throw it out if he thinks he’s wrong.’
It’s not an easy thing to do, but Im Do-hyeon began restructuring without hesitation.
“Now that you mention it, if we activate both Planning Teams as you said, the picture becomes clear. Since Planning Team 1 reports directly to the director, requests for data from other departments will carry weight.”
The Planning Division was a direct report organization to the CEO, so when a team under the director requests data, whether from Sales or Operations, it’s hard to refuse.
Planning Team 2, which I belonged to, could focus on scenarios.
Im Do-hyeon looked at Kim So-mi.
“So-mi, support Team 1 with data consolidation coordination. When Team 1 personnel gather departmental data, your job is standardizing the criteria. If the standards don’t match later when we merge numbers into scenarios, we’ll have to start from scratch.”
“Understood.”
After instructing Kim So-mi, Im Do-hyeon looked back at me.
“Seon-woo, you’ll frame the scenario structure with me. We’ll add other team members too.”
“Understood.”
Im Do-hyeon began writing a timeline on the whiteboard.
Working in parallel, one month was tight but not impossible.
“Within four days, we’ll have this structure ready as a document to submit to the director. Let’s start immediately.”
Im Do-hyeon capped the marker as he spoke.
“So-mi will pull the list of department staffing candidates, and Seon-woo will organize the timeline and workflow. Seon-woo, draft the initial version and give it to me.”
“Understood.”
“Understood.”
The meeting ended. Im Do-hyeon was photographing the whiteboard while Kim So-mi and I left the Small Conference Room.
We walked down the corridor back to our desks.
“Seon-woo.”
“Yes?”
“How did you come up with that? Splitting Team 1 and Team 2?”
“I calculated the timeline and realized sequential order wouldn’t work.”
“You say it that way, but the team lead accepted it and restructured everything. He’s not usually someone who does that. Impressive.”
Kim So-mi said with a smile, and I bowed slightly in acknowledgment.
“Then shall we get started right away? If you need anything, ask. I’ll help if I can.”
“Understood.”
The moment I sat down, I started working on what Im Do-hyeon had instructed.

* * *
-I knew Kang Seon-woo worked hard, but I never thought you’d be working this hard even after joining Seonjin.
That night, Han Jae-yi called while I was handling leftover work at home.
“Life’s short—when it’s time to work, you work.”
-Ugh, that’s obnoxious. People might think everyone else just slacks off.
A small laugh escaped me at Han Jae-yi’s words. I have so much to do in this life and my goals are so large that I can’t afford to take things easy, so I threw myself into everything desperately. But I could see how others might perceive me that way.
“How about you? Keeping up okay?”
-Same as always. Like walking on thin ice constantly. Money work isn’t meant to be comfortable, you know.
“Seems like I picked a good senior. There must be a reason for calling?”
-Yeah, Danny asked me to tell you something, and there’s also Ribbon Capital business to discuss.
Han Jae-yi took a moment to collect herself before speaking.
-Volta is in Pre-IPO and the institutional response is supposedly massive.
Pre-IPO was the window where companies raised private investment from institutions before going public.
The response at this stage directly predicted success in the main IPO, so if institutions were swarming, Volta’s listing would likely be smooth.
-And we’ve made additional investments, bringing our equity stake up to 28%. With the money we invested, Volta bought a factory and will move in there.
Before joining Seonjin, Ribbon had injected more capital into Volta—funding for Volta to acquire a shuttered GM factory. It seemed that had all gone through.
“That’s good. What about the Ribbon situation you wanted to discuss?”
-I wanted to talk about the macro picture. Europe keeps festering. Greece’s April maturity is eighty billion euros, and Chancellor Merkel isn’t moving.
-Right now the global economy is only holding up because of China’s stimulus. Once that drops, everything will unravel.
Greece, an EU member state, was experiencing economic collapse while Germany, effectively the bloc’s leader, was taking no countermeasures.
The economy wasn’t crumbling despite this atmosphere because China’s economy was strong, but if the axis collapsed like it did in my previous life, the crisis would be severe.
“What’s the size of the April maturity?”
-Eighty billion euros. They could probably pay it. The problem comes after. They’d have to borrow again at higher interest rates.
It was the start of a vicious cycle. Greece was trapped in a structure where the more it repaid, the more it owed.
It had to borrow at even higher rates just to pay the interest.
Reflecting on my memories of my previous life, Germany would move in May, and even then they’d move too late, causing the market to flip again.
-If Europe implodes, does it reach real assets?
Han Jae-yi asked. Understanding the spillover to real assets was crucial for gauging how much further to hold positions.
“It will.”
-……Through what channels?
“Trade volumes drop, exports collapse, consumption contracts—in that sequence.”
A brief silence followed. I could hear Han Jae-yi taking notes through the phone.
“Keep the Euro Short. I’ll time the liquidation.”
The Euro was the currency used by all EU member states. Naturally, if Greece and other fragile economies within the EU collapsed, the currency’s value would plummet.
As the Euro weakened, we’d need to short it to profit.
-Got it. What about the CDS we’re holding in PIIGS?
“Add to positions in Portugal and Ireland. We’ve already filled 30% of available capital, so we’ll roll the rest from Euro Short profits.”
Rolling meant reinvesting profits from existing positions without withdrawing them for other positions.
We’d already capped our original capital at 30% for this crisis bet. Rather than increasing our stake recklessly, rolling profits into new positions was the right approach.
-Got it. I’ll proceed right away.
“Yes, Senior. Work hard.”
-Having a hotshot tell me to work hard puts pressure on me.
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
-Just kidding. Anyway, I’ll call if something urgent comes up.
After saying goodbye to Han Jae-yi, I hung up.
“China, huh……”
Even after hanging up, I sat on the edge of my bed for a long time. What Han Jae-yi had said overlapped with a different picture forming in my mind.
China’s stimulus was propping up the global economy, and South Korea’s export recovery was thanks to that.
Domestic consumption reviving, e-commerce expanding, delivery volumes increasing—everything was riding that wave.
‘If Europe collapses.’
If global growth falters, exports will shrink and consumption will contract. What response would come if someone then said they’d invest hundreds of billions in building a hub?
No executive will approve hundreds of billions in investment in the heart of a crisis. Not even Mother would. Executives retrench in crises.
That’s normal. That’s rational.
“If you’re going to invest, do it fast. When the world is quiet.”
The Task Force report deadline was one month away, but it wasn’t simple. It was essentially the group’s last window to make a decision before Europe exploded.

* * *
“Team Lead, I’ve organized the workflow and timeline draft.”
The next morning, I came to work and refined the document I’d written the night before, then went to Im Do-hyeon’s desk.
“Already?”
Im Do-hyeon looked up from his monitor at me. I handed him the printed document and he started reading immediately. He turned pages, nodding, then pointed to a specific spot with his finger.
“You’ve marked data integration for week two. Will that work?”
“The Sales Division should be fast. They already have data they aggregate routinely. The problem is Operations field data.”
“Hub volumes and cost structures?”
“Yes. If data collection methods differ by hub, just standardizing will take time.”
Im Do-hyeon set the document down and leaned back in his chair.
“If field data comes late, the integration point slips. Then everything downstream gets pushed back.”
“That’s why Operations needs to release at least two people. We need someone to set data standards for each hub.”
Im Do-hyeon nodded, then spoke.
“I’m worried the Operations head won’t release them willingly.”
That was something I’d considered too. No department head likes losing personnel to another team.
Especially since the Task Force was branded as “logistics stabilization,” Operations might interpret it as an accusation that they were mishandling things.
“I think the director needs to address it directly.”
“That’s what we’ll have to do.”
Im Do-hyeon picked up the document again. Since O Jin-su was the Task Force head, interdepartmental personnel coordination fell under his authority. His expression said he’d need to find the director today.
“Overall, it’s well organized. We just need to pull up the timeline for the week-two integration point based on Operations’ situation. And.”
Im Do-hyeon nodded to me.
“You worked hard. It’s only been about a month since you joined, and seeing that you’ve already grasped the company structure, it’s clear we chose Seon-woo for the right rea—”
“Team Lead.”
Im Do-hyeon’s words were cut off. It was O Jin-su.
He was walking toward us, moving faster than usual.
“Director. I was just about to come see you.”
Im Do-hyeon stood from his desk. I bowed in greeting.
O Jin-su stepped beside Im Do-hyeon and lowered his voice.
“Seyang’s been confirmed as Preferred Bidder for Daeseong Logistics.”
The document in Im Do-hyeon’s hand trembled slightly.
“……When?”
“Public notice went out this morning.”
Im Do-hyeon looked at me. I looked at Im Do-hyeon.
‘Faster than expected.’
I knew it was coming. In my previous life, Seyang had swallowed Daeseong. But I didn’t expect it to happen just one day after the Task Force started.
A chill ran through my gut.
The only saving grace was that Preferred Bidder status wasn’t the same as a merger.
Even after due diligence and finalizing the main contract, any acquisition required Fair Trade Commission review.
That process alone could take months.
But the market wouldn’t wait. The moment merger news spread, shippers would follow the trend, and it was only a matter of time before volumes shifted to Seyang.
The words I’d thought about last night came back.
‘If you’re going to invest, do it fast. When the world is quiet.’
The quiet was getting shorter.
O Jin-su looked at the document in Im Do-hyeon’s hands.
“Is that the Task Force structure?”
“Yes, Seon-woo drafted it.”
“We need to accelerate the timeline.”
Im Do-hyeon nodded.
“Not four days. Get it done by tomorrow. I’ll contact the other teams right away and pull personnel.”
As O Jin-su turned to leave, Im Do-hyeon looked at me. His face was different from moments ago when he’d been thinking about the week-two integration timing.
“You heard?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s finish today.”

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