The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 132

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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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Regression of a Fallen Chaebol’s Third Generation — Episode 132
“It’s been ages since the three of us sat down together.”
Mother set down the side dishes on the dining table as she spoke.
I was already seated, arranging my utensils, and I noticed there were one or two more dishes than usual spread across the table.
“Brother eating breakfast at all is honestly something we haven’t seen in forever.”
Just then, Seon-ah approached the table, drying her wet hair.
“Hey, hurry up and get ready. Help Mother out a bit, will you?”
At my words, Seon-ah gave me a sidelong glance.
“Today’s when you’re here, so it’s different. On normal days, I’m the one who helps.”
“You two are bickering even though it’s the first time in ages you’re having breakfast together?”
Mother said something, and Seon-ah grumbled before sitting down. Though there were staff members who usually helped with housework, Mother prepared breakfast herself each morning without fail.
Even after Father passed away and I took over the company, Mother kept that promise to herself — breakfast was always something she shared with us.
Lately, I’d been too busy to join her for breakfast, but today I managed to leave on schedule and squeeze in time for a meal.
“Let’s eat. The housekeeper found some fresh pollack at the market yesterday, so Mom decided to show off her skills a bit.”
“Mom, did the menu really change this much just because brother’s here?”
At Seon-ah’s teasing remark, Mother let out a soft laugh.
“You say things like that, and people will actually believe them.”
“I’m just joking. Joking. I mean the menu is so impressive it’s moving.”
Watching her, I smiled and picked up my spoon.
“It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m not usually the type to get emotional about things like this, but today it tastes especially good.”
I meant it. I’d never been the sentimental sort, but since returning, I’d found myself grateful for these moments over home-cooked meals.
Halfway through eating, I remembered something I’d been meaning to ask Seon-ah.
“You’re a senior in high school now, aren’t you? Have you thought about what you want to do?”
At my question, Seon-ah deliberated for a moment and then shrugged.
“I’m not sure yet. But I do want to study more.”
“Graduate school? Study abroad?”
“I haven’t decided anything yet. But whatever it is, I want to do more of it.”
Her tone was as lukewarm as always, but there was a sense that she was actively searching for what she truly wanted to pursue.
In my previous life, Seon-ah had walked a similar path.
She’d graduated from a degree in media and communications and wanted to continue her studies, but when Seonjin Trading Company collapsed and Mother was consumed fighting her cousins to protect the company, there was no room for my younger sister to continue her own journey.
In the end, Seon-ah set aside her dreams and filled the family’s void by managing the resort.
It was the limitation of a family with few people to trust.
At that moment, Mother set down her chopsticks and looked at Seon-ah.
“How much longer do you want to study?”
“I’m not sure. But right now it’s so interesting that I want to keep going until I get tired of it.”
Mother’s expression hardened slightly. She didn’t object outright, but it was written all over her face.
“You’re just like your brother…….”
“That’s not a bad thing, is it? She’s enjoying herself.”
As Mother was about to say something, I cut in.
“There’s no rush now, either.”
…….
“Besides, Seon-ah’s still young. When she’s done trying everything she wants to do, she’ll know what to do next on her own, just like she said — when she gets tired of it.”
Mother looked at me for a moment. Then she let out a short sigh and nodded.
“If you want to do more, then you should do it. What can I say?”
“For once, thanks to brother, I won against Mom.”
Seon-ah’s lips curled up slightly.
“Either way, I’ll think more about my future. Honestly, I’m still not sure. I’ll tell you once I’ve decided.”
Seon-ah continued eating, and Mother took a moment to collect herself before returning to her meal, then glanced at me.
“Are you busy with work at the company these days?”
My hand holding the spoon paused for a moment.
Not bringing company matters home — that was an unspoken rule that had long been established between Mother and me.
Mother never brought group business to the table, and I’d never laid out my work over the dining table either.
But today, Mother was the one who broke that rule first.
“Since when do you ask about my work first, Mom?”
Seon-ah also looked up from her chopsticks, regarding Mother with unfamiliar interest.
“Why not? It’s my son’s work — I can ask about it.”
Mother moved her chopsticks toward the side dishes with an air of indifference.
But from her tone, it sounded like she’d been wanting to ask this for some time, swallowing the words over and over.
It seemed she wanted to hear about my company work not as the owner, but as a mother.
“As you know, I’ve been focusing on managing the fulfillment center we’re building in Ochang. That’s mostly why I leave early in the morning — there’s usually work that needs to be done at the Ochang site.”
Mother listened quietly, nodding along.
“Tomorrow I have a robot demonstration at the Gunpo site, so I’ll be taking the CEO there.”
“A demonstration? What kind of demonstration?”
Seon-ah chimed in first.
“A robot demonstration. There’s a robot that moves shelves of goods around in the warehouse.”
“Something like that exists?”
“Yeah, it’s probably unfamiliar, but robots like that are going to be involved in a lot of things going forward.”
“That’s fascinating.”
Seon-ah answered briefly, genuinely impressed, then went back to her rice.
Mother ate a few spoonfuls in silence, then added a short comment.
“You’re doing well.”
At those words, Seon-ah turned her head and glanced at me.
“Brother’s quite impressive these days.”
Her lukewarm tone carried a small laugh at the end. Mother was curious too, but it seemed Seon-ah had also been wondering what I was up to.
“I’m managing. Please don’t worry too much.”
“That’s right, Mom. Stop sighing every morning when you see the empty seat where your brother used to be. When has he ever let you down?”
“I never said that…….”
At Seon-ah’s words, Mother focused on her meal, flustered, while Seon-ah and I stifled a laugh at the sight.

* * *
“Good morning. I’m Seo Min-seung, CEO of Synapse Robotics. This is Lucas Jansen, our CTO.”
As the car stopped in front of the Gunpo Hub entrance, Synapse’s CEO Seo Min-seung, who’d been waiting ahead, bowed in greeting. Behind him, Lucas Jansen was visible.
Oh Jin-su extended his hand and shook hands with them.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Oh Jin-su from Seonjin Logistics.”
After exchanging handshakes with Lim Do-hyeon, the two men stood before me.
“It’s been a while.”
“Manager Kang, it’s good to see you again.”
The company had been told that I’d met with them beforehand for a preliminary meeting, so for now it was appropriate that we acknowledge each other as if we were simply acquainted.
Both Seo Min-seung and Lucas were playing along with my act, though Lucas seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Well then, shall we head inside?”
Oh Jin-su took the lead, speaking as he moved forward.
“You must have worked hard setting everything up since early this morning.”
“Not at all. If anything, we’re grateful for the opportunity, so we made sure to do it right. Truth is, we’re the ones in a hurry.”
Seo Min-seung said this while walking alongside Oh Jin-su.
There was a layer of tension in his voice, but his eyes remained calm and steady.
“That makes me all the more curious.”
As we entered, the demonstration hall came into view immediately, and the first thing I noticed was its scale.
It was completely different from the small recreation space I’d seen in one corner of the Ochang factory just a few months ago.
The demonstration hall before us was almost like an exact copy of an actual fulfillment center’s picking section.
Still smaller than a real warehouse, but with shelves arranged in a grid pattern and aisles running straight through, it looked like a movie set.
“I had no idea it would look like this — it’s quite spacious and well-organized. I’m almost wondering if this is the same Gunpo Hub I know.”
Oh Jin-su said this as he surveyed the demonstration hall.
“Prior to the main demonstration, we’ve prepared the environment that comes closest to what we can actually show you.”
“So we can see the robots right away?”
“Yes, I’ll show you this way.”
Seo Min-seung answered and guided us to one side. Lucas Jansen was standing with a laptop before him, and the actual demonstration began.
“First, I’ll briefly explain how our system operates.”
Seo Min-seung gestured toward the rows of shelves.
“Up until now, the way goods are retrieved from a warehouse is that workers pull carts and walk between the shelves. What we’ve created is the opposite. Instead of workers going to the shelves, the shelves come to the workers.”
“The shelves come to the people?”
Manager Lim Do-hyeon asked, resting his chin on his hand.
“Exactly. The robot slides underneath the shelf, lifts it entirely, and then moves it to the designated worker’s position. The robots take care of all the movement paths.”
At Seo Min-seung’s explanation, Oh Jin-su nodded and swept his gaze across the demonstration hall once more.
“There is one thing I should mention beforehand. With the shelf structures currently used at Seonjin Logistics, immediate installation would be difficult. The shelves themselves need to be replaced with robot-compatible ones. The shelves you’re seeing now are ones we designed and optimized for robot movement.”
Naturally, since the structural needs of humans differ from those of goods-moving robots, the shelves had to be different as well.
“If the shelves were to be replaced, how long would it take? Let’s use one sector of the existing Gunpo Hub as our benchmark.”
Lim Do-hyeon asked.
“Two to three weeks per line section should be sufficient.”
At Seo Min-seung’s answer, both Oh Jin-su and Lim Do-hyeon nodded lightly and shifted their gaze to Lucas.
“How does the software operate?”
Lucas checked the laptop screen once and answered in brief English, and Seo Min-seung picked up the explanation.
“The robots don’t just follow a predetermined path. You simply give the command — move this shelf to this location — and the robot calculates the route itself and moves. When multiple units operate simultaneously, the system judges to prevent collisions.”
“So multiple units move around in one space. Is the software easy to operate? Our workers need to understand it easily too.”
“Of course. The interface is designed to be user-friendly for workers. Beyond that, actually seeing the demonstration will help you understand much better.”
At that, Oh Jin-su nodded, and Seo Min-seung nodded toward Lucas.
‘Whew…….’
I quietly swallowed a long breath.
I wasn’t without some anxiety. This was where everything Synapse had done so far was being evaluated, which made me even more nervous.
Still, seeing the confident expressions on both Seo Min-seung and Lucas’s faces put my mind at ease somewhat.
“We’ll begin now.”
At Seo Min-seung’s brief signal, two small robots that had been waiting at the end of the demonstration hall began to move.
Whirr—
With a mechanical sound, one of them slid underneath the shelf.
As its body lifted slightly, the entire shelf seemed to float and was carried along; the robot moved smoothly down the aisle to the position where the worker mannequin was standing.
As the robot set the shelf down and retraced its path, the second robot emerged from the opposite side carrying a different shelf.
When the two met in the middle of the aisle, one slowed slightly and yielded the way.
“That’s not being controlled separately by someone, right?”
“No. We only gave the command. The robot yielded the way based on its own judgment.”
At Seo Min-seung’s answer, Manager Lim Do-hyeon slowly nodded.
Oh Jin-su rose from his seat to watch the robot’s movements without missing a detail. After observing for a while in that posture, he looked back at Seo Min-seung.
“Will the current speed be maintained if we scale up?”
“If we increase the number of units and aisles together and upgrade the control server one tier, the speed will be maintained without issue.”
“What about maintenance?”
“We’ll likely need to have dedicated personnel on-site to respond.”
Questions and answers went back and forth, and Seo Min-seung answered each one plainly without exaggeration. Oh Jin-su, in turn, moved directly to his next question once he received an answer.
“How will the existing picking operations run during the shelf replacement period?”
“You divide the lines and proceed in sections. While one area is being worked on, the adjacent area continues operating, and once that section is finished, you move to the next.”
Oh Jin-su nodded and looked toward Lim Do-hyeon.
“What do you think, Manager Lim?”
“I think we could set aside one section of the Gunpo line and run a three-month pilot. That includes the construction period.”
At Lim Do-hyeon’s response, Oh Jin-su nodded.
“Manager Kang, same view?”
“Yes, I agree with the manager.”
Once I answered, Oh Jin-su paused in thought before nodding.
“Then let’s do it. The pilot period is three months, and we’ll leave everything — the robots to be used during that period, the personnel, and the hub configuration — to Synapse. Work out the terms with Manager Lim.”
Once Oh Jin-su made his decision, Seo Min-seung broke into a bright smile and bowed.
“Thank you.”
“I’m the grateful one. I never thought I’d see a day like this, but it was fascinating. If this actually works out, it’ll take Seonjin Logistics to the next level too.”
“We appreciate your kind words.”
“Kind words are one thing — let’s see the results first.”
As Oh Jin-su spoke, Seo Min-seung bowed again.
“I’ll head back then. Please leave the rest to Manager Lim and Manager Kang.”
Oh Jin-su said this, then as he turned to leave, he paused beside me and patted my shoulder.
“Now I see why Manager Kang was so insistent about implementing this. Make sure it runs smoothly.”
“I understand.”
I bowed in response, and Oh Jin-su patted my shoulder once more before leaving the demonstration hall.
When I turned my gaze toward Seo Min-seung, he gave a light bow in return.

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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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