The Return of the Ruined Chaebol's Third-Generation Heir - Chapter 49

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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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The Regression of a Ruined Chaebol’s Third Generation | Episode 49
February 2005.
The study of Kang Tae-yong, Chairman of Seonjin Motors, at his residence.
“What is this?”
Kang Tae-yong tapped his finger repeatedly against the transcript lying on the desk.
Standing across from him, Kang Jin-ho kept his head bowed and said nothing.
“I’m asking you. What is this?”
“……It’s a College Entrance Examination score report.”
“Yes, it’s a College Entrance Examination score report.”
Kang Tae-yong picked up the transcript and hurled it straight at his son’s face. As the paper fluttered through the air and fell to the ground, Kang Jin-ho made no move to react.
“Do you know how much money was spent on private tutoring while you were retaking the exam? Private tutoring fees for each subject, college entrance consulting fees, plus managing your health. All told, it amounts to a department head’s annual salary at our company.”
Kang Jin-ho’s shoulders shrank inward.
“The department heads at Seonjin Motors — when I pay them that much, they do their jobs without being told. Some of them even deliver results beyond my expectations.”
Kang Tae-yong leaned back against his chair and looked down coldly.
“But you? Why can’t you produce results with that level of investment?”
“……I apologize.”
“Incompetent fool.”
Those four words froze the air in the study.
Kang Jin-ho clenched his teeth. His fists balled involuntarily, but he could not lift his head.
He understood exactly why his father was this angry.
Kang Seon-woo.
The kid who always sat in some corner at family gatherings, unremarkable, fragile-looking — the type who’d cry if you poked him wrong.
That same kid had scored a perfect on the College Entrance Examination.
One of only three perfect scores in the entire nation.
And it had made the news in enormous headlines, complete with the title “Third-generation Chaebol.”
‘Father changed after that day.’
Every time Seon-woo’s face appeared on the news, his father would stare at him, and though he said nothing, that look said everything. Why can’t you do the same? It was an unspoken condemnation.
“With your grades, you won’t get into Korea University, let alone——”
Kang Tae-yong’s voice filled the study once more.
“——even Yeonhui University will reject you. Have you nothing to say?”
“……I apologize.”
“Is ‘I apologize’ all you can say?”
Kang Tae-yong slammed his hand on the desk. The dull thud made Kang Jin-ho flinch.
“It’s possible to be bad at studying. The world is full of people who can’t study.”
Kang Tae-yong exhaled a long sigh.
“But if you’ve failed, shouldn’t you at least think about how to make up for it, what to do going forward? Does bowing your head and spouting apologies solve your entire future?”
“…….”
Kang Jin-ho could not answer. Or rather, he could not.
Kang Tae-yong found his son’s lack of response even more infuriating. The boy showed no sign of taking responsibility for his own failure.
He pulled a stack of documents from a drawer and threw them onto the desk.
“Go to America.”
“……What?”
“It’s the most prestigious of the American universities where you don’t need an SAT and can buy your way in.”
The documents slid off the desk and fell at Kang Jin-ho’s feet.
An admission application, visa papers, an airline ticket reservation confirmation.
His father had prepared everything already.
“I won’t tell you how much money was spent to get you admitted there. Only this.”
Kang Tae-yong looked his son directly in the eyes.
“I have never wasted money. Do you understand?”
“……Yes.”
“Go to America, get your head on straight, and study. And build connections. Choose people you can use later in life.”
“……I understand.”
“Get out.”
Kang Jin-ho picked up the scattered documents and rose from his seat.
He turned and walked toward the study door.
Just as his hand reached for the handle, his father’s voice came from behind him.
“That this is my son……”
His heart sank with a thud.
Kang Jin-ho stopped. He wanted to turn around. He wanted to say something.
But he could not.
He opened the door and stepped outside.
As he walked down the hallway, he didn’t even notice the documents crumpling in his grip.
‘Kang Seon-woo.’
That name circled endlessly in his mind.
‘It’s because of that bastard.’
That his father treated him this way.
That he was compared to someone even after retaking the exam.
That he was being shipped off to America like some burden.
‘All of it is because of him.’
Kang Jin-ho’s fury did not turn inward or toward his father.
It was directed at one person alone.
‘Think you’ll have an easy time in university?’
Kang Jin-ho pulled out his phone.
As he scrolled through his contacts, his finger stopped at several names.
Friends who had enrolled at Korea University before him.
People he’d known since high school.
‘Just wait and see, Kang Seon-woo.’
Kang Jin-ho twisted his lips and pressed the call button.

* * *
Early March 2005.
The College of Business Freshman Orientation at Korea University.
The auditorium buzzed with the excitement and nervous energy of freshmen who still carried that raw, unpolished quality.
I sat in a corner seat, my chin in my hand, and surveyed the surroundings.
A 2005 university landscape. It was a familiar sight I’d lived through in my previous life, yet having a forty-eight-year-old soul squeezed among twenty-year-olds felt decidedly strange.
‘Here I am doing university again, though I never thought I’d have the fortune.’
A stifled laugh escaped.
In truth, in my previous life I’d also entered the Business Administration program at Korea University. Though I hadn’t scored a perfect on the College Entrance Examination and had heard whispers about being a “third-generation chaebol,” I’d looked so much the pretty boy that I hadn’t attracted much attention. But……
This life was decidedly different. Already I could hear murmurs from people looking at me.
“Hey, check that out.”
“Where?”
“That guy sitting in the corner. Kang Seon-woo.”
“Kang Seon-woo? That perfect score?”
As my name drifted to my ears, I felt the gazes around me slowly turning toward me.
“Yeah, one of only three perfect scorers in the whole country.”
“But isn’t he a grandson of Seonjin Group?”
“Yeah, I saw it on the news. They were going on about ‘the rebellion of a third-generation chaebol’ or whatever.”
“Whoa, seriously? Good grades, rich family, and kinda handsome too, right?”
The whispers tickled at my ears.
I kept my gaze fixed forward, pretending not to hear. There was no point in reacting — it would only become tedious.
That was when it happened.
“Hey, who the hell is this.”
A rough voice called out from behind, cutting through the murmur.
When I turned, four men in department jackets were approaching. From their gait alone, arrogance oozed from them — the typical look of seniors enforcing hazing.
The one at the front stood at an angle and looked down at me.
“You’re Kang Seon-woo, right? That perfect scorer?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Yes, I am?”
The senior exchanged glances with the group behind him. Snickering laughter leaked out.
“When you see a senior, you’re supposed to greet them properly.”
Sigh. High school never got me this kind of thing either.
That’s because in high school, a good family background operates under a different power structure.
But university was different.
Here, it was family background and money — not brute strength — that wielded power.
Yet they’re coming at me like this, which means they’ve got something backing them up.
Might as well play along a little.
“Hello.”
“That’s not how you say hello. I heard a perfect scorer was joining our department, so I was curious how impressive he’d be.”
He looked me up and down, then clicked his tongue.
“Nothing special. Just looks like an ordinary kid.”
“…….”
“Say something. If you’re a perfect scorer, shouldn’t light be shining from your head or something?”
Snickering sounds came from the surroundings. The freshmen sensed something was off and began drifting backward.
I looked up at the senior calmly.
“Oh, but you——”
The senior stepped closer and created a more threatening atmosphere.
“You’re a grandson of Seonjin Group, right? Saw it on the news.”
“That’s correct.”
I thought Seonjin Group was some big deal, but looking at the news lately, doesn’t seem like it.”
His lips twisted bitterly.
“Big companies got picked clean by relatives, didn’t they? Your family’s on the brink of collapse, and some husk is being run by your mother.”
“…….”
“Well, keep working hard. Your company’s going to sink soon anyway. At least study hard and make your parents proud.”
In that moment, the surroundings fell silent as if ice water had been poured over them. The freshmen’s eyes darted nervously between me and the senior.
The senior was expecting me to flinch or bow my head. A cheap tactic to break my spirit through humiliation.
I let out a quiet laugh.
“That’s an interesting thing to say.”
“What?”
“About my family, I mean.”
I slowly rose from my seat. While sitting, it wasn’t obvious, but standing up, my eye level was slightly higher than his.
“What’s your name, senior?”
“……Park Jung-min. Why?”
“Ah, Park Jung-min.”
I nodded and looked directly into his eyes.
“You’re the only child of Donghae Trading Company, aren’t you?”
“……!”
Park Jung-min’s expression hardened instantly.
“Isn’t that your father’s company? Donghae Trading Company. I hear it’s been struggling lately.”
The air around us turned frigid. Park Jung-min’s eyes flickered with panic.
“Your father’s credit rating was downgraded by your main bank two years ago, and two partners dropped you last year. Word is if you don’t get cash infused before the first half of this year, you’re headed for default.”
“You, you son of a bitch……”
“Your father’s out there running himself ragged trying to save the company.”
I stepped closer. Park Jung-min staggered backward.
“And his son’s here at university picking fights with juniors. I wonder if your father would be pleased to hear that?”
Park Jung-min’s face flushed red, then purple. His fists trembled, but he didn’t dare raise his hand.
There were too many eyes on us. If he threw a punch, he’d face assault charges, and with his family’s situation already exposed, he’d just end up looking pathetic.
“How did you……”
“You know who I am. The heir to Seonjin Group.”
I shrugged lightly.
“Even if my family’s split up, my ears still work. I hear most things. And I know exactly why you came at me so boldly.”
Silence hung in the air.
The seniors standing next to Park Jung-min, who’d been snickering, now clamped their mouths shut. On an instinctive level, they realized this wasn’t simple freshman hazing. It was something else entirely.
“From now on, pick your targets more carefully, senior.”
I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder.
“And give Kang Jin-ho my regards. Tell him to have a good time on his exchange program.”
Park Jung-min’s eyes went wide. He clearly hadn’t expected me to know about the connection.
I turned without another glance.
As I left the auditorium, I heard murmurs behind me.
“What the hell was that……”
“Crazy. He talked back to a senior like that……”
“But is Park Jung-min’s family really heading for default?”
I laughed quietly and kept walking.
‘God, that was tiring, playing along with such childish nonsense.’
This confirmed it.
No one at school would dare touch me carelessly from now on.
I crossed campus, feeling the spring breeze on my face.
I’d wasted time dealing with stupid kids. Now it was time to get to the real work.

* * *
“How was the orientation?”
That afternoon, I left school and headed straight for the office set up just outside the campus gates.
Up until now, because I was a high school student, I’d received reports in the car and handled various matters from home, but now that I was a university student, I’d gained some freedom.
It was a place I’d had Jung Tae-sung prepare so I could disappear during free periods or at home under the excuse of going to school to study.
“Don’t even mention it. It was worse than high school.”
I waved my hand dismissively as I spoke to Jung Tae-sung.
“People over twenty playing around with family backgrounds. Childish stuff.”
At my words, Jung Tae-sung chuckled and handed me a stack of documents.
“Are these the remaining files?”
“Yes, they are.”
“Let’s have a look. What kind of talent is out there?”
In truth, I had no intention of taking university seriously. As I’d instructed Han Jae-yi, I was using my university years to gather talented people I’d need in the future, not for studying.
“This has been quite helpful, actually.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Someone came at me today, and if you hadn’t given me the files yesterday, I would’ve taken it on the chin.”
The fact that I learned about the person who confronted me at school being connected to Kang Jin-ho — and knowing his family background — was only possible because I’d already received these materials.
“Today’s from engineering, I see?”
“Yes, you said there were no candidates worth pursuing from the business school, so we’re expanding branch by branch to other departments.”
I nodded and flipped through the documents containing personal information on various candidates.
Korea University was, in its own way, South Korea’s top university, and many who would later make their mark in business and politics had passed through its halls.
The reason I was reviewing these files was to poach these talented individuals early and sketch a shared future with them.
Since I’d already lived through the future, I knew who would become capable — who would matter.
“Is there no one who catches your eye?”
As I was going through the documents, Jung Tae-sung’s voice reached me, and I shook my head.
“No, there’s no one who really stands out……”
I was answering mechanically, mechanically flipping through pages, when my eyes and hands suddenly stopped on one person’s file.
“Actually, there is.”
Found them. This person was attending university right now.

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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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