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Kang Chan was drinking coffee when his phone rang. Cecile was calling him.
“Hello?”
- Channy! Fifty billion won has been remitted to your bank account!
“Really? So that has been deposited, huh.”
- Who on Earth are you really? The branch manager is kicking up a fuss while telling me to let him meet you right now!
“I’m busy, so let’s talk later.”
- Sorry! Please call me.
“Alright.”
It seemed the money that Lanok had told Kang Chan about had been deposited.
Perhaps it was because he couldn’t see it in front of him, but it didn’t feel real at all.
“Did you get displeasing news?” Joo Chul-Bum asked.
Did I look displeased?
Kang Chan gave a vague response and resumed drinking coffee until his phone rang again.
“Mr. Ambassador, it’s Kang Chan.”
- Mr. Kang Chan, I’m arriving in five minutes.
“Understood.”
Kang Chan told Joo Chul-Bum that he would see him later, then went to the entrance.
A moment later, a black car and a van parked in front of him. “Mr. Kang Chan.”
“Mr. Ambassador.”
They gave each other a French greeting, then immediately headed to the guest room.
After preparing tea, a cigar, and an ashtray, the secretary and the agents headed into the inner part of the living room.
“I have one bad news and one good news,” Lanok started.
Why did Westerners like using that kind of expression? It wasn’t funny at all.
While biting on a cigar, which he hadn’t lit up yet, he continued. “The bad news is that China has the bodies of the Korean specialized team members who died in the recent operation. It seems they’re preparing photos to let people confidently recognize them. We have concluded that they’ll go through several procedures to file an official complaint to the Korean government, then they’ll report this on the news and make major headlines soon.”
Tsk!
Kang Chan didn’t know about the countries’ international interests, but the situation made the agents who were saved from captivity, the dead agents, and the National Intelligence Service, which was in charge of the operation, unable to avoid being internationally shamed.
Right now, Kang Chan was worried about Kim Hyung-Jung the most.
“What’s the good news?” Kang Chan asked after taking out a cigarette and lighting it.
“I got contacted by Europe’s friends yesterday.”
Since they were so sly and wily, Kang Chan couldn't even guess what they had talked about. As he was thinking that, he remembered what he had completely forgotten about.
“Ah! Mr. Ambassador, I heard you deposited the money today, yet I haven’t thanked you for that. Thank you, and please tell your friends as well that I’m thankful for the money.”
“You look like you’re not very happy about it?” Lanok asked.
“It just doesn’t feel real to me yet.”
Looking as if he found Kang Chan funny, Lanok continued, “We’re expecting to announce the ‘Unicorn’ project next week. Two days after that, articles that will list the countries that they’re estimating to be a part of the project will be published in the newspapers, making that information circulate.”
Is the ‘Unicorn’ project really happening?
Kang Chan looked at Lanok while feeling stunned.
“Please meet up with the Prime Minister as soon as possible and tell him my intentions. Can you request cooperation for something as well?”
“A request for cooperation?” Kang Chan asked.
Chk chk!
Like the sly fox that he was, Lanok held up the lighter and finally lit up his cigar only after making Kang Chan curious.
“China intends to put me and the South Korean government in trouble, so we’re determined to announce the ‘Unicorn’ project in South Korea. The people in charge of it, which are in Europe and Russia, are thinking of coming to South Korea because of that. If they proceed with it, then China will also have to completely abandon the news reports they plan on broadcasting. Can you request South Korea’s cooperation for that, Mr. Kang Chan?”
Kang Chan smiled brightly at Lanok. “You’re trying to make it so I’d make an enormous contribution to our government. Do you, by any chance, want something else than that?”
“Hahahaha.”
That was Kang Chan’s second time seeing Lanok laugh like this.
“Even the heads of the National Intelligence Service of each country are all coming here, so we’re thinking of requesting cooperation with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service as well. We want to put you in charge of that,” Lanok said. He puffed on the cigar, then continued. “Mr. Kang Chan, once the ‘Unicorn’ project is announced in South Korea, about fifty trillion foreign capital will hope to come into this country by the end of the year. Almost every company will try to build a branch office, an assembly plant, or a logistics center here. The property value that South Korea has right now will increase by a minimum of over three times its current value.”
That didn’t sound that good.
Noticing Kang Chan’s expression, Lanok looked curious about what he was thinking.
“If that happens, then won’t only the rich people that already have real estate properties become even more well-off? It’ll put the people that are trying to buy homes in even more difficult situations.”
Lanok softly exhaled as he nodded. “That’s not necessarily true. The companies that will come into the country from abroad will need to employ Korean employees, and they will obviously focus on housing, wages, and welfare to preoccupy talented people. Hence, the pre-existing Korean companies will also have no choice but to follow them if they don’t want to lose talented people. Moreover…”
Lanok smiled strangely as he was watching Kang Chan’s expression relaxing. “The small companies that were under large companies will obtain the opportunity to work with the best companies in the world. It will open a world where the organizations and the chaebols in South Korea will find it difficult to survive by using the same pre-existing way that they’re currently used to. As a result, even the employees that work at small companies will be able to enjoy a more abundant, relaxing life than now, with just their wages.”
That was what Cho Il-Kwon had said!
Kang Chan vaguely guessed what Cho Il-Kwon had told him.
“Lastly, the country will get an enormous amount of tax revenue. The welfare for the poorest people or the elderly will increase to a level that’s completely different than now—it will reach a level that people can't even imagine,” Lanok added.
“That’s amazing.”
“This year is just the start. From now on, an economic effect will occur that’s several times greater than before. This is the reason why China and Japan are willing to go as far as assassinating people. After all, Japan will be completely ignored in this market and will collapse contrary to South Korea, which will rise.”
Thanks to Lanok’s explanation, Kang Chan roughly understood why people had been clinging onto the ‘Unicorn’ project so persistently.
“Will you request cooperation?” Lanok asked.
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“I don’t have a choice but to do that anyway. They’re going to be really happy.”
“Even though I’m not sure of it…” Lanok had a sip of the tea that he had been holding, then continued. “They probably won’t be able to sleep for a few days.”
Kang Chan smiled brightly, and Lanok burst out laughing.
Kang Chan didn’t know about anything else, but he was at least relieved that Kim Hyung-Jung’s efforts weren’t fruitless.
They ordered lunch in the hotel room and ate together while talking mostly about Anne’s recent activities. Lanok had a very bright expression as he told Kang Chan the news, perhaps because she was doing better than he had thought.
They then had dessert as Lanok asked, as if in passing, “Mr. Kang Chan, is there something that demands your money right now?”
Kang Chan only glanced at him.
“Please invest twenty billion won in stocks, and about thirty billion won in futures[1] by tomorrow. Selling both of them a week later is the wisest.”
“I know stocks, but what are futures?” Kang Chan asked.
Lanok smiled in a relaxed manner. “If you tell the brokerage firm that you’re trading with about it, they’ll know what that means. But please don’t tell other people about this, no matter what.”
“Let’s just not do that—I don’t even know what that is, and I’m not greedy about money. I don’t want to earn easy money by taking advantage of the ‘Unicorn’ announcement.”
I knew this would happen.
Lanok’s expression showed that was what he was thinking. “I told you to sell them a week later because that’s when the people that want to buy stocks and futures will be desperately placing orders. Of course, they are also going to earn at least several times more than their original amount. Hence, with a week’s worth of investments, you would be able to help even more people in difficult situations. There’s still a lot of kids that are starving to death in Africa.”
Lanok sounded strangely convincing.
“I know I’ve already told you this, but you should never tell anyone outside your circles about this. If you find it hard to buy stocks, then please tell me your stock account number and password. I’ll have my assistant take care of it,” Lanok added.
“That’ll be great.”
“Excellent decision, Mr. Kang Chan.”
Lanok put down his dessert fork. He then smiled as if he was satisfied while wiping his mouth with a napkin.
1. futures are derivative contracts to buy or sell an asset at a future date at an agreed price. It allows investors to secure a specific price and protect against future price swings. They can expose themself to a much greater value of stocks than they could when buying the original stocks ☜