NK Entertainment agency in Chungmuro.

Woosung sat down with Yoo Sona. “You made a difficult decision.”

“I am the one who needs to thank you. If we didn’t do this, I would have been his slave forever.”

Woosung explained, “So let’s go over the plan for your future. Firstly, your English lesson will begin right away. When you are ready, you will debut in the US. You need to be able to act and sing in English. You will become a star in America.”

America.

It was where every Korean star wanted to be. Many Korean singers attempted it, but they all failed. Yoo Sona had her doubts.

“Do you think I have the potential?”

“With my support and your effort, it is absolutely possible. The only thing you need to worry about now is if you can work hard enough. I will be giving you a million dollars as a prepayment. Once you start making profits, we will split it 7:3. You will, of course, be getting the 7.”

Yoo Sona had no complaints. She wondered why Woosung was being so kind to her.

“Are you being nice to me because of my body?”

Men loved her looks.

Classically beautiful face.

Voluptuous body.

Long legs.

Woosung replied, “Let’s just say I feel your pain.”

“Pardon?”

Yoo Sona was ready to give him whatever he wanted. In fact, she was partly hoping he would ask of her.

Woosung continued, “Don’t think about anything else other than improving yourself. You became popular in many Asian countries. You have the potential and the charm to be bigger. A mere sex tape will not end you. You will make it.”

Woosung then stood up and left. He was one of the very few men who didn’t abuse her.

***

Woosung met with Lee Sunghyun who looked happy. He was smiling proudly at Woosung.

“I believe trust is like a point system.”

“Then I hope I have a lot of points saved up in your book.”

“We went through two big events recently, so I would say you’re doing very well.”

“I’m glad.”

“With this incident, I realized again how talented you are. I am amazed.”

“Thank you.”

“Your success isn’t due to luck. I believe that now. My father is also very impressed.”

He was, of course, referring to the President of Korea, Lee Parksung. Woosung pretended to be surprised and humbled.

Lee Sunghyun took a sip of his tea and continued. “With your strategy, we were able to bury Mayor Oh’s plagiarism scandal and damage Han Minsook. Kill two birds with one stone. It’s my father’s favorite saying.”

Lee Sunghyun kept using the term ‘father’ rather than ‘the president’ to remind Woosung of their relationship.

‘Your father’s the president, not you!’

Woosung wanted to scream at him but restrained himself. Instead, he said quietly, “I am glad things worked out.”

“It’s all thanks to you. Mayor Oh is also very happy with your efforts.”

Woosung waited. Lee Sunghyun wasn’t the type to arrange a meeting for compliments alone. Finally, Lee Sunghyun brought up the main subject.

“With respect to the reduction in fees for the transportation card…”

“Yes.”

“I told my father about it, and he said that starting in Seoul is a good idea but why not go bigger?”

“You mean to start in Seoul, and once it proves to be successful, go national?”

“No, he meant we should go bigger from the beginning. Why not launch it in Seoul and a few other provinces as well?” Lee Sunghyun continued, “And if we do it this way, the government will help in every way possible.”

“So don’t use it as Mayor Oh’s election promise…”

Lee Sunghyun nodded and replied, “Make it look like it is a federal government’s idea and Seoul will be just a small part of it.”

“That would be amazing.”

“And you said the value of S Coin will increase if more things are available to be bought by it?”

Woosung nodded.

Lee Sunghyun continued, “So I will ask Daeyang’s help. I want to arrange it so the S Coin can be used to buy Daeyang’s products including The One premium line and other electronics.”

The more S Coin was used, the better it was for Woosung. There was no reason for him to decline this idea.

Woosung asked, “Then why not also talk to the architectural firms so houses can be purchased with S Coins too?”

“Oh! That’s a good idea!”

“I am also creating an online store where products can be bought only with S Coins. I will finish this project as soon as possible and let you know.

“Haha, it’s amazing how fast and effective you work.”

Lee Sunghyun smiled in satisfaction. He then took out a business card and gave it to Woosung.

“This is the number for the director of Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy. Just tell him you are calling about registering as a national core technology and he will know.”

National core technology.

It was designated by the government. Once a form of technology received this title, it was protected by the government from being stolen by other countries.

“You can register all your technologies including S Pay, S Coin, Coconut Talk, and Blue S.”

It sounded too good to be true, which meant Woosung needed to think it through rationally before committing.

“I will have a meeting with my people.”

“Good, and what’s the state of the national pension plan investment consulting contest?”

“I have registered my company to be considered.

“I already told the appropriate people to look out for your application.”

“Thank you.”

Woosung bit his lips. The government was so corrupt. Things weren’t won fair and square anymore. At least this time, Woosung was the one who was benefiting from this muddy system.

“My company’s system is the best algorithm out there anyway. It profited over 50% last year. You don’t have to worry about the quality of my work.”

“Many experts will evaluate it, so I am not worried.” Lee Sunghyun took another sip of his tea and continued, “As you know, the national pension deals with over 300 billion dollars. When your algorithm gets selected, it will start with only 3 billion dollars as a test and once it proves to be adequate, more money will be placed in the system.”

It was an incredible amount of money.

Lee Sunghyun looked at Woosung knowingly. “So this means…”

Woosung answered immediately, “I have already prepared it for you. Same as usual.”

“Haha, this is why I like you so much.”

Woosung smiled and thought.

‘I have a detailed record of how much bribe you received from me. 700,000 dollars. You will regret this someday.’

***

Nuri Enterprise’s Shin Yongwon gathered all CEOs for an emergency meeting.

“Did everyone hear the news?”

Silence.

Shin Yongwon continued, “Reduction in the credit card transaction fee by half…What do you think will happen to Nuri credit card?”

Silence again.

Nuri Card’s CEO Park Jiwon was sweating visibly. “And there is also a rumor that an internet bank will be created. It will be more convenient than all the existing banks including faster transactions and transfers.”

Shin Yongwon smacked the table loudly. “What have you guys done so far to fix this situation?” He looked around the room. He stopped at Na Jaeman and asked, “Tell me what is happening with the national pension consulting contest?”

Na Jaeman swallowed and answered, “We applied with the improved version of the winning stock recommendation system.”

“Who made that system?”

Shin Yongwon asked even though he knew the answer, “It’s K…Kang Woosung.”

“And who is the CEO of the Coconut Bank, which also entered the same contest?”

“K….Kang Woosung.”

“So can you guarantee that the system we have is better than what he has now?”

“N…no.”

Bang!

Shin Yongwon continued angrily.

“Reducing the fee is Kang Woosung’s idea. Internet bank is also Kang Woosung’s idea. Kang Woosung is entering the national pension contest too” Shin Yongwon gritted his teeth. “Kang Woosung will take over the financial world. Am I wrong?”

Silence again.

Shin Yongwon slammed the desk again. “Dammit. You are all idiots! Didn’t I tell you to study pin tech to prepare for a situation like this?”

Shin Gungu replied finally, “Sir, I think we need to hear from Advisor Shin who is the head of the pin tech department.”

Everyone turned to Shin Semi. She replied, “We are just at the beginning stage of the mobile banking project. We have no clue about Kang Woosung’s technology. That is where we are now.”

Shin Gungu asked, “So what’s the next step?”

“We need to become a primary partner with Coconut Bank.”

“Partner?”

“Internet bank still needs ATM machines. People still need a place to withdraw money. An offline contact is also necessary. Not everything can happen online.”

Shin Gungu replied, “So we become their partnering company…”

“That’s the only way for us to survive.”

Shin Yongwon frowned viciously.