12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

"Good morning."

"Good morning, boss."

I greeted Secretary Park vigorously and told him, "Please tell Vice President Jang to come to the president's office around 9:10."

"Yes, boss."

I came into the president's office and turned on the computer. It was 8:50 a.m. I read the future news and did People Search in my name, and I wrote down what would be helpful in the news. 12 Years After still showed just the news of three years later. It might be by February sixteenth, 2026 that the news would normally come out. It was three years and three months from now.

'... that's not going to be easy, but it's a fight worth trying. I will expand my market dominance in the global market, earn money, expand my influence in the United States and China over the next three years and three months, and then change the future catastrophe to come.'

I thought the crash of China was a disaster, a catastrophe. It was just nothing compared to what would happen in the future.

Last year's crash was largely part of the U.S.-China trade war. At that time, some investors killed themselves and the media screamed as if there were a war going on, 'China will collapse and our country will be ruined, too.' But here, the U.S.-China war without the letter "trade" would become a disaster. Not just a few investors who had chosen to kill themselves after losing money, but ordinary people who lived their normal lives would die. At that time, the press wouldn't even be able to talk. Most of them would be dead or run away.

'After World War II, it has been a safe world. If I talk about a disaster, THIS is a real disaster. Whoo... I should build an underground bunker, too. Of course, I will try my best to prevent the war, but at the same time, I will have to build an underground bunker in a safe third country. There should also be a so-called 'Plan B.' If I can't stop the nuclear war by February sixteenth, 2026, I'll move there with my family and acquaintances and some talented people needed for survival. Then, at least we can survive.

'As the richest man in Korea as I am now, I may not enjoy a luxurious life, but there is a saying, "As long as there is life, there is hope." If I hide there and spend a few years, I may be able to set foot in the civilized world again. But I don't know if it's going to be inhabitable because of radiation.

'There are many movies and games about dystopia, such as Waterworld, Mad Max, and Fallout. What's common there is about radioactivity; animals, plants, and even humans are strangely deformed by radioactivity. As the bombs are going off right now, the fallout will be a problem. In addition, there are nuclear power plants. In fact, radioactive contamination is possible without a nuclear bomb. If a missile is fired at the other's nuclear power plants, it will be contaminated by radioactivity. As we can see from Chernobyl far away and Fukushima close by, if it becomes contaminated by radioactivity, it becomes completely uninhabitable.

'The U.S. and China also have huge amounts of nuclear power plants. China has about two hundred and thirty nuclear power plants, but most of them are on the east coast. As fine dust is coming from the west wind, Korea is also doomed when radiation is released. Japan, and even Australia or New Zealand may be a land where life does not exist, if we look far away. Nuclear war and radioactivity are scary. Extreme destruction can occur even if we don't get hit by a single bomb.

'... is there really no way to escape?'

With that in mind, I went to the new 'State Setting' option at the bottom, now reading 'State Setting: Korea.'

'Come to think of it, news may come out in the U.S., China or a third country, twelve years later. Our country is small, but it is still big. Even in the United States alone, there are islands in many places around the world, such as Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands... if it is going well, I can hear the news of the island.'

I changed the setting to 'US' while thinking about it.

- The change in state settings is completed. The next news will be from the United States.-

I nodded, looking at it.

'Okay, let's see what the future news of the United States is like.'

As I thought about it, there was a call. Looking at the clock, it was 9:10. It was Secretary Park. I picked up the phone and said right away, "Please let him come in."

Soon, Vice President Jang came into the room and bowed his head. "Did you call me, boss?"

I went to the main point right away. "I thought a little bit about the interview for president of Suyeon Electronics yesterday."

"Yes."

"If we want to keep up with the global era, we'd better hire a global talented person... That's what I thought."

Vice President Jang understood who I was talking about as soon as possible. "Then we'd better pick Maverick Turner rather than Shin Jae-chul... Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes."

Maverick Turner was a successful engineer at Intel, a man who had built a reputation in the global market for years as a manager. Vice President Jang and other directors recommended that to me, citing it as his strong point.

"I see. Maverick Turner will make a splendid debut of SHH Electronics on the global stage. He's very well known in the market."

Jang once again talked about his reputation in the market. But the reason I picked him wasn't the point. It was because of his background. He was a man born and raised in a prestigious family in the United States. He graduated from Harvard, and his father was also from Harvard, and his mother was from Yale; he was from a typically wealthy American family.

The highlight was his brother, William Turner, who was a member of the Democratic Party and a member of the Senate. So, if I appointed him to the position of president and talked to him, I could naturally extend my influence to the political world of the USA!

I spoke to Vice President Jang, keeping it a secret. "If you have no objection, I'd like to do so."

"Yes, sir. I will know that's what you do. But then... They were supposed to be notified in two months? What should I do?"

"In two months... Well... I was trying to think a little bit. I've made a quick decision and it's good to let him know quickly. Needless to say, it's better for Mr. Turner as well as Mr. Shin Jae-chul. Then, Mr. Shin can get another job sooner."

"Oh, I see. Then, I'll speak to him before Mr. Turner returns home."

"Yes. And... there is something else."

"Yes."

"If you know anyone who is acquainted with a Chinese person in power, please check it out. I want such a person who has a special relationship with the Chinese side somehow."

"Pardon me?"

"No, it's nothing special; I'm trying to invest in China."

"Well, didn't you say you wouldn't touch China because of the political situation?"

Jang had been very sorry about that since the Chinese financial crisis. It was a direct investment in China. Actually, I used to think like that. I had earned forty-five billion dollars with the selling position for China. It would have been better to reinvest in China, which was the main force, not Korea, which was indirectly affected by the financial crisis. But I couldn't predict the political situation in China at that time, so I decided to reinvest in our country only as a safe bet and as a country where I could receive future news. It had become Suyeon Electronics and Suyeon Construction.

I replied to Vice President Jang, "Ah, I did. However, we can't succeed if we are afraid of failure. I would like to try some business in China now. Since we took over half of Suyeon Group, we have to be involved in the Chinese market. SHH will also do business with China a lot in the future."

"That's true. All right, boss. Then I will contact Mr. Turner, and get a person who has acquaintance with a Chinese power broker. And... do you want me to do anything else?"

"No, I don't. Please accomplish those two first."

"Yes, sir."

-------------------

That evening, I received an email of 12 Hours After, which was somewhat changed.

[Politics - New York State's deregulation of marijuana legalization.

Economy - By the power of contents, Netflix sets a new high stock price.

Society - Drone-based drug delivery, how far has the Mexican cartel evolved?

Life/Culture - How to make twelve sandwiches using toast.

World - Arctic ice increases again. Polar bears recover their habitat.

IT/Science -How to join NASA for space travel dreamers.

Sports - The Buffalo Bills lead the east by beating the New York Jets.

Entertainment - Justin Bieber gets divorced for the second time, his fans turn their backs.]

It was news entirely for the United States.

'I am a little unadapted. But it will be useful if it comes out like this.'

I scrolled down a little more. There was a phrase in the People Search section that had not been visible, 'When you receive news from a certain country, the name of the People Search should be written in the country's main language.' I had been given that guidance when I received the grade-up.

Without hesitation, I wrote down the name 'Donald Trump' in it. If I chose the most famous person in the world right now, it was this person. He was the man who had won reelection and had been leading the United States for five years. Sure enough, there was news about President Trump.

[President Trump will ask for the right amount of money instead of helping rebuild China.]

'Ha... it's still about China...'

Trump, who had pointed to unfair trade with China since his first election five years ago, was in fact the main culprit behind the Chinese financial crisis. Of course, it was not just his intention, but it was an open fact that Obama, his predecessor, had also done everything he could to keep China in check. The U.S. political community, both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party had agreed, but his radical remarks and actions were enough to provoke the Chinese politicians and the people.

'... there's a war coming that way. He really didn't know that.'

He must have thought that China would never use nuclear weapons. He put as much pressure on China as possible. It was his way of negotiating. Just like he had used on North Korea, he put maximum pressure on the other side of the negotiations, and then worked the deal by loosening the pressure little by little. It was quite efficient, but it could offend the other party. That was a sad point, especially when I thought about what would happen in the future.

'Anyway, it's not a bad start. I can see in advance what the president of the United States will say. All right, so let's keep track of it and what's next. Who should I put in the other two in People Search? U.S. Vice President? Or the next presidential candidate? Who to pick?'

I went back to the portal site, searched for this and that in People Search, and put it back into the future news using that name. And that way, over the next three years, I studied what would happen in the United States and China.