12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

[Are you really from a poor family?]

[I don't know exactly what the definition of a poor family is, but my family was not well-off. We were about the average of Korea, or a bit below. I never had enough pocket money when I was in elementary, middle, and high school, and all my college tuition was covered by student loans.]

[Then you've always had a craving for wealth since you were a child?]

[It wasn't that much when I was young. All I had to do was buy Tteokbokki (spicy Korean rice cake) at a snack bar with my friends and enough pocket money to play games together in an Internet cafe. It was the same in college, and the yearning for money started when I was getting a job and making money.]

[You've made money, and you've got a craving for it? ]

[Yes. The reason is…]

I scrolled down and looked at the article with my chin on my hands. What I was looking at was none other than my article by newsmaker Kang Joo-hyuk. He said it would take about a week, but within three days, an article was posted on the Internet.

[I think I've gained a lot of wealth at this age because of luck.]

[CEO Han Sang-hoon quietly finished the interview in a humble tone.]

After I read over the article with my own quick reading ability, I thought. 'Not bad.'

To be exact, he wrote about me as a young man's idol, a young CEO in his thirties, as a case of a black hen laying white eggs.

'I'm sure he is surely a reporter…'

At the end of the article, there was also a by-line, 'Another article by reporter Kang Joo-hyuk.'

I turned in that direction.

[How long will the gloomy shipbuilding industry last?]

[OPEC's increase agreement. How will it affect the domestic economy?]

As an economic reporter, he wrote very ordinary articles.

'Working as a reporter... does he do that?'

But now I saw there was an article like this: [Seoul City's Old City Regeneration Project has had a rough voyage from the start with the selection of business operators.]

I clicked on it. The article was about the process, and the controversy, of selecting business operators for the Old City Regeneration Project.

'Well, surely... does he get his sources from working on the front lines?'

I imagined it for a while: when he was working as a reporter, there were times when he had information with which he would make tens or hundreds of thousand dollars, a few million dollars, or tens of million dollars, if he just got the right capital. However, his salary was low. Then, of course, he might want to sell the information to someone who was going to pay the right information fee and make the right use of it.

'A person like Director Tak Joon-gi… If he is Director Tak Joon-gi, good news is worth buying for tens of thousand dollars for a small amount, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large amount. Kang could get more money out of it. An ordinary office worker would make such a deal or two, and the taste would have unbearably been sweet and ecstatic. But such news doesn't come out every day, or very often. It would come out at most once every two to three years. He wants to make money, but there is no news.

'So he goes so far as to manipulate the news or make news that never happened. The Newsmaker…'

It was a rough-drawn scenario, where someone like Tak Joon-gi might have seduced him in the process.

'Then he gets involved with the second and third son of the Daewon Daily News…' As I was thinking of that, I could hear a three-tap knock from outside the door.

"Come in," I said.

There were only two people who could knock at my door without going through Secretary Seo's phone: Seo himself, and Vice President Jang. Soon, the door opened and Jang came in, holding quite a large quantity of A4 paper.

"Boss, I've got the report you asked for."

I got up from my seat and took it. "Oh yes. Thank you."

It was quite heavy to receive as there was a lot of it.

'Why don't I receive them by email?'

I would like to, but I preferred to read it by circling, underlining, taking notes and scribbling on paper. That way I could concentrate. I put them on my desk, and I spread them out. There were five company reports: Bisang Construction, Jinyang Development, Hanbit Construction, City & Scene, and See V Construction.

Chang went on to say, "The selection of operators and the announcement of operators, are a complete secret. so I couldn't figure out at all who and how they were doing it."

"Well, that's a sure thing." I said on the outside, but on the inside, I thought, 'Tak Joon-gi and Kang Joo-hyuk may know.'

Jang asked me, "Boss, are you going to invest in the related stocks of Old City Regeneration Project?"

"I'm just going to review it."

Jang nodded and said, "Certainly, stock prices have been fluctuating a little lately with the expectations."

I tapped on the reports on my desk, "Well, what kind of company do you think would be a good choice?"

"From what I have personally seen, it's not just a development, but a comprehensive redevelopment that changes the Old City. I know that the most experienced Bisang Construction, Jinyang Development, or Hanbit Construction are the most likely ones here. The other two are start-ups, so they are going to be a little more difficult."

Bisang Construction, Jinyang Development; the two matched the companies recommended by newsmaker Kang Joo-hyuk. Only the other one, Hanbit Construction was different.

I nodded and said, "I see... Thank you very much for your work."

"Not at all. I'll go then."

"Yes. Have a good day."

----

I turned to the reports on the desk, and suddenly, in thought, caught Vice President Jang as he was going out of the door. "Oh, by the way, how's the Oracle News going?"

"Oh, that's going as well as the boss said."

I said, nodding my head, "Oh, I see. Please continue to work hard for that, too."

"Yes, boss." Vice President Jang bowed his head to me and closed the door.

Left alone, I read all five company reports, from financial statements, the company's history, CEO's biography, and so on. I thought the same thing: It seemed like there was a high chance that Bisang Construction or Jinyang Development would win the first business contract.

Although Hanbit Construction had its own capability, I was concerned that it was an unlisted company. Seoul Metropolitan Government might not deliberately push the two companies to manipulate stock prices, but the listing itself meant that the market recognized their construction capabilities to some extent.

'But it's not impossible at all, so let's remember.'

I went to the HTS monitor.

'Bisang Construction +4%'

'Jinyang Development +3%'

The two stocks were rising side by side today. Looking at their chart for the recent month, it was almost the same. It was timing when the theme was about to start, after coming down and going up together.

'Why would he give this information to me? Did he want me to join the operation?'

'If the buying is finished, it may not be bad in itself. As can be seen in Garden Envy, the release of information to the rich is always a good source of income. There are countless stocks on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, and of course, people don't know the whole deal.'

'Just as something needs to be promoted to be sold, the more publicity there is, the more likely it is that the price will go up. It is particularly helpful to people like me who are rich and who invest in stocks.

'Being attracted by the idea that it's a big hit if it is selected as a business operator, if I buy a stock, the stock price will go up. That's why everyone in Yeouido acts like a famous investor: first of all, they want to show that they are good at stocks. Second of all, they are going to buy some stocks, and then they give some recommendations to others and leave.'

The chart showed that both stocks had been walking sideways in the past year. Of course, it went up and down during that time, but if I averaged the chart and drew a line, I would draw almost a horizontal line.

'The fact that they have made this horizontal line... that they've had a lot of time to gather...'

Dong-bo Construction was the main theme stock of the Seoul mayoral election, but it was only a fantasy created with a business card, "Working as an outside director to attract ants." People with deep knowledge of the industry might have found that Bisang Construction and Jinyang Development were better for the redevelopment project.

'In particular, I'm sure anyone who's operating a scammed stock must know.

'If I think so, I'd better not invest at all. That's what happened in the early part of the year, in the Nature's Gift case, but it's very difficult to deal with spiders in their web. Back then, I only managed to come out alive, but I couldn't think about how to handle the spiders. Even now, if they have cobwebs here, it won't be easy.

'It will be bad if I don't have solid information.

'But I have the future news. If something is scratched out of here, I could be stronger than a spider with a web. Then let's gather some more information... and think about whether or not I'm going to fight here.'

I'd already received this morning's news. If I got the future news in the evening, it would be the beginning of an information war. I went to the stock bulletin board first, as I had time. First, I looked at Bisang Construction.

- Bisang Construction, let's go up riding the Old City Regeneration Project of Seoul City.-

- Look at the latest sales figures. Jinyang Development is no match.-

- Mayor Joo Sung-won, if you have eyes on, please raise the hand of CEO Jung Gi-woong, do it when I talk gently.-

Jung Gi-woong was CEO of Bisang Construction, forty-five years old. It was believed that as the CEO of a construction company he belonged to the younger generation.

Next was Jinyang Development.

- Jinyang Development, let's go to the upper limit price tomorrow!-

- This business operator should be Jinyang Development. They've done a great job recently on the project to redevelop the Old City in Gwangju.-

- Seo Hak-bum, don't you have a connection to Seoul City? If you've worked for more than thirty years, you may have a connection.-

Seo Hak-bum was said to be the CEO of Jinyang Development. He was 68 years old, close to seventy, but ran the company energetically.

'I don't know who's going to make the selection and presentation, but... I know the names of the two of them... and if I search their names, I'll find something.'

My prediction was just right.

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

That night, I waited in front of the computer for 8:55 p.m. I used to see the afternoon news a little bit late because it was a long way from the opening of the stock market, but I waited for the news for today and received the news: D. 12 Hours After, D. 12 Days After, D. 12 Weeks After, D. 12 Months After.

Every news had two slots to write down names. This was due to a level-up in People Search. I wrote Jung Gi-woong and Seo Hak-bum in each of the slots. But there was an unexpectedly big fish. When I saw the article from the People Search, I touched my lips.

'What's this?'