Closed Beta That Only I Played

That evening, I called Director Sok who accompanied my father when he came back home.

"Oh, you called me, Juyoung?"

He treated me very politely, as always.

I just casually asked him, "Do you happen to know Chaesan Lee?"

The name of Kyongyoung Lee's grandfather was Chaesan Lee.

"I do know him. He is called the tycoon of the underground economy. He owns a very lucrative business by lending in the private loan market."

"I want to know about him in detail."

"Got it. I will compile the information about him and get back to you."

"You don't have to hurry. Just take it easy. I know you are pretty busy these days."

"Well, I would welcome it even if I were as busy as I am these days. Chairman also says he is really happy to work these days."

"Really? I'm glad to hear that. Actually, I was worried that I gave you unintended trouble because of the recent oil deal and the top US officials' visit here."

"Hahaha! You don't have to worry about it!"

After talking with him a little more, I let him go because all I had to do was wait.

In Myong-dong, Seoul.

In the middle of Myong-dong, notorious for its expensive land just like Gangnam or South of Han River, there stood a magnificent traditional Korean house reminiscent of a nobleman's house in the Yi Dynasty of old Korea. But the general public did not know about it because all the surrounding large land including that house was privately owned, and the entire property was surrounded by high walls and CCTVs.

Besides, there were also quite a few security guards stationed there.

Even though the general public did not know much about the house and the huge property it was on, those in the know were well aware of who owned that house.

It was none other than the house of Chasan Lee, the tycoon of the underground economy and an influential lender in Korea's private loan market.

Chaesan had no choice but to frown at his grandson Kyongyoung.

"Grandpa! That bastard Juyoung Hong punched me first! I'm his victim!"

Normally, he would have told him off sharply.

Because his grandson strained his ties with the Myongjin Group? Of course, that's not the reason. No matter how big the Myongjin Group was, he would not feel uncomfortable about dealing with Myongjin because of his grandson's matter.

For he was a self-claimed tycoon of the underground economy and the biggest lender in the private loan market.

So if he had rebuked his grandson, he would have done it just for one reason.

It's because even though his grandson was a senior, he suffered a resounding defeat by a freshman, and Juyoung Hong at that, who was widely known as the incompetent son of the Myongjin Group's Chairman. He would most likely have scolded his grandson for that. ŕ

Due to the nature of his work, Chaesan dabbled heavily in illegal affairs.

Because of that, he had many opportunities to hear rumors and events that other people could not easily hear. Because of that, nobody in the private loan market and in the underground economy could look down on him.

Moreover, he had a very close relationship with Japan.

Some of the funds that he lent to borrowers came from Japan.

So he could hear through his close Japanese friends that all the Japanese lobbyists with connections to the US politicians were sacked in what could be called a bloody purge by the US. Startled, Japan moved swiftly, but they had allegedly failed to revive their lobbying network.

'Hmm. So the Japanese lobbyists were working on a crude oil deal at that time…'

Japan has an economic structure similar to that of Korea.

In fact, except for the domestic market, Korea and Japan had economic structures that were so similar that they could be called twins.

In other words, Japan was in dire need of oil like Korea.

As long as Japan could not produce its own oil, they had no way to deal with Saudi Arabia's reduction in oil production due to the terrorist attacks or Iran's blockade of teh Strait of Hormuz.

The only option left for them was to rely on their ally, the United States.

There was a rumor that the Japanese lobbyists picked up.

[All high-ranking politicians, including the president of the United States, have abandoned Japan and turned to South Korea!]

When he first heard about it, Chaesan, of course, did not believe it. Even though Washington often said Korea and Japan were both close allies of the United States, and it was impossible to determine which country was better than the other, it was an open secret that Japan was closer to the United States. Actually, Washington's actions proved it.

Then Chaesan also heard the news in no time.

[U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and Special Adviser Thomas Tyler, a close aide to President William, visited South Korea!]

[Exxon Mobil's Vice President Ian and Chevron's Eastern Asia Manager Bacon also visited Korea together!]

The top US officials headed to Korea, not Japan.

So it was no wonder that Chaesan was startled because he couldn't figure out who made Washington turn to Korea after abandoning its close ally Japan.

Of course, it was not long before he found out who was responsible for it.

It was none other than the Myongjin Group.

At that moment, Chaesan recalled a series of rumors that he had heard but totally ignored and laughed them off because they were so absurd at that time.

[Debius headquarters has been robbed!]

[Debius has lost all the diamonds they stockpiled!]

[The guy who stole all those diamonds is an Asian!]

[Chairman Connenty of Debius moved to Sierra Leone to negotiate with the Asian!]

At that time, Chaesan monitored the rumors secretly circulating in the underground with a lot of interest especially because the culprit was an Asian.

But he scoffed when he heard the other rumours.

[Chairman Connenti eventually succumbed to the Asian guy, and gave him a huge amount of diamonds as a gift.]

[The Asian guy took over the high-class mines in Sierra Leone that Debius owned, and when he disappeared, his deputy appeared...]

[He was Korean.]

[The Korean man, who appeared to be the Asian guy's deputy, was affiliated with a company named Myongjin.]

Chaesan had no choice but to laugh at that point, then he stopped thinking about it right away.

From experience, he knew that although occasionally there were credible rumours circulating the underground, many of them were often fake or third-rate tabloid rumors.

This time, however, Chaesan thought that the rumor may not be a lie given Washinton's unusual decision to supply oil to the Myongjin Group which was in a difficult situation because of the oil shortage problem.

When he took all that into account, he came to a conclusion about Myongjin.

'If all those rumors are true, Myongjin is like a dragon with cintamani in its mouth because it has made Washington abandon Tokyo and choose a company in South Korea.'

In his opinion, this kind of exchange would not just be limited to the oil deal.

If Washington moved just because of the oil issue, ExxonMobil and Chevron executives' visit to Korea was more than enough. That was common sense. But they came with the top US officials, namely, the Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and US President William's senior advisor.

"…"