TOIGC 95

“Isn’t the order to shake Seth up?”

Choi Chul-gyu hit pretty close to the mark.

“Spot on.”

“That said, I honestly don’t know how we’re supposed to shake them up. These files definitely give us a look into Seth’s under-the-table history, but I still haven’t figured out a practical way to leverage them.”

While working under Seth, Im Si-chan and his men had handled all the dirty jobs the corporate name couldn’t officially touch. Some of the entries read like Even this?!, while others were genuinely jaw-dropping, but that was as far as it went. Without concrete evidence, there was no way to prove it, and without proof, these files were useless.

Even if they brought these documents straight to Seth, the company would deny everything 100 percent. If they went to the police instead, the ones winding up in cuffs would be Si-chan’s crew, not Seth—simply because there was zero paper trail linking it back to the conglomerate. Even if they somehow managed to find proof, Seth had powerful political connections, meaning legal punishment wouldn’t come easily. The higher-ups would inevitably step in with a forced, heavy-handed arbitration, and Yaikai would just end up wasting political capital and ticking off the powers-that-be over a petty nuisance.

“If Samwoo and Yaikai pooled our strength, we might be able to trade blows with Seth, but if we tried that, both of us would likely get swallowed up by the other tigers circling the waters.”

Knowing full well that Yoongi would never make such a reckless choice, Chul-gyu grew genuinely curious about what kind of directive was coming next.

“Right now, it looks like Park Ki-ho, the younger son, is the most likely candidate to inherit operational control of Seth.”

“True. Judging by the materials Section Chief Im brought in, Ki-ho’s name pops up a lot more often than Ki-soo’s.”

Even though Si-chan claimed he had only met one person at the very top, he and his subordinates had crossed paths with plenty of mid-level figures. Coordinating logistics and relaying detailed orders was too much for top executives to handle personally, so they routinely dealt with peers or lower-tier subordinates who frequently met with Si-chan’s men. Naturally, as boundaries softened over time, casual conversations happened, and Si-chan’s crew had dutifully logged and reported every single detail.

“Add the fact that Park Ki-soo is currently floundering in Japan, and it makes it a certainty. An eldest son struggling abroad versus a younger son steadily racking up achievements at home. Anyone would back Ki-ho as the successor.”

When Yoongi slid a batch of stock market data—procured in advance through Ryu Geun-tae—across the table, Chul-gyu took one look and instantly caught onto Yoongi’s true intent.

“So… you’re trying to drive a wedge between Park Ki-soo and Park Ki-ho?”

“Precisely.”

“Even if we lend a hand, Ki-ho’s grip on power is already so rock-solid. I doubt Ki-soo stands a chance of winning.”

Yoongi shook his head.

“This isn’t a fight to crown a winner in the first place.”

Chul-gyu understood the strategy immediately.

“Weakening Seth. That’s the real goal.”

“Finally, the exact answer. Exactly. If we prop Park Ki-soo up, Seth will be plagued by internal friction and noise all over again. All we have to do is sit back and systematically weaken them while they’re distracted.”

“And if Ki-soo actually gains some muscle… these files suddenly become worth their weight in gold.”

Yoongi wore a look of quiet satisfaction.

“Spot on. The directives Im Si-chan and his men carried out originally came from Park Ki-ho or his inner circle. If we weaponize these as black propaganda, it’ll deal a massive blow to Ki-ho’s image. After all, the reliability of the intelligence will be personally backed by Ki-soo, who’s part of the exact same family.”

“Even without physical proof, the brothers tearing each other apart using these facts will cause plenty of damage. Plus, since they’re all true, the opposition won’t be able to do much besides stammer out hollow denials.”

“And while Seth is busy tearing its own image to shreds, we steadily expand our footprint—specifically targeting Seth’s core business sectors.”

“So it’s an all-out corporate war with Seth, then.”

“You could say that. Actually, it works out in my favor anyway. As Yaikai grows larger, my existence is bound to come to light eventually. While I can keep it under wraps for now through my grandfather or father, someone’s going to notice sooner or later. If my cover’s going to get blown eventually, I might as well claim a Goliath like Seth as my severance prize.”

“A Goliath named Seth, huh…”

Licking his dry lips, Chul-gyu spoke up again.

“It’s a bit of a shame it’s not heavy industries or chemicals. Yaikai Department Store brings in staggering sales, but considering overall corporate scale, those fields are on another level.”

“Let’s focus on Seth for now. I’ll give you separate instructions regarding those other sectors when the time is right.”

“So you’ve already got plans for that, too?”

Chul-gyu’s eyes gleamed with curiosity, but Yoongi just offered a subtle smile without giving a direct answer.

Realizing no answer was coming, Chul-gyu let out a wistful sigh and tried another angle.

“By the way, what kind of support can we even offer Park Ki-soo? Are we planning to invest in Seth Holdings under Yaikai’s banner?”

“No, having Yaikai’s fingerprints showing right out of the gate is a terrible idea. Besides, according to Seo Jong-hoon’s consulting reports, doing big business in Japan is virtually impossible without historical pedigree and established lineage. That means even if we pump capital in under Yaikai’s name, Ki-soo won’t have the leverage to make a real leap.”

“Then what’s the game plan? Is there a way to grant Park Ki-soo that legitimacy without even leveraging Yaikai’s power?”

Yoongi smiled and nodded.

“Yes. I happen to have a little lapdog waiting in Japan.”

As Yoongi had recently learned, Choi Deok-bae possessed a very unique ability.

If he had ever made physical contact with a person at least once, he could instantly track down and fast-travel to wherever that person currently was. Of course, whether he actually felt like helping out depended entirely on Deok-bae’s mood, but since Yoongi hadn’t given him any reason to feel slighted lately, Deok-bae readily pointed out where Watanabe was hiding.

Yoongi immediately booked a trip to Japan, taking Choi Chul-gyu and Cho Chung-woo along with him. When the travel notice dropped, Chung-woo had turned completely pale, but the moment he noticed there wasn’t a towering stack of law books sitting on his desk, his complexion snapped right back to normal.

“Ah, you’re going to have plenty of reading waiting for you after we get back, though.”

Though his face was still a bit ghost-white, Chul-gyu managed his mental state well enough that by the time they landed in Tokyo, Chung-woo’s expression had relaxed considerably.

“Mr. Chairman, you’ve arrived.”

Inside a Tokyo hotel, Yoongi met up with Seo Jong-hoon, and the whole group filed into a suite together.

“Trust you’ve been well?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I’ve been doing great. To be honest, I felt almost guilty getting paid a full salary just traveling around, so I’m glad I can finally put in some real work.”

After a brief exchange with Cha Pil-gyu, Jong-hoon refocused his attention entirely on Yoongi.

“That aside, you mentioned before that you were thinking of launching a business here in Japan—is this trip related to that?”

“Less of a business venture, and more about giving the right person a well-timed push.”

“A well-timed push…? Who exactly?”

“Have you ever heard of Seth Holdings?”

Jong-hoon shook his head.

“Can’t say I have. Is it connected to Seth somehow?”

He had expected as much. A company that wasn’t even globally famous in the future had zero chance of being a household name in 1980s Japan, especially when trying to stand out among massive corporations fattened by the economic bubble.

“Though, if I recall correctly, I specifically advised you previously that succeeding in Japan requires historical pedigree and local lineage over mere connections. You need at least a pedigree-backed network to make it work. Have you factored that in?”

“Naturally.”

“You actually have a network like that in Japan?”

Jong-hoon looked puzzled, figuring that if Yoongi had access to such connections, he wouldn’t have needed to hire him as a consultant in the first place.

“Of course. Remember that buck-toothed guy?”

“Pardon? Him?”

As Jong-hoon stared in utter disbelief, Yoongi continued calmly.

“No need to look so terrified. Didn’t you see the expression on his face back then? He won’t be pulling any more annoying stunts on us.”

“Even so, that doesn’t mean he’ll automatically help us out. Japanese grudge-holding is… frankly terrifyingly persistent.”

“Grudges only matter when you’re dealing with someone on equal footing. Don’t worry. Managing that punk isn’t going to be hard at all.”

“And pray tell, do you actually know where he is?”

“Of course. You haven’t forgotten who I am, have you?”

Though Yoongi shot Deok-bae—who was preening proudly—a low, warning “Ahem,” he knew better than to push Deok-bae’s buttons too far. Right now, Deok-bae’s cooperation was priority number one.

“Shall we get going, then?”

“You actually know where he is right this second?”

“Naturally.”

Jong-hoon and Chul-gyu wore expressions of profound shock at Yoongi’s casual confidence.

Leaving behind Cho Chung-woo—who was arguably enjoying the trip the most with zero operational stress—Yoongi led the group straight to the Hermès flagship store in Tokyo.

As a retail space designed to maximize the luxury of the Hermès brand, it was the kind of high-end boutique that simply didn’t exist in 1980s South Korea. Yet in a bustling, bubble-era Japan, flagship stores like this were already popping up everywhere—a testament to the staggering expansion of Japanese capital.

Jong-hoon half-wondered if Yoongi had just played a blind hunch, but the moment he spotted Watanabe actually standing inside the store, his jaw dropped open.

“Whoa!”

The shout didn’t come from Jong-hoon, but from Watanabe himself.

Watanabe’s jaw dropped even wider than Jong-hoon’s, freezing him in place like a statue.

“Watanabe-san?”

A store clerk approached him in a panic, trying to figure out why he had locked up, but Watanabe didn’t react at all. Meanwhile, Yoongi began slowly walking straight toward him.

Aside from the sound of footsteps, the boutique was dead silent.

When Yoongi was just eight steps away, Watanabe snapped back to reality and began shuffling backward in sheer panic.

“Ugeh… A-Ahhhh…”

Before they parted ways last time, Watanabe had projected a venomous, suffocating hostility toward Yoongi. But Yoongi had already deduced the reality of what must have happened in the interim.

Watanabe’s backing didn’t stem from his own strength; it came from someone else’s power. And that very power had come dangerously close to being completely wiped out. Under those circumstances, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what kind of hell Watanabe must have gone through.

Naturally, Yoongi had placed his bet on a rigged deck, and the payout had just doubled itself.

“Watanabe.”

Yoongi’s voice was low and flat.

With a loud crash, Watanabe lost his footing and tumbled backward onto his rear.

“Ugeh… Uwaaaah…!”

Yoongi slowly extended his fist toward Watanabe. As the fist closed right in front of his face, Watanabe squeezed his eyes shut—only to be met not with a punch to the face, but with a surprisingly friendly tone of voice.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to get up?”