Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 339

341

“I suppose so. But it’s a bit strange that the business association’s shareholding is only 4%. The Black Society’s attack is so obvious; aren’t they being too harsh on their own members?”

To Bumseok’s question, Philer replied with a resentful tone.

“Well, there’s a bit of ambiguity. We generally agree that this attack originated from the Black Society, but we don’t believe they’re trying to take over Vermillion. If the goal is to seize management control, then it’ll be a bloody war from then on.”

“This is a big problem. I think the Black Society is definitely aiming for Vermillion.”

Philer nodded in agreement.

“Yes. We also see it as an acquisition attempt, judging from the actions of those unidentified funds… But we can’t persuade the members of the business association because we don’t have any evidence.”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“Well, there’s not much we can do right now. To protect our shareholding, we need to buy back shares, but Vermillion is so big that we can’t even think about it.”

After saying that, Philer let out a long sigh. Currently, the Vermillion chairman’s assets, excluding company shares, were around 21 billion krang [Korean currency, approximately $15 million USD].

Moreover, 6 billion krang of this was tied up in real estate, making it impossible to liquidate in a short period. If the Black Society moved in quickly, the funds available to defend management control would be only 15 billion krang.

With Vermillion’s stock price currently at 1,910 krang, that meant they couldn’t even buy 8 million shares.

At this, Bumseok widened his eyes and said.

“Are you saying you can’t even buy 2% of the shares? I thought the Vermillion chairman was quite well-known in the business world.”

“Sigh~ Most of his assets are in Vermillion shares.”

Even so, it was less than 150 billion krang. Even Loven, sitting next to Bumseok, had about 45 billion krang in assets from his lottery winnings, and the White Angel Fund, where the core members of Ilsimhoe [a private group or society] had pooled their funds, contained 23.5 billion krang.

In other words, in terms of financial power, they and Ilsimhoe were not that different.

“That’s too little. Isn’t he the chairman of Vermillion?”

“Actually, the fact that my father is recognized in the business world is largely due to the fact that he runs Vermillion, the world’s largest chemical product manufacturer. This applies not only to our business association members and Black Society members but also to all executives running large businesses.”

Bumseok made a strange expression. In other words, if the Vermillion chairman lost Vermillion, he would be just a wealthy old man in the back room, but conversely, it meant that Black Society members could also be brought down to the same situation.

‘If we do this right, we might be able to take down one or two of the Black Society’s main companies ourselves.’

Currently, the Black Society’s main companies included about 30 companies, including WBS Broadcasting, Mearing Pharmaceuticals, and Wind House. Their size was similar to Vermillion, so it was thought that if they did well, they could acquire one or two of them with the united funds of Ilsimhoe. Or, if they requested cooperation from the financial sector and received support, even more would be possible.

‘It would be better to target WBS Broadcasting first.’

The reason Bumseok targeted WBS first was that it was a promotional channel that increased the Black Society’s recognition. If they acquired it, the large shield that protected the Black Society’s corruption would disappear, making future attacks easier. Also, they could solve the refusal of Karen’s appearance on major broadcasting stations at once, and with Nataly, who knew broadcasting well, they were prepared with a suitable person to appoint as president.

But right now, the most important thing was to protect Vermillion’s management control. First, they had to maintain the connection with the business association to gain a favorable position in the upcoming battle.

“I see. Then there’s no solution?”

“Everything will be resolved if we can reveal that the funds buying our company’s shares are from the Black Society. Then the members of the business association will spare no active support.”

Bumseok shook his head. He knew that it wasn’t easy. The Black Society, having been punched by him countless times, was recently being cautious and thoroughly maintaining secrecy. Margaret was also expressing her difficulties in obtaining information lately.

“That won’t be easy. We’ve only captured the circumstances that the Black Society is attacking Vermillion, but we haven’t grasped the specific facts.”

“But isn’t there no other way besides that?”

“There is. Solving it with money.”

“If only that were possible. I don’t know if you know, but a whopping 62% of Vermillion’s shares have been released on the market right now.”

“Subtract 3.2% from that.”

Philer looked at him with a puzzled expression. He had no way of knowing that Bumseok had bought a large amount of Vermillion shares through the White Angel Fund.

“What do you mean?”

“Some members of Ilsimhoe recently gathered funds and purchased 12.8 million shares of your company. This stake is a friendly stake for Chairman Vermillion, so it will give you some breathing room.”

Philer’s complexion brightened significantly. He said that Vermillion’s stock hadn’t fallen much since the first day. A 3.2% stake was about 20% of the shares thrown into the stock market recently. If this much stock was absorbed at once, the stock price would stabilize.

He grabbed Bumseok’s hand once again to express his gratitude. Even if Chairman Vermillion mobilized all of his funds, it was difficult to secure 1% of the shares. But now, suddenly, he had a 3.2% friendly stake. He couldn’t help but feel reassured.

“Bumseok, thank you so much. I think it will be a great help.”

“Hahaha. What are you talking about? Aren’t we comrades with the same enemy anyway? We should help each other in times of difficulty.”

Philer laughed loudly and replied.

“Yes. Of course. We must help each other. But I will never forget this favor.”

Bumseok glanced at Loven and Amas, who were sitting there blankly. Come to think of it, he had forgotten to introduce them.

He hurriedly pointed to Amas and Loven and said.

“Oh, right. Now that I think about it, I haven’t introduced you. Mr. Philer, these two are Ilsimhoe members, Mr. Loven and Mr. Amas. Please introduce yourselves to each other.”

“Ah. Is that so? I’m Philer, a director of Vermillion. I look forward to working with you.”

Loven and Amas hurriedly greeted him. They were somehow proud to be directly facing the famous Vermillion successor.

They were just rich, but they didn’t have much social status or fame. Loven was just a lottery winner, and Amas was just a playboy who had been living off his father’s inheritance until recently.

They couldn’t help but feel special as they became acquainted with mainstream figures in society.

“Ah, hello? I’m Loven.”

“I’m Amas. It’s nice to meet you like this.”

Bumseok began to introduce their profiles in more detail.

“Mr. Amas here is currently the chairman of the professional gladiatorial team, Blue Stars, and the largest shareholder of TL Shopping.”

Philer’s complexion changed immediately. TL Shopping was a giant company that had established itself as one of the world’s top three distribution companies. The largest shareholder of such a company could be assessed as having enormous wealth.

“Oh my. I didn’t recognize such a great person. I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about? Until recently, I was just a bum wasting my days away. I understand.”

Bumseok spoke about Loven this time.

“This person is the chairman of the professional gladiatorial team, Middle Fingers. He’s a lucky man who won first prize in the World Lottery a few years ago. And he won it alone.”

Philer made an admiring expression. The World Lottery was the most recognized electronic lottery sold worldwide, with a weekly first prize of 40 to 50 billion krang. If he had won it alone, he would be a billionaire with tens of billions of assets, an unimaginable fortune.

“Hahaha. You’re truly an enviable person. You’ve achieved the dream that people all over the world dream of.”

“I’m embarrassed. I don’t know how to manage my funds, so I’m just a nouveau riche relying on savings. And I’m also a shameless person who has been in hiding for several years to avoid donation requests from charities.”

No matter how nouveau riche he was, if his assets exceeded tens of billions of krang, he couldn’t be ignored. Even if he only put it in savings, he would earn more than 1.8 billion krang in annual income. There were plenty of companies in the world that couldn’t even make this much net profit.

And Philer didn’t think Loven was a nouveau riche. He had easily made money through the lottery, but ordinary wealthy people also easily made money. The difference between the wealthy and the nouveau riche was not how they made money but whether they could protect their wealth.

If he had been elated by the fact that he had won the lottery and had been throwing money around, he might have really despised him as a nouveau riche. Donations were good, but the most important thing for the wealthy was to protect their assets.

No matter how much good they did and how much they contributed to society, the world would not help them when they ran out of money and fell into difficulty.

“Hahaha. Is that so? Well, that could happen. I would have run away too.”

At this point, Bumseok decided to start working in earnest. Currently, Vermillion’s absolute friendly stake was about 25%, slightly over, with 18% from the Vermillion family, 4% from the business association, and 3.2% from Ilsimhoe’s key members.

It was a very unstable figure, and without proper external help, there was a high possibility that Vermillion would be taken over by the Black Society. But if other members of Ilsimhoe, who belonged to the wealthy, bought Vermillion’s stock, things would be different. Frankly, if only Loven actively stepped up, it would be possible to acquire an additional 5% of the friendly stake.

He looked at Loven and Amas and said.

“Mr. Loven, Mr. Amas. Would you be willing to buy Vermillion shares with other Ilsimhoe members?”

They hesitated, unable to answer readily. From what they had heard so far, Vermillion’s stock seemed quite attractive.

Although corruption scandals had been reported in the media, Philer’s composure made them think that it would pass without incident. Then the plummeted stock price would return to its original position, and the shareholders who bought the stock now would be able to make a big profit.

Moreover, there was the possibility of a hostile M&A by the Black Society. Of course, they would not be able to sell their shares because they had to prepare for a shareholders’ meeting to seize management control, but there seemed to be some benefit to the stock price increase.

The problem was the Black Society. They knew very well that if they bought shares in the name of Ilsimhoe and supported Vermillion, they would be in an adversarial relationship with them.

“W, well, that’s… I want to buy it, but… I’m worried about the Black Society. The Black Society is not an ordinary organization.”

As Bumseok gave him a look, Philer hurriedly stepped to the forefront of the conversation. He knew that if he persuaded them, he could protect Vermillion’s management control more stably.

“But there’s almost nothing you can do to harm them. The Black Society will be taken care of by our business association. Please help us just once. I will never forget this favor.”

Bumseok added an explanation.

“That’s right. To be honest, the only way the Black Society can hit our Ilsimhoe is through the Federal Gladiatorial Association. You don’t have to worry about other parts.”

Amas stared at Bumseok.

“Why is that? Isn’t the Black Society’s power immense?”

“Of course, it’s immense. But it’s only weak compared to our alliance. We’re already far ahead in terms of financial power, and we’ve completely dominated the connections. You all know that Inspector Rexter is one of our members, and he’s now a key figure in the Federal Police Agency.”

Loven and Amas could easily agree with that point. When they had trouble with the police, everything was resolved when they contacted him.

“Yes. I know.”

“And in the prosecution, the people who are building friendships with this business association are in power. The prosecutors who are attacking Vermillion now are just a small force that sympathizes with the Black Society. And the Federal Financial Supervisory Service and the National Tax Service are tightly controlled by Vice Chairman Louis’s social club members, and there are far more major politicians on our alliance’s side.

You think of yourselves as insignificant beings, but that’s not true. As long as you’ve joined Ilsimhoe, no one dares to touch you.”

Loven and Amas felt confident when they heard that. If what Bumseok said was true, they didn’t think they had anything to lose to the Black Society.

Economically and politically, there was no reason to fear them when the current alliance was dominant. The power dynamic was relative, not absolute.

No matter how strong someone was, they would immediately turn into a weakling if an even stronger person appeared.

“Then can we rest assured?”

“Hmm. To be honest, I’m a little worried about the Federal Professional Gladiatorial world. It’s a pain in the ass when Angry Bombs plays tricks. But don’t worry about other parts. As long as we’re working with the business association, there won’t be any problems.”

Loven and Amas looked at each other and nodded. If there were no problems in other areas, there was no need for them to be afraid of the Black Society.

The attack through the Cooper faction was a concern, but the attack had already begun. No, in order to lead the current gladiatorial business smoothly, they had to hit the Black Society.

“Okay. We will also cooperate with this matter, however insignificant our help may be.”

“Thank you. It will be very helpful if you help us.”

Bumseok and Philer smiled brightly. Although Loven and Amas didn’t have much influence in the business world, the value of money was very honest. Anyone with 3 krang could pull out a vending machine coffee, and if they helped, the fight against the Black Society would be much easier.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Whew~ Finally, the alliance line against the Black Society has been completed. It seems that the business association will fight on the front lines, and Ilsimhoe and Vice Chairman Louis’s social club members will support them. And Bumseok will now be able to focus more on gladiatorial combat.

Then everyone, have a nice day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.