Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 350

352

Godz Knights continued their momentum from the new spring season, exceeding even the fervor of the fall season. This surge was fueled by Nikita’s return from loan and the acquisition of Bestia.

With W0 and W1 class gladiators newly added to the existing roster, including Beomseok, their strength was truly formidable. Godz Knights was now recognized as the unrivaled strongest team in the Hieiern Central League.

“Waaaaah! Waaah!”

– Godz Knights is truly amazing. They invited Snow Girls, the second-ranked team in the league, to their home in Lima City Colosseum and achieved a perfect victory.

– I agree. It seems the only teams that can challenge Godz Knights now are in the World League.

– Yes. That’s right. With gladiator Oh Beomseok included in that squad, they can’t help but be strong. Godz Knights is a team to look forward to.

As the commentators wrapped up the match, the Godz Knights gladiators stood at the photo line, striking poses for the reporters. The gladiator receiving the most attention was, of course, Beomseok. He had achieved 7 kills in today’s comprehensive 3-round match, rightfully earning the MVP title.

“Gladiator Oh Beomseok, could you please put your spear on your shoulder and look at us?”

Beomseok, as requested by the reporter, placed his spear on his shoulder and gave a sharp gaze towards the lens. Immediately, a flurry of flashes erupted. He struck various poses, heating up the atmosphere of the photo line.

After a while, as the reporters began to leave one by one, Beomseok excused himself and returned to the dugout with his teammates. They would soon change clothes and head to the press conference.

“Heh heh. Inspector Lexter contacted me.”

Beomseok, rummaging through his electronic notebook in his bag, wore a satisfied expression. He roughly knew why Inspector Lexter had contacted him today. Recently, the Black Society had declared an M&A [mergers and acquisitions] war on Vermillion, and today was the day the extraordinary general meeting was being held. Beomseok couldn’t attend because he had a match, so Lexter attended in his place.

He opened the communication button and contacted Lexter.

“Hey, Inspector. Did the extraordinary general meeting go well today?”

Unexpectedly, the expression on Inspector Lexter’s face displayed on the screen wasn’t very good. It wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t bright either.

– Haa. Don’t even mention it. I thought I was going to die.

“What do you mean?”

– Well, the Black Society came out with 46% of the shares. We almost lost in one fell swoop.

Beomseok chuckled. No matter how much they brought out 46% of the shares, their side exceeded 53%. So, with about an 8% difference, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

“Heh heh. What does it matter? We have 53%.”

– That’s not it. Among the Black Society’s supporting shares, 12% were proxy votes, and 7% of that came from existing institutions. Do you roughly understand what that means?

Beomseok tilted his head, seemingly understanding. Of the 16% of shares held by institutions, 13% were friendly to their side. That meant the Ilsimhoe could only pull in about 3% of the shares through institutions.

“No. Why did that happen?”

– Several institutions that were supposed to support us, including Million Financial Group, turned to the Black Society.

Million Financial Group was a massive financial group ranked third in the industry, following LHN and Wilkins. They had agreed to help them through the persuasion of Chairman Balbar and Chairman Wilkins, but it seemed they had been swayed by the Black Society.

It was somewhat serious, but Beomseok remained calm. No matter how great LHN and Wilkins were, the entire financial sector couldn’t speak with one voice. Rather, this clearly distinguished friend from foe, which would be a great reference in future battles.

“So, it was 49 to 46. That must have been quite fierce. Heh heh.”

– Yeah. Before I threw the last 16% of the shares to Chairman Vermillion, the state of the business community was quite a sight. Until then, they probably thought Vermillion was going to be taken away.

Beomseok raised one corner of his mouth. He had told Filer to thoroughly hide the Ilsimhoe’s shareholding ratio due to Theresa’s presence, so the business community couldn’t have known. Except for Chairman Vermillion and Filer, who were directly involved, everyone else must have been sweating bullets.

“Heh heh. I see. By the way, what was the Black Society’s reaction?”

– It was amazing. Chairman Lucas came out again this time, and he went back completely pale.

“Hahaha. Is that so? It must have been quite a sight.”

– Heh heh. It was. But you know, it seems like the incident is going to get quite big.

“Why?”

– The business community is in an uproar. Until now, they were fighting over the existence of the organization, but now they’ve touched the individual interests of the members. They’re vowing to wage war, and even I, who was listening nearby, was scared. There’s probably going to be a major upheaval in the business world soon.

It was understandable. The business community was just a social club where members joined to pursue their interests. That didn’t mean it wasn’t important, but as a member, they could just leave if they didn’t like it. But the companies owned by individuals were different.

If they were deprived of them, they would be reduced from prominent business figures to wealthy old men in the back room. Naturally, the members of the business community couldn’t help but react sensitively.

“I guess so. The Black Society touching Vermillion means they’re going to see it through to the end.”

– Yeah. People from the business community are telling me that too.

Beomseok looked at Lexter with an admiring expression.

“Oh. Inspector, you’ve made it. You’re having such close conversations with prominent figures from the business community.”

– What do you mean by made it? It’s all because the Ilsimhoe is the background. Honestly, they almost fell to the Vermillion guys if it weren’t for us. So, they’re trying to protect their companies by borrowing the power of the Ilsimhoe.

Beomseok wore a proud expression. The funds invested in this Vermillion M&A were approximately 123.5 billion Krang [fictional currency]. Investing this money to gain this much recognition and additionally securing 40% was a profitable venture.

Currently, Vermillion had its corporate transparency recognized through a prosecutor’s investigation, so institutions had changed the fair stock price to 2,700 Krang. This was an increase of 250 Krang from the previous price, and 790 Krang higher than the Ilsimhoe’s purchase price of 1,910 Krang per share.

“Hahaha. Still, what can we do? We have to help. If they fall, the Black Society’s next target is us.”

– I know. I told them I would do that.

“Yes. You did well.”

– But you know, I have one concern.

“What is it?”

– Now that the Black Society knows there are 49% friendly shares for Chairman Vermillion, won’t they give up and sell their shares like crazy?

To be exact, it was 49.2%. With this level of friendly shares, the Black Society could never absorb Vermillion.

Of course, theoretically, they could buy more shares than that, but it was physically impossible. Even now, institutions were trying to increase their holdings of Vermillion shares, which had stabilized, and individuals were reluctant to sell, making it very difficult to acquire more than 3% of the shares.

It seemed clear they would urgently withdraw funds to prepare for the attack from the business community.

“Yes. That’s right.”

– Then the stock price will plummet. Should we continue to hold Vermillion shares?

“We probably have to. They could pretend to sell shares while actually buying them.”

– Then our losses will be huge?

“Not at all. Currently, institutions hold the minimum number of Vermillion shares. If it falls below the fair price of 2,700 Krang, they will buy in large quantities, so it won’t fall much lower than that. And the business community will buy too.”

Vermillion’s stock had lost its M&A momentum, but it was currently around 3,320 Krang. So, institutions weren’t readily stepping in, but if the Black Society placed large sell orders and significantly lowered the stock price, they would probably gladly take it. The business community would do the same, absorbing some Vermillion shares to defend their mutual management rights.

– I guess so. Then what do we do now? All the funds from White Angel Fund are tied up in Vermillion. It doesn’t seem easy to withdraw them right now.

That was Beomseok’s concern as well. Without the White Angel Fund’s funds, the Black Society’s attack would be sluggish. They would have to raise funds again soon.

“Well, we can raise money again soon.”

– But will the other Ilsimhoe members agree?

“Yes. They will cooperate at least for the next time. They didn’t invest that much money last time, and they made a lot of money this time due to the increase in Vermillion’s stock.”

– Well, we only bought Vermillion’s stock for 1,910 Krang. You could say we made quite a bit. Hmm. Then let’s put this issue aside. How are we going to get the money we’re going to invest?

At that, Beomseok wore a troubled expression. They couldn’t just sit back while the general members invested huge amounts of money. But neither he, Lexter, nor Margaret had funds to invest.

Lexter and Margaret had put in most of their funds from the last loan, and Beomseok had emptied the team’s funds due to the acquisition of Bertia.

He scratched his head with an awkward expression.

“Ha, haha. That’s a bit of a problem.”

– Hmm. That’s why I’m saying, how about listing MR Security?

MR Security was a company run by Margaret as president. Its main business was security and computer security, and it also served as the Ilsimhoe’s intelligence department, employing a large number of hackers and intelligence agents. Currently, Beomseok also had a security contract with them worth 30 million Krang annually, securing the Godz Knights training camp and obtaining information on the Black Society.

“But MR Security doesn’t have much income. Is there really any merit in listing it?”

– Of course, there is. Sales have increased significantly recently.

“Really? Why?”

– Firstly, we secured a large number of security contracts from our Ilsimhoe members.

Beomseok’s eyes widened.

“Really? How?”

– Hehehe. I gave them a scare, for example. I told them the Black Society could persuade security companies to play tricks.

Beomseok chuckled. It wasn’t the Black Society, but he had faced several difficulties dealing with Julian before. In the promotion tournament where Godz Knights was challenging the pros, he had faced a difficult situation because he had bribed Andrea and the owner.

“Heh heh. That’s the business community.”

– What does it matter where it is? If you gloss over it, it’s all the same.

Anyway, Lexter’s business acumen was amazing. He really should have run a company instead of being a police officer. Frankly, to run a company, you had to have a bit of a con artist’s spirit.

“Hahaha. So, how many contracts did you sign?”

– About 20 teams? We secured full-option security contracts for 12 million Krang each, so you can say sales increased by about 240 million Krang.

“Oh. That’s quite an increase.”

– Right. And as soon as the security contracts expire this year, 30 teams have agreed to sign contracts with our MR Security.

“Then sales will increase by another 360 million?”

– Yeah. And other teams will sign contracts next year, so we’ll see more growth. Hehehe.

That was enough to make it an attractive listed company. Although it fell far short of the Ilsimhoe’s other companies, it was difficult to find a company with this much sales merit in the market.

“Then there shouldn’t be any major problems listing it. But what is MR Security’s net worth right now?”

– Hmm. It’ll be about 2.4 billion Krang.

Beomseok wore a surprised expression. It was more than he thought. He thought it would only be a few hundred million at most.

“No. It’s increased that much?”

– Ah. That’s because the security program Margaret newly created received the grand prize in the global software security sector last year. So, it’s selling quite well.

Beomseok clapped his hands as if he had just remembered. He remembered that Margaret had created a program called Shieldless and sold it to her company, MR Security, earning 100 million Krang. Last year, Godz Knights also purchased about 100 copies of the program for 500 Krang.

“Ah. Really? Is Shieldless selling that well?”

– No. If it was selling well, would it only be 2.4 billion? Shieldless has only sold 7 million copies. When you look at the global security program market, it’s a very small number. But don’t worry. It’s not well known except among experts right now, so it’s not seeing much light, but sales will grow significantly soon.

It’s already recognized as the strongest security program among hackers.

Indeed, 7 million copies was a very small proportion of the security program market, which was in the billions of copies. If it was recognized worldwide and sales were on track, they would make a lot of money.

“Then this is a waste. MR Security will grow quite a bit if sales increase, won’t it? Aren’t we rushing too much if we list it then? We could make more money then.”

– That’s not true. No matter how good a product is, it won’t sell without credibility. Firstly, the majority of buyers, who are non-experts, don’t know what’s good at all. So, it’s good to list it to improve the company’s image and to find partners.”

Beomseok nodded. Certainly, listing would expose them to various media outlets, improving the company and product image. In addition, the securities companies and shareholders participating in the listing would help in various ways to increase their income, which would be a considerable benefit.

He roughly grasped the situation and smiled slightly, saying to Lexter.

“Then entrust the listing to LHN.”

– Ah. I was thinking of doing that too. Aula will be a great help.

“I’m not talking about help, I’m talking about supplementing Shieldless’s functions and selling it to LHN. If it enters such a large group, product recognition will increase significantly.”

– That’s true. But will Aula buy it? She’s quite picky.

“Heh heh. You can use the LHN building incident I caused before as an excuse. If they buy the new version of Shieldless, that kind of thing will never happen again, so they’ll probably buy it.”

Lexter chuckled. She had been greatly scolded for Beomseok’s LHN building infiltration incident at the time. If they explained the exact circumstances at the time and brought out a new version of Shieldless that would prevent it, she would probably show considerable purchasing power.

– Hehehe. I know what you mean. I’ll do as you say.

“Yes. Then please handle this listing well.”

– Okay, I got it.

Beomseok, having finished all the conversations, hung up and went to the press conference. As today’s MVP, he had to attend with the director, Diana.

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

Ah. After this chapter, it’s the World League challenge. It seems Perfect World will also end this early fall. It’s been a long time, but the end is finally in sight. Hahaha.

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