Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 351

353

MR Security’s initial public offering [IPO] was progressing smoothly. Thanks to Lexter’s persuasive skills, they secured a sales contract with LHN for 1.2 million copies of Shieldless, increasing their net assets by 500 million Krang, and the IPO began with a valuation of 3 billion Krang.

As a result, the number of shares for the free stock offering also increased significantly, with a total of 30 million shares issued at a price of 200 Krang per share. Now, MR Security was relaunching as a relatively large security company with a market capitalization of 6 billion Krang.

With this IPO, the Ilsimhoe members had to release 50% of their shares, but they profited handsomely from selling them. Margaret made 900 million Krang, Lexter 600 million Krang, Beomseok, Gloria, and Natalie each made 450 million Krang, and Karen and Leppard earned 150 million Krang.

With this money, Beomseok started a new second White Angel Fund. The early members of Ilsimhoe, Julian, and Vice President Louis invested 600 million Krang, Loven and Amas 500 million Krang, and other Ilsimhoe members contributed approximately 30 billion Krang, making a total of 36.4 billion Krang.

Although it wasn’t a completely satisfactory amount, it would be very helpful in future attacks against the Black Society, especially since it exceeded 200 billion when combined with the first White Angel Fund.

“Alright, everyone. Think of this as a real battle and fight properly!”

On a lazy spring day, the gladiators of God’s Knights were holding matches at the outdoor training arena for the first time in a while. The games were divided into the Red Team, including Kazella, and the Blue Team, including Nikita, but Beomseok wasn’t participating.

If he joined, it wouldn’t be a fair game at all, and the purpose of training would be undermined. It was better to have a close match to achieve effective training results.

However, Beomseok wasn’t just idly standing by. He was on the phone next to Diana, who was shouting encouragement towards the training arena. The person on the other end of the line was none other than Piler, the successor of Vermilion.

– Mr. Beomseok. I owe you a great debt from last time. I almost lost Vermilion, but I survived thanks to you. Thank you again.

“Haha. I’m glad I could help. If you need any help in the future, please feel free to let me know.”

Piler on the screen hesitated for a moment, then glanced at him cautiously.

– Um. Excuse me, but may I ask you a question, Mr. Beomseok?

“Yes, of course.”

– What are you going to do with the Vermilion shares held by Ilsimhoe?

Beomseok smiled knowingly. It seemed that Piler was worried that they would put the shares on the market.

Currently, Vermilion’s stock price was falling sharply due to a large number of sell orders. Institutions and some members of economic organizations were continuing to buy, but they couldn’t absorb all the volume being dumped. So the current price was 2,240 Krang, 460 Krang below the fair price of 2,700 Krang.

Judging by this, it could be inferred that the Black Society was releasing its stake, but Vermilion couldn’t help but feel uneasy. They might be pretending to sell shares while secretly executing a volume dumping operation [selling off large quantities of stock to drive down the price].

If Ilsimhoe panicked due to this stock price drop and dumped its 16.2% stake on the market, Vermilion could be in real danger.

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

– I’m sorry, but could you hold onto them for a while?

“Why?”

– The Black Society may not have given up on Vermilion yet. In the previous extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, the difference between us and them was only about 3%. If Ilsimhoe sells even a portion of its shares, Vermilion could be in danger.

Beomseok looked at Piler with a troubled expression. In principle, they had decided to hold it for a certain period, but they couldn’t continue to tie up that large sum of money in Vermilion indefinitely.

Even though he had decided to stand back and observe the fight between the economic organizations and the Black Society, it didn’t mean that he would do nothing. Beomseok was currently planning to acquire WBS broadcasting station for Natalie and Karen.

“But we can’t keep holding it forever, can we? We have our own plans and needs.”

– Of course, I understand. Just for a little while, please hold it for a little while longer.

“How long?”

At that question, Piler made a difficult expression and couldn’t answer easily, because he couldn’t accurately predict the timing.

– I can’t tell you exactly.

“What? Why is that?”

– Because I don’t know the deadline.

Beomseok gave him a dumbfounded look. If Piler was being serious, he was toying with him, and if it was a joke, it was a clumsy one.

“No. How can the person asking me to wait not know the deadline? I would understand if you just honestly told me that you have no countermeasures, but this is really difficult. This is a matter of trust.”

– Ah, no. There will be an opportunity to withdraw funds soon.

“So how?”

After a moment of thought, Piler finally spoke.

– I think the economic organizations will soon launch an all-out offensive against the Black Society’s mid-sized companies. Then they will be too busy to re-attack our Vermilion. In fact, they will likely have to sell their existing shares to defend those companies.

Beomseok nodded, considering whether he was convinced. If a full-scale war broke out, the Black Society would inevitably need huge amounts of money to defend their companies. It was only natural to prioritize putting out the fire closest to you, even if a distant mountain was burning.

“I suppose so. But why doesn’t Piler know the timing?”

– Yes. Currently, the members of the economic organizations aren’t consulting with our Youth Business Federation at all about this war.

“Why? Aren’t you close allies? That’s a bit much.”

– Didn’t Mr. Beomseok tell me before? There is a spy from the Black Society within the Youth Business Federation or its close associates. So until they catch that person, they will avoid linking with the Youth Business Federation for the time being.

It seemed that he was talking about Theresa. If the target company was handed over to the Black Society through her, the economic organizations would be in great trouble. Even Beomseok would have started by excluding the members of the Youth Business Federation.

“I can understand that. If the Black Society finds out about the target company, they will thoroughly defend it.”

– Yes. That’s right.

Beomseok looked at Piler with a calculating gaze. This information smelled like money. A sharp rise in stock prices was essential for a hostile M&A [Mergers and Acquisitions].

“Excuse me, but may I ask you a favor?”

– Yes. Just tell me. I’ll do anything I can.

“I want to know one piece of information about this attack on the Black Society.”

Piler immediately looked troubled and waved his hand.

– Didn’t I just tell you? I can’t get that information at all. Frankly, only a very few members of the economic organizations know about it.

“The chairman of Vermilion would know, wouldn’t he?”

– Well, of course he would know, but still, it’s impossible. External disclosure of the target company is strictly prohibited. My father would be in trouble if I broke that rule.

Beomseok chuckled. The information he wanted to know wasn’t the target company.

“There’s no need for the chairman of Vermilion to be in trouble. I want to know about the Black Society companies other than the target company. And I’m only talking about one company, WBS Broadcasting.”

Piler’s face brightened. He figured that his father would be able to answer that question. What they had agreed to keep secret was the target company, not the other companies.

– Well, since Ilsimhoe has helped us a lot, I can find out that much for you. But one thing. I’m curious why you want to know that.

“Haha. It’s simple. Our Ilsimhoe wants to help with this attack.”

– How?

“We’re going to attempt a hostile M&A on WBS Broadcasting.”

Piler, who had brought his face close to the screen, said loudly.

– No, Ilsimhoe is trying a hostile M&A on WBS Broadcasting? Is that even possible?

Beomseok immediately shook his head. Currently, Ilsimhoe only had 36.4 billion Krang in operating funds, while WBS was a huge major broadcasting company with a market capitalization of 630 billion Krang. An acquisition? It was impossible.

“No.”

– Then why are you saying that?

“Because I’m just going to try it and then back out. Surely you know what I mean?”

Piler, who had roughly guessed, had a bitter smile on his face. He was a businessman, so he couldn’t possibly not understand what Beomseok was trying to do.

– Haha. You mean you’re going to focus the Black Society’s attention on WBS Broadcasting.

“Yes. That’s right. Then the Black Society’s funds will be concentrated on WBS Broadcasting, so the economic organizations will be able to achieve their goals more easily, right?”

– I understand. Then I’ll see my father today and let you know about this information.

“Yes. Please do. Well, I’ll trust Mr. Piler.”

Beomseok, who had ended the call, crossed his arms and began to think.

Currently, the shareholding ratio of WBS Broadcasting was 7% by Chairman Worst, 15% by the Black Society, 20% by the government, 26% by institutions, and 32% of the shares were publicly traded. The market capitalization was about 631.2 billion Krang, and the price per share was 1540 Krang.

But now Ilsimhoe had a total of 36.4 billion Krang in operating funds. If they bought shares with this money, they could only acquire about 5.8% of the shares, with 23 million to 24 million shares. However, the Black Society couldn’t help but react sensitively to this acquisition attempt. If Beomseok persuaded the institutions through Chairman Balbar and Chairman Wilkins, he would get about 25% of the support, and if he took over the government’s stake, he would have 45%.

‘But I won’t acquire it right now. The government is neutral, so I don’t know who they will support. It’s better to end this by securing funds and helping the economic organizations.’

WBS Broadcasting was the Black Society’s publicity channel. It was highly likely to be a target of attack, so if they touched it even a little, they would definitely defend it desperately.

Then the stock price would inevitably rise sharply, and if they sold the shares around that time, they could make huge profits. On the other hand, the Black Society would lose huge amounts of money by buying shares at high prices, and they would be less concerned about other companies, making it more difficult for them to detect the secret movements of the economic organizations.

In addition, it seemed that it would be of great help when they actually attacked WBS Broadcasting in the future. A sensitive reaction was only effective once or twice; if it continued to happen, the Black Society would become lax in defending WBS Broadcasting.

Like the story of the boy who cried wolf [a fable about a shepherd boy who repeatedly lied about a wolf attacking his flock, so that when a wolf actually appeared, the villagers did not believe him].

He immediately contacted Aula secretly and told her about his strategy. As soon as he received a call from Piler, he would start right away, so he needed to be prepared in advance.

In early March, Beomseok and the members of God’s Knights were leaving the Lima City Colosseum dejectedly. In the 17th GA Cup match held today, they suffered a defeat with 2 draws and 2 losses against Real Heroes, a powerhouse in the World League.

Even though the team included Eurine, who was ranked 5th in the gladiator rankings, and countless other powerful gladiators, Beomseok was very disappointed. He had been working hard to recruit gladiators and improve his skills, but he bitterly realized that they weren’t yet good enough to compete with the top teams in the World League.

“I expected it, but to be defeated like this… Sigh~”

Diana approached Beomseok, who was sighing dejectedly, to comfort her disappointed master.

“It couldn’t be helped. Real Heroes is a strong team ranked 6th in the World League. They can’t be compared to other lower-level World League teams. 2 draws and 2 losses can be seen as a decent showing.”

Beomseok shook his head. They managed to drag the game to the 4th round, but when they analyzed the matches, the problems of God’s Knights were clearly revealed.

The first round started. Beomseok and God’s Knights’ main force faced Real Heroes’ main force and felt a bit pushed back, but they managed a draw in a close battle. Because Beomseok was fielding Eurine and Aegis, who belonged to the W1 class [top tier gladiators], at the same time, the main team was able to endure based on numerical superiority. But the following 2nd round was a disaster.

The formation collapsed as soon as the game started, and everyone was lying on the floor in a miserable defeat in less than 3 minutes. The same pattern was repeated in the 3rd and 4th rounds, and in the end, God’s Knights finished this GA Cup with 2 draws and 2 losses.

“It’s not just a matter of fighting well or not. The problem is that our second-tier team is no match for the top World League teams.”

“But we’re better than other lower-level World League teams. We didn’t get pushed back as much as in the main force battle. Besides, you didn’t put all your strength today. I think you could have overwhelmed Eurene and Aegis if you had used your full power.”

Beomseok licked his lips. He certainly hadn’t given his best effort today. He hadn’t used his unique traits.

“Well, yeah, but…”

“Right now, our God’s Knights and the top World League teams are only separated by a few talented players. That’s a problem that we can overcome if our team’s promising players develop further and we recruit a few more outstanding gladiators. So you don’t have to be so disappointed.”

“Sigh~ But it’s difficult to recruit those outstanding gladiators. Are they cheap?”

Diana smiled slightly and said.

“I believe you will solve that problem well. You’ve been doing well so far.”

Of course, he had been doing well so far. He had recruited many promising players to fill the team, and recently he had succeeded in recruiting Seiya and Bertia, who were pretty good gladiators. But next season would be different. If God’s Knights lost their Central League team status this year, there would be no additional discounts on player acquisitions.

“Maybe it’s better not to expect too much. It’s not easy for a World League team to buy the gladiator they want. If it’s another World League team, they’re a competitor, so they’ll overcharge you, and the lower-ranked teams will also try to rip you off.”

“But World League teams earn a lot. So you can manage it.”

Diana’s words weren’t wrong. When you move up to the World League, the revenue from season tickets and sponsor donations is substantial. And the reason why God’s Knights had grown so much wasn’t only because they bought promising players at low prices.

In reality, the fact that Beomseok hadn’t failed in any gladiator recruitment attempts so far had a greater impact. Avoiding failures in gladiator recruitment naturally saved huge amounts of money.

“Sigh~ I guess so. I understand.”

Beomseok nodded lightly and took everyone to the Rainbow Hotel. Although they had lost, he had made a lot of money with this GA Cup. Since his pockets were full anyway, it would be good to eat and drink to his heart’s content and forget today’s defeat.

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

ㅠㅠ. I was told by my doctor today to stop smoking. ㅠㅠ. I can’t live without cigarettes. ㅠㅠ. But I’ll have to smoke secretly. Hehehe.

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