The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 266

266. Tokyo Blues (2)

A sealed room without windows.

Yu Tanaka didn’t have claustrophobia, but the feeling of being squeezed from all sides made him psychologically uneasy.

‘JPMorgan isn’t planning to do something to me, are they?’

Like cutting off a part of my body.

Or implanting a chip in my body.

Or turning me into a drug addict.

The fearful imaginings were endless.

Creak.

The tightly closed door opened, and several men entered.

“Mr. Tanaka, what’s with your face?”

Yu Tanaka turned his gaze to him and asked back.

“Wouldn’t it be stranger if I were perfectly fine in a place like this?”

“Huh! A place like this? There’s a fluffy bed and air conditioning, isn’t there?”

“You! You said we’d work together, but you’ve imprisoned me!”

The man who identified himself as being from Morgan Stanley sat down in front of him and said.

“Hahaha, imprisoned? I just had Mr. Tanaka wait a moment because there’s someone he needs to meet.”

“Someone I need to meet?”

Yu Tanaka thought that a high-ranking executive from Morgan Stanley might be attending.

‘Hmm, how important is this person to have me locked up like this?’

Upon hearing that he would be meeting someone, the imaginings he had in his head became blurred.

“They’ll be arriving shortly.”

Yu Tanaka narrowed his brow and asked.

“If he comes, can I leave this place?”

He had already been confined here for two days.

“Of course.”

It was when the man from Morgan Stanley checked the time on his wristwatch.

“They’ve arrived.”

The man who had been waiting outside sent him a signal.

“Oh, they’re here.”

Yu Tanaka’s gaze naturally turned to the entrance.

‘It’s not like a big head from Morgan Stanley is going to show up, is it?’

Morgan Stanley’s big head, Chairman Kyle Montana, was one of the giants of Wall Street.

He thought that it would take someone of that stature to explain why he was being held here.

But the person who appeared after opening the door was someone he had not expected at all.

“Well, well, I didn’t expect to see Tanaka-kun [Mr. Tanaka] here.”

Yu Tanaka clenched his fists when he saw the old man who entered.

“Ka, Kajima Jiro!”

The person who had entered to meet Yu Tanaka was Kajima Jiro, the chairman of the Kajima Group.

‘He’s joined hands with Morgan Stanley?’

Chairman Kajima Jiro and the Kajima Group had joined hands with Morgan Stanley. For Victoria Fund, this was a crisis situation that was more than just losing a partner.

‘That’s it. The reason Morgan Stanley knows information about us is because they heard it from the Kajima Group.’

Yu Tanaka finally knew where the information had been leaking from.

“Since you’re acquainted, the conversation will be quick.”

The man who claimed to be from Morgan Stanley revealed his name.

“I’m Howard Robinson.”

Howard Robinson had been demoted to the head of the East Asia branch after being dismissed from his position as head of the investment strategy team.

An opportunity had come to him, and that was the alliance proposal from the Kajima Group.

“Ho, Howard Robinson?”

“You know my name?”

“I’ve heard rumors that a big-shot dealer from Morgan Stanley had that name.”

Howard Robinson chuckled softly.

“Hahaha, a big-shot dealer. That was about 10 years ago.”

He crossed his legs and continued.

“We’re drawing a big picture here.”

Yu Tanaka felt like he knew what kind of picture it was, even if he didn’t say it.

‘They’re trying to siphon off Victoria Fund’s Japanese real estate or stocks, aren’t they.’

He also knew that cooperating with their demands would be a breach of trust.

Chairman Kajima Jiro stroked his beard and said.

“Tanaka-kun, I won’t mince words. Join us.”

Yu Tanaka narrowed his brow and raised his voice.

“What are you plotting?”

Howard Robinson lightly raised both hands and replied.

“It’s nothing grand or bad.”

Giants are gathered in a sealed room, and it’s not a grand or bad thing.

Who could believe this answer?

Yu Tanaka frowned and said.

“If you’re trying to make me a scapegoat, I’ll have to decline.”

Howard Robinson clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, you’re seriously mistaken about something.”

“What am I mistaken about?”

Howard Robinson replied in a cheerful voice.

“We’re not trying to steal Victoria Fund’s assets.”

Not stealing assets.

‘If they’re not stealing, then they’re trying to take them over at a bargain price.’

Yu Tanaka pictured in his head the scenario where he would bear all the responsibility.

‘Not only will I go bankrupt, but I’ll also rot in jail for decades in place of those guys.’

He clenched his fist tightly.

“Please tell me exactly.”

Just as Howard Robinson was about to add an explanation, Chairman Kajima Jiro interjected in their conversation.

“Isn’t Victoria Fund trying to withdraw from Japan?”

Yu Tanaka narrowed his brow and replied.

“They’re only withdrawing partially.”

Chairman Kajima Jiro shook his head from side to side.

“That boy won’t just withdraw partially. Once he starts pulling out, he’ll pull everything out.”

He knew that Jung Hyun-woo was a man of bold decisions.

“If you’re saying they’re going to pull out all the real estate in Japan… Chairman Kajima, what you want is to take over all the real estate Victoria Fund has at a cheap price?”

Chairman Kajima Jiro placed both hands on his cane and replied.

“It would be nice if we could take over Victoria Fund’s real estate at a cheap price, but Charlie Jung isn’t such an easy man. He’ll try to get a proper price.”

Not stealing, not getting it cheap.

Then what do they want?

Yu Tanaka relaxed his narrowed brow slightly and said.

“If the Kajima Group buys it at a fair price, Charlie Jung will sell everything.”

“Will he really?”

Yu Tanaka couldn’t help but pause at Chairman Kajima Jiro’s question.

“Are you saying Charlie Jung won’t sell the real estate to the Kajima Group?”

Why?

Because Jung Hyun-woo has bad feelings towards the Kajima Group?

Or to balance the Japanese construction groups?

Soon, Chairman Kajima Jiro answered his question.

“If it were me, I would try to sell all the real estate I own at once.”

Just like selling a well-performing company with a management premium, he was saying that he would try to sell the Japanese real estate as a whole to the company that offered the highest price.

‘As expected of Chairman Kajima Jiro. He knows the best way to make the most profit.’

Yu Tanaka nodded slowly and said.

“Then what I have to do is…”

Chairman Kajima Jiro held up two fingers.

“One is to persuade Charlie Jung to sell the real estate to us, and the second is, if that goes wrong, to adjust the sale conditions to be favorable to us.”

Yu Tanaka could understand the purpose of Morgan Stanley and the Kajima Group.

‘They want to take over all the ownership of the real estate that Victoria Fund owns.’

The reason they wanted to take over all of Victoria Fund’s real estate was because they predicted that Japanese real estate prices would rise further.

“Then what can I get from this deal?”

Howard Robinson answered his question.

“I’ll give you 1%.”

“1% of the sale price?”

Howard Robinson smiled and raised his voice.

“If you think of it as a commission, isn’t it a good deal?”

The assessed value of Victoria Fund’s Japanese real estate was close to $100 billion.

‘If it’s 1%, then the success bonus alone is $1 billion?’

He raised his voice slightly.

“There won’t be any tricks, will there?”

Howard Robinson replied in his unique, cheerful voice.

“Why would I trick you? To save the 1% commission that would go to you? If that was the case, I wouldn’t have even started this deal.”

Morgan Stanley had joined this deal not to earn $1 billion or $2 billion.

‘They’ll make at least tens of billions of dollars in profit.’

This was the same for Chairman Kajima Jiro. He had proposed this deal in the hopes of making trillions of yen in profit.

‘The most delicious part hasn’t even been put on the table yet. How can I yield that part to a Korean kid?’

Howard Robinson and Chairman Kajima Jiro.

Both of them were obsessed with Japanese real estate and the bubble.

* * *

Jung Hyun-woo lowered his voice on the phone call from Tokyo.

“So, you’re saying Yu Tanaka lost consciousness at a bar and collapsed, and you haven’t been able to reach him for two days?”

John Peer sighed deeply and replied.

“Hoo… The good news is, it doesn’t seem like drugs. I don’t think you need to come all the way here, Charlie.”

He had been worried that Yu Tanaka might be addicted to drugs when he heard the news that he had been found at a hotel.

“Will he be okay?”

“I’ve given him a stern warning.”

John Peer took a plane to the Tokyo branch as soon as he lost contact with Yu Tanaka.

“Are you saying we should keep him?”

“There’s no one else as good as him yet.”

Jung Hyun-woo knew that he wasn’t just good at his job.

‘He even had connections in the political world.’

He could contact the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan through Yu Tanaka.

“It’ll be a problem if this keeps happening.”

“If the same thing happens again, we’ll eventually have to replace him.”

“John.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jung Hyun-woo said in a heavy voice.

“While you’re in Tokyo, look into a replacement for Mr. Tanaka.”

He was telling him to look into candidates to replace Yu Tanaka.

John Peer nodded at his words.

“Understood.”

It was when he was about to hang up the phone.

Jung Hyun-woo raised his voice again.

“How’s the atmosphere at the Japanese branch?”

“The Japanese branch?”

John Peer couldn’t tell the truth about the atmosphere at the Japanese branch.

‘I can’t exactly say that they’re as rowdy as Mr. Tanaka, can I?’

Everywhere you go in Tokyo, it feels like it’s floating because of the huge bubble [economic boom].

“To put it nicely, it’s optimistic, and to put it badly, risk management isn’t being done.”

Jung Hyun-woo could understand the situation at the Tokyo branch to some extent after hearing John Peer’s answer.

‘It means they hardly think about the risks when deciding on investment items.’

Whatever you buy goes up, so there’s no need to worry.

This was the general situation in the Japanese securities market right now.

“What do you think, John?”

“I think some management is necessary.”

The head of the Tokyo branch, who is supposed to manage the Tokyo branch, was drinking and out of contact for two days.

“Will it be managed?”

“I’ve threatened them that they could all be fired, but…”

Jung Hyun-woo smiled bitterly and said.

“Those threats won’t work.”

John Peer sighed inwardly at his words.

‘Hoo… I can’t fool Charlie.’

He thought that Jung Hyun-woo was accurately seeing through the situation in Tokyo.

“There was no other way.”

“Let’s increase the performance bonus.”

John Peer’s eyes widened at the mention of increasing the performance bonus.

“Cha, Charlie? That won’t do.”

Instead of pushing them harder, he’s giving them more performance bonuses. This could lead to moral laxity.

“It’s not just giving them a performance bonus. Of course, we have to attach conditions.”

“Are you saying we should present goals to rally the employees?”

“When a whip doesn’t work, we have no choice but to use a carrot.”

Jung Hyun-woo was a man who knew how to use whips and carrots appropriately.

“Then what should the conditions for giving the performance bonus be?”

“You can think about that separately, John.”

He doesn’t take care of the details.

John Peer nodded at Jung Hyun-woo’s answer.

“Understood. I’ll discuss it with Mr. Tanaka and decide.”

“Do that. And while you’re in Tokyo, decide on the real estate to be disposed of in January next year.”

John Peer nodded again at his instructions.

“I’ll take care of that and return.”

“John.”

“Mr. Jung, please speak.”

John Peer used Jung Hyun-woo’s surname, Jung, instead of the name Charlie.

This meant that he would seriously follow his instructions.

“While you’re at it, take a look at the atmosphere in Japan.”

“When you say the atmosphere in Japan, do you mean?”

“I mean the atmosphere in Japanese construction companies and the securities market.”

The Japanese construction companies were to find out about the real estate fever, and the securities market atmosphere was to find out about the bubble in the Japanese stock market.

“I’ll take a look at those two places as well.”

“Look carefully.”

“Understood.”

Jung Hyun-woo hung up the phone and sighed briefly.

“Hoo… It’s a mess.”

Knock. Knock.

Someone knocked on his door.

‘Since there was no intercom to say they were coming in, is it Luna or Sera?’

He raised his voice slightly.

“Come in.”

The one who opened the door and came in was Sera, as expected.

“What kind of call were you having that was so intense?”

Jung Hyun-woo frowned slightly.

“Was my voice loud enough to be heard outside?”

“It was.”

“It was a call from Tokyo.”

“Ah, John said he flew to Tokyo, right?”

Jung Hyun-woo sighed again.

“Hoo… They say the situation in Tokyo is a mess.”

“Did embezzlement or breach of trust break out?”

“It’s not that, but they say the atmosphere is a mess. Especially the branch manager is the problem.”

“The branch manager, you mean Mr. Tanaka?”

Sera had been to Tokyo with Jung Hyun-woo, so she knew Yu Tanaka well.

“They say he’s been out of contact for two days.”

“Did he have a problem at home?”

“No. They say he drank too much at a club and that’s what happened.”

“At a club?”

“A members-only club.”

Sera narrowed her brow and raised her voice.

“Shouldn’t you fire him if it’s that bad?”

“It seems like they can’t because there’s no suitable person.”

Sera was often sharper from a moral point of view than that.

“Still, if you keep using someone like that, there will be problems in the company.”

Her stake in Victoria Fund was quite high.

“I know. That’s why I told John to look into candidates who could replace him while he’s in Tokyo.”

Sera heard his story and relaxed her narrowed brow.

“As expected of Charlie. You’re taking care of even that meticulously.”

“It’s just something I have to do.”

“There are many people who just let it go.”

Jung Hyun-woo lowered his voice and said.

“If you see a problem and just let it go, you’re bound to pay the price later.”

Sera received his words with a soft smile.

“Let’s stop with the stuffy and dry talk.”

“Yes?”

“Charlie’s party outfit has arrived.”

Jung Hyun-woo’s eyes widened at her words.

“Party outfit?”

Sera tilted her head to the side and answered his question.

“Tomorrow is the ball, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t just women who cared about their clothes at the ball.

Jung Hyun-woo asked cautiously.

“Is it a tuxedo by any chance?”

“If you don’t like a tuxedo, there are other things too.”

Other things.

Jung Hyun-woo was afraid to think about what those other things might be.

‘I hope it’s not something troublesome.’

He was facing a New York ball with mixed expectations and anxieties.