The Genius Grandson Of The Cash King Becomes A Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 129

I pressed the phone, my anxiety mounting.

The signal went through, but the call didn’t connect.

“The number you have dialed is not available, and you will be connected to voicemail.”

I tried several times, each attempt met with the same automated voice.

Han Yoo-ra, Han Pan-soo’s daughter, couldn’t shake off her growing anxiety.

Her father had abruptly summoned her back to Korea.

Previously, her father had been extremely reluctant for her to return.

But then, out of the blue, he insisted she come.

Upon her arrival, he immediately transferred all the assets of Hanho Technology and the entire group to her.

And he instructed her to seek out Yoon Jeong-hoon if she couldn’t reach him.

She initially dismissed it.

Her father was always available, always in contact.

But now, he had been unreachable for exactly five hours.

His chief secretary confirmed that his whereabouts were unknown after a certain point.

Han Yoo-ra recalled her father’s parting words.

‘If something goes wrong, find Yoon Jeong-hoon. Maybe that guy can save you. Or maybe not.’

She grabbed her handbag from her father’s office, a knot of dread tightening in her stomach.

She headed to Shinwa Group, where Yoon Jeong-hoon was located.

As she entered the room, a tall and rather handsome man greeted her, his presence immediately commanding attention.

‘Among the freely-living tycoons, he definitely has the best face,’ she thought, a flicker of appreciation amidst her worry.

Han Yoo-ra subtly raised her chin, projecting an air of haughty confidence.

She settled into a chair, crossing her legs with practiced ease, and scrutinized Jeong-hoon.

She quickly scanned his office, taking in the details of his surroundings.

“I’m Han Yoo-ra. Chairman Han Pan-soo is my father.”

First impressions were crucial, but she unknowingly frowned, a hint of disappointment betraying her carefully constructed facade.

She couldn’t quite grasp her father’s reasoning.

‘What? He doesn’t seem like much… Why did Dad tell me to come here?’

Despite the dangerous situation—her father being out of contact—it seemed clear to her that this man couldn’t possibly solve it.

‘I’m just wasting time. I need to find someone who can actually handle this quickly.’

She was about to rise from her chair when Jeong-hoon spoke.

“Chairman Han Pan-soo has a daughter. Is there a specific reason you came to see me?”

“That’s…”

“Just a moment. I have a call I’ve been expecting.”

He answered the ringing phone.

“Mr. President, this is Yoon Jeong-hoon. The Pangyo Techno Valley [a tech hub in South Korea] will be completed soon. I’m calling to see if you can attend the completion ceremony… Yes, thank you. I will notify the secretariat of the schedule.

Then I’ll see you that day.”

Yoon Jeong-hoon hung up and turned his gaze back to her.

“It was a slightly important call.”

‘The President? Hah, is he a scammer? Figures. He’s just learned how to scam people after getting his hands on some money, tsk,’ she thought, her face betraying her skepticism.

Han Yoo-ra’s expression was full of thinly veiled ridicule.

“My father told me to come, but I don’t think it’s going to work out.”

“What do you mean?”

“He told me to come here if he couldn’t be reached. He said it would be safe. But…”

Han Yoo-ra couldn’t bring herself to directly call him a scammer to his face.

A call with the President?

That was practically a neon sign screaming ‘scammer’.

“Can’t you reach the Chairman?”

“No, he’s probably out drinking somewhere.”

“No. Chairman Han hasn’t been drinking recently. Something is definitely wrong.”

The phone rang again.

It was Ji Hyun-bok.

“Minister Chun is ordering me to eliminate Chairman Han Pan-soo. What should I do?”

“Do you have him with you now?”

“Yes, I’m moving him in the trunk. I’ll follow the boss’s instructions.”

“Just a moment.”

Jeong-hoon put down the phone and addressed Han Yoo-ra.

“Minister Chun Sung-han has ordered Chairman Han to be murdered.”

“Yes?”

Han Yoo-ra, visibly flustered, repeated the question in a loud voice.

“That’s right. He’s been kidnapped right now.”

Her proud eyes instantly welled up with tears.

“What should I do?”

Jeong-hoon pondered the implications.

If he saved Han Pan-soo, Ji Hyun-bok would be in danger.

Ji Hyun-bok was providing crucial information from Chun Sung-han’s inner circle.

He couldn’t afford to lose his inside man.

But to acquire Hanho Technology, he needed to save Han Pan-soo.

“My father seems to have been prepared for death. He urgently called me, who was in the United States, to Korea and transferred all his assets to me.”

“Yes?”

To get Hanho Technology, Han Yoo-ra was ultimately more important than Han Pan-soo.

“Then… isn’t my father no longer needed? Other tycoons are desperate to kill each other.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Han Yoo-ra vehemently denied it, glaring at Jeong-hoon with fierce protectiveness.

“My father may be a cold-blooded chairman on the outside, but he wasn’t to his family. Family love is much more important than money.”

“Family love? Everyone loves money more.”

“Please save my father. I’ll give you anything you want. If you can save my father, I’ll give you all my assets.”

‘What a touching father-daughter relationship,’ he thought, a hint of cynicism coloring his observation.

Could she really be willing to bet all her assets? He was curious to test her resolve.

“To save your father, you have to give up all the assets you inherited. Someone’s life is at stake for your father’s.”

Han Yoo-ra paused, her expression momentarily conflicted.

“Okay. I’ll give you the assets I received from my father.”

It was incomprehensible to him.

Was Han Pan-soo really worth that much?

She was a daughter with a completely different disposition from her father.

“Your father will hate this if he knows.”

He couldn’t let Han Pan-soo die.

To receive Hanho Technology from Han Yoo-ra, he had to save him.

But there was an even more pressing reason.

He couldn’t allow Ji Hyun-bok to stain his hands further.

Jeong-hoon spoke into the phone.

“We have to save Han Pan-soo.”

“Understood. We’ll proceed as before.”

“If the same thing happens twice, Minister Chun Sung-han will become suspicious.”

“It’ll be alright. Thank you for your concern.”

“Hmm… Instead of Gangwon-do [a mountainous province in South Korea], go to Ganghwa-do [an island near Incheon] and take care of it.”

‘Ganghwa-do? Why is he giving such specific instructions all of a sudden?’ Ji Hyun-bok wondered.

Usually, he went to the remote mountains of Gangwon-do to handle these situations.

The boss didn’t typically interfere with the location.

Today, he specifically designated Ganghwa-do.

He was doubtful, but completing the job was the immediate priority.

There was a lot to do to make it look convincing.

“Understood. I’ll go to Ganghwa-do and take care of it.”

Ji Hyun-bok replied in a calm voice.

‘If it’s Ganghwa-do, I’ll be able to handle it no matter what happens. Because the Marine Corps has a strong presence there,’ he thought, a sense of reassurance washing over him.

Jeong-hoon picked up the phone and dialed an unfamiliar number.

***

A black sedan was parked on a quiet roadside in Ganghwa-do.

The flashing hazard lights signaled its presence.

A car slowly approached.

The man in the black sedan got out and opened the trunk.

“Take him.”

“Yes. Be careful.”

Park Chang-soo carefully transferred the unconscious Han Pan-soo to his back seat.

He then retrieved a knife from his waistband.

“Should I do it like last time?”

“Last time, you went in a little too deep… Today, just do it gently.”

Tension beaded on Ji Hyun-bok’s forehead.

It was a sensation he experienced every time, but the foreign feeling of cold metal never became easier to bear.

Park Chang-soo’s knife moved with practiced precision.

-Ugh

“I haven’t even gone in yet…”

Park Chang-soo laughed playfully, a hint of dark humor in his eyes.

He turned to Ji Hyun-bok, his expression suddenly serious.

“I’m sorry, even though I have to do this.”

Ji Hyun-bok nodded, steeling himself for the inevitable.

As Park Chang-soo’s knife swiftly descended towards Ji Hyun-bok’s thigh—

“Wait a minute.”

Park Chang-soo, startled, halted the knife’s trajectory.

Fortunately, it only grazed his thigh, causing a minor cut.

“Why? You surprised me.”

“Shh.”

Ji Hyun-bok strained his ears, peering intently into the surrounding darkness.

Three black sedans with their headlights extinguished were approaching from a distance.

“What, who are those guys…”

Ji Hyun-bok watched them approach with growing unease, while Park Chang-soo looked on with a puzzled expression.

A man emerged from the lead car.

“Hyun-bok! I had high expectations… but the disappointment is even greater. You son of a bitch!”

It was Chun Sung-han, his face contorted with rage.

‘Damn it. What should I do?’ Ji Hyun-bok thought frantically.

Everything was exposed.

To survive, he had to escape this situation.

But he couldn’t escape while burdened with Park Chang-soo and Han Pan-soo.

Someone had to make a sacrifice.

“Go. I’ll stop them here.”

“Yes? No, but still. If we fight together…”

“Those guys aren’t ordinary people, they’re black ops agents. Hurry.”

“Yes…”

Park Chang-soo hurriedly made for the car, but a stranger was already standing guard in front of it, blocking his path.

He retreated and returned to Ji Hyun-bok’s side.

“Damn it, I told you to go alone, can’t you escape?”

“No, the situation suddenly turned out like this…”

“That’s good. I was going to be bored, let’s go to the afterlife together. Hehehe.”

“Are you laughing?”

“It’s better than going crying. Hehehe.”

He wore a detached expression, as if resigned to his fate.

Park Chang-soo, still wary and visibly flustered, thought to himself.

‘Should I reveal my strength? No, not yet. I must never reveal it until I find them.’

Park Chang-soo bit his lip and clenched his fist, his internal conflict raging.

His short knife glinted ominously in the moonlight.

“Hyun-bok, I said I’d retire twice.”

“The severance pay was more than I thought. So I decided to retire.”

“What? Severance pay? Hahaha, you won’t even be able to touch it. Hehehe.”

A cold smile spread across Chun Sung-han’s face.

“Thank you for everything so far. Anyway, you were a great help in getting me here.”

“You bastard, how much did I cherish you, and you betrayed me… I’m so upset.”

“Wouldn’t the dead Cha Young-hoon be more upset? He followed the General like his own father.”

“You saw something you shouldn’t have seen. It was a choice for the future of the country.”

“I realized today that seeing you doing that with that bitch was such a big crime.”

Chun Sung-han’s face hardened, his eyes narrowing with cold fury.

“H, how did you know that? I shouldn’t have left any traces.”

“The dead Cha Young-hoon taught me in my dreams.”

“Go tell that bullshit in the afterlife.”

Chun Sung-han gestured sharply, and five men rushed towards them with sinister smiles, their intentions clear.

The short knives clashed against each other, creating a shower of sparks in the night air.

“Then have fun with these friends. I want to watch, but I have somewhere to go.”

Chun Sung-han turned and got into his car.

He turned on the ignition and was about to slowly pull away.

Just then, a large dump truck slammed into Chun Sung-han’s car with a deafening crash.

***

“Run him over.”

“He could die.”

“If he dies, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s see what Chun Sung-han’s luck is like.”

-Kwakwakwang

The dump truck, driven by Kwak Hyun-soo, collided with the sedan that Chun Sung-han was in, the impact crushing the vehicle like a tin can.

Chun Sung-han’s muffled groans could be heard from within the flattened wreckage.

Jeong-hoon grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the car.

“Ugh.”

“Tell them to stop.”

He didn’t respond, his eyes glazed over with shock and pain.

Jeong-hoon retrieved a gun from his waistband and struck Chun Sung-han hard on the head with the butt of the weapon.

-Ugh

“Tell them to stop.”

He pressed the gun against Chun Sung-han’s temple, his expression unwavering.

“Can you shoot?”

“Are you curious?”

Without hesitation, Jeong-hoon fired a bullet into Chun Sung-han’s knee.

-Aaaaaaah,

“Stop… Stop, you bastards.”

The black ops agents who had been closing in on Ji Hyun-bok and Park Chang-soo immediately ceased their attack, their murderous intent momentarily suspended.

Jeong-hoon dragged Chun Sung-han towards Park Chang-soo’s car.

“Let’s go. I need to go home and have some hangover soup.”

Park Chang-soo and Ji Hyun-bok, both breathing heavily and visibly shaken, exchanged relieved smiles as they looked at Jeong-hoon.

Chun Sung-han’s face was a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.

“I will definitely kill you.”

Jeong-hoon pressed the gun against his forehead, his eyes locking with Chun Sung-han’s.

“Next time, it’s here. Be careful.”

Everyone piled into the car and quickly left the scene.

“How did you think of coming here?”

“Well, I didn’t come to save Ji Hyun-bok, I came to see the sea…”

“Does the boss come to see the sea in a dump truck? Hahaha.”

Park Chang-soo burst out laughing, the tension finally breaking.

“That’s what I mean. But Park Chang-soo, you don’t have any injuries.”

“Yes? Ah, I desperately avoided it. I was lucky.”

Jeong-hoon carefully scrutinized Park Chang-soo’s body, his gaze sharp and assessing.

‘It’s too clean,’ he thought, a seed of suspicion taking root in his mind.

It wasn’t the body of someone who had just fought a desperate battle against highly trained black ops agents.

Clearly, he was concealing his true abilities.

‘It seems like it’s time to have a serious conversation… What’s the secret?’

Jeong-hoon was intensely curious, but he refrained from asking, choosing to bide his time.

Someday, he believed, Park Chang-soo would reveal his secrets.

Meanwhile, Chun Sung-han refused to back down, his thirst for revenge burning brighter than ever.

He was already formulating a plan to dispatch special forces to eliminate Yoon Jeong-hoon within the confines of Ganghwa-do.

He reached for his phone, his fingers trembling with barely suppressed fury.

“Special Forces Commander? This is Chun Sung-han. Deploy the 7th Airborne Brigade to Ganghwa-do. It’s a spy group.”

“Yes?”

Just then, a black sedan approached from afar and pulled up next to Chun Sung-han.

“Aren’t you Minister? What are you doing here?”

It was Marine Corps Commander Kim Gyu-sik, his expression unreadable.

“Aren’t you the Marine Corps Commander?”

However, Kim Gyu-sik remained seated in his car, looking down at Chun Sung-han with a mixture of pity and disdain.

‘Is he crazy?’ Chun Sung-han wondered, his confusion quickly giving way to anger.

“What are you doing? Have you forgotten your manners towards your superior?”

“A superior should act like a superior. And if you deploy troops to Ganghwa-do, we will annihilate them. The Marine Corps will not condone the airborne unit killing the people again.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you to quietly go home. Shinwa Group’s Yoon Jeong-hoon is not someone you can touch.”

The car carrying the Marine Corps Commander then smoothly pulled away, leaving Chun Sung-han standing alone in the darkness, consumed by a profound and all-consuming rage.

***

Han Pan-soo was admitted to the VIP room of Shinwa Hospital, receiving the best possible care.

When Jeong-hoon visited the hospital room, he found Han Yoo-ra diligently nursing her father by his bedside.

She spoke as soon as she saw Jeong-hoon, her voice filled with a mixture of gratitude and surprise.

“Actually, I didn’t think you could do it at all. You didn’t look like it at all.”

“I understand. Everyone judges people by their appearance.”

Han Yoo-ra offered a polite and heartfelt thank you.

“Thank you again so much.”

“Then give me all the inherited assets as promised.”

“……Yes.”

Jeong-hoon’s eyes widened in surprise.

It was an unexpected answer, even from someone as seemingly devoted as Han Yoo-ra.

‘Is this woman crazy in a different way from the money-crazed tycoons?’ he wondered, momentarily speechless.

Just then, Han Pan-soo stirred and opened his eyes, his gaze focusing on the two figures in the room.

“Did you save me?”

“No. Your daughter saved you. She bet all her assets on your life.”

“Hehehe, my daughter is amazing.”

Han Pan-soo reached out and grasped his daughter’s hand tightly, his eyes filled with affection.

“You have to keep your promise. Take it.”

“I don’t need it. I’ll only take over Hanho Technology as promised. Instead, Chairman and Ms. Yoo-ra, go to the United States and focus on the solar power business. It will be much safer there than here.”

“I guess so. But… it feels like an order, so I don’t feel good.”

“Let’s call it a suggestion.”

“Not a bad suggestion. Did you know? We are betting our lives on the solar power business?”

“Yes,”

If oil was the dominant power source of the 20th century, solar power and renewable energy would undoubtedly be the power of the 21st century.

The one who controls the energy controls the hegemony.

“I’ll do that. And… thank you. I owe you my life.”

“I hope you pay back the debt.”

“Of course.”

“Then rest.”

Jeong-hoon turned and left the hospital room, his mind already racing with possibilities.

Acquiring Hanho Technology would grant him significant influence within the military, particularly the army.

Shinwa Group already wielded considerable influence over the navy and marine corps through Shinwa Shipbuilding & Marine.

Jeong-hoon, upon reaching the parking lot, paused to examine the car he had arrived in.

It was a compact model from Youngsan Motors, a domestic manufacturer.

Jeong-hoon was also preparing to enter the automobile industry himself, and he was personally testing various domestic cars to gain a better understanding of the market.

He decided to take a drive along the Gangbyeonbuk-ro [a major riverside highway in Seoul].

“Why is it so congested?”

The road was usually busy, but today it was particularly gridlocked.

The traffic was moving at a snail’s pace, slower than a slow turtle.

At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to properly test Youngsan Motors’ new car, the Zeus.

After a while, he finally understood the reason for the traffic jam.

Two cars were blocking the road, effectively creating a bottleneck.

There was an ultra-expensive foreign car and a small, unassuming car often referred to as the people’s car.

“Damn it, what are they doing in the middle of the road?”

Suddenly, an article he had recently read flashed through Jeong-hoon’s mind.

‘The Outburst of a Chaebol Heir.’

He recalled the incident where a third-generation chaebol [a wealthy business conglomerate] heir had assaulted a driver because the small car had dared to overtake his expensive foreign car.

“It’s the same incident… then I can’t just pass by and ignore it.”

He felt compelled to intervene and properly educate the rude and entitled individuals involved.

Jeong-hoon pulled over, stopped his car, and approached the two men who were causing the disruption.

“Hey. Stop it. What are you doing in the middle of the road right now?”

The two men turned to face Jeong-hoon, their expressions filled with arrogance and disdain.

“Who are you, you bastard? Get lost.”

The man stepped towards Jeong-hoon, his posture aggressive and threatening.

His fist was clenched tight, radiating a palpable sense of pent-up anger.

The Genius Grandson of the Cash King Becomes a Billionaire