Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 125

Translator: Dreamscribe"It's really fascinating. Our Kwangwoon made a fortune using the COVID vaccine and the National Pension, but the thing that’s actually become an issue is this."

"It's where the most popular sports star in Korea is, isn’t it? Above all, people prefer this kind of thing over boring financial talk."

For the past few years, Kwangwoon had always been involved in major incidents.

Just look at the companies Kwangwoon is currently in charge of.

The world's largest Bitcoin exchange.

A global SNS platform.

The world's top vaccine company.

And yet, the name Kwangwoon had never become a major issue.

It had been featured in various news articles and on the news, but surprisingly, the online response had been lukewarm, so to speak.

However, once Kwangwoon acquired Tottenham, suddenly the name began appearing all over the internet.

"Maybe this was also something CEO Jung Jin-ho intended?"

"Jin-ho?"

"Yes. Even though we own a major SNS platform called PicPic, we’ve never actually carried out any marketing to promote the name Kwangwoon. And even after earning massive profits through the National Pension, we never claimed the credit publicly either."

In other words, those who needed to know already knew, but those not interested in the field wouldn’t know the details.

"There’s a saying, right? Invisible power is stronger than exposed power."

"So Jin-ho intentionally prevented anything from making Kwangwoon a hot topic among the public?"

"Yes. Even though it would have been easy to make our name circulate widely among the public, the fact that he didn’t must mean he judged it would be more beneficial that way."

What if Kwangwoon had received a lot of public attention from the start?

Right now, conspiracy theories about Kwangwoon were rampant on Wall Street.

If those stories had become issues, it would have caused an uproar, and the government would have scrutinized the matter seriously and pressured Kwangwoon.

"But suddenly deciding to reveal the name Kwangwoon now...?"

"Maybe it means he thinks there's no need to be mindful of anyone anymore?"

No need to be mindful of anyone?

"SNS is already firmly in Kwangwoon’s grasp. There’s no lack in marketing. The foundation is up and running, giving scholarships to key talents domestically, and distributing donations worth trillions externally. On top of that, our baseball team is doing very well, and recently we even acquired Tottenham."

On top of that, it had become known that Kwangwoon played a key role in helping the National Pension overcome its greatest crisis and actually grow its assets, which pushed the corporate brand image to its peak.

"Now, even if those conspiracy theories come out, it won't cause much damage. Even if they become issues and public opinion stirs, the government won't step in to pressure our Kwangwoon."

At least within Korea, it meant there was no one left to touch Kwangwoon.

"And it's not like we've done anything wrong, right?"

"Yes. We’ve been paying our taxes properly, we haven’t funded any political activities, and there’s no corruption involved either."

That was what Hwang Dae-woon found most unfair.

He could proudly say that he had never done anything shameful while running the company.

And yet, the image of Kwangwoon being portrayed on Wall Street was that of a shadowy mastermind.

Which was not true at all.

"If I had been pouring huge amounts into politics every day, that would be another story. But this is just unfair. And Jin-ho is such a good guy! To think they’d say things like that about him...!"

What hurt the most was the misunderstanding people had about Jung Jin-ho.

That gentle and kind guy was being treated as if he were a crazy bastard obsessed with money without a drop of blood or tears.

Of course, there had been incidents, but Hwang Dae-woon never doubted Jin-ho even for a second.

So what if he was just lucky?

"I heard there are tons of conspiracy theories about Jin-ho on SNS?"

"Ah, yes."

"Have those posts taken down by the company."

"Sorry?"

"Not just SNS. Mobilize the entire Legal Team and wipe out all the conspiracy theories about Jin-ho floating around the internet. We can't let those malicious posts spread. It's okay for people to criticize our company, but I won't allow them to drag Jin-ho through the mud like that."

It was fine if they insulted the company.

But he couldn’t just sit back and watch as that kind-hearted guy was being portrayed like a demon.

He couldn’t stand seeing his most cherished younger brother being disparaged like that.

"Understood, Chairman. I’ll consult with the Legal Team and proceed accordingly."

"Good. Do it as quickly as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Now he could finally feel a bit at ease.

No matter what, he couldn't let his little brother go around being slandered.

***

With the new government taking office, Aiden made a promise to the people.

He would restore the lives ruined by COVID.

And he would bring back the America that Trump had destroyed.

“Trump just had bad timing. COVID happened to break out during his term.”

Before the pandemic, many predicted that Trump would be re-elected.

Usually, U.S. presidents serve a second term.

But due to the aftermath of COVID, Trump's administration ended up dying off as well.

That wasn’t just something that happened in the U.S., it was a phenomenon seen across the globe.

No matter how well a government handled the situation, it couldn’t escape the resentment caused by COVID.

“Mr. President, this is the list of companies for the new green energy initiative.”

“You only selected companies related to the U.S., right?”

“Yes, we did. However, many of the green energy companies are linked to Europe, so even when we pick domestic firms, we still have to cooperate with those on the other side. But… this time, the nature is a bit different, I’d say.”

“What do you mean?”

“To fully implement the policy you're pushing, there are a few essential companies we must cooperate with. The problem is, when you trace the links of those companies, they all ultimately lead back to a single company.”

They all lead to one company?

That meant there was already a player dominating the green energy industry?

“Where is that?”

“Kwangwoon.”

“......?”

Aiden had definitely heard that name many times before.

“Wasn’t that Trump’s closest affiliated company?”

Perhaps that’s why he felt displeased.

“To be honest, I’m not sure about that part.”

“What do you mean you’re not sure? Didn’t that senile old Trump join hands with Kwangwoon and throw a massive money party in the U.S. market?”

“It’s true that former President Trump did something unprecedented and insane, but there was a somewhat rational reason behind it. Thanks to that, the U.S. stock market came back to life. More importantly, the EU adopted the exact same strategy and successfully revived the dying European market, didn’t they?”

Along with that, it was undeniable that Kwangwoon had reaped huge profits.

“And yet you're saying Trump and Kwangwoon weren’t in cahoots?”

“They may have cooperated, but at the very least, it seems former President Trump was quite wary of Kwangwoon. In fact, he reportedly mobilized all of America’s available intelligence resources to dig into Kwangwoon.”

It's not common for the White House to order a probe into a specific company or business figure.

But if that company is entangled in numerous conspiracy theories, and especially linked to exceptional situations like COVID, then it becomes a clear national security issue.

That must be why Trump ordered an investigation.

“Looking at the records, it seems they really dug into everything. They tried to investigate all the things that had been floating around as conspiracy theories and find any connection to Kwangwoon.”

“Really?”

Aiden gave a crooked smile.

Trump had done at least one commendable thing.

"They must have found quite a few things that could be weapons for us."

“.......”

At those words, the Chief Secretary remained silent.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Well… it turns out they found absolutely nothing.”

“What?”

Aiden blinked slowly with drowsy eyes.

“John. I’ve got ears too. I know very well how widely the name Kwangwoon is spreading on Wall Street. In fact, recently people have become so cautious, they even hesitate to mention Kwangwoon by name.”

At first, Kwangwoon was just one of those laughable conspiracy theories on Wall Street.

But the theories grew stronger and stronger, and after a major British investment firm crossed Kwangwoon and got ruthlessly torn apart, everyone became so afraid, they didn’t even dare say the name aloud.

What kind of entity is Kwangwoon?

An invisible, colossal hand.

A mysterious place referred to as the great dark curtain.

In every massive incident that had occurred so far, Kwangwoon was always mentioned.

Of course, some of those things might have been unfair, but it was certain that in a few incidents, Kwangwoon had to be involved.

“And yet nothing came out of it?”

“Yes. Not a single thing.”

“And Trump accepted that?”

“They say he halted all investigations into Kwangwoon the moment he received that report. After that, he never mentioned it again.”

Trump wasn’t the type to do that.

Even Aiden couldn’t accept the conclusion that there were no incidents connected to Kwangwoon. And yet, that eccentric old man had simply let it go?

“If we borrow the words of the close aides who were with him that day, it seemed former President Trump was scared after hearing that report.”

“Scared?”

“If you think about it, it makes sense. A report like that leaves only two possibilities. One: Kwangwoon’s success so far was purely coincidence, and all the conspiracy theories were just delusions.”

“But that can’t be, can it?”

“No. Statistically, it doesn’t make sense. Unless someone could literally see the future. And even if they could, no one could set up such an elaborate game plan. That leaves only one assumption.”

Before the Chief Secretary even finished speaking, Aiden swallowed dryly.

“Kwangwoon has become a massive deep state.”

Deep state.

A secret but immensely powerful entity, one that is not regulated by any government, moving based on its own internal agenda, essentially, a hidden government.

“They used numerous intelligence agencies to dig into Kwangwoon, but couldn’t find a single link. That means someone had already erased all the traces cleanly, and it's highly likely that the investigative agencies themselves were already infiltrated by them.”

“!?”

“Trump must have noticed that and gotten scared. He realized that even the U.S. agencies and aides he trusted could no longer be relied upon.”

“Wait. That means… don’t tell me that report was also...”

“Yes. If Kwangwoon really wanted to stay hidden, they would’ve left a few traces so that Trump would get stuck chasing those. But instead, they erased all links completely and allowed the report to go up as is… which was a clear message.”

Aiden felt his legs going weak.

To think there was a force that deeply embedded in all U.S. institutions and the government.

“Th-Then we should stop these bastards, shouldn’t we? Grab someone like Kwangwoon’s Chairman or whoever’s behind them!”

“That likely won’t do much. Especially the so-called CEO of Kwangwoon Securities, considered the center of Kwangwoon, he was originally unemployed. One day, he suddenly joined Kwangwoon Securities, got promoted at lightning speed, and ended up as CEO.”

They had put someone with no connection to finance in the CEO seat?

“You’re saying he’s just a smokescreen?”

“Yes. The real ones are behind them. But no one has figured out who that is. Nor how far this secretive force is connected. For all we know, even some of our close aides might already be on their side.”

“...That’s not something I want to hear. I trust my people. Just like I trust you.”

These were people who had been by Aiden’s side throughout his long political career.

And now he was being told they might have been compromised by some unknown dark force?

Nonsense!

Those were people of unwavering loyalty!

“But Mr. President. Didn’t we quietly prioritize green energy as our top policy and also pre-select which companies we’d support first? And yet Kwangwoon, as if they already knew, swept up shares in that sector even before the election.”

“The information already leaked from the inside?”

“Yes. Someone is already cooperating with Kwangwoon.”

Aiden let out a small sigh.

They were people he had truly trusted.

If they betrayed that long-standing loyalty, it must mean the money offered by the other side was just that much greater.

“John.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“I can trust you, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then… I want you to uncover the true force behind Kwangwoon. Find out who dares to toy with our America. Reveal their identity, no matter what.”

The President’s closest aide is the Chief Secretary.

It’s a seat reserved for the most trustworthy person.

If even this man had already fallen into their hands, Aiden didn’t know who he could trust anymore.

“Mr. President. This won’t be easy. But I will definitely uncover who is behind this shadow government. I promise you. No matter what happens, I will never betray you.”

Hearing the words of Chief Secretary John Klein, Aiden felt tears begin to well up.

It was because he truly felt the sincerity in his loyalty.

But those tears weren’t just out of being moved.

It was because the realization that there was only one person left he could trust, and that this beautiful America had been tainted by a dark hand, made him feel sorrow.

No, perhaps they were tears born out of fear.

***

“Running a club is harder than I thought.”

He’d expected it to be similar to managing a domestic baseball team, but that wasn’t the case.

After all, the Premier League is the most popular league in the world.

That meant he couldn’t just focus on London, he had to consider global revenue and factor that into the calculations.

From marketing to roster composition.

It was far more complicated than expected.

“Yes. There's a lot of money going out. But unlike baseball teams, Premier League clubs can actually generate decent profit. Just qualifying for the Champions League once can earn you hundreds of billions.”

He thought, like baseball teams, football clubs would just burn money, but if managed well, this one could bring in serious profits.

Right now, they were in deficit because of COVID, but once they got through this period, the day would come when the club would bloom again.

“Please deliver this to the club. I’ve gone over the staff and player lists they sent, one by one.”

“You did all that in a single day?”

“Yes. Barely finished it, though.”

I had worked on it for half a day, which, by my standards, was quite a lot of time spent.

“CEO-nim, do you like football? Do you watch the Premier League often?”

“No, I’ve never really gone out of my way to watch it.”

“Ah......”

But now that Tottenham was part of our Kwangwoon, I was planning to start keeping an eye on it.

“And this is the research material that came out recently. While we’ve put a certain amount of capital into the European market, the U.S. market is generating especially strong profits right now.”

Stock markets around the world were rising together.

Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

Among them, the best returns were coming from the U.S.

Especially with tech stocks like those on the NASDAQ surging, capital from all over was pouring into the U.S. market.

“.......”

I briefly skimmed through the documents sent by Research.

Everything was glowing blue, which meant no matter where we put money, prices were going up.

“Hmm?”

Then my eyes stopped on one particular stock.

It wasn’t blue, or red, or golden.

It was complete chaos, mixed with all kinds of colors, just like when I first saw Bitcoin.

“GameStop?”