Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 165

Translator: Dreamscribe“Let me say it once again. We must stop Kwangwoon’s PMC expansion at all costs. They are gradually crossing the line. No, actually, we should say they’ve already crossed it. They’re committing murder on the seas using various ships and weapons with the Nigerian military backing them.”

Once again, the topic that heated up today’s EU meeting was Kwangwoon.

At some point, it seemed like Kwangwoon’s name came up every time an EU meeting was held.

“But Kwangwoon also has justification. Thanks to their bold and risky investment, the pirates that once rampaged across the seas have disappeared, haven’t they? Not only that, criminal organizations that were spread out are also being eradicated. Is it really necessary to describe that as murder?”

“That’s right. Of course there are positive effects. But do you really think it makes sense for a mere corporation to mobilize naval forces and overstep their bounds under the pretext of eliminating pirates? And where do you think all those pirates and criminal organizations originally came from?”

“Are you saying Kwangwoon created all those pirates and criminal groups and staged the whole thing?”

“I’ve been saying it over and over. We are being deceived by a show orchestrated by Kwangwoon.”

"I understand, but let's not make too many far-fetched claims."

"These aren't far-fetched claims, I'm telling the truth!"

As always, whenever Kwangwoon was mentioned, voices grew louder.

Everyone in the world knew the EU disliked Kwangwoon, but that didn’t mean they could make baseless accusations.

“Kwangwoon is trying to establish bases all over the world under the excuse of protecting every ship that passes through the seas. We must not fall for that trick. No matter what, we must stop Kwangwoon’s ambitions.”

However, Vice President Never Kylie’s words were met with sour expressions.

“Vice President, the reason you’re trying to keep Kwangwoon in check must be because they’re a deeply corrupt company, right?”

“Yes. Kwangwoon goes beyond just being corrupt. We all know, don’t we? What kind of damage they’ve caused to Europe for their own gain!”

“Very well. Then I’d like to ask something of someone who claims to be so keen on exposing corporate corruption. Why did you accept bribes from Qatar?”

“......What?”

At the unexpected question, Kylie’s face showed clear embarrassment.

“Reports have been filed simultaneously across multiple countries, including our own France. That Vice President Kylie received bribes from Qatar to advocate for them and led Europe to participate in the World Cup. What exactly is going on here?”

“T-That’s......”

Kylie’s voice was trembling.

And from that reaction, everyone knew.

That the allegations weren’t false.

“How could someone representing the EU do something like that!”

“And you think you’re in a position to self-righteously accuse a corporation of corruption? Are you even in your right mind?!”

“This is going to damage the honor of the EU. How are you going to take responsibility for this?”

“.......”

Kylie couldn’t say a single word.

Because every suspicion they were raising was true.

Her mind went completely blank, and she couldn’t even respond.

“Vice President, leave this place immediately. And wait until a formal investigation begins. Now!”

Before the conference hall could descend further into chaos, President Charol ordered Kylie to leave.

As Kylie fled the room, the overheated atmosphere calmed down slightly.

While everyone remained silent.

Someone finally spoke up.

“Then...... what happens to Kwangwoon now?”

“Even if Kylie ended up like that, it’s still true that Kwangwoon is about to cross a line. We don’t even have accurate information on how their PMC is operating, do we?”

“In the end, what matters most is Greece’s stance. On top of that, Kwangwoon is trying to establish a new PMC branch there.”

“Greece seems to view it more positively than expected. They actually found Vice President Kylie’s criticism of Kwangwoon to be burdensome.”

Greece has a certain nickname.

The Sick Man of Europe.

Greece had long suffered from a severe economic crisis and even declared default in 2015, shocking the world.

As a result, there were many within the EU who believed Greece should be expelled for continually relying on bailout funds.

But now, as if nothing had happened, Greece was showing solid economic growth.

It is now becoming a country no longer suited to be called the “Sick Man of Europe”.

“That’s why they’re feeling pressured. They’re afraid their economy might collapse again like in the past if they make the wrong move against Kwangwoon.”

“So they’re actually trying to bring Kwangwoon into their country for economic gain?”

“Yes. It seems the Greek government wants that. They’re trying to be as friendly as possible toward Kwangwoon to trigger another surge in economic growth.”

Truly, the state of the world had become ridiculous.

For a sovereign nation to have to read the mood of a single corporation.

But Greece couldn’t be blamed.

The EU wasn’t capable of providing the economic growth they wanted.

If Kwangwoon could help, then nothing would be more effective.

“Even so, how can we sanction Greece? We don’t have a proper justification, do we? If we express concern over this matter, they’re likely to push back, saying we’re overreacting over a single PMC.”

“This is what they call a deal with the devil. Does Greece not understand what it means to shake hands with Kwangwoon? They went into default in the past because of Kwangwoon’s doing.”

But for the sake of national interest, they couldn’t afford to reject Kwangwoon now.

No one knew what kind of retaliation Kwangwoon might resort to next.

“And the rest of you here would be wise to be careful too.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“The information about Vice President Kylie spread simultaneously in multiple places. Do you think that’s a coincidence? The obstacle blocking Kwangwoon was removed this easily, wasn’t it?”

“Then don’t tell me the whistleblowing this time was......”

“Of course it was Kwangwoon’s doing. Everyone here knows how impressive the resumes are of the personnel in their PMC.”

It was already widely known that exceptional talents who had once worked for national intelligence agencies had flocked to Kwangwoon’s Sentinel.

“In effect, through this incident, they’ve sent us a warning. That they hold our weaknesses in their hands.”

“......!”

Everyone gave off uncomfortable coughs.

How many in this room could truly say they were clean before the heavens?

“So let’s all be careful not to get caught in the crossfire.”

It was unacceptable for the EU to be dragged around by Kwangwoon just because they had dirt on them.

Still, everyone swallowed their anger and kept their mouths shut.

Because the dozens of secret sins they had committed flashed through their minds.

***

“CEO-nim. Did you see the EU news?”

“Ah, about Vice President Kylie?”

“Yes. They say bundles of cash from Qatar were found in her home. And apparently, there are several more individuals in the EU who received bribes from Qatar.”

The Qatar World Cup had become the most successful tournament in history.

It had a compelling championship story, and set records in both investments and profits.

But behind the shining light, there was a dark shadow.

And shockingly, at the center of it stood the EU.

“The EU is going to take a massive hit for a while.”

“Right. A body that always claims to champion human rights was, in reality, taking money from Qatar and effectively leading the suppression of those very rights. But for us at Kwangwoon, this isn’t exactly bad news.”

Vice President Kylie was the one who had strongly tried to block the expansion of our PMC.

Though I understood her actions, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat wronged.

“We only wanted to keep the people on the seas safe, but being misunderstood like that didn’t feel good.”

To outsiders, it probably looked like our PMC was abusing military force to overthrow governments.

But we simply wanted to make the maritime industry safe.

“By the way, who reported this?”

“That’s unknown. The information was passed anonymously to each country, and that’s how the investigation started.”

Whoever it was, they seemed admirable for risking danger for the sake of justice.

“Thanks to them, it looks like our Sentinel will settle well in Greece. The Greek government is welcoming our Kwangwoon’s entry.”

“Then, as a formality, we should make some investments.”

“Yes. Even if we don’t invest for real, we should at least pretend to. They’re showing us goodwill even while the EU is opposing us.”

It couldn’t be helped.

Even if there was no real benefit for us, if the Greek government was acting like this, we had no choice but to scatter a bit of investment money.

“Here’s the list of investment items for Greece.”

So I simply received the documents and looked them over with the mindset that I was just spending money for our Sentinel.

“......?”

But what was this?

The recommended stocks sent by the research team were all glowing with bright light.

Bank stocks, real estate, and bonds in particular showed the best light.

As if possessed, I started checking off the relevant items.

“Tell them to buy everything I’ve marked.”

“Huh? CEO-nim, even if it's out of courtesy, there’s no need to make such an aggressive investment. Especially Greek bonds, they’re infamous for being junk bonds, aren’t they?”

I know that too.

Investing money in Greece at this point is practically the same as throwing it on the ground.

But my intuition didn’t seem to agree.

“This isn’t about courtesy.”

“Ah-”

The Department Head, catching my meaning, gave a wide grin.

“Yes. I’ll follow your orders. Looks like it’s been a while since our team’s going to be busy. Haha.”

These days, the only thing keeping us occupied was helping the headquarters acquire companies as we pleased.

“Oh, by the way, CEO-nim. There’s a very high chance that a bank run could hit Silicon Valley Bank within two days.”

I’d already been hearing talk about SVB.

“They say it can’t be stopped?”

“No. It just so happens that the sectors SVB had invested in are being hit hard by the interest rate hikes, so there’s widespread panic. Especially with the startups we acquired, they’ve all started withdrawing their deposits, which is accelerating the situation.”

Silicon Valley Bank had become quite the tragic case.

They had taken in all the money flowing into the tech industry.

But they couldn’t just let that money sit idle, so they had put it into the world’s safest asset, bonds.

Then, without warning, the U.S. raised interest rates, which caused the bond prices to plummet.

As that news spread, people were gripped by anxiety, and eventually everyone rushed to pull their money out of SVB, and chaos ensued.

“There are even reports that SVB is involved in the Qatar Gate scandal. Some say the CEO is exaggerating the bank run on purpose to shut the bank down.”

The situation was more of a mess than expected.

“Will there be any damage to us?”

“Probably not. Thanks to the startups we acquired withdrawing their funds quickly.”

That was a relief.

But with such a sizable institution like SVB collapsing, the shock would be significant.

“And the U.S. government? No word on what they’ll do?”

“No. There’s been no official bank run yet. But even if one happens, the government might not be able to respond quickly. The midterm elections are just two days away, so they’re probably in chaos right now. So it’s likely that a bailout will be difficult for the time being......”

It was at that moment.

My dormant intuition, which had been still until now, suddenly sent a jolt through my entire body.

“CEO-nim, are you okay?”

When I flinched involuntarily, the department head was startled too.

“Ah. I’m fine.”

Why did my intuition suddenly react like that?

What did the Department Head say at the end...?

"So a bailout would be difficult?"

“Yes, CEO-nim. That’s what I meant. They’ll definitely take some kind of action, but probably not until after the election.”

That triggered another reaction.

No way, the bailout?

Was my intuition reacting to that?

“......About that bailout.”

“Yes, CEO-nim?”

“What if we try doing it?”

“......What?”

***

This year-end wasn’t over yet.

Because the most important event of the year was still ahead.

Christmas?

No.

It was the U.S. midterm elections.

And up until just a few days ago, many believed the Democratic Party would win by a landslide.

Until just a few days ago, that is.

“Is... is this really accurate?”

Democratic lawmakers were breaking out in cold sweats over the poll results released today.

“We were clearly ahead by a huge margin, weren’t we? But now you’re telling me we’ve been overtaken?”

“Well... the bankruptcy caused by the SVB bank run had a huge impact. SVB took a critical blow from the interest rate hikes, didn’t they? And on top of that, the Qatar Gate scandal exploded, bringing out all sorts of new suspicions.”

Silicon Valley Bank ultimately failed to withstand the bank run and went bankrupt.

In the face of this shocking event, the public saw the entire fault as lying with the government.

“How is this our fault? Raising interest rates to control inflation was inevitable! Silicon Valley Bank was mismanaging its funds in the first place, and more importantly, there are even claims they were involved in Qatar Gate and deliberately triggered the bank run, aren’t there?”

“But in the eyes of the public, they blame our government. On top of that, many people suffered losses from the SVB incident.”

But that wasn’t the only problem.

“If our government had responded quickly to this bank run, at least the public outcry wouldn’t have been so loud.”

“How could we respond? The election is right around the corner.”

“Yes. The real problem is Kwangwoon. All of a sudden, Kwangwoon announces it’s launching a bailout for SVB customers by distributing KW Coin. That’s making our government look even more incompetent.”

Bailouts are supposed to be done by the government.

Companies don’t step up to help victims.

But now, out of nowhere, Kwangwoon was conducting a bailout, handing out KW Coin to SVB customers.

“Wait. Isn’t Kwangwoon partly responsible for this whole SVB bank run in the first place?”

“Yes. But the public doesn’t know that. From the outside, it just looks like this crisis happened because our government suddenly raised interest rates.”

“And even though they’re not covering the full damages, the impact is real. People are rushing to claim KW Coin. Using that as ammunition, the Republican Party is now launching a fierce attack on us Democrats.”

Thanks to that, the Republican Party had gained a golden opportunity to criticize the Democrats and had been hammering the issue all day long.

Normally, people would just brush it off, but this time, it couldn’t be ignored.

“Are you saying we could lose the House, the Senate, the governorships, and all the other local elections too?”

“.......”

The Democratic Party, which had expected a landslide victory, was now flustered by an unforeseen ambush.

If so, they needed to respond somehow, but the election was tomorrow.

And the ones who flipped this election that had once seemed locked in the Democrats’ favor weren’t the Republicans.

It was Kwangwoon, now throwing around KW Coin under the guise of a bailout.

The SVB bank run had been somewhat anticipated, but without Kwangwoon, the issue wouldn’t have blown up like this before the election.

“Kwangwoon deliberately triggered the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, then launched a bailout campaign, completely overturning the election. At this point, it’s checkmate. There’s nothing we can do.”

“So that’s why they suddenly started acquiring game companies. Who would’ve thought it was all targeting the midterm elections......”

No one could rise from their seats, their faces blank with despair.

The overwhelming Republican victory was now an accepted reality.

The so-called ‘Red Wave’ was coming.

“No, we shouldn’t be calling this a Red Wave.”

It wasn’t a wave caused by the Republicans.

This was the Kwangwoon Wave.