Surviving Restructuring

The chairman lowered his head. “Your Majesty.”

“You have come,” the king said calmly.

“May I ask why you summoned me in such haste?” the chairman asked in his usual measured tone.

His wrinkled eyes curved gently, just as they always did. However, beneath the polite cadence of his voice lay something sharp.

“It is rather unusual, is it not?” he added with a faint smile. “That you would call for me first.”

It had been centuries since the Heavenly King had last summoned him. Back then, the king had asked him to make room to release those twisted fiends into the world. Therefore, the chairman had wondered what matter could possibly warrant another summons now.

“I hear you have been locking horns with a new recruit,” the Heavenly King said.

“A new recruit?” the chairman asked.

There was only one name that could follow. It was a name he hadn’t wanted to hear here and now, yet one he had long expected.

“They call him Eun-Ho now,” the king said.

“So it was that brat?” the chairman muttered.

A memory surfaced unbidden.

“There is a child I have been watching,” the king had once said lightly. “I think I will remain to see that child fulfill his purpose.”

It turns out my feeling was correct, thought the chairman.

The unease that had pounded against his senses like a war drum had not been mistaken.

“He is a man who harbors treasonous intent against the company,” the chairman said firmly. “As its head, I have no choice but to enforce discipline.”

“Treason...” the king repeated.

“I ask for your understanding.”

Though the chairman spoke of understanding, his tone made it clear he did not seek it.

“And if I, too, must repay a debt?” the King murmured, as if sighing and lamenting.

The weight of the question pressed down on the chairman’s shoulders.

“Do not break the sprout that has only just begun to bloom,” the king said.

A sprout? What owner would knowingly allow a sprout to grow unchecked when he knew it would bloom into a gaudy, poisonous weed in his own soil?!

Suppressing his turmoil, the chairman pulled his top hat down low over his brow. A man of his standing could not allow his expression to betray anything. “Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“You once declared that you would step away from this world,” the chairman said measuredly, with a hint of carefully preserved anger. “You said you had been forcibly blocking the natural flow of circulation.”

Beneath the sharply angled brim of the hat, his eyes flashed coldly. The tension between the two old titans coiled tight, as if they were walking along the edge of a blade.

“...You may be correct,” the chairman added.

Yes, he returned an old friend’s possession. However, enough time had passed for a new star to be born. Yet all this time, the king remained tethered to the past, neither advancing nor retreating.

And now you want to seek the shadow of that past in someone who had nothing to do with it? You want me to just stand by and watch obvious rot spread across fertile land?

That was something the chairman could not do.

“Much time has passed.” The chairman’s eyes gleamed. “Just like I am no longer the immature youth who could barely manage himself.”

It was a warning not from a hot-blooded young man, but from a seasoned executive.

“... Yes. I suppose that is true.” The king understood his point. “And the investment I mentioned before.”

The chairman halted mid-turn, gritting his teeth. “The redevelopment of Sector Thirteen?”

Though Sector Thirteen was currently being used as a dumping ground, once the clean-up was complete, it was slated for transformation into a pristine resort zone.

The king had previously rejected the proposal, saying he no longer wished to involve himself in company affairs.

“I will approve it,” the king said.

The chairman’s eyes widened.

“I will shoulder the entirety of the remaining investment,” added the king.

The path that opened before the chairman promised astronomical profit. Under normal circumstances, he would have forgotten all decorum in his delight. Instead, his brow furrowed, as though he had just been told the investment would be withdrawn.

Is it to that extent? the chairman nearly asked.

In his youth, he would have demanded an answer a hundred times over. However, the spirit of the seasoned executive restrained him.

“There will be no blood of Eun-Ho on my hands,” the chairman said, pulling his hat down once more.

His fingertips trembled so faintly that no ordinary person would notice. The Heavenly King would likely interpret that tremor as frustration at being unable to lay a hand on Eun-Ho, or as anger without an outlet.

“You have chosen wisely,” the king said. “Focus on your business and let your anger settle.”

However, what churned within the chairman at that moment was not anger, but exhilaration.

Two birds with one stone.

There were countless ways to tear that boy apart without ever staining his own hands with blood.

***

Ji-Woong’s voice trembled. “Eun-Ho Hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“We’re...” Ji-Woong’s hands shook violently. His eyelids were flipped halfway back, and his eyes rolled left to right, then right to left again as if he had lost control of them. “We’re rich!”

“What?”

“The union funds are overflowing! We’re rich, Hyung! Rich!” He burst into cheers. “Holy crap, Hyung! Look at this. I’m not seeing things, right?!”

“No, you’re not,” Eun-Ho let out a small laugh. “You worked hard calculating and organizing everything.”

“Come on, I barely did anything. You’re the one who spoke so well. That’s why everyone trusted us and followed!” Ji-Woong threw one arm high into the air. “Eun-Ho Hyung is the best!”

Anyone watching would have thought Eun-Ho had bought him a lottery ticket that just hit first prize.

“Why are you so excited?” Ji-Eun asked dryly. “It’s not even our money.”

“No! Noona, look at this! Seventy-eight million Points!”

Ji-Eun clicked her tongue at her younger brother, who was practically vibrating like a miser staring at gold.

However, Ji-Woong had every reason to be thrilled. “Even after operating costs, this is more than enough! We can start running the foundation right away!”

“Huh? The foundation?” Ji-Eun asked.

“This means no one will get deleted just because they’re short on settlement points!”

It meant they could immediately implement the insurance system that would stand directly against the company and the System.

“If too many people apply at once, it could get risky,” Eun-Ho warned.

“Still, there’s no way that’ll happen in the first month, right?”

The system had only just taken its first step. It was far from perfect. Nevertheless, it was true that they had laid the groundwork to resist the company’s sanctions. That alone made Eun-Ho quietly proud. Furthermore, they had collected a staggering seventy-eight million Points.

[Union dues collection has been completed.]

[Accumulated Welfare Points - 78,201,000]

[Union Members - 78,201]

Not a single member had withdrawn over the dues. All seventy-eight thousand two hundred and one had participated. That fact brought him even greater satisfaction.

“I thought for sure some people would leave because of the dues,” Ji-Eun admitted.

“Right? Honestly, I thought we’d be lucky if even half stayed!” Ji-Woong added.

It meant that everyone had truly agreed with their vision.

“We have to work even harder now,” Eun-Ho said firmly. “Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Send out the consent forms and get back to work. The backlog of reports is massive.”

“Right now?” Ji-Woong asked weakly.

“Yes. Right now. You have the list Yeo-Jin assigned, don’t you?”

“I do, but...” Like a coach cracking a whip, Eun-Ho roused the team just as they were beginning to relax. “Ji-Woong, once loan applications come in, consult with accounting members and calculate the interest rates.”

“Uh... okay.”

“Bo-Ra, once the stage dismantling is done, gather the construction team and check if there’s anything that needs reinforcement.”

“Got it!”

After assigning tasks to each division, Eun-Ho stepped away to the corner of the empty lot. There was something only he could deal with. He pulled up the message he had just received.

Ferry Man: Heaven Beyond Heaven warns that it has summoned the Eight Heavens.

It sounded like a cipher, but he could make a reasonable guess.

The chairman must be grinding his teeth right now.

The chairman had tried to defeat him quickly, only to have the move backfire. If that man was Heaven Beyond Heaven, then figuring out the Eight Heavens was the real problem.

However, there was only one structure within the company that came in a set of eight: the Bureaus. Investigation, Sales, Administration, Audit, Corporate Relations, Operations and Personnel, and Public Affairs. In other words, the eight bureau directors had been called together.

The reason for that assembly is likely to officially declare me as the target, Eun-Ho thought.

Ferry Man: Protocol 999.

Ferry Man: Beware the wooden staff.

The Ferry Man had warned him about Protocol 999, but what exactly did a wooden staff signify? Eun-Ho had no idea.

Ferry Man: I have made some rough arrangements. I am confident it will suffice as a temporary measure.

He did not know what arrangements had been made, either.

“Eun-Ho? You don’t look well... Are you okay?” Ji-Eun asked.

“I’m fine,” he replied lightly.

If the Ferry Man wanted to help, he could have been more direct. Still, even the vagueness conveyed information.

It must be someone who gains nothing if their identity is exposed.

Either way, Eun-Ho was grateful for the warning. It reminded him not to grow complacent just because things seemed to be going smoothly.

I need to stay sharp.

Then, a memory surfaced.

“Become a part of me!” the Personnel Bureau director had once roared.

That was the opponent his entire team had barely managed to defeat after painstaking preparation.

“You always pass my tests, and yet never truly pass them,” the Management Bureau director had said.

The sheer pressure from that man alone had made it feel as though Eun-Ho’s internal organs would burst.

And now, I might have to face not just one director, but all of them. There’s no time to train step by step like last time... I’ll have to start preparing.

“Where are you going?” Ji-Eun asked.

“To meet the prisoner,” Eun-Ho answered.

He was ready to handle things his way.

***

“So... You’re asking me to tell you about the chairman and the bureau directors’ abilities?” the prisoner asked.

“Everything,” Eun-Ho replied. “Their abilities. Their weaknesses. Their finishing moves. The forces they can mobilize. Even their relationships. All of it.”

The former chief secretary, who was now Prisoner Number One, fell silent in thought.

I’ve really stepped into the wrong trap, she realized.

“Well?” Eun-Ho asked lightly. “It’s simple, isn’t it?”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Hmm. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve tried to resolve this as peacefully as possible. But I’m not in a position to afford that kind of leisure right now.”

She stiffened.

Fwoosh—

Flames flickered to life in his palm. “I was thinking we could start with first-degree burns, then move on to second, third, fourth, fifth... in order.”

She stared at him, speechless.

“Well, it should be fine though, right?” He smiled faintly. “You’re a master of recovery skills.”

Correction, she had walked straight into hell.

Her voice trembled. “You...”

“If you’re about to ask whether I think I’ll get away with this, you don’t need to,” Eun-Ho cut in calmly. “The Chairman’s Office has already abandoned you.”

Her eyes widened.

“He seemed quite angry,” Eun-Ho said.

With that, he pulled a small device from his coat and pressed a button.

Click.

A furious voice burst out.

—What did that wretched woman just say?!

—C-Chairman!

The roar was so loud it felt as though it would rupture her eardrums.

“Wow,” Eun-Ho muttered. “Did he swallow a megaphone? Sounds like he’s about to burst through the recorder.”

“Recorder? What do you mean recorder?! Who would dare plant a recorder in the chairman’s office!”

“In the chairman’s office? That would be difficult,” Eun-Ho said mildly. “But on a secretary’s collar? That’s another story.”

She let out a hollow laugh. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Then I suppose there’s nothing I can do.”

The device crackled again.

—That ungrateful wench! After everything I’ve given her!

“They say the broadcast you sent caused significant damage to the company,” Eun-Ho said flatly.

“That was because you forced me—”

“Whether it was forced or voluntary, they won’t let it slide. They’ll make an example of you so it never happens again.”

“That can’t be—”

“To be honest, they probably won’t believe you anyway.”

She had read dozens of reports analyzing Eun-Ho.

He was the rookie representative who had started as a cripple and climbed to the top of the podium. He was also the legendary salesman who had achieved a year’s worth of performance during OJT. In fact, he was also the rising star who had entered the Hall of Fame multiple times.

The reports had listed his confirmed abilities, speculated skills, even the unique traits of those around him that he frequently utilized. However, nowhere in those thick stacks of documents had it mentioned that he was a villain of this caliber

“Now then,” Eun-Ho said gently, tilting his head slightly. “Do you feel more inclined to talk?”