12 Hours After Chapter 96

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

[Are you really from a poor family?]

[I don't know exactly what the definition of a poor family is, but my family was not well-off . We were about the average of Korea, or a bit below . I never had enough pocket money when I was in elementary, middle, and high school, and all my college tuition was covered by student loans . ]

[Then you've always had a craving for wealth since you were a child?]

[It wasn't that much when I was young . All I had to do was buy Tteokbokki (spicy Korean rice cake) at a snack bar with my friends and enough pocket money to play games together in an Internet cafe . It was the same in college, and the yearning for money started when I was getting a job and making money . ]

[You've made money, and you've got a craving for it? ]

[Yes . The reason is…]

I scrolled down and looked at the article with my chin on my hands . What I was looking at was none other than my article by newsmaker Kang Joo-hyuk . He said it would take about a week, but within three days, an article was posted on the Internet .

[I think I've gained a lot of wealth at this age because of luck . ]

[CEO Han Sang-hoon quietly finished the interview in a humble tone . ]

After I read over the article with my own quick reading ability, I thought . 'Not bad . '

To be exact, he wrote about me as a young man's idol, a young CEO in his thirties, as a case of a black hen laying white eggs .

'I'm sure he is surely a reporter…'

At the end of the article, there was also a by-line, 'Another article by reporter Kang Joo-hyuk . '

I turned in that direction .

[How long will the gloomy shipbuilding industry last?]

[OPEC's increase agreement . How will it affect the domestic economy?]

As an economic reporter, he wrote very ordinary articles .

'Working as a reporter… does he do that?'

But now I saw there was an article like this: [Seoul City's Old City Regeneration Project has had a rough voyage from the start with the selection of business operators . ]

I clicked on it . The article was about the process, and the controversy, of selecting business operators for the Old City Regeneration Project .

'Well, surely… does he get his sources from working on the front lines?'

I imagined it for a while: when he was working as a reporter, there were times when he had information with which he would make tens or hundreds of thousand dollars, a few million dollars, or tens of million dollars, if he just got the right capital . However, his salary was low . Then, of course, he might want to sell the information to someone who was going to pay the right information fee and make the right use of it .

'A person like Director Tak Joon-gi… If he is Director Tak Joon-gi, good news is worth buying for tens of thousand dollars for a small amount, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large amount . Kang could get more money out of it . An ordinary office worker would make such a deal or two, and the taste would have unbearably been sweet and ecstatic . But such news doesn't come out every day, or very often . It would come out at most once every two to three years . He wants to make money, but there is no news .

'So he goes so far as to manipulate the news or make news that never happened . The Newsmaker…'

It was a rough-drawn scenario, where someone like Tak Joon-gi might have seduced him in the process .

'Then he gets involved with the second and third son of the Daewon Daily News…' As I was thinking of that, I could hear a three-tap knock from outside the door .

“Come in,” I said .

There were only two people who could knock at my door without going through Secretary Seo's phone: Seo himself, and Vice President Jang . Soon, the door opened and Jang came in, holding quite a large quantity of A4 paper .

“Boss, I've got the report you asked for . ”

I got up from my seat and took it . “Oh yes . Thank you . ”

It was quite heavy to receive as there was a lot of it .

'Why don't I receive them by email?'

I would like to, but I preferred to read it by circling, underlining, taking notes and scribbling on paper . That way I could concentrate . I put them on my desk, and I spread them out . There were five company reports: Bisang Construction, Jinyang Development, Hanbit Construction, City & Scene, and See V Construction .

Chang went on to say, “The selection of operators and the announcement of operators, are a complete secret . so I couldn't figure out at all who and how they were doing it . ”

“Well, that's a sure thing . ” I said on the outside, but on the inside, I thought, 'Tak Joon-gi and Kang Joo-hyuk may know . '

Jang asked me, “Boss, are you going to invest in the related stocks of Old City Regeneration Project?”

“I'm just going to review it . ”

Jang nodded and said, “Certainly, stock prices have been fluctuating a little lately with the expectations . ”

I tapped on the reports on my desk, “Well, what kind of company do you think would be a good choice?”

“From what I have personally seen, it's not just a development, but a comprehensive redevelopment that changes the Old City . I know that the most experienced Bisang Construction, Jinyang Development, or Hanbit Construction are the most likely ones here . The other two are start-ups, so they are going to be a little more difficult . ”

Bisang Construction, Jinyang Development; the two matched the companies recommended by newsmaker Kang Joo-hyuk . Only the other one, Hanbit Construction was different .

I nodded and said, “I see… Thank you very much for your work . ”

“Not at all . I'll go then . ”

“Yes . Have a good day . ”

I turned to the reports on the desk, and suddenly, in thought, caught Vice President Jang as he was going out of the door . “Oh, by the way, how's the Oracle News going?”

“Oh, that's going as well as the boss said . ”

I said, nodding my head, “Oh, I see . Please continue to work hard for that, too . ”

“Yes, boss . ” Vice President Jang bowed his head to me and closed the door .

Left alone, I read all five company reports, from financial statements, the company's history, CEO's biography, and so on . I thought the same thing: It seemed like there was a high chance that Bisang Construction or Jinyang Development would win the first business contract .

Although Hanbit Construction had its own capability, I was concerned that it was an unlisted company . Seoul Metropolitan Government might not deliberately push the two companies to manipulate stock prices, but the listing itself meant that the market recognized their construction capabilities to some extent .

'But it's not impossible at all, so let's remember . '

I went to the HTS monitor .

'Bisang Construction +4%'

'Jinyang Development +3%'

The two stocks were rising side by side today . Looking at their chart for the recent month, it was almost the same . It was timing when the theme was about to start, after coming down and going up together .

'Why would he give this information to me? Did he want me to join the operation?'

'If the buying is finished, it may not be bad in itself . As can be seen in Garden Envy, the release of information to the rich is always a good source of income . There are countless stocks on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, and of course, people don't know the whole deal . '

'Just as something needs to be promoted to be sold, the more publicity there is, the more likely it is that the price will go up . It is particularly helpful to people like me who are rich and who invest in stocks .

'Being attracted by the idea that it's a big hit if it is selected as a business operator, if I buy a stock, the stock price will go up . That's why everyone in Yeouido acts like a famous investor: first of all, they want to show that they are good at stocks . Second of all, they are going to buy some stocks, and then they give some recommendations to others and leave . '

The chart showed that both stocks had been walking sideways in the past year . Of course, it went up and down during that time, but if I averaged the chart and drew a line, I would draw almost a horizontal line .

'The fact that they have made this horizontal line… that they've had a lot of time to gather…'

Dong-bo Construction was the main theme stock of the Seoul mayoral election, but it was only a fantasy created with a business card, “Working as an outside director to attract ants . ” People with deep knowledge of the industry might have found that Bisang Construction and Jinyang Development were better for the redevelopment project .

'In particular, I'm sure anyone who's operating a scammed stock must know .

'If I think so, I'd better not invest at all . That's what happened in the early part of the year, in the Nature's Gift case, but it's very difficult to deal with spiders in their web . Back then, I only managed to come out alive, but I couldn't think about how to handle the spiders . Even now, if they have cobwebs here, it won't be easy .

'It will be bad if I don't have solid information .

'But I have the future news . If something is scratched out of here, I could be stronger than a spider with a web . Then let's gather some more information… and think about whether or not I'm going to fight here . '

I'd already received this morning's news . If I got the future news in the evening, it would be the beginning of an information war . I went to the stock bulletin board first, as I had time . First, I looked at Bisang Construction .

– Bisang Construction, let's go up riding the Old City Regeneration Project of Seoul City . -

– Look at the latest sales figures . Jinyang Development is no match . -

– Mayor Joo Sung-won, if you have eyes on, please raise the hand of CEO Jung Gi-woong, do it when I talk gently . -

Jung Gi-woong was CEO of Bisang Construction, forty-five years old . It was believed that as the CEO of a construction company he belonged to the younger generation .

Next was Jinyang Development .

– Jinyang Development, let's go to the upper limit price tomorrow!-

– This business operator should be Jinyang Development . They've done a great job recently on the project to redevelop the Old City in Gwangju . -

– Seo Hak-bum, don't you have a connection to Seoul City? If you've worked for more than thirty years, you may have a connection . -

Seo Hak-bum was said to be the CEO of Jinyang Development . He was 68 years old, close to seventy, but ran the company energetically .

'I don't know who's going to make the selection and presentation, but… I know the names of the two of them… and if I search their names, I'll find something . '

My prediction was just right .

That night, I waited in front of the computer for 8:55 p . m . I used to see the afternoon news a little bit late because it was a long way from the opening of the stock market, but I waited for the news for today and received the news: D . 12 Hours After, D . 12 Days After, D . 12 Weeks After, D . 12 Months After .

Every news had two slots to write down names . This was due to a level-up in People Search . I wrote Jung Gi-woong and Seo Hak-bum in each of the slots . But there was an unexpectedly big fish . When I saw the article from the People Search, I touched my lips .

'What's this?'

Chapter end