Chapter 11: Chaebol (2)

Chapter 11: Chaebol (2)

The biggest damage caused by the war was not a nuclear attack but the stealthy underwater ambushes happening beneath the cold waters.

South Korea, heavily dependent on foreign imports for almost all resources, would face destruction if its maritime routes were cut off.

When China's submarines attacked the trade routes, South Korea's sea lanes were paralyzed, and its economy received a death sentence.

Even the Chaebols couldn't escape their fate.

However, there was a slightly higher chance of survival compared to other groups.

Among their subsidiaries were construction, distribution, and even shipbuilding companies, as well as defence industry companies.

So, why?

The equipment deployed in the operation zone was more impressive than one could imagine.

Armed with flamethrowers and 20mm autocannons, there were five unknown new armoured vehicles, three 40kg-class quadcopter drones capable of air support, a platoon of foreign mercenaries who seemed to have a military background, and around two hundred support troops armed with various personal weapons.

There weren't many young people among them.

The youngest were in their late thirties, while most were in their forties and fifties.

The person in charge of the operation was a man named Choi Yisa, who held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the army, but had no prior experience in large-scale monster operations.

There was one hunter among them, but he was not a familiar face to me, and he wasn't a proper hunter either.

By "proper hunter," I mean someone who has graduated from an internationally recognized "school," received systematic education and training, accumulated more than a year of real-world experience under the guidance of a verified supervisor, spent more than a year in combat in front of a gate located in a crack zone, and obtained a C-level or higher rating.

Like my mentor, John Nenon, who dropped out of school, those who left midway were considered D-level and were excluded from major monster battles.

However, these D-level individuals had once held the reins of power in South Korea.

"I'm Park Sangmin, a sitting member of the National Assembly and a hunter. Please take care of me."

This man, with his handsome looks, was a member of the National Assembly.

From what I heard, he entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative by emphasizing his background as a hunter.

I didn't know why someone who wasn't a proper hunter had the qualifications to represent the entire hunter group, but the national emblem badge attached to his similar military uniform looked quite impressive.

Although the nominal commander was Choi Yisa, the actual leader of the operation was Park Sangmin.

"There has been a large outbreak of zombies in this industrial complex, but according to research, the lifespan of zombies is one month. After a month, the zombies starve to death. The reason for delaying this operation is to avoid unnecessary combat with the zombies."

With his good looks, a soothing voice, and an air of trustworthiness, he seemed convincing even when speaking nonsense from the perspective of someone who didn't know better.

"What do you think, Hunter sent by the National Crisis Management Committee?"

For some reason, he kept asking for my opinion on everything, and his intentions were too obvious.

He was trying to discredit me.

Because I was a hunter sent by theNational Crisis Management Committee.

At this point in time, the National Assembly had no real power, while the National Crisis Management Committee held actual authority.

That resentment had turned into mockery towards me.

I could laugh it off to some extent.

At most, it's three years. That's his lifespan.

The problem is the possibility that Park Sangmin might shift the blame for the upcoming operation failure onto me.

That's not what I want.

I'm someone who needs to live quietly, alone, and cut off all contact with others when the time comes.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"No, Congressman, you are mistaken."

"I completely disagree."

So, I tackled him at every turn.

It was hard not to tackle him.

After all, he was just talking nonsense.

"I see it differently."

Even a worm wriggles when stepped on, and Park Sangmin had retaliated several times after being stepped on by me.

"Do you want to see it in live?"

This is his counterattack.

Since he has nothing in his head, he tries to discredit my words with sarcasm and nonsense.

I continued to ignore him and speak my mind.

"If zombies are going to starve to death, they shut down. They enter a state of hibernation and drastically reduce their metabolism. It's true that zombies will starve to death if they can't find nutrients after a month of activity, but we should consider differently when it comes to zombies that have established a base in the city where they can avoid the sun."

"Oh, come on. Turn off Zombie Wiki."

Park Sang-min was extremely rude, but the expressions of the middle-ranking members of our group who were observing our conversation did not look pleased.

Especially the chairman's change was noticeable.

Even if you just look at the context of the conversation, it's clear who is speaking more sensibly.

The climax of the argument was about the method of entering the industrial complex, our destination.

Park Sangmin insisted on leading with armoured vehicles, while I argued the opposite.

"No, Congressman. Have you ever seen zombies being shot at? Have you heard of it? Zombies are sensitive to sound and smell. If you take an armoured vehicle with the smell of oil and the engine noise echoing, you're just advertising our presence."

"Enough!"

"Meeting or not is your choice, senior. Now that he's also exhausted. Besides, there's no longer any resources left for him to exert influence."

What had made me agree to meet Jepung Ho again? In hindsight, it was probably curiosity. What was the end of the fallen conglomerate like? Wouldn't every Korean want to see that at least once?

I met Jepung Ho on the 3rd floor of his headquarters building.

The construction elevator that used to lift me to the 55th floor had stopped working. The luxurious restroom still emitted a metallic smell.

Jepung Ho had prepared a meal for me and was waiting. The main course was steak with porcini mushrooms, accompanied by a bottle of top-tier wine.

The mushrooms and wine were excellent, but his meat was clearly inferior to what I had stored in my air-raid shelter.

"Hunter Park."

He greeted me with a bright smile.

His face wasn't much different from when I saw him at the cafeteria.

"I looked into your career. Did some background check. You were quite a big shot."

"I'm a has-been now."

"Just like me."

Jepung Ho's eyes twinkled.

"You said something about not being worth as much as Joo Inhoon, right? You were on a team with legends like Kang Hanmin and Na Hyein."

"..."

The taste of the alcohol suddenly turned bitter. I had almost successfully erased that name from my memory.

"Why did you call me here?"

"Looks like you're planning to refuse no matter what I say, right?"

"You know me well."

"Let's be direct. I'm planning to challenge that industrial complex again."

"It won't work. You've seen it, haven't you?"

"I know it won't work, but sometimes you have to do what you must."

Jepung Ho's half-closed his eyes and stared intently at the wine glass filled with red wine, as if he were back in his childhood. I thought his gaze had become more intense, or perhaps it was the reflection of the dim light on the ceiling that made it seem that way, but I felt like his gaze had grown stronger.

"I was a bastard child of a mistress."

"..."

"My mother is recorded as Jang Misuk, but she wasn't my real mother. I don't even know her real name. When I was born, the chance of me inheriting the group was 0%. But I made it happen."

Jepung Ho's eyes became more intense. Or rather, he widened his eyes while staring at the dim light on the ceiling, but I mistakenly thought his gaze had intensified.

"I crushed and trampled everyone who stood in my way and made my father choose me."

He had the talent for it.

"Sixty-nine years old. It's time for me to challenge again."

"I won't do it."

"Just tell me the method. The method to defeat that monster!"

I couldn't refuse his request either. Well, he had given me a warm meal and a glass of soju in return.

"...He's called a Necromancer. As you've seen, he raises the dead and mutates them into zombies. When attacked, he creates a repulsive force field around him, but it doesn't reflect organic matter like living creatures. It's extremely difficult to approach him, but if you can get close somehow... There's one place without a force field, about the size of a coin..."

Jepung Ho diligently wrote down my information in his notepad, as if he had returned to his childhood and was studying hard.

After the conversation ended, I asked him, "Why are you so obsessed with this? With your wealth and connections, you can easily prepare for any eventuality, can't you? You could find a suitable place, protect your family and the people around you."

"How can I do that?"

He asked with a trembling voice.

"When I have thousands, tens of thousands of employees who believe in me and follow me?"

The reason for his strangely intense gaze was now clear to me. He was a boss through and through, someone who led and was followed by people. No, perhaps he had equated himself with the the Group.

***

Jepung Ho's final venture ended in failure.

The fact that the father of the woman who had spoken to me was not on the list of casualties brought me some small satisfaction.

The cafeteria that Jepung Ho had ambitiously set up had turned into a den of drug addicts and was now abandoned, a despicable place that no one cared to visit.

This was the end of the conglomerate that I had known.

Thanks to that, I was able to transform from a perennially unpopular user to one with some influence, writing a popular post.

But it seems that Jepungho's story is not yet over.

About a year and ten months after the outbreak of the war, a photo appeared on the community.

gijayangban: This is a photo I found on the net. Doesn't someone look familiar?

In the photo, there was a horde of zombies.

It seemed like they were operating in a rural area and formed a massive group numbering in the thousands.

But the zombie at the forefront, with a familiar face, was unmistakable.

No doubt about it.

The zombie in a tattered suit was Jepung Ho, the chairman of the Pafung Group.

While most conglomerates had abandoned their groups and settled in the fortresses of their few remaining family members, this influential entrepreneur was still leading thousands of followers, wandering through the abandoned ruins.

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