12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

I opened my eyes, and a strange room came into my eyes. I got up from the bed. When I went out through the living room in my bedroom, the balcony was decorated with flowers. Standing on the balcony and looking out, I could see the view of Hong Kong at a glance.

I was at a five-star hotel suite in Hong Kong. The accommodations were quite expensive, but it seems to be as good as it cost. I stood there for a moment, staring at the whole of Hong Kong, and came back in the room. The clock said 7:05. Considering my habit of getting up at 8 o'clock every day, the time was perfectly the same. There was an hour's time difference.

'Then 8:55 is 7:55...' At any rate, I thought we could act according to the biological clock.

'Then, shall we go eat?'

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I took a quick shower and headed down to the hotel restaurant. The dining was excellent, like a five-star hotel's. It was hard to choose what to eat. I was going to overeat in the morning if I tasted them all.

I ordered the roast rice on the main menu with the nameless meat side dish and vegetable fried rice, a slice of pizza and a salad, then took a cup of morning coffee. The oddly sweet fried rice and the unknown meat side dish and vegetable fried rice were excellent.

I was having a meal, and Secretary Seo sat in front of me, with his plate full of food.

"You're here, boss?"

"You got up early, too?"

"You know, I go to work at eight o'clock every day."

"Oh, yes."

Secretary Seo had been an hour ahead of others in the company. He went to work at eight every morning. I'd instructed him to do so whether I went or not. That was because it was the right time for me to receive the email at 8:55. In return, there was a clause that stated that he could leave work two hours earlier than others, limited to when I didn't go to work. Since taking over OH Entertainment, I had hardly gone to work these days, so Ji-hoon probably headed home early.

"What do you do when I don't go to work? You have time all day."

"I usually study. I'm studying economics again... I'm studying stocks, too. Ah, I'm studying coding again these days."

"Coding?"

"Yes. I started to back when I started my own business, but I've started it again lately."

"Really? Wasn't it just a start-up business?"

"I needed to do some coding to communicate with the developer. That way, I could talk."

"Yes... ...you've lived a hard life handling the computer, too?"

"Yes, the end is... it's bad."

"Oh yes, but you're still doing well. I'll ask you for advice if I take over a software company."

"But these days, the software is so structured that dinosaurs eat it all. I don't really want to recommend it."

"Really?"

"You know, the computer programming is what these guys do... So like the Mawith that caused our company to go bankrupt, they run into the IT business these days, if they think they can earn money there. Big companies come after us, beat us up and take ideas away. In the meantime, they say to us, 'Why isn't there a great start-up business in Korea?' I think it's funny."

"By the way, who made the Mawith such an investment company?"

It was Ji Hoon's enemy, and I'd like to pay it back if I could.

"NK.com."

However, the enemy was quite strong.

"NK?"

"Yes"

'NK.com is a portal site with a 90 percent share in Korea. It is the king of the software field.'

"What the… Does such a large company play the gangster thing?"

"That's right."

"Huh."

'But come to think of it, in fact, all the big companies in our country do that. When bakeries are money, they do bakeries; when the flour-based food is money, they do it; they do everything to make money. IT software is just following the procedure. It's only been an industry for twenty years, so it's only a little late.'

'The market capital of NK.com is twenty billion dollars? Thirty billion dollars? Ji Hoon's revenge is likely to be difficult right now.'

"Isn't this the place you're supposed to come to with a beauty, instead of bringing me?"

"That's better for me, but you know, I've been too busy, quitting the company and starting a new company. I need to be fresh. I'm okay. It's good to be outside. Hey?"

"If the boss likes this... but by the way, the woman, your girlfriend then…"

There was only one girlfriend he knew. I raised my finger and said, "Ah… stop. That's no."

I didn't want to think about my ex-girlfriend. It ended so badly.

Ji-hoon took notice and apologized right away. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry, boss."

I chewed the end of the pizza and said, "And you? Do you want a date?"

"Well, I'm a little more comfortable now, so I'm thinking of a blind date."

"Umm… a blind date."

"But if I name our company, I'm a little worried about it because I don't think the girl likes it."

I wanted to say, "What's wrong with our company?", but I couldn't. If he said that he worked for Invictus Investment, everyone might think he was working at an unnamed company. In fact, our company was a small company that did not fit the specs of Ji-hoon.

"But you still get paid a lot of money."

"If I say I get paid this much, she'll think it's a lie. I can't even bring my salary statement on a blind date."

I said, smiling, "That's true."

I got up from my seat after emptying all the coffee. Ji-hoon was emptying half of the plate he had brought, but I couldn't wait. It was 7:55 soon.

"I'll go up first."

"Oh. Are you going to meditate again?"

"Yes, just decide what to do for lunch."

"Yes. Hong Kong is a place for shopping and eating. I've already organized all the restaurants around us."

Ji-hoon talked about lunch while eating breakfast. I had to admit the food cravings of this guy…

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Back in my room, I sat at the table and turned on my laptop. It was 7:55. Four emails came just at that time. I read them one by one. It was not uncomfortable at all. Then I turned on HTS. The Korean market was about to open. When I placed a buy order in Taekwangbangjik, I was finally certain. 'All I have to do is check the time difference, and if I have Wi-Fi, I can work anywhere.'

The working environment was not so different from hotels in any country, or my apartment.

"Italia, Spain, England... and before that, I have to go to America, especially Wall Street."

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"Oh, I'm full."

The trip to Hong Kong became almost an eating trip, perhaps because the person who came with me was a gourmet and glutton. From the first day to the day I left, I ate a lot of food that I couldn't remember: Dim sum, Wantangmyeon, Pojaypani, and some food which was so hard to pronounce. I always returned to the hotel with my stomach full. Tomorrow, I would go back home after my trip to Hong Kong.

I traveled around Hong Kong and in the meantime I bought Taekwangbangjik after breakfast, before lunch, and after lunch, then ended buying the stock.

'Now, when I arrive at Korea and the good news comes up, all I have to do is sell it.'

For two nights and three days, I spent my money without paying attention to expenses, but when I thought of the money I would earn in Korea, it would be nothing.

'If I would find a place I like, it would be okay to come here and live for a month or two.'

I picked at my cell phone thinking that way. It was 7:50 p.m. In five minutes, there would be an afternoon email. Laying on the sofa I went to my mailbox. However, I was so full that I couldn't concentrate. I scanned the news faster than usual.

[Heavy rains from this afternoon]

[AI's progress is a threat to people.]

[Kim Kuk-joo is nominated as the grand prize winner of this month's play, Comedian.]

[New record of simultaneous access to Steam]

[New Wi-Pad Review]

I was so sleepy that I just checked and turned them over quickly.

'Hmm?' I looked up because I thought I saw something unusual on the news 12 Months After.

[IT/Science - The sales of Kai Games' new fantasy War Ground is number one. Steam sets a new record for concurrent users.]

That was the keyword that I was concerned about. "Steams sets a new record for concurrent users."

'Steam is the largest game service company in the world. Setting a new record for concurrent users here is no different from being the hottest game in the world.'

I clicked on the article.

[Local game company Kai Games made a big hit, renewing the number of simultaneous users of its new fantasy, "War Ground," also called FWG; it added fantasy themes to the recently popular battle royale genre, and received a great response from both existing battle royale genre fans and fantasy gamers.]

'Kai Games? I seem to have heard of it.'

I turned on my laptop right away and searched for 'Kai Games'. Kai Games was a small company listed on the KOSDAQ. Its total market capital was $120,000,000. It'd been on the list for about six years now. It was a genre that was popular at that time. It was a mid-sized game company that hit the jackpot several times, such as playing AOS games, making smartphone puzzle games, and creating MMORPGs.

'But... did the game from this company set a new record of concurrent users? It's a piece of huge good news. Its worth will rise ten or a hundred times more.'

It was one of the best news. When I saw the news, the article also came up: "Kai Games challenges the world market with its new fantasy War Ground this year."

'This winter? Then there's not much time left. By winter... then how many shares can I buy? The market capital in total is $120,000,000...'

'I'm usually reluctant to buy shares by raising the stock price, because my earnings go down that much. But I have to buy this even if the stock price goes up because of the amount of money I have. As soon as the sell order comes out, I have to buy it. This is an opportunity for a company at $120,000,000 to become a billion-dollar company.'

I turned on the HTS and immediately put 'Kai Games' on the watchlist.

'When should I buy it... in winter? Even if I pay the subscription fee twice or three times, I'll have $100,000,000. Then, with all that money?'

After I thought about it, I realized, "This is not about buying stocks and making short-term gains!"

I picked up my cell phone and sent a text message to Vice President Jang.

'Vice President, put aside other things, but analyze Kai Games and report to me by tomorrow. As soon as I get back home, I'll go to the company. I want to get the report as soon as possible.'

Hong Kong and Seoul. The distance was great, but the reply came right away.

'Yes, boss. Can I ask you why?'

I sent back a reply shortly, "I'll tell you tomorrow. Just to tell you in brief, I'd like to buy this company. Even with hostile M&As, I'll make it mine."