12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

The alarm rang, and my eyes flipped open. I had slept on the sofa and felt sick.

'I couldn't even sleep in my own room as I liked...'

I came to the bed muttering inside. Lee Ah-young was sleeping soundly on my bed, still in the all-black fashion she had worn yesterday, still attractive. Seeing her sleeping, there was no difference between her and an angel. I just wanted to slap the angel on the cheek.

"Gee…" I was looking down at her. Her cell phone began to ring inside the blanket she was covering, and the angel opened her eyes… then met my stare.

"Mommy!" She was greatly surprised.

I looked at her with my eyes wide and said, "This is the third time. You know that if you have three strikes in baseball, you are out, right?"

She looked around and told me, "Did I... did I get carried up yesterday, too?"

I nodded and said, "You really don't know how much you can drink. Your drinking capacity is two glasses of wine... maybe two or three glasses of Soju... It's about a can of beer. Don't go to a drinking party. If you're forced to, just drink cider."

That was true. Last night, she had just two glasses of wine and blacked out so much that she called me oppa.

She put her hands together and said, "I'm sorry. I usually drink better than that, but I thought I was more drunk with the atmosphere yesterday."

The mood was good yesterday until she had had a drink.

She got out of bed and tried to fold the blanket she was covering.

"Oh, leave it alone."

"But I'm sorry..."

"If you're sorry..." I was going to add something, but I changed the subject. "By the way, do you remember what I said yesterday?"

She said with her head tilted, "What did you say yesterday?"

"Yes, I said, "Don't dream of your revenge." Don't you remember?"

She was more surprised, "Revenge?"

I thought she had been completely blacked out. 'That was after she had a drink...'

I thought for a moment about what had happened last night.

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"They are my parents' enemies. They're…"

I said to her in amazement, "Enemies?"

She hesitated for a moment, then emptied the wine from the glass in a gulp. It didn't seem right to her, but I refilled her glass, apparently because she wanted to be brave. The second glass would make her black out, and she kept talking about it. "Yes. Do you know... Go-young Food?"

I had never heard of it and I shook my head, "No."

"That was... that was my parents' company. It was a company that delivered food supplies to public institutions. It was great at one time and my father worked really hard. So it was listed on the KOSDAQ... and we were once well-off."

'Was her source of wealth a grocery store?... she says that she was once well-off... By the way, she lives well now, and she must have been doing really well back then.'

"But it was three years ago. Our company had a temporary difficulty because our major client went bankrupt. My father got some kind of deal at the time."

"A deal?"

"Yes, I don't know the details well, but I think it was some kind of deal with the company's stock price."

'Sometimes a major shareholder's help or at least approval is needed when conducting an operation for a scammed stock.'

"But my father refused because he cared more about his company and his employees than anyone, however…" She took a drink of wine once more.

'If I think about it, I should have restrained her at that point, but I never imagined she would black out to the point where she would become unconscious.'

"One day, however, one of the products we were supplying was found to contain deadly colon bacillus. The news went up as if it had been waiting, and my father's company was quickly destroyed. The stock price had plummeted, the deal had been cut off, and some investigation had started… My father couldn't stand it."

She gulped down the glass once again. "I should have been beside him... but I didn't know at all because I was in America. When I got home... the last words in the suicide note I saw were… 'Oh, my daughter, I didn't do anything shameful.'"

She tried to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. I quickly pulled out a kerchief and handed it to her. She wiped away her tears and said, "I heard about it from my mother later. The newsmaker came and tried to make a deal with my father, something strange started to happen when it broke down. But in the end, they did what they wanted. The company was kicked out of the KOSDAQ and quickly ruined. My mother was doing everything she could to protect her property, but... in the process, she found a tumor on her body."

She emptied the rest of her glass and told me, "Oppa."

I opened my eyes wide and looked at her. The word "oppa" came back.

'She's drunk.' But it was too late by then.

"I thought about it when you helped me twice before. This oppa is a good man. This oppa is trustworthy. Besides, you know stocks well, don't you?"

"... yes."

"So, avenge them, instead of me. Please take revenge for my parents. I'll pay for it with all I can."

I shook my head, "No, it's hard."

"Why?"

"Revenge is not an easy thing to do." I thought of a few scenarios and shook my head once again. "Don't forget your revenge. They're... they're far more rich and powerful than you are. I know you feel bitter, and want to avenge your parents, but you'd be better to file a complaint with the police or the prosecution."

"That's not possible. At that time... my parents asked for help from the police and the prosecution. But they didn't help at all. Rather, they were swayed by the media and treated my parents as criminals."

I listened quietly, then said, "So, it's hard. If they're... I'm sure there's quite a bit of a connection. So give up revenge."

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"You told me all yesterday about your parents... the stories then."

She said, incredulously pointing to her chest, "Did I?"

"Yes."

"Whew," she sighed. "I was just going to ask you how I could punish them..."

"I heard it anyway and I'll tell you again... Don't dream of revenge. It's hard."

As I said, she lowered her eyes for a moment and said to me, "... I know that."

It was a little pitiful to see.

She looked at me and bowed her head, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I really won't drink again."

I nodded, "Ah... yes."

She bowed to me and left my apartment. I laid down on my bed after she went out. 'It's comfortable here, too.'

There was a little trace of her perfume left. Suddenly, I thought, 'This is the second time... and I wonder if she's swearing about it like a eunuch.'

But it was not my style to do something with a drunken woman. She wouldn't want it, either, and I thought about her for a moment, 'I understand the situation, but it is absurd for her to seek revenge.'

I thought I had about ten million dollars left over. If I hit this financier, Tak Joon-gi, with the money, it was like hitting a rock with an egg. Considering the power of the politicians, businesses, and media which were helping Tak Joon-gi, it might be surprising that she had the word 'revenge' in her mind. She went to study abroad early, so she might not know much about Suyeon Group… or their power and status...

'I don't want her to lose money for doing something weird.' I was thinking about it, but I remembered my situation.

'Oh, my God,' I got up like a spring in bed. It was no time to worry about others. I had $13,000,000 tied up in the stock, but now it might be $6,000,000.

'I can't believe I lost seven million dollars.' Seven million dollars was not small money, although it could be earned back from other stocks.

'I have to get out of here somehow...'

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As soon as the news came at 8:55, I went straight to the People Search. Then, in 12 Hours After, and 12 Days After, I wrote the KFDA chief, Han Joong-gil. It came up on the news of 12 Days After.

[KFDA announces the results of the Nature's Gift investigation.]

I clicked on it with my eyes open. Then I quickly skimmed the news.

[The KFDA, which launched a full-scale investigation into Nature's Gift, announced its findings at 2 p.m. on Sunday, following the death of a customer taking Nature's Gift product last week.]

I swallowed and looked down. If there was a bad result here, I would sell the stock as soon as possible and get out of here. Whether or not the result was manipulated, I had to consider that the forces of the short stock selling would end this trade.

Unlike the Go-young Food of the parents of Lee Ah-young, if there was a good story, it could be said that the forces would take a profit at the low price once, and one more profit at the high price.

'Director Lee Won-jae offered me such a deal and it's probably the second case, but…'

It was as expected.

[We couldn't find any direct cause of septicemia, and we can't blame Nature's Gift for careless management.]

This was the second case! If it was the 23rd, it was this Friday. 'The announcement is at 2:00 p.m. this Friday; shall I average down until then?'

I turned on HTS to check the stock price of Nature's Gift. It had been hit twice by -30% in a row, and it was still trying to start today in the -6% range.

'The point is where to fall down, and where to get up… In fact, it should be said that the operational forces are making some calculations. As they see how bravely the ants are coming in with a large amount of money, from above, then they stop or raise it. So, by no means are ants allowed to make a profit from the scammed stock, except for the lucky few ants; even most of them play in this game and end up losing money.'

But I had a sure card. Positive news from public organizations at 2:00 p.m. on Friday would certainly bring a short-term rebound.

'Then let's pay attention to it then…' I turned to other stocks as I thought about it. 'Then I have to work hard to make up for the loss…'

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I quickly broke my vow. Kai Games, which I had spent nearly eighty million dollars on, was starting at +6%.

'Oh, they must be in the middle of the CBT...'

I believed everyone was just beginning to appreciate it. In fact, six percent was also a surge, but it was just a small start, considering how Kai Games would grow. If my expectations were true, Kai Games would give me a return of nearly a thousand percent within this year. I went to the Kai Games Stock Bulletin.

- The ants who are selling now! Did you sell after you tried this game? It's a masterpiece compared to everything in the last ten years. All the reviews of the testers are great. They usually criticize domestic games, but this is different.-

- Han Sang-hoon has had a great eye, since he suddenly bet eighty million. It has kept going up.-

- I hear he's a genius investor, and I think it's real. I'm going to hold it in trust with CEO Han.-

Seeing that made me feel much better.

'It's super blue-chip, too. It may be shaken for a moment, but it must continuously go up.' At the same time, as I was thinking about it, Kai Games' stock price went up to +7%,+ 8%, and the +9%.

I looked at it and thought inside, 'Yes, this stock will upgrade me to one more level. Come on, keep going up.'