TVPC 06

Chapter 06

For a split second, Han Myung-hoon broke into a cold sweat and glanced behind him.

The Korean employees from Dongbo Pharmaceuticals—who until now had been barely concealing their exhaustion at Han Myung-hoon’s bullying yet had remained silent—were staring at him with sharp, gleaming eyes.

They looked like a pack of hyenas that had finally found their prey.

I knew it.

Koreans, weak against authority, would follow Han Myung-hoon’s lead at first—but that didn’t mean they had truly submitted.

Those people had been questioning his unilateral decisions all along. They’d just been enduring it. There had been no real reason to drag him down, and even if they tried, they might only end up hurting themselves.

But what if I openly revealed a fatal flaw like this?

Was there really not a single one among them who wanted to push Han Myung-hoon off that seat and take it for themselves?

“Director, what exactly is going on here?”

“Is that… your personal account, sir?”

As soon as one of the Korean employees began questioning him in Korean, Han Myung-hoon’s face twisted even further.

Of course.
He wouldn’t have wanted this to come out.

A Korean pharmaceutical company would definitely have audits. And since he was a contract executive, it would be even worse for him.

“No! Th-that’s not—hey! Y-you there! M-Mr. Olfail!”

“Yes?”

“P-private. A private meeting.”

Han Myung-hoon sprang to his feet in panic and turned toward me. The relaxed smile he’d worn while taunting Oliver earlier was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s talk one-on-one. Man to man. Let’s settle this.”

“…Very well.”

It wasn’t my problem anyway.

I smiled faintly and nodded.

* * *

Everyone left the room—both Han Myung-hoon’s people and mine.

Oliver, who looked visibly anxious, was the last to go. Soon, the conference room door shut completely.

Silence filled the room.

Han Myung-hoon strained his ears until the footsteps faded, then turned on me again.

“Where did you hear that?!”

“‘China? Or Northern Europe?’”

“…What?”

“‘Where did you get paid from to be acting this reckless all by yourself? If you were going to go this far, you should’ve at least greased your subordinates’ palms. Were you too cheap to even pay for their silence, so you got caught being greedy on your own?’”

Han Myung-hoon’s mouth fell open.

“…Y-you—just now—did you… speak Korean?”

“No. I don’t.”

I immediately replied in English and smiled.

“You’ve got a lot of skeletons in your closet, Director Han. It’s obvious at a glance. You’ve been quietly taking personal kickbacks and selling off the company’s licenses however you pleased, haven’t you?
…But now the people outside know. Think you can handle the aftermath?”

I grinned.

The moment he saw my expression, Han Myung-hoon staggered and sank back into his chair. His face was vacant, his legs seemingly unable to support him anymore. He looked even paler than before.

But I didn’t let up.

Arms crossed, I pressed on.
This was the moment to attack. The bluff I’d just pulled had plenty of holes. I couldn’t give him time to regain his composure.

“If you don’t want to ruin your life, sell it to us.”

“What?”

“I don’t care if it’s China or Northern Europe—just sell it to us. Take the money you already got and disappear.
…You’re good at that sort of thing, aren’t you?”

“H-how… how did you even…?”

“Director Han, we don’t have time. Your subordinates are smart. They’ve probably memorized every number I mentioned out there. You’ll need to placate them.”

Han Myung-hoon’s mouth moved soundlessly. He must’ve run out of things to say.

Then the frantic motion in his eyes suddenly stilled, darkening.

“I didn’t realize you were digging into my background. Despicable.”

“Your money-laundering broker talked quite freely. You should’ve paid him properly, on time.”

I watched his face contort and barely suppressed my laughter.

What a shame. I’m right in front of you, yet you still can’t recognize me.

Then again, it made sense. My appearance was always classified. I’d altered my voice, never shown my real face. Even when I explained jobs to him, I used untraceable messenger apps.

There was no way he’d connect the dots.

I pretended to glance at my watch—as if to hide the scars on my wrist—then spoke again.

“Since you didn’t answer properly, I’ll consider the deal off.”

“No—sir! Please—!”

The dazed look vanished in an instant.

Han Myung-hoon suddenly scrambled around the table and dropped to his knees in front of me.

“P-please spare me! I beg you! Just—just don’t do that!”

“I don’t need you kneeling. I want one thing only. Sell the license. To us. I’ll pay you a fair price.”

I took a sip of the orange juice on the table.

Delicious.
A completely different league from cheap powdered juice.

“Hand it over while I’m still being polite.”

“……”

“I’ll put it to good use.”

“Kh… ngh…”

Han Myung-hoon bowed his head deeply as he knelt there.

And the moment I saw that lowered head, I knew.

I had won.

Then, suddenly, my vision brightened.

<System: Main Quest 1-1 ‘Resume the First Negotiation’ has been completed!>
<System: Yoon Youngseo’s Network tab has been unlocked!>
<System: Title acquired — ‘Budding Negotiator’!>
<System: As a reward, Mata Olfail’s favorability has been reconstructed!>

Staring at the flood of text filling my vision—Han Myung-hoon still kneeling beneath it—I was left speechless.

The moment I focused on the phrase Network tab unlocked, my view shifted seamlessly, and my personal information appeared.

Above it was a small icon, like a page-turn button. When I looked at it, the display changed naturally.

A tab labeled Network.

The moment I opened it, I was genuinely surprised.

My name sat in the center, surrounded by unfamiliar question marks.

Some names were blue, some red, and others colorless.

It seemed only people I had personally recognized were registered here—for now. This web would likely grow larger over time.

Scanning the spiderweb-like network, my gaze lingered on the few blue names. There weren’t many, which made them stand out—Oliver, and a few directors who had been in my hospital room earlier.

The red ones were exactly who I expected: Keith Olfail, Ian Olfail—my brothers—and Matthew Olfail.

Only Mata Olfail’s name was gray.

That must be the “reconstruction” mentioned in the quest reward.

‘Wait. If Mata Olfail’s favorability was reconstructed, shouldn’t it be blue? Why is it gray?’

The moment I thought about checking her favorability, her name zoomed closer, and a status panel appeared.

I froze, mouth hanging open.

‘It’s zero.’

Even after completing the negotiation, her favorability was still zero.

Reconstructed… my ass.

Don’t tell me—

‘Was it negative before?’

Unbelievable.

I’d already had a rough idea, but apparently this woman had never had even a shred of affection for Youngseo. Cold-blooded to the extreme.

No wonder Kyle had endured such hostility from his own family.

Just then, glowing text filled my vision again.

<System: Main Quest 1-2 ‘Find Kang In-ha!’ has begun!>

Main Quest 1-2: Find Kang In-ha!
A brilliant pharmaceutical researcher and a once-in-a-generation genius—secure Kang In-ha. Someone as intelligent as your younger brother is extremely rare, after all.

<Time Remaining: 09 days 23 hours 58 minutes 60 seconds>

Condition: Resolve Kang In-ha’s Concern.

Rewards upon success:

Kang In-ha’s name permanently turns blue
Secure Utiff

Failure Penalty: –8 years

Resolve Kang In-ha’s concern?

I stared at the quest, utterly failing to control my expression.

Now I had to solve his personal problems too?

And Kang In-ha didn’t even exist in the Network tab yet. That meant… Youngseo hadn’t met him in this body.

There was even a time limit. Miss it, and I’d fail automatically.

The reward was barely anything besides adding him to the network… and Utiff, which was probably the substance he’d been researching.

But the penalty—minus eight years.

Eight years.

The previous quest penalty had only been minus three. What was this even subtracting?

Age?

But that minus sign bothered me.

“…What the hell does ‘minus’ even mean?”

“Y-yes? Pardon?”

As I frowned, Han Myung-hoon—still kneeling—jerked his head up, clearly thinking I was talking about him.

I stared down at him coldly.

“…I’m deciding whether or not to forgive you. Your tone displeases me.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

The domineering confidence he’d had when he walked into the hotel earlier was completely gone. If he had a tail, it would’ve been tucked firmly between his legs.

“I’ll make sure the deal goes through no matter what. Just… just please help me clean things up once everyone comes back in.”

He bowed so deeply it looked like his head might hit the floor.

For an elderly man, his movements were impressively quick. He really was desperate.

“Of course. I’ll help you.”

“R-really?”

“Of course. Now stand up. Kneeling won’t change my evaluation of you.”

I smiled and extended a hand.

Han Myung-hoon hesitated, eyeing my hand warily. Smart man.

“Th-then… what should I do?”

“Kang In-ha.”

I’d been waiting for that.

The moment he spoke, I cut in.