I Woke Up as the Villain

For Choi Woo-Jae, the guild business was said to be very important. However, it was still less important than the competition between his children. This was rather unsurprising, since his children would be the ones to lead the Comet group in the next generation.

Woo-Jae valued talented people more than anything else, so he would never step back from what he had done so far, which would cause him to lose money and have to start his business from scratch.

In other words, even if Woo-Jae’s other children—who did not want Choi Mi-Na to take full control of the guild business or rise to the position of chairman—interfered with the company’s plans, Woo-Jae would simply wait and watch them. He would think that he was ‘sacrificing small things to save great things’ if the plans failed because of his children.

‘But if they crossed the line too much, they’ll pay for that…’

Mi-Na's siblings were also quite clever, so they would not directly participate and cross the line.

"It's amazing, by the way. What favorable aspect of Yu-Seong made you change your mind?" asked Woo-Jae, who was trying to get a sense of Mi-Na’s opinion.

Mi-Na pouted slightly. "You got it wrong. Why would I like such a rascal?"

Then, Mi-Na jumped up from her seat and tried to leave the office as if she was running away. Choi Woo-Jae looked at her back with a rather strange gaze, and said, "It's just three days. Even if you don't want to, within the next three days, get ready to pick anyone and give them the position. Otherwise..."

Mi-Na stopped walking.

"Otherwise, because of your complaint, your innocent brother, Yu-Seong, will be troubled for a while."

"Do whatever you want." Mi-Na clicked her tongue at Woo-Jae's words, and left the office with a cold smile.

“I know you’re pretending to not care, Mi-Na..." said Woo-Jae with a smile. He sat in place again and tapped his chin.

‘My second daughter and my ninth son…’ 

They each had noticeable shortcomings. However, when they came together, they seemed to make a good team. Thinking about it, Woo-Jae smiled again with satisfaction. Then, his personal cell phone vibrated shortly.

‘Hmm?’

There were only very few in Korea, no, the whole world who knew Choi Woo-Jae’s personal number. For him to receive a direct call was even rarer. The funny thing was that not all of those with his number were close and comfortable friends, and one of them had called Choi Woo-Jae this time.

"Yoo Chul-Min, this old man called, all of a sudden?"

Woo-Jae said the name out loud as if he was calling his neighborhood friend, but the man named Yoo Chul-Min had great influence in Korea. In fact, he was even more well known than Choi Woo-Jae himself.

Yoo Chul-Min was the chairman of Cheon-Ji Group, the No. 1 business group in the country. This was what the general public thought of first when they heard the name, Yoo Chul-Min.

Choi Woo-Jae received Yoo Chul-Min’s call with a relaxed hand gesture. He spoke first. "It’s been a while, Chairman Yoo. How have you been?”

- It's been five years, Chairman Choi. I'm very healthy aside from my worsening back pain. That’s all thanks to you giving me a hard time, haha.

Yoo Chul-Min was 15 years older than Choi Woo-Jae. He was joking around during this call, but there were many hidden meanings in his words.

‘Five years ago... This narrow-minded fellow seems to still have that in mind.’

Although Choi Woo-Jae quietly clicked his tongue, he also clearly remembered the incident that had taken place five years ago.

Goblin leather was considered to be tough and too rough for anything, so it used to be seen as useless. However, a new method for processing Goblin leather was first revealed in Denmark and it soon became a new resource to capitalize on. It became much softer and durable than the ordinary cowhide. Also, Goblin leather was easier to obtain and more common than other monster resources.

Naturally, the companies began to pay attention to the Danish company that developed the processing method of Goblin leather. The faster they learned the secret technology and dominated the market, the more they could start their business at an advantageous position. How could the companies not like a new business item that was sure to make money?

At that time, DRD, a Danish technology research company, drew attention from the world's leading companies and the rich who had acquired information in advance. Unsurprisingly, the Chun-Ji group and the Comet group also naturally participated in the competition.

‘It wasn't easy at the time, since the Rothschild family in England and the Rockefeller family in America also participated.’ 

The two families that originally became successful through their oil business continued to invest in the world's leading companies, create guilds, and collect mana stones. That was how they rapidly inflated their wealth.

In a way, simply standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those families was already testament to Choi Woo-Jae achieving his lifetime goal.

The irony was that the two families participated at the same time, so they could not easily make decisions. They had to keep each other in check.

During that time when other companies were walking on eggshells because of the two wealthy families, Choi Woo-Jae took action. It was the time when there were still many voices in the Korean business community saying that they should just wait and see.

'They missed the boat because of those silly thoughts. It's always better to punch first in terms of fighting.’ 

While everyone was hesitating, Woo-Jae signed the contract earlier than anyone else, proposing a large amount that was difficult to refuse for the DRD company that developed the Goblin leather processing method.

After that, everything happened in a whirlwind. Since the technology was being supplied, the Comet Group could dominate the market by providing raw materials and accelerating production. Every product that was made of leather—such as cell phone cases, wallets, watch straps, bags, etc.—transformed to become a new product made of Goblin leather. The Comet Group announced such products with a massive promotion saying that it was the ‘world's first’.

For modern people of the present era, the material itself called monster leather was often recognized as a special kind of material. Moreover, the Comet Group brought in processed Goblin leather and turned it into a beautiful emerald-colored form, so someone even called this technology a ‘modern leather gemology’.

The price was also cheap and the functionality was excellent. Thus, products made of Goblin leather were extremely popular at the beginning of their release, had very high sales, and were still having steady sales even until now.

But how about the Rothschild and Rockefeller family which everyone was worried about?

‘Before even writing the contract, they were already buttered up.’

It was interesting to note that the Comet Group was one of Korea’s best companies, but from the perspective of those two families, it was only one of the large companies in a medium-sized country.

The suggestion that Woo-Jae offered was that it would be better for them to take the initiative than to let the opponent monopolize the new technology. Of course, quite a lot of money was given to the main figure of each family to persuade them. It was a tug of war with calculated risks, and the eventual profits were close to several tens of times the money they invested at the time.

It was reasonable for the Cheon-Ji Group to become nervous after the Comet Group actively moved to pave a new foundation and create a way to grow, instead of staying still and watching the situation together.

‘Well, I understand that he’s scared of me. Since I might threaten his company anytime.' 

Woo-Jae could easily guess why the Cheon-Ji Group’s chairman had called him.

‘He’s anxious about the guild business that my second daughter is doing. Hehe.’

Unlike other businesses, the Comet Group had been quiet and rather conservative in the guild business that was often considered the most important for future investment. However, they had begun to actively move forward with the family’s second daughter, whose face was not even well known.

There were hurdles that stopped them here and there, but as they had a lot of money and were very determined, the guild business grew faster than Yoo Chul-Min had thought. As the chairman of Cheon-Ji Group, he felt nervous and anxious. He had a feeling that the Comet Group would soon catch up with them.

In fact, everyone who ran a company would feel the same. The more they had, the more anxiety they had, so they were understandably more sensitive about the other companies in similar industries.

Therefore, in fact, Yoo Chul-Min wanted to stop further growth before the guild business could even sprout. However, he failed to prune Choi Woo-Jae’s businesses. Perhaps the fact that he had failed to kill Choi Woo-Jae at the only opportunity 13 years ago would still make his heart sting.

"Oh, thanks to that incident, I was full even though I didn't eat rice for a while. It's all thanks to people like you who supported me from afar.”

It was useless for Woo-Jae to argue with a narrow-minded person. They would be upset anyways.

- Haha...

Yoo Chul-Min tried hard to smile and continued to speak.

- Anyway, I heard you started a guild business recently.

This had been the main point of the call from the beginning. Choi Woo-Jae decided to put out a feeler instead of returning biting words. He asked, "Yes. Well, it may be too late, but shouldn't I take a step at least now?"

- I don't really like going around the bush, so let me talk directly. Chairman Choi, I'm a little worried that a young fellow is being too greedy. If you eat too much alone, you might get sick, right?

Choi Woo-Jae grinned. "I don't know what you think, but Chairman Yoo, I'm too old to be called young now. I'm trying to be more greedy, that’s all. But…are you afraid or something?”

There was a brief silence over the phone.

- Hahaha…!

There was a loud laugh, one that was twice as loud as the earlier chuckle. In Choi Woo-Jae's ear, the laughter sounded like a herbivore anxiously raising its voice upon seeing a beast.

- It wouldn't be good to fight each other and get hurt. Let me offer a suggestion, Chairman Choi.

"I agree that it's better to not get hurt. Do you have any insight?" asked Woo-Jae.

As mentioned, Choi Woo-Jae's goal was not just the Cheon-Ji Group. Was he aiming to be the number one in Korea? In fact, if he wanted to achieve it, he could have already achieved it a few years ago. However, the reason why he kept waiting patiently was because…

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‘My business should be overwhelmingly powerful. So that no one can dare look over it.’ 

To expand hastily and clumsily would only be a burden in the end. However, if Woo-Jae hit it hard, the burden wouldn’t keep up with his speed and would eventually fall off on its own.

‘That’s when the number one place could be discussed.’ 

It may be said that Woo-Jae was now old, but he was still ambitious and determined. Therefore, it was a welcoming thing to minimize the damage to each other.

- War doesn't necessarily have to be an all-out one. Let's make a bet so that we don’t have to bother those high-ranking officials.

"A bet?"

- You could view it as a game of Go. I don't know if you’re aware, but I have a grandson.

Choi Woo-Jae instantly had a thought flashing through his mind.