The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 1

Prologue: That Bastard Shiva!

“Take this.”

“……??”

“Hurry up!”

“…….”

An old halmeoni wearing a dark navy skirt with a subtle peony pattern.

Her age is impossible to guess.

The mysterious halmeoni extends her right hand.

“Why is this big bear-cub so down in the dumps? Life is sometimes what-the-fuck.”

“……!!”

My name is Tae-woong (太熊).

Because of my name, I’ve been teased as a ‘bear-cub’ since I was little.

“Don’t you forget today! If you don’t have money, even holding a woman’s hand is a crime!”

“…….”

The sudden truth bomb made my heart skip a beat.

That’s right! Today, life is fucking shitty!

I got fired from my company and dumped by my girlfriend.

To her, I was just a pathetic human with no money and no connections.

“Tsk, tsk. You’re about to hit the jackpot, yet you still haven’t pulled yourself together.”

The halmeoni clicks her tongue.

“Haa.”

I can only sigh.

“My arm hurts. Hurry up and take it.”

“Yes?”

“Can’t you tell?”

I know, it’s a bankbook.

A bankbook with a plastic cover, complete with a stamp inside.

“Open it.”

I took the bankbook in a daze and opened it.

“Gasp!!”

It’s in my name.

The moment I saw the balance, a groan escaped my lips.

“W-what is this??”

A bankbook in my name that I didn’t know about.

And the number printed on it is astronomical.

1,000,000,000 won.

It’s a bankbook I’ve never seen before, but the account holder is me, Ha Tae-woong.

“From now on, live however the hell you want! Money? Women? If you want it, it’s all yours!”

The halmeoni approached at some point and stroked the back of my head.

I don’t feel any resistance.

The look in her eyes as she watches me is one of pity.

I’m two years older than my peers.

It was when I was in the first grade of elementary school.

I was walking down the street when I was hit on the back of the head for no reason.

It was a time when random assaults were rampant.

The culprit was never found.

It was a time when CCTV wasn’t common.

It was an assault that happened in a blind spot in an alleyway.

The police investigated, but it eventually fizzled out.

Because of that incident, I was held back for two years.

I was a semi-vegetable for 5 months, and the following year I spent half a year in rehabilitation.

I became the legendary second-grade elementary school repeater.

“First, use this pocket money to buy that! The one that’s popular these days…… Ta, what was it called.”

Ta, Tanghulu?

The balance on the bankbook is 1 billion.

Coldly speaking, with this money, I could barely afford one apartment in Seoul…….

“What is it, that. The fake money those big-nosed foreigners like.”

Fake…… money?

“The one you eat by puffing it up with electricity!”

Puffing it up…… with electricity?

“Ah! That, it’s got a moon in the name, and a dance, and…… there’s even a son of a bitch called Shiba!”

Moon? Dance? Shiba……?

Suddenly, related words popped into my head!

“C-crypto??”

Chapter 1. Fuck You!

“Why me?”

Daeryong Group, which ranked 99th in the business world last year.

This is the office of the Strategic Planning Team at Daeryong Eco-Cycle, a subsidiary of the group.

The cold, metallic furniture looks like it cost a fortune just for the interior design.

No matter how high-ranking an executive is, they shouldn’t be wasting corporate funds like this.

Swoosh.

Executive Go Dong-yeol tilts his head arrogantly and glares at me.

His gaze is as cold and ruthless as a sharp viper.

His cold eyes shine from behind thin, sharp-designed silver glasses.

He’s thirty-three this year.

His short hair, slicked up with hair gel, adds to his imposing air.

Luxury clothes and a flashy luxury watch are a given.

A high-ranking executive position at a major corporation that an ordinary office worker of this age could never easily attain.

Go Dong-yeol, with his special background, was different.

His grandfather is the chairman of the family group.

His father is the CEO.

On top of that, his great-uncle is the founding chairman of a major national newspaper.

He is essentially one of the top-tier ‘gold spoon’ heirs in South Korea.

“You’re not really asking because you don’t know, are you?”

“I don’t know.”

I received a sudden notice of standby leave this morning.

The reason was lax work discipline and personal use of the corporate card.

It was baseless and made no sense.

I can’t accept it.

It was definitely a business entertainment meeting, and I had received permission from my superiors.

I have never used it for anything else.

But personal use?

Last month, the project I had spent a year working on hit the jackpot.

It was a project I had ambitiously pushed forward after becoming an assistant manager.

I frequented the engineering lab of my alma mater like a madman to acquire the patent.

I even launched a networking operation, mobilizing professors from the business school.

I acquired the latest production method for eco-friendly biodegradable plastic being researched by a professor at Yeonguk University’s engineering department for a dirt-cheap price.

It was a groundbreaking study that had secured sufficient price competitiveness.

I even opened direct trade channels with large European companies sensitive to environmental issues.

We had even signed the final supply contract.

For the next ten years, all we have to do is settle the hundreds of millions of Euros in exports every year.

As for the factory equipment investment, all that’s needed is to install the patented device onto the existing machinery.

I even received greetings from colleagues saying I would be on the list for a huge bonus and a special promotion.

That was the rumor going around the company, too.

I was even hinted at receiving an ‘S’ grade in my personnel evaluation from the upper management.

But today!

I received a notice of dismissal.

“You don’t know……. Heh.”

Go Dong-yeol laughed openly.

Click.

Hiss.

The spacious executive office he uses alone.

Go Dong-yeol brazenly lights up a cigarette, not caring about the company’s no-smoking policy.

Whooooo.

The smoke that rose in a cloud spreads hazily in front of my face.

“Ha Tae-woong.”

“…….”

Go Dong-yeol calls my name.

“Are you connected to me in any way?”

“…….”

“School ties, regional ties, blood ties. You know, things like that.”

“I don’t have any.”

“Right, you don’t. Do you even have a smoking tie with me? Right?”

“…….”

There’s no way an ordinary person like me would have any connection to a third-generation quasi-chaebol.

“Every time I see you, I feel bad? Very! Why is that?”

“I don’t know.”

Go Dong-yeol was transferred here only a few months ago.

He’s someone who worked at another subsidiary of the group before that.

“Heh. Right, it’s normal not to know. A clueless, appetite-ruining bastard. That’s you!”

Go Dong-yeol, who must know everything about my background, which has no backing.

He insults me openly.

I want to punch him right in the jaw with my fist.

Outside the fence, he wouldn’t even be a match for one of my punches.

However, I must endure.

The world outside without a job is a battlefield.

All sorts of crises are blowing across the world.

The cracks between countries around the world that started to show signs in 2020.

I never imagined the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Followed by the war between Israel and the Arab world. It was a crisis that struck before the aftermath of the various aftereffects of COVID-19 had even faded.

Eventually, starting in 2027.

The global bubble hit its all-time high and then—pop!

It burst.

South Korea didn’t escape it either and got hit properly.

Due to high-interest rate policies, real estate upstarts who specialized in gap investment went broke one after another.

It became a time when the majesty of landlords, who used to reign above the Creator, became meaningless.

The feast of the upstarts was futile.

Those who were damaged along with them ended up on the streets.

It’s a series of quasi-emergency situations for the nation.

Unfortunately, I also had bad luck with finding a job.

At the time of joining the company, the economy wasn’t too bad.

Most of my university classmates got jobs at large corporations.

Even when I applied together, I was the only one who got rejected every time.

There were a few times I passed the first document screening for top 10 groups.

But I received a rejection notice every time after the interview.

It wasn’t like my specs were bad, either.

My average GPA at graduation was 4.33.

I got near-perfect scores on TOEIC and TOEFL. I can also speak Japanese and Chinese reasonably well.

After that, getting rejected when trying to get a job at top 50 groups was a common occurrence.

Not only companies in South Korea but also foreign companies didn’t hire me.

It was as if someone was following me around and pulling strings, bringing me bad luck.

The group I joined after wandering was Daeryong.

There were about 20 subsidiaries.

It wasn’t in the top 100 in the domestic business rankings.

That was then.

It was certain that it would be adjusted upwards by several notches starting next year.

This is the key.

It’s a result made possible thanks to the success of my project.

In such a situation, a notice of standby leave was dropped out of nowhere.

I still have unpaid student loans.

The current cost of living is murderous.

There were too many reasons to hold on.

I am in a position where I absolutely must suppress my anger.

“Is there really no other way?”

I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth as I asked again.

“Of course there isn’t, kid. Heh.”

Go Dong-yeol smiles broadly.

His eyes are still mocking me.

“What is the real reason?”

Even if I leave, I want to know the reason.

The wave of voluntary retirement ended last year.

I was curious about the reason for getting rid of me, who brought profit to the company.

“Everything.”

“……??”

“Look. The arrogant look in your eyes, the annoying way you talk, your face that I hate looking at. Even your mediocre ability! You and I don’t have a single code that matches.”

This bastard!

He’s an INTJ with a strong superiority complex, plus an ISFJ complex!

You’re getting rid of me just because of personal preference?

“On top of that, your waist is stiff. A lowly person acts too confidently. I hate that. So, a lowly person like you needs to leave. Hehehe.”

I don’t like you either, you bastard!

The academic background of Go Dong-yeol, who studied abroad at a local private university in the US, which doesn’t even count as a name.

Thanks to my project’s performance, his position within the group became solid.

My position was different from mine, who was just a low-level employee.

Go Dong-yeol takes most of the fruits of the work performance.

Yet, he is petty and jealous of me, a mere employee.

He’s not a man of great character.

The conclusion was reached.

“I will submit my resignation.”

“Heh. Good thinking. I’ll give you two months’ salary as severance pay.”

“How should I handle the handover?”

“What do you have to hand over, you piece of trash? Get your face out of here right now.”

Grind.

My teeth ground together.

The guy who has no manners until the end is insulting and mocking me.

Come to think of it, there was no dividend project for the last month.

I thought he was giving me a vacation.

After that period passed, he drove me out for lax work discipline.

It was all a planned scheme from the beginning.

To-sa-gu-paeng (discarding the hunting dog once the rabbit is caught).

Smirk.

Go Dong-yeol’s eyes, filled with venom as if he had gotten what he wanted.

He mocks me as if a viper is rolling its yellow eyeballs.

If I followed my temper, I’d want to punch that thug face.

But I endure.

I’m not a thug like that.

I am a righteous intellectual.

However.

Swoosh, I loosened the tie that was choking my neck.

“Hey. Mr. Go Dong-yeol.”

I called him familiarly.

“Mr. Go Dong-yeol? Are you acting out because you got fired?”

He stares at me, perhaps dumbfounded himself.

“No. You and I are the same age, right? Once the business card is gone, that’s it. And is there anything at all that matches between you and me? You have to be nice for the other person to be nice back. What do you expect?”

I stared calmly into Go Dong-yeol’s two eyes.

“Th-this bastard has lost his mind!”

Go Dong-yeol, who jumped up from his seat, approached with long strides.

Man, he’s short.

Ah! That’s it!

I realized the reason why I’m getting fired at this point.

Step.

I also took a big step forward.

“……!!”

Swoosh, I reached out my arm and put it near Go Dong-yeol’s neck.

“Wh-what is it!!”

He flinches and pulls his body back as he approaches.

He’s scared.

“Watch your back at night. You know I’m a former Special Forces soldier, right?”

Tap, tap.

I lightly brushed his shoulder with my palm.

Tremble.

The beating of his nervous heart is transmitted through my palm.

A snicker escapes me.

It’s annoying that the world is one where the power trips of bastards who are nothing are effective.

I have done my best to be loyal to the company since I joined.

I have no regrets.

I’ll leave coolly.

“Please make sure the severance pay is clean. You thug bastard, even the soles of your feet are a waste.”

I have no lingering attachments.

Wrapping up a job that guaranteed a stable income.

For someone like me with no school ties, blood ties, regional ties, or smoking ties, I lasted a long time.

I turn around coolly.

Even if I’m fired, it’s a day where I feel refreshed.

“Hey! Ha Tae-woong! I’m going to kill you! You son of a bitch!!”

Crash!

As I turned to leave, I didn’t look back and gave him the middle finger!!

That was the first incident that happened today.