## Chapter 174 – Distribution Conglomerate
The company was growing rapidly.
On paper, it had all the necessary elements, and its infrastructure was expanding quickly.
‘There were a lot of startups that jumped into distribution.’
There were countless traces of those who had jumped in, failed, and left.
Thanks to that, it was easy to secure buildings suitable for logistics centers in each region.
All I had to do was purchase properties that had already gone bankrupt and been abandoned, and then remodel them.
“But when are we going to remodel all of these?”
Kim Yeon-joo looked up at the massive center and expressed her concern.
“It’ll take a long time to do all of them across the country. Especially since autumn is peak season, it’s hard to find contractors, and if we don’t watch them closely, they’ll do a sloppy job and cause problems later.”
“That can’t happen.”
So, I purchased robots that looked exactly like humans.
They took a quick look at the blueprints I gave them and quickly finished the remodeling.
Perfect construction without any errors or mistakes.
The inside of the logistics center, which had been empty and full of dust, was instantly transformed into a state-of-the-art automated facility.
‘As expected, robots are the best for construction and manufacturing.’
However, it’s not enough to just do a good job. In this country, documents speak for everything.
You can nitpick with documents, and later you can do all sorts of crazy things with them.
So, I borrowed the name of a construction company through the National Intelligence Service and had the robots finish remodeling all the centers across the country.
I took photos for permits and reports to the authorities, and made sure to show faces when public officials came out, creating flawless data.
As I was doing that, it had already been more than four months since I returned to Earth.
Now, if everything goes according to plan, the facility infrastructure will soon be on par with that of a major corporation.
‘So, all that’s left is delivery drivers and work.’
In fact, the most important things in distribution were those two.
If I secured those two, I could raise my flag and jump into the territory war in earnest.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
NIS Director Lee Hyun-jung came into the president’s office and bowed deeply. I offered her a seat on the sofa.
“So, what’s this urgent report you have?”
“Are you familiar with a company called Quick Quick Delivery?”
Lee Hyun-jung asked me with a serious expression.
Thinking that it was a ridiculous yet catchy name every time I heard it, I nodded.
***
“Team Leader Lee from the Strategic Planning Department is here, sir.”
“Tell him to come in.”
A well-dressed man entered the luxurious office and bowed deeply.
『CEO Jang Sun-young』
A beautiful woman with a bob cut that accentuated her neckline was leaning back in her chair, looking at a tablet, and raised her eyebrows slightly.
The man, having received Jang Sun-young’s gaze, began his report.
“The labor union negotiations don’t seem to be progressing.”
“…Those freeloading bastards. I’m sick of them whining about raising their pay every single day.”
“They’re asking for either a raise or an improvement in their poor working conditions. What should we do?”
Jang Sun-young glared sharply and slammed the tablet she was holding onto the table.
“What do you mean, what should we do? Ask them if they’ll take responsibility if the company loses money and goes bankrupt because of them.”
“……”
“How can they only think about themselves? They don’t have any thoughts, any thoughts at all. They’re worse than animals.”
The tablet screen showed people wearing headbands.
『Inhumane working conditions, indifferent founder. Quick Quick Delivery….』
It was a critical article. The article targeting a logistics company that was recording great success by driving people into harsh environments was spread out on the tablet.
The man who saw the article laughed and asked.
“Should I really convey that as is?”
It was because he knew her personality.
Jang Sun-young snorted.
“Tell them this. The company is suffering significant losses due to competition with rivals. So, let’s just get through this year. Honestly, we’re doing all this to make their rice bowls bigger, so if they have any brains, they’ll say okay.”
“What if they still don’t agree?”
“Ha. If they still act up, threaten them with restructuring. Tell them the company’s not doing well. Then they’ll know what to do.”
Jang Sun-young twisted her lips and continued with a chilling look.
“Tell them to choose whether they want to share rice and survive with camaraderie, or if only 50% will remain and the rest will have their rice bowls taken away.”
The man nodded.
“Then I’ll wrap up the delivery driver issue like that.”
“Hmm? Is there something else to report?”
“Yes, CEO. This time, a competitor is demanding an explanation for unilaterally taking away work without fair bidding. They’re saying it’s against business ethics.”
Pfft. Hahahaha!
Jang Sun-young burst out laughing.
“Seriously. They’re telling a funny story. Business ethics? That’s something you talk about when the levels match. What are those lowly things doing mentioning business ethics? Hey, would you give your dog more food if it mentioned business ethics while asking for more?”
“That’s… no.”
“It’s the same thing. Just ignore them. Some insignificant things are acting up.”
“Understood. And…”
The man was about to report something more, but suddenly the door burst open.
And a girl in her twenties came in.
“Mom!”
“Huh? Seol-ha, what brings you here?”
Jang Sun-young waved her hand, and the man stood up from his seat and bowed.
As soon as the man left, Kang Seol-ha ran to her mother, Jang Sun-young, and hugged her, saying.
“Mom, I can’t go to school anymore. Can’t I just quit International University and start a business?”
“My daughter, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
Kang Seol-ha told her about what had happened recently.
About the accident that happened at International University a while ago.
The incident where four female college students were wriggling on the bathroom floor in broad daylight, pouring out white liquid from their butts.
The rumor had spread so widely that it was a hot topic that no student at International University was unaware of.
Of course, most people speculated that it was because they were doing drugs from broad daylight, but she swore that she had never done anything like that. They didn’t do drugs.
However, they couldn’t even properly explain themselves because they were afraid of being asked why they did such a thing if they didn’t do drugs.
So, Kang Seol-ha and the other five had been holed up at home without going to school ever since.
“I’m so embarrassed, how can I go to school now?”
Of course, Kang Seol-ha herself didn’t commit such a vulgar act of rolling around on the bathroom floor and spewing white liquid from her butt, but since all her friends who she always hung out with were in that state, she was being treated the same way.
So, she couldn’t go to school.
“Daughter, are you not going to school just because of something like that?”
“Something like that! How embarrassing is it! Do you even know how I feel?!”
“Of course not. Think about it. Why bother caring about the gazes of those who are less than you?”
Kang Seol-ha blinked at Jang Sun-young’s attitude, as if it were obvious.
“R, really?”
“Think about it. How many people in that school are better than you?”
“30%?”
“Yeah, not even 30%. We’re that kind of family. The most successful distribution company in Korea. The logistics company with the largest market capitalization in East Asia.”
Was that all? It was a super-giant corporation that was rapidly expanding its distribution network worldwide.
“Then what kind of existence is our daughter?”
Kang Seol-ha smiled brightly and answered.
“The top graduate of the 2nd class of International High School.”
The title of top graduate at International High School is given to the wealthiest and most influential family.
It has nothing to do with grades.
Kang Seol-ha was the most successful family among her classmates, and she was able to win the top title.
The implications of this were significant.
All the current students at the newly established International University are freshmen.
There are no outstanding seniors.
There are no graduates.
International University is located in Korea, and most of its employees are Korean.
Even the chairman is Korean.
So, the influence over this place was held by the graduates of International High School.
Since the 2nd and 3rd graduates were all freshmen, the 2nd graduates, who were seniors in International High School, were in control.
The 1st graduates who had been missing had made a surprise return, but they would be entering next year.
By then, the relationship between seniors and juniors would be reversed, so in fact, the current International University was the world of the 2nd graduates.
Kang Seol-ha herself had the most powerful influence among them.
Of course, her influence had been rolling around in the gutter due to this incident, but Jang Sun-young was telling her daughter.
That it wouldn’t change anything even if it did.
“Whether you’re doing drugs and wriggling on the bathroom floor, or peeing naked in the park in broad daylight, you have power, right? No one can look down on you.”
“!!”
“So, our daughter, don’t worry about others and go to school. Mom will grow the company well and pass it on to our daughter to enjoy. You know our company is doing well these days, right?”
“Yeah. The sales are no joke, right?”
“The margins are enormous. You’ll be surprised if you hear them. We’re crushing all the competitors and making a fortune, right?”
“Really?”
“I’ll show you how much our assets have grown at home later. Our daughter, enjoy your college life to the fullest and start your business slowly.”
“Okay!”
Kang Seol-ha smiled brightly and nodded. Jang Sun-young smiled and stroked her daughter’s hair, then called Team Leader Lee.
“Contact the labor union and tell them to decide by the end of today. Or else it won’t be fun. And what were you going to say earlier?”
「We’ve found a new prey.」
Smirk. Jang Sun-young twisted the corners of her mouth with a bitter smile.
“Is that so?”
***
“Are you familiar with a company called Quick Quick Delivery?”
I nodded.
“They’re the most powerful leader in the distribution industry these days.”
It’s the new name of the former KJ Logistics.
About 10 years ago, their image had once plummeted due to human rights issues, but about 4 years ago, they changed their company name and made aggressive investments.
Now, it was a group that was undeniably running first place in the distribution industry.
And for your information, KJ is Kim Jae-joon’s holding company.
As you can tell from the name KJ Logistics, KJ Logistics is a company that spun off from there.
“Then do you know CEO Jang Sun-young?”
“I only know her face. She was one of the parents at International High School.”
When I looked at her as if asking why she was bringing up that story, Lee Hyun-jung said.
“Quick Quick Delivery. They’ve had a nickname for the past three years.”
『New Business Crusher』
“They’re very famous in this industry. When a new startup jumps into distribution and shows some promise, they completely destroy it.”
They propose to sell the company to them at a cheap price, and if they don’t agree, they crush them with power, capital, and authority.
“It’s basic for them to bribe the other party’s employees to sabotage, and they don’t hesitate to do very dirty things, such as mobilizing gangsters. Then, when the company goes bankrupt, they just take everything. That’s how they grew.”
“That’s vicious.”
In short, it’s a large corporation’s tyranny.
‘Now I know why they grew so quickly.’
No matter how much KJ, one of Korea’s top 5 corporations, is backing them, they can’t conquer the Korean distribution industry and rise to first place in just 4 years.
It’s absolutely impossible with ordinary methods.
‘With the recent weakening of public authority, the supervisor who regulates the market has disappeared, and that’s how things are rolling.’
They use money to entice and crush new market participants, and only they benefit….
“Interesting. People think the same way after all.”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing. Keep talking.”
“Yes. But recently, we’ve secured information that Quick Quick Delivery has taken an interest in your company, sir.”
In other words, it means they’ve been targeted as prey.
In fact, it was worth attacking.
There was still social pressure, so I hadn’t installed the latest robots yet, but our central logistics terminal and each regional logistics center were all running on an automated system.
There was no better system than ours anywhere in the world.
‘It’s a system I learned from robots in another world, an era ahead of us. There’s no way the current Earth, which is only at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, can surpass that level.’
So, they’ll be greedy.
They’ll want to take it.
“T, then…”
“What should we do now?”
The two secretaries, Kim Yeon-joo and Park So-young, who had been listening to my story in the office, expressed their concern.
“Shouldn’t we contact the others?”
“Should I contact them to gather right now?”
I shook my head.
“Just leave it alone.”
“Yes?”
“I said leave it alone.”
The two women blinked with wide eyes as if they couldn’t understand my decision.
Lee Hyun-jung was the same.
“Master, we need to prepare so we can respond accordingly. They’re definitely not easy to deal with.”
“I know.”
It’s a place that has taken control of the Korean distribution network in just 4 years. And its backer is one of Korea’s top 5 corporations.
But I yawned nonchalantly and said.
“We don’t move. We don’t have time to be distracted by those lousy hunters right now. Just focus on building infrastructure and growing in size. Work perfectly to avoid any problems on paper.”
“What if they suddenly attack? Gangsters could break down that door and come in right now.”
The two stewardesses said with frightened faces. I snorted.
“Didn’t you hear what Hyun-jung said earlier? They’ll open negotiations before causing trouble. Nothing will happen until then.”
“Ah!”
“We just need to see how they come out and then decide. It’s not too late.”
“I guess so.”
The women nodded, saying they understood.
“So, Kim Yeon-joo, secure as many additional real estate properties as possible as quickly as possible, and So-young, you finish the paperwork. It’ll be easier later.”
“Yes!”
And exactly 10 days after Lee Hyun-jung’s report, someone really came.
A man who introduced himself as the team leader of the Strategic Planning Department handed me his business card and said.
“I’m from Quick Quick Delivery. Our CEO wants to have a close meeting with CEO Lee Tae-baek.”
Finally, what was coming had arrived.
And around this time, our company’s infrastructure was almost up to the level of Quick Quick Delivery.
At least we had matched their size for now.
