Chapter 71 : Ts media’s bizarre daily life (3)

Cha Eunho.

Previously known as PD Cha, once hailed as the Demon of Variety, and even earned the title of President Slayer after making a former president eat prison food.

Of course, because of that, he almost unknowingly prepared to dive into a river in a Matiz, but thanks to being picked up by Seongwon, he’s now living a new life as the CEO of TS Media.

At home, he’s a dependable head of the household and father of two (recently, another child was on the way), and outside, he’s the CEO of a company, able to strut around with his shoulders puffed up. However, this man has recently been suffering from a particular problem.

“Chairman, what are you going to do about this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Gah!”

The source of the problem was Seongwon, the owner of the company Cha Eunho heads, and also Cha Eunho’s own owner.

Although the s*ave system has become a word found only in musty history books, Cha Eunho had no qualms about referring to Seongwon as his ‘owner.’

In a capitalist society, the one with the money who gives orders is the owner, isn’t that right? The s*ave system hasn’t disappeared. It’s just changed its name to the salary system.

“No, you’re not really going to decide right before it happens, are you? We really need to decide what to do about this quickly, Chairman.”

Of course, the difference is that in the old days, slaves couldn’t talk to their owners like this.

“Hmm… but I can’t think of anything.”

Despite the s*ave making an audacious statement that would have been unthinkable in the past, Seongwon was completely at peace. She knew very well that the Cha s*ave(?) wouldn’t stab her in the stomach with a spear.

The ghost of Marx had already been exorcised when the Soviet Union collapsed. Just because Seongwon broadcasts with a communist android concept doesn’t mean TS Media is a hotbed of communists dreaming of turning South Korea red, does it? Even CEO Cha loves money.

In fact, the root of the current problem was also money.

“I heard the head office’s operating assets are still increasing. How are we supposed to explain this?”

Cha Eunho rubbed his face with both hands.

That’s right.

The source of the problem was Seongwon’s money.

In fact, this has been a problem for a while.

It has been a problem since Seongwon won the trillion-won Super Mega Ball lottery alone.

The problem is that it’s growing in real-time.

“How much is it roughly now?”

“Approximately $254 billion, Master.”

“…David’s abilities are getting a bit scary.”

Seongwon muttered with a weary look.

It was originally $200 billion after taxes, and now it’s $250 billion. It might not seem like much, a mere 25% increase, but when converted to Korean won, it’s an increase of 6.7 trillion won.

To put this massive amount into perspective, it would take 100 years to spend it all if you spent 180 million won a day. At this point, it’s just a number. It’s an amount that ordinary people can’t even properly imagine.

Seongwon grumbled.

“I wish he’d stop earning now that it’s enough.”

“Chairman, please don’t say things like that in the future, just in case. Other people feel a sense of deprivation. I’m feeling it right now.”

“…So is this a banned word like the last one?”

“Yes.”

Seongwon complained that there were too many banned words she couldn’t say. Watching her, Cha Eunho gulped.

‘A multi-trillionaire in Korean won.’

It’s not like it’s tied up in stocks that can’t be withdrawn; it’s immediately convertible into cash. Her readily available cash is practically tens of trillions of won.

It’s not about revealing her assets to viewers anymore. Cha Eunho, who knows everything there is to know thanks to his time in the broadcasting industry, honestly couldn’t understand why Seongwon’s personal information hadn’t been revealed yet.

‘The chaebols and the politicians should’ve already dragged her in and grilled her… She even got caught once and they came looking for her.’

But there’s still no news.

Knowing how many crazy people there are in those circles, Cha Eunho couldn’t help but tremble in fear, waiting for the inevitable downfall. If it were his old broadcasting days, he would’ve used his connections to find out, but now, he had to tread carefully, so he couldn’t just pull those strings!

‘And the Chairman is too detached….’

Seongwon wasn’t very interested in money. To be precise, it’s not that she didn’t care at all, but considering she’s a multi-trillionaire, she practically lived a life of non-possession.

‘Even if she lost all her wealth now, she’d probably be angry for a moment, but in the end, she’d just accept it, wouldn’t she?’

Of course, that was part of what fascinated Cha Eunho and made him follow her. However, he’s starting to have different thoughts now. Not any kind of rebellious thoughts, just a simple thought.

‘Is the Chairman… a bit lacking in common sense?’

If Cha Eunho were in Seongwon’s shoes?

‘Of course, I wouldn’t do internet broadcasting. I wouldn’t, but….’

If it were Cha Eunho, he would have already spread the money around! He would have bribed those pen-pushers! Covered cameras with cash! Filled politicians’ trunks with apple boxes full of money!

‘No, wait, Bitcoin wallets are the trend these days, or so I hear.’

But he can’t do that.

Because money management isn’t Cha Eunho’s responsibility.

That’s solely the responsibility of David Kim, Top Star’s CEO Kim, and Cha Eunho rarely, very rarely, ever talked to CEO Kim.

“So, CEO Cha is saying the problem is that I have too much money?”

“Yes. Actually, for the viewers, it’s just a matter of downplaying the amount of your assets. About….”

“About 5 trillion won?”

Cha Eunho rubbed his face again. 5 trillion won isn’t some dog’s name…. Well, for Seongwon, it’s honestly about 1/7th of her total assets, so it might seem like a joke….

“…No, 5 trillion is way too much. Chairman Seo of Seoseong Group is said to have about 7 trillion won in cash. What would people think if an ordinary person had a similar amount?”

“Really? I heard the chairman of Mirae Motors has 28 trillion won.”

“That includes the value of Mirae Motors Group’s stock.”

“Aha.”

Seongwon nodded as if she finally understood.

CEO Cha sighed inwardly and continued.

“Even if we say it’s around 100 billion won, honestly, that’s news. The fact that a person with 100 billion won in assets is doing internet broadcasting is enough for a news story.”

“The problem is that my actual assets are much more, and the real issue is the damage that will come if that’s revealed, right? People in power will definitely try to exploit it, my personal information will be exposed immediately, and my broadcasts will take a huge hit.”

Seongwon muttered as if singing a nursery rhyme. Although it sounded like a song, the content was extremely chilling.

“If some orphan who’s been living on the streets suddenly gets that kind of money, honestly, the probability of it being from the US Super Mega Ball is 99%. And the timing fits perfectly.”

Cha Eunho gulped.

“…It’s a bit harsh, but you’re right. If she had inherited the money from a wealthy family, people would simply feel a sense of deprivation.”

Everyone knows that silver spoons exist in this world. The reason people aren’t starting a communist revolution isn’t just because there’s hope for upward mobility, but also because they think those born with silver spoons are from a different world.

“However, the problem is serious because the way the Chairman acquired the money was through ‘luck.’ If we’re unlucky, it could really lead to the worst-case scenario.”

“Hmm….”

“‘They’re just like me, but they got lucky,’ or ‘I could’ve been like that if I were a little luckier, but I was just unlucky.’ As you know, being an internet broadcaster is also a job that deals with the public, and the moment you’re seen in that light, it’s over. Plus, tax issues could resurface.”

“…Like that incident before?”

Seongwon frowned. Surprisingly, Seongwon hated paying taxes. Of course, every living being in this world hates paying taxes, but Seongwon hated it even though she didn’t care about anything else.

Cha Eunho clicked his tongue for a moment and said,

“So let’s start cracking down from now on.”

“The media and such?”

“Yes. We’ll talk to CEO Kim, too. There are many ways.”

Seongwon scratched her chin.

“Won’t this become a problem later?”

At those words, Cha Eunho closed his mouth.

Actually, Seongwon was right.

If they started preparing now in a hurry, the chances of things going wrong were greater than the chances of them going well. Moreover, in these kinds of matters, if a specialist isn’t involved, it can actually cause more problems.

‘Should I postpone the timetable?’

That was the most rational approach.

‘The plan will be quite disrupted….’

Cha Eunho smiled bitterly.

As he was thinking, Seongwon scratched her cheek.

“First, CEO Cha, why don’t you discuss this with David? Asset management is his area of expertise.”

“Understood, Chairman.”

Of course, Cha Eunho didn’t really think a good solution would come from talking to David. He’s Korean-American, but he’s still a second-generation immigrant, right? He was likely to either not understand the Korean system or even detest it.

* * *

“Ah, that matter. I’ve already taken care of it.”

David Kim smiled brightly.

Cha Eunho blinked with a dumbfounded expression.

“…What?”

“The matter of managing Chairman’s assets, identity, and other personal information so it wouldn’t be revealed. I anticipated that this issue would eventually surface, so I’ve been preparing since the beginning of this year. And I’ve already finished everything.”

Cha Eunho rolled his eyes for a moment and asked,

“You, you gagged the press and the politicians?”

“Yes. Korea is convenient in that regard, isn’t it? Things get resolved quickly when you’re connected with the chaebols. We made examples of a few guys in the media who challenged us at first, cut off their ads, and then everyone else took care of themselves… For politicians, we just had to find their weaknesses and threaten them. Actually, we’ve done that a few times…. ”

‘A few times……?’

After that, David Kim spent a long time advising him not to worry and to just proceed as planned.

Looking at David reassuring him with a slightly crazed smile, Cha Eunho gulped.

‘This….’

It seemed that, among the people around Seongwon, the one he absolutely shouldn’t make an enemy of wasn’t Miley, but this man.