The blue boxes were gone. The NTS investigators had packed up their forensic kits, offered a polite, stiff bow, and vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Official Verdict: "No Irregularities Found."
Hong Ye-eun poured two glasses of scotch. Her hands were still shaking slightly. "They didn't just leave," she whispered. "They apologized. The Section Chief literally bowed to me. Min-jun, what did you do?"
"I fixed the accounting," Min-jun said, staring at the snowy street below. He held the debt deed—the physical paper that bound Jin Hyuk-jae to him—in his inside pocket.
"You bought Hyuk-jae's debt," Ye-eun guessed. She was sharp. "You used the Hanmi Science windfall to become his creditor."
"I bought his balls, Ye-eun. And I put them in a vice."
Min-jun turned from the window. "Hyuk-jae is neutralized for now. He has to play nice. Toss has the bank partnerships back. Hermes is growing. We have peace."
"Peace?" Ye-eun downed the scotch. "You look like you're preparing for an invasion."
"Because peace is temporary. Hyuk-jae will find a way to pay off the debt. Maybe he sells some land, maybe he begs his father. Once he clears that note, the truce ends."
Min-jun walked to the whiteboard. He erased the "Hanmi Science" calculations. The board was clean. He wrote a single word in the center.
ETHER.
February 2016. Mapo-gu Apartment.
Grandpa Byung-ho sat in the living room, reading the newspaper. "Min-jun-ah. The news says North Korea launched another missile. And the stock market is down. Should we buy gold?"
"Gold is a rock, Grandpa," Min-jun said from his computer station. "We are buying gas."
"Gas? Oil prices are crashing!"
"Not oil. Digital gas."
Min-jun looked at the chart on his screen. It wasn't the KOSPI. It was a niche exchange called Poloniex.
Asset: Ethereum (ETH). Current Price: $2.50.
In 2016, Bitcoin was King. It was digital gold. But Ethereum? It was an experiment. A "World Computer" created by a skinny Russian-Canadian kid named Vitalik Buterin. Most traditional finance people laughed at it. Smart Contracts? Decentralized Applications? It sounded like sci-fi.
But Min-jun knew. In 2017, the ICO (Initial Coin Offering) boom would happen on Ethereum. In 2020, DeFi (Decentralized Finance) would happen on Ethereum. In 2021, NFTs would happen on Ethereum.
Bitcoin was the calculator. Ethereum was the smartphone.
"I have 10 Billion won in cash sitting in the bank," Min-jun muttered. "Inflation is eating it. The real estate market is overheating."
He needed to deploy the capital. But buying 10 billion won of ETH in 2016 was impossible. The liquidity wasn't there. He would spike the price to $10 instantly.
"Iceberg," Min-jun decided. "Again."
He set up a trading bot. Buy 100 ETH every hour. Max Price: $3.00. Exchange: Distributed across Kraken, Poloniex, and early Korean exchanges (Korbit).
He allocated 1 Billion KRW for the initial position. It was a "small" bet compared to his net worth (10%). But at $2.50, 1 Billion KRW bought roughly 350,000 ETH.
In 2021, at the peak of $4,800... that stake would be worth 1.6 Trillion KRW ($1.5 Billion USD).
"Grandpa," Min-jun called out. "Do you still have those USB drives?"
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"The kimchi pot ones? Yes."
"We're going to need a bigger pot."
April 13, 2016. General Election Day.
The political ground shifted beneath their feet.
The ruling conservative party (Saenuri Party), backed by the Chaebols and President Park, suffered a shocking defeat. The liberal opposition took the majority in the National Assembly.
Min-jun watched the returns on TV with his father. "The people are angry," Dong-wook said, drinking a beer. "The economy is bad. The youth have no jobs. The 'Creative Economy' is just a slogan."
Min-jun nodded. The anger was palpable. It was the precursor to the candlelight protests that would start in a few months. But for a businessman, political gridlock meant opportunity.
"If the opposition controls the parliament," Min-jun calculated, "Chaebol reform laws will pass. It will be harder for Hyuk-jae to inherit Daegwang Construction without paying taxes."
His phone buzzed. Sender: Jin Seo-yoon (The Princess). "Did you see the election results? The wind is changing. My father is worried. He wants to expedite the succession."
Min-jun: "Expedite how?"
Seo-yoon: "He's planning to merge Daegwang Construction with Daegwang C&T (Construction & Trading). It's a classic move. Merge a company Hyuk-jae owns a lot of (C&T) with the jewel (Construction) at a manipulated ratio. It dilutes the other shareholders and gives Hyuk-jae control of the whole group."
Min-jun sat up straight. The Merger. It was the same playbook Samsung used with Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. It was illegal, unethical, and hugely profitable for the heir.
Min-jun: "When?"
Seo-yoon: "July. The Board meeting is secret. But if this merger happens, Hyuk-jae becomes untouchable. Your debt hold over him becomes irrelevant because his new equity value will be 100 times the debt."
Min-jun stared at the phone. The "Debt Trap" was a temporary leash. The Merger was the bolt cutter. If Hyuk-jae pulled this off, he would become the Emperor. He would settle the debt with pocket change and then destroy Min-jun.
"I have to stop the merger," Min-jun whispered.
But how? Daegwang Construction had a market cap of 3 Trillion Won. Min-jun had 10 Billion. He was a whale in the crypto pond, but a plankton in the KOSPI ocean.
He couldn't buy enough shares to block the vote. He needed allies. Institutional allies. Or... Foreign Activist Funds.
He remembered the news from 2015. Elliott Management attacking Samsung. The era of Shareholder Activism was beginning in Korea.
"Ye-eun," Min-jun texted his partner. "Pack your bags."
Ye-eun: "Where now? New York again?"
Min-jun: "No. Hong Kong. We need to find a wolf."
May 2016. Hong Kong. Central District.
The office of BlackEdge Capital overlooked Victoria Harbour. It was a hedge fund known for its aggressive tactics. They didn't just invest; they sued, they leaked, and they broke companies to unlock value.
Min-jun sat across from Paul Stone, the Asian regional head.
"Daegwang Merger," Paul Stone read the one-page memo Min-jun had prepared. "You say the ratio is rigged? 1:0.35?"
"The fair value is 1:0.6," Min-jun said. "Daegwang is suppressing the stock price of the Construction arm to let the heir buy it cheap. They are stealing 30% of the value from minority shareholders. Including you."
BlackEdge owned 3% of Daegwang Construction. A passive stake.
"Why do you care?" Paul asked. "You're a VC kid."
"I own debt," Min-jun said. "If the merger happens, the risk profile changes. But mostly... I hate bad math."
Paul laughed. "You want us to lead a proxy battle? In Korea? The National Pension Service (NPS) always votes with the Chaebol. We can't win."
"You don't have to win the vote," Min-jun said. "You just have to make enough noise to force them to raise the buyback price. If the buyback price goes up, Hyuk-jae can't afford the merger cash-out. The deal collapses."
Min-jun slid a USB drive across the table.
"This contains the internal valuation reports from Daegwang's accounting firm. The real reports, before they were doctored for the public. It proves they know the ratio is unfair."
"Where did you get this?"
"I have a friend on the inside," Min-jun said (courtesy of Seo-yoon).
Paul picked up the drive. "If this is real... we can sue them in Delaware, Hong Kong, and Seoul. We can make their lives a living hell."
"That's the plan," Min-jun smiled.
June 2016. The Calm Before.
Min-jun returned to Seoul. The trap was set. BlackEdge was preparing the lawsuit. Seo-yoon was rallying the independent directors.
Min-jun sat in his office at Mirue Partners. Toss was growing. Hermes was stable. Bitcoin was waking up ($600). Ethereum was climbing to $12 (The DAO boom was starting).
His 1 Billion KRW investment in ETH was now worth 4 Billion KRW. His wealth was compounding across three different asset classes: Tech Equity, Crypto, and Real Estate.
But the real war was about to start. Volume 4 was approaching. The era of the Candlelight Revolution. The impeachment of the President. The arrest of the Chaebol Chiefs. The chaos that would allow a shadow sovereign to become a King.
Min-jun looked at his reflection in the glass. He looked older. The baby fat of the high schooler was gone. He looked like the man who died on the terrace in 2025. But his eyes were different. They weren't tired. They were hungry.
"Let them merge," Min-jun whispered. "We'll eat the wreckage."
[END OF VOLUME 3: THE CAMPUS WAR]
[TRANSACTION LOG]
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Date: Jan - May 2016
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Asset: Ethereum (ETH)
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Action: ACCUMULATE (Iceberg Orders).
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Avg Price: ~$5.00 (Blended).
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Total Position: ~200,000 ETH.