E/N: From this chapter on, the title “president” that was used to refer to Jeong-Hoon will change to “chairman” for the sake of the flow and understanding.
Butler Joo’s training is hard, but it’s not something they do all day.
The training usually lasts for about three hours, so Jeong-Hoon was able to rest on the sofa in his room. While resting, he stared at the manuscript in his hands that was given by the butler. It was a speech for the announcement day.
“So you want me to read all this?”
“You have to memorize it, not read it.”
“Who wrote this?”
“I wrote it. Is there perhaps something that isn’t to your liking?”
“No, not at all.”
It was surprising that the butler wrote the speech, but since it was Butler Joo who wrote it, Jeong-Hoon was convinced that it was possible. And on top of that, it was written well.
It was written so well that even Jeong-Hoon, who has absolutely no knowledge of speech, thought so.
In addition, he forged Jeong-Hoon’s past as a chairman of Lumen to a great extent.
According to the speech, Jeong-Hoon can be seen as a monster who built the current Lumen from nothing even before he became a middle school student due to his brilliant mind.
“I’m the one making the speech, but I’m a little uncomfortable because I don’t think this guy I am talking about is me.”
“I thought it would be good to create such an image for the audience.”
The story was that he is not a lucky man who suddenly inherited his family’s will one day, but he is a precocious young boy with brilliant ideas.
However, Jeong-Hoon’s actual life was not this colorful and secretive.
He was just an ordinary boy who was swept away by the changed world.
“When I was 10 years old, my home was that of an ordinary home like many others.”
When Jeong-Hoon was 10, the world changed. The dungeon opened and monsters poured out of it.
Society was momentarily in turmoil, but quick to patch up the disaster.
This is because awakened beings appeared, and monsters that poured out were able to be cut down with modern weapons.
However, Jeong-Hoon’s family was in trouble.
This is because the company that his father used to work for fell into bankruptcy.
It was quick to fail because it was just such a small and medium-sized company, not a large company. During that time, smaller and local companies were more prone to failure.
Since then, Jeong-Hoon’s life has been going downhill.
From his father’s company that had collapsed in an instant, to the society that turned upside down.
Jeong-Hoon’s father’s re-employment chances were a long way off, but eventually his father became a chauffeur, and his mother worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant.
Then suddenly, his parents awakened at the same time. Although they were F-class, they became hunters because they thought they could make more money as a hunter than as a chauffeur or a dishwasher.
After that, three years ago when Jeong-Hoon became a high school student, they died in a dungeon.
At that time, the death toll during the dungeon attack was similar to that of those killed in a car accident.
E/N: Along with suicide, the other top leading cause of death in South Korea is car accidents.
Since then, Jeong-Hoon entered an orphanage with a small amount of consolation money.
To summarize, Jeong-Hoon’s life consisted of living in an orphanage, graduating from high school, giving up on college, becoming a day laborer, and becoming a Lord.
“The person that stands before you all today is someone who lost his family in an incident that happened when he was 10 years old, but grew to run the huge fortune that he inherited to become a successful businessman.”
Thinking that there really was no other way to filter this, Jeong-Hoon stuck his tongue out.
It was cleverly written in a convincing way, so even if a person who knew Jeong-Hoon meets him, he or she will think that he is a completely different person with the same face, age and name.
“Come to think of it, if someone who knew me before dug up my history wouldn’t they know all of this is a lie?”
“I have already taken care of that part, so please don’t worry.”
Jeong-Hoon didn’t know how he would have done it, but he definitely thought Butler Joo did something.
Perhaps the Jeong-Hoon who is remembered by those who knew him no longer exists in the world. The Jeong-Hoon from this speech probably took the former Jeong-Hoon’s place.
Judging by the story in the speech, that’s how it seemed like it would be.
“But aren’t we talking too much about the past? It’s a big announcement, but I don’t have any aspirations.”
When Jeong-Hoon realized that the most important thing was missing from the speech, Butler Joo gave him a troubled smile.
Certainly, the reason for making a big announcement as Jeong-Hoon pointed out is for the goals and aspirations.
Butler Joo also struggled with that part, but he couldn’t help it.
“Your Grace will have to fill that part out yourself. It’s not my place to say why you decided to show yourself to the world after years of not doing so.”
As this part of the speech is about the future of the family, Butler Joo wouldn’t dare decide on that in the place of Jeong-Hoon.
As the head of the family, this was Jeong-Hoon’s role.
“That means I can say whatever I want to do, but that’s no good.”
He didn’t have a grand goal, but if it’s something he wanted to do, he just wanted to eat delicious food, drink whatever he wanted, and relax without a single worry.
But since he was being asked to set a goal for basically where he plans to spend the huge amount of money on, Jeong-Hoon felt troubled.
“Do I have to decide right now?”
“It is up to your Grace whether you wish to present your decision or not. In the end, your Grace can just do whatever you wish.”
“… I’ll think about it.”
According to Butler Joo, he didn’t have to present his aspirations if he didn’t want to, but Jeong-Hoon sighed at the thought of having fingers pointed at him for presenting the most awkward announcement in the world if he didn’t.
***
Lumen, a hotel that is proud of being the best in the world, boasts a large banquet hall.
It’s a very fancy facility to live up to its pride.
A huge space reminiscent of a ballroom of a royal palace rather than a banquet hall.
And a light yet subtle chandelier shines on the marble floor.
The platform, where the band would normally play, was decorated for the day. The banquet hall was filled with celebrities and reporters, including hunters and entrepreneurs, along with Lumen’s employees.
All of them were invited to the important presentation held in Lumen.
Faces of people of high status can also be seen.
They are people who have high self-esteem and strong pride, and do not have the time out of their schedule because they are highly important people. However, they are here at Lumen to listen to the subject of the important announcement.
As mentioned before, Lumen is a hotel that is the center of society and holds a high reputation.
Companies cannot just own guilds, and guilds cannot enter industries other than dungeon raids and monster subjugation.
Attacking the dungeon does not yield items like in video games.
Catching monsters doesn’t immediately bring forth profit either.
Instead, dungeons are a treasure trove of resources. It is a trove that could produce oil, fossil fuels, or gold mines.
As a result, it is inevitable for companies to not drool over dungeons.
However, guilds cannot operate on their own due to the law.
In addition, guilds cannot directly develop such resources they gain from the troves as well.
After all, businesses and guilds are playing a very subtle tug-of-war, and it is Lumen that mediates the tenses.
Although Lumen is not active in affairs, it naturally became a mediator between the two sides because of its peculiarity.
As a hotel, it’s where entrepreneurs and hunters can gather in one place.
In other words, the better impressions you show in Lumen, the easier it is to make a mark with a trading partner.
Of course, besides the mediation and managing, it’s the government that actually supervises. But in the end, because it’s the people that do the job, it’s the people that are the most important.
“From top ten guilds to entrepreneurs you’ve only seen on the news, to government officials… It really is no joke.”
Jeong-Hoon broke into a cold sweat as he checked on the guests from the prepared place behind the platform.
The pressure to speak in front of those people of high status was no joke. He suddenly wondered if it was possible to die from feeling this much pressure.
“Would you like a Cheongsimhwan?”
TL/N : Cheongsimhwan is a pill to clear your mind.
E/N: It also has calming effects.
As Jeong-Hoon felt like he was about to pass out from suffocation, Butler Joo smiled bitterly and offered Jeong-Hoon a round pill, to which he swallowed right away.
It will take time for the medicine to start taking effect, but Jeong-Hoon felt a bit relieved knowing that he took the medicine.
“Then, my Lord, I will go and greet the guests. After my speech your Grace can enter the stage.”
Just in case Jeong-Hoon forgot about the steps out of nervousness, Butler Joo reminded him of the order once again and naturally stepped forward to the podium.
Bbababam!
At the exact timing, the band played a few notes to announce the appearance of Butler Joo.
Seeing the butler walking to the beat of the music, it seemed as if he was the actual chairman, not a butler.
With the applause of the guests, Jeong-Hoon felt like he was looking at another world.
“Thank you all for being here today. My name is Joo Young-Chul, the director of Lumen.”
Butler Joo smiled slightly as he politely introduced himself.
That smile wasn’t just a smile out of politeness, but it was sincere one, as if to show how proud he was of the person who he served, Jeong-Hoon, as he is finally revealing himself to the world.
“I am sure you all know that I’ve been acting as Lumen’s spokesperson at the direction of our chairman.”
Although everyone nodded at the butler’s words, their expressions hardened.
With the words spoken by Butler Joo, there was no one here who didn’t know what this important announcement was about.
“And now our chairman has decided to come out to the front. Please allow me to introduce to you… The chairman of our hotel Lumen Group, Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon!”
As Butler Joo’s speech ended, the band’s performance resonated again. This performance was quite different from the one played at the butler’s appearance. It was the kind of music that made the listeners feel intimidated even without realizing it.
“… Mr. Chairman, sir, you must enter.”
Jeong-Hoon, who had gone blank from the music, came to his senses when he heard the voice of the butler through the earpiece he was wearing.
“Oh, it’s my turn.”
Murmurs can be heard between the dignified music.
Hearing the murmurs of the guests made Jeong-Hoon realize how much time he had spent zoning out and began to move his feet.
“This is Lee Jeong-Hoon, the Chairman of Lumen. Please give him a round of applause.”
The beat of the music played on par with Jeong-Hoon’s footsteps.
Standing on the podium at the pace of music, Jeong-Hoon grabbed the microphone.
“Uh, um, I’m Lee Jeong-Hoon, the chairman of Lumen.”
He felt his voice shake as he was making introductions, and Jeong-Hoon tried to recall the next words.
“So…”
The moment everyone’s eyes focused on him Jeong-Hoon couldn’t remember anything he’d memorized so far.
Someone recited the speech through the earpiece, but none reached his ears.
“I have gathered everyone here today to announce that I’m the Chairman of Lumen.”
Jeong-Hoon just said whatever was on his mind as he tried to organize his thoughts.
He wasted too much time at this point and recalling the speech was irrelevant now.
Jeong-Hoon resisted against the gazes that seemed to look down on him.
He was already used to that kind of look.
At that moment, Jeong-Hoon was able to think of what he wanted to say to them.
“Why is such a young fellow the chairman? How old is he? I’m sure some of you think this way.”
Looking around, he saw people nodding their heads as if they agreed.
“Those kinds of questions don’t matter. It’s the fact that I am the chairman of Lumen that’s important.”
It was a remark indicating that he downright ignored the people who had gathered at the hall, but everyone nodded.
If you are the chairman of Lumen, who has money and power, then those miniscule questions didn’t matter. Because that’s how the world is now.
In reality, they didn’t come to see Lee Jeong-Hoon, who seemed like a rookie to their eyes. They’re here to listen to Lumen’s big announcement, even if they are looking at Lumen’s chairman right now.
“So let me just say this.”
The aspirations Butler Joo had mentioned.
Jeong-Hoon did not know if what he will say from now on can be called aspirations.
But he did want to say this.
From the moment Jeong-Hoon spoke his own words, his earpiece had gone silent.
“Lumen will change in the future. Beyond guilds and companies, the world will move to remember the name Lee Jeong-Hoon. That is all.”
When Jeong-Hoon made eye contact with Butler Joo after finishing his speech, the butler bowed politely.
The greetings sent to Jeong-Hoon who had shown his aspirations…
A declaration of purpose that is completely different from the original speech…
That is not just what comes to mind.
An orphan worker who nobody would know if he disappeared from the world…
Lee Jeong-Hoon refuses to live such a life anymore.
It was a declaration to engrave his name in the world.