Chapter 276. Shareholders’ Meeting (4)

Eun-Ho approached the sword that was tied up as if it was a condemned sinner. With each step he took, a radiant spectrum of colors surged toward him.

In the absolute darkness, where neither natural nor artificial light existed, the sword alone flickered.

[Red Flame Divine Sword]

- A sacred blade forged by the Sun God, carved from dense flames blooming alongside sunspots.

- It contains a red core and a golden corona within its edge, and it chooses its own master.

- Attack Power: 50-100 and increases critical hit rate by ten percent.

- Unique Skill: Black Sun Explosion(Lv. 9)

It was a sword said to have been cut from the sun itself.

[The Sun Armor is reacting to fragments of its former master.]

[It is resonating with an artifact of the same origin.]

Even setting aside the ominous messages and the armor that throbbed like a beating heart, the sword’s stats alone were exceptional. Not only was its base attack power on an entirely different level, but a ten percent critical chance was no small bonus either. The skill Black Sun Explosion, which was likely tied to light or heat, was also worth anticipating.

This is it.

Eun-Ho pushed forward through the cascading lights. The red scabbard was etched with indecipherable runes, its edges lined in gold. As more of the blade revealed itself, the waves of light and heat intensified.

[Caution!]

[Blood Binding has been detected.]

[Refrain from contact and retreat!]

At that moment, the blood-red chains surrounding the sword began to hum. Then, thick, red liquid started dripping from them like blood.

So this is the Blood Binding.

If he touched that liquid, it would undoubtedly harm him. His fingertips would melt, and his bones would corrode.

Still, I can’t just leave this behind.

He turned away from the sword and exited the hut. Moments later, he returned from the third thatched hut, carrying something else. It was the Wind Slayer.

Shing—

He drew the pale white blade from its bluish-gray sheath. “Sword Aura.”

The blade ignited with a blue aura as he brought it down again and again. Each strike tore into the chains, drawing blood. Blue and red flames burst outward, clashing violently. At last, he broke the binding.

Fwoooooosh—

Light and heat surged outward like a tidal wave.

“Petrify,” he muttered.

His hand hardened as he reached forward and grasped the hilt.

A moment later, a message echoed in his ears.

[The blessing of the Sun God takes root.]

[You are absorbing the Soul Fragment.]

An unknown power flooded into Eun-Ho. His vision sharpened. His heart raced with a surge of energy that made him feel as though he could accomplish anything. The heat vanished as quickly as it came, followed by the echo of a familiar voice.

“How dare a mere sword refuse to acknowledge me as its master! Are you rebelling?!”

This voice is...

It was the chairman. Eun-Ho had seen something similar when he obtained the Sun Armor. That time, it had been a fragment of the previous owner’s memory. This time, it seemed to be from when the chairman had tried to claim this sword.

“Do you still not understand?! Everything on this land belongs to me!” the chairman had shouted.

To sum it up, the sword had rejected the chairman. Why it accepted him but not the chairman, Eun-Ho didn’t know. However, one thing was clear: whether it was the sword or the Sun God, something had judged Eun-Ho to be different from the man.

Either way, I should thank the chairman for hiding it instead of destroying it. I’ve taken everything worth taking.

With a lighter heart and a hint of anticipation, Eun-Ho walked toward the hut across the stream. It was the fifth and final treasure vault.

Hmm?

The interior resembled either a study or an old bookstore.

Inside, there was only a desk and a single bookshelf. Dust had piled thickly over everything, suggesting it hadn’t been touched in ages. He reached out and pulled out what appeared like a book from the shelf.

Huh? A diary?

The soil is red and light. Even the slightest touch stirs up clouds of dust.

It was a record written long ago, during the early days of developing this land.

There’s barely any nutrients. Anything we plant withers and dies. Completely useless soil. This land must have been abandoned just like us.

He was seeing the chairman’s beginning.

Even so, I will succeed. I will prove how far a city of the abandoned can rise.

The man had once held ideals. Naturally, there had to be some reason, some ambition, some dream that drove him to build a company from nothing in a barren wasteland.

I secured my first investment. We won’t go hungry anymore. I bought the planet Earth. I then selected employees and established a business district. One day, this company will rule the entire universe.

Eun-Ho could respect that much. To claim more than ten planets and build them up to this extent, the chairman must have overcome countless obstacles.

I’ve launched a new business, developing abandoned lands in their entirety and selling them. I need more land.

Perhaps, at the beginning, it had been pure. It could have all started from a desperate need to survive, and a burning desire to prove himself to those who had cast him aside.

There are no empty planets left. I need to find another way.

Then, greed had grown and desire had taken root. Eventually, he began to see all living beings as mere tools.

Restructuring is profitable.

However, Eun-Ho was different. He would not confuse means with ends and repeat a history written in blood.

Thud.

Eun-Ho closed the dust-covered diary. No matter what happened, Eun-Ho swore he would never be crushed beneath the weight of the crown.

***

The bulletin board was on fire.

[Breaking News] Policies to Be Introduced Leaked

[Confirmed]

Salary renegotiation, five-day workweek, overtime pay, night shift allowance, weekend work allowance

[Highly Likely]

Flexible work hours, hazard pay

[Under Review]

Open promotion exams

...

The policies being prepared in the chairman’s office had all been leaked.

Ji-Eun stared at the screen as if she would be pulled into it. “W-what? Why is this even on here?!”

The leak had come from someone inside the secretary’s office, complete with ID verification. It was classified information that was never supposed to see the light of day.

“I clearly said this had to remain confidential until the official announcement after the chairman’s inauguration!” Ji-Eun said.

“The reaction’s explosive,” Eun-Ho remarked. “It hasn’t even been ten minutes since it was posted.”

“What do we do? Should we delete it now?” Ji-Eun asked.

“No,” Eun-Ho replied, shaking his head with a faint smile. “Just leave it. It’s not bad.”

“Huh?”

“The comments.”

└ Where’s this info from?

└ Supposedly someone from the chairman’s secretary office

└ Yeah, they even verified their ID

└ Wait, flexible hours are likely? That’s insane lol

└ What’s flexible hours?

└ As long as you meet your weekly hours, you can choose when to start and leave work

The response was unsurprisingly explosive. Of course, since it was an anonymous board, not every comment was positive.

└ Idiots. If they implement all this, the company’s doomed

└ This is just PR from when he was union leader lol you actually believe this?

└ Exactly. If he knew he’d become chairman, he’d never have said any of this.

└ I work in the secretary’s office. The chairman’s busy trying to erase everyone’s memory right now

└ But what if he actually goes through with it?

└ I’ll crawl to work on my knees every day

Still, even the negative reactions shared a common thread. They didn’t believe it was possible. That meant one thing. If Eun-Ho proved it was possible, he’d instantly gain a truckload of loyal supporters.

“This is a problem.” Ji-Eun frowned. “Flexible work hours haven’t even been finalized yet, and now it’s already spread everywhere...”

“It was going to be decided in today’s meeting anyway,” Eun-Ho replied casually.

She tilted her head, puzzled. “Wait. Eun-Ho, did you already know about this?”

“About what?”

“The leak. You don’t seem surprised at all.”

Ah, haven’t I mention it? Eun-Ho thought.

“I was the one who posted it,” he said.

“What?”

He had verified himself with a secretary office ID; categorized the policies into confirmed, likely, and under review; and carefully selected the most attention-grabbing ones before posting them.

“Yes,” he said calmly. “That leaker was me.”

Ji-Eun blinked in disbelief. “You?”

“I guess I did a good job making it look real.” He grinned. “Even you didn’t notice.”

“What?!” She looked completely dumbfounded. “But you said you were going to announce all this yourself during the inauguration ceremony!”

“I still will.”

“Then why leak it early? And why impersonate someone from the secretary’s office?”

“There are two reasons. First, I laid the groundwork.”

“The groundwork?”

“The inauguration ceremony should be an event where everything is already complete before being revealed.”

“Isn’t it already complete?”

No, the most important piece is still missing.

“The public opinion,” he said.

Her eyes widened. Eun-Ho had taken the position by force.

If any opposing faction voiced their dissatisfaction during the ceremony, it could spiral into a serious issue. Even a few murmurs questioning whether he deserved the position could sway those who had been neutral until now. That was why Eun-Ho had to shift the focus from the man who seized the chairman’s seat to the new company he would create.

“Ah,” Ji-Eun murmured. “I see what you mean now. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

“It’s nothing,” he replied lightly. “Just a bit of scheming.”

However, there was another reason he hadn’t told her.

[The employees are in awe of your boldness.]

[Their loyalty toward you has significantly increased.]

[Average Loyalty: 40% → 55%]

That was the chairman-exclusive trial, visible to him alone.

[You have secured majority support.]

[The Win Public Support trial has been successful.]

Technically, it was an acting chairman-exclusive trial, but that didn’t really matter.

[You have reduced the remaining time by six days out of seven.]

[Additional rewards will be granted.]

He recalled the reward clearly. It was to raise the average loyalty of all employees above fifty percent, and receive one hundred thousand Welfare Points, along with ten thousand Benefit Points.

I used team benefits to renovate the office and send the team for training before...

Eun-Ho had already been curious about what company-level benefits could do.

Just as he was about to check the rewards, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.

Beeeep—

Then came a crackling, distorted sound that he hadn’t heard in a while.

[Would you like to che... rewar... ?]

That was a system error, the same kind that appeared whenever something went wrong.

Why now?

“Eun-Ho? What’s wrong?” Ji-Eun asked with concern.

Before he could respond, a warning window flashed up, blocking his view of her face.

[Alert!]

[An application for Injunction to Suspend Execution of Representative Duties has been filed.]

[Acting Chairman authority has been suspended.]

“Ha...”

With an injunction to suspend execution of duties, someone was trying to block the power Eun-Ho had taken for himself.

As for who that someone was, it was obvious.

[Request to Convene an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting has been activated.]

[Purpose: verification of the representative candidate’s qualifications]

[Convene the meeting without delay!]

“The inauguration ceremony won’t be easy,” Eun-Ho said.

“Sorry?” Ji-Eun blinked.

“There are some rather strict people involved.”

To officially take the chairman’s position, there was a hurdle Eun-Ho had to overcome. The company’s true owners, people whose existence Eun-Ho hadn’t even been aware of, had finally stepped forward.

“The shareholders,” he said.

Her eyes widened.

[Special order Hold an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting has been activated!]

- Send notice of meeting

- Convene the shareholders’ meeting

- Register changes and prepare minutes based on the results

“The shareholders? But why now, after staying quiet all this time?” Ji-Eun muttered.

“We’ll just have to ask them,” he replied calmly.

It was something he would have to deal with eventually. Dragging it out would only give ammunition to those still loyal to the former chairman.

There’s no reason to leave loose ends behind.

It was better to clean everything up before the inauguration ceremony.

“F-first, Eun-Ho, calm down,” Ji-Eun said hurriedly. “I’ll at least try to prepare a list of possible questions they might ask during the candidate evaluation—”

“How can you prepare questions when you don’t even know what kind of people the shareholders are?” he interrupted.

“That’s true, but we can’t just do nothing!”

She wasn’t wrong. They couldn’t hold a shareholders’ meeting without any preparation.

“Let’s send the notice first,” he said.

“What? Right now?!” Ji-Eun exclaimed.

It was the notice requesting shareholders to attend the meeting. That alone would be enough to identify who they were and where they lived.

“And once you find out? Then what?” she asked cautiously.

Eun-Ho smiled faintly. “What else is there? I’ll go meet them.”

He intended to see, with his own eyes, the faces of those esteemed shareholders.