NOVPUBUpon arriving at the venue, I found that Go Minji and the rest of the family were already seated. Amidst the bustling surroundings, our designated area seemed oddly quiet.
It wasn't that there were no people; rather, there were bodyguards and secretaries scattered about.
"Welcome," Minji greeted me with a childish grin, turning her head to face me warmly, and Go Minyeong welcomed me passionately.
Other aunts and sisters were present, and even the venerable grandfather nodded at me from his spot, where he sat alone, seemingly keeping distant from the female relatives from the collateral branches.
"Let me greet you again. Grandfather, aunties," I said. "Yes, take your seat. It's about to start," one of them replied. "Yes."
I casually found a seat next to Go Hayan.
"You're here." "Yes, sister."
She smiled faintly at me, then lifted her left hand in front of her face, showing off a ring on her ring finger that was quite eye-catching.
"That...!" "Yes, the ring I mentioned before. How is it, pretty?" "Oh... it really does look different in person."
She smiled more broadly.
"Right. Every jewel has a gap between how it appears in media and in reality."
Excited by the topic of her field, Go Hayan continued talking. Although her expert knowledge was informative, it eventually became somewhat tedious.
Then,
"What’s this? When did you two get so close? Even wearing rings now."
Go Hayan's mother and my aunt, Go Hayoung, leaned in subtly to inspect Hayan and me. Startled, Hayan quickly turned away from me.
"It was just business... that’s how it turned out." "Business, hmm?"
Somehow, Go Hayoung wore a mischievous expression, like a cat playing with its prey.
"Now that I think about it, I have some business matters to discuss with my nephew too." "With me?" "Yes, dear."
What could it be? With the vast scope of Koryo Group’s enterprises, there might be something, but nothing came to mind right away.
"I’ve noticed you’ve been starting a lot of projects recently, but there’s no debt?" "Ah."
Right. Loans...
Typically, running a substantial enterprise almost always involves financial products like loans.
But I don’t have any loans. If anything, it was just the huge amount of short-selling I did while playing around with Real Production, but even that's all settled now.
My loans stand at zero. Only cash. I’m pushing all current business operations strictly with cash, which is quite unusual.
"Not even planning on an IPO to suck in money."
This could be seen as somewhat abnormal. From Go Hayoung’s financial perspective, she might think, "Isn't he moving too slowly?"
"I could offer you a loan at a good rate, my nephew." "..."
She must be talking about interest rates.
"Thank you, aunt. But I don’t need a loan just yet." "Huh. Well, playing it safe isn’t bad. But if you want more efficiency, you’ll need my help." "I’ll keep that in mind." "Don’t be too formal. But don’t borrow from your mom either." "Oh? What are you saying now?"
Suddenly, Go Hayan and Go Hayoung started bickering.
One arguing against recommending loans to a child, and the other asserting that as an entrepreneur, one must understand finance.
Honestly, I don't get why they’re bickering. Both are making valid points.
"If you borrow and can’t pay it back, you’re done for." "Ha! As if I would do that to my own nephew." "You might as well."
Apparently... Go Hayoung might be up to something. Her daughter making such comments implies as much.
'But Go Minji can't stand up to Go Minyeong, yet this side seems different. Harmonious, maybe?'
It seems even within the same Go family, the atmosphere varies from house to house.
Curiously, I glanced over at Go Seona and Go Seonyul. Go Seonyul is the daughter.
"..." "..."
Hmm... Two women who look alike, both silently fiddling with their phones. When our eyes met, Go Seonyul casually shifted her gaze back to her phone, and Go Seona gave a slight nod before returning to her own screen.
How... Mother and daughter are exactly alike.
Suddenly, the surroundings darkened, and a massive hologram appeared in front of us.
[2076]
Then, the characters shattered into pieces, scattering across the view.
"Here it begins."
Finally, the year-end settlement, as well as the presentation of the New Year's goals, began.
The hologram that had darkened the entire surroundings began to shift rapidly, creating a series of visuals.
It briefly summarized the events of 2076, mentioning what had happened and how Koryo Group had responded, resulting in specific outcomes.
Among the more surprising aspects was the 2076 global GDP estimate published by the Koryo Economic Research Institute, which reached a staggering 120 quadrillion won.
"I recall that the total global production in the 2020s was somewhere between 10 and 13 quadrillion won."
Well, considering that the Earth in my previous world and this world's Earth are likely quite different, it’s still an astonishing figure.
From rough calculations, it seems to have increased by around ten times. After the third world war, with all the wealth lost and countries repeatedly dividing and merging, this world has somehow managed to grow to this level.
"Moreover, the current won has undergone a denomination..."
The current won-dollar exchange rate is 67:1. Although the U.S. has fragmented into three parts, causing the collapse of dollar supremacy, even so, the strength of the won is striking.
China has split into twenty parts, Japan has been nearly destroyed by successive natural disasters and devastating blows from China, and the coastal belt from Shandong to the Korean Peninsula, where hundreds of millions are packed together, is in chaos with extreme income disparity. Yet, this area in Northeast Asia is still regarded as the best place to live.
While the global GDP numbers look high, the reality is that the world economy is in ruins. It is often described as a "zombie economy."
"Considering that Asia’s total production is 80 quadrillion, they’re basically sucking it all in."
Out of the remaining 40 quadrillion, the three U.S. factions control about 28 quadrillion, Europe has 7 quadrillion, and the rest of the world shares about 5 quadrillion. It’s understandable given the population density, but still, the disparity is enormous.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Asia is three times stronger than the U.S. or ten times stronger than Europe. Due to internal conflict, both the U.S. and Europe are fractured. If they were to reunite, their combined strength would increase exponentially.
That said, Asia can’t rest easy.
And when I think about how, during the One-China incident, both European Unions simultaneously began to take measures, it’s possible that behind the scenes, some sort of agreement on unification is already in progress.
If this continues, the outcome is obvious.
Europe, having collapsed to a quarter of the size of the three fragmented U.S. factions, surely feels a sense of crisis. They can't afford to keep fighting amongst themselves.
"The worst case scenario would be the three U.S. factions and two European Unions uniting into one."
Like the old NATO.
But I’m not sure if that’s even possible.
Given the betrayal and conspiracies within NATO during the Third World War, I wonder...
"But if Asia ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) alone has 80 quadrillion, how much is Koryo Group making?"
While it’s vaguely referred to as "the group that dominates Asia," it’s unlikely they’re sucking in the entire 80 quadrillion.
"Maybe around 20 quadrillion? That would still justify calling it domination."
Unfortunately, that information was not disclosed.
Looking at global production figures, Asia’s total production, and the situation with competitors in Europe and the U.S., the message was clear:
"This year, we’ve done this well."
And with that, applause erupted.
Many people clapped enthusiastically, their faces filled with pride. Given the overwhelming results accompanied by majestic music, I could understand how they might feel that way. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
And the grand finale.
Up to this point, the grand background music and various devices had been used to heighten everyone’s emotions, but this time, it was even more elaborate.
[Go Youngman, professional Go player inducted.]
"?!"
An absurdly flamboyant phrase appeared, followed by fireworks shooting up and exploding from all directions in Pyongyang.
"Hehehe."
Grandfather, looking completely satisfied, clapped his hands. The aunts, who had looked at him with disdain, clapped a beat late, followed by the sisters, then the applause spread through the entire hall, passing down the line, starting from me.
Suddenly, Grandfather stood up, and the applause continued in a domino effect—starting with the aunts, then the sisters, myself, and then the rest of the people in the hall.
"Wait, is this right? Is being inducted as a professional Go player really that important?"
