The story of CEO Kim Taejeong was famous.
After graduating from Korea National University’s electrical engineering departnt, he tead up with fellow Korea National University graduates and developed a Korean-style word processor.
However, Kim Taejeong handed over all rights to the program to soone else, then enrolled in graduate school again.
Afterward, he worked at Daehyeon Information Technology, and with his father’s support, he founded TJ Soft.
To grow TJ Soft, which had been a company developing office software, CEO Kim Taejeong threw his wager on gas.
He acquired the developnt team working on a ga called Blood Alliance — a ga on the verge of cancellation elsewhere — and eventually released it.
Of course, the ga was not successful from the beginning.
People were still unfamiliar with the MMORPG genre and could not easily approach Blood Alliance.
To break that situation, Kim Taejeong visited PC rooms across the country carrying installation CDs himself, promoting it through sheer footwork.
As a result, he turned Blood Alliance into a ga representing South Korea.
At this point, it had grown to the point where, along with StarCraft — now considered a national ga — it stood as one of the two pillars dominating PC rooms.
But the humble and diligent Kim Taejeong seed to have vanished together with Blood Alliance’s success.
‘This... looks like CEO Kim Taejeong is pulling tricks because he wants to ruin this deal.’
Even at a glance, the angle was clear. No — there was no way not to notice it.
When I opened the door and walked in, tension was running through the conference room.
At the sa ti, I recalled the smirking Kim Taejeong and, in contrast, the completely stiff Zhang Zhidong.
“What are you talking about? Why are you bringing that up now?”
“CEO Kim Taejeong also had tis like that. Everyone has clumsy monts. And if you look at market cap or potential, Tencent is higher than TJ Soft. Just because one ga succeeded, don’t get too arrogant. You never know who will grow in this industry.”
“No, I an— who are you to say sothing like that to ?”
Kim Taejeong raised his voice. At the blatant belittlent, Park Hyunseong furrowed his brows.
The one with the loudest voice only wins out on the streets. And on top of that, he had no sense.
Staring at Kim Taejeong with a cold gaze, I spoke.
“Shall we scrap this contract? If you don’t want to do it, then don’t.”
I turned my head and asked Zhang Zhidong.
“Vice President. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Blood Alliance, right? You can take another ga and service that instead, can’t you?”
“Yes. We have no intention of clinging to soone who doesn’t want to sign. We can take another ga — all we have to do is service it. We’re confident we can make it succeed.”
Zhang Zhidong answered confidently.
I nodded. What he said was true.
Tencent was a company that had succeeded in China even with gas that didn’t perform well in Korea.
The enormous user base of QQ ssenger made that possible.
“Then let’s drop it. I’ll have them prepare etings with other companies. HS Venture Capital hasn’t invested in just one or two ga companies. We’ll be able to secure plenty of titles to service.”
“If that’s what you want, sir.”
Zhang Zhidong agreed. I turned my head toward Park Hyunseong.
“Hyunseong. Let’s drop this. Sorry for the trouble. You probably put in a lot of effort.”
Shaking his head, Park Hyunseong responded.
“No. It’s fine.”
“Oh, and let’s liquidate all TJ Soft shares by today. Seeing how they manage with that kind of mindset, they look like they’ll go under soon. Better to realize profits before that happens. You’re okay with that too, right?”
“Yeah. If that’s what you say, then that’s what we should do. I’ll bring it up in today’s eting and move to liquidate.”
Until now, HS Venture Capital had never liquidated all shares of a company it invested in.
They usually held most of the shares, and only realized profits when founders or managent wanted to buy them back.
But liquidating all shares of TJ Soft — not just part of them?
The mont that was disclosed publicly, TJ Soft’s stock price would crash into the abyss.
Other investors would doubt HS Venture Capital’s actions, since HS had never realized profits in this manner.
Then they would surely dump TJ Soft’s stock on the market.
Knowing this, how could Kim Taejeong not react? He scread as if having a seizure.
“N-no. What are you talking about? Who says you can just dispose of the shares however you—!”
At that mont, with a hardened face, Park Hyunseong cut him off.
“I’m telling you I’m liquidating my shares. Do I need your permission for that too, CEO?”
“······Director Park. This isn’t right.”
“What isn’t? Maybe you looked down on because I always go easy, thinking ‘let’s just keep things smooth like water,’ huh?”
“N-no... why would I look down on you? I have no reason to.”
He had quit now, but once upon a ti, Park Hyunseong had been an athlete.
With a guy like that straightening his posture and releasing that atmosphere, it was only natural to feel intimidated.
Zhang Zhidong was already standing at my side.
I listened to the two with an amused expression.
“I made myself very clear. I said we should go through with this contract if possible. But CEO, your actions are the sa as saring filth on my face. Don’t make excuses like you didn’t like the terms. If that was the problem, I would’ve been the first to tell him not to sign.”
“······.”
“What you did is basically protesting that you didn’t like this eting itself, isn’t it?”
Unable to refute, Kim Taejeong closed his mouth.
To such a Kim Taejeong, Park Hyunseong cast a cold gaze and continued speaking.
“I get it. Really — I do. But aren’t we doing business here? If soone like you openly shows negative emotions like this, [N O V E L I G H T] how am I supposed to trust this company enough to hold its shares? The Kim Taejeong I knew seems to be gone.”
At the cold words, Kim Taejeong’s panic was obvious.
“Director Park, you misunderstand. That wasn’t my intention...”
“If I wanted, I could replace the entire managent. But I don’t intend to. Even though I invested, you founded this company and your employees grew it. That’s why I’m liquidating. If we can’t continue together, then we should part. Do you want to acquire the shares we hold, CEO Kim? Or should we look elsewhere?”
If HS Venture Capital transferred its shares, Kim Taejeong’s managent rights would no longer be secure.
But he also lacked the ability to buy back the shares himself.
“······At least listen to what I have to say.”
“Not — talk to him. He’s the one with decision-making power.”
With a firm shake of his head, Park Hyunseong pointed at .
He had grown quite a lot. I smirked lightly, and Kim Taejeong turned to .
“You’re President Kim Muhyuk, correct? I think there’s been a misunderstanding. It isn’t that I dislike this eting itself, it’s just...”
“I understand your position, CEO Kim. You can’t trust a Chinese company you think is unprepared. You don’t want to work with them. Isn’t that it? That’s why we’re dropping it.”
Kim Taejeong pressed his lips tightly shut.
“I also don’t like forcing soone to do sothing they don’t want to. So tell — should we drop it? Or will you look at the terms first and then decide?”
“······What if I like the terms?”
“At that point? Director Park will probably explode. He may look gentle, but he once dread of becoming a national athlete. If he gets angry, even I can’t stop him.”
“T-then I’ll review the terms first. So about this withdrawing-the-investnt thing...”
Kim Taejeong spoke in a crawling voice, carefully gauging reactions.
I glanced at Park Hyunseong. With a sigh, he gave a small nod.
“Alright. Then let’s continue the negotiations.”
If HS Venture Capital wanted, they could change managent at any ti.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter who founded or ran the company.
In a corporation, the owner is the one who holds the most shares.
A famous example: Steve Jobs was kicked out of Apple — the very company he created and built.
Things like that were routine in the U.S. Only in Korea did people cling to the idea that the founder is the owner.
Timing it well, Park Hyunseong stepped in.
“For now, let’s continue the discussion. Let’s send the employees out, and keep only the four of us. The details will have to be handled by the working teams, but we should make the main decision here first.”
Both Kim Taejeong and Zhang Zhidong nodded.
Zhang Zhidong reached to the employee beside him.
Receiving the briefcase, he sent all the staff out.
Kim Taejeong said to the employees who ca with him:
“You all step out and wait.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Chief Gong.”
“Yes, CEO.”
“Guide the other guests to another conference room, bring so refreshnts. And everyone can go ho early today. Good work.”
Lastly, Park Hyunseong sent out Gong Jinju, leaving four people in the spacious room.
Zhang Zhidong and I sat side by side, and across from us sat Kim Taejeong and Park Hyunseong, facing each other.
This ti, it was Kim Taejeong who spoke first. Unlike earlier, his attitude was extrely polite.
“Vice President Zhang, if I offended you, I apologize.”
“No. I understand to so extent as a fellow business manager. Taking the initiative is important. Now, shall we discuss the contract terms?”
Kim Taejeong nodded, and Zhang Zhidong pulled out a thick stack of docunts from the briefcase.
He handed one copy to Kim Taejeong, one to Park Hyunseong, and finally one to .
I picked up the thick pile in front of and began reading.
“As you’ll see, when I checked, the terms of the recent MOU you signed for Chinese distribution were...”
Zhang Zhidong explained at length the contract conditions and the establishnt of the joint venture.
The terms were not bad for TJ Soft — no, they were so favorable that Kim Taejeong’s eyes widened.
I too was a bit surprised by the printed terms.
As expected, Kim Taejeong asked in half-doubt:
“Is this even possible? Other companies probably didn’t refuse because they couldn’t match this...”
“It’s fine. We’re seeing the forest, not the trees. Right now, our priority is growing the company, not making money.”
Seeing that the terms pleased him, a smile appeared at the corner of Kim Taejeong’s lips.
“Five million dollars in contract money and 50% royalty... you can really offer this?”
When Kim Taejeong signed the distribution contract with the Taiwanese company, the contract money had been 500,000 dollars. Royalties varied depending on revenue, but started at 15% and rose to as high as 38%.
And the terms he’d nearly signed for Chinese expansion before cancelation were 1 million dollars in contract money with 30% royalty.
“Yes. Once the contract is signed, the contract money will be paid imdiately.”
Kim Taejeong picked up the papers again and read them thoroughly.
After reading all of Tencent’s proposed terms, Park Hyunseong spoke with a satisfied expression.
“This looks like Tencent has made significant concessions. CEO Kim, what do you think?”
To his question, Kim Taejeong nodded.
“With terms like these, it seems worth taking the risk and signing with Tencent.”
The terms Tencent presented went beyond good — they were extraordinary.
Watching the two talk, I asked Zhang Zhidong in Chinese.
Since neither of them understood Chinese, there was no worry of being overheard.
“Are you sure about this? This is far too generous. I didn’t expect you to go this far.”
“It’s fine. This conclusion ca after a long internal eting. For now, bringing a good ga to China and gathering users is the priority. When people gather, money follows — that is the foundation of Tencent.”
He truly was soone with foresight. The more I saw him, the more I liked him over Ma Huateng.
With a confident expression, Zhang Zhidong asked Kim Taejeong:
“Do you like the terms? This is how much Tencent values Blood Alliance. We firmly believe it will succeed in China.”
“Thank you. This is the first ti I’ve received treatnt like this. It seems I misunderstood Tencent.”
“Then shall we skip the letter of intent and proceed straight to drafting the contract?”
“Good. Let’s do that.”
The two seed to have no disagreents. Now the details would be handled by the working-level teams.
Since things looked to be wrapping up, I lightly suggested:
“Then let’s have the working teams go over the details and et again later. The legal team will also review the contract before signing. For now, let’s go eat. I’ll introduce Vice President Zhang to so Korean food.”
With a regretful expression, Kim Taejeong answered:
“I don’t think I can join. I have an appointnt. It’s an important one... difficult to cancel.”
Scheduling an appointnt despite hosting an overseas guest for an important eting — this person lacked basic manners.
I didn’t like it, but there was nothing I could do.
Pointing it out for no reason would only dampen the mood. Smiling, I said:
“Alright. Then shall we get going?”
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