George Orwell had warned about the birth of a system in which the police state enslaved all of mankind in his book [1984]. Gillian had believed that the Bilderberg Club would make that happen. The ‘monitoring public’s every move with a telescreen’ had become a possible reality as communication technology developed. Also, ‘encouraging kids to accuse their parents with a bizarre accusation system’ had been widely implemented due to the globalization of the economic region and the development of financial engineering. The Bilderberg Club was an extraterrestrial world that controlled the entire globe behind the scenes.
However, there had never been one emperor who had ruled over the club in the past. All the club did was come to an agreement every year between members as their interests inevitably conflicted with each other, but the Jeon-il Club was different. They had inherited the Bilderberg’s system, but everything was held under an absolute ruler.
Jessica took the bottle away from Gillian and said, “Your problem is that you think too much.”
She believed that his obsession had moved from the directing department to Odin himself.
“The Jeon-il Club is…”
Too dangerous.
Gillian swallowed the last bit because he felt like there was something watching him somewhere in the room. Jessica could tell what he was thinking.
“There have been occasions in history where people have attempted to dominate the world. Odin is the first person to succeed. Do you get it? You are just shocked as you have been closer to him than almost anyone else,” she said.
“Just shocked…”
Gillian smirked. The only time the financial conglomerates in Wall Street and the City had lost money was when they had fought against Odin. They had raked money in from other areas. The subprime crisis was out of the question. Odin was the only one who had anticipated that the subprime crisis would lead to the global economic crisis as the global financial industry was complex.
Nonetheless, the financial conglomerates had always earned lots of money except for such cases. They were members of the group that set the world’s financial policies, and if they invested based on that information, it was impossible for them to lose. However, Odin had taken control of the rule.
“Odin will become richer at a breakneck pace but in a stable manner,” Gillian murmured.
“You have always lived in a world where the winner takes all. What’s wrong with you now?” Jessica asked, somewhat exasperated.
He sighed. “That’s the problem. If Odin makes the wrong decision, how could we stop him? What about after ten years? His power will grow immensely.”
She shrugged. “We are Odin’s people. Does he look like a threat to you?”
“I don’t know… I don’t know a single thing about him.”
Gillian hated to make assumptions, but Odin likely had the power to start World War III if he wanted to. No one could guarantee the future. For instance, World War I, where tens of millions of people were killed, had been triggered by only two gunshots. It was also unpredictable that the first war would lead to the outbreak of World War II due to persisting global economic depression. No one could even guess back then.
Gillian vividly remembered the scene where Odin had intimidated the members with the first agenda during the conference. His eyes had a crazy light in them, almost as if he was ready to start a full-blown war. It wasn’t anything like an ordinary capital-to-capital conflict. His eyes resembled those of a person who could carry out a physical attack to satisfy his ambition.
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
Gillian felt like he could hear the sound of soldiers marching. If Odin was determined to dictate the world without being satisfied with his current state, things would become horrible. Gillian confided these thoughts to his wife, then Jessica burst into laughter.
“It’s definitely a concern that you would have.”
He protested, “I’m not a daydreamer.”
“I know. If Odin wanted to, then he could. But why are you worried about it?”
“China and Russia are developing so fast. Odin’s power is to such a point where there’s nowhere in the world that he couldn’t interfere with…”
Jessica suddenly covered Gillian’s mouth with her hand.
“I’m serious.” Gillian frowned.
“Yes, you are. But don’t ever say something like this to anyone else. You can only say it to me, okay?”
***
Later that night, Seon-Hu suddenly called Gillian over to talk. When Gillian entered the room, Jonathan was already there. The conversation between the two had already progressed, and Jonathan’s face was rigid. The other man had also raised his voice.
When Gillian came in, they stopped talking all of a sudden, and awkwardness filled the room. Gillian couldn’t understand why Jonathan was frowning.
What happened that made Jonathan grimace at Odin? To the emperor of a new era?
Gillian sat in an empty chair, then Jonathan opened his mouth.
“I feel like I’m talking to myself. You should stop him, Gillian.”
“What’s going on?” Gillian asked.
“He says that he will liquidate the capital.”
Gillian widened his eyes.
“You are such a hot-tempered guy. I’m not going to do it any time soon,” Seon-Hu said bluntly.
Jonathan handed the file to Gillian. The thick pile of documents contained a list of Seon-Hu’s major companies that dominated the world. Many of them were promising companies that would bring good fortune in the future. One noteworthy thing was that they were stocks that Seon-Hu had kept even though he knew they would naturally plunge during the subprime crisis.
Gillian quickly turned over the paper without spending a long time on the stocks section. He wondered if the reason why Seon-Hu wanted to do this was because his capital was so big that it was becoming difficult to handle. However, it was obvious that liquidating them would end up disgracing and ruining them! Their potential enemies would absorb the power that the empire would give up.
It’s a newly born empire. All we have left to do is build a barrier that no one can challenge us. But why? Why?
“Does it make sense to you?” Jonathan asked.
Seon-Hu instantly interjected, “We should begin slowly starting from 2016. If we release everything at once, it will trigger a global economic crisis worse than the subprime crisis.”
Gillian noticed that Seon-Hu’s tone had changed, but he didn’t mind.
So why?
Seon-Hu was commanding them to withdraw from all markets other than financial companies like banks. Gillian had no clue what Seon-Hu’s intentions were. In addition, he couldn’t fathom the scale of the empire in 2016 and how much they would end up withdrawing.
“It will take a long time just to figure out the extent of the entire capital. Help Jonathan and get this done, Gillian.”
It was a ridiculous command even if the worst economic crisis in human history had just occurred. Withdrawing wasn’t the point as Seon-Hu had dominated a number of markets. He should have known this common sense since he had built the empire by himself. Gillian thought the scale of the capital would be unbelievably tremendous that it would be impossible to be kept in one person’s pocket. That would definitely trigger an economic crisis.
Seon-Hu mentioned it as he continued, “We can’t forget that the cash should keep moving around. Establish a system so that it can be used immediately when needed. You guys better start now.”
“I have never violated your orders in the past. Tell me if I have ever opposed you to this extent,” Jonathan retorted.
“Even if markets secure cash, they won’t be able to bear it. We will have to risk a great loss if we forcibly enter the markets. Regardless of victory or defeat, your capital will be reduced to a serious extent. Of course, you will lose your influence and power in the club,” Gillian said.
If Seon-Hu chose to proceed with his plan, an unprecedented currency war would happen. Gillian tried to understand Seon-Hu’s intentions for a short moment, but he ended up asking ‘why?’ to himself.
The empire had been completed, and nothing could explain why the emperor would want to destroy the wall and return to the days when he used to be a mere citizen.
Then, Seon-Hu said with a heavy voice, “You must have thought that I was simply making a threat on the first day.”
He alternately stared at Jonathan and Gillian with the same look that he had had on the podium.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
Gillian felt like he could hear the sound of soldiers marching again.
“But I told the stark truth, and we will need lots of cash on that day.”
“What… what the hell… are you talking about…?”
Jonathan suddenly became frightened, and his voice trembled with fear. He wasn’t asking because he didn’t know what Seon-Hu was referring to: an alien attack. There were cases when geniuses became obsessed with delusions and became paranoid as a consequence. When Jonathan looked at Seon-Hu’s eyes filled with madness, he thought Seon-Hu was going through that phase. Then, Jonathan could understand the unconvincing instructions, and his whole body began to quiver with more horrifying fear.
Jonathan had caused all kinds of wars under Seon-Hu’s orders even though his partner had been just a boy. Ten years had passed, and he had only been focused on working while being sleep-deprived. However, a decade of achievements was about to collapse because of his partner’s delusions of an extraterrestrial attack. Also, judging by the crazed look in the youth’s eyes, Seon-Hu’s mental state seemed unstable.
Jonathan shouted inwardly, No! You can’t do this! Pull yourself together!
Gillian was no different from Jonathan as he was quietly swallowing his saliva with a frown on his face. The two men’s eyes met, and their thoughts were the same.
Gillian was about to open his mouth when Seon-Hu suddenly said, “Both of you don’t know why I’m called Odin. I’ll show you the reason now.”
Zaaaaap-
Sparks of blue lightning appeared around Seon-Hu, and surreal flashes of lights sprang up in front of the two.
Zaaaaaap. Zaaaaaap-
It was marvelous and astounding because it counteracted their known reality. Gillian fell back, stumbling to the ground. The blue streaks of lightning that came out from Odin’s body looked beautiful but threatening, and they had reached the top of the ceiling. In addition, the parts of the ceiling where the blue streaks brushed by had become sooty as if they were trying to tell Gillian that it wasn’t an illusion.
The lights were like living creatures. They wriggled and took over the space at once by avoiding Gillian, Jonathan, and electronic devices. Jonathan completely froze in place as he intuitively knew that he shouldn’t touch them.
Both Gillian and Jonathan stared blankly at Seon-Hu with stiffened postures. All of these fantasies began from the moment when blue light sparked all over Seon-Hu.
“I hope you guys are ready to save the world.”
Zaaaaaap!
“If that’s hard, you guys should look back on what you’ve done in the past. We have always grown by using the world’s economic crises as a stepping stone. And the crisis on that day… will be the worst ever.”
Zaaaap-
“We are preparing for that day.”