Chapter 3

Choi Woo-Jae was different from ordinary people in many ways.

Apart from simply being the chairman of a conglomerate, he was not bound by what people usually considered common sense. For example, he had more than five wives.

Of course, not all of them were married to him at the same time. Five was the sum of his previous and current relationships. Including Choi Yu-Seong’s mother, Woo-Jae had a total of six wives and had children with every one of them. He officially had ten children.

Many rumors speculated the possibility of him hiding more children. For this reason, the media sometimes criticized his morality, but his attitude toward it was always consistent.

I can’t help my innate superiority.

Regardless of what the media said, or how they insulted him, Woo-Jae’s expression remained the same and there was no change in his behavior whatsoever.

That was why, in the distant future, Woo-Jae would say this while laughing as he died because of Kim Do-Jin.

Even if I die, the Comet Group will continue on and you will have to live the rest of your life trembling in fear.

Kim Do-Jin would dismiss Choi Woo-Jae’s words as those of a third-rate villain and kill him instantly. However, in the first part of the novel that Choi Yu-Seong had read, the Comet group really did turn out to be one of Kim Do-Jin’s arch enemies that disturbed his work.

‘After all, of the ten children, every one except for Choi Yu-Seong was quite talented…’’

Later, Kim Do-Jin would understand Woo-Jae’s last words and grit his teeth in anger, but he would nevertheless fail to tear down the Comet Group that solidified its defense after Choi Woo-Jae’s death. The biggest reason, in fact, was that he couldn’t destroy the company that served as the largest pillar of the country’s economy.

Anyhow, the scenario featuring the Comet Group had become the biggest frustration for the [Modern Master Returns] readers and had evoked a lot of complaints.

‘In the end, the important thing was that the Comet Group was an organization capable of interfering with someone who had gone back in time.’

And Choi Woo-Jae was the one who had laid the foundation for the Comet Group. It would have been impossible for Kim Do-Jin to assassinate him if Choi Yu-Seong had not been manipulated like a fool and led him directly to Choi Woo-Jae.

Choi Woo-Jae’s children, who would torment Kim Do-Jin in the future, feared and respected their father.

Choi Woo-Jae prioritized neither money, nor influence. What he valued most was talented people.

He once said that only outstanding individuals were irreplaceable assets, and that was why he had produced ten children.

‘Ten wasn’t enough. He said he would give birth to a hundred if he could.’

He wanted his company to be inherited by his most outstanding child.

Woo-Jae’s thoughts were somewhat based on his narcissistic personality, as he believed that his lineage symbolized the most talented human beings.

In a way, he wasn’t completely wrong. Choi Yu-Seong's nine siblings were all talented enough to irritate Kim Do-Jin.

‘Even a misfit like this guy had clever people by his side, like Jin Do-Yoon and Jin Yu-Ri.

Faced with such rage, Yu-Seong tried to ignore his pounding heart and establish Woo-Jae’s character in his head.

Choi Woo-Jae loved talented and ambitious people; not to mention, he had a narcissistic side that believed his offspring had to be like himself.

Therefore, it was not that difficult for Yu-Seong to choose his third pitch.

“After I adapt to the company, I want to become your successor.”

In a way, it was a curveball, but it wasn’t a pitch where the ball would fly out of the strike zone. Rather, it was a pitch that accurately hit the center of the zone.

Choi Woo-Jae’s thick, gray eyebrows twitched, confirming Yu-Seong’s thoughts.

“Ha…!”

Woo-Jae clicked his tongue, and his mouth suddenly twisted. At first glance, his distorted expression seemed to display greater rage, but there was a flicker of a new emotion.

‘Rage and…’

It was incomprehensible.

Yu-Seong gulped and clenched his fist. He hadn't expected that he would be able to read Choi Woo-Jae in the first place. Choi Woo-Jae was about sixty, a leader of his time, and a level 80 S-rank player who was considered to be one of the top five in South Korea. From the start, he was in a totally different league compared to Choi Yu-Seong.

“My successor? Do you know what you’re even talking about?”

“Yes. I’m willing to risk my life.”

Choi Woo-Jae wouldn’t be able to take his words lightly.

‘After all, I’m actually risking my life.’

Choi Yu-Seong was the only person considered to be incompetent and was hated or ignored by the majority of his siblings for being a failure.

Yu-Seong had more problems stacked in front of him than just the returner Kim Do-Jin.

In fact, Choi Yu-Seong’s defection was due to the bullying of his siblings in the [Modern Master Returns] novel. So if he didn’t do anything now, he would end up going through the same things as the original character.

Of course, Yu-Seong had no intention of becoming a pitiful fool like Choi Yu-Seong in the novel. That was why he had come to see Choi Woo-Jae, the father whom even his other siblings feared, of his own volition—he had come to show his desperate ambition.

“Why?”

Knowing what Choi Yu-Seong was like, Woo-Jae asked for the reason. His eyes were unreadable, but Yu-Seong felt the air becoming heavier and more somber as it pressed down heavily upon him. A pressure that was not only pushing his shoulders down, but also his knees. Even now, he was filled with the desire to run out of this room and claim that it was a joke. But it was clear that this was the last thing he should do.

“Because I want to survive.”

The fourth pitch was a fastball once more. Choi Woo-Jae raised his eyebrows.

“Do you mean that someone’s trying to kill you?”

“If I stay the same, won’t I suffocate to death? My brothers and sisters won’t just sit there and leave me alone.”

“Hmm…”

Choi Woo-Jae stroked his chin.

“And an incompetent like me would be crushed without even being able to challenge them. I’ve considered running away… But in the end, ants can’t avoid human fingers, can they?”

That was how the original Choi Yu-Seong felt and the reason why he wandered around acting like a rascal. It was also the reason why he relied on Kim Do-Jin, since the latter was the only one that appreciated him—although that too turned out to be a lie.

That was the nature of Choi Yu-Seong. He hadn’t been appreciated by his family and he hadn't been able withstand the increasing suffocation. There was no way Choi Woo-Jae was unaware of this, but he was still had some doubts. As if he knew that the rascal and incompetent Choi Yu-Seong could not easily change, he stared at his son with deep eyes as he tried to read the latter's thoughts.

“You’ve always lived as you pleased, but now you’re suddenly trying to change?”

Snorting, Woo-Jae, shook his head.

“People do not change easily. If you are born to be an ant, it is only right to be an ant.”

Yu-Seong’s body stiffened like a mouse in front of a snake after hearing Choi Woo-Jae’s declaration that resembled a judge’s ruling. The sharpness of his words was as sharp as a serpent’s fang while his eyes gleamed like that of a predator who spotted prey.

Yu-Seong couldn’t help but be afraid.

‘This is a test.’

However, now he could see that Woo-Jae didn’t mean it. In contrast to his surprisingly cool-headed attitude to others, he had a kind of religious-like devotion towards his own blood. He wasn’t

really?

telling Choi Yu-Seong to live as an ant.

Yu-Seong decided to throw his fifth pitch, considering it to be his last. He had to change his opponent’s mind with this.

If Choi Woo-Jae’s suspicion is the batter, then he needs to drag the batter out of the batter’s box.

“Who decided that my destiny was an ant?”

Woo-Jae’s thick eyebrows twitched once again.

“What if I did?”

“I’ll change your decision.”

“How dare you…”

Unlike his intimidating response that was spoken as a reflex, his tone didn’t seem that serious. Rather, it contained a stronger scent of amusement.

“How are you going to do that? You

are

incompetent.”

“I am right now, but there is no reason to be that way my entire life. As a chairman—no, as a father, you lent me many things. There were soldiers, weapons, and supplies. If life was a war, then the only thing I lacked was myself. I can change it. I won’t live as an ant. And if possible…”

Before uttering his next words, Yu-Seong unintentionally sighed.

“I want to live as a giant rather than an ordinary person.”

Ambition.

Throwing his fifth pitch, Yu-Seong’s eyes unconsciously gleamed with passionate fire.

He had been born an orphan and lived with a bit of satisfaction, but that wasn’t all there was to Yu-Seong. As he faced Choi Woo-Jae and expressed his thoughts one by one, he felt like he was realizing parts of himself that he himself had not known existed. If possible, he desired to live fully satisfied rather than just a bit.

Come to think of it, he had not once entertained that level of obsession. He simply hadn't gotten the chance.

“Hehe…”

Choi Woo-Jae laughed. It was very low and short, but he clearly laughed.

At that moment, the pressure in the office disappeared in an instant. Yu-Seong’s stifled breath and dizzy head stabilized quickly.

“Phew…”

He sighed long and deeply. He hadn’t realized it, but his whole body was soaked with cold sweat as if he had taken a bath in it. His hair was wet and his clothes were stuck to his body. Surprised by his own state, Yu-Seong quickly tried to smoothen out his expression, but Choi Woo-Jae didn’t seem to care much.

“I don’t plan on counting on an empty bluff. Get out.”

Was it a success or failure?

Before he could get the answer to his question, Choi Yu-Seong had no choice but to bow and leave the room as he was ordered.

***

After washing his sweat-soaked body and eating the meal his nanny prepared, Choi Yu-Seong was about to leave the main house when a middle-aged man in a suit approached him.

Of course, Choi Yu-Seong knew who he was.

‘Kim Pil-Doo.’

He was the chief secretary at the Comet Group’s chairman’s office and Choi Woo-Jae’s right-hand man. Excluding Woo-Jae’s children, he was considered to be the most similar to Choi Woo-Jae.

He held out a wooden box the size of an adult man’s palm, offering it to Yu-Seong without any greetings.

“A gift from the president.”

That was it.

Kim Pil-Doo went into the house, while Yu-Seong, Ji Do-Yoon, and Jin Yu-Ri were shown their way out by the nanny.

But all throughout the ride back to his house, Yu-Seong’s heart continued to pound.

‘Father gave me a present.’

Choi Woo-Jae’s praise was extremely rare, and gifts were even more difficult to earn.

He was a greedy person and he did not share his property easily, even with his own children. However, Choi Woo-Jae had now given him a present.

This was a new experience for Yu-Seong.

‘As a matter of fact, everything I’ve ever had is something my father can take away whenever he pleases.’

That was why Yu-Seong had phrased what he owned as 'borrowed' in his conversation with Woo-Jae. But a gift was different. The item Woo-Jae gave as a gift strictly belonged to Yu-Seong. Even in the possible worst-case scenario, Choi Woo-Jae would not take away his gift.

In other words, the wooden box was now Yu-Seong’s only property.

Woo-Jae’s attitude was still cold, considering that he didn’t show his face even when Yu-Seong left his house. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t have any expectations. The present he had just received was proof of that.

‘Then… I better not let him down.’

Was he

?

confident?

‘It goes without saying.’

Yu-Seong smiled as he stroked the wooden box he was given.