Lunar New Year's Day. A conference room at Hyundo Group headquarters.

The New Year's greetings had been rushed through.

Some had gone down to their hometowns, and some executives had finally been resting with their families. But one summons from Honorary Chairman Gu Monggyu had brought them all back to Seoul.

The presidents of the group's main affiliates and its key executives sat on either side of a long table.

No one spoke first. The room was as quiet as a dead mouse.

Sliiide.

The door opened. As Gu Monggyu walked in, everyone who'd been seated rose at once.

"Sit."

Just the one word. The executives took their seats again.

Inside the Hyundo Group, Gu Monggyu's word was still an order.

Even after Gu Hoseon had taken over the group from his father, that hadn't changed.

One word from him and a president's chair changed hands, and an executive who'd worked there for decades cleared out his desk the next day.

That was why people called him the King Chairman, a byname he'd inherited from the chairman before him.

Chairman Gu Hoseon, too, waited stiff-faced for his father to speak. Gu Monggyu slowly looked around the room.

"Construction chief."

The chief of Hyundo Construction snapped upright at the low voice.

"Yes, Chairman!"

"Talk."

Gu Monggyu didn't waste words.

The chief of Hyundo Construction opened the materials he'd brought.

It was everything they'd pulled together in the single day since the story broke, with every hand on site and at headquarters thrown at it.

"So far, it looks like some of the rebar at the Incheon site wasn't installed according to the design drawings."

"Some?"

"Yes. The detailed inspection of every building isn't finished, so we're still confirming the exact extent."

"Why was it left out?"

"There are signs the site manager and some subcontractors were trying to cut material costs……"

"How many?"

"Pardon?"

Gu Monggyu raised his head. A cold, blue glare flashed across the room.

"I asked how many of the bastards were skimming."

The air in the room grew heavier. The construction chief swallowed.

"We've identified about six…