After the hot summer passed, real fear finally arrived in the market.

Daeil Precision — a solid company famous for posting over 10 billion won in annual operating profit every year, with last year's 20 billion marking the highest since its founding — went bankrupt. A manufacturer of computer peripherals that had steadily grown its business, its sudden collapse threw the market into panic.

Daeil Precision was nowhere near the scale of Dubo or Doa Motors, yet its bankruptcy still struck fear into the market — for a specific reason. A company that had posted tens of billions in profit every year had gone under simply for lack of 4 billion won in cash, and market observers were now confronted with the terror of profitable insolvency. Even a profitable company had gone under for want of cash. The fear that a company running a deficit, or one not turning enough of a profit, could collapse literally overnight had become reality.

Companies grew desperate to hoard cash, and as banks shut their teller windows, money began drying up across the market.

Chairman Tak-hyeon gathered the group's senior leadership around Vice-Chairman Mun-jong. With an urgent situation upon them, he meant to bring the group's core minds together to put their heads to it. But however urgent the situation, Ilhyeon Group itself wasn't in danger. Nor did putting their heads together mean fighting through a crisis. Compared to other companies, it was an extraordinarily calm gathering — meant simply to review the restructuring's results so far and discuss what Ilhyeon Group ought to do next. Naturally, everything said there carried a warm, congenial air.

"Through the restructuring, Ilhyeon has brought every affiliate's debt ratio below 200%. Our cash reserve ratio is also markedly high compared to other companies, so we expect no significant impact from the current credit crisis."

Seong-ho reported Ilhyeon Group's current standing to Tak-hyeon. At his words, smiles spread across the faces not just of Tak-hyeon but of Vice-Chairman Mun-jong and the rest of the group's core leadership. It struck them that Ilhyeon might be the only company in all…