Minister Kwak Jin-mo, a former member of the National Assembly, barely flicked his finger at Yoo-hyun without looking at him properly.

Then he went into his office first.

That was it.

He didn’t even apologize, let alone greet him properly.

“What the hell?”

Yoo-hyun turned his head in disbelief, and the aide looked at a loss.

This seemed to be not the first or second time this happened.

Yoo-hyun clenched his teeth and entered the minister’s office.

Clank.

As he closed the door and turned around, he saw Minister Kwak Jin-mo sitting cross-legged on the seat.

Before Yoo-hyun could sit down, he blurted out.

“You were too greedy this time, President Han.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do you mean by the antitrust lawsuit in the US? You should know that your company could tarnish the reputation of our country’s companies.”

Was he trying to act big because he was helping him now?

His tone and gaze were very unpleasant, as if he was looking down on him at their first meeting.

He could tolerate it up to this point, but his heart boiled over when he spoke nonsense regardless of the truth.

Of course, he didn’t show it on his face.

“The evidence used in the lawsuit was fabricated. We are going to deal with that part immediately…”

Yoo-hyun tried to respond calmly as he sat down, but Minister Kwak Jin-mo cut him off.

“Enough. Do you think I called you to hear your excuses?”

“Excuse me?”

“You should have been careful from the start to avoid this kind of problem. We didn’t support your company for this.”

“Support? What kind of support did you give us?”

By this point, Yoo-hyun couldn’t speak nicely anymore.

Minister Kwak Jin-mo narrowed his eyes.

“Easy remittance regulation improvement.”

“…”

“Your company benefited the most from the government’s deregulation, didn’t you?”

The only thing they improved among the mountain of regulations was the internet banking license law.

This law, which was also the pride of this government, was passed thanks to the efforts of former chairman Shin Hyun-ho and current ruling party leader Ko Sam-min.

What did the Ministry of Industry do in the process?

Nothing.

Even when the bill was submitted, Minister Kwak Jin-mo was not even in the related field.

Why was he acting like this?

Yoo-hyun hid his incredulous feeling and answered.

“It was a legitimate legislative process, and most of the people supported it. Thanks to that, many domestic venture companies are challenging innovative businesses.”

“In the end, you monopolized the market, didn’t you? You even carried the big companies on your back.”

“Carried the big companies on my back?”

“You used your position as the vice chairman of Hansung to disrupt the market. And you took all the benefits of venture companies, too. How can River grow without being greedy?”

What nonsense.

He was annoyed inside, but he didn’t want to argue.

The relationship was so wrong that he couldn’t fix it.

He was more curious.

Why did he want to crush him so much?

It seemed like he wanted to help him and get some credit, but that was too much.

Yoo-hyun tried to figure out his intention and approached him with patience.

“I understand. So what do you want to say?”

“What do I want to say?”

“You were the one who wanted to meet me first.”

“Hmm… I’m going to investigate River’s antitrust issue in Korea first. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry.”

Crack.

He clenched his fist involuntarily at the answer.

He was shocked for a moment, but Yoo-hyun quickly came to his senses.

It was clear now.

Minister Kwak Jin-mo had no intention of helping him with the US lawsuit.

He was rather trying to kill River first.

Yoo-hyun cooled his head and faced his arrogant eyes.

“Do you have any evidence?”

“There must be a reason why the US made an issue out of it. I’m going to check that first.”

“It’s the US branch’s business. I told you there was no problem.”

“That’s your one-sided claim. I have to stop you from harming other domestic companies because of you.”

Yoo-hyun was speechless at his tone, as if he had already branded him as a criminal.

“What kind of harm are you talking about?”

“Look at the River Alliance. You’re trying to monopolize the data of the companies with the power of your monopoly platform. Aren’t you trying to unify the entire future industry of the country with the big companies?”

“That’s the opposite. The River Alliance is for the domestic companies that depend on the US giant companies…”

Bang!

Minister Kwak Jin-mo slammed the table before Yoo-hyun could finish.

“That’s enough! I’ll just ask you the conclusion. Did you upload the data of all the domestic companies connected to your cloud service under the name of the River Alliance? Yes or no?”

“It’s not a concept of a service owned by an individual. The data sovereignty belongs to the parties involved.”

“Hey! Don’t beat around the bush.”

“What are you doing right now? Do you have any intention of listening to me?”

He could understand that he lacked understanding of the industry.

He didn’t want to blame his poor career.

But he shouldn’t be unreasonable.

Even with Yoo-hyun’s sharp gaze, Minister Kwak Jin-mo pushed him hard.

“You must think you’re right. You must have good intentions. But your actions themselves are harming the entire domestic industry.”

“That’s speculation. It’s a ridiculous logic.”

“You’re really selfish.”

“Me?”

“Don’t you know that the nation and the people will bear the damage caused by your greed? I’ll stop it by any means.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun was at a loss for words.

How dare he talk about the nation and the people with that mouth.

He was ridiculous, but did he really think this logic would work?

He couldn’t crush a company by himself, no matter how powerful he was as a minister.

The other ministries with common sense would surely resist.

‘How can a person who did politics not know this…’

A small murmur reached Yoo-hyun’s ears, who was suspicious.

“How dare a mere businessman be a stumbling block to the national diplomacy.”

National diplomacy?

Suddenly, Yoo-hyun remembered the warning that Albert Whale had given him a while ago.

-China is planning to pressure River through the Korean government. It seems that they had some kind of deal with the US.

The CIA had promised to somehow block China’s pressure.

He thought it was resolved since there was no word until now.

Was there still room for doubt?

Otherwise, he couldn’t explain the current situation.

Yoo-hyun asked bluntly.

“Minister, is this related to China?”

“China? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Did China demand to pressure River? Or did China…”

Yoo-hyun didn’t miss the expression on Minister Kwak Jinmo’s face as he spoke.

He pretended not to care, but his pupils clearly shook slightly whenever China was mentioned.

Minister Kwak Jinmo cut him off firmly.

“Stop talking nonsense. The matter is settled, no matter how much you beat around the bush.”

“I just want to know why you are doing this.”

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s for the country and the people.”

“Nobody will agree with you.”

“Really? Let’s wait and see. Huhu.”

Minister Kwak Jinmo lifted one corner of his mouth in a confident smile.

How on earth?

Yoo-hyun’s forehead furrowed at the unexpected reaction.

After Yoo-hyun left.

Minister Kwak Jinmo, who was leaning back on his desk chair, was on the phone.

The other party was Li Xueshan, the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.

-Minister Kwak, River has fallen out of favor not only with China, but also with the US Republican Party. The US will soon take a second action.

“It’s a headache because of one fish.”

-Oh dear. You must have a lot on your mind. I’ll contact the Korean forces that share our intentions.

He received a sympathetic reply from him, who was also ranked 20th in the Communist Party.

“No, thank you for helping me. I have to do this much.”

-As expected, you are reliable. Thanks to Minister Kwak, China-Korea diplomacy will flourish more.

“Haha! Thank you for your words. I’ll do my best for the China Dream.”

Minister Kwak Jinmo’s cheerful voice echoed in his office.

Yoo-hyun, who returned home, untied his tie and flopped down on the sofa.

A bitter smile formed on his lips.

“Ha! What did I do wrong?”

He just wanted to create a good company that would change the world.

He didn’t cheat or be greedy in the process.

Yet, the US came running like crazy, and China hit him in the back of the head.

He could understand that.

They were different countries, after all, and they had intertwined interests.

But he never dreamed that a high-ranking official would openly try to crush a Korean company.

What was the point of his efforts to help companies enter the world through River, and to grow venture companies and revitalize the national economy?

He didn’t have to help, but he shouldn’t have interfered.

“Damn it.”

Apart from his annoyance, he couldn’t just sit still like this.

If Minister Kwak Jinmo’s words were not bluffing?

He had to fix it before it got bigger.

Ziing. Ziing.

In the midst of this headache, the phone rang.

The direct number of the National Intelligence Service director, who had thanked Yoo-hyun earlier this year, appeared on the screen.

A few days later, Minister Kwak Jinmo’s words became reality.

His media interview quickly rose to the top of the internet news rankings.

This news spread the problem of River’s US branch to River’s headquarters.

As the giant ministry of industry moved, other ministries also joined the investigation.

It was a swift and coordinated movement, as if they had agreed in advance.

This soon became a tremendous pressure on River.

Right or wrong was not important.

All of River’s staff had to deal with the various ministries’ investigations.

In the midst of this chaos, he was trying to find a way to cope.

Then, more news broke out in the US.

The lawsuit filed by the prosecutors of 32 states in the US, following the Federal Trade Commission, was different from before.

It was not about River’s review, but about River’s alliance, claiming that the cloud tied by River’s alliance violated data antitrust.

It also included a strong recommendation that US companies should withdraw from River’s alliance.

Regardless of the truth, River was branded as an antitrust.

He had expected some extent, but he didn’t know that such strong sanctions would come.

To deal with this, Yoo-hyun, who was in the hospital, hurried to River’s office.

He arrived at the representative’s office and checked the details of the situation based on the data obtained from the US branch’s lawyers and the CIA.

He then called Serena Lian, who was acting as Paul Graham’s agent.