The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“Dokyung-ssi, what’s the occasion? You always leave first after work.”

Two evenings later.

As the end of the workday approached, Dokyung suggested to Han Dahyun that they have dinner together if she had time. Han Dahyun, brightening at Dokyung’s words, left the office with him.

“Ah, I have something to discuss with you today, Dahyun-ssi.”

“With me?”

“Yes. I was thinking of having a light dinner. How about sandwiches?”

At Dokyung’s words, Han Dahyun tilted her head quizzically before nodding, assuming Dokyung had something in mind.

“Sounds good. I’ll have meatball.”

Dokyung smiled at Han Dahyun’s response and picked up takeout from a sandwich shop near the center. They then walked together to a building a short distance away.

“Oh, this is…”

“Yes, it’s a shared office space. You know it well, right?”

“Of course. Work On, the company running this place, is one of the hottest startups these days.”

Dokyung chuckled at Han Dahyun’s characteristic answer.

A shared office was exactly what it sounded like—renting a workspace.

From as short as hourly rentals to as long as yearly.

Dokyung had briefly rented this space today to have a quiet conversation with Han Dahyun.

The two entered an empty meeting room, and Dokyung took out some documents from his bag before sitting across from Han Dahyun.

“Are we working?”

Han Dahyun, who had started eating her sandwich as soon as she sat down, perhaps due to hunger, asked while wiping her mouth. Dokyung pondered how to broach the subject.

“What’s up, Dokyung-ssi? Why such a serious expression?”

Han Dahyun swallowed the last of her food and looked at Dokyung with a serious expression.

“Do you have something serious to tell me?”

“Dahyun-ssi, what I’m about to say isn’t meant to intrude on your work at all.”

“……”

“I hope you understand that I’m not trying to meddle unnecessarily.”

Dokyung hoped his sincerity would come across, even if just a little.

Then, steeling himself, he began to speak to Han Dahyun, who was looking at him intently.

“There’s a problem with Tribe.”

Dokyung said this while opening the documents he had organized after returning to the center today, deliberately avoiding Han Dahyun’s gaze as he continued.

“First, they’ve painted a picture on their financial statements.”

Dokyung talked about Tribe’s financial statements as he had understood them.

“Dahyun-ssi, have you looked closely at Tribe’s financial statements?”

As he asked this, looking at Han Dahyun, she slowly shook her head.

“I understand. It’s not our job to scrutinize financial statements. They recorded a profit turnaround of 300 million won this year, but their fixed costs have been frozen for the past three years.”

“…Isn’t that because IT companies have low variable costs due to their nature?”

Han Dahyun opened her closed lips in response to Dokyung’s words.

“It’s the same for companies listed on the stock market, right? IT companies always have steady fixed costs. That’s because most of their fixed expenses are labor costs. The fluctuation can’t help but be small…”

“No. Surprisingly, large IT companies have significant fluctuations in fixed costs.”

Dokyung looked straight at Han Dahyun as he continued.

“It’s because of those labor costs you mentioned.”

“……”

“The pool of domestic developers is limited. Domestic IT companies are truly a hybrid. Ah, of course, I’m talking about the corporate environment.”

“What’s different?”

“Domestic IT companies are different from those abroad. Rather than having a developer-friendly atmosphere, it’s an environment where people who know nothing about development come in as heads and shake things up based on business potential.”

Han Dahyun quietly focused on Dokyung’s words.

“As a result, there are frequent cases of good developers leaving for overseas companies. The pool of talented developers is limited.”

In any profession, talented individuals were limited, and their compensation was above the industry average.

But for developers, the talent pool was even smaller, and they received even higher compensation.

“The only way to secure such developers is through treatment. In other words, high salaries and substantial performance bonuses.”

Dokyung pointed to Tribe’s financial statement on the table.

“But what about Tribe’s financial statements?”

Tribe’s financial statements showed no increase in fixed costs corresponding to labor costs.

Since the business started and got on track, Tribe’s fixed costs had been virtually frozen.

“The number of developers has increased by 30 during this period. From 50 to 80 people.”

“……”

“Moreover, even while pursuing NFT business, which is drawing the most attention in the IT industry, and recruiting blockchain developers, their fixed costs remained frozen.”

“But…”

“I know what you’re trying to say. Not just you, but everyone turned a blind eye to the essence during that period and focused solely on performance.”

Tribe’s freezing of fixed costs shown in the financial statements was a long-standing practice.

During that time, Tribe had received considerable investment from Series A to Series C.

Were they fools?

Ironically, it was because they weren’t fools that they invested in Tribe despite taking this into account.

Why?

Because Tribe’s sales were on an upward trend.

It was something committed due to the bubble that blinded everyone’s eyes in the era of liquidity.

“The only basis for this was that Tribe’s sales were trending upward, and they were on the verge of turning a profit.”

Everyone was intoxicated.

By the fact that a startup had survived and turned a profit by wedging itself into a narrow gap between giant companies in an environment where it’s difficult for startups to survive.

“But what if even those upward-trending sales were manipulated?”

“What do you…”

Faced with Dokyung’s words that fell like consecutive bombs, Han Dahyun trailed off, seemingly unable to gather her thoughts.

“Here are Tribe’s viewer numbers by time slot for the past two days.”

Dokyung opened the next page of the document.

From the day he met Kim Hyun-gyu, a former Tribe employee, in Pangyo, Dokyung had investigated Tribe’s viewer numbers by time slot over the weekend.

Of course, since Dokyung had done it himself, it might differ from the actual data, but precisely because he had confirmed it himself, Dokyung was certain.

“When popular BJs like Sleeping Turtle and Fluffpuff were broadcasting, Tribe’s total viewer count was around 80,000.”

While larger internet broadcasting platforms might have had even more, Tribe’s numbers were impressive too.

It wasn’t easy to record 80,000 simultaneous viewers.

“But when their broadcasts end? The time slot with the most viewers had a total of about 4,000 viewers, and the least had about 1,200.”

For major internet broadcasting sites, these would be viewer numbers for mid-tier broadcasts.

But for Tribe, this was the total viewer count.

“But they’re a growing company, right? Naturally, at the same time, other…”

“And I believe half of these numbers are BOTs.”

At Dokyung’s words, Han Dahyun’s eyes widened in surprise once again.

“Furthermore, I’ve heard testimony that part of this sales increase was set up by Tribe itself using BOTs to shoot T coins at specific times. This is the result of interviewing a former Tribe developer. All of their testimony is written here.”

Han Dahyun stared at the document with unfocused eyes.

“Dahyun-ssi.”

Dokyung called out to Han Dahyun in a cautious voice.

“Investment… no, anyone can make mistakes. I believe that while a person’s trust may fall due to that mistake, it’s not everything about that person.”

Anyone can make mistakes.

Because we’re human.

“However, I think a person’s true character is revealed in the process of dealing with that mistake.”

But whether a mistake is recognized as one that anyone could make because we’re human depends on the choices and handling after the mistake.

“……”

“My job ends here. The rest is up to your choice, Dahyun-ssi.”

Dokyung said this and stood up.

He didn’t want to give her half-hearted words of comfort. After all, comfort wasn’t what she needed right now.

“I only hope that you make the right choice for the sake of the client, for the company’s trust, and for yourself, Dahyun-ssi.”

With those final words, Dokyung left the office, leaving Han Dahyun behind.

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“So, you’re saying there is indeed a problem with the financial statements?”

Meanwhile, KFSG’s CEO Kang Sung-ho was discussing with the person in charge of the Tribe acquisition.

“Yes, based on the documents you gave me last time, Representative, we sent a few inquiries to Tribe. Of course, we didn’t ask if this was manipulation, we just obtained data such as employee recruitment records and the number of current employees.”

“And the result of reviewing the data?”

“After the accounting team’s review, they say there’s definitely potential for issues with the freezing of fixed costs.”

The person in charge spoke to Kang Sung-ho with a stern expression.

“But in startups, cases like this…”

“Hey.”

Kang Sung-ho looked at the person in charge with a hardened expression.

“Did you know?”

“……”

“I asked if you knew about this.”

ang Sung-ho asked the person in charge with a chilling face and a lowered voice.

“I knew.”

“Then why was this left out of the report?”

“It’s a kind of convention in startup investment not to look at financial statements…”

“Are you a startup investor?”

Kang Sung-ho asked, suppressing his anger.

“You’re a fund manager who makes investments with clients’ money. Aren’t you?”

“……”

“Moreover, the fund you’re managing has my name on it, and clients invest looking at me. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s correct.”

“And you! You’re making me a mere figurehead?”

Kang Sung-ho burst out, as if he could no longer contain his anger.

“I fully understand your position that financial statements aren’t important in startup investments, okay.”

After all, it was about investing in startups full of deficits. Many investors didn’t look at financial statements.

“Is our reason for buying Tribe just a simple investment?”

“……”

“We set a goal to acquire Tribe with funds from clients and list it on the stock market. Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not.”

“Then did you think we could pass the IPO process with such financial statements?”

But going public was different.

Even companies with completely flawless financial statements found it difficult to go public.

“Why? Why did you make such a judgment?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is it because Heo Jun-soo is from HMIC?”

At Kang Sung-ho’s words, the person in charge pressed his lips together.

The person in charge was also Kang Sung-ho’s junior from both university and the club.

In the end, he was trying to proceed with investments based on personal connections.

And with other people’s money, no less.

This was the point of the uneasy feeling Kang Sung-ho had been experiencing.

“You’re worse than an industry fledgling.”

“……”

“What angers me the most is that my employee, whom I believed to be competent, failed to spot what even a newcomer to the industry could point out. Do you understand?”

Kang Sung-ho took a deep breath and looked at the person in charge.

“We’ll conduct the due diligence on Tribe again. This time, proceed with the due diligence with the accounting team leader present, and request corrections for problematic financial statements.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Reassess the valuation based on the corrected financial statements, and present the final acquisition cost.”

Naturally, if the financial statements are corrected, Tribe’s value will decrease.

From KFSG’s perspective, this meant they could acquire it at a lower price.

“And if Tribe doesn’t accept the cost we propose, we’ll withdraw our intention to acquire.”

“Re-Representative.”

“Reassess the valuation considering our first proposal as an ultimatum. I’m giving you one last chance. If you make a fool of me again this time…”

“…I’ll do it properly.”

“You may go.”

At Kang Sung-ho’s words, the person in charge bowed and left the office. Kang Sung-ho sighed and loosened his tie.

Bzzt-

Just then, Kang Sung-ho’s mobile phone started vibrating, and he checked the screen.

A familiar name he had saved recently was displayed.

“He’s no gentleman, it seems.”

Kang Sung-ho muttered this as he pressed the call button.

“Manager Yoon, it’s been a while.”

-…

As soon as he answered the phone, Kang Sung-ho’s expression hardened once again at the voice coming from the other end of the line.