Chapter 29
[Korea Goes Crazy for "100% Domestic"... The Story Behind the Instant Rice Shortage]
The country's main television news opened with something unusual.
A shortage of instant rice from a small company.
The anchor displayed WG Instant Rice's white package on screen.
“A smaller company's instant rice, which claims not to contain even 0.1% imported material, is shaking Korea's retail market.”
“Consumers disappointed by what many describe as weak explanations from major corporations are now rushing toward so-called 'clean rice'...”
The anchor could not completely hide his surprise.
But he maintained a professional expression and looked toward the camera.
“...creating an unprecedented shortage in which supply cannot keep up with demand.”
The report showed endless trucks lined up outside WG Food's warehouse.
It also showed consumers staring helplessly at empty shelves.
A food-industry professor appeared as an expert.
“This is not simply a boycott led by idol fans.”
“For years, large corporations made cost-based decisions regarding imported materials.”
“Now that issue has collided with the public's desire for transparency and honesty.”
“That is why the reaction exploded.”
It was not only the news.
Online communities and social media had become a stage entirely dominated by WG Instant Rice.
Video platforms were filled with people comparing WG's ingredients to major-company products in microscopic detail.
Views increased every day.
Parody videos mocking the major corporations' official explanations also spread rapidly.
On social media...
People even shared real-time maps showing where WG Instant Rice was still in stock across the country.
WG Instant Rice had once been the company's painful product.
A product collecting dust in a warehouse while waiting for discontinuation.
Now...
It had become one of the hardest foods to buy in Korea.
The most valuable.
And the most famous instant rice in the country.
Choi Inwoo stood in the middle of the office.
Phones screamed from every direction.
He stared at the sales numbers filling his monitor and slowly exhaled.
The graph did not merely rise vertically.
It looked ready to punch through the top of the screen.
Then his gaze shifted.
Lee Sejun sat in a distant corner, staring blankly at his monitor.
A strange emotion covered his face.
Choi Inwoo narrowed his eyes.
“Lee Sejun... what exactly are you planning?”
The office was still chaotic as everyone cleaned up the aftermath of the weekend storm.
But the atmosphere had completely changed.
During the weekend, production and sales plans had been completely unorganized.
Now...
Production schedules had stabilized.
Shipping schedules had been established.
Calls from impatient supermarket buyers were gradually becoming less frantic.
And a strange sense of awe had begun spreading through the office.
Employees kept looking toward Choi Inwoo.
He sat quietly at his desk.
But their eyes no longer looked at him like an ordinary coworker.
“Hey, Inwoo.”
“I just met Assistant Manager Kim from General Affairs.”
“Apparently the atmosphere over there is insane.”
Im Sanghyeon leaned over the partition with a coffee cup.
His excited voice made Baek Seoyeon and several nearby employees listen too.
Choi Inwoo remained calm.
“What is so insane?”
Im Sanghyeon waved his hand dramatically.
“Eighty percent of the conversations coming out of the executive offices and CEO's office are about you.”
Baek Seoyeon joined in.
“Not just there.”
“I think more than ninety percent of the conversations inside the company are about Assistant Manager Choi these days.”
Employees laughed and nodded.
“Honestly, everyone knows the instant rice didn't explode by accident.”
“People are saying it was completely because of Choi Inwoo's judgment and response.”
Choi Inwoo shrugged.
“I was lucky.”
“Lucky?”
“You predicted exactly how the major corporations would respond.”
“You pushed through that insane package design.”
“And then the advertisement.”
“The CEO keeps saying no ordinary person could've seen the situation that clearly.”
Baek Seoyeon put aside the documents she had been organizing.
“I agree.”
“Assistant Manager Choi.”
“Assistant Manager Joo Narae from the design team is going crazy talking about you too.”
Im Sanghyeon tilted his head.
“Why Assistant Manager Joo?”
“You haven't heard?”
“Heard what?”
Baek Seoyeon lowered her voice.
“When Manager Jang and Assistant Manager Lee stormed into the meeting room and started attacking your advertisement...”
“They say Assistant Manager Choi didn't even blink.”
“He just crushed every argument with facts.”
“They said his charisma was insane.”
Im Sanghyeon gave a thumbs-up.
“Long live my coworker.”
“But there's more.”
Baek Seoyeon smiled.
“What else?”
“I have a friend who works at OI Food.”
“Seriously?”
“She works in the legal department.”
Everyone in the office quietly listened.
“Apparently, from the weekend until this morning, they even brought in lawyers from major firms.”
“They spent the whole time trying to find a way to sue WG Food over the advertisement.”
“What?”
“Can they sue us?”
Several junior employees approached.
“If a major corporation sues us, can we even handle that?”
Baek Seoyeon smiled.
“But do you know what's funny?”
She waved her hand.
“Those expensive lawyers spent the whole night analyzing our advertisement.”
“And their conclusion was that there is basically nothing they can do legally.”
“Well, of course.”
“We never named any of the major companies.”
