Chapter 41
Ding.
My phone, which had been quiet for a while, suddenly rang.
“Uh... that sound...!”
It was a familiar notification.
A text from the future.
Those messages were how I could see what would happen ahead of time.
The message that had warned me about the instant rice controversy had arrived several months ago already.
How long had it been since the last one?
Instead of fear, I felt myself trembling with anticipation.
What would happen in the future this time?
Before I knew it, the words slipped out of my mouth.
“I hope it's good news this time...”
Arson.
Controversy.
Those were the kinds of messages I had received so far.
For once, I wanted to know immediately after opening it that something good was coming.
Filled with anticipation, I picked up my phone.
As I did, everything on my desk entered my vision.
[Fourth-Quarter Fall and Winter Home Meal Replacement Market Trend Report]
[Fourth-Quarter Business Plan]
If WG Food wanted to break through the limitations of a small company and take another step toward becoming a strong mid-sized business, we needed a powerful strategy capable of dominating the winter market.
But I quickly ignored the papers and opened my phone.
Just like before, there was a single message waiting.
The moment I tapped it...
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
I instinctively glanced around the office.
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly.
The surroundings were quiet.
Only Assistant Manager Baek Seoyeon could be seen organizing documents in the distance.
Only then did I calmly turn back to my phone.
[Exclusive: Ghost Franchise "Bongau-tang" Deliberately Files for Bankruptcy After Embezzling Franchisee Payments... Key Contract Manufacturers Face Chain Bankruptcy]
“What... is this?”
I narrowed my eyes at the chilling headline.
Then I hurried to read the article.
The message would disappear soon.
[Bongau-tang, a premium Hanwoo galbitang franchise that emerged to target the winter dining market and signed more than one hundred franchise agreements nationwide in only two months, suddenly filed for corporate bankruptcy yesterday.
The operating company, DD Franchise Consulting, is believed to have deliberately planned the bankruptcy from the beginning.
CEO Han Danghyun and the company's other core executives allegedly converted tens of billions of won in franchisees' interior deposits, franchise fees, and first-month logistics payments into U.S. dollars before fleeing overseas overnight.]
The article described one of the cruelest and most organized planned fraud schemes imaginable in the small-business distribution industry.
It was exactly the kind of planned bankruptcy scandal that would dominate the news for days.
“Haah... this is insane.”
A sigh escaped me.
But I quickly scrolled lower.
The article was not only about the scammers fleeing.
It also listed the companies that had been drained dry after falling into their elaborate trap.
“Shit...!”
And at the very top of that list...
The company that had clearly suffered the greatest damage...
Was WG Food.
[The company believed to have suffered the most serious damage in this incident is Honam-based food manufacturer WG Food.
WG Food was lured by Bongau-tang's offer of an exclusive winter supply contract for a special galbitang sauce and devoted nearly 80% of its fourth-quarter production capacity to fulfilling Bongau-tang orders.
However, after the franchise headquarters' planned bankruptcy, WG Food failed to recover even a single won of several billion won in unpaid supply bills.
Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of packs of Bongau-tang-exclusive custom sauce remain piled in warehouses as dead inventory.
Industry experts predict that WG Food now faces a severe liquidity crisis due to the unpaid receivables and outstanding ingredient costs, and that the company may face a serious risk of bankruptcy...]
My fingers gradually stiffened as I read.
Jang Woojin and Lee Sejun.
It had barely been any time since I removed those internal enemies.
We had only just regained some peace.
And now this?
If the fight inside the company had been a filthy political brawl...
Then this approaching crisis was an enormous net cast by professional outside scammers who intended to exploit the innocence of a small manufacturer, rip out its flesh and blood, and run away.
“How am I supposed to overcome this?”
My panic lasted only a moment.
Then my eyes sharpened.
This article was a warning.
And since I had received the warning before the disaster happened...
I needed to find a solution quickly.
“Whew... think calmly. Think.”
I steadied my breathing and moved to the bottom of the article.
There were interviews with franchise owners.
[The current Bongau-tang franchisees are in even greater despair than they were over the headquarters' bankruptcy.
Even though customers are lining up during the early winter opening rush, the headquarters' disappearance has completely cut off the supply of the "exclusive special sauce" responsible for the restaurant's core flavor.
One franchisee operating a store in Gwangju said, "The headquarters were scammers, but the sauce itself tasted so good that sales were exploding. Starting tomorrow, I have no way to get the sauce. I may have to close..."
Most franchisees want to request direct transactions with WG Food, the sauce manufacturer.
However, due to restrictive bundled contracts with headquarters and blocked distribution channels, they are unable to find a legal solution and are left helpless.]
“The taste is good enough that customers are lining up.”
“But headquarters runs away with the money and destroys the distribution network...”
“Vicious.”
I shook my head.
Han Danghyun, CEO of DD Franchise Consulting.
He had only thought about using WG Food's production technology and sauce quality to steal money from the franchisees.
He apparently never considered how essential that sauce would become to those stores.
“How can I handle this intelligently?”
I rubbed my chin and thought.
Knowing the truth and still doing business with DD Franchise Consulting would be insane.
Of course it would.
Why would I sign a contract when I knew the entire thing was a planned scam?
“But if we refuse them... DD Franchise Consulting won't simply give up.”
“They'll just look for another small manufacturer.”
All I would be doing was passing the bomb to somebody else.
And even if I went to the police and claimed I knew the future and wanted to stop them...
They would simply think I was crazy.
Naturally.
I needed another idea.
A way to stop DD Franchise Consulting's fraud instead of simply passing the bomb to another company.
A way to stop WG Food from collapsing.
And a way to save more than one hundred franchisees from losing everything.
If I wanted to accomplish all of that...
What if I knew exactly when the planned bankruptcy would happen?
What if...
At the moment headquarters fled...
I could redirect the entire flow of distribution toward WG Food before the franchise owners fell into panic?
My eyes widened.
“Then...”
“This isn't a trap from hell.”
“It's an opportunity.”
I snapped my fingers and grinned.
“I don't think there's a better idea than this.”
My heart raced with excitement.
