NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9.2 - President (1)
The day had changed. Today, January 7th, twenty days had passed since the negotiation in Daegu. I was sitting in a car driven by Kyung-tae’s subordinates, traveling on an inland road in central California. There was no change in the concentration of magic power.
Throughout the journey from Los Angeles heading north, all I could see were vineyards and orange orchards, making for a monotonous road. Kyung-tae, who sat beside me, idly scrolled through his phone, and his expression suddenly changed when we passed through a cliff-lined area with a breathtaking view.
“Wow. The scenery just drastically changed.”
I took my eyes off my tablet and looked out the window. There, a lake with a vivid blue color still shimmered amidst the continuous drought. The yellowed shores were probably due to the current cold season.
“It’s a shame Suyeon-noonim isn’t here, Hyungnim.”
“She’s joining us in a few days anyway.”
“Even so.”
Suyeon was still in South Korea. She was busy coordinating the New Year operational plans for the organization’s subordinate units and facilities as the secretary-general of the organization’s headquarters.
There had been various things to deal with recently. The Yankees at Camp Henry had agreed to expand the deal, and during the four-day New Year organization meeting held on January 2nd, I gathered the mid-level officers to present the organization’s management policies for the future. It was up to Suyeon and the staff officers and key executives to specify these policies. The decisions of the people I selected were essentially my decisions.
Kyung-tae turned his head toward me. It seemed like he was expecting something.
“By the way, how did you like the novels I recommended?”
“Well.”
I glanced away from the tablet for a moment and looked across the scenery.
“They aren’t proving to be very helpful.”
“Is that so…”
“Don’t be disappointed; I didn’t have high expectations to begin with.”
I usually didn’t get close to novels, and the reason was simple. It was a form of reading that involved a lot of waste. Novels generally prioritized delivering emotions and excitement over conveying knowledge, which was the opposite of what I sought in books.
However, after thinking about what Kyung-tae had mentioned in Daegu, I considered that a novelist’s imaginative thinking might be helpful in preparing for the future.
‘Because there have been real cases.’
In 2001, the collapse of the Twin Towers due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks had a significant impact on the global crime market. At that time, I had been regularly receiving academic journals from several think tanks for market forecasting, and one of them was the American Studies Journal from the American Studies Association (ASA).
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