No Regression for the Victor - Chapter 5
At last, just as Hyun was graduating at the top of his class from a prestigious university and proving his abilities as the company’s successor, the root cause of his ruined life appeared.
It was the chairman’s biological child, born on the same day as Hyun.
No matter how much the chairman and his wife wished otherwise, they couldn’t simply replace the successor with their own biological son—a carefree fellow who had dropped out of university, had no proper work experience, and had just drifted through life—solely because of blood ties.
The real problem was that not only the chairman and his wife but even the patriarch—the previous company chairman and the current chairman’s father—who had retired from management but still held the real power, chose to turn a blind eye to the company’s interests for the sake of bloodline.
“Blood is all that matters, so let Yejun be the successor. Wouldn’t it be enough for Hyun to just help Yejun from the sidelines? That child would have had nothing if not for you two in the first place.”
Hyun had spent over thirty years proving his competence as the heir to the company. Having given up his entire life to embody the dignity and capability expected of a business leader, he could not accept that he was expected to hand over his position to someone who was inferior to him in every way.
Nevertheless, Hyun loved the couple who took him in as their child with a devotion like a hatchling imprinting on its parents. If he had known that love would ultimately be unrequited, cast aside in favor of blood ties, he would not have struggled so desperately to meet their expectations.
Hyun tried to accept Yejun, but no matter how he looked at it, Yejun showed no signs of being a good manager.
The moment he was placed in charge of administration, he left work after turning off the temperature sensors in the warehouse, causing losses of tens of millions of won. He ignored hiring procedures and parachuted in people he knew, drawing resentment from the current employees, and every project he undertook ended in failure. There were even multiple incidents where he was caught getting handsy with employees.
Even so, the patriarch brushed off all these incidents as part of the process of becoming a successor. As for Hyun, he was lectured that it was his fault for failing to set Yejun straight if the latter made a mistake, and that he needed to keep his wits about him.
Finally, on the day Hyun’s betrothed said, “Your grandfather is so obsessed with real blood that he doesn’t even consider you his grandson anymore,” and broke off their engagement, Hyun was dismissed from his position as vice president and resolved to take revenge on the patriarch’s family who had made a mockery of him.
And that revenge ended in success. Yejun, in trying to cover up his own mistakes, committed an even bigger one and ultimately ended up serving time in prison for attempted murder and embezzlement.
The chairman and his wife, left with only enough to barely eke out a living, were cast out of the mansion. The patriarch, having denied his real grandson’s wrongdoing to the end, finally lost his mind.
So if one were to seek someone more perfect than Hyun to carry out a flawless revenge, there would be none.
If Hyun were to take the place of the Duke Transis, the Duke’s story would no longer end in self-destruction, but in seizing control of the empire once more.
However, there was one condition that had to be met for this scenario.
‘How unfortunate. If only you had summoned me three years ago, I might not have so easily rejected this fate thrust upon me.’
It was Hyun’s own willing cooperation.
Unfortunately, even if not for the accident, Hyun was already in a fragile state, liable to break at any moment.
Lee Hyun, the cold-blooded man who cared for neither blood nor tears nor emotion, who only wished for the growth of the company. A ruthless alpha who could drive out even the parents and grandfather who had taken him in, if it was for the company’s sake.
There were always people coveting Hyun’s position. The alphas saw him as an easy mark, not the ‘real’ successor, trying to manipulate him for their own gain, while the omegas claimed only they could heal his wounds, trying to seduce him with pheromones. Both were nothing but pointless efforts.
Hyun had lost all passion for everything. He dutifully kept his seat as CEO out of obligation, but he no longer had any reason to struggle. What was the point of being a good or even an outstanding business leader, anyway? Hyun felt as though he were a wind-up doll whose spring was about to run out.
Hyun died instantly in the accident. With his revenge complete, he had no lingering attachments. Even the sudden extension of his life gave him no new motivation.
Drawing on the memories left in the body of the Duke Transis—who, at this point in the story, had lost the status of Grand Duke and demoted to a Duke—Hyun was now certain what point of the narrative he was in, and, letting his body collapse heavily onto the laboratory chair, he thought to himself.
If I do nothing as Duke Transis, this body would die within five years from the curse imposed as punishment for treason. Until then, he could leisurely search for things he would have wanted to try if he hadn’t been a successor, enjoy some free time, and quietly see out the end of his life.
As long as the Duke himself didn’t start raging for revenge against the imperial family, there was no one so diligent and with so much time to bother seeking out and tormenting a puppet Duke.
The real Duke Transis would probably be appalled by such a turn of events, but Hyun quickly accepted his circumstances and resolved to use them for his own benefit.
