A Fateful Reunion

The Merchant of Venice.

One of Shakespeare's five great comedies, written in the sixteenth century.

It even appears in Korean textbooks.

The gist is that justice is served upon a usurer.

Looking at it as an adult, it makes no sense.

Isn't failing to repay a debt the actual wrong here?

I still don't understand why the judge sides with Antonio.

"Rejecting the Keynesian school is no different from rejecting capitalism outright, is it not?"

"That is the common delusion of Keynesian devotees."

"Oh~ A delusion, you say?"

There was a reason the era produced that kind of thinking.

Back then, charging interest was considered impious.

The concept of interest rates is younger than most people think.

Religion was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠culprit. In Christianity, taking interest amounted to blasphemy. It was only legalized in the sixteenth century. Islam still forbids interest under religious law to this day.

"So long as the Federal Reserve monitors market conditions and controls interest rates, there is no problem."

"So in the end, you're admitting they intervene in the market."

"Yes — an appropriate response tailored to the situation."

"And that is precisely the delusion."

The aftershocks linger even now. Tampering with interest-rate figures still feels uncomfortable, even distasteful — the same way people say, What interest? We're friends borrowing money. It gets painted as the pursuit of private gain. Deeply rooted culture does not change easily.

In Europe, interest rates were never artificially manipulated. That practice began in America. And at the center of it all—

"Don't tell me you're about to invoke Gibson's Paradox?"

"I'm not here to crack jokes."

"Then what?"

"You called it an 'appropriate response'…… Has it never occurred to you that the idea of human beings delivering a one-hundred-percent rational response is pure arrogance?"

The Jews. The absurd little story that Shylock from The Merchant of Venice is the one pulling the strings of modern capitalism.

And we are the ones living inside that absurd little world.

Things must not be allowed to flow according to their will. The people who rejected the neoclassical school are the ones who will kill us all in the longer run.

"Um…… what exactly are you two talking about?"

"What's Gibson's Paradox?"

"Just sit still."

For first- and second-year students, the material might have been a bit advanced. Even I had gotten a little worked up for the first time in a while.

Because there's someone I refuse to lose to.

I never imagined I would run into her this early — and at Hankuk University, of all places.

"What on earth have you been trying to say this whole time?"

"Just look at that damn old man Powell and you'll understand. Wagging his tail for whichever party holds power, Democrat or Republican, kissing up to whoever's in charge."

"The Federal Reserve is an institution independent of the executive branch."

"On the surface, sure. In reality, they're lapdogs who lick whatever the politicians tell them to lick."

Rachel Bigger.

There was no one else it could be. No other female her age could fire back at me like that.

And that absurdly huge ass of hers seals it.

She swayed those lewd hips without a shred of shame, flaunting her figure with total confidence. Nine times out of ten, she was the woman I knew — the goddamn bitch I'd had a bitter entanglement with in my previous life, the one I'd owed a debt to.

"That is a defamation of the American system."

"Yes. I am defaming it."

"My Korean is not yet perfect, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠may I supplement my explanation in English?"

"The type who reverts to her mother tongue when she gets excited?"

"What did you say?!"

The first place I'd met her was Beijing. She'd said she was attending university there at the time. The second place was Wall Street. I'd thought she was just some ace from a room-share brokerage — turns out she was a daughter of a very important house.

I never expected to reunite with that Rachel. Before I knew it, I'd greeted her out of sheer delight.

With her and me, picking a fight is how you say hello.

In the previous life, that is. Who knows how it'll go this time around — but for now, just for the mood of it.

"Th-then, shall we resume the lecture……?"

Rachel's intrusion had thrown everything into chaos. The professor, reading the room, started the class again.

"You not launching a Water Rocket?"

"Ah, damn, class isn't over yet."

"But the TA noona is pretty."

"She's fucking gorgeous……"

It was nothing more than the opening shot of a war.

Hankuk University, Department of Economics.

A single recurring spectacle had begun to seize the attention of the entire student body.

"Now you're defaming Federal Reserve board members as well?"

"Yes. I am defaming them."

"That is nothing but baseless character assassination."

"At least one board member gets ousted every year for financial trading violations — so how many of the ones who haven't been caught do you think are out there?"

A brawl between the department's notorious lunatic and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠microeconomics TA. Not a physical fight — just a war of words. And yet countless students looked forward to it, some even coming to watch live despite not being enrolled in the class.

"As long as human beings are the ones doing the work, they can at times be swayed by desire. The system exists precisely to prevent that."

"And the belief that the system is perfect is exactly the arrogance I'm talking about."

"It has been running without issue thus far."

"Or are you just under the delusion that there are no issues?"

The argument itself was entertaining. As economics students, they found it genuinely interesting.

"So America has corrupt politicians too, huh."

"Isn't that just Crazy Senior's claim?"

"Judging by how the TA noona is responding, it seems like it might actually be true……"

Economics close to the real thing. As students, they would never experience moments like this firsthand. True or not, it was fascinating. And above all — they didn't have to sit through an actual lecture.

"Look at this bastard Bill Katarina. He grew up on Japanese foundation sponsorships, and even after pinning on a board member's badge he keeps taking their lobbying money — and all he ever says is that pumping out cash is no problem. That's exactly what his sponsors want to hear, isn't it?"

"Lobbying is legal in the United States."

"Legal or not, it's still exerting influence, isn't it? You're applying an artificial hand to the market, and that hand is under political influence."

It wasn't just microeconomics. He was colliding with every other economics major course as well. The professors had sent up an SOS: You're the only one who can stop that lunatic.

I thought an opportunity would come……

For Rachel, the feelings were complicated and delicate. She had never expected to meet him this quickly — and through a verbal sparring match, no less. After exchanging words with him, she understood exactly why they called him a lunatic.

"Anyway, this kind of debate is putting the professor in a difficult position."

"He's in a difficult position because you know more than he does."

"I am merely the teaching assistant for microeconomics."

"Sheesh. Looking all micro like that."

"?"

He was aggressive. He chose language designed to provoke hostility, deliberately courting dislike. And that only made him harder to ignore.

From the very beginning, the reason she had come to Korea—

"Good work today! We should grab a meal together sometime."

"I am capable of dining alone."

"I-is that so? In Korea, meals are something you share, you know. Ahem! Ahem!"

—had been to meet him. Not to humor some aging professor.

He was a macroeconomics professor…… Good thing I chose microeconomics.

Here, she was nothing more than a graduate student. She had decided to live that life. It had been arranged in advance. The plan had been to complete her master's and doctoral work somewhere in Asia.

Truthfully, I'd been thinking of China.

It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a directive from the family. Europe, South America, India, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia — each region would be assigned to someone. The region allotted to her was Northeast Asia.

There's Japan and Taiwan as well, of course.

Japan's growth had stagnated long ago. Its multiples should have been priced far lower, but the Bank of Japan's artificial intervention was propping the whole thing up. Taiwan carried too much uncertainty. So long as it could not raise its voice in the international community — so long as it was not recognized as a sovereign nation — its ceiling was painfully clear.

By process of elimination, China and Korea remained. The truth was that the scales tilted more heavily toward China.

Just look at the trends among the political and business elite.

They sent their children to study in China. Even Trump publicly cursed and sanctioned China while famously having his third-generation kids study Chinese. That was how much growth the country was expected to deliver. She, too, had planned to follow that current — complete her master's and doctorate in China while taking the pulse of the local atmosphere.

Tap. Tak!

In the end, she had come to Korea. Meeting an interesting person while trading coins had influenced the decision.

Why did he call me 'micro'? Is it some kind of Korean joke? Or does it mean something else……

The coin affair had wrapped up faster than expected. She poured the remaining time into studying Korean. Native-level, her instructor had rated her — but she knew full well that real language was never that simple.

Don't tell me he meant the English word 'missy'?!

In English it simply meant "young lady." In Korean, it carried a rather different connotation. Bluntly put — sexual harassment.

Recalling the situation, Rachel's face flushed scarlet.

I-in the middle of a serious discussion, he drops sexual harassment like that……

It was already a complex of hers. She looked a little older than she was. And he had pointed it out to her face — to someone she was already paying far too much attention to.

So that's how you want to play it? Fine. Then I'll lower my evaluation of you a notch as well.

She had considered him considerably capable. After running a background check, that assessment had hardened into certainty. His character, however, she had never verified. Still — he was not a man who said things that were wrong.

Gulp.

There had been a blind spot. From a purely academic standpoint in economics, the conversation had been meaningful. Artificially adjusting interest rates produced side effects. She had believed the current system was perfect, but—

Bill Katarina. I should at least file a report on him.

People could be the hole in the system.

Rude man or not, it was a first impression she simply could not forget.