Declining Industry Worker

The recent stock market.

Rumors were circulating that it had come back to life.

Why the hell is that dead bastard coming back to life?

Of course, it could look that way. The stock market wasn't just Korea, after all. The Nasdaq's upward momentum was no joke. The KOSPI might follow suit.

Knock! Knock!

It wasn't like I was always right a hundred percent of the time either. In moments like these, there was a reliable method.

"Yes, coming out~ Senior?"

The human indicator.

Sora stepped out of her room in a thin tee and dolphin shorts.

"What brings you here?"

"I've got something I'm curious about."

"Doesn't seem like a particularly good reason…"

She had grown sexier since starting her sophomore year. The influence of her YouTube streams. She should've started wearing clothes like this ages ago. That rigid personality of hers was finally loosening up. She had learned what men liked.

White, springy thighs. A top that left her waist and cute navel exposed.

Gulp!

If it were up to me, I would have groped her right then and there. The problem was that something more urgent demanded attention.

"How's the stock market these days?"

"It's going well! I almost completely escaped the positions I got stuck in recently, so…"

"Ah, right. That's a relief. Take care."

"Wait a second! You didn't come all this way just to say that."

Confirmed.

Just as I was about to turn on my heel—

Don't tell me Sora's actually thinking?

She caught the hem of my shirt. After a moment of deep thought, she said,

"Another bear market's coming, isn't it?"

"Who knows."

"It is, right? Ugh, I'm selling everything."

Even a dog that hangs around a schoolhouse for three years learns to chant, and Sora had clearly picked up a few things over the past year. Lately her instincts had gotten sharp.

—Sell order executed!

She dumped her stocks through the HTS, then looked up at me with a smug little victory smile.

Smack!

That was just asking for it. I shut the door and laid my hands on her bare thighs and chest.

"Keep acting cute and I'll fuck you raw."

"Go ahead and try."

"Oh-ho?"

"But only if you buy me properly first."

She must have put on tint; her lips glittered. Clear liquid shimmered between the soft, parting hole of her mouth.

Slurp!

I wanted to suck it dry. I transferred Sora's sweet saliva into my own mouth and swallowed it down in greedy gulps.

She's dripping with sex appeal now.

I had expected her to change. She couldn't stay childish forever. But she had grown far beyond what I imagined. She had learned how to seduce a man.

"Does it taste good?"

"Fucking delicious."

"Worth the purchase?"

"Jackpot."

No buy, no kiss. I had no choice but to acquire a five-percent stake.

Truth is I bought it because I wanted a blowjob…

But when the moment came I felt too guilty, so I settled for kissing away the frustration.

"Thighs are off-limits, though."

"This much is fine."

"No. Buy me properly and then enjoy."

Even her ass. The second I put my hand there she started pushing for an additional purchase.

Come on, dolphin shorts are basically half-naked!

Even when she used to hide under jeans it had been dangerous. Now there was nothing stopping my itching hands.

"How much?"

"Hmm~ Five percent!"

"Fine. I'll buy."

"Hehe, yes♪"

After the purchase ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I groped freely. The texture was impossibly soft, fine downy hair under my fingers.

I should've molded her to my tastes while she was still innocent.

Buying piece by piece left me full of regret—especially because the satisfaction was so high.

"Want to buy the whole package while you're at it? Just ten percent more."

"It's already that high?"

"It's a bargain~ A pure virgin who's never even held another man's hand besides Oppa's."

A chance to do whatever I wanted. Yet the way she whispered into my ear was nothing like a virgin's.

Maybe I shouldn't have told her to start YouTube…

The content itself was nothing special—pure Sora-style rambling about the economy. Even that had been enough. Sex appeal had clung to her body in ways I never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could have imagined before.

"I get so many viewers trying to hit on me."

"Yeah?"

"I've been iron-walling them so far… but who knows what happens from here?"

Bare and inviting. When I scooped her up in both arms and carried her to the bed she only giggled and squirmed without real resistance.

This is why talent monsters are…

I had always known her body could drive men insane. I just never expected it to bloom this fast.

Press!

Still a long way to go. I pressed firmly into Sora's stomach, intending to send her over the edge once and shut her up.

"Been working out?"

"I won't go down as easy as last time."

"Even like this?"

"Aahng♡"

Soft and squishy, yet not only that. Beneath the fluffy skin I could feel firm muscle.

The ride quality is going to be insane.

The inside already looked like a legendary piece of equipment. Add exercise on top of that and I couldn't even imagine how good it would get.

"You want to put it in, don't you?"

"What?"

"If you stick it in here, most cocks just melt away."

"Who told you that?"

"Viewers."

Sora's words and actions. As expected, it was the streams. She had soaked up every filthy thing the viewers said like a sponge.

She used to not even understand sexual harassment.

If she had changed this suddenly, there had to be a reason.

.

.

.

"You're popular."

"Weird comments show up sometimes."

"Just delete them."

"They're scary…"

Sora spread her arms and clung to me. Her chest pressed against mine openly, deliberately. I had thought she was joking. The quiet trembling made that impossible.

"I never knew men would look at me so sexually."

"R-right?"

"It reminded me of the trip and I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠got scared."

"Ahem!"

As the one who had looked the most, I felt a stab of guilt. But Sora was thinking something else entirely.

"What if something like that happens again?"

"W-well…"

"Would it be okay if I had someone I love?"

"!!"

The eyes that had been staring straight into mine drew closer and swallowed my lips.

Slurp!

Slurp!

She pressed herself against me aggressively. Sticky sounds echoed through the small room. Her body heat was warm. Everywhere we touched was soft enough that I wanted to sink into it completely.

"Senior…"

Sora looked like she wanted it too. Slightly wet eyes lured me in.

"Trying to make me acquire the remaining ten percent?"

"Yes."

"Not a chance, you little brat."

"Ehehe, failed♡"

She made a cute eye-smile. I couldn't tell if she was joking or serious.

She's gotten sly.

In just one month. If this was the influence, maybe it wasn't so bad.

"It worked a little though, right?"

"Who knows."

"I'm only going to get prettier from here. By the time you regret it, it'll be too late?"

The snippy Sora hadn't been bad either. She was so dumb it was fun to tease her. Body management plus sex appeal—she was growing more feminine by the day.

"Why would I regret it?"

"Pretty virgins are growth stocks, you know? Leave them alone and the value just keeps climbing."

"Could be a declining industry too."

"A declining industry…?"

But Sora was still Sora. Talking her into something was easier than eating cold porridge. I showed her the proof.

Tap, tap!

Recent trends ran completely counter to her claim.

Rent-A-Girlfriend

"It's a manga that's been popular lately. Popular enough they even made a drama out of it."

"So what's the problem?"

"The heroine is a prostitute."

"?!"

It was true. Her job was dating any man who paid, no discrimination. Shockingly, not a single percent of exaggeration—pure fact. Trends reflect the times. As urbanization advanced, the increasingly promiscuous face of society was showing itself.

"The fact that a heroine like this is popular is proof that virgins aren't preferred the way they used to be."

"That's ridiculous."

"Korean dramas don't have virgins either, do they? Wouldn't it be better to hand it over to Oppa as soon as possible?"

I gently stroked Sora's slender chin. The way she seriously considered it was adorable.

If I gaslight her well enough I might even get it for free.

Thirty percent was still a burden. I wanted to chip the price down and acquire her for less.

"Still."

"Hm?"

"The evidence that it's a declining industry feels pretty weak."

"The longer you stay an old virgin the more the price drops, you know?"

"I'm never becoming an old virgin."

She wasn't going down easily. Sora had become quite the stubborn investor herself.

Well, Sora still has a lot left in her.

Just as she claimed, she might be a growth stock that had only just started proving its potential.

"Just wait and see. Growth stock or declining industry."

"Cute."

"Regret all you want when the time comes."

Not knowing the future was half the fun of stocks. I would watch Sora's growth carefully and buy at the right moment.

Besides, stocks aren't just one or two things.

Lately I had been putting effort into a different target. I headed out to meet another worker in a declining industry.

One month.

In the stock market, that was enough time for mountains and rivers to change completely.

It definitely had been an uptrend.

There had been a shift in the Federal Reserve's stance. Employment figures had come out poorly. Raising rates? That only worked when the real economy could support it. So the Fed slowed the pace of rate hikes.

That was why the Nasdaq was rallying. The previous bear market had also sorted the wheat from the chaff.

So predicting a bull market was reasonable enough…

That was ordinary stock-market logic. The kind of thing pretty-boy Yankee investors would think. The lawless wasteland that was the KOSPI was different. To survive there, you had to understand what pre-reflection and reading the room actually meant.

"Oh, you're early?"

"You're the one who's late."

"I don't think you're in any position to say that right now."

"Ugh!"

She had no idea. The declining-industry worker who had come from overseas flushed bright red.