Rental Stocks

The day is coming.

"Ohhh~ Victory for Korea!"

The day the streets turn into a garbage dump.

Noise from every direction stabs at the eardrums.

What victory for Korea? More like defeat for Korea.

We're the neighborhood punching bag.

Bluntly put, if you're from any other country, facing Korea is pure free wins.

That's our place in the world.

In stock terms, even the junkiest penny stock isn't this much of a junk stock.

"You gonna keep this up when we get to the main broadcast?"

"No way~."

"We've gotta give it everything!"

"Our cheers are directly linked to the Taegeuk Warriors' morale!"

Morale, my ass. They're just scamming themselves.

Does cheering harder magically raise skill level?

You need a tree that actually looks like it might bear fruit before you start hoping.

The entire nation got high on the 2002 World Cup.

Ever since, there's this lingering urge to cheer even when you know it's not happening.

Like the long hangover after a serious hit of drugs.

That high was ridiculously potent.

When World Cup season rolls around, Korea cheers harder than any other country on earth.

"Over here! Park it right here!"

"Looks like we're short on people……."

"Go grab about ten more from the east side!"

Already bustling.

Hankuk University's athletic field is packed with students.

People hauling up giant screens.

People making a racket putting together cheer squads.

They say they're planning mass cheering sessions for the entire World Cup period.

The whole campus has gotten loud.

If there's one silver lining, it's the contribution to the birth rate.

If the World Cup happened every year, our birth rate might actually hit the OECD average.

"The World Cup has begun."

That's the ordinary world.

To people who trade stocks, it has absolutely nothing to do with them.

"So what? Korea's already fucked."

"Totally fucked."

"Country's finished~."

The stock club members' reactions are understandably lukewarm.

Their energy has been rock bottom lately.

Sigh, bunch of idiots.

Looks like they got completely wrecked.

With stock people, you can guess their average cost just from their faces.

It was an unpredictable mess, sure.

Nasdaq is rocketing, so why the hell is Korea like this?

"World Cup'll be a disaster too."

"Our country's just that bad."

"If we crash out early, KOSPI's hitting fresh lows."

Getting bagheld isn't surprising.

Unless you're someone like me who actually reads the real economy.

Yeah, trading stocks probably doesn't feel great right now.

There's a limit to how ridiculous things can get.

It's running completely opposite to global market flows and corporate earnings.

They probably want to murder whoever recommended these stocks.

It's not like I don't understand how the club members feel.

"You don't care about the World Cup?"

"Nope~."

"Your mom."

"But what if theme stocks make an appearance?"

"Theme!"

"Stocks!"

"Theme stocks!!"

I came prepared.

An event that can unite even stock traders under one heart and one mind.

There are stocks that rise no matter what, after all.

Everything in the world is connected to companies.

Stocks of companies that catch a special tailwind can go up.

"There are World Cup theme stocks?"

"What, so if Germany wins, German-related stocks go up or some shit……."

"I honestly can't even picture it."

You just force the narrative to fit somehow.

That's how theme stocks work. That's how the Korean market works.

One-day casino gambling, pure and simple.

Don't act like it was ever normal.

There are basically two types of theme stocks.

"Think about it."

"Yes."

"When the World Cup hits, what are you guys gonna do?"

"Hmm……."

"Watch TV, I guess."

"I'm going out."

"You're eating chicken, right?"

"……."

First: consumption-related stocks.

The classic is chicken.

This isn't a joke.

When the World Cup hits, chicken sells like crazy.

Order late and you're looking at two-hour delivery times all the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time.

"That actually makes sense."

"Chicken is sacred, no debate."

"There's alcohol-related stocks too."

"Oh right, beer!"

"Chicken and beer, hell yeah!"

Soju and beer sales jump as well.

Chicken goes with beer.

Not only is that obvious, people just find more reasons to drink in general.

Insane volumes get sold.

It doesn't stop at pure "hype"—it actually hits real revenue.

Condom sales go up too.

There's a reason it only happens every four years.

Maybe the whole planet holds it as a global birth-rate promotion event.

Which makes it easy to predict.

But once the World Cup actually starts, the stock prices are usually more sluggish than you'd expect.

"Aww~."

"Got our hopes up for nothing."

"They'll just dump their inventory on us."

"Exactly! Accumulation already started ages ago, bet on it."

Will it really go up?

Retail investors who heard some random nonsense somewhere end up catching the bags from existing shareholders.

At least they've got that much brain left.

The past year and a half.

We've been through every kind of hell.

This year's bear market in particular has been pure bloodletting.

Great market for stacking experience points.

Without anyone needing to say it first, wariness shows on their faces.

"But what if we overnight it?"

"O!"

"Ver!"

"Night!"

"Stop that."

They've also learned that if you don't shoulder that level of risk, you don't get paid.

Of course, long-term the prices will fall.

That's an absolute fact.

But short-term, stocks are a different animal entirely.

A few of the sharper members catch on to what I'm saying and jump into the conversation.

"If our country wins……, wouldn't it pop at the open?"

"If we make the round of 16, even more chicken gets sold!"

"Kinda feels like sports betting."

"Kehehe! It's gambling!"

Betting on win/loss.

People do a lot of that with sports totes.

One difference, though.

This one's legal.

Sports betting is illegal.

There's a reason the phrase "tote boss" exists.

KOSPI is legal, at least.

It's basically the state-guaranteed legal casino opening for business.

"But you can only bet on them winning."

"True!"

"I'm a traitor to the nation……."

"There's one trading method that's perfect for selling out the country."

The limited direction is a drawback, sure.

In Korea, individuals are blocked from short selling.

The regulations are brutal.

They loosen a bit later, but right now it's basically "just don't do it."

The concept of short selling itself, to begin with.

It's about crushing something until it explodes.

You borrow shares and dump them like a maniac to drive the price down.

Manipulate the chart, float negative news articles, the works.

Not a game individuals can play.

"That's why futures are better."

"Futures?"

"Our club has finally gone all the way……."

"Just listen."

So the next-best option becomes derivatives.

People usually only know index futures and commodity futures.

But single-stock futures exist too.

Exactly what it sounds like—futures on individual stocks.

They move according to whether the stock price rises or falls.

"Something that good existed?!"

"Then fuck, I would've bet on Samsung Electronics at 30k……."

"Bro why didn't you teach us?"

"Sonik-jwa being stingy."

"Because you guys are idiots."

The middle ground between stocks and futures.

But it's not a domain you can just dive into while knowing nothing about the basics.

Obviously—futures are still futures.

Options, expiration, leverage all exist.

You can't just zone out and diamond-hand like with stocks.

"If we just get in and out right away, no problem, right?"

"Probably."

"When Korea gets destroyed and hits limit down, cash out and it's beautiful~!"

"What if you get bagheld?"

"Dunno."

A world with real risk.

Nothing beats actually experiencing it.

As a first step, it should be fine.

Futures are basically gambling anyway.

Approaching them the same way as gambling might not be a bad idea.

"What?! We can do legal gambling?"

"Gambling, gambling, gambling, gambling, gambling, gambling……."

Footsteps chanting "gambling gambling" echo down the hallway.

I almost thought some celebrity was showing up.

I can practically hear the whispering starting up all over the place.

Sports clubs.

Soccer, basketball, volleyball, tote players—students from other clubs were taking interest too.

Looks like the rumor reached them.

They want to invest in the future of Korean soccer.

"I'm the number one tote guy in the soccer club, so I know……, our country's completely fucked this time."

"Real matches?"

"Benchwarmer."

Investment doesn't always have to go in the positive direction.

Sometimes you need a cold-blooded assessment.

Or he might just be a gambling addict.

You can do sports betting too.

But it's illegal, and there's the risk of getting scammed and ghosted.

Legal totes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have tons of restrictions.

You can only bet a hundred thousand won, and the fees they skim are massive.

"We are the world!"

In that case, wouldn't stocks be better?

Hankuk University's gamblers gather in one place.

Actually, this is great.

I wonder if we can spark a new stock craze.

Once you get bagheld, you end up studying whether you like it or not.

"You're spouting crazy shit like always."

"Got a problem?"

"Whatever."

She's studying harder than anyone.

Sora, who still hasn't touched futures, pouts her lips.

It's also the shortcut to becoming the room-bang ace.

A year ago I would've said that out loud.

I actually did say it.

She's grown a little since then.

"I want to do futures too."

"Do it."

"Senior, teach me."

"Why should I?"

"Teach me."

The core is still the same.

If she'd at least come over and pull one foot back, who knows—but no.

She thinks just shoving those big tits forward is enough.

No sense of the ways of the martial world.

"Senior."

It wasn't like there was zero growth.

Sora sidles up and whispers right into my ear.

"If I go bankrupt doing futures."

"What."

"You can just buy me, right? You said you wanted to buy me."

"Oh."

A fresh kind of provocation.

Whether she changed her perfume or not, a denser, more womanly scent than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠usual drifts over.

She grins and locks eyes with me.

She knows exactly what she's saying.

Well, better than becoming a room-bang ace, I guess.

Getting acquired by me and becoming my woman would be better for her.

A proposal worth considering.

"You'll teach me, right?"

"Ahem, well……."

"I'll be looking forward to the futures lessons from Senior."

Tomorrow, I rent Sora's stocks.