Crazy Bitch

Group F of the 2018 World Cup.

A seismic upset that sent the entire planet reeling.

The opponent was Germany — FIFA's number-one ranked team.

Not a soul on earth had predicted a Korean victory. The gulf in class made defeat feel inevitable. And yet, when everyone said it was impossible, the miracle happened.

The public was already calling it the Miracle of Kazan — named for the Kazan Arena in Russia where the match was played. A complete 2–0 thrashing of Germany. FIFA rank 57 had just humiliated FIFA rank 1.

The communities were losing their minds — and rightly so. Soccer fans who'd been sunk in gloom after consecutive losses suddenly had life in them again.

Of course, it didn't matter in the end. Mexico lost to Sweden, locking Korea into third place. Eliminated from the Round of 16.

And yet the entire nation was euphoric. Beating Germany alone was meaning enough.

They'd knocked Germany out of the group stage. Gifted the FIFA number-one team an unforgettable black mark on their history. Winning the tournament had never been the goal anyway. Snagging their ankle once was satisfaction enough.

"Yo, you watch the World Cup last night?"

"Holy shit…… The whole dorm exploded out of nowhere. Nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Our Son is a goddamn monster!"

The next day at Hankuk University. Students filing onto campus had eyes bloodshot red — the aftermath of staying up into the small hours watching soccer. The afterglow refused to fade.

"Jumo!"

"Jumo!"

"Gukbap run?"

"Let's go get gukbap."

The students had every right to be riding a national pride high. It was the kind of match that could manufacture patriotism out of thin air. The entire university was buzzing with World Cup talk.

And some places were worse than others.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"The market is open."

The Stock Club. The moment the clock hit 9:00:00 a.m., the club room went dead silent. Ten seconds later, groans of regret and disappointment erupted from every corner.

"They're dumping this hard right from the opening auction?"

"No, what the fuck……"

"Ah, I should've been a patriot!"

Because they'd invested. The overwhelming majority of club members had bet on Korea losing.

"Sigh. A bunch of traitors."

"We're not traitors!"

"Then what are you?"

"Rational investors."

The members had every reason to be shell-shocked. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠From any rational standpoint, it made no sense.

A mere one percent. Beating a full-strength Germany was supposed to be impossible. Even the members who'd made patriotic bets in previous matches had thought, Maybe this time? and put their money on the high-probability outcome.

"How the hell does Korea beat Germany?!"

"We've been losing just fine this whole time — why the sudden change?!"

"Why is our country actually good at this?!"

The result: victory. The stock prices that had been crushed under the weight of the Sweden and Mexico losses were springing back up like a coiled spring.

And these weren't simple investments. Some had shorted the futures. A few absolute animals among them had boldly bought put options.

"What do I do with my options……"

"I got absolutely wrecked."

"It just keeps going up, fuck. Should I lock in the loss now?"

Futures carried high risk. The order book was thinner than individual stocks, and the leverage went as deep as you wanted. Options were even worse — a world of true gamblers where your position could turn into toilet paper before breakfast was over.

"What do I do? Diamond hands?"

"True, if you don't cut your losses, you haven't really lost."

"Must be nice~. My options got delisted so I can't even hold."

One silver lining: it was investing. Not real gambling like sports betting. If they waited, prices might return to break-even. The odds of that were decent. Korea's World Cup run was over, after all. Without the national team playing, the buzz would die down.

Human psychology was paper-thin. A conveniently timed article was already shaking the investors' resolve.

"If quarterly revenue hits an all-time high at this rate……"

"When's the Q2 earnings announcement?"

"August."

"So it's just gonna keep climbing with no floor until August?"

"I'm just cutting my losses now!"

Reason knew the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truth. The catalyst was gone, so the long-term trajectory had to be downward. But in the short term? Panic-stricken members started dumping their positions left and right.

And that's exactly why stocks are hard.

Investing was ultimately a probability game. All an investor did was put money on the higher-probability side — and then do it again, and again. In real investing, the mountains you had to climb were steep.

"Ugh, a bunch of idiots."

"I'm seriously dying here……"

"Why didn't you tell us Korea was going to win?"

"Yeah, yeah! Sonik-jwa!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know that, you lunatics."

Greed. The moment they heard "one percent odds," their eyes spun in their sockets and they bet more money than usual.

Even if I told them, they wouldn't have believed me. They'd already lost their minds.

To become a real investor, you needed two things. First: forge your own investment principles. Second: actually follow them.

The first one you could manage somehow. Stick with investing long enough, put in the work, and you'd pick it up at least as knowledge. The real difficulty was the second. Warren Buffett's advice sounded simple, but it carried enormous weight.

"There's no such thing as 'never' in this world. Don't try to get rich on a fluke."

"Uggghhh~!"

"So being a traitor wasn't the answer after all."

"I genuinely thought Germany would win."

The club members were starting to figure it out. True growth as an investor lived not in knowledge, but in the heart.

Sometimes you need to go broke before it sinks in.

Suffering in your youth was something you went out and bought for yourself. Not his favorite proverb, but when it came to stocks, it was dead right. Once you got older and your seed capital grew, the damage hit harder. Losing a few hundred thousand or a few million now was good experience.

"I'm so completely screwed……"

"I don't even have living expenses left this month."

"So this is why they say gambling ruins your family."

"It's investing, though?"

"Investing, gambling — same difference."

It might be painful for now. It might even throw a wrench into club operations.

That would be its own kind of problem.

Hye-ri was glaring at him from the side. It was true that he'd been the one encouraging the gambling. Sometimes you had to toss them a carrot, too. Especially when an event this big dropped in their laps.

"Is now really the time to sit still?"

"Sitting still is hard enough."

"I can't even breathe."

"Our Son scored a goal, didn't he?"

"?!"

The entire market was surging. And that shifted investor psychology — toward stocks that had been ignored until now. The influence was strong enough to pull capital in, just like the anti-Japan related stocks not long ago.

Of course, that had been a one-time short-term catalyst. That stock had done nothing but bleed ever since.

"Our Son?"

"Our Son Food!"

"Come on, stocks aren't a joke……"

"It's actually going up!!"

But if you knew in advance? You could snatch the short-term profit and get out.

And the way to make that possible…

…was to read the psychology first. He tossed out a single hint, and the sharper members caught on immediately.

It was a meat-related stock, too. If it caught the market's attention, it could rise.

And if everyone thinks the same thing…

…it becomes reality. That was the stock market. That was the process by which a bubble attached itself to a share price.

"Our Son!"

"Our Sooon~!"

"It goes up just because the name matches?"

"No way……"

"Son ○-min scored a goal — of course it has to go up!"

A miniature version of the whole thing. Delusion and greed alone could produce a rocket. It'll settle down soon enough, of course. But money had moved — that was fact. The members who'd gotten in and out were cheering.

"Any more?"

"Just one more, please……"

"I heard the kids high on soccer last night are all playing FIFA Online? Donnis Games might be worth a buy, right?"

"I'm buying!"

There wasn't just one or two of these stocks. Spin your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brain hard enough and you could find plenty.

This is what K-stocks are all about.

The way day traders made their money. Watching them grow as investors was genuinely satisfying.

"You're making weird investments again."

"You made less profit than those 'weird investments.'"

"Hmph! That's only because I didn't know."

Rachel looked thoroughly displeased. She'd sidled up at some point and was picking another fight.

This bitch still hasn't learned her lesson.

Yesterday she'd been bawling her eyes out, and now this. He'd been thinking he might need to break that stubborn streak one more time when—

Chuuuk.

She suddenly kissed him. For a second he thought she'd tripped. But the way she pressed into his lips said otherwise. Before he could even process it—

Tak!

—she pressed something into his hand. A small box that fit snugly in his palm.

"What's this?"

"What do you think it is? An engagement ring."

"Wha……?"

"It's just a simple step before the formal wedding, so I kept the preparation light. Oh, and where shall we hold the ceremony? Personally, I'd prefer my home country, but……"

Yep. She was a crazy bitch, all right.