Woman Against Woman
Woman against woman.
Dual Mart.
It was the stock that had suffered the steepest crash of the past six months. The sudden rebound left the market completely baffled.
[Dual Mart Stock Chart]
It had every reason to fall. This was a company taking a direct hit from inflation. And lately there was another issue — a dangerous competitor was rising fast.
Anyone who doesn't know Rocket Delivery?
Even if they're running a deficit right now — as the customer base grows and the tech improves, the speed of that deficit-to-profit flip is going to be insane.
There's a reason foreigners keep calling them Korea's Amazon.
Even ordinary consumers could feel it. The stock market had priced it in ages ago. That was why Dual Mart's share price had cratered.
And yet the long decline was reversing so cleanly it almost felt like a lie.
The price that had shattered the 200,000-won floor and sent shockwaves through the market was now surging nearly twenty percent, settling comfortably in the mid-200,000s. And as the stock climbed, the market's psychology shifted with it.
There must have been a reason for it to rise, right?
Lupang's growth is slowing a bit
Market seems to think that's why
Articles started appearing to match. The institutions, always ahead on information, had already front-run the buy. The number-one company reclaimed its throne. Meanwhile, the valuation of the challenger that had been closing the gap was freefalling.
"Deficits are fine" they keep saying
What company is actually fine running a deficit?
They're borrowing money with tears in their eyes just so they don't go under
That was the market news. Anyone who had known in advance could have made a fortune.
The Dual Mart app really has felt better lately, though.
Sora had been paying attention to Dual Mart recently — ever since she'd gone there with her senior, it had stuck in her mind.
Crunch.
Even the cucumber she was eating right now had come from Dual Mart. Drizzle on some sriracha and it was decent enough.
The prices are cheap, and the accessibility is solid.
Investment losses. Opening her wallet still made her hesitate. But if she wasn't ordering just one or two things, Dual Mart beat Lupang. The app's usability had improved too, making it easier than before. She wondered if that was what was moving the stock.
She'd already uploaded it to her YouTube. Looking at the latest comments, people were thanking her.
Sora, I know this is just a hobby for you, but you're more accurate than the analysts whoa
She herself hadn't bought any. At the time, there hadn't been any articles about e-commerce market share yet.
Buying after the good news is confirmed always makes me hesitate.
Getting greedy after the fact never ended well. There were always stocks like that — the dog that chased the chicken only to end up staring at the roof.
Started watching cuz she's hot
Turns out she actually knows stocks and she's a solid girl
Still, she felt a sense of fulfillment. There were people who liked her videos, and she got mentioned in communities from time to time.
Cute little bastards.
Sora smirked at the sight. She'd built up an immunity to sexual harassment by now.
[Salad for lunch.jpg]
Assorted veggies on sale
No plate so I just dumped the dressing on top
She even felt a slight thrill from it. In real life she was a goddess — and here she got treated like trash?
I'm still a goddess here, though.
Just a slightly different kind of goddess. She was playing the role and having fun with it. After being active this long, she'd grown attached.
[Angie Photo Capture.jpg]
Ridiculously cute and her voice is pretty
Surprisingly high hit rate too whoa
What the fuck did you just say?
Lately some other bitch was getting mentioned. It wasn't like it particularly bothered her.
It wasn't.
Not until she'd seen a certain comment on her own YouTube a while back.
It was basically a direct hit piece
Angie. A female investor who uploaded stock-related videos, just like her. There could be similar people out there. She hadn't even been aware of her existence.
Construction stocks dropped because the theme dried up!
How was she supposed to not get angry? Construction stocks had risen on expectations around inter-Korean relations. When those expectations fizzled out? The catalyst was gone, and the price fell. That was it.
This fucking bitch acting all cute.
Basic facts. She'd cut out the beginning and the end and twisted everything. As if Sora had been some kind of demagogue.
But there was nothing she could do. Against a YouTuber with several times more subscribers, she had no cards to play.
It was probably a coincidence……
Sora told herself time would take care of it. But—
Angie.
Her real name was Lee Eun-chae, and she had been a female camgirl on PaprikaTV.
Angie, oppa made money lmaooooooo
"Soochan oppa, I told you it would go up, right? Thanks for the thousand, love you ♡"
— Guess he bought the stock Angie said was good
— Hell yeah in this bear market
— The way she says "right?" is so cute lmaooooooo
These days she did stock broadcasts. Or rather — there wasn't much difference, really.
Crypto or stocks, same shit.
Crypto had been huge not long ago. Coin streams had blown up on PaprikaTV too — there'd even been coin camgirls. BJ Yuming, the one who'd started it all, was still popular. But—
The latecomers had been completely wiped out. The crypto boom had gone cold. A price that had once broken $20,000 had been chopped down to a third of that — a massacre. People turning their backs on crypto made perfect sense.
"The market's been rough lately, so I know you oppas are stressed. Don't push yourselves too hard for Angie."
— She's different from the other camgirls
— I'm down bad rn T_T
— Look at that black-cow training technique
But stock streaming was a little different. Unlike crypto, stocks actually had real underlying value. And more importantly — a famous YouTube channel had made them a hot topic.
Stock streams had an audience. Heh heh! As if there are women who do stocks.
Angie decided to target the niche. Unlike crypto, complicated stocks were something camgirls didn't touch. Meaning: no competition. Train a small group of viewers well enough, and she could be queen of this little kingdom.
Came from YouTube, noona!
"You came from YouTube! Enjoy the live stream too~ But am I really your noona?"
It was working on YouTube as well. After a year of going nowhere, her viewership had surged.
A woman who did stocks. People found it fascinating and hit subscribe in droves.
Perfect.
Just as she'd predicted. Both her personal streams and her YouTube were doing incredibly well. Which was exactly why it bothered her more — that there was someone who could threaten her position.
It had popped up in the related videos. The first time Angie saw Sora, she couldn't breathe.
How much fucking plastic surgery did this bitch get!
At first it was the looks. No makeup, no lighting — and she was still absurdly beautiful. Then Angie browsed through the channel and was even more stunned. Every single video.
Does she actually only know stocks? She's not training the viewers at all?
She talked about stocks all day long. Even to an amateur like Angie, the level was high. Angie ground her teeth.
If a woman like that decided to go full camgirl? It was easy to imagine her becoming a strictly superior version of Angie herself.
Fortunately, she still didn't know. Angie hoped she'd stay ignorant forever. Hoped this nobody YouTube channel would just disappear.
She seems clueless about how the world works…… if I break her mentally, she'll quit on her own.
Angie ground her teeth against the jealousy burning in her chest.