The Aftermath of Fame
Broadcast content.
Fame.
The aftershocks of the show were making themselves felt in real life.
"Sora!"
"Hm?"
"I saw it, you know~ That variety show you were on."
"Me too!"
"I watched it too!"
The new semester had begun.
She was going to school again.
That utterly ordinary daily routine had started to change, just a little.
It wasn't even like this during Dream Girls.
For Sora, it was becoming a problem.
"I heard you made a killing in stocks?"
"It wasn't stocks, exactly—it was short selling…"
"Short selling? No idea what that is, just tell me what to buy!"
She had always drawn attention.
Just walking down the street was enough.
That kind of thing I can handle.
Guys staring.
Girls getting jealous.
A quick once-over and that was the end of it.
She had gotten used to that much.
The problem was that this was something completely different.
"It's not like that happens every time, and I can't just casually recommend stocks."
"Don't be so stingy!"
"…"
"Come on, just like that~."
"I'm kidding. Look at Sora getting all serious."
They kept asking about stocks.
They were under the illusion that making money was easy.
They had probably seen the article.
They figured they could do at least that much themselves.
You can't approach stocks like that.
Thinking about it now, it was obvious.
Eom Bok-dong was boring, so the stock price went down.
That was hindsight talking.
Actual investing never flowed that simply.
"There are plenty of times it doesn't work out. Predictions aren't always right."
"Oh, really?"
"Guess stocks are hard."
"Yeah…, I suppose so."
She herself had been stuck holding for nearly a month.
She had doubted herself over and over.
Maybe it had nothing to do with the stock price?
Maybe it could still become a hit?
How did I even endure that.
Solid catalysts.
Even when you had them, the market was a place where you could never know the future.
They had no idea how heavy that was.
They came asking about stocks with light hearts.
"Sunbae-nim!"
"Sora sunbae!"
"Oh, hey."
"Kyaa~!"
"I just got greeted by Sora sunbae!"
Things like that happened several times every single day.
Not just classmates—underclassmen too.
This is so damn burdensome.
She had been on TV.
She was good at stocks.
Apparently that was how the rumors had spread.
She had become a celebrity inside the department.
It wasn't that she hated it, but…
"We watch your streams, Sora sunbae~."
"My streams?"
"My ID is KidneyBean."
"Sunbae-nim, I even donated!"
She felt the pressure.
More and more people were starting to believe her words and actions.
If I slip up verbally, I'm screwed.
When she was only streaming online, she hadn't known.
More accurately, she simply hadn't thought about it.
Stocks are dangerous, right?
Among investors that was an unspoken understanding.
For ordinary people it wasn't.
They had never experienced how terrifying the market could be.
"I'm learning stocks while watching your streams."
"I've already made profits~."
"You're doing it?"
"Yes!"
"Seo-eun's the best at it. She already hit like 20% gains."
That was why they could look so bright and carefree.
They never imagined they might lose money.
I used to be just like that.
Two years ago.
Why her sunbae had looked so frustrated.
Lately she was realizing it with painful clarity.
KakaoTalk!
And kids like that weren't just one or two.
Not only in the economics department—other majors too.
Half the newbies seem to be here just to see you
The broadcast's aftershock.
It had been bigger than she expected.
A lot more people had gotten interested in stocks.
It's really turning out just like sunbae said.
Appearing on terrestrial TV meant exactly that.
You drew the attention of ordinary people.
The viewer base became different from before.
You had to run things with that in mind.
"…and that's what happened."
User LoyalDumbass has been chat-banned once for using goldfish emotes!
Until now she had just done whatever.
It would be fair to say she hadn't paid any attention at all.
Because the broadcast vibe didn't match.
Fans who came over after watching Dream Girls.
They wanted her to dance or sing.
That wasn't the kind of stream she wanted to do.
What she wanted to do was stocks.
StockNoob has donated 1,000 won!
That value investing Sora-nim talks about is kinda hard T_T
"Is that so? I'll keep it in mind."
The situation now was different.
The new viewers who had flowed in were interested in stocks too, but…
Do I need to change my streaming style?
It was hard.
Not easy at all.
She understood the viewers' feelings completely.
She herself had once been just another stock noob.
She wanted to teach them easily and simply.
"How do other streamers usually run their shows? I've never watched any."
That method.
Honestly, she had no idea.
Stocks weren't something you could understand by just skimming the surface.
How do the other streamers even do it?
She had never thought about it before.
Maybe it would be good to look into it while she was at it.
Tap, tap!
Other stock streamers.
She went into the broadcast of the Gambling King, the one mentioned most often.
She might have come to the wrong place.
At the same time she got the feeling that the chat atmosphere was completely different.
This feels less like a stock stream and more like a regular variety stream.
The viewer count was huge.
A major corp.
Over five thousand people were watching a stock broadcast.
Not all of them would be investors.
She was curious how he had managed to get people interested in stocks.
Something about him felt sleazy; the first impression wasn't great.
But he wasn't someone you couldn't talk to.
Discord.
He suggested connecting a voice chat and then kindly explained everything.
"Ah, yes…"
He streamed mainly day trading and scalping.
He jumped into high-volume surge stocks and got in and out fast.
Definitely more than value investing…
From a viewer's perspective it was fun to watch.
Profits and losses decided in a short time made it stimulating too.
It was that much more dangerous.
But it was also true that if you did it well, you could pull massive returns with that trading method.
"By the way."
"Your account looks like it's in a bit of pain."
He was only racking up massive losses.
The account was visible on the stream screen.
Every single holding was blue.
Total Loss: −37,000,000 won
A loss of thirty-seven million won was stamped on the screen.
Even as a complete stranger, it was an amount that made her worry.
"What?"
The dangers of day trading.
He was a streamer who taught them.
If you put a nice spin on it, that was how you could package it, but…
He's really going through it.
He wasn't the kind of streamer she had imagined.
Apparently there were all kinds of people in the world.
LongStoneHeadStirfry has donated 10,000 won!
Tosuni was making money though?
"Tosuni?"
One of them.
Sora knew her too.
Living in the same villa, there was no way she wouldn't.
So Dalyul is good at day trading.
She was also a junior at school.
They had gotten a little closer after the girls occasionally gathered to eat tteokbokki together.
Ding-dong~♪
After ending her stream she headed downstairs.
Dalyul wasn't streaming at the moment.
Asking directly is best anyway.
The secret to day trading.
Honestly, she was curious.
Her sunbae went about it like a complete maniac.
She wanted to know how other investors did it.
Surely they each had their own basis for it.
"You bought Smash Bio."
"Heh, hehe."
"Mind if I ask why you bought it?"
She was in the middle of trading.
She was concentrating so hard that speaking up felt a little delicate, but…
If it were me I'd never buy that.
It was a stock the Gambling King guy was stuck holding too.
There was a reason the price was crashing.
Delisting.
They had failed to submit an audit report and the company was on the verge of disappearing.
"Th-that's why you buy it. Heh, hehe."
"Huh?"
"I-it's coming! It's here!"
Literally, the stock was turning into toilet paper.
Trading could halt at any moment.
Buy order has been executed!
That risk.
She shouldered it like it was nothing.
She was catching a falling knife with her bare hands.
"Wh-what?"
"Heh, hehe."
"Why is this going up? There's no real reason for it to rise right now."
"Because the company's going bankrupt, it rises."
"???"
Her guts were incredible.
If that was all there was to it, it would have been no different from the Gambling King guy's pure gambling.
Institutions have purchased the stock!
There had been a reason for it to rise.
Institutions suddenly scooping up the stock wasn't a coincidence.
Don't tell me… for short covering?
If the stock got delisted?
From the short seller's position it was obviously a win.
But there was a process involved.
Trials and reviews meant years of trading suspension.
Money stayed locked up the whole time.
If it didn't get delisted, you just burned opportunity cost.
"So you predicted they'd buy it for short covering?"
"Heh, hehe."
"That's insane. What if it actually gets delisted?"
"Life is fucked."
It was only opportunity cost, after all.
From an institution's perspective there was also the option of just shorting it normally.
She's crazy.
Sora herself had been short selling until recently.
She knew the related regulations cold.
Even knowing them, this was something you just didn't do.
The other streamers were all nothing but maniacs.