Korea-Gambia Alliance

International diplomacy.

It meant forging relationships with foreign nations for the sake of national interest — a matter of grave importance that shaped economies both directly and indirectly. Attracting foreign corporations. Lifting export restrictions. Skilled diplomacy could deliver real, positive results.

.

.

.

And then there were the ones that meant nothing at all. From the standpoint of national interest, they offered no clear benefit whatsoever.

Back when Korea itself had been classified among the world's poorest nations, international aid had laid the foundation for its economic rise. Now that it had joined the ranks of developed countries, it carried an obligation to support developing nations in turn. Gambia had simply become one of them.

Moral duty and high-minded justification aside, it was also, frankly, hilarious. The whole thing had become a minor running gag across half a dozen communities.

Korea's newest ally. Something about bragging rights felt off — the name was too unfamiliar, and it was hard to see any real military reason for cooperation. A few netizens were already asking the obvious question: what would actually happen if Gambia ever joined a real war?

The sheer act of imagining it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠set the boards on fire. Even if Gambia was destitute now, who was to say it wouldn't one day surpass Korea itself? Diplomacy with a country like that — the effects were impossible to predict.

And so, of course, an unpredictable stock started to climb.

"What is this?"

"You don't know the Korea-Gambia Alliance? Our rock-solid blood ally, the nation that shoulders our national defense?"

"No — I mean, why……"

Until now, Korea had never maintained any real exchange with the place. That exchange had only just begun. Surely something would come of it going forward? The stock market was a machine that priced in hope for the future.

"We've got to buy Gambia-related stocks. Don't you feel any excitement about the future Korea and Gambia are going to build together?"

"That's not what I—"

"Look, I get that you've got issues with the current administration's foreign policy. But separate from that — if you're an investor, you hunt for opportunities."

"This is just an internet service company!"

Sora snapped, raising her voice. Apparently she had objections to my investment thesis.

As if the stock market runs on reason.

Gambia-related stocks. Rationally speaking, no such thing should exist. There wasn't even a related company — it was unclear whether any Korean firm had operations there at all. An internet company, of all things.

"They probably don't even have proper internet infrastructure."

"Do not disrespect Korea's blood ally, Gambia."

"No, I'm being rational—"

"And I'm asking if you have time to sit around thinking about that."

I put a cigarette between my lips and lit it. Warm smoke scraped the lining of my mouth.

I exhaled.

Cough! Cough!

Sora hacked and made a whole production of it.

Retail investors think news makes stock prices.

Good news drops, price goes up — that was their model of the world. But anyone who'd been through the wars of the market knew the truth ran the other way.

Stock prices made the news. First you floated the price, then you planted the article.

The Illicit Stock Manipulators had the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power to make it happen. Buying off a reporter or two was nothing.

"This is insane……"

"You're taking the market far too lightly."

"I'm scared because it really does look like something I should take lightly."

News. Whether any of it was true didn't matter. What mattered was that it became fuel for a rising price.

Retail investors poured in on the back of the articles. Combined with the manipulators' wash trading, the price rocketed in an instant. A bear market made it possible — with so few stocks worth buying, buying pressure concentrated wherever it could.

"Feeling ready to invest in the Korea-Gambia Alliance yet?"

"Absolutely not."

"It's not too late. The future Korea and Gambia are going to build together is only just beginning."

"This is that pattern again!"

Everyone gazed toward a hopeful future. That particular delusion, of course, never lasted long.

Huh. She's not buying this time.

One by one, people started to open their eyes. Was this even really a Gambia-related stock? It had rocketed before anyone could finish a search. The price was up, so it had to be real — right? But as time passed, reason began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to reassert itself, one investor at a time.

Volume began to thin. Like a ball kicked skyward — whump — hanging frozen at the peak of its arc.

"That's how you eat and get out."

"If I'd gone in, I'd have been bagholding, wouldn't I?"

"Yep."

"I genuinely want to beat the shit out of you~."

It happened from time to time. Cases where the price rose for reasons that made absolutely no sense — where it simply shouldn't have been possible.

Like a robot toy company mooning just because robot-related stocks are hitting the daily limit.

There was a company called Barrel, too. A swimwear stock. Because oil was measured in barrels, people mistook it for an energy play. On the Korean market, this kind of thing was routine. In a bear market, where reason was the first casualty, it made for excellent hunting grounds.

A casino floor.

.

.

.

That was the only name the market atmosphere deserved. Even on ordinary days, half-baked pump-and-dump plays ran wild — but this was something else.

Common sense had left the building entirely. A bear market melted investors' mental fortitude into puddles — and right in the middle of that, a stock that made zero sense went vertical, delivering a fresh helping of deprivation on top of everything else.

It sucked the soul right out of people — in a market that already had everyone one bad day from letting go of the steering wheel entirely. No wonder the communities were losing their minds.

But it was precisely in times like these—

—that the people printing money drew every eye in the room. Someone had climbed into a deranged pump stock, eaten, and gotten out clean.

Luck?

That was the only conclusion available — unless the someone in question was Sonik-jwa.

He posted his profits every single day. Anyone who actually invested understood just how absurd that was.

…….

Yongsu, who'd been about to flex his own gains, found himself struck speechless. Fifty-seven million won in a single session. He'd made something himself, sure — the flood-related stock he was holding, Special Reconstruction, had ticked up a little.

A little, exactly as the word implied. It didn't begin to compare with Gambio hitting the limit-up.

He ate Special Reconstruction, and then he ate Gambio on top of it?

And then there was compounding. The expanded seed money ballooning again — that was the real killer. Not long ago their capital had been roughly even. Somewhere along the way a gap of nearly a hundred million won had opened up.

Grit.

Anxiety clawed at him. Without realizing it, Yongsu chewed his thumbnail raw, then dumped every share he held.

So you want to go a round with me, is that it?

Whatever Sonik-jwa could do, there was no reason he couldn't do it too. Yongsu threw himself into the next rocket stock.