A Night of Dopamine and Five Billion Won
After making the highly confident decision to pull an all-nighter, I realized I couldn't just stare blankly at the monitor until dawn. I needed to find another source of entertainment. I didn't have to think too hard about it. I already knew the perfect way. I could just hang out on the online community at the same time.
"Even with money, I can't quit the forums."
When I was back in Buyeo, I thought that once I moved to Seoul and started earning money, I'd stop wasting time on online communities. But now that I was in Seoul and actually making money, I was absolutely sure of one thing.
I'm never going to be able to quit this.
In real life, you have to manage your image. You have to jump through all kinds of hoops just to get recognized by others. And the harder you try, the more likely you are to be hated or called an attention whore. In the real world, where everyone's judgment hits you directly, you have no choice but to constantly watch your step. The more you do that, the more restricted you feel.
For example, you shouldn't brag about money, you shouldn't swear, you shouldn't reveal your political views, you can't do this, you can't do that...
If that's how it is, what's the point of living? I can't even voice my own opinion properly.
So, I had to use the forums.
Here, no matter what I said, it wouldn't affect my real life. In a way, I could exist as my true self more here than in reality. I could filterlessly express my true feelings, which I usually had to suppress in real life because of what others might think.
"I guess I really am an attention whore."
It was a hard pill to swallow in real life, but I was more than willing to admit it on the forums. I craved attention.
So, I decided to create a fixed nickname to get even more attention.
Ever since the Apple Coin incident, people had been calling me the "Apple God." To keep the attention coming, I needed to carry over that "Apple" brand.
I registered the fixed nickname "Apple."
Unlike the real-world me, Apple was my alter ego. Apple's identity was arrogant, took others' recognition for granted, and possessed a conceit born not of baseless bravado, but of sheer skill.
To pull that off, I first needed to achieve something worthy of recognition—whether it was my account balance or something else.
As expected, they weren't going to acknowledge me after just one successful trade. Moreover, this scene was incredibly strict because real money was on the line.
For instance, you had to show a balance of at least tens of billions of won to be considered a legend in this community. Predicting a single pump on Apple Coin wasn't going to cut it; I still had a long way to go.
"Stay humble?"
They were telling me to stay humble, so why the hell weren't they being humble?
In real life, I didn't care if I got insulted or ignored. But on the forums, I absolutely refused to be looked down upon. Here, at least, I had to be a god. This had to be my world.
I posted a reply.
It was just a typical online argument.
After messing around on the forum, I bought in right on schedule.
I put in my entire margin.
And I used leverage.
When the US stock market opened, real volatility began to hit the crypto market.
It was only about a 2% fluctuation, but with my 10x leverage, it translated to a 20% swing for me.
If it moved just a bit more against me, even if it eventually doubled or went up a hundredfold later, I wouldn't see a single cent of profit.
Because I would have already been liquidated.
This is why people say futures trading is hard, and why so many get liquidated.
Fortunately, I had a cheat-like ability.
I could instinctively feel when applying any more leverage would exhaust my life's luck, which was a massive relief.
Otherwise, driven by greed after a loss, I could easily have wiped out my entire net worth in an instant.
"Just watching this makes my heart race..."
Even for someone like me who trusted his ability, this was nerve-wracking. I couldn't imagine how terrifying it must be for others.
Sure enough, the forum was flooded with all kinds of posts reacting to the volatility.
When it went up, they screamed "To the moon!" and when it dropped, they lost their minds.
Whenever there was even a slight dip, people rushed to leave sarcastic comments on my post.
I didn't really care, though.
"These motherfuckers..."
Why should I care about what those losers think? As long as I make money, that's all that matters.
These comments weren't worth getting worked up over.
Ultimately, if the coins skyrocketed today, I would win without having to argue at all.
"Whew..."
Ignoring them completely, I focused on the coin chart.
And then...
What was it earlier, the FOMC Meeting? Anyway, some meeting in the US was scheduled, and the moment that exact time arrived...
The already turbulent chart began to fluctuate at an absurd level.
It swung about 3% up and down within a single minute.
Honestly, even I couldn't help but be terrified.
"P-Please..."
No matter how much I trusted my luck, it wasn't absolute.
Moreover, as it dipped close enough to threaten my liquidation price, I couldn't help but tense up.
Up, down, up-up, down-down.
The one-minute candles were giving me a heart attack.
Finally.
Whether the upward momentum won out or not, it stopped dropping and recorded a crazy surge in an instant.
Just five minutes.
Bitcoin recorded a 5% increase.
And the rise didn't stop there; the momentum merely slowed slightly as it continued to climb.
"W-Wait a minute."
Looking at the Bitcoin chart, I remembered I hadn't just invested in Bitcoin. I hurriedly checked the other coins.
Immediately, I was left speechless.
"..."
Bitcoin's volatility was by no means small, but compared to the altcoins, it was practically a flat line.
The altcoins I had bought were currently recording gains of over 10%.
And that was before applying leverage.
Which meant, for me, it was equivalent to a 100% gain.
What was even more surprising...
"It's not over yet...?"
The luck pointing toward an upward trend hadn't run out yet.
My hands moved naturally.
If it wasn't over, was there any reason to hesitate?
Time to add fuel to the fire.
Twenty times leverage.
"..."
Let's see this through until someone dies today.
Whether I end up dirt poor or a billionaire with billions of won, one way or another, this day will decide it.
For this, pulling an all-nighter was nothing.
Blink, blink.
Ache.
Every time I blinked, my eyes felt incredibly stiff.
It made sense. I had resolved to stay up all night, but honestly, I never imagined I'd actually stay awake until the sun was high in the sky.
I had assumed I'd crash from exhaustion.
But this insane rally made it possible.
The dopamine rush was so extreme that even though my body was exhausted, my mind remained razor-sharp.
If it had just been a crazy rise, I might have stopped. But after realizing my luck had run out and taking my profits, I hovered my hand over the short position, and that familiar sensation of luck returned.
Of course, it was hard to catch a drop as massive as the insane rise.
But compared to starting with 700 million won and riding the crazy wave up...
Once my capital reached 3 billion won through leverage, I used leverage again to bet on the decline.
With a 10x leverage on a 6% drop, I managed to pull off another 60% return.
As a result...
"5 billion won..."
It was still hard to believe.
My margin balance had reached 5 billion won.
I guess when people get money, they naturally want to spend it.
After securing my profits, I found myself unconsciously looking up supercar prices.
"Pocket change..."
At most, they were around 500 million won. Buying one wouldn't even be a burden, would it?
With this much, wouldn't I be able to walk around Seoul with my chest puffed out?
Maybe I should buy a gift for Narae, my best friend.
And a gift for the hyung who taught me about crypto.
And for my aunt who took me in...
Gulp.
As I was letting my imagination run wild...
Knock, knock.
"Yes."
Someone knocked on my door.
I figured it was either the hyung or Narae.
But when I opened the door, I was met with someone completely unexpected.
"We're planning to have a get-together for the boarding house residents tonight. Would you like to join? We do it once a month to get to know each other... but don't feel pressured if you don't want to."
"Ah, no. Is it... is it for dinner?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I-I'll join."
"Then..."
It was Chaeyoung nuna.
I was facing a girl so beautiful that it was instantly obvious why she had so many social media followers.
She's seriously gorgeous...
Honestly, she didn't lose to Narae at all.
It was just a different kind of beauty.
Gulp.
Normally, I would have struggled to find any confidence...
But right now, my confidence was through the roof.