Chapter 115
Chapter 115
Translation: Godtl
The business secret of major securities firms that shake the global economy has always been one thing: information.
Now as it was then.
The securities market remains unchanged.
It's about who gets the information faster.
That plays a decisive role in future investment strategies.
In that sense, securities firms already knew exactly what measures the U.S. government had prepared to rescue the collapsing stock market.
"Was it $4 trillion?"
"Yes. They plan to inject it into the market in four installments. A massive purchase of various stocks, corporate bonds, ETFs, and other instruments that can quickly and reliably boost the market and restore credit spreads."
Perhaps that was the best option available to the U.S. right now.
$4 trillion.
An astronomical sum.
And they planned to pour it into the market in four installments.
Their strategy was to inject the funds all at once.
On that day, the entire market would surge.
A day without brakes.
Investment firms would have to move cautiously, gauging the right moment.
Because when the market temporarily rebounds from the effect, they'd need to capitalize and exit swiftly.
"But what the hell is this?"
Every company was closely monitoring the U.S. government's moves, trying to align their steps accordingly.
Yet, someone had suddenly stepped forward first.
"Why are the National Pension Service and Gwangun acting like this all of a sudden?"
The National Pension Service had gone quiet after making a killing through short selling.
Nearly $1 trillion was just sitting idle in their accounts.
For an institution of that scale, parking such funds in safe assets would be the normal course of action.
But today, out of nowhere, the entire sum in the National Pension Service's accounts started moving.
And straight into the U.S. stock market, no less.
"Right now, the National Pension Service is sweeping up everything in sight—stocks, corporate bonds, ETFs, derivatives, you name it."
Given their financial power, they could certainly afford to go on a shopping spree.
The problem was the sheer scale of their spending.
"Are they really allowed to dump $1 trillion so recklessly? If they throw money around like this, the SEC should step in, shouldn't they?"
Dumping a massive amount at once is illegal.
Because it poses a high risk of market disruption.
That's why even major firms like Gold Reagan don't do something as stupid as dumping huge sums all at once.
The National Pension Service should know such basic common sense.
And yet, here they were, throwing money around like this.
"Yes, that would be the norm, but the SEC isn't imposing any sanctions at all."
Reynolds tilted his head in confusion.
Who were the SEC bastards?
The demons of the U.S. stock market.
At the slightest hint of trouble, they'd freeze transactions immediately.
Not even a major firm like Gold Reagan got any leniency.
And if anyone dared protest, those bastards would go ahead and block other accounts too.
They wielded immense power.
"And they're just letting this slide?"
At this point, it almost seemed like even the SEC was flustered by the National Pension Service's sudden move, left fumbling in confusion.
"That doesn't seem to be the case. The SEC really isn't doing anything at all."
"Director. Doesn't this mean that intel we received recently might actually be true?"
Reynolds had once received an outrageous piece of information.
It claimed that the National Pension Service and Gwangun would be forced to dump massive amounts of money into the U.S. stock market due to pressure from Trent.
There were even rumors that the amount would approach $1 trillion, reducing the U.S. government's originally planned $4 trillion bailout to $3 trillion.
He hadn't believed it.
Because entrusting the U.S. stock market crisis to foreign institutions and corporations made no sense from the start.
"But it was actually true?"
It seemed he had underestimated Trent, the grotesquely dysfunctional U.S. government, and Gwangun—the true madness among madnesses.
Both Trent and Gwangun.
Weren't they both far beyond the bounds of normalcy?
"Are they out of their minds? The Korean National Pension Service bailing out the U.S. government?!"
"President Trent is notoriously unpredictable, isn't he?"
"And what about Gwangun and the National Pension Service that accepted this?"
"When the U.S. government openly threatens you, who could possibly withstand it?"
Who in the world wouldn't fear the U.S. government?
But what if Gold Reagan had received such an absurd proposal?
They would've undoubtedly filed massive lawsuits and raised hell.
"Yet Gwangun accepted this offer. Without a single act of resistance. What does that tell you?"
"That even Gwangun can't stand against the U.S. government?"
"No. It means we're confident we can profit even in this hellish market."
"······!"
If someone offered you a trillion dollars right now to enter the U.S. stock market, what would you do?
A hundred out of a hundred people would dump it all into safe assets.
No—most would judge it wisest to leave the money untouched in their accounts.
Think about it.
Losing just 1% of a trillion dollars means a hundred billion gone.
A hundred billion is enough to outright buy most mid-sized companies.
But thoughtlessly pouring in a trillion and taking just a 10% loss would be irreversible.
"Bailouts are meant to be deployed expecting total loss, but..."
This is Gwangun we're dealing with.
Those bastards never participate in games where they lose money.
And now they've descended upon the U.S. stock market.
Carrying a nuclear warhead of one trillion dollars.
In effect, Trent had unleashed a deranged outlaw into the market.
＊＊＊
The U.S. government granted us free access while imposing several restrictions.
In essence, they completely blocked any actions that could depress the market.
Their sole objective was reviving the stock market.
"White House experts estimate $3.5 trillion is needed to save the U.S. market. They allocated $4 trillion in bailout funds as contingency against potential variables."
After failing to extinguish the crisis with hundreds of billions, the U.S. government now seeks to overwhelm it with sheer volume.
Normally, they should've immediately injected the first round of support funds.
"But they've temporarily paused the support plan by deploying Gwangun and the National Pension Service as their vanguard."
Meaning they'll assess how effective our trillion-dollar injection is before committing.
"So... we're the test server?"
"Pardon?"
Just like how games run patches through test servers before main server deployment. This is exactly that.
"The silver lining is there's zero conflict between our investment strategy and their imposed regulations. The Chairman had already devised a strategy focusing on stocks held for over three months, and corporate bonds only require minimal purchases as formality."
Apparently, the U.S. assumed we'd inevitably lose whatever money we put in.
In reality, their planned $4 trillion injection already accounts for over half vanishing into thin air.
They want us to front-load a trillion and take the first losses...
Sorry, but we have zero intention of losing even a single dollar.
Because this isn't just Gwangun's money—it's the blood and sweat of South Korea's citizens.
We'll be the ones doing the plundering, not getting plundered.
No. We absolutely cannot allow that.
"And we're aggressively acquiring shares in 'Zoom' as you previously emphasized."
"How's that progressing?"
"Originally a $20 billion market cap company, it dropped to $15 billion when financial markets collapsed during COVID. We're injecting 5 trillion won to pull shares from current institutional holders."
Zoom's founder holds a 35% stake in the company.
That makes them the largest shareholder.
"The question is, what do we do with this company? Should we aggressively acquire a controlling stake to take over management, or simply purchase shares without interfering in operations, to sell later for profit?"
Right now, we're holding a gun.
And not just any gun—one handed to us by the U.S. government itself.
Under normal circumstances, we couldn't suddenly inject 5 trillion won in a single aggressive M&A move. At minimum, we'd need weeks to build our position before making any moves. Otherwise, we'd face sanctions for market manipulation.
But now? We don't need to worry about anyone's reaction.
If we want the company, we can simply erect a buy wall in one go.
In this already plummeting market, people would jump at the buy wall and dump their shares—and just like that, we'd become the company's owners in an instant.
"..."
I took a moment to review the company's report.
With the rise of remote work, Zoom and other video conferencing platforms were seeing explosive growth.
While exact statistics were unclear, Zoom was undoubtedly one of the most widely used programs.
I hovered my hand over the company's name.
Do I really need to take control of this company?
"!"
At that moment, a sharp, stabbing sensation shot up from my fingertips.
Startled, I yanked my hand away.
An intensely violent rejection.
Which means...
"Invest exactly 5 trillion won and leave the rest. No takeover—just keep it liquid so we can exit anytime."
"Understood. Should we proceed cautiously with the purchases, then? Gradually injecting funds while monitoring prices?"
"Yes. Do it that way."
Our current war chest: 25 trillion won.
The U.S. stock market had plunged -32% since the COVID crash.
Into this dangerous hellscape, Gwangun and the National Pension Service were pouring money.
"Our team is swamped acquiring shares as we speak, and the National Pension Service? Don't even get me started. They're working around the clock in coordination with us. But... honestly, I don't even know what to call this."
The department head let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"As you know, Mr. Chairman, foreign capital is usually met with extreme sensitivity—whether in the U.S. or other markets. There are always restrictions, checks and balances."
"Right. Naturally."
"But this time? No sanctions. No restrictions. We can pick and choose at will. It's... hard to adjust to, honestly."
For traders, overseas markets were treacherous ground.
Especially when operating with large sums.
Because the moment local financial institutions took issue with foreign capital, they'd block trades without hesitation.
Yet now? No institution could stop us.
Not when the U.S. government itself had unleashed us under the guise of bailout funds.
Hence the dissonance.
When had we ever experienced such unrestricted market access?
"Enjoy it while it lasts. Who knows when they'll change their minds?"
"Right. Opportunities like this don't come twice—we'll make the most of it. Though I can only hope the market recovers quickly. Judging by the U.S. government's stance, they won't step in until after our investments have cratered."
Even with this free pass, there was a price.
America had no intention of deploying support funds until our money turned to confetti.
Otherwise, they'd just be doing us a favor.
But what if the market rebounded thanks to the carpet bombing by the National Pension Service and Gwangun?
"Then this free pass from the White House becomes our ticket to ride—we'd be the ones walking out of the amusement park grinning."
＊＊＊
The economic devastation COVID-19 wrought across the globe was incalculable.
Europe was no exception.
Despite the EU's intervention to prop up its domino-falling markets, the best they could manage was slowing the collapse by a hair.
"You know what hurts the most? Gwangun is repurchasing our shipping companies—the ones Europe took from them—at bargain prices. And we can't even lift a finger to stop it."
That was only natural.
What kind of place is Europe?
It's the paradise of welfare.
But this incident has only drained more money.
The EU had already allocated 800 billion euros as an economic recovery fund, and an additional 600 billion euros had been poured in through emergency support packages.
The serious part was that this was just the beginning.
"Even after pouring all that money in, is there even a single financial market in the EU that has improved? They've all been devastated. So with what money are we supposed to stop Gwangun from taking over the shipping industry? If anything, we should consider it fortunate that they're even willing to buy it with their own funds."
Surprisingly, those words were true.
Since Gwangun was acquiring the shipping companies at bargain prices while also absorbing the debts tied to them, the EU couldn't even intervene.
Moreover, Gwangun held a powerful weapon—vaccines.
If they provoked Gwangun and vaccine supplies were disrupted, they'd have to pour in astronomical amounts of economic aid yet again.
"But... what on earth happened to the U.S. stock market?"
While the collapse of global markets was partly due to COVID-19, the U.S. stock market crash played a significant role as well.
After all, the global financial markets are ultimately tied to the U.S. stock market.
And for the foreseeable future, it was expected that the U.S. market would remain in a bear market.
But their predictions turned out to be completely wrong.
The U.S. stock market was currently experiencing an astonishing recovery.
"Well, thanks to that, our European markets are showing slight signs of improvement too... But from what I've heard, the Korean National Pension Service and Gwangun played a decisive role in the U.S. market's recovery?"
"Yes. Apparently, the National Pension Service injected 1 trillion dollars in place of the aid the U.S. was supposed to distribute. Some expected that money to simply burn away, but instead, it triggered a rebound effect, fueling this insane recovery we're seeing now."
A sudden influx of 1 trillion dollars.
The U.S. stock market was shaken to its core by this move.
Unlike typical aid packages, a foreign institution had strategically taken positions across the market, almost like a tactical force driving up stock prices.
Normally, such actions would be sanctioned as market manipulation, but since the U.S. government had approved it, stock prices began surging on a massive scale. This alleviated the cautious psychology of investors, creating a domino effect where everyone rushed back into the stock market.
"So... does that mean the National Pension Service and Gwangun actually made money?"
"Yes. The rebound started the moment they took large-scale positions. They're probably seeing enormous profits right now."
As a result, the National Pension Service and Gwangun ended up scooping up stocks at their lowest points.
In other words, while the rest of the world could only lick their wounds, those two had been handed a golden opportunity.
"Of course, the strategy of the National Pension Service and Gwangun was brilliant. They targeted stocks that could trigger an investment frenzy by making a massive impact on the market and poured in large-scale investments. And it worked perfectly."
Since when did bailouts like this exist in the world?
A foreign institution and a corporation saving the financial market instead of a government?
This was blatant market manipulation.
"But in the end, since it revived the stock market, there's hardly any public criticism against the National Pension Service and Gwangun right now."
The heads of state and executives attending the EU meeting were at a loss.
Should they praise this as a success?
Or should they condemn it as reckless?
How dangerous was it to entrust a national crisis to a foreign entity and a private corporation!
"But in the end, it worked out, didn't it?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
What mattered was that the outcome was good.
While Europe was crumbling, wasn't the U.S. recovering?
"Don't we have to inject money into the financial market too, anyway?"
"Yes. We've already spent so much that there's nothing left. And now we have to spend even more? Ugh."
Even though the U.S. stock market had recovered, other countries still needed financial aid to revive their own markets.
With the U.S. doing so well, public discontent was boiling over—why were they still struggling like this?
The problem was that the EU had already spent astronomical sums multiple times.
No one could even estimate how much more money would be needed to salvage the stock market.
"Well... then."
The chairperson cautiously spoke up.
"Should we ask them for help too?"
All heads turned toward her at once.
"Huh?"