Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Translation: Godtl
"What's with those faces? Still hungover?"
"You know we barely drank a bottle yesterday."
"Ugh. I wish it was just a hangover. My hands won't stop shaking—couldn't sleep a wink."
Section Chief Seo completely understood his team's state.
Last night's company dinner.
Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho had dropped a bombshell out of nowhere.
He planned to day trade with a staggering 250 billion won!
"Ugh... We shouldn't have brought up Greece in the first place."
"Pretty sure he would've mentioned it even if we hadn't."
"No, but seriously—is our team leader for real? Actually day trading with 250 billion? Honestly, shouldn't we just coast this month without doing anything?"
Once they hit their monthly profit target, no one comes to work unless it's a raging bull market.
There's a saying.
All prop traders are gamblers.
But there's one misconception—they stop once they hit their target.
Before reaching their profit goal, they swing trades around fearlessly like Lü Bu, but the moment they hit their target, they miraculously regain their rationality.
They weren't crazy enough to throw away hard-earned money.
Even if they itch to day trade over the weekend, once they hit their numbers, they turn back into normal people enjoying their time off.
"Then what does that make our team leader?"
"...A dopamine addict?"
"A beast's heart?"
"Isn't this less 'beast' and more 'complete absence of fear'? Not 25 billion, but 250 billion! 250 billion!!"
250 billion won.
An unimaginably vast sum that ordinary people could never touch or even comprehend.
Even on the KOSPI where trillions flow daily, 250 billion is never an amount to scoff at.
Mismanage this money, and you'll first trigger KRX surveillance, then get reported to the Financial Supervisory Service for investigation.
One wrong move in this high-stakes game, and you might land in jail for market manipulation.
Yet the team leader declared he'd move 250 billion.
"No wonder our hands won't stop shaking!"
Not just our hands—our hearts are pounding like we're about to lose it.
"But isn't the team leader here yet?"
"No. He usually comes in early, so he should be—"
"Good morning, everyone."
Just then, the team leader walked in with a smile.
Unlike his team members who'd spent the night trembling at the thought of losing everything, his face was radiant. Not even dark circles—he must've slept like a baby after the dinner.
'He's an actual monster.'
'Maybe he's an alien?'
'Not human...'
A mentality mere mortals could never fathom.
＊＊＊
"KOSPI's daily trading volume sits around 5.5 trillion won. And we're moving 250 billion of that—nearly 5%. That's an enormous amount."
"Even a blue-chip stock like Kangsung Electronics only trades about 260,000 shares daily—roughly 400 billion won. If 250 billion gets poured in? That's over 60% of its volume."
"Normally, KRX flags you for surveillance if you pour in 5-10% of a stock's daily volume. Then it gets escalated to the Financial Supervisory Service. And if it gets serious there..."
It meant financial law violations.
Because it could be seen as intentional stock price manipulation.
"Our country's particularly sensitive about this. Regulations tightened even more after the DH Securities price-fixing scandal."
People point to our strict financial regulations as one reason Korea's markets can't soar like America's.
Banks sitting on all that money can barely turn a profit beyond the interest margin.
But this was unavoidable.
Because too many players treat our stock market like their playground.
In other words, swindlers running rampant forced these regulations into place.
"That's why Gwangun Securities parks most funds in bonds, forex, and overseas stocks. Korean equities are too risky to casually throw trillions at."
I had anticipated it, but...
The domestic stock market truly wasn't an easy playground.
As the managed funds grew into the hundreds of billions, the regulations surrounding them multiplied as well.
"What if we split the purchases and distribute them strategically?"
"It's possible. The issue is that when 250 billion won moves from a single account to execute rapid buy-sell transactions, that itself becomes subject to surveillance. Handling 250 billion all at once would make us suspects of market manipulation."
Typically, prop trading teams operate with varying amounts, but the average ranges between 30 to 50 billion won per team.
But injecting 250 billion—several times that amount—into the market at once would immediately raise suspicions of price manipulation.
That's why when prop trading teams collaborate to intentionally drive prices up or down, they risk investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service.
Even when operating within team budgets, senior traders are encouraged to make independent judgments to disperse the capital.
We had to spread it out, one way or another.
This was something I'd learned while studying investments.
"Has the research team come back with anything? The request I made late last night."
"Ah, yes. The research team currently assesses that Greece is highly unlikely to default. Overseas analysts also estimate a 97% probability against default."
97%...
A strikingly high figure.
"What do the rest of you think?"
"Well... We naturally assume they won't default either."
Frankly, the idea of a government defaulting seemed so absurd that their reasoning made sense.
"But you're convinced they will default, Team Leader?"
Yesterday, when I read the reports, the feeling had struck me hard.
Still, double-checking wouldn't hurt.
"As for me..."
I reviewed the materials sent by the research department.
Assuming a default occurred, which sectors would be impacted?
Truthfully, even if Greece declared default, our country wouldn't suffer a shock as severe as the China Shock.
The real problem lay in finance.
European financial instability would drag down stock prices for our firm and other financial institutions. Global economic uncertainty would also hit consumer goods.
But the most pressing concern? Evaporating trading volume.
If the China Shock compounded with a default, everyone would rush to liquidate into safe assets like gold—or simply stop moving cash altogether.
A wasteland where neither buyers nor sellers remained.
Then, which sectors would rise against the tide?
Export-driven industries—semiconductors, electronics, automotive—would benefit from a weaker euro.
"..."
I scanned the sectors and absentmindedly brushed my thumb over the screen.
"!?"
"Team Leader?"
A jolt ran through me, sharp as static electricity.
It could only mean one thing.
That 97% certainty of no default?
Greece was going to plunge into the abyss after all.
"I'm siding with the 3% minority."
"3%... You can't mean—"
"You seriously believe a default will happen?!"
I nodded slowly.
The team released collective, uneasy breaths.
"But there aren't any option recommendations here?"
"Ah, about that... After the China Shock, put option prices skyrocketed. Most securities firms and funds recalled them outright, even at a loss. The Chinese government stepped in to stabilize markets, but the effect is waning."
Burned once, they'd withdrawn all put options and stopped issuing new derivatives.
After getting fleeced twenty times over... I wouldn't touch them either.
"Even European ETFs have dried up. The China Shock dragged the entire market down, so they've pulled most products entirely."
Plenty of capital, but nowhere to deploy it.
That left only one path: dive into deeper waters.
"Couldn't FX handle 250 billion easily?"
FX.
The foreign exchange market.
The daily trading volume alone is a staggering 5 trillion dollars.
In other words, it's the world's largest financial market, reaching approximately 7,000 trillion won.
That's why 250 billion won here was just a laughably small amount.
"That may be true... but FX isn't a market we can trade in directly. There's a separate FX department, so we'd need separate approval from upper management."
"If they grant permission, we could do it, right?"
"It should be possible. They occasionally approve foreign exchange or overseas stock trades when necessary."
That seemed like something I'd need to discuss directly with the department head.
"So you're giving up on the domestic market for now?"
"Shouldn't we continue with domestic trading until we get approval?"
"Then, Team Leader, perhaps you should reduce the investment amount first—"
"Even if we're being monitored, does that automatically mean we'll be investigated?"
"Not necessarily. Unless we're stuffing trades right before market close like during past stock manipulation cases. Or pouring 10% of the trading volume into a single stock. But even if we split-buy 250 billion won, it's still from the same account, so they'll keep an eye on us."
I nodded and gathered the stocks recommended by research, bringing my pen to each one.
'This one feels... off.'
Then skip this.
'This one's definitely going up.'
Then check this.
Just as research suggested, I'd short the stocks that would fall if Greece defaulted and go long on those that would rise.
"Um... how should we allocate the amounts?"
This was the hardest problem.
Amount allocation.
Just how much could we invest without disrupting the market and avoiding the Financial Supervisory Service's disciplinary whip?
Truthfully, even the team members here couldn't guarantee that.
"Wait a minute."
Could this work too?
Half-doubting, I wrote an amount next to a stock.
"..."
No sensation at all.
Then let's add just a little more?
"..."
Still nothing this time.
Then double?
"...!"
A sharp current ran through me.
Is this the right price?
"HT Motors at this amount."
"T-that much? At this level, KRX would definitely—"
"Shh. Assistant Manager An. Don't dare question the Team Leader. Then could Assistant Manager An determine the split amounts? Just enough to barely avoid the surveillance net?"
"...My apologies."
"Team Leader. I'll leave the next ones to you as well."
I continued writing down numbers after that.
This much here, that much there.
It took some time to find the right prices, but the team waited for me.
To the team, it probably looked like I was randomly picking numbers like some fraud.
"Once the market opens, execute the buys immediately. In the meantime, I'll go meet with the department head. As for when to sell... we'll decide after the buying is complete."
"Yes, sir."
I left the materials with the team and headed to the department head's office.
Come to think of it, this is the first time I'm meeting the department head alone?
＊＊＊
"..."
After Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho left, the team members crowded around the papers he'd left behind.
What could these numbers possibly mean?
Various amounts were written, each with a single dot beneath them.
"Doesn't this look like some kind of formula?"
"Exactly. I can't figure out the pattern."
"Is this that algorithm only visible to the Team Leader's eyes?"
In other words, this must be the calculation formula containing Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho's investment secrets.
The problem was that no matter how they looked, they couldn't discern any pattern or meaning behind these number sequences.
"Ha. There's clearly some incredible formula written here."
"No matter how I look at it, it just seems like random amounts written up and down."
"So what, you're saying our Team Leader just randomly picked amounts by going up and down?"
"Well... that can't be right. There must be some secret formula hidden here."
Soon, the team members exchanged glances.
"Should we each make copies? This might be the first time anyone's seen the Team Leader's investment secrets in numerical form."
"Yeah. Good idea."
"I'll treasure this like a lifelong secret manual."
"I'm going to try decoding it whenever I get spare time."
As if they'd discovered some priceless treasure, they all carefully folded the papers—only to suddenly snap back to reality.
"But no matter how I look at it, these amounts seem a bit risky..."
Beyond just the default risk, the specified figures somehow felt ambiguous.
Moreover, Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho had explicitly stated these were for split-second day trades.
If they misstepped even slightly, the Financial Supervisory Service would undoubtedly raise issues.
Even barring that, one wrong move could mean losing all their hard-earned profits in an instant.
"What choice do we have? We're all in the same boat now. Sink or swim together."
The Section Chief rallied the team's wavering morale.
Thanks to him, the members steadied their trembling resolve.
"We trust Team Leader Jeong. Let me say it again—abandon your egos."
"Sir!"
"Then everyone, dismissed! Go prepare!"
Indeed, when hearts sway like stormy waves, faith becomes the anchor.
＊＊＊
Lee Tae-ho, head of the prop trading department, was drowning in chaos after the China Shock turned everything upside down.
"Someone's here?"
"Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho from Prop Trading Team 7."
"...?"
The most talked-about figure in Gwangun Securities right now.
The monster who turned 50 billion into a fortune during this catastrophic bear market.
And the very parachute executive who enjoyed the CEO's absolute trust.
"Ah, show him in right—no. Tell him to come in."
"Yes, sir."
The department head found himself leaping to his feet unconsciously.
Strange.
Despite being higher-ranked, he felt inexplicably deferential.
Partly due to Jeong's connections, but mostly because of the staggering sums he'd generated.
In securities firms, hierarchy is measured by profit margins.
"Department Head Lee. Good morning. Apologies for the early hour."
"Ah-ha. N-no, not at all! For Team Leader Jeong, I'd make time anytime. Sit here. Can I get you something to drink?"
"No, thank you. The market opens soon, so I'll be brief."
The department head was relieved.
Something about Jeong's presence inexplicably put him on edge.
"What brings you here?"
"Our Team 7 plans to deploy the full 250 billion this time."
"Wh-what?! The entire amount?!"
"Yes. The issue is that domestic markets can't absorb that volume, so we're pivoting to FX. For that, we'll need authorization..."
Moving 250 billion at once indeed required looking overseas.
"But why FX? With 250 billion, couldn't you coast through this month?"
"Well... idling doesn't sit right. We're eyeing Eurozone investments."
"Eurozone? Wait—because of Greece?"
"Yes. If you could open accounts, we intend to position funds there."
"Long? Or short?"
"Most likely short."
Shorting the euro?
That meant betting on its decline.
Wasn't the euro rising post-China Shock?
Placing shorts now would mean—
"Don't tell me you're..."
A terrifying realization struck Department Head Lee.
"You think Greece will default?"
A declaration of "We can't pay"—their national anthem of surrender.
Precisely triggering a sovereign default.
"Yes."
Lee scrutinized Jeong's expression.
Eyes brimming with absolute certainty.
But Greece defaulting? Seriously?
That's absurd!
He nearly clutched his neck in shock.
"Going into FX... Are you planning to day-trade with all 250 billion?"
"Correct."
A second wave of vertigo hit.
'This madman!'
Normally, he'd have snapped at such nonsense.
But Lee restrained himself.
This was the monster who'd predicted China's bubble and made billions.
Perhaps there was method to this madness.
"...FX account approvals take time. But I'll expedite it."
"Thank you. I'll await your update. My gratitude, Department Head."
As Jeong bowed and left, Lee stared blankly after him.
How on earth was he supposed to report this upstairs?
"Some lunatic wants to day-trade hundreds of billions?"