Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Translation: Godtl
"CEO. I have an unusual report."
An unusual report.
If the secretary brought it up as something unusual, there was only one possibility.
It had to be related to Jin-ho.
"What's the big news this time?"
"He said he wants to open a foreign exchange trading account."
"What?"
Foreign exchange? All of a sudden?
"If he's asking to open an account there, then perhaps..."
As befitting a veteran, CEO Hwang Dae-un's mind quickly processed the implications.
The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world.
And the funds Jin-ho currently holds amount to 250 billion won.
If he were to deploy that entire sum in the domestic stock market at once and misstep, the Financial Supervisory Service would come knocking.
Even major securities firms fear the Financial Supervisory Service.
It seemed Jin-ho was looking to shift his focus elsewhere.
"My, my. He could just take a break."
If he turned 50 billion into 250 billion, no one would bat an eye if he took the whole year off. But Jin-ho—this guy is truly relentless.
Like an evergreen pine, you could say.
The guild had always managed him with meticulous care and affection.
That's why whenever Jin-ho didn't log in for a while, the guild members would fuss over him.
It was the same here.
He just didn't know how to rest.
Like in games, he was always searching for something.
He called it chasing the dopamine high or something like that.
"But if it's FX, does he plan to invest long-term?"
Why is so much money pooled in the foreign exchange market?
Because it's where many park their funds for the long haul.
It's true that FX is also a great market for day trading.
While regular stock markets close for certain hours, the foreign exchange market operates 24/7.
That's why Gwangun Securities even has a dedicated FX department, with traders working in shifts around the clock.
A prop trader's goal is to scrape even 0.1% profit a day.
The downside is that the foreign exchange market's volatility averages only about 1-2% daily, making it hard to expect staggering returns.
"But I doubt he'd leverage 250 billion won."
Maybe with 25 billion, but not 250.
To leverage 250 billion, he'd need a prime broker, and no one lends trillions that easily.
Not to mention the margin requirements—just thinking about it makes my head spin.
"How long will it take to open the account?"
"Yes. If we expedite it, we can shorten the timeline."
"Good. Let's aim to open it within two days. And call the executives. We have things to discuss."
"Understood."
Jin-ho kept pushing forward, but real-world obstacles stood in his way.
As the CEO backing him, as the Guild Leader, shouldn't I clear the path so he can advance unhindered?
It seemed I needed to assemble the strongest team in Gwangun Securities' history—one that revolved entirely around Jeong Jin-ho.
＊＊＊
"Oh. Team Leader, you're back early?"
"Ah, yes. Thankfully, the discussion wrapped up quickly. The department head said he'd expedite opening the account. Have you finished all the buying?"
"Yes. Exactly as instructed. We split the purchases to minimize price impact."
"Good work. Then let's hold for now."
I entered the team leader's office and took my seat.
Soon, Assistant Manager Lee Hye-rin came in with a steaming cup of coffee.
"Team Leader. Fighting today too."
"Yes. You too, Assistant Manager."
With that, I leisurely took a sip of my morning coffee.
While other teams were already frantically clicking keyboards and mice, buying and selling the moment the market opened, our team sat calmly, just watching the screens.
'The time difference between Greece and Korea is seven hours.'
It's currently dawn there.
Plus, for Greece to actually default, we'd have to wait until the repayment deadline, which is still some time away.
'Did we enter too early?'
What if, against my expectations, the default doesn't happen?
No. I won't entertain that thought.
My intuition hasn't been wrong even once so far.
Though it's human to waver—that much is unavoidable.
Still, I've improved a lot compared to before.
'So we might have to wait at least a few more days.'
It's possible Greece might ask for more time and push back the repayment deadline.
If that happens, there won't be any market movements until then, leaving us with nothing to do.
"Might as well study."
I pulled out one of the investment books I'd bought for studying.
The so-called bible for investors.
<The Intelligent Investor>
The author of this book, Benjamin Graham—often called the father of value investing—emphasizes a few key principles:
[Look at a company's intrinsic value.]
[Seek only value, not immediate price fluctuations.]
And the most emphasized point of all:
[Don't be swayed by short-term market volatility.]
[Short-term investing is speculation.]
In other words, it's telling us not to engage in short-term investing.
"..."
Strangely enough, I felt a pang of guilt.
I fully understand the message this book is trying to convey.
It advocates assessing a company's value and investing long-term—but the problem is, in our country, even if a company has strong fundamentals, its stock price doesn't necessarily follow.
Because the KOSPI is more focused on short-term gains than long-term returns.
"I know value investing is sound in theory, but..."
Having to hold a stock for 10, 20, sometimes even 30 years?!
I shook my head.
I could never do that.
Because what I pursue isn't value investing, as preached by every big-shot investor, but dopamine investing.
And to make matters worse, the prop trading department despises value investing.
"Still, time flew by."
Before I knew it, it was past noon.
Since we have nothing better to do, maybe I should suggest grabbing lunch.
Normally, hardly any traders bother with meals at this hour, but our situation is different.
"Well, before heading out..."
Just before leaving the team leader's office, I quickly checked the positions we'd taken.
There's no way we'd get a signal now, but just in case—ah, damn, that stings!
A sudden, intense signal made me jerk my hand away from the mouse.
'Why is there a signal now?'
Don't Greeks sleep?
＊＊＊
The office felt unusually cold today.
Not because the temperature had dropped, but because the team was tense.
A staggering 250 billion won.
Losing just 1% of that would mean 2.5 billion.
That's the kind of money prop traders usually handle—gone in an instant.
"And what if both our short and long positions go wrong and we lose 10%? That's 25 billion!"
"Shut up, Assistant Manager An."
"Sorry. I'm just nervous, so—"
"I've told you prop traders need to toughen up mentally."
"But in a situation like this, wouldn't anyone be nervous?"
Everything was fine until we closed our positions and went for drinks.
Now, waking up felt like being dumped back onto the battlefield with a full load of ammunition.
"In times like these, look to our team leader."
Everyone simultaneously turned their gaze toward the team leader beyond the glass wall.
There he sat, dignified, reading a book.
An investment book, no less!
"Wow... Even someone like him studies investing. You'd think he knows everything."
"You know what they say—humility is the beginning of wisdom. He's endlessly learning."
"I can't even focus on text after throwing 250 billion into the market."
"Isn't that what a true leader looks like? Imagine if the higher-ups were shaking like us. Everything would go down the drain."
But they all knew one thing.
If anything were to happen, it wouldn't be until after the market closed.
"It's dawn in Greece right now. Whether they default or confess their sins, there's still time."
"Hmm. Should we be doing something else, then?"
"Exactly. Everyone, follow the team leader's example and read an investment book. Even someone like him is studying."
That's when it happened.
Suddenly, chaotic shouts erupted from all directions.
"What? Seriously?"
"No way. These crazy bastards actually did it?"
Wondering what was going on from the other teams' commotion—sure enough.
"Section Chief! It's not Greece—the IMF just released a statement!"
As the repayment deadline approached, the IMF had proposed extending Greece's repayment period.
But the Greek government refused.
They had no intention of paying.
"It's happening. Greek default."
"Those damn lunatics."
Once again, it had unfolded exactly as Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho had said—no, as he had prophesied.
"Everyone."
At that moment, a sacred voice called from behind, making them turn their heads.
"It's time to get to work."
＊＊＊
The Korea Exchange (KRX) had a separate Market Oversight Committee.
A surveillance system to ensure fair and transparent domestic stock market transactions.
Here, suspicious activities were first filtered out through initial monitoring.
But sometimes, there were signs that truly seemed problematic.
That was when it escalated to the next stage.
"Team Leader, we just received a cooperative monitoring request from KRX."
The next step was the Special Investigation Department at the Financial Supervisory Service.
Because so many were trying to exploit the domestic stock market, Korea had an exceptionally tight surveillance system compared to other countries.
While this had completely stifled the market's growth, it had also significantly reduced the number of victims.
"Which firm?"
"Gwangun Securities."
"Gwangun Securities again?"
Gwangun Securities.
They had been under close surveillance since the China Shock.
They were, in a way, the only ones who had profited from that disaster.
There were whispers about insider trading, but the problem was that they couldn't be accused of it just because they had acted on China's regulatory announcement.
Still, after pulling all their money out, things had quieted down—or so it seemed.
Until those bastards started moving again this morning.
"They can't dump 250 billion won into a single stock, so they must have spread it out as much as possible..."
"Even if they split it up, a considerable amount went into each stock."
"Right. No wonder KRX sent a request."
But it wasn't enough to warrant a direct warning or sanctions.
If it were clear market manipulation, the Financial Supervisory Service could step in and halt trading, but...
"It looks like they're walking a razor-thin line."
The amounts were just ambiguous enough.
They had precisely calculated quantities that didn't quite cross the line, placing them with uncanny accuracy.
It seemed like a team effort—so much so that he was curious who their team leader was.
Was this someone who knew the Financial Supervisory Service inside out?
Even most veterans couldn't pinpoint the exact permissible limits like this.
"But there's no real movement yet."
They put the money in and went quiet.
Normally, those trying to manipulate stock prices would pump aggressively to drive prices up, but here, they had bought in increments to minimize impact.
Still, that didn't mean they could relax.
They could suddenly dump their shares before the market closed and crash the prices.
"Huh? Team Leader, they're moving."
Then, after some time had passed.
Finally, those bastards started moving again.
The problem was, they weren't the only ones moving.
"Sigh. Greece really screwed up this time."
The entire market was shaking from the IMF's announcement.
After the China Shock, now Greece's default!
Some were dumping shares out of psychological panic, while others were buying them up.
"..."
Team Leader Yoo Sang-gu observed the disruptive movements of Gwangun Securities.
As Greece's default became a certainty, certain stocks rose while others fell.
But was this just a coincidence?
"They're the only ones making a profit here."
Long on the rising stocks, short on the falling ones.
Their positions, taken since morning, were spot on.
What did that mean?
"They knew the default would happen today."
But first China, now Greece?
Just how extensive was their intelligence network?
Even the biggest securities firms in Korea seemed completely blindsided.
"And now they're day trading, putting money in and pulling it out?"
What was even more absurd was that they weren't stopping there—they were repeatedly buying and selling, riding the turbulent waves.
With impeccable timing, they kept making razor-thin trades, toeing the line.
Their precision was almost breathtaking.
This was clearly not the work of individual team members.
Someone was orchestrating everything from the top.
And with almost magical skill.
"Who the hell is their commander?"
＊＊＊
Before the real trading began.
I had assigned each team member their respective portions.
For day trading, we needed to move in perfect sync—it wasn't feasible for me to keep dashing in and out of the team leader's office to issue orders for every single buy and sell timing.
"..."
At first, I had considered just sending messages.
But after the IMF announcement, when I stepped out of the team leader's office and stood before the team members—
Suddenly, a signal came.
From the direction I was looking in.
So I approached Assistant Manager Lee Hye-rin and instructed her to dump the holdings she was carrying.
And just like that, we turned a profit.
While moving between the team members just in case—
I turned toward a specific position, and the feeling came again.
This time, it was Section Chief Seo.
"Section Chief. Dump them."
"Ah, yes!"
Just as I finished giving the order and was about to turn away, a tingling sensation shot up the back of my neck.
"Section Chief."
"Ah, yes. I'm dumping them right n—"
"Buy them back."
"Excuse me?"
"Hurry."
"Ah—yes!"
I busily moved around the office.
"Assistant Manager An. Buy now."
"Yes!!"
The team members would tense up when they saw me approaching, then frantically hammered their keyboards and mice the moment an order was given.
It felt like running a raid after a long time.
Even in raids, doesn't the raid leader give real-time instructions to the party members during specific patterns? It felt vividly like experiencing that.
"Assistant Manager An. Buy again."
"Huh? B-but we just sold—"
As Assistant Manager An hesitated, Section Chief Seo barked sharply.
"Assistant Manager An! I said dump them!"
"Ah, yes! Ugh! S-sorry! I pressed the wrong button—!"
Just like in raids, there were party members who made mistakes out of nervousness.
"It's fine. Don't stress over it. We can always earn it back."
"Ugh. I'm sorry!"
With that mindset—as if we were taking down a boss called "Profit Margin"—we threw ourselves into the raid—no, the trading session.
***
"Gah. Finally!"
What has a beginning must have an end.
When the market closed, beads of sweat dotted my forehead, and my back was thoroughly drenched.
"G-good work, everyone."
"Ugh. I was so tense that my neck and shoulders are completely stiff."
"Same here."
This was the first time in my life I'd experienced such insane trading.
Tens of billions, hundreds of billions moved back and forth as we executed trades solely based on the team leader's orders.
Whenever the team leader approached with audible footsteps, my entire body would tense up, stiffening as if frozen solid. And the moment an order was given, I had to move as fast as possible—not a single second could be wasted.
But perhaps because we were too tense—
Mistakes happened here and there, but the team leader let them slide.
With a relaxed voice, saying we could always earn it back.
Thanks to that, some of the tension eased, but—
"I feel completely drained from head to toe."
"Is this because I'm too saturated with dopamine, or is it just adrenaline exploding like crazy—"
"Ugh. My heart keeps dropping every time I think I might make a mistake."
It was nerve-wracking, but had I ever felt dopamine surging to the top of my head like this before in my life?
It was a day trade involving a staggering 250 billion won.
Even after the market closed, my hands trembled finely.
"How much did we make? Did we earn 5%?"
"5%? Try 35%."
"Eek! 35%!? No way. In that short amount of time!?"
"Seriously?"
All we did was follow the team leader's orders and move our hands.
With 250 billion won, we made a whopping 90 billion in profit.
"Wow. This is unreal. No, seriously, it makes no sense. A 35% gain from day trading...?"
"Does he actually see the future or something? On what basis is he making these calls? I still don't get it."
"Making a huge profit is great and all... but I'm so drained I can't even lift a finger."
In all my time as a prop trader, I'd never felt this physically exhausted before.
It wasn't like we'd done some intense workout.
All we did was click a few times.
"But, you know."
Just then, the team leader appeared from behind.
He seemed to have a bit of a headache, pressing his temples firmly.
"The FX market is open 24 hours, right?"
"Ah... yes."
Why bring that up all of a sudden?
A sense of unease crept in.
"Then once our account is activated, we can trade even later than now, right?"
"Huh? W-well, yes?"
"Oh—."
With a satisfied expression, the team leader nodded and headed back into his office.
"Did he just say 'Oh—'?"
"He seemed really pleased about it..."
"S-so does that mean we're going to be worked around the clock now?"
"Gasp."