Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Translation: Godtl
"It's not listed in our country's stock exchange."
Stumbagen is Germany's largest automotive conglomerate.
They own practically every overseas car brand we'd recognize.
Already holding over 20% market share domestically, they've firmly secured the top position.
They're particularly renowned for aggressive investments in the sports car sector.
"If we want to trade this, Frankfurt Stock Exchange is our only option."
While you could purchase Stumbagen stocks through various derivative products, for transactions in the billions, it was better to buy directly through the German stock market.
"Nothing particularly suspicious stands out."
I looked into recent issues related to Stumbagen.
Not that there were any special issues to speak of.
If anything, it's been a continuous stream of positive news.
Sales are strong, their vehicles are acing safety tests, and future prospects look extremely bright.
If they keep this up, Stumbagen seems poised to dominate the automotive market while maintaining their overwhelming lead.
"But then why did I get that feeling earlier..."
"Assistant Manager~."
While I was researching Stumbagen alone at the café, a clear voice called from behind.
"Ah. You're here?"
"Wow. I think this is the first time I've seen you dressed so casually, Assistant Manager."
Come to think of it, the Assistant Manager always wore suits.
Same went for me.
Which explains why we'd never met outside work before.
'That saying about clothes making the man is complete nonsense.'
I could clearly feel the overall nerf to my appearance between wearing a suit and dressing casually, yet somehow the Assistant Manager looked exactly the same.
The unique charm of formalwear.
Or perhaps this simple attire had its own exceptional appeal.
"What were you looking at, by the way? Not that I was trying to peek, but I caught a glimpse of financial news."
"Ah. About Stumbagen. Since we're here to look at cars anyway, I thought I'd check how that company's been doing lately."
"Assistant Manager, you really never take a break, do you? When I'm off, I try not to think about stocks at all. But seeing you today made me realize—that's the wrong approach. To improve, I should always be thinking about the market. Learned something new again."
When I'm off, I only think about games—rarely about the stock market.
"Shall we go then, Assistant Manager? I've prepared some files separately."
It wasn't an empty claim.
The Assistant Manager handed me files organizing models by brand.
"Wh-when did you even...?"
"Remember when I said I was researching cars before? I got confused about what was what, so I organized everything—turns out it came in handy."
Though dressed simply, their preparedness was no different from at the office.
"Alright then, shall we?"
For just a moment.
Really, just a fleeting moment.
I entertained a thought.
That this felt like a date with the Assistant Manager—not a date, but date-like, that kind of delusion.
But true to form, the Assistant Manager thoroughly guided me through dealerships, covering everything from domestic to foreign brands.
"This brand has exceptional safety ratings. Not just domestically—they scored remarkably well in European safety tests too. Plus, they've added some convenient new options this time..."
Meticulous preparation.
Encyclopedic knowledge to match.
Not a single trace of what you'd call a sweet moment during our entire outing.
"Whew. That was productive, right?"
"Yes. I learned a lot thanks to you. You must be hungry, Assistant Manager."
"Yep. Starving."
"Shall we get dinner then? You worked hard for me today. My treat—I'll make it a good one."
"Hehe. Sounds great."
Working with the Assistant Manager taught me one thing—they'll eat absolutely anything.
"I've been cutting back on carbs to manage my weight, but lately, I can't get bibimbap out of my mind."
I'd planned to treat her to something expensive, but Assistant Manager chose just an ordinary Korean restaurant.
Well, come to think of it—when we were working out last time, she seemed quite strict about her diet.
"By the way, Manager."
"Yes?"
"Um... outside of work, would it be okay if I called you Jin-ho like before...?"
"Of course."
"Wow, thanks, Jin-ho. Calling you that really brings back memories. Well, not that it was that long ago. But it feels like ages."
"Yeah, it does."
Back when we were juniors, we used to run around like crazy together.
It really did feel like a distant memory now.
"But hey, Jin-ho. Earlier, I noticed you didn't even glance at the Stumbagen Group brands. Why's that? Their cars all have great reviews, don't they?"
"It's just... they don't really appeal to me."
"Ah~ So you've got different tastes, huh?"
"What about you, Assistant Manager? Which brand do you like best?"
"Oh, me... Wait a second. Before that—Jin-ho, you don't have to call me 'Assistant Manager' outside the office either."
"Then... Hye-rin?"
"Yep. Hehe."
Calling her Hye-rin instead of Assistant Manager felt awkward, but nice.
"I looked into foreign cars too, but I'd rather save every penny to buy real estate."
"Real estate?"
"Yeah. In our country, real estate holds way more value than stocks, right? There's a reason people take out loans to buy property—it just goes up on its own if you leave it alone."
A perfectly simple investment theory tailored to our country.
If two people earn the same salary, one saves while the other takes out a loan to buy property—ten years later, the one who bought property will have overwhelmingly more assets.
Even with interest payments, real estate prices rise even higher.
Of course, right now, it's mostly limited to Seoul, but over time, prices in regional areas would naturally rise too.
Celebrities don't buy buildings for no reason.
In our country, real estate was the ultimate asset.
"I should seriously look into real estate too."
I'd already been thinking about finding a new place to live.
With plenty of money to spare, wasn't living in a spacious, luxurious home everyone's dream at least once?
Maybe I could buy a nice building and leave its management to my parents.
They'd stubbornly refuse if I told them to quit working—"What would we even do sitting at home all day?"
"Oh, you should check out the LK Tower they're building now. It's going to be over 550 meters tall."
About five years ago, the LK Group announced plans to construct Korea's tallest landmark and broke ground.
Now, it was nearing completion.
Their ambition to create Korea's most luxurious building was still in progress.
"They say LK Tower residents will get top-tier hotel services at all times, and above all, the view from up there will be unmatched. Just imagine how breathtaking Seoul's nightscape would look from that height."
I nodded and reached for my cup, then paused.
"What's wrong, Jin-ho?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Just for a moment, I felt something—a strong, fleeting sensation.
Was there something going on with the LK Group right now?
＊＊＊
"Then, I hope you have a wonderful day as well. Just let me know when you're leaving work, and I'll have the car ready right away, Manager."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
At first, when the chauffeur waited in front of my house in that luxury sedan, it had felt incredibly awkward.
But after following my older brother's strict order never to drive myself, I had started taking the car, and now I was using it quite comfortably.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, Chief Manager!!"
"Right. The meeting starts in five minutes."
The employees busily prepared and gathered in the conference room.
"Chief Manager, the materials you requested last time are ready."
"Stumbagen?"
"Yes. The research materials on it."
Stumbagen.
Market cap: 119.3 billion euros.
Current stock price: around 250 euros, hitting an all-time high.
Brand value estimated at 39.8 billion dollars, making it the most valuable automotive brand in the world.
Moreover, it was aggressively expanding into global markets, aiming to surpass Siyota, the current global sales leader.
"With this latest all-time high, research suggests long-term profitability is expected to remain strong. In fact, there's been a surge in Stumbagen-related ETFs lately. Domestic and foreign funds alike are pouring money into this stock."
In other words, unless some major issue arose, it was a solid stock poised for continuous upward momentum.
"If you're considering going long, you could trade directly on the Frankfurt exchange, but entering the German market with a certain amount requires mandatory reporting. Given our assets are around 700 billion won, if we were to invest all of that in the German stock market, we'd have to report it to BaFin."
Just as we have the Financial Supervisory Service in Korea and the SEC in the U.S., Germany has BaFin.
Officially, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
Germany had the strictest financial regulations in Europe.
So, injecting a certain amount of capital required prior reporting, and acquiring more than a 3% stake in any stock necessitated additional filings.
Even short selling was heavily regulated—attempting to short just 0.3% would land you under surveillance.
"You could say Germany's regulatory level is similar to ours. Especially when it comes to foreign capital, they're far more stringent with monitoring and restrictions than we are."
As I listened to the explanation, I reviewed the investment methods recommended by the research team.
First, direct investment through the Frankfurt exchange.
"..."
I lightly touched the pen to it, but no particular feeling came.
Was it because I hadn't specified whether it was a long or short position?
So, I wrote "Long" and "Short" beneath it.
"..."
Still, nothing.
What's going on? Was investing in Stumbagen itself the wrong move?
Could the intuition I had earlier not have been about Stumbagen's issues but about defects in the vehicles themselves?
I checked the other investment routes listed below.
American ADRs... Hong Kong, Singapore hedge funds... There are quite a few options.
They informed me that if direct investment felt burdensome, there were alternative routes.
But they didn't strongly recommend them.
Because investing through these channels incurred higher fees than direct investment.
"..."
I touched the pen to these methods as well.
Again, no particular sensation.
Just in case, I wrote "Long," but still, nothing clicked.
Did I really misread something?
Muttering to myself, the moment I wrote "Short" beside it—
"!?"
An intense sensation, strong enough to make the pen tremble, struck my body.
＊＊＊
"..."
After the meeting, Section Chief Seo had stayed behind to speak privately with the Chief Manager before emerging.
The team members had been waiting for him to come out.
This Chief Manager was a monster who had struck gold in the FX market, turning 500 billion into 700 billion in one go.
Especially since the employees had been on edge all day, unsure when exactly the department head would dump his holdings.
The dopamine rush they'd felt when they realized he'd unloaded at the peak still sent shivers down their spines.
So of course they were curious.
About where the department head's next investment target would be.
"Section Chief. Where's the department head aiming next?"
"Looks like Stumbagen."
"I knew it! Stumbagen's been on fire lately. So he's going long, right?"
"No. Surprisingly, he's shorting it."
"Huh?"
Wasn't Stumbagen the company catching up to Japan's Shiyota in sales?
It was one of the hottest companies in the world right now.
"Does he think a correction is coming?"
"Well... the price has risen a lot lately. A pullback wouldn't be out of the question, but..."
Just glancing at the research reports made it clear.
Stumbagen was expected to keep climbing steadily for the foreseeable future.
Even if there was a correction, it would be brief—just a minor dip.
"But I don't think he's shorting just for that temporary dip."
"Huh? Then why?"
"Take a look at this."
Section Chief Seo showed them a sheet with a list personally checked off by Department Head Jeong Jin-ho.
"Hedge funds, ETFs, ADRs, and other derivatives... Most of the investments are concentrated in ADRs and hedge funds."
"Right. We're not entering the Frankfurt exchange directly—it's all indirect investments."
The team still looked confused about what he was getting at.
"Don't you see? Suppose we took a short position directly on the Frankfurt exchange. And then, suddenly, Stumbagen's stock price crashes. What do you think BaFin would assume?"
"Insider trading?"
"Exactly. They'd be highly suspicious. Especially since Germany keeps a close eye on foreign capital. Even if there's no issue, they'll find a way to make one."
If this were just a short-term play on a correction, he wouldn't have ordered indirect investments—he'd have gone straight into the market.
"Ah... So you mean...?"
Only then did they start to piece it together.
Department Head Jeong Jin-ho wasn't entering the German market just to pocket small change.
An indirect investment of this scale could only mean one thing—something big was coming.
"If we short Stumbagen indirectly like this and the stock crashes, BaFin will just see us as faceless investors. It won't look like a single account vacuuming up all the money—just multiple funds taking their share."
Faceless investors.
BaFin would assume it was just the usual shorting funds and institutions making profits. They'd never imagine a single department in Korea had poured in billions to sweep the board.
"Whoa. If it plays out like you're saying, Section Chief, it's like those foreign investors who come in and wreak havoc in our market—except this time, we're the ones storming Germany."
"Right. If Stumbagen really drops, that is. If the department head's bet succeeds, we'll make billions. But if it fails... we'll lose just as much."
"Gasp."
The bigger the potential profit, the bigger the risk.
That's why securities firms always manage risk so meticulously.
"But of course, this time too, the department head's risk management is..."
"Nonexistent. Didn't I tell you? His risk management is just winning."
"..."
Become faceless investors and invade the German market.
Armed with nothing but a single sword, no armor in sight.
Before the enemy can stab me, I cut their throat first.
That was Department Head Jeong Jin-ho's idea of risk management.
Just thinking about it made their blood boil—yet at the same time, their hearts pounded wildly.
"Just hearing about it makes my heart race."
"I'm already sweating."
If they kept working here, they probably wouldn't live to see old age.