Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Translation: Godtl
Team Leader Park Hong-seo wasn't much of a gamer.
To put it bluntly, it just wasn't his cup of tea.
He could never understand how people could lose themselves in games, completely oblivious to the passage of time.
But after stepping into the stock market, he finally grasped the mindset of gamers.
Because the moment the market opened, he too would immerse himself completely until closing time, focusing on nothing else.
Before he knew it, another trading day had ended.
"Whew."
He checked the day's profit margin.
+1%
One percent.
At first glance, it seemed like a negligible figure.
But in the prop trading department, 1% was anything but insignificant.
"Team Leader, you held up well today."
"How about the others?"
"Don't even ask. Not just our team—every team got slaughtered today."
The market had been extremely volatile lately.
That's just how stocks were.
Even when countless elites conducted thorough data analyses, stock prices remained unpredictable.
Because the stock market was the purest manifestation of human madness.
"Looks like no one's hitting their monthly targets this month."
"Yeah. But who knows? There's still about a week left. Maybe we can still meet the quota."
Each team in prop trading had a set monthly target.
Minimum 5%, maximum 15%.
Some people mistakenly believed that prop trading, which mainly involved day trading, had monthly profit targets of 50-100%.
They thought day trading was gambling, and that those obsessed with gambling would chase the highest returns.
But prop trading was all about safety first.
That's why they discouraged risky investments and even maintained separate leverage for risk management.
As a result, daily returns often hovered around 0.1%.
You could say the prop trading department was all about risk management—at least don't lose money.
"We'll do what we can. Everyone grab a coffee, then we'll head straight into the meeting."
"Yes, Team Leader."
Team Leader Park also took a short break and headed to the pantry to get some water.
As he was filling his cup, someone quietly approached from behind.
"Hey, Team Leader Park. Aren't you being a bit too obvious with your favoritism?"
It was Team Leader Kim Hak-tae, who had joined the company the same year as Park.
Team Leader Park furrowed his brow.
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you really clueless, or are you pretending not to know? Our juniors had a rough time today thanks to you. The market was already crazy enough as it is, but those kids were running around like crazy."
Ah, so that's what this was about.
Kim Hak-tae lowered his voice as if worried someone might overhear.
"That parachute kid. I heard you let him take it easy today. Who knew Team Leader Park would play office politics like this?"
"It's not like that."
"I get it. Rumor has it the CEO personally placed that parachute. And of all teams, he landed in yours—of course you'd be concerned. If you rub him the wrong way now and he gets fast-tracked to an executive position later, you'd be in trouble."
He wasn't entirely wrong.
No matter how hard you tried not to care, the situation forced you to.
"So, have you talked to him? What's his relationship with the CEO? Must be family, right?"
Jeong Jin-ho had clarified that he wasn't related to the CEO.
"I don't know either."
"Tch. Trying to keep the good stuff to yourself again."
"What good stuff? He'll be gone to some other department soon anyway."
"Well... that's true. But before he goes, maybe I should get on his good side too? If even Team Leader Park is making an effort..."
Team Leader Park Hong-seo shook his head and left the pantry.
The reason he'd kept Jeong Jin-ho at his desk all day was to observe his investment skills.
"..."
Where had he invested today?
"Daehan Solution?"
Daehan Solution was a company that imported nickel to manufacture batteries.
On a day like today—no, it was one of those stocks you absolutely shouldn't touch, not for a while.
Yet the rookie had dumped money into it.
"You went all-in again?"
Was this some kind of defiance?
A warning not to test him?
Or was he just in the habit of betting everything on a single stock?
'Right. What was I even expecting?'
Not wanting to dwell on it, Team Leader Park closed the window.
He'd given the rookie a shot, wondering if there might be some investment talent there, but as expected, the guy was just an unremarkable parachute hire.
Anyone could see it—instead of diversifying his investments, he'd lazily gone all-in on a single stock like it was nothing.
The lack of diligence was mildly irritating, but—
'Why bother getting worked up over this?'
He wasn't going to stick around here long anyway.
He had no intention of sucking up to anyone, but he wasn't about to make enemies either.
＊＊＊
Had there ever been a day as awkward and tedious as this in the office?
Following the gut feeling that had struck me, I'd pressed the buy button—only to blow all my virtual funds in one go.
And on just one stock.
"Jin-ho~, how'd your investments go today?"
"So-so."
"Oho. Mind if I take a look?"
"Uh... maybe don't."
Hye-rin checked my stock holdings and blinked rapidly.
"Jin-ho. What is this?"
"A bit pathetic, right?"
"No. Did you forget the most basic rule of investing is diversification? Last time, you said it was a mistake, but this time, you went all-in again? And on Daehan Solutions, of all things! Why on earth did you buy this? Don't tell me it was another accident?"
"..."
I scratched my head with an awkward laugh.
"What about you, Assistant Manager? Did you do well today?"
At that, Hye-rin confidently planted her hands on her hips.
"Ahem. My return today was a whopping 2%? I bet I'm the only one on the team who pulled that off!"
Her expression was so adorable I couldn't help but break into a wide grin.
"Wow. You're amazing. A total stock-jjang."
"Stock-jjang? What's that?"
"Ah, like, you're the best at stocks. Just adding '-jjang' is trendy these days."
"I only heard that back in elementary school. Guess trends really do come full circle. Wait—that's not the point right now."
Hye-rin forced a stern look and glared at me.
"Jin-ho. Don't go all-in on a single stock like this again. If you'd diversified, you wouldn't have taken this big of a hit. Got it?"
The problem was, even that was unbearably cute.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll keep that in mind."
"Sigh. I'll make sure to teach you properly from now on."
"I feel reassured already."
As the two of us laughed together, a passing senior trader scolded us.
"Assistant Manager Lee, Employee Jeong. What's with the giggling? You here to date or work?"
"Ah—s-sorry."
"Go prep for the meeting."
"Yes..."
I hadn't been here long, but I'd learned one thing:
The office mood was entirely dictated by the day's market performance.
"You understand, right, Jin-ho? The market was especially volatile today—even Assistant Manager Yang Mi-ju took some losses. Everyone's in the red today, so the mood's bound to be rough."
Still, I couldn't help but wonder—what kind of person takes out their frustration on someone who did nothing wrong?
But wasn't that just office life?
"At least our team's better off. The other teams are really—ugh. All my peers quit because they couldn't handle the pressure."
Hmm. I'd thought our team was the scariest because of Team Leader Park Hong-seo.
Turns out I was wrong.
"Oh! Now that I think about it, as your senior, I haven't even treated you to a simple meal yet."
The prop trading department didn't have a proper lunch break.
The market never closed, even at noon.
So most of us grabbed a light bite after trading hours.
"It's fine."
"I'm not fine with it. I'm in a good mood for once, so how about we grab something after work? There's this udon place nearby I really love. What do you say?"
"What do you think?"
"Absolutely!"
Of course it had to be good.
A dinner alone with Deputy Lee Hye-rin?!
I'd felt a bit down after getting scolded for no reason, but now I was getting excited all over again.
"Even though we took an overall loss today, we defended our positions well. We can make up for today's losses tomorrow. And there aren't any special circumstances today, right?"
I couldn't stop smiling throughout the entire meeting.
"Ah, yes. The entire market was in a bearish trend today. The only thing we did was some sector hedging for risk management."
"Well, the bear market will likely continue for a while, so let's keep monitoring."
"Yes."
"Good work, everyone. Let's all leave early today."
Even better, we got off work early today.
It couldn't get any better than this.
Not only was I having dinner with the deputy, but I could also play more games at home—just thinking about it made my body tingle with excitement.
"..."
But maybe I was smiling too much.
When I locked eyes with Team Leader Park Hong-seo, who was staring at me with a stiff expression, I quickly lowered the corners of my mouth that had nearly reached my ears.
Still, inside, I was grinning like the happiest person in the world.
Ahh. The udon I eat today will be the warmest in the world.
＊＊＊
There's a saying.
The most interesting things happen while I'm asleep.
That's because major events often break overseas, where the time zones are different.
This time was no exception.
"Team Leader! Have you heard the news?!"
Traders who had come in since dawn were in an uproar.
"I saw it."
"Seriously, why didn't they even give a warning before doing this?"
An incident had occurred in the middle of the night.
Well, calling it an "incident" might be a stretch.
But at the very least, it was a big deal for the trading department.
[Indonesian Government: Nickel Supply Reduced by 30%. Export Restrictions Initiated.]
Indonesia is the world's largest nickel producer.
But recently, due to oversupply, nickel's value had been steadily declining.
We'd expected Indonesia to take some measures, but they suddenly dropped this bombshell announcement.
"A 5% reduction would've been understandable—but 30%? That's insane."
"They could've at least given a heads-up. What kind of move is it to stay silent and then pull this?"
A 30% reduction was a number that could send shockwaves through the market.
It just showed how dissatisfied the Indonesian government was with the current situation.
With nickel supply shrinking like this, the battery industry—which had been in a downtrend all of yesterday—could rebound.
"Not all companies will rise. Those without nickel reserves will crash, while those with ample nickel stockpiles will surge."
Companies without nickel would struggle due to the inflated prices, but those with large reserves would actually profit.
The real problem, of course, was that quite a few teams had taken short positions, assuming battery-related stocks would all plummet.
That's why the traders were in chaos right now.
If stock prices rebounded, those who had shorted would face massive losses.
"Has the company list come out yet?"
"Not yet. The research team just got in and is scrambling to gather data. But I just heard—there's only one company in Korea with the largest nickel reserves right now."
At that moment, a name flashed through Team Leader Park's mind.
"Don't tell me... Daehan Solutions?"
"Oh! Right. You knew about it too, Team Leader? Their stock is supposed to skyrocket today."
"..."
Team Leader Park stared blankly into space.
"Team Leader?"
Jeong Jin-ho.
That parachute had gone all-in on Daehan Solutions yesterday.
That bastard had known again.
That this would happen.
No wonder he was smiling nonstop during yesterday's wrap-up meeting.
It had been the smile of a victor.
No institution could've predicted the Indonesian government's sudden announcement.
There hadn't even been a hint of it.
How the hell did that parachute know everything in advance?