1988 - Moving (Revised)
1988 - Moving (Revised)
As soon as I got out of the taxi, I saw a skyscraper towering into the sky.
Trump Tower.
A condominium opened about five years ago by Donald J. Trump, or DDT for short.
Following the revolving door into the building, I saw a massive artificial waterfall cascading down from the third floor.
A lobby packed with tourists.
It truly had the imposing presence befitting the world's most famous condominium.
Are there no better buildings?
Since the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is moving in, this is definitely the best place.
I took the escalator up to the Garden Level.
The reason I chose this as my new residence was simply because I wanted to.
No deep contemplation or soul-searching, just because.
Before the regression, every time I walked to the trading floor, I would look at Trump Tower and make a vow.
I will definitely succeed and live in a place like this someday.
'It's a bit childish, though.'
Now that I'm young again, maybe it's okay to be a little childish?
Anyway, I had achieved that goal.
I could have lived in a house so luxurious it was incomparable to Trump Tower.
If you survive nearly 70 years on Wall Street and don't have money, aren't you just a lunatic or an idiot?
But, it's just that, well.
While living in that house, I often thought, 'Why am I scrambling so desperately for this?'
Well, maybe I just got too used to that house.
Seeing how I started missing that house just a few days after coming back to Harlem.
[Trump Rental Office]
I headed under the shining brass sign.
He really likes shiny things, doesn't he?
The moment I opened the door and entered, I saw a middle-aged blonde Caucasian woman.
In the distant future, she'd be disparagingly called a 'Karen'.
"Welco......, student. I think you're lost? The food court is one floor down."
The woman forced a smile as she spoke.
I smiled back at her.
"Kon'nichiwa."
In my experience, half of Trump Tower's residents are celebrities, the other half are Japanese.
How dare some honky look down on Nihonjin!
"......Eh, hello. Can you speak English?"
"Little. Listening possible."
"Ah-. So......."
"I'll pay one year in advance."
"......Pardon?"
"How much?"
"I, it depends on the size. Starting from $3,500."
I nodded.
I knew it, but damn, that's expensive.
The median annual income in the US is barely under $30,000.
To think that a four-person family's annual income can't even afford the cheapest monthly rent here.
"What floor?"
"The 45th floor is available now. It has the best view. Floors below the 30th aren't bad either."
"View. Check."
"Follow me."
Guided by the woman, I headed to the 45th floor.
"Here it is. It's the best among the one-bedrooms."
Click-!
A door that opens by inserting a card into a slot!
This is the advancement of modern science?!
The era of no keys needed has arrived!
"Whoa-."
"Fantastic, right?"
Not bad.
A room with a view straight through the 59th Street station all the way to Central Park.
The size is roughly around 100 square meters, I guess.
Quite spacious for a one-bedroom.
"Not bad. Can I move in right away?"
"Yes. Y, yes, it's possible."
"The price?"
"$4,000 per month......."
"Bring the contract."
"......You......!"
Her face flushed bright red as she realized I could speak English perfectly well.
Should've been nicer from the start.
How nasty must she have been for me to remember the insult from decades ago the moment I saw her face?
I wrote 48,000 on a check and handed it over along with my ID.
Her already flushed complexion turned even redder as she looked at the ID, then her expression crumpled when she saw the check.
"Ri, right away!"
A starter check.
A temporary check that can't be used for large transactions and has the worst credibility.
But the check I presented had a red stamp on it.
[Merrill Lynch & Co. - Guaranteed]
A blank certified check.
A check issued based on Merrill Lynch's credit, not mine.
A promissory note stating that Merrill Lynch will unconditionally make an advance payment, regardless of whether there's money in my account or not.
No wonder the woman could only nod with a contorted expression.
Refusing this check would mean picking a fight with Wall Street's bull over pride.
Having received such a rare item, she must have roughly guessed.
This guy's got something. I messed with the wrong one.
She must have thought something like that.
I do have a checkbook in my name, but if I had used that, it was obvious this woman would have made things difficult on purpose.
Trump Tower is infamous for having a very, very fucking annoying screening process for residents.
'Well. I didn't really like high places.'
If it's too high, it feels stuffy and bothersome.
So after I got a bit older, I moved to a mansion, but.
Looking at this view, I feel like I've come to like high places again.
I guess I really had aged, even with anti-aging genes.
I spent some time like that, admiring the view outside.
"Pleased to meet you. Mister Kim. I'm Peter Nelson, the attorney in charge of Trump Tower."
"Hello. I'm Arthur Kim."
A man entered and greeted me politely.
He had a friendly smile, giving off a typical lawyer-like impression.
"Please, have a seat."
I gestured with an open hand towards the table.
A declaration that this was already my territory.
The lawyer readily nodded, while the woman standing behind him showed subtle unease.
"I'd like to record this. Do you consent?"
"I consent."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
The lawyer, Peter, took out a recorder and placed it on the table.
"Personal information and sensitive matters will be kept confidential. Please be advised that this statement will be treated as equivalent to a formal NDA."
I nodded.
It's probably a bluff to reassure the other party, but let's just go with it.
How could a single recording substitute for the long and complex clauses of an NDA?
"What is your occupation and annual income?"
"Fund manager. My annual income is variable, so you can consider the average to be around a million."
It's not a lie.
My assets themselves are around a million.
If they check with a credit rating agency, they'll find the reality is close to nonexistent, but since I have Merrill Lynch's certified check, they probably won't investigate that rigorously.
"......Million."
At my words, cold sweat trickled down the forehead of the woman standing awkwardly behind.
Millionaire.
A millionaire.
The pressure between 900,000 and 1,000,000 is completely different.
Moreover, if it's an annual income of a million, not assets of a million, even more so.
If I decided to make a fuss, I could make a lot of people uncomfortable, so it was natural for the woman to be nervous.
Of course, I was still far from the level of top-floor residents like Michael Jackson or Steven Spielberg.
Their annual income would need to be at least 50 million dollars.
Capital power that doesn't even consider bank robbers as competition.
'I'll surpass that in a year.'
But it didn't feel that impressive.
I had surpassed their earnings before, and now, having regressed, it goes without saying.
Even if it was a result close to a fluke, didn't I make a million dollars in just five days?
My targets are China and North Korea, not high-income earners.
'......I don't even have a clue yet.'
But that's the goal for now. The goal.
"You are a U.S. citizen."
"Yes."
"The lease is for one year prepaid, correct?"
"Correct."
"Do you have a guarantor?"
"Merrill Lynch."
"......."
The lawyer seemed a bit flustered.
Could it be she didn't show him the check?
As the woman standing behind him urgently whispered something in his ear, the lawyer's smiling face twisted subtly.
And he began to glare at the woman sideways.
That bitch, she didn't tell me even after checking with Merrill Lynch?
"I'll conclude the interview here. I think all that's left is to complete the paperwork. When would you like to move in?"
Having heard the whisper, the lawyer hastily ended the interview.
Understandable.
A blank certified check is that rare of an item.
I barely managed to get one from Diana by pleading.
It's actually a check that appears blank but has an internal limit set.
Would Merrill Lynch be crazy enough to issue an unlimited blank check to a mere million-dollar customer?
But they can't know that fact, and even if they call to confirm, Merrill Lynch won't answer.
Should I call it a kind of bluff or a scam?
Anyway, it worked, so that's that.
And it's not entirely a scam.
Regardless of the internal limit, the very act of Merrill Lynch issuing it serves as proof of credit.
"I'd like to move in as soon as possible."
"You can move in anytime."
"Is today possible?"
"Of course."
Same-day move-in processing.
Considering New York's complicated administrative procedures, it's an unbelievable speed.
Of course, I can't do it myself; it means Trump Tower will handle everything.
It also means they'll treat me as a customer worth paying attention to.
How many people living in this building can be ignored anyway?
I signed all the documents the lawyer presented.
"Welcome as an official resident. Mister Kim."
"Pleased to meet you."
Shaking hands with the lawyer, the woman respectfully extended the card key and move-in guide.
Instead of taking the card key, I looked at her and spoke.
"I thought chinks could never qualify no matter how much money they had. Seems I was wrong."
"......Pardon?"
"No. Never mind. You can go."
It's already in the past.
Making more of a fuss here wouldn't even be self-satisfying.
She'll probably get an earful from the lawyer outside anyway.
I gestured for the two of them to leave.
'Chinks can't even see above the 5th floor no matter how much money they make.......'
She probably said that based on my attire at the time.
But anyway, it wasn't true.
Even if it wasn't the underground laundry room, I could come up to any other area just fine.
Just saying.
I blankly watched a man making a call somewhere.
NYNEX inside Trump Tower.
I came to activate a cell phone, but I really had no idea it would be this difficult.
'This is a real culture shock.'
I have enough money, deposit, and status, but.
'Should I have created a company first?'
I don't have a credit score (FICO score).
But it's not easy to completely ignore either, because I'm a resident here.
The moment they say they can't activate it because a Trump Tower resident has no credit, a contradiction arises.
That's why the employee was busily making calls here and there, trying to persuade someone.
"Done! Phew-."
"You went through a lot."
"Hah! Not at all! It's something I should do for you."
Did they plate the phone number with gold or something?
I don't know why they're so precious about it.
The employee said that and began finishing the paperwork.
And during that floating time, I examined my Status Window.
───────────
<Memory Palace>
[Sterling Drug M&A]
[Nikkei 225]
[1988 Event 3] : 5K
[1988 Event 4] : 7K
[1988 Event 5] : 10K
[1988 Event 6] : 20K
[1988 Event 7] : 30K
[1988 Event 8] : 40K
[1988 Event 9] : 50K
[1988 Event 10] : 60K
[1988 Event 11] : 70K
[Kraft M&A]
[RJR Nabisco LBO]
[1988~1990 Mark/Dollar Chart] : 100K
[1988~1990 Yen/Dollar Chart] : 300K
[1988~1990 US Prime Rate Chart] : 500K
[1988~1990 US 30-Year Chart] : 1M
Coins Held : 51.1K
───────────
The coins gained from one year's rent: 48,000.
I surpassed 50,000 coins in one go.
'Rather than charts, it's better to open events and think about short-term dribbling, right?'
If I had overflowing capital, nothing beats macroeconomics.
Forex and government bonds can be absorbed without issue up to a scale unattainable in the stock market.
Just look at Sterling Drug; I couldn't handle a mere $20,000 and had to hold it over-the-counter.
But conversely, that means individual stocks have greater short-term explosive potential due to the limited capital that can be invested.
'Open all from number 3 to 6.'
I opened four events in one breath.
───────────
<Memory Palace>
[Sterling Drug M&A]
[Nikkei 225]
[Federated LBO]
[Firestone M&A]
[Drought]
[Cooper's M&A]
.
.
.
Coins Held : 9.1K
───────────
"......Huh."
I'm not sure about Firestone and Cooper's, but I remember Federated.
A department store acquisition battle.
Macy's and a Canadian company, right?
Anyway, quite a few companies were drooling and competing fiercely.
And that's not all.
'Right. There were soybeans and corn too, right?'
There was a historic grain crisis this year due to drought.
The commodity I first challenged and made a profit on.
I went in with a futures short position anticipating a decline, and while the profit wasn't enormous.
'This time, I can eat up that entire surge!'
Excluding the surge from the Soviet grain heist in the 70s, there had never been a year that surpassed this year's rise until just before my death.
'There's a limit with commodities, but.......'
Commodities, especially grains, are managed extremely tightly by the exchanges.
From a vague memory, I think the buying limit was reached at around 200 contracts.
Moreover, the main grain was soybeans, and I went in with corn, so my profit was smaller.
That's why I hadn't remembered it until now.
No matter how much the price rises, there's a limit to the quantity you can enter.
I never even considered it a big event, whether long or short.
But.
'Make a deal with the four major grain merchants?'
What if I use ABCD to suck up option quantities?
It would have been impossible in my past life, but maybe it's possible this time.
'Then I need to launder money as soon as possible.'
Impossible with a personal account, and especially with small amounts.
Ultimately, establishing an offshore fund is best.
I need to get my pilot's license quickly first.