Please Don't Go Bankrupt (1)

I always thought companies were only sold off when their management was failing. But why on earth would Rachel want to sell Rachel Mining when its stock price was skyrocketing and it held exclusive rights to an unprecedented jackpot?

'You sell when things are going great, obviously.'

She was aiming for an exit. Soon enough, the blood relatives of the Besmont ducal family would come sniffing around once they confirmed her company's meteoric rise. They'd want to absorb it as one of their subsidiaries.

But would Rachel, burning with a desire for revenge against her main family, simply hand it over? Surprisingly, she would. The reason was simple: she would realize that the massive Arcanium vein in the Delos Mountains was nothing but a hollow shell.

'The mining yield reports coming up from the site. She'd notice the numbers starting to dip slightly from a certain point onward.'

Others would dismiss it as a temporary plateau. But that was when the female lead's beast-like heart would kick in. Sensing an instinctive unease, she would throw the company at the ducal family. Then she'd pocket an enormous sale price, split it with her employees, and leave Hamilton behind.

The ducal family would mock Rachel for handing over a goose that laid golden eggs... only for a catastrophic bombshell to drop just one day later. An imperial scholar who had gone to the site for analysis would release his report.

Ironically, the cause of this disaster was Rachel Mining's own rock drill. The drill had cleared out the dense mana packed inside the vein, finally allowing for precise analysis that revealed the truth.

The retail investors who had poured money into Rachel Mining and the businessmen who had signed supply contracts would fall into complete panic. What followed was a merciless panic sell-off and a parade of limit-down days.

In the end, the Besmont ducal family, which had bought the company at its peak, would suffer massive losses. Meanwhile, Rachel would slip away with a fortune, landing a clean blow against the ducal house. That was the true charm of this episode.

'She really has a heart of steel. To throw away a company that's doing so well...'

To decide on an exit based on nothing more than a slight downward trend in mining yields? There was probably only one such CEO in the entire empire: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rachel.

'Later, Arcanium veins would be discovered in other regions... but apparently her rock drills wouldn't even make a dent there.'

Eventually, the rock drill factory would shut down due to lack of revenue. Anyway, the important thing was that the date Rachel sold her company to the ducal family was March 30th.

On that day, I planned to sell everything I owned and immediately go all-in on short selling with the proceeds. Feasting in the bull market and then sucking the marrow dry in the crash—a perfect switch play. I couldn't even begin to guess how much would end up in my account.

"Heh heh heh..."

With the corners of my mouth twitching, I spent my days in an excellent mood.

"Mmm..."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed. A glance at the clock told me it was already afternoon.

"Ugh, I overslept..."

It was well past the time when Rachel should have sold her company. Tom was still fast asleep in the bed next to mine.

Yeah, sleep a lot. You need to sleep a lot to grow tall.

'Because nothing's better than height and a full head of hair.'

In my previous life, I'd been lacking in both. But Allen's body had pretty good specs. Decent height, thick hair, and a face that was fairly pale and handsome.

'The only thing I was missing was money, but that's no longer a problem.'

Leaving Tom to sleep in, I headed out alone toward the stock exchange.

Creak.

The moment I stepped into the exchange, the trading floor was packed as usual, with barely any room to stand. I leisurely wove through the crowd and went straight to the quotation board.

'I placed an order to sell everything as soon as the market opened.'

I checked the opening price.

"Ha, hahaha...!"

The moment I saw the crimson number, laughter burst out of me. My average purchase price was 67 gold. The opening price was 384 gold. Even a rough calculation put the return at a staggering 5.7 times.

With three million gold invested... multiplied, that came to 17.1 million gold. In Korean won, that was roughly 17.1 billion won!

'In my previous life, scraping together 2.6 billion had been my limit.'

Of course, someone might say, What's the big deal about a mere fivefold increase? But let's not forget—this was a romance fantasy world. No matter how absurdly advanced it was with its Magitech Network and real-time quotation boards, the scale was completely different from modern markets where tens of billions of people and institutions poured in capital.

This was a market participated in only by imperial citizens and some foreign capital. A single stock rising fivefold in a short period was an event that could flip the entire empire on its head.

'If I short 17.1 million gold all the way to the bottom... just how much would that be?'

Just imagining it made dopamine flood through me.

"Baron Goldman, we meet again."

I turned at the voice coming from behind me. It was Rachel.

"Oh? CEO, what brings you to the exchange on a day like today?"

"I wanted to see how well my company is being recognized."

"Ah, I see—"

...Wait. What?

"Excuse me? Your... company?"

I asked again, doubting my own ears. She simply answered with a bright smile.

"Yes. Rachel Mining. Using this rapid growth as a springboard, I'm going to build it into the empire's top mining company. You, as a shareholder, Baron Goldman, can look forward to it as well."

'What the hell is this bullshit?'

An emergency siren blared inside my head. This was well past the time she should have sold the company to the ducal family!

"Um... the company hasn't been—"

"Yes?"

Oops. I almost spoiled everything. If I brought up the sale, this countryside baron would get grilled on how he knew such classified information.

According to the original story, the ducal family should have secretly contacted her early this morning. And she would have sold the company after an early morning staff meeting. That was how the story was supposed to go.

'Fuck... How do I even say this?'

For now, I'd try to steer the conversation as naturally as possible.

"W-well, what I mean is... your small company is growing so fast, aren't any big capital groups or nobles trying to acquire it? Something like that. Haha."

At my words, Rachel's golden eyes widened. She was clearly wondering how I knew.

"Such offers have come in, yes. But I didn't sell."

"WHY NOT!!!!"

I shouted without thinking. Rachel's shoulders jumped at my sudden lion-like roar.

"You scared me...! Why are you suddenly yelling?!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Ah, th-that's... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I just got so frustrated."

"Frustrated?"

Of course I was frustrated! This was a disaster that would completely destroy my plan. If Rachel didn't sell and kept the company?

It meant she would take the catastrophic event head-on. The ducal family had money to burn; losing one acquired company wouldn't even make their house tremble. Their pride might get a little scratched, but that was it.

But Rachel was different. She had no backing. No matter how rapidly she was growing right now, she was still just the CEO of a startup. Once it was revealed that the massive Arcanium vein was a scam, a delisting-level crash was inevitable.

What would happen to her after taking that kind of blow?

'...She might never recover.'

The core development of the original novel was that Rachel's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ability, iron will, connections, and luck combined to make every business she touched a massive success. She might stumble for a moment, but she had never once failed.

'But this isn't about ability or whatever—this is a 100% guaranteed failure.'

She'd rack up enormous debt, too. Once buried under that mountain of debt, Rachel might never be able to start another business again.

'And my plan to leech off the female lead and print money?'

It would be completely wiped out. If she went bankrupt, I'd have to study the news and analyze fundamentals myself from now on. I already knew exactly how painful that was from my previous life.

Besides, no matter how hard I analyzed, I'd end up taking losses anyway. Honestly, after devouring both the rise and fall with Rachel Mining, I wouldn't have to worry about money anymore. 17.1 million gold plus alpha wasn't exactly pocket change.

And even if she went under, it was Rachel going bankrupt, not me. My short position wouldn't be affected.

But... it was just so, so damn disappointing.

'If Rachel kept running her businesses, making trillions wouldn't be a dream...'

Why hadn't she sold the company? She should have felt uneasy after seeing the field yield reports.

Swallowing my burning frustration, I carefully probed.

"W-well, what I mean is... with your ability to grow a company this much in such a short time, you don't have to stick only to mining. You'd succeed in other fields too. It feels like such a waste of talent to stay in just one well."

"Oh my, you're too kind. It was just lucky that a major opportunity appeared and we grew from it."

"Exactly! So now is the absolute best time to sell the company! You never know when an opportunity like this might dry up!"

Urgency had crept into my voice. In contrast, Rachel smiled leisurely.

"Hmm... that might be true. But I believe my company still has more room to grow."

What kind of growth are you seeing?! You read the report, didn't you?!

In the end, I threw out a spoiler-level hint.

"Ah, about that. I heard through my information network... that the Arcanium yield in the Delos Mountains has been strangely decreasing lately. Doesn't that make you a little uneasy, CEO? Like, maybe the actual reserves are much smaller than what was initially announced..."

Rachel stared at me intently.

"You seem very interested in Arcanium mining. That data is quite recent, so only those directly involved would normally know about it."

Urk. Maybe I went too far.

"Haha, I did invest three million gold. I should at least know this much information, right?"

I averted my gaze and awkwardly scratched my head.

"I was concerned about those decreasing numbers too... but I judged it to be a temporary slump. Besides, the massive vein can't be only in the Delos Mountains, can it? If large veins are discovered in other regions, the demand for Rachel Mining's rock drills will be much higher than it is now."

Your rock drills won't even be used there, you frustrating woman!!

"And... if I sold the company to someone else at this point, it would be like betraying the trust of our shareholders."

"What? What does shareholder trust have to do with anything? If the CEO wants to cash out, she should just cash out!"

"That is... what you said to me, Baron Goldman."

"Wh-what did I say?"

She fidgeted with her lips for a moment, then blushed as she spoke.

"...That you were investing because you believed in my potential."

"...Pardon?"