Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Wolf of Wall Street (3)
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“The US stock market is overvalued.”
That was what I told Ha Young-il the next day when he asked why.
-….
Ha Young-il fell silent for a moment on the other end of the line.
-Why do you say that?
“I’m not the only one thinking it. Everyone feels the same way, don’t they?”
That’s right.
The Plaza Accord had drastically devalued the dollar. The US trade deficit was growing, and interest rates kept climbing.
Common sense dictated that stock prices should start falling soon. With all those headwinds piling up, it didn’t make sense for prices to keep rising.
Yet the US market was in a relentless bull run. In the face of skyrocketing stocks that made you wonder if this could go on…
People gradually started thinking.
‘Isn’t this way too high…?’
And then—boom.
That’s how Black Monday exploded.
The perfect timing for short-selling.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Ha Young-il couldn’t quite grasp what I meant.
Of course not. In the original timeline, the US market was supposed to climb even higher.
It was early August now… Black Monday hit on October 19th. Even counting just the days left, that was 60 days, and conservatively, it would take at least 50 for the panic to spread.
“Normally… I’d just ride it out, but plans have changed. I need to go in even more aggressively.”
Hot breath escaped my small mouth. Amid the unprecedented heat filling my body, my hands trembled.
My eyes gleamed with excessive excitement as I finally surrendered my body to the golden specter that had begun to take control.
“Let’s set the full short-selling push for October 19th, Monday. Stack up the bombs over the weekend and detonate them all at once.”
Stock markets close on weekends. So Mondays often see a flood of weekend news.
That got amplified to the extreme on October 19th—Black Monday.
I planned to make it even bigger.
-…I get the idea. But… why October 19th specifically?
“That’s my calculation. I’ll tweak it based on news in the meantime, but it won’t be off by more than a week, plus or minus.”
What I’d just said was tantamount to declaring I could see a thousand miles from my seat—a mad boast.
But I had faith I could pull it off.
I trusted that I could amplify the bull run with butterfly effects and still nail the start of the crash.
Not because of future knowledge, but because I believed in myself—the once-top madman of Wall Street. I trusted the me who could read chart flows with my eyes closed.
If I was still that person, if I claimed the me from a past life—whose name I couldn’t even remember now—was one and the same as Yoo Ha-yeon in this life…!
I could do it. I had to.
Because that’s who I was.
“Contact Uncle Joo-seong. Pull in some connections. You all get ready too.”
I continued, scanning the secretaries around me with sunken eyes.
Their gazes, filled with doubt, seemed to challenge me. So many people couldn’t see the flow of money in the world.
I was different. I could always see the future ahead.
“Ramp up investment banking. Call clients for more funds, phone newspapers to drag out every bit of positive news. The key is boosting trading volume itself. Got it?”
A single girl flashed a faint smile as the people scattered noisily.
I would prove myself.
Atop the mountain of gold I’d piled up…, I’d declare that the Ship of Theseus was still the same.
That was how I’d prove my continuity.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Generally, Wall Street in New York is called the heart of finance.
Issues here ripple out to global markets.
But the reverse happens too. When world markets shake, Wall Street reels as well.
“When I give the signal, hit Tokyo and Hong Kong hard. Once they start shaking, Wall Street will feel it plenty.”
Unlike Korea’s closed market, Tokyo and Hong Kong were tightly linked to the US.
And they were the only markets I could touch.
-What exactly do you mean?
“Hm, until I signal—before October—keep going long. Doesn’t matter if we lose a bit. More importantly, amplify the signal that we’re going long.”
-…You’re fanning the bull run higher.
“Exactly. We’ve only got a million dollars right now, so leverage that, spin it around, and just make the calls. Drag out contract talks to delay closing as long as possible.”
Even if I threw all my assets into the market now, it wouldn’t make a dent. Leverage heavily, and it’s still the same.
But this was still the era of trading stocks by phone. The ‘signal’ itself was what I could provide.
“Focus especially on junk bonds. It’s fine if it looks amateurish—no, make it blatantly newbie-like.”
As always, rookies diving into high-risk speculative plays was a classic topping signal.
-…You sure about this? We might not have cash left for the shorts.
I replied with a cheerful laugh.
“Don’t worry. I’ve scouted some funds. Investing there means we won’t lose even with leverage.”
All the better.
In a bull market, you profit bull-style.
After giving Ha Young-il the broad instructions, I nodded at Lee Si-hyeon.
“I need to inspect the semiconductor lab, so prep the car. I’ll spend the weekend there—send some secretaries ahead.”
I’d have to watch the family’s reactions a bit, but everyone knew I frequented the lab, so no issue.
“…Yes, understood.”
Two months until ‘that day,’ but prep time was still tight. I had to lay the groundwork thoroughly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the original history, news of Korea catching up to Japan’s semiconductor industry wasn’t a big deal.
At least not at this point.
“Haha, perfect timing, miss. It’s almost done. Just one more hurdle…”
The lab director flexed his arm repeatedly, like he was overcome with emotion. He didn’t have much muscle as a researcher, so it looked a bit comical, but the passion in his eyes was real.
“Hmm, about 100 days?”
“Oh, no. Fifty days will do it, haha.”
My hunch was right.
Fifty days from now…
“Then the tech gap is three months… Just three months left.”
I smiled faintly back at the beaming lab director.
“That’s right. The day Daeha Electronics leads the semiconductor pack isn’t far off.”
Normally, Korean news wouldn’t reach Wall Street, but not anymore.
The 4M DRAM memory chip, originally slated for early next year, had been accelerated by my intervention.
The two-year gap was now just three months. That would hit Japan and the US semiconductor markets like a massive bombshell.
“Can you do one favor for me?”
The director blinked in confusion, then nodded.
“…Sure. Let’s hear it.”
“Set the announcement for October 16th.”
He nodded knowingly.
“Ah, I see. I heard you’re taking over Daeha Securities.”
“Not quite yet.”
I smiled and played along. The sharp director would imagine the reason himself.
Probably something like buying Daeha Electronics stock ahead of the announcement.
Illegal already, but everyone did it.
But what I really planned was different.
After spending days at the lab and confirming the timeline, I called President Ha Joo-seong, who handled Japan funds.
“I’m handing the main attack to Uncle’s son, but we need to talk. Prep shorts on Japanese semiconductor firms. Use separate-source funds.”
-Tough, but… I’ll try.
“Yeah, thanks for the effort.”
What I was attempting was tightrope walking on a razor’s edge.
Pulling one more block from a crumbling Jenga tower. Inflating beer foam on the verge of bursting.
A mad gamble where one slip could lose everything.
‘Ha, this is living.’
Before Black Monday, I had to hype the market frenzy while stoking underlying anxiety…
And keep the bubble from popping until D-day.
All while dodging eyes, with just around ten billion won!
I savored the thrill and made every day count.
.
.
.
Ha Young-il, leveraging up and rampaging through Wall Street, raked in big money fast. Our hedge fund ditched long-short strategies, screaming long positions like maniacs.
Especially with the high-efficiency program trading I’d tipped them off about, the fund gained some modest fame.
Seed money swelled, but the size was too small to draw eyes.
The cash flowed to Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, then snapped back to the US. Small media outlets we fed started issuing pessimistic forecasts, but it was routine stuff—no big waves.
That’s right.
Business as usual. Things that would’ve happened without us.
All I was doing was sprinkling a little extra dust on the everyday.
Tweaking a headline word for more gloom, steepening volatility spikes, introducing more efficient program trading to Wall Street…
Tiny nudges with barely any market impact.
But pieced together, the puzzle would grow unignorable.
And so, on the morning of Friday, October 16th.
-Rustle.
I grinned at the front-page news.
📰 Breaking News Daeha Electronics Succeeds in Developing 4M DRAM Memory Chip… Tech Gap to Leaders Now Just 3 Months. The final puzzle piece had clicked into place.
Time to summon the panic selling.