Super Ant

The moment the buying was done, the price began to crater.

A hundred million won gone in a single minute. Between the forces trying to prop the price up and the ants swarming in for whatever scraps they could scrape off, the whole thing had devolved into a free-for-all.

Filthy.

He'd gone in with day-trading in mind from the start, planning to unload at a decent price today or tomorrow and get out — but it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like the plan needed revising.

Siyun's hands picked up speed.

Tatatat—!

Click! Click!

He pulled up the order book on one monitor — to track real-time buy/sell volume and buying pressure. On another, he opened the execution window; the instant a large filled order was detected, he'd need to react. He switched the chart to one-second candles. Every single candle demanded his full attention.

With all preparations complete, Siyun rolled his neck a few times, shook out his hands, and settled them over the keyboard and mouse.

Ultra-fast scalping had to be answered with ultra-fast scalping. He'd leapt onto the battlefield — now he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had to survive it.

"So you want to dance with me, huh?"

The instant those words left his mouth, the one-second candle stretched long and upward. A few seconds later a towering green candle bloomed, and the rebound began.

So that's the support line.

The price shot up vertically. In a market like this, no matter how fast your hands were, you couldn't keep pace with the execution speed. You had to pre-enter your sell price and wait for the moment to fire.

The top is right here.

Once he'd confirmed the resistance line, he slammed the sell button without hesitation.

A 2.3 percent gain. Nothing spectacular, but now he'd mapped out the trading range, which made finding his entry and exit points far easier. The box that framed a stock's buy and sell timings shifted in real time — it could hold steady, climb, or sink, and it always resolved to one of those three directions.

The price dipped again. But instead of touching the bottom of the box he'd sketched, the executions began climbing — a rising box, in other words. Siyun immediately adjusted his price and placed a buy order.

With the range trending upward, he had to raise his sell point. This was the moment that called for mental discipline.

Not there, right?

It'll climb higher.

Siyun carried on a silent conversation with himself as he waited for the peak. Just when it seemed the price had topped out, it plunged steeply.

Click!

Six and a half percent this time. He kept trading, revising the box that defined his buy and sell timings as he went, methodically grinding out profit the same way — until the one-second candle drew a long red streak and started sliding down.

Siyun's eyes flicked to the trading volume. A massive order, one that hadn't existed before, was being dumped onto the market.

"That's it for today?"

He let go of the mouse he'd been gripping, ready to place his buy order — and in that instant, the price broke out of the range and went into free fall.

Factory Robotex finished its ferocious battle down 18.3 percent from the previous day's close.

"Whew..."

He'd been so intensely focused that the breath escaped him on its own. Checking the clock, he saw that fifteen minutes had passed — though it felt like an hour, at least. Fourteen trades in that sliver of time; no wonder he was spent.

He pulled up the day's results.

Four hundred forty-eight million won in fifteen minutes. Not a bad day's work.

On the way out after lunch with Choi Tae-wook, the young man dipped his head in a polite bow.

"Thank you for the meal. Though... my own pay stub has a meal allowance on it, so I'm not sure I should be freeloading like this." He scratched his head sheepishly.

Siyun felt a little awkward at being thanked so earnestly over a single bowl of food. "You're going back to school soon — that's when money gets tight. You need to save every little bit. You said you're covering your own tuition, right?"

"Ah, yes. Tuition I can handle with student loans, but I need to build up a lump sum for living expenses, so that's why I took the part-time job."

"I earn enough to buy you the occasional lunch, so stop feeling bad about it. Eat on other people while you can — that's a privilege that belongs to students and no one else. I mooched plenty of meals back in my university days."

"You did, Department Head?"

He'd been as much of an outsider in college as he was now, but he'd occasionally score a free cafeteria meal from Bang Yo-han, his one and only friend. Come to think of it, Yo-han's return to Korea wasn't far off now.

I'll have to buy him something good when he lands.

He considered heading straight back to the office, but with time to spare, his feet turned toward a café instead.

"Here's your coffee."

When Siyun took the cups and headed for a window-side table, Choi Tae-wook once again fidgeted, not knowing what to do with himself. "I could've at least gotten the coffee..."

"It's fine. Let's drink up and get back."

"Thank you!"

They were sipping coffee and looking out the window when Choi Tae-wook spoke up, his tone suddenly serious. "I really think you're a good person, Department Head."

"Hm...?"

Siyun's head came up with a jolt.

In all his life, no one had ever called him a good person. He'd heard sociopath, lunatic, nutcase — but not once had anyone treated him with genuine warmth.

He understood why. He was incapable of expressing emotion, so maybe it was only natural he'd come across that way.

"Have you by any chance heard rumors about me?"

"Rumors, sir?"

"About what I supposedly did before I got exiled to the warehouse."

"Ah..."

He already knew, apparently. Well, news traveled fast in any company.

"And even so, you think I'm a good person?"

"Yes."

The answer came without a flicker of hesitation.

"Why?"

"I worked plenty of part-time jobs before my military service, but no one ever looked after me the way you do. You took me out for a team dinner my very first day, and you bought lunch today, just like you said you would. Of course I'm grateful for that too, but — a manager stepping in to help with the actual work of a part-timer? That's never happened to me, not once. People just hand out orders."

So that was it.

Come to think of it, Siyun had known the same experience as a student. A part-time job was just that — a job; getting treated like a human being was a luxury reality rarely granted.

"I appreciate that you see it that way, but the working world is a cold place no matter where you go. What I mean is — don't expect the same treatment anywhere else. Got it?"

"Yes... I understand."

They returned to their coffee, and just as Siyun was about to rise and get moving, Choi Tae-wook went red in the face staring at an article on his phone.

"What? What is it?"

"There's an article saying a Super Ant showed up in this morning's market."

"A Super Ant?"

"Yes. Apparently one investor swept through the Factory Robotex stock — trading 170,000 shares at a time and repeating buys and sells more than ten times."

"......"

That had made the news?

Siyun grasped immediately that the Super Ant in the article was him. The only person who'd traded 170,000 shares every single time was Siyun.

Choi Tae-wook's eyes hardened. "If I ever become a trader, I never want to do anything like that."

"Why... not?"

"Ultra-short-term scalping always ends in the gutter eventually. You can win ten times and lose everything on the eleventh — that's how dangerous a style it is. And besides... it's kind of underhanded, isn't it?"

"Ahem!"

He couldn't hold back the cough.

"It's because of day-trading that stocks carry the stigma of being gambling. And above all, the flower of investing is value investing, isn't it? You invest in a company, and when that company gets the fair valuation it deserves, you profit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alongside it. That's what I believe."

"Th... that so."

"You feel the same way, don't you, Department Head?"

"Sure. Of course I do. Finish your coffee and let's go."

Siyun hurriedly got up from his seat.

"Heading out on a delivery!" Choi Tae-wook snapped a crisp salute and stepped out of the warehouse.

Siyun nodded and turned his gaze back to the monitor. Then he clicked on an article.

Super Ant? Top-tier trader? Hmm...

He didn't care what they called him — as long as they left him alone to do his thing.

In truth, he hadn't been fond of scalping until recently. It was a technique he'd favored in simulated trading competitions, and he'd dabbled in small-scale trades back in college to pad his living expenses. That didn't mean he looked down on scalping, though. The risk was enormous, and from the outside it could look like gambling — but it was a legitimate trading technique all the same.

And if he'd taken a loss instead, would the reaction have been any different? The moment you lose money, you're just a sore loser whining about it — nothing more than the lament of a failure.

Choi Tae-wook was right about one thing: ultra-fast scalping was a style where you could lose it all in a single stroke. But he'd shouldered that risk, so reaping commensurate rewards was only fair.

"Say whatever you want."

There was no single prescribed way to invest. Trade your own way, and that's that.

As he stared at the monitor, his phone buzzed.

He answered, and her voice was uncharacteristically subdued.

"No, I'm just getting ready to leave."

"Oh, good. Then that dinner we've been meaning to have — shall we do it today?"

His evenings were always free, so there was no reason to refuse. "Sure. But... is something wrong?"

"Why would you ask?"

"Your voice today is... never mind. I'll wait for you in front of the Starbucks."

"Sounds good. See you in a bit."

He hung up and quietly stared at his phone screen.

Did something happen?

After work, in front of the Starbucks.

He was watching the office crowd stream past when Assistant Manager Min So-hee appeared beside him before he even noticed.

"Sorry — have you been waiting long?"

"No, you got here fast. So what are you buying me?"

She'd insisted on treating him, so he'd left the menu choice up to her.

"Hmm, what would actually settle my stomach ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right now?"

"Sorry?"

"I got completely wrecked in this morning's session. Siyun... no, sorry — Department Head, you saw the article, right? About that Super Ant."

"......"

She'd heard about it too?

Don't tell me... it's not about when I fell into the gutter, is it?

"Just wait until they find out who it is. I swear, I'll — haaah!"

Min So-hee kicked at the empty air, then her face crumpled as if she were about to cry.

Siyun watched her quietly for a moment, then spoke.

"How about we go get some hangover soup instead? Losing money always leaves a bad taste in your mouth."