Charity Checks and Crypto Comebacks
The embezzlement scandal of Jo Hyung-jun that once dominated the news had quieted down as if it had never happened. "I hear the foundation's mostly back to normal now. Mind if I swing by today to check it out?"
Going inside myself felt a bit too much. But watching the kids laugh and play from afar might give me that feel-good vibe, right?
You're welcome anytime. Heading out right now?
These things shouldn't be put off.
"Let's head out now. If we leave right away, the timing'll be perfect."
Maybe because it was a quiet afternoon, the roads were light on traffic as I sped out of Seoul and arrived at the Hope Orphanage in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
"Great location... but the facilities are even worse than I thought."
Unfortunately, unlike the meals or daily supplies, the buildings couldn't be magicked into shape overnight—it'd take time to upgrade them properly.
We'll push forward with a full building remodel soon. As for the kids' meals and daily necessities, we've upgraded everything to the best available, so no need to worry too much.
Still, switching out their food and clothes for quality stuff should make their lives way better, I figured.
"Take your time on the remodel—make sure it's safe and perfect. At least the food and supplies are sorted now, so that's a relief."
Last time I'd checked via CCTV, the vibe was super gloomy, but now the kids were laughing and running around like nothing had happened.
I couldn't help but smile warmly at the sight, then realized I'd been standing there too long and got ready to head out.
"I'll come back once the remodel's done. And make sure to rotate the auditors so no more embezzlers like Jo Hyung-jun pop up."
If another guy like that showed up in our foundation, I'd bury him for good.
Back at the office, I sat down and noticed Eric looking unusually haggard, unlike his normal self.
"Eric. Something up? You look rough."
I asked just in case, but he just let out a deep sigh.
...What's his deal?
One sec. Checking now.
After a brief silence, Athena and Eric spoke up at the same time.
"It's the stocks. Took a big hit recently."
"Ah."
Figures it was stocks.
It reminded me of how I'd gotten burned day-trading early in some conflict, losing my shirt spectacularly.
"You guys don't mess with stocks or crypto?"
I asked the other three, leaving Eric in his dazed funk.
"We do index funds."
Jacob's answer kicked it off, with Carlos and Liam nodding along with the same.
"But Eric, what'd you invest in to get wrecked like that? Mine dipped a bit but still green."
Carlos asked with a mocking smirk.
"Touched some pump-and-dump, got bag-held. Why?"
Eric snapped back curtly, and Carlos snorted.
"All that engineering bullshit, but no talent for stocks, huh?"
Carlos pounced, and Liam spat out his coffee.
"Pfft—cough, cough."
Eric shot Liam a death glare at his perfect reaction.
"Sorry, but that shit's hilarious, what can I say."
"Shut up."
Carlos and Liam tag-teamed the roast, but Jacob coolly ignored it and kept watching the news.
"Eric. How much did you lose?"
I could see a rainbow of emotions flash across his face, but I had to ask.
"..."
Eric pulled up his brokerage app on his phone, set it on the table, and buried his face in his hands.
Peeking at the screen, a gleaming -71.4% stared back.
-71.4%
"Puhahahaha! Thought only Boss donated, but you too? Go claim a tax deduction from the IRS, dumbass."
Liam and Carlos were dying laughing at someone else's misery.
Me? Yeah, I cracked up too and nearly choked.
"You fuckers... this how you treat a teammate?"
Unable to curse me out, he turned his ire on them, then suddenly whipped around to me.
"Boss. You gotta have a way, right? My salary got stolen—help a guy out."
...What do you think? Should I help him out?
No issue. Want me to pick a few tickers?
Yeah. But can we really recover from -70%?
Just a matter of time. Give me a nudge, and I'll fix it quick.
"Alright, sure. I'll help you out."
These guys deserved it more than most.
Just tell him to follow my lead exactly. Leave that mess as-is and dump the entire 250 million incentive into crypto put options with 100x leverage. Checked the national address script—it's packed with Stone Age fear-mongering from start to finish.
I'd left my money management to Athena, but yeah, one speech like that could tank everything.
I cleared my throat and addressed the whole team.
"You trust me, right? Take that incentive payout and bet it all on crypto put options. Max out the leverage."
Mentioning leverage made their eyes waver.
"If I lose this too, it's cup ramen for the month."
Eric said with puppy-dog eyes.
This is solid, right?
Yep. Announcement drops at 10 AM Korea time tomorrow—solid intel.
Not much time left—might as well go all-in.
"If you lose on this, I'll cover it. Man up and go for it."
As the team hesitated, the one guy with nothing left to lose jumped first and bought in.
"Boss, I trust you."
Early morning, we huddled in the office with the TV on.
"Please, please, please, please."
Everyone looked a tad tense, but Eric was full-on praying, hands clasped.
Athena had spoiled it for me already, but hearing it live hit different.
"Damn... this is straight fire."
If Athena weren't around, it'd be bad news, but now? Zero fucks given.
Sell now—right this second!
"Sell! Dump it all!"
I blurted in surprise, and Eric jumped, slamming the sell button.
The screen flashed +177%. A bit bittersweet, but for non-pro Eric, it was a jackpot.
I'd promised to cover losses, so the two who sat it out shot regretful looks.
"Eric, this is a one-time thing. No bailouts next time, win or lose."
Keep it to a one-off event—repeating this could spell trouble.
"No more wild bets. Stick to safe investments from now on. Got it?"
Eric nodded vigorously.
"Got it. Thanks."
Hope the others aren't butt-hurt about missing out?
They chose not to, so probably not. We'll keep eyes on Eric's accounts ongoing. Or just ban stocks altogether.
Not a bad idea.
If it looks risky, let me know. We'll shut it down then.
We'd fixed his leg and made him money—banning stocks would be understandable.
I worried Eric might dip back into sketchy stocks, but the man straight-up deleted his brokerage account.
Didn't see that coming. But he cut ties clean—good for him.
"Kept the crypto wallet for odds and ends, ditched all stock stuff?"
Yep. Hardware wallet's handy for all sorts of things, so he kept that and nuked even the exchange accounts.
Stock or crypto trading can turn into gambling if you're not careful, but Eric resisted the temptation.
"Guy's got willpower. I probably couldn't quit that easy."
I muttered in quiet admiration, gazing out the window, when Athena popped up my student ID on my HUD.
"Why my student ID? I don't even go to school."
What about reenrolling?
"Why bother? Not like I need a job."
I'd only gone because everyone else did, but now college felt pointless.
Exactly—no job hunt means you can just have fun with college life on your terms.
She had a point. No GPA stress, just vibe and do whatever—that sounded fun.
"Fair enough. But don't I have a bunch on my plate right now?"
Athena had talked me into slowly stepping out into the world a bit more—not full reclusive anymore, but not front-and-center tycoon either.
I've told you a million times—that's my job, not yours. And juggling both? No problem.
"Cool, I'm in then. Wait—didn't I file for leave of absence? You handle it already?"
I distinctly remembered submitting it right after getting Athena.
Can cancel it. Plenty of time—easy reversal.
"Hold up—if you do my course registration, I can take whatever I want, right?"
Thinking it over, school life with Athena sounded hilarious.
Could crash the school servers too. But they'd probably crash without me anyway.
First-year second-semester registration was manual—I'll try legit first, fall back to Athena if it flops.
"Okay. Reenrolling. Why'd I ever think to skip this fun?"
Plenty of time before reenrollment—knock out my to-dos, and the timing'll be spot-on.