Chapter 123: Issuance Power
Chapter 123: Issuance Power
I had anticipated that a book about me would come out someday.
Once you achieve this level of success, even if it's not an autobiography, books of various kinds are bound to be published.
Books containing the management styles or life philosophies of successful entrepreneurs sell like hotcakes in bookstores.
‘Investing and management. Fields that people are always interested in.’
There might not be many people who can strike it rich with coins like me and then succeed in business too.
‘Now that YouTube and Earth Channel have made me known, publishing a book is nothing.’
Anyway, I had been expecting a book about me to come out, but Han Chae-won’s book was published first.
“Jong-yeop, how many copies are they printing?”
“Over five million copies.”
“They’re printing that many?”
I hoped Han Chae-won’s book wouldn’t sell well.
There wasn’t anything problematic in the manuscript.
Even if the world learned that our short marriage had been the worst, they wouldn’t blame me.
‘It’s not like I need to hide my private life. If I put it all out there, the public will lose interest faster.’
An image of someone who wouldn’t jaywalk on an empty rural street.
I’m not saying jaywalking is good, but living with such an overly positive public perception was exhausting.
The public could react sensitively to even the slightest mistake.
‘Yeah. Let the book come out, let them trash it and dismiss it. I’ll have to endure the embarrassment.’
But when the book was published, the public’s reaction was far fiercer than I’d expected.
〈‘One Year of Marriage’ Surpasses 6 Million Copies in Just Two Days〉
〈The Hot Book Heating Up Bookstores〉
〈Curators Reading ‘One Year of Marriage’ First in Bookstores〉
〈Sweeps No. 1 Bestseller Spots in Korea, Japan, China—Asia’s Nations Right from Launch〉
〈Sold-Out Lines Everywhere, Over 500 Meters at New York’s Bandi & L unis with Stock Still Available〉
“No way, people are reading this that much?”
I’d received the manuscript in advance and read it.
It didn’t feel like a novel so captivating that readers would go wild over it.
―Oh Myeong-woo: Buddy.
―Kim Shin: Yeah?
―Oh Myeong-woo: I don’t even read game manuals, but I read the book. I used to envy you for marrying a beauty back then. Sorry. Not something to say to a friend who was in hell. I sincerely apologize.
―Kim Shin: It’s fine.
―Oh Myeong-woo: Everyone at the company is reading that book. Some are reading it in the break room.
I didn’t care what Oh Myeong-woo thought, but the employees reading Han Chae-won’s book too?
I was scared but had to ask.
―Kim Shin: What’s the employees’ reaction like?
―Oh Myeong-woo: First time I realized guys could be this emotional. Lots of them crying while reading it.
―Oh Myeong-woo: You know that muscle-bound Mark who benches over 600? He was sobbing hard.
―Oh Myeong-woo: Eddie says he’ll never get married.
―Oh Myeong-woo: The women feel sorry for you and cry. She made both men and women cry—doesn’t that make Han Chae-won a great writer?
Is that how it works?
She could stir people’s emotions across cultural differences between Korea and America.
―Jin Yoo-kyung: I read the book……
It was a message from Jin Yoo-kyung, who’d been texting occasionally since returning to Korea.
―Jin Yoo-kyung: I totally get it now.
―Kim Shin: Get what?
―Jin Yoo-kyung: Why you didn’t touch a pretty, capable woman like me even when I was right there! I was ready every night, but you never came.
―Jin Yoo-kyung: I thought maybe you weren’t interested in me. Thought maybe you didn’t know how to handle a great woman like me.
―Kim Shin: ???
―Jin Yoo-kyung: After reading the book, I get it. Meeting a woman like that could give you a fear of women!
―Jin Yoo-kyung: It must be burdensome. Awkward. Everything I’ve seen so far makes 100% sense now!
She seemed lost in her own delusions again.
But the ripple effect from the book’s publication exceeded all imagination.
Arcor’s group chat.
Curious about the reactions, I checked it after a long time.
―Won Hyo-sang: I had no idea something like that happened while you were working at Arcor.
―Team Leader Seo Jong-gi: Kim Shin lost weight steadily after getting married. Thought it was honeymoon nerves, but he was wandering in hell.
―Na Sang-guk: Can’t even imagine the mental pain. Gaslighted going back and forth between company and home. Nowhere to escape.
―Team Leader Seo Jong-gi: Right after the marriage, I saw him sighing on the rooftop. He’d never done that no matter how tough things got.
The group chat was all about me.
Thanks to Han Chae-won exposing our entire marriage in her book.
Honestly, I hadn’t told the employees about my marriage.
I knew she’d spread rumors about me, and back then I was really mentally and physically drained.
I didn’t want to argue or clarify anything.
Revealing the truth was hard; I just wanted to avoid it.
―Lee Min-young: Honestly, I didn’t think much of Han Chae-won. I knew she spread exaggerated bad rumors about Kim Shin. But I didn’t know they were total lies like this.
―Park Hwa-young: That’s too much. Way too much. No one acts like that.
―Kim Isul: For real. We should’ve seen it from how she irresponsibly quit her team leader position after publishing the book.
I didn’t even want to hear about Han Chae-won, but apparently she quit the company right after the book came out.
―Ko Bo-kyung: She texted me. Said she moved to an apartment in Gangnam. Inviting me to a housewarming.
―Kim Isul: She texted you too, Bo-kyung? She sent me one. Probably bragging since she made a ton from the book.
―Lee Min-young: Quitting via text too. Totally does whatever she wants.
It felt good to see Han Chae-won getting trashed, but no need to keep looking at the chat.
I turned off my phone and was about to check the stock trading screen.
Telegram had several messages.
―Ellie: Reading the book.
It was from Ellie, who I hadn’t contacted on purpose since coming to New York.
―Ellie: Reading it, and I feel really sorry for you. Truth is, when I first met you, I thought lightly of you.
―Ellie: Travel together, get close. Our personalities didn’t mesh perfectly, but as someone I shared memories with? That lingering feeling brought me all the way to Korea.
―Ellie: I have big dreams. High goals, tons of things I want to do. Romance with men got pushed down the priority list.
At first I didn’t know, but from her later attitude, I could tell Ellie lived for her work.
It wasn’t entirely surprising. I didn’t know much about Wall Street, but I imagined it was brutally competitive.
A place where you had to constantly deliver results and self-improve, with no such thing as work-life balance.
A place where setting weekly work hours would get you weeded out.
Even the female doctors I met at Arcor had a lot of workaholics.
Many single ones raising cats, enjoying simple joys.
‘Med school, internship, residency, specialist, then fellowships at big hospitals to learn advanced procedures…… To go independent with sales, they often become associate professors first.’
―Ellie: I treated you casually! It was always fun meeting up. I was amazed every time you showed your investing and business side.
―Ellie: Didn’t want you looking down on me, so I worked harder. But I didn’t know what wounds you carried, what pain you had.
Honestly, I was the same.
Even after hot nights with Ellie in New York, I didn’t pry into her private life or listen to her stories.
I knew she kept distance, but I used the wounds from Han Chae-won as an excuse not to get closer.
―Ellie: I’ve watched you for the past two years or so. You’ll definitely meet a really good woman. Way better than me!
―Ellie: Just be careful—lots of women will come after you.
I replied.
―Kim Shin: Good to have known you too. Having someone to travel with kept me from being lonely.
―Ellie: Glad it’s a good memory.
* * *
Washington D.C., the center of American politics.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans thought much of Kim Shin.
―Young Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
Even hearing he made $10.5 billion betting on derivatives, they saw it as typical Wall Street gossip.
“He bet against the market due to COVID and made a fortune.”
“Must be nice.”
Trillions of dollars flow through New York’s stock, forex, and bond markets daily.
Even if he became a billionaire personally, it wasn’t on politicians’ radar.
Washington gathers intelligence from around the world.
“COVID vaccine. They say a Korean company developed it fastest.”
“Oh?”
“Kim Shin in California owns that company.”
“I’ve heard the name.”
“The investor who made Source Coin.”
“Ah, I remember.”
Earth Resource wasn’t that big, so to congressmen who knew economics, Source Coin was more familiar.
Washington’s congressmen pressured the government.
“Let’s contract Biolife’s vaccine quickly.”
“Yeah, we need to hurry.”
The Trump administration downplayed COVID, but once it spread uncontrollably in the U.S., they rushed vaccine deals.
Limited production meant deals with Israel and Europe sped things up too.
After vaccine development finished, Kim Shin’s name circulated in Washington for a while.
“Kim Shin. Amazing investor. Keen economic insight, and he invested in vaccine development too.”
“Not easy to pour that much into COVID. You’re sure about that?”
“No doubt. Dr. Lee Ho-yeon led development, and Kim Shin steadily invested.”
“No individual could deliberately spread COVID. Seems like pure AI development investment, no virus production or research facilities.”
The Senate Intelligence Committee checked briefly and confirmed it was clean.
“Doesn’t seem like someone prone to terrorism or crime.”
“Probably. Good entrepreneur. He saved America months earlier at least.”
With media spotlighting Kim Shin and his reputation for saving millions of Americans, congressmen took note.
Earth Channel achieved unbelievable success, becoming a hot topic among Washington congressmen again.
“Looks like a key player leading the U.S. economy.”
“Internet company, so huge public influence. Kim Shin himself is popular too.”
Democrats invited him to a policy forum with President-elect Biden.
Hoping to boost Biden’s image publicly. But results were the opposite—he just said the stock market was at a peak.
“Did Republicans recruit him first?”
“Doesn’t seem so.”
“He went to New York to sell stocks—his own judgment.”
Kim Shin was rapidly offloading over $100 billion in stocks.
Even as stocks rose in days, netting $15 billion profit, he sold without burdening company management.
Earth Resource proved it was the internet’s most-watched company by successfully launching video service.
The National Economic Council, with members from both parties under the president, made a stunning claim.
“Earth Resource is growing beyond borders on IT foundations. Kim Shin is a genius among geniuses. Within 1-2 years, he will possess powerful issuance power based on Source Coin.”