Chapter 138: Real Genius
Chapter 138: Real Genius
[TSMC Lowers Q3 Revenue Forecast] [U.S. Stock Market: Semiconductor Sector Crashes]
[Hot IT Manufacturers Suddenly See Stock Prices Plunge] Earth Resource's Pangea service had sent stocks of related companies tumbling.
But a week later, the fallout hadn't stopped there.
[Market Research Firm Insight Reports 50% Surge in Desktop and Laptop Inventories]
[Intel Reassesses Aggressive Semiconductor Investment Plans]
[Intel and AMD: Pangea's Biggest Victims Forecasted to Be the Laptop Market]
Laptops, which underperformed desktops, had seen their prices double or triple with just modest improvements from adding CPUs, memory, and graphics cards.
- Logging into Pangea turns laptop performance into supercomputer levels?
- Buying expensive laptops now is just throwing money away, total suckers lololol
- All those overpriced gaming laptops are doomed.
- Smartphones too, right?
- Yeah. No need to drop over a million won on flagships. Run heavy programs on Pangea.
- But they have big screens and long battery life.
- Plenty of budget phones have big screens too. Time to sweep the bloated smartphone market clean.
- Ah, you know when Pangea will go mainstream? It's only 100,000 users now. Think you can rank in the global top 100,000?
- They're expanding capacity to a million starting next week. If no issues, up to three million.
- Really?
- Earth Resource has it all planned out.
High-end laptop sales dropped over 70%.
The impact was spreading to flagship smartphones, and computer, semiconductor, and phone manufacturers were hit with a bolt from the blue.
"The stock market runs on expectations. Pangea is some serious bad news."
I was honestly shocked by the world's reaction as I watched the news.
'Is this really worth reacting this much?'
Even if Pangea became mainstream, it wouldn't be without its inconveniences.
Using it on a phone would guzzle data outside Wi-Fi zones.
But for anyone on unlimited plans, it wouldn't matter.
'Well, the fact that the service has launched is the key point.'
Earth Channel had over 400 million subscribers.
It was basically a global simultaneous launch transcending borders.
Even factoring in competitors potentially offering similar services to grab users, this wasn't just any bad news for manufacturers.
It signaled an era change, leaving them without countermeasures.
- Ellie: The total return on the individual stock options we invested in is 156%.
- Kim Shin: Yeah. Got it.
The $30 billion bet had naturally paid off big.
- Ellie: You okay?
- Kim Shin: With what?
- Ellie: If it were me, I'd be thrilled out of my mind.
I'd made $46.8 billion in a single month.
An astronomical sum that three years ago might have driven me to drink myself senseless just to stay sane.
But I'd grown over time.
It wasn't enough to change my life now.
- Kim Shin: We bet on the stocks dropping. I expected the outcome.
- Ellie: Whew. You're really something. …Morgan's calling you Investor A and turning it into a legend.
- Kim Shin: Investor A?
- Ellie: For internal security, it was passed along as Investor A. Some employees might suspect or guess it's you.
Buying massive put options on individual companies' stocks.
Using the name Kim Shin could sway those stocks and confuse investors.
That's why I stayed anonymous.
Too bad I couldn't add another legend to Wall Street, but I could always reveal myself later.
- Kim Shin: Yeah. Got it.
- Ellie: When do you plan to exercise the options?
- Kim Shin: Time to do it now. Exercise 30% each day and wrap it up this week.
- Ellie: Already? Waiting longer could trigger mass selling from manufacturers. Once the vaccine launches and COVID ends, electronics sales will drop. Returns could be...
Investing always came down to agonizing over profits.
When you're up, you let it ride hoping for more.
When you're down, you hold thinking it'll rebound.
- Kim Shin: No greed here. We're cashing out as planned.
Computer and semiconductor makers were powerhouses with strong competitiveness, capital, and tech.
There was no telling how long they'd stagger, so locking in solid gains was smart.
"You haven't made money until you cash out. You make money when you win and walk away."
My father's words stuck with me for life.
- Ellie: Got it. I'll liquidate bit by bit.
- Kim Shin: Thanks for the hard work.
* * *
The developers who built the Pangea project deserved full credit for this massive payday.
I'd been planning generous rewards for them.
"Eddie. The Pangea project was a ton of hard work."
"Mmm. Wasn't that tough."
"..."
It reminded me of Harvard, MIT, and Stanford kids at Earth Resource interviews claiming studying was easy.
"Once we fully open the Pangea system, can we call it Pangea Live?"
"Sure. Sounds better."
I granted Eddie's casual request, then the three of us had burgers for lunch.
Not the fanciest cafeteria in America, but the tastiest—and we went for burgers anyway.
That first bite into a well-grilled patty burger...
"Mmm. Might need to get Double Double Burgers in the company cafeteria."
Eddie’s eyes went wide at my words.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Franchise setup, free for employees. Company covers meal costs."
"You're the best, bro."
"..."
Who knew suggesting a burger joint would rate this high?
It was a massive twenty-five-story building.
With Earth Resource's expansion, staff could hit 10,000 or 20,000.
Multiple departments were already short-staffed.
"Oh. And..."
Profiting big from put options sparked an idea.
With cash flowing, Silicon Valley's tempting companies kept popping up.
"There are all sorts of programs you use on computers."
"Tons."
From office suites like word processors, Excel, PowerPoint to graphics tools like Photoshop.
"Popular software is ridiculously expensive. They monopolize the market with high share. But even for Photoshop, plenty of functional alternatives exist if you look."
"Yeah, but people stick to what's familiar."
Photoshop 1.0 launched in 1990.
Features improved across versions, but core usage stayed the same.
After 2012, they abandoned one-time sales in favor of monthly online subscriptions.
Slow updates, cancellation penalties, auto-billing whether you use it or not.
"What if we buy licenses for low-share but solid software and offer them on Pangea Live?"
The idea was to provide users with a range of useful programs.
I hadn't crunched profit details. It was about boosting Pangea Live usage.
Novices might balk at unfamiliar tools, but pros pick them up quick.
Plus, handpicked quality software for free.
Eddie pondered, then blinked.
"You're a real genius, bro."
"Huh?"
"I'm seriously impressed."
Eddie, a true genius, probably figured everyone operated at his level.
It made me nervous wondering what he saw as genius in my idea this time.
* * *
Oh Myeong-woo got calls from countless headhunters.
The callers included major corporations, mid-sized firms, and even Chinese companies.
"We'll match $300 million salary or more. Stock options standard. If stock rises, you could make over $1 billion a year. Even higher possible."
Those offers would have tempted almost any ordinary employee.
But Oh Myeong-woo had no plans to jump ship, so he yawned lazily.
"You know Earth Resource's building?"
"Yeah, I've seen where it is."
"That's mine. Kim Shin gave it to me for my hard work."
"..."
After rejecting a few, they upped offers.
"If I join, you'll suck 'em dry and ditch in 1-2 years, right?"
"No, we won't."
"Bull. Why else offer big bucks? And you'd start something like Earth Resource if I came?"
"..."
Dealing with persistent headhunters, Oh Myeong-woo realized Earth Channel and Pangea were shaking up IT big time.
One agency sent a stunning blonde even prettier than Ellie.
"Trying the honey trap on me?"
"Yes. Would that be so bad?"
He shot back firmly at her bright smile.
"Heh. Too bad, no dates for me. Just updates."
"Updates?"
"Yeah. I walk my own path. Download."
"..."
Oh Myeong-woo had lost interest in real-world women.
Back at the company, he worked even harder.
'I have to build up Earth Channel's gaming sector.'
It was their weakest division.
Heavy responsibility fueled his ideas and support for game devs.
He launched a massive event for the hit game 'Last Survivor'.
The prize pool was 4.56 million dollars.
Inspired by Squid Game, global users competed in tournaments until one claimed it all.
"Over three million sign-ups so far."
"Really?"
"Yes! No entry restrictions, probably why."
There were no restrictions based on age, occupation, gender, or education.
Skill alone could net $4.56 million.
Streamers on Earth Channel loved it, flooding sign-ups.
- $4.56 million for gaming. No entry fee, pure honey.
- Few games and chill as a NEET forever.
- Feels like a whole Gangnam apartment as prize.
- Whoa, competition's gonna be insane.
- 300-player maps. Free join on set dates. Top 3 in 10 rounds to pass that day.
- Top 3 daily? No joke.
- Theoretically 10% survival daily. Until top 10 finalists.
- Day 1 easy. Real pros filter out from day 2.
- Later rounds pure war.
Americans and Europeans liked games too. But Asia's all-in culture.
Korean gamers even min-maxed chill healing games for scores.