Chapter 99: The Accuracy of the Human Indicator
Chapter 99: The Accuracy of the Human Indicator
< The Return of the King, Bitcoin Surpasses 17 Million Won >
< Coins Better Than Gold or Dollars. Bitcoin’s Unstoppable Rise >
< Cryptocurrency Doubles in Value Since Start of the Year. “To the Moon Again?” >
< Overflowing Capital Fuels Frightening Surge in Cryptocurrencies. >
< Altcoins: Following in Bitcoin's Footsteps? >
Even while preparing for Earth Channel, I kept an eye on the news about crypto.
As the price of Bitcoin rose, interest in virtual currencies grew among the media and investors.
*Crypto investing is fun, I’ll give it that.*
I remembered late 2017, when I was investing in crypto while working at Arcor.
Those days of riding my bike to work, thinking about crypto all day on the rooftop.
Prices would jump by tens of percent in a single day, and then fall just as much.
The exhilarating thrill of my entire life savings doubling or tripling in a matter of days.
Every time I logged into the exchange, it felt like witnessing a battle on a war front.
*Back then, shouting ‘Let’s go!’ was a real rush.*
There was a reason people loved it.
A chance to turn your life around.
How could anyone ignore the fun of their principal investment growing tenfold, twentyfold, as if it were nothing?
It was a time when people who started with small amounts went all-in with their life savings, even taking out loans to bet on a single big win.
Hearing news of a coworker making hundreds of millions, I, too, found myself shouting "Let's go!" and diving into the frenzied investment.
*There’s a possibility that Cryptocurrency Season 2 is about to begin.*
The investment boom had happened less than three years ago.
If word got out that crypto was rising again, investors who hadn't forgotten the taste would flock back.
Office workers, of course, but also young people and housewives. Even retirees receiving pensions.
*Money has a magic that drives people mad.*
Honestly, I was interested.
But even if a Cryptocurrency Season 2 were to happen, my situation was different from the past.
In the meantime, the fortune I had amassed had grown enormously.
If I were to buy Bitcoin with just 10% of my assets, that alone would change the market price.
I was becoming keenly aware of the influence I had—that my investments and words could become news.
* * *
If there was one thing I was satisfied with about living in San Francisco, it was the weather.
On days when it didn't rain, I could ride my bike all year round without worrying about sudden showers.
Large SUVs carrying my bodyguards would follow, so I could switch to a car at any time.
- Na Sang-guk: It's an era of low interest rates. You have to invest well at times like these.
- Lee Min-young: Assistant Manager Na! What are you going on about now?
- Na Sang-guk: This is a capitalist society. Is there anything more important than talking about money? You can't get rich by working hard. This is a world where wise investment makes you rich.
Today, it was raining, so I was heading to work by car.
With crypto prices on the rise, I checked the Arcor group chat.
Remembering how I used to watch the human indicators, I was curious about what my old colleagues were thinking.
The first name I saw in a while was Lee Min-young from the secretarial office.
- Park Hwa-young: The New York Stock Exchange is the best! Stocks are the way to go in the US!
- Na Sang-guk: Of course, I agree. The NASDAQ has seen incredible growth this year. Especially the tech stocks.
- Park Hwa-young: I invested back in March because Kim Shin said it would go up! Thanks to him, I never knew buying a house after getting married could be this easy.
- Na Sang-guk: Don't forget I also told you to listen to Kim Shin!
- Park Hwa-young: When I visit my in-laws, I'm treated like a queen for being good at stock investing. All my in-laws invested based on my advice!
Thinking back, I seemed to recall saying a few words about investing in the group chat.
So many things had happened this year that it was a trivial event, hard to even remember.
- Na Sang-guk: Be careful about giving investment advice to relatives.
- Park Hwa-young: Of course!
- Park Hwa-young: But it’s not my opinion, it's what Kim Shin said, so it’s fine.
- Na Sang-guk: I’ll give you that.
Seeing myself respected in the group chat felt… how should I put it?
It was a different feeling from seeing articles in online communities or the media.
Because these were people I used to know, and they were holding me in high regard.
- Choi Eun-seol: I wish I had started investing a little earlier. I'm so envious of the seniors who invested first.
- Na Sang-guk: Eun-seol, you're a new employee who just joined the company this year after graduating college. You've heard the saying, "Invest in time," right? You'll have plenty of opportunities to invest in the future.
- Choi Eun-seol: Yes!
- Kang Ji-soo: Just listening to you, Assistant Manager Na, gives me energy.
Many of the new employees who had joined Arcor this year were active in the group chat.
Looking at their profile pictures, there were a lot of very pretty employees compared to three years ago.
I scrolled down through the conversation and found a part where they had recently talked about crypto.
- Oh Jin-cheol: Assistant Manager Na Sang-guk. What are your thoughts on Bitcoin these days?
- Na Sang-guk: Crypto? Ah, that brings back memories of when I used to invest in it. Kim Shin and I used to talk about crypto a lot on the company rooftop.
- Choi Eun-seol: Really?
- Na Sang-guk: We were work buddies who saw each other every day, except when he was away on business trips. Bitcoin, Ripple… those coins hold some deep memories with Kim Shin.
Na Sang-guk had his own memories of crypto, too.
- Na Sang-guk: The way I see it, US stocks are doing well, right? The non-contact companies. They're climbing steadily even if you just leave them alone.
- Na Sang-guk: Thanks to Kim Shin, the vaccine is being distributed, and they say the US and European economies will recover faster than expected.
- Na Sang-guk: Excessive greed brings disaster. Let's stick to stocks where we can make money safely.
- Oh Jin-cheol: Yes. I understand. I think I was being too greedy.
- Na Sang-guk: No, no. I was like that at your age, too. Hahaha.
The human indicator.
In the past, investing in the opposite of what Na Sang-guk said would lead to a jackpot.
*Could it be the same this time?*
*Ping!*
A text message arrived as I was looking at my phone.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: The film studios' response to Earth Channel has been favorable. Many have existing contracts with Netflix or Wavve, so there are no issues in acquiring their works.
We were working continuously to secure content for the launch of Earth Channel.
Vice President Jeong Beom-tae, who was in Korea, had contacted me during the day here, mindful of the time difference.
- Kim Shin: You're working hard. Please sign contracts for Japanese and Chinese works as well. Even if they weren't huge hits, there will be people looking for them.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: Yes, sir.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: By any chance, what did you think of the drama I sent you last time? I imagine you were too busy to watch it?
I could feel him asking cautiously.
If I said it wasn't interesting...
It could give the impression that I was losing faith in Dream Art Rainbow's business performance.
I decided to give him an honest answer.
- Kim Shin: It was really good.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: I'm glad you enjoyed it.
- Kim Shin: I watched all the episodes that day. It was the most interesting show I've seen in years.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: All of them, right to the last episode?
- Kim Shin: I watched it all in one go. The immersion was so strong it was hard to stop in the middle. It was a truly fantastic show. I don't know how many viewers it will get when it's released, but I hope many people get to experience how fun it is.
Even though it was just one drama, it made me believe that Dream Art Rainbow's investment had been the right call.
Without Korean content, I wouldn't have even thought of creating a comprehensive content platform.
- Kim Shin: When is Season 2 of this show coming out? The way the last episode ended seemed to hint at a second season.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: The episodes I sent are all there is for now. There was no talk of a seasonal format.
- Kim Shin: So it was just an open-ended finale?
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: Yes. For now, that's the case. To be honest, nothing has been decided about a sequel.
I had enjoyed it immensely, but it was strangely disappointing.
The story could be expanded, with more interesting narratives to follow.
While stretching it to thirteen or more seasons like an American drama might be too much, it had the structure to support at least three or four seasons.
Ending it after just nine episodes left too much unresolved.
As a wealthy man, I felt I should do what I could.
- Kim Shin: If there are plans for a Season 2, it would be good to discuss it with the director and move forward with it right away.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: Are you serious?
- Kim Shin: It was a really great show. If the director wants to end the story here, I'll respect that, but if there are more plans, I'd like Dream Art Rainbow to actively support it.
- Kim Shin: With a much bigger production budget, of course.
Compared to the production costs of Hollywood movies or dramas, I thought they had captured excellent visuals for a bargain.
* * *
"A letter!"
Emily was so happy to receive a letter addressed to her that she ran to her mother.
"Mom! A letter came from Kim Shin."
"Hm?"
Loraine knew her daughter, Emily, had sent a letter to Kim Shin a while ago.
She stroked the head of her daughter, who had come running with the letter.
"The reply came."
"Uh-huh! Mom. The sender is Kim Shin."
Loraine smiled faintly.
He was someone whose name had been appearing frequently on every television channel recently.
The US presidential election was coming up in November, but Kim Shin's fame was by no means less than that of the candidates.
*Someone else probably wrote the letter. Or maybe it was sent by computer.*
He was a busy man, so she hadn't even expected him to read the letter.
"Emily. Shall we read the letter together?"
"Uh-huh. Let's read it quick."
Sitting on the shabby sofa, she opened the envelope. Inside, on the stationery, were words written in remarkably poor handwriting.
"Do secretaries have such bad handwriting?"
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
"It's nothing. Let's read it."
Looking at the contents of the letter, it really seemed like it was from Kim Shin himself.
He had written her name correctly and mentioned her school life and her mother.
"A small gift?"
Emily found money inside the envelope.
"Mom! It's twenty dollars. I think he sent it as a gift."
"I see. He's a really good person."
All her child did was send a thank-you letter, and he sent twenty dollars in return.
She was quite moved, considering her daughter probably wasn't the only one who had sent him a letter.
"And there's toy money, too."
"Toy money?"
Loraine took the toy money to have a look.
The check, issued by Citibank, had Kim Shin's signature on it, and the amount written was $10,000.
* * *
After finishing my work at Earth Resource, I returned to the mansion, where Jin Yoo-kyung greeted me brightly.
"Welcome back! I made kimchi stew."
"Huh?"
"I made it nice and hot to make you think of Korea!"
I sat down at the dining table where Jin Yoo-kyung had set out the food.
During the two weeks she had been staying at the mansion, she hadn't paid any attention to housework.
As the treasured daughter of a prestigious Korean chaebol family, I took it for granted.
With chefs and housekeepers on staff, there was no need for extra help anyway.
I tasted the kimchi stew Jin Yoo-kyung had prepared.
"It's delicious, right?"
"Uh-huh..."
Back in my semi-basement apartment, I used to make bachelor-style kimchi stew often.
Pour a little cooking oil, add some meat.
When the meat was slightly cooked, all you had to do was add kimchi and water and stir-fry it to make delicious kimchi stew.
"I'll make it for you often from now on. Cooking is my hobby."
"Ah. No. You don't have to."
"It's the thought that counts! The thought! Seeing you working so hard all the way here in America, I just wanted to make you at least one warm meal."
Was I working hard in America?
I was living the most comfortable life in the world.
*What is she doing when we have a skilled chef?*