Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Black-Haired Investor Awakened as a Superhuman 018
==========
It wasn't a luxurious conference room that cost tens of thousands of dollars to rent for a few hours.
However, a sturdy wooden table was placed lengthwise in the center, and the high ceiling and large windows made the space seem larger and more open.
Cars could be seen passing along Madison Avenue outside the window, but thanks to the thick glass, there was almost no noise from the road.
In this expensive Manhattan, it was rare to be able to rent a conference room in this condition for a thousand dollars.
If it had been before the pandemic, it would have been a place that needed to be booked months in advance.
"I'm worried that it might cause trouble for the other guests. But it will calm down soon."
I said, handing a considerable tip to the hotel employee.
The employee hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked while accepting the tip.
"Then the people gathered outside...?"
"Leave them as they are for now. I'll start the presentation soon."
The employee hesitated and said again.
"It might be a situation where the police have to be called."
"Wait a little longer. There won't be any need to call the police. Emily Harper, a Bloomberg reporter, will be arriving shortly, please let her in first."
I was sitting in the middle of the conference room, reviewing the presentation materials again.
The noise from outside the door persisted.
It felt like their tense atmosphere was seeping in, but soon a change was detected.
The noisy voices suddenly began to subside.
At the center of it was a woman's voice.
"Everyone. I will cover your stories sufficiently. But you can't do this. Please wait calmly."
Soon the door opened. She entered the conference room, unable to hide her flustered expression.
Her eyes looked complicated.
She seemed tired from using her energy to calm the crowd, but more than anything, it seemed to be because she was facing a situation she couldn't understand.
She looked at me and gave me a subtle look.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Her voice was calm, but she couldn't hide all the absurdity within it.
"The people outside are claiming that you lost their money, but that's not true, is it? Aren't you the one who hit the Jackpot in the TVIX Option?"
She raised one eyebrow slightly and looked at me.
She clearly looked like she was trying to understand the situation.
I could sense her suspicion that I was hiding something, or that she had some incorrect information.
"They are mistaken. I'm Hyun-woo Na."
"Hyunwoo? I'm Emily Harper from Bloomberg."
I pointed to the side after seeing her looking for a seat.
My seat was the chairman's seat in the center of the conference room. And the seat I offered her was one of the chairs in the row closest to my seat.
She sat down.
"Can you explain the situation outside?"
"It's as I said earlier. According to the investment agreement, performance reports are to be given once a quarter. But in the meantime, it seems that false rumors have spread among the investors."
A complex expression flashed across her face.
I could see the question, 'You didn't bother to tell them about the Jackpot news?'
But soon, she seemed somewhat convinced.
As a Bloomberg reporter, she couldn't possibly not know that this kind of thing was common on Wall Street.
"Originally, this kind of investment method is only used by hedge funds..."
She trailed off.
She tilted her head slightly and continued to watch me.
"In my opinion, the people outside haven't experienced this kind of method at all, so it seems like there's been a misunderstanding."
I listened to her quietly and nodded.
"Perhaps... the brawl. Is this it?"
"That's right."
Confusion was still seeping into Emily's eyes, but she didn't ask any more questions.
It seemed like she was slowly accepting the moment when the puzzle pieces of the incident were coming together.
Only then did a faint smile begin to appear on her lips.
Around that time, I got up from my seat and headed towards the door.
When I opened the door, I met the eyes of the hotel employee guarding the entrance.
"I'll start the presentation. Let them in."
* * *
Investors rushed into the conference room menacingly.
One of them.
A huge fighter strode towards me.
"Are you Hieon?"
His steps were rough and fierce.
He narrowed the distance quickly, glaring at me with eyes that looked like he was about to throw a punch.
At that moment, I was calculating his movements.
I was watching the way his eyes and body moved.
Crack. Crackle!―
The visual information in front of me was transmitted to my brain, sparking like lightning.
If I was given this much preparation time, I was confident that I could at least read the angle, speed, and even the position of his feet for the first attack he was preparing.
It was clear that he was approaching with the intention of hitting me.
But suddenly, his eyes wavered first.
My figure in a suit, momentarily reflected in his eyes, became clearer than ever.
What I was wearing now was a Brioni suit that I only took out when Goldman Sachs had important external meetings or social club activities.
Could the power of capital that the suit symbolized have been conveyed to him as well?
I didn't miss his subtle change.
He had been full of anger and about to pounce on me.
But the moment he became aware of the suit, the tension in his body eased.
His gaze swept over my shoulder line and the fit of my clothes.
He seemed confused for a moment.
Even when he was right in front of me, there was hesitation in his eyes.
In the end, he couldn't throw a punch.
He didn't even touch my body.
"Give me my money back. You scammer."
His voice trembled with anger.
He was just growling with his mouth.
"Stop it!"
At that moment, Jason intervened as if flying in from behind. Jason forcefully separated me and the giant.
Only then did the situation stop for a moment.
In that brief moment when people were gathering, Jason's clothes were torn here and there.
The sight of his collar drooping and his sleeves torn told me what kind of fight he had just gone through.
As Jason was about to push the giant fighter in front of me.
I met the eyes of the Bloomberg reporter who had been watching me while sitting down.
I shrugged at her and said.
"Stop it and take your seats."
The Bloomberg reporter also began to calmly explain to the people around her.
"Please take your seats. An important presentation will begin soon. Hyunwoo will answer all your questions."
In the current situation, this Bloomberg reporter's words were more effective than mine.
* * *
"Hello, everyone. My name is Hyun-woo Na, and I am the investment manager who has been managing your investments. It's nice to meet you."
Of course, the atmosphere in the conference room was heated from the start.
"Cut the crap. Tell us from the conclusion how you're going to return our money."
In agreement with that, all sorts of curses flew out from the front, and some couldn't stand it and got up from their seats.
Jason was watching them without a break, ready to jump at any moment.
Come to think of it, we hadn't even greeted each other.
"That's why I've gathered you here to explain. If you interrupt during the presentation, we won't be able to proceed smoothly. I'll give you a Q&A session after the presentation, so please listen calmly until then."
If angry investors could be calmed down with words like these, why would Wall Street be dealing with so many criminal cases?
I pressed the button on the table.
The lights went out.
Blackout curtains came down, covering the windows facing the road.
In the darkness, only one thing existed, the light of the presentation screen, focusing people's attention there.
Certainly, people's voices subsided.
"Okay. Let's hear what kind of bullshit you're going to spew."
The voice of the person who said that was also noticeably calmer than before.
I continued.
"In today's presentation, I will explain in detail the performance of the TVIX Option trading strategy we have adopted.
We will specifically cover how this strategy was executed and what results it achieved."
I started by displaying a basic explanation of TVIX on the screen.
"First, let me briefly explain the TVIX Option product. TVIX tracks the S&P 500's VIX short-term futures index.
The VIX index measures market volatility, and TVIX is an index that reflects this volatility by a factor of two.
The TVIX Option product is a financial product that trades by predicting the price fluctuations of this TVIX."
So what the hell is that!, Even in the darkness, I could feel those dissatisfied eyes wriggling like that.
"But it will be unfamiliar to you. Let's imagine it like this."
I pressed Enter.
An animation of a red ball falling to the floor played.
The dropped ball bounced off the floor.
"When you drop a ball from the air, the ball bounces. The product we invested in is designed to make a profit the higher the ball bounces."
People became even quieter.
'They seem to be trying to understand, but it won't be easy.'
I raised my voice a little louder.
"When will the ball bounce high?"
While they were thinking, I slowly continued.
"The harder you drop it, the higher the ball bounces. In other words, the stronger the force applied, the higher the ball bounces. Recently, we experienced such a powerful event."
After waiting for a moment.
I clicked the mouse to bring up a few images on the screen.
What appeared on the screen were images of the coronavirus and photos of the current state of quarantine operations in various countries around the world, with people wearing protective suits.
"That's the pandemic."
* * *
I subtly expected applause.
But in the darkness in front of me, I couldn't feel any reaction.
I thought that since the concept I explained was unfamiliar, it would take time to understand.
In this place, only Bloomberg reporter Emily Harper was the one with relevant knowledge.
Her eyes were full of surprise.
Regarding the fact that I had predicted the pandemic a long time ago and bet on it accordingly.
"To put it a little more comfortably, the product we invested in is..."
I put strength into my voice so that everyone could focus on me.
"It's a product that makes a profit when a powerful event like a pandemic occurs."
Then I added once more.
"We predicted the pandemic and bet that the pandemic would come."
It was finally then.
A mixture of surprise and excitement began to spread.
Right in front, Jason.
In particular, the guy who had lost his mind was in a state of extreme excitement, with his rib cage swelling and deflating greatly.
I put one hand on his shoulder. I nodded to the guy who met my eyes.
I started again.
By pressing Enter, I displayed the TVIX Option price chart.
"The date we invested was January 26, and the option price at that time was $2.64."
The chart began to draw a picture according to the passage of time from that point.
As the line slowly went up, the shape of the chart moved like a snake wriggling. The change became even more pronounced as the chart passed February 24.
After February 24, which was the inflection point.
The chart drew a sharp upward curve.
What started at the $2 level continued to rise to $10, $30, and $50.
And at some point, it broke through $100 and a sharp rise began.
"Uh... uh?"
Even amidst the murmuring of the people.
As if to mock this even more, the upward rally became even more rapid.
It soared past $300 to a point exceeding $500.
Now, the chart reflected the rapid massive upward trend, showing the past chart area becoming relatively smaller.
"700...800...900..."
Someone's voice, as if possessed by something, reached its peak.
The number of figures gradually rising began to increase.
"And today, March 18, we liquidated all positions at $992.15."
With no one making a sound, the sound of pressing the Enter key echoed heavily.
Tak―
「 Investment Settlement
• Total Investment: $300,000
• Realized Amount: $112,011,000
• Total Profit: +$111,711,000
• Rate of Return: +37,237% 」
Time stopped in the conference room.
It was enveloped in complete silence. It was as if people had forgotten to breathe, and no sound of breathing came out.
Their figures, submerged in darkness, were fixed only on the screen, overwhelmed by the numbers that were hard to believe even with their own eyes.
"By achieving a rate of return of 37,237%, the profit from our investment is $111,711,000."
But one thing was missing.
My performance bonus had to be deducted.
"The following is the final realized amount after deducting the performance bonus."
「 Final Investment Settlement
• Final Realized Amount: $55,038,390
• Final Rate of Return: 18,346% 」
"You will each receive a distribution of $55,038,390 according to your respective shares, and the resulting final rate of return is 18,346%."
That was the end.
"Congratulations. You have earned 184 times your investment."
At that moment.
Pat!
The lights that had been turned off turned on, clearly revealing all the faces in the conference room.
Their expressions were literally all different.
Some were just sitting in their seats, unable to believe it, barely breathing.
Others were covering their mouths with both hands, trying to digest the results without blinking an eye.
The room was filled with an atmosphere where awe and shock intersected.
Then, in an instant, a shout of joy burst out.
Uwaaaaa!-
"God... Jason. You! You led us to God!"