Chapter 19
Chapter 19
"We did it!"
The conference room was filled with elation.
Someone jumped up from their seat and punched a fist into the air.
Others hugged each other, expressing this unbelievable achievement with their whole bodies.
Emotions exploded in an instant.
The room was filled with a wave of thrilling energy.
"This is insane! Ughhh!"
"184 times! 184 times! I'm a millionaire! I'm a millionaire!"
Their shouts poured out one after another.
People patted each other on the back, their faces filled with emotion and astonishment.
Even the reporter, an outsider, seemed to be caught up in this frenzy of excitement.
She paused with her pen in hand, looking around at the people with an expression overwhelmed by the surrounding heat.
But only Jason was different.
He buried his face between his arms on the table, his shoulders shaking.
Amidst everyone's cheers and excitement, he alone was detached from this vortex of joy.
I patted him on the shoulder again before declaring a break.
"We will have a Q&A session in 10 minutes."
Quite a few people followed me to the restroom.
Since everyone was a fighter, their excited appearance was more energetic than ordinary people.
"Is it, is it real? You're not suddenly going to say it's, it's not, are you?"
A voice double-checking as if still unable to believe it.
"There was a reason Jason believed in Hyunwoo! I'm sorry I didn't believe you! You're a god, a god! I can't believe it."
"You're amazing! How did you predict the pandemic back then?"
"Thank you, thank you!"
Voices praising me.
Those many sounds echoed even in the restroom.
The way back to the conference room was even more boisterous.
Perhaps because there were no other guests, the hotel thankfully didn't make an issue of it.
Rather, it seemed they were gaining strength in their own way from everyone's joyful appearance.
"Congratulations."
Even the hotel president came out to say a word to me.
At his request, we exchanged business cards.
The business card I had made for AlphaMind was used for the first time at this moment.
When I returned to the conference room.
Jason, surrounded by people, caught my eye.
Everyone was apologizing to him, who still hadn't raised his face. They found me and returned to their seats.
I grabbed the microphone and spoke slowly.
"Then, as planned, we will have a Q&A session."
In an instant.
Various sounds erupted in the room.
Excited and thrilled, their girlish giggles were all mixed together.
"Please raise your hand, and we will proceed in order."
The first man designated.
"I, I, I invested a little over $8,000. Then..."
"You will receive $1,472,000. If you fill out the documents we will give you at the end, the payment will be made to that account within two days.
However, please consult with a tax expert as capital gains taxes of up to 37% may be imposed on the profits."
I added.
"Don't touch the taxes you have to pay, and keep them aside safely. I'll take the next question."
The second man designated.
"Uh. Um. Uh. So, I invested $7,000. My name is Madison Heart."
"Mr. Heart, you will receive $1,288,000."
"So. So that's over a million dollars, right?"
"That's right."
Immediately, he stood up from his seat and punched his fist into the air.
Like a champion, he kept his fist fixed in the air, grinning at his other colleagues.
Countless applause poured out for him.
Clap clap! Clap clap clap!-
And that became the pattern.
Everyone said their name and the amount they invested, and I told them the amount they could receive back.
Then he showed his victory ceremony, and the other colleagues applauded him, just as he had done to the other colleagues until now.
Even if the questions only continued to confirm with me how much they could receive back, the amount they had invested.
I consistently answered with a calm attitude.
Everyone here deserved to hear their victory through my mouth.
After all, they were the ones who had taken on enormous risks.
It was just that the criticism they had sent me was because they had never done this type of investment, nor had they even had the opportunity to do so.
I don't care about that.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were such a great person. Hyunwoo, I only called you a scammer."
"I'm sorry too."
"Me too! You're the best!"
Here, where everyone is a winner, even a word of apology brings smiles.
"Institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals are used to this type of investment, but it must have been unfamiliar and caused a lot of misunderstandings for you."
A hand was raised on one side.
"Then, will there be another opportunity like this in the future?"
As soon as that question was finished, there was a buzz. There was no need to think about it.
I asked back.
"Do you have the capacity to invest one hundred million dollars?"
His eyes flickered slightly.
"I don't have that kind of money, but a million... I will have a million dollars from this profit. Thanks to you."
He even smiled slightly, as if he took my words as a joke.
All eyes were focused on me. I could feel a greater desire wriggling in their hearts.
Ten thousand dollars became one million dollars.
So, wouldn't one million dollars be able to become one hundred million dollars again? Such expectations.
Such hope. Such desire.
"You are the first people to invest in me since I became independent."
Their heads nodded hopefully.
"I will give you the opportunity to participate in the hedge fund that will be launched later, the 'AlphaMind Fund'."
Their eyes sparkled. But now it was time to shatter them.
"The minimum investment for the AlphaMind Fund is one hundred million dollars."
You never know.
In the future, maybe a player like Mayweather will pop out from among them?
My hand was numb.
Shaking hands with men full of excitement consumed more energy than I thought.
Some people burst into tears again along the way, and some people hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go.
And now.
Jason, who was last in line, closed his mouth as if he was about to say something.
I lightly hugged him first and whispered quietly.
"I know. I know. Money and people... are scary, aren't they?"
Jason stiffened for a moment and lost his words.
He didn't push me away, but he didn't hold on tight either.
After standing like that for a while, Jason finally slowly raised his head. He seemed to be trying hard to hide the emotions in his eyes. He bit his lip tightly and finally spat out the words.
"Thanks. I'll contact you."
He took a step back and left the conference room like the others.
His back didn't look as heavy as it did at first.
His shoulders were a little straighter, as if he had put down a load, and his steps seemed much lighter.
Now, only the Bloomberg reporter was left.
She was still waiting for me with sparkling eyes, her excitement not yet gone.
"It's completely crazy. This is the first time I've experienced such an enthusiastic atmosphere. That moment earlier... that heat... everyone was crazy."
The formality from when we first met was gradually fading in the excitement.
She turned her gaze to the back of the people who had just left and said.
"I'm really envious of those people. Millionaires in an instant... How did those people get this opportunity? Special MA Method investments aren't common for ordinary people."
"At the beginning of this year, I came out of Goldman Sachs and recruited investors. The only friend who responded to that was Jason, that friend. He's my high school friend. The others came in through Jason's introduction."
The Bloomberg reporter nodded for a moment. She had a subtle expression as if she had realized something.
"Jason, that investment must have been very meaningful to him in many ways."
"I guess so. He even went through a brawl."
"Still, I'm glad the result was successful. Today is very, very special."
The Bloomberg reporter naturally sat back down and put her smartphone up as if to show it off.
The red light indicating recording was on.
"Then, going back to the beginning, I'd like to hear how you came to forecast the Wuhan Pneumonia."
"I already uploaded that as a report on my Twitter account."
"But that... just a moment."
Taking her smartphone again, her eyes widened a moment later.
The reporter held her smartphone again and quickly scrolled through the screen.
Her eyes widened.
"You really uploaded it!"
Her voice was also full of surprise.
Her finger was stopped on the Twitter screen, and the tweeted date on that screen was two months ago.
A time when no one had foreseen the pandemic, when Wuhan Pneumonia was only treated as a happening in some parts of Asia.
She downloaded the file and opened the first page.
She became more and more immersed in the report.
Her expression became more and more rigid each time she turned the page. As time passed, her lips slowly closed, and she even began to breathe shallowly.
After being so focused without any disruption, she briefly raised her head and looked at me.
It was about 20 minutes later, when she had read almost half of the report, which was over 200 pages long.
"You wrote this... two months ago? This level of detail and forecast... back then?"
Her voice became fainter and fainter, as if she couldn't escape from the shock.
"Back then, Wuhan Pneumonia was..."
"It was called Wuhan Pneumonia."
The reason I called this Bloomberg reporter here today was not for anything else.
"I was convinced that Wuhan Pneumonia would explode into a pandemic. So I wrote and uploaded this report. But unfortunately, no one saw it."
The number of followers on my Twitter account was still 0, and the number of views was still in single digits.
"Then... can I cover this part in depth in the article?"
"Of course."
Account name: AlphaMind
Now is the time to awaken from a long seal.