Chapter 2
Chapter 2
translator PennyWorth
Chapter 2
The Black-Haired Investor Who Awakened as a Superhuman - Episode 002
==========
Mom and I immigrated when I was ten, right after Dad passed away.
Since then, I had no contact with Grandfather at all.
Even when we were in Korea, I rarely saw Grandfather except when visiting the main family home.
My only memories of Grandfather were of his stern and intimidating presence.
Grandfather glaring at me, and me bursting into tears every time.
Me in my childhood...
Anyway, Grandfather's death and the strange experience I had today seemed to be related.
<Sounds like you're saying something weird had to happen?>
<Did it, or didn't it?>
Mom seemed more concerned with confirming something I experienced than with Grandfather's death.
I didn't want to worry her.
<For now, nothing like what Mom is thinking happened.>
<Are you at work now?>
<No, your work is important. Go back to work. Mom called for nothing.>
<Grandfather passed away. I'm going now.>
Despite Mom's repeated dissuasion, I headed to our Brooklyn home.
On the way back.
I decided to test my newfound intellectual abilities.
First, my memory.
'Michael Lee, Emily Davis, Sara Road, David Onald, Jessica Miller, Brian Smith...'
'Ethan Clark, Olivia Adams, Noah Walker, Sophia Lewis, Lucas Hall, Grace Scott, Andrew Young...'
All 24 of my classmates and our homeroom teacher, Linda Brown.
Not only their names but also their faces.
I vividly remembered my friends and homeroom teacher from LA Lake Elementary School, where I was first assigned after immigrating.
That's not all.
Friends I met after entering West City Middle School, alumni from Union High School and Princeton, and all the connections from Wharton School.
I could vividly recall over 600 names and faces, and even the smallest details from those times.
'Then maybe, I can recall all the market tickers as well?'
My heart pounded at the thought.
There are thousands of stock market tickers, and many of them are stocks I've traded or analyzed.
But if I could remember almost all the tickers that weren't my main stocks.
I could truly say I passed this bizarre test.
Crack.
Stock market tickers rapidly surfaced in my mind.
AAPL Apple, MSFT Microsoft,
GOOGL Alphabet, AMZN Amazon.
TSLA Tesla, NVDA Nvidia.
META Meta, BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway...
It started with the tickers of the leading 500 companies in the US stock market that make up the S&P 500.
* * *
Even for Wall Street traders, memorizing all the tickers of the S&P 500 is rare.
Occasionally, there are eccentrics or those who do it as a hobby.
But most only know the tickers of their main stocks or major companies.
I used to be like that too.
But now, all the tickers of the S&P 500 filled my head without a hitch.
The vague feeling of 'maybe, perhaps' had now disappeared. It was a certainty.
The tickers I could remember weren't limited to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.
'Could I remember all the tickers in the market?'
If I had seen it even once.
If I had heard it even once.
I felt like I could remember everything.
So much so that even a little-known company like Orion Energy System came to mind.
Three years ago, on June 13, 2017.
At the 2017 International Tech Forum held at the Marriott Marquis.
Ryan Joy, a senior investment strategist from HSBC's Global Asset Management team, mentioned the company as advice to me, a junior in the industry.
The tone of his voice, even the air conditioning in the conference room, came back to life vividly.
...All of it comes back to me vividly.
* * *
The stocks from various exchanges flowed through my memory like waves, intertwined.
New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, Amex.
The tickers of companies listed on those exchanges flashed by all at once.
Not only the tickers of large companies like Berkshire Hathaway and Tesla.
Even the tickers of lesser-known companies like Orion Energy were being summoned one by one.
'OESX, MXL, TTOO, HGEN...'
500 from the S&P 500.
100 from the Nasdaq 100.
After excluding duplicate tickers from the 2,400 from the New York Stock Exchange and the 3,500 from the Nasdaq.
The number of tickers I remembered exceeded 5,000.
As if calling up a database in my brain, memories that had been dormant in my subconscious were constantly revived.
A truly superhuman ability!
I felt like I could recall even more information if I concentrated further.
But at that moment, Mom came into view.
She was quietly waiting for me at the entrance of the old brick apartment.
The apartment entrance retained traces of enduring time, with a faded metal door that had been repainted several times and an old bell revealing the weight of that time.
Today, Mom and the apartment seemed strangely superimposed.
Mom's years of fighting to protect me in a foreign land resembled the years etched into that entrance.
Crack!―
A memory from a few years ago flashed through my mind again.
Now it's my turn to fight for Mom, the first day I joined Goldman Sachs, when I made that resolution, became vivid in my superhuman memory.
'Sorry, Mom.'
I quickened my pace.
I could see Mom's worried expression slowly easing.
"You really didn't have anything strange happen, did you? Don't lie this time."
"Anyone would think I only tell lies. Nothing really happened. Anyway, why are you out here in the cold? Let's go inside quickly."
I led Mom into the house.
Inside, there were traces of Mom's panic. Among them, the most noticeable was an open box carelessly placed on one side of the living room.
As my gaze turned there, Mom was startled and started to tidy it up first.
But I had already vaguely seen the items inside.
The items inside were things Grandfather had given Mom, old antiques and amulets.
"Grandfather was a shaman, wasn't he? A very great one at that."
Mom looked at me with a surprised expression for a moment before saying.
"Mom shouldn't have said unnecessary things to a quick-witted kid."
"No. I've always known. I just didn't say anything."
In fact, there are many memories that I've come to recall as my brain has suddenly become superhumanly sharp.
The same goes for childhood memories related to Grandfather.
Memories of Grandfather taking care of me when I was often sick―
The figure of Grandfather, who I had only found scary at the time, was now, when I thought about it, the figure of him healing me.
"Really, don't worry. I don't see ghosts or feel sick. What ghosts are there in this day and age?
It's an era where they're launching rockets to encircle the entire Earth with communication satellites, right now."
I accurately pinpointed what Mom was worried about.
"Son..."
Mom still looked like she wanted to ask something more, but she didn't ask further.
Instead, Mom changed the subject and said.
"Mom has to go to Korea, so don't worry about your mom and do well at work."
"Did you get the plane ticket? What about travel expenses?"
* * *
Slap!―
The sound of Mom hitting my back echoed loudly in the cabin.
"I can't live with you. What kind of company did you get into?"
"I have a plan."
"How hard you worked to get in there. Why wouldn't Mom know that? Tell me honestly. You got fired, didn't you."
"No. I walked out on my own two feet. I shook off the people who were begging me not to leave."
"Then why. Why did you do that?"
"Traders at the company aren't allowed to be individual investors. Remember when I joined? I said my dream was to be independent. I suddenly became certain. Now is the time."
"Oh my, what independence is there for a junior. You think you're all grown up and look down on your mom. So when did you get fired?"
"I didn't get fired. It was too wasteful to dedicate my abilities to that place."
But the worry didn't leave Mom's face.
Perhaps Mom knows more about the industry's ways than I do.
She had supported my dreams since I was young. Moreover, she had studied a lot herself to support me even better.
It was only natural that my words didn't sound convincing.
But I had shown a stranger self-criticism and reflection, so why couldn't I do that for my mom?
Originally, Mom and I were open and shared a lot.
We were family and comrades who had survived together in this land.
"I have a position in mind."
I put conviction into it.
"Once this is successful, investors will gather quickly. So Mom, don't worry and just watch. Your son will make sure you live comfortably."
On the way back to Korea for the first time in almost 20 years.
The long flight was enough time to refine my investment strategy.
Go Big or Go Home
Win big or lose everything.
But I'm not confident in losing.