Declaration of War
Was she getting anxious looking at those sky-high prices on the liquor menu?
Seola glanced back and forth between me and the liquor menu for a moment before snatching the food menu from my hands.
...Not that it mattered much since it was a course meal anyway.
Then she spotted the "500,000 KRW" next to the words omakase course, and her eyes narrowed into thin slits.
"500,000 per person? Compared to what we've blown today, it's not that bad... no, wait!"
"Yeah, definitely a small amount compared to today's spending."
"Ughhh... Unnie, you're messing up my sense of money."
"That's a good thing."
"How the hell is this a good thing...? How can anyone drop half a million on food that just disappears after one meal?"
Seola's words were written all over her face.
A look that screamed, Is this really the price of a meal?
It was exactly the face new Wall Street hires made at their first company dinner.
Seizing the moment while she looked a bit dazed, I reclaimed the liquor menu and called over the server.
"Here, one bottle of this, please."
Dôme Pérignon P3 Plénitude - 4,980,000 KRW
The server nodded and vanished. Only then did Seola snap out of it and start grilling me.
"Hold on... what did you just order?"
"Wine felt iffy, so I went with champagne."
"No! I'm not asking because I don't know that! The price—I mean the price!"
"Yeah, I saw it. Champagne like this shouldn't even be on the menu at that price. We got lucky."
Seola fell silent.
Of course, we'd been throwing around ten million at a time just earlier...
But five million is still several months' salary for some, or a full year's savings for others.
"You're calculating right now, aren't you?"
"...How'd you know?"
"It's all over your face. 'Calculating in progress.'"
"It's on my face?"
"Wanna bet I can guess? You're figuring out how many months' rent this covers, or how long it could pay for college tuition, right?"
"...No wonder you make bank on stocks. You should just open a fortune-telling shop instead—might rake in more."
"Fortune-telling? Doubt it'd match this recent haul."
Truth be told, that was exactly why I didn't buy into fortune-telling.
If a psychic was really that good, they'd sweep cash in stocks or crypto, not sit in a shop reading palms.
"Yeah, that makes sense..."
"We'll start with a tasting of the champagne."
A small pour arrived for sampling the wine's quality and flavor. I swirled the glass, inhaling the aroma.
"Nice bouquet."
"Hmm. Definitely not like cheap booze or canned beer... but do we have to go this expensive?"
Her words stirred up old memories.
It was back when I was a lowly grunt at Silverman Sachs, one of Wall Street's biggest investment banks.
I didn't drop in as some golden parachute from day one, you know.
"If it's not too rude, could I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Do we really need to drink something this pricey? There are cheaper options..."
"Haha. That's exactly what I said when I first started."
My boss cut me off with a grin.
He pondered briefly, then shrugged as he answered.
"There's a saying on Wall Street."
"Yes?"
"Money has to be spent twice to mean anything."
"..."
"Once when you earn it, once when you spend it. Get what that means?"
"Not really."
"The first part's simple: Buy goodwill from people around you when you've got the slack."
"Got it so far."
"The second? Spending gives the earnings meaning. I just decided it's time to spend."
The champagne arrived in earnest, bubbles rising vigorously. That familiar high-end scent from my rookie days hit my nose.
People who haven't had real champagne think it's just fizzy booze.
"Drink up already."
"One sip and... hmm..."
"Hurry or I'll polish it off myself."
"Okay, okay!"
As the champagne touched my tongue, crisp carbonation burst forth.
Unlike soda, though, the fizz gave way to layers of aroma: fresh lemon, brioche, nuts...
"...What is this?"
"Champagne."
"But it's nothing like the booze I know?"
"More precisely, good champagne."
For the record, this got the best reaction from Seola out of everything so far.
She always said splurging on consumables was the hardest to swallow.
Guess tasting it changed her mind.
"Heh. Delicious."
"See? Tastes like money well spent now, right?"
"Nah. Still think the booze markup's insane."
"Aww, too bad! If you liked it that much, next time I'll—"
"...But still."
"But still?"
"But still, it's great motivation. Gotta hustle to come here without a second thought, huh?"
"Mission accomplished then."
"Next time, it's on my dime, not yours. Got it?"
Some say luxury warps your reality and blinds you to money's value.
Fair point to a degree—if you're burning infinite cash daily, yeah, it'd numb you.
But sometimes, splurging shows just how much you can do with money. Seola looked so proud, I secretly ordered more drinks. Before long, a tipsy Seola was clinging to me.
"Uuunnie."
"Yeah?"
"Hehehe. So short and cute."
...Cute sight, sure, but it stung a bit.
If I had my old height, I'd be tall for a woman.
Oh, right—did I blow the full 100 million? Added more limit when a few extra bottles pushed it over. Totally worth it.
[Ah, by the way. Will you manage my legacy well? Please use it usefully.]
"..."
[Every story has a beginning... and an end.]
"...Sniff."
[And this is the end of my tale.]
...The idea that "men don't cry" is outdated sexist bullshit.
Expressing emotions properly is crucial.
Not that I'm crying right now or anything.
"Just necessary stress relief."
After years of stone-faced living in my past life, even making expressions felt alien for a while.
Forcing laughs at gallery posts or tears at touching stories? Practice to reclaim emotions.
I lay slumped in the chair, staring blankly at the quest window's completion mark for a bit, then shot to my feet.
"...Not feeling the game grind right now."
Seola headed back to the family home now that college break was over.
She'd been thrilled about ordering delivery and gaming freely without her, but damn, it was boring alone.
I fired up my phone, skimmed the news as usual, then opened the gallery.
Time for our foreign-currency-earning heroes to shine.
Typo—no, doghouse not bitch yy
These fuckers aren't human lol
Come out and chow down dog food~
Staring at the gallery's usual peaceful chaos left me uneasy.
I preferred it when curses flew everywhere.
A few refreshes later, I spotted mentions of me.
"...That's literally my job."
Anyway, time to get active again.
Lots seemed ready to follow my leads—drag it out too long, and they'd bail.
What, no need to care? Sure, right now it's a handful at best.
Optimistically, 10 folks at 10 mil each is just 100 mil.
They're basically parasites riding my strat for free cash.
But I share anyway: simple—builds trust.
Trust grows? More eyes on me, more followers.
Eventually, that snowballs into an unignorable sum.
Then no more surfing waves for gains.
I'd make the waves myself.
Wall Street folks bet on structure, right? This was building my own to bet on.
"Hmm."
Everyone's daydreamed the whole planet chipping in 1 won for 7B.
But 10M people at 10M each? That's 10 trillion.
Enough to slug it out with Wall Street funds on buys/sells alone.
Obviously not everyone follows perfectly, and that many fans is a stretch, but...
"At least it'd move markets."
One man vs. mega-funds? Badass.
A juicy disclosure caught my eye—lips curling up.
13D filing.
Submitted when you're serious about influencing management.
Plain English: 'I'm ready to fight the board.'
Finished reading, I cracked my neck out of habit.