Chapter 58
“Let me know when you decide what stocks you want to buy with that money. We’ll have a long conversation about it.” Father said while putting a million won into my stock account.
I answered calmly, “I’ll study a lot.”
That was perhaps the answer my father wanted to hear.
“Are you…crying?” he asked.
***
Some might say the current interaction between my father and I was a trivial domestic event that wouldn’t overall impact Korea and the world. However, everything had started from here. A surprisingly similar incident had occurred years earlier. In the past, it had happened after the IMF crisis was over.
I froze after seeing the one million won in the account and bought a beginner’s comic book for stock trading, called ‘Introduction.’ Then, I made an obvious decision as the dot-com boom from the U.S. came to Korea during that time and the Korean stock market also rose. Of course, my stock account grew rapidly, and, in March of 2000, I was busy bragging about it to Seong-Ho and pretending to be an adult.
However, any firm could become the next hope for the future in that era if they were a dot-com(.com) company. Koreans were fanatical after hearing amazing stories of instant millionaires after the IMF crisis exhausted them with failure. I didn’t know at the time that even monkeys could get lucky and make a profit. I lived in a fantasy for a few days and misunderstood that I had a great talent for earning money easily.
When I looked back now, my actions felt ridiculous. In fact, I had even asked my father for additional investment funds. I had become a successful high school trader and used all the stock knowledge learned from comics and websites.
“Really? But I’m not just giving the money away this time. I’m lending it to you.”
Father wouldn’t have known it was just a bubble. He probably meant to enjoy the moment but instinctively knew that his child’s luck as a beginner wouldn't last long. Shortly after that, things turned down, and, in April of 2000, the ceiling collapsed. Right after the American dot-com bubble burst, the Korean stock market also began to fall. I did the same thing after my studies every day. I stayed up all night staring at the monitor of my computer after the markets closed instead of doing homework. On the day the amount of money in my account became a quarter of my initial amount, my father entered my room quietly.
“You will need to pay back the money I lent you by next week, son.”
What do you think I did as an unfaithful son who lost his father’s precious two million won? I burst into tears at his words like the day I was notified of my father’s death. However, Father was cold to me.
“Then borrow it from your mom. I really need the money now,” he said.
“How can I do that to Mother?” I continued sobbing.
He replied, “Give me your allowance, and I’ll take away your CD player, phone and computer. You know that these are not nearly enough to pay me back, right?”
“...”
“You better tell your mom. Don’t pretend you’re a grown-up, and your mom may forgive you and give you the money if you act nicely,” he continued.
Later, I slowly came to realize that my father was reproducing a minuscule version of the IMF. I was able to decide on my future path and set a goal. I had a dream school and a major I desperately wanted to be admitted to, and I worked hard to get into a prestigious university.
After finishing my military service, I prepared to study in England and entered Wall Street after being impressed by Gillian, the instructor. I devoted my youth to small victories and losses, and when my schoolmates started their families one by one in my thirties, I was deported to Korea after losing my company’s money. Then, the gate opened, and I was thrown into the Trial Tests.
Although I lost disastrously on Wall Street, I then survived the Trial Tests based on the experience of defeat. The reason I managed to return here was all due to…this account. Yes, everything began from the moment I received this account, so this was the start of the butterfly effect.
「1,000,000 won」
When others carried pictures of their lovers or children like a talisman, I carried this account record with seven digits of money. It motivated me to stay alive whenever I wanted to die, and just before my return, it had been ripped and stained with blood.
However, I now had a new one in a plastic envelope. My precious talisman was finally back.
“Thank you, Father,” I said solemnly.
***
My phone rang when I arrived at the office with my new bankbook. Woo Yeon-Hee’s voice was weak and almost indecipherable. However, she managed to mumble a sentence that I could understand.
<Yeon-Hee: I…found…it…...>
If she actually found the dungeon, it would be a memorable day not only for me but also for her. A week had passed since I had sent Woo Yeon-Hee up the hill. Until yesterday, I thought she had given up, so I searched her house and her family’s house. However, there was no trace of her return. My phone rang about the time I thought it had been long enough. I had demanded that she walk as much as possible during the day and to brave through the darkness at night, while surviving with the prepared food. I had not asked her to survive with nothing like the special forces, and I just wanted her to find the dungeon entrance by herself.
<Seon-Hu: Wait right there.>
I headed to Woo Yeon-Hee’s location with her car immediately. She was sitting down where we had separated. She didn’t seem to have enough strength to even block the headlights with her hand and move, but I saw her faint smile. She was truly enjoying the light.
She had changed into the sweatsuit I had put in her backpack as an extra, but the clothes were stained by blood and ripped so much that I could see her underwear. Her hair was a mess, but she was smiling brightly. If the villagers saw her, they would’ve thought she had escaped the psychiatric hospital. I knew why she smiled like that because my fellow Awakened and I had also smiled like that, too. It wasn’t just because she succeeded in survival; it was because she had gone forward. I helped her to the car.
“The…the backpack… lost it…I’m…sorry…” she mumbled.
It didn’t matter.
“B…but… this…”
Woo Yeon-Hee took out an iron container with a syringe out of her pocket.
“Did you see the System message saying you discovered the dungeon?” I asked.
“Y…es…” she replied.
“Good job, Woo Yeon-Hee. You can sleep now, and we’ll talk more in Seoul…”
It was then a message suddenly popped up, and I read it with raised eyebrows.
[Woo Yeon-Hee has invited you to her party.]
[Would you like to join?]
“What is this…”
I turned my head to look at Woo Yeon-Hee, but she was already unconscious after sending the message. Of course, there was no answer from her as she fell into a deep sleep.
***
It was the next day, Saturday, and she was still sleeping at the spot I laid her down yesterday. Her face seemed much better and the sound of her breathing was calm. Her eyes were shaking underneath her closed eyelids as she must have been dreaming.
There was a desktop in the workout room where Woo Yeon-Hee was asleep, but I went into the computer room. I wasn't going to touch her until she woke up by herself. There were three emails from the Isle of Man, the New York company and the private detectives.
The Isle of Man email:
「Subject: Investment proposal confirmed.
We confirmed Russia's refusal of the U.S. Deputy Minister of Finance’s request the day after receiving the proposal from you. We were deeply impressed with the accuracy of the analysis and projections, and your data on Russia’s foreign currency reserves decreasing despite an increase in repayments of international debts helped us a lot. Moreover, the data you attached stating that Russia has an active balance of payments which is ten percent of their GDP and that their foreign exchange reserves are decreasing helped us to a great extent. Russian funds are currently being transferred into Swiss banks, and we are planning to announce Russia’s moratorium on transferring foreign currency out of domestic banks from late July to early August. Based on this, we are aggressively investing in short-term Russian government bond swap transactions from now to early July.
In addition, we are:
Devaluating the Russian ruble. Decreasing stock prices in major European and North American countries.Decreasing the prices of major Asian currencies.Decreasing oil prices.We are also proceeding with a portfolio, and it’s based on these decisions. If we push on, Russia might declare a moratorium earlier than the expected time. However, the hedge fund Long Time Capital Management (LTCM) is holding a large number of Russian government bonds. The amount of derivatives they deal with banks worldwide exceeds one trillion dollars, and Russia’s moratorium declaration will lead to a global economic crisis for the LTCM. Hence, we request an additional proposal, and if possible, we would like to freely share our opinions with those involved in the proposal. I’ll wait for your reply.」
Click. Click.
I sent a reply and checked the next email from New York.
「Subject: A major player would be better than a bunch of minors, right?
Jeffrey Kay brought in an investment firm that became independent from the Gold of America (GOA) last year. It’s called Onider Associates, and they are managing three funds. I thought you wouldn’t need much explanation since you already know. They have three hundred elite managers from Ivy League, Wall Street, and major English financial firms with another thousand employees. If the acquisition goes smoothly, we will have to manage fifty billion dollars of their client’s deposits on top of ours, so a hundred billion dollars in total. Plus, our eighteen billion will have to be added. Sun, the total would be a hundred eighteen billion dollars, and it would be manageable only barely with just Onider Associates. The government is suspicious of the management structure of the New York firm, so we should hurry up on the acquisition before they change their minds. I have attached Jeffrey Kay’s report, so contact me as soon as possible. If you confirm, I’ll strengthen the sales department and receive new customers. The phone’s even ringing now. It must be a billionaire asking me to double his money.
Attachment: Onider Associates.ppt」
Click. Click.
I replied to Jonathan and opened the next email from the private detectives.
「Subject: No Subject
No content
Attachment: fifty photos.」
The other email was also from the private detective, but it was not from the same company as the previous email. I had asked to find Kim Cheong-Soo, who also went by the first name, Brian.
「Subject: Request completed.
No content
Attachment: Brian Kim.ppt」
I immediately sent an email to Kim Cheong-Soo’s address happily, and I sensed someone’s presence at the door. The sound of the keyboard wasn’t loud, but it seemed that Woo Yeon-Hee had woken up. She popped her tired face into the room.
“I got a master box. I thought you’d be waiting…Oh my gosh!”
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