thenovelthief Chapter 123
Chapter 123
Translator: Dreamscribe“What is this? Personnel requisition?”
“Ah, yes. Kwangwoon Securities has requisitioned personnel from the Asset Management Team and from the staff at KW Exchange.”
“Why on earth? Are they short on securities firm staff? Shouldn’t they be hiring more new employees? What if it disrupts CEO Jung’s work?”
Hwang Dae-woon felt his heart sink as he read the report.
Kwangwoon Securities is the core of the Kwangwoon Group.
Requisitioning staff from other affiliates means that they are seriously short-handed.
And of all places, for Kwangwoon Securities to be lacking staff?
“Vice President, what’s going on?”
“I was just about to report it to you......”
Vice President Kang, unusually for him, dragged out his words today.
“Actually, the personnel requisition is temporary. If the project the CEO is currently working on is completed successfully, the staff will be returned.”
“Project? Is there something Kwangwoon Securities is working on separately? Isn’t entering the EU market the only thing?”
“Yes. That’s exactly it.”
“Hm?”
Hwang Dae-woon tilted his head.
The executives did the same, but a few of them seemed to have caught on to something.
“Wait a second. Vice President. Don’t tell me it’s what I’m thinking...... it’s not, right?”
At those words, the Vice President slowly nodded.
“What you’re thinking of...... is probably correct.”
“What!?”
Chairman Hwang felt like he was the only one being left out.
“What is it?”
“The reason CEO Jung requisitioned personnel this time is none other than for trading.”
"Huh? Trading? The securities firm already has more than enough people for that, doesn't it?"
“Yes. They did requisition a few people from there too. But apparently, more were needed.”
“Why would he need that many people? It’s not like he's forming teams to do short-term trades like before......”
Hwang Dae-woon, while muttering to himself, suddenly wore an expression that showed he realized something.
“No, don’t tell me it’s that?!”
Vice President Kang nodded with his eyes closed.
Hwang Dae-woon swallowed hard involuntarily.
“H-How much? Just how big is the scale this time?”
“To lower the CDS of the European market, the EU requested us to sweep up all corporate bonds and related products. After that, they said Kwangwoon Securities could handle the rest as they see fit. So, over 200 trillion won was used to purchase corporate bonds, and the remaining 500 trillion is what he intends to move.”
"S-so he's going to do short-term trading with 500 trillion!?"
“Yes. That’s why the trading personnel are being requisitioned.”
“!?”
He thought it couldn’t be, but...
Was that really the reason!
“.......”
For a moment, the conference room fell silent.
Everyone had a look like they didn’t know how to react.
“So...... has there been coordination with the EU?”
“We didn’t give them separate notice. We just fulfilled their request to stabilize over 200 trillion won worth of CDS. They said we could handle the rest however we wanted.”
“When they said ‘handle the rest however we wanted’, I don’t think they meant it was okay to do short-term trading with 500 trillion.”
“That’s...... true. Most likely, the EU has no idea what Kwangwoon Securities is preparing right now.”
Of course, who could ever imagine?
It’s not like they’re going short with 500 trillion, he’s actually going to do short-term trading.
“Just wondering, but... did our Jin-ho happen to hold a grudge against the EU? Did they do something to get on his bad side?”
“Not quite a grudge, but... at first, the EU reached out to us for help, but once the situation improved, they immediately withdrew their offer. But then, due to the Beirut explosion, the situation reversed again.”
“Then, just like the rumors, did CEO Jung really cause the Beirut......!”
At someone’s remark, Hwang Dae-woon’s face twisted heavily.
“Who just said that? Who’s the idiot spouting such nonsense?!”
“S-Sorry.”
“How many times have I said not to utter such unverified bullshit?”
“.......”
After giving a sharp warning, Hwang Dae-woon turned his gaze back to Vice President Kang Ji-hwan.
“Vice President. But is there even a market that can handle 500 trillion in short-term trades? I don’t think even the U.S. can handle that.”
“No. Of course, there is no market that can accommodate 500 trillion in short-term trades. However, what if that money is broken up and spread across the entire European market? That’s not impossible.”
“So...he's breaking up the 500 trillion and spreading it across major markets within the EU, then do short-term trading with that?”
“Yes. Repeatedly spreading and retrieving the 500 trillion all around.”
But even so, the fact remains that 500 trillion would be injected into the EU market as short-term trades. In other words, if this method is used poorly, it could cause irreversible negative consequences.
“What if it backfires on the EU market? If the negative effects outweigh the positive ones and the market collapses?”
“In that case......”
Vice President Kang reluctantly continued.
“We’ll just have to hope our government handles it well.”
“......!”
***
Kwangwoon Securities had been in chaos for several days now due to a large-scale operation.
They had completely cleared out an entire floor and were installing rows of computers packed tightly together.
Maintenance team staff requisitioned from KW Exchange, the Asset Management Team, and other affiliates had to move busily.
“Everyone, just a bit faster. We’re on a tight schedule to meet the CEO’s deadline.”
But they had to move even faster.
Because it was a top-down order to meet the deadline at all costs.
And it wasn’t just the maintenance team that was busy.
“Now, this may feel awkward since it’s everyone’s first time. But if you follow the guidelines I give you, you’ll be able to do this without any issues.”
Department Head Seo gathered all the staff requisitioned from the various affiliates in one place and continued his briefing.
“There are two things we must remember. First. Abandon your ego. I mean that literally. Once the real trading begins, orders from the CEO will start coming down. All we have to do is follow the CEO’s instructions. If he says to buy, we buy. If he says to sell, we sell.”
So it’s just a matter of buying and selling according to the instructions.
“The second thing is that you must never, not even for a moment, lose focus. The CEO’s orders will come down by the second, so it’s possible to get confused or press the wrong button. You must stay alert at all times to prevent such accidents. One mistake could result in losses in the tens of billions, keep that in mind.”
“!?”
“T-Tens of billions?”
At the mention that a single mistaken click could lose that much money, the employees’ faces turned pale.
“Don’t worry too much about making mistakes. The reason we gathered you here in advance is precisely to prevent that as much as possible. Now, please follow the staff beside you and move to the training room. There, you’ll practice using a training program designed to let you buy and sell quickly and accurately without errors.”
“A training program?”
"There's something like that?"
At Department Head Seo’s signal, the staff began guiding the employees.
“Everyone, this way please!”
“Please sit according to the number on the ticket you received earlier.”
“We’ll be broadcasting instructions throughout, so please perform your buy/sell training accordingly!”
Following the guidance, the employees filed out in a group.
Once the group was cleared out, Department Head Seo let out a sigh of relief.
“But... is this really going to be okay?”
“Why?”
“I mean... everyone looked a bit dazed. I’m worried they might make mistakes. Plus, there are just so many people. At least one of them is bound to mess up.”
That’s why the training program was created.
To train them hard before real deployment and reduce mistakes.
“But I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
“Hm? Why not?”
“The employees who were requisitioned this time were all selected by the CEO himself.”
“What? CEO picked all those people personally?”
“Yes. He went through the staff lists from KW Exchange and all the affiliates and selected the ones he needed.”
“Whew......”
So that’s what happened.
“He didn’t say what criteria he used to select them, did he?”
“No. That part, I don’t know.”
No one knows the criteria by which CEO Jung Jin-ho selects new employees.
That’s because, looking at the people selected so far, it’s not because of academic background, nor because of any outstanding trading skills.
However, based on Department Head Seo’s experience, the CEO always selects and places people who are perfectly suited for the right positions.
And today, he had temporarily requisitioned that many personnel.
What could that mean?
“He only picked people who don’t have egos......!”
“Huh?”
***
Due to the inevitable time difference between Europe and Korea, we had to wait until the afternoon for their market to open.
So all the staff came to work late today.
Of course, employees from the Prime Department, including myself, had already come in from the morning and were still working.
"Everyone's working hard. Sorry to make you do this."
“Oh no, not at all. With the salary we’re getting, honestly, I’d have no complaints working 24 hours. Haha.”
“Is the data organized?”
“Yes. We’ve organized the data and split the funds according to the CEO’s instructions for each team.”
I checked the list that Department Head Seo handed over.
This investment will be carried out by dividing it into multiple teams.
From the control tower, I would press the assigned button for each team, and my voice would be transmitted to them with the instructions. Then, they would immediately execute a buy or a sell.
“I need to be careful not to mix up the buttons.”
“Yes. The maintenance team has clearly labeled each button with the team name so the CEO can see them well, but if the situation gets tense, mistakes can still happen.”
I pressed each button in advance to test them.
The investment hadn’t even started yet, but I already felt a rush of excitement and dopamine rising to the top of my head.
For some reason, it felt like going on a massive raid after a long time.
In actual games, when leading a large raid with many players, you’d divide them into teams and give out instructions, wouldn’t you?
But this was on a much bigger scale than that.
Because we were about to go head-to-head with the European market with a whopping 500 trillion won.
“......But CEO-nim. Are you really sure about this?”
"Yes?"
“The EU has no idea that we’re doing short-term trades. And if this ends up collapsing the market badly......”
It’s not like I didn’t have those worries too.
And this situation definitely justified such concerns.
But why is it?
The more I hear those kinds of things, the more at ease I feel.
It’s like I can only believe that it will go well no matter what.
“It’s okay. It’ll go well.”
“Now that you’ve said that, CEO-nim, I feel much more at ease too. I’ll go get the staff ready then.”
“Yes. Please do.”
After sending the department head off, I suddenly had this thought.
"Betting with the mindset that it will definitely work out is a gambler's mentality."
And when you feel more excitement and dopamine than worry, that, I think, is also said to be a symptom of gambling addiction.
......Huh?
***
EMIC is, in its own way, a well-established investment company in the UK.
Of course, being fully private and family-run, there has always been noise about its opaque finances and structure, but it had managed to operate without major issues until now.
In particular, the revenue from owning 85% of Tottenham turned out to be better than expected. They hadn’t won a league title since 1961, and their last cup victory was in 2008.
Even so, the profits were solid.
It was a team with long-standing tradition and history, and the large concrete fanbase in North London also played a major role.
But even they never imagined that COVID would sweep across the world and even destroy the immensely popular football industry.
“What on earth is going on? You’re saying we’re under attack?!”
Only today did they realize that this was merely the beginning.
“At first, we also thought it was a coincidence. But the stocks we hold are being targeted one after another by strategic forces, and the prices are fluctuating wildly.”
A few days ago, EMIC’s Chairman, Joe Royce, had received a strange report.
It was that the EU, through negotiations with Kwangwoon, was bringing in astronomical amounts of money.
The problem was that after Kwangwoon stabilized the CDS, a condition was attached that they could inject money into the market as they pleased.
In other words, it was a declaration that even if they blatantly manipulated stock prices, no one would stop them.
Does that even make sense?
The funny thing was that, through this, the U.S. market had successfully revived.
“It seems the EU was also aiming for that effect......”
“But these crazy bastards are doing short-term trades?”
“Yes. Normally, if we repeat buying and selling to this extent, financial authorities won’t just sit back. But seeing as no one is stopping the trades, it’s clearly Kwangwoon’s doing. Right now, they’re indiscriminately spraying money all over Europe, delivering a massive shock to the market.”
Is this something that could happen in the 21st century?
A single outlaw was shaking the entire European market.
And doing so with indiscriminate bombardment!
“But surprisingly, it’s having an effect. As the overall stock market suddenly starts to rise, many funds and investment firms are jumping in, and individual investors are also exploding in number. The problem is-”
“Our stocks are the only ones dropping, right?”
“Yes. Everything we shorted is undergoing a short squeeze, and on the other hand, everything we went long on is in a downward trend.”
“Every single one of them?”
“Yes. Not a single exception.”
“Then what the hell? You’re saying Kwangwoon is deliberately attacking us right now!”
But is that even possible?
EMIC is a private company.
And only insiders know what portfolio they’ve allocated their funds to. That meant only one thing.
“There’s a traitor among us......?”
“!?”
The executives looked around at each other.
All of them were adamantly denying that it was them.
“.......”
Royce’s head began to ache.
He didn’t even know how to salvage the stocks that were crashing, and now he had to find a spy on top of that.
“I did warn you at the time, didn’t I? That under no circumstances should we mess with Kwangwoon.”
When they had offered to buy Tottenham to Kwangwoon at double the price.
One of the executives had said such a request should never be made.
There’s a saying going around in the financial market these days.
You can go after anyone, but never touch Kwangwoon.
But Chairman Royce had ignored those words.
He was just trying to catch an easy mark outright.
But perhaps he shouldn’t have dismissed that warning.
Because just like the rumors said, no matter who it is, Kwangwoon will retaliate.
Just like they are right now.