Chapter 6
Translator: Dreamscribe
Team Leader Park Hong-seo had not played games much.
It just wasn’t really to his taste.
He could never understand how people could get so immersed in them that they lost track of time.
But after stepping into the stock market, he came to understand the hearts of gamers.
He, too, would become fully immersed and focus solely on the stock market from the moment it opened until it closed.
Today as well, the market ended in the blink of an eye.
“Whew-.”
He checked the daily profit rate.
+1%
1%.
At a glance, it seemed like a very small number.
However, in the Prop Trading Department, 1% was by no means a small figure.
“Team Leader. You did well today.”
“What about the others?”
“Don’t even mention it. Not only our team, but the other teams also got completely wrecked.”
Lately, the market had been extremely volatile.
That’s how stocks were.
Even if countless elites came in with thorough data analysis, stock prices were unpredictable.
That’s because the stock market was the very embodiment of human madness.
“No team’s going to hit their monthly target this time.”
“Yeah. But still, who knows? There’s about a week left, right? We might be able to meet the target quota by then.”
Prop Trading had monthly targets set for each team.
From a minimum of 5% to a maximum of 15%.
Sometimes, people misunderstood and thought that Prop Trading, which focused primarily on day trading, had monthly profit targets of around 50-100%.
They thought day trading was gambling and that gamblers would rake in the highest returns.
But Prop Trading was, in fact, a place that prioritized safety above all else.
So, they recommended against adventurous investments and had leverage limits in place for risk management.
Because of this, it was common to see daily profit rates of 0.1%.
The Prop Trading Department could be described as a place that followed strict risk management with the mindset of at least never incurring a loss.
“We’ve got to push as far as we can. Everyone grab a cup of coffee, then let’s head straight into the meeting.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Team Leader Park also headed to the Pantry Room for a short break and to pour himself some water.
As he was filling his cup, someone quietly approached him from behind.
“Hey. Team Leader Park. Isn’t it a bit too obvious that you’re sucking up?”
It was Team Leader Kim Hak-tae, who had joined the company the same year as him.
Team Leader Park furrowed his brow.
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you asking because you really don’t know, or are you pretending not to? Our juniors had a hard time today thanks to you. The market was already going crazy today, and they were the only ones running around like mad.”
Ah. So that’s what this was about.
Kim Hak-tae whispered quietly, as if worried someone might hear.
“That parachute guy. I heard you let him take it easy today. I didn’t think you were like that, but turns out you’re also trying to play the corporate game?”
“That’s not it.”
“I get it. I heard the CEO personally planted that parachute hire. And since he happened to land on your team, of course it’s going to bother you. If you get on his bad side now and he gets promoted rapidly to an executive position later, that would be a problem.”
It wasn’t wrong.
Even if he tried not to care, they made it impossible not to.
“So, have you talked to him? What’s his relationship with the CEO? He’s got to be family, right?”
Jung Jin-ho had said he wasn’t related to the CEO.
“I don’t know, either.”
“Tsk. You’re trying to keep the good stuff to yourself again.”
“What good stuff? He’s just someone who’ll be gone after a while anyway.”
“Well... that’s true. Still, maybe I should get my face recognized before he goes? You’re putting in effort, after all.”
Team Leader Park shook his head and left the Pantry Room.
The reason he had kept Jung Jin-ho at his desk all day was to assess his investment skills.
“.......”
What had he invested in today?
“Daehan Solution?”
Daehan Solution was a company that imported nickel and made batteries.
On a day like today no, for the foreseeable future, it was one of the stocks he should never have touched.
But the rookie had dumped money into it.
“Did he go all-in again?”
Was he rebelling?
Telling him not to dare test him?
Or was it just his habit to go all-in on a single stock?
‘Right. What was I even expecting.’
Not wanting to think too much, Team Leader Park closed the window.
He had given the rookie a chance, wondering if perhaps he had some talent for investing, but as expected, that newcomer was just an ordinary parachute hire.
The fact that he didn’t diversify his investment and just dumped all the money into a single stock as if he couldn’t be bothered said it all.
That irresponsible attitude was a little frustrating.
‘What’s the point of getting mad about something like this.’
He was going to move up soon enough without staying here for long anyway.
He had no intention of sucking up, but even more so, no intention of making an enemy.
***
Had there ever been a day as awkward and boring at the company as today?
Following my gut instinct that struck my whole body, I just pressed the buy button, and ended up using up all the virtual money I had.
All on a single stock, at that.
“Jin-ho ssi~. How was your investment today?”
“Just so-so.”
“Oh-ho. Can I take a look?”
“Uh... It’s better if you don’t.”
Lee Hye-rin checked my stock holdings and blinked her eyes.
“Jin-ho ssi. What is this?”
"Pretty terrible, right?"
“No, did you forget that the basic rule of investing is diversification? You said it was a mistake last time. But you went all-in again? And on Daehan Solution, no less! Why did you even buy this? Don’t tell me it was another mistake?”
“.......”
I scratched my head with an awkward smile.
“Then what about you, sunbae? Did you do well today?”
Then Lee Hye-rin confidently put her hands on both hips.
“Ahem. My profit rate today was a whole 2%, you know? I bet I’m the only one on our team who made 2%!”
She looked so cute that I couldn’t help but smile brightly.
“Wow. That’s amazing. You’re a total stock pro.”
“Stock pro? What’s that?”
“Oh. Just saying you’re the best at stocks. Adding ‘pro’ at the end is a trend these days.”
“I only used that kind of thing when I was in elementary school. I guess trends really do come back around. No, wait. This isn’t the time for that.”
Lee Hye-rin deliberately made a serious face and stared at me.
“Jin-ho ssi. Don’t go all-in on a single stock like that next time. If you had diversified, you wouldn’t have suffered this much loss. Got it?”
The problem was that even that scolding look was unbearably cute.
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Whew. I’ll teach you properly from now on.”
“I feel reassured, thanks to you.”
As we were chatting and laughing, a passing senior trader scolded us.
“Senior Staff Lee, Employee Jung. What’s so funny? You think you’re here to date?”
"Ah. Sorry, sorry."
“Go prepare for the meeting.”
“Yes.......”
I hadn’t been here long, but there was one thing I’d learned.
The atmosphere in the office changed depending on that day’s market conditions.
“Please understand, Jin-ho ssi. Today’s market was so volatile that Deputy Manager Yang Mi-joo also suffered some losses. It’s a day where pretty much everyone took hits, so the mood’s not going to be good.”
Still, wasn’t it a bit much to take it out on an innocent person just because they were irritated?
But maybe that was just what company life was.
“Even so, our team’s better off. Other teams, seriously... whew. My colleagues all quit because they couldn’t take the pressure, you know?”
Hmm. I thought our team was the scariest because of Team Leader Park Hong-seo.
Turns out, that wasn’t the case.
“Oh right. Now that I think of it, I’m your mentor, but I haven’t even treated you to a light meal.”
In the Prop Trading Department, there’s no such thing as a lunch break.
Because the market stays open even during lunchtime.
So most people just grab a bite after the market closes.
“It’s fine.”
“I’m the one who doesn’t feel fine. I’m in a good mood for once today, so how about we grab something after work? There’s a udon place nearby that I really like. How about it?”
How about it, she says.
“That sounds great!”
Of course it sounded great.
Dinner alone with Lee Hye-rin sunbae!!
He had been a bit annoyed after being scolded for no reason, but suddenly he started to feel excited again.
“Even though we took losses overall today, we still defended pretty well. We can recover today’s losses tomorrow. Also, there’s nothing special to note today, right?”
So much so that he couldn’t stop smiling throughout the entire meeting.
“Ah, yes. The whole market was in a bear market today. The only thing we did was apply some sector hedging for risk management.”
“Well, the bear market will probably continue for a while, so let’s keep monitoring.”
“Yes.”
“Good work, everyone. Go home early today.”
Even the end of the workday came early today.
It couldn’t have been better.
First, he was going to have dinner with sunbae, and second, he’d have more time to play games at home, that alone made his whole body tingle with joy.
“.......”
But maybe he was smiling too much.
After meeting eyes with Team Leader Park Hong-seo, who was staring at him with a stiff face, he quickly lowered the corners of his mouth that had almost reached his ears.
However, in his heart, he was still smiling like the happiest person in the world.
‘Ahh. Tonight’s udon is going to be the warmest in the world.’
***
There’s a saying.
The most interesting things in the world happen while you’re asleep.
That’s because many incidents break out overseas, where the time zone is different from ours.
This time was no different.
“Team Leader! Did you hear the news?!”
Traders who had arrived early in the morning were in an uproar.
“I saw it.”
“What the hell were they thinking, not even giving a signal before pulling something like that?”
An incident had broken out overnight.
Well, maybe “incident” wasn’t quite the right word.
At least for the Trading Department, it was a big event.
[Indonesian Government: Reduces nickel supply by 30%. Export restrictions initiated.]
Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer.
But recently, due to an oversupply of nickel, its value had been steadily declining.
People thought Indonesia might announce some countermeasures, but instead, they made a surprise announcement.
“If it were around 5%, that might have been understandable, but 30% is insane.”
“They could’ve at least given some warning. Sitting quietly like they were going to do nothing and then pulling this? What the hell?”
A 30% cut was a number that could send a shockwave through the market.
It showed just how displeased the Indonesian government was with the current situation.
With this reduction in nickel supply, the battery industry, which had been on a downward trend just yesterday, might now rebound.
“Not all companies will rise. The ones without nickel will get crushed, while the ones that hold plenty of nickel will rise.”
Those without nickel would struggle due to the higher prices, but companies that had already stockpiled nickel would actually benefit.
The real problem was that quite a few teams had taken short positions, assuming all battery-related stocks would crash.
That was why the traders were panicking now.
If stock prices rebounded, those holding short positions would suffer massive losses.
“Do we have a list of companies yet?”
“Not yet. The Research Department staff are just now arriving and scrambling to gather data. But I also just heard this: apparently there’s exactly one company in Korea that holds the most nickel.”
At that moment, one name flashed through Team Leader Park’s mind.
“Could it be... Daehan Solution?”
“Oh. That’s right. So the team leader knew too. They’re saying the stock price for that company is going to skyrocket today.”
“.......”
Team Leader Park stared blankly into space.
“Team Leader?”
Jung Jin-ho.
The stock that parachute had gone all-in on yesterday was Daehan Solution.
That guy had known.
He knew this would happen.
‘Now I get why he was smiling so much during the wrap-up meeting yesterday.’
That was, in fact, the smile of a winner.
No institution could’ve predicted the Indonesian government would make a surprise announcement like that.
There hadn’t been even the slightest hint.
‘How the hell did that parachute know all of this?’
*****
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