Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Translator: Dreamscribe

“Seems like there are some people whose mental state has collapsed because of this situation. I heard a few seniors submitted their resignations and left.”

“Well, it’s not like this is the first time something like that has happened. We predict stock prices based on data, but honestly, making accurate price predictions is in the realm of gods. If someone gets so shaken by this that they can’t even trade, it’s better for them to leave quickly.”

Investing is a mental battle.

Someone said that.

The stock market is a massive manifestation of human psychology.

Sometimes it’s shrouded in madness, other times it’s gripped by fear.

Even companies that look completely unstable on financial statements can often hit high points in stock price, and even companies with excellent financials can see their stock price stay low.

This means that stocks are often bought due to psychological factors rather than the soundness of the company itself.

In a stock market with such wavering sentiment, if you can’t maintain your mental strength, you’re not qualified to be a trader. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⸺fire.net

Especially for a prop trader, where even a second can make a difference.

"Was the battery issue resolved well?"

“Yes. Somehow, we managed to cut our losses properly. There was a brief overheating in the battery sector, and more than anything, there was still a general opinion that it’s too early for electric vehicles. So, the bubble burst a bit earlier. But we did take some losses.”

“We should be grateful it ended at that level. Look at the U.S. Over there, there are no limits to how much a stock can rise or fall.”

Just like Kwangwoon Securities and many other domestic securities firms, U.S. securities firms also frequently take short positions.

But if they get caught on the wrong side just once, no matter how big the firm is, it can vanish in an instant.

That’s because, unlike in Korea, there’s no lower limit to how much a stock can drop in a single day.

"And we were lucky too. Korea Exchange (KRX) had been preparing for a year, conducting pilot operations to raise the limit line from the current 15% to 30%, and this incident happened just before that."

That was an enormous relief.

If the timing of lifting the limit line had been just a little earlier, there's no telling how much bigger the losses would have been.

“Was that scheduled for next month?”

“Yes. They’ve already completed all the institutional safeguard mechanisms and plan to implement it next month.”

“We’ll need to scoop things up then. The domestic market is going to get incredibly hot."

“Foreign investors will be more excited than us. They’ve already been pulling out all their funds in preparation to pour it in around that time.”

The upper limit will be raised from 15% to a whopping 30%.

Because of the previous 15% restriction, Korea wasn’t a particularly attractive investment destination for foreign investors.

But now that the restriction is being relaxed, there’s growing expectation that foreign capital inflow will increase significantly. The problem is, no one can say for sure whether that’s a good or bad thing.

“Especially Westerners. Once they charge in, they tend to keep going until everything’s been wiped clean. I’m worried our local stocks might end up as collateral damage. Anyway, let’s be well-prepared.”

“Yes, CEO-nim.”

“Everyone get back to work. We’ve got to put in the effort today if we want to rest tomorrow. Oh right. Did we clean up everything in the shipbuilding sector?"

“Yes. Just as you said, it seems right to view that area as hopeless for now.”

“Good. There’s no reason to keep holding stocks that have dropped by half. And international oil prices are acting strange these days, so keep an eye on that.”

“Yes, sir.”

After finishing the meeting with the executives, CEO Hwang Dae-woon leaned his head back and blankly stared at the ceiling.

*

Kwangwoon Securities was on track and steadily growing into a major securities firm.

But that made it feel all the more like walking on thin ice.

That’s what the stock market is.

In this world that could easily be called a rollercoaster, a single mistake could topple a tower that had taken so much effort to build.

“Guess I’ll go play later.”

When caught up in such anxiety, the best way to blow it away was with a game.

That was exactly why he played games.

“But I wonder if our Jin-ho is doing well.”

I didn’t want to show favoritism, but since Jung Jin-ho was openly placed through a parachute hire, I couldn’t help but be concerned.

So I had told my secretary to keep an eye out and report if there was anything unusual...

Knock knock-.

“CEO-nim. May I come in for a moment?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

The secretary knocked on the door.

“Come in. So, what’s going on?”

“Ah, you told me to monitor Jung Jin-ho and report if anything unusual happened, right?”

“I did. So, did something happen?”

“Yes. It seems there’s something that fits the description you mentioned, so I brought it to you.”

Did our Jin-ho cause some kind of trouble?

Or did he get into a fight with his superior?

He’s such a polite guy, it’s unlikely he’d fight with someone above him.

And it’s also not like a junior would get into any big trouble.

“...Hmm?”

But what was written in the document he received unfolded a completely different story.

“Wait a minute. What is this? Promotion to senior?”

“Yes. Some seniors are leaving, and they’re promoting a few juniors to fill those vacant positions. Jung Jin-ho ssi is included among them.”

“What the hell are these crazy bastards thinking.”

Promoting a guy who just joined to senior?

Hwang Dae-woon was about to call in the person responsible and reprimand them thoroughly.

“...No.”

But then he gave up on that thought.

“They must’ve had no other choice.”

Anyone at team leader level would already know that Jin-ho was a parachute hire placed directly by the CEO.

Especially the team leader who received Jin-ho probably couldn’t even focus on the stock monitor.

They were likely torn between whether to leave the parachute hire alone or to go out of their way to treat him well.

After agonizing over it again and again, they probably ended up making this kind of decision, and the department head who approved it must’ve also been troubled in many ways.

“If they didn’t know what to do, they should’ve asked me directly.”

But for someone at department head level to randomly come and ask, “What’s with that parachute hire?” would’ve been ridiculous too.

“What should we do, CEO-nim?”

“Leave it as is.”

“Huh? Then are you saying we should really let him be promoted to senior...?”

“What else can we do? It’s my fault. I should’ve properly explained things in advance. I just threw him in there without a word, so it must’ve caused confusion on their end.”

Might as well think of it as a good thing.

This might be a good opportunity for Jin-ho to have a sobering experience of what investing really is.

After all, he doesn’t even know the ‘i’ in investment.

And the team leader probably didn’t promote him to senior with the intent of giving him real trading duties.

They likely orchestrated this just to show upper management that they made this level of effort.

“That team must have their own thoughts. They won’t entrust Jin-ho with that much capital anyway. In the end, it’s just for show, right? Let him get a little taste and then transfer him to another department. Keep monitoring.”

“Yes, CEO-nim.”

Our Jin-ho will probably be shocked out of his mind if he’s suddenly told he’s being promoted to senior without knowing anything.

When he starts trading stocks as a trader for the first time, he’ll probably be confused, not knowing where to begin.

Then when he loses money, he’ll blame himself, thinking he caused damage to the company and the Guild Master.

Then I'll have to pat his back very coolly and magnanimously, saying it's okay.

Because that's exactly what Jin-ho looks up to in a guild master.

***

There’s been no word.

‘I thought by now the CEO would’ve raised hell and summoned all the responsible people to his office.’

If there had been any response, it should’ve come at least yesterday.

After all, they suddenly promoted a new hire who had barely joined the company to senior.

There’s no doubt the CEO must’ve heard about it too, but there’s been nothing.

No word yesterday, and no word today.

It may be Saturday, but securities firms don’t exactly rest on weekends.

Even the CEO comes to work on weekends without taking a break.

The employees under him are the same.

Saturday work is unavoidable for the sake of market analysis, report writing, and data collection.

‘But the fact that there’s still no word... as expected...’

The CEO must have already known.

About Jung Jin-ho’s investment skills.

Just as Team Leader Park had expected, this wasn’t your typical parachute hire.

A new employee with mysterious investment skills.

And the CEO who had personally placed that person.

There was clearly some kind of connection.

Not a family relationship, but some unknown something...!

“Team Leader. Are we getting additional members? Why are they suddenly setting up new desks on our side?”

The team members tilted their heads in confusion as they saw staff from the equipment team setting up two new workstations.

“Some seniors submitted their resignations recently. Someone has to fill those vacant positions.”

“Is it our team? Looks like some new seniors are coming in?”

“That’s right.”

None of the team members even dreamed that one of those seniors would be Jung Jin-ho.

Team Leader Park hadn’t told them yet either.

There was still a chance that the CEO’s office might call at the last minute and nullify the whole thing.

But judging from the continued silence, maybe the CEO already knew things would turn out like this?

***

“Working on weekends... this is too cruel.”

The only saving grace was that weekend shifts started at 9 a.m. and ended earlier than weekdays.

Since they needed time on weekends to collect and organize data after the weekday markets closed, working weekends was a must.

"Right. What complaint would I have? They pay more money for weekend work too."

I should just be grateful that I can work.

Still, physical fatigue was unavoidable.

I just wanted to go home quickly and lie down.

At least the good news was that I only had to work on Saturdays and had Sundays off?

“I’m home.”

No one here?

Did my parents go to work today too?

They usually rested on weekends.

“Mom and Dad went grocery shopping.”

Startled by the sudden voice, I turned toward the sofa.

My younger sister was lying there looking at her phone.

“You scared me. You’re just lying there without a sound?”

“I waved at you when you walked in. You just didn’t see it.”

“But what brings you home? You don’t usually come home on weekends.”

My younger sister had also been living alone due to work.

“No idea. Mom kept calling, saying she wanted to see my face.”

“Tsk. Be good to Mom and Dad. They care about you so much.”

“And what about you? You just play games at home all day like some jobless bum... huh?”

My younger sister blinked as she looked at my clothes.

“Why are you wearing a suit?”

“Why else? I just got back from work. Didn’t Mom tell you?”

“What? You got a job?!”

“Yep. I’m not unemployed anymore.”

“What the heck. Why didn’t you say anything? Congratulations. Can’t believe the day came when you got a job.”

“Yeah. Just like you said, I couldn’t live jobless forever.”

Of course, if hyung-nim hadn’t given me the opportunity, I might still be rotting away in that little room.

“But wait a second. You worked on the weekend? A company that makes you work on weekends… that kind of company is usually called a shitty small company.”

“No, it’s actually the opposite. It’s a pretty good company.”

“Oh~ really? Got a business card?”

“Ah, of course I do.”

I proudly took out one of my business cards.

“Don’t be too shocked when you see it.”

“Yeah right, like I’d be shocked. What kind of huge company could it possibly be… huh?!”

My younger sister’s eyes widened like saucers.

“W-what the… is this real?!”

“Of course it is. You think I’ve just been getting scammed my whole life?”

“N-no. How the hell did you get into Kwangwoon Securities?! That makes no sense, seriously!”

"Like mother, like daughter, saying the same thing."

As if she still couldn’t believe it even after looking at it several times, my sister inspected the card carefully from every angle like she was checking for counterfeit money.

“This can’t be. My brother’s an employee at a major company?”

"It's not quite a major company yet..."

“Kwangwoon’s basically a major company!”

Still, seeing my sister this happy made me feel good.

It was enough to wash away all the fatigue I’d built up from going into work over the weekend.

“This won’t do. It’s too much of a waste to just let this pass.”

“Huh?”

“Time to treat us right today.”

“...I haven’t even gotten my first paycheck yet.”

“So you’re just gonna let this moment go?”

“Ugh.”

With tears in my eyes, I pulled out my emergency stash.

I’d been saving it carefully to spend on real money in games...

“Fine. A celebration’s in order. At least for the family.”

“Nice~. Beef?”

“Come on, take it easy.”

“Hehe. Honestly, I like pork belly more anyway. I’m gonna call Mom and Dad and tell them you’re buying.”

Watching my sister excitedly call Mom made all sorts of thoughts run through my mind.

How long had it been since our whole family went out to eat together?

It felt like our family was going back to how it used to be, and that made me unexpectedly emotional.

Yeah. I’ll work even harder.

So that next time, I can treat them not to pork belly but to beef, until their stomachs burst!

*****

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