Chapter 9
Translator: Dreamscribe
If you were to ask who makes the most money at a securities firm, most people would say the executives.
“But that’s~ not true at all. Sure, executives earn more in fixed income, but when it comes to incentives, prop traders earn way more.”
As always, the start of the day began with the vitamin-like voice of Lee Hye-rin sunbae.
She seemed possessed by the sense of duty to pass on all sorts of useful tips to her junior, and continued speaking.
“That’s why every securities company has a ranking system for prop traders.”
“A ranking system?”
“Yes. Just like how schools rank students based on grades, securities companies do the same.”
So prop traders also have rankings and compete within that.
Now I understood why everyone was so edgy and seemed desperate to tear each other apart.
“Prop traders with low ranks manage smaller amounts of money. Since the capital they move is small, even if they achieve high returns, their incentives are low, right? On the other hand, top-ranked prop traders manage a significant amount of capital. Even with a small profit, they get a huge incentive.”
It may vary depending on the securities company, but at Kwangwoon Securities, the minimum amount of money a prop trader handles is 1 billion won.
That was the minimum unit.
“So prop traders with good performance often sign separate contracts, and at other large securities firms, prime-ranked prop traders easily surpass 10 billion won in annual salary.”
“Wow. 1 billion? Just in annual salary?”
“I’m telling you, tens of billions is the norm. What you should note here is that there's a reason they get paid that much. They make the company hundreds of billions, even trillions of won, so of course they earn that much.”
It made sense why students from prestigious universities would rush into prop trading.
An annual salary in the tens of billions.
It was an amount that didn’t feel real at all.
“But our country is still at a modest level. Look at the United States. There are legendary prop traders who’ve received trillions in incentives over there.”
““H-hundreds of billions of won......!”
“Hoho. It really is an incredible world, right?”
No wonder people always say stocks and real estate are the best.
A world where you can earn that kind of money with just a mouse click.
“Then what level is our team ranked at?”
“We’re probably at the normal level. As far as I know, the higher the floor, the higher the rank. If you look here, the Derivatives Department is on the highest floor, right? It varies, of course, but on average, the type of prop trader who earns the most money is the derivatives trader.”
“They earn that much?”
“Yes. I’m telling you, their monthly salary is much higher than our annual salary. Next in line is the quant trader. They create algorithms using AI to do high-frequency trading, but I don’t really know much about that myself.”
The world of stocks is truly complicated and mysterious.
But since the rewards are so huge, it seemed like a structure that naturally entices people into having fantasies about it.
A game where there’s a foundation at the bottom, and only the top 1% gets the big money.
“Is everyone here? Let’s start today’s meeting a bit early.”
“Ah, yes!”
Team Leader gathered all our team members in the meeting room.
But then, two other juniors, ones I had occasionally run into while doing errands, entered the meeting room.
“These are the new junior traders who joined our team. As you all know, because of the recent incident, a few seniors resigned, and one of the teams collapsed. We brought over the people from that team.”
So now there were four juniors?
Maybe the work would get a bit easier?
“Team Leader. Didn’t you say some seniors would also be joining today?”
“Yeah. But they’re not new hires. We’re promoting the current juniors.”
“What?”
Promoting the juniors?
Wait. Don’t tell me that means-.
“Employee Jung, Senior Staff Lee. Starting today, you two will be promoted from junior to senior.”
“Whaaaaat!?”
Lee Hye-rin sunbae and I froze on the spot.
Senior?
Just like that, so suddenly?
“W-Wait a minute, Team Leader. You’re making these juniors into seniors? Sure, Lee Hye-rin sunbae has some experience, but honestly, even that’s too fast. And now Jung Jin-ho too? Isn’t this a completely outrageous promotion? I don’t think there’s a case of such lightning-fast promotion in any securities company!”
Deputy Manager Yang Mi-joo’s voice was filled with firm anger.
But I understood.
Even I had no idea what was going on, so how must the other traders, including Deputy Manager Yang, feel?
“There’s a good reason for it. In the mock trading we’ve been doing over the past few days, Jung’s return rate was the best in our team.”
“Team Leader. That was mock trading. That’s completely different from real trading. You're giving out a promotion just because the results were momentarily good?”
“It’s already been decided. You all know this. In the end, in this industry, return rate is everything. And with the team collapse, the capital we need to handle has increased. Do you know what that means? It means our team’s incentive will be higher.”
“Then all the more reason...!”
“Enough. It’s already been decided.”
Team Leader Park spoke in a calm, subdued tone, and no one could protest further.
Amid that heavy tension, Team Leader Park spoke to the two of us.
“Employee Jung, and Senior Staff Lee. You see those two desks set up over there?”
“Ah, yes.......”
“They’re desks set up for you. The staff who configured the equipment will explain in detail how to use each function, so listen well and learn.”
I still couldn’t believe it.
We were really becoming seniors?
“Think of today as an adaptation phase where you just learn how things work. There’s no need to push hard starting today. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s officially start the meeting. Oh right. And Jung, you’re no longer just an employee starting today. You’re a Senior Staff now. And Senior Staff Lee you are moving up to Deputy Manager.”
“!?”
“T-Team Leader!”
“Okay. Let’s start the meeting. Did you forget? We’re now pulling in money from another team. If you want to make a lot of money, focus.”
It was a meeting that felt like a storm had just passed through.
***
“For now, we’ve installed a total of six monitors. If you need more, please contact the Equipment Team.”
The Equipment Team staff began explaining my new desk one step at a time.
“The two main monitors are dedicated to the HTS program. You’ll have the real-time chart and order book window open for trading. The left dual monitors are for checking news feeds and research reports. The right dual monitors are set for monitoring market trends and sector-wise fluctuation rates.”
“That’s a lot......”
“Yes. Prop traders need to act even a second faster. We’ve also replaced the keyboard with a specially made one. You can place orders with a single hotkey.”
The staff pointed to the F1 through F12 keys on the keyboard.
“Buy orders are F1, sell orders are F2. And so on. We’ve set it up like this. If you try to click with a mouse every time, you’ll miss the timing. Until you get used to it, I recommend keeping the hotkey guide next to your keyboard.”
A dedicated keypad had also been installed on the desk. It was for faster number input.
“We also added a separate high-speed LAN since order traffic can be delayed when volume surges. We’ve optimized the monitor response time as well. Even a 1ms delay is unacceptable.”
I nodded, but cold sweat was forming.
To be doing real trades with this kind of cutting-edge equipment.
It was on a completely different level than mock trading.
“Lastly, we’ve also set up an alert sound to prevent order mistakes. If your order volume is unusually high or the quote price is abnormal, you’ll get a warning sound. Just keep that in mind.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Everyone finds it difficult at first, but you’ll get used to it soon. Then, I’ll take my leave-”
I've never even used dual monitors that everyone uses for gaming.
But here, I had six monitors.
And Team Leader uses nine.
I feel like even three would be enough. What kind of screens is he even looking at that he needs nine?
“Jin-ho ssi. Did you hear the whole explanation?”
“Ah, yes. Senior Staff... no, Deputy Manager!”
“Ugh. Don’t say it. It’s so embarrassing.”
Just like the other juniors, I thought I’d be running around like a dog again today, but suddenly, we were promoted to seniors and sitting in front of this high-end equipment.
“Don’t be too scared, Jin-ho ssi. I’m sure we can do well. Just do it the same way we did in the mock trading!”
“...Deputy Manager. Your legs are shaking.”
“Gasp.”
I wonder if the Guild Master knows that I’ve become a senior?
If he does, wouldn’t he flip out?
But since there’s been no reaction, maybe he doesn’t know what’s going on down here yet.
“Senior Staff Lee. Employee Jung. No, I should call you Deputy Manager Lee and Senior Staff Jung now?”
At that moment, Deputy Manager Yang Mi-joo approached us with her sharp voice.
“You two. With the company atmosphere the way it is right now, you’re laughing? Are you out of your minds? When the Team Leader said he’d promote you, you should’ve absolutely declined. But you just jumped at it?”
Her fierce eyes clearly showed her displeasure.
“I don’t acknowledge either of you. And you know, right? The money we earn depends on the team’s performance. If our performance crashes because of you two, I really won’t let it go. Do you understand what I’m saying?! So if you think you can’t handle it, go tell the Team Leader right now. Ask him to revoke the decision.”
I’ve been feeling it for a while, but Deputy Manager Yang strangely seems to take out all her frustration on Lee sunbae.
Since I’m next to her, I get dragged into it as a set.
I understand.
It must be annoying to see a newbie who hasn’t been here long suddenly get promoted to senior.
And even more so in prop trading, where the team’s performance directly affects compensation.
But Lee sunbae is someone who’s worked really hard to become a senior.
Even while working as a junior with me, she never once slacked off.
If I didn’t know something, she kindly taught me, and she always volunteered to handle tasks first.
She was a person whose heart was as angelic as her face.
It pained me to see someone like her being torn down like that.
“Deputy Manager. I understand well. I think that’s enough now.”
“What did you say?”
“The Team Leader said it, didn’t he? That this industry ultimately evaluates by return rate. So don’t worry. We’ll prove ourselves through performance. We won’t be a burden to this team.”
Deputy Manager Yang looked at me as if she couldn’t believe what she just heard.
“Hah. Let’s see how well you do. Maybe it’s a good thing you learn what it really means to not know your place.”
She snapped and returned to her seat.
“J-Jin-ho ssi. Why did you do that? You didn’t have to say anything.”
“I’m sorry. I got emotional too. It just felt like Deputy Manager Yang’s been picking on you ever since before.”
“It’s okay. That’s what life in society is, right?”
“But now we’ve got a big problem. I said we’d prove ourselves with performance... What if I mess everything up?”
“Hoho. I believe in you, Jin-ho ssi. You already showed your skills during the mock trading, didn’t you? You’ll do great. Fighting! Let’s survive today!”
When Lee Hye-rin clenched her fist cutely, I clenched mine the same way.
Then I took a deep breath and sat down.
During mock trading, I could just throw money around and it didn’t scare me much, but now that I have to do it with real money, I already feel a chill down my spine.
‘Ugh. I really shouldn’t have talked so big.’
But the die has been cast.
Now, the only way is to prove it with real return rates.
Besides, don’t I have a special ability that no one else knows about?
‘Let’s see. The amount I need to manage is... ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand...’
1 billion?!
I didn’t think they’d actually give me 1 billion won from day one.
I’ve never seen or touched that much money in my life.
Not even in a game.
‘I did hear from Lee sunbae earlier that 1 billion is the minimum for a prop trader.’
They didn’t even give me that in mock trading.
And now they’re telling me to handle 1 billion won in real money the moment I become a senior?
‘Is this company insane?’
***
“Ugh. So annoying.”
Deputy Manager Yang Mi-joo gulped down a glass of cold water.
What on earth is the Team Leader thinking?
Promoting those two to seniors out of nowhere?
If those two mess up their trades, it will directly impact the team’s overall performance.
Sure, there are incentives based on individual performance, but the incentives from team performance are by no means negligible. And if the team’s performance gets ruined because of them...
“If that happens, I really won’t let it slide!”
And on top of that, how dare he talk back so curtly to a senior?
So disrespectful.
“Deputy manager Yang~. You seem especially irritable today?”
“If you came to get on my nerves, get lost."
“No, it’s just... you seem particularly sensitive about Senior Staff Lee no, wait. She’s a Deputy Manager now, right? Deputy Manager Lee. Isn’t it about time she got promoted to senior anyway?”
“Promoted my ass. She’s still got a long way to go. And what the hell is up with that newbie? How can someone get promoted that fast?”
“So you really didn’t know?”
“What?”
The deputy manager from another team glanced around and then spoke quietly.
“You know that newbie? He’s related to the CEO.”
“W-W-What!?”
“It was something only the team leaders were supposed to know, but I heard it from a friend in the HR Team. Makes sense now, right? Why such an outrageous promotion happened.”
“W-Wait a second. Did I just go off on a royal family member?”
“Well, I doubt he’d hold a grudge over something like that. You didn’t say anything too harsh, right? Hopefully there won’t be any hard feelings. Anyway, I’m heading out first. Keep up the good work~!”
“.......”
Deputy Manager Yang just stood there staring blankly into space.
“Deputy Manager Yang? The market’s about to open. Aren’t you going?”
She looked like she had died standing up.
*****
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