Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Translator: Dreamscribe

There is a saying.

The domestic market has growth limitations.

"I’ve told you over and over. You shouldn’t be trading the domestic market, you should be trading the U.S. market!"

"Yeah. But you have to pay taxes both in the U.S. and Korea. Double taxation."

"Yeah. The government gives tax cuts~. And it’s all corporate tax anyway."

"Even with the cuts, you still have to pay everything. If that’s the case, domestic market is better!"

"Then just stick to the domestic market forever. You’re a moron stuck around the 2,000-level forever."

There are several reasons why the domestic market’s growth is stagnating.

Threats of war, high ratio of foreign sell-offs, short-term profit targets of the National Pension Fund and various institutions, and extremely tight financial regulations.

And among all of these, the biggest factor was still owner risk.

In Korea, companies are passed down through succession.

This has become a firmly established culture, resulting in a management style that favors major corporate owners over being shareholder-friendly.

On the other hand, the U.S. implements shareholder-friendly policies, and the culture of handing down a company to one’s children, even if they founded it, is nearly nonexistent.

Because of that, it’s not about a family or a specific individual having control, but rather, there is a strong perception that the company belongs to its shareholders.

It’s a terrifying place where even the founder can be fired without much thought.

Dividend expansion and shareholder returns through share buybacks.

U.S. institutions also engage in long-term investments and actively buy when stock prices rise.

This was the biggest factor behind the U.S. stock market’s ability to grow.

"On top of that, the U.S. market has no limit to how much it can rise."

"It doesn’t have a limit to how much it can fall either."

"Then just take a short position."

"Ah~ if it were that easy, we’d all be filthy rich. What’s your team’s return rate this month?"

"Th-that’s......."

When a company grows, multiple departments emerge.

Kwangwoon Securities was no different.

So even though people work at the same brokerage, they play in different arenas.

Some in the domestic market, some in overseas markets, others only in bonds, and some just in options.

"The buying was great. But I messed up the selling timing. If I had sold it right, we’d be throwing a proper bonus party."

They say buying is technique, selling is art.

Wherever you go, timing the sell is the hardest part.

"Do something about the U.S. market. When the big brother shakes, everything underneath shakes along."

When the U.S. market shakes, stock markets around the world shake.

The reason the Korean market took a hit was ultimately because of the U.S. market.

"Those guys suddenly got tired of zero interest rates and said they'd raise them now. What are we supposed to do? And you? You just need to pick up falling leaves to make money. Why can’t you even do that and end up in the red?"

"Hey. Our option sell-offs went to shit because of you guys."

"Anyone listening would think I caused the U.S. market to crash. Haven’t you guys been making easy money all this time? Seriously, I should’ve switched to options too."

If you had to pick the department in a securities companies that shows up to work the least, it’d definitely be the options department.

The team that sells options doesn’t really have much to do.

Selling options is like selling lottery tickets, with gamblers everywhere trying to hit the jackpot.

And about 99% of the time, the securities company takes the profits.

They just sit there picking their noses and rake in the falling profits.

But every once in a while, that day comes.

The day they have to pay out the winnings to a jackpot winner who defied astronomical odds.

"Did any team hit the jackpot this time?"

"Just one. That Prop Trading Department over there." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel(ꜰ)ire.net

"Huh? Wasn't that the place that got completely destroyed?"

"No. I heard they made record-breaking profits this time."

"Not even in the U.S. market, but in the domestic one? How much did they make?"

Then one team leader quietly whispered.

"Rumor has it, 50%."

"Come on. That’s bullshit. No one makes 50%. Not even in the U.S. market."

"I’ve even heard it’s over 50%. I heard 60%. From a single individual."

"There you go spreading false rumors again. Does that make sense logically?"

"Maybe that’s why. I heard a new team is being created in the Prop Trading Department?"

That was even stranger.

With the bear market driving many traders to quit under pressure, they weren’t downsizing the team but expanding it?

"So, who’s the new team leader?"

***

Over the years of running the guild, hyung-nim and I would occasionally meet just the two of us.

And whenever we did, there was a particular place we would go.

“I was going to treat you to something fancy like premium traditional Korean cuisine.”

“Come on. I know your taste well, hyung-nim. Grilled pork belly and soju, that’s your favorite.”

“You little punk. You always know just the right thing to do.”

Being the CEO of a securities company, one would think he ate premium meals or omakase every day, but surprisingly, hyung-nim had a simple palate.

“Ugh. I just can’t do omakase. Weird seafood, strange vegetables, barely any meat. I hate it, just hate it.”

"Aren't you liking meat a bit too much?"

“My daughter says the same thing all the time. Says I have a grade schooler’s taste. But hey, you only live once. I should be allowed to eat whatever I want!”

“You’ll get a stroke at this rate, hyung-nim.”

“Psh. You nagging too now? On such a good day? Come on, let’s just toast.”

"Yes!"

Nicely sizzling pork belly, topped with sweet and tangy scallions, then roasted garlic added in.

Wrapping it like that and putting it in your mouth in one bite, then finishing with soju.

“Ahh-”

This was heaven.

“So, is that bastard Young-chul going to show up for the raid? Without him there’s no support. You can get by without a dealer, but not having support is a big problem.”

“Right. No matter what, I’ll make sure he shows up.”

“But I get where he’s coming from. The game company’s been neglecting support roles, so now he wants to quit.”

That’s how it always was when we met.

From beginning to end.

We talked about games all day.

Normally, when meeting with an adult, you talk about dreams for the future. What you’re going to do with your life.

Life lessons and stories, and so on.

Just the same boring things over and over.

But hyung-nim never brought up personal stuff, and it was nice to just talk freely about games with him.

“Hmm. But today, I didn’t come to talk about games. I got carried away without realizing it. At this rate, all the time will pass."

But the person who had come to meet me today wasn’t the Guild Master.

It was the CEO of Kwangwoon Securities.

“Jin-ho.”

The CEO took a moment of silence, then drank a shot of soju and spoke heavily.

“You have your own style of investing, right?”

My own investing style.

Of course I do.

“Yes.”

Relying purely on instinct.

It was just one thing, but that was all there was.

“I figured as much.”

As if he knew it already, hyung-nim nodded.

“I won’t ask how you pulled off those unbelievable profits, or what your investing method is. Because even if you told me, I wouldn’t understand. Probably no one else would either. It might be an algorithm only you in the whole world can comprehend. Your short-term trading profit rate is simply absurd. It’s not something that could be done just by being lucky.”

An algorithm only I could understand.

If I said I invested purely based on that one intuition called feeling, who would ever understand?

“I’ve always been someone who values ability. Until now, if I judged that someone didn’t have the right ability, I never accepted them into the company, even if we had ties through school, region, or even blood. The only time I broke that rule was for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Of course, you also managed our guild really well, and even though you probably had to deal with a lot of annoying stuff from higher-ups, I saw how you handled it all without complaints. That really impressed me.”

If it weren’t for hyung-nim, I would probably still be holed up in my room, gloomily studying for job exams.

Completely unaware that I had this kind of talent.

“Eating pork belly and drinking soju with you like this? Talking about games, too?”

“Hehe. Yeah, this really is the best.”

I also enjoyed drinking and chatting like this with hyung-nim.

Maybe it was because of this relaxed atmosphere that I never realized this hyung-nim was the CEO of a major securities firm.

It was because whenever we met, we rarely talked about personal matters.

“I think the reason our company got so big is thanks to that. When someone has ability, I really push them hard. And I think now is exactly that time.”

The CEO refilled my glass and suddenly asked me out of the blue.

“Do you want to try becoming a team leader?”

I almost dropped the glass I was holding.

"What?"

“I told you. When someone has ability, I give them a strong push. Honestly, this is the first time I’m pushing someone this much. But you're the first to make that kind of profit through short-term trading in just five days.”

I uncomfortably emptied my glass.

I hadn’t worked at many companies, nor for very long, but I at least knew that it usually takes a long time for a new hire to become a team leader.

In other words, this was an extremely exceptional, ultra-fast promotion.

“As a team leader... would I be leading a team?”

“That’s right. Even in the guild, you always take the raid leader role. It’s the same thing.”

“Comparing that to this is a bit...”

“Hey. Do you know how hard being a raid leader is? In my opinion, it’s harder than being a team leader.”

A team leader? Me?

I naturally thought of Team Leader Park Hong-seo.

Compared to that bulky, commanding superior, I felt unnecessarily small.

“Usually, team leaders are categorized as elite grade. And your seniors take about 20% of their returns, right? But from team leader level, it goes up to 30%. And that’s not all. The capital you manage increases too.”

“How much does it increase?”

“50 billion won.”

“!?”

That’s 10 times the amount I’m currently handling.

“Of course, I’m not saying you’ll manage all 50 billion by yourself. As a team leader, you’ll have team members, right? Those members will be senior traders. Just like your current team leader does, you’ll have to allocate funds to them appropriately. Even so, you’ll still have to manage at least 30 billion yourself.”

30 billion.

A massive amount.

Even just a 10% return would be 3 billion won.

And if I took that as salary, it’d be 900 million!

“On top of that, team leaders get higher bonuses. If the overall team performance is good, you get an extra 10%.”

Normally, the Prop Trading Department targets 0.1% to 1% in daily returns.

Over a month, that becomes over 10%.

If that happens, my monthly salary could reach 1.2 billion won.

‘So even my team leader’s been making a fortune.’

Truly, the world of finance was on another level from ordinary life.

“But is it really okay for me to be a team leader? I’ve barely joined the company, and I don’t even have a single basic certification.”

Just looking at the other team leaders- no, even Deputy Manager Lee Hye-rin had an impressive resume.

“What do certificates matter? Legally, there’s no issue. Even if you had 100 licenses, in the end, everything here is judged by your return rate. And you’ve proven yourself. Sure, some coworkers might gossip, but if they don’t like it, they should produce returns like you.”

In the end, in this world, your return rate is your resume.

“So? Want to try it?”

“I’d be an idiot to say no, right?”

“It’s true that it’s a burdensome position. A higher title means more responsibilities. But... it’s also a promotion at an unprecedented speed.”

Honestly, I didn’t have the confidence to hold a meeting from early morning and give orders like Team Leader Park Hong-seo. But I never joined this company because I had knowledge about the securities industry.

“I don’t know if I’ll be good at it, but I’ll give it a shot.”

“Wahaha. Good. That’s the spirit. Then shall we have a toast to your promotion, Team Leader Jung?”

On the first day, I was an entry-level employee. A few days later, a senior staff.

And now, a team leader.

That title had an oddly thrilling ring to it.

“Yes. CEO-nim.”

After the toast, the CEO waved his hand as if he was tired of it all.

“Hey. Enough with the work talk already. Talking about work in front of delicious pork belly on such a nice day, it's tiring, seriously.”

The CEO turned back into the Guild Master.

“You’re right. Nothing beats chatting about games.”

“Keuk. So, I heard you face-planted in yesterday’s raid? The guild members told me everything.”

“No, come on. Hyung-nim. That was pure, unjustified bad luck.”

"Oh my. Is that so."

"Really! Ah. I should have recorded a video."

Yeah, talking about games with hyung-nim was definitely the most comfortable and fun thing.

***

"I'm home."

Yesterday, I drank with hyung-nim for a long time and stayed up all night talking about games. I only fell asleep after getting home late, and didn’t wake up until after lunchtime.

"Oh. What? You’re here again today?"

"Of course. This is my house too."

"You didn’t show up for a whole month last time. You must’ve broken up with your boyfriend?"

"God, your intuition is disgustingly sharp. And by the look of you, you drank last night. Was it a company dinner or something?"

"Does it show?"

"What kind of company has dinners on the weekend? That’s a weird company."

My sister criticized the company, saying any firm that bothers people on weekends must be awful.

But should I have told her it wasn’t a company dinner, it was a guild executive dinner?

"And there’s another reason I came today."

"Hm?"

"Remember I got a free meal from you last week? I felt bad mooching off someone who hasn’t even been paid yet, so today I’m treating. Oh, and I was thinking of buying you a suit as a gift for you getting a job. Let’s go out to eat with Mom and Dad when they get here, and hit the department store too."

"Y-you don’t have to go that far."

"It's fine. Remember? When I first got a job before, oppa bought me shoes with money you saved from part-time work?"

"Are you still wearing those?"

That was already a few years ago.

And my sister was still wearing those shoes.

Suddenly, a wave of emotion washed over me.

"I’m okay, really... Shouldn’t you be using that money for yourself? You live on your own, after all."

"I got my paycheck and performance bonus on Friday~. I earn pretty well now, don’t look down on me."

My sister stood there proudly, beaming.

It made me feel unexpectedly proud.

When we were younger, she used to cry nonstop and follow me around everywhere.

"And oppa, even though Kwangwoon Securities is a big company, as a new employee, your salary’s still not much, right? All the more reason to prepare for the future with savings accounts and retirement plans. Ah- since you work at a securities firm, maybe you can’t invest in ETFs? Still, you should start planning bit by bit now. Want me to look into some good products for you?"

"S-should I?"

"Of course! They keep saying our generation won’t get pensions. That’s why we have to prepare while we’re young. And now that you’ve got a solid job, you’re probably thinking about marriage too, right? You’ve got to start saving money. With salaries like ours, even saving up 100 million is a lifetime's work." (TL Note: 100 million won = approx 70K dollar)

"......."

Beside me, my sister was explaining her 100-million-won savings project and going over various savings plans in detail.

I quietly listened and nodded along.

So this is what it takes for office workers to save 100 million won, pouring every part of their life into it.

"So, oppa, how much is your salary? I’ll make a plan based on that amount."

"Well..."

This is awkward.

How do I explain that the paycheck I received yesterday was over 700 million won?