Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Translator: Dreamscribe

A fund is a system where, when we entrust our money, the managers operating the fund handle it.

But there is one downside to this.

With stocks, if we sell them, we can immediately withdraw the money. However, with funds, we have to wait at least three days to get our money back.

That's how ETFs came into existence.

ETFs have the advantage of being directly tradable on the exchange, and we can put in or take out money at any time.

But the money we had invested at the moment was mostly in funds.

There were some shorts placed using securities lending services through a prime broker, but the majority of the money was tied up in various funds.

And those funds had a beast-like aggressiveness.

The risk level was at its peak, but if the hunt went well, the returns were guaranteed.

If it were up to me to choose, I would never have picked those. But my intuition had chosen them. And the reason for that was finally revealed.

[Sturmwagen CEO Winterkorn has admitted to all manipulations and has resigned. As a result, the Dieselgate fallout is expected to grow even larger, and the Sturmwagen Group has decided on a total recall of 11 million vehicles.]

Dieselgate.

It was revealed that Sturmwagen had been selling vehicles for years while faking the emissions output by as much as 40 times.

Because of this, the CEO resigned, problematic vehicles were recalled, and fines in the trillions were being imposed.

The fines weren't the only issue.

They also had to provide compensation to the buyers.

But, as always, it was clear they would do everything they could to reduce the compensation to peanuts through lobbying.

In other words, only the people who owned Sturmwagen cars ended up being the unfortunate ones.

"......."

I checked the status of each fund where our money was currently invested.

Usually, when money is put into a fund, you have no idea where it’s actually being invested.

But that depends on the contract.

If the securities company connects directly with the asset manager to invest the funds, then depending on the agreement, transaction volumes can be checked periodically, if not in real time.

"This really feels like running a farming bot operation."

In games, there are people who run dozens of computers to operate bots professionally.

They're called bot farms.

And, well...

What I was doing now felt just like watching a bot farm in action.

I was scattering bots named “funds” all around to automatically gather my money. It’s illegal in games, but not here.

Here, auto-hunting is wise investing and perfectly legal!

"But seriously, they’re all crazy aggressive."

Well, I did pick only those kinds of funds.

In a normal market, I would’ve lost money, but now that Sturmwagen had taken a massive hit, we were like hyenas quietly waiting for the opportunity.

Since the opponent had no strength left to counterattack anyway, we were striking aggressively.

"Feels like they've already been bitten pretty badly though......."

Wouldn't it be better to stop the hunt and start retrieving the money?

I checked the list of funds I had invested in, one by one.

"......."

None of them gave me that feeling.

Even though Sturmwagen stock had already dropped by 20%.

In other words, the hunt wasn’t over yet.

This was just the beginning.

***

Seeing the Dieselgate incident explode, CEO Hwang thought that what was bound to come had finally arrived.

There had been a reason why Jin-ho had invested in shorts, and he had been certain something would explode.

At the same time, another thought crossed his mind.

"Senior Managing Director Tak. Did you sell your car?"

"Yes. I sold it right at the peak. Now it's dropped to dirt cheap. Haha."

"Why don't you usually sell at peaks like that?"

"When you hit the nail on the head like that, I have nothing to say......."

There was a reason CEO Hwang had gathered the executives today.

"You all know what’s going on, right? Sturmwagen screwed up big time, and their stock has dropped 30%. The problem is, the German financial authorities are looking closely into this situation."

Bafin is known as the strictest financial supervisory agency in Europe.

Because of Dieselgate, Sturmwagen’s stock had been wrecked.

Thanks to that, the German stock market was shaking.

The problem was that in this chaotic market, someone was having a money feast.

It was the forces that had gone short.

“How's public opinion in Germany right now?”

“Well, even before the Dieselgate incident broke out, there were already rumors that some forces had taken significant short positions. Nobody knows which institutions they are or what positions they hold, but just by looking at the overall short selling status and the volume concentrated in one place, you can get a sense.”

“That’s why many are saying someone used insider information to short in advance. Bafin is also investigating this.”

That was the exact problem.

In the stock market, when the majority suffers and only a few reap huge profits, a witch hunt begins.

Financial authorities, in the end, are forced to investigate due to public pressure.

They may even try to fabricate a fault somehow.

And the biggest issue was that the suspect they were looking for turned out to be Kwangwoon Securities.

“What’s the probability that Kwangwoon Securities will get in trouble?”

“Consider it virtually 0%.”

Despite having taken short positions with a whopping 700 billion won and making a fortune, there was almost nothing that could cause damage to Kwangwoon Securities.

“Department Head Jung Jin-ho designed it so precisely it’s chilling. He dispersed the money so thoroughly that our identity wouldn’t be exposed.”

“To Bafin, it will simply look like a group of aggressive funds making their usual high-risk investments and just getting lucky.”

Jung Jin-ho’s choice had been truly exquisite.

Rather than investing directly in Germany, he spread the money into extremely high-risk, speculative funds, making it impossible to trace the source.

“He planned it with frightening meticulousness. As if he was determined to completely loot the German stock market. Honestly, foreigners have always looted our market, but now that we’re the ones doing the looting, it feels thrilling and strange at the same time.”

When Korea’s stock price limit increased from 15% to 30% recently, foreign investors briefly raided the KOSPI.

Everyone knows how they manipulated prices as they pleased, shaking off retail investors before vanishing like smoke.

It got so bad that even domestic communities started saying the best response when foreigners attack is to raise both hands in surrender and do nothing.

Those forces came from the United States, Europe, China, Hong Kong, and so on.

They were spread all over.

But now, Germany was being completely stripped bare by black-haired foreigners and was too stunned to respond.

“Of course, compared to foreign capital, 700 billion won is still a very small amount...”

“The scary thing is that this is just the beginning.”

Right now, it's in the billions, but if it scales up to the trillions and starts shaking overseas markets, the impact will be unimaginably huge.

Even then, no one would be able to figure out the owner of the money.

Just imagining it gave them chills.

“But sir, did Department Head Jung Jin-ho... really know in advance that Dieselgate was going to happen?”

It was what everyone had been wondering.

They all turned to look at CEO Hwang.

“Whether Jin-ho knew or didn’t know in advance... that doesn’t matter. All we need to do is make sure Jin-ho doesn’t take any damage. That’s why we’re sitting here in these executive seats.”

They nodded.

After all, the financial market is ultimately a war of information.

They say insider trading is banned, but in the end, the one who knows first is the one who profits.

Luck is important in the financial market, but you can’t survive long on luck alone. That’s why you need to obtain information and know how to use it well.

In that sense, they didn’t need to know whether Jung Jin-ho had prior information.

Just as CEO Hwang said, all they needed to do was think about how to protect Jung Jin-ho, how the company could become his umbrella.

“Keep your eyes and ears open on all sides. If there’s any threat to Jin-ho, we’ll step in and block it ourselves.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll keep close watch, CEO-nim.”

Protecting Jung Jin-ho safely.

That was now their top priority.

***

“Huh? A bodyguard?”

[Yeah. I'm planning to create a security team this time. For our company’s VIPs. For now, it’s just you and me.]

“I mean... I can understand you, hyung. But why me...”

[Of course, you’re a VIP too. I’ve told you many times, haven’t I? In a securities company, the guy who makes the most money is the top dog. From the company’s point of view, you’re more important than we are, you know?]

“Aigoo. Obviously, you’re the most important, hyung. Without the head, how can the body move?”

[Hehe. You’re going to make me tear up again. Ah, but Jin-ho. I wasn’t going to ask, but I’m a bit curious.]

“Yes, ask me anything.”

[Those funds you scattered... when are you planning to recover them?]

The investment money was still sitting, split across dozens of positions.

Fund managers were diligently earning money on my behalf like a farming bot operation.

“I’m planning to leave them for now. It’s the weekend anyway, so I’ll observe things a bit. When it’s time to sell, I’ll move.”

[Sure. I figured you had it all thought out. Sorry for calling suddenly on the weekend.]

“No, not at all. Of course I should answer your call. Ah, but I’m out with family right now, so I think I’ll be logging into the game a bit late.”

[No problem. Take your time. I’ll be catching up on my backlog of quests.]

“Wait, you’re already in-game?”

[Of course. This game’s rough. If you don’t play for a bit, the guys below start catching up. What kind of Guild Master is weaker than the guild members? Gotta set an example. Anyway, I’m off to play. Enjoy your time with your family.]

“Yes, take care, hyung.”

I ended the call and returned to the car that was on standby.

“Sorry for calling you out on the weekend, driver-nim.”

“No, it’s fine. We work on a rotating schedule 365 days a year, so feel free to call anytime. Honestly, we feel more sorry that we’re getting paid so much for having so little to do. Haha.”

Inside the car, Mom, Dad, and my younger sibling were already seated.

“Thanks to our son, I get to ride in such an expensive car.”

“Wait, your company even provided this?”

“Yeah. It’s their way of telling me not to drive myself.”

When my parents first heard that I’d received billions in incentives, they thought I was joking.

But after seeing the amount in the bank account, my mom froze in place. She thought something had gone horribly wrong and panicked.

“I still can’t believe it. What on earth did you do to earn that much in incentives...”

“Hey now. It’s obviously because our son is amazing. You think the company would hand that over for free? I always believed Jin-ho would do well. He was a genius since he was a kid. Hahaha.”

“True. Oppa was good at studying since he was young. Now he’s finally blooming.”

This was the moment that made me feel the happiest since my success.

Being recognized by my family.

Sometimes I wonder.

Where should I spend this overwhelming amount of money?

I never imagined the day would come when I’d have such a pleasant dilemma.

To be honest, I never had dreams of hoarding luxury brands or collecting foreign cars.

I just enjoyed bursting dopamine at the office through relentless trading, and when I got home, I liked playing games with the hyungs.

Ah, and I finally got to splurge in-game the way I never could before. That felt great, too.

But there was something that felt even better.

Spending it on my family.

And doing it in a big way!

“Wait, you’re really moving into a place this huge?”

“Yeah. You saw it on the news, right? It’ll be completed next year, and it’s going to be the tallest building in the country. Plus, while living there, you can access all hotel services. From cleaning to cooking, everything.”

LK Group is famous for LK Hotel.

As the number one hotel company in Korea, they had promised the best hotel services for LK Tower.

The basic unit sizes ranged from 48 pyeong to 250 pyeong.

Especially, the 250-pyeong units were penthouses, and there were only two of them in all of LK Tower.

Since it wasn’t completed yet, I couldn’t go inside, but through the model house, I could at least see what the layout was like.

“Wow. But the modeling is really well done.”

“Seriously. I heard they were going all out with this one.”

“The price starts at 5 billion and goes up to 30 billion?! Isn’t that absolutely insane? Oppa, are you seriously thinking of living here?”

And not just here.

I was also planning to buy a building and hand over its management to my parents, who refused to quit working no matter what.

Maybe if I did this much, they’d accept it, even if pretending to be reluctant.

Just like I talked about with Lee Hye-rin before, in Korea, real estate is the best kind of asset.

Even if all the money went into property, there was nothing to worry about.

“Wow, did you see the hotel service list here? Just one call, and they’ll carry your stuff down to the underground parking for you, 24/7. There's pickup service, and so much more. Plus, each household gets 5 to 10 parking spaces. Money really is everything. Life’s just on another level.”

“Then you’d better get used to it. You’ll be living here starting next year.”

“Crazy. What am I supposed to say when people at work find out my address changed to LK Tower?”

Judging by the dazed look on my sister’s face, it seemed they were already deep in fantasy mode.

They were saying it was too expensive, that there was no need to pay that much to live somewhere like this...

But I guess they really liked it after all.

“It’d be good to secure a unit in advance. Demand is extremely high, you see. Some people have already pre-purchased three units. They expect prices to skyrocket once LK Tower is completed.”

At the employee’s kind explanation, I nodded.

Maybe I should buy another one, too.

Even from my perspective, the price here was bound to rise in the future.

‘But… something’s been bothering me.’

I’d started to feel something from the moment the staff began explaining things.

But it was faint, too faint.

I didn’t even know what the signal was trying to tell me.

‘Same thing happened when I was talking to Lee Hye-rin last time.’

Back then, I’d felt a weak signal brush past me as well.

Could it be because of this tower?

‘No way… faulty construction?’

This was a project LK Group was staking its entire reputation on.

Or maybe it wasn’t the tower, but something about LK Group itself that was setting off the signal.

“.......” The most update n0vels are published on Nove1Fire.net

While my family continued their tour, I searched up LK Group on my phone.

[LK Group Chairman Oh Dong-Yeong. Succession process complete. Everything handed over to eldest son Oh Seung-hyeon.]

[Oh Seung-hyeon appointed as next chairman of LK Group?]

LK Group was in the middle of a major succession process.

Chairman Oh Dong-Yeong was passing on his position to his eldest son, Oh Seung-hyeon.

That part was fine, but what came next was the problem.

[Second son Oh Jae-hyun says he has no interest in chairman position.]

[“I will fully support my older brother becoming chairman.” Oh Jae-hyun shares his commitment.]

Without much thought, I tapped on the interview article about Chairman Oh Dong-Yeong’s second son, Oh Jae-hyun.

“!?”

An overwhelming tremor suddenly shook through my body.