Chapter 229: The Prophecy of Delphi (1)
“I did what you asked… but I’m not sure being in the spotlight like this is necessarily a good thing.”
Pierce frowned as he spoke.
Goldman mentioned the ‘Delphi Institute’ in their official statement.
They said it was the Delphi Institute that first identified and warned about MDB’s suspicious transactions.
Naturally, this drew public attention toward Delphi.
And during the media’s investigation into the institute, one astonishing fact was revealed.
—The founder of the Delphi Institute… is Ha Si-heon?
Do people even realize who Ha Si-heon is?
He’s the courageous young man who criticized racism and injustice, the ‘Orca’ who hunts down scammers, and someone so revered among retail investors that he’s even been dubbed a “saint.”
And now, it had come to light that this very ‘Orca’ had once again played a key role in exposing a financial scam. Unsurprisingly, the public response was intense.
—Abolish the FBI’s financial crimes division and just hire Ha Si-heon. Budget saved.
—Send the entire SEC budget to Orca. He’s doing all the work anyway.
—Wall Street Anti-Fraud Program Initiated: HaSi-heon.exe is now removing scammers.
The ethical image I had carefully built over time was finally paying off.
"The only trustworthy watchdog on Wall Street."
At a time when public trust in banking fairness was crumbling, I was being praised as that kind of figure.
It was encouraging.
The spotlight, which had started with Lau’s arrest and passed through Hollywood and Wall Street, had finally turned to me.
But even so, Pierce let out a long sigh.
“An image that’s too squeaky clean can actually become a liability...”
He had quickly realized this could easily turn into a backlash.
It was a fair point.
I nodded slowly and replied.
“I’m aware. People have this strange urge to step on freshly fallen snow.”
“Pure white… snow? You?”
Pierce gave me a baffled look.
Then he changed the subject as if he had just heard something he didn’t want to hear.
“Anyway, why did you call me?”
He clearly wanted to get straight to business.
That was fine with me.
I didn’t call him here for small talk anyway.
“I’d like you to start a rumor.”
“A rumor?”
Rumors spread fast on Wall Street.
And investment banks like Goldman were usually at the center of them.
They weren’t just intermediaries; they acted like news hubs, spreading information while brokering deals.
“So, what kind of information do you want to leak?”
“Pareto made a pretty decent profit from this incident. I want people to know that.”
“Profit? You don’t mean…”
Pierce trailed off.
His eyes widened.
I nodded in confirmation.
“Yes, I’m talking about our investment in Malaysia.”
Pareto Innovations had predicted the fallout from the MDB incident and invested accordingly.
They took a short position by betting on the Malaysian ringgit’s collapse—using USD/MYR call options and NDF contracts—and massively shorted Malaysian government bonds while also buying CDS.
The result was a huge success.
We netted around 200 million dollars in profit.
But when Pierce heard this, his face went pale.
“You… want to make that public? Are you insane?!”
His voice sharpened.
It was understandable.
Wall Street was already under fire again for so-called “elite privileges.”
Criticism was mounting that the system was harsh on the poor but barely investigated the wealthy.
In that climate, I—Ha Si-heon—was the only figure seen as clean and trustworthy on Wall Street.
But if word got out that this “Orca” had profited massively from the situation?
“The moment this leaks, they’ll burn you at the stake! Don’t you see that?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why…?”
There was only one reason.
Because the current flame wasn’t burning hot enough.
I had managed to get the fire going…
But the heat wasn’t satisfying.
The “elite privilege” issue on Wall Street was an old topic—reheated too many times to be impactful.
What we needed now was fuel—something that could reignite the blaze with fresh energy.
But Pierce still didn’t seem to understand.
“Do we really have to go that far? I mean, the name of the Delphi Institute is already out there…”
“It’s not nearly enough. I’m not just trying to build name recognition.”
From the beginning, I had only one goal.
To turn the Delphi Institute into a modern-day Oracle of Delphi—a trusted advisor to heads of state.
But.
“With the current level of recognition, do you really think Delphi can reach that tier?”
“Well…”
Pierce couldn’t find the words.
There were only a handful of think tanks trusted that deeply by governments, and all of them had spent decades building that credibility.
The idea that Delphi could suddenly leap ahead of them because of this one issue was absurd.
Still, Pierce sighed.
“There’s nothing to be done. Delphi is a new institute. We have no choice but to steadily build our reputation.”
“I don’t plan to wait.”
Pierce’s approach required time.
But that was the one resource I lacked the most.
“I want to speed things up. And that’ll require a more aggressive approach.”
“It’s not just about being aggressive—this could backfire, you know? Why go out of your way to draw negative attention when you've just built a good image?”
“Because negative attention has more firepower.”
People are always more drawn to negative issues than positive ones.
To raise the temperature, I had to go with the latter.
Pierce shook his head in disbelief.
“Sure, it’ll create a stir… but isn’t it just too dangerous?”
“It’s fine. High risk, high return, right?”
“Well, if you’re not comfortable with it, I can always ask another investment bank.”
When I made it clear I had other options, Pierce quickly spoke up.
“No, no. It’s not like spreading rumors is that hard… Just give me a moment.”
A few days later, the media went into a frenzy.
<Pareto Innovation Scores Big Profit from Malaysian Crisis...>
<Ha Si-heon, Who Exposed the MDB Scandal—Secretly Pocketed Hundreds of Millions?>Pierce must’ve worked hard, because nearly every article portrayed me as a greedy man profiting off others’ misfortune.
To be honest, under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal.
That’s what hedge funds do.
They find opportunity in market chaos and make gains from volatility—that’s their nature.
But that wasn’t the real problem here.
The issue was that I was the founder of the Delphi Institute.
<Delphi Founder Ha Si-heon Faces Insider Trading Allegations>The Delphi Institute had participated in the MDB special investigation task force, giving it access to key timing information about Lau’s arrest and the spillover to Malaysia.
If such non-public information had influenced Pareto’s investment decisions, it could very well be a case of insider trading.
And insider trading is a clear-cut crime.
So I immediately issued a statement of clarification.
<For insider trading to apply, one must act on non-public, material information. However, Pareto Innovation made its investment after the Delphi Institute’s report was made public. At that point, every investor had access to the same information—it was no longer ‘non-public.’>The Delphi Institute had, in fact, published a report related to MDB.
While it went unnoticed among the flood of similar reports, it was still publicly available.
I only went ahead with the Malaysia investment after that report had been released.
In other words, I acted when the ‘inside information’ had already become ‘public information,’ making it legally sound.”
But the public sentiment was cold.
—Update: Ha Si-heon goes from Wall Street’s conscience to Wall Street’s true nature.
—Orca: Successfully completes ‘Pretending to be a Good Guy While Making Bank’ challenge.”
—Plot Twist: Wall Street’s sniper turns out to be its top performer.
Sure, what I did wasn’t illegal.
But the truth is that this kind of thing dances dangerously close to the legal gray zone.
The real sting came from people believing the ‘guardian of the little guy’—the ‘watchdog of Wall Street’—had used classified information from the DOJ to cash in.
That betrayal hit hard.
So now, because of the saintly image I had built, I was getting flak that no ordinary hedge fund would ever get.
—I’ve got nothing to hide. (Meanwhile, calculating the crime timing to the second.)
—Legal (✔️) / Ethical (❌) — The Wall Street Way™
—If he hadn’t acted so pure from the start, we wouldn’t be this disappointed.
—You can’t play white knight while gambling in the gray zone.
—He made money like a Wall Street shark but tried to act like a saint... that’s just too greedy.
Still, I smiled with satisfaction.
“Not bad.”
‘Hypocrite’ is a keyword that burns hot.
As expected, the negative buzz surrounding me began to spiral uncontrollably.
Some even took it a step further:
—What if the DOJ tipoff was actually planned just to make a profit?
—MDB collapses → Blow it up → Profit. He shared the info for personal gain.
—If he used the DOJ as a money-making tool while posing as a watchdog... that’s 4D chess.
—Did the SEC, FBI, and DOJ all move according to a hedge fund script?
—Isn’t this basically market manipulation?
Despite the accusations flying in all directions, the hottest topic was that of market manipulation.
If I had deliberately moved the market for personal gain, that would be a clear criminal offense.
But not everyone painted me as a criminal.
On the contrary, I suddenly had a new group of powerful supporters.
—Since when was making money a crime?
—Article: “Ha Si-heon made a profit.” Comment: “Criminal!” Me: “???”
—Hater logic: He made money legally! → Call the FBI!
—He timed the market perfectly so it must be manipulation? Sounds like jealous paper hands losing it.
It was clear who these defenders were.
Retail investors.
Specifically, WSB (WallStreetBets) users.
While the rest of the world casually shrugged at the launch of a think tank, these people already knew about the Delphi Institute and had dissected every line of its reports.
In fact, they didn’t just read them.
—The next prophecy is here!
—Saint Sean foresaw the fall of Malaysia—may their bonds turn to toilet paper and the ringgit to sand! Seanman!
—Read the Delphi Report. Took out a secret loan without telling my wife. Going all in on MYR/USD short and EWM puts.
—Those who doubt Saint Sean’s due diligence shall be left penniless.
On WSB, the Delphi reports had practically become holy scripture.
Investment strategies based on them were widely shared, and people proudly showed off their gains.
To them, anyone who helps you make money is righteous by definition.
My “Saint Sean” persona grew stronger than ever, and they defended me with fanatical devotion.
The internet became a hotbed of intense debate.
—A hypocrite who preaches justice while dancing on the edge of legality.
—So what if he stopped exactly at the red light? Why are people acting like he jaywalked?
—The real issue is that he didn’t just come out and say he was shorting Malaysia. He pretended to be a crusader for justice and secretly made money.
—Secretly? Saint Sean never hid that he ran a hedge fund. And no hedge fund reveals its exact positions.”
—Sean: Shared info → Caught scammers → Seized assets → Gave restitution to victims. Paper hands: Criminal! Manipulation!”
—The problem isn’t that he caught scammers. The issue is people think he used the DOJ for profit.
—Why does it have to be one or the other?
—POV: You create a win-win scenario, but they call you the villain.
—Does a crusader for justice have to live broke for life?
One side branded me a hypocritical market manipulator.
The other side hailed me as a prophet who brought them immense wealth.
Neither side was backing down.
“Well, it’s burning nicely.”
The firepower was strong, just as I’d hoped.
I nodded with satisfaction, then turned off the screen and looked up.
“Let’s start prepping the next report.”
Patricia’s eyes widened.
“Right now? The controversy hasn’t even died down yet…”
“That’s exactly why now is the time. Everyone’s watching our every move.”
Those who think I’m a fraud will be watching like hawks for any misstep.
Meanwhile, the WSB disciples are probably dying to see the next ‘prophecy.’
If the Delphi Institute drops a new report in this atmosphere?
Neither side will ignore it.
They’ll have to read it.
And what they do after reading it?
That will lead them all to the same conclusion.
“It’s time to create another headline.”
It was time to stoke the flames again.
This time, a fire big enough to catch the world’s attention—not just America’s.