Chapter 25
It was October, and as I got used to getting sleep and school after the vacation was over, Jonathan also got used to Korean fast food. I smelled cup noodles again today in the offices, as I ran in after classes ended.
The trash can was already full of empty cup noodle bowls and cola cans. On the other hand, Jonathan was glued to the monitor and had not even noticed me coming in. I could see his dismal aura from his back and the rushed movements he made with the mouse. His expression was the same.
Jonathan had been like this the past few days. Our losses increased as the global stock market rose, and except for the Asian stock market, the global trend was on the rise. As for the funds, our investments were immense, so were our losses.
I dropped my bag to make a sound, and Jonathan turned to me and spoke with a face that resembled a child caught stealing.
“You could have coughed or something.”
Jonathan covered the monitor he saw with his body, and I could see endless red numbers from the parts not covered. They all signaled losses, and it was natural for Jonathan to be conscious of losses. No one could remain impassive after such an enormous investment. Moreover, we had put in an astronomical amount of funds, and the losses were accumulating. Not even God would be indifferent in this situation.
“How bad are our losses so far?”
“You know that the amounts are incomprehensible.”
We had borrowed stock from firms all over the world and sold them, and it had taken two months to do so. It would take that much time to know exactly the total profit and losses since the size and date of each transaction were all different.
“In a general manner.”
“I think we’re deep in the red.”
I nodded and sat in a chair, and Jonathan stared at me with a surprised look. I had never sat in front of a computer after making the bet on the global stock market falling. From that day on, this space had been Jonathan’s only, and I always exercised in the other room. Jonathan must have felt something at me suddenly sitting in a chair.
His eyes opened wide, and I could see the whites. That’s right, Jonathan.
“Let’s attack Hong Kong.”
The house was going to burn, and we would pour oil so it would become a bonfire. We became very busy from then on, and Jonathan and I moved between computers that had already been setup. We opened one paper company account per computer and threw oil in amounts ranging from 100 million to 1 billion dollars. The only sounds were the keyboards clicking and the alarms signaling that the transaction was complete.
From construction, communication, heavy industry, chemistry, and tourism, Hong Kong stock prices began to fall at once in all fields except banking, which we did not touch on purpose. We needed to calm down Hong Kong banks at least a little.
Since the Hong Kong stock market had incurred attacks until now every day, it responded more actively to our provocation. It was then we looked at each other, and Jonathan spoke what I was going to say.
“There are people tracking us!”
Our faces tightened for the first time after we began pouring oil into Hong Kong.
“Do you think we have been caught?”
“It’s too early for anything! Jonathan!”
“Speak!”
“New York has to defend us! Have them make our transactions for us!”
Jonathan stood up, the chair flew to the wall and made a large bang. I looked carefully over the situation and stopped my trades. I could hear Jonathan speaking harshly in a loud voice in the outer office for a long time.
Jonathan came running in. He only spoke with clenched teeth after sending emails to his team members.
“I sent the transaction list, and they will begin the transactions now.”
“Did you have them waiting in advance?”
Jonathan nodded.
“You did well. Now, time will let us know who is following us.”
While we had been careful, if the people attacking Hong Kong had found us, things would have been bad. However, if some smart investors at the stock market were doing this as a strategic maneuver, it would stop. Which was it?
It was then the defense funds from Jonathan Investments began flowing into the Hong Kong stock market. Jonathan bit his nails as he glared at the monitor.
“It’s calming down. Damn, I lost ten years of my lifespan…The Hong Kong stock market would have been crushed.”
“Let’s finish up when the market closes since we will have spread enough fear.”
My voice was also weak. If our provocations had been too much, it would have meant the end of us. However, fortunately, things calmed down, and now we only needed to wait for the Hong Kong government to make a quick decision. I did not know whether it would be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
However, it was that night when I heard Jonathan shout at me as I prepared to go home.
“Sun, you were wrong!”
He screamed at me as if he had the biggest surprise of his life…
***
Clive, who was the general manager at DP Krump, was excited about receiving performance benefits at the end of the year. The stress from the losses he incurred in Thailand had been washed away by the proposal those idiots had brought.
“The name was Jonathan Investments.”
Clive spoke in a happy voice to an acquaintance in a Wall Street salon.
“You can say that again. I can’t believe it. How can one possibly think to earn profit by betting that the Hong Kong interest rates increase by over 100%?”
“Those were the most unbelievably stupid idiots I have ever seen.”
“How much did they bet?”
“500 million dollars.”
“They are insane. That is the stupidest way I have ever heard of throwing away money. Congratulations my friend, you have made an astronomical profit just by sitting there. News about Hong Kong is just coming up.”
Clive called the salon employee and generously tipped him to turn up the volume. However, he did not need to, as the bold letters in the lower part of the screen made every Wall Street guy open their eyes.
[Breaking news: Hong Kong raises short-term interest rates by 400%.]
“What?” Clive could not believe it even as he stared at the screen. A 400% increase? Is this possible? One could more easily believe that gold could be made from iron. Clive then began to see people run out of the salon, and the comfortable atmosphere broke down like a bomb had exploded. Clive’s acquaintance was no different, and he spoke with a pale face.
“I’ll excuse myself now!”
Clive’s acquaintance knew how much Clive would lose, but he had to save his own skin first rather than consoling him. From the Hong Kong shock, the entire global stock market was falling. Clive was left alone, and he vacantly stared at the news screen that had already moved to another issue.
While his cell phone rang, Clive did not hear anything as his face turned white. He did not remember how he got back to his office.
“Clive!”
Several DP Krump board members were waiting for him at the entrance.
“What is this?”
Clive’s head spun looking at their livid faces.
“Why do you ask me that?”
“Then who do we ask?”
“Ask the head of the Hong Kong Central Bank why Hong Kong went with such a crazy strategy. They are insane.”
“Do you realize…you’re fired!”
Clive nodded and went back to his office. Other team members who evaluated the Jonathan Investments proposal were waiting for him like they already knew what fate awaited them.
Clive fell down on his chair like a drunkard, and while he did not stumble, he was limp in his chair.
“We can’t retrieve anything, right?”
“Yes.”
An answer came back from somewhere.
“Where did things go wrong?”
However, no one could answer that question. (EN: You bet against Sun and Jonathan. ^_^ )
***
Jonathan pointed at the monitor as I ran to him, and bold letters burst from the financial information site he had opened.
[Breaking news: Hong Kong raises short-term interest rates by 400%.]
“Oh my…”
Exclamations came out of my mouth at that moment, as Hong Kong had increased their crazy ante by not 300%, but 400%.
“Sun, you did it again! Jesus!”
Jonathan shouted, and I felt my hands shake as I could not suppress the bursting emotions. That did not come from the money. The Hong Kong shock will hit the world, and there has never been such an event that changed the entire financial world like this before, excluding the Day of Advent and after the gates opened and the dungeons were unsealed.
I threw back my bag and sat. It was true, as the entire global stock markets began to fall. The spot markets in countries with open markets and the futures markets in countries with closed markets were falling, and we were reaping in the profit!
[The Asian financial crisis is spreading with domino effects.]
[The second Black Monday.]
[Hong Kong, America, Japan, and Europe stock prices are falling.]
No stock markets could avoid the fall I had engineered, and I had hit another jackpot. The absurd amount of money we made this year was only the beginning. While in my previous life, the trait the Man who Overcame Adversity and the skill the Devi’s Sword had been considered Beyond Human Limits, money would be more powerful now. Especially in the future that I will create.
Edited by Userunfriendly