Chapter 66
New York and the Isle of Man achieved the profits I anticipated, Jillian and Cheongsoo Kim had shown their capabilities. Since there is no corporate tax in the Isle of Man, the profits went straight into Jonathan’s and my accounts, and after excluding other fees, the total was about one hundred billion dollars. New York’s payout was about eighty billion after taxes, and my offshore accounts held another twelve billion dollars. So, we held about two hundred billion dollars now, and the war we had gone through was more savage than ever before. Someone lost as we won, and the aftermath will be just as cruel.
LTCM going down with Russia had happened in my previous life and had been the starting point of the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis that the Subprime Mortgage Crisis of 2007 will trigger. How many more will fall? But now was not the time to think about such things. (EN: LTCM Long-Term Capital Management)
***
Jonathan wanted to meet me at the airport, but he could not do so since the losers had started to come to him. I hurried to find a taxi and texted Jonathan about my arrival after getting out of the airport. I arrived at Wall Street and wondered yet again, how such a small street moved global finances. I got out at Trinity Church. (EN: yes, they had texting back then. ^_^ )
-Isn’t this grand? But remember, the losers are buried in the graveyard.
The man whose name I could not remember had spoken those words to me when I studied abroad in my previous life. The atmosphere was desolate, and I saw some managers walk around like zombies. It seemed a few of them would go straight into the grave at this rate.
Those I suspected were financial reporters fared better, merely shocked and not suicidal, and I heard some words clearly as I passed them. Bankruptcy, LTCM, market collapse, crisis expansion, and Russia. It was ironic to see that America, after being so wary of Russian nuclear weapons, had been attacked by the effects of capitalism.
However, my New York head office was filled with smiling faces, and the difference was like heaven and hell. I told the receptionist in the lobby that I had an appointment and sat in the reception area. There were three other people who seemed to have been working in Wall Street for a while, waiting for Jonathan. They seemed to know each other well despite having been in different companies. They stopped talking when I came in and started looking over the documents that they had brought with them. Obviously they were wary of talking in front of outsiders.
A little bit later, the office door opened, and the men rose. The person who had come out of the office with Jonathan walked away, and Jonathan went back in and closed the door. The secretary then told me that I could go in.
At those words, the three men looked at me in astonishment, but I went in without caring about it.
“It’s hectic around here, but welcome.”
Jonathan took off his necktie and jacket to lean against his chair.
“Did you see that bald guy that just left? He’s from LTCM and asked me to lend him two billion dollars. However, he didn’t mention management shares, and everyone is like that.”
Jonathan clenched his teeth and, after a minute, asked me whether I wanted something to drink.
“You’re too busy. Do you have the list?”
Jonathan took out a document from his desk drawer and added LTCM before handing it to me.
“Things are quite serious. The government will have a big enough headache over LTCM alone, but look at the list.”
This was the beggar’s list, and the names written there had been our enemies a few days ago. We had fought with everything we had, and the defeated were coming to beg for their lives. They were asking Jonathan to lend them money so they could avoid bankruptcy.
“……”
I could not speak after looking over the list, as famous banks and hedge funds filled the page. It was not only them, but their clients, pensions, and products that went in the trillions. If they all went bankrupt, the resulting financial crisis would be catastrophic. I saw a monitor on the wall.
“Turn up the volume.”
I heard the head of the US Treasury speak.
“The world may be going through the worst global financial crisis in seventy years, right now.”
He was mentioning the Great Depression, and our faces turned dark. This was the turning point, and I sat across Jonathan after turning off the monitor. We looked at the list.
“The greedy bastards. They don’t want to part with money even while going down, despite knowing what will happen.”
Jonathan was seriously angry. While we did start the Russian financial war, we were the victors and we did not blame ourselves for what would happen to the losers after their defeat. Obviously, Jonathan thought that he and I would be more realistic had we been the losers. Jonathan was venting out his anger to me, and I saw the bloodthirsty light I had seen in my previous life for the second time now.
“They are bringing it onto themselves.”
“Wrap up today’s schedule, Jonathan.”
“Umm-“
“They have to face reality and they will find out that no one can lend them money as they keep begging.”
“The Treasury and the Central Bank will intervene, as the situation is that serious.” (EN: The Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States, was founded by Congress to provide a safe, flexible and stable monetary and financial system.)
Most hedge funds have their offices in tax havens, which meant that they were strictly not American companies. However, the US Treasury had to salvage them, which would raise questions.
“The government cannot save them all, and they will have to come to you.”
“I don’t want to, and they can all just die.”
“Invite them here, I will set up the meet.”
“Well…”
Jonathan would know what this chance meant. We gained money and fame, but this chance meant we would have the hedge funds’ intricate web of connections, customer histories, organizations, and people at once!
They would lose their companies. The reason Jonathan was not eager was due to seeing their greed directly. We discussed the situation and wrapped up after choosing the best of the bankrupt banks and hedge funds we would take.
“Jonathan, go ahead and take everything they own.” (EN: ^_^ )
***
It was not only Jonathan who had things to do, and I had something big in front of me. I went back to Korea to my office, and Yeonhee Woo shook the car keys after finishing the preparations. We went on the road to Gimje, and after wandering the mountain for a while, I also got the message.
[You discovered a dungeon.]
Since Yeonhee Woo had discovered a dungeon by herself, she also had the Explorer title. We looked at each other and started the preparations. I marked the perimeters with the fishing line and stuck the signpost. I called Choi on the way to Seoul and thought that these preparations would become some sort of ritual after discovering a dungeon. (EN: Choi was the guy who built the first dungeon enclosure, remember?)
Therefore, I was starting the next dungeon’s construction before going into the F class dungeon that nearly killed me the first time.
“The mental hospital had started like this.”
Yeonhee Woo remarked after I finished my phone call.
“It will be tomorrow.”
“Do I have anything to prepare?”
“Sleep well. You won’t be able to from tomorrow.”
“And?”
“Write your will if you won’t. There’s a high possibility of us not coming back.”
However, despite the odds, that Unicorn account did come back with amazing results. Now was my turn.
Edited by Userunfriendly
