Chapter 14

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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When the end of the month comes, smiles bloom on office workers’ faces.

What day do office workers love most?

Pay day.

Prop traders are the same.

It’s the day their performance is rewarded, so naturally they feel good.

Though having to come to work even on Saturdays is truly harsh.

But today was a bit different.

“Are there any teams that hit their performance target this time?”

“The market was a disaster this month.”

“It’d be lucky if they hit even 5%. Most teams are all in the negatives.”

Which team achieved the best performance, and which individual recorded the best results, can only be known at month’s end.

The team and individual prop trader with the best performance receive generous rewards from the company.

But that was only possible if they achieved a certain level of performance.

How could the company give rewards if a team that went negative or didn’t even hit the minimum monthly target achieved first place in performance?

The minimum monthly target set by the company is 5%.

5 to 15% is the target range the company wants, but actually, teams recording 15% in a month are almost nonexistent.

Unless it’s a bull market, achieving 15% is quite difficult.

Plus, this month’s market ran in the opposite direction.

Speculation was rampant that there wouldn’t be a single team that achieved 5%.

“I heard even the options department that usually had it easy got destroyed.”

“Those guys don’t even come to work much. But this month they really worked hard. Fire fell on their feet.”

“Wow. How much did they lose? They couldn’t have expected the market to fluctuate this much.”

“They must have really tasted something spicy because of nickel.”

“Who are we worrying about? Our department is in the biggest trouble. I don’t think a single place hit the target return rate.”

So everyone had given up.

That there wouldn’t be a team receiving bonuses for achieving the best performance this month.

“But what’s this?”

Then an internal notice appeared.

Content revealing the team with the best performance in the prop trading department.

“There are people who made profits in this bearish market?”

“They met the target performance? No way.”

Traders hurriedly checked the website in disbelief.

Monthly Best Team – Prop Trading Team 1

“Team 1? Wait. Team 1 means.”

“That’s where Team Leader Park is, right?”

“No way. Team Leader Park. How did you generate that return rate? You didn’t show any signs.”

He doesn’t even go to team leader gatherings saying it causes muscle loss, and he’s usually quiet, so they had no idea only Team 1 was making profits.

“Wait. Could this be that thing?”

“What?”

“That parachute. He went to Team Leader Park’s side.”

“Ah. Don’t tell me they’re propping him up?”

“Right. The funny thing is, Team Leader Park made that parachute a senior trader. He’s totally riding the right line.”

Now it made sense.

How Team Leader Park’s team could be selected in this bearish market.

It was a reward for the parachute, and for Team Leader Park who actively pushed that parachute.

“Why don’t they just pick that parachute as this month’s best trader while they’re at it?”

“No way. For real?”

“Hm?”

“They really picked that parachute as the best trader!”

“Wh-what?”

What was said as a joke became reality.

No matter how much they prop up a parachute, isn’t this going too far?

Moreover, selecting the monthly best team and best trader is posted as an internal notice that everyone in the prop trade department can see.

The effect they aimed for was giving motivation to other traders to jump into the market diligently by highlighting the best team and trader, but this wasn’t motivation, it was deprivation.

“This is too much.”

“Propping up the team together, fine. But the best trader is evaluated based on individual return rate, so how does this make any sense.”

The company seemed to have crossed the line.

The team leaders, already sensitive to the max because this month’s performance was a disaster, briefly looked at each other.

Their eyes were in agreement.

“We need to raise our voices about this.”

“Right. Shouldn’t team leaders say something on behalf of team members? What if another parachute comes in and causes chaos like now? It’ll be a vicious cycle.”

There’s a saying not to dare oppose the royal family.

But if those classified as elite grade and became team leaders band together, they could at least deliver a complaint.

To whom?

To the department head right above team leaders.

“Looks like you all have nothing better to do. Seeing you all swarm here.”

“It’s Saturday, isn’t it, Department Head?”

“Then stay at home, why come to the company and swarm disgustingly into my already cramped office? If you came to the company, do data research first. You’re the ones who smashed all this month’s performance.”

The department head already seemed to know the team leaders would swarm in, as his posture was relaxed from the start.

“Department Head. We have nothing to say about performance, but did you see the internal notice? Isn’t this going too far even if they try?”

“Too far? What is?”

“Team 1’s performance is honestly similar to ours, and that new hire who came as a parachute and got super-fast promoted to senior is the best trader? Doesn’t that not make sense?”

Department Head Lee Tae-ho roughly understood the team leaders’ intentions.

Since they can’t swarm to the president’s office themselves, they’re asking him to speak on their behalf.

To take responsibility like a department head!

“In the old days, they installed a big electronic board in the center of the office and broadcast in real time who’s earning more. Those times were romantic and fun. Overflowing with fighting spirit. Right?”

Old securities firms were like that.

But the culture has changed now.

Stirring up competition by showing performance in real time actually shakes traders’ mental states and soon leads to reckless investments.

“Why are you suddenly saying that.”

“If that existed, you wouldn’t have swarmed like this. And I wouldn’t waste my time either.”

“What?”

The department head threw a document to the team leaders.

“I knew you’d come with fire in your eyes, so I printed it in advance.”

The team leaders looked through the document the department head gave them with doubt.

They tilted their heads at the unrealistic return rates shown there.

“Department Head. Didn’t you manipulate the data too severely?”

“You’re saying they made this much profit in just 5 days? This is too obvious.”

They’re all smart enough to know.

That it’s an indicator that far from reality.

“Hey. Manipulating trading volume and return rates is straight to prison. Am I crazy to do that?”

“Th-then this is real?”

“No way. 60% return rate in 5 days, does that make sense?”

The magic of 5 billion becoming 8 billion.

And it wasn’t profit raised through long-term investment.

It was an amount made purely through short-term investment from day one to day five.

“Right. It doesn’t make sense, does it? I still don’t believe it either. I’ve experienced everything and seen all kinds of people, but this is my first time seeing such a trader.”

If the department head says that much, it means this return rate is true.

“But wasn’t he a parachute? Royal family?”

“I don’t know exactly the relationship between the president and that new hire either. One thing’s certain, the president knew that new hire’s ability and hired him.”

Department Head Lee Tae-ho clearly heard at the meeting where even executive directors and managing directors came.

That new hire is a talented friend.

The president said it directly with his own mouth.

“Right. Somehow our president didn’t seem like someone who’d just insert parachutes randomly.”

“But even so, how did he make 60% in just 5 days? And only with day trading. This is no different from seeing the future.”

What’s amazing is that it’s not something possible just by briefly seeing the future.

Because in day trading that trades in units of seconds, by the time you see the future and return, prices have already risen or fallen.

“Now. Everyone has no complaints, right? What’s our company’s motto? We pay according to skill. This parachute is the same. He’s taking according to his skill.”

“..”

The team leaders became mutes who ate honey.

“So I hope everyone has no complaints about what will happen from now on.”

“What? What’s going to happen?”

“You’ll find out next week. Now everyone get out. This new hire is taking a generous bonus, and are you team leaders just going to sit and suck your thumbs?”

They were kicked out of the department head’s office with dazed faces.

Then one of the team leaders muttered into the air.

“But. If a team member wants to transfer to another team, they can, right?”

“Huh?”

“!?”

The team leaders exchanged looks with each other just like before coming to the department head’s office.

Then without exception, they all ran to the office.

Because the goose that lays golden eggs is in the department downstairs right now.

————————————————————————————————————————

Originally Saturday is a day off for office workers, but for us prop traders, it wasn’t a holiday.

The company doesn’t force us to come in though.

But because there’s a lot of data to organize on Saturdays and a lot to prepare, weekend work was unavoidable.

‘Jin-ho. Really, thank you so much. You’re our team’s savior, savior.’

‘Right. Jin-ho. Tomorrow we’ll organize the data ourselves, so rest well at home. Okay? Uhahaha.’

‘That’s right, Jin-ho. Don’t come to suffer on Saturday. Rest at home. I’ll separately compile and send you materials organized on the weekend.’

But yesterday, team members actively stopped me from coming to work, saying they’d take care of chores themselves.

The team performance that was scraping the bottom shot up thanks to me, making it possible to receive performance bonuses.

So if I go to the company, I’m treated like a hero within the team.

Ding.

Then my phone rang.

-Jin-ho, resting well?

None other than Deputy Lee Hye-rin.

Just receiving a text already brings a smile to my face.

-Yes. I feel bad being the only one resting.

-Oh my. What are you saying? Jin-ho is our team’s pillar! Don’t think like that and rest well. And I sent today’s organized materials by email!

-Thank you! (__)

-I’m more thankful >-< See you Monday

Just briefly exchanging texts feels like sweet fragrance.

As expected, our company is the best.

Ding.

But then another notification rang.

Is it the deputy?

Thinking that, I picked up my phone.

This time the notification came not from the deputy, but from the bank.

Depositor: Gwangwoon Securities.

Ah. Salary!

These people.

They work hard even on Saturdays, and salary settlements come out punctually even on weekends.

I opened the app with a pounding heart.

".?"

And I stared blankly at the screen like someone hit on the head with a bat.

Wait. What's this?

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands. Hundred million?

Seeing a unit that's hard to see even in games in my account, my sense of reality was falling away.

I knew well that senior traders take a certain profit, and since I raised team performance a lot, I expected some money would come in.

"But 700 million?!"

My hands trembled at an amount I'm touching for the first time in my life.

Ring ring ring!

Then this time it wasn't a notification but a call.

I was so startled I almost dropped my phone.

"Jeez. Who is it? I was so startled. Gasp. President!"

I quickly answered the phone.

"President! I mean, hyung-nim!"

[Yeah. Did you receive your salary well?]

"No way. This isn't a system error, right? An absurd amount came in."

[That's because you made an absurd profit. Starting from senior, it starts at 20% of profit. Plus you were selected as the best trader this time. So with the bonus added, it's a bit over 700 million.]

So this is why people want to become prop traders.

[Oh right. But you can't just spend that 700 million excitedly.]

"What? Why?"

[You've never paid comprehensive income tax, right? Prop traders are freelance concept, so besides the 3.3% deduction, you have to pay comprehensive income tax separately in May.]

The guild master was chuckling.

How much do they take that he's saying this?

[They're scary ones who take away nearly half of that, so save it up.]

"N-nearly half?!"

Sometimes during games, the hyungs cursed saying the tax office is the devil.

It was true.

[And shall we have a meal together after a while, just us two? I have something to talk about.]