Chapter 18

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Slurp.

Ah. How long has it been since I had this leisure?

The market was in full swing, but Section Chief Kim Sang-geon was leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee.

Just a few days ago, the risk management team was endlessly busy.

Because the market kept fluctuating, every time traders made risky investments, they’d slam down trading bans and send warning messages, constantly monitoring them.

But today there was no need for that.

Because traders all jumped into the Chinese market right now.

When the market is stable and hitting upper limits like this, the risk management team had nothing to do.

That’s why he was enjoying coffee like this.

Until just now.

“Section Chief. About the new team.”

New team?

Ah. That heaven-sent person who entered as team leader.

“Why?”

“Their trading is strange right now.”

“Trading is strange? Are they all-inning on one stock again?”

“No. It’s not that. They’re concentrating money where nobody’s entering right now. I sent a warning message just in case, but they seem to be ignoring it?”

“Hmm. Wait.”

Jeong Jin-ho.

Not even the department head can touch this man.

Maybe in the company, the only person who can touch that man is the president.

That’s why Section Chief Kim Sang-geon was also turning off his attention.

“But what, what is this.”

Section Chief Kim doubted his own eyes.

Team 7’s investment flow was completely going against current trends.

He became team leader this time, and is he starting to rev up with strange behavior again?

“The Chinese ETFs here, and taking shorts on steel too. They even bought put options?”

“Yes. China is in unprecedented boom right now, so everyone’s throwing themselves into the upward current. But this is the opposite.”

Section Chief Kim also knows well how the market is flowing.

It’s not just traders who know the trend.

Risk managers also need to clearly know what this meta is to be able to stop the other party’s trading or leave it alone.

“Pouring funds where others aren’t putting money means.”

He’s betting the Chinese bubble will burst!

“Is he crazy?”

Open any economic newspaper right now and you can’t find articles predicting Chinese bubble collapse. Rather, they were full of rosy hope that the Chinese stock market will rise 2 times more from now.

Forget the domestic market or US market and run to the Chinese stock market!

This was the trend right now.

‘Is it pressure to show something? Or just arrogance?’

Since he’s a super-fast promoted team leader, there could be pressure to show different investment from others.

Or he could be making wrong judgments trapped in his own delusion.

“What should we do? Should we revoke all trades and stop them now?”

The risk management team’s power is stronger than you’d think.

Even if the opponent has high rank, if the management team blocks trading, there’s nothing they can do.

However, if the target to stop is someone higher than superiors, the story changes.

“..”

Section Chief Kim looked at Team Leader Sung Il-gu far away.

The team leader deliberately avoided Section Chief Kim’s gaze, whether he knows this fact or is pretending not to know.

“Phew. Just leave it.”

“What? What if they lose all the money like this? Team 7 is already the only one with blue lights.”

“Deputy Yoo. While working office life, there are times you have to pretend not to see even when you see. Now is exactly that time.”

He didn’t know he’d be saying such things.

But what can you do?

No matter how much it’s the risk management team, there are areas impossible to invade.

‘But. Isn’t 50 billion a bit much?’

One team just got created and looks like it’ll explode right away.

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

‘First time seeing it this quiet.’

Securities firms become war zones the moment the market opening signal drops. As a junior, running around inside such battlefields delivering documents, coffee, snacks, etc.

I delivered so many things.

But now it’s like looking at a regular company office.

‘Everyone put money in China and isn’t taking it out.’

Prop traders are mostly day traders who earn daily and live daily.

But sometimes they hold stocks for over a week maximum.

When the market shows rapid short-term growth like now.

Knock knock.

“Ah, yes.”

“Team Leader. I brought coffee and light snacks. Have them while you work.”

“You didn’t have to bring them.”

“Hoho. I have nothing to do anyway. Oh right! And these cookies, I made them myself!”

“I’ll cherish eating them.!”

“Then enjoy~.”

I felt Deputy Lee Hye-rin was reading my mood.

Not just Deputy Lee Hye-rin.

All team members were reading my mood.

‘Can’t help it.’

Two days ago, our team all bet on Chinese bubble collapse together.

But while other teams all took long positions and are profiting by holding without selling, we keep having only blue lights.

Everyone’s not showing it to me, but sitting in this team leader position, I could see their eyes more clearly.

Questioning eyes asking whether we shouldn’t cut losses now and ride the rising market.

‘That feeling was certain though.’

That intense thrill seemed to still have sensation left, even if small.

And when choosing stocks in front of the section chief based on materials from the research team, I only picked ones where the feeling came strongly.

If even a slightly ambiguous feeling came, I didn’t even look at it.

But the Chinese bubble still shows no signs of bursting and is rather rising even more, so even I’m human and started getting scared.

‘What if the bubble bursts like 6 months later?’

The disadvantage of this ability is having to rely on my feeling.

Well, if it was like a status window in novels or something visible to the eyes, that would’ve been nice.

Or vividly showing the future.

With the situation like this, all kinds of thoughts were coming.

“Should I just cut losses now before it’s too late. No.”

I grabbed my wavering mental state.

Suddenly becoming team leader and the funds managed greatly increasing, the pressure from that seems to have grown too.

But I came all the way here with this one special ability others don’t know.

So let’s not waver. Let’s believe this ability to the end.

Crunch!

Deciding so, I vigorously chewed the precious cookie the deputy made herself.

“Ah.”

Deputy.

You’re. Not good at baking.

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

“This damn cigarette. I need to quit.”

Section Chief Seo’s smoking frequency had notably increased lately.

Originally when the market opened, he had no time to even smoke because he was busy trading.

But now he had time to spare.

“But there are many people.”

However, Section Chief Seo wasn’t the only one with time to spare.

The smoking area that should be quiet at this time was full of traders.

“Oh? Section Chief Seo. Looks like you came out because you have nothing to do too.”

His former team members were there.

“Well, who would have things to do now? Everyone bought ETFs on China and is holding.”

“Even other teams got permission from above and opened overseas trading to directly buy Chinese stocks.”

“Plus raw materials and steel are continuously rising, right? I heard the futures department is having a money feast.”

“..”

Section Chief Seo just kept puffing on his cigarette silently.

“How is it on your side, Section Chief?”

“Ah. What’s there to say? Right now the Chinese side, dragons are breathing fire. Fire pillars everywhere.”

“Haha. Really, even if a child comes and just clicks, money gets duplicated.”

Everyone’s excited.

Of course.

It’s a rising market where you put money in and eat money now.

You could tell just by looking at them leisurely smoking during this busy time.

“Section Chief. Aren’t you going in?”

“Ah, yeah. I’ll stay a bit more. You guys go first.”

“Okay.”

With bitter feelings, Section Chief Seo sat on the bench and blankly stared into space.

No matter how he looks at it, China’s upward trend doesn’t seem like it’ll end here.

You can tell the atmosphere just by looking at this smoking area.

Aren’t there smiles blooming in a place usually full of all kinds of curses?

Everyone was swollen with anticipation of how much this month’s performance would be.

“So we have to just sit there sucking our thumbs.”

After sitting for a while, Section Chief Seo sighed and stood up.

Still, he has to go back to work.

Though he doesn’t know what work to do.

“.Hm?”

But returning to the department, wasn’t everyone running around crazily as if fire was on their butts?

Anyone would think a war broke out.

“Wh-what. What’s happening to everyone?”

“Section Chief! Why are you only coming now!”

“No. Deputy Lee. Why is everyone in such chaos?”

Team members’ faces were also pale white.

“CSRC just announced they’ll regulate margin trading!”

“What?!”

CSRC.

China Securities Regulatory Commission.

In other words, the Chinese government directly stepped up and declared they’d block margin trading.

“That’s why everyone’s in chaos now. You know, right? Most of the money piled up in the Chinese stock market is margin trading.”

The reason the Chinese stock market grew in a short period was thanks to the Chinese government’s stimulus measures.

So-called margin trading.

Buying stocks with debt.

If the money you have is 10 million won, you can borrow up to 10 times that, 100 million, to do margin trading.

Because of that, Chinese citizens bought stocks through tremendous leverage.

The problem is if they suddenly regulate the margin trading they fully released, the Chinese stock market is affected and takes a downward trend.

Then everyone who bought stocks with margin trading gets margin called and faces forced position liquidation due to insufficient collateral.

Because of this, even investors who were just holding stocks get gripped by fear and throw away their volume,

The beginning of infinite vicious cycle.

That was bubble collapse.

“These crazy bastards, just a few days ago they incited us to buy stocks.”

“Suddenly hitting us in the back like this?! Man. Really.”

“Everyone sell quickly! If you miss the timing, it all really becomes toilet paper!”

People who were chattering just now about whether to change to foreign cars with this month’s performance bonus were now in panic with loud voices going back and forth.

They tried to cut losses as quickly as possible, but the problem was only sell volume was pouring out crazily, so nobody was buying.

“..”

When all teams were flipped right now.

Exactly one team was watching fire across the river.

To be precise, they were also in a dazed state trapped in shock.

“I-it really burst just as the team leader said?”

“How on earth did the team leader.”

Among team members in panic in a different sense, Section Chief Seo grabbed his wits fastest.

“This isn’t the time for everyone to be like this. Check the stocks we bought! Quickly!”

“A-ah, yes!”

Section Chief Seo also hurriedly returned to his seat and checked the trading window.

Things that were only full of blue lights before he went out to smoke were now all breathing fire.

‘This is unbelievable.!’

Section Chief Seo’s trembling hands wouldn’t calm down.

How on earth did he predict this?

Probably in Yeouido, Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho is likely the only one who predicted the Chinese bubble would burst soon.

Even if there were more people who predicted it, would they have bet like Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho?

Probably nobody.

That’s not something you can do without extraordinary courage.

Moreover, it wasn’t small money but a bet of a whopping 50 billion.

“..”

Looking at Team Leader Jeong Jin-ho visible beyond the glass wall, Section Chief Seo gulped down dry saliva.

Only then did he understand why the former team leader told him to go learn well.

Jeong Jin-ho wasn’t a parachute.

His caliber was just different.

How such super-fast promotion was possible, why there was no word from above.

He understood everything.

‘Not human.’

That was definitely a beast wearing human skin.