The moment Taeseong got to work, he turned on the foreign news channels.
If Wopora’s prophecy held, today was D-Day.
The market was still calm.
The monitors in the trading room were still displaying charts of Heungbu Petroleum and Victek.
People were drunk on the fireworks of the ‘war theme’ that had run for days now.
Even knowing it was the top by this point, they were addicted to the dopamine of red candles and could not easily pull themselves out.
“Assistant Manager Kim, don’t you think Victek has more room today? I bought a little at yesterday’s close and the mood’s good this morning.”
Assistant Manager Seong Gihyeon spoke to Taeseong with a broad smile.
He knew Taeseong had sold out of Victek entirely yesterday.
Perhaps because of that, a curious air of superiority hung about him, as if to say ‘you sold far too early’.
Taeseong only gave a thin smile.
“Who knows. It looks overheated to me, so I’m going to sit this one out.”
“Come on, isn’t that too timid? Do you think a war ends in a day or two? Israel is sending in ground troops.”
Assistant Manager Seong clicked his tongue and went back to his own seat.
Taeseong shook his head inwardly.
Ground troops?
True. The war would escalate.
But a stock-market theme feeds on freshness.
Material that has been chewed on for three days is bound to smell stale.
By now the market wanted a new stimulus, new prey.
And at 10:30 a.m.
The signal flare he had been waiting for finally went up.
Bloomberg carried breaking news.
[Breaking] MSC, the world’s largest shipping line, declares a halt to accepting Israel-related cargo.
[Breaking] Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping line, considering provisional suspension of Red Sea route operations. Security reasons.
Taeseong’s eyes flashed.
“Here it comes.”
The Red Sea — the corridor to the Suez Canal, the artery of global logistics — was beginning to close.
But the market’s reaction was lukewarm.
The shipping name HMM was drifting sideways around unchanged, and Noah Shipping was actually down in the -1% range.
People were reading the news as bad news.
One-dimensional thinking: ships cannot sail because of the war, so revenue will fall.
Add fears of higher fuel costs from the oil spike, and shipping stocks were thoroughly ignored.
“Now.”
Taeseong took a deep breath.
His account was loaded with the 1.7 billion won in cash he had earned over three days from defense and oil.
The 1.2 billion in principal, grown by 500 million.
He had to pour this enormous sum into one place once again.
Onto the cold water everyone else had abandoned and left behind.
Tap. Tap.
Taeseong’s fingers moved as if dancing.
Numbers filled the buy order window.
[Name: HMM]
[Quantity: 50,000 shares]
[Order price: Market]
[Name: Noah Shipping]
[Quantity: 100,000 shares]
[Order price: Market]
Click.
Click.
[Buy order filled.]
The instant 1.7 billion won of buying pressure flowed in, the quiet order book stirred.
HMM’s price lifted its head from 0% to +1%.
Noah Shipping likewise climbed from negative to unchanged.
But they were still outside the crowd’s attention.
Because Victek was flying, printing +10%.
“Hey! Kim Taeseong!”
Just then, a familiar bellow came from behind him.
Department Head Park Geonil, of course.
He had seen the real-time monitoring screen and come running in a panic.
“Are you starting your insanity again? You ate well and got out, that’s enough — why shipping stocks out of nowhere?”
Department Head Park’s face was flushed red.
He had assumed Taeseong would sit still this time.
He had already made 500 million, so first place in the month’s numbers was in the bag even if he coasted quietly.
And now he was going all in again. On shipping stocks, of all things, that nobody would touch.
“There’s a war on — do you think ships will sail? Huh? Have you got no common sense? On top of that, oil’s up, so shipping companies can’t handle the fuel costs and they’re all going under! Don’t you watch the news? Oil prices are exploding!”
Department Head Park jabbed a finger at Taeseong’s monitor as he laid out his lecture.
His words were not wrong.
By ordinary common sense, rising oil prices were a fatal blow to shipping companies.
Because ships run on oil.
But Taeseong was looking beyond that.
At the counterweight Wopora had told him about — an explosion in freight rates.
“Sir.”
Taeseong opened his mouth calmly.
His gaze did not waver.
“It isn’t that the ships can’t sail. It’s that they have to go around.”
“What? Go around?”
“If the Red Sea is blocked, they can’t use the Suez Canal. Then the ships have to go around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The distance to Europe increases by 9,000km. That’s two more weeks round trip.”
“S-so what! It costs more in fuel!”
“Yes. Fuel costs go up too. But when voyage times lengthen, the effect is that the global supply of vessels shrinks by that much. Because the ships are tied up on the water. If ships are scarce and cargo is overflowing, what happens to freight rates?”
“Uh......”
Department Head Park had nothing to say.
Simple supply and demand.
When supply falls, prices rise.
If freight rates explode, the margin more than offsets the increase in oil prices.
That was exactly why shipping lines posted record-breaking results during the logistics chaos of the COVID years.
“Seeing a war and thinking of guns and blades is amateur hour. Thinking of container boxes — isn’t that the mark of a professional?”
At Taeseong’s solid blow, Department Head Park was struck dumb.
He wanted to argue back, but he had no logic to argue with.
Besides, Taeseong was a man who had already proved himself with results.
With Rainbow Robotics, and with Victek.
It seemed there was something inside this fat assistant manager’s head that he himself did not have.
“...... Ha, unbelievable.”
Department Head Park cleared his throat and looked away.
His pride was wounded, but Taeseong’s argument was beginning to sound plausible.
“And sir. I’m telling you in advance.”
Taeseong added it like driving in a wedge.
“From this month’s settlement onward, please reset my incentive rate. 7% is far too little. I think it needs to be at least 15%.”
“What? 15%? Hey, have you lost your mind? Even our senior aces barely get 15%!”
“If you don’t like it, then...... shall I drop this trade and go back to cash? My incentive isn’t much either way, so there’s no need for me to take on the risk.”
Taeseong brought his mouse over to the sell order window.
Department Head Park’s eyes bulged.
Investment Team 3’s numbers right now were dismal.
Manager Jeong and the rest of the team were stuck in a falling market and posting losses, and only Taeseong was hard-carrying the whole team’s returns.
And if Taeseong, who had just laid out a sound investment plan, pulled out here?
Forget Department Head Park’s year-end bonus — his performance review itself would be wrecked.
“All right, all right! I get it! I-I’ll have a proper word with the higher-ups, so just leave it as it is! Understood?”
Department Head Park hurriedly blocked Taeseong’s hand.
At his groveling, Taeseong crowed inwardly.
With that, the initiative had passed entirely to him.
“Thank you. I’ll be counting on you, sir.”
Taeseong grinned and took his hand off the mouse.
Department Head Park turned away with an uncomfortable look, muttering, “Is he actually possessed or something? How does every single thing he buys hit big?”
***
3:30 p.m.
The market closed.
Taeseong’s forecast was exact.
Late in the session, reports began appearing one by one that the shipping freight index (SCFI) was showing signs of a rebound, and buying flowed into shipping stocks.
HMM +5%, Noah Shipping +7%.
Not a surge, but a clear turn into an uptrend.
And in after-hours trading.
In single-price matching, HMM rose a further 3%.
Tomorrow, Friday.
The stage on which the market’s protagonist, the one Wopora had spoken of, would take the field was perfectly set.
[Current managed asset valuation: 1,680,000,000 won]
Starting from 1 billion, he had made 680 million in a week.
A return of 68%.
A miraculous number.
“Assistant Manager Kim, aren’t you heading home?”
Associate Kang Hyeona beside him asked as she gathered her bag.
Every other employee remained at their desks, groaning.
Because Department Head Park had laid down the threat, “Everyone who lost money today writes an explanation letter and a report on your response plan before you leave!”
Manager Jeong was tearing at his hair and wrestling with his monitor, and Assistant Manager Seong was letting out sigh after sigh.
In an office scene out of hell, only Taeseong was free.
“I should. I’ve got no report to write.”
Taeseong picked up his bag and stood, making a point of it.
Manager Jeong shot him a look mixed with envy and jealousy, but Taeseong did not spare him a glance.
This was what a victor’s ease looked like.
“I’ll be heading out first. Good luck, everyone.”
Taeseong bowed and left the office.
Riding the elevator down, he did some happy arithmetic.
1.68 billion. If he took 7% of the 680 million in profit as his incentive?
Somewhere around 47,600,000 won.
In a single week, he would earn more than a decent office worker’s annual salary.
‘And if it goes up to 15%, that’s double!’
A smile settled on his lips of its own accord.
His steps were light, as if he were walking on clouds.
Ding!
Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
A Wopora alert.
[A new mission has arrived!]
Taeseong stopped and checked his phone.
What kind of mission this time?
[Weight loss challenge generated!]
[Objective: Rewards paid according to how much you lose from your current weight (144kg)]
[Period: 1 month]
[Reward list]
- Lose 1kg: 1,000,000 won in cash
- Lose 3kg: B-grade future stock information (sector information)
- Lose 5kg: A-grade future stock information (good news on a specific name)
- Lose 10kg: S-grade future stock information (???)
Taeseong’s eyes widened.
This was not a simple cash reward like last time.
Information.
And information sorted into grades, at that.
The information Taeseong had received so far had been close to S-grade.
A rate hold, the outbreak of a war.
To get information like that again he would have to lose 10kg, but.
‘Even A-grade would be a jackpot.’
It was by no means an easy target. It would take a far harsher intensity than last month.
For Taeseong, who had already tasted what the information could do, there was no choice to make.
He clenched his fist.
He had tasted money; now it was time to taste pain.
If losing weight copy-pastes money, he would shave off bone to lose it.
***
“Welcome, sir!”
The moment he opened the door of Dye-Gym, Kang Pilgeun’s booming voice rang out.
He stood at the entrance counter with his arms folded, as though he had been waiting for Taeseong.
His eyes were blazing.
Like a lion looking at prey. No — like a sculptor looking at raw stone, with a manic gleam.
“Y-you look awfully cheerful today?”
Taeseong stepped in warily.
Kang Pilgeun looked him up and down and grinned.
“Sir. I heard the news. They say you’ve lost a lot of weight. Truly excellent. However!”
Kang Pilgeun smacked Taeseong’s broad backside.
“You still have a long way to go. We have to excavate the hip line hidden inside that fat. Today I am going to absolutely destroy your lower body. To the point where you cannot walk home.”
At the word ‘destroy’, Taeseong’s legs went weak.
The chicken breast he had eaten yesterday felt ready to come back up.
But Taeseong did not run.
10kg lost. S-grade information. And an incentive worth 100 million.
Those sweet rewards were holding him up.
“...... Yes. Wreck me.”
Taeseong said it with grim resolve.
It was a forced smile, but his eyes were alive.
“For my future. Grind me into powder.”
“Hahaha! Excellent! That’s the attitude! Now, straight to the squat rack!”
Kang Pilgeun hauled Taeseong toward the back, where the torture devices — no, the exercise machines — stood in rows.
That night, the screaming in the gym never stopped.
“Lower, sir! Get that backside down! You only build the glutes with proper form! One more squat! You can do it! One more!”
“Aaaargh! Coach! Please! My legs! My legs are gone!”
“It’s fine! Legs don’t grow back, but muscle does! One last one!”
Kim Taeseong’s day was ripening again today amid sweat, screaming, and hope.