Alarmed, Department Head Park came all the way to Taeseong’s desk to stop him in person, but.
“You said it yourself, sir. That once I’m in my fifth year, it’s about time I swung for a home run. Today is that day.”
“Listen, you idiot, that didn’t mean shoveling everything in like a moron, did it? Hey — are you seriously not stopping?”
Even while he was talking, Taeseong’s mouse never stopped hammering clicks.
From the moment he picked today’s name, Taeseong had made up his mind.
These were people who had, one way or another, treated him like garbage for five straight years because he was fat.
So he had no wish to stop buying just because they wanted him to.
And he trusted the Wopora app, which had started changing his life, a hundred and a thousand times more than people like them.
“Whatever happens, I’ll take responsibility for it.”
“......Fine. But if this blows up, it is all on you. I can’t shield you. Meaning be ready to clear out your desk. Understood?”
“Yes, sir, I’ll do that.”
“Huh, unbelievable!”
Struck speechless by a Taeseong who was not merely bold but looked halfway out of his mind, Department Head Park glared at him for a moment, then went back into his office and slammed the door.
‘Fine, this is better. There’s no way that jackass dumps the whole billion in. If I can get rid of that pig I can’t stand looking at while I’m at it, so much the better.’
Just as Department Head Park was glaring at Taeseong with a look that said we’ll see about this.
Brrring! Brrring!
The desk phone at Taeseong’s station rang loudly.
A cold voice came through the receiver.
“Assistant Manager Kim Taeseong. This is Manager Gwak Seongyeon from Risk Management.”
“Yes, this is Assistant Manager Kim Taeseong of Investment Team 3.”
“I’m calling because your portfolio is currently 100% concentrated in a single name, Rainbow Robotics. We request that you immediately reduce the position by at least 50% and return to the normal range.”
His heart dropped, but he could not fold here.
Taeseong delivered the excuse he had prepared as calmly as he could.
“Ah, Manager Gwak. Yes, I’m aware. The weighting temporarily hit 100% because I’m securing volume ahead of a block deal this afternoon. I’ll normalize as soon as the deal closes, so there’s no need for concern. I’ll take full responsibility for the risk.”
“A block deal? Nothing has been reported...... through which channel?”
“That isn’t information I can disclose yet. You understand, don’t you. I’ll have it normalized before 2 p.m. And as for this matter......”
Taeseong glanced over and met the eyes of a thoroughly sulking Department Head Park in his office.
Since he was betting with his desk on the line anyway, he continued in the spirit of landing one solid kick on Department Head Park on his way out, if it came to that.
“Our Department Head is aware of it as well, so please trust us and wait a little longer.”
“Department Head Park Geonil approved this?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“......”
Apparently deciding there was no arguing further once Department Head Park’s name came up, Manager Gwak of the risk team fell silent for a moment, then answered in a heavy voice.
“Understood, for now. But I’ll be checking on an hourly basis.”
He left it at that and hung up.
Thanks to that, Taeseong had bought himself roughly four hours.
The four hours that remained were agonizing.
His mouth went bone dry with the fear that the information might be wrong.
The coffee he had received that morning was long gone and he wanted to fetch more, but he could not take his eyes off the chart for a second.
“Assistant Manager, you need more coffee, don’t you? I’ll get it for you. Whatever this is, you can’t exactly leave your seat right now.”
It was Associate Kang.
Taeseong bowed his head and held out his tumbler.
“Thank you.”
“Fighting!”
Just as Associate Kang was handing him the refilled coffee.
“It’s out. The Fed’s rate announcement is out!”
At Assistant Manager Seong’s shout, every trader rose and crowded around his desk.
“Wh-what is this?”
[Breaking] Fed holds rates at 5.50%!
[On the 20th local time, as the market expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve held the benchmark rate at 5.25–5.50%. It has halted an aggressive rate-hiking march that lasted eleven months.
In its statement, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said, “Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace,” and......]
2 p.m. Immediately after the Fed’s announcement.
Exactly as Taeseong had predicted, the robotics theme sucked in every won in the market.
Investment Team 3’s traders jumped belatedly into the robotics names that the rate hold had blessed, but.
Most investors in the market had the same idea.
Once they started climbing, most of them hit the daily limit at speed, and picking up volume cheaply was near impossible.
Only one man.
Only Kim Taeseong had scooped up his shares at the very bottom.
‘Insane pace.’
Rainbow Robotics surged more than 20%, staining the chart red.
His unrealized profit was passing 200 million won.
But there was no time for greed.
The appointed hour with Risk Management was approaching.
Watching the order book on a soaring price, Taeseong began throwing out his shares in tranches.
The market’s scorching buy-side absorbed every won of the 1 billion Taeseong dumped.
When every position was cleared, the number printed in his trading status set Taeseong’s heart hammering.
- Final P&L: +210,000,000 won
Against 1 billion won of principal, a return of +21%.
‘If I’d pulled leverage on top of that...... it would have been insane.’
In a single day, Taeseong had posted a return of over 20% of his managed assets.
For a man who had been floundering in a slump, it was a result more precious than any amount of money.
Assistant Manager Seong and the other traders had all lunged to buy robotics names the instant the Fed announcement dropped, but.
Not one of them out-earned Taeseong, who had predicted the outcome in advance and committed.
After the close.
Department Head Park quietly summoned Assistant Manager Kim.
The moment the door shut, what came first was not praise but a sour reprimand.
“Assistant Manager Kim, have you completely lost it? The risk team called to say they’re filing a formal complaint. What were you thinking, dragging my name into it?”
Taeseong regarded Department Head Park without a word.
‘Says the man who threatened to have me clear out my desk.’
Taeseong was under no illusions that the plan had been to use this incident to push him out of the company for good.
Instead of excuses, Taeseong laid the trading journal he had prepared in advance on the desk.
“In the end it doesn’t look like anyone has to take responsibility for anything.”
A return north of 20%.
It was true that he had done something insane, but the unwritten law is that a trader is judged by returns alone.
Who could possibly raise their voice at a trader who had brought in a profit like this?
“Hrm. I’ll have a word with the risk team, so don’t you ever trade like this again. It’s only because I was watching from behind you. What if I hadn’t been?”
Claiming credit for standing back and watching was galling.
But one way or another, a superior was a superior.
At times like this, knowing how to bow at the right moment was the best policy.
“I apologize. Still, it’s a relief to hear you’ll speak to the risk team, sir. It was an investment I could only make because I believed you would look after me.”
“Huh? Really? Right. Right, of course. Earlier I was only trying to stop you because you looked a bit worked up. I’m not the kind of man who actually clears out someone’s desk over it.”
“Thank you, sir. I told Manager Gwak that this trade was carried out with your approval. It was all done trusting you.”
“You really said that?”
Taeseong smiled gently at the hesitating Department Head Park.
“This profit owes a great deal to you, sir, for backing me and letting me commit to the trade.”
Sharp man that he was, he had evidently already run the numbers.
Once he judged that credit for a coup this size could be shared, Department Head Park’s face brightened as if nothing had ever happened.
“Assistant Manager Kim, all that exercise has grown you a predator’s streak! I like it, I like it a lot. Hahaha! Right, leave the rest to me, your Department Head, and go home early today and get some rest. That’s the way.”
“As always, thank you, sir.”
As Taeseong came out of the office, Manager Jeong sidled up and spoke to him.
“Well now, Assistant Manager Kim. Made quite the score, didn’t you? Congratulations.”
Naturally it was not heartfelt congratulation.
In his eyes lay a jealousy and self-loathing too tangled to put into words.
Manager Jeong had followed Taeseong’s lead and picked up a few shares of Daesan Robotics among the rising robotics names, but.
He had gone in when the climb was already well underway, so his return was nothing next to Taeseong’s.
Taeseong merely bowed his head without a word and returned to his desk.
Beside him, Associate Kang’s eyes were shining.
“Assistant Manager, how could you be that certain?”
Looking into Associate Kang’s bright, sparkling gaze, Taeseong nearly answered, ‘Well now, are you familiar with Wopora?’ without thinking, but.
Befitting a senior trader, he continued with dignity.
“The Fed had been hiking aggressively for eleven months. That made the stock market run hot too, and I thought it was about time they hit the pause button.”
“Even so, how did you decide to put everything into one name? It’s so different from your usual style that my heart was pounding just watching.”
Watching Associate Kang throw him a thumbs-up and call him a beast in disguise, Taeseong found himself grinning.
“Today was the first time in five years I steeled myself and went for it too.”
“Ah, do you think I’ll hit one big someday like you, Assistant Manager?”
“Of course. You learn fast. I’m sure you’ll do far better than me.”
“Heh heh, thank you for seeing me that way.”
Taeseong gathered his things and rose from his seat.
“I’ll head out first today. Good luck with the rest of the day.”
“Yes! Good luck with your workout, Assistant Manager!”
Stepping outside with a lightened heart, Taeseong headed straight for the gym.
Wopora’s missions were still coming, after all.
This mission had a slightly different flavor.
[Monthly Mission]
- Lose a further 7kg within one month.
- Reward: 10,000,000 won
[Target weight: 144kg]
[Current weight: 151kg]
The reward had gone up, but he had to lose 2kg more than last month.
Still, lately the weight seemed to be coming off faster and he had grown a little used to training, so it did not feel as hopeless as before.
Naturally, a bonus mission was attached this time as well.
[Bonus Mission]
- Run 3km in under 15 minutes.
- Reward: 7 days of future stock information
The reward for this bonus mission was a week of stock information.
A single day of information alone had produced a 20% return.
If he could know core information like that a whole week in advance, it meant he could earn as much as he had today, every day for a week.
Of course, to do that he had to cover 3km in under 15 minutes.
With his current body, running 3km straight through was well beyond him, let alone in 15 minutes.
‘What isn’t hard with the body I’ve got right now?’
As he got steadily healthier, Taeseong had gained the confidence that he could absolutely pull it off.
Just then.
Gurgle—
His stomach roared.
The market had been such a whirlwind that he had forgotten lunch entirely and buried himself in filling buy and sell orders.
“Ugh, I’m starving.”
Caught between the gym and a restaurant, Taeseong fell briefly into deliberation.
‘Honestly, I skipped lunch, and I’ve lost a lot of weight lately...... would it really hurt to eat something good for dinner just for today?’
True to his morbid obesity, once the temptation of food took hold his head began to spin.
Sweet-and-spicy fried chicken, pizza, braised pork and kimchi, malatang.
Picturing those loud, thrilling dishes set off a flood in his mouth.
‘All right. When the workout’s done today, just once. Just this once, I’ll give myself a present.’
He had made the company 200 million won, and he had trained without a break all this time.
So yes, call it a cheat day — he wanted to let the reins go for one day.
Even so, the workout came first.
Because if he ate and then trained, he might bring it all back up.
“Hello.”
“Oh, you’re early today, sir?”
Trainer Kang Pilgeun welcomed Taeseong into the gym.
Even as he greeted him brightly, Kang Pilgeun folded his arms.
“Why did you forget today?”
“Sorry? Forget what?”
“Today’s lunch. We agreed you’d send it every day.”
“Ah, something came up today.”
At Taeseong’s explanation that he had skipped lunch because the market had been suffocatingly busy, Pilgeun’s face darkened a shade.
“Hmm. You must never skip a meal. The longer you go empty, the greater the danger of binging.”
Taeseong flinched at that, but answered with a serene face, as if it were nothing.
“Oh, no. Lately I’m so worn out after training that my appetite doesn’t even come back.”
“Sir, I believe in you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But I cannot believe in you on an empty stomach.”
“Ah.”
Pilgeun checked his watch and nodded as if he had made up his mind.
“Let’s do this. Since you came early, we’ll finish the workout quickly and have dinner together.”
“Uh...... you must be busy, there’s no need to go that far......”
“No, no. Tonight you are absolutely eating with me. I’ll escort you personally to a restaurant that fits your plan perfectly.”
“There’s really no need......”
“Right, then let’s put in the work today for a delicious dinner!”
That evening, Taeseong’s grand feast resolved itself into a salad garnished with peppered chicken breast.