Chapter 27: Dongwoo Precision (1)

Seonwoo looked at the account and asked,

"How much is my share of this?"

Out of the initial investment, I put in 3 billion, and Seonwoo put in 2 billion.

In terms of ratio, it's 60-40.

"Considering the credit you pulled, would my share be roughly 20 billion?"

"Without your 2 billion, I couldn't have pulled that much credit."

Seonwoo shrugged.

"Anyway, you did all the work."

"That's true."

"Even 20 billion would be a big thank you."

I said it as if I was being generous.

"I'll have 100 billion, and you can have 30 billion."

Seonwoo's eyes widened.

"Oh! Really?"

"Yeah."

"Don't change your mind later."

"Got it."

Since I owe you from the first round, wouldn't it be too much to ask for this much?

"What will you do with this money? Buy a car? Buy a house?"

Seonwoo's expression was filled with dreams.

After all, 2 billion turned into 30 billion in less than a month. This much money was something I never touched in my previous life.

I would have felt like I owned the world if this happened in the past. But considering my future goals, this is just a start.

It's a huge amount for an individual, but in the investment market, it's just a drop in the bucket.

Now, I can finally have some seed money to start something.

I don't want to play around with just a few billion or tens of billions. If I'm going to start, I want to play with at least tens of trillions or hundreds of trillions.

I asked seriously,

"Do you want to take your money out, or do you want to double down?"

Seonwoo answered seriously.

"Hmm, wouldn't it be better to take out 30 billion?"

"......"

This is a normal reaction.

If I hadn't regressed, I might have thought the same. With 30 billion, there are so many things you can do.

"You said your dream is to start a game company and make the games you want?"

"Yeah."

"If we keep investing, I'll provide the money for that."

"Really?"

"I told you before. Chairman Aaron Baker made 60,000 times the profit for the villagers. We've only made ten times so far. Do you want to stop now?"

Seonwoo asked, looking bewildered.

"30 billion times 6,000 is 18 trillion?"

"That's easy."

"Do you have any other information?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, a lot."

After a moment of thought, Seonwoo raised his finger and said,

"Alright, let's double down!"

* * *

Seonwoo went to work, and I recalled the memories of this period while looking for the next investment target.

Just collecting data online took up the whole day.

When you work at a securities firm, you see a lot of rich people. Every time, I would imagine where I would invest if I had 100 million or 1 billion.

But now that I have over 100 billion, it's hard to figure out where to invest.

It would be nice to invest in a stock manipulation scheme like last time, but that doesn't happen every day. If I invest this much at once, the stock price will skyrocket immediately.

Even without a stock manipulation scheme, there are plenty of stocks that can rise tenfold if you hold them. The problem is that it usually takes a few years.

If I had time, I might consider long-term investments, but right now, I want to focus on short-term investments.

So, what's the best option?

While I was thinking hard, the phone rang.

I checked the name on the screen and answered cheerfully.

"It's been a while, senior."

* * *

Lee Dongho, a manager in the research department of DA Securities.

He was seriously considering a job change.

Amid the chaos caused by the Prius incident, many people wondered how the employee discovered the fraud and what his motives were.

A new employee found out something that even the Financial Services Commission and DA Securities didn't know?

It's laughable.

You see things based on what you know. It's impossible for a new employee to discover something that no one else knew.

This incident led to the dismissal of Yang Jeong-wook, who was considered the successor to DA Financial Group. It was natural to suspect that someone was pulling the strings or providing information.

Since Han Miru was in the research department, the suspicion naturally fell on the research department.

Yoon Young-cheol, the department head, was on standby, and the department was almost at a standstill.

Employees came to work and stared at the walls until it was time to leave.

Lee Dongho, who was Han Miru's senior from the same department and a close friend, was called to various places and asked all sorts of questions.

What was their relationship, what did they talk about regarding the Prius fraud, did they contact people from other financial companies, did they receive any gifts or favors, etc.

Financial companies, which deal with money, are extremely conservative. The most important virtue of an employee is not outstanding performance but the ability to avoid causing problems.

Lee Dongho sighed deeply.

"Especially since the guy who caused the trouble is hard to reach."

After all the commotion, it would be impossible for him to get a job at a financial company or a large corporation. What could he be doing now?

With a heavy heart, he called on his way home.

"You bastard, how are you living these days?"

* * *

I met Senior Dongho for the first time since I quit.

"Here, senior."

When I waved, Senior Dongho said with a happy expression,

"You haven't been in touch for a while. What have you been up to?"

"I've been busy."

"You look better than when you were working."

"Really?"

After all, back then, I would open my eyes and go to work, and close them when I got home.

"Are you not going to work?"

"I'm preparing."

In the meantime, I made 130 billion, but I need more to start a proper investment company.

We clinked our beer glasses for the first time in a long time.

"This reminds me of our student days."

"Exactly."

"After working, I understand why everyone says their school days were the best. Back then, we had no worries."

Well, back then, we worried about exams and grades.

Seeing him talk like this, it seems his work life is tough.

"How's the company atmosphere?"

"Why are you asking when you know? Since you left, it's been chaotic. The research department is like a kite with a broken string. The department head is on standby. If he doesn't resign on his own, he'll be shuffled around to a dead-end job and eventually fired."

It seems the Yang Jeong-wook line was also affected.

"No wonder reports haven't been coming out lately."

"What's the point of writing reports? Would you trust the products DA Securities sells? Funds and ELS aren't selling, and the deposit balance is continuously decreasing."

I smiled bitterly.

"The remaining people are suffering."

After downing his beer in one go, Senior Dongho shook his head.

"Some people criticize you, but many are grateful. If it had burst later, the losses would have been unbearable. The fraudster and the unknowing seller are at fault, not the one who exposed it. You did well."

"Thanks for saying that. Do you think DA Securities will be okay?"

"It seems they're managing to recover. The group is providing support, so they won't go bankrupt. But there are rumors that they will close some branches and restructure soon. I might be laid off too."

"What will you do if you're laid off?"

"I'm thinking of going back to my hometown and farming."

I was surprised and asked,

"Senior, your hometown is Seoul, right?"

Senior Dongho nodded.

"Exactly. I don't even have land to farm. I should have bought some land to farm. The stocks I bought with my salary have plummeted. I don't have any more money to average down. Is there any stock like Redhole Studio that will skyrocket? If I could find one, I'd quit and leave immediately."

Getting a stock to skyrocket and quitting is a dream for all employees.

"Try to hang in there a bit longer."

I plan to bring him on board as soon as I start my company.

When you receive a favor, you should repay it.

If I had to name the two people who helped me the most in the first round, they would be Seonwoo and Senior Dongho.

Seonwoo provided for me when I had no job, and Senior Dongho saved my life in that fire.

If I had died then, I wouldn't have been able to regress, right?

As I thought about this, Senior Dongho said as if he remembered something.

"Oh, right! Do you know about that?"

"What is it?"

"I'm talking about your colleague, Sung Yuna."

"Yes."

"She's the granddaughter of the chairman."

I was shocked.

"Wow!"

How did he know?

Senior Dongho, thinking I didn't know, explained in detail.

"She's the only daughter of Yang Ja-eun, the executive vice president of DA Card. I've heard of rich kids starting from the bottom, but I never thought it would happen in my circle. Aren't you close to Sung Yuna?"

"Not really. We just greet each other. How did you find out?"

Did she reveal it herself?

"It seems it leaked during the recent reorganization. It caused quite a stir in the company."

I thought of Sung Yuna.

Although we were colleagues, we didn't have much connection in the first round. But this time, we became quite close while solving the Prius incident.

Not close enough to call friends, though.

I hope she's doing well.

Senior Dongho kept drinking and complaining.

"The market is a mess these days. You know about the Cobalt Gate that burst a few days ago, right?"

"Yes. What...?"

I know it as well as anyone.

"Isn't it ridiculous that even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was involved in a scheme?"

"Exactly."

"The bond market is also in chaos."

"Why is that?"

"Why? Who do you think is responsible?"

"Who is responsible?"

Senior Dongho stared at me.

"Are you really asking?"

"I'm asking because I don't know."

"It's because of you."

I was taken aback.

"What? Why is it my fault?"

"Would the corporate bond market be fine after the Prius incident? Now, all institutions are reviewing their bond holdings and dumping bad CBs and BWs. It's almost a sell-off."

"Oh..."

Senior Dongho continued while drinking soju.

"KOSDAQ companies are almost unable to issue corporate bonds. Many companies will go bankrupt."

After the Prius incident, the corporate bond market froze, and KOSDAQ companies faced funding difficulties.

The bond market is a crucial funding channel for companies. With this market frozen, many companies suffered.

In fact, several companies went bankrupt during this period.

I didn't think about this because it was supposed to happen two years later.

Did the corporate bond crisis get accelerated because the Prius incident happened now?

After listening to Senior Dongho, I remembered something.

Around this time, didn't 'that company' face a liquidity crisis?

It somehow got through at the time but eventually went bankrupt a year later. What happened to that company with the Prius incident happening now?

I searched on my phone.

Sure enough, the company couldn't repay its maturing corporate bonds, went into workout, and its stock was suspended.

I asked Senior Dongho,

"Can you check the price of Dongwoo Precision's corporate bonds for me?"