I had liquidated a hundred billion dollar private fund last year as I decided that our New York firm could manage five hundred billion maximum. Therefore, the company’s operating assets of five hundred nine billion dollars consisted of the following in 1998.

「Jonathan’s and my personal funds: 88 billion

The total of seven hedge funds: 12 billion

The total of pension funds: 49 billion」

After only eight months…

「Jonathan’s and my personal funds: 255 billion (+167 billion)

The total of seven hedge funds: 17.4 billion (+ 5.4 billion)

The total of pension funds: 511.7 billion (+102.7 billion)」

Our personal funds showed over a two hundred percent profit while the hedge funds were at forty-five percent and the pension fund was at twenty-five percent. The North American market had already become huge, dealing with over ten trillion dollars. Jeon-il Investment could take a quarter of the Korean stock market with only twenty billion dollars, but we could barely take a few percentages in the North American market even though we had spent five hundred billion. The New York Group’s net profit of two hundred seventy billion dollars was just about the market capitalization of one IT company in the U.S. The difference in scale was shown here, and this was why the North American market was so thrilling and interesting.

Things didn’t end here as our group would receive a quarter of the 5.4 billion hedge funds' provisional revenue. Also, we would gain 25.67 billion from the 102.7 billion pension funds profits. Therefore, our net worth in New York so far was around three hundred billion dollars. When I added up Gillian’s London funds and Jessica’s Isle of Man funds, the total would be at least five hundred billion dollars. I had done this within two years, and it was a decent achievement for a financier who had returned from the future.

***

It was around the middle of the dotcom boom, and now was the time when bombs exploded everywhere. I had invested my funds gradually into New York’s IT market over six months, so my profits had to be collected gradually as well. It was only five percent of the entire New York stock market, but it was a different story when considering that the average daily transaction amount was thirty billion dollars. It was a noticeable amount of liquid money. I was planning on making Gillian and Kim Cheong-Soo lead this operation by adjusting the various transaction amounts in the portfolio, and luring in those who would purchase them. If we were caught by rivals or if the selling amount exceeded the market limits…

History would change significantly, and the dotcom bubble would burst next month, not in April of 2000. Then, we would lose half of the profit we had earned in New York and London. In fact, people had been saying the bubble would burst soon because even though the public had ignored those warnings, most internet companies had not found a profit model that would meet the expectations riding on their stocks. Only fantasies were raising the stock prices and forces like us created mass hysteria to encourage the delusions. It was similar to those days when people were crazy about virtual currency, and its end was disastrous. That was why I told Woo Yeon-Hee not to invest in stocks.

The general public would be the last buyers of the market, and the hot potato called dotcom stocks would explode in their hands. Then, they would suffer the consequences of the global IT boom crashing, starting from New York.

“Let’s start wrapping up,” I said.

Jonathan smiled as if he had been waiting for those words. I wanted to short sell the stocks but couldn’t take the risk as I didn’t know when the bubble would burst. Newton once said ‘I can calculate the movement of heavenly bodies, but human madness cannot be measured’ after he suffered from huge losses from his investments[1]. However, getting out first would impact the market since our investments were big. The stocks we short sold may accelerate or change history. As I couldn’t predict how the market would react, I put aside my plan to invest in the downside. It was time to focus on taking out the provisional profit as safely as possible while minimizing the impact on the New York stock market.

Jonathan said as he stretched, “I’m done talking about work.”

Three hours had passed since we began going through our portfolio and checking the data. It was already evening.

“You’re not going back to Seoul right away, right?” he asked.

“My school year starts soon,” I replied.

Jonathan should be used to this now, but he started laughing as if he had heard something humorous. This would be the last time I’d see this particular reaction since my meaningless school life would end after this year.

“When does your school start?” he questioned.

I replied, “The upcoming Monday.”

“You have three more days. I know a great spot,” he said.

“Alright.”

“...Alright?” His eyes widened.

“Let’s go,” I said.

***

Last night was like a rave. We went to a party at the top-end luxury suite where a few male VIPs had gathered to have a night of escape. It was all right. I took shots of whisky but didn’t have a hangover since I was an Awakened. I came to the lobby and waited for Jonathan while reading today’s Wall Street Journal, and an article grabbed my attention.

「Unicorn has officially taken over Predict

Unicorn had an aggressive takeover bid by offering the Predict stock owners 6.55 dollars per share. Predict’s current stock value is 3.96 dollars per share, so among the market capitalization of 19.7 billion…」

Unicorn was my lovely soldier that completed special duties in the Russian financial war, and the mission I had given Jonathan with that fund was now nearing the end. The founder of Predict didn’t seem to have the intention of handing over his company even though we offered twice the market value. Therefore, things had become a takeover battle. Since Predict meant so much in the future, we had to acquire it no matter what. All guilds and governments used their database management programs in the past, and they would do so in this life as well.

I didn't know who was in command of that battle, but Jonathan must have chosen the best since I had shown my greed over Predict. After a while, Jonathan approached me with a smile.

“I had so much fun last night. We’ll be able to do that again later, right?”

I showed him an article about the Predict to him instead of answering his question.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jonathan said.

“Who’s in charge?” I asked.

Jonathan named one of the four largest accounting firms in North America, but the fact that things had become a takeover bid meant there was only a fifty percent probability of success in the acquisition.

“Raise the price up to ten dollars,” I said.

Jonathan looked surprised at my determination.

“...I can’t do that right now since I’m not taking care of it directly,” he hesitated.

“I know. You only need to deal with it by tonight,” I responded.

Jonathan nodded with an insidious smile as if he was recalling last night’s party.

“Humans can’t work all the time, right?” he asked.

If Jonathan didn’t get trapped in pleasure-seeking, parties like last night were fine. Since he had become the world’s richest man, worse temptations would come at him. So, yes. Yesterday was acceptable…

Since it was a prestigious hotel, many guests recognized Jonathan. There was a man approaching him, and I thought he would be one of his fans first. However, he had John Clark’s vibe.

He asked, “Jonathan, could I have a moment?”

“Sorry, but I’m with my friend now,” Jonathan replied.

Jonathan tried to ignore him with a polite and brief reply as he thought the man was just his fan. However, the guy showed his ID card with the White House mark. I stepped back but I could still listen to them as my Sense had increased.

“This is from…”

The man must have been talking about the U.S. president, and he left after giving an envelope to Jonathan. Jonathan disappeared into the elevator and texted me shortly after that.

 「Come to my room.」

His room was messy as the bottles of alcohol he drank with call girls were rolling around the floor, and the smell of their perfume reeked. Jonathan looked serious, and it seemed like he had met a guy from the White House before.

“Look.”

There was a letter of notice in the envelope with a single line of text. The text indicated the date of September 15, which was next month. I widened my eyes in surprise, and Jonathan nodded. Even though there was nothing else written on it, we both knew it was a warning that if we didn’t follow their instructions, we would suffer from tax audits.

“Since when?” I asked.

“It has been a while.”

Jonathan gnashed his teeth as if he was mad.

“What do they want?” I questioned.

Then, Jonathan pointed his index finger at my face and answered, “You, Sun.”

1. Newton lost 20,000 pounds (around 2.72 million in today’s money) after speculating in South Sea Company stocks in the 1720s. ☜