Looking at the unconscious Woo Yeon-Hee reminded me of the past. I thought I wouldn’t forget about the youngsters who died, but their faces were not as clear as I wished. It had been a long time, and only the sounds of them calling me lingered inside me.

“Guild Leader! An S-class dungeon was found in Hong Kong!”

I put so much effort to make those punks into genuine human beings and worked especially hard on one of them, the guy with the greatest fortune.

I smoked a cigarette for the first time since I returned. I heard Woo Yeon-Hee’s moans as I blew smoke out of the window. Then, I stubbed it out on the window frame.

“Don’t move. You have to stay in bed for a week,” I said.

“I shouldn’t have gone to hospitals if I knew my body could heal faster than the ordinary people. I could’ve just held it in.”

Woo Yeon-Hee frowned with a groan as she realized that she had on completely new clothes including underwear. She noticed after turning herself around. She looked down at herself and became silent for a while. Then, she turned her attention to the IV line in her hand.

“You really can do everything,” she said.

I injected her with non-opioid analgesics as I couldn’t continue giving her narcotics.

“Am I slowing you down?” she asked.

I shook my head and replied, “There are more things to do besides the dungeon. You should focus on getting better for the time being.”

“I saw computers in the other room with whiteboards and posters. They’re used for stock trading, right?” she questioned.

“Are you interested?” I asked.

“I’m rich now, thanks to someone,” she smiled faintly.

“How are you related to Jonathan? He seemed pretty close to you and cared about you a lot,” she continued.

“You must feel you’re recovered, but it’s only because of the painkiller. Stop there, and go to sleep,” I stopped her.

She retorted, “I want to sleep, but I’m so worried since I have too much money.”

“Where did you put it?” I questioned.

“The bags are still in my closet because you told me not to put it in the bank right away. I’m worried if I get robbed, so I want to check now if I can,” she replied.

“...Then just put it in the bank then. A tax audit doesn’t happen that easily with only two hundred million won. It was only a possibility I mentioned,” I said.

“But I can’t in this condition. Could you do me a favor then?” Woo Yeon-Hee asked while lifting her hand with the IV line.

“Quests give me points, but…” I turned my back.

“Do you know where I live? The key is in the car…”

Her explanation continued behind my back.

What she was worried about didn’t happen as her room was exactly how it looked two days ago. I returned to the office with the bags that held two hundred million won in cash, her clothes, underwear and toiletries.

“Thank you. It must’ve been annoying,” she said.

Woo Yeon-Hee had unrolled the compressive bandage on her stomach. She seemed a little embarrassed but was more surprised.

“It’s healing little by little.”

I said flatly, “Stay here until you’re fully recovered. Call your family so you don’t get into any trouble.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

She said it as if it was nothing, but I knew the reason for her fleeting bitter smile.

“Are you helping him?” she asked.

She was talking about Jonathan again, and she seemed to have determined an answer as she looked at me the same way Jonathan did.

“I don’t know what to do with the money,” she said.

“The interest rate will be seventeen percent if you place it into a bank,” I replied.

Woo Yeon-Hee wouldn’t have known how amazing that number was. That two-digit interest rate was considered the norm prior to the IMF as Korea’s economic growth had been steady. Therefore, the public saved up every penny and placed it in the banks to gain profit, which worked well back then. However, it was impossible later. The two-digits could be only seen when one put billions in hedge funds.

“Why are you talking about money with that condition?” I asked.

“Dungeons don’t feed me. Being a rich swan makes me think a lot.”

She smiled and grimaced immediately due to pain.

Swan was a newly coined term that appeared during the IMF, and the word made me smile a bit. I was certainly opening up to her as she followed me better than I expected. She began to accept herself as an Awakened although her mental and physical capacities were lower than the average as she had not gone through Trial Tests. This fact could be an advantage for me since I could feel safe with my back to her. I didn’t have to be on the lookout that she would betray me.

“Don’t even think of doing stocks. Stop talking nonsense and sleep,” I said.

***

It was the heyday of the two heroes with the last name Park who helped Korea forget the sorrow of the IMF for a while. One of them became the Ladies’ Professional Golf Associatin (LPGA) champion in Delaware, and on the same day, Woo Yeon-Hee no longer needed to lie down in bed.

“Wow!” She burst into cheers. While we were watching the same scene, our perspectives were different. She was looking at the final putt that decided the victory for Park, but I was looking at the sponsor logo on her hat.

“Wait until I call you back. Don’t forget to train yourself.”

I left Woo Yeon-Hee behind, took out the ledger from the safe and went into the computer room. As I confirmed, all conglomerates corporations including Ilsung were restructuring their shares amidst the IMF chaos. It wouldn’t be completed in a day or two, but it would be difficult to break through their governance structure if I missed the timing. I estimated the deadline to be October. Their dominance would be solidified as the stock market stabilized.

I turned on several monitors, and the Russian market was going down under the short positions assumed by different groups. Although it was a skirmish, the battle was fierce. One side was that Russia wouldn’t go bankrupt, and the other side, which was led by the Isle of Man, was betting on Russian bankruptcy. New York was busy acquiring Onider Associates, so it would take a few more weeks for them to join this war.

I opened the ledger, and my head was pounding already. The remaining three billion offshore funds were distributed in various ways to over a thousand paper companies. In other words, I had to check each one and compare the ledgers. The war was starting in the Russian market, but soon, in other involved countries like major European and Asian countries, oil would become the battlefields.

The good thing was there was no power keeping an eye on me. Everyone agreed that Jonathan won the battle with hedge funds over Asia. Hence, there was no force chasing me by using private detectives. The fire had started in Thailand and burned strongly in the final destination, Korea. However, the embers left behind had spread to Russia, and a financial war had begun there.

“Let’s raise the stakes first.”

***

It was early June in the year 1998, and Jonathan was in Russia after receiving the invitation he had been waiting for. There were not only Russian political and military officials but also Americans such as Jonathan in the splendid buildings that were built in the 18th century. There were former U.S. presidents and other distinguished public figures from America.

Jonathan shook hands with the former U.S. president and was praised as a Wall Street Diamond. Then, he looked around with an awkward smile. A banner with a golden border grabbed his attention, and it seemed to be saying this to the attendees.

- We are Russians, and we will never be ruined. Buy our bonds. We guarantee you will gain tremendous wealth.

“Oh my gosh, who is this.”

One of the senior officials at Silverman Sox who hosted the event recognized Jonathan, then approached him. He was also an American who flew to Russia and sold Russian bonds for the government.

“It’s a good sign that you’re here. I’m Logan.”

He was genuinely pleased to see Jonathan.

“I know. I’m Jonathan.”

“Congratulations. I heard about Onider Associates. Jonathan Investment will become our competitor soon, and how do you like this event?” Logan asked.

Jonathan replied, “It’s amazing.”

“Since you’re here, why don’t you buy one too? This chance will never come again,” Logan said.

“Yea, I’m already shopping now.”

Jonathan held his sample report, which Silverman Sox distributed only to the participants for the event. It also held stickers with a label, and the red one meant VIP class which Jonathan had on his sample report.

“As you can see, the event will be a success. This will give Russia room to breathe. You’d better hurry before it’s sold out. There’s not much left.”

Logan left, and Jonathan snorted at his back.

Does Silverman actually believe that Russia won’t go down? How much commission do they receive to help maintain this pretense? Fifty million? A hundred million? It must be easy to earn money, right? Keep smiling while you can because you’ll be bankrupt soon.

Jonathan laughed because not too long ago, he thought Russia would never fall. Then, Jonathan’s eyes widened as he found the person he was looking for.

The bonds were not the primary reason why Jonathan flew to Russia, and he had endured a long flight due to Seon-Hu’s order. He straightened his clothes and approached the guy naturally. He had learned simple Russian despite his busy schedule for this day.

“Good evening, are you Vladimir, the Chief of the Presidential Executive Office?”