12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

I put my hand on the table and looked down at the reports lying there. There were four very thick reports in front of me. I was going to take a look at them one by one, but when I saw the numbers written in them, I covered them up again. Then, I looked up and said, "I will read them slowly when I have time. Just give me the summary. How much did we earn?"

Everyone turned their heads to the left and right at my words. I said as I turned to the report titled 'Status of Japanese Market Investment - Director Kang Ki-wook'. "Let's start with Director Kang."

Director Kang nodded and said, "As ofl today, we've earned 3.1 billion dollars."

I then turned the next report and said, "What about Director Kim?"

"It's about 5.9 billion dollars."

"What about Director Chung, then?"

"It is about 8.8 billion dollars."

I nodded and last looked at Vice President Jang.

Vice President Chang told me the answer before I asked. "We've earned 15.4 billion dollars in foreign exchange transactions so far as of today."

I put the numbers together in my mind. "So, it's about 33.2 billion dollars, right?"

At that enormous amount, everyone forgot to speak for a moment. We'd made such astronomical amounts of money in the last few months. If I could have made my own bets without anyone noticing, I would have pocketed more money than this.

I nodded, "All right. Let's get organized now. Take a look at the atmosphere and finish your investments."

The end of the year was approaching. In December 2021, I decided to stop investing and take my profits. Five months after the Great Depression in China, the chaos still continued, but the value of their assets, which had plummeted, was gradually stabilizing. It was due to the Chinese government's extreme prescription.

In the early days of the Great Chinese Depression, the Chinese government, which had an authoritarian political system, first sought to stabilize things with news and fabricated statistics made to the people, but once they were exposed as false, they simply fueled the asset market crash. When protests broke out in many parts of the country and even security problems were raised, the Chinese government finally acknowledged their situation and actively began to resolve the issue.

Quietly, they led movements like the "gold collecting movement" in Korea during the IMF, bent their pride and asked for help from abroad. They tried to defuse the financial crisis by opening their hands to even Japan, which they had been hurling muck at over historical issues, and to Canada and Australia. As a result, they got a loan under some pretty humiliating terms, and they put out the urgent fire. After a few months of getting news for the future, I knew the crash was going to stop at around this time.

"Yes, boss."

"I'll do that, boss."

The members of this secret meeting moved quickly, like my hands and feet.

I said one more word to them. "However, let's leave the money earned in foreign currency for now. I don't think things in Korea will get any better for a while."

It was true. After China, it was Korea itself that suffered the most from China's financial crisis. Korea was basically a country that lived on exports. China was the country with the highest proportion of foreign exports, and Korea also suffered a huge loss due to the financial crisis. As the won depreciated, the dollar, yen, and euro were temporarily more valuable.

"Yes, I see, boss."

Putting together the reports, I said, "By the way, how about the atmosphere of other investment companies these days?"

Director Chung spoke first. "They are in turmoil. They've all been grabbed by the collar by investors, and have been criticized... They are in a fuss."

Director Kang continued his words. "There is a rumor in the market that there is no one who earned money but the person who bought the Inverse. It's true to a certain extent."

Korea's stock price index also underwent a correction of more than thirty percent during the Great Chinese Depression. It was negative thirty percent talking, and most ant investors nearly went broke, as they had invested mostly in small stocks. Large-cap stocks with sound financial structure had a floor to settle at even if they fell, but small-cap stocks didn't have such a thing. A loss of seventy or eighty percent would deal an ant a non-recoverable blow.

Jang also added, "Yeouido is also in a chilly mood. There was a story yesterday that one of them jumped in the Han River and died. It was a pity."

These were all the reasons why we managed our facial expressions even after earning thirty-three point two billion dollars. No matter how good it was, it was not good when someone died and others were despondent.

"Well... I see. All right. Then, please go back to your desks, and make some profit from your work."

The whole group bowed to me and said, "Yes, boss."

---

While everyone was about to return to their offices, I only called in Vice President Jang by hand. After the other directors went out of the conference room, I asked, "So, did you look it up?"

"I'm looking for it now. What a mess the market is in. Please wait a little longer."

What I was looking for now was a blue-chip in crisis. Although the term "blue-chip in crisis" itself was a little contradictory, it often existed in these circumstances. Such businesses had been doing well and making good money, but they had lost a lot of money by mistake during this Chinese crisis. Now that the financial crisis was coming to an end, it was time to buy the good companies at a cheap price.

There is an old stock maxim that said, 'If you hear that someone committed suicide because of an investment failure, start buying then.' When someone loses his entire fortune and tries to die when he or she is under extreme stress, the market is at the bottom. It's a little cruel, but it's true to some extent. A new bud sprouts from the dead body of an ant.

Of course, I didn't order the purchase solely on that maxim. In the future news, there was hopeful news like this.

[The collapse of KOSDAQ has reversed. Will it end up in a long decline?]

[KOSPI has a positive move after five months. Can it be a hopeful move?]

[Foreign investors return after five months. They say that even considering foreign exchange differences, Korean stocks are cheap.]

At first, I thought about investing in mainland China, but I decided to buy cheap Korean stocks and Korean companies because it was not easy for me to invest in foreign countries. It was difficult for me to control them because China had been moving back and forth on political issues.

In addition, it was also good for raising the rating for future news. The future news only dealt with companies listed in Korea. I was going to run from here right up to the Grandmaster Class. If possible, it would be better to get to the weird grade of the XXX series.

"Yes, I see. I hope you keep working hard, then."

"Yes, boss."

As of November, my four henchmen had been quietly withdrawing their investments from the global market, with billions of dollars of profit. Around the time I took the profits, China and the global market gradually regained stability, including South Korea. South Korea, which had suffered a plunge for months and had recalled fears of "the days of the International Monetary Fund," took a deep breath.

It was President Joo Sung-won who benefited most from the process. As soon as he took office in May, he had restricted investment in China, and was severely criticized at that time.

'It's so random.'

'He is ignoring China.'

'It is a diplomatic discourtesy.'

But now he received tremendous praise for what he had done, described as "excellent insight" and "brave acting power." His approval rating was in the seventy to eighty percent range, very high, and it was believed that he could make it easier to manage state affairs over the next few years. It was a good thing for me, as President Joo Sung-won and I had a kind of partnership.

Furthermore, President Joo Sung-won would now rely more on me. Now that he'd received much praise for this, he would earnestly read the articles from Oracle News even if I stopped making new ones for him.

-----------------------

In December 2021, I received the email at 8:50 and read the news as usual. And at the end, I searched through the People Search and got the news again. The first person I wrote in was Joo Sung-won.

[President Joo Sung-won visits the Gumi industrial complex, and he gets a report on manufacturing.]

After reading the news, I wrote 'Kim Jin-pyo'.

[Kim Jin-pyo, deputy prime minister for economic affairs. We are watching the global economy. Korea will be stabilized.]

"Hmm..." I stroked my chin for a moment and read the second news. Finally, I wrote 'Han Sang-hoon'. The first two people changed every time, but my name was always fixed. I got some news for myself from there. In 12 Months After, there was such news.

[Han Sang-hoon of Invictus Investment is the man who became the richest person in Korea at the age of thirty-two.]

[Korea's richest man, Han Sang-hoon, CEO of Invictus Investment.]

[A genius investor astonishes the world. From a poor family, he becomes the richest man in the country.]

In the end, it seemed like my assets were going to be revealed. I kept it as secret as I could, but it was impossible due to the nature of the corporation's tax payments. As I read the last three news and put my cell phone on the sofa, I said to myself, "Whoa... that's how it turned out there."

I became the richest man in the country, but to be honest, the excitement was just so, as I knew my future.

'This is what could happen at any time. After all, it was only a matter of time.'

I knew all the news in my name, and it was hard not to be this rich. If anyone could get the future news and had the will, they could be rich like me.

'33.2 billion dollars! Now no one can stand up to me in Korea. Even the president has become my puppet.'

At any rate, I was satisfied to be at the top of the Republic of Korea.

Strength meant freedom. I was stronger than anyone else and I didn't have to read anyone's countenance; I didn't have to follow anyone's orders. I could do anything I wanted!