Chapter 6
Jung Sang-woo’s parents were real estate tycoons.
Because of that, Jung Sang-woo had never held a proper job.
Even so, he had never struggled to make a living.
No, it went beyond that. He lived doing everything he wanted.
With enough money, the world was incredibly easy, and nothing felt impossible.
He doesn’t look that wealthy.
That was Jung Sang-woo’s first impression of the man.
Unlike himself, who was covered in luxury brands from head to toe, the man wasn’t even wearing a luxury watch.
If someone was born into wealth like him, wearing luxury goods from childhood was normal. Even those who became rich through cryptocurrency usually flaunted their wealth with expensive brands.
The fact that none of those things were visible made him suspicious.
“I’m Jung Sang-woo. I own this building.”
“I’m Choi Kang Hyun.”
They exchanged a brief handshake before sitting down.
The real estate agent, Kim Mi-ju, began speaking.
“Mr. Choi, thank you for taking the time to come today…”
“Ah, that’s enough.”
Jung Sang-woo waved his hand, cutting her off.
It was rude, but he didn’t care.
“We don’t have much time, so let’s get straight to the point. I heard you want to buy this building?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I’m sorry, but this building isn’t for sale.”
Jung Sang-woo took an aggressive stance.
After all, it was the other party who had expressed interest in buying.
That meant he held the upper hand in the negotiation.
I don’t know why he wants it so badly, but he’s the one coming to me. There’s no reason for me to lower myself. The person with the advantage always wins in negotiations.
He had lived his entire life from a position of power.
He was always the one in control whenever he dealt with people or made transactions, so he approached this meeting the same way.
Unfortunately for him, he had picked the wrong opponent.
“I came here believing you were willing to sell the building.”
“I only came to hear what you had to say.”
“I see.”
Although only a short time had passed, Kang Hyun had already figured out what kind of person he was dealing with.
There was one more thing.
He was seeing something no one else could.
He’s glowing blue. If that’s appearing, it means he’s entered a downward trend.
A blue aura surrounded Jung Sang-woo’s body.
It looked exactly like the red aura surrounding Kwang-ho, except it had turned blue.
This is the perfect opportunity to find out exactly what it means.
Kang Hyun’s mind began working rapidly.
He considered how to gain the upper hand and steer the negotiation in his favor.
After weighing his options, he narrowed it down to two effective strategies.
Originally, I planned to offer a price high enough to tempt him into selling…
But after meeting Jung Sang-woo in person, he realized the man was arrogant and ill-mannered.
During his time at the investment firm, Kang Hyun had occasionally dealt with investors who came to the office.
Some of them strutted around arrogantly, acting as though they deserved special treatment simply because they had money invested.
Jung Sang-woo was exactly that type.
Offering more money to people like him accomplished nothing.
He’d simply use that as an excuse to demand an even higher price.
There was only one move to make.
“I understand. Since you have no intention of selling, I’ll excuse myself.”
“What?”
Kim Mi-ju hurriedly stepped in.
“M-Mr. Choi, maybe you should discuss it a little more…”
“If the owner has no intention of selling, continuing this conversation would only waste everyone’s time. Ms. Kim, if you could prepare some other properties, I’d be happy to take a look.”
Her face immediately brightened when he mentioned buying another property.
As long as she closed a sale, she would receive her commission.
“Of course. I’ll gather some good listings and contact you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your time today.”
Kang Hyun politely thanked everyone until the very end before leaving the café.
Watching him leave, Jung Sang-woo snapped irritably without caring that Kim Mi-ju was still sitting there.
“What an arrogant brat. Who does he think he is? Ms. Kim, I don’t appreciate having my time wasted like this.”
His anger ended up falling on Kim Mi-ju.
Her face turned pale as she desperately tried to calm one of her biggest clients.
The building purchase had fallen through.
But Kang Hyun wasn’t in a hurry.
“There are plenty of other investments out there.”
Real estate was only one of many investment opportunities.
Even if he didn’t buy this building, there were countless other ways to make money.
“Besides, that blue aura surrounding him definitely means something.”
Whatever happened to Jung Sang-woo, Kang Hyun doubted it would be anything pleasant.
Jung Sang-woo was in a terrible mood.
“That bastard ruined everything.”
He had been enjoying himself in the Philippines.
According to his original plan, he was supposed to stay there for another week.
“I was finally getting on a winning streak.”
His irritation only grew.
Seeing his mood, Cha Jin-hyuk, who was drinking with him, asked,
“What, is it that time of the month? Why are you so irritated?”
“Damn it. I was cleaning up at baccarat, then some idiot said he wanted to buy my building. I flew all the way back, and he didn’t even make an offer before leaving.”
“You mean that building in Seongsu-dong? Wasn’t that your father’s?”
“He transferred it to me a long time ago. That’s why I’m officially worth over ten billion won now.”
“Oh? So did you make a fortune in the Philippines?”
“I recovered my losses and was finally starting to make real money when I got that phone call. Completely killed my momentum.”
That was what frustrated him.
If he’d stayed a little longer, he was sure he could have won a huge jackpot playing baccarat.
“Ever since Dad transferred the building into my name, he barely gives me spending money anymore. This trip was supposed to be my chance to cash in.”
“But why fly all the way to the Philippines?”
“Then where should I gamble? Macau?”
“No, just use an avatar service in Korea.”
“Avatar?”
“Ah, right. You’re not into internet stuff. During COVID, when people couldn’t travel overseas, casinos started offering avatar services. You hire someone there to place bets on your behalf. It’s surprisingly immersive.”
“Really? Think our agent offers that?”
“They probably do.”
“Oh, that’s useful information. Thanks.”
Greed slowly filled Jung Sang-woo’s eyes.
Although the building purchase had been delayed, Kang Hyun’s daily routine hardly changed.
“The market was quiet yesterday, but today’s the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement. Things are going to get wild.”
U.S. interest rates affected the entire world.
After all, they determined the value of the U.S. dollar, the world’s reserve currency.
Naturally, they had an immediate impact on the U.S. stock market, so trading tended to be quiet before the announcement.
But on announcement day, the market turned into a roller coaster.
“For day traders, these are the best days to make money.”
While waiting for the rate decision, Kang Hyun calmly examined the stocks.
None of them seemed to be glowing.
“Whew… my eyes are starting to hurt.”
There were well over three thousand companies listed on the Nasdaq.
Checking every single one was exhausting.
That was why proprietary traders developed their own methods for filtering stocks.
The companies saved in Kang Hyun’s watchlist were the same ones he had followed during his days as a proprietary trader.
In other words, he was only looking through a limited number of companies.
“Even if my ability lets me identify stocks that will rise, I’ll still miss opportunities because I can’t examine every stock.”
Once his company was established, that problem would disappear.
When Kwang-ho joined, he could create an algorithm to screen stocks automatically.
Until then, there was no choice but to do the work manually.
“Maybe I should rebuild my watchlist. Recently, this ability has mostly appeared among AI stocks, especially cloud-related companies. That probably means that’s where most of the market liquidity is.”
Using ChatGPT, Kang Hyun searched for companies in the relevant sectors.
After adding several of them to his watchlist, he checked whether any were glowing.
“Found one.”
It didn’t take long.
One stock stood out.
[DataLux]
“It’s already climbing.”
Since the market opened, the stock had already risen 5%.
If he had found it earlier, his profits would have been even larger.
But Kang Hyun wasn’t disappointed.
Even entering late, he was confident he could still make money.
“There’s no reason to hesitate.”
[Would you like to buy?]
[YES / NO]
He quickly entered his order and pressed YES.
[Order submitted.]
Although the stock had already risen, he placed a limit order.
He expected volatility before the interest rate announcement.
His judgment proved correct.
[Order filled.]
As time passed, his orders were filled one after another.
His trading account had already exceeded five billion won.
It was a considerable amount.
But compared to the Nasdaq’s average daily trading volume of over seventy trillion won, it was no more than a drop in the ocean.
[Order filled.]
With the final execution, every order had been completed.
Now all he had to do was wait.
He wasn’t nervous.
He wasn’t anxious.
The price would ultimately move exactly as his ability predicted.
All he had to do was watch.
As expected, the stock kept climbing.
[Unrealized Profit: ₩40,522,886]
Because of the size of his position, his unrealized profit increased rapidly.
But this was only the beginning.
It soon exceeded one hundred million won.
Then, almost instantly, it surpassed two hundred million.
The momentum is incredible. It’s really taking off.
Trading volume exploded.
Without question, this had become the hottest stock on the Nasdaq that day.
Retail investors rushed in after hearing about it, driving the price even higher.
Early buyers occasionally took profits, causing brief pullbacks.
But greed pushed the price upward again.
[Unrealized Profit: ₩501,814,833]
His return had already exceeded 9%.
It was the highest return he had achieved on any trade so far.
It looks like it could climb even higher.
Judging by the momentum, there was still plenty of room to run.
Then something changed.
“Hm?”
The stock, which had been glowing red, slowly began turning blue.
The moment Kang Hyun saw it, he reacted instinctively.
“Has it reached the top?”
Although surprised by the change, his hands moved automatically.
[Would you like to sell?]
[YES / NO]
His finger clicked the mouse.
[Order submitted.]
He placed a limit sell order.
Since the stock was still rising, his order was filled almost immediately.
[Order filled.]
[Order filled.]
In less than a minute, his entire position had been sold.
After securing his profits, Kang Hyun quietly watched the market.
“Why did it suddenly turn blue?”
It was the first time he had witnessed such a change.
Now he needed to figure out exactly what it meant.
There was a term called Seohak Ants.
It referred to Korean retail investors who primarily invested in the U.S. stock market.
Because the U.S. market opened around 10:00 p.m. Korean time, they naturally lived on a nocturnal schedule.
Their online communities were also busiest during the early morning hours.
- Didn’t I tell you guys to buy DataLux?
- Anyone still not holding DataLux is a fool.
- AI stocks are unbeatable!
- Why is DataLux going up?
- GigaSoft announced they’re investing in it.
- Buy it now while you still can.
- The best time to buy is when you think you’re already late.
- Already up 8%. Easy money.
- I’ve been in since yesterday. Up 20% already.
- Idiots. Buy the 3x leveraged DLUX ETF like me. I’m already up 50%. (Screenshot)
- Damn… you’ve got nerves of steel.
- Leave a little profit for the rest of us…
DataLux was the hottest topic across every community.
Aggressive traders were already using leveraged ETFs and posting enormous returns.
The forums practically worshipped the stock.
Like religious fanatics.
But the music at every party eventually stopped.
- Huh? What’s happening?
- Why’s it suddenly dropping?
- Don’t panic. They’re just shaking out weak hands.
- DataLux is easily hitting 30% today.
- This is just a healthy pullback.
Even as the price started falling, optimism still filled the forums.
But as the decline accelerated…
- What the hell?!
- Why did it suddenly go negative?
- This can’t be real!
The entire community descended into panic.
Moments later, a new post appeared.
[Breaking News: GigaSoft Withdraws Investment in DataLux.]
Good news had become bad news in an instant.
Kang Hyun was also reading the news that GigaSoft had withdrawn its investment.
A chill ran down his spine.
“It warned me before the news even became public?”
Even company insiders probably hadn’t known about something like this.
Major investment decisions were usually discussed only among top executives.
Yet his ability had warned him first.
Not only that.
It had allowed him to maximize his profit before the news broke.
“This is completely insane.”
The more he learned about his ability, the more unbelievable it became.
“The interest rate announcement is still coming today, so I’ll stop trading here. If I get greedy, I could end up giving back my profits.”
He had already earned more than enough.
Knowing that greed was dangerous, Kang Hyun turned off his monitor.
Just then, his smartphone vibrated.
Buzz!
[Jung Sang-woo – Building Owner]
Seeing the caller, Kang Hyun frowned.
“A text this late at night?”
The man’s manners were nonexistent.
Still, considering who it was, he immediately checked the message.
Jung Sang-woo: Are you still interested in buying the building?
The corners of Kang Hyun’s lips slowly curled upward.
“Of course I’m still interested.”
There was only one meaning behind sending a message like this in the middle of the night.
“Though not at the previous price.”
Now, the balance of power had shifted.
This is the end of Chapter 6.
