I was on my way to the elevator after being summoned by the division head.
I let out a tense sigh.
Strange. Ever since the pension law revision bill, the company had suddenly become hectic.
The risk meetings that had unfailingly been held once a week were being postponed day after day, and Director Oh was always away from his desk, as if he were off roaming who knew where.
Of course, that was good for me. With the director-level people absent every day, I could load up on whatever stocks I wanted without needing approval.
The U.S. Republican Party, which had recently begun its primary race, had solidified around the theory that Donald was the inevitable winner, to the point that one wondered whether finishing the race even had any meaning. Just as in his first term, he frequently made rude remarks without hesitation, and each time, his supporters’ cheers pierced the sky.
Riding that fervor, I added more domestic defense stocks and gold, as if knocking out homework I had put off. I had also finished spreading risk into the Shanghai Index, which would soon skyrocket, as well as the German and Greek stock markets. If my memory was correct, those indices had weathered the shock most stably during Donald’s administration.
“...”
With the naggers gone, I could load up on the stocks I wanted to my heart’s content, but my mood remained unpleasantly unsettled.
Why?
There should still be some time left before the division head retired, so why had the atmosphere at the company suddenly become so chaotic?
Knock, knock.
“Division Head, this is Manager Lee Sejun.”
When I knocked and opened the door, the division head’s bright smile greeted me.
“Ah, Manager Lee. I hear you’re the busiest man in our company these days. You have time, right?”
“I’m always grateful for a seat like this. But what brings me here...”
“I just wanted to have a cup of coffee, but I had no one to chat with. Haha.”
After offering me a seat, he soon began making instant coffee.
“Do you have a girlfriend now?”
“...No.”
“That’s a relief. No, how regrettable. A fellow who predicts global market conditions so well, and yet why can’t he understand a woman’s heart?”
“Haha...”
“Sit down. I’ll at least make you a good cup of coffee.”
Unlike him, who was smiling brightly, my face stiffened from the moment I sat down.
I understood at once why the company atmosphere had recently turned into a funeral hall.
The division head’s office was empty and desolate, as if a moving company had come and gone. I did not need an explanation to know what that meant.
“Division Head, why is your office...”
“I haven’t even finished making the coffee yet, you brat. Let’s talk slowly. Haha.”
For a while, only the clinking of coffee cups could be heard in the office.
I pressed my fingers to my brow.
No... the division head’s term was definitely until the end of this year. I knew he had stepped down after the U.S. presidential election, so why had it suddenly been moved up like this?
“It’s because of you.”
“...Pardon?”
“I mean the reason there’s no luggage in my office. Last year’s returns were a disaster, so I couldn’t talk back to the chairman, you see. But thanks to you, our profits recovered quickly, so I tried standing up to him once... and this is what happened.”
“Division Head...”
“Don’t worry. Still, thanks to putting up a fight, it looks like Manager Choi will be taking over as the next division head. So you stay put in Jeonju and help the company, too. This coffee is my bribe to you. Heh heh heh.”
The strength drained from my legs.
I knew why he had been driven out. I even knew how many people would be driven out...
Their resignations were a warning from the political sphere telling them not to make a peep regarding pension payments... and because of that, the successors who followed could do nothing but watch in silence as the well dried up.
Damn it... the massive profits from Argentina and the Nasdaq had hastened that future.
“It seems I’m the only one enjoying this. Goodness, I didn’t call you here to talk about this.”
He gave a bitter smile and picked up a report.
“Manager Lee, there are a few things I’d like to ask you.”
“...Please go ahead.”
“Your investment performance in Argentina was better than most leveraged futures returns. In my thirty years of investing, this is the first time I’ve seen a country’s stock market skyrocket to this extent. As expected, you have good instincts. But...”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“When you went to Argentina for an investment meeting, you asked them to lower tariffs on our cars, didn’t you? Well, thanks to that, I heard endless thanks from the vice minister of Industry, but I’m curious about the reason. Why did you make that request?”
“...It was simply a request as an investor.”
“As an investor?”
“Recently, Asan Motors declared a bleeding competition, and its stock price has been falling day after day. We needed an exit that could offset that. As it happened, the pension fund had purchased Asan Motors’ capital increase and bought a large volume of its bonds as well... In the end, I thought that request would help support Asan Motors’ stock price.”
“Haha. As expected, my question was wrong. I should have asked you this first.”
He set down his teacup and asked,
“Then why did you buy Asan Motors stock? Looking at the portfolio purchases you carried out, almost all the overseas stocks rose, but this was the only one in the red. And yet even as the losses continued, you kept buying Asan Motors shares.”
“Division Head, that’s...”
“I don’t think you received compensation from companies and made investments on their behalf. Five trillion, ten trillion... no matter how I look at it, that’s pocket change to you. Actually, I recently ordered Director Oh to prepare a separate report. Do you know what it was?”
“...”
“From the SB incident until now. It was a report analyzing how much you would have by now if you had invested just one million won. It was truly unbelievable. Following your portfolio exactly, you would already be a millionaire.”
Every stock I touched had risen by at least two or three times.
Even if I had started with seed money of one million won, it would have multiplied by powers, and powers, and powers again, until at some point the numbers became meaningless.
“I’m certain of it. Money isn’t your goal. If I had to classify you, I’d say you’re a stubborn fool much like me.”
“...”
“What help would it be to my life to butt heads with the chairman? If I’d just kept my mouth shut, I wouldn’t have been driven out in disgrace like this. I could have spent about three years playing golf, then once my employment restrictions were lifted, gone to any fund company and been treated well. Heh heh heh.”
“...”
“But because I couldn’t overcome that damned temper of mine, I ended up like this. That’s why I’m even more curious about what you’re thinking. No matter how I look at it, money isn’t your goal. Then what on earth is?”
The division head stared at me with not a trace of a smile on his face.
A man who always smiled at me as if I were his grandson was wearing such a frightening expression... and it made my heart suddenly sink.
“It’s similar to you, Division Head.”
“What?”
“Saving the pension fund.”
“Are you telling me to believe that right now...?”
“Then why did you stand up to the chairman?”
“It’s not something to boast about, but I already have several billion won in assets. I’m not hungry for more money anymore, and I don’t have much greed for titles either. In the end, I’d already secured my own way out, so I could charge in without regrets.”
“Either way, you chose a sense of duty over preserving your position. I’m just the same kind of person. A stubborn fool.”
The division head burst into laughter.
“Hahaha. Yes. Even my wife couldn’t understand why I did such a thing, and I can’t understand you either. Compared to you, I must be a very ordinary person.”
“...I mean it.”
“Fine. I’ll understand it as a sense of duty. I’ll understand that your goal is something money can’t buy. Take this.”
He held out a document.
“What is... this?”
“You passed. Today’s interview.”
“...Pardon?”
“It’s the agenda for selecting outsourced managers. Normally, they’re selected through meetings, but I told Manager Choi to leave one slot open. It’s an outsourced management contract worth roughly three trillion won. I’ll give you full authority.”
I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
Selecting outsourced managers was the pension fund’s largest bidding project, and only those at least director-level could take part in the “decision” discussions. The most team managers could do was offer a few words of advice.
“This isn’t just full authority in name. Try handling everything yourself, from selection to management.”
“...You’re saying you’ll entrust both firm selection and audits to me?”
“Yes. Complete autonomy. Even if you select a firm that says it’ll go all-in on cryptocurrency, the higher-ups won’t interfere. But let me ask you one thing.”
He held out another document to me.
“These are the firms our Investment Strategy Office managed to shortlist. Fund companies that have received mandates from the Yale Fund for decades, hedge funds with average annual returns approaching fifty percent... It’s full of monsters. Will you refer to this lineup, or will you select a completely different firm?”
I answered without hesitation.
“I know the American fund companies are skilled, but I’d like to select somewhere else.”
“Do you have a place in mind?”
“I still need to review it, but... I’m thinking of a Chinese fund company.”
“Heh heh heh!”
I thought a thunderous scolding would fall, but the division head instead burst into loud laughter.
“I knew it. You want to find a bridge that can let you contact Russia while avoiding the West’s financial sanctions, don’t you?”
“...How did you know?”
“The you I know isn’t the sort of fellow to refuse dirty money.”
Despite it being a dangerous statement, he did not seem surprised. Had he really expected it... or was he relaxed because he was a man on his way out?
“But listen. The Western financial world isn’t that easy to fool. They’ll quickly discover that we’re investing in Russia through indirect capital, won’t they?”
“They won’t be in any position to criticize others.”
“What?”
“The energy crisis that recently struck Europe... it can’t be resolved without natural gas. In the end, whether through smuggling or through third countries, they’ll be sending indirect capital to Russia as well.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“If they had truly intended to strangle Russia to death, there’s no way they wouldn’t have imposed a secondary boycott.”
Secondary Boycott.
An ultra-strong sanction where, when you decide to ostracize a friend, you also ostracize anyone who so much as exchanges a word with him.
It is the most powerful diplomatic card, powerful enough that every dictator whose name you would recognize has knelt before secondary sanctions. At present, the only ones enduring it are Iran and our brethren to the north.
Of course, if it had truly been upheld to the letter, they would have vanished from the map long ago.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend; no matter how often the West played the secondary card, it could not get past the wall called China, and thanks to that, North Korean nukes are currently aimed at Seoul.
Unfortunately, the same thing would happen this time.
The West glares at easy targets with every diplomatic card imaginable—secondary, tertiary, fourth-level sanctions and so on—but when it comes to China, the country that imports the most crude oil, they cannot make a peep.
In the end, Europe would indirectly import Russian natural gas through third countries, turning the war into a bizarre war of attrition in which it supplied weapons to Ukraine and dollars to Russia.
“But listen. Europe may be lenient toward itself, but it’s always strict toward others. If they find out that the outsourced manager contacting Russia is ultimately using our capital, they won’t sit still.”
“Division Head. Erasing the traces is entirely possible. In fact, it isn’t even that difficult.”
“Haha. You always have dangerous thoughts, don’t you...”
The division head smiled and shook his head.
“Whatever the case, I’ve decided to give you full authority, so I’ll respect your decision. I’ll tell Manager Choi. You may go now.”
With a heavy heart, I rose from my seat.
I was just about to say goodbye and leave.
“Wait, Manager Lee.”
He called me to a stop, then let out a deep sigh and looked at me for a while.
“There’s something I absolutely want to say.”
“...”
“Whatever you do from now on, I’ll cheer you on from afar. But never... never stand against power. I don’t know about anyone else, but I feel this is advice you absolutely need. Please, don’t forget my request.”