Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 142

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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142. Let me give you the sword dance you’ve been wanting to see.

After hanging up the receiver, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun turned his head with a slightly stiffened expression to look at the monitor installed on his desk.

[Boseong Communications 26,300 ▲ 1,860]

As the market manipulators pushed the stock price back up through collusive trading, retail investors who had taken losses from the shake-out came flocking back, and the stock had entered a full-fledged uptrend.

“It’s a bit early, but we’re looking at doubling our money even if we sell here. No real reason to complain.”

Muttering to himself, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun swept his gaze across his team members who were diligently trading at their desks, then stood up.
He then walked over to Jung Hwan-yeop, who was sitting right in front of him, and struck up a conversation.

“What are you doing?”

Jung Hwan-yeop, who was trading stocks with three bulky CRT monitors stacked on his desk, leaving no empty space, looked up and answered.

“As you can see, I’m working hard.”
“You’re not slacking off, are you?”
“Am I some kind of entertainment? Why do you keep picking on me?”

Jung Hwan-yeop’s face took on an aggrieved expression.
Seeing that, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun let out a brief chuckle before his expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice to speak confidentially.

“Remember what I told you last time?”
“Which one? You’ve given me more than one task.”

Jung Hwan-yeop tapped the keyboard dismissively as he replied.

“Boseong Communications.”
…!”

Watching Jung Hwan-yeop’s face stiffen, Team Leader Choi Ho-geun continued speaking calmly, as if it were nothing serious.

“Liquidate everything right now.”
“…All of it, sir?”
“Yes. Every last share.”
“Understood.”
“Report to me once it’s done.”
“Yes, sir.”

Choi Ho-geun patted Jung Hwan-yeop lightly on the shoulder before returning to his desk.
It looked like he was simply exchanging idle pleasantries as usual before heading back.
In fact, Hong Jae-hee and Yu Seok-hyun, fellow team members, paid no attention and simply went about their work.
Jung Hwan-yeop glanced around before fixing his gaze intently on the stock price movements of Boseong Communications.
He was waiting for the moment when the coordinated traders would engage in what was known as wash trading—buying and selling stocks among themselves at predetermined prices and volumes to artificially inflate the share price.
Since he had already been monitoring Boseong Communications’ stock under Choi Ho-geun’s orders and had identified the wash trading patterns, he could quickly seize the right timing.

“Bingo.”

With eyes gleaming, Jung Hwan-yeop’s fingers flew across the keyboard and mouse the instant a buy order appeared from the coordinated traders’ account.
His movements were just as swift as those of Choi Ho-geun, a master at scalping.
In an instant, his order executed ahead of theirs, and all the Boseong Communications shares he held in nominee accounts were sold off.

* * *

“What?! What is this?”

Jo Chul-rae, who had failed to sell his shares when someone suddenly intercepted his order during the wash trade, let out a startled cry.
The other employees around him widened their eyes and stared at Jo Chul-rae.

“Manager Jo, what’s wrong?”

When the employee beside him asked, Jo Chul-rae tried to respond as if nothing was amiss.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”

Though he forced a smile, he couldn’t hide his rigid expression.
Feeling the strange gazes from those around him, Jo Chul-rae hurriedly checked his monitor and saw that his sell order hadn’t been executed. He bit his lower lip hard.
To make matters worse, the stock price that had been climbing steadily began to falter under the sudden massive sell-off.
Seeing that, a premonition struck him—something had gone seriously wrong.

“Damn it.”

Jo Chul-rae cursed under his breath, then shot up from his desk and bolted out of the office in a panic.

“What’s gotten into him?”
“Who knows….”

At the sight of Jo Chul-rae’s abrupt departure, his subordinates exchanged bewildered glances, tilting their heads in confusion.

* * *

Slam!

Woo Ho-geun brought his palm down hard against the desk, his face flushed with rage as he bellowed.

“How the hell are you people doing your jobs!”

At the furious outburst, Son O-seung and Jo Chul-rae, standing side by side before him, flinched and hunched their shoulders.

“Director, we’re still in the office. Please calm down.”
“Damn it all.”

Woo Ho-geun, heeding the words of his aide Oh Sang-hyun, slumped back into his chair.
With frustration etched across his face, he roughly loosened his necktie knot and glared menacingly at the two men before him.

“Explain to me what happened. Again.”

Son O-seung hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

“During the collusive trading, someone intervened and dumped their position on us.”
“Who the hell are these bastards!”
“We haven’t identified them yet….”

Before he could finish, Woo Ho-geun’s eyes blazed as he raised his voice again.

“Are you playing games with me right now!”
“I-I’m terribly sorry!”

Son O-seung quickly bowed his head and apologized.
Then Oh Sang-hyun stepped forward, trying once more to calm the enraged Woo Ho-geun as he spoke.

“The operation has hit a snag, but it hasn’t completely fallen apart.”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”

Sensing the moment, Son O-seung quickly offered his explanation.

“If they’d stolen the shares, that would’ve been a disaster. Fortunately, they only dumped the volume and disappeared, so our plan shouldn’t face any major setbacks.”
“Exactly. In fact, this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.”

Jo Chul-rae also nodded eagerly from the side, lending his support.

“A blessing in disguise?”

Woo Ho-geun’s brow furrowed as he asked with a sharp, piercing gaze.

“Yes. We’ll be holding the volume at a higher price, raising our average cost, but in exchange we’ve acquired additional shares.”

Woo Ho-geun watched with his arms crossed, as if urging him to continue. The violent glint in his eyes that moments ago seemed ready to erupt had settled somewhat.
Jo Chul-rae straightened his posture, tensing his neck slightly as he continued.
Jo Chul-rae continued speaking with tension in his neck and a stiff posture.

“If we boost the stock price sufficiently, then sell off the increased stake on top of that, we’ll be able to generate even greater profits.”

Son O-seung, the department head, quickly picked up on the cue and chimed in.

“You’d better. Otherwise, I won’t let this slide.”
“Of course that’s how it should be. Otherwise, I won’t let it slide.”

Son O-seung and Jo Chul-rae instinctively swallowed hard, sensing that this was no mere threat.
Manager Son O-seung and Director Jo Chul-rae, sensing that it wasn’t just casual talk, unconsciously swallowed hard.

“Yes.”
“Move up the timeline. Get it to 80,000 won per share by the end of this month.”
“Move up the timeline and make 80,000 per week by the end of this month.”

Son O-seung widened his eyes and showed reluctance.

“The stock price is already drawing attention with its significant surge. If we triple it in just two weeks, we might inadvertently attract the Securities Supervisory Board’s scrutiny.”
“That’s right. It’s far too risky.”

It was merely a thin veil over the manipulation scheme, but to conceal it even slightly, I had decided to stretch the timeline to a minimum of two months before driving up the stock price.
Yet I had halved that timeframe and raised the target price even higher—no wonder I was alarmed.

“If you’d done your job properly, we wouldn’t need to do this.”

Woo Ho-geun replied coldly.
When both men fell silent without any rebuttal, Woo Ho-geun’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“So you’re saying you can’t do it.”
“No, sir.”

Woo Ho-geun’s gaze swept across both their faces with the chilling intensity of a serpent’s stare.

“There are no second chances, so don’t disappoint me again.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Both men answered with rigid formality.

“Now get out.”

The two men bowed sharply and immediately left the room.
As the door closed, Woo Ho-geun clicked his tongue and grimaced in one fluid motion.

“Pathetic fools.”

Oh Sang-hyun, standing to the side, spoke carefully, gauging his mood.

“I understand your frustration, but I’m concerned we might be moving too hastily with this operation.”
“I’m well aware that rushing things rarely ends well.”
“Then why….”

At his puzzled look, Woo Ho-geun muttered with an uneasy expression.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“About this whole situation. Something feels off.”
“….”
“They must know there’s a scheme in play. If their only goal was money, it would be far easier and more profitable to simply hold the shares and sell them on the market once the price climbed higher. Why dump the volume like that?”

Upon hearing this reasoning, Oh Sang-hyun realized it made perfect sense and nodded heavily.

“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Woo Ho-geun, leaning back in his chair, spoke with a gleam in his eyes.

“But the fact that they dumped the shares so carelessly tells me there’s definitely some other agenda at play.”

Only then did Oh Sang-hyun catch the foul stench of it all.

“What do you think they’re after?”
“I don’t know either. That’s exactly why it bothers me.”

Even after thinking it over, Oh Sang-hyun couldn’t quite grasp what their opponent’s true intentions were.

“So you’re planning to accelerate and finish this ahead of schedule.”

Woo Ho-geun gave a small nod of agreement.

“With so much already at stake, I can’t afford to back out just because something feels wrong. There’s only one way forward.”
“I see.”

He was right, of course.
Had he acted alone, it might be different, but with capital pooled from various sources, any delay or withdrawal would trigger chaos from those investors first.
If this were something I’d done on my own, that would be one thing, but since I’ve pulled together funding from various sources, if I delay or back out halfway through, they’ll be the ones raising hell first.

“Let me find out what bastards are getting on my nerves by barging into my business without fear.”
“Find out which bastards are bold enough to meddle in my affairs and get under my skin.”

However, Woo Ho-geun frowned at the uncomfortable feeling that did not easily go away even after that.

Beyond the large floor-to-ceiling windows, a spectacular view of the red sunset between tall buildings unfolded.
Beyond the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, a magnificent vista unfolded—towering buildings silhouetted against a crimson sunset.

[Trading will be halted before the market opens tomorrow and a search and seizure will begin immediately.]

When Choi Bok-rak, the head of the Securities Supervisory Service’s Prosecutor Division 1, told him what he wanted to say, Seok-won put a faint smile on his face.

“It must not have been easy to get two approved at the same time. You have the ability, after all.”

Although he gave a subtle compliment, Manager Choi Bok-rak reacted indifferently.

[I was spoon-fed perfect evidence to you, but I’m not so stupid that I couldn’t take it properly.]
[You practically handed me perfect evidence on a silver platter. I’m not incompetent enough to fumble it.]
“Of course not. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have sought you out in the first place.”

Manager Choi Bok-rak smiled bitterly.

“You will be busy for a while to take care of this matter, but please set aside some time on the evening of the third Friday of next month.”
“You’ll be busy handling this matter for a while, but please clear your schedule for Friday evening of the third week next month.”
[….]

Seokwon continued speaking while adjusting his cell phone to his ear.

“Vice Minister Choi Jin-woo will also attend and give a congratulatory speech, so when he comes, I will introduce him as promised.”

Then Manager Choi Bok-rak, who was silent for a moment, responded in a low voice.

[Your skills in dealing with people are not average.]
[Your skill at handling people is quite exceptional.]

It was a slightly sharp tone, but Seokwon shrugged his shoulders and brushed it off.

[I will dance the sword dance properly as you wish.]
[I’ll make sure to perform this delicate dance exactly as you wish.]

After finishing the call, Seokwon put his cell phone in his pocket and looked at the setting sun beyond the skyscrapers.
After ending the call, Seok-won slipped his phone into his inner pocket and gazed at the sunset, now nearly complete beyond the towering buildings.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t see it in person.”

If trading was halted, not only would the operation that had been carried out go awry in an instant, but the moment the search and seizure began, Donghae Peregrine Securities also suffered a major blow.
If trading were suspended, not only would the operation collapse in an instant, but the moment a search and seizure began, Donghae Peregrine Securities would suffer catastrophic damage as well.

“I’m going to the abyss, carrying everything I handed over today.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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