Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 287

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

287. Sumitomo Corporation Has Finally Surrendered!

Sumitomo Trading Company Headquarters in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, Japan.

Splash.

Manager Sugihara, who had rushed to the office in the early morning hours, rolled up his dress shirt sleeves and splashed cold water on his face in the empty restroom.
As he turned off the faucet and lifted his head, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror before him, and his expression grew bitter.
The copper prices had been seesawing wildly for days, keeping his nerves frayed and robbing him of proper sleep—his face had grown rough and his eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion.
Moreover, he hadn’t even had time to shave before rushing out, leaving his jaw covered in unkempt stubble.
As he stared at his worn and haggard appearance, a creeping anxiety suddenly seized him—was he fighting a battle he could never win?
Not long ago, he had been a predator with the copper market in the palm of his hand, but now he was merely prey, struggling to survive surrounded by dozens of ravenous hyenas.
The past few weeks had been nothing short of a nightmare.
Despite his desperate efforts to prevent copper prices from falling, the backstab from the Chinese Companies and the devastating blow delivered by the Eldorado Fund had brought everything to the brink of ruin.
He had managed to prevent the price from breaking through $2,600 by purchasing 200,000 tons of physical copper and buying additional futures contracts, but it had squeezed out every last drop of his resources.
His losses had already swollen to unbearable levels, and he no longer had the strength to continue fighting.

“I wish I could just abandon everything and disappear somewhere.”

Manager Sugihara muttered in a hollow voice.
While the massive losses were troubling enough, the situation had grown so large that it was becoming impossible to hide—he lived in constant dread of when President Ito and the other executives would catch on.
Moreover, he couldn’t be certain that the Eldorado Fund’s assault had ended, nor could he predict when the Chinese Companies might dump more physical copper onto the market.
A sudden thought crossed his mind: what if, when copper prices had begun to fall contrary to his initial predictions, he had admitted his mistake, liquidated his positions, and reversed course?
But he had already gone too far to turn back, and regret was now a futile exercise.

“How much longer can I hold on? A week? Two days…?”

In a situation where he felt his lifeblood draining away day by day, Manager Sugihara found himself wishing that everything would be exposed so he could finally escape this hell.
Just then, the pager at his waist beeped, and when he pulled it out to check the display, he saw the office number and his face darkened.

“They won’t even give me a moment to catch my breath.”

Manager Sugihara leaned against the sink, bracing himself with both hands, and let out a heavy sigh.
He dreaded discovering what new crisis awaited him this time.
He needed to return to the office quickly, but his heavy feet refused to move.
As Manager Sugihara hesitated, torn between exhaustion and dread, the restroom door suddenly burst open with urgent footsteps.

“Manager Sugihara!”

A New Employee who had joined this year came rushing in wearing a dress shirt, gasping for breath as he spotted Manager Sugihara.

“Manager, you’re here.”
“Is something wrong?”

I quickly concealed my wavering composure and asked with forced nonchalance.
The New Employee then cried out with a pale face.

“Sell orders are pouring in, and copper spot prices have plummeted below $2,600!”

Manager Sugihara’s eyes widened, and he immediately cursed before rushing out of the restroom.

“Damn it!”

The office I returned to was engulfed in chaos, as if a bomb had fallen—phones rang incessantly from every direction, and shouts filled the air.

Ring! Ring!
“Check the New York situation!”
“What! Another sell order came in. This is absolutely maddening.”
“CNMC just released another 30,000 tons. What the hell are these Chinese bastards doing!”

CNMC, China National Mineral Resources Group, was a state-owned Chinese mining company and one of the world’s top three copper producers.
Hashimoto, the half-bald head of the Non-Ferrous Business Division, slammed his desk with a rigid expression.

“Damn these Chinese dogs!”

Hashimoto, furious at CNMC and Chinese companies for continuously dumping copper spot supplies and fanning the flames, spotted Manager Sugihara entering the office and approached with heavy strides.

“Where the hell were you when things are like this!”

Hashimoto shouted in an irritated voice.
Manager Sugihara, who had been staring blankly at the international copper spot price displayed on the large ticker board installed in one corner of the office, answered haltingly with a dazed expression.

“I… I was in the restroom.”
“Tsk!”

Hashimoto clicked his tongue loudly and pointed at the large ticker board with his hand.

“You saw the copper prices getting hammered, didn’t you? The hedge funds are shorting, and those damned Chinese companies are dumping physical inventory in massive quantities. Copper prices won’t recover anytime soon. Sell off all our holdings immediately, even if we take a loss!”

Sugihara visibly paled and turned to face him.

“Sir? But the losses would be enormous!”
“Then what do you suggest?”

Hashimoto furrowed his brow and pressed the issue.

“If we retreat now, we risk losing the position we’ve built in the copper market. But if we hold firm and absorb the selling pressure, once this storm passes, the price will surely bottom out and rebound.”

Hashimoto’s expression darkened.

“I understand what you’re saying, but the situation is deteriorating. We need to liquidate our positions before the losses grow any larger.”

At his firm directive, Sugihara’s eyes widened in distress.

“Just a little longer, please. Trust me one more time!”

All the hard work up to this point was on the verge of becoming nothing.
When Sugihara continued to resist instead of following orders, Hashimoto’s irritation grew visible—his eyebrows shot up.

“You do as you’re told! Why do you have so much to say? Sell the inventory now!”

But despite Hashimoto’s angry voice, Sugihara hesitated instead of responding immediately.

“Didn’t you hear me!”

Hashimoto’s frown deepened as he pressed the demand for liquidation again. As their voices rose, the staff’s attention had already shifted toward them.
Realizing he could no longer hide the losses, Sugihara gave up entirely. His shoulders sagged as he spoke in a hollow voice.
Realizing that he could no longer hide the losses, Manager Sugihara gave up on everything and answered in a weak voice with his shoulders drooping.

“…I have too much inventory, and if I sell now, the losses will be too great.”

Hashimoto, the head of the Department, who had been unaware of the exact inventory quantity because Sugihara, the Manager, had been handling all the copper transactions alone and only submitting post-reports later, placed both hands on his hips with an angry expression.

“How much copper inventory do you actually have that you’re doing this?”

Sugihara, the manager, mumbled for a moment before reluctantly answering.

“I… we currently hold 1.4 million tons.”

Hashimoto’s face went pale with shock at those words.
Wondering if he’d misheard, Hashimoto broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly asked again.

“Did you just say 1.4 million tons?”

The employees around him were equally stunned, their faces registering disbelief at the staggering copper inventory that far exceeded all expectations.

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

Sugihara kept his head bowed, unable to meet anyone’s gaze as he answered.
Only then did Hashimoto realize the gravity of the situation. His face drained of all color, and he shouted, his voice trembling with fury.

“Are you insane! How could you hold such massive quantities without reporting it to me!”

Sugihara, left with nothing to say, simply shook his head in resignation.

“I apologize.”

Hashimoto trembled with shock and rage, his voice sharp as he demanded an answer.

“How much have we lost!”
“…Including the futures contracts we purchased, we may be facing losses of 50 billion yen, or possibly even 100 billion yen.”

The staggering figure left Hashimoto speechless, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
The other employees stared at Sugihara in shock, their faces drained of color.
Save for the relentless ringing of a phone, the entire office was engulfed in an eerie silence.
While Hashimoto and the non-ferrous metals division staff remained frozen in shock, Sugihara kept his head lowered, his eyes squeezed shut.
He could hear the sound of his carefully built career crumbling to dust.

* * *

The next morning.
Seok-won emerged from the villa in a navy suit, accompanied by his executive secretary Han Ji-sung, and Ju Geun-sung, who had been waiting by the Mercedes sedan parked in front, quickly bowed his head.

“Good morning.”

Seok-won smiled as he climbed into the back seat through the door that Ju Geun-sung held open for him.
After closing the door and walking around the hood, Ju Geun-sung settled into the driver’s seat and spoke to Seok-won through the rearview mirror.

“Then I’ll get us started.”

Seok-won gave a small nod as he leaned back against the plush leather seat, and Ju Geun-sung pressed the accelerator, smoothly pulling the car away from the curb.

“Ahn Byung-seok, the president of Digital Wave, has contacted us asking if you might visit the company at your earliest convenience.”

Han Ji-sung turned from his seat in the passenger’s side to speak, and Seok-won’s expression grew curious.

“What’s this about?”
“They’ve completed a prototype of the MP3 player they’ve been developing.”

Seok-won’s eyes widened in surprise as he asked again.

“He really said that?”
“Yes. I heard it clearly.”

Seok-won sat in stunned silence, mentally counting the months. The MP3 player prototype that should have emerged around the end of next year had already been completed—it made sense to be astonished.
The accelerated timeline was undoubtedly a result of his involvement.

‘My intervention must have expedited the development schedule.’

There were no other variables worth suspecting.
In truth, because Seok-won had provided substantially more development funding than originally planned, President Ahn Byung-seok could focus entirely on MP3 player development without financial constraints.
Beyond that, by granting unrestricted access to foundational MP3 technologies and providing detailed technical documentation, the development had accelerated even further.
Combined with the passion of President Ahn Byung-seok and Digital Wave’s young, ambitious research team, they had achieved the remarkable feat of producing a prototype in mere months.
Seok-won, delighted by this unexpected good news, asked with a pleased expression.

“Apart from the executive meeting this morning, I don’t have any particularly important appointments, do I?”

Han Ji-sung checked the diary in his hand and replied.

“We have a meeting at 2 PM with the executives of the Josangbeom Virus Research Institute, which we’ve invested in.”
“That’s not something I absolutely need to attend. Have Yoon the Managing Director go in my place.”

Since it wasn’t a particularly critical engagement, Han Ji-sung nodded and adjusted the schedule accordingly.

“Understood.”
“Then cancel all afternoon appointments and contact President Ahn. Tell him we’re visiting today.”
“Yes.”

While my face brightened with anticipation of what the world’s first MP3 player might look like, a vibration buzzed from my pocket.
Seok-won picked up his newly purchased mobile phone and answered the call.
It was a Motorola StarTAC—a device that could fold in half and weighed so little it had caused a sensation since its recent launch.

“Hello.”
[Boss! Sumitomo Corporation has finally surrendered!]

Landon Shore’s excited voice crackled through the phone.

“What do you mean?”
[Since yesterday afternoon, they’ve stopped defending copper prices and seemed to be watching. Just now, Sumitomo Corporation began selling off their physical holdings and futures positions.]

Seok-won’s eyes gleamed as he instinctively grasped that Manager Sugihara’s reckless actions had finally been exposed.

“That’s excellent news.”

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