Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 526

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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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526. Isn’t that a bit too harsh, even for a sparrow?

Although Goldbank, which had first sparked the KOSDAQ venture investment craze, had peaked and collapsed by half in a shocking plunge, the Securities Trading Floor remained packed with people, the fervent investment enthusiasm still burning hot.
Having already experienced a mad surge where stock prices climbed fifty-five times in just a few months, people had tasted a rush more intoxicating than any drug, a dopamine explosion they couldn’t easily escape.
Of course, there were countless who had jumped on the bandwagon too late, caught the peak, and lost everything, left with empty pockets.
But conversely, there were those who had seized the opportunity and struck it rich, so everyone believed they too could achieve the same, buying and selling KOSDAQ stocks like gamblers at a casino rather than rational investors.
Moreover, the moment Goldbank crashed, a far more powerful superstar emerged, setting the entire KOSDAQ venture investment frenzy ablaze even more intensely.

[Seum Technology: 563,230 ↑ 32,025 (+5.6%)]

“What? It went up again today.”
“Unbelievable. Just a few months ago this stock wasn’t even worth ten thousand won. Where on earth is it going to stop?”

About fifty individual investors gathered in small groups before the large ticker board at the Securities Trading Floor, their eyes fixed solely on Seum Technology’s stock price, which had become the market’s hottest topic in recent days.

“If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have sold yesterday. I should have held on!”

A middle-aged woman with a permanent wave and pearl necklace stamped her feet in regret.
Elsewhere, a middle-aged man clutching a rolled-up financial newspaper let out a heavy sigh.

“Look at that trading volume. It’s not stopping—it keeps going up! Damn it. I shouldn’t have sold.”

Everyone had made respectable profits of thirty to forty percent, yet watching the stock continue climbing without any sign of falling sparked greed—the desire to have made even more.

“After rising this much, shouldn’t it be losing steam by now? Why is it still going up?”

The middle-aged man who had sold his shares frowned in frustration as the stock continued its ascent.
A man named Kwon Jin-hyuk, who had overheard the muttering and had become a full-time investor after his company went bankrupt during the IMF crisis, shrugged and spoke up.

“Haven’t you heard? Seum Technology is doing a stock split.”
“Huh? How is that good news? Goldbank did a stock split last time and crashed shortly after. Isn’t that bad news?”
“That was different. Goldbank was just an internet company in name only and was basically rolling over debt. But Seum Technology developed free internet phone technology and even made the news about partnering with GTE, some American telephone company, to do business.”

Indeed, Seum Technology was planning a groundbreaking service through its subsidiary established in the United States, partnering with GTE, a local telecommunications company, to provide free domestic and international calls.
When the company announced this, it coincided with the internet boom and became a major catalyst for the stock’s explosive surge.
As the number of free internet phone service subscribers rapidly grew to tens of millions or hundreds of millions worldwide, the stock price continued to break through the ceiling day after day.

“It’s a stock everyone’s been dying to get their hands on anyway. Once the stock split increases the number of shares and lowers the price, all those people who couldn’t touch it because it was too expensive will come rushing in, won’t they?”
“!”

Only then did the Middle-aged Man realize why the stock price was rising again today, and he clenched his fist with an expression full of regret.

“Damn it! This is no time for me to be sitting around.”

With that, he rushed frantically to the trading floor counter to buy back the Seum Technology shares he’d sold yesterday.
With such high market expectations, and after news spread through the media that a famous movie actor had invested in Seum Technology before its listing and made an enormous fortune from the stock’s explosive surge, public interest grew even more intense.
Thus, Seum Technology, which had become a black hole absorbing all the market’s supply and demand, finally broke through the 600,000 won per share barrier, which had seemed difficult to overcome before the stock split.

****

“This is absolutely insane.”

Jung Hwan-yeop, sitting at a desk with multiple monitors set up, shook his head and muttered to himself.

“What’s wrong?”

Choi Ho-geun, who had been reviewing the printouts that Noh Hee-won brought over, looked up and asked.
Then Jung Hwan-yeop, rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt out of habit, spun his chair around to face Choi Ho-geun and spoke.

“It’s Seum Technology. The stock price is absolutely insane, isn’t it?”
“Oh. That.”

Choi Ho-geun set down the printouts in his hand and continued.

“It dipped briefly this morning, then bounced right back and climbed, right?”
“Once it crossed 600,000 won, some profit-taking selling appeared, but the buying pressure remains so strong that it all got absorbed immediately. At this pace, it’ll end the day in the green again.”

Choi Ho-geun rose from his seat and approached Jung Hwan-yeop’s desk, checking the charts displayed on the monitors before nodding in agreement.

“With this kind of strength, the stock won’t break easily.”
“Ever since that article came out saying a famous movie actor invested 100 million won in Seum Technology and made tens of billions, people seem even more enthusiastic.”

At Hong Jae-hee’s words, Noh Hee-won, who had been growing her hair out for some time, clapped her hands together and said “Ah.”

“I heard about that too. You’re talking about the lead from Three Cups, right?”
“And those beer commercials with the lalalala dance are huge hits lately, so she’s doing really well. But to strike it big with stock investing too—I guess when luck is on your side, everything you do works out.”

Yu Seok-hyun spoke with an envious expression.

“I heard he’s friends with the founder of Seum Technology, and knowing they were struggling, he invested money to help them out—and it turned out to be a massive hit.”
“That’s what I heard too.”

While Hong Jae-hee and Noh Hee-won chattered away, Jung Hwan-yeop leaned back in his chair with both arms raised behind his head.

“That actor made a fortune too, but the person who really hit the jackpot is someone else.”

Yu Seok-hyun nodded as if he understood who was being referred to.

“You mean the Chairman?”
“Exactly. Everyone knows our company made an angel investment in Seum Technology under the Chairman’s direction and holds a 30% stake.”
“That’s why Bluehole Securities served as the lead underwriter when Seum Technology went public.”
“Right.”

Jung Hwan-yeop, who had been slouching, straightened his upper body with a grunt.

“Even if we calculate based on yesterday’s closing price of 600,000 won per share, how much would the stake be worth?”

Yu Seok-hyun’s jaw dropped as he finished the rapid calculation in his head.

“Over 180 billion won.”
“Wow!”
“Really?”

Hong Jae-hee and Noh Hee-won widened their eyes in astonishment.

“What’s even more remarkable is that this stake came from just a 3 billion won investment.”

Jung Hwan-yeop continued with a shrug.

“And looking at the current momentum, it’s extraordinary that no one can even predict how high Seum Technology’s stock price will climb.”
“Phew. That’s something.”

Yu Seok-hyun let out an exclamation.

“Just like with Goldbank last time, his foresight in picking venture companies that become ten-baggers is truly remarkable.”

It was a remarkable ability that couldn’t be replicated even if one tried.

“You’re famous for riding the dot-com wave properly in the United States, recognizing Netscape and Yahoo early on, investing in them, and generating astronomical profits.”

As Hong Jae-hee spoke with sparkling eyes, Yu Seok-hyun nodded deeply in agreement.

“It’s difficult enough to succeed at investment even once, but every venture you touch yields such massive returns—there’s nothing to say but that it’s remarkable.”
“Of course. He’s our Chairman!”

Noh Hee-won, who had become an ardent fan of Seok-won, nodded enthusiastically.

“Venture investment aside, I get goosebumps every time I see how precisely the Chairman times his trades and picks stocks that are about to soar.”

Jung Hwan-yeop spoke, resting his chin on one hand.

“Look at it now. Every single stock on the list he gave us has skyrocketed three or four times over. No matter how much I nerve myself all day buying and selling, the profits I make don’t even come close to what the Chairman earns in a single transaction—it’s enough to make me despair.”
“Tsk, tsk. Stop spouting nonsense.”

Choi Ho-geun glanced at Jung Hwan-yeop, who sat dejected, and clicked his tongue.

“I told you—a sparrow chasing a stork tears its legs. How could you even be compared to the Chairman in the first place?”
“Still, isn’t calling me a sparrow a bit harsh?”

Jung Hwan-yeop pouted and protested, and Choi Ho-geun shot back with an indifferent expression.

“Fine, I’ll say you’re a pigeon instead.”
“Those birds are too fat to even fly!”

The other team members listening to the two of them turned their heads and stifled their laughter.
Choi Ho-geun clapped lightly to gather attention and spoke.

“The Chairman made substantial profits from his investment in Seum Technology, so if we’re to earn our keep, we need to at least meet this month’s targets even if we can’t match him exactly. Everyone, enough chitchat—go make some money!”
“Yes, sir!”

Choi Ho-geun turned back to his desk and sat down, moving his mouse to pull up Seum Technology’s stock chart on his monitor.

[Seum Technology: 613,500 ▲ 12,250]

Choi Ho-geun watched the continuously rising stock price with anxious eyes, absorbing KOSDAQ funds like a massive black hole, and muttered softly to himself.

“When mountains are high, valleys run deep. I worry that if Seum Technology continues this steep surge, it might collapse in an instant like Goldbank did, potentially dragging down the entire KOSDAQ market with it.”

Excess is no better than deficiency, and to Choi Ho-geun, a manager who had spent over a decade rolling through the Yeouido Securities District, Seum Technology’s sharp upward momentum looked less like a trend and more like a tempest.

****

“Let me give this a bit more thought before I make a decision.”
“Understood.”

Yu Hyun-seok, the department head, bowed his head slightly as he received the approval document back, then straightened and left the Chairman’s Office.
As I heard the door close, I picked up the teacup sitting on the corner of my desk and took a sip of coffee when my cell phone vibrated.
I set down the teacup, gripped my phone, and immediately pressed the call button to answer.

“What brings Landon Shore to call at this hour?”
[I have bad news.]

I narrowed my brow at his subdued tone and asked.

“What is it?”
[Didn’t I tell you before that the polling results for the Democratic Party primary in Federal House Representative District 1, where Congressman Cuff announced his candidacy, have been poor?]
“You mean the opposing candidate’s approval rating is over 70%, while Cuff has only 11% name recognition?”
[Exactly.]

It wasn’t approval rating—only 11% of voters even knew who Cuff was. The result was truly shocking.
But knowing that Cuff wouldn’t even make it to the general election and would lose in the party primary, I wasn’t greatly surprised.
However, at what came next, my expression hardened.

[I just confirmed this news—the opposing candidate’s son died in a shooting accident last night.]
“…!”

I raised my eyebrows and asked again.

“Are you certain?”
[Yes. The accident is already being reported as breaking news on local stations.]
“Hmm.”

I let out a low murmur.

[Given that his approval ratings are already significantly lagging, this unfortunate tragedy will inevitably draw sympathy votes toward his opponent. It’s fair to say the primary is essentially over before the ballots are even cast, wouldn’t you agree?]
“That’s likely true.”

Seok-won replied with a bitter expression, adjusting his grip on his phone.

“What’s Amar Cuff doing about this?”
[From what I understand, he suspended his campaign immediately upon learning of the accident.]
“That makes sense. His opponent just lost a son to a gun accident—if he continued campaigning now, he’d face a massive backlash. That’s the wise move.”

Seok-won exhaled softly and spoke.

“Understood. Let me know immediately if any new information comes in.”
[I will.]

Setting down his phone, Seok-won leaned back and murmured to himself.

“The primary’s essentially finished without even reaching the voting stage—he must be devastated.”

Though sympathetic, I understood that like how earth hardens after rain, this tragedy would become a crucible that tempered Amar Cuff’s spirit and resolve. So I wasn’t overly concerned.

“Perhaps without this setback, he might never have achieved the monumental feat of becoming America’s first Black president a decade from now.”

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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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