New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 186

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 186. Epidemic (1)

An enormous amount of data had been collected.

Anonymous internet posts about losing grandparents to pneumonia.

Official documents from southern city local governments advising people to refrain from going out.

Even radio stories about wandering through dozens of hospitals because there were too many patients waiting for admission.

“The situation seems quite serious.”

“It’s still an epidemic circulating only within China. However, the government is tightening control excessively, making it difficult to accurately assess the actual scale of spread.”

Omnis created a real-time infection spread map.

The entire Southern China region was dyed in deep red, and below it, Hong Kong had a small dot marked on it.

That single small dot was concerning.

The fact that it had spread to Hong Kong meant border controls had already lost their meaning.

Now transmission was just a matter of time.

Especially Korea, which was closely connected through aviation and trade, would clearly be difficult to escape from the sphere of influence.

“What percentage does Omnis estimate for the possibility of infection across all of Asia?”

“At the current spread rate, there’s a 68% possibility of infection across all of Asia within 3 months.”

“That’s a high figure.”

“However, we can’t completely trust Omnis’s figures. The infection rate could vary dramatically depending on how the Chinese government responds.”

The moment I confirmed those figures.

A discordant sound like being stabbed with a needle rang in my inner ear.

While it might not have the same impact as the Iraq War, there was a high possibility that the world would be greatly shaken this time too.

And the biggest problem with this epidemic was.

Korea was also within the infection range.

“We need to respond as well.”

“In what direction do you mean?”

“The moment this epidemic spreads to the Asian region, or worldwide, travel, aviation, and consumption-related stocks will be hit first.”

With an epidemic spreading, who would want to travel?

Moreover, once governments of each country began issuing travel restriction alerts, travel and airline stocks would inevitably plummet.

“I’ll create a short selling portfolio assuming an epidemic spread scenario.”

“Good. But also prepare positions on the opposite side.”

“Do you mean the medical sector?”

“That’s right. Switch pharmaceutical companies and medical device company stocks to concentrated buying.”

While profit rates would vary depending on the situation.

Since the epidemic had already begun, related stocks would inevitably move.

“You said this epidemic was pneumonia-related, right?”

“That’s correct. It’s being classified as a respiratory infectious disease.”

“Then mask demand will explode. And everything from medical devices including thermometers to the quarantine sector will rise. Especially companies related to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea will likely be greatly affected, so please proceed accordingly.”

A new variable called epidemic.

I didn’t yet know exactly how this variable would progress.

But since I could vaguely see the shape of an even more massive gear structure than expected, I couldn’t just sit still.

***

The epidemic spread faster than expected.

Starting with Hong Kong, infection reports came in succession from Vietnam and Singapore.

Soon it crossed the Pacific, and the first confirmed case was identified in Canada in North America.

“Branch Manager, stock prices have started moving.”

“With confirmed cases appearing in North America, stock prices are definitely starting to move.”

“The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell -11%, and the Singapore index also fell about -10%. However, in the case of the United States, perhaps because the impact is limited, it only fell about -3%.”

Clearly, fear hadn’t properly permeated the market yet.

The number of confirmed cases wasn’t that high, and the number of countries it had spread to could be counted on one hand.

“Still, travel-related stocks fell significantly.”

“In the case of airline, travel, and hotel stocks, they plummeted about 15%. And consumption and retail stocks also fell 10%. Conversely, pharmaceutical and medical stocks rose over 30%.”

“What’s the total position size?”

I had completely entrusted this investment to the Deputy Branch Manager.

Until now, the General Manager and I had directly led all investments, but we couldn’t intervene in everything forever.

“The total investment scale is 10 billion dollars, and including derivatives, we’ve built positions worth about 30 billion dollars.”

“Good. That should be sufficient.”

Tiger Fund’s managed assets had already exceeded 100 billion dollars.

However, we couldn’t deploy all those funds into the market.

This investment progressed faster than expected.

With much funding tied up in long-term positions, deploying 10 billion dollars was the best we could do.

“The key is WHO. Depending on what grade they classify this epidemic as, the market will fluctuate greatly.”

“If it’s spread to Canada, an announcement shouldn’t be far off.”

“I’m already hearing that emergency meetings are being held internally.”

There was nothing we could do right now.

We couldn’t receive the results of WHO’s internal meetings in advance.

While waiting, I surveyed the worldwide situation through Omnis.

Fear of the epidemic was spreading instantly, and that fear led directly to market anxiety.

And I realized.

That epidemics were also powerful variables that could shake the global economy.

But we still lacked information.

If only we could have known a little faster, a little more accurately.

We could have moved at a better timing, on a larger scale.

In the end, there was only one answer.

More data.

For the first time, I desperately felt the necessity of directly securing an epidemic-related information network.

“Hmm, I should meet with Korean hospital personnel too.”

“I’ll contact them now and arrange a meeting with major hospital personnel.”

“No. Our company also has a contact, so I’m thinking of meeting that person first.”

“There was such a person?”

“There’s exactly one. Well then, I’ll be back shortly.”

I headed to the Rollbook Office.

Inside the design room, Yu Min-jung was drawing new character drafts, and I approached her side and spoke quietly.

“Are you very busy?”

“CEO? What brings you here at this hour?”

“Could we talk for a moment?”

“Of course. Is it about design revisions?”

“It’s not about design. I have something I want to ask regarding the epidemic that’s currently spreading.”

Yu Min-jung put down her pencil and stared at me intently.

Her eyes held a question: why are you asking me about that?

“I know both of Min-jeong’s parents are doctors.

And isn’t your father serving as a Hospital Director?”

“That’s right. But actually… we don’t talk that often. Ah! I have heard this though. If a respiratory epidemic spreads in Korea, it would be a real disaster. There are too few hospital rooms dedicated to respiratory patients, so if infection spreads, it would be unmanageable.”

In the case of respiratory infectious diseases, treatment in regular hospital rooms was impossible.

Due to their high contagiousness, special rooms that could completely block air circulation were needed – namely, negative pressure rooms.

However, among Korea’s major hospitals, only a few possessed negative pressure rooms, and even those had a small number of rooms.

“While the epidemic hasn’t entered Korea yet, looking at the current spread rate, confirmed cases might appear soon.”

“Really? I heard this epidemic has quite a high fatality rate… This is serious.”

“That’s why Tiger Fund wants to pursue a social contribution project. A negative pressure room support project. Would it be okay to cooperate with the hospital your father operates, Min-jeong?”

The social contribution project was merely packaging.

The biggest purpose was to secure epidemic-related data.

To secure all data, we needed to participate from the design stage of negative pressure rooms.

“It doesn’t matter to me. I can arrange a meeting with Father, but I probably won’t be of much help.”

“Just arranging the meeting is enough. I’ll handle everything else myself.”

“Alright. I’ll bring it up as soon as I get home today.”

Yu Min-jung said with a shrug of her shoulders.

But seeing how her hand trembled as she picked up the pencil again, it seemed her relationship with her parents wasn’t very good yet.

***

The very next day.

A meeting was arranged with Yu Sang-cheol, Yu Min-jung’s father and hospital director.

I went directly to Korea University Hospital to meet him as the hospital director, and was able to meet him wearing his doctor’s coat.

“It’s my first time meeting you. I’m Lee Jung-hoo, serving as the Branch Manager of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.”

“From what I heard from Min-jeong, I know you as the representative of Rollbook, but do you also have a relationship with Tiger Fund?”

“I’m serving as both the representative of Rollbook and the Branch Manager of Tiger Fund simultaneously.”

“Haha, Tiger Fund – I’ve heard about it many times through the media. Quite impressive for such a young age.”

Hospital Director Yu Sang-cheol said while adjusting his glasses.

His gaze seemed to scan me, as if trying to figure out who his daughter was working under.

“Thank you for your kind words. As you may have heard through Min-jeong, we want to proceed with a negative pressure room project with Korea University Hospital as part of our social contribution project.”

“Hmm, is this because of the infectious disease that’s spreading in China?”

“That’s right. Confirmed cases have already appeared beyond Vietnam, even reaching Canada. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before confirmed cases appear in Korea.”

Professor Yu Sang-cheol’s expression changed when the topic of infectious diseases came up.

He made a serious face and shook his head.

“Even our hospital, called Korea’s best hospital, doesn’t have proper negative pressure rooms. Negative pressure rooms themselves are expensive, but when there’s no infectious disease outbreak, they have to remain empty, making maintenance costs quite substantial.”

“Tiger Fund and Rollbook will support all those costs.”

“I’d like to hear specifically what kind of support you’re planning to provide.”

To secure proper data, we needed to be able to control the entire building.

But building a new structure right now was impossible time-wise.

So I had divided the plan into several stages.

“First, we’ll install negative pressure rooms within Korea University Hospital’s existing building, and we’ll bear the full cost of all construction and maintenance.”

“…The full cost?”

“That’s right. And afterwards, we plan to establish a separate infectious disease center.”

“A specialized center – do you mean you’ll build a new building?”

“Correct. We’re thinking of purchasing land around the hospital and building a dedicated center solely for infectious disease research and treatment.”

This meant establishing a new department within Korea University Hospital.

It was essentially no different from building an entirely new hospital.

Since we’d need to create doctors, nurses, research personnel, and administrative organizations from scratch, it was a scale of work impossible without government support.

“Could I know the exact amount?”

“In the first phase, we plan to invest 5 billion won to support existing ward remodeling, around 10 negative pressure rooms, air conditioning facilities, and initial equipment.”

“…Having a first phase means there’s also a second phase planned.”

“Correct. The second phase support is center establishment. We’ll purchase land under Tiger Fund’s name and directly construct the building. However, ownership of that building will belong to Tiger Fund. We’re thinking of providing Korea University Hospital with operating rights in the form of free lease.”

The total support scale combined would reach 20 billion won.

The largest portion – land purchase and new building construction costs – would remain Tiger Fund property.

Nevertheless, the 20 billion won support amount was on par with the Korean government’s infectious disease response budget.

“Is there a reason you’re going to such lengths? No matter how large a corporation, I’ve never heard of pursuing social contribution projects of that scale.”

“Tiger Fund isn’t a large corporation but a financial company. A global-scale financial company at that. We possess the financial power to do things that Korea’s large corporations cannot.”

I had no intention of disparaging Korea’s large corporations.

I was simply stating facts.

No matter how much Samjin Electronics ranked among the global top 100 companies, there were clear limits to the funds they could operate with.

Manufacturing industries have money tied up in facilities and personnel.

No matter how much internal reserves they accumulated, they couldn’t match Tiger Fund’s financial power.

If products were commodities to them, money itself was our commodity.

So we could use money like a product.

And since Tiger Fund Korea Branch’s operating funds were entirely in my hands, I could immediately execute such social contribution projects.

“Do you really intend to newly establish an infectious disease center?”

“That’s right. So I hope you’ll help us, Hospital Director. If voices are raised from within the hospital, the government probably won’t easily accept, right?”

“Actually, there is precedent. Last year we signed a cancer research center sponsorship and joint research agreement with Samjin Life.”

The path was already open.

We just needed to follow the same path that Samjin Life had opened.

If we could gain the hospital director’s cooperation, the next steps would proceed naturally without complex procedures.

“I heard that in the case of the cancer research center, sponsorship poured in from various companies. But the infectious disease field is different. No major hospital in Korea has a dedicated center yet. Shouldn’t Korea University Hospital, Korea’s best hospital, start first?”

“Hospitals are ultimately no different from businesses. Realistically, it’s difficult to expand the scale of departments that aren’t profitable.”

“You don’t need to worry about that part anymore. Tiger Fund will bear all the costs.”

From Korea University Hospital’s perspective, there was nothing bad about it at all.

If an unpopular department received full support, they could naturally secure more doctors and research personnel.

In that case, research results would inevitably follow.

The more related papers were published in international medical journals, the more Korea University Hospital and Medical School’s evaluation would rise together.

And there was nothing bad for the hospital director either.

Through the infectious disease center, he could secure the justification of public interest, and his position within the hospital would be further strengthened accordingly.

“Good. I’ll trust Tiger Fund and proceed with the infectious disease center project.”

“Let’s start with the negative pressure room construction first. We don’t know when infectious disease patients might occur domestically.”

“Actually, there’s one ward that’s old and not being used. Remodeling plans were already scheduled.”

“We’ll start construction from tomorrow.”

“Temporary negative pressure room construction is possible at the hospital director’s discretion, but establishing an infectious disease center requires consultation with the government.”

That was exactly why I had come to see the hospital director.

Someone to handle the troublesome political procedures on our behalf.

“I’ll ask you to handle the government consultation, Hospital Director.”

“Haha, of course. Since Tiger Fund wants to do good work, I’ll try to persuade the Ministry of Health and Welfare well.”

“I look forward to working with you.”

Now all negotiations were finished.

But the hospital director seemed to still have something to say, and was making an even more serious face than during the infectious disease center consultation.

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