New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 188

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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 188. Epidemic (3)

The Minister of Health and Welfare doubted his own ears.

Korea University Hospital had already secured negative pressure rooms.

“Really?”

“Since the construction was rushed, we couldn’t secure many rooms, but based on current standards, we can accommodate up to about ten patients.”

“But why didn’t I receive that report?”

Korea University Hospital was a public medical institution receiving government support.

Naturally, large-scale construction couldn’t proceed without approval from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Especially for construction requiring expensive facilities like negative pressure rooms, not a single penny of budget could be executed without permission from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

“We proceeded with construction using donations, not government funding. Since it was such an urgent situation, we only submitted a preliminary report to the Ministry of Health and Welfare in document form.”

“If it proceeded with private capital, the approval process could be skipped. But are the negative pressure rooms really fully equipped? No matter how quickly it was done, I understand negative pressure room construction takes at least several months.”

Everyone had the same question.

That was understandable, since negative pressure room construction was known to be complex in structure and require a long construction period.

“It was possible thanks to Tiger Fund’s help.”

“Tiger Fund sponsored the negative pressure room construction?”

“That’s right. They didn’t just provide funding. Thanks to them deploying the air conditioning team and equipment from their semiconductor factory, we could drastically shorten the construction period.”

The Minister let out a brief exclamation mixed with complex emotions.

The news of securing negative pressure rooms was welcome.

But the fact that a hospital had already finished all preparations before he even gave instructions troubled his mind.

“Huh, the personnel and equipment from a semiconductor factory are related to negative pressure rooms?”

“That’s right. There’s no place with more air conditioning experts than a semiconductor factory. Moreover, the clean room system of semiconductor factories and the structure of negative pressure rooms have almost the same basic principles. So we could directly apply some of the equipment used in semiconductor factories.”

The Minister fell into thought for a moment.

The achievements of Korea University Hospital, a public medical institution, were also the government’s achievements.

And the negative pressure rooms that Korea University Hospital had built in advance.

When he realized they could be packaged as an example of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s rapid response, his complicated mind instantly felt clear.

“Korea University Hospital indeed! Good. Then let’s designate Korea University Hospital as the SARS response headquarters. We’ll transfer all patients from suspected cases to confirmed cases to Korea University Hospital.”

“We can handle around 10 patients sufficiently, but beyond that, both treatment personnel and facilities will hit their limits.”

No one knew how many confirmed cases there would be.

If lucky, the current ‘0 cases’ could be maintained, but that was only optimistic expectation.

If unlucky, there could be dozens or even hundreds.

Therefore, Hospital Director Yoo Sang-cheol reached out to various places to get cooperation from other hospitals, but they all turned their heads away.

In the end, Korea University Hospital was taking on all the burden.

The Minister also immediately grasped that atmosphere and offered support measures to appease Korea University Hospital.

“We’ll organize an emergency budget at the government level. Part of it will be prioritized for Korea University Hospital. You can use emergency funds immediately without prior approval. Just submit post-settlement reports.”

“There’s one more thing I’d like to mention.”

“If you need anything else, please speak comfortably.”

Hospital Director Yoo Sang-cheol realized this was already an irreversible situation.

Then he had to take this opportunity to gain maximum benefit.

“We’re planning to build Korea’s first infectious disease center with Tiger Fund, not just proceed with negative pressure room construction.”

“An infectious disease center? The cost won’t be insignificant…”

“Tiger Fund has agreed to sponsor all costs. We keenly felt the necessity of infectious disease response facilities due to this SARS outbreak. We must start construction as soon as possible.”

The Minister’s lips slowly curved upward.

An infectious disease center rather than simple negative pressure rooms?

In a situation where fear was maximized like now, it was the perfect card to gain public support.

And that support would directly become his political asset.

Then… it absolutely had to be completed within his term.

“You’ve made a very big decision. I’ll personally go to the Blue House and report to the Prime Minister and President. Since it’s an emergency situation, I’ll help minimize procedures so construction can start as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you. We’ll do our best to prevent SARS from spreading.”

“Hospital Director Yoo, I trust you.”

A very warm atmosphere was created.

Just then, the conference room door opened urgently and a Welfare Ministry Employee rushed in frantically.

“Minister! A suspected SARS patient has been discovered at Incheon Airport!”

The conference room air instantly froze.

It was the moment when the SARS crisis finally became reality in Korea too.

Cold sweat flowed down the Minister of Health and Welfare’s face, and without even time to wipe the sweat, he immediately gave instructions.

“Don’t delay and immediately transfer to Korea University Hospital. Announce that Korea University Hospital is designated as the SARS hub hospital.”

“I should go to Korea University Hospital first.”

“Hospital Director Yoo, please depart quickly.”

“I’ll immediately activate the negative pressure ward to isolate the suspected patient.”

“I should also go to the Blue House right now.”

The situation turned urgent.

The real SARS crisis was starting now.

***

All data generated from Korea University’s negative pressure rooms was automatically transmitted to our system.

Thanks to this, we could confirm faster than anyone that the first suspected patient had occurred.

“Branch Manager! A suspected SARS patient was just transferred to Korea University Hospital!”

“The negative pressure rooms are finally being activated. There shouldn’t be any problems with the system, right?”

“We’ve already conducted several test runs. There wasn’t a single error, and it actually showed much superior performance compared to existing negative pressure rooms.”

It was natural since the negative pressure rooms were directly designed by semiconductor air conditioning experts.

Air conditioning and filtering technology at a level that couldn’t be implemented at the hospital level was deployed, and since it was a result created with numerous experts participating from design to manufacturing, it had to be excellent.

“Please continue monitoring whether all data from pathogen identification to treatment process is being transmitted properly.”

“We’ve built the negative pressure room computers and equipment data to automatically link to our system. Still, we’ll continuously check in case of any unexpected errors.”

Meanwhile, news bulletins began appearing.

The media began covering news that Korea’s first suspected SARS patient had occurred, and the market reacted immediately.

“Fear seems to have reached its peak.”

“Not just Korea, but the entire Asian Market including the United States, Europe, and Hong Kong are in panic.”

“Since we’ve hit the peak, it’s time to close our short positions.”

There’s a famous saying on Wall Street.

Sell on greed, buy on fear.

But this was for general stock trading situations, and with Short Selling, you had to move in reverse.

You had to sell on fear and buy on greed to increase returns.

Since now was exactly the peak of fear, all positions had to be closed.

“I’ll start liquidation work right now.”

“Prepare reverse trading immediately after liquidation.”

“Do you think the SARS crisis will calm down quickly? There are even deaths in China and Canada.”

If it had spread faster than now, stock prices could have fallen further.

But in reality, the spread wasn’t as fast as expected, and people were already entering a stage of gradually becoming accustomed to fear.

“Much uncertainty has disappeared. The cause has been identified, and all infection routes have been revealed. When uncertainty decreases, markets stabilize quickly.”

“I’ll prepare reverse trading immediately.”

“Most countries have established quarantine systems. Fear will subside faster than expected.”

Song Sang-yeon showed a momentarily suspicious expression, but ultimately followed my judgment.

There was trust in me, but also the fact that Omnis was supplementing the lacking parts was significant.

Omnis still wasn’t raising the warning level.

Rather, the data showed a higher possibility of the warning level being lowered.

***

The Korea Branch, Headquarters, and Asia Branch all moved simultaneously.

We began rapidly liquidating our Short Selling positions.

We also gradually closed long positions in quarantine sector related stocks according to Market conditions.

“Branch Manager, we’ve finished liquidating all short positions.”

“What’s the return rate?”

“We liquidated aviation and travel stocks at an average of -40%, and cleared consumer and retail sectors in the -20% range. And we sold quarantine-related pharmaceuticals and medical devices at about 40% above our purchase price.”

It was a return recorded in a short period of time.

And this wasn’t the end.

“What’s the return rate including leverage?”

“We applied 3x leverage in total. The comprehensive return rate is 93%.”

“So we invested 10 billion dollars and made nearly 9 billion dollars in profit.”

“After deducting fees and various costs, it’s slightly over 9 billion dollars.”

9 billion dollars was a profit equivalent to 11 trillion won.

Thanks to this, the 20 billion won invested in Korea University Hospital didn’t feel wasteful at all.

And the investment wasn’t even finished yet.

“Proceed with the reverse trades immediately.”

“Yes. Stock prices jumped briefly due to the short volume we threw, but the fear remaining in the overall market is still strong, so they quickly got pressed down again. We’ll start buying sequentially from now.”

Now it was time to bet on market stabilization.

This was never an investment based solely on my intuition.

The risk graph analyzed by Omnis was steadily declining, and that data was giving me confidence.

Ding! Ding!

Soon after, buy execution sounds rang out in succession.

Fund employees moved their hands quickly to buy up volume.

We were buying up not just Korea, but the entire United States, Europe, and Asian markets.

Someone handled New York, someone handled London and Frankfurt, and someone else handled Hong Kong and Tokyo.

That’s why night and day had no meaning for us.

The employees’ fingers pounded keyboards non-stop for 24 hours.

Only when it reached 5 AM did we finally get a moment to catch our breath.

The New York Market had just closed, the European Market had closed long ago, and it wasn’t time yet for the Asian Market to open.

During that brief gap, employees took a sip of lukewarm coffee.

Or went to the bathroom, using time efficiently.

The Deputy Branch Manager overseeing the site could also catch his breath for a moment with an exhausted face and give me a report.

“We’re securing volume stably. The downward trend is still strong, so we can buy without price fluctuations.”

“You’ve worked hard. Just secure the initial volume for sure. Fill the rest slowly.”

After finishing his report, the Deputy Branch Manager looked down at my desk.

Seeing several real estate photos laid out, he tilted his head.

“Are you thinking of proceeding with real estate investment too?”

“Don’t you feel the building we’re currently using is too small? We need a building that can house Tiger Fund, Nexpin, Rollbook, and all other subsidiary companies.”

The Deputy Branch Manager nodded.

The scale of Tiger Fund Korea Branch was also growing more than double every year.

Since Nexpin and Rollbook were also showing tremendous growth every year, a bigger building was indeed needed.

“To gather all Tiger Fund subsidiary companies in one place… it would need to be at least 20 floors.”

“20 floors is nowhere near enough. Considering our growth rate, we need at least 50 floors.”

“50 floors or more… would such properties even exist?”

That was the problem.

Korea didn’t have many large-scale buildings that could accommodate all of us at once.

“So I’m thinking of buying one 20-floor building to use as a temporary headquarters, while starting construction on a super-large building in the meantime.”

“Would there be land left in Seoul to build a super-large building?”

“If there isn’t, we’ll have to create it.”

Since we made money, now it was time to spend it.

And this wasn’t luxury consumption either.

Buying land and buildings was a kind of investment, so I entered into full-scale real estate shopping without hesitation.

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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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