Chapter 496

With the continued increase in the US benchmark interest rate, dollars were drying up in the market. But there were still many rich people in the world.

I personally contacted the big players holding dollars and started selling.

"Hello, Chairman Warren Buffett."

[Heh heh, it's been a while.]

We exchanged greetings and got straight to the point.

"I'm planning to issue bonds with my stake as collateral, and I was hoping you could buy some."

He had been increasing his cash holdings long before the crisis began, and Berkshire Hathaway held a whopping $150 billion in cash.

Seeing this, it's clear that the reputation of the Sage of Athens was not earned for nothing.

Perhaps he had already heard the rumors, as he asked without surprise.

[What do you plan to do with it?]

"I'm thinking of investing in the Chinese market."

A long silence followed my words.

[China is a sinking ship. If you know the ship is going to sink, you should pack your bags and get out as soon as possible. Boarding now is foolish.]

Berkshire Hathaway has assets in China worth $100 billion. If Berkshire Hathaway were to sell its stocks, it could be a signal that would accelerate the collapse of the Chinese economy, so he was also unable to move easily.

Chairman Warren Buffett continued, as if giving advice.

[The market does not move based on right and wrong. All that exists is profit and loss. If the odds of winning were even 51 percent, I would also have sided with OTK Company.]

The situation is so bad that even he would say this.

I have succeeded in my investments by breaking everyone's doubts and disbelief. Can I do it again this time?

"The ship will not sink. If you board when others are jumping off, you might be able to pick up the luggage they left behind."

[Do you really think you can stop the crisis?]

In fact, there's a problem even if the foresight is right.

Can we really find a Geratinium mine in the Sea of Tranquility? Is it really a pure substance? And can we bring it to Earth safely in time?

If even one thing goes wrong, this plan will fail. Nevertheless, I had decided to bet everything on it.

Therefore, I answered with conviction.

"Yes. We can stop the crisis."

[What will you do if you fail?]

After making a lot of money through investments, I always had this question. Where are all those riches born from, and where do they go?

No matter how much money you have, you die someday, and that money flows somewhere else again.

Rothschild is trying to keep that flow in their hands.

Losing money is sometimes a pain like death. I'm just as afraid. What will happen after all that money is gone? How will the world look at me?

Fear eats away at a person's heart.

I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them.

"It doesn't matter. It was money that was never mine to begin with."

Even if I lose the money, I won't lose everything. Taek-gyu, Ellie, and Hyun-joo noona will still be by my side.

There are things in the world that you can't trade for any amount of money. For me, that is enough.

"If I fail, I'll start over from the beginning. As long as the market exists, you can always make money again."

After hearing my words, he burst out laughing.

[Alright. I will purchase $50 billion worth of bonds.]

"Thank you."

[It's not something to be thanked for. I am only responding because, as an investor, I think it's a good investment opportunity.]

If it's repaid in a year, that's good. If not, even better. Either way, Berkshire Hathaway will not suffer a loss.

After the call with Chairman Warren Buffett ended, I called another prospective buyer.

"Hello, Crown Prince Sulaiman. This is Kang Jin-hoo. I'm planning to sell bonds with my stake as collateral. Are you interested by any chance?"

***

The fact that Kang Jin-hoo had issued bonds with his stake as collateral immediately spread throughout the financial world.

The interest rate was 7 percent, and the maturity was only one year. If he failed to repay the debt within a year, the bondholders would receive the OTK Company stock held as collateral. It was a chance to get their hands on OTK Company in its entirety.

These were attractive enough conditions to draw out dormant investment funds.

After hearing Grace's story, Grant said.

[He plans to lure investment with a short maturity. Does that mean he's that confident?]

Kang Jin-hoo personally met with Chairman Warren Buffett, Crown Prince Sulaiman bin Salman, and Korean chaebols to sell the bonds. But the issuance scale was so large that the amount poured into the market was enormous.

"The hedge funds are already scrambling to buy, with fire in their eyes. We need to disperse the funds to buy up the bonds."

[It's like throwing a bone with plenty of meat to hyenas driven by greed. No matter how much of a common goal they have, they're bound to be swayed when there's prey in front of them.]

"And he'll use the dollars he raises to defend against our attack."

[It's a strategy to attack the enemy with the enemy's money.]

It might sound strange at first, but it was not an uncommon thing in the financial market.

Even the hedge funds themselves are borrowing and selling Chinese stocks and currency to bring down China.

Grace nodded.

"I guess we have no choice but to fall for it, even knowing."

The greatest invention of mankind is finance.

Finance makes it possible to borrow money, lend money, buy money with money, create something out of nothing, and turn 1 into 100.

Rothschild grew through finance and is ruling the world through finance. While Kang Jin-hoo can only move his own capital, Rothschild owns banks and investment companies.

Whoever controls the head, the body will follow. So in this fight, Rothschild is bound to win in the end. Kang Jin-hoo is probably not unaware of this fact either.

The only reason he is going this far is because he has the card of the JN Battery.

He probably saw a foresight of mining Geratinium from the moon. This will come true.

But...

[An investment that misses the timing has no meaning.]

SpaceX's spaceship will never reach the moon. As has always been the case, victory belongs to Rothschild.

Grace muttered to herself.

'The foresight of mining Geratinium on the moon will be realized by Rothschild.'

***

[Kang Jin-hoo Issues Stock-Backed Bonds!]

[800 Billion Dollar Bond Sale Begins with 80 Percent of OTK Company Stock as Collateral!]

[Warren Buffett, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Sulaiman bin Salman Invest in Bonds Issued by Kang Jin-hoo]

People who heard the news were horrified.

- Holy shit! He's raising 800 billion dollars?

- He's just doubling down and going for it.

- Crazy. He's putting his stake on the line for bonds?

- Is that stake worth that much?

- If OTK Company is worth 1 trillion dollars, that's a bargain. MS and Npple are also worth 1 trillion dollars.

- If you buy one OTK Company, you get CarOS, OTK Games, Faceit, Rosatom TWR, the patents for OTK Battery and JN Battery, and so on, all in a row.

- What on earth is he going to do with that money? Is he really going to bet on the Chinese market?

- No way... if he can't repay on time, Kang Jin-hoo's entire stake will be gone.

Surprisingly, Kang Jin-hoo used the dollars he had raised by selling the bonds to buy up yuan and Chinese stocks in the foreign exchange market.

Just as the speculative forces announced their positions and gathered their forces, so did Kang Jin-hoo.

"The world economy will regain its stability and continue to grow. OTK Company will actively buy assets in China, including the yuan."

Kang Jin-hoo had made similar remarks before. But this time, it was not just words, but he put it into action. In a situation where Wall Street hedge funds had chosen a short position, Kang Jin-hoo alone chose a long position.

As Kang Jin-hoo accepted the speculative forces' selling, from China's perspective, it had the effect of securing that much additional foreign exchange reserves.

The Chinese media began to praise Kang Jin-hoo day after day. CCTV broadcast a special documentary on Kang Jin-hoo's investment success stories, and the People's Daily featured Kang Jin-hoo's remarks on its front page.

Remarks from financial authorities also followed.

"It is true that there are difficulties in the Chinese economy, but it is at a level that the government can control."

"The speculative forces will pay the price for ignoring the warning."

Even Jin Xiaoshun, the governor of the People's Bank of China, came out to the press.

"China has sufficient means to use monetary policy and economic stimulus. The current chaos is just a passing storm."

- Why is this bastard siding with China?

- LOL, he's really crazy. If the Chinese economy collapses, OTK Company will also collapse.

- LOL, OTK Company is going to go out of business. Kang Jin-hoo will become a beggar and beg with a can at Seoul Station.

- If China collapses, from then on, it's the collapse of the world economy. The US will survive, and the rest will all die.

- Seeing him siding with the Communist Party, he's a certified pro-North Korean commie.

- I don't know if he's pro-China or a commie, but seeing Kang Jin-hoo come out like this, doesn't it mean he's really confident?

- The Russian and NATO forces are also quiet. Seems like a 3rd World War has been avoided?

- Seeing him buying up like that, maybe China is really okay.

- There's no way Kang Jin-hoo would do something that would result in a loss, right?

- Well. No matter how much it's Kang Jin-hoo, that seems like too much...

- All he has to do is mine Geratinium from the moon and he succeeds.

- That's why I think it's impossible.

There were still many negative reactions, but as the news of Kang Jin-hoo buying up became known, the stock market's decline temporarily slowed down, and the preference for safe assets subsided, and the rise of the dollar also stopped.

***

The calendar had somehow turned to April.

Taek-gyu looked at the monitor and muttered.

"April is the cruelest month. Who said that?"

"It's probably a line from T. S. Eliot's poem."

He's an otaku who has picked up a lot of things from somewhere.

In any case, looking at the plunging stock market, I could keenly feel the words that April is the cruelest month.

"Mark Twain said April is a dangerous month for stock investment."

"Really? That guy is smart."

"For reference, the other dangerous months he listed were October, July, January, September, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February."

"..."

That's how risky investment is.

The hedge fund alliance deliberately continued to pour out short sales. This is something that is difficult to stop even if China pours out its foreign exchange reserves. As expected, it was impossible to support the falling foreign exchange market and stock market with just my capital alone.

As the days passed, the losses accumulated. It was like pouring water into a bottomless pit.

I started this with determination, but seeing my balance decrease at the speed of light, my blood runs cold.

Taek-gyu nodded as if in sympathy.

"Looking at the balance these days is just exhilarating! It's always new! Investing is the best!"

"..."

Seeing him suddenly talking nonsense, it seems he's also under a lot of stress.

In any case, this tug-of-war over whether it will go up or down is only for now.

If SpaceX succeeds in exploring, mining, and transporting Geratinium, the path to global economic recovery will be opened. On the other hand, if it fails, it will be a situation that no one can handle.

"I'll be back. Keep the company safe."

"Don't worry."

After saying goodbye to Taek-gyu, I went over to the next building.

Ellie was busy working. I stood outside for a while and watched her.

She, in her suit and with her hair tied up, was shining in her own right. I see her face every day, but she's beautiful today too.

After a moment, a staff member who had spotted me said something, and Ellie finally stopped what she was doing and turned her head.

"What is it?"

"I'm about to leave for the US. I came to see your face before I go."

"When are you coming back?"

"After the work is done."

Ellie, without caring about the other staff members, hugged me and kissed me.

"Have a good trip. You know your health always comes first, right?"

"Of course."

By the time I come back, everything will be over.

What kind of expression will I have when I step on Korean soil again?