WVKWnovel Chapter 222
Chapter 222
Translator: Dreamscribe"......"
I stared unblinkingly at the electronic board that never stopped moving.
I had no idea how long I'd been glued to it, but it had to have been several days at least.
The silver lining, though, was that my concentration wasn't dropping as the days went on; if anything, it was sharpening. Still, I figured I should maintain some basic human decency, so I did step away briefly now and then to take a shower.
But since even a shower could break my focus, I kept them as quick as possible, and for meals, I made do with bread or kimbap.
That was the only way I could keep up with the signals my intuition was sending, reacting to the board as it shifted second by second.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime festival across the world's stock markets.
I couldn't afford to waste a single minute, a single second.
"Overall, it looks like things have entered a stabilization phase, right?"
"Yes. The market was shaking pretty badly in the early stages, but it seems to be gradually returning to where it was before the financial crisis. If we leave it as is, I think it'll make a full recovery to its former state in no time."
I had gone out on media, issued impassioned statements pleading for support, and taken out every advertisement imaginable. If the results had gone the opposite direction after all that, it would have been unbearable.
But thankfully, the global markets had entered stable territory.
"What about China and Russia? It must be difficult for them to reopen their markets, right?"
"Headquarters says they're currently looking into whether there's a viable solution."
Russia was one thing, but getting the Chinese markets back on their feet was equally important.
Even though global markets had entered stable territory, there was no telling when they might nosedive again.
The influence of the Chinese stock market couldn't be ignored.
That was why, to achieve true stability, both Russia and China needed to reopen their markets.
"Of course, even if those two markets do reopen, they won't be what they used to be. The risk of civil war is significant, and a lot of factories were destroyed in the fighting."
"But they still have plenty of potential, don't they?"
"Yes. There's also the Rare Earth Elements issue, and China had been serving as the world's factory, so companies will be eager to see a quick recovery too."
This was a problem beyond my control.
Expecting the civil war to end immediately and for Russia and China to reunify like before was unrealistic, but I still hoped they'd find peace as soon as possible.
I was truly sick and tired of war.
"Well then......"
I turned my eyes back to the board and prepared to direct operations according to my intuition, which was still sending signals without rest even today.
Just as I was about to relay instructions to each team.
Bang-!
Someone kicked the door open and barged in.
"Oh. Ch-Chairman-nim!"
It was none other than hyungnim.
And he looked absolutely furious.
I don't think I'd ever seen him that angry before.
"Jung Jin-ho. What the hell do you think you're doing!"
"......Huh?"
"I told you to make sure you get enough rest no matter what!"
"I was actually resting just like you told me to, hyungnim......"
Not long ago, he had sent a secretary with a warning that if I didn't take adequate rest, he could forcibly shut down my trading.
So I had reluctantly been taking rest periods.
"I heard everything, you punk! You call a measly thirty minutes a day rest!? You haven't slept a wink in a week! No matter how young and energetic you are, if you work for a week straight without sleeping, that's death from overwork!"
"I'm still fine, really."
"Fine, my ass! Every blood vessel in your eyes has burst, they're completely bloodshot. Your wife came to me and begged me to stop you! Go look in a mirror, you fool. See what you look like!"
I glanced at my reflection in the office glass.
I did look pretty rough, no denying it.
I'd lost a lot of weight, too.
"But I really am still okay. Besides, this time around, markets worldwide are even running on weekends, everyone's going all-in. So I can't exactly take a break here......"
But something felt off.
The intuition that had been sending me signals just moments ago had cut off abruptly, and no matter which stock I looked at, not a single one was lighting up anymore.
"Huh......"
Maybe that was why.
With my concentration broken, my heightened state unraveled too.
And the fatigue I'd been suppressing all this time crashed into me at once, making my body sway on its own.
"J-Jin-ho!"
"CEO-nim!"
My eyelids grew impossibly heavy, and my vision went black.
* * *
"China, Russia, and all nuclear-armed nations including the United States have similar systems. They've all built their nuclear launch systems using analog technology to make digital hacking impossible."
The world was going digital in the twenty-first century, but the most threatening weapons known to humanity, nuclear weapons, had to remain analog more than ever.
Because if someone hacked in, they could bring about the end of the world.
"That's why Nuclear Footballs are typically split into three. All three have to be brought together in one place, and the keys must be turned simultaneously for the launch codes to be generated. Without entering those codes, a nuclear base simply cannot fire."
"So it's physically impossible to launch without the Nuclear Footballs?"
"Yes. Virtually impossible. It would be a disaster if someone staged a deliberate coup and seized a nuclear base. So they've made it impossible to fire missiles without the launch codes, and if anyone tries to physically bypass that, the entire base is designed to self-destruct."
"Couldn't that be solved with technology?"
"Yes. The problem is that with current technology, removing the control mechanisms would take decades at minimum. That's how intricately they've been designed."
The nations possessing nuclear weapons were far from fools.
They too understood the dire consequences of rebel forces seizing a nuclear base.
That was why they had built multiple control mechanisms to ensure launches were absolutely impossible without all three Nuclear Footballs.
"What about extracting the nuclear material and building something new?"
"They would have installed safeguards against that as well, to prevent nukes from falling into the wrong hands. Even with skilled experts working on it, it would take considerable time."
"So in the end, without all three Nuclear Footballs gathered in one place, there's no nuclear authority?"
"Correct. The problem is that in both Russia and China, the Nuclear Footballs' whereabouts are unknown. Several factions are claiming they have them, but according to our intelligence, no single faction currently possesses all three. In China, Tian Gang is believed to have one."
There was a reason Russia and China were in such chaos right now.
If a specific faction gained nuclear authority, it would establish a certain power structure, but the Nuclear Footballs had all vanished, and everyone was desperately hunting for them.
"And...... one of them might come to us?"
"Yes. After China's defense minister died, his right-hand man, Yang Wei, had apparently been hiding with a Nuclear Football. Then he made a formal request for our extraction."
"He could have handed it off to another faction, though?"
"He can't trust them."
"And he can trust us?"
"Didn't Kwangwoon send an official communique to the various factions in China and Russia? Saying that if they're willing to cooperate, we can reopen the markets of the two countries that are currently shut down. After seeing that, he apparently concluded that Kwangwoon is the only force capable of ending this civil war."
The man had a sharper mind than expected.
Right now, the only entity that could bring this chaotic situation to an end was Kwangwoon.
And there was a reason behind suddenly sending that message using the Chinese and Russian stock markets as a pretext.
"Kwangwoon is getting ready to wrap up the civil war."
"But they don't want Russia and China reunified under one banner?"
"There was a reason Kwangwoon engineered massive civil wars in both countries. They both possess enormous territory, don't they? China especially, the entire country was under centralized government control, which made the pace of progress extremely fast. If left unchecked, China would have eventually surpassed everyone in every field. They wanted to suppress that."
Kwangwoon didn't want one Russia, one China.
No matter how powerful Kwangwoon was, if Russia and China remained unified as before, they would be difficult to control.
That was why they had deliberately plunged both nations into chaos, making them tear each other apart.
And they wanted this fragmented state to continue indefinitely.
"That way, it actually becomes easier for Kwangwoon to control Russia and China. It also brings them one step closer to their plan for control over humanity."
China unified was terrifying, but China splintered into several pieces, as it was now, was far easier to handle.
"First, we need to meet this Yang Wei."
"You're going in person?"
"Given the gravity of the situation. If we want to earn his absolute trust, I need to go myself. And besides...... we can't afford to let our competitors beat us to it, can we?"
When it came to Sentinel's competitors, who else could it be?
The shadow organization that CEO Jung Jin-ho was running.
Whatever else might happen, there was absolutely no way they could let those people get ahead of them.
* * *
"What happened to CEO Jung Jin-ho, Chairman-nim?"
"Fortunately, there's nothing seriously wrong with him. They say he'll be fine in no time if he gets enough sleep and rest."
The executives let out sighs of relief.
Who was Jung Jin-ho, after all?
He was everything to Kwangwoon.
If he went down, Kwangwoon went down with him.
That was why they had all been so alarmed when they heard he'd collapsed.
"Still, I never imagined he'd been so absorbed in trading that he wasn't even sleeping."
"Yes. I heard he was issuing thousands of orders a day. He kept that up for seven days without rest, so it's honestly a relief it ended at just this."
"And the timing actually works out well. With the markets overheated and entering stabilization, most exchanges have decided to either close early today or not open at all."
That being the case, there remained one crucial question.
Exactly how much had Kwangwoon made during these seven days?
"CEO Jung Jin-ho placed orders right up until the very end before going down, so apparently nothing has been cashed out yet."
"It's all still in the stock market?"
"Yes. And the total was just calculated moments ago."
Even Hwang Dae-woon had no idea exactly how much had been made.
"The circumstances were rather unusual this time, weren't they?"
"Yes. Day Trading with 5,000 trillion won is absurd on its face. And no country would normally just sit back and watch. But given how dire the situation was, it was temporarily permitted, and that's precisely why CEO Jung pushed himself so hard. He must have seen it as an opportunity that would never come again."
And that was the truth.
The chance to invest freely across the world's stock markets, and with an astronomical sum of 5,000 trillion won at that, was exceedingly rare.
No. It was impossible.
That impossible thing had been temporarily possible, which was exactly why Jung Jin-ho had clung to it so desperately.
"So, how much? How much did we make?"
"Chairman-nim. Before the financial crisis hit, do you know approximately how much money was circulating in the world's stock markets?"
"How much?"
"Roughly 150 to 170 quadrillion won. But with all the civil wars breaking out and markets being destroyed, a staggering 100 quadrillion evaporated."
One hundred quadrillion, gone into thin air.
The thought alone was horrifying.
"That's why the whole world rushed to shut down their markets. At the rate things were going, there wouldn't have been a single won left."
"Right. I get that it was a historic Great Depression. But why are you bringing that up now?"
"Thanks to CEO Jung Jin-ho, the markets fortunately saw over 120 quadrillion won flow in during this past week. At this pace, they say breaking through 150 quadrillion should happen quickly."
"And?"
"Chairman-nim. Of that amount, 50 quadrillion belongs to our Kwangwoon."
"......?"
For a moment, Hwang Dae-woon doubted his own ears.
"What? H-how much? 50 quadrillion?"
"Yes. And we own the core conglomerates representing each country, so in practice, Kwangwoon now has a grip on the entire world economy."
"Is, is that even a possible number? 10 quadrillion would already be staggering, so how on earth do you get to 50? That's ten times as much!"
"As I mentioned, the circumstances were unprecedented, and CEO Jung Jin-ho's extraordinary insight played a major role. He spent seven days without rest, moving through stock markets across the entire globe, growing the money to that level through continuous investment."
Unable to believe it, Hwang Dae-woon checked the data on his tablet again and again.
"He'd buy when stocks were worth less than scrap paper, sell when they peaked, then buy again when prices dropped, repeating the cycle endlessly."
"Wouldn't a country normally step in to block that kind of trading volume?"
"Yes. In principle, that's correct, but not a single government did."
"Because if they had, only their own market would have suffered?"
"Exactly. If they'd intervened, it would have triggered a massive uprising in their country. Everyone and their neighbor is jumping into the market right now."
Now he understood why Jung Jin-ho had been so obsessed with investing, grinding his body down to do it.
A day of trading when the entire world lifted every restriction and opened the gates.
When would an opportunity like this ever come again?
"But still, how do you turn 5,000 trillion into 50 quadrillion......!"
And yet, it was an unreal number, that much was certain.
Kwangwoon now held 40% of the world's stock markets.
"......"
Still unable to accept that reality, Hwang Dae-woon could only stare blankly at the dashboard displayed on his tablet.