In xico, a massive capital outflow of foreign funds began to erupt.
It was triggered by the looming crisis surrounding the xican peso.
On that single day alone, $6 billion exited the xican central bank.
But that was just the beginning.
On the 22nd, xico expanded its fluctuation range for the dollar exchange rate and executed another devaluation asure.
At the beginning of 1994, the exchange rate was 3.1 pesos per dollar.
By the ti Han Kyungyeong signed the contract with Goldman Sachs, it had already fallen to 3.5 pesos.
No one on Wall Street expected the newly elected governnt, which had won the August general election, to devalue the peso.
By early next year—if my mory was right—it would hit 7 pesos to the dollar before maturity.
A single gamble had yielded more than fifty tis the return.
― Muhyuk, you were right.
Han Kyungyeong’s voice was trembling.
“Ha...”
A sigh escaped without realizing it.
Even knowing the future, it was impossible not to be nervous.
All the tension evaporated in an instant.
― When do we liquidate?
“Let’s wait until January.”
― Whew... From now on, I’ll do whatever you say. Just tell when to pull the trigger.
“Okay. Let’s talk again later. Keep monitoring the trend.”
― Got it. Until we close, I won’t let down my guard. Don’t worry about that.
The call with Han Kyungyeong ended.
Maybe it was because the tension had broken, but sleep crept up on .
‘If it goes the sa as in the original tiline, we’ll see about $15–20 billion in profit.’
Thinking about the gains, I unknowingly fell asleep.
* * *
Goldman Sachs Headquarters.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Tommy, the CFO, burst into Peter’s office.
Peter, spaced out, jumped to his feet.
“What do you an sothing happened with the peso?!”
“The ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) xican governnt has devalued the peso.”
Tommy’s face turned white as a sheet. He pressed a hand to his forehead.
“What’s the current rate?”
“It's 4 pesos to the dollar. The market hasn't fully reacted yet, but who knows how much it’ll drop by tomorrow.”
“The contracts we signed were based on 5 pesos, right?”
Peter asked in a trembling voice.
“Did he seriously predict this?”
“Ridiculous. How would so rookie hedge fund have known sothing we didn’t? How much did we take in total?”
“We sold half to clients. The other half... we kept.”
“Ha...”
Tommy let out a deep sigh.
“Have they contacted you?”
“No. Not yet.”
“How far do you think it’ll drop?”
Peter did the math silently, then cautiously answered.
“At least 5 pesos. At most, 7.”
“Let’s wait. If it drops below 5, contact them and suggest liquidation. It was your contract, after all.”
Tommy subtly shifted the bla to Peter.
“But the executive who signed off was you—”
“What are you talking about? It’s in your na.”
The next day, however, another peso devaluation was announced. They could no longer play the bla ga.
Massive amounts of dollars had already left xico, and with another devaluation, there was no stopping the peso’s collapse.
In the end, Tommy instructed Peter to contact Han Kyungyeong.
― Hello.
Before Jas could finish speaking, Peter jumped in with an overly cheerful tone.
“Hey~ Jas! It’s Peter!”
― Oh, Peter! Been a while. What’s going on?
“That... that contract from before.”
― Hm? What contract?
Jas pretending not to know grated on Peter’s nerves, but he couldn’t show it.
All the executives in the room were staring at him.
“The peso one. Aren’t you going to liquidate? You’ve made a profit—now’s a good ti.”
― Ah, right, that one. But we’ve still got ti before maturity, don’t we?
“About a month. But you never know what could happen. I suggest you close now. Just so advice from a seasoned Wall Street senior.”
Laughter ca through the receiver.
― Hey, Peter. I still rember the look in your eyes when you mocked back then. Senior? Please. See you in January.
And the call cut off.
“Jas! Jas!”
Peter frantically called his na, but of course, there was no response.
Still half in shock, Peter was snapped back to reality by an executive’s voice.
“What did he say?”
“Sorry?”
“Is he going to liquidate?”
“Uh...”
“You’re killing . Spit it out.”
“He said, ‘See you in January,’ and hung up.”
Groans filled the office.
“What are we going to do now?”
Tommy demanded in frustration, and Peter looked up and glared at him.
“Why are you asking ?”
“Who else would I ask? You brought in the contract.”
“Ask the insane xican governnt what they were thinking! You’re the one who signed the contract, Tommy. Don’t push this on .”
“What?!”
The chairman, who had been silently watching, finally clicked his tongue.
Tommy, about to say sothing, shut his mouth.
“It doesn’t matter who signed the contract. The question is—can you fix this?”
Neither Tommy nor Peter could answer.
Fix it? There was no fixing this.
“Peter, you’re fired. And Tommy, so are you. You’re both responsible for this.”
At the chairman’s cold declaration, Peter accepted his fate.
Nodding quietly, he left the office and returned to his team.
He couldn’t bring himself to say anything in the face of their resentful stares.
“...I’m sorry.”
* * *
The new year of 1995 arrived.
The peso’s fall continued into the new year.
― Hyung, let’s close now. Sell it all.
“Okay! One second.”
Han Kyungyeong was giddy following Kim Muhyuk’s command.
A day after liquidation began—
“Muhyuk, we’re done!”
― The profit?
“It was supposed to be $26 billion, but by the ti we finished, it dropped a bit. We netted $25 billion.”
― Good work. Take a break for a while, hyung. You left the stock investnts to the staff, right?
“Yeah. I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with stocks now.”
― Right, stocks are just for show. You did great. Focus on futures and options. We’ll begin again soon. Rest up and take care of your health.
“Can’t I rest in Korea?”
― No. You absolutely can’t co to Korea for the ti being.
At Kim Muhyuk’s firm tone, Han Kyungyeong sighed and hung up.
“Hehehe.”
Leaning back in his chair, Han Kyungyeong couldn’t stop the laughter spilling from his lips.
He could still see the changed faces of the people who had mocked him just last sumr.
‘Did you know? Did you really predict this more than six months in advance?’
That’s what one of the executives who replaced Tommy and Peter asked him.
‘I’m no god. Everyone knew the peso was overvalued. I just bet on it—and I won.’
That’s how Han Kyungyeong replied.
After finishing the liquidation, he walked out of Goldman Sachs headquarters—this ti, sneering at them.
“...What the hell is that kid Muhyuk’s deal?”
Han Kyungyeong murmured to himself, eyes fixed on the empty air as he smirked.
* * *
Sitting on the bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling.
Even knowing the future, having everything fall into place so precisely gave such a thrill that I couldn’t keep my body still.
Yes, this is it. Twenty-five billion dollars.
Even at today’s exchange rate, that’s twenty trillion won.
If I calculate it using the 2,000-won-per-dollar rate during the IMF crisis—it’s fifty trillion.
‘Does Grandpa have more money than I do now?’
A laugh slipped out of .
And this was only the beginning.
Only one of many future opportunities had passed.
In this war between soone who knows the future and those who rely predict it—I could never lose.
How can you lose a ga when you start with the other player’s cards already exposed?
“Chief Ma.”
Ma Gwajang, who had been waiting outside, opened the door and entered.
“I’ll be eting the loan bosses in Myeongdong one by one. Schedule those. Any news from Cheon Sooman?”
“Nothing notable so far.”
That man couldn’t possibly stay quiet forever.
Maybe sending him abroad had been a mistake?
“You can’t instill fear in Australia. Not like the pain Cheon Suhan is feeling right now.”
Suhan was practically broken at this point.
He had even attempted suicide out of unbearable fear, but failed thanks to others in his room.
“We can kill him. But the sa thod won’t work.”
“Hm... What about a hit-and-run?”
“He barely ever leaves the house. And even if he did, it won’t be easy. The Chairman has eyes there too.”
I clicked my tongue quietly.
Grandpa was the problem.
He knew about Suhan’s condition but never once brought it up to .
But killing... that carried a different weight.
At least while Grandpa was alive, I didn’t want to inflict that kind of pain.
Because I knew what it was like to lose family.
“Let’s keep watching. He’ll move eventually. He’s not the type to just give up.”
“Understood.”
Just because he couldn’t return to Korea didn’t an I was about to forgive him.
A few days later—
I visited Noh Ikseon, the Snake, in his office.
The arrogance he had during our first eting was completely gone.
“Now that Cheon is gone, it’s finally hitting you, huh?”
He didn’t react at all to my condescension.
“Say sothing. Are you finally seeing reality?”
“If I was rude before, I apologize.”
“If you weren’t useful to my plan, I would’ve smashed you like a hamr. There won’t be another chance, so choose wisely.”
“Understood.”
That was enough of the stick—now ti for the carrot.
“You said you didn’t want to step into the spotlight, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Good. Then start recovering all loans. No new lending for now. Collect everything by next year.”
“...Sorry?”
Noh looked confused by the sudden order to shut down operations.
“The governnt’s policy is going to change. Before that happens, we need to sort the funds. You said you’d stay in the shadows—so you’ll have to go even deeper now.”
“Understood. If that’s your order.”
“It may not make sense now, but you’ll get it later. I’m entrusting the shadows to you.”
“Thank you.”
Relief appeared on Noh’s face.
I decided to test him.
“Have you heard from Cheon?”
He answered imdiately.
“He contacted before leaving the country. Told not to contact him again, then hung up.”
“This is your last chance. If you ever pull sothing behind my back again, you won’t even get to retire quietly. Rember that.”
I stood up to leave.
“You’re close with the Myeongdong loan sharks, right?”
“Pardon? Yes. I’m on good terms with most of them.”
“Keep building those relationships.”
“Yes, sir.”
I left Noh’s office and got into the car.
Ma Gwajang, who never asked questions, finally spoke from the driver’s seat.
“Is there a reason you’re keeping soone you can’t trust?”
I smiled faintly and looked at him.
“Those Myeongdong bosses have been rolling in this industry for decades. Their connections and networks are no joke. Starting from scratch with soone new would take years. If soone like that’s willing to go underground just from a little fear? That’s a win.”
“...Understood, Boss.”
Ma Gwajang said no more. The car began to move slowly.
I leaned back in my seat and gathered my thoughts.
The Lending Business Act would arrive in 2002, but by then, Japanese capital would already be prepared and waiting. That was when the private loan industry fell under Japan’s control.
But this ti, I planned to fast-track that mont through lobbying—and seize the lead.
Even if private finance entered the formal system, loan sharking wouldn’t vanish completely.
Noh had agreed to stay in the shadows, so I’d leave that side to him. As for the remaining two bosses, I’d assign them one legitimate lender each.
“We’ve arrived, Boss.”
Ma Gwajang’s voice snapped out of my thoughts.
As I stepped out of the car, Boss Shin Seongil ca over to greet .
“Young Master, welco.”
Behind Shin Seongil, his subordinates were lined up respectfully.
In that mont, I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my face calm.
Behind Shin Seongil, bowing slightly—
‘Why the hell is that bastard here?’
< The Result of the Bet > End.
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