Chapter 23
If you asked which country welcomed the most foreign Hunters, everyone would undoubtedly say the United States.
Hunters came to America dreaming of a twenty-first-century American Dream.
In the past, these Hunters had a wide variety of dungeons to challenge across the country.
But as time passed, people learned how to clear dungeons.
And once the concept of ‘pacification’ became widely known, everything changed.
Of America’s 51 states, only 14 had been fully cleared—that is, fully pacified—but people and capital flowed into those states.
Unless a dungeon produced a unique by-product, the cost of obtaining similar dungeon by-products differed enormously between pacified states and those that weren’t.
The value of California’s western coastal region, dubbed ‘Hunter Valley’ for its large number of high-value dungeons, was beyond measure.
On the other hand, some regions saw little benefit from the dungeon economy, like Florida, where large numbers of Gates were scattered across hard-to-reach areas such as the Everglades, and which had yet to be pacified.
“Hawaii is right in the middle.”
Everyone’s attention focused on the middle-aged man wearing a striking, fiery red tie.
Ordinary people might not recognize his face, but no one on Wall Street could fail to.
This was Carl Isaac, chairman of Isaac Enterprises, one of Wall Street’s leading activist short-selling funds.
“Can anyone explain why Hawaii is in the middle?”
Those who met Carl Isaac’s sharp gaze did their best to avoid it.
Then a young man boldly raised his hand and answered.
“It’s the premium for anticipated growth. Hawaii will be pacified as soon as they find one undiscovered Gate, so that value is already reflected in the DDF.”
“And how long has it been since anyone found that undiscovered Gate?”
“Uh, well...”
Carl Isaac waved a hand at the stammering young man.
The young man lowered his head and sat back down, and Isaac answered his own question.
“Seven years. In the meantime, the premium on Hawaii DDF has only grown. Wall Street believes that, as time passes, the odds of a dungeon being cleared increase. We’ll use the media to criticize the cookie-cutter premiums set by Wall Street funds, and launch our attack at the same time. Anyone have a problem with that?”
No one answered.
Once he was sure there were no objections, Carl Isaac snarled, one corner of his mouth lifting viciously.
“If nobody does, why are all your asses still planted in those chairs? Get out there and do your jobs.”
At the tyrant’s command, everyone hurried into action as if they’d been burned.
Once everyone had left, Carl Isaac turned his gaze to the stack of documents on his desk.
They were reports titled ‘Report on the Exploration of New Dungeons in Hawaii.’
And there wasn’t just one.
There were several reports bearing the names of famous dungeon exploration companies everyone would recognize.
Isaac Enterprises had spent a great deal of time and money preparing a short-selling attack on Hawaii DDF.
They’d worked on it for a long time, so the harvest season was finally approaching.
At least, that was what Carl Isaac thought.
**
The morning after we opened the last remaining puzzle piece in Hawaii.
Zephyros and I were sitting side by side in our hotel room, each in front of a laptop.
The Gate wasn’t popular, so it didn’t seem likely anyone else would discover it unless we said something. Still, just in case, we planned to buy DDF in advance.
Hawaii DDF X5 (+0.1%)
When the market opened, the fund we planned to buy was trading sideways, fluctuating slightly from the previous day.
“This is the one we buy, right?”
“Yeah. You’ve got the money in your account, right?”
“Yes.”
My ammo was the 100 billion won I’d borrowed from Zephyros.
Zephyros had 200 billion won.
“Don’t put in the whole order at once. Split it up.”
“Okay. You really know your stocks.”
There was a lot for a novice investor like me to learn from him.
“Well, I’ve made some money in stocks...”
“Made a lot, huh?”
“...Lost a lot.”
Oh... ah...
“Whenever I put money in, the market always moved the other way. I’d make money, lose it; make money, lose it...”
And he still had that much money?
I was once again impressed by the wealth of a first-generation star Hunter.
Just how rich would he have been if he’d actually made money in stocks?
“Anyway, that’s how my youth went by. You should earn a lot while you’re young and achieve financial freedom early.”
“If this works out, won’t I have already done that?”
“That’s true, huh?”
Of course, even if I made money, that was separate from doing what I wanted.
Managing a company was especially fun.
I might’ve been overseas for a while, but this was the age of globalization.
I kept receiving updates through video conferences.
The time difference meant I had to catch a few snatches of sleep in the early morning, but the company was running smoothly.
We’d produced enough with the elixir I’d extracted before leaving, and it was scheduled to launch soon.
Fortunately, at least by my standards, the employees of Seil Pharmaceuticals were highly capable.
At a company that had been on the verge of collapse due to the owners’ tyranny, success was now properly rewarded, and the employees’ mindsets had changed.
At the video conference the other day, one employee had made a good suggestion.
Dr. Lim Gyuseon’s new recipe combining Cardio Vibrio with the elixir performed better than the existing fatigue remedy recipe that used only the elixir, so why insist on the old dosage?
So we drastically reduced the dosage and put it in a much smaller container.
Thanks to that, we cut costs by more than 50%.
Now all that remained was to launch it and hit it big...
“Kim Segyun, what are you doing?”
“Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about something else...”
“I’ve called you several times. Hey, it’s already gone up while you were daydreaming.”
Hawaii DDF X5 (+3.6%)
He was right. It had gone up 3.5% in that time.
Since it was a leveraged fund tracking the index at five times, the fluctuations were wild.
“Tsk, sorry.”
“Focus. This isn’t a small amount of money.”
“Yes, focusing, focusing.”
I was about to concentrate and place the order with every nerve on edge when it happened.
“Huh?”
We both froze as a blue line suddenly plunged downward.
“W-What is that?”
“I-I have no idea.”
As befitted a fund tracking the index at five times, in an instant...
Hawaii DDF X5 (-17.7%)
It had dropped by almost 18%.
It had happened in just a few seconds.
What, had a massive earthquake hit Hawaii? Or had a tsunami swept over it?
What was going on?
And after it kept plunging...
Hawaii DDF X5 (-88.27%)
It was on the verge of being delisted.
An exchange-traded fund tied to derivatives such as leverage is automatically delisted if its underlying asset’s value falls to zero in a single day.
In other words, since it tracked Hawaii DDF at five times, if the Hawaii DDF index fell just 20% in one day, it would be delisted outright.
“Wow, that’s insane... Gives me chills.”
Zephyros broke into a cold sweat and jerked his hand off the mouse.
If I hadn’t been distracted, I might have been swept away by the sudden crash despite having valuable information.
“We need to find out what’s going on first.”
Zephyros immediately called someone.
“Hello?”
─Hey! I’m busy right now! Call me later!
Zephyros had put the call on speakerphone so I could hear, and I knew exactly who he was talking to.
That Homer Simpson-looking old guy... no, Jake Anderson, chairman of the Hawaii State Hunters Association.
“Is that ‘busy’ of yours connected to the Hawaii DDF index dropping?”
─Yeah, you idiot! Carl Isaac!
“What? That Carl Isaac? Isaac Enterprises?”
Isaac? I didn’t know who he was. Was he famous?
─Who else would it be? That bastard’s raising hell first thing in the morning! He’s dragging the Hunters Association into it and using the media to paint the entire Hawaii Hunter industry as incompetent. At this rate, I might have to step down as chairman!
Man, that old guy was in trouble, too.
“So he must’ve launched a short-selling attack. Isaac Enterprises is an activist short-selling fund.”
─Yeah, he collected evidence piece by piece that Hawaii’s dungeon development companies were overvalued and dumped it all. This is only the beginning. A few companies might have to shut down. Anyway, if it’s not urgent, call me later! I told you I’m busy! The reporters are already gathering outside!
“No, you need to talk to me right now.”
─...What’s that supposed to mean?
“I think I—no... Kim Segyun here might be able to save your ass.”
─That rookie who took my Rolls-Royce? He’s going to save me? What are you...
Ah, right. Zephyros had yielded the prize for yesterday’s bet, so I was supposed to get it in the end...
“The last dungeon you’ve been looking for opened inside the dungeon that kid cleared yesterday.”
─What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean, inside a dungeon?
“The last Gate needed to pacify Hawaii opened inside that Stage 15 dungeon yesterday. It’s a Stage 50 Matryoshka dungeon.”
─...... What? N-No, that... Is it true?
“Would I lie to you right now? I was going to tell you slowly, but... given the situation.”
─I-I’ll call you back.
He’d probably sent Association staff to verify it right away.
How much time passed after that?
With a ‘Breaking News’ banner, a familiar face appeared on major news outlets across the United States.
A face covered in red whiskers, looking utterly drunk.
Even as Jake Anderson stood holding a microphone and slowly began to speak...
Hawaii DDF X5 (-91.4%)
The stock price kept crashing.
“Well, shall we start accumulating shares?”
“Yes, let’s.”
Click.
With a single mouse click, a huge buy order went in for Hawaii DDF X5, which had plunged by 91%.
With selling pressure this strong, there was no need to split up the purchases.
We just had to scoop up the sell orders worth hundreds of billions of won stacked at the bottom.
─First, I have something to tell the reporters gathered here today. According to information I received just a little while ago, the final Gate in Hawaii has been discovered.
A commotion arose.
Even though we were watching on TV, the reporters’ agitation came through Jake’s microphone loud and clear.
But their commotion was nothing compared to the stock market’s.
Hawaii DDF X5 (-79.7%)
DDF rebounded by more than 10% from the previous day’s close in an instant.
─The Gate is an Inner Gate that appeared inside a Stage 15 Gate, and it is Stage 50.
Hawaii DDF X5 (-19.7%)
─The Hawaii State Hunters Association will work with development companies and Hunters from within and outside the state to clear this Gate as soon as possible and achieve pacification of Hawaii.
He sure knew how to speak. I’d thought he was just an old guy who liked drinking.
And by the time the chairman’s press conference ended...
Hawaii DDF X5 (+1.7%)
It had turned positive.
At the same time, my return display...
Current unrealized return: 1082.56%
Showed a figure exceeding one trillion won.