Chapter 83: Chapter 83: The Rise of Dream High Investment
In a building in New York, U.S.
Five people had gathered, engaged in conversation.
"George, you'll be the face for the upcoming Baht attack, right?"
The man called George nodded.
"Of course, I'll take the lead. That's my role, after all."
"Haha, I'll be right behind you, supporting your every move."
The five gathered here were about to wage a currency war against Asia.
"We took quite a hit in Japan. What's Dream High doing?"
"It's a startup investment firm, but they've been performing well. Lately, they've been quietly investing in stocks."
"They'll definitely follow us in; they're like hyenas waiting for scraps."
George Soros didn't hide his hostility toward Han Gyeong-yeong.
"Haha, they're still below you, not real competitors."
The blunt remarks from Clink Morgan, CEO of JP Morgan, brightened George's expression a bit.
"Who owns that firm?"
"A guy named Charlie Kim holds 99% of the shares. A guy named James has just 1%, and details about him are shrouded in mystery."
"I'll handle the attack; you all keep an eye on Dream High. If they take any new positions, we'll need insurance. I feel uneasy about this."
"Haha, you've become quite cautious, haven't you? The great George, wary of a little firm!"
The CEOs from major investment banks were less wary of Dream High, but George felt otherwise.
He was aware that their moves had always been quicker than his.
Mexican Pesos, Japanese Yen.
They always got in before him and exited before him, causing him significant losses.
Of course, he had still profited from continued attacks after they left, but it was enough to leave him feeling defeated.
Unbeknownst to him, Han Gyeong-yeong was garnering the attention of Wall Street giants.
* * *
Options were a simple game.
It was the concept of buying and selling time.
A derivative where everything could be bought and sold.
If one person made money, another would lose—like gambling.
In American-style options, one could exercise their rights at any time before expiration.
The attack on the Thai Baht began in the stock market.
Led by George Soros, Wall Street hyenas pounced on the stock market.
Thai stocks plummeted by over 10%, and investors were engulfed in panic.
"Bro, prepare for this. Dream High employees are investing 10 billion first, with you taking the opposite position for 15 billion. I'll match that too."
"Okay, I'm waiting."
Before the attack on the Baht began, many options were already being traded.
Wall Street investment banks were creating various options and seeking buyers.
After all, it was a game with over a 90% win rate. Astronomical amounts of options were traded for pennies.
The representatives spearheading the Baht attack included George Soros, Stanley Druckenmiller, Julian Robertson, Leon Cooperman, along with forex dealer teams from JP Morgan, Citibank, and Goldman Sachs.
After betting on the Baht's decline, they sold off billions of Baht at once, driving down its value.
The Baht's value was 26 Baht to 1 Dollar.
Dream High, located in New York, bet 10 billion dollars on the decline, while Han Gyeong-yeong and I bought all opposing positions.
"Positions purchased successfully."
"I've completed my purchases too."
No one expected Wall Street to lose.
Han Gyeong-yeong followed my orders but seemed doubtful.
The frightening thing about hedge fund attacks was the presence of a follow-up team.
Speculative capital that had no communication with them was on high alert, ready to follow along, eager for any crumbs.
The amounts they brought were several times the hedge funds' capital—some even dozens of times more.
In the international financial market, where over a trillion dollars were traded daily, the 10 billion poured in by hedge funds was, in a way, nothing.
However, as the follow-up team entered, the amounts skyrocketed.
Speculators expecting the Baht's price to drop were ready to toast.
But Thailand's response was unexpected.
The Bank of Thailand's appeal was met with cooperation from Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, joining forces to defend the currency.
The Southeast Asian coalition bought up the Bahts thrown into the market by the hedge fund alliance, stabilizing the price.
"Wow… I didn't see this coming."
"Hold on, something more interesting is about to happen."
My predictions were spot on.
On May 22, the Thai government adopted a dual exchange rate system, delivering an even stronger blow to the hedge fund alliance.
"Did you expect this?"
"Of course! Now tell the U.S. corporation to buy up those options being sold for pennies and let's clean up the options held by the six firms."
"What? Continue betting on the decline?"
"In the end, the Thai government will surrender."
The Thai government mobilized strong measures to prevent foreign banks from selling Baht abroad.
It was a defeat for the hedge fund alliance.
The Baht's price didn't drop; it slightly increased.
It was Thailand's victory—and mine.
But these hyenas wouldn't just back down.
I was still gathering the cheaply offered options from the follow-up speculators using the U.S. corporation.
Fear had paralyzed people's reason.
The hedge fund alliance was preparing to attack again.
But the follow-ups were already scared and throwing options into the market at half price.
At that moment, Han Gyeong-yeong's appearance was like a ray of hope for the hedge funds.
With the support of Dream High Investment, which began buying up all the options on the market at half price, hedge funds regrouped.
"As you said, I communicated with the hedge funds. They decided to join the attack."
"Well done! You've become part of that cartel. Congratulations, it's an honor not just anyone can join!"
"Phew… Do they know your identity?"
"Eternal secrets don't exist. Still, I must delay revealing it as long as possible. Just stay on standby and attack with them. I'll remain a bystander, and I'll contact you if anything unusual happens."
The call with Han Gyeong-yeong ended.
A big smile spread across my face.
'So far, betting on Thailand's victory has yielded a return of 700%—about 210 billion dollars?'
It was a gamble that started with 500 million dollars.
Not a single defeat in the past had brought me substantial profits.
'Still not enough. Don't let your guard down.'
210 billion dollars isn't a small amount, but others with more money existed.
They never stepped into the limelight but controlled everything from behind the scenes.
Even excluding them, the same was true; I couldn't guarantee winning against Japan with 210 billion dollars.
When the attack on the Thai Baht began to cool, the Thai finance minister changed.
The newly appointed finance minister, Thanon Vidya, was a young 49-year-old economist.
He learned economics from books rather than in the field and proposed drastic measures to revive the Thai economy, including bankrupting and expelling failing banks.
But reality was harsh.
The Thai government, having exhausted all foreign reserves defending the Baht, ordered 16 financial institutions to halt operations, but it was already too late.
On July 1, Hong Kong's sovereignty was handed over to China, fireworks lit up the night sky, and Chinese President Jiang Zemin declared the end of Western imperialism.
But the next day, Thailand ultimately surrendered to the hedge fund alliance.
It was a victory not through military might, but through finance—a new form of imperialism.
"Hey! This is unbelievable!"
"What's the situation now?"
"Currently, 30 Baht, profit rate of 600%."
"Let's hold on for as long as possible. Stay ready."
What? You're not closing your positions?
"Just hold on for now,"
It was a battle between the hedge fund alliance and other speculative capital.
The Thai government had already surrendered, and the latecomers among the speculators bet against the hedge funds.
Their resistance had no impact.
Three hours before the market closed,
"Everyone, sell everything!"
"Okay, everyone, let's dump it all!"
I could hear Han Gyeong-yeong giving orders in English to the staff over the phone.
I chuckled softly, waiting for Han Gyeong-yeong's next words.
"The liquidation order has been placed."
"Wrap up the government holdings by the end of today."
"Huh? I think we can hold half of it until maturity."
"We've already made enough profit. You need to know when to take your gains. Greed only leads to loss."
"Got it."
"Let me know when it's all settled."
The futures options market was a zero-sum game.
For every winner, there was a loser.
While enemies were inevitable, there was no need to drive them to destruction.
This currency war in Thailand ended with the hedge funds as the winners, but the true victors were me and Dream High Investment.
Han Gyeong-yeong became a recognized figure on Wall Street and entered their cartel.
Wall Street is more closed off than one might think.
They don't easily admit new members into their cartel.
I was pleased to have established a connection with them aside from profits.
"Mu-hyeok…"
Han Gyeong-yeong's voice trembled with excitement.
It was a sum that couldn't leverage much; losing meant only losing the capital.
"Why?"
"Thanks to the purchase of options listed at a bargain price of $420 billion, our profit margins turned out to be much larger than expected. This is insane!"
"What? $420 billion?"
That amounted to a 2000% return.
Before the regression, the highest return for options in 2020 was 4879%.
But the amount invested was entirely different.
"Explain it to me."
"The drop in the Baht was far greater than anticipated. The larger the fall, the higher our returns became, and once we liquidated everything, that's how we got to that profit margin."
My intervention led to a drop greater than what history predicted, yielding more than double the expected profit.
"Wow… I didn't see this coming. You really did well. Make sure the staff gets good bonuses; it's time for a money feast!"
"Hehe, okay!"
After chatting with Han Gyeong-yeong for a while, I hung up.
Thanks to the larger-than-expected profits, I was considering slightly adjusting my plans.
I decided to let Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines step back for now and give the hedge funds a chance to earn profits.
Having too much profit was a problem.
We took half of the profits that had to be shared with the hedge funds.
'It's time to take a breather.'
With the situation in Thailand resolved, I decided to focus on Korea.
Ultimately, Ashin Group entered into a debt moratorium agreement, which was essentially a default.
The fact that even the top ten conglomerates weren't safe shocked both the government and the public.
Still, the government's responses remained lackluster.
All politicians and businessmen were complacent.
They were focused solely on winning the presidential election, fixated on their achievement of a per capita income of $10,000, pouring all foreign currency reserves into defending the exchange rate.
In the end, they made a foolish choice that led to a foreign exchange crisis.
It was Eva's turn to come to Korea from Hong Kong.
When I met Eva at the airport, she greeted me with a bright smile.
"Hey! Boss!"
"Welcome! Did you manage to resolve everything?"
"Thanks to you, I got to see the faces of those HSBC old-timers, haha!"
Eva burst into laughter, drawing the attention of passersby with her exotic appearance.
"I've got somewhere to take you."
"Huh? To the hotel?"
Ignoring Eva's signals, I got into the car.
Eva followed with a mutter, clearly unimpressed.
"Where are we going?"
"Just wait and see."
The car carrying Eva and me sped toward Seoul.
We arrived at a building in Daechi-dong, which had just completed construction and was in the midst of interior decoration.
"This is where we'll take everything in Korea."
Future Building.
This was the building where Future Investments would be based.
Eva stared up at the building without a word.
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