Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 113

Translator: Dreamscribe“200 million dollars. No more than that.”

“W-Wait a second. 200 million dollars?! We bought the company from you for 1.2 billion dollars, and now you want to buy it back for 200 million?!”

“If you’re not thinking of selling, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s end the meeting here. Besides P&R, there’s a line of companies wanting to sell to us.”

Kim Doo-young let out a loud cough and began to rise from his seat.

Then, the counterpart at the negotiation table hurriedly grabbed him.

“200 million dollars is... too much. We can’t even cover the debt with that. Wouldn’t 400 million dollars be possible?”

“You’ve made the difficult journey all the way to Korea during this COVID situation, and that’s unfortunate. Please, take care on your way back.”

“W-Wait! 300 million dollars! We can’t go any lower than that!”

At those words, CEO Kim Doo-young smoothly stepped back and sat back down.

“See? It was worth coming all the way to Korea after all. We’ll acquire it for 300 million dollars. You brought the draft of the contract with you, right?”

“.......”

The representatives and executives of the opposing company stared at Kim Doo-young in disbelief.

“How many more meetings do I have today?”

“Two. Everyone is waiting for you, CEO-nim. One is a face-to-face meeting, and the other is a video conference.”

“Phew. Right. Working this hard again after so long... it’s not easy.”

Among all the countries in the world, Korea was relatively safe.

The virus was spreading rapidly in other nations, but here, it was comparatively under control.

Of course, there were predictions that the virus would spread gradually and become harder to control, but as long as one passed the COVID test, it was still possible to hold business meetings like this.

“But CEO-nim. At this rate, we’re going to have a lot of money left over.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Since we’re acquiring companies at nearly giveaway prices, it looks like we’ll have much more money left than expected.”

In other words, Kim Doo-young was aggressively lowballing like a thug.

“Euheoheo. Isn’t this exactly why CEO Jung put me in this seat? I’m the best at selling at the highest price possible and buying at the lowest price possible.”

Kwangwoon Shipping had been forcibly dismantled by the EU, and it had sold off its companies at the highest prices, keeping all the sale proceeds untouched.

That was in line with Jung Jin-ho’s directive to leave the money untouched.

The problem was, they were going to end up with a lot of it left over.

“Didn’t CEO Jung Jin-ho tell you to spend all the money?”

“Ah, yeah. He told us to recover all the companies we lost. To restore what needs fixing, cover the gaps with our money. But even then, we still have a lot left, right?”

“Yes. Maybe he meant we should gather up the rest of the shipping companies with the remaining money?”

There was still one mission Kim Doo-young hadn’t completed.

And that was to fully dominate this shipping industry.

To build a complete version that neither the EU, nor the US, nor any government could ever try to dismantle again, like they had in the past.

But did anyone actually give him that mission?

CEO Jung Jin-ho?

To be honest, he couldn’t quite remember.

Perhaps, after losing the company to the EU, during that period of vacancy, he had been grinding his axe alone, forming that deep-seated grudge on his own.

Regardless, he now considered this the first and last chance to resolve that resentment.

Moreover, hadn’t Jung Jin-ho directly ordered it?

To spend every last penny of the sale proceeds they had been holding on to until now.

Knowing Jung Jin-ho, there was surely intention behind those words.

It was undoubtedly an instruction to use that money to take back the stolen company and resolve all the accumulated bitterness.

“Keep scanning. Besides those who went bankrupt because of us, I’m sure there are others who want to sell because the entire shipping sector has come to a halt.”

“Yes. But... is it really okay for us to keep expanding like this? Like you said, shipping has basically come to a stop. That’s why everyone’s collapsing. If we recklessly buy up shipping companies in a situation like this...”

There were concerns that they might end up dying from overeating just the same.

In fact, Kim Doo-young was worried about that too.

But would Jung Jin-ho not have known that?

That superhuman who saw through the world more clearly than anyone else?

“Shipping is basically at rock bottom right now, so he wouldn’t have told us to recklessly acquire everything without thinking.”

“Then.......”

“It hit rock bottom, which means it’s going to rebound now. I was confused at first too. Shipping was so devastated that it seemed too risky to enter the market now. Honestly, we were scared we’d get crushed too. But it wasn’t just anyone, it was CEO Jung Jin-ho who gave us the advice, right? Then we have to think differently.”

“So no matter the reason, the shipping business will definitely make a comeback?”

“Yeah. Though I have no idea how that comeback is supposed to happen.”

Right now, the shipping industry was like a ticking time bomb.

It wasn’t for nothing that those people were bowing their heads and begging Kim Doo-young to take their companies even after his aggressive price cuts.

From their perspective, shipping was over.

Someday, it might revive, but they believed that day was in the distant future.

“If CEO Jung told us to go ahead and acquire all of this, then the revival of shipping is definitely not a far-off thing.”

But Kim Doo-young believed.

To him, Jung Jin-ho’s orders were like words from the heavens.

***

“They said the National Pension Service has completely finished liquidating its position.”

“That’s a relief. The stock market is crashing so badly that I was worried it might be difficult to sort it all out.”

“Yes. Fortunately, they began the liquidation right when the crash started, just as you instructed, so they managed to handle the volume well. As you know, there are institutions that go all-in during crashes like this.”

The problem was, many institutions had bought large volumes from us, and ended up getting burned.

Because the financial market collapsed even more after the point we had already pulled out.

“Anyway, according to your instructions, as they cleared their positions, they quickly bought up a few stocks through OTC transactions. The issue is that the National Pension Service currently holds assets worth 1,000 trillion won, but only a tiny portion is being used while the rest is just being held.”

That’s how money works.

If you just hold on to it without putting it anywhere, it rots away.

Putting it somewhere to grow the money, that’s the smart way to invest.

The problem is, dumping money into the stock market right now could lead to big losses.

But the real problem was something else.

“Even though we’re negotiating using the vaccine as leverage, both Europe and the US are keeping a very close and sensitive eye on the National Pension Service and our Kwangwoon.”

We were negotiating with the vaccine, as advised by the Vice President, but the governments of developed countries were not welcoming us.

In times like this, the safest approach is to follow the National Pension Service’s strategy, only buy bonds and bury money in safe assets, then stay still and quiet as a mouse.

But I had already sensed it through instinct.

The market looks completely sunk right now, like it’ll never recover, but soon, a major stock boom will come.

It would be too much of a waste to miss that timing.

If that golden era really was coming, then it meant that whatever stock we bought now would all skyrocket.

“For now, we’ll need to move carefully. We’re still negotiating with governments around the world. Rather than provoking them, it might be best to watch the situation a bit longer before making a move.......”

I nodded and wrote “Buy” in my notebook with a pen.

“.......”

As I brought the pen tip over the word “Buy,” I felt a faint signal.

When I moved it over to “Hold” written beside it, the signal felt stronger.

‘Is this telling me to buy... or to hold?’

Considering the stronger signal came from “Hold”...

‘Does that mean I should wait a bit longer for now?’

***

“There’s no shortage of places the money needs to go. Not just the domestic market, nothing is stable abroad either. Especially if we don’t distribute unemployment benefits, the problem will get even worse.”

Trump’s head was starting to ache.

Ever since COVID broke out and the global economy came to a halt, water had been pouring in from all directions.

If those leaks weren’t plugged, everyone would drown.

“The securities sector is the most dangerous right now?”

“Yes. For now, the Federal Reserve has decided to lower the benchmark interest rate. They’re planning to cut it by 0.5 to 1 percent to try and stabilize the crashing market.”

“Will that actually work?”

“The Fed and our government have to act in sync. They already injected about 70 billion dollars for the first round of quantitative easing. But since the effect was minimal, there’s now talk of declaring unlimited QE, where they’ll buy up corporate bonds and MBS as much as needed to stabilize the situation.”

The plan was to reduce the credit spread and ease the anxiety over risk assets.

But the problem was the sheer amount of money required.

“That’s not even the end of it. They also need to buy corporate bonds, ETFs, and municipal bonds to expand credit support, and provide funding to companies and local governments.”

“So in conclusion, they need to hand out money to all citizens, give money to businesses, and inject astronomical amounts of money into the collapsing stock market, right?”

“Yes.”

His head throbbed.

Thanks to this COVID situation, Trump’s chances of running for president again were practically gone.

It was the same for every country now.

Everyone was blaming their governments for the pandemic.

On top of that headache, now he had to empty the national treasury to try to revive the shattered economy.

“When the hell is this going to end?”

“First, we need to get the vaccine distributed as quickly as possible. Only then can we hope to end this within three years.”

“So when exactly is that vaccine going to be ready?”

“We’re in negotiations with Kwangwoon. If we ease the vaccine regulations, they say nationwide distribution will be possible within three to four months. The problem is......”

The aide who had been speaking started hesitating.

“What is it?”

“They’re asking us to stop investigating or interfering with the National Pension Service and Kwangwoon in exchange for supplying the vaccine cheaply and reliably.”

“What? Hold on. Are they threatening us with the vaccine?”

“They didn’t say it directly, but it was implied. In exchange for the vaccine, they don’t want us to touch them. That was the clear message.”

What arrogant bastards.

They dared to threaten the United States?

“But now’s not the time to take it personally. If we can distribute the vaccine within three to four months, we’ll be able to stabilize the pandemic. Other countries are already implementing policies allowing only vaccinated individuals to enter or exit.”

“What if we sign a contract with someone other than Kwangwoon?”

“That would take far too long. No company can produce the vaccine faster than AstraZenon, which is owned by Kwangwoon. It would take more than twice the time. By then, the U.S. would be the only country left without a vaccine.”

There was a reason they were using the vaccine to blackmail him.

They knew that no one else could produce vaccines right now.

“Have other countries have all stopped their investigations into Kwangwoon and the Korean National Pension Service?”

“Yes. Since they’re the ones holding the vaccine. Also, if the entire population is vaccinated now, the booster shots needed for future variants will also have to come from Kwangwoon. Switching to another company’s vaccine would pose a high risk of side effects.”

In short, they had no choice but to rely on Kwangwoon’s vaccine for at least the next three years.

“Unbelievable.”

Kwangwoon, the company that made the great powers bow.

And yet, he couldn’t even lay a hand on those who profited from this global crisis.

“Sorry, but I’m not like those other foolish world leaders. I have zero intention of bowing to Kwangwoon.”

But Kwangwoon had picked the wrong opponent.

Who was Trump?

Even in the United States, he was known as the most insane leader in history, a true eccentric.

“We’re supposed to inject a massive amount of money into the stock market, right?”

“Ah, yes. The key now is to reduce the credit spread.”

“And we need to invest in corporate bonds, ETFs, and other assets for support?”

“That’s right. We’ll need astronomical amounts of money just to raise overall stock prices.”

The aides were already uneasy, wondering what bizarre thing Trump might say next.

“Then why don’t we just have the National Pension Service pay for it?”

“What?”

“Both the National Pension Service and Kwangwoon made money off COVID, didn’t they? So hold them accountable and tell them to inject money into our financial market. With the money those bastards are holding, wouldn’t that be enough for a stimulus?”

Stunned, the aides blinked in disbelief.

“Why? Can’t we do that?”

“Of course they won’t accept that. They’re well aware that putting money into the stock market right now would mean massive losses. The National Pension Service and Kwangwoon will definitely try to put all their funds into safe assets like rising bonds.”

Telling a private company and a foreign institution to solve a national issue?

And not just that, demanding they indiscriminately dump trillions into the stock market?

“Even if the market temporarily rebounds from that, it would ultimately be a loss for the National Pension Service and Kwangwoon. There’s no way they’d go along with it.”

“Then we make them do it. Tell them that if they don’t follow our terms, we’ll escalate this to a diplomatic issue. We’ll hold the Korean government accountable, from U.S. troop withdrawals to FTAs and tariffs, everything.”

“B-but...”

Trump was relentless.

Even coming up with an idea this absurd was astonishing.

Wasn’t he the same man who, when a negotiation with North Korea broke down, had suggested nuking Pyongyang?

“Go deliver the message immediately! I will never bow my head to those bastards!”

***

“So... they want the National Pension Service and us to inject large amounts of money into the U.S. stock market to keep it from crashing?”

“Yes. If we buy heavily, stock prices will rise and the market will recover overall. The U.S. government has already injected funds into the stock market temporarily. The effect was minimal, though. That’s why they’re now looking to pour in more money, and they’re asking us to do it.”

It was truly a ridiculous idea.

They were shifting a national issue onto a private company and another country’s institution.

It was obvious whose brain had cooked up this nonsense.

No doubt, Trump.

It was an utterly unfair and preposterous request.

“But that means we no longer need to hold back, right?”

Ironically, it was exactly what we needed most.

“Yes. No matter how much money we pour in, they can’t accuse us of manipulating the market. Because they’re the ones pushing us to do it.”

That went for both Kwangwoon and the National Pension Service.

Ever since they’d finished liquidating their positions, they hadn’t been able to move large sums of money.

The entire world was watching us.

So the National Pension Service had been tiptoeing into the market, and we had only moved small amounts as well.

But now, the U.S. government had suddenly handed us a free pass.

All under the pretense of responsibility.

“.......”

I brought my pen to the word “Buy” written in my notebook.

“!?”

A powerful shiver surged through my whole body.

There was no longer any sensation when I hovered over “Hold”.

‘What is this... this Trump guy...’

An angel?