'The price is whatever you name it.'
"Even a rich family will last three generations after its ruin."
That's probably why that proverb exists. Even selling off their household goods would be enough to live comfortably.
Creak—!
Nevertheless, I make an extreme choice. I open the window. Looking down from the 100-story building on Wall Street, the center of global finance, it's truly a spectacular sight.
'Humans look smaller than ants.'
Failed Wall Street magnates must have thought the same. A mere few tens of billions. Whatever I try to do with the leftover pocket change, my heart won't race.
That's why they fell. Here on Wall Street, not every year, but every week, well-known figures take their own lives.
'Oh, just kill yourself then~.'
It's not a joke. I don't want to end my life like that.
Pop!
I had intended to drink this in celebration after this whole situation was over. It's not that I didn't think I'd be opening it for another reason.
'Even if I'm going to go, a bottle of whiskey is fine, right?'
Strong liquor. I twist off the cap and pour it straight into my mouth. Billions of dollars worth of liquid tingles as it goes down my throat. The rich aroma of sherry. And even more penetrating peat. The pungent scent of oak and cigarettes should sting my nose.
Gulp! Gulp!
I don't have the luxury to savor it. To me now, it's just a bottle of liquor to get drunk.
'I hope things are different when I wake up from this.'
Macallan 1946, as its name suggests, was a whiskey made during World War II. It's perfectly suited for me, who has become a loser.
An old body. Damaged health. Lost passion. I no longer feel like starting 'again'. If that's the kind of life it'll be, it's better to disappear like the forgotten magnates of Wall Street.
Nasdaq Composite Index
89,269.74 ▼892.70 (−1.00%)
[Roughly a graph showing this being pulled up.jpg]
The second subprime mortgage crisis. The liquidation of one hedge fund that had driven investors worldwide into a panic ended as an uneventful happening. The stock market, which had fallen by −15% that day, closed at −1% thanks to the government's swift response and the unprecedented cooperation of various institutions.
I was just 1% of America.
Next Chapter
Morning. It's a torturous time for me. My weakened body refuses to open my eyes. Today will be especially so. Last night, I drank so much that my blood felt like alcohol.
"Haa~."
Aged liquor. Old, strong alcohol leaves a long aftertaste. So much so that it doesn't disappear even after brushing my teeth.
I yawn. The flavor of the alcohol should still be there. I wanted to enjoy the lingering taste of the expensive liquor I guzzled down.
'It's about time the building got foreclosed... huh?'
I only smell something sweet. The exact feeling of a parched mouth when waking up in the morning. My body also feels strangely refreshed. No, light. How long has it been since I felt like I could fly?
'Huh?!'
I spring out of bed. It's not particularly to leave the room. I look around.
"One O.S. Vol. 35"
There's One O.S. Comics. It's not strange, even if paper book production was banned in 2035.
'Vol. 35? That would be an episode written by Oda-sensei.'
Up to the Water Seven arc, the original author, Oda-sensei, worked on it personally. One O.S. fans only acknowledge up to that point. Because of this, it has a premium. It's not something that would commonly be lying around, trading at a considerably high price among enthusiasts.
'I have all of them from volume 1? I bought them a long time ago too.'
Valued at over 10 million won. I heard that unopened items in good condition could fetch hundreds of millions. After One O.S. was completed, it was reevaluated even more. Why would such a valuable item be here?
'This is... an old phone?!'
That wasn't all. The object that my right hand inadvertently touched is familiar. No, I couldn't possibly not know it. It's a phone. But it doesn't fold or bend? It's a previous-generation smartphone only traded in the used market.
'My goodness. Look at the weighty feel.'
I thought I was holding a dumbbell. And it's understandable. Samsung Electronics' Space Note is larger than a regular smartphone. In the past, when there was no foldable technology, the basic size itself was made large. It was a crude solution, but I remember the market response was good.
'Something's strange, something is.'
Such relics of a bygone era. They're commonly scattered around the bed. It's an absurd sight. Rarity aside, there's a structure to it. Each item feels as if it traveled through time from the past.
'It's not even a movie set.'
Is this a real Truman Show? That damned girl might be doing something insane again. Like carrying me off while I was sleeping. Or being desperate to get laid again.
'...That can't be it.'
To be honest. As a man, I have no appeal right now. Where would you put an overweight, diabetic old man?
But that's no longer the case. My current physical condition. The feeling of being light enough to fly wasn't just in my head.
"Hmm... oh?"
An investor. To survive in a world that changes by the second, accurate and swift changes in judgment are required. Even if a judgment was correct a second ago, if it's wrong now, you must be able to change your mind.
From that perspective.
'I think I've regressed.'
I come to one conclusion. Leaving everything else aside, my physical condition is something I can't control. It's almost perfect. The belly fat that weighed almost 120 kg has completely vanished. 60 kg disappeared in an instant. No wonder my body feels light. Even if it were distributed throughout my body, the weight I'd feel would be enormous. It's like putting down a sack of rice.
'Situation assessment complete.'
My current location. It's the room I rented when I was in college. Since I moved rooms once, this would be after I was discharged from the military.
And the reason. There's no way such divine fortune would be given without any reason. God must have been looking down.
'He must be regretting that I couldn't conquer America.'
So, a situation like this, which can be called an opportunity, has been given. An ordinary person might be greatly flustered. A dream-like situation. It's something you can often encounter in the stock market. When the best stocks are being sold off cheaply.
'Most ordinary people don't even realize that fact.'
"Isn't that the original price?" Then later, they blabber nonsense like, "I should've bought it when they said it was going to be expensive." Opportunities are always abundant. The important thing is the ability to seize those opportunities. A wise investor recognizes the opportunity and should take a chance.
Chirp! Chirp!
I open the window. Outside the house.
"Hmm..."
My eyes are dazzled by the pouring sunlight. For a moment, a dizzying thought comes to mind. That's because it's a 100-story building. Even without acrophobia, looking down from there, you can't help but feel fear. If you lose your balance and fall, it won't end well. I'd have to float in the sky for ten seconds.
'A sparrow says hi.'
Far from being 100 stories high, I can see the ground. A magnificent pine tree stands on a green field. A sparrow is perched on a branch. It flies away as if surprised to see me. It's flapping its wings freely. If roasted, there's nothing quite as delicious.
'Sparrows are so small.'
And their exercise is incredible. The meat is very chewy. The only problem is:
Extinction. Disappearing. Due to climate change, the number of sparrows in Korea is rapidly decreasing. It is truly regrettable. A bird that helps humans and tastes good is disappearing.
'It's so moving to be able to eat sparrows again, huff.'
The fact that I've returned to the past. There's more than one good thing about it. I can fly freely like that sparrow. That's entirely possible. But I also need to realize that it's by no means easy.
'It wasn't that I lacked money. Nor was it that I lacked ability.'
A trillion-dollar fund. It's a scale that doesn't falter even in Wall Street, the center of the world's financial market. I built it up entirely with my own strength. Having done it once, there's nothing I can't do if I have to do it a second time.
'The problem is that it can collapse twice.'
It's just that I don't falter. There are large funds many times bigger than mine. I used various tricks to fight against them. Although I managed to achieve some results.
'No, not by myself.'
It's too much for me. As the assets under management increase, the difficulty of management also increases exponentially. It was the same in my previous life. In the beginning, I rapidly expanded the fund's size, but.
Tap, tap!
It's bound to slow down over time. Just like this old phone I'm tapping, the Space Note.
'It was a smartphone that boosted performance with hardware.'
In the early days, that method was effective. Samsung Electronics had an image of performance, and Apple had an image of emotion. After the Space S10, even that was overturned. It turned out that the iPhone's performance was superior after all.
'Even the GOS incident aside.'
The fundamental cause. It lies in software optimization. It can't unleash 100% of the hardware's performance. When performance was mediocre, it somehow worked. When it went high-performance, limitations arose, and overheating became severe.
There's a similar phenomenon in funds. As the managed funds increase, various problems that didn't exist before arise.
Thump!
'Don't you think I know that?'
It's not hundreds or thousands of billions. How do you find trustworthy people when you're managing tens or hundreds of trillions? Even a slight misstep can cause my beautiful plan to crumble. That was the most difficult part.
'Even if I make money by using future information.'
The fact that I've returned to the past. I know very well that there are many ways to utilize it. As someone involved in stock investment, I couldn't possibly not know. But even then, it would just repeat the same ending. No matter how much money I make, if I don't have the ability to manage it, it's like pearls before swine. A fat pig is destined to be slaughtered.
'I have to do something about that.'
It's not easy. But it's not all doom and gloom. Regressing is clearly a huge advantage. There are many aspects that can be utilized. Without even going far, just around me right now.
Thwack!
I pick up the Space phone I threw. If nothing else, its durability is incredibly tough. It turns on without any problems. There's not a single scratch on the screen, let alone a crack.
'I also know about the magical changes that will happen to this Space phone.'
The current timeline. I don't know the exact date, but it's definitely my twenties. I've gone back at least 20 years. I can freely exploit all the history and events of that time.
'With my abilities, certainly.'
I will bring change to the world. In ways no one expects. I can also prepare various countermeasures. Unforeseen opportunities might arise in that process.
Tap, tap!
For that, I need to check the date first. It will help in formulating a concrete plan.
'Huh?'
So I turned on the smartphone. Checking the date isn't difficult. The problem is the news flash that came with it.