Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 146

Translator: Dreamscribe“Hm.”

Chairman Kang Sung-ho was examining the monitor with a seriously focused expression.

“This is where the leak was happening after all. That’s why the numbers were low.”

Even the Chief Secretary, who had come in to report something, couldn’t bring himself to interrupt Chairman Kang Sung-ho, who was so intensely focused.

“...Hm? Chief Kim. Didn’t you come to report something?”

“Ah, yes. I couldn’t say anything because you were so focused, Chairman.”

“Is that so? Haha.”

“Yes. It looked like you were going over some important report materials.”

“Well, it’s not company-related, it’s something else important.”

What Chairman Kang Sung-ho was actually reviewing was none other than a video.

It was footage recorded from a raid he went on with his guild members last week.

“I’m watching this to give myself feedback, to see how much I’m helping the organization.”

Since tankers and healers are positions that can’t deal damage, it’s just a matter of checking how well they healed, how effectively they applied debuffs, and how well they protected the party members.

But for a damage dealer, only the damage output matters.

The reason tankers and healers run themselves ragged providing support is entirely so that the damage dealers can deal as much damage as possible.

If a damage dealer fails to do that, the raid cannot be cleared.

That’s where the damage rankings come in.

Even though Chairman Kang Sung-ho was a newcomer, the fact that he was being outranked by others seriously fired up his competitive spirit.

And that wasn’t all.

This was a surprisingly harsh place where, if you weren’t good at the game, people wouldn’t even treat you like a human being.

That’s why he was giving himself feedback alone whenever he found the time, in order to improve his gameplay.

“Ah. If you mean that organization... is it the one in Kwangwoon? That secretive group?”

“That’s right. It’s that one.”

“May I ask what you were doing there...?”

“Chief Kim. Even if you’re my closest secretary who stays by my side, there are some things in this world you need to pretend not to know, even if you do.”

“I-I’m sorry. I said something inappropriate.”

“Good. Don’t try to dig too deep.”

In truth, it wasn’t something that really needed to be a secret.

But he absolutely couldn’t say that the secretive group was actually a gaming guild.

I’m sorry, Chief Kim!

“Anyway, what’s the matter?”

“Ah. The executives are waiting in the conference room.”

“Is it an important meeting?”

“It’s a routine report. They say there are one or two key issues included.”

“Then there’s no need to go all the way to the conference room. Let’s do it here. Just bring the key report content.”

“Yes, sir.”

While Chief Kim went to summon the executives, Chairman Kang once again reviewed the footage to check where the damage leaks were occurring.

Next week, he would definitely surpass all the guild members who looked down on him as a newbie and establish himself as a top-tier damage dealer.

“Chairman.”

“Ah. Everyone, come in and take a seat.”

Before long, the executives entered the Chairman’s Office.

“Let’s quickly go over just the important report items. I’ve got something to do today.”

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll briefly summarize the group’s report.”

The report was straightforward.

Since COVID, the semiconductor market had entered an unprecedented boom.

However, although demand was high, there wasn’t enough supply to meet it.

That was because factories had been forced to shut down due to the pandemic, making it difficult to secure supply.

“Not being able to operate the factories was a critical issue, but we actually benefited somewhat from the resulting price increases. And thanks to Kwangwoon prioritizing vaccine distribution to our Kangseong employees, the factories were able to return to normal operations quickly.”

“But supply is still lacking? Then what about building additional factories?”

“Yes. This is where we run into a bit of a dilemma. We’ve already built a lot of factories, so once the cycle turns, all those factories could start operating at a loss.”

Semiconductors follow what’s called a super cycle.

There are peak seasons and off-seasons.

It’s like a snack factory.

Say a new snack starts selling like crazy.

Then the company would build a new factory and mass-produce the popular new snack.

But when that happens, like clockwork, the snack's sales volume suddenly drops.

And the factories end up sitting idle.

That directly leads to losses.

“You’re saying that building a new factory could lead to major losses?”

“Yes. That’s highly likely. The current boom in semiconductors is due to the COVID special circumstances.”

It was a dilemma.

And when faced with such a dilemma, there was a solution.

“I’ll talk this over with CEO Jung Jin-ho.”

Kwangwoon and Kangseong were now inseparable partners.

Especially in semiconductors, where everything was intricately connected, it seemed wise to follow Jung Jin-ho’s decision in such a critical matter.

Some might say it's weak for a company head to rely on someone else.

But if that someone is Jung Jin-ho, then it’s perfectly fine to rely on him for all management decisions.

“Ah, and Chairman. Coincidentally, Kwangwoon made a request to our electronics division.”

“Hmm? What kind of request?”

“They’re launching something called KW Coin through the KW Exchange. It’s supposed to be usable across all platforms operated by the Kwangwoon Group. They’re asking us to make it usable in Kangseong Electronics and also freely usable in Kangseong Mart.”

“KW Coin? So... it’s something like a local currency issued by the government?”

“That’s the idea. Only, it’s issued by Kwangwoon. They plan to maintain a stable price, like a stablecoin.”

Come to think of it, he had vaguely heard something in the guild before, that Kwangwoon was planning a project related to cryptocurrency.

“And they’re asking for it to be linked with Kangseong Pay as well.”

“Looks like they want to make it usable just like real cash, huh?”

“Yes. Kwangwoon said they would cover the transaction fees. It seems they want to expand the range of usage as much as possible to encourage widespread adoption.”

There had been many attempts to use coins like cash up to now.

But none lasted more than a few months before shutting down.

The main reason was price stability.

“That’s why there are significant risks. If this collapses due to external attacks like Luna Coin...”

“But Kwangwoon is backing it, right? Kwangwoon has the strongest financial power in the country. If it doesn’t collapse like Luna and can stay stable?”

“Then it’s a different story. If it can truly maintain price stability and fulfill the role of currency, many are saying it could become a new-generation form of money. The world that Bitcoin envisioned might finally be realized through Kwangwoon.”

It meant this could become a game-changer that shifts the entire landscape.

“If it were any other company, I’d be skeptical, but if it’s CEO Jung Jin-ho pushing this...”

And if Kangseong were to reject this?

Just imagining the aftermath that would follow was terrifying.

“Cooperate as much as possible. This KW Coin thing doesn’t look like it’s going to be ordinary.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“But... just a thought. You don’t think this could later replace the dollar, do you?”

“I don’t think that’s possible, is it?”

Yeah. Logically, that was clearly impossible.

How could a currency capable of replacing the dollar be created?

But somehow...

There was a strange feeling.

Jung Jin-ho had always made the impossible, possible.

***

“CEO-nim. FTX has officially filed for bankruptcy.”

Another shocking event had hit Bitcoin’s history.

FTX, the second-largest exchange in the world, had filed for bankruptcy.

“Seems like they were hit hard by the aftermath of the Luna Coin incident. Companies tied to FTX lost all their money through Luna Coin.”

Actually, that much was still manageable.

FTX wasn’t a company that could be toppled just by the Luna Coin incident alone.

The real problem was the bank run.

Trust in Bitcoin had severely eroded, and when news broke that FTX had been directly impacted by Luna Coin, people panicked and rushed to withdraw their money.

“The issue isn’t just FTX. The major Bitcoin exchanges under FTX are also facing consecutive bank runs, and everything is in total chaos now.”

Luna Coin had shattered the credibility of Bitcoin.

Wasn’t it a case where 40 billion dollars simply vanished?

And now that even FTX had collapsed, people could no longer trust Bitcoin.

Because of that, all the exchanges were exploding.

“What about our side?”

“We’re doing fine. We don’t just deal with Bitcoin, we also handle the U.S. stock market. On top of that, distributing 1 trillion won worth of KW Coin this time has been very effective. I think it worked because people could use various platforms at more affordable prices.”

In a way, our KW Coin was going against this trend.

There were definitely concerns that it might become the next Luna Coin, but the fact that Kwangwoon Group was backing it seemed to inspire trust.

Also, the fact that our coin could be used in so many different places was a groundbreaking advantage.

“On top of that, with Kangseong Group fully syncing up with us this time, it became even easier to attract more users.”

Kangseong Group’s support played a big role.

The explosive increase in domestic users was thanks to the coin being linkable with Kangseong Pay.

“Now that FTX has collapsed, at least for the foreseeable future, or possibly forever, no other Bitcoin exchange will be able to surpass KW Exchange.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can stop growing.”

“Yes. As you said, CEO-nim, we need to keep growing, but there is one problem. We’ve hit a ceiling.”

It wasn’t because KW Exchange had already grown as much as it could.

“It’s because of China, right?”

“Yes. Didn’t China completely ban Bitcoin trading at the end of last year? This year, they plan to tighten regulations even further.”

Forty percent of Bitcoin production happens in the United States.

So which country produces the next 20%?

China.

Yet Bitcoin is entirely banned in China.

And still, 20% of the global Bitcoin supply was coming from there.

As a result, the Chinese government announced it would closely monitor and crack down on those secretly mining or producing Bitcoin.

“If the Chinese market were open, we could take another huge leap forward. It’s really unfortunate.”

“Also, it seems the Chinese government is planning to launch its own digital coin instead, as they block the Bitcoin market.”

They’re blocking Bitcoin trading but then launching a government-issued coin?

China was, as always, a fascinating country.

“But things in China right now are quite serious. With such a huge population and low hygiene standards, COVID is spreading continuously. There are talks that the Chinese government might take drastic measures soon as they’ve declared a Zero-COVID policy.”

China was still suffering from COVID.

In our country, the virus seemed to be somewhat under control, but in China, patients were still pouring out in waves.

“So they’ve placed another large vaccine order with us.”

“Didn’t they say before that they were developing their own vaccine?”

“Yes. But this shows that even China has admitted to its technological limitations. And since our company’s vaccine currently shows the best preventive efficacy, they must’ve felt they had no choice.”

One of China’s big mistakes was trying to develop its own vaccine instead of relying on ours. That led to an even faster spread of the virus.

“Can we speed up vaccine distribution?”

“Well… realistically, it’s difficult right now. If they had made the request sooner, maybe. But the timing is off. With such a large population, even producing the vaccines will take time.”

So they missed the golden window.

By the time we produced the vaccines, the number of infections in China would be far higher than it is now.

“For now, give the order to start production as quickly as possible. Saving lives comes first, right? And adjust the shipping schedule so that the vaccines are transported to China immediately once they’re ready.”

“Yes, CEO-nim.”

This disease called COVID truly has tormented humanity for far too long.

Thanks to this, even though our Kwangwoon had accumulated immense wealth, human lives must still come before making money.

“CEO-nim. Also, NASDAQ has dropped again. Looks like all the bubbles that formed during the COVID boom are bursting at once.”

Because of COVID, not just the Korean stock market, but stock markets around the world soared.

It was a phenomenon caused by people who couldn’t go outside flocking to the stock market.

The problem was that this created an extreme bubble in tech stocks.

And now that bubble was finally bursting.

“It's the same with NVIDIA, and with our AMD as well. Everything related to tech stocks is falling, regardless of actual earnings. The aftermath of the Luna Coin incident is playing a big role too.”

Although people believe Bitcoin and the stock market are separate, in truth, the two are connected.

Aren’t various securities firms currently selling products linked to Bitcoin?

With the collapse of Luna Coin and the bankruptcy of FTX, dozens of investment firms have gone under, and the ripple effect is sweeping across NASDAQ.

“......”

Sure enough.

Looking at the list, every NASDAQ stock was flashing red.

Finding a rising stock here would be difficult... Hm?

“...What’s the current status of FaceWeb?”

“Whew. It’s chaos over there too. FaceWeb has been aggressively investing in the Metaverse since last year, right? But now it’s being heavily criticized as a failed project.”

“Yes. Its market cap has plummeted. A big reason was the competition from our PicPic.”

FaceWeb was expected to record its worst performance ever this year.

But strangely enough...

Right now, his instinct was painting the name FaceWeb in golden light.

***

FaceWeb’s market cap had once surpassed 1 trillion dollars.

It felt like just yesterday they were celebrating joining the trillion-dollar club.

Now, FaceWeb’s market cap had fallen to 300 billion dollars.

A shocking 70% drop.

“Shareholders are extremely dissatisfied. The U.S. government is even putting pressure on us, saying an investigation is necessary.”

At that statement from an executive, Marcus Burg, FaceWeb’s founder and CEO, frowned.

“The drop in stock price isn’t even my fault. Why is the U.S. government talking about an investigation?”

FaceWeb’s stock price had fallen in part due to the impact of COVID.

Although FaceWeb’s user count increased because of the pandemic, its ad revenue fell.

This was because companies were forced to shut down operations.

Wasn’t 97% of FaceWeb’s revenue from advertising?

The users increased, but the companies that would place ads had disappeared.

“On top of that, PicPic’s arrival was a fatal blow. Even though FaceWeb has over 3 billion users, PicPic, which has fewer members, actually has higher user engagement.”

PicPic’s strength was short-form videos.

That caused a sensation and dominated the social media market.

FaceWeb quickly launched its own short-form video platform to compete, but after several attempts, it kept losing to PicPic.

“And the most critical blow is that China has just shut down Shanghai.”

“What? Wait. The entire city of Shanghai? That can’t be real.”

“Yes. Shockingly, they launched a surprise total lockdown of Shanghai yesterday, and the people inside are completely trapped.”

“That’s not all. Including Shanghai, cities like Shenzhen, Jilin Province, and others have been locked down. They’ve started partial lockdown orders across 87 cities in total. They're declaring Zero-COVID.”

As expected of China.

They rolled in tanks and military forces and locked down the massive city of Shanghai.

And they didn’t stop there, they declared “Zero-COVID” and shut down as many as 87 cities.

“These crazy bastards.”

One might wonder why there’s such a sensitive reaction to China locking down cities.

But for FaceWeb, China was an extremely important region.

Why? Because the companies that advertise on FaceWeb mostly have factories in China.

In other words, if Chinese cities are locked down like that, all the factories will come to a halt, which will lead directly to a decline in corporate production.

And when that happens, companies won’t be able to spend money.

Meaning, they won’t be able to run ads.

That system directly impacts FaceWeb.

“That’s exactly why the stock price keeps falling. At this rate... it looks like it might drop from 300 billion to 200 billion dollars.”

A solution was urgently needed to break through this crisis.

“But sir, Kwangwoon is reportedly buying up our stock in large quantities right now.”

“...What? All of a sudden?”

“Yes. It’s not just a rumor. Kwangwoon has openly notified the funds that hold large amounts of our stock. They’ve told them to sell.”

Marcus blinked.

Why would Kwangwoon suddenly buy up the stock of a competing company?

“Didn’t China just place a full lockdown on Shanghai and other cities? That shock is bound to further impact our FaceWeb’s performance and stock price.”

“And?”

“Doesn’t it seem odd? If China had received an adequate supply of vaccines, the COVID situation wouldn’t have gotten this bad. Most other countries have already brought it under control.”

“You’re saying Kwangwoon delayed vaccine supply on purpose?”

“From what people are saying, China tried to develop its own vaccine, but Kwangwoon’s lukewarm attitude toward supplying vaccines has raised suspicions that it might have been intentional.”

So Kwangwoon may have delayed supply on purpose to paralyze Chinese cities?

“Apparently, China requested supplies, but Kwangwoon responded that it would take time. And while doing so, they changed the shipping schedule, reducing the volume of semiconductors that were supposed to come to us. As a result, we’re now facing issues with our servers as well.”

That’s when Marcus realized something strange was going on.

As China made the shocking decision to lock down entire cities, FaceWeb suffered, and its already plummeting stock price was poised to fall even further.

At the center of this situation, Kwangwoon was using vaccine delays as an excuse to adjust shipping schedules, thereby controlling the supply of semiconductors meant for FaceWeb.

“On top of that, Kwangwoon is buying up our shares. And they recently launched something called KW Coin and are raising massive capital with it.”

And all these fragmented incidents that seemed unrelated had one destination where they were converging.

“Kwangwoon seems to be targeting our FaceWeb.”

“!?”