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Investing After Seeing The Future

“There are great entrepreneurs, but there are no great investors. That’s the reality of this country.” One day, I began to see something in front of me. What can you do with this ability? From now on, we will reinvent the world financial system!

The_Allmighty_One · Realistic
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20 Chs

Chapter 2: Fortune Lost, Fortune Found

Winter, 22 years old.

My long military service was over.

"Attention! Sergeant Kang Jin-hoo has been discharged! Reporting as ordered!"

After reporting my discharge to the battalion commander, it finally sank in that I was truly leaving. The officers and fellow soldiers followed me to the sentry post to bid me farewell.

The staff sergeant patted me on the shoulder and said, "You worked hard. Stay healthy out there in the world, just like you did here."

"…Yes."

Healthy, my foot.

My once healthy body was worn out from my time here.

________________________________

I boarded a bus heading home.

While I was in the army, my family moved several times. The current home was a semi-basement one-room apartment in Heukseok-dong, with a 5 million won deposit and 400,000 won in monthly rent.

Descending the stairs and opening the front door, the musty, damp smell hit me, making it hard to breathe. I opened the window to ventilate the room.

Who would live in a place like this, I wondered. But that person was me.

Compared to this, my barracks were better.

After putting my things down and looking around, I noticed a small folding table in one corner of the kitchen, covered with a tablecloth.

I lifted the tablecloth.

Underneath were lidded bowls, five 10,000 won bills, and a cellphone. On top of it all was a note.

"Out for work again, I see."

A few months ago, I'd heard from an acquaintance that my mom had started working at the customer service center of a department store in Gangnam. She couldn't have taken the day off just because her son was getting discharged.

I sat on the floor and began eating the cold rice and soup.

________________________________

When I was younger.

Our family lived in a two-story detached house and drove a luxury sedan to eat out on weekends.

We weren't incredibly wealthy, but we lived comfortably.

My father was the owner of a small company with around 10 employees. It was a business he had built from the ground up, working his whole life to establish it.

He wanted me to take over the family business, so I entered the business management department at Korea University.

After graduating, I planned to help my father grow the company.

Things changed at the end of my freshman year.

The main client suddenly canceled their supply contract, putting the company in crisis. My father ran everywhere with his employees, trying to save the company.

Growing a business is hard, but it can collapse in an instant.

On the day the final bankruptcy decision came down, my father collapsed on the spot from a stroke.

In dramas or movies, when a successful family suddenly crashes, I always thought it was something that happened to other people.

I never imagined it would happen to my family.

The company's bankruptcy and my father's illness happened in quick succession. After that, I don't even remember how time passed. Our house and car were auctioned off one after another.

Despite several surgeries, my father never regained consciousness and passed away in the hospital.

With no way to pay for living expenses, I couldn't even think about affording tuition.

At times like this, a man has two options.

One is studying abroad, and the other is joining the army. With no money and no preparation, studying abroad wasn't feasible for me. But the South Korean military doesn't care if you're broke or unprepared.

As long as your body's healthy, they'll take you.

So, I took a leave of absence from school and enlisted.

_______________________________

After finishing my meal, I washed the dishes and lay down on the floor.

The cold from the floor stabbed into my back. Aside from the bathroom, kitchen, and a few pieces of furniture, the empty space in this one-room apartment wasn't even 10 square meters.

Living here with my mom filled me with mixed emotions.

In some ways, being in the army was more comfortable. They fed me, housed me, and even paid me a tiny monthly wage.

But now that I was discharged, I felt lost.

I couldn't just keep living off pocket money at this age. I needed to earn some money.

I turned on my phone and called my classmate, Min-young.

Beep! Click!

[Hello, who is this?]

"Min-young? It's Jin-hoo."

Immediately, the voice on the other end brightened.

[Wow! How long has it been? Are you on leave?]

"No, I just got discharged today."

[Oh! Congratulations!]

I got straight to the point.

"Do you know of any tutoring gigs?"

Among part-time jobs for university students, tutoring pays the best. The problem is that there's a lot of competition, and without connections, it's hard to find a spot.

To be honest, even if I find one, there's another issue.

After being in the army, my brain is completely wiped clean. I've forgotten everything I learned in middle and high school. I probably need tutoring myself at this point.

But Korea University is the best of the best. Even if I can't teach well, my university name alone will open doors. In Korea, the name on your degree matters more than your actual skills.

I figure if I can just find a gig, I'll figure out the rest.

[Hmm, things are a bit slow right now, though.]

"Please, just ask around. I'd appreciate it."

[Alright. Let's grab a drink sometime to celebrate your discharge.]

"Okay."

After hanging up, I let out a sigh.

"Haa."

Should I work part-time at a convenience store or a PC café until I find a tutoring job?

As I scrolled through my phone, I saw dozens of missed calls. All from the same number.

The caller was Oh Taek-gyu, my best friend since middle school. Since both his parents worked, he used to hang out or sleep over at my house a lot.

Why did he call so many times?

Beep!

I called him back.

Hey, Oh Taek-gyu."

He answered as if he'd been waiting.

[Finally, I got ahold of you. Did you get discharged?]

"How did you get this number?"

[Your mom gave it to me.]

"I see."

Looks like my mom gave him my number when she got me a new phone.

[More importantly, something big has happened.]

"..."

From the tone of his voice, I could tell something serious had come up.

Is it something bad?

"What happened?"

[You remember when I got those Bant Coins?]

Back in middle school, Taek-gyu quit playing a popular MMORPG and sold off his character, gear, and gold.

But the site he usually used started regulating transactions, so some users began using virtual currency to trade instead.

That currency was called Bant Coin.

According to Taek-gyu, Bant Coin wasn't controlled by any authority. It was issued and traded through a peer-to-peer network, without any individual or organization having control.

Bant Coin could be divided up to nine decimal places, and it was usually written as BNT.

I've heard the explanation a few times, but it's not an easy concept to grasp.

Anyway, the Bant Coins Taek-gyu received back then amounted to 11,000 BNT. At the time, 10,000 BNT was worth around $90, which was just a bit over 100,000 won.

But when we became high school students, the value of Bant Coin suddenly skyrocketed.

100 BNT was close to $500, and what was once worth 100,000 won became 50 million won!

Thinking he'd hit the jackpot, Taek-gyu tried to sell the Bant Coins to pocket the 50 million won. But there was one problem.

Ridiculously enough, he had lost the private key to access his Bant Coin account!

To put it simply, it was like having money in the bank but losing both the account number and password. In a bank's case, you could retrieve your account with just your name and social security number, but with Bant Coin, without the private key, you can't recover anything.

"Ah! My 50 million won! My money!"

He lamented, saying it was like throwing a winning lottery ticket in the trash, and cried for several days. After that, he completely lost interest in Bant Coin.

"The guy who would have a fit at the mere mention of 'Bant' suddenly brought it up?

Why?"

[Don't freak out. Just listen.]

"What is it?"

[I found the private key.]

"What?"

As I stood dumbfounded, he explained.

A few days ago, while cleaning his figurine display case, he found a USB that had fallen behind it. Wondering if it contained anything important, he dusted it off and plugged it into his computer. Inside was the private key for his Bant Coin account.

I was astonished.

"Are you serious? No joke?"

[It's for real.]

That's a huge jackpot, isn't it?

I should be screaming with joy right now, but Taek-gyu seemed more shocked than happy.

"What's the current price of Bant Coin? Hasn't it gone up even more since then?"

[As of yesterday, it's $1,120.]

$1,120 is roughly 1.23 million won.

"Wait, 100 BNT at $1,120... that's more than double what it was back then. It was worth 50 million won then, so... whoa! That means 100 million?"

Just as I was getting excited, Taek-gyu spoke.

[That's per 1 BNT.]

"Huh?"

[It's $1,120 per 1 BNT, not 100 BNT.]

"..."

I was speechless.

After a moment, I gathered my thoughts and spoke.

"You're kidding, right?"

[If you don't believe me, I'll send you the proof. See for yourself.]

Ding!

I took the phone away from my ear and checked the message. It showed a graph with an upward curve and the current price of Bant Coin.

As of yesterday's date, the exact price was $1,122.

I put the phone back to my ear.

"You had 11,000 BNT, so..."

As I roughly calculated, my jaw dropped.

"No way... 13.5 billion won?"

[I don't know if this is a dream or reality either. I've already listed it on the exchange.]

At that moment.

Something appeared in front of my eyes, like a hologram.

"…"

Why am I seeing this? What is Mountain Hill?

Feeling an uneasy suspicion, I urgently asked.

"Which exchange is it?"

[Huh?]

"Which exchange? Tell me quickly!"

A reply came.

[It's called Mountain Hill.]

What?

I almost shouted at him.

"Sell it immediately!"

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