I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 48: Bubble Collapse (2)

December 26th.

I called Ha Joo-seong over for a chat—it had been a while.

“The Nikkei’s been climbing pretty high, huh.”

“...”

Ha Joo-seong paused, then gave me a weird look.

“...Is this about that again?”

“I don’t know what that is, but heh, I called you here to get ready for a short sell. We talked about this last time, didn’t we?”

Everyone knew the Japanese stock market had shot up way too high.

But... what would happen next? That’s where opinions split.

Most Japanese companies were betting it’d go even higher. The insane bubble had already gone way past any real value, but they still believed the numbers they could see in front of them.

Adults really do love their numbers, don’t they? Honestly.

“I’ve already put together a plan. Since you worked at Nomura, we’re not gonna mess with them—they’re too big. Let’s make them allies... and fleece some of the easier targets.”

Ha Joo-seong glanced through the plan I’d written up and let out a low whistle.

“Hm... this report’s pretty detailed. Did you put together a new team while I was away? I can see your style all over it, but still...”

“Nope. I did it myself. Consider it a Christmas gift I gave myself—I worked my ass off on the 24th and 25th.”

Isn’t it great? Spending Christmas buried under a mountain of paperwork with Jingle Bells playing in the background. I played around a bit with my nanny, but the rest of my time? All on this.

I felt bad making the other employees work over Christmas, so I overdid it a little.

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“...You did this, alone? In two days...?”

“Heh, I’m good, aren’t I?”

I shrugged and gave a quick explanation.

“Basically, we’re not gonna step out into the spotlight. If the press—especially the Japanese press—gets wind of us, it’ll get messy. Alpha Fund’s gonna do the heavy lifting... we’re just securing our political position.”

Ha Joo-seong skimmed the documents again, eyebrows raised.

“A comprehensive financial company...?”

“Yeah, remember how we turned all those finance companies that didn’t become banks or securities firms into comprehensive finance companies?”

Since financial innovation’s moving a bit faster than it did originally, it was easier to set things up.

The short-term finance companies that should’ve lasted a little longer had already been converted, which meant Korea’s financial market was evolving rapidly.

At the end of the 20th century, “evolution” basically meant “opening up,” and under neoliberalism, it meant endless competition was speeding up.

And I’m a reincarnator who’s confident I’ll win in every single competition.

“Do you have some kind of shady plan again?”

Ha Joo-seong gave me that suspicious look again. Actually, it was less suspicion and more like certainty at this point.

“Hey, shady? Come on. Most of those guys are just loan sharks from Myeongdong, right? I’m just doing some spring cleaning.”

“They’re probably gonna end up under you anyway when they go bust...”

“So what, you think a trash pile just makes a trash can?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Up until now, most of the big stuff happened in the U.S., so Korea’s financial world didn’t really feel the impact.

But... Japan? That’s close to home. And now those big shots in Korea’s finance world—the ones we’re calling comprehensive finance companies—are just starting to get a taste for money.

It’s the perfect time to harvest.

I’m planning to plant a ticking time bomb in Korea’s nice and fattened-up financial sector. One I can detonate whenever I feel like it.

“Let’s link them up with Japan. These guys just opened shop, they’re probably desperate to make connections, right?”

Ha Joo-seong went quiet for a bit, then started studying the report like he was savoring it.

Like any business, finance runs on connections.

If you tell these fresh-faced finance companies you’ll hook them up with Japan’s big securities firms... there’s no way they’re turning that down.

“Damn... Japan’s finance world does work like this, but... isn’t this straight-up accounting fraud? I get why you wrote this plan yourself now.”

I smiled sweetly and asked him, “So, you get it now?”

“Of course I do. I worked at Nomura, didn’t I? Tobashi... hiding bad debt, right?”

When the Nikkei crashes, obviously the securities firms are gonna take a massive hit too. Unlike Korea right now, Japan’s securities firms aren’t restricted from direct investment—they use company money, leverage it, and pour it into stocks and bonds.

And naturally, no one in this romantic little 20th century is dumb enough to report losses honestly...

They’ll do whatever shady shit they can to cover it up.

“This is pretty nasty, though. Not even dumping it on a subsidiary, but on another company entirely? You think they’ll take it?”

“The Japanese securities firms will, won’t they?”

“Well... yeah, if the Nikkei crashes like you think, they’ll definitely do it. It’s not their country, and if they can dump the losses on a Korean firm, no one’s gonna know. But those finance guys—they’re not idiots either. They’re not gonna take it without a fight.”

“It’s fine. On paper, it’s just a normal stock and bond transaction, right? We’re just... not using the market price, but a slightly earlier one. We’ll fudge it a bit and settle based on the year-end closing price.”

Japan and Korea don’t open their markets on the same day in the new year. Japan opens on January 4th. Korea? January 2nd.

“Think about it. Do you really think those hotshot Japanese securities firms are gonna realize they’re being stabbed in the throat only after their market opens on January 4th?”

“...If the Ministry of Finance announces interest rates at the end of the year, then the securities firms will probably know before the market opens. But the finance companies—they’ll know the interest rate, sure, but not the exact market situation. So if we play our cards right, the Japanese firms will think they’ve pulled a fast one and dump the losses.”

It’s like Black Monday. The tension and anxiety build up before the market opens...

Then boom—it all explodes.

“Exactly. Our market opens on January 2nd, right? So when the Japanese firms place their orders here... of course, we’ll settle based on the last closing price.”

We’re gonna settle based on the Nikkei’s all-time high, but by then, the actual market price will be way, way lower. Most of what they’ll dump on us will be bad debt, so we’re talking at least a few dozen percent losses.

It’s a flimsy trick, sure—anyone who really knows the Japanese market wouldn’t fall for it. But all those people? They’re long gone, way up the ladder.

“It’s basically like an option, huh. The ‘minor discrepancy’ from the information gap, we just blame it on them. But... hey, Miss.”

“What?”

Ha Joo-seong, still clueless that the Japanese market crash would last for decades, looked worried.

“If the market recovers, won’t those finance companies be the only ones profiting?”

That’s how these loss-dumping deals usually go. The side taking the hit gets something out of it too.

They take on the risk, get a little tip in return. It’s like a derivative product, in a way. Though in this case, they’re not just risking a loss—they’re swallowing it whole, which is kind of a raw deal.

Still, if the market recovers, they at least get their principal back...

But this time’s different. Those losses—they’re gonna keep piling up, for decades.

“It’s gonna be a long recession. Not just a quick thing like Black Monday. The U.S. had solid fundamentals, but Japan? That’s pure bubble. Even if it starts to «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» recover... we’ve still saddled them with debt, right? That’s a win for us either way.”

The Nikkei you see right now? It won’t recover until at least the 2020s. No way a fresh new company can survive that.

“Somehow... I knew it. This report didn’t mention Daehwa Group at all. The ones making the offers are my contacts in Japan and the Alpha Fund people...”

Ha Joo-seong gave a bitter laugh and nodded.

“Alright, I get it. I’m already dreading what you’ll get up to once you’re legally an adult...”

I stretched my arms wide and grinned.

“Don’t be scared—I’m with you, aren’t I? That’s how the saying goes, right? You’re on my side, so what’s there to be afraid of?”

We’re not the ones losing here, after all.

***

December 27th.

Rumors spread through the financial world that Alpha Fund was about to short the Nikkei on a massive scale.

Naturally, those whispers came from a certain reincarnator scheming away in the Far East.

[Alpha Fund, the ones who predicted Black Monday... Now forecasting a Nikkei crash?]

[Japanese corporations comment... Will the semiconductor crash repeat? Japanese firms losing ground on fundamentals.]

– Rustle.

At Nomura Securities’ New York branch, two men sat discussing the newspaper.

“Hm... what do you think, Chang-ho? Is the Nikkei really gonna crash? If HQ shakes, we’ll be in a weird spot too.”

“Well... I don’t know. This isn’t the first time The Wall Street Journal’s thrown around crap like that...”

The young Asian man sipped his coffee, gazing absently at the New York skyline.

“Alpha Fund, huh? Doesn’t seem like the cleanest operation. Honestly, I can’t tell anymore. Are they shorting because the market’s collapsing, or are they crashing the market so they can short it?”

“You’ve been busy, haven’t you? I thought you were all wrapped up in Ilsan Group.”

The second son of Ilsan Group’s chairman, Sun Chang-ho, just shrugged.

“There’s someone from back home in that fund, so I’ve kept tabs. Name’s Ha Yeong-il... smart guy, but dangerous. Rumor has it he’s the real power behind Alpha Fund.”

“And?”

“Heh, isn’t Nomura all about information? That’s why I like it here. Even just being a branch, we get all kinds of insider stuff.”

“Good, then... let’s see what happens in a couple days. They’ve tried to cover it up, but... something stinks here.”

“What does?”

“You wouldn’t know. I just got an offer. Some Alpha Fund rep came to me with a contract—said they’d insure us against any losses in the Japanese market.”

“Arrogant bastards.”

“Exactly! That’s what I’m saying. Acting like they’re doing us a favor, offering something like that to Nomura Securities? That’s basically saying they’re sure the Japanese market’s going to crash!”

The head of Nomura’s New York office sighed.

“There’s something... definitely something here. Alpha Fund’s not making this move without a reason. I’m thinking Ha Yeong-il—he’s got some kind of inside line.”

“You mean Ha Joo-seong? Yeong-il’s father, right? I met him once, back when I visited Nomura HQ.”

“Hmph.”

The older man shook his head at that.

“You can see traces of Ha Joo-seong in this, sure... but no. He’s sharp, but this isn’t his style.”

It was darker. More cunning. More twisted...

And most of all, they couldn’t figure out just who was behind it.

“So, are you going to turn them down?”

“Of course not. I’m absolutely going to take it.”

Whether the Nikkei crashes or keeps rising, it wasn’t an offer you could refuse.

Which is exactly why it was so unsettling.

What the hell was a mastermind of this caliber really aiming for?

That... they couldn’t figure out at all.