Past Life Returner - Chapter 56

Gillian was so excited that he couldn’t sleep at night, and he grabbed the phone as he sat up in the bed. 

< Gillian: Jessica you're still awake right? >

< Jessica: Yes. You too? >

< Gillian: Check the schedule of the U.S. Deputy Minister of Finance. >

< Jessica: He’ll visit Moscow tomorrow. >

Jessica immediately replied with joy in her tone. Gillian was amazed by Jessica’s forethought and he was even more surprised at the investment proposal’s estimations and originality.

Jessica came over to Gillian’s room late at night since he had called her. She had brought a handful of data documents and she began organizing them on the table.

“The stunning thing about the investment proposal is that it deals with much more than just the numbers” Gillian said.

“I know right! It even contains the behavior patterns of the major player too” Jessica responded.

They were not talking about the U.S. Deputy Minister of Finance’s visit to Moscow as that could be confirmed by a simple phone call.

He continued “According to the proposal the U.S. Deputy Minister of Finance’s request for a meeting will be declined by the Russian prime minister’s chief secretary.”

“That’s right. That secretary doesn’t understand the current world and still lives in the Cold War. He would think that it’s an insult for the prime minister to meet the Deputy Minister of Finance. I agree wholeheartedly with the proposal’s prediction.”

Jessica handed Gillian some documents and they were still warm from the printer. Jessica was like a genie’s lamp—she had prepared exactly what he wanted even though Gillian hadn’t told her anything. 

An elite like this was stuck in a call center just because she was a woman? Wall Street is obsolete and deserves to be defeated by a rookie like Jonathan.

Gillian smiled delightedly and turned his gaze at the documents that summarized the personal history and the remarks of the Russian prime minister and his chief secretary. In addition Jessica had found multiple pieces of evidence for what the proposal predicted would happen in just a few lines. 

Gillian commented “If the Deputy Minister of Finance’s request is rejected it’ll make quite a ripple.”

The U.S.had been the top dog in global economics due to the strong force of the Pentagon. However the power mechanism had changed when the U.S. government realized that there was a better way to control the world besides relying on military firepower. Instead they became stronger thanks to leveraging capitalism. 

If Russia refused the U.S.’s demand then…Gillian couldn’t take his eyes off the proposal and the data Jessica added. 

“What if we take a short position for the ruble now…and what if the calculation of the proposal is accurate…” Jessica said.

“What if the predictions are incorrect? Do you want to risk everything on a single Russian’s behavior pattern? The investment proposal clearly states that its prediction is just for a reference and focuses on trends further in the future” Gillian replied.

Jessica disagreed “But the repercussions are too big. The proposal is even indicating that there’s a possibility of the IMF rejecting to bail out Russia.”

“Let’s see the other documents.”

Gillian maintained a calm tone with a teacher-like mindset and Jessica suddenly mentioned something out of the blue.

“Have you read it?”

Gillian obviously knew what ‘it’ was as everyone even those not involved in the finance field was interested in the book. A newbie had earned more than twenty billion dollars using only four hundred thousand in half a year! It was a historic record that would never be broken. 

“Jonathan?” Gillian questioned.

“Yes there was an impressive statement: ‘It is the time to look at people not numbers.’ Compared to numbers which fluctuate all the time depending on policies people don’t change their thought processes biases and prejudices. I concentrated on the fact that policy drives numbers and people drive policies” Jessica declared.

“How could you memorize stuff like that already? The book just got published a few days ago. I didn’t know you were such a big fan of Jonathan” he responded.

“I’ve seen him quite a lot and he was always depressed when he came to the stock exchange. You wouldn’t have run into him since you were at Morgan Group right?” she asked. 

He replied “This reminds me of the phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’”

Jessica smiled meaningfully at Gillian and he waved his hands.

“Okay let’s stop talking about Jonathan. We’ll only become jealous” he said.

“No that’s not the point” she stopped him.

“You’re saying that it fits this situation right?” he questioned.

“Yes” she answered.

He looked at her. “Jessica.”

“Yes?” she replied.

“There are many investment techniques in the world and Jonathan has found one that suits him best. You said that Jonathan was always depressed before right? People only see success not failure. You’ve seen how much failure and despair Jonathan went through before he found the best investment technique” Gillian said.

Jessica responded “Haha but you said you’ve never experienced failure.”

“I haven’t failed but I’ve made a mistake that I shouldn’t have” he said bitterly.

If Gillian hadn’t joined the Morgan Group and gone to New York he wouldn’t have been stuck on this small island. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I’m not worshiping Jonathan. It’s just that his success story makes me dream. I’ll find my own method so could we move on?” Jessica asked.

Gillian and Jessica stayed up all night going through the investment proposal and Gillian felt like he was back in his student days when he would enthusiastically debate over one assignment. Therefore he didn’t feel restless even at dawn.

Some more time passed. While Gillian had advised Jessica not to believe in others’ results too much he couldn’t stop looking through this until it was nine o’clock in the morning. He had worked hard to find a flaw in the investment proposal as if he was an editor looking for a typo. But it was perfect. Just as hundreds of cogwheels entangled together to complete a clock every piece of evidence in the proposal like numbers policies and players proved the premise that Russia would go bankrupt. Moratorium! 

“…Russia will really go bankrupt. I want to meet the team that made this investment proposal” Gillian’s voice was imbued with deep sincerity.When you’re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/442AmPS.

“There must be a lot of people like you boss” Jessica said.

Gillian smirked inside and thought There must be a lot of people like you Jessica.

He sent Jessica back then prepared to go to work. He washed himself from head to toe thoroughly as he was planning to stay in the office and sleep there. The proposal was perfect and he had to figure out how to maximize the profit based on it. That was why his salary was so high.

Gillian packed his underwear and left the hotel. He even left his phone behind like the hunters did before entering the dungeon.

***

“Dungeon?” Woo Yeon-Hee’s eyes widened as she had never dreamed of going there after just one day.

“Go to Gim-je in Jeollabuk-do province first” I said while laying back in the passenger seat.

She seemed to wonder why we were going there instead of the mental ward in Hwasung. 

“There’s a map in the glove compartment in front of you” she said.

When I closed my eyes after handing her the map she started the car.

Woo Yeon-Hee woke me up at the rest area and looked at me in surprise as I only bought snacks and water. Then she stopped in front of the truck stall. It wasn’t because she wanted to buy music tapes. Instead she was staring at a cheap kitchen knife and I could see what was on her mind. I wanted to slap the back of her head but her skull was tiny.

“Your hands will crack first if you use that.”

The owner of the stall only blinked after hearing my words.

“I told you that there you won’t need to wield a knife against a monster” I said after coming back to the car.

“I could be left alone or abandoned” she spoke hesitantly.

I suddenly asked “What do you think is the easiest way to die?”

“Huh?” She looked at me.

“You said you thought about it a lot” I replied. 

She looked away before mumbling “Sleeping pills.”

“Have you tried it?” I questioned.

“As you can see no. I’m here alive” she answered.

I shook my head and took a small iron case out of my bag.

“Take it with you as a talisman” I said.

Woo Yeon-Hee opened the case and just looked at the syringe quietly. I didn’t need to explain when to use it and she started the engine again and entered the highway. She didn’t talk to me perhaps because I was closing my eyes. There was no music and only the wind was loud as she drove.

“We’re here” she finally said.

We were passing by Gim-je Interchange (IC) when I opened my eyes. She was clutching the steering wheel like a weapon. There was more fear on her face than she had when she had looked at the knives. We passed the urban district and I saw endless rice plants that were spaced out at regular intervals as the rice transplanting season was over. After a long ride on the rural roads we reached our destination.

“Park there and open the trunk” I said.

We were at the base of a hill and Woo Yeon-Hee got out of the car. While I was taking out the backpack and sleeping bag that looked like the ones I had lost in the dungeon I heard her breathing heavily. 

“Turn around” I said.

The backpack was as big as Woo Yeon-Hee. I couldn’t see her face after adjusting the length and I tied the rolled sleeping bag to the loops attached to the bottom. I could only see her legs and she was too weak as she couldn’t remain still under the weight.

“Everything is in the backpack. There are better knives in there than the cheap ones you saw at the rest area. Use it when you need to” I said.

It was only then that Woo Yeon-Hee realized what was going on and she burst out in a surprised voice “I’m a healer! You’re not telling me to go in alone are you?” 

“Do you even know where the dungeon is?” I asked.

“….”

“So go find the dungeon first. The method is simple. Step on as much ground as you can until the system notifies you” I continued.

“And if you find it do not even try to open it and come down right away. Then call me. If you open it out of curiosity we will both die” I emphasized while grabbing her shoulders.

“…then what happens?” Her voice trembled.

I replied “Monsters will come out. No one in the world can deal with those not even the military. They will kill us.”

Of course it wouldn’t happen because the dungeon closed after the first person to enter died in the dungeon. I had placed walls to not only block civilians from accessing but also in case something escaped from the dungeon. 

I even warned her with my eyes wide open “Keep in mind that you must never open it. Never.”