Past Life Returner - Chapter 66

New York and the Isle of Man had earned profit as expected. Kim Cheong-Soo and Gillian had proven their capabilities as founders of global asset management firms that dominated the world’s economy. There was no corporate tax on the Isle of Man, so all the profits went directly into Jonathan’s and my accounts. The total was a hundred-six billion, excluding transaction fees and incentives. Also, New York’s payout was about eighty-two billion after taxes, and my offshore accounts held another twelve billion dollars. Therefore, we had about two hundred billion dollars now, and these were now available in cash. 

The war had been fierce and most of the battles had become zero-sum games. Someone had to lose as we won and the aftermath would be just as cruel. 

In my previous life Hedge fund LTCM had collapsed with Russia and it had become the starting point of the 2008 Subprime Mortgage Crisis that had crashed the global economy. How many more would fall this time? 

Ah! Now wasn’t the time for this.

< Jonathan: We lost? >

< Seon-Hu: The profit of the Isle of Man is six hundred fifteen percent. >

< Jonathan: Gosh I can’t believe that. >

< Seon-Hu: Shit! That’s not the problem. I forgot something important. The time is…I don’t know if there are any seats left. >

< Jonathan: What’s going on? >

< Seon-Hu: Gather the in-house accountants and prepare to use cash. Then make a list of those who lost big in this war. >

< Jonathan: I can deal with money but it takes several days to figure out the losers. The Ministry of Finance can’t even do that in one day. >

< Seon-Hu: I’m not asking you to find out. They’ll come to you so just write down their names! >

***

Jonathan wanted to pick me up at the airport but he couldn’t. When I called him before getting on board he was busy meeting the losers. I hurried and informed Jonathan about my arrival after getting out of the airport. I headed to Wall Street instead of seeking a secret place to meet up. I wondered how such a small street which was no longer than 1500 feet was the hub of the global economy. I got out at Trinity Church because of the traffic jam.

“It’s cool right? But remember. Losers are buried in that church’s graveyard so we call Wall Street the street that begins with an oily river and ends in the grave.” In the past a stranger told me that when I studied abroad.

The atmosphere was desolate and I saw managers walking around like zombies. It reminded me of the 2008 global economic crisis and some of them would end up in their grave at this pace. 

Those who appeared to be economic journalists seemed better merely shocked and not suicidal. I heard some words clearly as I passed them including bankruptcy LTCM market crash the spread of the crisis and Russia. It was ironic to see that the United States after being so wary of Russian nuclear weapons had been instead struck by the very capitalism they were promoting. 

As soon as I entered my New York headquarters every single employee had a smile on their face. The world inside and outside of the door was different like heaven and hell. I notified the receptionist in the lobby that I had an appointment and headed to the reception area. There were three other people waiting for Jonathan and they must have been working on Wall Street for a while. They seemed to know each other well despite working for different companies. Of course they stopped talking and reviewed their documents as soon as I walked in as they were cautious in front of outsiders.

The office door opened and three men rose at the same time. Jonathan shook hands with the guy who came out with him then went back to his office. The secretary approached us.

“Ethan you can go in.”

At those words the three men looked at me in surprise and irritation as if they were asking why I was seeing Jonathan first. 

“I’ve been out of my mind since yesterday. Welcome.”

Jonathan took off his tie and jacket and threw them away to lean against the chair.

“Did you see the bald guy who just left? He’s from LTCM. He asked me to lend him two billion dollars and didn’t mention management shares. It looks like they are only willing to give up the supervisory authority but everyone’s like that. These bastards started this but ugh!”

Jonathan vented his anger and said he was disgusted by people on Wall Street even though he was one of them. 

“What would you like to drink?” Jonathan asked.

“Nothing I don’t have time. Did you make the list?” I questioned.

Jonathan pulled a document out of his desk drawer. He added LTCM to the list then handed it to me.

“It’s worse than we thought. The government would have a headache over LTCM alone but look at all those guys written there” he said.

Some would call it a rescue list but it was actually the beggar’s list. The names on the paper had been our enemies just a few days ago. We had fought with everything we had and the defeated were now coming to beg for their lives so that they could avoid bankruptcy. 

“…”

I became speechless after checking the file as the names of famous banks and hedge funds filled the page. The misery didn’t end there—their private funds pension funds state bonds and derivatives that went in the trillions were also affected. If they all collapsed the resulting financial crisis would be more catastrophic than in 2008. This could be a nuclear bomb. Then I saw a monitor in the corner of the wall.

“Turn up the volume” I said.

The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury’s voice echoed.

“The world may be experiencing its worst financial crisis in the next seventy years right now.”

The secretary who had experienced Black Monday in 1987 was discussing a bigger crisis and he was mentioning the Great Depression in 1929. Jonathan’s face and mine both darkened as we understood the seriousness of what was going on. This was the turning point and I sat across from Jonathan after turning off the monitor. We looked at the list together. 

“Greedy asses. They don’t want to let go of money as they are dying even though they know exactly what’s going to happen. Bastards.”

Jonathan was genuinely pissed. We had started the Russian financial war but we were the winners. We weren’t amateurs who blamed ourselves for what would happen to the losers after their poisonous misfortune. 

“You’ve had meetings since yesterday right?” I asked.

“Yes these assholes.”

Jonathan was venting out his anger in front of me. I had seen a bloodthirsty light in his eyes before and this was my second time seeing him like that.

“These punks are bringing it onto themselves” he said.

“Wrap up today’s schedule Jonathan” I replied. 

“Whoa-” he sighed. 

I answered “These guys should face reality. They will realize that no one can lend them money although they keep begging.”

“The Department of the Treasury and the Central Bank will intervene. It’s that serious” he responded.

Most hedge funds were headquartered in tax havens. In other words they were technically not American companies or banks but the U.S. was in a position to bail them out. The media and public had raised questions about the U.S. salvaging LTCM in my previous life. 

“The government can’t save all of them. They have no choice but to ask us for help well…Not us you” I said.

“I don’t want to and those asses should just die” he replied.

“Invite Gillian here. I’ll set up the meeting” I suggested. 

“Ugh…” 

Jonathan would know what this opportunity meant. We gained money and fame from Russia but this chance would let us take everything from the hedge funds including their intricate web of connections histories systems and clients! They would basically lose all their possessions.

Nevertheless Jonathan was dissatisfied because he had faced their greed directly over the past few days. We started discussing the situation and wrapped up after choosing the best of the bankrupt banks and hedge funds we would take. 

“Jonathan take everything they have” I said.

***

Jonathan wasn’t the only one who had things to do as I had a big duty ahead of me too. I returned to Korea and went to the office. Woo Yeon-Hee prepared to leave and waved the car keys at me. We entered the highway and headed to Gim-Je after passing by the exit to Hwaseong. After wandering around the hill to chase Woo Yeon-Hee’s memories for a while I received a message.

[You have found the dungeon.]

Since Woo Yeon-Hee had discovered the dungeon herself she had acquired the trait of an explorer. We looked at each other and began the preparations. We marked the perimeters with the fishing line and stuck the signpost.

On our way back to Seoul I called Mr. Choi the owner of Il-ju Construction. I had a hunch that these preparations would become some sort of ritual. I would come back alive after completing the quest! 

Therefore I started working on the next dungeon’s construction before entering the F-class dungeon.

“The mental hospital in Hwaseong began like this” Woo Yeon-Hee stated after I finished my phone call.

“It’s tomorrow Woo Yeon-Hee” I said.

“Is there anything I have to bring?” She asked.

“Just get a good sleep. You won’t be able to sleep well from tomorrow” I replied.

“And?” she questioned.

“You’d better leave your will. There’s a higher possibility of us not coming back than returning alive.”

However Unicorn had come back alive and with a huge bounty despite the odds. It was my turn now. This novel is available on bit.ly/442AmPS.