NOVEL NEXT 21
“Dammit… They’re at it again.”
Oh Se-jung, a fresh graduate in her first job, logged into a stock community forum after getting home from work. The first thing that caught her eye was a post that made her frown.
[Why I’m not shaken by Yuseong Semiconductor’s decline]
└ Because you didn’t buy it lolololol
[Looks like Yuseong Semiconductor holders still don’t get it]
└ The stock will only start rising once you all sell lololol
[Yuseong Semiconductor 85,000 won let’s gooooo]
└ Let’s goooooooo chugga chugga choo choooooo-
While others advised ignoring such posts, Oh Se-jung couldn’t help but focus on them. She clicked the ‘Write’ button.
[Aren’t the admins moderating this board?]
└ There are too many posts crossing the line…
└└ Holding Yuseong Semiconductor? lol Didn’t sell?
└└└ I don’t care if others sell, I’ve already recovered my returns through dividends~^^
└└└└ Typical Yuseong Semiconductor holder) Always talking about dividends lol
“Ugh, this is so frustrating!”
Oh Se-jung threw her phone down in exasperation and pulled the covers over her head.
She had come to this forum because there were many other Yuseong Semiconductor shareholders in the same situation as her.
Somehow word had spread, and now it was overrun with trolls picking fights.
As a result, the supportive shareholders had all left, leaving only these unpleasant individuals on the board.
“I should probably leave too…”
Oh Se-jung was new to the workforce, and lately, stock talk dominated conversations at her company.
Even during lunch breaks, most of her colleagues’ discussions revolved around stocks.
‘Maybe I should give it a try…’
Overhearing these conversations piqued her interest in stocks.
Coincidentally, a savings account she’d had since childhood was about to mature, so she used the money to buy Yuseong Semiconductor stock, which was touted as the safest option.
Upon further research, she found that some people were investing in Yuseong Semiconductor stock monthly instead of a savings account, while others were buying it to pass on to their children.
‘Yuseong Semiconductor is always at its bottom.’
That’s what everyone said about Yuseong Semiconductor.
They claimed that buying now would be the cheapest entry point when looking ten years ahead.
“I should never have started investing in stocks…”
However, from the moment Oh Se-jung bought Yuseong Semiconductor, its stock price began to decline.
At first, her heart raced so much that she could barely breathe, making it impossible to focus on work all day.
When she decided to cut her losses even if it meant taking a small hit, four months’ worth of salary had already vanished. Now, she was just hoping to break even and swore she’d never look back if she could just recover her initial investment.
Bzzt- Bzzt-
Hearing her phone vibrate, Oh Se-jung sighed and picked it up.
[Yuseong Investment Securities Mock Investment Competition EP. 03, The Man Who Loves Yuseong Semiconductor.]
This was a video that had been trending in stock communities recently.
At first, she wondered why anyone would watch a video about a securities firm’s employee mock investment competition, but from the moment she saw the first episode, she was hooked.
She had subscribed and turned on notifications, and this weekly video had become her greatest source of comfort.
“Oh! Is today’s episode featuring Yoon Dokyung?”
The thumbnail and title highlighted a participant who had been receiving fervent support from Yuseong Semiconductor holders, including herself.
Her gloomy mood vanished as she brightened up and opened YouTube.
[During the Misung Technology fat finger incident, Yoon Dokyung-ssi was the first to realize it was likely an order mistake.]
“Wow, that’s amazing…”
This was an incident that no stock market investor could have missed.
She had only heard her colleagues talking about it during lunch and felt regretful.
If only she had realized early that it was an order mistake and bought… It was just a missed opportunity she had lamented.
She had vaguely assumed that someone must have profited from this order mistake and envied them, but now she learned it was Yoon Dokyung.
[The client who received Dokyung-ssi’s recommendation actually bought Misung Technology stock. They made over 30% profit in just two days.]
[The time when everyone thought it was an order mistake…]
[Was about an hour.]
[So during that hour, Yoon Dokyung-ssi…]
[Yes, he figured it out.]
“Wow… This is really incredible.”
Today’s uploaded video seemed determined to highlight Yoon Dokyung, and Oh Se-jung could understand why as these stories unfolded.
[I’m selling all of my Hanseong Shipbuilding stock.]
Oh Se-jung, who had been watching the video intently, was shocked by its conclusion. The stock price of Hanseong Shipbuilding, which had been leading the stock market recently, was plummeting.
Even one of her colleagues who had bought Hanseong Shipbuilding stock had been struggling lately…
“This video must have been filmed before Hanseong Shipbuilding’s decline, right?”
From the Misung Technology order mistake incident to predicting Hanseong Shipbuilding’s stock price drop, Yoon Dokyung’s words and actions seemed almost like watching a stock market deity in action.
“If… Yuseong Semiconductor too…”
Oh Se-jung, who had been lost in thought, suddenly smiled brightly and opened the YouTube comment section to leave a comment.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“Dokyung-ssi, what’s this about?”
On Monday, a week later, Dokyung was reviewing the news from the past weekend when he heard a voice. He turned his head with a smile.
“Good morning, Lee Yeon-ji-sunbae.”
“No, Dokyung-ssi…”
“Sunbae, you haven’t been greeting me properly lately.”
As Dokyung spoke with a gentle smile, Lee Yeon-ji looked flustered.
“Oh, oh… I’m sorry. Good morning, Dokyung-ssi.”
Dokyung slightly bowed his head in response to Lee Yeon-ji’s greeting.
“What’s today’s morning topic?”
“No, Dokyung-ssi. Episode 3 came out yesterday.”
“Ah, you mean the YouTube video?”
“Yes, Dokyung-ssi. How did you know about Misung Technology?”
Dokyung looked bewildered at Lee Yeon-ji’s abrupt question.
“Misung Technology?”
“They say you knew about MG’s order mistake?”
“Was that in the video?”
“Yes. Your colleagues from the Seongnam branch were interviewed.”
“Ah…”
Dokyung became curious about what kind of videos were being released on the YouTube channel.
“I just noticed that a good company’s stock was falling without any signals, so I realized it must be an order mistake.”
“In that panic?”
“It’s my job to see the essence when everyone else is panicking.”
At Dokyung’s words, Lee Yeon-ji looked at his face as if moved, then suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.
“And late last night, a Short was uploaded. You should see this too.”
Saying this, Lee Yeon-ji took out her phone, played a YouTube video, and showed it to Dokyung.
[Then that means there’s a stock left that will rise… Could it be?]
[Yes, Yuseong Semiconductor is left.]
“This is a preview for the next episode. Look at the comments. There are over 900.”
Dokyung looked at the screen of the phone Lee Yeon-ji handed him.
@Kyul No fool would sell at a loss when God Dokyung has picked it, right?
@Choco I’m a stock newbie. I heard this hot shot picked Yuseong Electronics, so I bought in yesterday!!!
@BeaniePaste 11th floor… I’m just barely breathing. Please go up!!!
@Siru Because of Yuseong Semiconductor, I’ve deleted my brokerage app and only watch this lately. When I see God Dokyung in the comments, I immediately install it again and join in praising God Dokyung.
@Scooter I’ve been hearing so many negative things lately… Thank you even if it’s just empty words…
“What is this?”
When Dokyung asked with a dumbfounded expression, Lee Yeon-ji burst into laughter and spoke.
“Why, I told you before. The Yuseong Semiconductor holders.”
“Ah…”
“With Misung Technology and Hanseong Shipbuilding, all of your predictions were correct, and now this comes out as a preview for episode 4, so everyone’s going crazy.”
“Manager Lee Seong-hyun is really mischievous… What if it doesn’t go up?”
“Then you shouldn’t have spoken so confidently. Why? Not confident?”
“No. I’m confident, but seeing people say they bought because of me, I think I should be more restrained.”
Dokyung didn’t want to shift responsibility to individuals for their investment choices, telling them it was their personal decision when they had bought because of him.
“It’s good that it’s Yuseong Semiconductor.”
“You really are confident, aren’t you?”
“Yes. It will rise.”
“Hey, you two! Did you rent out the office this morning!?”
Lee Chang-jae shouted irritably, interrupting Dokyung and Lee Yeon-ji’s conversation.
“What’s wrong! Can’t colleagues have a conversation?”
“Who said you can’t? I said be quiet! Quiet! Don’t you see everyone’s struggling?”
“Well, well, look who’s talking. When things were going well for you, you were laughing and joking so loud the room could have fallen apart.”
“Hey, Lee Yeon-ji, are you done talking?”
As Lee Chang-jae approached with a reddening face, Dokyung stood up.
“Lee Chang-jae-ssi, the cameras are rolling.”
“Aish! Watch your mouth!”
At Dokyung’s words, Lee Chang-jae looked at the camera, then swallowed his anger and returned to his seat.
“That jerk’s been getting a lot of hate in the comments, that’s why.”
Lee Yeon-ji whispered to Dokyung.
“You mean Lee Chang-jae-ssi?”
“Yes, remember how he was going on about Hanseong Shipbuilding, saying it would keep rising and to hold onto it? Seems like some people bought because of that. He was praised when it was going up, but now that it’s suddenly fallen, he’s changed his tune.”
Lee Yeon-ji said this while pointing at the screen in the center of the room.
“And the rankings too.”
[1st place Yoon Dokyung +17.33%]
.
.
.
[5th place Lee Chang-jae +4.64%]
Lee Chang-jae, who had been holding Hanseong Shipbuilding, saw his average return rate drop significantly as the stock plummeted, causing his ranking to nosedive to 5th place.
“Dokyung-ssi, are you really going to win?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“No, you sold Hanseong Shipbuilding at its peak, so it’s locked in your average returns.”
The return rate of Hanseong Shipbuilding stock that Dokyung had sold at its peak was fixed in his portfolio.
Even if other stocks in his portfolio underperformed, he was in first place thanks to Hanseong Shipbuilding’s return rate.
Now the competition had only 5 business days left until its conclusion.
“I’m confident.”
“I really entered this competition to take a break, but meeting you has been the biggest gain.”
“You’ve been a great support for me too, Lee Yeon-ji-sunbae.”
At Dokyung’s words, Lee Yeon-ji patted his shoulder proudly, and Dokyung smiled as he looked at the screen.
‘It should be about time…’
All the messages sent so far had consistently predicted what would happen to him and chosen stocks to help him.
Dokyung thought it was time for a signal from Yuseong Semiconductor, the stock recommended by the message before the competition ended.
‘It’s 30 minutes before the market opens…’
Usually, announcements were made before the market opened, and if not then, after the market closed.
And good news was mostly announced before the market opened to boost the stock price.
Ding ding-
Just then, an alert sounded from the trading system Dokyung had open, and he reflexively moved the mouse to click on the notification.
The content of the alert was a disclosure registered by Yuseong Semiconductor.
[Single Sales/Supply Contract Conclusion (Voluntary Disclosure)]
[1. Title: Wireless Communication Solution Supply Contract with U.S. Telecom Company VZ]
[2. Key Details: Contract Amount (KRW): 9,771,260,000,000]
The news that Dokyung, and everyone who had left comments on YouTube, had been waiting for had arrived. As Dokyung confirmed the contents of the disclosure, he clenched both fists tightly.