NOVEL NEXT 4
[Yoon Dokyung-ssi, you have been chosen.]
‘How did they know my name?’
Dokyung stared at the message for a long time, lost in thought.
Illegal leading room messages were sent to an unspecified number of people.
However, the message that came to him seemed to have targeted him specifically.
[How did you know my name…]
Dokyung began to type the message slowly, one character at a time.
[If you seize this opportunity now, Yoon Dokyung-ssi can take one step closer to your dream.]
[The last chance to fulfill your dream!]
[Hesitation will only make you miss the opportunity.]
[A personalized message service that helps you achieve your dream!]
But before Dokyung could finish typing his reply, his phone kept vibrating.
It spoke as if there would be no next time if he missed this opportunity.
[If you want to get closer to your dream of becoming a world-class fund manager, type ‘opportunity’.]
Dokyung’s pupils dilated at the last message. The message knew about a dream he had never told anyone, not even once.
No, there was one time he had mentioned it.
‘Who? You want to be a fund manager like Peter Brown? Who’s Peter Brown?’
‘A world-class fund manager? Stop talking nonsense and study hard.’
‘Stocks are all gambling.’
After his dream was brutally shredded when he first told it to someone during a high school counseling session, he never spoke of his dream to anyone again.
As the message spoke of the dream he had buried in his heart, Dokyung’s heart began to race rapidly.
“Dream…”
It wasn’t simply because the message mentioned his dream.
The message, which seemed to say he could achieve his dream if he joined them, felt like it was igniting a spark in the dream he had only kept in his heart.
After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Dokyung looked at his phone as if he had made up his mind. Then he began to move his hand.
[Opportunity.]
As if a real opportunity had come, Dokyung’s eyes showed no hesitation as he slowly typed the message, suppressing his pounding heart.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“Dokyung-ssi, let’s have a word.”
Three days later, Dokyung sighed at the stinging voice hitting the back of his head.
“Is it me again today?”
Muttering quietly to himself, Dokyung got up from his seat and approached the branch manager sitting in the back row.
Despite having a separate office, the branch manager would come out to the seat behind the counter when he had something to say to Dokyung.
Seeing the branch manager sitting there from the morning, Dokyung couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling, and sure enough, his suspicion was right.
“You only opened one product account since I last warned you?”
As soon as Dokyung approached, the branch manager looked up at him with narrowed eyes.
“It’s been two weeks since I last warned you, and you’ve only managed one? At this rate, aren’t you asking for a fight with me?”
“That’s not the case.”
Dokyung calmly looked at the branch manager as he answered, but the branch manager didn’t like Dokyung’s attitude.
He was exceptionally good at his job.
He was always ranked first in customer evaluations among the branch counter staff.
However, his performance was the opposite of the evaluations.
Despite clearly being in a position where he should be struggling, Dokyung’s attitude of always having something to say as if he wouldn’t back down irritated the branch manager.
“Then let’s hear your reasons.”
“As I told you before, the customers visiting the branch don’t want it.”
“Did you try recommending it?”
“Yes, I did recommend it, but…”
“How do you recommend it?”
The branch manager asked as if he was determined to break Dokyung’s spirit today.
“I compare the market returns when investing directly with the product’s returns…”
“Then who would want to sign up!”
The branch manager shouted at Dokyung.
“If you show the disadvantages first, who would sign up?”
“I also mentioned the advantages.”
“What did you say?”
“That although the expected returns might be lower than direct investment, it’s better than direct investment in terms of stability…”
“Dokyung-ssi, you really don’t get it.”
From the company’s perspective, the more customers signed up for discretionary products, the more profit they could make from fees, so they strongly encouraged discretionary subscriptions.
“Why do you keep thinking from the customer’s perspective?”
The branch manager continued talking to Dokyung with furrowed brows.
“Yoon Dokyung-ssi, you’re receiving your salary from Yuseong Investment Securities. So Yoon Dokyung-ssi should be someone who benefits the company.”
Dokyung listened to the branch manager’s words with his lips tightly sealed.
“But I don’t understand why you keep making excuses about customers every time you stand in front of me. Am I wrong?”
“I believe that the customer’s benefit ultimately becomes the company’s benefit.”
Dokyung, who had been keeping his mouth shut, opened it as soon as the branch manager finished speaking, and the branch manager looked at Dokyung with an expression of disbelief.
“What?”
“Becoming a securities firm that prioritizes customer benefits above all else…”
Thud-
The branch manager threw the documents he was holding onto the desk and stood up abruptly, looking at Dokyung.
“Are you crazy? Who do you think you’re lecturing!”
The branch manager shouted at the top of his lungs, and Dokyung lowered his head, thinking it was fortunate there were no customers at the moment.
If customers saw this scene, they wouldn’t want to entrust their money here.
“Branch Manager, please calm down.”
The deputy branch manager approached and tried to stop him at the branch manager’s outburst.
“Let go! Today I need to teach this kid a lesson…”
Bzzzz-
As the branch manager was pointing his finger at Dokyung and raging, his mobile phone vibrated. The branch manager checked his phone with an expression that showed his anger hadn’t fully subsided.
After checking the screen, the branch manager suppressed his anger and gestured to Dokyung as if telling him to get out of his sight, then picked up his phone.
“Oh, Director Kim.”
Dokyung bowed and returned to his seat.
When he got back to his seat, PB team assistant manager Choi Woojin was waiting for Dokyung.
“It’s lunchtime anyway, let’s go grab some lunch.”
At Choi Woojin’s words, Dokyung hid his bitterness and nodded, following him out.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
“Couldn’t you have held back a little?”
As soon as they sat down at a restaurant in front of the branch, Choi Woojin spoke to Dokyung with a regretful expression.
“It’s not like this is the first time the branch manager has acted like this. Don’t you get tired of saying everything you want to say every time?”
Choi Woojin said as he wiped his hands with a wet towel.
“You know, don’t you? That a truckload of people have quit because of the branch manager.”
Although Dokyung was only in his second year since joining, he had seen many people quit, regardless of whether they were in the operations team or PB team.
While securities firm work was more intense than other jobs and had poor work-life balance, the branch manager played a large part in the unusually high number of resignations.
Due to the constant pressure for push-style sales, customers distrusted branch employees, and employees were stuck in the middle, struggling.
“Rather than being pushed around by the branch manager every day without being able to say what I want and then quitting, I feel like I should at least say everything so I won’t have regrets.”
At Dokyung’s words, Choi Woojin looked at him with an amused smile.
“It’s a bit nerve-wracking to watch from the side, but it’s also thrilling.”
“Pardon?”
“When the branch manager is scolding you all seriously, and then you say something right, it feels like something that was stuck inside just goes away.”
Choi Woojin spoke as if he had become Dokyung’s ardent fan.
He was already getting help from Dokyung with company analysis, and after recently landing a high-value asset management contract thanks to Dokyung’s advice, the two had grown even closer.
Dokyung also liked Choi Woojin, whose attitude towards him, despite his low seniority, was different from others.
It felt like he was being recognized for his abilities as a colleague rather than a subordinate.
“I can’t do that. You seem to be overflowing with confidence these days, Dokyung-ssi. Has something changed?”
At Choi Woojin’s question, Dokyung opened his mouth towards him with a puzzled expression.
“Me?”
“Yes. You’ve always said everything on your mind, but your tone was more refined. But today, your tone was full of confidence.”
At Choi Woojin’s words, Dokyung tried to recall earlier, wondering if he had really been like that.
As Choi Woojin said, it did seem like he had spoken his mind more readily than usual.
‘Is it because of the message…’
Dokyung recalled the message he had sent a few days ago.
[Opportunity.]
The moment he typed ‘opportunity,’ an inexplicable light had poured out from his mobile phone.
[Welcome to becoming a full member of the VIP service!]
[From today on, we will help you take one step closer to your dream.]
[The membership fee will be settled in full when your dream is realized, and if you fail midway, you will lose everything you have built up until then.]
[※Warning: If you pursue personal gain other than the dream of becoming the world’s best fund manager, your VIP qualification will be revoked.]
This message was completely different from what he had thought.
‘Full settlement, they say.’
And the compensation was different too.
If it’s after the dream is realized, it seemed to be talking about after he becomes a world-class fund manager.
With a penalty of losing everything built up so far if he quits midway on the path to his dream, and even a warning about qualification revocation…
Although no messages had come since the contract, it was true that he had gained confidence since that day, as Choi Woojin had said.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Dokyung, who had been lost in thought for a while, came to his senses at Choi Woojin’s words and opened his mouth.
“Ah, I was just wondering if I had really been like that.”
“Did you have some kind of change of heart?”
“It’s not that. I just thought I might have gained an ally because you treat me so well.”
At Dokyung’s words, Choi Woojin’s eyes widened, and then he chuckled and opened his mouth.
“That’s an unexpected thing to say. I didn’t even help when you were getting scolded.”
“You’re comforting me now by treating me to a meal.”
Choi Woojin sheepishly rubbed his nose and took out a paper envelope from his pocket, handing it to Dokyung.
“This is a gift for you, Dokyung-ssi.”
“What?”
“Come on, if I just say thank you with words and leave it at that, I’d be a jerk. Go on, open it.”
“But… Assistant Manager Choi Woojin…”
“Let’s not use cliché phrases like ‘I can’t accept this, I didn’t do anything to help you’ between us. I spent several days thinking about this and buying it, so open it.”
At Choi Woojin’s insistence not to refuse, Dokyung smiled wryly.
It seemed Choi Woojin was uncomfortable with the idea of just taking from Dokyung unilaterally when he was already grateful for how well Dokyung treated him.
“We’re not making a deal, we’re just study buddies…”
“I know. But separate from that, I benefited from your insight, so I should share.”
“Then I’ll gratefully accept it.”
Dokyung opened the paper envelope, and inside was a department store gift certificate.
“Use it to buy something you need.”
“This is too much.”
“Come on, it’s nothing compared to how much you’ve helped me improve my performance. Anyway, it’s out of my hands now, so it’s yours.”
At Choi Woojin’s words, Dokyung bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, enough of that. I’m hungry.”
Choi Woojin picked up the menu, seemingly embarrassed, and opened his mouth.
“Let’s order a clean assorted sushi set with some side dishes and eat. Of course, I’ll pay, so don’t worry… Huh?”
Choi Woojin stopped mid-sentence and looked towards the door, and Dokyung turned around to look too.
The branch manager was entering a room with someone.
“Ah, I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
“Who?”
“The person going in with the branch manager. He seems to be one of our branch’s VIPs.”
At Choi Woojin’s words, Dokyung turned around once more. He saw a man entering with the branch manager.
“I’m not sure. I think it’s my first time seeing him.”
“In the case of VIPs, the branch manager manages them directly and they don’t come to the branch, so he manages them separately outside like this. Anyway, what side dish should we order?”
“Let’s see.”
Dokyung opened the menu and started choosing.
Bzzzz-
Just then, the mobile phone lying face down on the table started vibrating, and Dokyung picked it up.
[VIP service full member! We’ll send you premium information.]
[Stock to watch: J-On System]
[We’re here for your dream. We’ll provide more good information!]
The message that hadn’t come for days arrived again.