Chapter 5

human indicator Expensive clothes, expensive houses, expensive cars. I found the answer to the question of whether life is happy if I have a lot of money in Busan. ‘I can live a fun life.’ Luxury apartment overlooking Haeundae. Hundreds of millions of supercars roam the streets. Even rich people have worries about life. I live a much more enjoyable life than I, who studied for the entrance examination alone in a semi-basement room and prepared for a job. The work in Busan entered a stable period from the 3rd day, so there was nothing more to do. “Thank you for your effort.” “Thank you for coming to Busan to help. I will greet you next time I have a chance to go to Seoul.” After work, I exchanged business cards with the Busan team. “Sir, thank you for your hard work. See you at work on Monday.” “Yes. Soo-ah is also resting well with her parents.” After finishing my 4-day and 33-night business trip in Busan, I returned to Seoul. Early morning. I rode my bike through the cold to work, and there were a lot of overdue things. “Agent Kim, I received an inquiry about a machine malfunction at Seosan Yu Eye Clinic.” “It happened the other day, it’s a simple problem, so I’ll solve it.” “In the operating room of Oseong General Hospital, they asked to change the team leader.” “The team leader is out of town, so please contact me.” I worked hard at the company. I’ve lived my life trying not to instill the perception that I’m doing monthly lupine. Now, I am busy working to cool my head that is trying to get complicated with coins. During break time in the morning, I went up to the roof of the building with my colleagues. “Dae-ri Kim went to Busan with Jo Soo-ah. I rope.” “What is good? I was on my way to work.” “Of course, I went to work. Still, wouldn’t it be better than going with the people we see every day?” I can’t honestly say no. They were colleagues who had been working together for four years after getting a job. Due to the nature of the industry, I often go out of the office, and when I went on a business trip to the countryside, I stayed at the same lodging for several days. When I was in college, there were times when I had a glass of beer or soju, which I didn’t drink because the money was wasted. Company seniors took me to a restaurant. My boss and colleagues at work have been very helpful to me, who has no social experience other than convenience stores or internet cafes. When we broke up after a year of marriage, it was embarrassing and hard to see her face, but she comforted me for days at a time. After talking about business trips to Busan for a while, the topic naturally changed to financial technology. “Haven’t stocks gone up quite a bit lately?” “Well. I’m putting in chemistry and shipbuilding, but I’ve managed to earn about a month’s salary.” “Oops. I don’t know how many years Chosunju waited. I don’t know when I will get my money back.” “When I read an article these days, I hear that coins are floating. It has gone up a lot since the beginning of this year.” Team leader Ahn, who was in charge of service in Seoul, brought up the coin story. 〈Bitcoin, All-Time High, Breaking $7,500〉 〈Cryptocurrency market conditions, Bitcoin 2% increase, Ethereum 0%〉 〈Bitcoin Price Endless Rise Bubble Concerns Concerns〉 〈U.S. supports online payment company Bitcoin〉 Articles are pouring in every day. The press was writing articles that encouraged people’s greed, as if they were missing out on an opportunity to make a lot of money if they stayed still. When I first found out I had Bitcoin, it was $5,000, but it went up 50% before I knew it. Kim Sang-ki, who is the same age as me and has extensive knowledge in financial technology, said. “Bitcoin was around 1 million won at the beginning of this year. Those who invested early must have eaten 8 times.” 8 times. Team Leader Ahn, Team Leader Seo. The bosses who have worked diligently at this company for over 10 years were surprised. “Eight times? If you put in 10 million won, would it be 8,000? I envy people who invested early.” “But it fell so suddenly. I was scared, so it would be hard to touch it recklessly. Speaking of which, can we invest?” “I can. There is also a coin exchange in Korea.” “What value does data have? Do you pay millions of won to buy it?” “Value is what people give it. Money itself is just a drawing on paper.” “Then, shall we go in for a bit?” Team leader Ahn, my direct superior. He seemed to be very interested in Bitcoin. “I have an emergency fund of $ 500. Would it be 1,000 if I put it in?” “Hey. How much did you save, 500, and pour it into coins?” “You don’t know if you keep climbing these days. When others make money, you should earn some.” Okay? There is an installment savings account that is due this time. Shall I invest in some?” “I’m thinking of pulling up the negative account.” My colleagues at work were interested in coins and were talking about investing. ‘I think Bitcoin will rise more.’ There was no end to the stories of my struggles with money since I was a child. It’s an embarrassing memory to tell anyone now, so there are many things I couldn’t bring up once. Money that you earn by working hard, but you spend it somehow if you try to spend it. There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought about money. What money is, why not, how to make money—these questions consumed me. I lived my life thinking only about money. Each decision I made was filtered through the lens of profit and loss. Friends and family often joked about my obsession, but they didn’t understand. Money was security, freedom, and power. It dictated my choices, shaping my dreams and ambitions. As I lay awake at night, the numbers danced in my mind, urging me to find new ways to accumulate wealth. It was both a burden and a driving force, and I knew I had to find a balance before it consumed me entirely. Before I became an office worker and received my first salary, I had no extra money or living expenses for the next month. Every moment, I had all of my current possessions in my head, and I spent my days thinking about how to split them up and use them sparingly. Since I couldn’t trust my father, all decisions and responsibilities for survival are entirely my own. Work colleagues. Looking at the human indicators, I came to have faith close to certainty. ‘It will go up. So let’s wait and don’t sell yet.’ Saturday was spent in a daze. Since the coin price moves 24 hours a day, just watching it is emotionally draining, and it feels exhausting. Hundreds of millions go up and down in just one second. ‘If I sold it earlier… … I didn’t lose 200 million.’ ‘It was good to wait patiently. 300 million won in one hour.’ Looking at myself, I could see that people’s hearts are cunning. You can ignore the monitor that shows the coin price and not look at it, but honestly, it was hard to do that. I also had a fear that suddenly tens of percent might collapse. “Are there any students?” “Yes. grandmother.” I hurriedly opened the door and went outside at the voice of the landlord’s grandmother. Grandma was holding a pot that smelled spicy. “It’s chicken stir-fried soup. I tried it because I thought the students would like it. bonappétitt.” “Thank you. grandmother.” Even though I made a lot of money, I still knew how precious Grandma’s fried chicken was. I was sorry to receive it every time, so I took out 200,000 won from my wallet. “grandmother. Please give me some pocket money.” “a. What kind of money does the student have?” An old woman was waving her hand as if she would never accept it. ‘Even though I don’t seem to be there, I have close to 40 billion.’ I tried to forcefully give him 200,000 won, but he kept refusing to accept it. And the grandmother hesitated and said. “Student, I’m sorry. My knees are not getting better, so it’s hard to go up and down the stairs. It’s hard to manage a big house.” “Yes.” “I decided to put the house up for sale next month and move into my daughter’s apartment.” “Ah, that’s right.” “I feel sorry for the students, so what? Should I tell the next landlord to leave the rent as it is?” At first, it was a room that I entered after signing a contract for 170,000 won per month, but after two or three months, I only received 100,000 won, and the price has remained the same until now. ‘You’re even worrying about me while selling the house.’ The bond between people. I’ve never felt that from my father. I said with a smile. “Grandma, then I will move too.” “Move? Where is the money?” “There are so many that you don’t have to worry. I’ll look into the house, too.” Sunday. Bitcoin crashed to $6,300. It is about 15% down from the amount that had risen so far, but billions of won, which I had never even held in my hands, disappeared into the air. More than enough money to fill the trunk of a car if you paid with cash. So much money disappeared into thin air. ‘Was the prediction that I thought it would rise wrong? Shouldn’t I have sold it without being greedy?’ Ride your bike to work in the morning. Although I was hit by a fierce cold wind, it was hard to come to my senses when I thought of the money I had lost. “Captain, what’s going on?” Noo.” “You look unwell. How about leaving early?” I guess I didn’t look good. Lee Jong-yeop, a subordinate on the same team, was worried about me, but I smiled brightly. “It’s okay. You have to endure this much.” If I left the company early and went home, and the price of the coin fell further than now, it would be painful. Originally, I thought that even if it fell to 1/10, it would be a jackpot enough. Even with a 15% drop, it was not as easy as I thought to endure it. ‘Let’s have the heart of the beast. It was money that didn’t exist from the beginning.’ I tried to suppress my desire to check the price on my company computer. If you don’t have the patience to keep your original resolution, you’d better sell it right away. While resting on the roof among company employees, I heard the shocking news. “Seniors. Bitcoin crashed yesterday.” Yess. I was looking at the market price yesterday, but it plummeted in an instant. It turns out that it crashed so often.” “Yes. Historically, there have been repeated crashes and surges. But this time it came right back up. I just looked it up and it’s $7,780.” “Is that over 8 million won in Korean currency?” “It’s close to 8.5 million won. I was worried about whether to invest in bitcoin or not, but if I had known this would happen, I would have looked into it earlier and regretted it.” “… … !” The price of the coin rose again. As I became more relaxed, I began to believe in myself. “Whoop whoop.” “Captain Ahn. Why are you laughing?” “I put 500 in my emergency fund after seeing the bitcoin drop yesterday.” “Wow, did you put in all 500?” “I put everything in. I already won more than 1 million won.” “You are amazing.” “There was an investment god near us.” “Chief Ahn. Aren’t you nervous?” “I was nervous. But I closed my eyes and screamed, thinking that this was an opportunity that would never come again in my life. It’s really hard to achieve a 20% return on stocks.” “Yes. Because the domestic market is such a mess.” “Because Coin is an international version. Investors from all over the world flock to it, and you shouldn’t eat when others eat.” Co-workers envy Ahn’s bold investment. It seemed to me a human indicator. Higher than now. I can feel it.’ The outlook may be wrong, but even so, the amount of money earned so far is staggering. Even if the a 15% or 20% plunge, I decided to take my mind off it. However, after a few days, I couldn’t help but be shocked when I looked at the monitor. It wasn’t because the price of Bitcoin fell. The price has risen. But it went up too much. The price of Bitcoin broke through $10,000 at once. Initial investment of 10 million won. It made a profit of more than 5,000 times, so it achieved 500,000% in terms of return.