Chapter 9: The Catalyst of Change

When I suddenly found myself with 1.24 billion won, I felt like I owned the world.

However, thinking rationally, that amount of money isn't enough to live off for a lifetime.

If you suddenly come into money and start spending extravagantly, it's easy to go broke.

Why do people who win hundreds of billions in the lottery often end up homeless in less than ten years?

To avoid that fate, I need to stay grounded and be careful.

...That's what I thought, but the moment I considered the large sum, I felt relaxed. I even wondered if I really needed to look for tutoring jobs.

Ding-ding.

My phone rang. I already knew who it was.

"What?"

[If you have nothing to do, come over. Let's play some games.]

I had nothing planned, so I was just lounging around.

I quickly got dressed.

"I'm heading to Tak-gyu's place."

______________________________________

Tak-gyu's studio apartment is a fairly spacious one-room with a separate living room, making it quite large for a single person. However, with games, comic books, figurines, and all sorts of junk piled everywhere, it resembled a garbage dump.

Aside from the sofa and bed, there was hardly a place to lie down.

As I entered, Tak-gyu was sitting on the sofa, playing a game.

Originally, the results were supposed to be announced today, but there had been no news so far.

"Have you contacted Hyun-joo?"

Tak-gyu, not taking his eyes off the screen, replied, "Yeah. She said the results will come out tomorrow."

"Really?"

The fact that the meeting was prolonged likely meant something wasn't going well.

I had a bad feeling about it.

WTI had dropped another 3% since we bought it. I had already lost 10 million won, and together, we had lost 100 million won.

Was I mistaken about something?

Unlike me, who was feeling anxious, Tak-gyu seemed unfazed.

"Are you okay?"

"What's there to worry about? We have our Oracle kid."

"..."

Since when did I become the 'Oracle kid'?

Tak-gyu handed me a game controller.

"Let's just play. The answer will come tomorrow."

Worrying wouldn't change the situation. It's better to stay relaxed like him.

I grabbed the controller and sat next to Tak-gyu.

After gaming until dawn, I collapsed and fell asleep.

As I lay on the sofa under a blanket, I was suddenly awakened by Tak-gyu.

"Hey, wake up."

"Just a little longer."

"I'm telling you to get up."

"What is it? Wake me later."

As I waved my hand to go back to sleep, Tak-gyu said, "The OPEC results are out."

"What!?"

My eyes snapped open involuntarily.

I shot up and asked, "What happened?"

Tak-gyu pointed at the computer. "Check it out for yourself.

I sat at the desk and stared at the monitor.

The global economy section was filled with articles about the OPEC production cut agreement.

[Breaking News] OPEC Production Meeting Reaches Dramatic Agreement

[Urgent] Non-OPEC Countries Also Join Production Cuts

OPEC Production Decision Sends Shockwaves to Airlines

Will Gas Prices Rise?

International Oil Prices Soar Following OPEC Production Cut Decision

I clicked on one of the articles.

[OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) member states, after a lengthy meeting, have reached an agreement to cut oil production. OPEC decided to reduce daily output by 2.5 million barrels starting from the 1st. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Al-Sabha issued a statement affirming that member countries would adhere to this agreement.

The market responded positively to this unexpectedly strong measure.

WTI, which had been hovering around $60 a barrel, soared above $70 as news of the agreement broke, and the Dow Jones index, which had been falling earlier, rose by 150 points.]

Other articles reported similar information.

I couldn't hide my surprise.

"What the...?"

I really can't believe they reached a production cut agreement!

I checked the WTI price. It had climbed to $73. Just minutes after the OPEC cut announcement, it had skyrocketed over 20%.

"Open your account."

Tak-gyu opened his account.

I only knew about the production cut agreement; I had no idea what would happen next.

"I'm going to sell everything."

I quickly sold all my shares.

Tak-gyu asked, "How much did you make?"

"63,000 dollars."

That's roughly 700 million won.

I earned an amount that most people would struggle to make in a lifetime in just an instant. This isn't a game of money.

That's the nature of finance. When you succeed in investing, it's natural to reap profits proportional to your investment.

Let's see. My share should be about 60 million won.

The 740 million won I had became 800 million won.

Tak-gyu said, looking somewhat regretful, "I should have bought 10 million dollars instead of just 3 million dollars."

"After succeeding in an investment, it's common to feel that way."

"Maybe I should have gone all in on futures options?"

"..."

Do you even know what futures options are?

However, if I had really done that, I could have made billions.

"Isn't that a complete jackpot?"

"What do you mean?"

"The so-called experts all predicted it wouldn't happen, but you knew right away that an agreement would be reached."

"That's true, but..."

To be honest, when looking at the details, the outcome of the meeting could only be one of two things: either they agree, or they don't.

So even if I got lucky and guessed right, it wouldn't be too surprising, but...

"If it were just once or twice, that might be the case, but this is already the third time. Your foresight is real."

"Whoa..."

Did I really gain superpowers? Like a superhero from a comic or movie?

When people think of superpowers, they often imagine flying, smashing buildings with their fists, or telekinesis to move objects.

Compared to those abilities, foresight might seem trivial.

But when you think about it differently, it's not.

You can fly in an airplane, and you can break buildings with a bulldozer. Such superpowers can easily be replaced by machines.

However, foresight cannot be replaced by anything. Even with the advancement of computers and artificial intelligence, predicting the future is impossible.

What if you could know the election results in advance? What if you could predict the outcomes of soccer or baseball games? What if you could accurately foresee natural disasters like earthquakes or typhoons?

That would be an incredibly powerful ability!

I calmed my excitement and thought rationally.

If this is really a superpower, when did it first manifest? There must be a cause behind it, right?

In response to my question, Tak-gyu provided an answer.

"I told you. You had latent superpowers that awakened in a critical moment. Normally, that's called 'awakening.'"

"Then why hadn't it appeared for a while afterward?"

If a hologram had appeared before me continuously, I would have rushed to the casino as soon as I got a vacation.

I could have sat at a baccarat table, betting 1 million won on the first round, doubling my bet with each win. After just ten rounds, 1 million won would become 10.24 billion won.

And if I played ten more rounds, I would have over 1 trillion won.

By merely flipping twenty cards, I could make money in the trillions.

Of course, that's practically impossible. There are limits on betting amounts at casinos.

Well, even outside of casinos, there are countless easy ways to make money.

However, after that, nothing had appeared. So I just thought it was an illusion and moved on.

"Then why did it start to show again?"

Tak-gyu crossed his arms and fell into thought. Then he muttered.

"It appeared when we talked about BANTCoin, and it appeared when my sister talked about the OPEC meeting, so... Ah! Maybe it's a foresight ability related to finance?"

"...Huh?"

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

However, this raises parts that don't make sense.

"Then what about the mortar explosion?"

"That situation was one where your life was hanging by a thread, so it should be considered an exception... No, wait. What happened afterward?"

"What do you mean?"

"After the explosion. That was quite a big news story, wasn't it?"

"That's true."

When Tak-gyu typed "KM188 explosion" into the search bar, a slew of old articles appeared.

At that time, public sentiment towards the military was already low due to the public servant abuse case and the sexual harassment case involving female soldiers.

The explosion incident that occurred at that moment spread like wildfire through the media.

The opposition party criticized the military, and an investigation team was formed.

The investigation results were shocking.

The new mortar had defects from the beginning, and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration had known about it but chose to overlook it.

The incident was almost a predetermined outcome.

As a result, three active-duty generals lost their positions, and the investigation expanded into overall defense industry corruption. The defense industry has always been a hotbed of corruption.

Those involved were successively arrested. And...

Companies in the defense industry, including Eunsung Precision Chemical, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Hanwha Defense, saw their stock prices plummet.

"So, isn't that also related to finance?"

"..."

That's not incorrect.

But if you think about it that way, everything that happens in the world is directly or indirectly related to finance, isn't it?