Chapter 21:Money and Talent Pour In

 Chapter 21: Information Rights Purchase (2)

All that remained was to wait while preparing.

One week. During that time, he checked off the things he needed to do.

First, prepare for the YouTube live broadcast.

He had already purchased everything necessary—including the monitor—so all that was left was setting it up.

And he decided to add a mask.

Showing that he was making money turned out to be more dangerous than expected. Some popular BJ (bro adcast jockey) had bragged about money on stream and ended up getting robbed.

“I might be in even more danger.”

Ryoo Seong would be trading based on the precise information guaranteed by the quest. Naturally, his profits were bound to be enormous. And that would only get worse over time. So he wanted to avoid unnecessary rumors and attention.

Moreover, completely eliminating risks like robbery would be killing two birds with one stone. He could choose to never show his face at all, but that felt like it would lack vitality and liveliness—so the final trump card he prepared was the mask.

“It should have some impact too.”

It was a Hahoe mask, after all.

That slightly manic, wrinkled smile. Just imagining himself trading stocks while wearing it and interacting with viewers already filled him with anticipation.

“Broadcast preparation is done.”

When he actually thought about it, there wasn’t much else to do.

Ah, right!

Suddenly he remembered another quest reward.

The random card!

As soon as it came to mind, he summoned the card—and for some reason, it looked a little different from usual. The border of cards that had appeared before was always white, but this one had a silver border.

He checked the reward window again.

Lower grade…!

The reward he received after completing the class reunion fundraising quest wasn’t a “Lowest-grade Random Card” — it was a “Lower-grade Random Card.”

Clearly, spending money made a difference.

I wonder what I’ll get.

With expectation, he opened the card.

*Shuffle-shuffle.*

Among the countless spinning cards, he selected the one that drew him in the most.

[You have chosen the Lower-grade ‘Talent’.]

[As a reward, you acquire the talent ‘Eye for Scenarios’.]

[You can check it by recalling the talent.]

Ryoo Seong clenched his fist tightly.

Finally…!

He had finally escaped the endless streak of dud cards. Just looking at it, this talent felt extraordinary. And there wasn’t even the word “consumable” attached to it.

“Huah… huah.”

After taking deep breaths to calm himself, he checked the talent.

[Eye for Scenarios]

[Can be used once every 90 days, and lasts for 24 hours upon activation. Allows you to assess a scenario’s plausibility, immersion, artistic quality, commercial potential, etc.]

[Would you like to use it?]

[Yes / No]

An ability usable once every 90 days.

“Is this… for real?”

A talent that lets him judge how entertaining and commercially viable a scenario (script) is. And it lasts 24 hours each time with no limit on total uses—a perfect talent.

He could keep using it indefinitely.

The question now was how exactly to make use of this talent.

He wasn’t planning to make movies or dramas himself.

Hmm.

When you don’t know something, searching is the answer.

He went to a portal site and searched “how to invest in movie scenarios.” Surprisingly large amounts of information came up.

“Oh ho.”

These days, there were various sites where people could invest in movies and scenarios. Starting from crowdfunding platforms, all the way to sites specializing in investing only in Korean Wave (Hallyu) content.

The investment methods were broadly divided into two types:

One was investing based solely on the script—before production even began.

The other was investing after the movie was fully shot, judging only its likelihood of success.

He visited the most well-known site, browsed around, and ended up registering as a member almost by accident. In hindsight, it turned out to be a good decision.

“Wow, this is impressive.”

A list of investable projects appeared—and there were far more opportunities than he expected.

Let’s look at just one.

He was about to focus properly when he suddenly heard scratching at the door. He got up, opened it a crack—and Lucky came trotting in.

*Meoooow.*

Seeing Lucky rub his face against his ankle, Ryoo Seong smiled warmly and returned to the site.

He clicked on the movie listed at the very top.

It was scheduled to release in 7 days.

Lead actors, director, trailer, and script—all available.

They even showed how many viewers were needed to break even. No need to be disappointed if it didn’t reach the theatrical break-even point—recently, VOD (video-on-demand) revenue had become significant, providing additional income.

“This looks fun too.”

He felt a little excited, but he couldn’t use the talent right now. He didn’t have money to invest yet. For the moment, stocks came first—he’d think about this later.

“I should just study it for now. Right, Lucky?”

Studying could be done in advance, after all.

*Purr purr, purr purr.*

Of course, right at that moment, playing with Lucky—who was busy acting cute—seemed to take priority.

“Cute little guy.”

*Meowww!*

For the first time in a while, he waved the mouse toy around and spent some time playing with Lucky.

As promised earlier, he decided to share some stock information with Lee Shin-woo as well. They stopped by a chicken place, ordered some chimaek (chicken and beer), and casually brought up the class reunion first.

“You remember what I mentioned at the class reunion, right?”

“Huh? What thing?”

“The stock info.”

“Oh yeah. I remember.”

Lee Shin-woo’s eyes sparkled.

“Before I tell you, let’s make one promise.”

“What is it?”

“You have to do exactly what I say. Don’t get greedy and lose everything.”

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

“Got it. I’ll do whatever you tell me.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

With the promise secured, he started talking.

“Next week, a company called Power Edison is going to list.”

“Power Edison…”

“But they say on the actual listing day, the price is very likely to drop sharply.”

“Ooh, and then?”

“If it hits the lower limit, that’s when you start buying.”

“At the lower limit…?”

“Yeah. This is top-tier information. Apparently they’ve already signed a collaboration with a major conglomerate. They plan to announce it if the price crashes hard on listing day. It’s a way to shake off the retail investors and secure more shares. That hyung really had to dig deep to find this out—I actually put in some real effort to get it for you.”

“So it’s information that good, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Hmm.”

“But still, it probably sounds risky to you.”

Just hearing the story, it sounded almost like gambling.

Because there was no way to confirm if the information was real.

“Still, trust me and give it a try. If it feels too burdensome, even just a small amount is fine.”

“A small amount, huh.”

“Earlier I mentioned something like 1 million or 2 million won? But honestly, this is information that’s way too valuable to waste. If I had my way, I’d say investing around 5 million won wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“5 million…”

After thinking for a short while, Lee Shin-woo nodded.

“That much shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for me.”

“Okay. I’ll organize it cleanly for you. On July 10th, when Power Edison lists, wait and buy only when it hits the lower limit. Before the market closes on July 12th, make sure to recover at least your principal. If you want to keep investing after that, only use the remaining profit to hold. Write it down—don’t forget.”

“Got it, you punk.”

Lee Shin-woo really did write it all down exactly as Ryoo Seong said.

“Done?”

“You little shit, you actually listen so well.”

“Shut up.”

Lee Shin-woo downed a glass of beer in one go and furrowed his brows.

“I’m getting nervous for no reason. I swore I’d never touch stocks again after losing money before…”

“I learned one thing while studying.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you know what’s even more dangerous than investing in stocks?”

“Crypto?”

“No. The biggest risk is not investing at all.”

“Bullshit again.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Don’t worry, you idiot.

I’ll make sure you make money.

Ryoo Seong smiled contentedly and tore off a big bite of chicken.

*

A few days after selling the U.S. stocks, he exchanged the dollars back to won. To maximize efficiency, he pulled the maximum possible from his emergency loan again. Thanks to that, the total funds he gathered came to 260 million won.

“Money’s ready.”

Before the stock market opened, he put on the Hahoe mask and started his YouTube live stream.

“Phew.”

Viewers: 0.

The title he set was <Masked Man’s Guaranteed Successful Investments>.

“…”

A quiet silence passed.

Maybe no one would come.

Just as he started to worry, the viewer count went up to 1.

Altang: ! (Hi!)

He felt immediate relief at the greeting.

Even one person was something.

Grateful that it wasn’t zero, he greeted back.

“Hello. This is the Stock Demon King doing his very first broadcast today.”

A slightly different tone from usual.

He wanted to give off a somewhat heavy, serious vibe.

Altang: Whoa, first broadcast? Total newbie lol. But what’s with the mask?

“Because it’s guaranteed successful investing, I’m hiding my identity.”

Altang: Lmao the concept is on point

“It’s not a concept.”

Altang: Wow, look at that confidence. Is it really guaranteed success? That’s why the mask?

“Yes. You’ll see if you stick around.”

Altang: Damn, that energy is insane. , I’ll watch for a bit.

“Thank you.”

Current time: 8:55.

The market would open soon.

“Let’s take a look at the pre-market atmosphere first.”

He searched for Power Edison, and the pre-opening prices appeared.

13,500 won

13,550 won

13,700 won

13,800 won

The price was gradually climbing.

Contrary to what he expected, buying pressure looked strong. If he hadn’t gotten the information, he might have thought it was heading straight for the upper limit.

“The mood looks good.”

Altang: Oh, Power Edison! That’s the one listing today lol

“Correct.”

Altang: What do you think of today’s stock price?

“Hmm. For today, I expect it to drop.”

Altang: Wow, so decisive I was thinking of jumping in at the opening…

“I don’t recommend it.”

Altang: Hmm. I’ve got some investing experience too, you know. This is hurting my pride a little—I’m going in at the opening price!

Well, if he’s going to insist that much.

There wasn’t much more he could say to stop him.

In the meantime, the viewer count had risen to 9.

 (Ant Investor): Mask?

: He says he’s hiding his identity because he’s too good at investing lol

 This is fun

It seemed the title combined with the Hahoe mask was pulling in a decent amount of aggro. Once people clicked in, they showed interest and didn’t leave the stream easily.

: So, how much is your seed money, bro?

“Are you curious about my seed?”

: (yeah)

: Does seed even matter that much?

: Can’t exactly say it doesn’t

: Fair point lol

Ryoo Seong just gave a light chuckle.

This level of aggro was nothing.

He could just tell it like it was and handle whatever came.

“Around 260 million won.”

When he showed the available cash balance in his account, went quiet.

: Whoa, newbie but the seed is huge

: Wow (shocked)

“It’s not exactly small.”

While they were chatting, the clock hit 9:00.

“The market’s opening.”

Ryoo Seong pulled up Power Edison on the main screen.

The stock price shot up rapidly.

14,500 won.

14,550 won.

14,600 won.

The first VI (Volatility Interruption) wasn’t far off.

VI was a volatility mitigation device: when the price rose or fell sharply in a short time, trading was temporarily halted to cool things down.

: Oh yeah! Boarding complete at opening price!

: He said it would drop today

: That’s just how stocks are, how can you predict lol

But Ryoo Seong already knew.

He knew today’s stock price movement.

It would definitely hit the lower limit, and all he had to do was scoop it up then.

“It’s going strong for now, but this is getting excessive. Anyway, shall we take a look at the community board while we wait?”

He went to the discussion board for that stock—everyone there was cheering like crazy.

[ Let’s gooooooo!]

[It’s hitting upper limit today for sure!?!?!]

[You still haven’t boarded? Sigh ]

[Get in now, hurry!]

[Insane, it just smashed through 200k volume ]

[Give it strengthhhhhh!]

They were all completely drunk on the taste of the rise.

When will it start dropping?

Ryoo Seong waited silently.

And finally, the flow of the stock price began to change.

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