“…Holy shit.”
I swallowed hard as I looked up at the towering, luxurious building.
Gwangwoon Securities.
One of the top 10 securities firms in Korea.
A place so prestigious, someone like me who barely scraped into a Seoul university wouldn’t even dare to glance at it.
But now, I was about to set foot in that very company.
“I haven’t even told my parents yet.”
I still couldn’t believe I was going to work at such a massive, well-known firm.
Afraid I might just end up causing trouble and getting fired, I only told my parents I was going for an interview.
“This suit’s a little tight.”
But since I’d been living on edge at home, I didn’t snack or eat late at night, so I hadn’t gained much weight.
Still, I really should start exercising.
Climbing stairs from the subway left me gasping like I’d run a marathon.
“Is it normal to start this early?”
I’d received a text telling me to arrive by 6 a.m., so I’d caught the very first train.
I worried that I’d be the only one there and the building would still be closed.
But clearly, that was just needless anxiety.
When I left home, the streets in my neighborhood were completely empty. But here in Yeouido, the sidewalks were already packed with people in suits.
‘Everyone’s rushing to work already…’
It made sense, most securities firms start their day at 6 a.m. The stock market opens at 9, and they need time to prep before then.
Brrr
A call? At this hour?
I checked the caller ID.
No surprise, it was the guild leader who got me into this company.
“Ah! Hyung… I mean, s-sir! CEO-nim?”
[Pfft, CEO-nim coming out of your mouth? That’s weird. Just call me hyung like always when we’re alone.]
He was as cool as a winter breeze.
[So, did you get to work okay?]
“Yes, I’m standing in front of the building now. But… are you sure this is okay? I feel like I’m just going to be a burden.”
[If the whole company falls apart because of one guy like you, we don’t deserve to run a business. It’s fine. And from what I’ve heard, HR placed you in the trading department as a junior trader. You probably won’t have much to do.]
“Sounds like I’m just a salary thief.”
[Still, work hard. Be respectful to your superiors, like you were in the guild. You get what I mean, right?]
In other words, even if I had nothing to do, at least look busy.
“Yes, hyung. I’ll give it my all!”
[Good. Welcome to the company. Just so you know, we don’t do orientation or any of that crap. Don’t expect anything like that, we’d rather have you spend that time analyzing data.]
“Got it. I’ll work hard.”
[Oh, and I sent you a welcome gift to your in-game mail.]
“Huh? Wait, was it that item I mentioned wanting before?”
[Heh. Sharp one. Now go on. Oh, and if anyone asks how you got in, don’t say anything. Don’t talk about the game or any of that stuff. Just say you don’t know.]
“Understood, hyung.”
[All right. I’m hanging up for real now.]
After the call, I just stood there in a daze.
The guild leader I’d spent so long gaming and laughing with… was actually a finance CEO.
And he hired me, all because we played games together.
Nobody would believe me if I told them.
Images of him scolding me for failing to dodge basic raid patterns flashed through my mind like a horror montage.
“…What do I even do when I walk in? Bow and shout my name or something?”
I’d seen that kind of thing in dramas—new hires yelling their intros.
“…Nah. Just don’t be extra.”
Keep a low profile. Stay quiet. Don’t cause any trouble.
Every securities firm runs its trading department a bit differently.
There’s prop trading, where traders take high risks to pursue high returns using stocks, bonds, and derivatives, riding market volatility.
There’s quant trading, which uses algorithms and data to make trading strategies and executes thousands of trades in seconds through AI.
There’s also market making, forex trading, bond trading, and many more specialized teams.
People think they’re all chaotically working from dawn, but they usually get a brief tea break early in the morning.
True chaos begins at 8:30 a.m., when pre-market matching starts.
From then until 4 p.m., it’s an insane nonstop grind, even bathroom breaks are rare.
“Did you hear? We’re getting a new hire today.”
“What’s new about that? Some leave because of performance pressure, others get cocky and bounce thinking they’re trading gods.”
The stock market is basically a legal, state-approved casino.
And inside that casino, everyone’s under constant pressure to perform.
Some can’t handle it and quit.
Others get lucky a few times, think they’re geniuses, and go solo as private traders.
That’s why trading departments tend to have higher turnover and hire more often than other departments.
But this new guy felt… different.
“HR said the new hire was placed from above.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah. And we’re not supposed to make a fuss about it. If the whole team finds out, it’ll be a mess.”
“Wait… ‘from above’? You mean CEO’s family?”
“Most likely.”
A tactical nuke had just dropped into the usually quiet trading department.
In the finance world, performance was everything but it was still a company. And that meant office politics.
Parachute hires were inevitable. In fact, it was weirder that they hadn’t had one until now.
“Did the team leader know about this?”
“He found out yesterday.”
Team leader Park Hong-seo gave a curt reply, pouring himself a full cup of coffee.
He wasn’t a coffee drinker, never touched the stuff.
So seeing him fill an entire mug? That was new.
The pantry fell silent. No one dared speak until he left.
“Man, what’s up with Park today?”
“Probably pissed. The trading desk is already hellishly busy, and now they’re handing him some parachute. Never seen him drink coffee before.”
He was a health nut—no drinking, no smoking, not even sugary drinks.
For him to crave coffee this badly? He had to be seriously stressed.
“What if this parachute acts like some spoiled prince the moment he arrives?”
“What else can we do? Just grit your teeth and deal with it. Park’s the one who’ll suffer.”
That was the terrifying part of parachute hires.
If they threw their weight around, you just had to endure it.
There was no fighting back.
“Wonder what he looks like. If he’s hot, I might just try my luck.”
“Haha. You do that.”
Just as the pantry crowd was joking and leaving—
“Hmm?”
They spotted a guy near the office entrance. Clearly anxious, pacing nervously, unsure of what to do.
“……”
Team Leader Park Hong-seo glanced at Jung Jinho, who stood with his hands neatly clasped in front of him.
He was in the middle of analyzing data and reviewing overseas news and market fluctuations from the early morning, but he had no choice but to deal with this sudden new recruit first.
And he wasn’t happy about it.
Everyone had their own routine.
“This your first time in finance?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“Ever done any mock trading? Any investment experience?”
“No… But if someone teaches me, I’ll work really hard!”
“……”
This guy was a complete beginner who would need to be taught everything from A to Z.
But it made sense now why HR decided to stick the parachute here.
The trading department had tons to do from early morning, but junior traders didn’t really have any major responsibilities.
They mostly ran errands, practiced with mock trading, and learned from the senior traders.
So that’s why they dumped him here.
Basically, “keep him busy and teach him slowly.”
‘They’ll probably transfer him to another department once he’s learned the basics.’
Let him gain a little experience here, and then bump him straight up to team leader in another department.
A textbook parachute trajectory.
Which meant… he probably wouldn’t be staying long.
“Assistant Lee.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“This is our new hire, Jung Jinho. He’s a junior trader now, so show him the ropes.”
“Understood.”
Assistant Manager Lee Hye-rin, unaware of the terrifying truth about the new recruit, was all smiles.
Probably because she was thrilled to finally graduate from being the youngest on the team.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Assistant Manager Lee Hye-rin. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”
“Yes. I’m Jung Jinho. I’ll be in your care.”
Actually, this wasn’t Hye-rin’s first time training a new hire.
Several had come before, but none of them lasted very long before running away.
And who could blame them?
They had to arrive before 5:30 a.m. at the latest, prepare the briefing, set up everything for the meeting and as time went on, the workload only got heavier.
This was a place where trades happened down to the second, so you had to fetch data instantly for senior traders.
If you hesitated even a bit, you’d get chewed out for “losing us money because of your slowness.”
This place was, quite literally, a giant casino where billions moved every day.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
After enduring life as a junior, you’d be pressured by performance metrics once you got promoted.
No sane person could survive it for long.
“We start with coffee. Traders practically live on caffeine. We’ve got to prepare their drinks right before meetings. Oh, and Team Leader Park doesn’t drink coffee, so skip his!”
“Got it, got it.”
Thankfully, this new hire seemed enthusiastic.
He was writing down every single word she said in a little notebook.
That was a good sign.
“Then we have to prepare materials too. You won’t be told to analyze or prepare things yourself at first. As a junior, you’re here to learn. So read all the daily briefing materials thoroughly and study them.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Even his replies were sharp and lively. She liked that too.
After a while, they took a short pause in the middle of all the explaining.
“By the way, Jinho, which university did you attend?”
“Ah… you mean college?”
“Yeah. I assume it was one of the SKY schools? Maybe we went to the same one?”
“…Jinseon University.”
“Jinseon?”
Lee Hye-rin blinked as if her brain froze for a moment.
Where is that again? she wondered.
“It’s in Seoul,” he added quickly.
“Ohh… r-right.”
How did someone from that school get in here?
Does Jinseon have some kind of connection with this company?
“Well, the meeting’s about to start. Let’s head in.”
“Ah, yes.”
“So the U.S. NFP numbers beat expectations by a huge margin, right? And with the CPI announcement too, volatility’s spiked. How’s FX looking?”
“The dollar index is holding strong above 105. With the Fed signaling further rate hikes, it’ll probably rise more. Meanwhile, Japan is sticking with easing policies, so the yen is likely to weaken.”
“What about foreign investors?”
“They’re piling into the electronics sector. It’s looking overbought. For example, Gangseong Electronics is trading at a PER of over 12, which might cause short-term valuation concerns.”
“If foreign inflows keep coming, our short positions will take a hit. We’ll need to manage risk. Let’s prepare some hedging, maybe through ETFs or futures.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was all Korean, but I didn’t understand a single word.
Still, I nodded seriously and jotted down every unfamiliar term in my notebook.
The team gave briefings, reporting to the team leader, who used that information to give instructions on buy/sell timings for the day.
It was almost like watching a game. Before a raid, the raid leader giving orders to the party, that kind of vibe.
Strangely familiar.
“Alright. Let’s survive another day.”
With that, the team scattered.
I quickly followed Assistant Lee, but the team leader called us back.
“Assistant Lee. Show Jung here how to do mock trading today. Start with the basics.”
“Yes, sir.”
She led me to the desk assigned to me and opened up the trading program.
“You’ve done mock trading before, right? I actually won one of this company’s college-level mock trading contests back in the day. That helped my resume a lot. What about you?”
“…No.”
“Aha~ So you’re more of a real-battle guy. Skips mock stuff, straight to action.”
“……”
I couldn’t bring myself to admit I’d never invested before.
That, combined with my non-elite school, might send her into shock again.
“Why do we do mock trading, you ask? Good question. You can’t just hand company money to a rookie and tell them to trade. So until someone becomes a senior, they build experience with smaller tasks. And mock trading helps evaluate progress.”
I hadn’t even asked, but she answered everything on her own.
Still, thanks to her, I finally understood why mock trading was important.
“If I do well in mock trading, can I become a senior?”
“Yup. In a securities firm, results are all that matter It doesn’t matter how well someone analyzes, talks, or plays politics. The one who makes the most money wins.”
A brutal but efficient meritocracy.
Trrr!
A loud signal rang out inside the company.
The market had opened.
“Whoa…”
Moments ago, the office had been silent.
Now it was a frenzy.
Phones were ringing from every direction. The rapid clicks of mice and keyboards echoed all around. The monitors looked like chaotic modern art powered by human madness.
“This is the most awkward time for newbies like us. Until the seniors call on us for materials, there’s not much to do. So we gain experience through mock trading in the meantime. Let me show you how it works.”
In the middle of that madness, she started teaching me step by step how to use the program.
But then…
Her voice stopped reaching me.
‘Wh-what…?’
Charts that made no sense.
Ticker symbols I’d never seen before.
An endless flood of red and blue.
And then, that tingling sensation, spreading from my fingertips through my whole body.
‘Why is this happening…?’
A feeling stirred inside my head, a strong, inexplicable pull.
It was that one stock she used in her example, the one currently lit up blue.
If this were a loot box, I’d be sure it would drop a rare item.
If it were an enhancement, I’d bet it would succeed.
I was gripped by an irresistible hunch, one I couldn’t explain or ignore.
‘W-wait…’
Before I even realized it, my hand moved on its own.
Click.
I hit the Buy button.
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