WeTried Translations
Translator: NEET_Romulus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Dropped into the Ending of a Trash Show as an Extra ◈
Chapter 17: Real-Name Financial Transaction System (1)
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If someone asks what you do for a living, it’s only natural to answer.
Whenever someone asks Kwak Ji-su what she does, she introduces herself like this.
‘I’m a full-time investor.’
And the response is always the same.
‘So, unemployed.’
What made it even more infuriating was that she couldn’t argue with it.
“Aaargh! My money! My hard-earned money!”
At 3:30 p.m., the regular market closed in a catastrophic plunge. Kwak Ji-su, full-time investor, sank deep into her chair as though she had given up.
“It’s over... My life is over...”
[LOL, another down market today? I’m off to check the Han River water temperature.]
[Who told you to put money into the Korean market?]
[The Korean market is for dumping money into JD and collecting dividends lol. The capital’s great clans[1] are going to gobble it all up anyway, what can retail investors do?]
[For real lol. Are there still suckers trading the Korean market? I escaped to the U.S. market ages ago, later.]
A curse slipped through Ji-su’s clenched teeth.
Her screen was filled with a brutally vivid blue.
The return rate on her HTS account had already fallen past minus sixty percent and was plunging straight toward the groundwater beneath bedrock.
The market panic that had begun days earlier was beyond imagination.
“This downturn is definitely abnormal...”
That was why she had scraped together every last cent and piled it in!
The reality that averaging down was the only thing she could do nearly brought tears to her eyes.
The Korean market was always at the mercy of market manipulators, but this was truly... truly too much.
She knew that a wise investor cut their losses decisively once they crossed their stop-loss line, but she couldn’t bring herself to press the sell button.
She had even gone so far as to dabble in options at the end.
If this account was wiped out, all her blood, sweat, and tears would vanish into thin air. She would have no choice but to move back in with her parents and endure their nagging. Or should she beg that bastard of a brother for help?
‘This damn country really is...’
What a waste of patriotism.
Even when her parents sent a photo of themselves hanging a Taegeukgi from their home balcony while shouting, “Long live His Majesty the Emperor!” at the top of their lungs, Kwak Ji-su had only snorted.
The Imperial House? The Emperor? What a joke. Weren’t they the very culprits who had turned the Korean market into this mess?
Even the securities firms in this dogshit country had made overseas investment difficult to keep retail investors from fleeing. Her greatest regret was not escaping sooner.
As she gulped down instant coffee to quell her boiling anger and browsed the community boards, posts suddenly began flooding in.
[? Apparently His Majesty is announcing something.]
[Another extension of the national state of emergency?]
[Ugh, my account is going to get even bluer. Arresting people is great and all, but think of our wallets too.]
At last, the final thread of reason in Kwak Ji-su’s mind snapped.
“This is why men with nothing but the military in their heads are...!”
The new Emperor was just the same.
Did he care more about flexing his power after taking control than whether people ended up in the Han River?
Let’s see what kind of meteor he planned to drop. He would soon learn that Song Haksu wasn’t the only one in this country who wanted to take down the Emperor!
Kwak Ji-su opened the live broadcast on one side of her screen, her eyes bloodshot.
But then.
[I will no longer stand by and watch the ruinous conduct that tramples upon the foundations of our national economy. As of this moment, I declare the full nationwide implementation of the Real-Name Financial Transaction System.]
The Emperor’s announcement shattered her expectations.
[All financial transactions must be conducted only under one’s real name. Effective immediately, I order the freezing of funds in every nominee account, fictitious-name account, and corporate account of unclear origin nationwide whose identity cannot be clearly verified!]
[To prevent confusion arising from the sudden implementation of the system, the Imperial House and government have already begun administrative guidance and supervision of practical preparations at commercial banks and securities firms...]
[The Joint Investigation Headquarters and National Tax Service will pursue the true owners of frozen nominee assets to the end and impose severe punishments for every economic crime. Corrupt capital now has nowhere to hide in this land.]
“???”
Kwak Ji-su stared blankly at the announcement for a moment.
A real-name financial system. Freezing nominee and anonymous accounts.
‘The nominee accounts are being frozen?’
Then what would happen to the enormous funds that had been shorting the Korean market?
To maintain a short position, they needed to keep topping up their margin. But if their accounts were frozen, they would have nowhere to get money from!
There was only one answer.
Forced liquidation. A short squeeze.
The short sellers would have no choice but to buy back stocks at astronomical losses and return them.
Then came the announcement that a large-scale currency swap agreement with the United States had been concluded.
It was like dumping an entire bucket of cold water over the soaring exchange rate.
Kwak Ji-su, who had been staring at it blankly, suddenly came to her senses.
“Six o’clock. It’s time for night trading.”
With trembling hands, she gripped her mouse and refreshed the futures trading window.
[KOSPI 200 Futures Index: Real-Time Execution Price]
The long blue bearish candles that had covered the screen suddenly faltered, then began curling their tails upward at a terrifying pace.
As the funds in frozen nominee accounts vanished from the market, short sellers scrambling to survive raced to close their positions and frantically bought up stocks.
Th-then what about her account?
Flash!
Ji-su’s eyes flew wide.
The dreadful blue that had gripped even her options account disappeared in an instant.
In its place stood an enormous bullish candle shooting upward as if it would burst through her monitor. An explosion of trading volume that was impossible to believe for the night market.
“Ah... Ahh...!”
As the capital that had shorted the market began covering its positions, the market was soaring like mad.
Ji-su’s formerly blue account recovered her principal in an instant, then rode the surging price of call options upward, climbing vertically toward plus one hundred percent, plus two hundred percent, plus four hundred percent...
No, even higher.
Kwak Ji-su’s mouth slowly fell open at the sight.
“G-Go...”
Foam gathering at her mouth, she screamed.
“Let’s gooooooooo!”
Her cheer was loud enough to shake the whole officetel building.
At this moment, Kwak Ji-su was a fervent supporter of the current Emperor.
* * *
The Republic of Korea did not have a real-name financial system.
More precisely, it had not had one until now.
There was nothing particularly strange about that. In a country where the Imperial House and capital’s great clans devoured everything, would it not be delusional to expect transparent financial practices?
Even Japan in his original world had tried a Green Card system similar to a real-name financial system, only to abandon the bill in the face of opposition. It strengthened identity-verification obligations only in 2003, after the September 11 attacks, and did not effectively complete its real-name financial system until introducing My Number in 2016.
To implement a sudden real-name financial system in such circumstances...
‘Secrecy is everything.’
Fortunately, there was no sign anyone had caught on before the announcement.
Now that he had detonated the bomb cleanly, what remained was to minimize the side effects and establish the system as quickly as possible.
The task force, which had been wearing the mask of an organization formed to respond to economic instability, was immediately reorganized into the Comprehensive Real-Name System Response Situation Room.
“In step with the announcement, the situation room has summoned every commercial bank president. We will issue implementation guidelines, gather any confusion and questions arising in practice, and provide authoritative interpretations and additional responses.”
“We are also modifying the computer networks to prevent withdrawals from fictitious-name accounts and ensure that real-name verification procedures apply to every deposit and withdrawal.”
The scene was practically a military operation.
No, to some extent, it was a military operation. Troops under Lee Jin’s control and IT officials had been dispatched to every bank to “cooperate” in the swift transition to the real-name system.
“With this, the capital’s great clans have had their arms and legs cut off.”
“Yes. However, the slush funds managed by the Imperial House have also been caught in the real-name system. We could have recovered them if we had taken the time, but...”
“Is that a pity?”
When Lee Jin asked, Seo Yu-jin shook her head.
“A considerable portion of it was used for the late Emperor’s extravagance. I understand there was much wrongdoing in how it was accumulated as well. It would be different if Your Majesty had ordered its recovery for use as governing funds, but... I believe this is not a bad result either.”
“If we had done that, they would definitely have found out.”
A considerable number of people in political and government circles came from the capital’s great clans or had once served as their retainers.
Even an attempt to recover the Imperial House’s slush funds in advance would inevitably have revealed to them what he was planning.
Conversely, the capital’s great clans were probably thinking something like, ‘We never imagined he would launch a surprise real-name system attack while giving up that much money.’
If asked whether he regretted that money, Lee Jin would answer, ‘Not particularly.’
‘I’ve never even seen that kind of money in my life, anyway.’
“Return all of it to the treasury.”
He had ensured that not a single won could be withdrawn from accounts whose real identities had not been verified.
Accounts that remained unconverted after the mandatory conversion period would be charged a penalty of ten percent of their deposits at regular intervals, up to a maximum of ninety percent.
Those penalties would all go into the national treasury and be used for the state budget.
Leaning deeply back in his chair, Lee Jin spoke.
“Still, after making a sacrifice of this scale, they had better be ready to lose their heads.”
The Imperial House’s nominee assets were more numerous than those of any family.
He had thrown them away simply to bind the hands and feet of the capital’s great clans.
And the effect of that surprise attack was sufficient.
“What about Kim A-ra?”
It was not only the money deposited in banks that had been bound.
Securities such as stocks were also subject to conversion to the real-name system. Which meant...
“She has convened a meeting of the group executives, Your Majesty.”
It was time to make Kim A-ra move.
* * *
JD Group headquarters.
This side, too, was thrown into confusion by the surprise announcement.
“W-What on earth is this! A real-name financial system?”
“All the accounts our group managed have been blocked! How are we supposed to cover the promissory notes maturing immediately?”
“Everyone from the media affiliates, start making calls.”
The CEO of JD Trading, who was effectively presiding over the meeting in Kim A-ra’s place, spoke urgently.
“The President has defined this incident as the Emperor’s tyranny. All media affiliates, including JD Broadcasting, must respond immediately!”
The directive sent down from the Kim clan was simple.
- Claim that the Emperor’s unilateral real-name financial system will ruin the real economy.
- Report extensively that the sudden withdrawal and freezing of underground funds will cause cascading corporate bankruptcies and tremendous economic chaos. Maximize the commoners’ fear.
- No matter what, secure a suspension of implementation and a grace period.
In short, they were being told to drive market anxiety to the brink.
But then...
“Stop everything you are doing! It is the Chairwoman’s order!”
The presidents who had been looking at their phones or making calls jolted and turned toward the source of the voice.
It came from the conference room door, where Kim A-ra’s chief of staff stood.
“What, Chief Cheon! What do you mean?”
“Do you expect us to do nothing while this chaos is unfolding?”
“Yes. That is exactly it.”
A voice that was incomparably elegant despite the turmoil.
As the secretaries parted to either side like the Red Sea, Kim A-ra entered the conference room.
“I’m a little late. It seems you began the meeting without the Chairwoman?”
“F-Forgive us, Chairwoman. The situation was so urgent.”
Kim A-ra passed the places where the heads of each affiliate had risen to their feet, then took the seat of honor.
The CEO of JD Trading, who had been squirming like a dog desperate to relieve itself only moments earlier, spoke.
“Chairwoman. An emergency directive just came down from the Kim clan.”
“I know. And?”
“...Pardon?”
The CEO of JD Trading asked again, dumbfounded.
“Chairwoman, if nominee and anonymous shares are frozen under the real-name system, it will create a fatal problem for the Kim clan’s control!”
“Exactly.”
At her words, the CEO of JD Trading fell silent.
What on earth did that mean?
“How much longer must businesspeople like us,”
Kim A-ra said, crossing her legs,
“play lackeys to the old man of Jang-dong?”
Footnotes:
[1] Capital’s great clans: hereditary elite families based in the capital, whose long political connections give them outsized influence.
“Checking the Han River water temperature” is a Korean online expression of despair after financial losses, often implying suicidal thoughts.
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