6:30 p.m.

The curtain rose on the Idea Dinner.

Under the chandelier, a table was set for nineteen.

The members slowly filled the seats, exchanging brief and formal greetings.

Among them was Ackman.

He, too, was smiling on the outside.

But inside, he was boiling over.

'Please, let everything go as planned.'

Ackman desperately hoped that Ha Si-heon would pass the test.

No, that alone wasn’t enough.

He wanted Ha Si-heon to win so overwhelmingly that it would leave everyone at the table humiliated for life.

Just like he had been.

Of course, Ackman’s strange wish wasn’t just some emotional issue like “I hope they all fall to the bottom of hell like I did.”

There was a reason behind it.

'I can’t let them skip my turn. Never!'

In fact, Ackman was next in line to manage MESH.

That meant he would soon be able to handle a trillion dollars’ worth of shadow capital.

However, after his crushing defeat to Ha Si-heon recently, there were open whispers within the club.

— Judging by Ackman’s recent performance... it seems he urgently needs to take a break.

— Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if he yielded his turn this time?

He didn’t care about ridicule saying he lost to some rookie with no experience or that he was a washed-up has-been.

But,

'That alone is absolutely unacceptable.'

Ackman’s hedge fund was barely hanging on, like it was on life support.

While it was still generating some profit, it was merely at a level of “barely surviving.”

What he wanted wasn’t lukewarm survival… but a dramatic comeback.

Normally, that would have been close to impossible.

But if he could move a trillion dollars, the situation would change.

For example, what if he secretly injected that capital into a stock he was certain would “go up”?

He could artificially create an upward trend.

'If only that happens...'

With one decisive move, his fund’s performance would skyrocket, and the media would crown Ackman with the title “The Legend Returns.”

His past disgrace would be dismissed as a fleeting nightmare, and his crumpled reputation would be restored.

For that goal, he was willing to endure anything.

Even if it meant helping Ha Si-heon—the very man who had thrown him into this pit—wholeheartedly.

'Man... life is truly unpredictable.'

As Ackman mocked himself internally, Ha Si-heon appeared.

The moment he saw Roel, a key figure in the activist faction, he extended his hand with a bright smile.

'Looks like he’s already secured the activist side.'

Judging by the atmosphere, he had at least six votes locked in from that faction.

Now, he only needed four more votes.

The problem was, all four had to come from the macro and quant factions.

'Is that even possible...?'

Macro and quant had principles they defended with their lives.

Structure, stability, predictability.

There was no way those people would side with “the walking disaster” Ha Si-heon.

“Alright, everyone, let’s take our seats.”

The dinner began.

Coincidentally, Ha Si-heon was seated between two macro faction members, and the vibe was odd.

Ackman strained his ears to catch their conversation.

“How’s Brazil these days?”

“It’s alright, but we’re still far from recovering the principal. We took such a massive hit in Asia last year…”

“Ah, you mean China.”

The two talked across Ha Si-heon as if he weren’t even there.

From time to time, they glanced at him with openly hostile eyes.

“Sigh... even though it was an almost perfectly structured trade, we still suffered like that...”

“Everyone piled in and just made volatility worse. It was chaos beyond chaos.”

Ackman immediately understood the situation.

In investing, sometimes even if you read the big picture perfectly, you still end up losing money.

And that exact fiasco happened in the Chinese market.

They had correctly predicted the yuan’s decline.

But due to excessive volatility, they had to hastily liquidate positions at a loss.

Large funds, bound by risk management rules, had to cut positions when market volatility exceeded certain thresholds.

In other words, they had invested expecting profit, but had to pull out before they could actually make it.

The cause was clear.

Ha Si-heon.

So bringing it up here was clearly a “warning” directed at Ha Si-heon.

However.

The man himself was completely absorbed in his food.

His demeanor was relaxed, his expression content.

He looked like he might even start humming.

Finally, one of them couldn’t hold back any longer and snapped.

“If only there wasn’t someone stirring up the ants and turning the market into a circus.”

Only then did Ha Si-heon put down his fork, point at himself with a finger, and ask, “By any chance, are you talking about me?”

“Who else would I be talking about!”

There was a sharp edge to the other man’s words, but Ha Si-heon tilted his head slightly and responded softly.

“I don’t ‘create’ black swans; I predict them. And black swans always come with extreme volatility.”

Even without my intervention, the volatility was already an inevitable step.

The point was clear.

'Not my fault.'

Ha Si-heon let his gentle smile widen as he continued.

“It was just a bit of bad luck. Holding a grudge over that for so long isn’t good for your health.”

Though his tone sounded concerned… coming from the very source of the disaster, his words turned into mockery.

The macro people all frowned at once, and Ackman screamed internally.

'Is this really the time to be provoking them! You should be persuading them instead!'

Those four votes were absolutely crucial.

Yet, in that short time, Ha Si-heon had expertly managed to rub them the wrong way.

Ackman wanted to rush over and clamp his mouth shut right then and there.

But it wasn’t possible in the middle of such a formal dinner.

Besides, it was too late to stop him now.

So Ackman quickly gave up.

'Forget it. Let’s give up on the macro faction.'

The damage was done.

They were a lost cause.

Now it was time to focus on the more promising option.

The only remaining hope.

The quant faction.

If just four of them raised their hands for Ha Si-heon, it would be enough.

Ackman cautiously spoke to the quant member sitting next to him.

“Ha Si-heon is famous for black swans, but actually, his fund is driven by a healthcare-based algorithm. I hear it has never fallen below an 80% hit rate…”

Quants worship formulas.

So Ackman tried his best to package the “walking disaster” Ha Si-heon as a refined pattern.

A kind of high-level con, wrapping chaos in mathematics.

But the problem was that wrapper was peeled away far too easily.

And by none other than Ha Si-heon himself.

“You really should have just held your position.”

Tsk tsk.

“They said that was against the rules!”

“It’s because you’re bound by such rules that you miss out on profits.”

From across the table, Ha Si-heon poured fuel on the fire with every word.

Ackman tightly shut his eyes.

A wave of dizziness hit him.

At that moment.

“Everyone, did you enjoy your meal?”

The chairman quietly stood up.

He swept his gaze around the table and then declared in a polite voice.

“Tonight is a night for freely sharing ideas. In keeping with our ‘tradition,’ let’s have our newly invited guest share their idea first.”

At last, the stage was set.

Ha Si-heon’s trial had begun.

His investment idea would be unveiled, and he needed to convince at least ten people here for formal membership approval.

Ackman pressed his lips tightly together, praying silently.

'Please… please don’t say anything weird.'

All he needed was to pull in just four votes from the quants.

So Ackman desperately hoped Ha Si-heon’s idea would be something the quants could interpret as “formulas.”

However, Ackman’s prayer was instantly shattered by Ha Si-heon’s next words.

“I will invest in war.”

'War… of all things!'

War.

That was one of the words quants despised the most.

Volatility, uncertainty, unpredictability.

A perfect package of nightmares.

Still, Ackman didn’t let go of his last thread of hope.

'Wait, if it’s defense stocks, maybe it could be modeled using past war data…?'

“This ‘war’ doesn’t refer to military conflict.”

Then maybe resource war? Oil or rare earth materials...?

“It’s not about resource wars either.”

'Then it must be technology. If it’s semiconductors, maybe it can be justified statistically...'

“It is a tech war, but not an ordinary tech war. I intend to invest in a war no one has ever experienced before—a ‘war of intelligence.’”

A wave of dizziness washed over him.

When he said “no one has experienced it,” that meant “no data.”

He glanced around and saw a few quants lowering their eyes to their plates.

The presentation had barely started, but the atmosphere already felt like a funeral.

'Why this idea…!'

If he had just mentioned it in advance, Ackman would have done anything to stop him.

But Ha Si-heon had sought no advice and was now paying the price.

A strategy thrown out without any audience analysis.

The tone, timing, and delivery—all missed.

Even so, Ackman clung to the faintest spark of hope.

'Still… that guy’s gift of gab is monstrous!'

Ha Si-heon had a terrifying ability to talk.

Once words started flowing from his mouth, even impossible stories somehow gained strange persuasiveness.

Maybe… just maybe, he might even get the quants to think, “Shall we give it a shot…?”

“Currently, Gooble is leading the AI field. But according to insider information I obtained, Aaron Stark is about to launch a direct challenge. This marks the opening act of a fierce AI technology battle between the two giants.”

It wasn’t a bad start.

AI competition.

If it was about fierce battles driven by new tech, it could theoretically survive inside a quant’s calculator.

The problem started after that.

“This isn’t just industrial competition; it’s closer to a cold war. In the 20th century, missiles and ideology clashed, but now algorithms and computing resources will face off. And yes, ideology will clash once more.”

At first, he talked about AI.

But bit by bit, it drifted closer to a “clash of civilizations” narrative.

“Both sides will burn everything to prove their approach is more humane. Neither side will take a single step back. In that process, an explosive outpouring of algorithms, derivative technologies, IP, and data infrastructure will emerge.”

In Ha Si-heon’s delusional world, companies that had lost their minds were playing a giant game of chicken, and from that heated clash, an entire ecosystem was sprouting like mushrooms.

Ackman felt curses rising all the way to his throat.

'Where did all that legendary silver tongue go, and why is he spouting this nonsense instead!'

Ackman glanced at the quant faction.

It was over.

There was no way quants would fall for this kind of crap—

But even as he half gave up, the quants looked strangely… flustered.

'What the hell?'

Normally, they would have been the first to scoff and rip Ha Si-heon apart, calling it “unmodellable nonsense” or a “groundless scenario”...

Yet right now, not one of them was laughing at Ha Si-heon.

Between the quants, awkward glances were being exchanged.

Then, Ha Si-heon casually wrapped up his idea.

“I expect at least a 64% IRR within half a year. That’s all.”

When his pitch ended, a barrage of questions immediately followed.

All from the macro faction.

“In a situation where liquidity is shrinking and rate hike pressures are intensifying, do you really think both camps can raise enough capital?”

“For a war to be viable, there needs to be a balance between the two sides, no? Gooble has capital, patents, infrastructure, and ecosystem foundations all perfectly in place—can Stark really catch up to that level?”

They were all sharp, straight-to-the-point questions.

But Ha Si-heon’s answers were astonishing.

“Just because a dinosaur is big, it doesn’t always win, right? You must have seen that during the Chinese yuan incident…”

Even in that moment, Ha Si-heon was tossing in unnecessary sarcasm.

It was basically saying, “Back then too, you dinosaurs lost, and the ants all won—yet you’re still babbling about dinosaurs?”

As the tension peaked, the chairman lightly cleared his throat and calmly spoke up.

“Haha, the energy here is impressive. But we must also listen to other ideas, so let’s wrap this up here. Now, those who support this investment…”

It was time for the results.

At this rate, he would definitely fail.

And in the worst possible way for Ackman.

Ackman wasn’t just about to lose—he was on the verge of becoming “the loser who was defeated by a lunatic rookie spouting nothing but absurd fantasies.”

Handing over MESH to such an Ackman?

Impossible.

Just as Ackman closed his eyes in despair, Ha Si-heon opened his mouth.

“Could we postpone the vote to the end? As you know, my idea is rather unique, so I think everyone needs more time to mull it over.”

A proposal to delay the vote until the end of the meeting.

Ackman immediately jumped in to support.

“Let’s do that! It would be hard to refuse when a guest asks so politely…”

“In fact, the content is too vast for my head to grasp right now; it would be good to have more time.”

“Yes, I also…”

With Ackman leading, the activist faction led by Roel joined in agreement.

The chairman nodded.

“Very well. We will move the vote to the final item, as requested.”

Thus, the vote was postponed.

They had bought some time for now…

'But will anything really change by waiting?'

What quants wanted was a “formula.”

However, Ha Si-heon spoke of a war that did not—and perhaps could not—exist.

Even if they waited another hour, that war wouldn’t suddenly feel more realistic, nor would the quants abandon their principles.

There was zero chance such an implausible idea would be accepted.

Yet, Ha Si-heon’s expression remained full of confidence.

'What on earth is he planning?'