[Bank of Thailand raises base interest rate to 15%! Some banks ordered to stop selling baht... Southeast Asia declares war on Wall Street]

[Four Southeast Asian countries unite... Inject $10 billion into the forex market. “We will never surrender to speculators,” declares Prime Minister Chavalit]

The moment the news broke, the foreign exchange market was thrown into turmoil.

It wasn’t anything special. Would another wave make a difference in a sea already churning with storms? Any FX dealer with even one toe dipped into East Asia right now was fighting a war.

Myself included, of course.

“They raised the base rate just like we predicted!”

“Miss, where are you right now? Ah, next to me? Should I wake her up?”

“No need. First, let’s just... damn it! It’s rising! Sell the stocks, quick...”

.

.

.

‘Ugh, my head...’

Loud shouting buzzed nearby, and I dragged my exhausted mind awake and rose from my seat.

Break time was over.

–Shfft!

A woman with a decadent aura pulled the curtains open and glanced around. Instead of a skirt, she wore black pants, a white dress shirt tight enough across the chest to look uncomfortable, and a black tie.

Yoo Ha-yeon, always exuding charm, was in full formal attire, but the people here—used to the sight—just nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

“Ah, you’re here, Miss.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I came in person.”

Even as I spoke, it still didn’t feel real. How long had it been since I stood on the front lines?

This was the Alpha Fund office on Wall Street. Normally, I would’ve been giving orders quietly from faraway Korea, but I chose to take the risk and appear in person.

“You were often seen in Korea.”

“Still, it’s different from being in the field.”

The people gathered here didn’t really match the prestige of being the hottest hedge fund in the heart of American finance.

Most of them were young Asians.

‘We really went through hell trying to act like LTCM.’

Thankfully, the stereotype that Asians are good at math helped us avoid suspicion. We only got laughed at for imitating LTCM.

In any case, I’d gathered the people I’d embedded into the fund to form the Thailand team, and I naturally slipped into the lead. Compared to before, I felt a rush of overwhelming vitality.

–Tatatak, tap.

–Riiing!

–Crash! Thud!

Typing sounds, phone rings, and... the last one was someone falling. That one needs to go to the hospital.

Anyway, the office was bursting with all kinds of noise.

I asked Ha Yeong-il quietly.

“What’s the exchange rate right now?”

“Twenty-two baht per dollar. Rumor has it the Bank of Thailand wants to appreciate it by 10%.”

“They’re trying to kill off the speculators.”

Understandable. When hedge funds move in unison, they’re like a swarm of locusts.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister (and dictator), Mahathir, once denounced currency traders in the harshest terms, yet during the financial crisis, he said this:

While most currency traders are Jewish, it's not true that Jews are attacking Asia out of malice. I don’t believe in Jewish conspiracy theories. They simply want money. And if I could make billions of dollars with just a few clicks at a computer, I would too...

He probably meant it.

Malaysia’s own central bank had once practiced “you speculate too, profits come out.” They backed the pound during the short-selling, only to get their heads smashed. After that, they had to stop.

‘Come to think of it, Soros hit them twice in a row.’

I shook my head and turned to the stock market.

“How’s Finance One? We put in about five million dollars, right?”

“It, uh, it’s still going up. Maybe we should sell while we can...”

“No, increase the short position there. Triple leverage this time.”

I dismissed him casually.

–Thud.

“U.S. interest rate is 5% right now, Thailand’s is 15%... If the Bank of Thailand manages to hold the line at 24 baht, then the fair 18-month forward rate is 27.”

“Then should we switch to selling around that time?”

“That’s the theory. But I think it’ll go up to 29 at least. No—we need to make it go that high. Keep pumping money in until it hits 28.”

–Thud.

With every step I took, money flowed out like an ebbing tide. As time passed, the leveraged value melted away even faster. Time, evaporating like smoke, filled the air, while the weight of years piled up inside my lungs.

Tsk.

–Tap.

I took the cigarette from my mouth and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

“Guys, smoking’s bad for your health. Don’t smoke. Don’t you want to live a long life?”

“Ah... uh...”

The employee who had his cigarette taken from him looked around blankly. But the other fund managers also started putting theirs out, catching the mood.

Seriously, people of the 20th century. No matter how hard things get, how could you smoke right in front of me? This is like a raccoon den.

“This used to be the smoking room...”

“Well, now it’s a non-smoking room. You can’t afford to waste time value like that. Didn’t I tell you—no cigarettes, no drugs?”

“...I’m sorry.”

Fine, I let it go since he wasn’t on drugs.

“Phew... Besides, there’s something way better than cigarettes here.”

I brightened my eyes and grinned.

Flick.

“This.”

–USD/THB : 23.54

The screen showed the current exchange rate. I looked at the monitor as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. My silhouette reflected in the dark screen, overlapping with the glowing green digits.

“Mm? Look at this divine little toy. Every time a number flips, billions—tens of billions—of dollars move!”

–Bang!!

My heart raced like crazy. Finally. Finally, I was at the starting line.

Overcoming every obstacle and hardship, I had arrived at the battlefield where I’d prove my skills.

The sums were far greater than anything I’d handled in my past life. The scale was overwhelming.

This mountain of money pressed down on me—but even that pressure was exhilarating. I’d use it as fertilizer and grow stronger once more.

“...Miss. Are you really following the plan?”

Ha Yeong-il asked cautiously. I bared my teeth in a fierce smile.

“Yeah, we’re going with the plan. Just like we planned.”

At least $100 million, up to $300 million.

That’s the amount I could handle in Thailand’s forward market. Which meant, in other markets, I’d be using yet more capital.

Haa...

I exhaled quietly and gave the order.

“Time to make some money. Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong... Send people there and prep.”

“...Yes, understood. Then for the portfolio...”

–Thud.

“Here.”

I tossed the documents I was holding without a glance. These were for scenario 2-3-5, which I had already mapped out. Fortunately, I’d prepared all the way up to master scenario 4.

“When did you even prepare all this...”

Ha Yeong-il mumbled in disbelief. I curved my lips into a faint smile.

“We have enough money, right?”

It wasn’t even a question that required an answer. The obvious answer was yes.

Why had I invested so safely all this time? Even during the dotcom madness, and all those missed chances?

Because I’d been saving for this. This battlefield—blazing, magnificent, and inevitable—was always waiting.

And now... I had more than enough bullets saved up.

.

.

.

Time passed.

The baht barely moved. Behind the scenes, people whispered that it might be better to wait until 1997, after the Hong Kong handover, to go on the offensive.

“Shouldn’t we pull money from other markets and inject more into Thailand?”

“Haha, no need. It’ll happen soon. I also got ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) in touch with my brother to confirm their foreign reserves.”

“Th-The Thai reserves? How?”

I’d been preparing for years, of course.

“Mm-hmm, because I’m Yoo Ha-yeon?”

I smiled brightly and calmly, reassuring the team.

Internally, I felt nothing of the sort.

Cold sweat trickled down my back. My dress shirt had long since soaked through, clinging to my undergarments.

‘Was my judgment right? Did it work?’

Or... was attacking the futures market my miscalculation? If this went wrong, I might have to discard master scenario 2 entirely.

Haa...

Time stretched unbearably. My dilated pupils sucked in every bit of data, and my sharp mind reeled, endlessly double-checking already completed calculations.

It was all wasted energy, but I had no strength to care.

......

How much time passed?

–Click.

The computer chimed and printed out new information. A live rate, fed directly by my informant in Thailand.

–USD/THB: 24.12

Around 24 baht per dollar. That was spot price—and it meant the Bank of Thailand was still holding its defense line.

‘Then...’

My head jerked toward another screen. The 18-month forward rate displayed there was unmistakably different.

–USD/THB: 29.55

The green blinking numbers reflected in my eyes. I let out a dazed whisper.

“...We got it.”

A strange wave of relief swept over me—and behind it, a jolt of electric pleasure.

***

My private estate near Wall Street.

After staying awake for over 36 hours, I finally enjoyed deep sleep for the first time in ages.

Yawn...

Looking in the mirror, I realized I’d fallen asleep right after that wild night—without even changing clothes.

–Flop.

After a quick rinse, I unbuttoned my shirt and flopped onto the bed.

“Ahaha. Ahahahaha!”

–Thump thump.

I kicked the mattress with bare legs.

Light laughter spilled out. It had only been the first clash—a warm-up battle—but it was a success.

And even better, the info my brother sent was incredibly satisfying.

[Yoo Seon-jun: I asked around in Thailand. They say there’s barely $1 billion left in reserves.]

The local informant I’d planted years ago. It was a trump card I could use only once, so I waited until yesterday. My instincts had been correct.

Only $1 billion left in reserves, and they still said nothing?

That was practically a declaration of surrender. They simply didn’t want to face the reality—or were stalling through official channels. But the Bank of Thailand had, in essence, already decided to raise the white flag.

If there was any silver lining for them... it was that, unlike the Bank of England, they might not go down in history as total losers.

The baht’s collapse would be the beginning of a typhoon shaking all of East Asia, and there were simply too many victims to worry about one central bank.