A hedge fund with a perfect view of Wall Street—and of the Alpha Fund office.

A blond American trembled as he heard news of the interest rate hike.

He’d bet on the opposite side of Alpha Fund—specifically, on buying Thai baht. Joy and despair were being felt across the financial world, and this place was clearly on the side of despair.

“This—this can’t be! Why?! What the hell for?!”

“...Phew, it can’t be helped. John, grab whatever money we have left before the fund gets completely liquidated. I’m heading back home. Goddamn world.”

“Shit. Did they hear something from Greenspan? How, how the hell did they know...?”

Resignation, fury, despair—all of it filled the office. They were convinced Alpha Fund had made a mistake this time, so they’d bet against it.

And then—an asteroid slammed into the battlefield from space.

An interest rate hike from the U.S.

It wasn’t supposed to happen. U.S. rates were already high. With East Asia suffering a rapid dollar shortage and teetering on the edge of a financial crisis, the Fed wasn’t expected to act.

If not for the dotcom bubble.

–Bang!

“Those bastards... the Alpha Fund bastards planned this. They knew from the beginning—since they inflated the bubble.”

The woman packing nearby shook her head and looked at him like he was ridiculous.

“John, don’t say stupid shit. We lost. Just leave with some dignity. If you waste time whining, we’ll lose what little money we still have and... well, you’ll be a John Doe somewhere in Texas.”

“I’m telling you, it’s real! Silicon Valley—that woman from Aqua Capital, do you know her?”

“Oh, the ‘Angel of Silicon Valley’? What about her?”

“She’s Asian! And a third of Alpha Fund’s board is Asian, too. God, I can’t believe no one thinks that’s weird!”

“....”

As a Californian, she shot a scornful glare at the Texas man and opened her mouth.

“There are tons of Jewish people here on Wall Street. So what, Jews run the global economy now? Do you believe in that conspiracy crap? Eugene Seo is Japanese, by the way.”

“Hmph. Catherine, to be fair—maybe John’s onto something this time. I mean, they were the ones who exposed the Madoff Fund... That kind of respected Jewish figure running a Ponzi scheme? Seriously. If a former chairman of NASDAQ can do that, what can’t be done?”

“...Tch.”

She clicked her tongue softly. The more she thought about it, the more plausible it sounded.

But only for a moment. Then she returned to reality.

“Fine, say John’s right. What can we even do? Someone mysterious just tanked us—a person who artificially inflated the dotcom bubble, forced a U.S. rate hike, and somehow timed it perfectly?”

If they had just mirrored Alpha Fund’s position, they wouldn’t be here worrying. They’d be popping champagne in the next office over. She quickly erased the thought.

Trying to tear down a successful fund out of inferiority, only to get utterly wrecked—that was just pathetic. Alpha Fund likely didn’t even know this firm existed. They’d gotten themselves involved and paid the price.

“....”

“Nothing to do, right? Then pack your shit and let’s go home.”

That was the nature of this world.

Whether ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) by skill or luck, the winners took everything, and the losers lost it all.

This time, it was just their turn.

–Thud.

“Well, I had fun for four years! It was a shitty ride, thanks for nothing—let’s never meet again!”

And so, the little hedge fund in the middle of Wall Street shut its doors...

And similar scenes were playing out all over.

***

Meanwhile, in one of Alpha Fund’s many offices.

The site personally commanded by Yoo Ha-yeon was in full celebration.

–Clink.

“Cheers!”

I raised my glass with a broad smile. I couldn’t drink, but grape juice wasn’t bad.

No, honestly—it was pretty great. I’ve always had a sweet tooth.

“Wow, it really worked. I’ll never doubt you again, Miss...”

“Ahaha, no—keep doubting me. And keep worshipping me, too.”

My smile deepened. On the distant USD/THB exchange display, a number appeared that had never been seen before.

–USD/THB: 36.78

Bzzt.

–USD/THB: 37.10

‘Ooh, it just dropped further.’

The baht was in total collapse. Thailand’s central bank had tried to hold the line at 24 baht per dollar, and now it was already at 36.

And it wasn’t just the baht. Neighboring countries with similar economic models—Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines—their currencies were plunging too. All of them had to raise short-term interest rates from 5% to 15%.

It would obviously harm their economies, but they had no choice if they wanted to defend their exchange rates.

“Of course, stocks will tank too... So how much did we make?”

“Fifty million dollars from Thailand. Altogether, including the others, about seventy million. So around $120 million total.”

Not bad for secondary earnings.

It was a market even an idiot could profit from. We hadn’t even touched derivatives because the markets were too small—yet we still made this much.

–Clack.

I set down my glass and gently tilted my head.

“Seriously, we Wall Street types are so generous. They even lent me money because they were worried I wouldn’t make enough.”

Normally, in the Thai FX market, I wouldn’t have been able to get $1 billion in volume.

Short-selling isn’t magic—you have to borrow baht from someone to sell it. But the idiots who wanted to destroy me handed me the baht as if daring me to try.

This is the result.

“Hahaha. Without you, Miss, no one would’ve predicted the U.S. would hike rates right now. I’m curious though—how did you get the timing right?”

Others nodded, looking at me.

“Hm... that?”

I smiled quietly and looked around the room.

In this game, timing is more important than direction.

People who focus on direction become value investors like Buffett. In hedge funds, timing matters more. Even if you know something will fall, being off by a day or two can cost you astronomical sums.

With rate hikes, it’s even more critical. Even if the Fed hiked next month instead of this one... that one month makes all the difference.

If they’d hiked next month instead of now, I’d have been ruined. I wouldn’t have died right away—but I would’ve been humiliated enough to bite my tongue and die.

“Instinct.”

“...Instinct?”

I shrugged.

“Or you could call it precision calculation. Or Greenspan psychology. Either way, I’d been prepping for months.”

This was my pride.

It wasn’t knowledge from a past life—it was my own skill. I used future knowledge to guess Greenspan’s tendencies, sure. But estimating the Fed’s rate hike timing was still an incredible achievement on its own.

And betting huge on it? That kind of boldness deserves a spot in financial legend.

Ah... as expected, I’m amazing.

–Slick.

I glanced at the full-length mirror in the corner of the office. The most brilliant, unparalleled genius girl in the world was looking out at the world with supreme confidence.

‘Phew. Calm down. Don’t let it go to your head...’

One mistake, and it’s game over. The path I walk requires rolling a die ten times and getting a six every single time.

After basking in admiration for myself for a moment, I turned and called over one of the fund managers.

“Hm, so how much is it? Our total profit so far?”

“Ah, um... one moment. Including the dotcom bubble?”

“Yep. Based on the Alpha Fund’s total portfolio—past one month.”

He counted silently on his fingers, then answered with a dazed expression.

He didn’t seem to believe it himself.

“Five billion dollars...”

Previously, Alpha Fund’s assets under management were $50 billion.

Of that, the actual capital clients entrusted—the fund’s "equity"—was $15 billion.

So... a single move just returned 33%.

I grinned and my eyes sparkled.

–Clap!

“Nice! Ahaha, that’s the Alpha Fund I know. We’ve been playing it too safe. Don’t be too surprised—we’re gonna play much bigger from now on.”

At that moment, Ha Yeong-il, who had been quietly sipping his wine, turned to me and asked,

“What about leverage...? Are we keeping it the same?”

“I told you, didn’t I? We’re borrowing another $100 billion.”

Strange, isn’t it?

Managing $150 billion in assets used to mean 10x leverage.

Now, it’s barely 7x.

“Thailand’s done... and if we calmly rotate through the others—by the time we get to Korea, we’ll be back down to 5x leverage. Phew, we’ve gotta borrow faster. Just borrow $20 billion each from five places, right?”

Sometimes, I swear—there’s no one as cautious an investor as me.

Seriously.