ICTU 09

Chapter 09

I Got 30,000 Coins Through Secondhand Trading 

Chapter 4. Scouting (1)

“Then, with this, we will consider the contract completed.”

“Yes. I look forward to working with you.”

After exchanging the contracts, Choi Hyuk left the company together with Manager Jeong Dae-su.

Manager Jeong spoke to Choi Hyuk jokingly.

“Representative Choi. Maybe because you’ve been signing so many real estate contracts lately, you don’t even need us to explain everything anymore. You just handle everything smoothly on your own.”

Choi Hyuk gave a bitter smile as he took out his car keys.

“If you sign more than ten similar contracts in just a few weeks, anyone would become just as familiar with them as I am.”

Just this week, Choi Hyuk had signed exactly fifteen purchase contracts.

He had found all of them after searching for rumors about places where a ‘young man wearing a traditional Korean hat’ appeared as a ghost.

The rumor about the young ghost wearing a traditional Korean hat was spreading not only in Seoul but also in the provinces, even in areas where it seemed impossible to sell the properties.

Choi Hyuk searched those places out and signed contracts for all of them.

Every time he tried to sign a contract, the other party always showed the same reaction.

Why is he buying this?

At first, everyone was confused.

But whenever Choi Hyuk signed a contract, good news would immediately happen nearby, one after another, as if it had been waiting for him.

Because of this, the nickname Choi Hyuk had recently gained in the real estate industry was this:

The Golden Hand.

Whenever Choi Hyuk bought a building, some good news would occur and even the surrounding property prices would rise sharply.

Naturally, people could not help but become interested in what Choi Hyuk would do next.

One of those people was Manager Jeong Dae-su.

“Representative Choi. Where are you mainly planning to look next?”

“Why? All of a sudden.”

“I want to quietly put one foot in the same area.”

Since Manager Jeong Dae-su’s main business was also real estate transactions, he could not help being interested in Choi Hyuk’s movements.

Whenever Choi Hyuk bought something, its price jumped.

After witnessing this several times from such a close distance, how could he not want to buy even some land nearby?

Besides.

“Even our company president and executives are desperate to get information from Representative Choi in advance.”

“Ah. So that’s why you suddenly asked if I was free this Friday and suggested having a meal together?”

“That’s right. Our president is really obvious, isn’t he? Haha!”

Of course, Manager Jeong Dae-su was doing the same thing.

He had even gone one step further and openly asked Choi Hyuk if he could share some information.

On the one hand, Choi Hyuk understood their behavior.

People naturally become honest when money is involved.

“Our president said he would take you somewhere really nice, so I would appreciate it if you could come.”

Choi Hyuk gave a small nod and said he understood.

Although it had been more than a week since he started his company, Choi Hyuk still did not really feel like he was the representative of a company.

Why was that?

After thinking about it carefully, Choi Yeon-uk gave him the answer.

“You only have two employees.”

The office space was large, but there were only two employees: Hwang Se-yong and Na Jeong-bin.

Naturally, the place felt very empty.

Moreover, one of them was his junior from university, so rather than feeling like an employee, he felt more like a younger brother he was close with.

“I think it would be better to increase the number of employees from now on.”

“Then recommend a few good people to me, hyung.”

“I actually have someone I want to recommend to you.”

“Really? Who?”

Before coming to CH Investment, Choi Yeon-uk had bought an iced Americano and brought it with him. He put the straw in his mouth, took a sip, and continued.

“There’s a Manager Yoon Gwang-seok who works in Team 1 of the Financial Planning Department at Seomgwang Electronics. He’s a younger guy who used to work at the same asset management company as me. He’s really capable. If you bring him over, he’ll probably be a great help to your asset management business.”

Hwang Se-yong and Na Jeong-bin were ordinary employees who handled accounting, office work, and miscellaneous tasks.

In other words, there was no core practical employee with experience at the assistant manager level or higher.

“It’s the same for me, Manager Jeong Dae-su, and the Daeseung side. CH Investment needs at least one experienced person like Gwang-seok who can handle practical work. That way, communication and business contacts between us can go smoothly. If we have to communicate with an ordinary low-level employee who doesn’t properly understand each department, it drives us crazy.”

“That’s true.”

“Of course, I’m not saying Se-yong or Jeong-bin are bad. Anyway, you know what I mean, right?”

Choi Hyuk nodded, showing that he understood what Choi Yeon-uk was trying to say.

“Then can you connect me with this Yoon Gwang-seok?”

“I can connect you with him. But he probably won’t immediately say that he’ll move to your company. You know why, right?”

Choi Hyuk slowly nodded.

If you told someone who was doing well at a large corporation to leave and work for a newly established small company—

How many people would actually accept?

Even if Choi Hyuk were in Yoon Gwang-seok’s position, he would not easily make such a decision.

“It would be a huge success if we could bring Gwang-seok over.”

Although he had recommended him, Choi Yeon-uk had not thought of a way to persuade him.

But Choi Hyuk unexpectedly came up with a solution very easily.

“It’s simple.”

The biggest strength CH Investment had.

It was this.

“Money solves most problems, so why worry?”

Choi Hyuk already had an excellent way to win over Yoon Gwang-seok.

A few days later, Choi Hyuk went with Choi Yeon-uk to a premium Korean restaurant near Seomgwang Electronics.

Yoon Gwang-seok, who came to the restaurant with them, swallowed nervously and looked around.

The huge ink paintings hanging in each private room and the various luxurious decorations clearly showed that this was not an ordinary restaurant.

Manager Yoon Gwang-seok gave a bitter smile and said,

“I heard this place is quite expensive…”

Choi Hyuk answered as if it were obvious.

“We’re meeting someone important. I have to bring you somewhere at least this good.”

“You flatter me, Representative.”

Through Choi Yeon-uk, Yoon Gwang-seok already knew roughly why Choi Hyuk wanted to meet him.

Before that, he also knew roughly who Choi Hyuk was.

A man who had obtained an unimaginable amount of wealth through coins.

The man who had hit the jackpot in life, the kind of success everyone would envy.

Seeing that person directly in front of him was fascinating, and at the same time, Yoon Gwang-seok felt envious.

Because—

“I also used to invest in coins.”

“Oh, really? Did you make a lot?”

“I made as much as 2 billion won at one point. But not long after that, I gave it all back. China suddenly announced, ‘We will use a new electronic currency system instead of the existing virtual currencies.’ After that, I ended up losing about 200 million won and cut my losses.”

“You can think of that 200 million won as the cost of learning about coins.”

“Haha. That’s true.”

Two hundred million won could be considered a cheap lesson.

The world of coins could easily make you lose much more money.

Of course, there were also people like Choi Hyuk who achieved incredible success stories.

But those cases were extremely rare.

Most people simply got burned badly and walked away.

“Then, did you stop investing in coins after that?”

“I invest in stocks instead of coins.”

At the mention of stocks, Choi Yeon-uk added some explanation.

“When he worked with me, he was also in charge of stock-related work. He has quite a few connections in that field as well.”

Choi Hyuk did not understand.

“Then why do you need to keep working at a company? If you’re good at it, couldn’t you just focus on trading?”

“Whether it’s stocks or coins, even if you’ve done well until now, it doesn’t mean much if you make one big mistake and lose everything. And you never know what will happen in life, right? I need to prepare for that. I also need to build up some seed money. And finally, I have to support my wife and son steadily. So I thought I should keep working.”

That was the reason Manager Yoon continued going to work every day.

A deep smile appeared on Choi Hyuk’s lips.

“Then having a job with better conditions would be even more essential for you, Manager Yoon.”

Without beating around the bush, Choi Hyuk brought up the contract conditions before the food had even arrived.

“I know this may be rude, Manager Yoon, but I already heard from Yeon-uk how much you earn at Seomgwang.”

“It’s fine. I expected that.”

He thought they might offer him about one and a half times his current salary.

There was a reason Yoon Gwang-seok had clearly settled on the figure of 1.5 times.

Among all the companies that had contacted him to recruit him, the highest salary increase they had offered was exactly 1.5 times his current salary.

That was why, when he came here after receiving a call from a senior he knew, he did not have high expectations.

Among all the companies that had made him offers so far, CH Investment was the smallest.

And its representative was far too young.

He had come here thinking that he would simply save his senior’s face by meeting him and then leave.

But—

“How about I give you about five times the salary you are currently receiving?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I thought you might feel disappointed if I stopped there. So, in addition, whenever profits are generated, I’ll give you a certain percentage as an incentive. I’d like to bring you in at the level of a department head. How does that sound?”

“……”

In his eyes, the man named Choi Hyuk began to look like the benefactor of his life.