Chapter 9
As long as we can produce satisfactory profits in real trading, winning the investment contest offers limited benefits from Hagana’s perspective. Currently, including the funds entrusted by others, my own funds, and the remuneration to be given to Hagana, it has swelled to 670,000 Mool. My assets are roughly 170,000 Mool. Since I started with 70,000 Mool, 100,000 Mool is profit. 20% of that is Hagana’s share, so Hagana’s remuneration is about 20,000 Mool at this point. In other words, if Hagana earns another 10,000 Mool, she can pay off Lisa’s debt completely on her own.
Moreover, in real trading, we aren’t the only ones profiting. It is a great help to Chris, who has no way to go to university other than getting a scholarship despite having an excellent brain because she has no money, and to the people of the Outer Districts suffering from debt. It was natural for Hagana to want to prioritize that over the investment contest. It is completely rational. In the investment contest, no matter how well it goes, the prize money is 200,000 Mool, and excluding Lisa’s 30,000 Mool debt, it would be split between us.
Still, Hagana responded to my request and focused on the contest. She didn’t even ask for a reason. She doesn’t know that I intend to give all 200,000 Mool of the prize money to her. Naturally, I haven’t told her that I will cut ties with her not long after the contest and go to Burton. Hagana knows nothing, doesn’t try to know, and responded to my request. Maybe she originally can’t wrap her head around things like the other party having hidden intentions. Burton said that if one develops mathematical ability too much, it takes a toll on other things. I believed half of those words, but believed something else for the other half.
From the day we decided to focus on the investment contest, Hagana and I really focused on the contest. Even though I said that day was a break, we immediately started trading in the living room and made a virtual profit of 2 million Mool. Hagana’s program is indeed a powerful weapon, and trading goes well as if solving test problems for which we know the answers. The existence I feared when I thought it might continue to evolve forever in the future and replace me turned into a reassuring tool when setting a goal and pushing toward it.
Besides, Hagana seemed to have been holding back a lot of questions, perhaps out of concern for my physical condition recently. As soon as the trading ended, she showered me with questions like a raging wave. I was surprised that there were still so many things to ask, and her passion was something even I doubted I could beat. Hagana and I didn’t notice the sun setting and the living room becoming pitch black, peering into each other’s terminals and engaging in heated discussion. It was only when Lisa came back from her part-time job and turned on the living room lights that we both came to our senses. Lisa was genuinely happy that I had regained my energy. However, what troubled me most in responding was when Lisa asked Hagana, “Hagana is relieved too, right?” Hagana was surprised enough to surprise me, and looked back at me and Lisa many times. Then, clearly blushing, she looked down.
That is the remaining half of the reason why Hagana listened to my request. Hagana trusted me more than I thought. She is originally very dutiful, and the fact that she is dutiful to a fault can be seen from how she is attached to Lisa. Since it is thanks to me that Hagana could apply her mathematical ability to reality, there must be gratitude for that. But Hagana’s behavior seemed more than just mere thanks. That day too, as if regretting even the time to take a bath, she dawdled and argued with me endlessly, eagerly tweaking the program’s numerical values, and finally entered only after being scolded by Lisa, but jumped out in less than five minutes. This time she was properly wearing pajamas, but she hadn’t even wiped her wet hair. Lisa seemed to have lost the will to warn her, wiped Hagana’s hair with a bath towel, and finally wrapped it and fixed it on top of her head. Since we were working side-by-side at the living room table, I could see Hagana’s nape well with her hair up. Her loose strands of hair and white, slender neck were very beautiful and mature.
Late that night, after returning to my room before the cord of Lisa’s patience bag snapped, I emailed Burton. Due to various circumstances, please wait for my reply until the end date of the investment contest. Burton replied immediately as expected, with content saying he didn’t mind. Even though Burton is a super-rich man who frequents the Grand Central Hotel and can ride luxury limousines nonchalantly, he didn’t have any overbearing or arrogant traits anywhere. He was a broad-minded person who treated me as an individual to the end.
I intend to know somewhat about the intense work on Schrödinger Street from online rumors and books. Not treated as humans, almost no sleeping time. Very few people can earn high salaries, and most are fired in one to two years. Instead, what you get when you succeed is huge. But there is a loophole to that too; if you are a fund manager who collects funds yourself and invests at your own discretion, you can stick to being a lone wolf and earn unbelievably huge remuneration. The standard path for that is to first train at a major financial institution on Schrödinger Street and then become independent. Therefore, if I can spend that training period under Burton, there is no greater luck for me. If you search for The Britannica online, it ranks 32nd in the revenue ranking of 5,000 investment funds around the world. The scale of operation is 30 billion Mool, and Burton’s estimated annual income was about 400 million Mool. If I train under Burton, refine myself further, and become independent, I can earn the same income as Burton, or even more. The manager of the fund ranked first in revenue had an estimated annual income of as much as 3 billion Mool. If I can continue that for a few years, it becomes no different from manipulating the national budget of a small country as an individual. By that time, I should have connections, and I should be able to do anything.
Dream. The dream of standing on unexplored land. For that, I must cut ties with Hagana. If I do so, Hagana’s investment program will eventually lose momentum, and she won’t be able to make a profit. Therefore, I needed to win the investment contest and get 200,000 Mool.
“Good morning.”
Waking up in the morning, we happen to meet in front of the room. It was Hagana who greeted clearly.
“Yeah.”
I answered, and we went to the living room together. In the living room, Lisa had prepared breakfast, and seeing me and Hagana enter the living room together, she smiled gently.
“There are 72 stocks today. Volatility is becoming very high, so there are some where the price range is taken very large. I want you to be careful.”
“I know. I’m not an amateur.”
When I said while biting into freshly baked bread, I saw Lisa smiling wryly with a coffee cup in her hand in front of the sink. She probably wants to say cheeky. But I have investment skills that were called out to and recognized by Burton. Even now, I keep multiple people’s money and am banging out splendid profits. Even if that is thanks to Hagana’s program, the basis of that program is my judgment. So, I didn’t think it was a bluff. It is confidence with grounds.
Hagana has come to eat not in the seat opposite the table anymore, but always in the seat next to me. That Hagana asks from next to me.
“If not an amateur, what are you?”
Sarcasm? I don’t think so anymore. To Hagana asking expressionlessly, I answered this.
“An investor.”
“…Investor.”
“Moreover, I’m not using money stolen from Mama.”
Words Hagana hurled at me. Hagana naturally seemed to remember, and pulled her chin back looking a little like she might cry. Still, Hagana stared at me and repeated softly once more.
“Investor.”
“Right.”
I returned my eyes to the terminal and said.
“We are investors.”
I could sense that Hagana next to me took a deep breath. Lisa, who was leaning against the sink and watching that state while drinking coffee, laughed silently and eventually started washing dishes.
I said, we. There is no room for doubt as to who that other person is.
“Let’s crush Mr. Troche.”
I say, looking at Hagana sideways. Hagana nodded with unwavering eyes, like a hitman in a mafia movie.
If we handle the funds in the virtual space, which had exceeded 60 million Mool, with triple leverage in margin trading, it becomes 180 million Mool. In real trading, I know it would be virtually impossible to move such a huge amount of funds at high speed. However, this is in a virtual space, and all participants were initially given 10 million Mool. Therefore, the trading is large and rough enough to make one’s senses go haywire. When that happens, irrational behaviors increase, and in truth, that was my exclusive territory. Now that my image of the program has changed, I was swimming freely in the virtual market like a fish in water.
Moreover, since the amount of funds and ranking were announced every minute of every day, it was grateful not to worry about the existence of so-called whales in casinos. In the real world, it is quite possible for a single person to move a tremendous amount of funds and mow down everything. That is the true identity of the monster lurking ten minutes before the market closes. In the virtual space, movements to team up like piranhas and devour large prey were seen here and there, but from my perspective, their intentions were too visible and served only as seeds for profit. Lure with bait, and attack conversely when they gather. With Hagana’s program, I also know up to what point if the price moves, crowds relying on programs in the same way will rush in.
It was no longer profits like 0.3% or 0.5% in a single trade. Even the time to peek into Hagana’s terminal was precious, and before long Hagana started reading out the stocks. Moreover, since Hagana has a harsh personality in her own way, she doesn’t know the meaning of going easy. Listening to that raging reading, I traded like crazy, begrudging even the time to breathe. Naturally, I die. Physically, it’s no different from torture. The moment the morning trading ended, I looked up as if I had been electrocuted, inhaled, and collapsed onto the backrest with all my might. I can’t move a step. I can’t utter a word. Even if I close my eyes, numbers move round and round, and thoughts of having to do this and that next swirl inside my chest.
However, it doesn’t feel bad. Facing the goal, it was very clear what tools I was using and what I was doing. What I am doing is no different from when I was suffering, and rather the density has increased, but I didn’t feel bad at all. Besides, three days after focusing on the investment contest, Hagana warmed a wet towel in the microwave and brought it for me, who couldn’t move for a while leaning back on the chair looking up at the ceiling. I think she heard it from Lisa, but that made me truly happy. Even after trading ended, she didn’t stand up from the chair, fiddling with the terminal next to me all the time, or Hagana herself closed her eyes for a break. It was very quiet, and even without conversation or exchanging glances, I felt like we were spending a very intimate time. I understood very well that we were running toward the same place.
When the break ends, we eat, the afternoon trading begins, and again I get so exhausted I can’t stand until dinner. During dinner, I finally regain my humanity, chat lightly with Lisa, and then strive to improve the program with Hagana constantly by my side again.
Assets in the virtual space increased by units of 10 million. Mr. Troche, befitting a Harvard MBA graduate, fully utilized this market and finally finished trading at 360 million Mool more than a week ahead of us. While being astonished and appalled by such an increase in assets, I tell myself it’s never an unreachable place. However, I thought it was impressive that he properly liquidated all his holdings. With the market this rough, there is a possibility the value will rise, but also a possibility of being stripped bare. When what should be done is finished, instead of praying to God for good luck, he properly fixes his result and doesn’t wish for anything more. It was the figure of a beautiful investor. Second and third places were both in the high 100 million Mool range, and we were in fourth place at 150 million Mool.
Even saying one week remains, since holidays intervene, it is effectively six days of trading. With Sunday in between, if we trade Monday and Tuesday, it ends at 5 PM on Wednesday. Hagana and I squeezed out our strength as much as possible. There were times I was kicked by Hagana the moment I inadvertently overlooked a program warning and made a loss, and when Hagana misread a stock, I shouted at her later. Still, it didn’t become acrimonious. I could tell Lisa was on edge several times, but we never let it get complicated. Earning 30 million Mool on Thursday and 20 million Mool on Friday, at exactly 200 million Mool, we narrowly passed the guy in third place and closed in on second place to a difference of 40 million Mool.
There is still a difference of 160 million Mool with Mr. Troche. Tomorrow Saturday, and next week’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we have to produce an 80% profit. Since trading is done completely with full leverage, it’s no different from having funds of 600 million Mool. Therefore, effectively we just have to catch 27%. 10%, 10%, 10% is enough. However, looking at the performance of Thursday and Friday, whether that is possible was a delicate line. Truly now, we are conducting the best investment. We are putting out all the full power we can. Hagana also cut down her sleeping time, quietly came to my room after seeing Lisa asleep, and sometimes improved the program until morning. There were times she fell asleep next to me, and cases where she dropped chopsticks or spoons during meals and fell asleep increased. We both knew it was close to the limit of physical strength, not willpower. However, Lisa also didn’t intervene. There was no such room between me and Hagana.
On Saturday, after discussion, we decided to take more risks. We tweaked the program’s numerical values to extract stocks with large price movements, selecting more speculative stocks. Stocks that tended to deviate from the mathematical grounds Hagana uses due to large price movements. The realm Burton mentioned that machines cannot reach, where booms and crashes occur, and human emotions come out directly. Hagana and I started Saturday’s trading amidst slight tension. I almost felt overwhelmed by the rugged response and the tension that time remaining was scarce. But Hagana borrowed even Lisa’s terminal, asked Cerault to copy the program, and was updating the program values in real-time during trading. Doing such things while sleep deprivation and fatigue accumulate, one’s complexion is bound to look bad. Still, when she saw a profit of 60 million Mool at the end of Saturday, even Hagana laughed crinkling her face. We became the provisional second place. Two more times. If we can do the same thing two more times, we can beat Mr. Troche. In that excitement, fatigue and lack of sleep blew away. We were stepping into a new territory.
No, accurately it might have been correct to say Hagana’s program reached an even deeper territory of mine. Still, I don’t feel bad. I had resigned myself to giving everything I could give to Hagana. On my computer, an email from Burton had arrived. It said Interesting. Burton, who pays sponsorship money and can see the trading history of all participants in the investment contest, understood from the trading history that we took a new step.
On Saturday night, helped by that excitement, I was conducting stock research and program improvement together with Hagana in my room until about 3 AM. However, no matter how full of spirit, there is a limit to the body. Pitifully, I gave up first and decided to sleep that day. Hagana stayed up saying she had a little more to think about, but since there had been such things several times before, I decided to leave her be and sleep. Regardless of the desk light being on or Hagana tapping the terminal, a mud-like sleep that made such things completely irrelevant visited immediately.
So, waking up suddenly just as I fell asleep, I thought it was strange. I wondered if I forgot to go to the toilet. But I realized that wasn’t it because I heard breathing other than my own right by my ear.
“Guh…”
I don’t know if I was half-asleep. What I know is that Hagana entered my bed and is sleeping next to me. Or rather, it was in a form whether the word “next to” is correct to express. Hagana is sleeping with her back slightly rounded like a baby in amniotic fluid, pulling her hands to her chest. Her face is on my right shoulder. Her forehead touches my cheek, and her hand is grabbing my pajamas. One leg was also resting on my leg. Hagana’s body temperature is very high, enough to make me think she might have a fever. But that was just like the high body temperature of a young child rather than something pathological. Maybe because of that. Although surprised the moment I realized we were sleeping together, I didn’t think anything more, let alone feel any guilty feelings welling up. More than that, I was full of feelings of not wanting to wake Hagana and feeling happy. Because I learned for the first time that being yearned for by someone is such a comfortable thing.
I also eventually fell asleep, and morning came quickly. Since I don’t set an alarm, I feel like I would sleep forever, but I always wake up at seven. Even though I slept only about three or four hours, I woke up wide awake that day too. Immediately after that, I remembered about Hagana. She was still sleeping clinging to me after all. No, almost simultaneously with me, she woke up.
“…”
Hagana, having woken up, stared aimlessly for a while. She looked completely half-asleep, appearing not to know where she was. I thought, did she simply mistake the sleeping place last night due to fatigue and sleepiness? But Hagana closed her eyes, rounded her back further, yawned big, and looked at me from very close range. Then, with her usual sharp eyes, she said.
“Snoring, noisy.”
With anger and strange happiness, I almost covered her. It didn’t become such an incident because Hagana slid out of the bed too simply. Under the morning light, Hagana’s beautiful hair spread smoothly on her back without a single bed hair.
“Kuu…”
Making a very suggestive small voice and stretching big, her body lines appeared enough to be understood even in loose pajamas. Hagana’s body temperature remaining in the futon, and Hagana’s scent different from shampoo or soap. Helped by the morning physiological phenomenon, I can’t get out of bed as it is. Hagana tapped the terminal on the desk to start it, picked it up, and turned around to me.
“Until when are you sleeping?”
She says with eyes as if despising. However, since I felt I couldn’t make excuses even if despised, I answered this.
“Five more minutes.”
Hagana seemed to think a little, and nodded.
“I’ll come to wake you in five minutes.”
And she walked briskly out of the room. Five minutes was enough for preparation.
That day, too, was spent entirely in the living room with Hagana, improving the program and analyzing stocks, but around noon there was a visitor. I thought it might be Chris or Toyama, but surprisingly, it was Cerault.
“You haven’t been coming around at all lately, so I decided to come to you.”
Naturally, we hadn’t invited him, but I was grateful he brought juice and snacks. Lisa basically doesn’t buy such things, and I don’t have the habit of buying them because I think it’s a waste. I picked up the black carbonated beverage developed on Earth that has boasted the top market share for nearly a hundred years, while Hagana drank 100% orange juice. Both are imports, so they are considerably more expensive than the products synthesized here. For Cerault, that was quite thoughtful, I thought.
“So, what are you two doing, sitting side-by-side so chummy?”
He asked in a teasing tone, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and peering in. His hair made a mosa rustling sound, and Hagana next to me was a little frightened.
“Cerault, don’t get in their way.”
Before I could complain, Lisa said it for me. Cerault looked up and shrugged.
“What, is it serious?”
“Serious, serious.”
Lisa said it like that, mimicking either my way of speaking or Cerault’s. However, there was no mistake that it was serious. Hagana and I were already far beyond the realm of play.
“Hagana-chan, aren’t there any bugs in the program?”
Still, Cerault directed such words at her with lingering attachment. Hagana twisted her body on the chair, looked properly at Cerault, and said:
“None.”
It was a way of declaring it that almost made me laugh, and Lisa was also laughing while patting Cerault’s shoulder as if to comfort him. However, Hagana stopped mid-motion as she was turning back, as if she suddenly remembered something, and opened her mouth.
“I think it is wonderfully made.”
When I looked up and turned around, Cerault looked blank, then smiled very happily despite being a grown adult. Next to him, Lisa also smiled gently, and Hagana turned back to the front. Everything, anything and everything, was moving in a positive direction.
“Well, that being the case, let’s try not to disturb them.”
“Tch, after I came all this way.”
“Oh, am I not enough for you?”
Cerault and Lisa were talking like that. Perhaps because their ages are close, Lisa seemed much more frank than usual.
“Not dissatisfied, but there isn’t the heart-pounding thrill of a new encounter, you know?”
“Oh, since when were you and I in such a relationship?”
When I looked up a little, Lisa crossed her arms and smiled boldly, and Cerault was putting his hand around Lisa’s shoulder. I felt a sudden flash of irritation at that sight.
“That’s a cruel thing to say. Didn’t you extend a saving hand to me when I was staggering in the rain? Wasn’t that love?”
“Love? And the terribly serious kind, at that.”
My heart skipped a beat at those words. Lisa, for Cerault? Come to think of it, Cerault was talking boastfully about getting a lap pillow from Lisa. Moreover, considering Hagana met Cerault for the first time recently, the possibility that Lisa and Cerault were alone in this church is very high. An adult man and woman, alone, and a lap pillow on top of that. I was clearly shaken. Lisa and Cerault… could it be?
“But, Christ’s love is directed at everyone.”
Lisa twisted her body from under Cerault’s arm and slipped out, and Cerault tried to catch her again with lingering persistence but failed.
“Sorry about that.”
“…You devilish woman…”
“The Lord loves both good and evil together, so I don’t really mind.”
“Sheesh. I’ve fallen for a troublesome woman…”
“Nothing but lies.”
Lisa laughed merrily, and Cerault scratched his big head vigorously with one hand. I don’t know if it was serious or a lie, but they seemed very close to each other. And then, as I was staring at the two of them, I noticed something terribly sharp directed at me from my side. Hagana was glaring at me.
“What are you doing?”
The time left for us is scarce. To catch the first-place Mr. Troche, we must not relax even a fragment. Hagana’s anger was justified. I hurriedly turned back to the terminal and returned to work. However, I felt Hagana’s bad mood continued longer than usual for some reason, but I didn’t understand why.
In the end, we had dinner with Cerault that day. Cerault had an abundance of topics, and Lisa looked happier than usual. Also, as he was leaving, I saw him talking to Lisa about the debt with a serious face near the sanctuary. Saying that if she had just told him, he would have lent a hand, even if it meant starting another company. Lisa laughed and dodged Cerault’s talk. Even if the stuff about loving Lisa is a joke, it might be no mistake that he is one of the people helped by Lisa. Besides, Cerault’s words might not have been an exaggeration. Cerault easily turned Hagana’s formulas into a program, so there is a feeling he is somewhat unusual. Perhaps he was one of those who succeeded once in Newton City, the town of competition and desire, and then messed up somewhere and drifted here.
I stopped acting like a peeping tom and returned to the room. In the room, Hagana was improving the program, and the moment I returned, she bombarded me with topics. I wondered if it was just my imagination that her intensity seemed strangely fierce.
And that day, too, Hagana slept with me. I felt like she was clinging to me even more tightly than the day before.
The following Monday began, with three days left for trading.
One hundred million Mool to reach Mr. Troche.
Thirty million, thirty million, forty million would do.
We can do it. I’ll make it happen. With that determination, we started trading.
But as soon as trading began, Hagana and I felt something was off. Within an hour, it was clearly visible that something was wrong, and when the cause became clear a few hours later, I was appalled.
“…Math can’t explain this,” Hagana muttered in a daze. I, too, was hit by a tremendous sense of exhaustion after desperately finishing the trades. The profit was an unbelievable 10 million Mool. At this rate, the hurdles for tomorrow and the day after would rise to 40 million and 50 million.
Moreover, what seemed like an easy win in the morning now felt hopeless.
The cause was clear. The number of participants had plummeted.
Participants are given sixty days to trade. Then, they exit in order of completion, and new groups arrive. However, with only three days left in the contest, many people had run out of time.
In reality, the number probably decreased gradually. But as long as we assume that many contest participants were doing it in their spare time or as a hobby, it was predictable that they would start trading around holidays and finish there.
When participants decrease, the amount of money moving decreases. Even if you want to trade 100 million Mool, if there are only people willing to respond to 80 million Mool, the trade won’t happen. Hagana and I’s funds reached 270 million Mool, and since we use leverage for investment, it amounts to 810 million Mool.
As of Monday, the number of stocks that could absorb those funds had become scarce.
Come Tuesday and Wednesday, it was certain that the circulating funds would dry up even more.
Bad. This was a very bad situation.
“What do we do?” Hagana asked. I had conveyed everything I thought and could conceive to Hagana.
So, Hagana must have guessed my answer to some extent while asking.
“Nothing we can do. We have to narrow it down to stocks with large trading amounts.”
Whether those are mathematically easy-to-handle stocks is never certain. Rather, since there should be many guys thinking like us, it was visible that trading would concentrate on a few stocks tomorrow and the day after.
Can math capture it fully?
I looked at Hagana, but there was anxiety in her eyes too.
“The fewer the stocks, the more uncertain it becomes.”
“Then, we have no choice but to increase them as much as possible.”
It’s an extremely simple conclusion.
And having no choice but to follow that simple conclusion was a situation perfect for a fish looking for a place to dive even a little deeper as the water dries up more and more. Thinking this way, it starts to seem like Mr. Troche finished trading much earlier than us because he knew this would happen.
Genius.
That guy is a genius.
But we are closing in on that genius with 90 million Mool left. From third place down, the rankings changed dizzyingly, clumping together around 200 million Mool.
Time flowed ruthlessly, and the next Tuesday began.
Hagana stayed up all night analyzing Monday’s trading data and improving the program to spread our reach as much as possible. I thought about helping, but was told that she wanted me to sleep instead. It’s no problem if she falls asleep during trading, but if I fall asleep, it defeats the purpose.
It was too sound an argument to refute, so I slept before the date changed for the first time in a while. What was impressive was that even though I had only slept with Hagana for two days, sleeping alone felt terribly cold.
And when Tuesday’s trading ended, Hagana and I didn’t exchange a single word.
Being tired was part of it.
But the biggest reason was that we didn’t make a profit.
Plus 22 million Mool. Not even reaching the quota. The remaining amount is 68 million Mool.
The participants had decreased even more than Monday, and the scramble for the remaining pie was tremendous.
Midway through, Hagana was on the verge of tears. The program was almost unreliable.
We managed to stay in second place. Or rather, third place retreated more and more, and the second-place position was almost certain. However, at this rate, we would only get 50,000 Mool. If we pay back Lisa’s debt, it’s over.
Since we haven’t touched the real trading at all, the amount hasn’t increased since then. Even now, if Hagana trades alone, she would probably make some profit, and if I leave, Hagana’s earnings would jump.
Even so, would it be at most 100,000 Mool?
If possible, I want to leave as much money as possible.
200,000 Mool.
I thought that was the least amount for Hagana who worked hard with me.
Hagana and I discussed as much as possible after dinner.
There are only two options.
One is to do the same thing as today.
The other is to narrow it down to just one stock.
“Narrowing it down to one is dangerous,” Hagana naturally said.
“But multiple stocks are impossible now. Our trading amount is too big; buying is fine, but after that, we’ll be full of openings.”
We were already magnificent whales in this dried-up pond.
Just whales washed up in shallow water, like I’ve seen in videos. Unable to move due to our huge bodies, blowing water painfully.
If we buy and the price goes up, the guys waiting for it will sell all at once to secure profits. If they do that, the price will be pushed back, and we will have no one to sell to while holding a massive amount of stock. If we try to sell forcefully, we have no choice but to throw it at the few buy orders. As a result, the price drops further, and if it drops, more selling occurs. It’s the same if we enter from selling using margin selling. The exact same phenomenon just happens in reverse.
To avoid that, we had no choice but to utilize our huge bodies.
In other words, narrow it down to just one stock and trade with full power. Twist down all selling pressure with brute force and forcefully hoist the price to a high level. If we can hoist it all the way and finish trading as is, it’s our win.
I don’t know if a monster lurks in the last ten minutes of the investment contest. At least, now that Mr. Troche has finished investing, the biggest body in the market was us.
To win, it seemed there was no method other than hoisting the price alone, hoisting it completely, and escaping.
“Is it okay?” Hagana had no choice but to ask.
“We have to do it,” I also had no choice but to answer.
In the quiet night room, a slight silence dominates.
Sink or swim, the victory or defeat will be decided in less than twenty hours.
“It seems there is nothing more I can do,” Hagana muttered.
“Huh?”
“Because what Hal is best at is what I am worst at.”
We had literally been eating and sleeping together for a while now.
We understand each other completely about that much.
“Well, I guess so…”
When I said that, Hagana nodded as if looking down.
Maybe she actually looked down.
Reaching the very brink of the showdown, she is made to realize her power falls short.
If it were when I just met Hagana, I would definitely have thought serves you right.
But now it’s different. Completely the opposite.
Truly, it was a pain like having half my body cut off.
“It’s regrettable, but,” Hagana said. And when she tapped the terminal, it made a distinctive kyuun sound and powered off. If Hagana were an android, it would have been the perfect sound for finishing a duty.
Since only the desk light is on, when the light from the terminal screen disappears, it feels like it became quite dark. In that darkness, silence descended again.
Even after powering off the terminal, Hagana doesn’t stand up from the chair. I understood Hagana’s feelings painfully well. Coming this far and not being able to run together was truly painful.
Of course, she can watch next to me. She can run the program and manage to give advice. But it was undeniable that the fewer stocks we handle and the more we bet on booms and crashes, the less reliable Hagana’s program becomes. That must have been the exact opposite of when my body was being eaten by Hagana’s program.
That was really painful. So, it must be painful for Hagana too. To that profile that looked like she might start crying at any moment, I wanted to say something.
So, I worked my brain desperately. Is there anything, anything at all that Hagana can do?
I considered everything. It’s no exaggeration to say I recalled every conversation I had with Hagana. Something, there must be something. There’s no way there’s nothing.
Burton said excellent quants quantify everything about a trader.
Then, there must still be something.
Then, Hagana sniffled lightly and stood up from the chair.
“Goodnight.”
Hagana said shortly and, barely looking at me, tried to leave the room. I grabbed her arm. It was truly a reflexive action. Hagana’s wrist was thin and fragile. But there was bone, faint flesh, and soft skin. There was warmth, too.
Hagana turned back to look at me. In her eyes, turning back, there was fear of nothingness. When she was sold on Earth and left home, perhaps the same situation had occurred. I can’t believe Hagana’s parents sold her happily. Surely, when Hagana left home, they must have taken her hand like this. However, they probably couldn’t buy her back or stop the sale. Helplessly, just helplessly taking Hagana’s hand. Maybe Hagana hoped for even a moment at that time. Otherwise, it doesn’t explain why her eyes were despairing from the start when she looked back at me.
Hagana quietly lowered her eyes and tried to shake off my hand. But I kept holding it. Hagana tried to shake off my hand twice, three times, and finally started crying slightly. I don’t know what I’m doing. I know it’s a terrible sight. The world is so cruel; I felt like crying too.
Hagana used her other hand to try and pry my hand off. I put strength into it. Hagana grimaced in pain. Hagana can’t move. She has no choice but to yield to force. It was always like that. Force? Movement? At those words, my consciousness flew for a moment.
“Ah?”
A sensation like my brain being directly hit by radio waves from space. With a definite zugon sound, a third eye opened in my head.
“Hey.”
“Let go.”
Hagana said softly, crying.
“Hey.”
“Guh.”
“I said hey.”
I pulled Hagana towards me with force. Hagana’s body was slender and light. She was pulled immediately and crashed face-first into my chest.
“U… Wh-What are you—”
“There is a way.”
“…Eh?”
“There is a way. The terminal.”
“Wh-What?”
“The terminal. There is a way. There is something you can do.”
I said to Hagana with wet, pitch-black eyes in my arms, and reached for the terminal that was about to fall from her hand.
“Wh-What? What is it?”
“There is sleeping trading volume.”
“…Sleeping?”
Hagana asked back, and then immediately widened her eyes.
“That path is, still—”
“That’s right. There’s the portion from guys who finished trading while fully invested in margin trading. It’s impossible for outsiders to tell how much is dead and how much is alive. So both sellers and buyers should be hesitant to judge. If trading volume is insufficient, we just have to wake up the sleeping guys.”
For example, suppose there is a stock where many people finished trading while fully invested in margin buying. Since margin trading volume is always public, it’s immediately clear that there are that many buyers. The problem is that for sellers, or for people trying to buy and gain from price increases, it’s unknown how much of that margin buying is alive and will turn into selling as the price rises.
If almost all margin buying is dead, it becomes advantageous for us to turn into buyers. If the price rises, sellers will appear and engage in margin selling or profit-taking selling, but selling won’t come from already finalized margin buying. If selling pressure is weak, the margin sellers will get scared and withdraw. If so, buyers who sniffed out the scent should gather, and we should be able to hoist the price.
Conversely, if most margin buying is alive, they will sequentially sell to take profits if the price rises. In a market raging this much, guys with decent nerves can absolutely not endure praying while holding unrealized gains. If profit appears, they sell immediately. Absolutely sell. If so, the price won’t rise fully, and we will fail.
Now that trading volume has dried up, for us to fight through and win, we have no choice but to hoist one stock price completely and maintain that high price until the end of the investment contest. In this situation, if only we know whether margin trading is alive or dead, we can gain a very large advantage in psychological warfare.
And whether margin buying is alive or dead can be flushed out with Hagana’s ability. Because the ranking and asset amount of participants are updated in real-time, if stock prices move, asset amounts also move, and from that correlation, who holds which stock can be calculated. Such work should be Hagana’s specialty.
Hagana pulled away as if pushing my chest, sat on the chair, and turned on the terminal. Calculation formulas seemed to be already unfolding in her head.
“Can you finish by morning?”
When I asked, Hagana stopped her hand for just a moment and answered immediately.
“Easy.”
Reassuring words.
“So, sleep first.”
Hagana said while tapping the terminal as if hitting it. I could only shrug while standing next to her.
“Like I can sleep.”
Hagana’s hand stopped for a moment but resumed immediately. Numbers were replaced with tremendous speed, and new formulas were written one after another in the program’s work area.
“Besides, it will finish soon, right?”
I understood she was a little annoyed by my sarcastic way of speaking. But it was a positive feeling like, let’s do this. And Hagana wasn’t the kind of guy to bluff.
Was it about thirty minutes later? Finally, she tapped tatan and raised her face. Immediately after, the CPU fan inside the terminal started making a distinctive sound. A bar indicating calculation in progress appeared on the screen, and the color changed tsu, tsutsutsu from the left. It must be swallowing all the data of a thousand stocks and all trading logs so far, chewing, and interpreting them.
After tens of seconds of silence, a stock list appears. Hagana looked at me.
“Which one is good?”
My work is truly all done. It was written on Hagana’s completely satisfied face. I peered into the terminal from Hagana’s side and reached out to tap the terminal screen. The list is arranged in order of the number of margin trades considered dead. In addition, ideally, one that easily attracts followers who will ride on our speculation is good. Especially, I’m happy if guys who come mechanically without thinking anything come. Those who entrusted all judgment to machines are existences below humans who lost dignity as humans. I remember Burton’s words. They would be suitable guys to become our nutrients.
“This is it.”
I select a stock following my prided sense of smell. Black Chocolate Incorporated. It was a name like a joke.
“Looks delicious.”
Hagana muttered involuntarily.
“You like chocolate?”
When I asked, Hagana stiffened her expression and nodded.
“A little.”
“What’s ‘a little’. Be clear whether you like it or hate it.”
“A little. Can’t express in math.”
Hagana said, and I laughed at those words. Hagana stood up and yawned big.
“Sleepy. The rest is Hal’s work.”
Standing up unsteadily, she pushes me.
“Move.”
“…Sheesh… Ah, hey, you…”
“Eh?”
Hagana turns back. A face as if I said something strange. However, Hagana is just about to enter my bed right now, and no matter how you think about it, the strange one is Hagana.
“Sleepy… very.”
Even while talking, her eyes became droopy, and she crawled into the bed before I could say anything. Since Hagana was up all night the previous day, I can understand the feeling of not wanting to go to the next room. Besides, sleeping together is warmer than sleeping alone. Probably, Hagana thinks so too.
“Sleepy… very.”
Even while talking, her eyes became droopy, and she crawled into the bed before I could say anything. Since Hagana was up all night the previous day, I can understand the feeling of not wanting to go to the next room. Besides, sleeping together is warmer than sleeping alone. Probably, Hagana thinks so too.
“…Move over a bit.”
I said with a sigh. Hagana didn’t answer but moved to the back. I slept as much in the corner as possible and lay down. Back to back with Hagana. As expected, even Hagana didn’t cling to me while we were both awake. However, sleepiness didn’t come easily. I should be tired, but I can’t sleep. I should be sleepy, but I can’t sleep. I felt like something was stuck and the curtain wouldn’t fall.
“Hal.”
In the midst of that, Hagana said unexpectedly.
“Ah?”
“…”
I asked back, but Hagana didn’t reply.
“What is it.”
“…”
She still doesn’t reply. I thought about asking again, but maybe she was talking in her sleep. That would be embarrassing in itself, but if she doesn’t reply anyway, it can’t be helped. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. It was then that Hagana opened her mouth.
“Hal.”
“…”
I didn’t ask back and turned over my shoulder. I can’t see her face because we are back to back. But I knew she was awake from her presence.
“I want to ask, one thing.”
And she continued. I turned my face back once and asked.
“What is it.”
“…”
Hagana fell silent again. However, the reason I didn’t urge her was that Hagana changed her body orientation.
“Guh.”
I felt like my breath suddenly stopped, and my sleepiness blew away. The reason my body stiffened was that Hagana pressed her forehead against the nape of my neck.
“Will you answer?”
That question in this state. As a man, I can only reply like this.
“Wh-What is it.”
I swallowed my spit and continued.
“W-Was there something left you wanted to ask?”
That was about all I could think of, and any other thoughts were not the kind I could voice. However, Hagana didn’t direct words immediately. What is it, I thought, but immediately after, I realized my foolishness.
“If we don’t win tomorrow, what happens?”
“Guh.”
A voice of surprise didn’t come out. Hagana’s words pierced my heart directly through my back. If we don’t win tomorrow? With that, I finally realized what had been stuck in my chest.
“I don’t understand the reason why Hal suddenly became interested in the contest. If I don’t understand the premise, I don’t understand the result.”
Hagana placed her small hand on my back. It was an incredibly warm hand.
“If we lose, what happens?”
It was so like Hagana that the way of asking wasn’t “what will you do.” If we lose, we get sold. We disappear. It’s a way of asking assuming such things. My heart beat faster and faster. It was beating so fast I hated that Hagana might hear it, but she probably hears it. Because I had been snuggled up closely with Hagana for a long time.
“Win or lose, the result doesn’t change.”
“…Eh?”
“There is something I haven’t told you.”
I made up my mind and turned over. In the narrow futon, Hagana is in front of me. The figure pulling her hands to her chest as she always does looked like she was cold.
“Wha…t?”
“When the contest ends, probably, I will leave here.”
“…”
She had a face saying she didn’t understand the meaning of the words. After staring at me intently, she finally asked.
“Eh?”
“Actually, I’ve been invited by someone.”
“…”
“A professional investor. A super one at that.”
Hagana looks at me in amazement. As she was, only her lips moved calmly.
“So?”
“My trading style and that person’s methodology are very compatible. So, probably, I will become that person’s disciple.”
It wasn’t said clearly, but there is no mistake that it will happen. Burton has been following our trading records all along even though he should be busy.
“Com, patible.”
“Right.”
“More than me?”
Hagana asks clearly. That seemed like she was angry. No, I rethink. If selfish imagination is allowed, Hagana was clearly angry. In other words, it was jealousy.
“More than me?”
Asked again, I had no choice but to answer.
“The direction is different from you.”
“…What do you mean?”
Depending on the answer, I’ll strangle you. Hagana’s sharp eyes demonstrate their true value at times like this.
“W-With you, if anything… well, it was like supplementing the missing parts, right?”
The program is exactly so. Supplementing the parts where I have limits as a human with mechanical power. However, Hagana didn’t reply and told me with her eyes to continue.
“But the person inviting me… is an even more amazing person than me. Moreover, amazing in the direction I am good at.”
While I see through people’s intentions from the atmosphere of the market and gain profit, Burton sees people’s intentions in more fundamental places. If stocks are ultimately issued by companies, and companies and markets are aggregates of people, that was a trading method done from a place two or three steps higher than me.
“So, I want to learn that person’s method…”
“Take me too.”
Hagana answered immediately. I was clearly surprised. Because I didn’t think at all that I would be told such a thing.
“I can be useful to Hal. Besides, there are the debts of the townspeople.”
“No.”
I said. And I said once more.
“It’s no good.”
Hagana doesn’t even grieve. Just with her usual expression, her lips tried to say something, stopped, and were pursed tightly. Only those lips express emotion on her face. Those lips were pursed.
“The debts of the townspeople… if you take a little time, even you can pay them off fully.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. Don’t lie.”
When I said that, Hagana frowned. Hagana cannot lie.
“Why?”
Hagana asks. But do I say it’s because of Hagana’s investment method? While I hesitated, Hagana asked again.
“Why is it necessary to go to that person? You already have money, don’t you?”
It was a misplaced remark that caught me off guard. Of course Hagana is serious, and it must be the result of her thinking in her own way. Hagana stared at me, looking like she might cry at any moment. Or rather, I just couldn’t tell well because it was dark, and she might have been crying.
“Money is not enough. Not enough at all.”
“Just increase it.”
Hagana says. Her voice was nasal. I got lost a little, hesitated, and then held Hagana’s hand.
“It’s not enough. At all.”
“That’s—”
“Even 10 million Mool isn’t enough. What I want is 10 billion Mool, or 100 billion Mool.”
There are children’s toys like that. Toys with zeros written to death on bills. 100 billion Mool is something on that level in the world. But the legendary investor currently fighting for first place in the human rich ranking has total assets of 81.2 billion Mool. 100 billion Mool is never an impossible number.
“There is a place called Schrödinger Street in Newton City. Investment banks, hedge funds, anyway, a place where guys earning money like alchemy gather. I have to fight there and win. For that, first I will train at the place of the person inviting me.”
I don’t think Hagana will understand even if I tell her. So the words that came out of Hagana’s mouth were not unexpected at all.
“I don’t understand. What will you do getting that much money?”
Hagana, who was given 300 Mool and said she had no use for it. She probably asked that question because she really didn’t understand. I look away from Hagana. I have the answer to the question of what I will do getting such money. But I was scared. I was scared of speaking and being laughed at. However, Hagana stares at me intently. Those eyes were desperately pleading eyes. Lisa told me not to ignore Hagana. If I close my heart here, I will be ignoring Hagana. On the other hand, I was very scared to open my heart. But I looked back into Hagana’s eyes. The reason I could muster courage was that I remembered before Hagana started trading with the investment program, when she was watching my trading pattern next to me and got sick from the screen. At that time, Hagana went to do the teacher job while staggering. At that time, Hagana said. Everyone has a dream.
“I have a dream.”
“…”
Hagana looks at me. And says.
“What kind?”
“…You won’t laugh?”
But I couldn’t resist asking that, pitifully of myself. Hagana looked at me intently, and then said dutifully.
“…I don’t know.”
“…”
Too honest. At times like this, I want her to say she won’t laugh even if it’s a lie, but Hagana won’t assert if there is even a one in a million possibility.
“But, I want to hear.”
Hagana said clearly. There is no lie. She really wants to hear. I took a step forward.
“If I get 100 billion Mool, there is something I want to do.”
“What?”
“I was born on the Moon.”
“…”
She probably wondered what I suddenly started saying, but Hagana didn’t ask back.
“I have a dream.”
“…”
Hagana looks at me. And says.
“What kind?”
“…You won’t laugh?”
But I couldn’t resist asking that, pitifully of myself. Hagana looked at me intently, and then said dutifully.
“…I don’t know.”
“…”
Too honest. At times like this, I want her to say she won’t laugh even if it’s a lie, but Hagana won’t assert if there is even a one in a million possibility.
“But, I want to hear.”
Hagana said clearly. There is no lie. She really wants to hear. I took a step forward.
“If I get 100 billion Mool, there is something I want to do.”
“What?”
“I was born on the Moon.”
“…”
She probably wondered what I suddenly started saying, but Hagana didn’t ask back. Instead, she waited for the rest of my words.
“I’m different from guys born on Earth. For me, the forefront of humanity is my birthplace.”
“…”
Hagana is staring at me intently as usual. However, I felt like I had seen that gaze somewhere before.
“So?”
“So, I have no frontier.”
“…Furo?”
“Frontier. Haven’t you seen the ‘Sea of Tranquility’ Memorial Hall?”
The place where the overly austere footprints of the first man to stand on the lunar surface are still preserved. Hagana slowly shakes her head.
“But, I know of it.”
“The footprints of the first man to stand on the lunar surface remain there.”
“…Do you want that memorial hall?”
Hagana said, and I laughed involuntarily. Hagana looked hurt by that, and immediately glared at me.
“Sorry, no, that’s not it. What would I do buying footprints?”
“Then what.”
“Not that, I want to stand on unexplored land like those footprints.”
Hagana, who was angry at being laughed at, is still glaring at me with sharp eyes. But she doesn’t shake off the hand I’m holding.
“Unexplored… land?”
“Yeah.”
“But…”
Hagana said and lowered her eyes slightly. She is thinking. Where is such a place? The lunar surface has been completely traversed, and underground development is progressing. Earth has long since had a near-perfect 3D map made by satellites, and there are no mountain peaks humanity hasn’t reached, nor ocean floors observation vessels haven’t seen. I don’t know if Hagana was recalling human history, but after thinking fully about that much, she finally focused on me.
“I can’t think of such a place.”
I said triumphantly.
“Mars.”
In my hand, Hagana’s hand stiffened. She must have been truly taken by surprise.
“But, Mars is, still…”
“There used to be a Mars migration plan long ago. If there is an orbital elevator, theoretically one should be able to go to Mars too. However, while the plan was progressing, the Moon City declared itself an independent nation, and apparently political problems arose. Will Mars also become an independent nation? Would one planet becoming an independent nation become a spark for future interplanetary war? And such. Besides, development of the lunar surface isn’t finished yet. So, the plan is frozen.”
At my words, Hagana swallows hard.
“So, I want to earn 100 billion Mool and advance that plan with my own money. I’m not smart, you see, so I can’t go to Moon City University, learn space engineering, and become an astronaut. But as a sponsor, I can hire people with the power of money, and build a spaceship. Speaking of 100 billion Mool, it’s an amount that can run a whole big country. And among humanity, there is a guy who reached 80 billion Mool. It’s not a pipe dream. It’s not a pipe dream at all.”
Squeezing Hagana’s hand, I said quietly with passion. A dream I’ve never told anyone before. If it weren’t for this darkness, my bright red face would have been exposed. But Hagana didn’t laugh in the end. Instead, she said this.
“Can you, really do it?”
To the realistic question, my chest hurts rather than being laughed at. The moment I almost cried pitifully.
“That’s not it, right. You do it until you can.”
Before I knew it, the hand I was supposed to be holding was being held by Hagana.
“Wrong?”
“Not… wrong.”
I intended to say that, but it was doubtful whether I could actually say it. That much, I was stunned by Hagana’s words.
“Amazing, I think it’s an amazing dream.”
Hagana held my hand, closed her eyes, and said while shaking it lightly. She was like a clumsy robot that didn’t know how to express emotions other than that.
“Then, is it necessary to win the contest for that?”
And she asks. I can’t blame Hagana for her thinking being simple. Besides, I couldn’t hide it either.
“No, that’s not it.”
“…Not it?”
“Yeah. The contest isn’t for me.”
“I don’t understand the meaning.”
Hagana asks honestly, and that honesty was a little painful for me.
“It’s for you.”
Hagana looked at me.
“Eh?”
“I told you, right? The person inviting me says he can only take me. I can’t invest with you anymore.”
“…”
“So, well…”
When I mumbled, Hagana says.
“What.”
“…So, I thought if I could leave funds so that you and Lisa can live with peace of mind in the future, and until you can go to university. If there is 200,000 Mool, surely it will be okay? You won’t lose books three or four times, right?”
The last part is a joke. But Hagana seemed genuinely angry and kicked my leg under the futon.
“Ouch, don’t kick, don’t kick.”
“Idiot, idiot.”
Hagana says and kicks. However, even I realized. Hagana wasn’t angry because the story of losing books was brought up. She was angry about something else entirely.
“F-For my sake… such…”
Hagana cries, closes her eyes tightly, and looks down. Immediately after I tried to say something in a panic, Hagana’s hand released mine, and then pushed me with all her might.
“Guh!”
“Idiot!”
Just before my pushed body fell to the floor along with the futon, my hand touched the floor. However, at that time Hagana was curled up facing the wall on the opposite side of the bed. I gave up returning to my posture as is, lowered my legs under the bed once, and stood up. Since I fell with the futon, Hagana’s curled figure is exposed. Even though curling up like a baby is the same, her hands were hugging her knees. That figure was completely different from when Hagana was in her room, upset and frightened so much that she didn’t know it was Lisa. That might be because of Hagana’s face the moment she pushed me. That moment I was about to fall from the bed, Hagana’s face was clearly visible. She looked embarrassed.
I hesitated for a while, but at this rate, Hagana will probably catch a cold. However, I also want to sleep in the bed. Especially since tomorrow is the last trading. I eventually returned the futon to the bed and returned myself. Hagana remains curled up facing the wall all the time. I thought about facing the opposite side too, but I admonished myself that it was too cowardly. Speaking of buying or selling, this is a buy. I slept on my back. Hagana didn’t say anything. But having said all about my dream and what was stuck in my mind, I felt very refreshed. Also, it was very significant that Hagana neither rejected nor laughed. So, when my body gradually warmed up and sleepiness came, I moved my hand. I searched for Hagana’s hand hugging her knees and held it lightly. Hagana shrunk back for a moment, but didn’t shake it off. We slept like that. Like the Moon and Earth connected by gravity, me and Hagana were firmly connected even by such a thin line.
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