The office was buzzing. Champagne bottles were popping at 10:00 AM. The KOSPI index flashed on the giant screen: 2,944. It was inches away from the historic 3,000 mark.
"We are rich!" A junior analyst cheered, high-fiving his colleague. "My Kakao calls are up 400%!"
Hong Ye-eun walked into Min-jun's office. She looked ecstatic. "Min-jun, the fund is up 85% for 2020. The LPs (Limited Partners) are calling us geniuses. They want to double their allocation."
Min-jun sat at his desk, staring at a different chart. Samsung Electronics: 90,000 KRW. PER (Price-to-Earnings Ratio): 20x.
"It's too hot," Min-jun murmured. "When the taxi driver tells you to buy Samsung at 90,000 won, it's time to sell."
"Sell?" Ye-eun’s smile faded. "Are you serious? The 'Super Cycle' is just starting! The memory chip shortage..."
"Is priced in," Min-jun cut her off. "Everyone knows about the shortage. Everyone owns the stock. There are no buyers left, Ye-eun. Only sellers waiting for a higher price that won't come."
Min-jun stood up and walked to the window. Below, the streets of Gangnam were filled with people wearing masks, but their eyes were bright with greed.
"We are liquidating the Tech portfolio," Min-jun ordered. "Sell Kakao. Sell Naver. Sell Samsung."
"And go to cash again? Inflation is 3%!"
"No. We rotate."
Min-jun pulled up a chart that looked like a flatline for the last 3 years. Daegwang Construction (000xxx). Price: 15,000 KRW. PBR (Price-to-Book Ratio): 0.4x.
"Construction?" Ye-eun scoffed. "That's a sunset industry. The government is regulating real estate to death. Taxes are sky-high. Nobody is building."
"Exactly," Min-jun smiled. "Nobody is building. Which means in two years, there will be a massive shortage of apartments. The price of Seoul real estate will explode. And whoever has the capacity to build will be King."
He tapped the screen.
"Daegwang Construction has been cleaning its balance sheet for three years under Seo-yoon. We paid off the debt. We fired the corrupt vendors. We are lean. We are cheap. And we are about to be very, very necessary."
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
February 2021. Daegwang Construction HQ. CEO Office.
Jin Seo-yoon looked at the proposal Min-jun had placed on her desk. Project: The Hannam-dong Redevelopment Bid.
"This is a 2 Trillion Won project," Seo-yoon said. "We are competing against Hyundai and Samsung C&T. Our brand... it's still tarnished from the merger scandal."
"Our brand is 'Value'," Min-jun argued. "The other Chaebols are fat. They will bid high because their overhead is high. We can bid low because we killed the corruption tax."
Min-jun pointed to the cost breakdown.
"Our cost per pyeong is 15% lower than Hyundai's. Not because we use cheap materials, but because we don't have 'Morning Star' vendors skimming the cream. We can offer the Landlord Union a better deal: More luxury finishes, same price."
"It's risky," Seo-yoon said. "If we win, we have to front the capital. We need 500 Billion Won in project financing (PF)."
"The banks will lend to us now," Min-jun assured her. "Our credit rating is back to A-. And..."
He paused.
"And if the banks hesitate, Nemesis Capital will underwrite the bridge loan."
Seo-yoon looked at him. "You really believe in bricks and mortar, don't you? After making billions in invisible coins."
"Virtual money is fun," Min-jun said, looking at the skyline. "But people still need a place to sleep. And right now, Seoul is running out of bedrooms."
March 2021. The Crypto Bull Run Returns.
While Min-jun was buying cranes and concrete, his "Moonbag" was waking up.
Bitcoin: $50,000. Ethereum: $1,800. BNB: $250.
His crypto net worth had crossed the 500 Billion Won mark. But there was a new player in town. Dogecoin.
Elon Musk was tweeting about dogs. The market was becoming a meme.
"It's the 'Stupidity Phase' again," Min-jun told Grandpa Byung-ho at dinner. "But this time, it's institutional stupidity."
"Should we sell?" Byung-ho asked, eyeing his Ledger wallet like it was a grenade.
"Not yet. The final blow-off top hasn't happened. We wait for Coinbase IPO in April. That will be the peak."
Min-jun checked his phone. A notification from Toss. [Toss Securities Launching Soon.]
He smiled. While everyone was trading Dogecoin on Upbit, Toss was about to democratize stock trading for the masses. And Mirue Partners owned 8% of it.
"Grandpa," Min-jun said. "Do you want to visit the construction site in Hannam-dong tomorrow?"
"Why? It's just dirt."
"It's not just dirt. It's where we are going to build the most expensive apartment in Korea. And I reserved the Penthouse for us."
Byung-ho choked on his soup. "Penthouse? In Hannam? That's... that's for Chaebol Chairmen."
"You are a Chaebol Chairman's grandfather," Min-jun said. "Act like it."
[TRANSACTION LOG]
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Date: Jan 2021
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Action: SECTOR ROTATION.
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SELL: Tech/Growth (Samsung Electronics, Kakao).
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BUY: Value/Cyclical (Daegwang Construction, GS E&C).
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Rationale: Inflation Hedge + Real Estate Supply Crunch thesis.
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Portfolio Status:
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Crypto: Hyper-Growth Phase ($50k BTC).
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Real Estate: Developing Hannam Project.
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Cash: Deployed into Construction Equity.
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