After finishing the meeting with Michael Burry, I met up with Han Kyungyeong.

“Now it’s your turn to start moving too.”

“You told me to spend around one billion dollars, right?”

I nodded at Han Kyungyeong’s question.

“Buy up CDOs issued by every bank. Make them think Dream High is taking a position on that side.”

“You’re saying we should just burn a billion dollars?”

“We need to burn at least that much for people to take the bait.”

One billion dollars.

This was bait meant to lure in the Wall Street hyenas and the people constantly watching Dream High’s every move.

If the amount was too small, nobody would bite.

But if the number was one billion dollars, that was a completely different story.

“Okay. I’ll start investing in CDOs tomorrow. Preparations are already finished.”

This game needed to grow even bigger.

Much bigger than it had in my previous life.

The larger the board became, the greater the profits I would gain.

And it wasn’t simply about money.

More than anything, I wanted to ensure that nobody would ever again become an obstacle to what I planned to do.

Besides, Baltice had been far too quiet.

After their operation in China failed, they had shown absolutely no movement.

I intended to throw them bait.

Let them see us making these investments.

I wanted the banks and insurance companies connected to them to read the signal and become even greedier in selling derivatives.

“Hyung, you prepared the other thing I mentioned too, right?”

“Ah, the team you told me to build without anyone noticing?”

Michael Burry alone wasn’t enough.

He would only serve as the spearhead. I couldn’t leave everything to one man.

“Eva’s handling that personally. From what I know, she’s moving through Hong Kong. I get reports, but you should probably hear the details directly from her. Apparently all preparations are finished. We’ve already moved the money from the paper companies into that company too.”

With everyone’s attention focused on Han Kyungyeong, Eva had gained far more freedom to move.

“Got it. I’ll coordinate with Eva personally later. For now, just start moving tomorrow. Let’s blow this thing up as much as possible.”

* * *

Han Kyungyeong carried out Kim Muhyuk’s orders faithfully.

The first place he visited was Goldman Sachs.

The moment he arrived, not only the CEO but the entire executive board rushed down to the lobby to greet him.

“I’m Lloyd Blankfein.”

“James.”

Han Kyungyeong lightly shook Lloyd’s hand.

Still holding his hand, Lloyd cautiously asked:

“But James, what brings you here so suddenly?”

“Why else would an investor visit an investment bank? To invest.”

“Oh! The legendary James, the man rumored to be chosen by fortune itself, wants to invest with us? This is exciting already. Please, come upstairs.”

Lloyd personally escorted Han Kyungyeong to the CEO’s office.

Lloyd sat at the head of the table while the other executives sat across from Han Kyungyeong.

The moment he sat down, Han Kyungyeong skipped all pleasantries and got straight to the point.

“I want to invest in CDOs.”

“CDOs? What kind of CDOs are you referring to?”

“I’m talking about CDOs tied to mortgage-backed securities.”

Disappointment immediately spread across Lloyd and the executives’ faces.

Apparently they had expected him to suggest creating an entirely new financial product together.

Seeing them fail to hide their disappointment, Han Kyungyeong smiled.

“You seem disappointed because the investment is too obvious.”

“Haha, not at all.”

Only then did Lloyd force out a stiff smile.

“Mortgage-related CDOs are already completely sold out. Demand is so high they disappear within a single day.”

“I’m aware.”

CDOs built from mortgage-backed securities sold out the moment they were released.

And not just in America.

Investors from Europe and Asia bought them up eagerly as well.

The structure of CDOs was actually quite simple.

Banks issuing mortgage loans were trapped in a low-interest-rate environment created by the Federal Reserve. That meant they would spend twenty or thirty years collecting only small amounts of interest at low rates.

The banks weren’t satisfied with issuing enormous loans while earning only modest interest payments.

So they chose to issue bonds backed by mortgage collateral instead.

Even if profit margins shrank somewhat, the bonds allowed them to immediately recover decades’ worth of principal and interest while securing liquidity.

The investment banks purchasing those bonds bundled them together and issued CDOs.

The investment banks ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ selling those CDOs also quickly recovered their principal while pocketing profits.

Finally, the investors purchasing the CDOs shared in the returns.

On the surface, it looked like an investment where everyone won.

But there was one fatal weakness.

Low interest rates had to continue.

And housing prices had to keep rising.

The moment homeowners started defaulting, hell would begin.

Every single participant invested in the structure would inevitably collapse one after another in a chain reaction.

Kim Muhyuk and Han Kyungyeong wanted even more CDOs issued so the eventual damage would become even larger.

“Then isn’t the answer simply creating more CDOs?”

“The CDOs built mainly from Prime and Alt-A mortgages have already been issued. If we increase supply further, the ratio of low-grade MBS becomes too high. Then nobody will buy them.”

American mortgages were divided into three categories according to personal credit ratings.

People with high credit received Prime ratings.

Middle-tier borrowers received Alt-A ratings.

And low-income borrowers below a certain credit threshold were classified as Subprime.

Subprime loans carried interest rates roughly three percent higher than Prime loans.

At present, most CDOs being sold consisted largely of Prime and Alt-A mortgages.

As time passed, more Subprime mortgage-backed securities were mixed in, but their ratio remained far lower than the other two categories.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I want. Those generate higher returns, don’t they?”

“That’s true, but... the risk is too high. I wouldn’t recommend investing in them.”

Lloyd shook his head and gave a negative answer.

“No matter how much we sell our souls for profit, there’s still a minimum line we shouldn’t cross.”

“Hm.”

Han Kyungyeong looked at Lloyd with genuine surprise.

“Since when did Goldman Sachs start worrying about things like that?”

“Whatever methods previous CEOs used belongs to the past. The present is different.”

Han Kyungyeong recalled Lloyd’s background.

Lloyd had always openly said his résumé wasn’t good enough for Wall Street.

He barely managed to get hired by a small company handling commodities trading, and only entered the center of Wall Street because that company was later absorbed into Goldman Sachs.

Even inside Goldman Sachs, he built his reputation not through investment banking but through trading.

Former CEO Henry Paulson noticed Lloyd’s abilities closely, and when Paulson became Treasury Secretary under the Bush administration, he personally recommended Lloyd as his successor.

A man who had climbed from the very bottom to become CEO of Goldman Sachs itself.

“Investment banks prove themselves through profits in the end. Résumés? They don’t mean anything. Just a few years ago, none of you sitting here even knew who I was.”

Lloyd and the executives were all veterans who had spent decades surviving on Wall Street.

Every single one of them had careers spanning over twenty years, yet their reputations still paled in comparison to Han Kyungyeong’s.

“The reason Wall Street respects me is simple. I generated results.”

Han Kyungyeong and Dream High had never failed even once.

That legendary track record was something almost unheard of even on Wall Street.

Lloyd becoming CEO of Goldman Sachs was impressive.

But compared to Han Kyungyeong, it was insignificant.

“High risk, high return.”

Han Kyungyeong slowly raised the corners of his lips.

“Low risk, high return doesn’t exist. To earn massive profits, you have to embrace massive risks. That’s what investment means to me.”

Lloyd stared at Han Kyungyeong intensely.

There was a faint trace of envy in his eyes.

Unlike himself, who clawed his way up from the bottom, Han Kyungyeong had burst onto Wall Street like a comet and become a living legend.

“So in the end, you’re suggesting we issue CDOs with higher Subprime exposure?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about finding buyers. We’ll purchase all of it ourselves.”

“...All of it?”

Lloyd asked blankly, stunned, but Han Kyungyeong simply nodded as though it were obvious.

“Yes. No matter how much there is, we’ll buy everything. So gather as much as possible. And understand this offer isn’t exclusive to Goldman Sachs. I’ll be making the same proposal to every investment bank. The only reason I came here first is because of my relationship with former CEO Henry Paulson.”

The executives’ expressions wavered.

If the same offer was going to every investment bank, then even if they rejected it, someone else would happily take the deal instead.

The executives immediately began persuading Lloyd.

“Lloyd, accept it. The buyers are already guaranteed. Refusing to create the product could practically count as negligence.”

Several executives continued pressuring him.

The boardroom became noisy almost instantly.

Watching the chaos unfold, Han Kyungyeong rose from his seat.

“You don’t need to decide today. I understand how companies operate. But the amount we can invest is limited. You’ll need to make your decision faster than the others.”

Leaving those final words behind, Han Kyungyeong exited Goldman Sachs.

The secretary waiting outside asked him:

“How did it go?”

“Well, it’s not an easy decision for them. We’re taking risks, but so are they.”

“Honestly, even from my perspective, this is completely insane...”

Han Kyungyeong burst into loud laughter at the secretary’s comment. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Then he lowered his voice while patting the secretary’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. This is just bait. Where to next?”

“Lehman Brothers. We’ll head there immediately.”

Over the next several days, Han Kyungyeong visited every major investment bank one by one.

* * *

Rumors that Han Kyungyeong was personally visiting Wall Street investment banks proposing the creation of CDOs heavily loaded with Subprime bonds spread across Wall Street almost immediately.

The news was enough to make even people who had previously viewed CDOs negatively start paying attention.

The investment banks that received the proposals became especially desperate to acquire Subprime mortgage bonds.

The banks issuing mortgage loans seized the opportunity and lowered bond yields even further.

And yet everything still sold out completely.

Receiving reports from the penthouse, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“A person’s reputation really is terrifying.”

This wasn’t some random Dream High employee moving around.

It was Han Kyungyeong himself, practically a living legend, negotiating directly.

The effects appeared within days.

Investment banks across the world were flooded with calls from people asking about investing in CDOs.

Some even approached Dream High employees trying to dig out information.

I had already instructed Han Kyungyeong beforehand.

If anyone questioned Dream High employees, they could confirm the rumors were true.

The more sincerity we showed, the more money would gather around us.

“But are you really okay with this?”

Han Kyungyeong asked cautiously.

“With what?”

“This time it’s different from before. Ordinary investors are going to suffer heavily.”

“......”

“Until now, our opponents were always other investors or governments. But this time is different. The stone we threw is turning into a tidal wave that’s dragging ordinary investors in with it. Later, all that damage is going to crush them.”

I bitterly sipped my wine.

When I didn’t answer, Han Kyungyeong sighed.

“Muhyuk. We’re not devils.”

After wetting my throat with wine, I finally spoke.

“Hyung. I never forced anyone to invest. Every investment carries risk. And everyone already knows this investment carries enormous risk.”

Nobody was unaware that CDOs were dangerous products.

And yet they still rushed into the frenzy.

That choice belonged entirely to them.

“We may not be devils, but we’re not angels either. In the end, they made the choice themselves.”

I deliberately forced myself to speak coldly while crushing down the tiny fragment of conscience twisting deep inside my chest.