The Taesan Bank headquarters branch on the first floor of Taesan Financial’s main building was packed with people.

After getting out of the car, I silently watched the stream of people entering the branch.

“Manager Ma.”

I called out to Manager Ma, who was standing quietly beside me.

“Yes, Boss.”

“This must be the kind of sight Grandfather dreamed of, right?”

“He’s probably looking down from heaven and smiling at Taesan Bank.”

I gave a faint smile and nodded.

“Let’s go in.”

I entered with only Manager Ma accompanying me.

In the lobby, Ha Myeonghun and the executives were waiting for me.

“You’ve arrived, President.”

Ha Myeonghun approached me with a smile.

Back then, Ha Myeonghun had been someone whose emotions barely showed on his face. But now, there wasn’t the slightest awkwardness in the way he expressed them.

“I told you this kind of thing makes me uncomfortable.”

“You haven’t visited in a long time. We should at least prepare this much.”

“Well, dismiss everyone for now. Let’s go up by ourselves.”

Ha Myeonghun sent a glance toward the executives and dismissed them all.

Only the three of us — me, Ha Myeonghun, and Manager Ma — rode the elevator up to the chairman’s office.

The moment we entered, Ha Myeonghun naturally guided me toward the seat of honor. I waved my hand and laughed.

“It’s bad manners to sit in the seat of honor while leaving the owner standing.”

“President. The owner of Taesan Financial isn’t me. It’s you.”

“No matter if I’m the real owner, I entrusted it to Chairman Ha Myeonghun. That means the owner of this room isn’t me. It’s Chairman Ha Myeonghun.”

I refused Ha Myeonghun’s repeated insistence and sat down on the sofa instead.

In the end, Ha Myeonghun also left the seat of honor empty and sat facing me.

I told Manager Ma, who was standing behind me, to sit down as well. Manager Ma then moved over and sat beside Ha Myeonghun.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

I asked while looking warmly at the sight of Ha Myeonghun and Manager Ma sitting side by side.

“Yes. It’s become difficult to visit you easily these days.”

At Manager Ma’s reply, Ha Myeonghun placed a hand on his shoulder and answered instead.

“Knowing Manager Ma is by your side allowed me to leave your side with peace of mind.”

Ha Myeonghun’s trust in Manager Ma had not changed at all.

We exchanged updates about our lives while drinking coffee. In front of Ha Myeonghun, even Manager Ma relaxed a bit and joined the conversation.

After leisurely finishing a cup of coffee, I shifted the mood.

“I think it’s time Taesan Financial started tightening its management.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Ha Myeonghun’s expression also changed as he spoke in a serious voice.

“Representative Eva told me the rough outline. You said the American economy is going to collapse?”

I nodded.

“Originally, it would’ve passed as a small storm. But Wall Street’s greed turned it into a tornado. The fear of Black Monday won’t even compare.”

“......”

Big and small incidents always happen in the American economy. No matter how the United States may be the world’s greatest economic power, it has never been free from dark periods.

If you listed the biggest financial shocks, there would be the Great Depression that swept the world, Black Monday in 1987, and the dot-com bubble of 2000.

But among them, the one that delivered the greatest shock was undoubtedly Black Monday, which exploded without any clear warning signs.

As time passed, people estimated its causes, but unlike other crises, no definitive trigger was ever identified.

“Black Monday was a shock thrown at the stock market. But the crisis that’s about to happen now is something nobody can escape.”

“Hmm.”

Ha Myeonghun wasn’t a foolish man. He had the ability to immediately grasp the core of what I was saying.

“Then we need to prepare as well.”

“Yes. For the time being, we’ll probably need to start rejecting loans.”

“That goes against government policy.”

The government was encouraging mortgage lending. And although South Korea wasn’t under direct state-controlled finance, the structure forced financial institutions to follow government policy.

“I’ll handle that issue. For now, prepare the banks, insurance companies, and securities firms.”

I intended to warn the government as well. I had no intention of letting them repeat pointless actions like acquiring Lehman Brothers.

As for the American banks and insurance companies that would collapse, I planned to throw away the useless parts and eat only the valuable core.

Even rotten fish still had edible flesh. If you picked carefully, there was still plenty worth taking from American financial firms. There was no reason to hand those opportunities to someone else.

“As long as the government’s stance changes, there shouldn’t be a major issue. But we can’t shut everything down completely. We’ll tighten lending conditions and only provide loans to people with reliable income or solid collateral.”

“Even with solid collateral, you’ll need to stay conservative. After American real estate crashes, Korea’s market will fall as well.”

“Understood. I’ll review everything carefully and prepare.”

“What’s the internal reaction?”

I was curious what Taesan Financial’s financial experts were thinking.

“The opinions are split. No, to be precise, the side opposing your view currently has the upper hand.”

“They oppose my view?”

“Yes. At least for now.”

I nodded.

“So even the experts are like that.”

“I think it’s because they haven’t conducted proper analysis yet. If they analyze the situation while assuming American real estate completely collapses, the conclusions might change.”

“Yes. Make them analyze it under the assumption that collapse is guaranteed. That’s the only way to minimize the damage. Reduce debt across all financial affiliates and move into austerity operations. And...”

I organized and explained all the things Ha Myeonghun needed to prepare for going forward.

There was a great deal he needed to handle.

“So the aftershocks are really going to be that severe.”

As I explained in detail the preparations that needed to be made, Ha Myeonghun frowned as though he had finally accepted the gravity of the situation.

“President. Why does the damage become this catastrophic? Are you saying America’s financiers, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury Department all failed to predict this? That doesn’t make sense.”

It was only natural for Ha Myeonghun to find it strange.

“It was an unavoidable choice after the terrorist attacks.”

Some people called the subprime mortgage crisis Bin Laden’s curse.

Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda had carried out terrorist attacks against New York and Washington.

Fearing the resulting economic shock, the Federal Reserve rapidly slashed interest rates from 6.5% to 1% between 2001 and 2003.

It was an unprecedented measure.

Liquidity restraints were unleashed, and the effects poured into the stock market and real estate market.

Keeping pace with the Federal Reserve’s policy, the American administration introduced multiple policies designed to make home purchases easier.

Up to that point, everything was within a reasonably predictable range, and both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. administration believed the situation remained controllable.

“But neither the Federal Reserve nor the U.S. administration factored in Wall Street’s greed and people’s madness. That was the problem.”

The greedy bastards on Wall Street didn’t know how to stop. They poured even more liquidity on top of already unleashed liquidity.

In an instant, the market overheated, and investment spread wildly into derivatives and even bad debt.

Realizing their mistake too late, the Federal Reserve gradually raised interest rates starting in 2004, and by this year, 2006, rates had climbed back into the 5% range.

“Human greed has no end. And people consumed by madness can no longer see anything else. This is only the beginning. Interest rates have risen, and borrowers with low credit ratings will start going bankrupt because they can’t handle the increased interest payments.”

The future looked utterly bleak.

“Even if they put their homes up for sale, they won’t sell. Eventually collateral values will fall, and the banks that issued mortgage loans will become endangered. Of course, up to that point, the damage can still be handled through bailout funds.”

I took a sip of water to moisten my dry throat.

“But once derivatives get involved, the situation becomes completely different. You understand how terrifying derivatives are, right?”

Ha Myeonghun nodded.

“Better than anyone. We’ve invested heavily in American derivatives ourselves.”

“Liquidate all of it.”

“We should. If that’s truly certain, we’ll need to start withdrawing our American investments immediately.”

“Yes. Not only America — Europe and emerging markets too. Pull back and observe.”

The fact that I meant the entire world clearly shocked Ha Myeonghun once again.

“I mean reduce {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} exposure. Completely halting investment would be unrealistic. Put all the recovered funds into dollars.”

“Dollars?”

“The American economy may stagger, but it won’t collapse in the end. That’s the kind of country America is. Ultimately, America will survive. But the tsunami will sweep across Europe and the developing world.”

“What about South Korea? Taesan Financial may follow your advice, but will the other banks and securities firms move according to your wishes?”

Ha Myeonghun would believe me even if I claimed red beans could turn into malt.

But whether other financial institutions would trust me enough to follow was another matter.

I didn’t need to save them. After the IMF crisis, South Korea became obsessively fixated on foreign currency reserves.

Even if I did nothing, Korea would overcome the crisis without suffering catastrophic damage.

Of course, I couldn’t stop the collapse of real estate prices or the stock market crash... but unlike America, Korea’s financial institutions wouldn’t collapse.

“Well, that’s their problem to handle. In the end, they’re our competitors, aren’t they? The only financial institution I’m giving advice to is Taesan Financial. And Kyungyeong hyung publicly positioned himself as bullish on real estate. No matter what I say, they probably won’t believe it.”

“That’s true.”

Korean institutions weren’t ignorant of Wall Street’s movements either.

More than anyone, Korean institutions were watching the moves of Dreamhigh and Wall Street.

“Still, give them a warning. If even one chairman listens to you and reduces risk, that’s still a good thing.”

“Understood.”

Finally, I brought up the most important matter.

“And next year, prepare to acquire one of the investment banks on Wall Street.”

“An American investment bank?”

I nodded briefly.

“Create a TF team in advance so that the moment a target appears on the market, we can buy it immediately. Structure everything so we can discard what’s unnecessary and keep what’s valuable.”

“Which one?”

“Bear Stearns.”

“What?”

Ha Myeonghun, who rarely ever repeated himself in surprise, stared at me.

“Bear Stearns? You mean that Bear Stearns in New York?”

I nodded.

“Bear Stearns functions as both an investment bank and a securities firm.”

“I know that. Besides investment banking operations, it also acts as a broker for other financial institutions.”

That alone showed how much trust Wall Street and the industry placed in Bear Stearns.

But that trust would return as a boomerang.

“Yes. Completely disregard Bear Stearns’ current asset value. Instead, organize in advance what benefits we can gain from the acquisition and what needs to be discarded. This must remain absolutely confidential. Build the TF team using only people you trust. And monitor every single one of their movements.”

“Hmm.”

I knew Bear Stearns would be driven to the brink of collapse.

But just before bankruptcy, JP Morgan would acquire Bear Stearns at a dirt-cheap price.

I didn’t know its exact value myself. That was why I intended to leave the matter in the hands of Taesan Financial, which was relatively outside Wall Street’s immediate attention.

Besides, it would suit Taesan Financial well to own at least one American investment bank.

“I believe Chairman Ha will handle it well.”

I trusted Ha Myeonghun.

Not once had he ever disappointed either Grandfather or me.