I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 60: The Beginning of the ’90s (3)

As if she had ants in her pants, Si-hyun was about to get up when I pushed her back into her seat and handed her the joystick again.

“...Honestly, I don’t get the appeal. Isn’t it better to move your body than play games like this?”

Thanks to her consistent workouts and self-discipline, Lee Si-hyun had a lean, full-chested, yet athletic figure. She threw a few pretend punches into the air to show her dissatisfaction.

...Yeah, getting hit by her would hurt. Is she some kind of martial arts heroine in real life?

Honestly, for someone who didn’t pick any special bonuses from a previous life like I did, Si-hyun keeping up that kind of ridiculous body had to be a rare species all on her own.

“Of course you’d think that. Damn, your body’s amazing. Bet women like it even more than men do.”

I admired the sharply defined abs forming a perfect “11” on her stomach. The contrast of her soft chest and firm muscles was more surreal than any sculpture I’d ever seen in a museum.

“...Now that you mention it, I guess you’re right. But you scared off every guy who might’ve liked me, you know. Seriously, when you hit thirty, you’ll understand how I feel.”

“When I’m thirty, won’t you be pushing fifty?”

“Stop.”

“Tch, can’t even make a joke.”

“Phew... Miss, I really don’t know how you’d live without me. You’d be bored out of your mind.”

“Why? I’ve got other secretaries.”

“Sure, but none of them have a body like mine, right? Your tastes are really something else....”

We chatted for a bit and naturally let the game fall by the wayside. Feeling a little fired up myself, I undid a few buttons and shrugged off the shirt I was wearing.

Unlike Si-hyun’s healthy, flushed skin, mine was pale and translucent—almost ghostlike—as my half-naked body came into view.

“Ugh, Miss... Doing that with a girl is kinda— I’m straight, just so you know.”

What the hell is she on about.

Ignoring her, I walked over to the full-length mirror beside me.

“Haah... Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Nice.”

—Thump.

The hand I ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) pressed against the mirror trembled slightly. I stared at my reflection, dizzy with pleasure.

A stunning beauty was looking back at me like she’d just fallen in love.

Holy crap... wow, seriously...

“Mmngh, haah... h-haah...”

When I let out a breathless sigh, the woman in the mirror moaned in ecstasy too.

.

.

.

“...Your tastes are really something else.”

“Ah, um... I was just messing around.”

“Sure, sure. Got it.”

“...”

Whatever.

Si-hyun’s body was amazing, but no woman could compare to Yoo Ha-yeon.

There was the minor issue that Yoo Ha-yeon was me, but... semantics.

***

“Germany has been unified.”

What comes to mind when you read that sentence?

“Aha! You mean the German Empire! Long live the Iron Chancellor Bismarck!”

“Hmm, are we talking about Kleindeutschland or Großdeutschland? Austria rightfully belongs to Germany, after all... Danzig, the Sudetenland, Austria—anywhere German people live should be annexed to complete the unification!”

...In the 21st century, people like that are rare. And the second one’s just a nutjob.

Unfortunately, this was still the 20th century. Tch.

So let’s revise that. What does “German reunification” bring to mind?

“Aha, the Soviets are going to feel threatened.... This officially marks capitalism’s victory in the system rivalry.”

That’s probably what an American politician would think.

“We don’t want a unified Germany! Are you trying to create a Fourth Reich?! Nazi Germany is making a comeback!”

That’d be Britain, recoiling at the ghost of nightmares past.

But German politicians, especially economic officials, thought something else:

“...We don’t have any money.”

‘Still, let’s make sure we contain inflation first.’

Through tearful internal monologues, they issued government bonds to fund unification, then raised interest rates without hesitation.

At which point Britain flipped its shit.

.

.

.

“...The Bundesbank raised interest rates again.”

Upon hearing that Germany’s central bank was hiking rates once more in 1991, Yoo Seon-jun muttered in disbelief.

“Ha-yeon, how the hell did you see this coming?”

Lounging next to him, munching popcorn while watching the news, I stretched and smiled brightly.

“Hmm, isn’t it obvious? How else are they gonna stop inflation? Hiking rates is the only move.”

The economic gap between West and East Germany was enormous.

And naturally, so were the costs of reunification. Any Korean would understand this easily.

After all, the first issue that always comes up when talking about North-South reunification is money. The phrase “Even Germany, with its solid economy, nearly buckled” has been beaten to death.

Now I was watching that buckling happen in real time—and it felt surreal.

“Raising interest rates, huh... I guess it makes sense considering how much they’ve spent.”

Germany funded the costs of unification by printing bonds, increasing the money supply—so of course inflation followed.

To stop that, they raised interest rates.

A basic economic formula. On paper, it didn’t seem like a huge problem.

Higher interest rates make borrowing harder, which cools down the economy. But Germany’s fundamentals were solid—this was Germany, after all.

However... there was one fatal flaw in this seemingly simple logic.

On this planet with zero soundproofing, it meant everyone else was eavesdropping on our little whispers.

Yoo Seon-jun chuckled dryly and pointed out the issue.

“Wait, so the rest of the countries are just supposed to lie down and die? With ERM in place, they’re all gonna have to raise their rates too.”

“But hey, inflation’s under control, right?”

ERM.

Not Eternal Return Masters, but the Exchange Rate Mechanism—the core of the European Monetary System (EMS).

At the time, major European countries were implementing ERM. The UK was part of it too. Put simply, it was a fixed exchange rate regime.

To use the UK and Germany as an example, 1 pound = 2.95 Deutsche marks.

No exceptions.

The problem with this is that to maintain your currency’s value, you’ve got to pay a price. Basically, you have to go out into the market and buy your country’s currency at inflated rates.

Normally, this is done by raising interest rates. Higher interest means higher returns on investments, so people flock to your currency, and its value rises.

Exactly—your currency appreciates.

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So whether you’re raising rates to fight inflation or to maintain your currency’s value, the result is the same: your currency appreciates.

“The value of the Deutsche mark is already climbing fast. Miss, shouldn’t we be offloading our assets in Germany?”

Seo Joo-eun cautiously asked after reporting the latest German interest rate hike.

“It’s fine. It’ll keep going up. Isn’t this great? We already invested heavily in Germany.”

I grinned, pleased.

Remember how I set up a company in West Germany right after the Berlin Wall fell?

That company had now grown into a respectable business. Sure, it was taking a hit from the rate hikes—but thanks to my foreknowledge, I’d taken a counter-position and was reaping the benefits.

Not only was my money duplicating itself, but as other businesses stumbled, I shot ahead at twice the speed. Perfect.

“There’s no way they can keep raising rates. The other countries won’t stand for it.”

Yoo Seon-jun voiced a more cautious view. Even as a gambler, he could tell that what Germany was doing was reckless.

Because frankly, it was a massive nuisance.

When you combine Germany’s rate hikes with the ERM, some fascinating math comes out.

Germany hikes rates → Deutsche mark gains value → Pound loses value.

But because of the ERM, the UK has to defend the value of its currency.

That means either hiking rates or buying up its own currency at high prices. And unlike Germany, the UK can’t easily raise rates.

Because its economy is in shambles.

“What was the UK’s GDP growth rate two years ago? 2.3%? And last year? That number’s not out yet, is it?”

Yoo Seon-jun frowned and replied,

“1%. From what I’ve heard, it’s hovering around that. Britain can’t afford to raise rates.”

So it wasn’t negative yet. But over the next two years, the UK would see astonishing negative growth.

“Right. But why would Germany care? Their interest rate is going to rise at least five to eight more times.”

“Then the UK’s gonna collapse... How the hell is a country about to post negative growth supposed to keep up with that insane rate?”

Exactly. That’s why they collapse.