Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All-Chapter 705: Setup (3)

Around the time Jung Yoon-Ho was about to execute the second setup in the basement BM report at the Geumgang Building, the True Angels office in Myeongdong led by Park Hyung-Moon was bustling with activity.

"Hurry up! Sweep up every stock available on the market! If anyone else catches wind of this, it's over!"

The current time was 9:10 a.m. Park Hyung-Moon, who had stayed up all night, kept giving orders to his employees. As a result, the stock price of 5959 Chicken, which had seen no trading for a while, began to climb little by little.

'1,010 won, 1,020 won, 1,030 won...'

"Good. Keep pouring it in!"

After calculating True Angels' liquid funds overnight, it came out to roughly ten billion won. Park Hyung-Moon had planned to invest about three billion of that—just like the stock market adage, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.'

At that moment, another tip-off email landed in Park Hyung-Moon's inbox.

Ding.

[VVIP Emergency Tip-off. (Reverse Entertainment is considering Chae Mi-Hyun as 5959 Chicken's advertising model.)

-Confirmed Chae Mi-Hyun's vehicle entering the underground parking lot of Reverse Entertainment.

-Lee Wan-Yung, CEO of 5959 Chicken, is considering using both Lee Tae-Poong and Chae Mi-Hyun as advertising models.

-Lee Wan-Yung planning a massive advertising investment.

-(Photo) Chae Mi-Hyun shaking hands with Lee Wan-Yung. Internal leak.]

[VVIP Emergency Tip-off. (President Choi Yung-Ho and Vice President of Daheung Savings Bank visited for investment agreement with 5959 Chicken.)]

-Choi Yung-Ho's private car seen entering the parking lot.

"This is... something serious might really be happening."

Last night, there was news that Jung Yoon-Ho and Lee Tae-Poong had been selected as advertising models. And early this morning, Chae Mi-Hyung, the queen of romantic comedies, was reported entering 5959 Chicken headquarters. On top of that, even the president of Daheung Savings Bank was entering the company.

At that moment, Park Hyung-Moon's heart began pounding as if it would explode. All of them gathering could only mean 5959 Chicken was about to pull something big. In other words, it was a golden opportunity to make serious money. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Park Hyung-Moon immediately spoke to Director Kim Chang-Soo, who sat across from him. "Director Kim! Use up our company balance and go all-in on 5959. Check out futures too, and throw everything into anything that's rising! Also, sell off the other stocks quickly and pile everything here."

As Park Hyung-Moon began moving aggressively unlike his usual self, Kim Chang-Soo, who also handled the company's risk management, tried to stop him. "Sir, even so... Acting on just a few tip-offs doesn't seem like you. None of the other tip-off sources have mentioned anything either. What if this is a setup...?"

Park Hyung-Moon scoffed. "A setup? No way. That Jung Yoon-Ho punk doesn't even know how the stock market works. He doesn't even have a brokerage account!"

While tracking Jung Yoon-Ho's movements, Park Hyung-Moon had also confirmed whether he had any brokerage accounts. However, Jung Yoon-Ho didn't seem to have any interest in the stock market whatsoever. The most he did was subscribe to employee stock options, which even ordinary office workers could do without much knowledge.

"A guy who's never even traded stock is setting something up? You know that doesn't make any sense."

"Still... don't you think the situation unfolding is a little too suspicious?"

"Hey! Remember two years ago when you said Songyoung Tech's growth was irrational? So we didn't invest? The stock exploded twenty-fold from developing new semiconductor materials. You forgot that only one tip-off site caught it back then?"

Kim Chang-Soo broke into a nervous sweat. "I admit that was my mistake. But this time, it feels too strange. All the people involved are connected to you, sir."

At that moment, Park Hyung-Moon exploded in anger. "That's exactly why they're trying to take everything for themselves! Hey! While we sit here talking, if we miss out on making money, are you going to take responsibility? And look at this!"

Park Hyung-Moon suddenly held out his phone. On his phone, Lee Tae-Poong's Instargem account was open.

[@lee.typhoon]

-Jiri Mountain promotion tour completed.

-850 million admissions for Jiri Mountain! Celebrating with Fried Chicken~. Everyone, fall into the chicken craze~

(Comments)

-Wow~ Tae-Poong oppa. Where's that chicken from? It looks insanely good.

-Ooh, I want fried chicken too.

-Isn't that the cream puff chicken from 5959 Chicken?

-Is it actually good?

-Opinions vary, but if you like sweets, it's good.

-Oh, there aren't any stores outside Seoul.

-Tae-Poong oppa, is your next ad for 5959 Chicken?

-Damn, 5959 Chicken stock is about to skyrocket.

...

"See? You see this? Lee Tae-Poong's eating their fried chicken! He's not the type to post stuff like this!"

Still, Kim Chang-Soo felt like everything was being forcefully interpreted to fit. Nevertheless, there was no stopping it. Because when it came to Jung Yoon-Ho's movements, Park Hyung-Moon was strangely obsessive. In fact, part of why True Angels' assets had grown several-fold over the past year was because they had followed Jung Yoon-Ho's investments.

Thinking it might be his last shot, Kim Chang-Soo opened his mouth. "Still, sir..."

At that moment, Park Hyung-Moon scowled, "Hey! Just go home!"

"Sir!"

"If you're gonna talk like that, then disappear from my sight!"

As Park Hyung-Moon shouted, Kim Chang-Soo had no choice but to shut his mouth. And so, all he could do was grab his bag and leave for the day. He hoped that when he returned tomorrow, his seat wouldn't be gone.

Thunk.

The sound of Kim Chang-Soo leaving the office echoed. At the same time, Park Hyung-Moon began to spread his wings wide.

"Withdraw everything we put into the other stocks and pour it all into this!"

At this very moment, he felt closer to Jung Yoon-Ho than Park Sang-Ah, someone who had looked down on him despite being young simply because she was a politician's daughter, or Choi Man-Sik, who was hard to reach.

'Jung Yoon-Ho! You're my cash cow! Thanks, you punk! Hahaha!'

Blinded by gold, Park Hyung-Moon's reasoning was completely paralyzed.

***

Ten minutes after the second tip-off was sent to Park Hyung-Moon, the stock price was climbing even faster.

"1,210 won, 1,220 won..."

Just past 11 a.m, Choi Yung-Ho, who was with us, confirmed the buyer through his securities firm.

"The one buying up aggressively now is definitely True Angels? Seventy percent of the volume? Alright, got it."

After hanging up the call, Choi Yung-Ho spoke. "That bastard Park Hyung-Moon is completely insane. He's sweeping up every share released on the market all by himself."

Since tip-offs were just that—tip-offs—people usually went through verification steps to avoid falling for false information. However, Park Hyung-Moon had been making big money simply by copying what I did. So he was investing again this time without much thought.

"If he was going to do this, why didn't he just side with the Chairman? Why stick with President Choi Man-Sik?" I scoffed.

Choi Yung-Ho chuckled. "A few years ago, he got into trouble with money games and was severely scolded by Mr. Chairman. Ever since that day, he's been tailing Man-Sik. Birds of a feather, really."

'Well then, he got what was coming.'

I turned to Kang Eun-Gi, who was watching the stock graph beside me. "Eun-Gi, thanks for getting Ms. Chae Mi-Hyun's help. It made everything much easier."

"Don't mention it. Your business is my business. And Ms. Chae Mi-Hyun said she's always happy to help you."

Since Lee Tae-Poong alone wasn't enough, I asked Kang Eun-Gi to get Chae Mi-Hyun to move. But apparently, Chae Mi-Hyun willingly agreed because I had said I would help her out. And Choi Yung-Ho, who was observing our moves, joined in as well.

Thanks to that, Park Hyung-Moon was completely fooled.

At that moment, Kang Eun-Gi hesitated before bowing his head slightly toward Choi Yung-Ho. "Um... thank you for helping Yoon-Ho."

Choi Yung-Ho smiled slyly and said, "If you're thankful, send me a photo of the kids. I'll give it to Mr. Chairman."

Kang Eun-Gi was slightly flustered by the unexpected request. "I'll take a picture later and send it to you."

"Thanks. Oh, but since they're twins, they must've been born small. Are they healthy?"

"They were premature twins so they're on the smaller side, but they're healthy. Yoon-Soo weighs 2.2 kg and Eun-Soo is 2.3 kg."

"That's a relief."

Since the children were born, Kang Eun-Gi had clearly softened in his attitude, tone, and even expression.

While they were chatting, the stock price hit the upper limit.

Tae Beom-Gu sitting in front of the computer asked, "It hit the upper limit. What now?"

The current time was 11:30 a.m., but the stock had reached the ceiling earlier than expected. It was clear just how much money Park Hyung-Moon had thrown in.

I took a deep breath and looked at Tae Beom-Gu. "Drop the bomb."

The 'bomb' was a tip-off that would crash the stock price of 5959 Chicken.

Tae Beom-Gu frowned. "Chief Jung, um... Park Seo-Hye is just starting to get popular. Are you really going to ruin her like this?"

"Don't you know about Park Seo-Hye?"

"Of course I do. She just gained popularity from that variety show, Thought I Was Discharged, But Woke Up in a Dream? Back to the Army! She lived as an unknown actress for a long time and finally made it at the age of twenty-seven. But... ruining such a pretty girl, isn't that too harsh?"

She was pretty, sure—and just as vicious.

I asked, "Then do you know she drove a high school friend to suicide?"

Tae Beom-Gu's mouth snapped shut. "Suicide?"

Park Seo-Hye was known as a high school beauty, but also a bully. Before her debut, her clique bullied a classmate to suicide. Another bully took responsibility for the direct abuse at the time, but Park Seo-Hye was the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

And this case would be exposed next week anyway. Enraged by Park Seo-Hye's sudden popularity on TV, the victim's friends were planning to post about it on the Blue House website.

Besides, CEO Lee Wan-Yung was a scumbag who used company money and franchisee funds to buy women's favor. I had promised to avoid harming the innocent, but I had no intention of protecting those who acted like monsters.

Tae Beom-Gu's jaw dropped in surprise. "Seriously... where do you even get this kind of information?"

"I told you from the beginning, didn't I? I've got an intel team. How else do you think I knew where your office was?"

"I've never heard of a private individual having an intel team."

I simply shrugged and said, "Please just do what I asked."

"Sigh... Fine."

In the end, Tae Beom-Gu began sending out the pre-written tip-off.

Beep.

"There, a bomb dropped."

The tip-off appeared on the monitor, sent to everyone who subscribed to the BM Report except Park Hyung-Moon.

[(BM Report Tip-off) 5959 Chicken CEO's Affair with Actress A.]

-CEO of 5959 Chicken in affair with former actress A.

-Actress A involved in high school girl's suicide case ten years ago in Jinhae.

...

As the tip-off spread across all of Yeouido, scheduled entries recorded on Everyday were being deleted.

[Everyday V13]

[Date: March 8, 2021]

-10:00 p.m. <Schedule Entry Deleted>

(Deleted Schedule Entry: <Entertainment Everywhere> "Rookie actress Park Seo-Hye was suddenly cast as model for 5959 Chicken's Matdashida Chicken." (Meeting note: Internal review of Matdashida Chicken obtained. Worst ever. Actress Park Seo-Hye's image was also damaged.))

[Date: March 9, 2021]

-10:00 p.m. <Schedule Entry Deleted>

(Deleted Schedule Entry: Park Seo-Hye suspected of involvement in high school girl suicide ten years ago in Jinhae. (Meeting Notes: Be cautious about recruiting.))

'It's over.'

Moments later in less than five minutes, the stock price began to plummet. The strategically used tip-off was shockingly powerful. With this one setup, I wiped out Park Hyung-Moon, Lee Wan-Yung, and even Park Seo-Hye in one sweep.

However, what I had prepared wasn't over yet. Now that I had started, it was time to finish the job completely.

***

At the same time, Park Hyung-Moon stared at the plunging stock chart in a panic.

"What the hell! Why is the stock price dropping all of a sudden?"

At that moment, an employee from the finance department rushed over.

"Sir! There's talk that 5959 Chicken might have its stock trading suspended!"

"Why? What's going on?"

"CEO Lee Wan-Yung of 5959 Chicken has disappeared!"

"What do you mean he disappeared? How does a company CEO just vanish?"

"Right after the affair article with Park Seo-Hye came out in the Yeouido tip-off, he cleaned out the company's vault and disappeared somewhere."

"The CEO embezzled company funds and ran off? That lunatic son of a—!"

To make things worse, disaster struck again.

With his mind going blank, Park Hyung-Moon shouted in a frenzy. "Pull the money out!"

"Sorry?"

"Get my money out of there, now!"

This was the same Park Hyung-Moon who had been yelling all morning to pour money in. Now he was issuing the exact opposite order.

However, the employee answered hesitantly, "There's no one to buy, sir. Everyone's selling at once!"

Once the tip-off had spread across Yeouido, no one was buying 5959 Chicken stocks—only selling.

"H-How... could this..."

The panicking Park Hyung-Moon clutched his phone, trying to dump the stock at a lower price. But just then, a call came in. It was the number used by the BM Report.

"These bastards must have lost their minds trying to mess with me!"

Furious, Park Hyung-Moon picked up the call. And then, Jung Yoon-Ho's voice came through the phone.

-Mr. Park Hyung-Moon. Thank you for your hard work today.

The blood drained from Park Hyung-Moon's face. Just as Kim Chang-Soo had warned, today's setup had been orchestrated by Jung Yoon-Ho.

"You... Chief Jung... y-you... don't tell me... you're the one who..."

-Haven't you ever heard that greed leads to downfall?

"H-how dare you..."

Park Hyung-Moon couldn't even speak properly as his blood boiled in anger.

-Investment is the investor's responsibility. Isn't that what you always told others, pushing the losses onto them? Think of this as payment for the tears those investors shed back then.

"Argh!! You bastard—!"

-Oh, and when you decide to sell your shares in Hoop Entertainment, please give me a call. No matter who makes an offer, I'll buy it at a much better price than they propose.

Park Hyung-Moon inhaled to curse Jung Yoon-Ho. But at that moment, the call was disconnected.

Beep, beep.

With no way to vent his rage, Park Hyung-Moon hurled his phone at the wall.

Crash!

The phone shattered into pieces. And at the same time, Park Hyung-Moon's legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor. His mind went blank and nausea surged from his stomach.

"Ugh!"

He had even sold off his other stocks to invest in 5959 Chicken, so the amount he had lost today was unimaginable.

"I'm... Park Hyung-Moon... I can't...I can't go down like this..." He muttered to himself like a madman.

Just then, the office door opened and a group of people walked in.

Bang!

"Mr. Park Hyung-Moon?"

"Wh-who are you...?"

The lead investigator stepped forward and presented a search and seizure warrant. "We're from the Central District Prosecutors' Office. You're under emergency arrest on suspicion of stock manipulation."

"What? You're saying I manipulated the stock price?"

"Playing dumb won't help. You intentionally drove up the stock price and then tried to dump it on everyday investors, didn't you?"

Cold sweat began trickling down Park Hyung-Moon's back. It was clear this was the final setup laid by Jung Yoon-Ho.

"No! It wasn't me! It was someone else!"

"You bought up the entire supply alone and then tried to sell it all. What kind of bullshit are you talking about, huh?"

No matter how much he thrashed, there was no escaping the net that now wrapped around Park Hyung-Moon.

Only then did he deeply regret mocking Jung Yoon-Ho for not having a stock account.

***

The entire operation was over. 5959 Chicken was more fragile than I expected, and Lee Wan-Yung turned out to be more of a coward than I thought.

Park Hyung-Moon had trusted me too much. As a result, 5959 Chicken was heading for bankruptcy much faster than I anticipated.

However, the look on Tae Beom-Gu's face was unsettling.

Tae Beom-Gu stammered, "You... What exactly are you? I tried contacting some CEOs around the industry, but none of them had even a hint of the info you knew."

Choi Yung-Ho also stared at me with suspicious eyes. "Chief Jung, I think you owe us an explanation. Where exactly are you getting this freakishly accurate intel from?"

Kang Eun-Gi believed me when I said I had prophetic dreams, since his mom was a shaman. But even so, dreams weren't usually this detailed. Even Kang Eun-Gi was looking at me as if I wasn't of this world.

Honestly, even I had to admit that what I had pulled off today couldn't be explained by just a dream. There was no more room to brush things off lightly.

In the end, I started mentioning the excuse I'd prepared just in case things ever came to this.

"Actually..."