The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 260



Only Noblemtl

260. An eye for an eye (4)

A battle between artificial intelligence and professional gamers.

It was very popular not only in Korea, but also in the United States and Europe.

The next day, the head of the planning office reported the level of interest in this match through indicators.

“It was broadcast on WeTube, and at one point the number of viewers exceeded 2 million. And the number of replay views increased by 1 million in one day.”

“It got quite a bit of attention.”

“Famous American media outlets also broadcast this match heavily, and most Korean media outlets reported this match extensively.”

It attracted attention, but it was still not enough.

Because the number of people who enjoy E-sports was small and its history was short, it did not attract worldwide attention.

However, this match was only a preliminary battle, and the main match was an artificial intelligence Go match.

“Well, this isn’t that bad.”

“It’s not bad. Thanks to game artificial intelligence, Taewoo IT’s stock price rose by more than 13% in one day. Taewoo Electronics and Taewo Semiconductor also benefited, rising by about 5%.”

“Shareholders will be very happy.”

“The response has been very good. And interest in the smart set-top box, which will be released next month, has grown even more. Inquiries about purchasing the Pixie 2 are already pouring in.”

We were the only company producing smart set-top boxes.

There was no other company other than us that had invested heavily in artificial intelligence, and of course Google and Amazon, who had also researched artificial intelligence, would soon release it, but they could not outperform us.

“Taewoo Communications’ stock price and market share will also rise.”

“The interest of the young generation is very high. Was the reason you planned an event match with a professional gamer to attract the young generation? I was once again surprised by the vice president’s foresight!”

It wasn’t that there was no purpose at all.

However, a much more positive effect was occurring than I expected, and I did not expect that Taewoo Electronics, telecommunications, and semiconductors would also benefit.

“We should hold events like this more often in the future.”

“We are recruiting the best Baduk players for the next event. I will personally go out and recruit them!”

“I feel reassured if the planning director takes care of it.”

“We will form a dedicated task force to plan and proceed clearly!”

The planning director walked out with a big smile on his face.

It’s only good that the stock price has risen sharply thanks to great news for the first time in a long time.

However, unlike Taewoo Group, which was experiencing good news, there were also places where bad news was occurring.

[CEO! The whole of America is in turmoil. Non-payment of loans is occurring here and there.]

“The moment we took action to raise interest rates, it was a natural result.”

It was a call from a team leader.

He continued speaking in a voice one octave higher than usual.

[And America’s 15th largest subprime mortgage company is on the brink of bankruptcy. The company’s loan amount alone is over $8 billion.]

“Now the dominoes are starting to fall. After the family homes fall first and the mortgage companies fall, the next in line will be investment companies.”

The mortgage company was a company that specialized in real estate loans.

Unlike banks, it did not hold stable deposits, so it was the first company to be hit when the real estate market faltered.

[It has not yet filed for bankruptcy, but it is expected to file for bankruptcy within this year at the latest. And the situation at other mortgage companies is not much different. The stock prices of mortgage companies are falling all at once.]

“The fact that stock prices have fallen means that the American people have now realized that the real estate market is dangerous.”

There is no figure that follows public opinion as much as stocks.

When stocks fall, it means that the company or the industry is being ignored by investors.

[However, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke still says that the real estate market is not enough to worry. I don’t know if I can’t accept the seriousness of the situation or if I don’t want to accept it.]

“You may be forced to say something positive to avoid sudden confusion.”

[And we have been contacted by several insurance companies saying they will no longer sell subprime mortgage derivatives insurance.]

Insurance company refuses to sign up for insurance?

This meant that insurance companies were now aware of the risks of real estate derivatives insurance.

Of course, I may not have fully realized it yet.

“Have you received any contact yet asking you to cancel your insurance?”

[They only said they would limit new insurance subscriptions, but there was nothing said about existing insurance contracts.]

“You still don’t realize you’ve hit the nail on the head. If you had realized the risk, you would have asked to cancel the existing insurance contract.”

[Some insurance companies still sell AAA-rated real estate loan insurance.]

Are there still insurance companies selling insurance?

This could not be blamed solely on the ignorance of the insurance company.

The Chairman of the US Federal Reserve declared that ‘the market is safe’, but how would they know that the US real estate system is operating abnormally?

“Get as much insurance as possible.”

[The fintech bank swept it away first.]

“It looks like things are going well for fintech banks.”

[As the real estate market is shaking, money is flowing into stocks or deposits. There is even talk that fintech banks are siphoning off Silicon Valley’s money.]

A team leader stuck his tongue out.

That’s how tenaciously Dimon was moving.

Just by looking at his actions, you could see how deep his desire for revenge against the teacher who betrayed him was.

“There is no need to compete with fintech banks. There is no need for family fights.”

[So fintech banks are picking up leftover insurance. That alone is very rewarding.]

“Then continue to monitor the situation.”

[You may come to the United States earlier than expected. The situation is really unusual.]

“Then let’s call again.”

I have been saying that the atmosphere was unusual since last year.

Before the regression, I only heard about it through news articles, and I found out what happened only after it happened, so I couldn’t understand the exact situation.

The world is really going on as if nothing is happening.

Even though a large-scale economic crisis was about to break out, not only the United States but also Korea did nothing.

Did it actually turn out well?

Because I was in a situation where I could have it all to myself.

* * *

There are not many days left in 2006.

Taewoo Securities CEO Park visited the vice president’s office.

Since the Korean stock market is greatly influenced by the U.S. stock market, President Park was checking the U.S. situation in real time.

“Vice Chairman! Mortgage companies have begun to go bankrupt one after another. Due to defaults on their loans, they are not able to cover their debts as their funds are not being recirculated.”

“How big is the bankruptcy?”

“At most, it is more than $10 billion. This amount of damage occurred even though the mortgage companies in the rankings had not yet gone bankrupt.”

President Park also seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation.

In the face of a huge economic crisis that was incomparable to the IT bubble, President Park could not even breathe properly.

“Take a deep breath. If you worry too much when the bubble hasn’t burst yet, you won’t be able to respond properly when it does.”

“Whoo, whoo! I’m sorry. Taewoo Securities has introduced a prediction system with the help of the Artificial Intelligence Center. However, the predictions for the subprime mortgage crisis are coming out in numbers that are beyond our imagination.”

The artificial intelligence created by Cheon Min-jeong was supported throughout the Taewoo Group.

In the case of Taewoo Securities, not only were stock chart corrections and stock price prediction algorithms supported, but they also received support for a system that could predict various situations.

“How did artificial intelligence predict this so that President Park, who has experienced all kinds of dogfights, is this nervous?”

“The minimum damage is $400 billion, and the maximum damage is over $4 trillion. That’s over 4,000 trillion won. This is a huge amount, equivalent to the annual budget of the United States. Honestly, it’s hard to believe in artificial intelligence’s predictions.”

I looked surprised at President Park’s words.

I already knew that the subprime mortgage crisis would cause $4 trillion in damage, but I was surprised that artificial intelligence accurately predicted the future.

“Do you have any other predictions?”

“There is a really absurd prediction. I calculated the probability of bankruptcy based on the default rate of investment companies that made a lot of subprime mortgage loans, and the company with the highest rate was Lehman Brothers. How did Lehman Brothers, one of the four largest banks in the United States, fare? Do you want to go bankrupt?”

What did Cheon Min-jeong make?

I knew that artificial intelligence was much better at performing complex calculations than humans, but I never thought it would even lead to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

“How did we get that result?”

“In fact, there is a high possibility that the prediction was not correct. The source of the initial input data was an unreliable organization.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s an organization called Moral Hazard, and it’s been around for less than a year. The predictions are made based on data from there, so the reliability is very low.”

I smiled awkwardly.

Somehow, no matter how excellent the artificial intelligence was, it was a very accurate prediction.

As for the data from the moral hazard organization, it was understandable that they made this prediction because it was data created with my involvement.

“How did you receive the information from the moral hazard organization?”

“One of the team leaders said he received it from his colleague on Wall Street. Since it was confidential, he told us to use it only at Taewoo Securities and never give it to other securities companies, but it is not helpful at all.”

I guess a team leader gave it to me.

It was information that everyone already knew, and because it was information that no one believed, it didn’t matter if it spread.

“I will vouch for the moral hazard organization. The data from it is more reliable than any data on Wall Street.”

“Really? Really? So you’re saying that the prediction that $4 trillion in damage will occur and even Lehman Brothers will collapse is correct?”

“There is a high possibility that that will happen. So Taewoo Securities needs to prepare thoroughly.”

President Park still had an expression of disbelief.

He knew that the subprime mortgage crisis was serious, but he could not believe that it would spread to this scale.

“Both the U.S. stock market and the Korean stock market are booming. In particular, in Korea, more than 46 trillion won has flowed into funds alone, and Taewoo Securities’ fund alone has about 15 trillion won.”

“The returns of most funds will be negative. Taewoo Securities Fund should not invest in strange places, but rather focus on IT companies. Just invest in Apple, Google, and Amazon.”

For a few years, it was a market where profits were made even if there were only negative points.

As other securities companies were recording negative profits, we were able to survive even if we just maintained our balance.

“I will keep this in mind. I will recover the funds invested elsewhere as quickly as possible and reinvest them mainly in the IT industry.”

“Please proceed that way.”

President Park left the vice president’s office as if half-crawling.

The head of the planning office must have been waiting for him to leave and rushed into the vice president’s office.

Since it was rare for someone to rush in like this, I had a feeling that something big had happened.

“Is there a problem?”

“I received a call from the U.S. Embassy. The U.S. Ambassador has requested a meeting.”

The US ambassador invited you?

There was no way they would just call me in this situation, and it looks like the White House has finally made a move.

It’s time to prepare for a business trip to the United States.