Chapter 344: Chapter 344

“Did you mean to say that you want to learn about the arena? Or do you want to work on your fighting power? Oh, or did you say ‘bullfighting’?”

“No, I said I want you to teach me how to invest...”

“Oh...”

Choi Yeonseung sighed as he realized that he had heard it correctly the first time. Why would a noble angel like Adaquaniel stoop to Earth’s filthy gambling schemes...? Had the goddess of balance ordered her to do so?

‘Isn’t the goddess of balance too much?’

-I actually think that you’re too much, Successor.

The goddess of sloth muttered that Choi Yeonseung was making too much of a fuss. The goddess of balance would’ve cried if she had heard this conversation. In all honesty, given how the mortal she cared about was talking behind her back like this with her subordinate, not caring about her at all, it would be justified for her to tear them both apart...

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that it understands.’]

The cat constellation nodded. Even though the constellations on Earth coveted humanity’s souls, they didn’t even try to understand humanity because they were too arrogant and haughty.

However, the attempts of the explosion constellation, but of others as well, to understand humanity had shown significant results, which proved that it was essential to understand humanity in order to properly deal with it.

The concept of capital was the key to understanding the highly complex human society. The cat constellation didn’t fully understand it, but the powerful heroes of Earth basically risked their lives for pieces of paper, so this capital thing had to be important.

As such, it was clear that the goddess of balance was also trying to increase her power.

“That’s right. My master said that a different type of power is needed in order to overpower the other constellations.”

Other constellations used the wealthy members of their household when necessary, but they didn’t try to raise money themselves. They were underestimating the power of money.

Meanwhile, the goddess of balance was different. She was going to get her hands on money and control humans!

“Indeed... Did you come up with this plan, Adaquaniel?”

“No, Master thought of it.”

“...But I’m sure you’ve contributed a lot with your input.”

“No...”

-Yes, you are definitely too much, Successor.

The goddess of sloth was convinced.

***

“Aine Lawrence, you are the goddess of investment!”

“It’s not a big deal. I was just lucky.”

“Please give me guidance from now on!”

Following the Guangzhou incident, Aine had received a lot of calls from investors bursting into tears as they expressed their gratitude to her. They had also listened to her advice and prepared for the aftermath of the crisis.

Investors who worked for the affiliates of Dragon Industry were astonished and asked her, “How did you know?’

The companies also apologized for ignoring Aine’s advice and leaving their employees trapped in Guangzhou.

“We’re really sorry. Please don’t tell the media...”

“I want to move on as well, but Hunter Choi Yeonseung is extremely angry right now. The atmosphere is so tense that no one dares to go into his office.”

“Please...! Aine, you can persuade him!”

Even though Choi Yeonseung had managed to escort the hostages, the fallout had just begun. Evidently, those who had been forced to stay in Guangzhou wouldn’t let this go.

-There was an evacuation order but those above told us not to evacuate!

-The branch manager told me to not move from there under any circumstances...

-We all could’ve died if it hadn’t been for Hunter Choi Yeonseung!

[US Senate to announce a bill that will punish those who deliberately give advantages to the enemy?]

[Companies in a precarious situation... How far does their responsibility go?]

[On-site employees, corporate complaints...]

Naturally, those companies were trying their best to salvage their reputations and escape the controversy.

The companies whose employees were angry and sued them had already been deemed guilty. However, the companies that hadn’t been sued yet but had stabbed themselves in the foot by being money-hungry were the issue.

Those companies were still off the radar, but if Choi Yeonseung publicly stated they had ignored his evacuation order, those companies could end up buried in controversy and lawsuits.

Naturally, they tried to contact Choi Yeonseung to make sure he kept his mouth shut, but it was Aine who was in charge of it.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is really really angry. He feels betrayed and wonders how people who do international business could do something like this...”

“The people working in the field acted on their own! Please believe me!”

Aine hung up after a long pause.

Choi Yeonseung asked in a puzzled manner, “Am I angry?”

“Make sure you look angry when we meet with those corporate guys later.”

Even if Choi Yeonseung wasn’t angry, it was better to have those companies think he was. After all, they hadn’t listened to his kind advice, so now they would face his anger!

“So... You want to learn how to invest?”

Aine looked at Choi Yeonseung with a look of excitement. She was genuinely happy when she saw the message from him saying that he wanted to learn a bit about investing.

It was clear that Choi Yeonseung was finally thinking of properly taking over Dragon Industry. If that was truly the case, it was Aine’s job to help him to the best of her abilities.

Aine mobilized her employees to create various investment portfolios and analyze data. Then she came over with great enthusiasm.

“Right, so this is Adaquaniel, an angel serving the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead.”

“I appreciate your willingness to teach me.”

“...????”

***

Aine nodded emphatically as she listened to the explanation. It was absurd that a constellation’s household member wanted to learn to invest directly, but she was more disappointed than surprised.

“So that’s what you meant...” muttered Aine.

“Is there a problem?” replied Choi Yeonseung.

“No... I just hope that you’ll be willing to learn as well.” Aine still didn’t give up hope.

“Me? I think it would be a waste of time for someone as clueless as me to try investing...”

“No, it’s actually dangerous to not know anything about these things. In addition, investing is only risky if you do it in a risky manner. Someone like you should know this. It will help you with making plans later. You can’t leave it all to me.”

‘She’ll get mad if I tell her that that’s what I was planning.’

Choi Yeonseung could always read his niece like an open book, so he just nodded for now.

“In addition, you sometimes have a better opinion of something from an outside, non-expert perspective.

“What nonsense are you saying...?”

“It’s true!”

Aine felt frustrated when Choi Yeonseung took it as a joke. That was actually true. Investing was an area where prices went up and down with all types of uncertain rumors and ridiculous events!

“Aine, you’re saying this because you’re a good person.”

“She is truly good,” Adaquaniel agreed.

“...Both of you, be quiet. Now, let me start with a quick explanation. The staff members outside right now are the employees of the family office I’m in charge of.”

“Oh...”

“Um...”

“If both of you don’t know what that means, just ask.”

Choi Yeonseung and Adaquaniel were lost for words. How did she know?

“To put it simply, a family office is a company that directly manages an individual’s assets without receiving money from outside investors.”

Hunters who made astronomical fortunes in the raids or families who had built up new wealth... Those people were swimming in money, and because they didn’t want to bother running the company while receiving external investment and reporting to the committee, they made a family office.

Being able to manage their own assets gave them a high degree of freedom and enormous power.

“No... Is there such a thing? Is there a hunter who does something like that?”

“Dragon Hwang did it right away...”

“...Ah, I see.”

Instead of feeling admiration toward Hwang Gyeongryong, Choi Yeonseung felt embarrassed.

Dragon Industry was composed of several companies, some of which were in the red. It was especially the case because the raid industry was a market with many undeveloped technologies. No matter how much they invested, there would be nothing left if they failed.

However, if a company was ruthlessly dismantled because it was running at a deficit, it could never develop new technologies or new magic.

They had to do it at a loss to some extent!

“...It’s these financial companies that help support those companies. Dragon Fund Management is one of the companies that I manage myself.”

“I see.”

“It’s all investment, but these financial companies all make money in different ways. They can make money through aggressive trading, day trading, derivatives...”

“...”

“...”

The moment Choi Yeonseung and Adaquaniel’s expressions darkened, Aine quickly rephrased her explanation.

“It might sound difficult, but it's all about the basics. Think of it in a more simplistic way. If you buy for a low price and sell for a high price, there will be a profit, right? If there’s a company with good technology that is struggling with money because it isn’t famous yet, investing in it in advance will be of great benefit in the future.”

“I see.”

“Makes sense.”

“Now, let me explain by using the Guangzhou incident as an example. What did I do after hearing about Guangzhou from you?”

Aine pointed things out one by one.

“Places like Guangzhou have a very developed raid industry. There are a lot of clans and companies in places like that. More importantly, there are many factories that extract energy from monster cores...”

Monster cores.

For humanity, monsters had been an unprecedented disaster, but at the same time, they were also an opportunity for success.

At some point, it was discovered that monster cores, which contained a large amount of concentrated magic power, could be used to produce large amounts of energy. It was unlike anyone had ever seen before.

This method of producing energy was so efficient that people no longer cared about conventional oil and nuclear power!

However, a monster core couldn’t power up things like an ordinary power generator. It had to be extracted at a specialized factory, and depending on how the extraction was conducted, the energy efficiency percentage varied.

The hunters didn’t know it, but companies risked their lives to improve the efficiency percentage even by a few decimals.

“If Guangzhou is shut down, energy won’t be extracted, right? Then there will be an energy shortage and an upheaval. Therefore, some companies that have factories over there have quickly sold their stocks, planning to buy them back later for dirt cheap.”

“I see.”

“I get it.”

“It’s not just about energy. In China, labor costs are cheaper, so there are many factories there. The same goes for electronics... If you anticipate all of this and cash it out, you can avoid stock crashes in situations like this.”

Aine showed them a picture of a graph that curved downward. Even those who didn’t know much about this field would get chills!

“So people are not exaggerating when saying that one raid gone wrong can bury investors.”

Adaquaniel listened attentively while taking notes.

Aine suddenly stopped explaining and looked at Choi Yeonseung with a worried look. She whispered, “By the way, is this okay?”

“Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Well... When I invest, I’m not doing it directly by myself. Experts are sharing and handling various things together. But isn’t that angel trying to do it all by herself? I think it’s risky.”

“Won’t it be okay?”

Choi Yeonseung didn’t worry too much. He would’ve stopped Adaquaniel if she had been an ordinary mortal or an orc. However, she was an angel, and more than that, she was the household member of the constellation who possessed one of the most unique powers in the Abyss: the power to see into the future.

Adaquaniel was deep in thought as she was looking at her notes. Then her eyes suddenly widened and she said, “I’ve decided on the stock I want to buy first.”

“Ah... What is it?”

“I’m thinking of buying shares of Hanseong Electronics.”

“???”

Aine was taken aback by the angel’s words and made sure that she hadn’t misheard it. Hanseong Group was one of South Korea’s chaebol groups!

Hanseong Group was among the most powerful groups in South Korea, but Hanseong Electronics wasn’t a particularly competitive company on an international scale. In order to survive in the global market, where many companies strove to achieve the most impressive technological breakthroughs, Hanseong Electronics needed really powerful technology.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s worth investing in the long term, and it also doesn’t look like there’s going to be a price surge in their stocks ... Can I ask why you want to invest in them?”

“Yes, I have based my judgment on the following facts...”

Adaquaniel explained her reasoning with determination. Her attitude was so solemn that it seemed like she managed to slightly convince Aine of her idea.

“First of all, there’s the issue of Hunter Choi Yeonseung’s S-grade promotion.”

“I... I see...?”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is close to Hunter Han Seha.”

“I see...?”

“Hunter Han Seha is from Hanseong Group, so there is a possibility that the value of the Hanseong Electronics will rise temporarily due to their connection.”

Choi Yeonseung listened to this and found it absurd.

“...Adaquaniel, I respect your wishes, but...”

“It’s plausible...!”

“What? Is it plausible?”