A few days later.
Seok-won was touring an electronics factory in Bupyeong Industrial Complex, Incheon, accompanied by his executive assistant Han Ji-sung, and guided by Ahn Byung-seok, CEO of Digital Wave.
"This is the factory where we signed the OEM production contract for New Wave," said Seok-won as he looked around, the loud hum of machinery filling the air.
"It's larger than I expected," he remarked.
"We needed a facility with solid infrastructure to handle stable production of 300,000 units. Even if the unit cost is a bit higher, this was the better choice," Ahn replied.
"It's not a one-off deal—we'll be continuing sales in the future. So quality is critical. You made the right call."
Then, something occurred to Seok-won, and he turned to Ahn Byung-seok.
"By the way, I heard you secured a supply of 64MB memory chips from Saseong Electronics at a price much lower than originally quoted?"
Receiving his gaze, Ahn smiled with a glint in his eye.
"Originally, Saseong asked for $55 per chip, but we negotiated it down to $38."
"You cut the price by over 30%. They just agreed to that?"
Ahn replied with a proud grin.
"Of course not at first. They said there was no way they could lower the price. But once we mentioned the 300,000-unit order, they said they'd reconsider."
Bulk orders giving leverage for price negotiation—it was the same everywhere.
"After a bit of back and forth, we got them down to $45 per chip. But then, just as we were about to finalize the contract, Japanese memory companies like NEC slashed their DRAM prices. That dragged down the market price of flash memory as well."
At that time, Japan's semiconductor industry hadn't yet collapsed. Fierce price wars were still ongoing, with Japan aggressively lowering production costs in a survival battle against rising Korean and Taiwanese chip makers.
"So we paused the contract and reopened negotiations. In the end, we finalized the deal at $38 per chip—that's ₩33,934 in Korean won," Ahn said, clearly pleased with the result.
It exceeded expectations, and Seok-won smiled, nodding.
"That's impressive."
"Ordinarily, we'd have had no choice but to accept Saseong's price. But thanks to your decision to increase production volume and pay ₩10 billion in advance, we were able to stand our ground during negotiations."
Being able to stare down Saseong Electronics rather than bow was deeply satisfying for Ahn.
Then he clicked his tongue.
"Still, it's a shame the exchange rate rose from ₩880 to ₩893 during that time. We could've pushed the price even lower."
Seok-won gave a shrug.
"That's just how things go. More importantly, you made sure the contract clearly states payment will be in won, not dollars, right?"
"Of course. Just as you emphasized multiple times, we've finalized the supply of 300,000 units at a fixed price of ₩33,934."
"Well done."
From now on, the exchange rate was expected to skyrocket. If the deal had been based on U.S. dollars rather than Korean won, all their efforts to negotiate down the unit price might have ended up meaningless.
'No—there's a good chance it could've cost even more,' Seok-won thought.
But since payment was made in won, they could earn foreign exchange gains twice—once when receiving export proceeds, and again when paying out in won.
"Anyway, thanks to the drop in flash memory prices, we've been able to lower the production cost to ₩170,000—far below our original estimate."
That was nearly half of the ₩300,000 they'd initially projected.
Internally pleased, Seok-won said:
"That means we've not only packed in innovative features, but also gained a strong price advantage over existing Walkman devices. That's excellent news."
Ahn Byung-seok, visibly encouraged, gave credit back:
"It's all thanks to you, sir, for increasing the order volume so significantly."
"Not at all. It's the result of your effort and the hard work of everyone at Digital Wave who fought to lower the unit cost."
"President…" Ahn looked at him, deeply moved.
Overwhelmed by the respect in Ahn's eyes, Seok-won gave a small cough and casually shifted the topic.
"By the way, I was told we've secured a contract to supply 300,000 MP3 players to Best Buy, one of the major U.S. electronics retailers?"
Ahn nodded, still glowing with excitement.
"Yes. I heard the news yesterday, and I can't tell you how surprised and thrilled I was. It still feels like a dream that our product will be on the shelves of Best Buy—a retailer known to be incredibly selective even in the U.S."
Yoon Nam-ho, the manager standing nearby, wore the same expression.
After all, even top-tier Korean electronics giants like Saseong, TG, and Daekwang Electronics struggled to get into Best Buy. So their excitement was understandable.
Naturally, this deal would have been impossible without the influence of Seok-won, a major player on Wall Street, and the Eldorado Fund backing him.
But Seok-won didn't show any trace of that. Instead, he said:
"You probably also heard that we received a 20% advance payment along with the contract."
"Yes."
Usually, the contract deposit was only 10%, but even that was a sign of Best Buy's goodwill—directed at Seok-won.
"As clearly stated in the contract copy we shared, we've agreed to supply the MP3 players to Best Buy at $224 each."
There were no secrets—Seok-won had shown them the entire contract, explained every term before signing, and sought Digital Wave's agreement in advance. That only deepened Ahn's trust in him.
"After accounting for transportation and other costs, the net profit per unit is $22. So from the deposit alone, the total profit is $6.6 million. Since we agreed to split the profit 50-50, that's $3.3 million going to Digital Wave."
Seok-won turned to Ji-sung and asked:
"What's the exchange rate today?"
"893.7 won."
"Let's round that to 893 won. That would be approximately 2.9469 billion won."
Turning his gaze back to President Ahn Byung-seok, Seok-won continued.
"Would you prefer it converted to won for convenience, or since the exchange rate keeps climbing these days, should I just transfer the amount in dollars?"
"Pardon?"
Ahn's eyes widened.
"You mean, instead of deducting it from the 10 billion won you advanced us, you're actually settling the profit separately?"
"Of course, we'll still deduct it from the advanced payment eventually—but this is your first delivery. Wouldn't it be disappointing not to receive anything at all? That's why I'm splitting the contract deposit just as we agreed."
Seok-won gave Ahn, who was staring at him in disbelief, a warm smile.
"Besides, you'll need liquidity to ensure smooth production going forward."
"President! Thank you—truly, thank you!"
Ahn was so moved by the unexpected consideration that he bowed repeatedly.
Yoon Nam-ho, watching quietly, found himself admiring Seok-won even more. He was around the same age, yet despite being a third-generation chaebol heir, he didn't act arrogant or entitled in the slightest. He thought to himself, "This guy really is something else."
"Actually, I was planning to use the letter of credit from Best Buy to take out a loan for our production needs. But if you're really settling nearly 3 billion won right away, that won't be necessary anymore."
Though he hadn't shown it, Ahn had been feeling a heavy financial burden—now lifted, his face lit up with relief.
"Perfect timing, then. I'll notify our finance department to have the funds transferred tomorrow."
"Thank you very much."
As Seok-won continued walking, he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, and because the Best Buy order came in higher than expected, we'll need to ship the full 300,000 units to them. So we'll also need about 50,000 additional units for the domestic market."
"No problem at all. Selling the product is the hard part—not producing it. Just leave it to us."
"Still, you know we can't let quality slip just because we're rushing production, right?"
"Even if it means I have to report to the factory myself instead of the office, I'll make sure not a single defective unit goes out. You have my word."
Ahn pounded his chest confidently.
"Alright. I'm counting on you, President Ahn."
"Yes, sir!"
With that enthusiastic reply ringing in his ears, Seok-won continued the factory tour with the rest of the group.
***
Wall Street, New York
Wearing a silk Gucci tie to work, Landon smiled as he looked at the Dow futures chart displayed above his monitor.
[6,881.33 (▼33.17)]
A flood of sell-offs, combined with margin calls for investors and hedge funds that had used leverage to buy stocks, caused the Dow to finally break below the psychological threshold of 7,000 points.
"Still, judging by how the decline is gradually narrowing, it seems the panic is starting to settle."
Indeed, movements suggesting this drop was a buying opportunity were slowly increasing.
Leaning back in his plush chair, Landon muttered to himself:
"To think he predicted not just the market crash, but also that the panic wouldn't last long—no matter how many times I see it, it's just amazing."
Just then, the keyphone on the side of his desk rang, and Landon picked up the receiver.
"Hello."
[We've just finished liquidating all the futures positions.]
It was Andrew, recently promoted to CIO. Landon, having been waiting for this update, smiled brightly.
"Good work. Let me know once the profit calculations are finished."
[Will do.]
With that, Andrew ended the brief call.
Putting the receiver down, Landon rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"I can't wait to see how much we made from this bet."
At that moment, Cassie, his red-haired secretary, knocked and stepped in, placing a thin folder on his desk.
"What's this?"
"A report on South Korea's foreign reserves, prepared by a Goldman Sachs analyst today."
Landon remembered he had instructed Cassie to collect all reports and information related to South Korea—Seok-won's home country—and he nodded.
"I see. Thanks."
"Anything else you need?"
"No, you can go."
"Alright."
Once Cassie exited the office, Landon picked up the report and began reading through it casually.
[…For these reasons, it is expected that South Korea, with foreign exchange reserves below the optimal level, is likely to request assistance from the IMF in the near future—similar to Thailand or Indonesia. If that happens, the won-to-dollar exchange rate is projected to surge to 1,150 within two months and possibly 1,300 within a year. Furthermore…]
"Hmm…"
Landon frowned as he read the Goldman Sachs report that bluntly predicted South Korea would soon face a currency crisis—just like Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian nations, which were already experiencing major turmoil.
"If Goldman Sachs is the one releasing this kind of report, then by now every investment bank and hedge fund on Wall Street has probably read it."
With a serious expression, Landon tapped his fingers on the desk, collecting his thoughts.
Then he raised his wrist to check the time and muttered to himself,
"It must be the middle of the night in Korea right now. Probably not the best time to call."
Landon pressed the intercom button to summon Cassie.
"Cassie, can you come in for a moment?"
As Cassie entered the room and approached his desk, Landon handed her the report he was holding.
"Fax this to the boss immediately."