ICBWT 6

Chapter 6

Coin Cafe Meetup

Honestly, I used to think Saju, feng shui, and all those things were pure superstition. I viewed them as nothing more than the imagination of ancestors who lacked knowledge about natural phenomena at the time.

However, a miracle—not a superstition—was unfolding right before my eyes. It was reality, not a dream.

[Paypalcoin]

• Quantity Held: 28,588 FOC

• Average Purchase Price: 170 won

• Current Price: 190.4 won

• Evaluated Amount: 5,443,155 won

• Evaluated Profit/Loss: 583,155 won

• Yield Rate: +12%

The altcoin I switched to this morning had risen by 12%. Although the amount wasn’t huge, looking strictly at the yield rate, it was a massive figure. Furthermore, this was a consecutive profit right after eating an 80% gain with Ripole.

I had simply pressed the buy button following the golden light. It couldn’t be a coincidence. At first, I thought it was a recommendation system within the exchange, but it was confirmed that this golden light was invisible to other people’s eyes.

‘So this talisman was real.’

I thought to myself as I unfolded the talisman carefully folded inside my wallet. The old fortuneteller had said that this talisman contained the energy of Earth. Originally, I possessed a lot of wealth luck, but a stream of water had been blocking the path all this time. That stream of water had been covered with earth to secure the path for wealth luck once again.

“Assistant Manager Kang. What’s that? A talisman?”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind my back. I was startled by Assistant Manager Gwak Byung-goo, who had approached without making a sound.

“Ah, Assistant Manager Gwak.”

“That’s unexpected. You seemed like the type of person who wouldn’t believe in things like that.”

“Someone I know gave it to me as a gift. They said it brings good fortune for wealth.”

“Wealth fortune? If people got rich with something like that, everyone in the world would be rich.”

He was a rather cynical superior. Since I had held a similar mindset until recently, I didn’t particularly refute him.

“By the way, Assistant Manager Gwak, do you have work for me to do?”

“Organize and report the bond data to be used for the Q4 closing in advance. We suffered immensely during the last closing because there were so many omissions.”

Assistant Manager Gwak Byung-goo dropped a work bomb. It was a task requesting bond data from the Sales Team, a fairly annoying job that required nagging the employees. Employees often delayed submitting materials citing that they were busy and bothered, and extracting those from them was our Finance Team’s job. It was similar to being loan sharks, except we received data instead of money.

Given my timid personality, I used to get stressed out a lot when dealing with people, which was probably why I preferred to avoid this kind of work. Yet, for some reason, I didn’t particularly mind it this time. It seemed my mood was buoyant thanks to crypto.

“Yes. Understood, Assistant Manager!”

I nodded my head.

Time passed, and clocking-out time arrived. Before leaving, I checked my crypto once more and stepped out of the company with a light stride. Seeing office workers packed tightly from the entrance of the subway station, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Should I take a taxi?’

Taking a taxi from the office to my house would cost roughly 50,000 won. Unless it was really urgent, there was no reason to take a taxi on the commute. But today, of all days, I wanted to indulge in a luxury.

I opened my smartphone and checked my crypto once again.

[Paypalcoin]

• Quantity Held: 28,588 FOC

• Average Purchase Price: 170 won

• Current Price: 195 won

• Evaluated Amount: 5,574,660 won

• Evaluated Profit/Loss: 714,660 won

• Yield Rate: +14.71%

It had risen again in the meantime. Looking at the crypto gave me the courage to spend money.

Alright. Let’s go!

Sitting comfortably in the back seat of a taxi, I headed home. When getting off, I got off in an alleyway a little distance away from home. If I got off right in front of the house and bumped into my wife by chance, it would be disaster.

‘Where did that old man go?’

Just in case, I checked the place where I had met the fortuneteller. However, the old man was nowhere to be found, and only the quiet night air lingered on the street. What on earth was the identity of that old man?

“Oh. Long live crypto. Long, long live!”

When I opened my eyes in the morning and went into the bathroom, I couldn’t help but be astonished. Emptying my bladder that had filled up while sleeping, I was checking the exchange with my smartphone in my other hand.

[Paypalcoin]

• Quantity Held: 28,588 FOC

• Average Purchase Price: 170 won

• Current Price: 323 won

• Evaluated Amount: 9,233,924 won

• Evaluated Profit/Loss: 4,373,924 won

• Yield Rate: +90%

Without realizing it, I shouted out loud. Paypalcoin had surged while I was sleeping. Unlike the stock market, the crypto market operated 24 hours a day without rest, so you never knew when it might shoot up or down suddenly.

Just by sleeping, an amount equal to a monthly salary had entered. Along with joy, I felt a sense of clarity. Opening my eyes with difficulty in the morning, dragging my heavy body up, and preparing for work felt meaningless in front of crypto. I felt like I understood why people quit their jobs while doing crypto. If I earned just around 1 billion won, I’d coolly throw in my resignation letter and walk out too…

“Honey. I’m heading out.”

“Okay. Have a good day.”

I stepped out of the house indulge in pleasant imaginations. Just like yesterday evening when leaving work, I used a taxi for my commute as well. Recalling my wife who struggled to save 100 or 200 won at home made me feel sorry, but thinking about the money I would earn and bring her in the future, it wasn’t a waste at all.

I was able to go while enjoying the view outside the window from the back seat, cooled by the refreshing air conditioner breeze. Then, a curiosity arose as to why Paypalcoin’s price had risen.

I searched on my smartphone. The result:

‘There’s no good news?’

No matter how much I searched, no plausible good news was visible. If it had risen 90% in a single day, there should be a reason. Partnering with a famous company, or winning a government project. While stocks had things like that, in crypto, there were often surges where no reason could be found.

‘Crypto really is different.’

If it was a surge without a reason, it was clear that whales or big players were involved. Perhaps they were using the booming crypto atmosphere to lure in retail investors. Whatever the reason, the important thing was that my yield rate had exploded upward right now.

Paypalcoin, like Bitcoin, was based on blockchain and aimed to build a payment ecosystem to be widely used like currency. While searching for various information related to Paypalcoin, I accidentally stumbled upon an investor cafe.

‘Paypal Family’.

It was a place where people who built and supported the ecosystem of Paypalcoin gathered. As an owner of Paypalcoin myself, I joined.

— PaypalONLY: Where on earth is Paypalcoin going? This is insane. — PaypalPapa: Hope everyone here graduates with Paypalcoin… — MyDreamIsTenMillionaire: Verifying today’s profit. FIRE movement possible?

Due to the surge yesterday, the cafe was in a festival atmosphere. The profit verification board was filled with posts, and on the discussion board, everyone poured out opinions expecting further gains.

— WealthFortuneBurst: Hello. Greeting as a new member.

My nickname was ‘WealthFortuneBurst’. It was just a name I made up right as it popped into my head.

— PaypalPapa: Yes. Welcome~ A new Paypal family member has arrived. — ILovePaypal: Welcome. — GoodPay: Welcome!

Everyone is so nice. Since it was a bull market, everyone was overflowing with positive energy.

— Sender: PaypalLeader (Admin) — [If you are a new member, please read the summary post in the information board thoroughly. Paypalcoin is not merely a coin for speculation, but a project to build a global coin payment ecosystem.]

Just then, a private message arrived from the cafe administrator. A brief note regarding Paypalcoin was written in it.

Global currency? Paypalcoin?

It didn’t really make sense, but I let it be. As long as it filled my pocket, I was satisfied anyway.

• Reasons Why Paypalcoin Will Replace the US Dollar

• Expanded Mainnet Revealed. Is the US Government Officially Getting Involved Too?

• The Vision of Paypalcoin That Will Surpass Bitcoin

There was all kinds of information. Most of it was unverified information. As the price rose relentlessly, it seemed like philosophy that didn’t exist before was appearing.

In the meantime, the price of Paypalcoin rose again.

[Paypalcoin]

• Quantity Held: 28,588 FOC

• Average Purchase Price: 170 won

• Current Price: 340 won

• Evaluated Amount: 9,719,920 won

• Evaluated Profit/Loss: 4,859,920 won

• Yield Rate: +100%

In all my life, seeing a 100% yield rate while investing was unbelievable. Furthermore, it was a record-breaking number achieved in just two days. A bit of regret washed over me again. How great would it have been if my seed money were larger?

Just then, a post was uploaded to the announcements.

— PaypalLeader (Admin): There’s an offline meetup today. Anyone who wants to participate, please leave a private message to me.

It seemed these people actually met in person too. Come to think of it, a photo of an offline meetup was proudly hung on the cafe banner. Coincidentally, the meetup location was a meat restaurant near our company. Curiosity suddenly surged.

— WealthFortuneBurst: I’m a new member who joined today, can I participate too? — PaypalLeader (Admin): Of course. Anyone in the Paypalcoin Family can participate.

I had participated in gaming meetups during my school days, but something like this was a first.

After clocking out, I went to the meetup location, where many members were already gathered.

“WealthFortuneBurst-nim?”

“Yes. I’m WealthFortune. Nice to meet you for the first time.”

I felt like I had made up my nickname without thinking. Introducing myself as WealthFortune made me cringe, bringing out a bashful smile.

The admin of the cafe was a middle-aged man. From a gold necklace to a silver earring, he seemed like a person who knew how to dress up pretty confidently. He introduced himself as an early investor in Paypalcoin. He said he had been investing since the days when it was 10 won a piece.

The current price was 350 won. Strictly speaking, he had made a yield rate of 3,500%, but regrettably, the money he invested early on was only 1 million won.

Throughout the meal, he talked about the vision for Paypalcoin.

“You know that when we buy things and pay with cards or cash, fee goes into that, right? In the near future, all of that will be replaced by Paypalcoin, and payment fees will completely disappear. And card companies will all go bankrupt.”

“Once it becomes institutionalized, Paypalcoin will become a global universal currency. An era will come where wherever you go in any store around the world, you can buy things just by presenting Paypalcoin.”

Every time he spoke, the participants cheered and applauded. Beyond a simple investor meetup, it looked like watching a religious gathering. They were people who had fallen in love with Paypalcoin. To say it would soon become a currency that threatens the US dollar was so absurd that I almost let out a hollow laugh before holding it in.

Ah… these people aren’t crypto experts either.

I had come thinking I could hear useful stories regarding crypto, but they just seemed like people captivated by madness, looking only forward.

The meetup lasting about an hour ended. Those who wanted to go to a second round went, and those who wanted to end it here ended it. Since I had to go to work tomorrow, I decided to end it at the first round. Honestly, not knowing anyone made it awkward to stay continuously together as well.

“I’ll be heading out first.”

“Yes. WealthFortune-nim, please get home safely.”

The middle-aged admin was a kind man. Saying I was a new member, he even paid my membership fee for me, and when I left, he kindly shook my hand and told me to see each other again.

After saying goodbye to the members, I hailed a taxi. Sitting in the back seat, I checked my crypto out of habit.

‘Huh?’

Just then, my eyes widened. The golden light that was covering Paypalcoin had vanished. That wasn’t all. In its place, a red light was substituting for it.

Why did the color change?

Is it better? Or is it worse?

Since I wasn’t certain, I chose to cash out for now.

[Sold 28,588 FOC of Paypalcoin.]

And the next day, I informed the cafe members of the fact. Remaining in this cafe without holding any coins felt shameless for no reason.

— WealthFortuneBurst: I have cleared out all my Paypalcoin. └ Why? Did you urgently need money? It’s a shame to sell right now. └ No. Just had a bad feeling. It rose too much in the meantime. └ You call this rising a lot? Wow. Did you invest in Paypalcoin just to eat this little? Right now you should be eating at least 10,000% more from here. └ I’m a huge coward. I’ll stop here. └ How disappointing. Someone who even came to the meetup doing day-trading.

Bad comments poured in wildly. It felt like I shouldn’t have posted for no reason and just left quietly.

And as I was about to leave the cafe, a message window popped up.

[Member whose activity has been suspended.] [Admin: Get lost -_-]

The admin. He had a gentle image during the meetup, but not now. He treated me like a traitor. No, what was this coin anyway…

Precisely the day after I sold.

Paypalcoin, which had risen up to 350 won, dropped straight to 105 won. It had fallen by 70% compared to its peak. This happened overnight.

‘Did the red light mean a crash?’

If the golden light meant a surge, the red light was a crash. Thanks to the talisman, I barely survived.

By the way, what happened to the Paypal cafe?

Since I was banned, I couldn’t see the post contents, but I could snoop on the titles to see what kind of posts were uploaded. A different atmosphere from when I first saw it—everyone was pouring out despair.

Just then, a personal chat message came in to me.

— WealthFortune-nim? — Who is this? — It’s PaypalPapa whom you met at the meetup. — Ah! Hello.

I remembered. The man I had talked with in the seat next to me during the meetup. He was also a father of two children, and someone 10 years older than me.

— After reading the post WealthFortune-nim wrote, I sold everything too. — Is that so? That’s a relief. It crashed right the next day.

It seemed fathers communicated with each other. PaypalPapa said he sold everything after reading my post.

— By any chance, did you hear that news? — What news? — They say the Paypal cafe admin died yesterday. — Gasp. Died? — He ended his own life. It’s truly tragic. — WHAT???? Why? — He invested his entire fortune in futures. 50x Long on Paypalcoin.

Crypto investment allowed not only spot trading, but also leverage futures investment using margin. Taking a long position meant betting on a rise—even 50x. It was a high-risk investment method where even a 1% rise brought a 50% gain, but conversely, a 1% drop resulted in -50%.

— Crypto… this was scary stuff. — It’s the result of falling in love with a ticker.