Golden Spoon Investor

Chapter 565 565: CH566

WB Bank, Mapo Branch, Seoul.

Dding-dong.

When the bell rang and the number changed on the display, a man in his early thirties—who had rushed over during his lunch break—stood up from his seat and walked to the counter.

"Hello. How can I help you today?"

Lee Jungyeon, wearing a neatly pressed uniform and sporting a short bob haircut, greeted him with a friendly smile.

"I came because my savings account just matured."

"Of course. May I see your passbook and ID, please?"

"Here."

Woo Hyo-seop, dressed in a navy suit, pulled a savings passbook, his seal, and his ID from his inner pocket—items he had prepared in advance—and handed them to her.

After checking the account on her computer, Jungyeon smiled again.

"It reached full maturity as of yesterday. Including interest, the total comes to 12,356,500 won. What would you like to do with it?"

"I want to start a new savings plan. What are the interest rates these days?"

With an even friendlier tone, Jungyeon laid out several pamphlets and explained the available products.

"As you can see here on the pamphlet, a six-month plan gives you 6.8 percent, and a one-year plan gives you 7.3 percent. And if you join today, I can add a special bonus rate of about 0.5 percent."

Hyo-seop's face shifted to mild disappointment.

"That's not very high, is it?"

"Compared to last year, when rates were in the high eight percent range, it is lower. But interest rates have been falling steadily. If you don't sign up now, you may end up with an even lower rate next year."

"Hmm. I see."

Still looking unsatisfied, Hyo-seop flipped through the pamphlets, deep in thought.

Seeing this, Jungyeon gauged his mood and then cautiously made a suggestion.

"If you're looking for higher returns, how about a fund instead of a savings plan?"

"A fund? No way. Not interested."

Hyo-seop waved his hand sharply, making his dislike obvious.

"I once signed up for a 'Buy Korea' fund and ended up paying a mountain of fees. I didn't even earn interest— I lost part of my principal. I'm never touching a fund again."

"I understand. Many funds haven't performed well in recent years. But what I'm recommending is a special product. It's different from the typical funds you're thinking of."

"All funds are the same. Even if they say they're different, they're not."

Hyo-seop replied with an uninterested look.

He figured the bank must've given its employees a quota to push fund subscriptions, and he actually felt a bit sorry for Jungyeon.

"No matter what you say, I'm not signing up for a fun—"

"Have you heard of Chairman Park Seok-won?"

"…?"

The name sounded vaguely familiar, so Hyo-seop thought for a moment. Then his expression lit up.

"The man they say is the richest person in the world?"

"Yes, that's right. And our bank, WB Bank, is owned by him."

When Seok-won acquired WB Bank after Ilhan Bank and Hanseong Bank merged into a megabank, the news dominated headlines. So it didn't take long for Hyo-seop to recall.

Since then, major acquisitions like Daekwang Securities, Minguk Life, and—most recently—Hyunwoo Securities had kept him constantly in the news. At this point, almost everyone in the country knew who Park Seok-won was.

Jungyeon quickly took out a new pamphlet and presented it confidently.

"The product I'm recommending is the newly launched Park Seok-won Fund, available starting today."

The pamphlet featured Seok-won on the cover in a sharp, model-like suit. Seeing it, Hyo-seop's interest suddenly perked up.

"Oh."

Noticing how his previously cold expression vanished in an instant, Jungyeon smiled and continued speaking.

"As you can tell from the name, the Park Seok-won Fund is a blind fund that Chairman Park personally oversees."

"What exactly is a blind fund?"

"Simply put, it's not tied to a specific asset or sector. The fund manager can invest freely wherever they see opportunity."

"Uh… doesn't that sound risky?"

Hyo-seop hesitated, feeling uneasy.

He had already been burned badly by a fund once, and now he was being told to put money into something where he wouldn't even know what it was invested in. The idea that the management would handle everything made him nervous.

"I understand why you might feel that way. But remember—I mentioned earlier that Chairman Park Seok-won is directly involved in the fund's management."

"Right."

"That's why instead of restricting where the fund can invest, it's designed to give him full freedom to pursue the highest possible returns. That's the strength of this product."

In other words, this was the "Let the chairman handle everything" fund.

"Hmm… I see."

Seeing that Hyo-seop was still hesitant, Jungyeon leaned in a little and tried persuading him more assertively.

"You saw the news about the U.S. stock market crashing recently, right? While other billionaires lost a fortune, Chairman Park was the only one who sold everything before the crash and made a massive profit by shorting the market."

Her tone carried a certain pride, and Hyo-seop nodded.

"Oh, yeah. I saw that in the newspaper. It said he earned over ten billion dollars."

"Exactly! Having someone like that manage your investment is an incredibly rare opportunity. Once word gets out, this fund might sell out very quickly."

Lowering her voice just slightly, Jungyeon made it sound like missing this chance would mean never getting another.

And sure enough, the sense of urgency made Hyo-seop stare back down at the pamphlet.

The handsome, almost sculpted face smiling on the cover gave him a strange sense of trust.

"…Alright. I'll sign up for the fund."

"You made a great decision."

Beaming, Jungyeon immediately pulled out the subscription forms.

"Just so you know, the Park Seok-won Fund isn't a monthly installment plan. It's a lump-sum investment product."

"Then please put in the entire amount that matured."

"Yes, of course!"

From that point on, Hyo-seop signed everywhere Jungyeon pointed, checked every box that required his agreement, and before he knew it, everything was finished—from closing out his matured savings account to opening the new fund account.

"Thank you very much, sir!"

Jungyeon handed him a new passbook along with a shopping bag containing a complimentary gift.

"If you have any questions, please feel free to visit again anytime!"

"Ah—sure."

Carrying the shopping bag—which felt almost as heavy as the money he had just invested—Woo Hyo-seop walked out of the bank and stood still for a moment, smacking his lips in uncertainty.

"Hmm… did I do the right thing?"

He didn't have any big expenses coming up, but he still worried that he might have joined the fund too impulsively.

"Hope my wife doesn't scold me for this…"

The memory of losing principal on a fund not long ago made him even more uneasy.

Just then, a poster taped to the bank's glass front door caught his eye.

It featured Seok-won in a stylish luxury suit, smiling confidently. Below him, in bold letters, were the words:

May you all become wealthy.

Hyo-seop stared at the face as if drawn to it and then nodded firmly.

"Right. If anyone can be trusted, it's Chairman Park Seok-won. At the very least, I won't lose money like last time."

Thinking that the world's richest man would be managing his money gave him a strange sense of reassurance and trust.

And honestly, looking at that face, he wondered who wouldn't trust him.

Feeling much lighter after convincing himself, Woo Hyo-seop hurried back to his office.

That day, not only Hyo-seop but also many customers who visited WB Bank branches ended up signing up for the newly launched Park Seok-won Fund after being recommended the product.

***

That afternoon.

Outside the window, white snow drifted down, while inside the warm office, President Cha Sang-woo of Bluehole sat alone at his desk, reviewing the usual stack of approval documents filled with text and figures.

"Hm."

He nodded slightly in understanding and was just about to sign the approval line with his fountain pen when a sharp beep broke the silence.

Cha closed the document folder and pressed the intercom button.

"President, Executive Director Oh Jaekeun is here."

"Send him in."

"Yes, sir."

Moments later, the wooden office door swung open, and Oh Jaekeun—broad-framed and stout—stepped inside.

Normally, he would've knocked politely and entered calmly, but today his behavior was noticeably different.

Seeing the man's face flushed bright red—as if he had just come out of a sauna—Cha felt his expression stiffen. Something was clearly wrong.

"Did something happen? Why do you look like that?"

Breathing heavily and unable to contain himself, Oh Jaekeun strode up to the desk and shouted,

"It— It's sold out!"

"…What?"

Cha frowned at the abrupt, contextless outburst.

"Sold out? What are you talking about? Start from the beginning and explain."

Barely able to calm down, Oh Jaekeun's voice climbed even higher.

"The fund we launched today! WB Bank just contacted us. It sold out completely—before the day was even over!"

Cha's eyes widened almost to the point of splitting.

He rose halfway out of his chair, stunned, his mouth hanging open as he asked again to confirm what he'd heard.

"You don't mean the Park Seok-won Fund, do you?"

Executive Director Oh answered with a bright smile.

"Yes, sir. It's the only fund we launched today."

Cha Sang-woo blinked slowly, still looking dazed.

"Right… but as far as I know, the fund size was set at one trillion won. Did someone lower the amount without telling me?"

"There's no way that would happen without your approval, President."

"Then you're telling me it really reached the full amount? The entire one trillion won? And in less than a day?"

Cha stared at him as if asking whether that was even possible. Oh nodded firmly.

"It sounds unbelievable, but it's true. I double- and triple-checked because I thought it might be an error. But the full amount has definitely been filled."

"Wow…"

A deep note of amazement escaped Cha without him realising it.

He had expected it to take at least a month to reach the full subscription amount—yet it sold out in a single day. Shock mixed with exhilaration surged through him.

And honestly, even that one-month estimate had been generous, based on Chairman Park's reputation as the world's richest man and a titan of Wall Street.

Before this, the fastest-selling hit product had been the "Buy Korea" fund, which took fifty-four days to gather five trillion won.

Plus, the current market slump has made customers reluctant to buy funds at all. Internally, they had even worried the sales period might need to be extended.

But all that concern turned out to be meaningless. One trillion won filled in a single day—proof that their strategy had worked better than they ever imagined.

"As expected, putting the Chairman front and center was the right move!"

Cha clenched his fist, his face glowing with triumph.

"I expected it to do well, but I never imagined it would hit this big."

At Oh's comment, Cha burst into loud laughter.

"Come on, it's our Chairman we're talking about. Even those arrogant Wall Street guys fold in front of him. If it were me, I'd hand him my money too."

"Absolutely, sir. You're completely right."

Riding the momentum, Executive Director Oh added a layer of flattery.

"The Chairman is incredible, of course, but without you, President, we wouldn't have even thought of creating a fund like this."

"Haha. If I'd known it would sell like this, we could've set the target amount even higher."

"My thoughts exactly."

Wearing a satisfied smile, Cha Sang-woo looked at Oh Jaekeun and asked,

"The management fee coming in from the fund was around thirty billion won, right?"

"We have to pay portions to WB Bank, which handled sales, and to Eldorado Fund, which manages the portfolio. So what actually comes to us is a little over ten billion."

Because Chairman Seok-won directly oversaw the blind fund, the fee rate was higher than usual—three percent.

But with three companies involved—Eldorado Fund for management, Bluehole Securities as part of the structure, and WB Bank for sales—splitting the income was unavoidable.

Even so, the fact that the fund sold out so quickly made the results more than satisfying.

"Even ten billion is nothing to scoff at."

"Agreed."

Then something seemed to occur to Oh, and he spoke up.

"We signed a contract to run fund advertisements in major newspapers and TV for the next month… but at this point, I suppose we don't need them."

"That may be true, but we already paid the advertising fees. And if we cancel now, it might sour relations with the media. Let's just run them as planned."

"Understood."

Unable to hide his delight at the results far exceeding expectations, Cha murmured to himself in an excited tone,

"At this rate, we should hurry and prepare for Fund No. 2."