"I want to invest in Walmart."
At the student's remark, Gary Pink asked why.
"Whether you have a lot of money or not, you have to eat something to live."
"So, a supermarket is essential for eating?"
"Yes. As long as humanity exists, it seems like it won't go bankrupt."
"That's an interesting thought. Shall we check it out?"
Gary soon placed his hands on the keyboard.
Then, a screen appeared on the projector installed in the middle of the lecture hall.
Gary typed the word 'Walmart,' and shortly afterward, a complex graph emerged.
"This is Walmart's sales data over the past five years."
"Wow!"
An exclamation burst out from the students' mouths.
After all, it was a time when the internet wasn't yet widely available.
Seeing search results appear from an inputted keyword was a first for everyone.
"You can understand the financial situation of the U.S. by looking at Walmart's pricing policy. It's essentially an indicator of the U.S. economy."
This part was an explanation about Walmart.
Gary continued evaluating its investment value.
"In the long term, it's an excellent stock. But keep in mind that we only have 5,000 pounds."
Meaning, it's not suitable for immediate profits.
Was this an unexpected response?
From that moment, murmurs began to arise.
After all, they were only seventeen years old.
Rather than considering short-term returns, they probably just picked companies they liked.
As expected.
"Adidas."
"Bentley."
"I choose Louis Vuitton."
"I'm leaning towards Warner Music…"
Familiar names were blurted out, almost as if by agreement.
Each time, Gary tapped on the keyboard, deliberately displaying graphs that only he could understand on the screen.
And at the end, he always said,
"It's a stock that's hard to generate immediate profits."
He repeatedly provided similar feedback.
How many times had the same scene unfolded?
The once noisy lecture hall suddenly fell silent.
There was only one reason.
It was Tennessee Grosvenor's turn.
"Shall we hear about the stock you prepared?"
"…"
"Were you unable to prepare one?"
"No."
"Then why…?"
"Because it's a company I just learned about."
"Is it a name you're not used to?"
Tennessee nodded.
"You can take your time. If you have a prepared report, you can simply read it."
At Gary's encouragement, Tennessee took out a document.
It was after a long pause, as if it still felt awkward to him.
"…Nintendo."
"Oh, Nintendo?"
Tennessee didn't respond further.
He just kept his eyes on the document.
"What's your reason for choosing Nintendo?"
"I heard it's a company that creates content."
"To be precise, it's a game company."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. They made 'Super Mario.'"
"You recognized it immediately; it must be a promising company."
"Of course. It's a sensational company."
"…"
"Let me ask again. Why did you choose a game company?"
Tennessee hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"It wasn't specifically because it's a game company."
"Okay, content business. Why did you choose a content company?"
"Because I believe content is the new era's manufacturing industry."
"Oh."
Gary, intrigued by this claim, quickly placed his hands back on the keyboard.
"Let's first check the graph."
Then, information about Nintendo appeared on the screen.
"The sales have multiplied several times, yet the growth hasn't slowed down. This means it has limitless potential."
"Wow!"
Exclamations burst out from the surroundings immediately after.
"It's too early to be surprised."
He pointed to a phrase below the graph.
"This is a summary of an article that came out at the end of last year."
Then the screen moved to the next page, revealing a five-line paragraph.
"One of Nintendo's third-party partners achieved record-breaking sales. It seems that expansion packs are released every quarter. Moreover, when limited editions are released, long lines form in front of the stores."
Gary soon turned to Tennessee.
"Did you know this?"
"Not at all."
"If you had known this information beforehand, would you have invested in Nintendo or in this third-party company?"
"Definitely the third-party company."
"Why?"
"Because we only have 5,000 pounds."
"Exactly. Money is always limited. So, finding a good stock isn't enough—you have to dig, dig, and dig deeper to discover the most efficient one."
Who would've thought the story that began with Nintendo would end with 'DQ'?
"…"
Pretending not to know made me feel a bit strange.
I was actually planning to mention Nintendo, too.
'Hmm.'
Luckily, I still had quite some time left.
After running around since morning, I started feeling drowsy…
How long did the boring presentation continue?
Then, I heard words that made my sleepiness disappear instantly.
"If it were up to me, I'd invest in Ralph Warren."
A bold voice—it was Olivia.
"Why?"
"Because the CEO is a renowned workaholic."
"Sounds like it's not easy to meet your father, then?"
"Yes."
After a brief exchange of humor, Gary Pink typed 'Ralph Warren' into the search bar.
Then, the familiar graph appeared once again.
"Clothing is especially tricky to invest in. Each time a new product is released, you need to hire a lot of models and hold a fashion show. The marketing expenses are enormous, and since you also need stores to display the products, distribution costs add up."
Moreover, it's sensitive to trends and affected by the seasons, making inventory management challenging.
Come to think of it, I'm trying to enter a pretty tough business.
Indeed, Gary asked with a skeptical expression.
"Let me ask again. Do you still want to invest in the clothing business?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"As you said, if we can reduce marketing and distribution costs, it could be quite profitable."
"Is there a way to reduce those costs?"
At this point, Olivia glanced in my direction.
After all, marketing and distribution are JH Network's areas of expertise.
It makes sense that entering the fashion industry would be a natural step for me.
"Do you have a plan?"
She nodded.
"Alright. I'll look forward to it."
Shortly after…
"I'd naturally go all in on the defense industry…"
After Jack finished his presentation, it was finally my turn after a long wait.
"…"
I couldn't come up with a suitable stock.
After Olivia mentioned the fashion business, related thoughts kept lingering in my mind.
"Park Ji-hoon?"
Because of that, I had to come up with an impromptu answer.
"Did you not prepare anything?"
"No."
"Then?"
"I want to invest in a law firm."
"There are many law firms."
"Clifford Brookhouse."
"Oh."
Was it the first time a student mentioned a law firm?
Gary looked at me curiously.
"Do you have a reason for wanting to invest here?"
"Based on my experience, they're quite skilled."
"Have you been involved in some kind of legal dispute… Ah, the disciplinary committee?"
He awkwardly smiled and quickly typed on the keyboard.
"Alright. Let's check it first."
Soon, a large graph appeared.
Gary interpreted the graph with a serious expression, but I didn't pay attention at all.
Honestly!
Did I ever really intend to invest?
Since mentioning a name instantly pulled up information about a company, I thought I'd use this chance to gather information needed for my revenge.
Sure enough, several articles popped up on the bulletin board in the lower right corner.
'What's this?'
I searched for a law firm, so why are there so many articles about a random department store?
Just as a huge question mark formed in my mind—
Ding-ding-ding!
Music announcing the end of the class began to play.
Gary then reluctantly turned off the microphone.
Did he have more to say?
He turned to me and said, "See me for a moment before you go."
Even though he had been explaining everything to us, I had been daydreaming the whole time.
Am I about to get scolded?
"It won't take long."
While other teachers used the staff room, Gary Pink, like a professor, had a personal office.
'Hmm.'
Was this where he had set up the Bloomberg terminal?
The oak desk looked unusually empty.
"Have a seat."
Gary guided me to the guest sofa.
"You're not seriously thinking of investing, are you?"
"Excuse me?"
"In Clifford Brookhouse, I mean."
He smiled knowingly, as if he could see right through me.
I couldn't give an arbitrary answer, so I could only respond vaguely.
A moment later, Gary returned with coffee and said, "I heard your personal assets are considerable."
"…?"
"Don't be offended. I didn't dig into your background."
"Why would I be offended? It's no secret."
During the Royal School interview, I had listed my assets in detail on the application form.
As my homeroom teacher, he'd be aware of that much.
"You've made some aggressive investments, so it's unlikely you'd put your money into Clifford Brookhouse, right?"
"Well…"
Once again, I gave a vague response.
Then Gary seemed to check his wristwatch and subtly steered the conversation forward.
"As a full-time investor, it's probably hard for you to reveal all your plans in front of your peers, right? I understand that. So, let me ask this."
He wanted to know if I could share my thoughts with him, even if I couldn't with my classmates.
During that brief moment, my mind raced.
He's someone I'll be dealing with for a long time anyway.
And he's my homeroom teacher.
If I demonstrate my abilities, it could ensure long-term benefits.
The first thing I said was:
"5,000 pounds is a tricky amount."
"Compared to your usual investment scale, it's a very small sum, I suppose."
"About that senior you mentioned—the one who joined Bloomberg."
"Ah, yes."
"That senior achieved significant results, but in the end, it was only 200,000 pounds."
"The returns are high, but the absolute figure is still lacking?"
I nodded.
"Then, Ji-hoon, what kind of scale… that is, could you give me a rough estimate of your investment amount, even if it's not exact?"
"It depends on the case."
"That's true, but…"
"It's hard to provide an average. But if I take my most recent investment as an example…"
At that moment, a glimmer appeared in Gary's eyes, as if he was hearing exactly what he wanted to hear.
"I invested 10 billion KRW in a British engineer."
"10 billion KRW, you say?"
"Roughly around 6 million pounds."
"Six… 6 million pounds?"
"Yes."
"But how could you invest that much in an engineer?"
Well, it's because he's someone who vacuums up money like a vacuum cleaner.
But Gary, of course, couldn't understand my thoughts.
"…!"
He could only look at me with astonishment.