Nissan Headquarters, Yokohama, Japan
Yamamoto Daito, Executive Director of Finance, rushed down to the finance department after receiving an urgent call.
As soon as he laid eyes on the electronic display mounted on the wall, his entire body stiffened.
[USD/JPY: 100.17 +1.06]
The dreaded 100-yen threshold had crumbled far too easily.
His vision blurred for a moment as the full weight of the situation hit him.
Then, as if rejecting reality itself, his face flushed red with fury, and he erupted in a furious roar.
"What the hell happened?!"
The sheer intensity of his anger sent a wave of unease through the office. Employees held their breath, desperately avoiding eye contact, fearing they might get caught in the crossfire.
Among them, Kakuda, the department manager, had no choice but to step forward. Wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, he hesitantly responded.
"A sudden surge of yen sell-offs pushed the dollar-yen exchange rate past 100."
"Damn it, this is a nightmare!"
Yamamoto stomped his foot in frustration, causing Kakuda to flinch involuntarily.
Trriiing!
Just then, the loud ringing of the telephone sliced through the tense air.
A female employee in a brown uniform hurriedly picked up the receiver.
"This is Sakoda from Nissan Finance."
Listening intently to the voice on the other end, she nodded with a visibly tense expression.
"Ah… Yes. Understood."
She then covered the mouthpiece with her hand and cautiously turned toward Yamamoto.
"S-Sir…"
"What now?!"
Already at his breaking point, Yamamoto snapped as he whirled around, his sharp glare making her shrink back.
"It's… it's Manager Moriyama on the line. What should I do?"
"Moriyama?! Give it to me!"
Snatching the receiver from her hand, Yamamoto pressed it to his ear.
"It's me. What happened with the contract termination?"
The exchange rate had breached 100 yen, but as long as the contract had been canceled in time, there was still a way out.
If Moriyama had managed to annul the deal, everything would be fine.
Yamamoto could avoid the wrath of the top executives.
No—he might even be praised for handling the crisis so deftly.
But the voice that came through the receiver was heavy with despair.
"I… I couldn't terminate the contract."
Yamamoto's face twisted with horror as his last shred of hope shattered.
There was no escaping it now—the knock-in option had been triggered.
The company was about to suffer an enormous foreign exchange loss.
He clenched his teeth, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Son of a bitch…"
Yamamoto clenched the receiver tightly, his fury exploding in a roar.
"I told you to do whatever it takes to cancel that damn option contract! What the hell were you doing?!"
A torrent of expletives poured from his mouth—insults so vicious they bordered on verbal abuse.
"You're utterly useless! If this company goes under, it's all on you!"
Moriyama sat in stunned silence, his face stiff with disbelief.
For months, he had warned Yamamoto about the yen's rapid depreciation, urging him to cut their losses and liquidate the contract with Eldorado Fund before it was too late.
But Yamamoto had brushed off his concerns every single time, dismissing them with arrogant confidence.
And now that disaster had struck, he was lashing out, looking for someone else to blame.
Beneath his growing frustration, Moriyama felt something deeper—betrayal.
His voice hardened as he spoke.
"We had made significant progress in negotiations, even discussing the penalty fees, but the exchange rate crossed 100 yen in the middle of talks, rendering everything meaningless."
"You should have canceled the contract sooner!"
Yamamoto bellowed again, his voice thick with rage.
But this time, Moriyama snapped.
"Had we acted decisively instead of hesitating, we could have minimized the damage!"
"What?! Are you saying this is my fault?!"
Yes. Yes, it is.
Moriyama wanted nothing more than to scream those words, but he knew that doing so would be the end of his career.
Grinding his teeth, he swallowed his frustration and forced out a reluctant apology.
"…I'm sorry."
But Yamamoto's expression remained cold and unforgiving.
"Get back to the office. Now."
Without waiting for a response, he slammed the receiver down so hard it was a wonder it didn't shatter.
"Useless idiot."
He seethed, grinding his teeth in fury.
He had sent Moriyama all the way to Eldorado Fund, expecting him to resolve the matter. And yet, he came back empty-handed? Unbelievable.
The entire finance department held its breath, employees stealing nervous glances at one another, too afraid to move.
Then, breaking the suffocating silence, a young woman with a neat bob haircut hesitantly stepped into the office.
Clearly intimidated by the thick tension in the room, she fidgeted slightly before approaching Yamamoto with cautious steps.
"Executive Director Yamamoto…"
"What?!"
Yamamoto snapped his head toward her, his glare sharp as a knife.
Startled, she instinctively clasped her hands together in front of her, her voice trembling.
"T-the president is asking for you. Urgently."
Yamamoto flinched, furrowing his brows.
"Right now. The president wants to see you immediately."
There was no need to ask why.
It was obvious—he had seen the dollar-yen exchange rate break past 100 yen and was summoning him to answer for it.
Yamamoto's face twisted in frustration.
"Damn it!"
That day, as the exchange rate soared past 100 yen, not only Nissan but numerous Japanese corporations that had signed option contracts with Eldorado Fund were thrown into chaos, scrambling to hold emergency meetings.
***
Hannam-dong, Seoul.
The crisp autumn air carried a chill, and the maple trees lining the garden wall had turned a brilliant red.
Dressed in casual slacks and a light cashmere cardigan, Seok-won sat at a parasol-covered garden table, bathed in the warm glow of outdoor lamps.
A mother cat lay curled up on his lap as he idly stroked her fur, listening to Landon on the other end of the line from New York.
[The phones at our Japan branch were ringing off the hook today.]
A faint smile played on Seok-won's lips.
"Well, with the dollar-yen rate crashing through 100 yen and triggering knock-in options, it's hardly surprising."
Landon chuckled.
[Exactly. They were so sure it would never happen within the contract period. Now, they must be in full-blown panic mode.]
Normally, a weaker yen would be a boon for Japanese exporters, boosting their competitiveness in global markets.
However, because of the unexpected option contracts, the companies had trapped themselves in a financial pitfall—losing out on foreign exchange gains and, worse, facing additional losses on top of that.
"The lower the yen drops, the more their losses will snowball. Their heads must be spinning right now."
[No doubt about it.]
The mother cat, thoroughly enjoying Seok-won's gentle strokes, let out a deep purr and rolled onto her back, exposing her belly in satisfaction.
"Meow."
Seeing her demand more attention, Seok-won let out a small chuckle.
"How are the Japanese companies reacting?"
[For now, they're still floundering, unsure of their next move. According to Branch Chief Porter, they're planning to wait and see for a while since there are still a few months left on the contracts.]
Seok-won smirked knowingly.
"So they're hoping the yen will recover before they convert their dollars—trying to minimize their losses."
Under the contract terms, the moment the exchange rate exceeded 100 yen per dollar, the companies were locked into converting four times the agreed amount at the pre-set rate of 90 yen per dollar.
However, there was no strict deadline—they simply had to complete the exchange before the contract expired.
[Exactly. The timing of the conversion will make a huge difference in their final losses, so they're bound to hesitate.]
Nissan alone had an option contract worth $500 million.
With the knock-in condition met, they were now obligated to convert four times that amount—$2 billion—at the fixed rate of 90 yen per dollar.
Their only hope of cutting losses was to wait for a favorable rebound in the yen before making the exchange.
"Meowww."
The mother cat stretched out lazily on Seok-won's lap, yawning widely.
As he gently stroked her pointed ears and soft fur, he spoke to Landon over the phone.
"They might think they're being clever, but the longer they wait, the more they'll regret it."
[Are you saying the yen will drop even further?]
"Like I told you before, this depreciation isn't happening naturally—it's being orchestrated by the U.S. and Japanese governments to align with their mutual interests. Two global powers are deliberately shifting the market, so there's no way they'll settle for such a mild exchange rate adjustment."
Seok-won adjusted the phone in his hand and continued.
"Remember how stable the dollar-yen exchange rate was in the high 90s before George Soros's Quantum Fund started attacking the yen? This is just the market returning to its original trajectory."
[Now that you mention it, that does make a lot of sense.]
"With the Plaza Accord effectively reversed, they're bound to push the exchange rate much lower."
Landon's voice took on a more cautious tone.
[How low do you think the yen will fall?]
Seok-won briefly sifted through his past analyses.
"In the long run, it'll drop much further. But in the short term, I'd say we could see it hit 110 yen per dollar."
[If that happens, the losses for companies with option contracts will snowball out of control.]
"Exactly. They're walking straight into a deeper pit."
Seok-won shrugged nonchalantly.
"But the deeper they sink, the bigger our forex gains. No downside for us."
[Increased profits are great, but... if the losses become too severe, I'm worried the Japanese government might step in to intervene.]
At the moment, each company had signed contracts individually, meaning that outside of Eldorado Fund, no one knew exactly how many corporations were involved or the total exposure.
However, if the losses ballooned and the media started reporting on major companies like Nissan suffering massive forex losses, the Japanese government could very well decide to intervene.
That could shrink their profits or create a host of complications, but Seok-won didn't seem the least bit concerned.
"Is there anything in the contract that the Japanese government could use against us?"
[Unless they resort to outright baseless claims, there's nothing legally problematic. You specifically instructed us to be meticulous, so we had two top law firms scrutinize the contracts. There's no need to worry.]
"Then there's nothing to be concerned about. Besides, even if the Japanese government tries to pressure us, Eldorado Fund is based in the U.S.—they won't dare act recklessly."
Money from all over the world flowed into Wall Street, but that wasn't the only reason Seok-won had deliberately set up the fund in America.
Leveraging the backing of the world's most dominant superpower had always been part of his strategy.
'If Eldorado Fund had been based in Korea instead of the U.S., the Japanese government wouldn't hesitate to step in to protect their corporations.'
And this wasn't just about Japan.
Wherever Seok-won and Eldorado Fund chose to do business, the same rule applied.
'When money is involved, having powerful backing is everything.'
As Seok-won thought to himself, he supported the mother cat with one hand, preventing her from slipping off like a gooey piece of melted cheese.
Feeling the soft yet surprisingly hefty belly, he realized she might need a bit of a diet.
"Maybe it's time to cut back on her food."
"Still, just in case, make sure to grease the wheels a little with key figures in the Japanese government and political circles."
[Understood. Since you expect the yen to depreciate further, I assume you'll be holding onto your short positions?]
"Of course. The profits will only grow—there's no reason to close them out now."
[That makes perfect sense.]
After discussing a few more details, Seok-won ended the call with a satisfied smile.
"I'd love for them to grit their teeth and hold out as long as possible."
The longer the Japanese companies delayed their currency exchanges, the more profit he stood to gain.
"Meow?"
The mother cat lifted her head and let out a short cry.
Despite being petted the entire time he was on the phone, she still wasn't satisfied.
"Should we stop now?"
"Meowrk!"
As if to say absolutely not, she swatted Seok-won's arm with her tail, urging him to continue.
"They say dogs have owners, but cat owners are just servants..."
Seeing her act like a little empress, Seok-won burst out laughing.