The trading floor was always a warzone—dozens of traders shouting into their phones, phones ringing incessantly from all directions.
But today, it was sheer chaos, as if a massive hurricane had torn through a dense forest, leaving the trees thrashing in utter turmoil and panic.
Riiing! Riiing!
Lehman Brothers junior trader Sandy slammed his receiver down so hard it nearly broke, cursing at the blood-red Apple stock price that was plunging uncontrollably.
"Dammit! How far is this thing gonna fall?!"
He whipped his head around and shouted at his colleague.
"Hey! How are the other sectors holding up?"
His fellow trader Charlie, who was frantically typing in orders with a phone wedged between his shoulder and ear, yelled back.
"Construction, machinery, retail—everything's getting slaughtered!"
Sandy shot up from his seat and turned to look at the giant ticker board on the front wall.
It was a sea of red.
There wasn't a single hint of green to be found.
Letting out a deep sigh, he muttered, "What the hell is happening?"
"What do you think? The Apple earnings shock is ripping through the market."
Charlie put his phone down and scoffed.
"You're telling me this is all because of that?"
Sandy raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.
"It's not just that," Charlie retorted. "Investors were already on edge about earnings season. Apple just lit the match right next to a pile of dry kindling."
He nodded toward his monitor.
"Look at this flood of sell orders. It's insane."
Sandy turned his gaze back to the screen.
The selling was relentless.
Apple's shockingly poor earnings had rattled investors, making them fear that other companies might also deliver disappointing results. Panic had set in, and everyone was rushing to cash out while they still could.
Like a wildfire sweeping through a dry field, traders were all screaming the same thing: Sell! Sell!
The S&P 500, which had opened at 630, had already plunged over 15 points, teetering on the edge of 610.
Watching the market unravel before his eyes, Sandy muttered in disbelief, "This is absurd. Investors—no, the entire market—is overreacting."
Charlie, still hammering the keypad with one hand, snapped back in frustration.
"Call it panic selling or whatever you want, but this isn't stopping anytime soon. Dump your holdings before you lose everything. If you don't move fast, forget your bonus—you might be clearing out your desk."
"What? Oh, fuck—"
Sandy had gone all-in on the internet boom, heavily overweighting IT stocks in his portfolio.
Now, his returns were evaporating just as fast as the plummeting stock prices.
Grabbing the receiver in a panic, he barked out an order.
"Sell all 35,000 IBM shares at market price!"
With traders like Sandy scrambling to offload their positions, the New York Stock Exchange spiraled even further downward—like a runaway car with no brakes.
Fear drove the selling, which in turn bred more fear, triggering even more panic-driven liquidations.
The market had entered the dreaded death spiral.
While all of Wall Street was in full-blown panic, screaming in terror as the market crashed, there was one place that remained calm—Eldorado Fund.
Having stepped out onto the trading floor, Seok-won stood flanked by Landon and Andrew, watching the giant ticker board, now completely drenched in red.
As the market plummeted like a city swallowed by a tsunami, a thrilling rush of adrenaline coursed through Seok-won's veins.
This was the reward for holding onto their short positions despite multiple margin calls. Even after adding extra collateral, they had taken the risk—and now, it was paying off.
Of course, Eldorado Fund hadn't only bet against the market. They also held stakes in companies like Microsoft and Cisco, so the crash was eating away at the value of their own portfolio as well.
Watching the sharp descent, Landon muttered under his breath, "It's terrifying how fast the market can turn."
Andrew, glancing at Landon's expression, spoke cautiously.
"Our short bets are paying off, but our holdings are also losing significant value. That's a bit concerning."
Seok-won, dressed in a perfectly tailored double-striped suit with a subtle hanger chief accenting his chest pocket, turned to Andrew and asked,
"Are you saying we should sell before prices drop further?"
"Not necessarily all of it, but if we sell a portion now and buy back at the bottom, we can lock in some gains. Plus, increasing the selling pressure could accelerate the decline, giving us an even better entry point later."
"Hmm…"
Seok-won crossed his arms and pondered for a moment.
Even if the S&P 500 crashed all the way to 580 as expected, their holdings had a low enough cost basis that the fund wouldn't actually take a loss—only a reduction in overall returns.
And if the market rebounded quickly, as it likely would once investors realized that corporate earnings weren't as bad as feared, there was no real need to trade in and out of positions.
But Andrew had a point. This was a prime opportunity to boost returns and possibly increase their holdings at a bargain. Letting it slip away seemed wasteful.
Making a swift decision, Seok-won looked at Andrew and asked,
"We need to execute everything within three days. Can you handle it?"
"Of course. If you leave it to me, I won't let you down."
Seeing Andrew's confident response, Seok-won gave a small nod.
"Alright. Leave the Cisco stake untouched, but go ahead and make your moves with the rest of the portfolio. Let's see what you've got."
"Understood. Thank you."
Andrew's face lit up with excitement, his eyes gleaming.
Stepping forward with a confident stride, he clapped his hands together and shouted loudly,
"Alright, listen up, everyone!"
The team members, who had been casually watching the market crash, turned their heads toward him. Dressed in his signature suspenders with his sleeves rolled up, Andrew raised his chin.
"The time for sitting back and watching is over. It's time to get to work."
"Just when things were starting to get a little boring—perfect timing!"
Mason quipped with a cheerful grin, drawing laughter from the group.
Andrew smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Good. Because from now on, you won't have a single second to catch your breath."
"Booo!"
The team playfully booed and jeered, but Andrew simply shrugged and gestured toward Seok-won, who stood behind him alongside Landon.
"If we deliver solid results, the boss here will make sure we walk away with a hefty bonus."
"Whoa!"
"Wait, seriously?"
The same team members who had just been joking around now perked up, their eyes sparkling with anticipation as they turned to Seokwon.
"Not just a bonus," Seok-won said with a reassuring nod, "but if we clear ten million dollars in profits, I'll throw in a Rolex for each of you."
"Wooooah!"
"That's our boss!"
A roar of excitement erupted across the trading floor.
Of course, given their salaries, they could afford to buy a Rolex anytime. But that wasn't the point—having an actual prize on the line made the challenge all the more exhilarating.
"Pfft, ten million? That's a piece of cake!"
"Yeah, let's smash this!"
Whistling and shouting in confidence, the team was now fired up, their competitive spirit flaring like overexcited kids before a big game.
Seeing their enthusiasm, Andrew clapped his hands again to bring their focus back.
"Alright, first order of business—sell off our holdings. Mason!"
"Yes, sir!"
"You're handling Estée Lauder. Sell 30% of our position."
"Yes, sir!"
Mason raised one hand in a crisp salute and shouted with military-like enthusiasm.
Andrew continued issuing orders to the rest of the team.
"Sell off our Microsoft shares and the others—leave Cisco alone. Do it now!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood!"
The traders responded in unison and immediately sprang into action.
Though the team usually maintained a relaxed atmosphere, when it came to executing trades, they moved with remarkable speed and focus—hallmarks of the elite traders at Eldorado Fund.
"Remember, we're only selling 30% of our holdings—except for Cisco. Don't touch that one."
At that, Mason raised his thick arm and asked,
"What about the stocks in the proprietary trading account? Do we sell 30% of those as well?"
Seok-won had set up a separate in-house trading account, giving Andrew's team the autonomy to trade at their discretion. Over time, the capital in that account had grown close to $500 million, and the portfolio now contained a substantial number of stocks.
"Sell everything in the trading account. Every last share."
"Got it."
With his sleeves rolled up, Andrew gave the directive, and the team moved with precision, swiftly executing the sell orders.
The market, already flooded with sell orders, was further shaken as Eldorado Fund dumped its shares all at once.
Then, as the S&P 500 index struggled to hold the 610 level, it finally gave way—like a breached dam. A massive wave of sell orders flooded in, far surpassing the volume seen so far.
"Oh… damn…"
"Where is all this selling pressure coming from?"
"Dear God… this is insane."
"There are so many sell orders that trades aren't even going through!"
The traders stared at their screens, eyes wide, jaws slack in disbelief, as the market cratered under the relentless sell-off.
Standing behind them, Seok-won watched calmly, a faint smile playing at his lips—almost as if he had anticipated this exact scenario.
"The programmatic sell-off has finally been triggered."
In large funds and institutional trading, algorithmic systems were programmed to automatically execute buy or sell orders once specific conditions were met.
With the S&P 500 breaking below 610, pre-set algorithms had kicked in, unleashing an avalanche of sell orders all at once.
The sheer volume was overwhelming—sell orders blanketed the trading screens, drowning out any remaining bids. Even Landon, who had been watching alongside Seok-won, swallowed dryly.
"This… this isn't going to completely destroy the market, is it?"
"The impact will be significant, but as I mentioned before, we'll see a sharp V-shaped rebound soon. No need to worry."
Watching the index plummet as if falling off a cliff, Landon couldn't help but feel skeptical. Could it really recover within a few days?
However, Seok-won had never been wrong before. Trusting in his judgment, Landon steadied his wavering resolve and refrained from asking further questions.
The market collapse was so severe that the New York Stock Exchange took drastic action, triggering a circuit breaker to temporarily halt all trading in an attempt to calm the panic.
But even that wasn't enough to ease the overwhelming fear and anxiety gripping investors.
Instead, the fact that a circuit breaker had been activated only amplified the sense of crisis. The moment trading resumed 30 minutes later, the S&P 500 plunged past the critical 600-point mark, continuing its free fall.
John Miller, CEO of P&P Partners, sat at his desk, staring blankly at the two monitors in front of him, his face drained of all color.
The stock market, which had been nothing short of a nightmare—triggering not one, but two circuit breakers—had just closed for the day.
Displayed on the screen was a result that, just this morning, he wouldn't have even imagined in his worst-case scenario.
S&P 500: 579.73 (▼50.38)
It had happened exactly as Seok-won predicted—the index had plunged by more than 50 points.
John Miller felt beyond shock. It was as if he had been cursed.
And to make matters worse—today was the final day of their bet.
Unable to believe what he was seeing, he rubbed his eyes repeatedly, but the numbers on the screen remained unchanged.
"How… how is this even possible…?"
Miller murmured in a trembling voice, biting his lower lip in disbelief.