The exclusive Wall Street Journal interview in which Seok-won warned about the dot-com bubble caused the New York Stock Exchange to stall, moving sideways for several days.
But that hesitation didn't last long.
When Cisco announced an earnings surprise, posting results far better than expected, the dot-com frenzy reignited.
The three major indices rebounded sharply, and as the NASDAQ surged toward the 5,000 mark, cautious investors vanished from the market, replaced by an overwhelming wave of optimism.
With that, rumors began to circulate openly on Wall Street that Seok-won and the Eldorado Fund—once celebrated for their stellar performance—had now lost their touch.
Then, the release of the March Consumer Price Index (CPI), which far exceeded expectations, completely changed the market's mood.
The Lehman Brothers trading floor in Times Square was tense, thick with unease.
The cause was the March CPI report released moments earlier by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To make matters worse, the day before, Federal Reserve Chairman David Stanway had attended an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and declared, "The Fed will take every measure necessary to prevent inflationary pressures."
Combined with that statement, the unexpectedly high CPI figures sparked fears of aggressive rate hikes and tightening measures, casting a heavy shadow over the market.
"Damn it, does this even make sense? The forecast was only 0.5%!"
Charlie yanked at the knot of his Gucci tie—a recent purchase he'd been bragging about—and cursed under his breath.
Rackman and the other traders nearby were just as shocked, their expressions mirroring Charlie's disbelief at the stunning CPI result.
As the futures for all three major indices plunged immediately after the report's release, Rackman stared unblinking at his monitor, his face a mixture of fear and shock. Then, in a tense, restrained voice, he muttered:
"Looks like it's going to be a tough day."
Charlie, clearly thinking the same thing, gave a heavy nod. After a brief pause, he glanced at Rackman with a hesitant look and said,
"You don't think this is the tipping point Chairman Park Seok-won was talking about—the start of the bubble collapse, do you?"
Even as he said it, a deep sense of foreboding settled over him. Rackman, feeling the same ominous weight, couldn't bring himself to respond.
At that moment, Team Leader Ripord raised his voice across the trading floor.
"Once the market opens, a massive hurricane is going to hit—everyone, stay sharp!"
Ripord, wearing glasses and showing a thinning patch of hair, swept his stern gaze across the team.
Rackman, still seated, turned toward him and asked,
"The atmosphere doesn't look good, sir. Are we sticking to our current investment strategy?"
The other traders looked at Ripord as well, their faces filled with anxiety and unease.
With a market storm about to break, their eyes silently pleaded for the firm to give them clear direction on how to respond.
Under the weight of their expectant gazes, Ripord finally spoke in a stiff, controlled voice.
"There'll be some shock from the CPI numbers, but the company's position is that the market's fundamentals remain intact."
"..."
"But the drop could be deeper and last longer than expected. Everyone should make their own judgment and adjust their portfolios accordingly."
At those words, Rackman and the other traders looked even more uneasy, their expressions clouded with frustration rather than relief.
Ripord had said a lot, but the message was clear: the firm itself couldn't read the situation either—so everyone was on their own, responsible for their own trades and outcomes.
Ripord knew perfectly well that he was effectively passing the entire burden of the market shock onto his team. Watching their conflicted faces, he added in a more earnest tone,
"Given what Chairman Stanway of the Fed said yesterday, I think the shock this time will be quite severe. Sell off about half your positions to lock in profits, then watch how the market moves."
Unlike the company's vague stance, Ripord's clear directive finally gave the traders something to act on. They relaxed slightly and responded in unison.
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood."
Rackman let out a quiet sigh as he stared at the four monitors on his desk.
He placed both hands on the keyboard and mouse, ready to act at a moment's notice, and waited nervously for the market to open.
The other traders did the same. The vast trading floor fell silent—like the eerie calm before a storm—as tension thickened in the air.
Ten long minutes dragged by. Then, finally, the opening bell rang, and the New York Stock Exchange roared to life.
They had already anticipated it from the index futures, but seeing the entire market board turn blood-red the moment trading began drew groans and curses from every direction.
"Goddamn it!"
"It's a bloodbath right from the start!"
"The NASDAQ's gapped down over a hundred points—this is insane!"
"Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Oracle—all the tech stocks are getting crushed!"
As one of the traders let out a near-scream of despair, the tense silence shattered. The trading floor exploded into chaos.
Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Rackman leaned forward, his body tense, and began furiously hammering the keyboard and mouse, firing off a barrage of sell orders.
"What the hell's going on? My sell orders aren't going through!"
Charlie, sitting beside him, shouted in disbelief. Rackman's face twisted as he stared at the trading window on his main monitor.
"Damn it! There's no one buying. Everyone's dumping their stocks just like we are!"
His voice trembled as he spat out the words.
A surge of anxiety rushed through him. Remembering what Team Leader Ripord had said, Rackman immediately placed sell orders to unload half of his portfolio.
But only a tiny fraction of the trades were executed—most of his orders were buried under the avalanche of sell orders flooding the market.
Even as he watched, stock prices were plummeting at a terrifying speed.
Just yesterday, Rackman—and nearly every trader on Wall Street—had been boasting sky-high returns thanks to the dot-com frenzy.
Now, their portfolios, packed with IT tech stocks, were bleeding red, painted in the color of panic and fear.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Rackman kept cursing as he desperately lowered his asking prices, sending out sell order after sell order.
But in a market consumed by fear, there were no buyers left to take his shares.
Only a day ago, investors had been eager to buy tech stocks at any price. Now, everyone was trapped in a blind panic, doing whatever they could to sell.
Realizing how dire the situation had become, Team Leader Ripord's voice exploded across the trading floor, veins bulging in his neck.
"Sell! Sell them all! Drop the prices if you have to—just dump those stocks!"
With his shirt sleeves rolled up, Ripord shouted himself hoarse, urging the team to keep selling. The panic in his tone was unmistakable.
But no matter how much he pushed, the decline outpaced their efforts. Prices fell faster and deeper than anyone could react.
The NASDAQ had already dropped more than 200 points and continued its steep plunge. Some traders clutched their heads and screamed in anguish, while others just stared blankly at the blood-red market board, completely dazed.
At that moment, they all realized—painfully and clearly—just how powerless they were in the face of the market's collapse.
"M-my portfolio is melting away! Everything I earned over the last month—it's all gone in less than half a day!"
Charlie's voice cracked as he screamed, his face pale with shock. Rackman sat frozen beside him, staring blankly at his monitors.
It was as if the stocks were sinking into a vast swamp, dissolving without resistance.
A crushing sense of helplessness washed over him. Then, almost instinctively, Rackman recalled what Seok-won, the head of the Eldorado Fund, had warned in his Wall Street Journal interview—about the imminent collapse of the bubble.
"...Chairman Park Seok-won was right again."
He could still clearly remember all the ridicule and sneering comments that had been hurled at Seok-won: that his time had passed, that he'd simply been lucky until now, that his fame was nothing but coincidence.
Yet even as the stock market soared and the NASDAQ flirted with the 5,000 mark, Eldorado Fund had stubbornly held its short positions. And in the end, the catastrophe Seok-won had predicted finally struck.
If this really was the beginning of the bubble collapse Seok-won had warned about, then the crash was far from over.
Rackman swallowed dryly, his throat tightening as dread settled deep in his chest.
***
While the heart of global finance—Wall Street—was gripped by panic and fear, there was one place that erupted in cheers instead: the offices of the Eldorado Fund.
"Waaaah!"
"The NASDAQ's down more than 200 points, and the Dow's dropped over 350!"
"The market's crashing—our short bets paid off!"
"Unbelievable. They actually called it right!"
The traders at Eldorado Fund, who had not only sold off all their dot-com stocks but also taken massive short positions, had endured weeks of unbearable anxiety.
They had bet everything on a market collapse, yet the three major indices had kept climbing to new record highs day after day. The pressure had been suffocating.
But now, watching those same indices plummet sharply, it felt like all that tension was being released at once. The traders leapt from their seats, shouting with joy so loud it shook the trading floor.
"We did it!"
"Hahaha!"
Some couldn't contain their excitement and began tossing papers into the air, dancing on top of their desks as sheets fluttered down like white snow.
In the middle of the swirling papers, traders high-fived one another, clapped shoulders, and laughed with sheer exhilaration.
Having come down to the trading floor after seeing the poor March CPI numbers, Landon and Andrew stood before the massive market display, its screen glowing an angry red, their faces lit up with excitement.
"Once again, just like the boss said," Andrew said, his voice full of admiration.
Landon's eyes gleamed as his flushed face broke into a wide grin.
"See? What did I tell you? I knew this was going to happen!"
Standing beside him, Dan Baradan, the senior investment chief, had abandoned his usual cool composure. His face was lit with excitement.
"The entire market sentiment flipped in an instant. We'll need to watch a bit longer, but if this continues, we're about to hit a massive jackpot."
"Heh, of course. All we have to do is follow the boss's orders."
Landon tilted his chin up proudly, but then suddenly seemed to remember something. He patted his pockets in a hurry.
"Oh, right. I shouldn't just be standing around."
He quickly pulled out his phone from his inner pocket and pressed speed dial number one.
After a short ring, Seok-won answered.
[It's me.]
"Boss! Just like you predicted—tech stocks are collapsing, and all three major indices are plunging!"
Unlike the excited Landon, Seok-won's voice was calm and steady.
[I'm watching it too. Even if there's a brief rebound midway, once fear takes hold, the market won't be able to recover a bullish momentum. It'll falter again and keep deepening its losses. Until I give further instructions, hold your positions and keep monitoring the market.]
"Yes, sir!"
After answering, Landon paused, curiosity flashing across his face.
"But boss, how far do you think this crash will go?"
Hearing that, Andrew and Dan perked up their ears, staring intently at Landon as he spoke on the phone.
[Given how overheated the dot-com frenzy was, in the long term, the NASDAQ could fall below 2,000 points.]
Landon's eyes widened in disbelief.
"The NASDAQ… below two thousand? You really think that'll happen?"
[Yes.]
Landon wasn't the only one stunned—Andrew and Dan, who were listening nearby, also wore looks of pure disbelief as Seok-won's voice continued over the phone.
[The higher the mountain climbs, the deeper the valley when it falls, don't you think?]
Even if the market had been inflated by a massive bubble, it was hard to believe that the NASDAQ, which was nearing 5,000 points, could possibly drop by as much as 3,000.
But since Seok-won had never once been wrong in any of his predictions, Landon unconsciously tightened his grip around his phone. Lifting his head, he stared at the market board, glowing a furious red.