The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“I think he might have fallen into confirmation bias.”

As soon as Dokyung left Oh Seok-hoon’s room, he was in the branch manager’s office, discussing the matter with Ryu Tae-hwa.

Dokyung thought it might look like he was tattling on a colleague to the branch manager, but that wasn’t important.

Oh Seok-hoon was essentially gambling with clients’ money, testing his luck.

Fortunately, Branch Manager Ryu Tae-hwa listened to Dokyung’s words with a concerned expression.

“You’re right, Dokyung-ssi. It does seem like he’s fallen into confirmation bias.”

Confirmation bias refers to the error of selectively seeking information that supports one’s existing beliefs while intentionally ignoring contradictory opinions.

It was the mindset most to be avoided in the stock market.

“What should we do about this…”

Ryu Tae-hwa tapped the armrest of the sofa, appearing troubled.

“What are the chances they’re really building a coin ecosystem?”

Ryu Tae-hwa asked Dokyung.

Dokyung understood Ryu Tae-hwa’s feelings.

Oh Seok-hoon was also an employee under his management. The reason he had been calling Oh Seok-hoon in for personal talks more often than other employees recently was that he couldn’t give up on him.

He was concerned about Oh Seok-hoon, who was still wearing the deputy manager badge in his sixth year when others were being promoted to senior manager, always seeming to lack confidence.

“Zero.”

As Dokyung’s words came out with certainty, Ryu Tae-hwa let out a sigh.

“Alright. I think I need to step in.”

“How…”

“I think we need to temporarily remove Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon from his duties. And we’ll need to call the clients one by one to explain everything.”

It was a task that required great courage. For other employees to call and say that the positions set by their PB were based on incorrect information…

“I’m more afraid of the trust we’ll lose if we just watch and wait until after a crash.”

But Ryu Tae-hwa was an upright person, and he knew which way would better maintain trust with the clients.

Dokyung nodded, thinking he had done well to come to Ryu Tae-hwa.

“I’ll help.”

“Good. Then I think I should call Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon… Could you step out for a moment?”

Dokyung nodded at Ryu Tae-hwa’s words.

“Yes, I understand.”

Zing-

As Dokyung was about to stand up, his mobile phone started vibrating, and Ryu Tae-hwa gestured for him to check it.

[Lee Yeon-ji: Dokyung-ssi, this is a post that appeared on Blind. Could you check it out?]

It was a message from Lee Yeon-ji, and Dokyung clicked on the link in the message.

It was a post on an anonymous community for office workers.

[Received notice of recommended resignation. Entire development team. / Bkw**** / Take Games]

[On the day our game, which we had spent 5 years developing while losing sleep, reached the top of the sales rankings on both major markets, the day everyone was congratulating us, the company notified the entire development team of recommended resignation.]

Although it was an anonymous community, it was one where the company name appeared next to the writer’s name.

Even without explicitly stating the company name, everyone would know.

-Whoa, crazy. What about the updates then?

└The development team had prepared everything up to the second update…

-Wait, isn’t the stock price rising right now? Is this real? I broke my savings to invest.

└It’s real. Should I share the resignation notice email?

-Aren’t they doing coins?

└What coins? There’s no blockchain development team in the company…

-Does this make any sense?

└The entire development team is in shock over this nonsensical situation… It seems the executives are only thinking about selling their own shares now that the stock price is rising.

“What’s the matter?”

As Dokyung’s expression turned serious, Ryu Tae-hwa furrowed his brow and asked, and Dokyung let out a long sigh before speaking.

“I think we’re too late, Branch Manager.”

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

“Yes, yes, 200 million won?”

Oh Seok-hoon was on the phone with a client. Except for the unwelcome visitor to his office earlier, today had been a perfect day for Oh Seok-hoon.

“When I asked you last time, you said you didn’t have any money…”

-Hahaha, Assistant Manager Oh, you need to understand. The market was so bad, you know.

“I understand, but if we had secured the position earlier, I think we could have made even more profit.”

-I regret that too. I should have trusted Assistant Manager Oh more.

Oh Seok-hoon felt strange at the client’s words.

Even though trust between a PB and a client is built on profits, he felt bitter thinking that he might not have given the client enough trust until now.

“It can’t be helped. Please trust me a bit more from now on.”

-Ah, of course. I’ve seen Assistant Manager Oh in a new light this time.

As the client’s excited voice came through the receiver, a smile settled on Oh Seok-hoon’s face as if nothing had happened.

“I’ve confirmed the deposit of 200 million won. I’ll start buying in installments.”

-Is it okay to buy in installments?

“Still, when the price drops even a little…”

-What if the train leaves while we’re doing that? I’ll be upset. Let’s go big at once.

“Hahaha, I didn’t know our President Kim was such a bold person. Alright, I understand.”

-I’m counting on you…

Ding ding-

Suddenly, a warning sound came from the trading system.

It was an alert set to sound when large-scale selling occurred in stocks where positions were held.

“Th-This…”

-Assistant Manager Oh-nim, what’s wrong?

“President Kim, I’ll call you right back.”

-What’s going on…

Before the client could finish speaking, Oh Seok-hoon hung up and focused on the screen.

“What’s this? Who’s dumping like this?”

Large-scale selling suddenly started occurring in Take Games’ stock.

And it wasn’t just one instance, but continuous large-scale selling.

Ding ding-

Ding ding-

The large-scale selling alert kept sounding, and the stock price that had been rising without limit suddenly started to change direction sharply.

“Foreigners and institutions are all dumping. Why are they dumping!”

Frustrated, Oh Seok-hoon picked up the phone and called his colleague at Taesan Securities.

Trrrr-

The time it took for the call to connect felt like an eternity to Oh Seok-hoon.

-The customer cannot be reached…

When the other party didn’t answer, Oh Seok-hoon took out his mobile phone and dialed again.

“Pick up… Please…”

Ding ding-

Even in this situation, the large-scale selling alert kept sounding, and the stock that had been heading towards +5% had now entered -1% territory.

The stock price started plummeting in just 2 minutes.

[-1%……]

[-2%……]

With each ring of the call connection tone, the stock price continued to fall.

It was because someone was throwing large quantities of stocks at market price to ensure immediate selling.

Bang-

As Oh Seok-hoon was biting his nails and making calls, the door opened with a loud bang and Branch Manager Ryu Tae-hwa entered.

Dokyung was standing behind him.

“Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon, what are you doing right now?”

Ryu Tae-hwa asked Oh Seok-hoon in a dry voice. Oh Seok-hoon put down his mobile phone and stood up.

“B-Branch Manager, what brings you…”

“I asked what you’re doing right now!”

Ryu Tae-hwa shouted at Oh Seok-hoon in a loud voice.

“R-Right now, the market situation has changed suddenly, so I’m trying to get information…”

“Get out.”

“Pardon?”

“I said get out! What you should be doing right now isn’t gathering information, but taking action! How long were you planning to manage clients’ money based solely on others’ information?”

Dokyung had never seen Ryu Tae-hwa this angry before.

Ryu Tae-hwa yelled as if he was about to devour Oh Seok-hoon.

“I heard you ignored Yoon Dokyung’s warning? Get out. Oh Seok-hoon, you’re not qualified to manage clients’ money. You’re not even qualified to sit in that seat.”

Ryu Tae-hwa approached Oh Seok-hoon’s desk, pushed him aside, and handed the client list to Dokyung.

“Yoon Dokyung-ssi.”

“Yes, Branch Manager.”

“Contact the clients right away and liquidate the positions. It’s urgent. You can bring in more people if needed.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Dokyung received the client list from Ryu Tae-hwa, bowed his head, and left the room.

“Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon, from today, you’re removed from wealth management duties. Write up an incident report and submit it. I’m going to send it to headquarters to inquire about your future at the company.”

“I-I’m sorry. Branch Manager, just one more chance…”

“Didn’t Yoon Dokyung, who just left, already give you that chance? You’re the one who kicked that opportunity away, Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon.”

Ryu Tae-hwa continued speaking, looking at the trembling Oh Seok-hoon.

“There shouldn’t be a single lie in the incident report. That’s the last way Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon can survive.”

Bang-

With those words, Ryu Tae-hwa closed the door and left the room, leaving Oh Seok-hoon trembling and staring at his retreating back, not knowing what to do.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

“You’ve worked hard.”

A week later, Dokyung visited Ryu Tae-hwa’s office to report on the task he had been assigned.

For the past week, Dokyung had taken charge of Oh Seok-hoon’s clients and liquidated all positions concentrated in game stocks.

During that time, the news about Take Games’ development team receiving recommended resignations began to make headlines, turning the market upside down.

[Take Games -32%]

The stock price fell 32% in a week. Other game stocks that had been rising along with Take Games also fell in the same situation.

And one by one, game companies started announcing workforce reductions.

The announcements triggered another crash in game stocks.

And Taesan Securities, which had issued a buy opinion, withdrew the publication of that report and posted an apology letter in the name of the CEO.

It was a perfect but bitter victory for Yuseong Investment Securities.

“The client who suffered the biggest loss…”

“Fortunately, thanks to our quick response, it’s -13%. It’s all thanks to you, Branch Manager.”

Thanks to Ryu Tae-hwa stopping Oh Seok-hoon’s rampage, they were able to minimize the losses.

“How is it thanks to me? If Dokyung-ssi hadn’t informed us…”

Ryu Tae-hwa shook his head as if he didn’t even want to think about it.

“The clients must have been very angry.”

“They couldn’t help but be angry. I understood and explained with the utmost humility.”

“…You’ve really worked hard. Because of my poor management, Dokyung-ssi had to do emotional labor as well.”

“When I first decided to become a PB, I made a resolution. This is nothing.”

At Dokyung’s words, Ryu Tae-hwa smiled and nodded.

“Um… Branch Manager.”

“Do you have something to say?”

“About Assistant Manager Oh Seok-hoon…”

At Dokyung’s question, Ryu Tae-hwa sighed and spoke.

“Headquarters is investigating, but it seems he’ll have to leave the company.”

“……”

“He did everything a PB shouldn’t do, so perhaps it’s a natural consequence. Regardless of how regrettable it is, it’s his own choice, so he’ll have to bear it.”

Dokyung nodded slowly, looking bitter at Ryu Tae-hwa’s words.

“Don’t work overtime today and go home early. You need rest.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Dokyung bowed his head and left the branch manager’s office.

“Hah…”

As he left the office, Dokyung rubbed his dry, stiff eyes. Although they had fortunately avoided major losses, the screams of retail investors were still echoing in the market.

Trust in the market was gradually diminishing.

Zing-

Walking dejectedly, Dokyung checked his mobile phone.

[The market is sometimes attacked by vile barbarians armed with intelligent and sophisticated methods.]

A message written in a dry style, as if understanding Dokyung’s feelings, had arrived.

[At dusk, when it’s dark and you can’t distinguish whether the approaching black shadow is the dog you’ve raised or a wolf coming to attack you, the time of dogs and wolves always threatens us.]

The message quoted a French proverb.

It was an apt proverb for this incident.

[We hoped that Yoon Dokyung-ssi could develop the discernment to distinguish between dogs and wolves in threats like this, and Yoon Dokyung-ssi has sufficiently proved that he has that discernment.]

[Yoon Dokyung-ssi’s discernment and courage have contributed to preventing more victims.]

[As more time passes, clients who have reduced their losses will come to be grateful to Yoon Dokyung-ssi. You’ve worked hard.]

[We are always cheering for you by your side. This is the VIP service.]

The last line of the message seemed to comfort Dokyung’s heart. After standing still for a while, staring at the message, Dokyung eventually nodded and started walking.

Right now, rather than falling apart, his job was to find a way to restore the lost trust of the market and clients.