It was well past midnight, but the lights in the International Division office of the Bank of Japan, located in the heart of Tokyo, were still brightly lit.
A large electronic display showing the exchange rates of the yen against major currencies was mounted on one wall. Meanwhile, more than a dozen employees were either answering phones or sitting in front of their computers, working frantically.
Having been on emergency duty for over two weeks, their faces were gaunt with exhaustion, yet not a single person had stopped working.
The yen's relentless surge following the earthquake showed no signs of abating. It was strengthening at an alarming pace—rising by two to three yen per day—leaving no room for even a moment of relaxation.
Amidst the chaos, Shinnosuke Yamada, the Chief of the Research Division, sat at his desk, his face etched with tension as he stared at the dollar-yen exchange rate on his dual monitors.
A stocky man of medium height, Yamada had not been home for days, camping out at the office instead.
His unshaven face was covered in dark stubble, and his bloodshot eyes spoke volumes of his exhaustion.
A half-burned cigarette dangled between his fingers, and the ashtray on his desk was overflowing with cigarette butts, evidence of how much he had been smoking.
Pressing his temples with his cigarette-holding hand, Yamada glared at the exchange rate on his monitor.
The yen was still surging without a break.
The first defence line of 95 yen, set by the Cabinet and the Bank of Japan, had long since been breached.
Now, the second defence line of 90 yen was on the verge of collapsing—it had barely held for a few days and could be breached at any moment.
"Damn it."
Watching the exchange rate fluctuate wildly by the second, Yamada muttered a quiet curse.
Feeling suffocated, he loosened the knot of his tie.
Of course, the Cabinet and the Bank of Japan hadn't just sat idly by, watching the situation deteriorate.
Every time the yen surged, they used precious foreign exchange reserves to sell dollars and buy yen, actively intervening to curb the appreciation.
But the results were far from satisfactory.
In fact, the more they intervened, the stronger the yen seemed to become as if the market was pushing back even harder.
"This is all because of those goddamn hedge fund hyenas."
After the Kobe earthquake, capital that had been overseas began flooding back into Japan, creating an unexpected surge in the yen's value.
Sensing an opportunity, hedge funds swarmed in like a pack of hyenas, dumping massive amounts of dollars and snapping up the yen, further fueling the yen's super-strong rally.
Leading this attack on Japan was George Soros and the Quantum Fund, the same forces that had once brought the Bank of England to its knees.
Even though the Bank of Japan knew exactly what they were up against, they had no choice but to keep selling their dollar reserves at bargain prices, essentially filling the hedge funds' pockets.
Even now, Japan's foreign exchange reserves were melting away like ice cream left out under the scorching summer sun.
"Haah…"
Feeling utterly powerless, Yamada let out a deep sigh and crushed his nearly finished cigarette into the ashtray.
Just as he reached for a new cigarette from his pack, someone approached him and spoke.
"Yamada, how's the situation?"
Turning his head, he saw Naoya Matsuyama, the Director of the International Division.
Unlike Yamada, Matsuyama had a thin frame, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and had sharp, hawkish features.
Yamada hurriedly took the cigarette from his lips and stood up. Looking at Matsuyama, who was standing beside his desk, he answered:
"It's not good."
Matsuyama, his face full of exhaustion, asked in a slightly hoarse voice.
"What's the current exchange rate?"
"It's at 90.8 yen."
Matsuyama frowned upon hearing the response.
"It was still holding at 91 yen this afternoon. So, it's gone up again."
His words carried a hint of reproach, making Yamada feel frustrated.
It wasn't just him—his entire team had been working nonstop for days, sacrificing sleep and personal time to defend the exchange rate.
The fact that they had managed to keep the rate in the 90-yen range at all was already an achievement.
Yet, instead of acknowledgement or encouragement, all they got was criticism.
Suppressing his irritation, Yamada quickly masked his expression and replied.
"We're doing everything we can, but the attack from Quantum Fund and other hedge funds is too aggressive. We've been pushed back. My apologies."
As Yamada bowed his head, Matsuyama, looking visibly annoyed, spoke sharply.
"It's pathetic that the Bank of Japan is being tossed around by a bunch of hedge funds' petty tricks."
Hearing this, Yamada clenched his teeth and straightened up.
"With all due respect, Quantum Fund and George Soros are behind this. He's the man who forced the Bank of England to surrender. We can't afford to underestimate him."
Then, turning to Matsuyama, whose expression remained sour, Yamada continued seriously.
"Other hedge funds have also joined Soros's charge, attacking the yen in full force. That makes this battle even tougher."
Matsuyama clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"So, are you saying we're going to lose this fight?"
"N-No! Of course not!"
Yamada quickly shook his head, but Matsuyama's narrowed eyes remained cold and sharp.
"I know Soros broke the Bank of England. People talk as if that was some great achievement, but at the end of the day, he's nothing more than a speculator who exploited a weakness and robbed the UK of its money."
Matsuyama raised his voice irritably, openly belittling George Soros.
There's an old saying—kill one person, and you're a murderer; kill a hundred, and you're a hero.
Even if Soros's actions were speculative, bringing down the Bank of England was no small feat.
But Yamada kept his thoughts to himself, silently listening.
"And we are Japan. We're not some toothless old lion like the UK."
"..."
"No matter how much leverage these bastards use, their funds aren't limitless. Eventually, they'll hit a wall."
Matsuyama scoffed and smirked.
"On the other hand, Japan has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. These fools must have gotten arrogant after taking down the Bank of England, thinking they could challenge us. They picked the wrong opponent."
Then, pointing a finger at Yamada, Matsuyama issued a direct order.
"If they try to break through the 90-yen line, intervene immediately and defend the threshold. This is a direct order from the Governor."
"…Understood."
It was the same command he had heard over and over again for the past few days. Yamada answered reluctantly.
'Sure, we have a huge foreign exchange reserve, but we can't just burn through it all defending the yen.'
If Japan drained its reserves recklessly, it could end up like Mexico, facing a national financial crisis. There was a limit to how much they could afford to spend on defending the exchange rate.
That meant that, just like the hedge funds, the Bank of Japan also had a limit on how many bullets it could fire.
'George Soros and the hedge funds must know that—That's why they're launching this attack.'
What worried Yamada even more was that as the exchange rate continued to rise, more and more players were joining Soros, siding with the yen attackers.
As a result, defending the yen was becoming increasingly difficult for the Bank of Japan.
Just as these troubling thoughts filled his mind, one of the staff members suddenly shot up from his seat and ran over with a look of urgency.
"Massive yen buy orders are pouring in from both the London and New York foreign exchange markets!"
At the sudden report, both Yamada and Matsuyama jolted upright, their eyes widening in shock.
"How big are we talking?"
Recovering first, Yamada quickly asked.
"Over 1.6 billion dollars combined from both markets."
As the staff member answered, Yamada immediately turned to his computer to check the real-time exchange rate.
The flood of large-scale buy orders had caused the dollar-yen rate to surge, pushing it dangerously close to breaking the 90-yen threshold.
Standing beside him, Matsuyama stared at the fluctuating numbers on the monitor, his face hardening. Then, he barked at Yamada.
"What are you waiting for?! Do something—NOW!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Yamada sprang from his chair and shouted urgent orders to his team.
"We CANNOT let 90 yen break! Sell dollars immediately and start buying up yen!"
"Yes, sir!"
The staff members sprang into action, picking up their phones or hammering away at their keyboards as they executed the emergency intervention.
Yamada hurried back to his desk and fixed his eyes on the live exchange rate displayed on his screen.
[USD/JPY: 90.2]
[USD/JPY: 90.1]
.
.
.
[USD/JPY: 90.2]
[USD/JPY: 90.4]
His fist clenched tight, Yamada swallowed dryly as he stared at the exchange rate, bracing for the worst.
Then—just as the yen was about to break past 90—
The upward surge finally stalled and reversed.
Yamada exhaled the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.
"Did we stop it?"
Matsuyama, standing beside him, asked urgently.
"For now, it seems so… But we can't let our guard down. We don't know when they'll strike again."
But could they fend off the next attack as well?
A doubt crept into Yamada's mind.
He felt his confidence wavering—and instinctively, he bit down on his lip.
***
It was still early in the morning, but the streets of Seoul were clogged with commuter traffic, with vehicles crawling along at a slow pace.
Among the cars inching forward like slow-moving turtles was Seok-won's BMW sedan.
Dressed in a three-piece navy suit with a vest, Seok-won sat in the driver's seat, holding his phone with one hand as he talked to Landon in New York.
[The battle between the Bank of Japan and the hedge funds in the foreign exchange market was fierce overnight.]
"I saw that too. In the end, the yen broke past 90 to the dollar."
[Yes. The Bank of Japan sold over 1 billion dollars, trying to push the market back and forth. Eventually, though, the yen broke the 90 level. It was quite thrilling to watch, almost like the Super Bowl finale—full of tension and excitement.]
Landon's words made Seok-won smile slightly.
While it might have been exciting to watch, for the Bank of Japan and the hedge funds, it was a nail-biting battle where every moment counted.
Of course, Seok-won himself had heavily bet on the long side of the yen and was sensitive to fluctuations in the exchange rate.
However, since his average purchase price was 104 yen, he could afford to watch the situation unfold with a bit more calmness.
"Now that the second defence line of 90 yen has been breached, the Bank of Japan must be in a panic."
[They must be. After spending over 10 billion dollars of their foreign exchange reserves over the past two weeks, this is the result they've gotten. The shock must be significant.]
It was likely that by now, not just the Bank of Japan, but the entire government, was in crisis mode, urgently discussing countermeasures.
'If they had fought hard to stop the exchange rate from rising earlier, it might have been different. But now that the atmosphere has shifted, it's not going to be easy to turn things around.'
Moreover, their opponent was the hedge funds, who never missed an opportunity when they spotted a weak prey.
"Seeing the Bank of Japan, which was once considered a formidable opponent, falter... the momentum of George Soros and the hedge funds must be even stronger now."
[Exactly. After yesterday's fight, there's a growing expectation on Wall Street that Black Wednesday might be coming back.]
Black Wednesday referred to the event when George Soros, along with other hedge funds, attacked the British pound, causing the Bank of England to collapse, and yielding enormous profits.
"The fact that this is being talked about means that more hedge funds and factions will join the attack on the yen."
[Once Wall Street realizes there's a delicious feast set before them, there's no way they'll let it pass. Starting today, the attack on the Bank of Japan is only going to intensify.]
Seok-won nodded slightly, agreeing with Landon's prediction.
"By the way, has the option I mentioned been finalized?"
[I was actually about to report it to you. We've completed all the legal reviews to make sure there won't be any potential issues.]
"The strike price is 90 yen, right?"
[Yes. The fluctuation range is set from 78 yen to 100 yen, just as you suggested.]
Seok-won smiled contentedly after hearing the report.
"Good job."
[But I'm a bit worried that the fluctuation range is set too wide.]
Landon expressed his concern cautiously, and Seok-won, understanding, asked,
"Are you worried that we might lose money?"
[If the exchange rate stays within the fluctuation range and doesn't go above 100 yen, we won't benefit from it, will we?]
"Seeing you worry like this, I think the product is well-made."
Seok-won smiled, almost grinning.
"It needs to look favourable to them. That's the only way George Soros's knockout options will catch the interest of the Japanese corporations who've been badly burned by him before."
[That's true, but…]
"Trust me. The Knock-In option will definitely trigger within the contract period."
With Seok-won's confident tone, Landon didn't ask any more questions and agreed.
[I guess I have no choice but to trust you. Understood.]
As the car in front of him slowly started moving, Seok-won spoke again.
"Once the yen strengthens and the exchange rate becomes more volatile, there will definitely be interest in the products we've created. Once everything is ready, let's send out the proposals right away."
[Got it.]
After ending the call and putting his phone down, Seok-won smiled deeply.
"If you grab whatever looks delicious and put it in your mouth without thinking, it'll only cause trouble."