I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 61: The Beginning of the ’90s (4)

Of course, that doesn’t apply to someone like me—Yoo Ha-yeon, a hyper-genius regressor.

I can almost pinpoint the timing exactly.

“So? Why’d you call me over?”

Yoo Seon-jun stared at me as he munched on snacks.

“Why do you think? I told you—the UK’s not gonna last.”

He looked at me like I was nuts.

“...A short? On the pound?”

I nodded. I know the future—of course I’m gonna ride it.

“Not right now. I’m gonna prep for it over the next year and pull the trigger when the time comes.”

This wasn’t prophecy. It fell squarely within the realm of reasonable prediction.

Even now, anyone paying attention could see that the Bank of England was in for hell. A year from now, it’d be public knowledge.

Still, few believed the UK would swallow its pride and quit the ERM. Even fewer were willing to stake their careers on it.

...Which is to say, a few did.

One of them was the infamous George Soros.

Soros’s Quantum Fund used insane leverage to short the pound to the tune of $10 billion, then publicly declared its position, waging all-out currency war on the UK.

Like American revolutionaries chucking British tea into Boston Harbor, Soros took that proud British pound and hurled it straight into the gutter. And just like back then, the whole thing was sparked and driven by money.

Let’s conveniently forget that Soros was Hungarian. Most Americans back then were British too, anyway.

In any case.

A horde of hedge funds rushed in, lured by the smell of easy money... and the total short-selling volume reached $110 billion.

One. Hundred. Ten. Billion.

That’s more than ₩100 trillion in Korean won. With that kind of money, you could crush a market on sheer weight alone. Within a month or two, you’d see major tremors.

Now that Alpha Fund had bulked up, I could toss in an extra $10 billion of our own. That meant I could fine-tune the timing however I liked.

I popped a candy into my mouth. The sugar melted sweetly on my tongue.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“Mmm. Nice.”

“Hey, hey—explain it to me. How exactly are you planning to short it?”

Seon-jun grabbed my shoulder, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Ugh—so dizzy.

“Hack! You almost made me choke. I told you, I’m still drafting the plan. If Germany stops hiking rates or something, it’s a bust...”

“Ah, true.”

“So go eat lunch or something. What are you thinking, grilling your cute little sister like this?”

I puffed out my cheeks in fake annoyance.

“You’re the lunatic who wants to shake the global economy to make bank.”

Excuse me?

“Wha—rude! I’m not that kind of person!”

“This from the chick leeching off Japan’s collapse right now?”

I flailed my hands in denial, but Seon-jun just looked at me like I was already halfway through some nefarious scheme.

Sharp instincts, as always...

***

1991 held a bit of personal significance for me.

It was the year I was born in my previous life.

While Seon-jun stepped out for a moment, I stuffed a mountain of beginning-of-year reports into my brain and idly flipped through the newspaper.

“Young Miss, what are you looking at?”

“...Just wondering what I should do later for social contribution. I was checking out orphanages and stuff.”

Si-hyun stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Why?”

“Hearing ‘social contribution’ come out of your mouth... Did my ears go bad from old age?”

“...”

I mean, I might as well toss a bone to my past self.

The only issue was that I barely remembered anything about my previous life. I didn’t even know my own name.

I’d recognize myself if I saw me, probably...

The thing was, my memories of “me” were no better than what a stranger might know.

It was strange, really.

My reincarnation bonus had erased all personal memories while leaving me with complete knowledge of historical events.

So technically, I should’ve forgotten almost everything and fully become “Yoo Ha-yeon.” But—

A glitch happened.

In my past life, I was such a big deal that my personal story became a part of capital-H History.

So the two data sets clashed.

I was supposed to forget “me,” yet still remember everything “I” did.

The result was this weird half-state: I had no name or private memories, but I still retained fragments of my ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ former self’s thoughts and personality.

...To be totally honest, that’s why I crave attention and want to be someone important.

Because I realized: even an omnipotent hand can’t erase everything.

No matter how thoroughly a wave crushes a sandcastle, once that castle enters the annals of history, it lives on—forever recorded and passed down.

As a speck of a human being, the only way I could survive was to twist history so violently that no one could ever forget me.

Just like Yoo Jin-cheol’s wife was once called “Madam” but ended up swapped out and demoted to being my “nanny” in this life, I too could be reduced to nothing by the whims of some divine prank.

Separate from all that, some level of philanthropy was going to be necessary later anyway.

“Sigh... It’s not like I’m doing anything evil, right? If a company gets a bad rep, it doesn’t last long. Grandpa donates to universities all the time too, doesn’t he?”

“Oh, right. I heard he made big donations for lung cancer research recently...”

“If I can dominate the society I give back to, then philanthropy’s actually a great concept. Not ownership—control. That’s the key.”

If you pump money into scholarship programs and similar initiatives, things go way smoother down the line. There’s a reason big companies love their education foundations.

Once those scholarship kids grow into society’s elite, they’re bound to return the favor in some way. It’s a profitable investment.

“But right now, there’s no real way to bring your funds into Korea, is there?”

I nodded without hesitation. Most of my money was overseas, and I didn’t have the domestic setup to start a foundation yet.

“So I’m just observing for now.”

Once I start hunting companies inside Korea later, my reputation’s going to tank for sure... This is just preemptive planning.

I’m planning years in advance, and then planning again for the plans. I’m not even twenty yet, but I have to think about life past thirty.

Being the shadow mastermind is seriously exhausting.

You think someone like me doesn’t care about public opinion?

How many people actually enjoy being hated? Not me, that’s for sure.

I’m the type who thrives on compliments and lives for reactions—especially about my looks.

You have no idea how many pictures I’ve stockpiled.

I’m going to scrapbook every single one and publish it in my official Yoo Ha-yeon biography. At company welcome parties, I’ll personally hand out copies of my autobiography to all the newbies.

But even with all that, if my public image crashes, it’s all meaningless. Just look at how dictators end up as jokes.

If twenty years from now I Google myself and all I see are posts like “Yoo Ha-yeon’s body—damn.jpg” I’ll be happy.

But if it’s more like “Just a lucky washed-up hag who rode the times,” I’ll be furious—and that’ll definitely warp my personality.

Ugh...

Just thinking about it is making my stomach turn. Even the most famous, accomplished people in my past life became targets of mockery online—so I need to take precautions.

I’m fine with being idolized and lusted after. But made into a joke? Hell no. Anyone who crosses that line... I’ll track down their IPs and deal with them in real life.

Or maybe I’ll just wield such overwhelming power that no one dares to deny me.