February 12, 1997 – Wednesday night, Manhattan, New York City.
It was just past midnight, but the 31st floor of One New York Plaza—home to Eldorado Fund's trading floor—was ablaze with light.
By the time Choi Ho-geun and his team, who had rushed in by taxi after receiving an emergency call, arrived, the place was already buzzing with traders.
Phones rang nonstop from every corner, and the entire floor was a flurry of activity. Yoo seok-hyun spoke up, clearly tense.
"Whatever it is, it looks like something huge has happened."
Choi Ho-geun nodded grimly. He then spotted Mason, who was standing and speaking loudly into the phone, and hurried over.
"Got it. Check the situation in Hong Kong and report back."
As Mason hung up the call, Choi Ho-geun approached him with urgency.
"Mason, what on earth is going on?"
Mason turned to him, brushing back his brown hair with one hand, and answered, seeing the confused faces of Choi and his team.
"You're all here. Good."
He then tilted his chin toward the four monitors set up on his desk.
"As you can see, the Thai baht is under attack."
When Choi and the others looked at the screens, they saw it for themselves—massive waves of sell orders flooding in from the Bangkok and Tokyo forex markets.
"That's an insane volume!"
"Did something happen in Thailand?"
Amid their shocked reactions, Choi's face suddenly hardened as something clicked.
"Don't tell me this is…"
"Knew you'd catch on quick, Mr. Choi," Mason said, nodding.
"It's the hedge funds. They're going after the baht."
"Hmm…" Choi let out a low hum, his expression grave.
"Just like they brought down the Bank of England and pressured Japan, now they're aiming to force a devaluation of the baht."
Mason gave a wide grin.
"Exactly. With the current account deficit growing and the economy in bad shape, it was only a matter of time before the baht came under pressure. But instead of adjusting, the Thai government kept clinging to a de facto fixed exchange rate. The hedge funds are exploiting that."
He looked even more energized now, his expression bordering on exhilaration.
"You four are incredibly lucky, you know that?"
"Huh?"
As Choi and his team stared at him, puzzled, Mason's grin widened.
"You're about to witness a major game unfold—right here, before your eyes—before heading back to Korea. That's a rare stroke of luck."
"When you put it that way, I suppose you're right," Choi said, now nodding with realization.
As Mason had said, if they hadn't been on Wall Street, they wouldn't have been able to witness the clash between hedge funds and the Thai government up close.
At that moment, Choi felt the weight of just how rare and privileged an opportunity this was.
Even Jung Hwan-yeop and the others, watching the high-energy trading floor, couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement.
Seeing the gleam in his team's eyes, Choi glanced at Mason again.
"Is Eldorado Fund getting in on this action too?"
At that, Mason shrugged and pointed upward with his thumb.
"That's up to the boss to decide."
The mention of "the boss" made Choi Ho-geun immediately think of Seok-won's face.
"But knowing him, there's no way he'd sit out a game this big," Mason added, a deep smile forming on his lips.
At the same time—
Inside the executive lounge, Seok-won sat on a sofa with Landon, Andrew, and Dan on either side of him, deep in discussion.
"It's not just the hedge funds—JP Morgan, Citibank, and even Goldman Sachs have joined in on the baht short-selling," reported Dan, who had recently been promoted to Chief Strategist.
With one leg crossed over the other, Seok-won asked calmly:
"Is the Quantum Fund moving yet?"
"Nothing's been directly detected so far, but it's possible they're taking a backdoor approach—perhaps using JP Morgan or Goldman to mask their position," Dan replied.
It was a plausible theory—both the Thai government and Wall Street would be watching the Quantum Fund closely, so they'd have every reason to employ tricks to conceal their involvement.
"How big is the current short position against the baht?"
"As of just before I came here—slightly over 400 million dollars."
Seok-won folded his arms and remarked thoughtfully:
"That's not quite large enough to say the hedge funds are fully launching an offensive."
He turned his head and looked at Andrew, now serving as the Chief Investment Officer.
"What's your take?"
Andrew responded, his face serious.
"It's too early to say for sure, but based on what we've seen so far, I wouldn't call it a full-on attack just yet."
"I agree," Landon chimed in, interjecting.
"Just the fact that the Quantum Fund hasn't stepped in yet says a lot, doesn't it?"
Hearing the two men's views, Seok-won gave a small nod of agreement.
"If they really intended to bring down the baht in one shot, the sell orders would've been much larger."
"Exactly," Andrew affirmed.
Seok-won leaned back into the sofa and asked:
"What's the Thai government doing in response?"
Dan answered promptly.
"As soon as the attack began, they've been intervening—buying baht in the forex market to defend the exchange rate."
"They'd have no choice but to do that, even if it means taking losses," Seok-won said.
"They're essentially operating a fixed exchange rate under the disguise of a currency basket system."
Andrew adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and added:
"The real question is whether Thailand's foreign reserves can hold out until the hedge funds give up."
As Andrew had said, that was the crux of the matter.
Seok-won placed his clasped hands on his knees and asked in a calm, low voice:
"Thailand's foreign reserves were said to be just over 38 billion dollars, correct?"
"That was the figure announced at the end of last year. It's likely dropped further since then," Dan replied.
Given the ongoing current account deficit, the baht's relatively stable performance could only have been possible due to continued intervention from the Thai central bank.
Without that intervention, the baht would have already plummeted.
"If the hedge funds launch a full-scale attack, those reserves will melt away in no time."
"If it falls below 20 billion, I doubt they'll be able to hold on—they'll probably have to surrender," Andrew agreed.
"And if they drain their entire reserve stockpile, the aftermath would be catastrophic," Seok-won added grimly.
Leaning forward with a serious look, Landon asked:
"Are we still going long, as planned?"
Seok-won didn't hesitate for a second and nodded.
"Yes. The Thai government won't give in so easily. And so far, the hedge funds seem to just be throwing jabs. Let's bet on Thailand for round one. But if their response is weaker than expected, the funds might go for a full-on blitz—so let's monitor things for now."
"Understood."
Seok-won turned to Andrew and gave him another instruction:
"The Quantum Fund is the key. Keep a close eye on their movements. If anything shifts, report it immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Just then, the keyphone on the side table rang. Seok-won calmly reached out and hit the speaker button.
[Boss, we're suddenly seeing a flood of baht sell orders in the forward market too!]
It was Tyler, the head of the forex trading team, speaking urgently through the speakerphone.
Seok-won showed no surprise—he had anticipated this.
"So now the battlefield has expanded to two fronts. How the Thai central bank reacts from here will tell us how strong their will to defend really is."
The forward market, where contracts are made based on predicted future prices, was now being used to pressure the baht even further.
If the baht price fell there, not only could speculators profit from arbitrage, but it would also send shockwaves through the spot market.
Seok-won's expression turned intrigued.
Would the Thai central bank fight back with full force as he expected?
Or would they falter, letting the hedge funds seize the momentum?
The next one or two hours would be critical.
Their actions in that time would determine where Seok-won would place his bet.
Meanwhile—
Chatichai, who had become Thailand's new finance minister in December of the previous year, was known for his bold reformist stance.
Aware that the Thai economy was rotting from within, he had pushed for sweeping changes: slashing government budgets by billions, restricting reckless loans, and encouraging M&A to clean up insolvent banks.
He also tried introducing a consumption tax to boost government revenue—but was met with strong resistance not just from the opposition, but even from his own ruling party.
And now, this sudden baht assault from hedge funds was nothing short of a disaster.
Wearing a gray suit, Finance Minister Chatichai bit down on his lower lip after being told that the baht was now under attack even in the forward market.
"How large are the sell orders?" he asked tightly.
Warit, the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, replied in an urgent tone.
[We've already surpassed 2 billion baht in sell orders—and they're still pouring in!]
Sitting at his desk with the receiver pressed to his ear, Finance Minister Chatichai's face twisted into a grimace.
"Of all times for this to happen…"
If his ongoing economic reform measures succeeded, there was still a chance to revive Thailand's deteriorating economy. But now, at its most vulnerable moment, they were under attack—and the timing was infuriating.
Then again, this was exactly why now was the perfect moment to strike. The hedge funds, like hyenas, hadn't missed their chance to pounce when the prey was weakest.
His expression hardening, Chatichai gripped the phone tightly and gave a firm order.
"Listen carefully. If we retreat here, those hedge fund bastards will only grow bolder and rip us apart. Defend the baht—no matter what!"
On the other end of the line, Governor Warit's hesitation was palpable.
[To defend the exchange rate, we'll have to tap into our foreign reserves. That could lead to massive losses.]
"I know that," Chatichai snapped. "But for now, protecting the exchange rate is more important—even if it means losses. If the baht is devalued, the Thai economy will collapse overnight!"
He spoke with force, pushing his stance hard.
Governor Warit, well aware of the devastating impact a currency devaluation could have, let out a long, reluctant sigh.
[Hoo… Understood. How much of the reserves are you authorizing us to use?]
After a moment of thought, Chatichai made his decision.
"I'm giving you discretion up to 8 billion dollars. Do whatever it takes to hold the line."
That was nearly a quarter of Thailand's total foreign currency reserves.
The sheer scale of the authorization made it clear how seriously Chatichai viewed this crisis.
[…Understood.]
"Again—don't hold back. Pour out the dollars and make those hedge fund bastards think twice."
[We'll do everything we can.]
After hanging up, Chatichai sat back, face flushed with heat, and muttered grimly:
"If we don't break their momentum early, we'll end up like the Bank of England—or Japan."
Determined, he pressed the keyphone button to place another call—this time to secure retroactive approval from the Prime Minister to use the foreign reserves.
"Connect me to the Prime Minister's office. Immediately."