arc1 · 001-ch1

Mad Demon Suzuka: When I Time Leaped, I Found a World with Dungeons

Torazaburo

Chapter 1: First Floor, First Section Conquest

Episode 1: Goodbye, All My Wealth

Well, hello everyone. My name is Suzuka Jozenji.

"The Nikkei average is experiencing a massive crash---"

I turned thirty this year. I never really cared much about age, but hitting this milestone made me realize just how quickly time flies. I can only marvel at how fast the months and years have gone by.

"This decline rate is historic, surpassing even the Lehman Shock in momentum---"

Even after turning thirty, my lifestyle hasn't changed much. I go to work, come home, play games or watch streaming videos or fiddle with my phone---my days are monotonous and unchanging.

"Along with this, the yen's appreciation seems to be accelerating. The yen has strengthened by 18 yen compared to yesterday---"

Yeah, yeah. Just when you think your life will continue unchanged, sometimes it suddenly gets turned completely upside down.

"Hah... hah... my balance ended up like this..."

A man who's lost his sanity, tears streaming down his face while somehow still wearing a smile. That's right. That's me. Suzuka Jozenji.

On TV, the morning news was reporting on a crash worse than the Lehman Shock. On the smartphone placed on my desk, notifications blared warnings about forced liquidation risks due to market fluctuations. On my computer screen, the profit-loss display showed figures too painful to look at directly. Everything surrounding Suzuka squeezed his stomach, giving him a nauseating feeling as if gastric juices were rising up.

A single man with no expensive hobbies. Left alone, he could have saved up a decent amount. It all started when he began asset management out of sheer unwillingness to work. At first, he entrusted everything to investment trusts since he didn't understand much, but gradually became fascinated by the fluctuating assets, and before he knew it, he started day trading and eventually got into FX.

At first, he traded with small amounts. However, getting heated up trying to recover his losses, he increased his leverage---and when that happened to work out well, resulting in a big win, that was the beginning of everything---no, the beginning of the end.

Piro-rin~♪

My phone chimed, displaying a new notification. Looking at it, it said, "Your position has been liquidated." Meaning, "Your losses in FX have exceeded your balance, so we're forcibly settling your account." To put it simply, "You lost so much in FX that we're zeroing out your balance."

Shifting my gaze to look at the screen, the balance field that once glittered with over ten thousand yen now pitifully displayed 334 yen---a figure that had dropped below four digits.

I couldn't think anymore. These past few days, I'd been tossed around by the markets, and every time I moved to recover losses, more losses piled up. My vision distorted, and I experienced for the first time what it feels like for the blood to drain from your face. It's still okay. I can still do it. I'll recover it next time. It'll definitely go up from here. I believed, and was betrayed. The market moved opposite whenever I took the opposite position. I genuinely started wondering if someone was watching me and manipulating the market, driving me to the brink of insanity.

And then today's liquidation.

I lost everything.

Despair.

Having once gotten carried away thinking I could achieve FIRE, I was now assaulted by deep emptiness.

But strangely enough, part of me felt relieved. I was being forcibly ejected from a life dominated by FX---a life where I'd been staring intensely at charts, waking up multiple times during the night to check market conditions on my phone, and suffering from such tunnel vision. The result of emptiness and liberation mixing together was probably why tears flowed endlessly while, for some reason, the corners of my mouth were lifted.

Without bothering to wipe the tears that flowed on their own, I picked up my phone and called my workplace.

"Good morning. This is Jozenji. Is that you, Manager?"

"Oh, Jozenji. What's up? You're not here yet---did something happen with your health?"

"That's right. I don't have a fever, but I'm feeling this emptiness---or rather, extreme fatigue. Could I take today off?"

"You okay with that? Your leave is approved. Is there any urgent work that needs handling today?"

"No, work-wise I'm fine."

"Got it. You've been looking rough lately. Take it easy and rest up. Take care."

"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble."

Even though it was sudden, he kindly approved it. Gotta appreciate having a decent company and boss.

I put my phone on the desk, placed my hands on the armrests, and pushed myself up. I really had no strength, staggering as I somehow managed to stand and headed toward the bed.

(Man, I'm wobbling. Haven't been sleeping properly lately either. Maybe I'll play some games for the first time in a while after I wake up.)

Not to mention sleep, I hadn't been able to eat properly because of worsening stomach pain day by day, not even managing to get food down my throat. Suzuka's body had reached its limit. Collapsing onto the bed to lie down, thoughts drifting to games gathering dust, I quietly fell asleep.

(End of file - total 103 lines)