May 9, 2022. Mirue Partners War Room.

  The crack had become a fissure. Retail investors, realizing the peg wasn't snapping back, had rushed to the exit. They withdrew billions from Anchor Protocol. They sold UST for whatever they could get—USDT, USDC, ETH.

  UST: $0.90.

  In the war room, Min-jun stood before the screens. The atmosphere was funereal. "The mechanism is working exactly as designed," Min-jun said, his voice devoid of triumph.

  The Mechanism: To save the peg, the Terra protocol automatically minted LUNA to buy back the excess UST. But as the price of LUNA crashed due to fear, the protocol had to mint more LUNA to buy the same amount of UST. It was hyperinflation. A feedback loop from hell.

  Park Dong-hoon pointed to the supply chart. "Look at the LUNA supply. Yesterday: 350 Million. Today: 1.5 Billion. By tomorrow, it will be infinity."

  "It's the Weimar Republic on the blockchain," Min-jun noted. "They are printing money to pay debts, which makes the money worthless, so they print more."

  Min-jun checked his short positions on Binance. Short LUNA @ $80. Current Price: $30. Unrealized Profit: +160%.

  "It's working," Ye-eun said, watching the numbers with a mix of horror and fascination. She looked at Min-jun. "You are printing money while the ecosystem burns. Do you feel anything?"

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  "I feel the correction," Min-jun said, turning to her. "The market was irrational. It believed in magic. Now it is remembering math."

  "People are losing their life savings, Min-jun."

  "They lost their savings the moment they put it into a Ponzi," Min-jun said sharply. "I didn't steal it. I just revealed that it was already gone."

  May 10, 2022. Daegwang Hotels.

  Jin Hyuk-jae was screaming. He was smashing his keyboard, key by key.

  UST: $0.60. LUNA: $15.00.

  His 30 Billion Won principal was now worth 18 Billion Won. He had tried to withdraw from Anchor an hour ago. [Network Congested. Transaction Failed.]

  "Let me out!" Hyuk-jae howled, throwing a vase against the wall. "Let me out!"

  He managed to get his funds onto Binance. He tried to swap the UST for Bitcoin. But the price was moving too fast. The slippage was 20%. By the time he clicked "Sell," the price had dropped another 5%.

  And then, the LUNA collapse accelerated. $10.00 -> $5.00 -> $1.00.

  In hours, a top 10 cryptocurrency evaporated. The "Death Spiral" was mathematically unstoppable. Hyuk-jae watched his net worth hit single digits. Then, he remembered the loans. He had borrowed 20 Billion won from the private lenders to put into Anchor. Those loans were now unsecured. The collateral—the UST—was dust.

  His phone began to ring. Chairman Bae (Private Lender). Unknown Number. Unknown Number.

  They knew. The sharks smelled the blood in the water.

  Hyuk-jae backed away from the desk. He backed away until he hit the window. He looked down at the street, twenty floors below. The cars looked like toys. He had lost the Construction company. He had lost the Retail division. And now, he had gambled his survival on an algorithm, and he had lost.

  He had nothing left. Not even dignity.