Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Little Sister's Study Stream
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Lately, Seol-young hardly ever came out of her room.
Maybe she was busting her ass to hold onto that top-of-the-class honor she currently owned.
She'd head off to school early in the morning and drag herself back home late at night. Word was, she was hitting the books at a study hall with her friend Seo Su-ji or something like that.
Though we weren't related by blood.
Watching my little sister pour herself into her studies like that? It made me proud as hell.
'Guess I need to step up my game too.'
To be the older brother—or, hell, the cool uncle figure—she could brag about...
Shouldn't I show her something impressive?
The replies had come in from the two women I'd asked for help not long ago.
For starters, there were three energy business listings on the table.
One was CP in the States. Looked like they were gunning for oil exploration.
Unlike the old days, most reserves were already mapped out these days.
Finding new ones came with way too much risk.
Just the exploration phase—drilling deep into the earth to check—cost an astronomical fortune. On land, confirming a well could run up to ten million bucks max, and that varied wildly depending on the geology.
Offshore drilling? Don't even get me started.
Way pricier than land. Shallow waters alone could hit fifty million for a single drill. Deep sea? You're mobilizing gear that costs over two hundred million before you even start.
Of course, drilling didn't guarantee you'd strike oil.
Even if you did, you'd still have to run the numbers on economic and technical feasibility before deciding to extract.
If you aimed for a hundred percent success rate as the max goal? Hell, you'd be lucky to hit ten percent on a good day.
No choice but to scratch the U.S. listing off the list. The other two were in the Middle East and Russia.
'Russia, huh...'
The media was screaming about a new Cold War breaking out left and right. No real reason to dive into that mess. Hell, I needed to keep America sweet as it was—what, was I nuts enough to side with the opposition?
On top of that, the asking price was at an all-time high.
I'd been wondering who the hell would buy at that markup.
Naturally, I wiped Russia from my mind.
If the price had been decent, I might've timed a risky entry. But something even better was waiting for me.
'That leaves the one spot...'
Saudi Arabia.
Perfect—a company tied to us had just hit the market.
'Problem is, breaking into this one's gonna need some royal family buy-in.'
Ramzan Abdulman, His Royal Highness from Saudi who'd hooked us up with the Bikaang system.
Word was, he was the second most powerful guy after the crown prince.
If a heavyweight like him pulled strings on this energy firm deal, I might snag it without a hitch.
I plopped down at my computer and searched the portal site for "Ramzan Abdulman."
Thousands of articles popped up.
Every damn one screamed what real money play looked like.
[Ramzan Abdulman invests whopping 1.7 billion dollars in African agriculture, mining, and energy infrastructure...]
[Ramzan Abdulman, dubbed Saudi's next crown prince contender, teams up on European AAM development project...]
[Crown prince pushes Neom project hard, puts Ramzan Abdulman front and center...]
Big-league moves, every one.
'Fuck, this guy's scary as shit...'
A nobody from the sticks getting an invite from a key player in a whole country?
My heart was pounding like I might drop dead from nerves.
The invite had come through Jin Seol-hwa, asking the Bikaang system's rep to visit Saudi.
No way I could turn it down.
His Royal Highness sends a love call first, and I say no?
Unless my brain was just decoration, it was time to pick a travel date.
'And they want me to bring a partner...'
Wasn't that basically code for "bring your spouse"?
I was a pure romantic who'd never even had a girlfriend, let alone a first kiss.
Even if not a wife, I'd probably need to bring a woman.
But who?
The women I'd connected with flashed through my mind.
Jin Seol-hwa, Olivia, Kang So-yeon, Frisia, Yu So-geum, and the rest.
Ah, scratch Yu So-geum.
She wasn't a connection—she was bad blood.
By now, she was probably rocking prison blues and chowing down on sweet bean rice.
"Haa..."
Deciding who to take was damn tough.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Scritch-scratch!
The sound of pen on paper filled the room.
The culprit? Jin Seol-young.
Even after nailing top of the school, she wasn't slacking off.
There's that old saying, right?
Genius can't beat hard work, and hard work can't beat enjoyment.
Bullshit.
Seol-young was a genius who worked her ass off and loved every minute.
Daehan Middle School, where the country's top elite kids gathered.
Claiming number one there took bone-grinding effort, nothing less.
Four hours in, her cute little butt glued to the chair.
Just as her back started aching, she heard some rustling.
"Owowowow!"
Seo Su-ji, studying alongside her, stretched big and let out the cutest squeal.
"Wanna grab something quick from the convenience store?"
"Convenience store?"
"Yeah. My brain's been spinning nowhere, and now my head hurts."
"Should we?"
"Yeah!"
The two girls shook off their heavy thoughts with a stroll around the park near the study hall.
The park had washed away winter's traces, gleaming fresh like a just-cleaned window. Seol-young held a sandwich and triangle kimbap in one hand, a water bottle in the other, and before she knew it, a gasp of awe slipped out.
"Look at this! Forsythia's about to bloom!"
"Spring's here, after all."
Seo Su-ji scooted close to the flowers and grinned bright.
The season of new life stirred deep waves of emotion.
They soaked it all in from a bench.
Spring had arrived, but it wasn't full-blown yet—her body still felt the chill.
"How's the studying going? Smooth?"
Seol-young nodded at her friend's question.
"Just started calculus."
"Huh? What... integrals?"
"Calculus."
"Eek!? C-calculus? That's for high school seniors, isn't it?"
"Yeah. But once I got into it..."
"Whoa, you're a real genius!"
Seol-young tilted her head at that. She knew damn well what a true genius looked like.
"Nah. I'm just average."
"You average? You got a perfect score on that cursed note test—the first ever at Daehan Middle?"
"That was just a test. The real grind starts when you grow up."
She'd see the uncle and big sis hustling non-stop after school.
Piles of A4 paper on desks like mountains, black boards labeled "Approval Docs" scattered everywhere. Too many to count.
Signing those and spouting mysterious lingo? She envied it hard.
Wondered if she'd ever squeeze into that world someday.
"I wanna grow up fast."
Letting out the wish she'd buried deep, Seo Su-ji's eyes went wide.
"Why? My dad's super jealous of my age—says it's the best time and to enjoy it now, 'cause adults gotta give up stuff they wanna do."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Some YouTuber said adults are never wrong."
"......"
Truth was, Seol-young had one thing she wanted to try.
Making money.
"I wanna earn some cash."
"Cash? Don't you get allowance?"
"I do, but it feels so guilty... If I make my own, it'd be fulfilling, and I wouldn't lean on anyone..."
"Wanna go independent already?"
"...Independent?"
"Yeah. Like living alone. College kids do it all the time."
She thought it over.
Did she want to break off and live solo?
Nope.
She just wanted to lighten the load—even a bit—for the uncle and big sis grinding away. Maybe make their days feel a tad less heavy.
"Try YouTube."
"...YouTube?"
"Yeah! These days, YouTubers post hobbies for fun and rake in cash."
Come to think of it, back in the hospital, that nurse next to her had been glued to something.
But all she wanted then was to get better.
"Can middle schoolers like us make money?"
"Duh. You didn't know?"
"?"
"People donate just for watching you study?"
"They pay to watch studying?"
"Yup!"
Seo Su-ji leaned in close to her ear, whispering like a devil's temptation—sultry and secretive.
Whisper-whisper!
A moment later.
"What? That much?"
Even thinking her allowance was plenty, Su-ji's intel hit like a bomb. Seol-young knew average adult salaries too—house talk made sure of that.
"For real! And no need to show your face. Study stream—just point a camera at your desk, scribble hard, and money rolls in."
Like a level 99 kindly schooling a fresh noob.
Obviously, level 99 was Seo Su-ji, noob was Jin Seol-young.
"Let's test it. Costs nothing. Monetization later."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kim Tae-yoon, your average office drone, dragged his weary body home.
Small firm, under fifty souls.
Pay was meh, but good people—ten years and counting.
"Kyaah! Nothing beats a post-work hot shower and ice-cold beer!"
He fired up YouTube the second he sat at his PC.
A bunch of new vids.
Binged his usuals, figured one more, and started browsing.
That's when he spotted the weird live stream.
[Middle Schooler Solving Calculus Vlog ♡]
'What the...? A middle schooler doing calculus?'
Inside the stream: camera fixed on desk, just workbook, fingers. Nothing to mock, though. Those scribbling fingers—formula after formula—looked straight-up middle school.
'Wh-what! Real middle schooler?'
Even the nastiest brain-melters.
Solved without a second's hesitation.
Kim Tae-yoon knew calculus pain firsthand.
Science major here.
Even then, if you pinned him on his most hated subject? Math, hands down.
'Whoa! Genius. Solved in under thirty seconds?'
Wasn't just math.
English was killer too.
Blasted through college-transfer level sentences, nailed the workbook. Graded it—all perfect.
Wondered if she memorized answers for clout, but one detail hooked him.
Textbook corner: 【Daehan Middle School】.
"D-Daehan Middle? The chaebol kids' school... where everyone ends up at Korea Uni or Harvard minimum!?"
He chucked his beer, mouth agape, couldn't close it.
This live? Pure subscribe-and-like bait.
"Wh-whoa..."
Kim Tae-yoon got it.
Didn't know who this YouTuber was, but she was about to blow up.