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# Chapter 1
## 1
[Balance: 50,013,453,000 won]
Five hundred billion won had just been deposited into my account.
How long would I have had to save my salary as a soldier to make that much money?
I couldn't even begin to fathom it.
This wasn't a dream. I'd already pinched my cheek several times.
Hard enough that it had bruised badly and gone numb.
Maybe I'd gone a little overboard.
Anyway.
The 50 billion won that had been deposited.
They said it was an inheritance.
An inheritance from a father I had never even met.
I hadn't even known his name, but apparently, he had been quite the big shot.
A chaebol chairman.
Well, considering he had left me 50 billion won, it made sense that he would have to be a chaebol chairman or something
of that level.
'This is ridiculous.'
Rather than happiness or sadness, I felt bewildered.
Now that the 50 billion won was sitting in my account, it was finally starting to sink in.
A complete turnaround in life, the kind of thing I'd only ever seen in dramas.
An amount far greater than a first-prize lottery win had been deposited into my bank account.
What I needed to do next was already decided.
The very first thing I decided to do was apply for my discharge from the military.
Thud, thud.
Just then, someone came trudging down the corridor of the military housing.
The sound of military boots echoed through the hall.
That damn face.
The guy I hated most in the unit. No, the guy I downright despised.
"Hey, Kang Taebaek, you bastard. What the hell are you doing here?"
As usual.
The moment he showed up, he started picking a fight.
Sergeant Kang Jinmok.
A guy who pushed around the men beneath him and dumped all his own work on them every chance he got.
Just looking at his face made my insides twist.
If we hadn't been in the military, I would have punched that face a long time ago.
I could feel my expression twisting.
Normally, I would at least have made an effort to keep my expression under control.
But now?
'There's no need for that anymore, is there?'
As I openly frowned, Kang Jinmok narrowed his eyes.
He stepped closer and spoke.
"Whoa, so you're not even saluting me anymore? And what's with those eyes? Can't you look at me properly? Are you
seriously trying to start a mutiny?"
Oh, you fucking bastard.
The words were already rising to my throat, but I decided to hold them back for the moment.
"...Pilseung."
"...Tsk. Forget it. But what are you doing here right now? Did you finish the duty roster I told you to make? Huh?"
"Ah. That?"
The corners of my mouth slowly curled upward without me even realizing it.
"I'm just not going to do it."
"Right, don't just do it half-assed. When you do it, do it properly—what?"
"You didn't hear me? I said I'm not doing it."
"...Are you crazy? Did you lose your mind?"
"Looks like it."
I really did seem to have gone crazy.
Ever since I saw the 50 billion won deposited into my account.
It felt like my brain had turned soft.
"You. What the hell do you think you have to—"
"Yeah, I've got something to rely on."
When I answered calmly, Kang Jinmok made a strange expression.
"...Something to rely on? What, did you win the lottery or something?"
The lottery?
Well, it was pretty similar.
A laugh escaped me.
This time, I stepped closer.
"Pretty similar. That's why I'm thinking of quitting now."
"Quit what the hell—"
"I'm getting discharged. That's what I mean."
I took another step forward.
Kang Jinmok flinched and stepped backward.
"Since I'm getting discharged anyway, how about we take off our rank insignia and have a go at each other? You used to
say it all the time, didn't you? That if I wanted to fight you without our rank insignia, I should just say so.
Otherwise, I should look at you properly."
"You little bastard, that's—!"
"So? Do my eyes look innocent now? I was trying to make them look nicer, just like you told me."
As I openly mocked and challenged him, confusion and discomfort appeared on Kang Jinmok's face.
"W-why you're doing this, I don't know, but just calm down for now..."
This time, Sergeant Kang Jinmok took another step back.
Like a damn dog tucking its tail and running away.
He couldn't even look me in the eye anymore.
His eyes darted around as he rambled incoherently.
I'd already known.
If it weren't for our ranks, he wouldn't even have been able to look me in the eye.
It was pathetic. There was no point in continuing this.
I simply gave the guy standing there dumbfounded a light shoulder check as I passed him and said,
"Oh, and be careful walking around at night from now on, okay? If I run into you outside, I might actually kill you."
"......"
It was a satisfying discharge.
---
My discharge application was processed immediately.
After openly picking a fight with a superior and threatening him, it would have been stranger for me to remain in the
unit.
Who knew what I might do if I stayed?
They probably had no choice but to approve my discharge, if only because they were afraid of me.
Just then, I heard the voice of an elderly woman beside me.
"Well, young man, what do you think? Is the house to your liking? It's a little expensive around here, but the location
is excellent."
"Yes, it certainly seems that way."
I slowly looked around the interior of the house.
The first thing I did after getting discharged was look for a place to live.
I'd already decided on the area.
Cheongdam-dong. The neighborhood that immediately comes to mind when you talk about the most expensive land in South
Korea.
The jeonse deposit was 3 billion won.
It was definitely expensive. Back when I was a soldier, it was an amount I couldn't even dream of affording.
But that wasn't the case now, with more than 50 billion won sitting in my bank account.
At least once in my life, I had wanted to live in a neighborhood like this, in a house like this.
I did wonder if I was being too extravagant just because I'd suddenly come into money.
But the moment I actually saw the house, those thoughts disappeared completely.
It was as if I'd been possessed. Before I knew it, I was signing the contract.
"Oh my, you made the right choice! It's hard to find a house like this at this price, you know? You're quite a
straightforward young man. And you're handsome too, very manly-looking. Do you have a girlfriend? My granddaughter is
such a lovely, well-mannered girl. Would you perhaps be interested in an introduction—"
"I appreciate the thought."
"...Really?"
The disappointment was obvious on the old woman's face.
Apparently, she still had quite a bit of hope, because she urged me to call her if I ever changed my mind, right up
until the very end.
It was the first time anything like this had happened to me, so I was quite flustered, but I didn't feel bad about it.
The money in my bank account had made me more generous.
Had the world always been this beautiful?
"The house really is nice."
After successfully completing the contract, I looked around the house.
Even though I'd spent the enormous sum of 3 billion won, it barely made a dent.
There was still well over 40 billion won left in my account.
"So this is my home now?"
It wasn't technically my own house. It was a jeonse rental.
But who cared about that?
It was a house I could buy anytime I wanted.
Everything I could possibly need was already here.
Apparently, the previous tenant had left most of their belongings behind.
"Works out great for me."
Buying appliances was a hassle in itself.
Some people might actually enjoy that kind of thing, but I wasn't one of them.
I hated anything bothersome.
And more importantly.
"Most of this stuff is practically brand-new anyway."
The TV was huge and thin, and obviously expensive at a glance.
Even someone as clueless about furniture as me could tell that the sofa and other furnishings were luxury items just by
looking at them.
There was barely any sign of use.
They'd left all of this behind?
Just how rich were they?
Even from my perspective, with nearly 50 billion won in my account, I couldn't understand it.
After looking around the house for a while, I plopped down onto the sofa.
"Expensive really is better."
It was definitely comfortable.
My excitement began to settle, and my mind gradually became calmer.
I guess excitement really was temporary.
Just moments ago, I'd felt like I had the entire world in my hands, but now my thoughts were turning elsewhere.
"...What am I going to do with my life now?"
I had acquired enough money to live without working for the rest of my life.
I could replace my car whenever I wanted or spend all my time traveling.
I could indulge in expensive liquor and expensive food every single day.
At least when it came to money, I no longer had to worry about anything.
And yet, there wasn't really anything I wanted to do.
Cars, traveling, luxury.
Nothing particularly appealed to me.
"Even this house is already extravagant enough."
It was far too much house for one person to live in.
So much so that I couldn't even think of any other luxuries.
'People really are fickle.'
The realization that I no longer had to worry about making a living left me feeling strangely empty.
It was almost as if all the struggling I'd done to survive until now had been pointless.
In truth, I'd lived a life that was practically no different from that of an orphan.
My younger sister, the only blood relative I believed I had, had died in a traffic accident.
Looking back now, I think I'd lived with anger and bitterness ever since that day.
I was always on edge, always wary of other people.
Getting into fights had been part of everyday life.
Whenever the so-called school bullies tried to pick a fight with me, I never let it slide.
I beat them until they were crying and begging me to spare them.
Perhaps I had been naturally gifted physically, because I'd never lost a fight.
Even when someone I'd beaten came back with an entire group behind him, I never backed down.
I'd rather be beaten to death than bow my head. I hated the thought of yielding more than I hated death itself.
Like the saying went, a protruding stone gets struck by a hammer. There had been nowhere that welcomed someone as
sharp-edged as me, let alone someone as downright dangerous.
Then one day, I suddenly thought that I was going to end up in serious trouble if I kept living like this.
No matter how much I resented the world.
The thought of ending my life after burning through it like a moth drawn to a flame made me furious and bitter.
So as soon as I became an adult, I volunteered for the military.
And not just any branch. I joined the UDT, famous for being one of the toughest.
'I did become a proper person because of the military.'
At the time, it had been so damn difficult that I felt like I was going to die, but looking back now, I think the
military had really mellowed out my personality.
Though I did end up picking a fight with someone in the end.
I stared quietly at the ceiling.
I'd struggled so desperately all my life, just trying to live a decent life.
But reality hadn't changed much.
"...If you were alive and well, couldn't you have shown your face at least once?"
I'd lived my entire life alone.
Parental affection? I'd never experienced it even once.
I'd sworn that I would at least protect and take responsibility for my younger sister, the only family I had.
But in the end, she too had died in an accident.
"Goddammit... Shouldn't you have at least come to her funeral? If you were even remotely human."
I felt wronged and angry.
The parent I'd thought was dead had actually been alive all this time.
And not only that, he had been a chaebol chairman, someone whose name practically everyone in South Korea would
recognize.
"...Is the 50 billion won supposed to mean 'take this and go away'?"
I didn't feel grateful at all.
Of course, I wasn't sad either.
If anything, I found it disgusting.
It felt as though a man who had never shown his face to me even once in his entire life was trying to play the role of a
father before he died.
Haaa... fuck.
My head became a mess.
I wasn't normally the type to wallow in self-pity like this.
I slowly rubbed my face with my hand and picked up the remote.
I figured I might as well watch some TV.
Without thinking about anything in particular, I turned it on.
'What is this? A drama?'
A woman was crying.
And she was crying incredibly sadly, as if she'd been deeply wronged.
What could she possibly have gone through to cry like that?
I'd only just turned it on, but I was already getting absorbed in it.
"...Who is she? She looks familiar."
Even though she was practically sobbing her heart out, her appearance was enough to make me gasp in admiration.
She was unbelievably beautiful.
I felt like I almost remembered her.
I knew she was a famous actress.
But I couldn't remember her name.
The woman stopped crying and raised her head.
Her eyes were red from crying.
Her hair was disheveled.
Her cheeks were flushed.
The moment I saw that sorrowful expression, my heart sank with a thud.
Had I become more emotional?
I normally didn't get this immersed in what I was watching.
I unconsciously swallowed hard.
* ...Why did you come only now?
Her voice was wet with emotion.
There was a hint of resentment in it.
She bit her lip and glared at the man in front of her like a cat before throwing her arms around him.
"Whoa, this is pretty intense."
A passionate kiss followed.
Were dramas normally this provocative?
This was practically a bed scene.
Before I could even finish thinking that, the two actors, who had been kissing passionately, began taking off each
other's clothes.
...What the hell is this?
I didn't know whether this was normal or not, but I was starting to envy the male actor.
Fucking bastard. Lucky bastard.
Whoever he was, I couldn't help thinking the guy was ridiculously blessed.
"...I should at least see what the bastard looks like."
I became curious about how handsome he had to be to land a role like that.
I started watching the male actor closely.
He pulled off his shirt.
"...Huh?"
For a moment, I doubted my own eyes.
The scar on his chest was far too familiar.
It was in exactly the same place as mine, and it looked exactly the same.
Was it a coincidence?
It couldn't be.
What were the odds of something like that being a coincidence?
Thinking I might have seen it wrong, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
The passionate kiss came to an end.
And then I could finally see the man's face clearly.
"...Holy shit."
That's me, isn't it?