Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Start
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Kim Jin-seong couldn't shake the thought that he was trash.
It was because he'd lost his family, his friends, and even the woman he loved—all because of gambling.
He hadn't been someone who knew about gambling from the start.
He was just an ordinary guy who'd never bought so much as a lottery ticket his whole life.
To Jin-seong, gambling was nothing more than something that happened in movies or dramas—other people's stories.
The beginning of all the tragedy was one day when he was taking a break after receiving his severance pay.
He ran into his close younger friend Dong-hoon at a café.
"Hyung, just rest until your severance runs out. It'll be tough if you start working again right away."
Jin-seong sighed and slowly stirred his coffee.
"Easy for you to say. Without money, next month will be hell."
Dong-hoon grinned and slid his phone toward Jin-seong.
"Hyung, wanna try this? It's fun, and if you're lucky, you can make some pocket money. Buy me a beer if you win big."
Jin-seong glanced at the screen.
It looked like some complicated gambling site.
"What's this?"
"It's called Ladder Game. You just pick odd or even. Super simple. Give it a shot for fun."
Jin-seong hesitated for a moment.
If only he'd hesitated a little longer back then.
"Just think of it as blowing beer money and try it once."
Listening to Dong-hoon, Jin-seong cautiously signed up on the site and deposited 50,000 won.
"How do you play this?"
"It's easy. Just follow what I tell you."
After that day, Jin-seong's life twisted completely out of shape.
He'd only followed Dong-hoon's instructions for an hour, picking odd or even.
But amazingly, his 50,000 won deposit ballooned to 1.2 million won in no time.
"Hyung! See? I told you. This is like printing money."
Dong-hoon cheered excitedly, but Jin-seong stared at the screen with trembling hands, unable to believe it.
"Is it really okay to make money this easily...?"
He had no idea that the thrill of that moment, that split-second rush, would become the curse that wrecked his entire life.
That evening, Jin-seong drank with Dong-hoon at a fancy barbecue joint.
He even gave Dong-hoon some pocket money.
Jin-seong, who used to flinch at spending 100,000 won a day, blew 700,000 won without a second thought.
And he still had 500,000 won left.
Just like that, Kim Jin-seong's life was racing down a dark path from which there was no return.
Over the past week, Jin-seong had won money gambling every single day without fail.
He started with small amounts each day, but by the end, hundreds of thousands of won piled up in his account.
With that money, he gave his parents some spending cash and took his girlfriend Hyo-jin out on dates, eating at fancy restaurants he never could have afforded before.
Hyo-jin thought it was a bit odd how Jin-seong was suddenly spending so freely, but she just figured his severance had given him some breathing room and didn't think too deeply about it.
"Even if I spend it, the site boss will top it up again, right? No need to feel bad about it."
Jin-seong convinced himself inwardly as he swiped his card without a care.
He even happily walked into expensive restaurants he'd never have dreamed of before.
A week passed like that, enjoying the luxury.
The new week began.
As usual, he logged into the site and topped up his balance.
But for some reason, today felt off.
He brushed off the first few losses.
"Eh, everyone loses sometimes."
But every button he pressed started going against his predictions.
His expression hardened.
His hands shook, and his heart raced.
When he came to his senses, his account balance was dwindling.
Anxiety flooded his mind.
He might lose everything he'd made over the past week.
Jin-seong lost every bet he placed.
At first, he'd deposit 50,000 or 100,000 won and bet only 20,000 to 30,000 won at a time.
But after a couple of losses, he got desperate.
"Just win once. One win and I'm back."
Before he knew it, Jin-seong upped his deposit to 500,000 won.
His bets jumped to 100,000 or 200,000 won each.
His heart pounded wildly, and his breath came short.
But if there's a lucky day, there's an unlucky one too.
That day, nothing went right no matter what he did.
In the end, the 5 million won he'd won from the site vanished in an instant.
In truth, out of the initial 5 million won, 2 million had already gone to his parents' allowance and dates with Hyo-jin.
Objectively, he was still up 2 million won, but Jin-seong was fixated on the idea that he'd lost the full 5 million.
It was the classic gambler's fallacy.
That mindset played a huge role in dragging his life into ruin.
Eventually, Jin-seong dipped into the 20 million won he'd painstakingly saved over the years.
He sat in front of the computer all day without eating, staring only at the ladder screen.
The short five minutes waiting for results felt like five hours.
His legs trembled with anxiety.
His bets had skyrocketed to 500,000 won, even 1 million won at a time.
When he first deposited 1 million won, luck was on his side.
500,000 won hit. Then all-in double to 1 million won hit.
Another bold 2 million won bet succeeded, netting him 4 million won in a flash.
He'd recovered all his losses.
If only he'd stopped there.
But dopamine and overconfidence flooded his brain.
"See? I was right. Just one more million won bet?"
But from there, everything went wrong.
Three straight losses in a row.
He frantically deposited more, scrambling to break even, but things only got worse.
In just three days, the 20 million won he'd saved over years vanished without a trace.
Jin-seong stared blankly at the screen in a daze, like a man who'd lost his mind.
His phone kept ringing, but he couldn't bring himself to answer.
He couldn't accept the reality that years of honest work had disappeared in days.
'I wish this was a dream...'
But the cold monitor screen mercilessly reflected his shattered reality.
Jin-seong felt empty.
He didn't leave his room all day and didn't eat.
His heart was so hollow he couldn't feel a thing.
His phone buzzed nonstop on the desk, but he ignored it completely.
His worried girlfriend Hyo-jin called endlessly and even scolded him asking what was wrong, but even that annoyed him.
His parents called out worriedly from outside the door, but Jin-seong just resented everything.
He didn't even know who to blame.
The situation itself was utter torment.
Finally, unable to hold back, Jin-seong called Dong-hoon.
『Dong-hoon-ah, wanna grab a coffee?』
Caught off guard by the sudden call, Dong-hoon still happily came out to meet him.
The two sat in the café with awkward smiles.
"Hyung, you must've won big lately?"
Dong-hoon asked with a sly grin.
Jin-seong's face hardened instantly.
Dong-hoon sensed something was wrong.
Jin-seong spoke heavily.
"Truth is... I lost everything. Even my savings."
It was a story he'd never told anyone.
His secret hell.
Once he said it out loud, he felt a bit relieved.
The pent-up frustration easing a little.
Dong-hoon listened, then hung his head and sighed deeply.
"Aigoo, hyung... I'm such an idiot. Recommending this to someone like you... I'm really sorry."
Jin-seong shook his head weakly.
"No, it was my choice in the end. Not your fault."
Dong-hoon thought for a moment, then looked at Jin-seong again.
"Hyung, actually, I dabbled as a master agent when I was younger. I know how to read ladder charts a bit. I'll check them for you every day, so just think of it as one shot to recover and try again. I hope it helps even a little."
Jin-seong hesitated.
But desperation over his losses overrode reason.
Without capital, Jin-seong took out his first loan of 3 million won.
And pinned his hopes on Dong-hoon's so-called "project."
He bet as Dong-hoon directed, and on the first day, luck smiled—he turned 1 million won into 2 million won.
"Dong-hoon-ah, thank you so much. You gave me hope again."
Jin-seong excitedly expressed his gratitude.
Dong-hoon was glad too, feeling some guilt lift for ruining Jin-seong.
But starting the next day, everything changed.
The first day's success was pure luck.
After that, Jin-seong lost repeatedly.
Flustered, Dong-hoon didn't know what to do, and Jin-seong's money dwindled fast.
Only then did Jin-seong realize.
Gambling couldn't be won for sure.
He felt it in his bones.
Dong-hoon eventually apologized and advised him to stop now and return to normal life before vanishing into his own routine.
Jin-seong felt emptiness and injustice surge.
Obsessed with recovering his losses somehow, he scoured the internet all night for ways.
That's when he stumbled on "family rooms" where master agents shared "picks" with members.
Clutching at hope again, Jin-seong sent a cautious DM to the master agent he saw most often in the chat of his usual ladder site, who seemed to have a high success rate.
『Excuse me, can I get some picks?』
A reply came soon.
『Leave your KakaoTalk ID, and I'll contact you.』
Jin-seong added the KakaoTalk immediately and had a brief chat.
Under the condition of switching to the site the master agent recommended, he'd provide picks.
Jin-seong didn't hesitate anymore and signed up for the new site.
The invited family room was named 『Bayern Fam Family Room』.
Borrowing the name of the famous soccer team Bayern Munich, it was a large gambling community run by the master agent.
With trembling hands, Jin-seong pressed the enter button.
Full of hope and expectation that here, he could reclaim the money he'd lost.