Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Commission
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The next morning, Kim Jin-seong and Dong-hoon woke up early and got moving in a hurry.
They headed first to Dong-hoon's place to grab his remaining stuff.
Dong-hoon told the landlord he was moving out and to settle the overdue rent and the rest from his deposit.
It was a rural area with a tiny deposit, so the landlord didn't make a fuss and readily agreed.
Dong-hoon packed his clothes and personal items into a carrier and loaded them into Jin-seong's car.
Then the two of them drove to a shop selling used electronics.
Jin-seong picked out a clean used laptop worth about 300,000 won and handed it to Dong-hoon.
It was essentially direct support from Jin-seong. He also slipped 300,000 won in cash into Dong-hoon's hand.
"Use this to eat properly and buy anything you're short on. Got it?"
Dong-hoon replied with heartfelt gratitude.
"Thank you so much, hyungnim. I'll definitely pay you back later."
With that, Jin-seong drove for an hour and a half straight to Sangju, the spot Goni had told him about.
Goni had said to come near Okcheon Station, so they arrived at the station and gave him a call.
Not long after, Goni appeared, shuffling over in slippers with his messy hair, heading for the car.
Goni hopped in, exchanged quick greetings with Dong-hoon, and started directing Jin-seong.
Just thirty seconds in from the station, they turned into an alley, and a crumbling old rural house came into view.
Jin-seong stared in shock and asked,
"Dude, do people actually live here?"
Goni replied nonchalantly.
"What's wrong? It's fine. Electricity works. Don't worry."
"What about internet?"
"No high-speed, so I charge up an egg hotspot and use that."
Jin-seong let out a hollow laugh.
The joke about the rural house with no bathroom had turned out to be real.
Goni added seriously,
"Pee in the kitchen drain. If that's a hassle, use the station bathroom."
Dong-hoon seemed unfazed by the setup and even chuckled as he unloaded his luggage and headed inside.
The single small room held only an air mattress, a dehumidifier, and a fan.
After roughly unpacking, Jin-seong said to Goni,
"Hey, let's go grab some coffee. Any cafes around here?"
Goni shrugged and replied,
"Cafes? Only teahouses around."
Jin-seong made a face like it was ridiculous.
A teahouse—he'd only ever seen those in dramas.
They headed to the teahouse Goni frequented, and the three of them pushed through the door.
In this rural village, there were hardly any young guys around, so the sudden arrival of three caught the teahouse staff off guard.
Goni with his long hair dropped by occasionally, but three young men at once was a first.
The teahouse owner was a woman two years younger than Jin-seong, and all the waitresses were girls in their early twenties.
They settled into a worn-out sofa and ordered three black coffees.
The curious girls who'd been eyeing the young men approached and said,
"Oppas~ Can't you buy us a coffee each?"
Goni waved them off casually, like it was routine.
"Sure, one each."
At that, one girl sidled up to each side of the table and started chatting.
"We haven't seen faces like yours around here before—how'd you end up coming?"
Jin-seong smiled and answered,
"Visiting a friend's house here, but this was the only spot for coffee, so first time trying it out. Never been to a teahouse—pretty novel."
The girls found it cute and linked arms, playing up the charm.
"It's always just old guys, so young oppas like you are a total treat!"
Jin-seong was enjoying it more than expected.
Getting a bar-like vibe for the price of a 2,500-won coffee felt fresh and fun to him.
Escaping his usual dull routine for a bit, Jin-seong was making a special memory with Goni and Dong-hoon in this rural teahouse.
After about an hour of lively chatter there, it was suddenly nearing 4 p.m.
Jin-seong stood up and said,
"Gotta head to Daegu before the traffic hits. Been bored just working from home lately—I'll drop by often now. Do your best."
Dong-hoon and Goni saw him off with reluctant expressions.
"Thanks for everything, hyungnim—drive safe!"
Jin-seong waved back at their send-off and drove home to Daegu.
The moment he got home, he started hunting for a decent two-room setup to use as an office.
No need to meet people, just quiet work, so he looked at cheaper spots on the outskirts.
Searching around, he learned the area near Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan was affordable.
Plenty of two-rooms went for a 2 million won deposit and 250,000 won monthly rent.
Jin-seong bookmarked a few listings he liked and decided to lock one down in about two weeks.
Rushing to rent now and start work with Dong-hoon felt premature—Dong-hoon still needed time with Goni to handle his own earnings.
From the teahouse, he'd already tipped off Seung-woo ahead of time. Dong-hoon had his code set up, and he'd even been added to the master agent Telegram room.
By evening, a message popped up in the master agent Telegram room: Dong-hoon and Goni had started running codes in earnest.
Jin-seong watched with satisfaction, then fired up his own computer and dove back into work.
His passion and drive for the job only grew stronger.
Jin-seong was diligently dropping picks on Naland when suddenly a 1:1 chat window blinked.
『Haniya, you've been killing it with picks lately. If you nail this one, pizza's on me!』
Jin-seong figured it was just banter, chuckled, and waited for the results.
The pick was already up, with just over a minute left.
Luckily, it hit dead-on.
The other guy went wild with success spam and messaged,
『Dude, you're the real deal! Quick, send a Kakao—pizza incoming right now.』
Thinking it a chance to hook one more member, Jin-seong grinned and shared his work Kakao.
Moments later, a Domino's Pizza giftcon landed, and Jin-seong chatted amiably with the guy, feeling great.
『Thanks, hyungnim. You using any sites?』
The reply came smoothly.
『My current one's solid on exchanges, no issues. But if trouble hits later, I'll jump to your code. Let's stay tight till then.』
Jin-seong figured no immediate code signup was fine—long-term potential—and agreed, keeping in touch to build rapport.
But Jin-seong had no clue.
The other party wasn't some regular user—he was a manager at a toto site headquarters.
He'd been keeping tabs on Jin-seong's heavy activity on Naland.
He'd wanted to poach him for his own site, but Bayern was too big a line to mess with lightly.
So he'd been seeding pizza giftcons to standout, visible master agents like this, nurturing ties organically.
Jin-seong, of course, had no idea.
Whether this connection would help or hurt him down the line, no one could predict—but before long, it would link up with the manager in an unexpected way.
A week had passed since dropping Dong-hoon off.
In that time, Jin-seong had collected another settlement—around 5 million won again.
He asked Seung-woo for a one-on-one, wanting to grab the payout and chat over coffee while they met anyway.
Seung-woo found it odd—first time for this—but happily agreed.
At the arranged coffee shop, Jin-seong broached it carefully.
"Seung-woo, it's not been long since I joined up, but you know my code's size by now. I'm grinding this hard—any thoughts on bumping my commission?"
Seung-woo hesitated for a beat.
Truth was, he knew damn well 30% was absurd for Jin-seong's volume.
Just from the Hani code, he was pocketing over 10 million won a month himself.
A mere 5% bump would cost him at least 3 million in lost revenue monthly.
A pang of regret hit, and he let his real feelings slip.
"Haniya, you just joined not long ago—feels a bit early for that, right? Hang in a little longer, I'll up it then, yeah?"
Jin-seong was stunned, almost laughing at the absurdity.
Scout offers from other lines and HQs had already clued him in on his true commission value.
His worth was at least 40% minimum. He'd only asked for 35% out of loyalty to Seung-woo, who'd brought him in.
He thought to himself,
'Goni's got a way smaller code and pulls 35%—me at 30%? Is he straight-up disrespecting me...?'
Seung-woo always hyped him as a prized prospect the HQ watched closely, but when it came to actual rewards, zilch.
Jin-seong figured he'd already repaid any favors—probably generated over 20 million won for Seung-woo by now.
Now it just felt ungrateful.
His expression hardened, the vibe turning icy.
Seung-woo panicked and added hastily,
"Haniya, it'll go up soon—don't be too bummed, alright?"
Jin-seong forced a weak smile.
"Got it for now."
Heading home in the car after leaving the cafe, his mind was a mess the whole way.
The more he mulled it over at home, the angrier he got.
No other master agent hustled or contributed to the line like he did—yet it seemed Seung-woo didn't see him as "his guy."
'No crew of my own, that's why the treatment. Gotta set up my office quick and build my people.'
With that firm resolve, Jin-seong shoved down the frustration and got back to work.