Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Eat and Run
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Jin-seong carefully reviewed various headquarters by Googling them.
There were so many scam sites that his head hurt.
He talked with a few headquarters, but ended things amicably without further contact.
Then, out of the blue, he got a message from the person who had sent him pizza back on Naland.
"Hani, can I join a site right now?"
Jin-seong had no intention of adding more members to the Bayern site, so he was honest.
"Ah, bro, I'm looking into switching sites right now... Come join when I find a new one."
There was a brief silence on the other end before the person cautiously spoke up.
"Actually, I'm a headquarters staff member. We're preparing a new site, and when it opens, we'd like to bring you on as a sub-headquarters. We can match your conditions as much as possible and provide plenty of support. Could we at least meet for a quick meeting?"
Jin-seong thought it over for a moment.
"Let me think about it for a few days and get back to you. If the conditions line up well, sure."
"Yes. Please contact me. We'll really spare no support, so trust us and come aboard."
As he pondered this message, Goni approached and spoke to Jin-seong.
"Hani, Jordan found a site. Wanna check it out?"
Jin-seong Googled the site name. But its reputation wasn't great.
He immediately brought it up with Goni.
"This site's got a bad rep, doesn't it? If we sign up wrong and it pulls an eat-and-run, our whole line is done for. Did Jordan at least do a proper meeting before deciding?"
Goni replied indifferently.
"What, you think Jordan wouldn't handle it? It's big-scale, so maybe he took sub-headquarters, and we work under him?"
Jin-seong was dumbfounded.
He could clearly see the nepotism because it was his little brother.
But he suppressed his emotions and spoke carefully.
"Goni, you've seen how many members I've built up so far. I've got nothing to do with Jordan—why should we go under him? Can't we just split into two sub-headquarters?"
Goni looked reluctant but pushed again.
"Still, to get good conditions, wouldn't it be better to go in as one line from the start? Since Jordan's got the scale."
Jin-seong finally snapped and came on strong.
"Hey, why should I put the codes I built up the hard way under your little brother? Let's just split into two sub-headquarters and each run our own."
Goni opened his mouth with a somewhat displeased expression.
"Fine, let's do it that way for now. We're in the same office anyway."
Jin-seong was a bit angry but forced himself to calm down and spoke to Goni one last time.
"I still don't fully trust this site, so tell incoming members to only do small amounts. Don't put in big money, and I'll test out a site I met with separately too. Keep that in mind."
Goni looked dissatisfied but had no choice but to accept.
"Got it. We'll do that."
Now, Jin-seong resolved to scout sites even more carefully while mapping out future plans in his head.
He had no intention of managing the codes and members he'd built carelessly.
After deciding to leave the Bayern line, Jin-seong talked it over with Jordan.
He called Jordan and cautiously suggested.
"Jordan, since we're using the same site anyway, how about merging our group chats into one for operations? But we each run our own sub-headquarters separately, and manage our sub-agents individually. That way, it'll be cleaner down the line, right?"
Jordan seemed to think for a moment before readily agreeing.
"That sounds good, hyung. More people is always better for us. Let's do it."
With the discussion wrapped up smoothly, the two merged their respective group chats with members.
Thus, a group chat with over 200 people was born.
The office buzzed with activity as seven picksters from in total started dropping picks.
On one hand, Jin-seong was uneasy about the site Jordan had rushed into, so he also scheduled a meeting with the headquarters he'd scouted earlier.
A few days later, a headquarters rep came all the way to Gyeongsan to meet Jin-seong.
Jin-seong waited at a comfortable cafe. Soon, a man in neat casual clothes approached with a bright smile.
"Hello. You're Hani, right? Nice to meet you. Long trip."
Jin-seong stood, smiled, and shook hands.
"Aigoo, you came up from Busan? You must be tired. Have a seat."
After sitting and ordering light coffees, they breezed through introductions and basic background checks before Jin-seong got down to business.
"I'll lay out my conditions straight. First, 45% commission on sub-headquarters codes, please. For settlements, individual per agent rather than total settlement would be best. Solid Naland point support would be great too. And full cash delivery settlements every week."
Here's the difference between total settlement and individual settlement.
For example, if total deposits across all lines including sub-headquarters are 100 million won and withdrawals are 100 million, it's zero.
Total settlement means it's ultimately zero.
But within the line, not every agent is in the plus. Say Agent A is up 3 million but entitled to 10 million settlement, while Agent B is down 3 million with a -10 million settlement.
The site ends up at zero. So total settlement favors the site.
The sub-headquarters pays Agent A 10 million upfront, then recovers it when Agent B settles the minus.
But individual settlement means headquarters bears the minus until it's cleared and pays plus members right away.
So headquarters takes double the hit by covering minuses while settling pluses, since not everyone is in the plus.
The rep listened carefully to Jin-seong, pondered briefly, then smiled and replied.
"You're such a famous master agent, Hani. We can definitely meet these conditions. As a new site, it's actually more beneficial for us to bring on someone with your scale. We'll match everything you said."
Jin-seong felt satisfied with the rep's straightforward response, better than expected.
Truth be told, Jordan's site used total settlement, so the sub-headquarters had to shoulder all sub-agents' pluses and minuses—a heavy burden.
But this site did individual settlements per agent, minimizing risk to agents.
With all conditions agreed, they stood and exchanged polite handshakes.
"Thanks for the great conditions today. Looking forward to working together."
The headquarters rep replied courteously.
"We're the ones who should say that, Hani. Let's do well going forward."
Now operating two sites, Jin-seong planned to grow sub-agents and expand his line.
He was filled with anticipation for full-scale expansion and growth.
After the meeting, Jin-seong finally received the new site's sub-headquarters admin and logged in.
The site was called IQOS, and checking it out, the sports and live games were solidly built.
Clean UI, and seeing the 45% commission listed for the sub-headquarters code made Jin-seong pleased.
Especially, the admin page updated settlements in real-time, with deposits and withdrawals easy to view at a glance.
Jin-seong immediately created a personal code under his sub-headquarters code.
He set the same 45% commission on his personal code, giving members far higher earnings than the 30% from Bayern before.
A few percent might seem small, but in settlement amounts, it made a huge difference.
Jin-seong called Goni and Jeong-bae in the office and showed them the site directly.
"Guys, this is the new site from today's meeting. IQOS. Sports and live games are solid, so our members will like it for sure."
Goni and Jeong-bae looked around the site with curious eyes. Jin-seong smiled and continued.
"The key is the conditions, right? I negotiated 45% commission from sub-headquarters. That's top-tier for what a master agent can get."
Jeong-bae's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Wow, hyung, that's insane. Never seen commissions this high."
Goni looked at Jin-seong in admiration too.
Jin-seong went on.
"I've set up your codes too. Jeong-bae at 30%, Goni at 35%, so bring in members knowing that. Now that I'm sub-headquarters level, let's properly grow the subs and scale up."
Goni and Jeong-bae checked their codes and smiled in satisfaction.
Jin-seong too anticipated major growth ahead and vowed a strong leap on the new site.
A week had passed since starting on the site Jordan found.
Things had run smoothly without incident until then.
That day was settlement day.
Jin-seong messaged the headquarters customer center Telegram just in case.
『You know today is settlement day, right?』
The headquarters rep replied soon.
『Yes, we're aware.』
Jin-seong confirmed again.
『Then cutoff is midnight, right?』
『Yes, based on midnight.』
Jin-seong breathed a sigh of relief.
He watched the settlement page closely until midnight to see the amount.
Fortunately, no minuses this week—a plus settlement of about 2 million won piled up.
Enough to cover office operations and living expenses.
Then suddenly, chaos erupted in the family room.
Jin-seong hurriedly checked the chat. A high-roller from Jordan's side was furiously messaging.
『What the hell? Deposited 1 mil, won 2.5 mil, requested withdrawal, and 20 minutes later nothing?』
Jin-seong panicked momentarily.
There hadn't been a single withdrawal delay in the week from headquarters—it was bizarre.
As the member vented, the mood turned ugly.
Jin-seong quickly messaged the family room.
『Please wait a moment. I'll check with headquarters right away and resolve it.』
He immediately messaged headquarters customer center.
『Customer center, a member requested 2.5 mil withdrawal and it's been 20 min with nothing. Any issue?』
No reply despite sending. His message stayed unread.
With a bad feeling, Jin-seong checked the settlement page again.
It showed over 15 million won in pending withdrawals from members.
Jin-seong's heart pounded.
A grim thought raced through his mind.
Sensing an eat-and-run instinctively, his fingertips grew cold.
He regretted not vetting Jordan's hasty site choice properly.
Jin-seong urgently told Goni.
『Hey, no reply from headquarters, and withdrawal amounts are piling up insanely. Something's wrong. Call Jordan quick.』
Goni, looking anxious too, grabbed his phone and frantically called his brother Jordan.
As Jin-seong feared, the situation was turning dire.