The 11th Balance Game
"We're almost there~"
"Yes~"
The place the boss had brought us so I could help her pick out a car. She said we were nearly there, but the surroundings looked nothing like what I'd imagined.
"Uh... isn't this just an apartment complex?"
No matter how I looked at it, this was not the kind of place you went to check out cars. Aside from looking a bit expensive, it was a perfectly ordinary apartment complex.
"That's because the cars are parked underneath~"
We drove straight into the apartment garage, parked, and got out. There were certainly a lot of cars — if you ignored the fact that they all belonged to the residents, there was nothing wrong with that observation.
"..."
"Heh heh... looking at your boss with that much suspicion is kind of hurtful, you know?"
"Ah, it's not like that. But this place..."
"That's right~ This is the parking garage of the apartment I live in."
I'd half expected it the moment we entered the complex.
"Why are we here...?"
"She's gonna give Oppa a car!!?"
"Hey, that's..."
Jin Hayun, standing beside me, spouted something completely ridiculous. Worried it might put the boss in an awkward position, I hurriedly shut her down.
"Hmm... something like that?"
"Yeah~ Just something like that. There's no way she'd actually give— wait, what?"
"Come this way."
Still half in a daze, I followed after the boss.
"Huk... Oppa, I think she means it for real... I was just joking..."
"You, be quiet for a second."
"If you get a car, take me on a drive."
"Kids~ Hurry up and follow me."
While I was busy fielding Hayun's nonsense, the boss had already walked quite a ways ahead. I tried to catch up, only for Hayun to grab me again.
"Huk, Oppa..."
"What? The boss is waiting."
"All the cars parked next to us right now... they're all the boss's..."
"What?"
I looked over at her words and realized she was right — every single one was a car I'd seen at least once before. Expensive cars of every brand, lined up in a row.
Just how rich is she...?
"Hey, just hurry up and follow."
I tried to drag Hayun along, but she kept stopping to gawk at every car we passed, so I simply left her behind. The spot where we finally stopped was a corner of the garage where the boss was waiting.
"Where's Hayun?"
"She's coming. Looking at the cars along the way."
"Is that so? Want to try sitting in this one first?"
"Huh?"
She said something I couldn't make sense of, then climbed into the passenger seat of the car parked in the corner.
"..."
As I'd said before, I really didn't know much about cars. I'd only started looking them up recently, after deciding I wanted to buy one. Even so, this was a model no one could possibly fail to recognize. If someone showed me a ridiculously expensive car I'd never heard of, I probably wouldn't even know what it was or that it was supposed to be impressive.
"Be... Benz..."
It was the one vehicle guaranteed to leave even a car-illiterate guy like me completely stunned. For a moment I just stared, spellbound, then snapped out of it and walked over.
She wants me in the driver's seat, right?
The boss had already taken the passenger seat. Anyone could see what that meant. I carefully opened the door and got in.
"Want to drive it? You have a license, right?"
"Yes. I have a license..."
"Go on, give it a try. Your boss will sit right here and watch."
She suddenly leaned in and started the engine for me.
That café scent...
It was a fragrance I couldn't quite put into words. I wasn't sure if it was actually a café smell, or if I just thought of it that way because whenever I went to the café I was always next to her. Either way, I pulled myself together and carefully took hold of the wheel.
"I'm really going?"
"Mm-hmm~"
I pressed the accelerator gently. The response felt oddly dull at first, which threw me for a second — but once I was actually driving, that heaviness translated into a deep, reassuring stability.
"Woohyun's a good driver too, huh?"
"...It's because you're watching from the passenger seat, Boss. I feel at ease. Can I take it out like this?"
"Go ahead~"
We headed out of the garage. A nagging sense that I'd forgotten something made me check behind us.
"Ah. Hayun."
"Oh my..."
In the rearview mirror, Jin Hayun was jumping up and down behind the car with her hand raised.
Bzzzt—
"Hello?"
"Oppa! Why didn't you take me too!!"
"I forgot. Sorry."
"Ugh... Come back right now!! I'm scared here!"
"I have to do a lap. Just wait a bit."
I circled the garage once and parked back where we'd started.
Clunk—
"Huh? Why are you getting out?!"
"Did you think we were just going to drive home like this?"
"What! I'm staying in here."
Even after the boss and I both got out, she threw a little tantrum and insisted on staying put. Since I needed to talk with the boss alone anyway, I figured that worked out fine.
"So, what do you think, Woohyun?"
"An expensive car really is nice, yeah. But honestly, I wasn't planning on buying anything this good..."
"I'll give it to you cheap."
"What?"
"Hmm? It's a used car, so I'll make it cheap. Or should I just give it to you?"
So that was what she meant. Maybe it was all the lewd living I'd been doing lately, but for a second I'd completely misread her.
"No, I couldn't... It looks like it's in great condition just from looking at it..."
"Right? It was the first car I ever bought, and I barely drove it. I've kept up with the maintenance, too."
"That..."
"You're going back to school next year, right, Woohyun?"
"That's right?"
"Then let's just work until December. How about it?"
In place of a salary, then. Even a rough calculation made it an absurdly good deal for me. The only catch was having to work until December. It wasn't hard work, but being locked in until then still gave me a little pause.
"Unlimited leave."
"What??"
"You won't abuse it too much, though, right?"
I mean, I only worked four hours one day a week — and she was throwing in vacation on top of that? The conditions were so good I genuinely had no reason to refuse.
"Ah, no two weeks in a row."
"I don't even know if I'd use it twice before December..."
"Heh heh... Then it's settled?"
"Ah..."
The boss reached out and pressed the car key into my hand.
"Th... thank you."
"Just keep doing what you've been doing~"
She walked over to the car and said goodbye to Hayun.
"Hayun, your boss is heading out now."
"What?? What about us??"
"Woohyun's going to drive you home."
"Hwaah..."
The boss came back toward me. Was I supposed to give her a goodbye kiss or something? While I was entertaining that absurd thought, she was suddenly right in front of me, waving a hand before my eyes.
"Woohyun, what are you thinking about?"
"Ah, nothing..."
"Heh heh... You can't zone out when you're driving."
"Of course not."
"Then your boss will head inside. We'll sort out the details later."
"Yes..."
Was this the charm of a rich older sister? For a moment I felt the urge to pull this kind, generous boss of mine into a hug.
"We'll be going, then. Take care..."
I barely managed to collect myself, bowed at the waist, and the boss smiled and waved back.
Clunk—
"Hoo..."
"Oppa, what is this?? Is this really your car now??"
"Seems like it..."
"Whoa, insane!! We're rich now, right?!"
"Why 'we'?"
I was the one who'd received the car, but she was more excited than I was.
"Oppa, this isn't like... an affair, right?"
Smack—!
"Augh... I was joking!"
"It's not free to begin with. I basically took my entire salary in advance."
"Wait, if pulling your salary early gets you this, then... how long do you have to work?"
"Sit still so I can drive."
"Let's go!!!"
Of course, at the time, I had no idea that my salary would keep getting deposited on schedule anyway.
The next morning. Sunday.
"Who am I? A Benz owner. I'm losing it~"
I ought to offer a prayer of thanks to the Balance Game for making this happy life possible.
"Ah. Today's the day."
Getting a car from the boss had been such a shock that I'd completely forgotten today was Balance Game day. On top of that, Ajeong was coming over at one in the afternoon. She'd wanted to come earlier, and I'd talked her into just staying the night instead. Best to wrap up the Balance Game quickly and be ready to welcome her, just in case.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need not fear a hundred battles. Not that the game was an enemy, exactly — but the more I understood the Balance Game, the faster I could respond no matter what options showed up.
Which meant that from now until noon, I was going to watch the epic showdown of Naruto vs. Sasuke.
...
"Hoo... Absolute masterpiece."
By the time I came out of my anime binge, it was almost twelve.
"Today's... the eleventh, right?"
Last week, by earning the option-nullification right, I'd locked myself into participating through the twentieth round. This was the first of those added Balance Games.
"Huh?"
Come to think of it, I might be in a pretty dangerous spot right now. I'd already signed a contract to go all the way to the twentieth Balance Game. From their perspective, this was the perfect time to cook a fish already on the hook.
"Ah, shit, hang on..."
Kokoa—!!
"Gulp..."
Checking the Balance Game for the first time in a while, I started to get nervous. Whatever form it took today, it definitely wasn't going to be pure fun.
I opened the KokoaTalk chat room, squeezed my eyes shut, then cracked them into slits and started reading little by little.
"Huh?"
The moment I saw the options, my half-lidded eyes snapped wide open. No matter which one I picked, it was pure profit. At the very least, there was no downside.
"Today's kind of lame, isn't it?"
Whether I took 10 million won now or gambled a little for 20 million, it didn't mean much either way. Getting money was nice, of course, but looking at my bank account these days, even those amounts didn't feel like a huge windfall. The one unusual thing was that the time limit was the shortest it had ever been. At a glance I'd thought thirty-eight minutes were left — but no, it was thirty-eight seconds.
While I was briefly deliberating, twenty seconds had already ticked away.
Don't tell me the trick is that if you open the chat late, it counts as a no-show?
If that was the case, they'd picked the wrong guy. I always waited for Sunday at noon with a devout heart.
I quickly tapped out a selection of the latter. Even if I didn't get it, I wouldn't be that disappointed — and 95% was basically free money anyway.
"Huh?"
The reply came the instant I chose the latter option.
"Don't tell me..."
A newly refreshed Balance Game. Only the option I'd picked remained, and a new one had been added.
"Holy shit..."
I take back calling it lame. The content was dead simple, but the dopamine was pouring out like crazy.
At 80%, that's 160 million won... at 75%, 320 million...
Every time the probability dropped by 5%, the amount doubled.
"All-time legendary money-duplication event just dropped!!!"