Money is Printing Itself
Doun-hyung, who had spent what felt like an eternity explaining crypto to me, gave me a warning so intense my ears practically bled.
"I'm telling you, only a tiny fraction of people actually make money in crypto. There's absolutely no guarantee that's going to be us."
"I get it, I get it."
"Hey, you punk. I'm saying this because I care about you. I don't want to be the one who ruins a naive kid fresh out of the countryside."
"I'm not naive."
"If I say you are, you are."
I knew exactly where Doun-hyung was coming from, and I appreciated that he was genuinely warning me for my own good. But a warning is only touching the first couple of times. When someone repeats it more than ten times in a short span, you just want them to shut up. Of course, it did make me realize, deep down, just how dangerous crypto could be.
"Put in one million won at most. That's the perfect amount to see if you have any talent for trading."
"That's it?"
"Don't 'that's it' me, you punk. Honestly, one million won is a lot of money. But if you invest any less, you won't feel any emotional stakes, and you might mistake pure luck for actual skill."
"..."
"Put in one million, turn it into two million, withdraw one million, and turn the remaining one million into two million again... If you can pull that off three times in a row, then you have talent."
"Really...?" Is that supposed to be hard...?
"I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at your face. You're wondering if that's hard, aren't you? It's brutally hard. Anyone who can do that can easily make a living solely off investing."
"Is it really that big of a deal?"
"First of all, doubling one million won is hard enough. But even if they do, most people immediately think about turning that two million into four million. They can't bring themselves to withdraw that one million."
"How do you know all this so well, Hyung?"
"...Do you think I'm warning you for no reason? I'm speaking from painful experience."
"Hyung..."
A wave of pity washed over me. No wonder. He had been giving me advice with the desperate intensity of someone coughing up blood.
"I'm only showing this to you."
"...Are you okay, Hyung?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Sure, I lost five million won, and sure, a whole year's worth of savings vanished into thin air... *Sigh*... but hey, at least I didn't go into debt. Just use me as a cautionary tale."
"I will..."
"..."
Thanks to Doun-hyung's blood-soaked experience and lessons, I managed to build up some healthy caution. He gave me a few more solemn warnings before finally leaving my room.
I looked at my monitor to see which coins might be worth buying.
"There are way too many of these."
No matter how much I scrolled down, the list of coins never seemed to end. But then...
"Huh...?"
A certain coin caught my eye, and a familiar sensation washed over me.
Great Fortune. It was a coin I absolutely could not afford to miss.
"Sorry, Hyung."
Doun-hyung's advice was meant for ordinary life. But now that I had sensed this massive stroke of luck, there was no way I could let this opportunity slip by.
I quickly linked my bank account and bought ten million won worth of it.
Hmm...
"Did I act too impulsively?"
Having bought ten million won worth, I watched the price fluctuate for a while, and anxiety began to creep in. Maybe I shouldn't have ignored Doun-hyung's advice.
Watching hundreds of thousands of won vanish and reappear in the span of a single minute was hard on my nerves. Cold sweat began to pool on my back.
At the same time, anxiety began to consume me.
What if, by some astronomical chance, this coin became completely worthless? Would my ten million won just vanish into thin air?
Just as my spiraling anxiety was painting the worst-case scenario in my head...
...I heard a bit of noise outside. When I stepped out, I saw Jisu-noona and Narae standing right in front of my room.
Jisu-noona's face lit up with a warm smile when she spotted me.
"Oh? I was just about to knock. It's been a while, Jinseok."
"Y-yes, it's been a while."
It was Jisu-noona. Even though it had been a long time, she was just as breathtakingly beautiful as I remembered.
No, that wasn't quite right. She had been dazzlingly beautiful back then, but somehow, she had become even more stunning now.
"Is it hard adjusting to Seoul?"
"Ah, yes... well, I came here because I wanted to, so it's fine."
"If you ever have a hard time, just let me know. I'll help you."
"T-thank you."
This was driving me crazy. I couldn't help but stammer whenever I tried to talk to her. It wasn't like I had any experience holding a proper conversation with a woman this gorgeous.
As I nervously kept the conversation going, Narae, who had been watching us from the side, wore a pouty expression.
"You're way too nice, Unni."
"..."
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Seriously, guys always lose their minds in front of a pretty girl. Get a grip, Jinseok."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Though I guess coming from the countryside gives you a certain naive charm. Everything you're thinking is written all over your face."
"..."
Just as Jisu-noona was still as kind as ever, Narae was just as easygoing and outspoken as I remembered. She also seemed to have kept her playful streak.
After saying her goodbyes, Jisu-noona headed back to their place first. Narae, looking at me with mischief gleaming in her eyes, walked right into my room and sat down.
"So, how is it? Seoul is pretty amazing, right?"
"...Yeah." Sure, Seoul is amazing just like you said. But it's not like you own the city, so why are you acting so proud of it?
"I heard from my brother that you brought a hefty amount of pocket money with you."
"Well... I have more than enough to get by."
"In that case, I'll gladly carve out some time for you. Just let me know whenever you want to go to a nice cafe."
"A cafe...?"
"Geez. You need some experience in Seoul to even know how to get around. I'll generously let you off the hook if you just buy me coffee."
"..."
What's so special about a cafe? You just drink coffee, and that's it. But then again, I had seen photos of Seoul cafes on social media. They definitely looked worlds apart from the ones back in the countryside.
"O-of course, as the guy, I should pay for that much."
"Oh? Look at you, trying to act like a man."
"...Do I look like a girl to you, then?"
At my petty protest, Narae scanned me from head to toe.
"Guys are all incredibly devious... so you're saying you're one of them?"
"...Y-yeah."
"What's with this innocent act? If you're going to be confident, be confident. If you're going to hide it, hide it. Your face is practically screaming that you're dying of embarrassment, completely contradicting your words."
"..."
"Pfft. You're fun. I'll make a special exception and hang out with you. I'll even invite you along a few times when I hang out with my friends."
"..."
"You didn't come all the way to Seoul just to stay cooped up in your room, right? I heard the main reason you came here was to have some fun."
"T-that's true."
"Exactly. You don't even know how to have fun here. You should be grateful."
"T-thanks."
Sigh... How did every conversation with Narae end up with me thanking her? I really couldn't keep up with city girls like her.
Besides, even though I was trying my best to act casual, Narae was still Landlady Miyeon's daughter, just like Jisu-noona. In other words, she had inherited those top-tier genes.
Though her chest might be slightly smaller than her older sister's... it was by no means small. She had curves in all the right places, and...
"Wow. If you stare that openly anywhere else, you're going to get reported as a creep."
"I-I-I did...?"
"I told you, if you're going to look, at least hide it properly. I can't tell if you're just naive or a total pervert..."
"..."
"Anyway, be careful. I'm generous enough to let it slide, but if other girls catch you, they'll treat you like a creep."
"...Y-yeah."
My eyes must have wandered without me realizing. Fortunately, Narae didn't seem particularly offended. She stood up, preparing to leave, and reached her hand out.
Flick!
"Watch your eyes."
"Y-yeah."
"Noona is keeping an eye on you."
"...Yeah."
She gave my forehead a light flick before leaving the room. Seriously, we were the exact same age, so why did she keep calling herself "noona"?
But...
"Am I actually a pervert...?"
I already knew the answer, but strangely enough, I didn't mind it.
Finally, I was alone in my room again.
"Oh, right."
The coin I had completely forgotten about flashed back into my mind.
Fortunately, there hadn't been any major movements in the coin's price yet. But then, I felt a sudden thirst.
"I don't have enough information."
The lack of information was suffocating. However, I knew exactly how to quench this thirst.
During the year I spent working in the countryside, I had discovered online communities while playing video games. Those places were filled with absolute masters of their respective fields.
Of course, there were also plenty of bizarre weirdos you'd never encounter in real life, let alone actual experts. But that was just something I had to filter out on my own.
I wrote a post.
Saying "no arguments allowed" was a lie, of course. I only wrote that because it was the best way to bait people into responding.
Futures? Leverage? I had just stumbled upon some new information.
Still, with reactions this negative, was I really mistaken?
But then again... usually, when I got a feeling like this, it turned out to be a massive jackpot.
Besides, even if it wasn't a jackpot, I had never once lost out on any choice I made in life.
Was the crypto market really that brutal? Or had I just been delusional all this time?
The reactions were so intense that even I started to waver.
Just then...
In an instant, comments flooded the post, and the atmosphere did a complete 180.
And then, I saw it.
A towering green candlestick shooting straight up.
"...Oh."
Hyung... money is literally printing itself.