Pulling My Own Weight
Leaving behind the fluttering excitement of my real-world notifications, I decided to focus on the present. First things first...
“Alright...”
My body was absolutely exhausted. Right now, I couldn't care less about pretty girls. Once the dopamine rush from the crypto trading subsided, a wave of sheer fatigue crashed over me. I felt like I could fall asleep right here the moment I closed my eyes.
After quickly getting ready for bed, I shut my eyes.
Flash!
“...”
I opened my eyes.
Wait. Why was it so dark outside?
I checked the time on my phone. 6:00 PM.
So, I didn't just blink—I had slept for over eight hours?
“...I need to be careful.”
No matter how young and healthy I was, I had to stop pulling all-nighters. Once your sleep schedule gets wrecked like this, it's incredibly hard to get it back on track.
Besides, yesterday taught me another lesson.
There was absolutely no reason to be so obsessed and rushed. Before, when my capital was small, staring at the screen all day was the most efficient way to grow it. But now that my funds had grown exponentially, it was much more efficient to take a long-term approach.
I had realized this in the middle of the night. Once your capital reaches a certain size, it becomes difficult to use leverage the way I did before.
In that case, it would be much more comfortable to diversify my investments across three markets—domestic stocks, US stocks, and crypto—and just go about my daily life. Since I was absolutely certain I would make money, there was no need to rush. Rushing now might actually lead to worse results.
“Alright, let's stick to this investment plan...”
I checked the time again. My appointment was at 8:00 PM, so I still had some time.
I decided to withdraw a portion of yesterday's profits. After all, I wasn't going to limit myself to just crypto anymore.
“...”
I hit the withdrawal limit. Apparently, the daily withdrawal limit was 500 million won.
Well, look at me. I'm a man who gets held back by withdrawal limits now.
I withdrew the 500 million won. This alone was more than enough money to enjoy myself.
Then, I checked the online community.
There were quite a few posts about me. They ranged from “What's up with Lord Apple?” to discussions about what kind of market view I must have had to make those trades.
There was admiration, but also plenty of jealousy and envy.
“He got insanely lucky.”
“Trading like that always ends in liquidation.”
“He probably tried to chase yesterday's pump and ended up giving it all back during the correction.”
I had closed the community app in the middle of the night to focus and pray, and these bastards dared to slander me? How insolent.
Honestly, the reason didn't matter. I just wanted to flex.
The moment I uploaded the post, comments began flooding in at lightning speed. I didn't even need to check them. I was sure quite a few people were currently writhing in agony from sheer jealousy.
“Haha.”
Well, who told you to spend your life on online forums?
With a smirk, I began getting ready to go out.
“Hmm...”
After getting ready and rummaging through my clothes, I realized something. I didn't have anything decent to wear.
Since this was my first proper meeting with the other boarders, I wanted to look presentable. Maybe it was because I wanted to make a good impression, but my usual clothes suddenly felt incredibly plain and unappealing.
Now that I had money, I really needed to go on a proper shopping spree. Should I buy some luxury brands?
I should take Narae to a department store sometime soon. She was my best friend, so I could easily afford to gift her a luxury outfit or two.
“Let's just wear whatever.”
There was no point in overthinking it. Having a lot of clothes made choosing meaningful; when you only had a few outfits, agonizing over them wasn't going to magically change your look.
I decided to go with my usual casual style and finished getting ready.
Dressed in my standard casual clothes, I headed to the meeting spot.
It was a local pub near the boarding house.
As the moment to meet them drew closer, my heart began to race with nervous excitement. What kind of people would they be? What would the aspiring influencer girl be like in person?
When I stepped inside, I saw three people already seated.
There was the influencer girl who had invited me this morning, a guy wearing glasses, and...
'Wow...'
Another girl, who was incredibly beautiful in a completely different way from the influencer.
Even with glasses on, she was stunningly attractive... In fact, the glasses gave her an intellectual aura that really tugged at a man's heartstrings.
Seriously... I realized all over again. Moving into this boarding house was the best decision of my life. Even if they tried to kick me out later, I would cling on and refuse to leave.
“Hello.”
When I greeted them, the guy, who looked older than me, pointed to the empty seat next to him.
My greedy heart wanted to sit next to the girls, but since the only empty seat was next to him, I swallowed my disappointment.
The older guy took the lead and introduced everyone.
“This is Kang Yerin. She's twenty-seven and preparing for the bar exam. I'm Park Taejun, twenty-five, preparing for the civil service exam. And this is Seo Chaeyoung, twenty-three. She's currently in college.”
“Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Lee Jinseok, twenty-one. I'm not really doing anything specific right now.”
“Oh? So you just moved up to Seoul without a plan?”
“Well... the auntie who runs the boarding house is friends with my parents. They made it a condition that if I wanted to move to Seoul, I had to stay there...”
“Ah, so that's how you know Narae.”
After the introductions, we ordered draft beers along with some snacks.
I preferred draft beer over soju anyway, so this was a relief. At least I wouldn't have to worry about getting embarrassingly drunk in front of these beautiful women.
By the way, so that older girl is preparing for the bar exam... She definitely had the perfect look for a future lawyer.
The older guy, Taejun, actively led the conversation.
“Yerin, how is your studying going? Lately, all this talk about AI and stuff has been making everyone anxious, so it's hard to focus...”
“Well... people say lawyers will be the first profession to disappear, but I figure I should pass the exam first before worrying about that.”
“True... Chaeyoung, how about you? You said you wanted to become an influencer, right? It looks like you've gathered quite a few followers.”
“Well... I'm getting some responses, but I'm worried. Honestly, I'm not the academic type, so I want to pursue the influencer path... but it's not easy. I'm even considering starting an internet broadcast.”
“Be careful with that. I heard some of those internet broadcasting agencies make you do some really weird stuff after signing you.”
“I'll definitely be careful.”
Listening to them, I realized everyone had a lot of worries. Or was I just exceptionally worry-free?
Maybe it was because I was still young, or perhaps because I had just realized I would never have to worry about making a living again.
I didn't even need to think about the distant future. Right now, I had over 5 billion won.
That was an amount of money most people couldn't save even if they worked their entire lives. There was no reason or need for me to look for a normal job now.
Even if I completely messed up, as long as I kept 2 billion won and invested it extremely conservatively, I could live comfortably for the rest of my life. I could even just buy a building.
Did my relaxed state of mind show on my face? Or maybe he just wanted to ask, but Taejun suddenly directed a question at me.
“So, Jinseok, do you not have anything you want to do yet? Are you just planning to play around?”
“Me? Well... shouldn't I just live doing what I want to do?”
“Aha, you really are still young.”
“...Excuse me?”
“It's just that people your age often feel that way. You don't know much yet, and you don't know how society works...”
“...”
It was true that I didn't know Seoul very well. But I wasn't completely ignorant of how society worked.
I had seen all kinds of people through online communities, and since there was nothing to do back in the countryside, I had constantly looked up current affairs and economic news. Of course, I might still be lacking.
But... being treated like a completely thoughtless, immature kid didn't feel good at all. Especially since I was being subtly looked down upon right in front of two beautiful women.
“Haha... Well, I do know a bit. It's not that I don't plan on earning money. I just think if I can pull my own weight and live doing what I want without causing trouble to others...”
“That's because you're still young. You say you won't cause trouble, but in reality, the things you want to do are only possible because of our taxes and government support.”
“...”
Is this guy serious?
“At twenty-one, you haven't even been to the military yet... As your hyung, let me give you some advice. You should get a proper job first before thinking about doing what you want...”
“...”
“Look at me. Do you think I don't have things I want to do? But you need a job first... With all this talk about AI these days, if you live without any thoughts...”
“I don't live without thoughts, though...”
“At your age, you'd think that. But at times like this, you should listen to what your hyung tells you... This is all because you haven't been to the military or experienced real society yet...”
Ah, I get it now.
This bastard wasn't giving me genuine advice. He kept talking to subtly elevate himself while stealing glances at the girls.
Having analyzed all kinds of human behavior on online forums, I could see right through him. He was the type of guy who put others down to feed his own fragile ego.
Well... you picked the wrong target. I was already itching to brag about my massive profits anyway...
Did you really have to start this?
“Actually, I think I have a knack for investing, so I'll easily be able to pull my own weight.”
“Sigh... Already thinking about making money through investing... You're going to suffer a lot later. I hear Gen Z these days only want to do crypto or investing... Even if you make a few hundred thousand won now, once you get a real job...”
“A few hundred thousand won? I made hundreds of millions, though.”
“...What?”
“I said my profits are in the hundreds of millions.”
“...”
At the mention of “hundreds of millions,” his eyes widened in shock before narrowing into a suspicious, doubtful glare. And it wasn't just him.
“R-Really?”
“H-Hundreds of millions...?”
The girls gasped, their eyes wide with shock.
Ah. Bragging online is great, but getting this kind of attention in real life feels pretty damn good too.