Three Billion Won
After fielding a few more questions, the discussion wrapped up cleanly enough.
I courteously saw off the people who would be sponsoring me going forward. The moment they left, I pulled out my smartphone and checked my account.
Three billion!
Thirty billion won had arrived from the Diamond Guild.
Hahahaha—was this a dream or reality? My mood soared so high it could pierce the sky.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kang Junghyeok."
"Yes, Ms. Eunyoung."
"You're quite the remarkable man."
"Thank you."
"It seems you've raked in an unimaginable sum of money. So what do you plan to do with that list I prepared for you?"
"Use it, of course. Didn't you hear me earlier? I'm accepting sponsorships until next Monday. What do you think I'll be doing until then? Meeting the parents of the kids on that list. Ah—and you're in charge of making those contacts."
"......"
"You don't want to?"
"No..."
"And isn't there something you've forgotten?"
"What is it?"
"Not even a word of thanks. I raised your mana for free, you know. You saw for yourself just how valuable a gift that is."
"Ah... thank you. I was so stunned by what I saw that I forgot."
A stiff, hollow courtesy with zero feeling behind it. This woman didn't even know how to be grateful. Should I just strip her mana away again?
I leaned in close to her ear and whispered. I was in too good a mood today—I'd let her off this easily.
"One more thing, Ms. Eunyoung. Your potential doesn't stop at this level. And I have the power to raise your mana even further. But looking at that attitude of yours, I'm more inclined to wipe your mana out entirely than develop your potential."
"......"
Her demeanor was almost certainly for the benefit of the kids and the doctor watching from behind. The face she showed in public was a world apart from the one she kept hidden. A two-faced woman... interesting. I was tempted to tease her just for the fun of it. But with the kids around, I held back.
"Oppa, thank you so much."
"Yeah. Thank you. Getting something that expensive for free..."
They must have overheard my conversation with Hong Eunyoung. Adorable. They'd been calling me mister earlier, and now they were volunteering "oppa" on their own—how could that not be cute?
"It's fine. Like I said before, it wasn't hard at all."
"Can we brag about this to our friends?"
"Sure. Tell them everything you saw and heard. Whatever you want."
Unlike Lee Donggeul, these kids actually seemed to have friends. That was a relief. I'd been worried about how they'd spread the word if they didn't have a single friend between them.
"You can post it on social media too. Go wild."
"Thank you."
And with that, I sent the cute kids on their way. They were far more pure-hearted than ordinary school students—at least on the surface. Of course, appearances could be deceiving.
Broadcasting my abilities like this carried clear risks. But I'd judged that the advantages outweighed them. I'd deliberately shown everyone that I was a man who chased money. They'd figure that as long as they threw cash my way, they could use me to some degree.
Of course, there might be people who wanted to monopolize a power like mine. But by openly releasing the information, wouldn't other organizations keep those individuals or groups in check? We can't let you hog that ability all to yourselves!—treating it like a public resource. Wishful thinking on my part, sure. But even if it didn't pan out that way, with my current abilities, nothing major would go wrong unless a Transcendent came after me personally.
Mobilize a large force to grab me at the Academy? That would make an enemy of the South Korean government itself. A government-affiliated Transcendent would be dispatched on the spot.
"Mr. Kang Junghyeok. Your trait is Archer, is it not?"
"That's correct."
Finally, the doctor started pouring out his questions. A curious old man—creepy, honestly...
"Then how did you come by an ability like that...? Perhaps you'd be willing to run a few experiments with me—"
"I decline."
"Haha..."
"Don't get any funny ideas. I'm holding back for now, but if you try anything suspicious, you'll be the one held responsible for my test results leaking to that many corporations."
"Well, that put me in my place."
"Not at all. Thanks to you, I made a fortune, so I'm grateful. At least for now. I'd appreciate it if you didn't give me a reason to change my mind."
"...Understood."
I left the doctor behind and stepped out of the building. Ah—the weather was truly beautiful. Three billion won, just like that. What should I do first? Where should I spend it? Everything at the Academy was free, though...
"Oppa, your hands are so soft."
"Really? Here, hold mine too."
There was another reason I'd flaunted my abilities despite the risks. Because women would come asking me to hold their hands?
Misunderstanding. It might look a little similar, but it absolutely wasn't some perverted urge. Personally, the single greatest aspect of my power was the ability to copy a partner's skills through synchronization. To do that, I needed to push the Synchronization Rate to one hundred percent. But before that came the prerequisite: finding a partner who already possessed exceptional mana. Everything started there.
Seducing a Transcendent would be ideal, but I'd practically given up on that. It wasn't happening within the next few months. That didn't mean I was out of options, though. All I needed was a woman with the potential to become a Transcendent.
Starting next week, the top Awoken from the major corporations that sponsored me the most would come calling—and plenty of them would be women. My plan was to find one with monstrous potential among them and build a relationship. Even without that, people would keep approaching me from every direction the way they were now, which would make discovering the talent I wanted that much easier.
"Move it. You're not even an elite—how dare you try to take the seat next to Oppa."
"How about you move? You're C-class, right? I'm B-class."
Of course, everyone at the Academy was a minor, so there was nothing I could do about that—and it wasn't all pleasant either. Like right now...
"Uh, girls. Sorry, but I need to go eat..."
"Let's eat together, Oppa!"
"Me too! My family runs a huge restaurant in Seoul—want to come by sometime? Free of charge."
I was surrounded by a throng of high school girls, unable to move one way or the other. I'd expected a flower garden. Instead, I was the corpse and they were hyenas trying to tear me apart.
Then, right on cue, an ally appeared. Senior Ahn—save me!
"...What exactly are you doing right now?"
"Senior, help me."
Her expression was anything but ordinary. She was glaring at me with razor-sharp eyes.
"Looks like you're enjoying yourself."
"That's a misunderstanding. Please, save me!"
"Oppa, is that unnie your girlfriend?"
"What about me, Oppa? I can be your second."
"Eek! Stop pushing!"
Ugh, this damn popularity. I just wanted them to leave me alone.
"Senior!"
I hurriedly chased after her as she turned coldly and walked away.
"Senior. Where are you going?"
"See? You can shake them off that easily—you were just enjoying it."
"Don't tell me you're jealous right now?"
She stopped dead in her tracks. Then shot me another sharp look out of the corner of her eye. Why did I like that expression of hers so much?
"Let's go eat lunch. I'm hungry. You're eating with me, right?"
"I don't know. You do realize there are plenty of guys asking me to eat with them?"
"Of course. Even during class, half of them were staring at you all googly-eyed. But you don't like those little kids, do you? You like me."
"Hmph."
It was fun. If I had any worry at all, it was only how to soothe a sulking senior. No crushing backlog of work, no cleaning up after foul-tempered Awoken. My bank account kept growing and everyone wanted a piece of me. A little annoying, sure—but more than happy enough. I almost wished it could just keep going like this forever.
Halfway through the meal, Senior suddenly asked me a question.
"What are you going to do about the company?"
"Well... the money should be ready by next week or so..."
"Why?"
"Just thinking. With this much, I could live comfortably for the rest of my life. So I'm a little conflicted."
"What's there to conflict over? Just do whatever you want."
"What about you, Senior? What are you planning after graduation?"
"If you don't start a company... well, I'd probably go to one of the major corporations sponsoring me."
"But Senior—if I do start a company, what happens to the sponsorship money you've already received?"
"Hmm... I'd give it back, I guess. The contract says it's unconditional sponsorship, so I'm not obligated to, but I don't want the bad press."
"So in other words, your future depends on what I decide to do."
She pouted, looking distinctly unimpressed. I offered a light smile.
Just as I'd told her, enough money was piling up in my account to loaf around for a lifetime. And I didn't have to pay a single won in taxes. Of course, keeping that benefit meant I couldn't skip the dungeons entirely. Watching myself grow lazy just because I had money made me sigh. On the other hand, roughly half my heart was sprouting a new ambition—a childish one, about crushing every major corporation and Awoken under my heel and climbing to the top.
They say your dreams change with your position, and that seemed exactly right. Back when I was so broke I lived on cup ramen, I'd have sworn that if a lottery or some stroke of luck dropped just one billion won into my account, I'd never work another day and pinch every penny for the rest of my life. Now that tens of billions were sitting in my bank, a new greed was taking root. A life where no one could interfere and I never had to bow my head. A position where Awoken, the military, and the government itself couldn't say a word. With this ability, it didn't seem impossible.
Well—even without that kind of ambition, living in constant anxiety was something I despised. In a world where a Gate could appear at any moment, this surface-level happiness could be trampled overnight. When that day came, money would be nothing but scraps of paper. A world without Gates. Would a day like that ever arrive? I'd heard that countries with money to spare were researching the complete elimination of Gates...
"What are you thinking about all of a sudden?"
"Ah, nothing. Of course I'm starting a company. I was just feeling so overwhelmed that I wanted to throw it all away and run off with you to some deserted island where nobody could find us—that's why I asked."
"Tch, smooth talker. What's so overwhelming that you'd say that?"
"Well, registering a business isn't hard, but there's a mountain of other things to do. It's not like I know anything about management... and it's not like I have great connections in that field either."
"Hmm... now that you mention it. Even the place we used to work was a small company, and the workload was still enormous. You'd have to hire a bunch of employees too."
"Exactly."
My old company had been split into two main departments. The Dungeon Operations Division—the one I'd been part of—handled Awoken exclusively and recovered loot from dungeon expeditions. The General Management Division handled miscellaneous work, auctioned off the loot, and managed overall company finances. That was for a small outfit. Major corporations had to manage corporate image, marketing, and even their own equipment—several times more complicated. And if you added international dispatch work on top of that... ah, my head hurt just thinking about it.
"Senior. What if I just quit everything and we both join some major corporation together? Take it easy."
"I'd be fine with that. Think about it—just a month ago, getting into a major corporation was a life goal, something you could barely even dream of. Now we're receiving sponsorships. Why don't you enjoy it a little more? Do you really need to be called 'boss'?"
"True... I don't need the title. But I still don't want to work under anyone."
For some reason, whenever Senior was in front of me, I ended up dumping my complaints without meaning to. I'd known from the start that owning my own company wouldn't be easy—but who could have predicted that once the money actually arrived, everything else would feel so daunting? I wasn't even sure what answer I wanted to hear from her.
"I don't want that either. So start a company for me, boss."
"Haha. What's that supposed to mean?"
"What? Weren't you scouting me?"
"It'll take some time. I need to get a license too."
"What kind of license? For Awoken?"
"No. Companies need a license as well. Without one, you can't put loot up for auction, can't even enter dungeons... apparently."
"Really? I worked at a company for two years and never knew that."
"I didn't either. Not until a Diamond Guild executive told me."
"Is that so? Weren't all their executives Awoken?"
"They are."
"An Awoken... must have really wanted to get on your good side, explaining something like that so kindly."
She wasn't wrong. They were desperate to get their mana restored—and raised—as soon as possible.
"I found out this time that the corporate license is pretty strict. You need a hundred billion in capital, approval from the Awoken community, and these days you even need recommendations from other companies that have been established for at least five years. Five of them, no less."
"Ugh... doesn't that make it insanely hard? What company would happily recommend a new competitor?"
"It's fine. Several companies already have me by the nose when it comes to those recommendations."
And those weren't the only conditions. You needed to secure at least two teams of Awoken holding a minimum D-rank license. Without that, the government wouldn't permit dungeon entry. These were the conditions cluttering up my head and making me look weak in front of Senior. How much had those bastards lobbied the government just to protect their own rice bowls? Damn major corporations.
There was one way to solve all of this in an instant. It was just a matter of choice. But it would take an enormous amount of money.
"What are you doing this afternoon?"
"I'm busy this afternoon. Going to make money."
Time to sit down with the gold-spoon kids who'd entered the Academy and their parents. No matter how much money you made, it really never seemed to be enough.