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# Chapter 1
The fierce winter winds of Gangwon-do lashed against Jin-oh’s cheeks. Even though he was wearing a thick field jacket, there was no way to keep out the cold that seemed to penetrate all the way to his bones.
The area in front of the guard post was filled with lively noise. Young men wearing discharge caps with their unit insignias clearly visible were cheering and patting one another on the shoulders.
“Sergeant Kim! Thank you for all your hard work!”
“Make sure you contact us after you leave. I’ll buy you a drink!”
At the lively greetings from his juniors, Kim Jin-oh gave them a faint smile and nodded.
“Yeah. You guys take care of yourselves too. Work hard for the rest of your military service.”
After exchanging the customary farewells, he turned and walked away. While the others looked as happy as if they had gained the whole world, Jin-oh’s steps felt incredibly heavy as he watched the guard post disappear behind him.
It wasn’t because of the weight of his old duffel bag.
What was weighing down his shoulders was the harsh reality he would have to face immediately.
‘Three million won in total, including my discharge allowance and military savings.’
His father, who had passed away before Jin-oh enlisted, had left behind a mountain of bad debt. His mother was working herself to the bone in a restaurant kitchen just to keep up with the monthly interest. On top of that, the time for him to return to university was only a month away, and he was desperately short of the tuition fees for the upcoming semester.
The three million won in his bank account was money he had painstakingly saved by sacrificing more than a year and a half of his youth. Yet in front of the wall of reality, it was an utterly pitiful amount.
‘As soon as I get home, I’ll have to work two or three part-time jobs. The overnight parcel-sorting job paid pretty well, didn’t it?’
He was making a bleak plan in his head as he walked toward the bus terminal.
Then, in an instant, a horrifying heat, as if his eyes were being seared by fire, suddenly engulfed Jin-oh’s vision.
“Ugh!”
It was a sharp pain, as though dozens of needles were stabbing directly into his corneas. Jin-oh threw his duffel bag onto the ground and clutched his eyes with both hands. He crouched down on the spot, breathing heavily.
His eyes watered, and his vision flickered red.
‘What is this? Why is this suddenly happening...?’
The pain did not last long. Within a few seconds, the scorching heat vanished as if it had been washed away, and the pain stabbing around his eyes stopped as though it had never existed.
Jin-oh slowly lowered his hands and cautiously opened his eyes.
“What is all this?”
A hoarse voice escaped his lips without him realizing it.
The familiar, run-down scenery of the old downtown area had completely changed.
More precisely, the scenery itself was the same, but strange, translucent holograms were floating above the buildings and the ground.
When Jin-oh turned his gaze toward the old commercial building across the street, clear letters appeared above it.
[Land: 150 pyeong / Three-story commercial building]
[Condition: Severe deterioration, 32 years since completion]
[Hidden Defects: Severe leakage currently in progress due to cracks in the exterior wall of the basement level; slight deformation of the load-bearing structure on the second floor]
[Short-Term Estimated Value: Massive expenses expected due to repair work within three months. Value expected to decrease by 15%.]
‘Have I finally gone crazy?’
Jin-oh vigorously rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. He thought the stress of military life combined with the pressure awaiting him after discharge had caused him to see things that weren’t there.
But even after opening his eyes wide and looking around again, the translucent status windows did not disappear.
Information was floating everywhere. Above the gukbap restaurant along the roadside, the shabby inn, and even a small vacant piece of land beside a utility pole, different sets of information appeared.
The age of a building, hidden internal defects that could never be discovered from the outside, and even predicted changes in its value several months into the future.
Every time Jin-oh blinked, the information became even clearer on his retinas.
It was as if all the real estate information in the world had been stripped bare and put on display right before his eyes.
‘I’m just exhausted. I should hurry home on the bus and get some rest.’
He forced himself to dismiss it as a hallucination and adjusted his duffel bag.
Telling himself that the cold wind would help him recover, he quickened his pace toward the terminal.
It was when he reached the entrance to the terminal.
Jin-oh’s gaze happened to settle on a small abandoned house tucked away in a corner of the back alley behind the terminal.
The local residents secretly used it as a dumping ground, so a foul stench wafted from the entrance. Its roof had partially collapsed, and the roughly ten-pyeong empty house looked like the kind of place where a ghost might appear.
But the status window floating above the abandoned house was different from the others.
It wasn’t the red that signified a warning, nor was it the ordinary white.
A soft, brilliant blue glow that naturally drew the eye surrounded the abandoned house.
As if possessed, Jin-oh walked into the alley.
The letters written on the blue status window came clearly into view.
[Target: Unauthorized Building and Land / Area: 10 pyeong]
[Current Condition: Long-abandoned derelict property, owner bankrupt]
[Hidden Rights: None. Immediate purchase possible.]
[Key Advantage: A ‘mandatory access road’ for a large franchise mixed-use commercial complex scheduled to be constructed next month. A core parcel that the developer must purchase, making it a strategic holdout property.]
[Short-Term Estimated Value: Guaranteed profit of at least 400% of the current value if the construction company attempts to purchase it. Additional premium possible depending on negotiations.]
Jin-oh’s lips went dry.
‘A holdout property blocking access to a landlocked site?’
He didn’t know much about real estate, but he clearly understood what those words meant.
To construct a large building, there had to be a necessary access road.
And there was this precious piece of land blocking that access.
From the developer’s perspective, even if the owner demanded an exorbitant price, it was land they would have to purchase if they wanted to proceed with a project worth tens of billions of won.
It wasn’t merely an abandoned house where people dumped their trash.
In just one month, it would become a golden egg capable of showering him with money.
His heart pounded so violently that it felt as though it were beating beside his ears.
If this wasn’t an illusion.
If this really was some miraculous ability that allowed him to see future value.
‘I have to buy it right now.’
Jin-oh didn’t hesitate any longer.
He ran toward the real estate agency with the shabbiest sign near the terminal as fast as he could.
When he roughly pushed open the door and entered, an elderly realtor who had been dozing while warming himself by a heater was startled and lifted his head.
“Oh my, you startled me. Young soldier, are you looking for a room? There are plenty of cheap monthly-rent rooms near the terminal.”
Jin-oh took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement.
On the outside, he maintained an expression that was as calm and indifferent as possible.
“I’m not looking for a rental room. I want to make a purchase.”
“A purchase? Where would a soldier get the money to buy a house?”
“That abandoned house in the back alley behind the terminal. It looked to be about ten pyeong. Is it really a property the owner has put up for sale?”
The realtor’s eyes widened.
“That place? Student, why would you buy that? The roof has practically collapsed, so it can’t even function as a house. It’s a nuisance that the neighborhood people just use to dump their trash.”
“I just need a little land. I was thinking of growing a vegetable garden or something. If it’s on the market, I’ll buy it right away.”
The realtor suspiciously looked Jin-oh’s worn military uniform up and down.
But before long, he couldn’t hide the delighted expression spreading across his face.
It was the perfect opportunity to finally get rid of a problematic property that had been sitting there for years without selling and taking up space.
“Well, if you insist on buying it, I won’t stop you. The owner is being crushed by debt, so he put it up for cheap. Still, you’ll need to pay ten million won. I absolutely won’t sell it for anything less.”
For an abandoned house of roughly ten pyeong behind a rural terminal, the price seemed rather high.
But compared to the profit of more than 400% shown by the status window, it was practically free.
The problem was that Jin-oh’s entire fortune amounted to only three million won.
“Just a moment.”
Jin-oh stood there and pulled out his smartphone.
He opened a loan app from a secondary financial institution.
The interest rate on the personal credit loan was ridiculously high, but this wasn’t the time to worry about something like that.
His fingers rapidly tapped the screen.
After completing the identity verification and checking his credit limit, a notification appeared stating that a seven-million-won small loan had been approved.
Three million won in the savings he had painfully accumulated during his military service.
And seven million won from the loan he had just received.
“Here’s ten million won. I’ll transfer it right now. Let’s write up the contract first.”
The realtor’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
He seemed to think that this young man had just come out of the military and had gotten carried away with himself.
“Don’t come back later saying you want to back out. Once you put your stamp on it, it’s final.”
“I don’t care. Let’s proceed right away.”
The contract proceeded in a flash.
The old multifunction printer made a racket as it spat out the contract documents, and Jin-oh carefully signed his name, hiding the tremble in his hands.
The moment the red ink seal was stamped beside his name, a strange thrill coursed through his entire body.
After completing all the procedures, Jin-oh left the real estate agency with a stiff certificate of registration proving his ownership in his hand.
The cold winter wind was still blowing outside, but Jin-oh didn’t feel cold at all.
As he walked toward the terminal, the value of every building and piece of land in the world once again appeared before his eyes in the form of holograms.
The true value hidden within old and shabby buildings.
Perfect information that no one else could see was shining brilliantly before his eyes alone.
Jin-oh gently stroked the certificate of registration inside his clothes once before lightly stepping onto the intercity bus waiting for him.