2
# Chapter 2
The smartphone screen flashed coldly.
[Notice of Interest Payment for Secondary Financial Institution Credit Loan]
[Scheduled Payment Amount: 115,000 won]
When he tapped to check his balance, the only number displayed on the screen was 1,420 won.
Kim Jin-oh rubbed his dry face and let out a deep sigh.
He had combined the three million won in hard-earned military savings with the seven million won he had borrowed and
bought the abandoned house that was practically a garbage dump in the back alley behind the terminal.
That had been yesterday.
He didn’t even have a single ten-thousand-won bill in his hands now.
The moment his interest payments fell behind, his credit rating would plummet. The thought that debt collectors might
even start calling his mother’s old cellphone sent a chill down his spine.
‘I need to earn enough for food first.’
No matter how certain the holograms floating before his eyes were, no matter how impressive the returns of several
hundred percent appeared, he had to survive until those figures could actually be converted into cash.
Jin-oh put on the old tracksuit he had worn until the day before his discharge and left his shabby rented room.
He headed toward a large logistics center on the outskirts of the city.
“New guy? Go over there, put on your safety shoes, and grab some gloves!”
The sharp shout of a manager wearing a fluorescent vest struck his ears.
Jin-oh silently nodded and headed toward the work area.
The delivery boxes pouring onto the conveyor belt seemed endless.
Breathing in the dusty, murky air, he continuously sorted heavy boxes and carried them onto trucks.
Since he had just been discharged from the military, he was confident in his physical strength. But twelve hours of
intense physical labor without rest was more than enough to drain every last bit of energy from a person.
“Young guy, you’ve got a knack for this work. You’re coming again tomorrow, right?”
After the overnight shift ended, Jin-oh held the envelope containing his daily wages and gave a short answer.
“Yes. I’ll come again tomorrow.”
And so Jin-oh’s daily life continued like a hamster running on a wheel.
At night, he carried boxes at the logistics center. During the day, he moved from one temporary construction site to
another, carrying bricks and bags of cement.
Every muscle in his body screamed, and thick calluses formed on his palms.
But there was one place Jin-oh never failed to visit every evening after his grueling work was over.
The old abandoned house of roughly ten pyeong, where a nauseating stench filled the air and half the roof had collapsed.
The neighborhood residents were reluctant even to go near the eyesore, but it looked different to Jin-oh.
Whenever he entered the narrow alley after darkness had fallen, a brilliant blue hologram appeared above the abandoned
house.
[Key Advantage: Mandatory access road for the construction of a large franchise mixed-use commercial complex]
[Estimated Purchase Date: D-5]
Every time he saw the countdown number decreasing day by day, his fatigue melted away like snow.
Yesterday, it had been five days.
Today, it was four.
The blue glow grew deeper and clearer as time passed.
As if proving that the system visible only to his eyes was not a lie, the information in the status window consistently
pointed toward the future without the slightest error.
Jin-oh quietly stared at his land, abandoned in the darkness, while drinking a cold canned coffee he had bought from a
convenience store.
‘Just a little longer. I’m almost there.’
---
Exactly one month passed.
While preparing to leave for the night shift at the logistics center and eating instant noodles for a meal, Jin-oh’s
smartphone vibrated.
It was a call from a restricted number.
“Hello.”
“Ah, am I speaking with Mr. Kim Jin-oh?”
It was the smooth, relaxed voice of a man who sounded distinctly businesslike.
“That’s right. Who is this?”
“I’m Assistant Manager Park from the Land Acquisition Team at Taeseong Development. I’m calling because I’d like to meet
with you briefly regarding the property you recently purchased near the intercity bus terminal.”
The moment had finally come.
Jin-oh quietly put down his chopsticks.
His heartbeat quickened slightly, but he kept his voice as calm as usual.
“Let’s meet at the cafe in front of the terminal at 2 p.m. today.”
When the appointed time arrived, Jin-oh put on the field jacket he had worn when he was discharged and headed to the
cafe.
At a window-side table sat two men wearing tailored suits that looked expensive at a glance, along with polished dress
shoes.
They looked Jin-oh’s shabby appearance up and down as he entered through the door, then exchanged knowing smiles.
‘Anyone can see he’s a naive kid who knows nothing about the world. He probably bought that worthless piece of land
because he was drowning in debt and wanted to make a little money.’
Their eyes seemed to say exactly that.
As Jin-oh approached the table, the man in the suit stood up and held out a business card.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Assistant Manager Park, the one you spoke with on the phone. Please, have a seat.”
Jin-oh accepted the business card, casually stuffed it into his pocket, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Assistant Manager Park wore a relaxed smile as he placed a document envelope on the table.
“Mr. Jin-oh. You still look quite young. I take it you’ve just been discharged from the military?”
“Let’s get to the point.”
Assistant Manager Park’s eyebrow twitched slightly at Jin-oh’s indifferent response, but he soon put on a friendly
smile.
“Haha, young people really are impatient. Very well. I’ll get straight to it. You know that abandoned house in the back
alley behind the terminal that you bought? To be honest, you were tricked into buying a problematic property, weren’t
you? The roof has completely collapsed, it smells terrible, and even the neighborhood residents avoid it. It’s basically
a garbage dump.”
“So?”
“We at Taeseong are considering constructing a commercial building nearby. As it happens, your land is sitting right in
the middle of the area, so we thought we might purchase it from you. You must have had a difficult time after being
deceived at such a young age, so we’d like to help you recover your original investment.”
Assistant Manager Park took out a sales contract from the document envelope and slid it toward Jin-oh as though he were
doing him an enormous favor.
“We confirmed that you bought the property for ten million won. Double the price after just one month. We’ll give you
twenty million won. Sign your stamp here, and we’ll transfer twenty million won directly into your account within ten
minutes.”
His expression showed complete confidence.
He clearly believed that a young man in his twenties, freshly discharged from the military and struggling under debt,
would be blinded by the prospect of making ten million won in profit within a month and stamp the contract immediately.
But Jin-oh didn’t even look at the contract.
Instead, he quietly stared at Assistant Manager Park’s face.
Above Assistant Manager Park’s head, a vivid red hologram began to appear in Jin-oh’s eyes.
[Target: Park Hyung-joon, Assistant Manager of the Land Acquisition Team at Taeseong Development]
[Current Objective: Purchase the mandatory access road for a large mixed-use commercial complex and deceive the property
owner]
[Detailed Information: If the company fails to acquire this property, the entire project, worth tens of billions of won,
is at risk of being canceled.]
And beneath that, the most important information of all gleamed in clear numbers.
[Maximum Approved Purchase Amount for This Parcel: 50,000,000 won]
It was the true absolute limit that the company had authorized for the man sitting before him.
A figure that could not be discovered through any information network was being laid bare before Jin-oh’s eyes alone.
When Jin-oh continued sitting there without the slightest reaction, Assistant Manager Park gradually wiped the smile
from his face and lowered his voice.
He was trying to seize the initiative by applying a little pressure.
“Mr. Jin-oh. This isn’t something you should get greedy about. If we simply alter the design plans a little, your land
will remain a landlocked parcel with no road access forever. You don’t want to spend your whole life paying taxes just
to remain the owner of a garbage dump, do you? It would be better for your future to take twenty million won and walk
away while we’re still asking nicely.”
A subtle threat.
If he were an ordinary person without any knowledge of real estate, he would probably have been frightened into
searching for his stamp and signing as quickly as possible just to salvage whatever money he could.
But Jin-oh’s expression did not waver in the slightest.
He picked up the glass of water on the table and took a sip.
Then, with a languid gaze, he looked straight at Assistant Manager Park and opened his mouth.
“You’re really good at lying.”
“What? What did you just say? You’re getting a little disrespectful.”
Jin-oh flicked the contract with his finger and pushed it back toward Assistant Manager Park.
“You’re going to alter the design plans? Give up the access road connected to the main road and still build the complex?
Taeseong is a major developer, not some idiot. There’s no way you’d proceed with a project worth tens of billions of won
while completely killing the commercial complex’s accessibility.”
A look of bewilderment briefly crossed Assistant Manager Park’s face.
The expression of the other employee sitting beside him also stiffened.
“L-Look here, Mr. Jin-oh! You seem to be seriously mistaken about something!”
“I think you’re the one who’s mistaken, Assistant Manager Park.”
Jin-oh leaned comfortably against the back of his chair and continued.
“You’re mistaken if you think cheap threats will work on me.”
“You really want to regret this...”
“Fifty million won.”
The heavy words cut off Assistant Manager Park mid-sentence, and the air inside the cafe instantly froze.
Jin-oh continued staring calmly and indifferently at Assistant Manager Park’s trembling pupils.
“That’s the maximum amount your land acquisition team received approval for from the higher-ups to purchase this one
piece of land. Exactly fifty million won, isn’t it?”
Assistant Manager Park’s eyes widened as if they were about to burst.
His mouth opened and closed, but only a breathless sound escaped.
The exact purchase limit that should have been written only in an internal confidential document had just come from the
mouth of a young man who had only recently been discharged from the military.
“Fifty million won. If you try to lower it by even ten won, I’ll just farm that land for the rest of my life.”
Jin-oh finished the remaining water and rested his chin on his hand before adding casually,
“Make your decision. Either go back to the company and write a report saying the project has fallen through, or transfer
fifty million won here right now.”