Money Swag

The China Lotto winners have surpassed ten thousand people!

From a modest one million dollars to several billion dollars each — China has created an army of millionaires!

Yoo Jae-won, Chairman of ID Group, confirmed on the list of Qing Dynasty bond redemption recipients!

ID Technology’s IPO process was not yet complete. Instead, news that China had officially begun redeeming the Qing Dynasty bonds arrived one step ahead. As a result, global attention shifted away from Yoo Jae-won — the man at the center of a 100-trillion-dollar windfall — and focused instead on the ordinary people who had suddenly struck it rich thanks to China’s bond redemption program.

In a single stroke, more than ten thousand individuals had become overnight billionaires. While these China-issued lottery winners were scattered across the globe, the country that claimed the largest share by far was, without question, the United States.

Articles soon appeared highlighting P Market, the 21st-century treasure vault and the top distribution point for Qing Dynasty lottery winners. The coverage was so glowing it might as well have been written by P Market’s own PR team.

Starting from peer-to-peer used goods trading, P Market had risen to become the definitive name in internet shopping through its B2C model. It was now the leading online shopping platform in both Korea and America. The very reason Yoo Jae-won had been able to purchase massive quantities of Qing bonds the moment the idea occurred to him was thanks to P Market’s infrastructure.

The single largest beneficiary of China’s Qing Dynasty bond redemption was, of course, the United States government. Simply by acting as intermediary in negotiations with China, it had earned a thirty-percent commission. When income taxes were added on top, the amount the U.S. government ultimately received far exceeded that thirty percent.

After the U.S. government, which had hit the jackpot without lifting a finger, the next largest stakeholder was naturally Yoo Jae-won. Following him were several individuals who each received sums reaching into the billions of dollars — amounts that surpassed even the biggest Mega Ball lottery jackpots. Moreover, while a traditional lottery produced only one winner at astronomical odds, this “Qing Dynasty lottery” had created more than ten thousand lucky winners.

One of America’s defining traits was that it never hid its good fortune. Mega Ball winners traditionally posed for photos beside oversized novelty checks the size of their own bodies. The Qing lottery winners were no different.

With the added convenience of social media, the phenomenon exploded. It was hardly surprising that the number of people posting photos of luxury goods and sports cars under the hashtag #ThankYou_China had skyrocketed. Some even began verifying nine- or even ten-digit bank balances.

On TokTok, follower count represented one’s presence in the cyber world. There was no better content for growing that number, so the hesitation people once felt about voluntarily flaunting their good luck had almost entirely vanished.

Not everyone was celebrating. Some warned that posting personal information on social media could make users targets for criminals. Yet the thrill of becoming an SNS star far outweighed such concerns. Verifying one’s China Lotto win had become a full-blown trend on social media — an unstoppable wave.

“Welcome to the Republic of Korea.”

“Thank you.”

Tiffany’s immigration inspection at Incheon Airport passed with only a few light questions. Her American passport noted her Korean husband, and she carried almost no luggage, so the process was over in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moments.

Stepping past the immigration exit, Tiffany scanned the arrival hall with wide eyes, searching for whoever had come to meet her. Then her eyes flew open.

“Jae-won!”

She had been told that Chief Secretary Kim would be waiting, but standing in front of the arrival gate was the very person she had missed most — her husband, Yoo Jae-won.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she sprinted into his arms. He had claimed he was too busy to pick her up at the airport, yet here he was. A small surprise event.

At Tiffany’s dramatic reaction, however, Yoo Jae-won felt a slight pang of guilt. It was remorse for how much he had enjoyed their brief time apart — memories of his previous life that still lingered.

After soothing their longing with a passionate embrace, the couple climbed into the waiting car and began the journey to their home in Seoul. Even during the ride, they never let go of each other’s hands, and their conversation never ran dry.

What began as simple catching up naturally flowed into the Texas acquisition project that Tiffany had led at Chevron.

“Did the acquisition go smoothly?”

“Yes! Thanks to your help, everything fell into place.”

Having successfully acquired Texaco, Chevron ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had secured its position as the world’s second-largest oil major. ExxonMobil remained firmly in first, but Chevron could now compete directly with Royal Dutch Shell and BP for second place. If one included the still-hidden power of Aramco, Chevron’s ranking would drop another notch, but this was still a time when Aramco’s presence remained relatively faint. Besides, Texaco itself held a significant stake in Aramco.

Aramco was currently unlisted and carried limited visibility, so the value of its shares held by Texaco had not been calculated too aggressively. Once Aramco went public, however, those shares would be revalued and provide Chevron with a massive boost.

“How does it feel now that you’ve actually done it?”

“It was exhausting every single day while it was happening, but once it was over, the sense of satisfaction was overwhelming. I used to scold you for saying you were tired yet never putting work down. Now I understand. That feeling of accomplishment is no joke.”

She was right. Back in their San Francisco home, whenever Yoo Jae-won stayed up late working in his study, Tiffany would pad over like a cat and practically drag him away to rest. Now that she herself had taken charge of the enormous Chevron-Texaco merger project, she finally understood the joy of completing something monumental.

From Chevron’s dominant position, the deal hadn’t been particularly difficult in terms of difficulty, but for Tiffany it was an entirely new dimension of experience — far more enjoyable than she had ever imagined.

“Still, don’t overwork yourself!”

“Of course not.”

“Hmph. You say that so easily.”

She couldn’t be entirely sure he meant it. Yoo Jae-won’s obsession with work stemmed not only from the sense of accomplishment Tiffany described, but from something far deeper — the bitter memories of failure from his previous life. Although his current achievements would be considered tremendous success by anyone else, they still felt insufficient to him. That was the biggest reason he continued pushing forward.

“By the way, have you heard about the China-made lottery that’s all the rage lately? I remember you had some of those bonds too, right? How much did you end up with?”

Once the serious topics were finished, the weight of their conversation dropped dramatically. Tiffany, an avid social media user, naturally brought up the Qing Dynasty bonds.

In response, Yoo Jae-won simply held up four fingers on his right hand.

“Fo… four billion? No — forty billion?!”

Tiffany studied his expression, guessed at the number, then raised it when it seemed too low. Even that figure, however, fell far short of Yoo Jae-won’s actual scale.

“Four hundred.”

“What? Four hundred billion?”

Forty billion was already an enormous sum, yet he had to add another zero. Tiffany’s own family was quite wealthy by American standards and had seen plenty of large financial moves, but four hundred billion dollars existed on an entirely different level.

“Oh my god! And you still have the ID Technology IPO coming up!”

Tiffany knew far more about the upcoming listing than most people. Realizing once again just how immense her husband’s financial power had become, her astonishment doubled.

Then a sudden memory surfaced.

“Wow… everyone’s been losing their minds over this China Lotto lately, but to you it was basically pocket change?”

“China Lotto?”

When Yoo Jae-won looked as if he genuinely didn’t understand the term, Tiffany immediately pulled out her Android Phone, opened an app, and handed it to him. It was TokTok, the leading social networking service.

“For the past few days this has been dominating real-time search rankings. One post easily gets thousands of retoks.”

She was right. The search results were flooded with posts tagged #ThankYou_China. In just a few days the number of results had already surpassed several hundred thousand. Having focused mainly on NextCom until now, Yoo Jae-won hadn’t paid much attention to TokTok, but the heat surrounding it was far greater than he had expected.

“Hmm~.”

At the same time, a strong spark of curiosity ignited inside him.

“Should I give it a try?”

In truth, flaunting wealth had always felt somewhat distasteful to Yoo Jae-won. Yet when he saw the photos circulating alongside the China Lotto tag, he realized he could do it far better than anyone else. Most of what people called “money swag” consisted of limited-edition sneakers, luxury watches, or at best, newly purchased sports cars. He felt he could take the concept one step further — in a much more positive direction.

“I’m pretty sure I could do this better than what I’m seeing here.”

“Really? Are you actually going to try?”

“Yes!”

After weighing several thoughts, Yoo Jae-won decided to participate.

“Then shall we start tomorrow?”

His decisive nature meant that once his mind was made up, he moved immediately. The event scheduled for the next day was the final Group D match of the 2002 World Cup — Korea versus the United States. It would be held as a cheering competition between Korean soldiers and U.S. forces stationed in Korea. With former President Clinton also scheduled to attend, the stage had already grown large. Expanding it even further would not be difficult at all.

The following day.

As the purple twilight of early summer began to fade, Yoo Jae-won posted his first TokTok update in a long while. The short message was accompanied by a single photo.

It was a simple image featuring the emblems of the Korean and American armies with a large “VS” sticker between them. The post referred to the cheering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠competition between Korea’s 28th Division and the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, to be held in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province. A closer look revealed the 28th Division’s Typhoon mark on the Korean side and the Indian chief insignia of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division on the American side.

Ding! The post was successfully uploaded.

Soon afterward, new photos began appearing on Yoo Jae-won’s TokTok account. They showed tens of thousands of Korean and American soldiers cheering wildly on a massive stage. Just the sight of ten thousand people gathered together was spectacular.

The unfortunate reality of frontline units meant not every member of the divisions could attend the festival. Personnel assigned to situation rooms, ammunition depots, and other posts that could not suspend guard duty had no choice but to remain on station. Still, they were able to enjoy the festive atmosphere indirectly. A special lunchbox costing over ten thousand won apiece — prepared by a professional catering company — had been delivered to the entire 28th Division. Naturally, the lunchboxes were sponsored by ID Group. They had been planned months in advance and prepared under the strict supervision of the division’s food service officer. Thanks to this, even soldiers unable to attend the event received a deluxe lunchbox special.

There was more than one photo.

The next image showed Dream Entertainment’s top idol group, S.O.S., performing on stage. The soldiers of the 28th Division were losing their minds. In contrast, the American troops watched the performance with calm composure.

The second photo showed the exact opposite situation. The Korean soldiers had grown remarkably quiet, while the U.S. troops were jumping out of their seats. The reason was obvious — the man on stage was Bon Jovi, who had made a spectacular comeback in 2000 with Crush and again this year with Bounce, delivering a powerful rendition of “It’s My Life.”

Although rock and pop had declined in the American music scene while idols and hip-hop rose, the presence of a true rock star remained immense. Bon Jovi, in particular, was the rock band most beloved by Americans, so the reaction was explosive.

“Wow, Bon Jovi! You’re the only one who could invite an act like this to an event like this.”

Even former President Clinton, seated beside Yoo Jae-won, looked thoroughly excited. Tiffany, who had received no prior information about the day’s performers, was equally surprised.

Besides Bon Jovi, the invited artists included the twelve-member male idol group Powerful Junior. They naturally received the coolest response from the Korean and American soldiers, but they were absolute idols to the female middle- and high-school students who had flocked in from Yeoncheon.

While Powerful Junior performed, Tiffany shot Yoo Jae-won ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a meaningful glance, silently asking if this was the “swag” he had mentioned the day before. He shook his head. No matter how rich one was, there were still many things that could not be done on short notice — such as booking a superstar like Bon Jovi and putting him on stage within a single day.

In reality, today’s event had been a large-scale project planned three months in advance. Although it had been prepared quickly, the heaviest blow had not yet been delivered.