Chapter 100
Chapter 100
I know I don't seem it, but I'm not completely thoughtless.
No matter how much wealth I have, I'm fully aware that going head-to-head with Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung right now would mean serious bleeding. If things went wrong, I might not even win.
So a direct 'money vs. money' fight is best avoided, at least until I've got more cards in my hand.
Then what's the best way to get more cards?
Simple. You just 'buy the cards.'
Obviously, the cards labeled 'teachers' and 'the school' have already fallen into Chairwoman Choi's hand. Trying to buy those would mean an immediate 'money vs. money' clash.
So, what cards can I buy and collect?
The cards Choi Na-kyung has never thought about buying.
Sure, each one is weak on its own. The chance that any of them will turn into a wild card and decisively win me this game is vanishingly small.
But at the very least, they should let me take the advantage in this particular 'small turn' I'm playing right now.
"Well, since I'm late, I'll just get started."
Thoroughly excited, Han Ga-ram spoke like a little kid opening a gift box.
...Is it really that great? It's not like she's the one who got it.
Well, this person just likes money. Even when it isn't hers.
Then again, if I saw a bed made of money in front of me, I'd probably want to lie down on it too.
Han Ga-ram skillfully pulled the carry-on bag into place in front of her, pressed the button, and lowered the handle. With a smooth clattering sound, she pushed the handle all the way down, then carefully laid the bag on its side.
Bending over, she unzipped it.
The carry-on opened into two halves.
With a thud, both sides of the bag lay fully exposed, packed with bundles of cash.
The highest-value banknotes in circulation, yellow bills, were lined up in vacuum-sealed plastic packaging. They'd probably been secured in whole stacks at a time, which was how they'd stayed so neat even while being hauled around in the bag.
"Did you know? Money's dirtier than people think. No, not figuratively."
Han Ga-ram pulled a box cutter from her pocket and kept talking.
"It passes from hand to hand. Not just one person's hand—it goes through countless hands before it gets here. Skin oils, every kind of bacteria caked on... Obviously, if you leave it sitting around, that bacteria multiplies and the smell gets truly foul. I've seen people bring money like that into the bank, so I know."
She extended the blade just a little and sliced straight through the vacuum-sealed plastic, right between the bundles. It looked careless at a glance, but the blade didn't so much as nick a single fifty-thousand-won note.
"To prevent that, our bank disinfects every bill. If you use a private safe deposit box, we thoroughly sterilize the box and package the cash like this to prevent contamination. We always provide our clients with 'clean money' they can pick up in good spirits. So,"
Smiling brightly, she hefted a money bundle in each hand.
"If you ever have funds for long-term storage, please remember Chang-eon Savings Bank!"
And she placed those bundles onto the desk of the student who'd just been apologizing to So-hee, proudly promoting her own bank.
"Wh-wha... whaaat!?"
When two stacks of fifty-thousand-won notes, probably more than she'd ever seen in her life, landed right in front of her, the student freaked out.
"It's my money."
I spoke up, having watched the whole thing play out.
All eyes turned to me.
With this much cash now sitting right in front of her, I can't possibly be 'invisible.' At least, she can't react as if I am.
Since ancient times, humans have been obsessed with gleaming gold. Sure, nowadays it's a critical resource in all sorts of industries, but in the past, gold's value came down to just two things: it never rusts, no matter how much time passes, and it keeps shining, and its scarcity. When people see a lump of gold, they can't look away. That gleam, that value.
The urge to reach out and take it is almost instinctive. That's just how we're wired.
The passage of time hasn't changed that.
Of course, what's in front of her now isn't a gold ingot. Even I'm not crazy enough to have a carry-on bag stuffed with gold bars. It's also questionable whether Han Ga-ram could've hauled it here in the first place.
Still.
This stuff's yellow too, isn't it? The color's close enough.
When you think about how much a single banknote can buy, it does a passable gold impression.
"That's a token of my sincerity."
The girl's eyes, fixed on the two cash bundles before her, shook violently.
You know what?
A hundred fifty-thousand-won notes come to five million won. Two of those bundles makes ten million.
Sure... it's enough to catch the eye of most well-off people. But they wouldn't sell themselves out for it.
But what about a kid who's studied her ass off to get into a 'good university' on a scholarship—what's going through her mind?
No matter how much prices have risen, a sudden ten million won in a working-class household can make a huge difference.
And, well...
"Taking it or not is your call. But, y'know, to these people, I'm basically invisible anyway. If ten million won suddenly drops in front of you, it'd be pretty stupid not to pick it up."
Exactly. Officially, I'm still an invisible person.
So my money, the money associated with me, is 'invisible money.'
"..."
The girl swallowed dryly. A cold sweat broke out across her forehead.
"Not enough?"
When I tilted my head, Han Ga-ram bent down and picked up three more bundles.
Now there was twenty-five million won on the desk.
I didn't up the amount on impulse.
It was because Han Ga-ram, who absolutely adores our money, had told me: when you're wrestling someone over money, never give them the full amount all at once.
Remind them they could lose it if they waver. Make absolutely sure they understand that doing a little more means getting a little more.
"Wh-why are you doing this to me...?"
"You're an outside admit, right?"
At my question, the girl nodded, trembling.
She's the kind of kid who's never given or taken a bribe in her life. She must have worked hard to get in here, which means she was probably an honors student in middle school too. Never done anything bad, just studied, came here, and got swept up in this mess.
It's only natural to tremble when this kind of money drops in front of you. In one corner of her head, the thought 'I can't take this' is surely lodged firm.
"You weren't exactly an eager participant in the first place, right? You just went along with it because the others told you to."
Whether she takes the money or not, she's now in a position where she absolutely cannot ignore me—the money's owner. She's well and truly 'shaken.' Whether it's because of her family situation or personal greed, twenty-five million won is too much money to give up without a reason.
To give it up, you have to make yourself a justification. Something to stop you from writhing in regret later.
Right. No matter how good a person is, everyone has to go through this process.
And all I have to do is knock that justification down as hard as I can.
"You know what you've been doing is wrong, don't you?"
The girl stayed silent at my question. She can't deny it. The victim is standing right in front of her. And here I am, fanning out all this money. If she denies it rashly, there's no telling what this rich girl might do to her.
"What I'm asking is for you to stop doing that wrong thing. I'm not here to punish you."
We're not even a month into the school year. If she stops now, I really have no intention of doing anything. At this point, the bad things she's done to me are separate from what Ye Sa-ra suffered before. Whether the kids who ostracized Ye Sa-ra in middle school get forgiven is for Ye Sa-ra herself to decide.
...Su-a's probably included among them.
"..."
My request is a fair one.
The victim of bullying is the one asking them, with money on top, to please just stop. If you put it on a scale, this is far more righteous than the forced, insincere apologies the teachers are pushing right now.
I can't be sure this would work on the other students at this school. Some of them might pocket twenty-five million won as pocket change. It wouldn't land at all on bastards like Yoon Da-ho.
But at least here, the kids who were supposed to be used as human shields—they're different.
Inside this school, they're a tiny minority, right at the bottom of the food chain.
And this is also a contract.
Not just a bribe they take and walk away from. A contract to build a future 'relationship' with me.
A request to break down the iron bars surrounding me.
Yeah. This was the 'card' I was trying to buy.
A card no one paid any attention to, but one I can definitely use.
One of the kids brought out as a shield swallowed dryly.
Everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on the open travel bag.
Of all the money in that bag, none is going to the teachers. Obviously. They may say it wasn't their intention, and it may be true that So-hee and Yang Hye-in did it behind my back, but haven't they already stuffed themselves sick on bribes?
"What'll it be?"
Outside admits don't account for much when you look at the total student body.
But that doesn't mean you can completely ignore them either. Once a crack starts forming, it'll start spreading bit by bit.
Though honestly, cracks started forming long before this.
"N-now wait just...!"
Seeing me brazenly handing money to students, the teacher shot up with a yell.
Blam!
But he flinched and froze right after.
So-hee had slammed her propped-up foot back down onto the desk.
Well, it didn't split the desk in half like something out of a comic. It just made a pretty loud noise.
But that sound alone was enough.
He'd just pissed off someone 'they couldn't afford to ignore.'
Money really is a strange thing.
It can flip ordinary human relationships upside down this completely.
I felt like I was starting to understand, just a little, why Han Ga-ram was smiling ear to ear right now.