It Was Powerball, Not Lotto (2)
“Son… what are you talking about?”
The person who had suddenly shown up talking about the lottery turned out to be her son.
“So it was your son? I thought so… he looks gentle, just like Jun-hui.”
“Kid, what do you mean the lottery hit?”
Even if the first-place prize had dropped to around two billion won, it was still an enormous sum.
‘He came all the way to his mother’s workplace looking that confident… something must have actually happened.’
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to show up.
“Third place…?”
The moment the word “lottery” left his mouth, the gazes directed at Choi Junseok and Lee Jun-hui were filled with envy.
Ignoring the broken dishes, people began asking questions out of curiosity.
“Who the hell names their dog Second Place? It has to be third.”
“Kid, you know fourth place only pays fifty thousand won, right? First-timers always think fourth or fifth is a fortune, but it’s not…”
“First place.”
At Choi Junseok’s words, everyone fell silent.
Eyes that had been half-closed in suspicion flew wide open.
“I hit first place. Happy now?”
Lee Jun-hui and everyone else stared in shock.
The lottery first prize.
‘Two billion.’
It was the kind of money that could completely change a life.
Even after taxes, it was still a massive amount—more than enough to save a refugee family living in a container box.
Lee Jun-hui couldn’t even ask what he meant. At first she thought it was a joke, but her son’s expression was far too serious.
‘He takes after his father—he’s not the type to spout nonsense.’
Moreover, the fact that he had come all the way to her workplace meant something big had happened.
Before Lee Jun-hui could even speak, the other employees began pressing him.
“Is it really true?”
“Kid… you serious?”
“Today was the drawing day… if it’s real, why are you here? You should be at the bank headquarters!”
“Jun-hui! Jun-hui… congratulations, yeah? If it’s real, stay in touch! You know I’ve always been good to you, right?”
“Nah… no way it’s real. First place isn’t that easy!”
“Kid, you got the ticket? Let me see it.”
Choi Junseok had no interest in answering the mix of jealousy and doubt. He had learned human nature all too well while hauling loads up to the thirty-fourth floor as a porter.
Instead of replying, he simply said,
“In that case, I quit.”
As he grabbed his mother and headed outside, a storm of envy, awe, and suspicion followed their backs.
The restaurant TV had already moved on to the next news segment.
—The Prosecutor General announced at an emergency press conference that a full-scale investigation will be conducted on all F-grade players nationwide…
“Heh… this country’s really going to hell.”
A man who had been blankly watching the news muttered as he downed his soju.
“Well, even if it was a lie, it worked out. I was going to quit anyway. My arms were killing me.”
Normally, his mother would have scolded him for acting recklessly, but instead she gave an awkward smile.
She was forcing a smile to hide her sadness. The wrinkles around her eyes looked deeper than usual.
“Mom, it’s not a lie.”
“…You’re not just saying that?”
“You don’t have to work anymore.”
“The lottery first prize… is real?”
Choi Junseok quietly shook his head.
Just as Lee Jun-hui’s palm was about to strike his back, he spoke.
“I awakened. I’m a player.”
Lee Jun-hui’s eyes widened.
“…What?”
At the same time, as if to prove it, a glass bottle filled with pale purple liquid appeared in Choi Junseok’s palm.
“Drink this first.”
“What is it?”
“Just trust your son and take one sip. You’ll understand.”
…
Lee Jun-hui immediately tried to refuse, but Choi Junseok persistently held the potion in front of her.
“Just pretend you’re being tricked and drink one sip. If you want, I’ll drink it first. After you drink it, we’ll go home and I’ll explain everything slowly.”
“Aigoo. Fine, fine. What is it? Painkillers?”
With an expression that said she couldn’t win against him, she took the potion from his palm and downed it in one gulp after pulling out the rubber stopper.
Gulp…
The effect was immediate.
The fresh cut on her ankle healed in an instant.
Not only that—the fatigue vanished as if it had been washed away.
Most importantly, the stabbing pain in her shoulder disappeared completely.
Startled by the instant effect, she blinked in surprise.
“Taste okay? You might as well finish it. It’s valuable. You can’t buy this even if you have the money.”
Honestly, even Choi Junseok had been half-doubting until his mother’s wound actually healed.
Normally, items or artifacts brought out from the Magic Tower didn’t activate outside due to the system. However, there were a few exceptions—most notably healing items.
Consumable items commonly called potions.
Even so, it was usually better to use them inside the tower. The same potion’s effect dropped to less than one-tenth outside the tower.
‘Unique-grade potions really are different.’
Choi Junseok let out a sigh of relief.
Compared to regular potions, which were at best Rare-grade, this was Unique-grade, so he had figured the worst that could happen was breaking even. He hadn’t expected it to work this well.
A Rare-grade potion sold for around eighty million won per bottle.
‘Then how much is this worth?’
It was an item in high demand among every player climbing the towers.
However, potions only appeared in limited quantities inside the towers, and high-quality ones were even rarer.
Normal-grade potions were a few million won. Lower and lowest grades hovered around a hundred thousand won.
‘The price difference between grades is at least dozens of times.’
Therefore, the value of this Unique-grade potion was at minimum eight hundred million won.
If put up for auction, it would easily fetch tens of billions.
‘If you consider it the price of a top-rank player’s life…’
Plenty of guilds would gladly pay tens or even hundreds of billions.
‘And I still have twelve of these left…’
Each potion was worth more than ten lottery first prizes.
Using one to heal his mother didn’t feel wasteful at all.
After all, if he tried to sell something like this on the market right now, he would become the dark guild’s number-one target.
It was the same for his family—he didn’t need to attract unnecessary attention.
“Mom, no matter what, you can never tell anyone that I awakened. Got it?”
“Y-yes.”
“I’ll explain the details when we get home.”
Right after Choi Junseok cleared the first floor.
A series of notification windows suddenly appeared in front of Lee Jiyu.
Due to the expiration of the 1st floor clear record, the skill ‘Choi Byeong-ryeol Summon’ has been deleted.
The summon has been released.
Choi Byeong-ryeol, who had been sipping from a glass in front of her, scattered into particles of light and disappeared.
She knew this wasn’t a normal summon release phenomenon.
She had never once released the summon since first casting it.
After sitting blankly across from the empty seat for dozens of minutes, the reality finally sank in—followed by rage.
“That goddamn son of a bitch!”
BOOM!
She kicked the wall, but as always, only her foot hurt.
She had already been venting for an hour.
Her luxury penthouse was now completely trashed.
“Ughhh…!”
It was past 11 p.m.
The bodyguards in charge of her security approached nervously.
“Are you all right?”
“Do I look all right?! Get the hell out!”
“The chairman has summoned you. The car is ready…”
“…Forget it. I’ll go alone!”
She was both a climbing partner of the tower and a key member of the “Eden of the East,” one of Korea’s five major guilds.
Ranked 13th in Korea, she was widely known to the public as a sports apparel and health food model under the alias “Supersonic Bunny.”
Choi Byeong-ryeol, whose breathing had always matched hers perfectly, had vanished as of yesterday.
His specialty had been the strange fire-attribute ability that manipulated red smoke.
Almost everyone knew that the hidden clear reward for the first floor was a summoning ticket.
So the reason the chairman of Eden of the East had called her was obvious.
A short while later.
At the guild headquarters in Samseong-dong.
A luxury pink sports car screeched to a halt in front of the building.
Through the smoke rising from the tires, the door opened upward.
She stepped out, leaving the keys in the ignition, and headed inside.
She hadn’t even bothered to wear her signature brand running shoes and leggings.
She had just shoved on a cap and sunglasses before rushing out.
The moment she entered the building, she took off the sunglasses, but her hollow eyes were nothing like her usual vibrant image.
“First time seeing you in casual clothes.”
“She’s seriously gorgeous…”
“Hey… be careful. Don’t stare. She doesn’t look like she’s in a good mood.”
Even though it was nearly midnight, she ignored the stares of the guild members on duty and stepped into the elevator that had been waiting for her.
When she reached the upper floors, she could hear voices openly mocking her.
“No wonder… everyone ignored him, but he only listened to Lee Jiyu.”
“Ever since he recovered from near-fatal injuries in just a few days…”
She bit her lip and strode forward.
The door to the chairman’s office opened.
The moment it closed, the chairman of Eden of the East spoke in a strangely soothing tone, as if trying to calm her anger.
“He’s in here. The one who stole your summon.”
Thud.
The chairman tossed a file folder across the desk.
It contained both the official and unofficial lists of Korea’s F-grade players.
“We’ve identified every unofficial player in addition to the officially registered ones. It’s accurate. We gathered it faster than the prosecution.”
“So what am I supposed to do with this? Kill them all?”
“No. We can’t kill them anyway.”
She knew that too.
The tower’s system was an absolute rule that players could not defy.
Of course, it had only been a little over two months.
Even in that short time, she had grown attached to her summon, Choi Byeong-ryeol.
Just as she had started feeling genuine affection and was considering taking their relationship further, he had vanished in a flash of fire.
Of course, as a player herself, she understood.
If the tower took him back, she would have to let him go.
“No one knows more about summons disguised as ordinary people than you.”
“…I thought you called me here to comfort me. Turns out you just want me to work.”
“It’s both. You probably want to see the face of the person who killed Choi Byeong-ryeol too.”
“…”
“If he’s some nobody, there’s no reason you can’t quietly… kill him and take back the first-place spot on the first floor.”
Lee Jiyu quietly picked up the file the chairman had given her.
“He probably received the hidden clear reward, so he’ll try to stay quiet.”
“Are we ruling out the possibility that he’s a new player?”
“It’s been a hundred days since the Suseo Magic Tower appeared. Most people who were going to awaken because of it already have.”
A faint smile appeared on the chairman’s lips.
“Don’t make me clean up after the tower’s outside affairs.”
“Ah, of course not. Finding him isn’t even work. Don’t worry. The government is working with us.”
“…I’ll be waiting for news.”
The chairman had spoken confidently, but the person in that file was Choi Junseok—who had no reason to be listed there.
At the same time.
Choi Junseok, who had only awakened two days ago, was shouting on the second floor.
“Summon!”
BOOOOOOM!
Along with a massive shockwave, a cheerful system window appeared.
Congratulations!
You have cleared the 2nd floor.
Then a new window appeared that hadn’t existed before.
Congratulations!
You have ranked 1st in the 2nd floor clear rankings.
Would you like to register anonymously on the Wall of Fame? (Y/N)
“Register anonymously.”
On the lower section of the Suseo Magic Tower’s wall.
The section known as the Wall of Fame.
The second-floor record among the fastest clear times began to change dramatically.
2nd Floor Fastest Clear Record — “2.13 seconds” (Anonymous 1 person + 0 others)
Furthermore, written in the detailed record on the Wall of Fame was one word.
‘F-grade.’
Everyone could guess that this was the same player who had caused an uproar the previous day.
It was a massive event that would set the morning newspapers and news ablaze once again.
At the same time, it was a move that lightly overturned the chairman of Eden of the East’s expectations.
From news outlets to YouTubers, the entire world was talking about the anonymous player.
Naturally, the topic wasn’t limited to ordinary people and society.
The player-only community, “Player Inside”—commonly abbreviated as “Player Fight”—was in an uproar.
And that was exactly the smokescreen Choi Junseok had deliberately created.