I Became a Sudden Billionaire
I had become a sudden billionaire.
I sat in my chair for what felt like hours, checking and rechecking the numbers.
It was real. No doubt about it.
I forced myself to calm down, then started looking up the details in a measured way.
I’d heard that with a first-prize lottery win, almost half the money got taken in taxes.
For a moment, nearly one hundred billion won danced before my eyes, but the thought that half of it might disappear to taxes made my stomach twist.
Thank God.
Bitcoin still wasn’t taxed.
Which meant all of that money—more than one hundred billion won—was mine.
“I need to move fast.”
I was scared. Even though I’d seen my profits multiplied by tens of thousands, I knew exactly what the price had been back then, so it felt like the money might vanish any second.
I set out to find the fastest way to cash out.
The first thing I did was log in to the exchange and register my bank account.
I couldn’t even explain how lucky I was to have a Nonghyup account already.
I decided to send all my Bitcoin to the address shown on the exchange.
I was trembling more than I ever had before.
This was the moment that would decide whether this hundred-billion-won windfall was really mine.
I sent every last Bitcoin to the address, and then about ten minutes passed.
During that time, every possible thought ran through my head. What if my Bitcoin had disappeared? What if it had been hacked halfway through? What if I’d sent it to the wrong address?
And then, at last.
I saw that 4,231 Bitcoin had arrived at the exchange.
Roughly 105 billion won in Korean currency.
“…”
It still didn’t feel real.
For now, I decided to go up to Seoul and think about it there.
“Mom, I’m heading out.”
“Already?”
“Something urgent came up.”
“All right. If life in Seoul gets too hard, you can always come back down.”
“Okay.”
Life in Seoul gets too hard, huh…
Just yesterday, if I’d heard that, I would’ve seriously wondered whether I should come back home for real.
After all, I’d only just been feeling how rough life in Seoul could be.
But not anymore.
With one hundred billion won in my hands, how could it be hard?
From now on, Seoul was my world.
With a fluttering heart, I hurried back to Seoul.
Mom, wait just a little longer.
I’ll make it up to you soon.
For now, the first thing I needed to do was move the money into my account and create a legitimate reason for how I’d succeeded.
If I casually told everyone I had one hundred billion won, that would be the beginning of my misfortune.
More than anything else…
I didn’t want to feel guilty.
I didn’t want my family to make me feel like I’d got rich and then given them too little, or start weighing who got what.
If I was going to give them money, I wanted them to feel gratitude, not disappointment.
To do that, I couldn’t let them know I had one hundred billion won.
Not even if they were family.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
As soon as I got back to Seoul, I checked the exchange again.
The balance still showed more than one hundred billion won.
I was genuinely glad that I’d once studied investing with the sole belief that I’d become rich someday.
At the very least, it was helping me figure out how to turn this into actual cash.
If I dumped it all at once at market price, I’d take a huge loss, so I decided to sell it gradually in batches of ten billion won a day.
Fortunately, Bitcoin had become a massive hot topic lately, and on the exchange I used alone, daily trading volume had reached two trillion won, which meant my orders were absorbed without issue.
I kept working my part-time job and selling little by little.
In the middle of it all, the exchange even called me.
They wanted me to explain how I’d obtained the Bitcoin, and told me that financial authorities would likely be keeping an eye on the funds.
I had no reason to lie. The file date pointed to 2011, which was enough evidence.
After I told them I understood, I went back to focusing on selling.
A week and three more days passed.
“Wow…”
On the exchange, instead of a constantly fluctuating figure, there was now a clear 105 billion won in Korean cash.
At one point, when Bitcoin kept rising, I did get a little greedy and thought maybe I should hold on longer, but more than that, I wanted to confirm as soon as possible that I was truly a billionaire with one hundred billion won to my name, so I sold everything.
I’d already asked the exchange to lift my limits in advance, and since I’d submitted all the evidence, they were able to remove them without issue.
If they hadn’t, it would’ve taken years to withdraw the money.
I withdrew the full 105 billion won at once.
It really made me feel how much times had changed.
What once seemed like fifty million won—an amount I might never be able to earn even if I worked my whole life—now felt like spare change.
I kept refreshing my banking app, waiting to see when the money would arrive.
The money came in.
Before I could even cheer, another call came through.
I was starting to wonder why I’d been getting so many calls lately, but since this was all part of getting my one hundred billion won, I swallowed my irritation.
“Yes, I’m taking the call.”
-Hello, sir. This is Assistant Manager Lee Taehyun from the Nonghyup Bank Gwangju branch. A very large amount was suddenly deposited into your account this time. With a sum this large, a financial institution may request documentation from the bank. If you have time, could you visit the branch so we can go through a verification procedure? It’s part of the process…
The reason for the call was similar to the exchange’s.
The difference was that, since this was the final step before I could withdraw the money, they wanted me to visit the bank and explain everything.
Considering the amount, that was only natural.
Still, I really didn’t want to go all the way back to Gwangju again.
More than that, I wanted to get confirmation as quickly as possible from somewhere nearby that this money was really mine.
“I’m currently staying in Seoul. Would it be okay if I went to a branch near Seoul instead?”
-Yes, sir. If you tell me which branch you’d like to visit, I can contact them separately…
Everything wrapped up smoothly.
It was currently noon. Since I had work tomorrow, I decided to stop by a nearby branch today.
At this point, I could quit my part-time job if I wanted to, but…
I thought it was only polite to keep going until I’d handed things over properly.
I should say goodbye to Jihyun, too.
Until now, I’d been deliberately ignoring her because I’d told myself I didn’t have time for romance, but I figured I might as well say hello—and maybe even get her contact information.
These days, omakase was popular…
I wanted to take her to a top-class restaurant and eat there together.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I waited inside the bank before lunchtime was even over.
Thanks to that, I was able to speak with a staff member as soon as business hours began.
“What can I help you with today?”
“I received a call from the Nonghyup branch in Gwangju. I sold some Bitcoin and withdrew it from the exchange…”
“Ah, this is about the limit. We can’t just raise the limit arbitrarily. I mean, the thing is…”
“Excuse me? When I got the call, they told me that if I submitted the documents and there were no issues, it would be possible.”
“Oh my, really? Just a moment. Let me check. Could you give me the phone number from that call earlier?”
I handed over the number from the previous call.
The staff member called right in front of me, explained my situation, and then her eyes widened dramatically as she reacted in shock.
Come to think of it, I probably just looked like an ordinary man in his twenties. If I suddenly said I had one hundred billion won, she’d have plenty of reason to be surprised.
After she hung up, she said, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t get the full details properly. You should probably speak with the branch manager first…”
“Sure, I’ll do that. Will it take long?”
“I’ll make sure you can speak with them right away.”
“Thank you.”
I still couldn’t quite feel it, this fact that I’d become rich.
But with the staff member’s reaction just now, and the sudden change in attitude, it finally started to sink in.
I really am rich.
A little while later, the branch manager came over and led me into the office. After I handed over the documents, he checked them, then started offering me various products.
“Nonghyup has some excellent products for young high-net-worth cli—”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
I wasn’t particularly interested, so I turned him down.
Right now, more than figuring out how to invest this money, I just wanted to enjoy the fact that I was a billionaire for a little while longer.
In the end, they issued me a new card and raised my limit to the maximum as well.
From now on, I could transfer tens of billions of won a day without any issue. And even more than that, if I wanted.
I really had become rich.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I went back home.
“Hehe.”
I was going crazy. I finally understood what people meant when they said just looking at something could make you happy.
Even if I only sat there quietly watching my bank balance, it felt like I owned the whole world.
With this money, who needed a Mercedes? I could easily drive a Rolls-Royce and still have room to spare.
These days, the phrase sudden millionaire wasn’t used much anymore. Even if you won first prize in the lottery, you still couldn’t buy a good house in Seoul with that alone.
But I could now buy any house in Seoul I wanted.
I could even buy the most expensive apartments without breaking a sweat.
“Ahem. Aunt said she needed someone dependable, so…”
With this money, I could leave home right this second and buy a luxury residence in a prime Seoul district, but since my aunt had said what she said, I decided to stay a little longer.
I could at least let them know I’d succeeded.
But I had no intention of telling them I was a billionaire.
The moment I said that, hyenas hungry for money would start swarming around me.
Even my relatives wouldn’t leave me alone.
Even if they’re family…
Once you’re human, there’s a huge difference between accepting that someone succeeded and accepting that they suddenly hit the jackpot with one hundred billion won.
If I succeeded through investing or business or whatever and gave my family pocket money or benefits, they’d probably feel grateful.
But if they found out I’d become a sudden one-hundred-billion-won billionaire, then even if I gave them a million won in pocket money, they’d react differently.
Honestly, if one of my family members won the lottery and gave me a million won, I’d probably feel more disappointed than thankful.
“I need to keep this under control.”
I had become a sudden billionaire.
But unlike what other people might say, I wasn’t going to let a fortune bigger than I deserved drag my life into ruin.
I was going to enjoy life properly, spend money at a reasonable pace, and meet some beautiful women while I was at it.
“Hehe.”
The laugh slipped out before I could stop it.