The Day the Lottery Swallowed Me Whole
Time flew by, and before I knew it, Monday had arrived.
The college entrance exam was over, so there were technically no classes, but we still had to go to school.
Even after the CSAT, it was still, strictly speaking, the school term.
The one small mercy was that we only had morning classes, and after lunch they sent us home.
So while the other students were kicking a ball around the field, shooting hoops, or heading to a PC cafe, my destination was different.
─ Hey! Run!
─ Ah, there won’t be any seats left at the PC cafe!
─ We’ve got to get there before the Ilseong guys!
─ Hey, hey! At least watch the traffic light!!
Watching students sprint across the crosswalk to get to the PC cafe near the school before everyone else, I idly felt the wallet in my pocket and asked Zero,
'Zero, what’s the fastest and safest way to Nonghyup Main Branch?'
「First, return home and change out of your school uniform into regular clothes. You have already passed your birthday, Master, so there is no issue with you collecting the lottery winnings as a nineteen-year-old adult. However, if you appear in uniform, you may be subjected to unnecessary verification. Also, I recommend the subway rather than a taxi.」
Zero continued.
「Take Line 5 from Kkachisan Station near the school. Then—」
I started walking exactly as Zero instructed.
Clatter, clatter.
Inside the subway.
The rattling that would have felt boring on any other day now sounded like my own heartbeat.
Even though I was trying not to get worked up, I could feel sweat seeping into the hand clutching the wallet in my pocket.
'If I had a smartphone, I could’ve looked at something to kill time.'
That would have calmed me down.
But this was the age of feature phones. People were reading books, listening to music on MP3 players or CD players, and quite a few were just staring blankly into space with their eyes open.
No one was probably looking at me. I’d just seem like some ordinary guy.
And yet, for some reason, I felt like people kept sneaking glances my way.
The weight of 10 billion won carried a pressure that went beyond mere numbers for someone as small-time as me.
「Master, to reduce tension, it is highly effective to think about productive matters. On that note, I will explain the plan of action for when you enter Seodaemun Nonghyup Main Branch. As requested, I have established a safe approach—in other words, one that will not draw the attention of others.」
'Yeah, tell me.'
The subway kept moving.
[······This stop is Seodaemun, Seodaemun Station. Doors will open on the left.]
The announcement came over the speakers. I took a deep breath and got off the train slowly.
'Zero said to take Exit 5... there.'
Climbing the steep stairs of Exit 5, I emerged into the cold air, and a massive building filled my field of view.
Among them, the huge headquarters of Nonghyup Bank stood out in particular.
The vault that would change my life.
Anna Yunae, the receptionist at Nonghyup Main Branch.
After graduating from high school last year and landing a job at Nonghyup right away, she was doing her best to fight off the fatigue of Monday morning while keeping a bright smile on her face.
'I wonder who won the lottery last week.'
Her job at the front desk involved a lot of little things, but the most important one, really, was leaving a good impression on lottery winners.
That was how you kept lottery winners from taking their enormous sums to another bank and leaving them there instead of with Nonghyup.
'Lottery winnings are usually 1.5 billion won, and sometimes they go over 2 billion... that’s more than my salary for forty or fifty years.'
Huaa... what a huge amount of money~ I’m jealous~ I buy lottery tickets too, so why hasn’t it happened to me~ Wouldn’t it be funny if it were like, “Nonghyup Main Branch receptionist wins the lottery!”... or am I the only one who’d find that funny?
While indulging in a blissful fantasy in her head, Anna Yunae kept up the polished smile of a professional employee on the outside.
That was when it happened.
“Hello.”
!
A fairly handsome young man walked up to the reception desk and spoke. He was wearing an old jumper and jeans.
Anna Yunae wiped away the happy fantasy she’d been having a moment ago and answered politely, like a proper employee.
'Judging by his clothes, he looks more like he’s about to ask where the bathroom is than about bank business...'
“Yes, how may I help you, sir?”
At that, the man pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. A small note.
[I won first prize in the lottery, so please handle this quietly.]
“······?!”
Anna Yunae’s pupils shook as she checked the note.
She’d worked front desk long enough to see plenty of first-prize winners every week, and many of them announced their win with a note, but this was the first time someone her own age had won.
The lottery winners she’d seen were all middle-aged or older.
And first prize, too—yet he was so calm about it?
Most people who came to claim lottery money looked around nervously like they’d committed a crime.
Still, as a main-branch employee, she quickly regained her composure.
“Ah... yes, of course. One moment, please.”
With trembling hands, she picked up the receiver and whispered in a very low voice.
“Team Leader, someone’s here in the first-floor lobby... yes, he’s here. I’ll guide him.”
─ Ah, yes. Please do.
After quickly ending the call, Anna Yunae spoke softly to the man.
“This way, please.”
“Yes.”
Carefully, quietly, she guided him to the elevator.
It was a strange scene: the person who had actually won the lottery was calm, while the receptionist was the one flustered.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened, and they arrived on the fifteenth floor. The moment the doors slid open, two security guards in suits were waiting for me. The air here was heavy, completely different from the lobby on the first floor.
“This way, please.”
“Yes.”
Escorted by them, I headed down the corridor to the VIP reception room at the end.
'I guess it feels awkward because this is the first time I’ve ever been treated like this.'
「You will get used to it now. You’ll be receiving far greater treatment from here on out.」
When I opened the conference room door and stepped inside, I saw a wide sofa and an elegant table. A middle-aged man holding a stack of documents was waiting there.
“Haha, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Park Seonghun, team leader of the lottery business division at Nonghyup Main Branch.”
The man who called himself team leader wore a friendly smile as he grabbed my hand before I’d even offered it, forcing a handshake. I could feel his eyes flicking quickly over my face and clothes.
If he was the team leader of the lottery division, he had to be a master of sales within Nonghyup. He wore a warm, agreeable smile on the outside, but underneath it, there was no mistaking the look of someone underestimating a young kid.
'Zero, I’m right, aren’t I?'
「Yes, Master. Based on my analysis of Team Leader Park Seonghun through Master’s own eyes, that man is clearly looking down on you.」
Figures. If I were him, I’d probably think the same thing when some kid came in claiming to have won the lottery.
“First, let’s verify your winning ticket. May I see your ticket and ID?”
“Yes.”
I handed over the ticket and my ID from my wallet. The team leader fed the ticket into a machine and went through the verification process. A moment later, a green light appeared on the monitor.
[First Prize Winner / 5 duplicate entries]
“Huh...”
A dumbfounded breath slipped from the team leader’s mouth. Five first-prize tickets—of course he’d react like that.
Gulp.
Swallowing dryly, he looked at me again.
“C-congratulations, Mr. Kim Dohyun. The amount after tax is... 7,418,827,200 won.”
“Yes, then.”
I was just about to tell him to deposit the money directly into an account and get up.
But before I could, as befitted someone from the lottery business division, he spoke first.
“However, sir, you’re still quite young, so I imagine you haven’t had much experience managing such a large sum?”
There it was. The routine Nonghyup used on lottery winners. A sales pitch.
“When money comes all at once, people often can’t manage it well and end up spending it just as quickly. That’s why Nonghyup offers special asset-management products for VIP customers...”
The team leader shoved out a glossy pamphlet. Pension insurance, savings plans, funds... the sort of products that might tempt an average person.
'What do you think?'
「These are products that benefit only the bank while tying up the customer’s money. Their average annual returns barely exceed inflation. They are not even stable. Frankly, they are not worth signing up for at all; a simple savings account would be more comforting.」
I hadn’t intended to sign up for any of them anyway. Even if they offered some absurd product guaranteeing 30 percent annual interest, I was going to let Zero handle the money and make it grow.
I pushed the pamphlet away without even looking at it.
“Team leader.”
“Y-yes! Go ahead.”
Apparently money really was a wonderful thing, because his tone had become several times more respectful than before.
Then again, with a man sitting in front of him holding 7.4 billion won in liquid assets and the possibility that he might walk out, that was only natural.
“I’m not interested in products, so please just deposit the money as quickly as possible. I’m busy.”
“Pardon? Ah, no, sir. This is for your future...”
“I’ll take care of my own future.”
At my firm answer, his expression stiffened. Most young winners would be intimidated or coaxed into saying, “Ah, yes... please do whatever you think is best,” and stamp the papers, so he was probably thinking I was no easy mark.
Park Seonghun tried again.
“Sir, I really don’t say things like this often, but my younger brother is actually about your age. I’m telling you this because you remind me of him.”
“If you don’t usually say things like that, then you don’t need to say them to me either.”
“······.”
“Just put it all into the account.”
The team leader broke out in a cold sweat and quietly took the pamphlet back. He instinctively realized he couldn’t chip away at my momentum.
“R-right... Understood. Then I’ll help you open the account. Still, sir, since you’ve won a large sum here at Nonghyup, I hope you’ll continue this relationship with us. Do you happen to have a main bank you usually use? We offer special preferential-rate products here at Nonghyup.”
Park Seonghun was stubbornly trying to keep the money in the bank until the very end.
That was only natural, since it was his performance metrics on the line.
'Annoying.'
“For now I’ll keep it at Nonghyup, so don’t worry about me moving it to another bank.”
“Ah!”
The team leader’s face brightened.
“But you can split the money into four accounts, right?”
“Of course! How would you like it divided?”
“I’ll write the proportions down for you.”
I handed him the note I’d prepared in advance. 1.3 billion, 1.6 billion, 700 million, and the rest of it all—3.8 billion.
There was a reason I divided the accounts into four. One was for paying off our family’s debt, one was for my parents’ retirement fund and pocket money, and one was for Sehee’s college tuition and allowance.
And the last account was for Zero to use freely for investments.
“For the final account with 3.8 billion won, I’m going to use it for investment, so please open it as a foreign-currency account that can handle overseas futures trading, and convert the full amount to dollars before depositing it.”
“You want the entire 3.8 billion won converted to dollars? Y-you’re going to invest all of it in stocks?”
“Yes. And please take care of the paperwork so I can trade overseas stocks as well.”
I was about to say that, but instead I added,
“Ah, hold on. Leave 100 million won in Korean won. I think I’ll need it for something.”
“Ah... yes, sir. We’ll do that.”
“You’ll give me the preferential exchange rate too, right?”
“Of course, sir. Naturally.”
“Not just preferential. The highest preferential rate.”
“······Ah, yes!”
At my words, Park Seonghun nodded immediately. The look that had once treated me lightly had vanished without a trace.
“Then, if you’ll just sign here...”
“Yes.”
Once I signed, the team leader’s hands flew over the papers.
Bang, bang, bang.
With the crisp sound of stamps, four golden account books bearing my name were laid out on the table.
Four account books marked VIP.
I gathered them up and stood.
“You’ve worked hard. Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Thank you! Ah, sir! Before you go, if you happen to have a business card...”
He’d ignored me before, and now he must be seeing me as the sort of person who had a business card.
A business card? I didn’t have one.
'Zero. Would it be a good idea to take that man’s business card?'
「Yes. The lottery business team leader is a man who holds a fairly important position within Nonghyup, so it would be beneficial to know him.」
'Ah... right. Maybe I should’ve been a little more polite.'
「That is not the case. Your confident attitude will likely leave a far deeper impression on Park Seonghun than politeness would have. Both men and women are drawn to strong people.」
That was a relief.
“Here’s my business card.”
Park Seonghun hastily held one out to me.
I accepted his card calmly and headed for the door. Taking someone else’s card without giving my own contact information in return was a little rude, but what was I supposed to do? I was the one with the upper hand.
“I’ll contact you if anything comes up later.”
“Yes, sir! Please contact me anytime. I, Park! Seong! Hun!, will become your reliable professional partner!”
“Yes.”
I gave a light nod and left the conference room. Behind me, I could feel the team leader bowing deeply in farewell.
「To Team Leader Park Seonghun, Master will be a customer he never forgets for the rest of his life. A newly minted adult walked in carrying that much money and left as calmly as if nothing had happened.」
I didn’t exactly want that kind of attention from a middle-aged man, but... well, I suppose good is good.
When I came back down to the first-floor lobby, the receptionist from earlier and the security guard both bowed politely at the waist as soon as they saw me. Even while bowing, the receptionist kept sneaking glances my way.
“Ah, goodbye!”
“Please go safely!”
“Yes.”
I gave them a light wave and stepped out through the revolving doors of Nonghyup Main Branch.
The cold winter wind blew against me. But it didn’t feel cold. Maybe it was because of the warmth of 7.4 billion won tucked inside my coat.
I hailed a taxi.
“Driver, please take me to Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu.”
“Yes, departing now.”
The streets of Seoul sliding past the window felt strangely unfamiliar.
It had always been a towering forest of buildings that overwhelmed me and looked down on me from above...
'But now it feels like it’s under my feet.'
So this was what it felt like to have breathing room.
After all, money was everything.
'Father, Mother. Please wait just a little longer.'
The wretched poverty ends today.