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# Chapter 1 — The AI Embedded in My Head
“Hey, Taesung. Are you heading straight home?”
“I should get home quickly.”
“You really are a daughter-obsessed dad. Go on ahead. I’ll take care of the finishing touches.”
“It’s okay. I’ll stay and finish up with you.”
“Good grief, such a wonderful man…”
After the work at the site was finished, the foreman subtly asked if I wanted to join the company dinner, probably reluctant to head home right away himself. But as always, I had no choice but to turn him down.
My daughter was waiting for me at home. How could I sit around drinking without a care in the world?
“Okay, let’s finish up.”
“Good work, everyone.”
Thinking about my daughter, the work at the site was wrapped up in no time. After saying goodbye to the other workers, I hurried to my car.
Rattle-rattle—
When I started the engine, instead of a powerful engine roar, I heard the sound of an antique relic that seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
It wasn’t Seoul, and since Yeosu was relatively peaceful when it came to traffic, I figured I could drive this thing for another three years without a problem.
By then, Eunseo would probably be starting elementary school, so I’d have to replace the car for my daughter’s sake.
Come to think of it, though, money wasn’t coming in, while the money going out was practically a mountain.
When am I supposed to save up some seed money and start investing? It was hard enough just getting through each day.
Putting those complaints aside, I arrived at my older sister’s house.
“Daddy!”
“Sweetheart!”
I entered the password and opened the door, and my daughter, who had been waiting for me, came running over and jumped straight into my arms.
Seriously, just one hug from my daughter felt like it washed away all the fatigue from the entire day. No, with a feeling like this, I could probably go work a second shift right now.
“Did you behave yourself while Daddy was working?”
“Yeah! I played with Auntie, Jihun, and Jihwan!”
“Aww, what a good girl.”
“Daddy! This!”
“What is it?”
After getting down from my arms, my daughter rummaged through her pocket and held something out to me.
At a glance, it looked like a snack or a cookie…
“Auntie gave it to me.”
“Auntie did?”
“Taesung, you came home a little earlier today. I had a feeling when Eunseo came running out. You’re like a ghost.”
“The work finished earlier than I expected, so I came home quickly. Sis, what’s this, though?”
“What? Oh, that. I gave it to the kids as a snack earlier, but I guess Eunseo didn’t eat hers and was waiting for you.”
I didn’t know whose daughter she was, but she was unbelievably adorable. She must have desperately wanted to eat it while watching the other kids eat their cookies, yet she had patiently held herself back just to give it to her dad.
I knew better than anyone how much Eunseo loved food, which made me even more touched.
“Thank you, Eunseo. Want to share it with Daddy?”
“Yeah! I want to!”
As soon as I took the cookie Eunseo offered me, I noticed that she couldn’t take her eyes off it. As expected, she must have been desperately holding herself back from eating it.
“Thanks, Sis. Then I’ll be going.”
“Okay. Get home safely.”
I wanted to say goodbye to my nephews as well, but my sister said they had fallen asleep for a bit. So after thanking her, I carried Eunseo home in my arms.
Our house was not far from my sister’s.
It wasn’t an apartment, but a small multi-family building. Still, it was a precious home to both my daughter and me.
“Should Daddy make something delicious for our little girl?”
“Yeah!”
Eunseo was the reason I lived.
Even though I was a single father, I was happy.
---
The reason I became a single father was something straight out of a drama.
“Ah, no way! Our son got into Seoul National University!”
“Wow, that’s amazing! Not just someone around you, but your own little brother is going to Seoul National University!”
“Haha, our son really is something!”
“Shouldn’t we put up a banner or something?”
The result of studying hard throughout my school years.
It was an achievement that was anything but insignificant, judging by my family’s reaction.
I didn’t know about other places, but getting into Seoul National University from Yeosu was practically the same as being among the top five students in the entire city.
I had simply thought I might as well study hard since there was nothing in particular that I liked, but I never expected the result to be this good.
Only now could I somewhat accept what my friends had said about me having a talent for studying.
“Our son is going to Seoul National University. How can this dad just sit around? Let’s go look for a room right now!”
“That’s too soon…”
“Hey, if you wait too long, you’ll end up having to rent a place far away from the university.”
“…”
My family wasn’t particularly wealthy, but they could afford to give me living expenses and spending money now that I had been accepted to Seoul National University.
It wasn’t just any university. It was Seoul National University.
And so, with congratulations from my relatives, I proudly set foot in the Department of Economics at Seoul National University.
“Wow…”
My first experience of Seoul was truly like entering another world.
The campus alone was so huge that it would take ages just to walk around and see everything. And it wasn’t just that. There were countless differences, even in the smallest things.
For example, I found it fascinating that using public transportation was more convenient than driving a car.
“There really are a lot of rich people in this world.”
The most fascinating thing of all was the buildings towering over Seoul.
Someone owned every single one of those buildings, and there were far more tall buildings here than there were in Yeosu.
The building owners in Yeosu were rich too, but there were so many people in the capital who were unimaginably richer than them…
Everything was fascinating.
At the same time, ambition began to bloom inside me.
If I graduated and became a member of society here, would I be able to buy buildings like those?
“Let’s work hard!”
To make that happen, the most important thing was to work hard at whatever was right in front of me. I hadn’t even properly started university yet, let alone graduated. It would be ridiculous to start counting my chickens before they hatched.
With that determination to adapt well to life in Seoul, I entered university.
“Oh! You’re handsome. I’m Kim Seunghyun! Let’s be friends!”
“Uh, uh. Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Taesung.”
Fortunately, I met a friend who took a liking to me, and thanks to him, I was able to adjust to university life without any difficulties.
Then, one day, after steadily moving forward without any particular problems…
“Taesung, I need your help.”
“My help?”
“There’s a group date with some female students from the Department of Business Administration today.”
“So?”
“One spot is open.”
“Don’t tell me… me?”
“I knew we’d understand each other just from a look!”
Seunghyun desperately asked me to join them. I had never really thought about dating, but it felt awkward to refuse, so I gave him a positive answer.
To be honest, I was curious about what a group date was like.
“Then see you later!”
“Sure!”
After receiving the location and time, we agreed to meet up again.
It was a group date, after all. I couldn’t exactly go dressed like this.
I was around 180 centimeters tall, so I wasn’t short compared to average, and I could pull off most clothes without looking awkward. Still, I dressed up as well as I could before heading to the meeting place.
“Oh! Taesung, you’re handsome as always, but you look even better when you dress up.”
“Thanks. You look great too, Seunghyun.”
“Are you guys trying to make the others feel inferior? Come on, let’s go in.”
“Seriously…”
I followed Seunghyun into the bar, where I saw my classmates and the women from the other department who had already arrived.
As expected of a group date, everyone had dressed up to the nines.
Maybe that was why all the beautiful women I rarely saw around campus seemed to have gathered here.
“Hello.”
“What? You’re late! Three penalty shots!”
“Huh?”
Just as I greeted everyone and was about to sit down, a woman’s voice rang out.
I checked the time in confusion, but I wasn’t actually late or anything…
Still, everyone immediately went along with what she said, and while I was bewildered, I hurriedly downed three shots of alcohol in a row.
Ugh, that’s bitter…
“What? You can’t handle alcohol?”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry. If you feel like you’re getting drunk, tell your noona. I’ll take care of you.”
“Ooh. Have you already picked someone?”
“I-I’m fine!”
The three shots in a row had been pretty bitter, but thanks to that, the awkwardness disappeared immediately, and by the time the gathering was coming to an end, we had become friends who felt a mutual attraction toward one another.
“Oh… Taesung, you drink better than I expected.”
“Hyuna, why are you so good at drinking?”
“I trained endlessly after becoming an adult. Ah, don’t misunderstand. I only drank with women.”
“W-Why would I misunderstand?”
“You’re cute.”
Somehow, it felt like the roles of the man and woman had been reversed, but we quickly grew close without any awkwardness, and before long, we became a couple.
“Taesung, you know I’m the one who seduced you, right?”
“I’m the one who seduced you.”
“Seriously. You never even asked me to meet you first.”
“Th-That’s…”
“It’s okay. I’m not saying that because I’m upset.”
Maybe because it was my first relationship, I ended up giving her all of my first experiences, and before I knew it, even my every little action seemed to carry her scent.
Then one day…
“What’s wrong, Hyuna? Did something bad happen?”
“Nothing like that.”
I began to notice that Hyuna was acting differently from usual, and as time passed, instead of getting resolved, things began heading in an even stranger direction.
“Ugh.”
“W-What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Forget it! I just don’t feel well.”
“Say something! Is something wrong with your health? Why have you been like this lately?”
“Let’s break up.”
“…Huh?”
The breakup came with a slight warning, and Hyuna turned away coldly as if she had absolutely no intention of taking back what she had said.
Dazed, I returned home and tried to collect my thoughts.
Had I done something wrong? Had something bad happened to Hyuna?
Countless questions followed, but not a single one was answered.
Because the one person who could give me those answers was no longer there.
She didn’t answer any of my calls or messages.
“Hey, I heard Hyuna dropped out of school.”
“…What?”
She had even quit university. Did she really hate me that much?
Most of my life in Seoul had revolved around Hyuna, so the void she left behind was enormous, impossible to fill even with other things.
Almost a year after she left…
“Did you hear the news? Hyuna was apparently part of Taesung Group. That means she’s a third-generation chaebol…”
“…Really?”
News about the woman who had suddenly disappeared reached me out of nowhere. I had vaguely sensed that she came from a wealthy family while we were dating, but I never imagined she was what people called a third-generation chaebol.
“And… this isn’t certain, but apparently Hyuna was pregnant.”
“…What?”
“I’m not sure about this one. I just felt like I should tell you.”
“…Ah.”
Another shocking piece of news.
Before I could even properly process it, my mind still reeling from the shock…
Hyuna came to see me that very day.
“I’ll definitely come back. Until then, please take care of our child. If I raise the child, people here and there will try to hurt them.”
“H-Hyuna.”
“I’m sorry. And I love you. Please…”
“W-What happened? At least tell me…”
“I’m sorry, I don’t have time. I’m really sorry, and I love you.”
Hyuna handed me the child she had been holding in her arms, leaving behind nothing but repeated apologies before turning around and leaving without looking back, just as she had done before.
Something I had only ever seen in movies.
That was how I became a single father.
---
“Mr. Lee, I think you can go now!”
“Good grief… Why am I suddenly thinking about the past?”
I had been helping another worker for a while when memories of the past came rushing back without me realizing it.
Even now, I still felt both questions and resentment toward her, but stronger than either of those emotions was longing.
Well… she said she would come back eventually, so I suppose she’ll show up someday.
“Good grief… The sky sure is bright.”
I looked up at the sky as I moved back to the area where I was supposed to work.
Perhaps it was trying to comfort me. Warm sunlight and a clear blue sky stretched overhead.
And those picture-perfect clouds…
“…Huh?”
Just as I was getting sentimental, I noticed something strange falling from the sky.
It was an unexpected situation. The problem was, it was falling straight toward me…
Plop—
“Argh!”
D-Damn it. Of all places, why did it have to hit my head?
The object that had fallen onto my head…
No, the foreign object that had embedded itself in my head.
As sudden pain struck me, my vision grew hazy, and I felt my body collapsing.
—Investment AI link in progress.