Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Bluffer
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Im Jin-guk (45) had grown up hearing how smart and clever he was since childhood.
"Geez! Jin-guk's mom! Isn't Jin-guk gonna be president someday? He should take an IQ test!"
"The test results show an IQ of 125. The world average is 82, and Korea's is 102, so that's pretty high."
"Our Jin-guk's going to Seoul National University, huh?"
From that point on, Im Jin-guk knew he was someone special, different from everyone else.
"Our class top student is Im Jin-guk!"
"Hey, he got into a top prep school!"
"Whoa! He's the top student in the whole school?"
He went to a better middle school than others, a better high school, and a better university. And he thought:
"Am I the kind of guy who works under others? I can just start my own business."
Business required capital, so he started another business to get it.
"If you invest in me, I'll give you back ten times the principal."
"What's the business? What makes you think I'd lend you money?"
"Here, take a look. This is my eco-friendly solar power generator project. It's so efficient, it's getting attention as a nuclear power alternative."
It was a scam mixing trendy buzzwords like "eco-friendly" and "solar" with forged certification marks using a famous professor's name. But his pedigree turned the lies into truth, and soon he gathered a lot of investment money.
"Hmm? Do I even need to actually do business? I could just say it failed, hide the money elsewhere. The contract says the investor bears the business risk, right? And most are equity investments, so if I fake failure, it's all mine?"
Business was about making money anyway. This way, he could make money without wasting time.
"You crazy con artist bastard!"
"Give me my money back!"
"Hey now! I told you I have no money. The business failed! Failed! Didn't you read the contract properly?"
The "business" was a success. After repeating it a few times, he amassed wealth without envy, and his face became well-known in the field. When he set up a figurehead CEO and gathered investors for the fourth time, it wasn't investors who showed up—it was the police.
"Mr. Im Jin-guk, you're under arrest for fraud."
Betrayal by his figurehead partner.
The guy had even provided the police with the source of the funds he'd made, leaving Im Jin-guk penniless and thrown into prison.
"Ten years for fraud? Man, it's hard to get ten years for fraud in our country."
"Ugh, bad luck. Of all things, the errand boy betrays me. That's why you don't take in black-haired beasts."
With his natural charm, he got by in prison without trouble.
"If I'd just studied seriously, I'd have graduated from an Ivy League. Harvard! Oxford! Yale! MIT! Caltech! You all know them, right? Sigh, if not for my patriotism..."
"Didn't you say you got a business card from an entertainment agency before?"
"You still remember that? Of course it's true! Look at my face! Once, I did extra work, and the director begged me to be an exclusive actor."
His gift of gab was so good that the other inmates even gave him a nickname.
"Hey, Bluffer! Every time you open your mouth, it's a lie!"
"Bluffer! Get over here and give me a massage! You said you won over your seniors in the army with massages, right? Love me up too!"
"Bluffer! You're out next month, huh? Live right!"
After release, the Bluffer Im Jin-guk had lost everything and was starting life anew at 45.
'What business should I try to make money this time?'
His face was probably forgotten by now. Should he change his name first?
"First, find a place to live."
He chose a cheap boarding house.
"Ow, that stings!"
The old boarding house hallway had nails or splinters sticking out from wooden boards, pricking him sometimes, but nowhere was cheaper without a deposit.
'Alright, time to job hunt? I need at least ten million won to do anything big.'
While job hunting online, a banner ad caught his eye.
[Lee Seung-hoon Fixer Agency]
And he recalled a "forgotten memory."
'Fixer? Oh yeah, the "mysterious job that's the only one who can solve enigmatic cases and people's worries at the same time—trustworthy and unique."'
He'd never consulted one, but should he try?
'Maybe it'll neatly solve my worry about what business to start?'
At the fixer agency he visited, he saw a new business item.
[Reward: Innate Talent for Business]
[Mission: Steal Donald Trump's wig while he's in office]
[Deadline: 100 days]
A ticket that gives any reward if you complete the mission.
The fixer's guarantee of the ticket's reliability.
"How much?"
"It's free. My goal is to help people, not make money."
Even the fixer's goodwill in distributing them for free.
"Could I take a few?"
"You want to try multiple challenges? That's not bad. Here you go. Look through and take what you like."
"Thank you!"
"Before that, let me say it once more."
Goodwill is no longer morality.
In capitalist society, goodwill isn't a virtue one should have as a human—it's just crawling into the weak position, ripe for exploitation.
"Yes, I understand."
"And if you fail the ticket's mission, you'll get a penalty. The penalty matches the reward, so keep that in mind. All but one of the tickets you took have ordinary rewards, so just be careful with that one."
Im Jin-guk nodded and left the office, pocketing the ten tickets from the fixer. He evaluated the fixer.
'Good-hearted sucker, perfect idiot to exploit, the dumb beast I love.'
He tried selling the tickets, but contrary to expectations, no luck.
"People! Cut out delivery and eating out for a year, and your dick grows 5cm!? You gonna miss this chance?"
"What the hell are you saying, you lunatic?"
Strangely, people didn't trust the tickets he was selling.
"This was given to me directly by Lee Seung-hoon the fixer! It's genuine!"
"No way that's possible! Who do you think we're idiots? You the fixer? If it was from the fixer himself, maybe, but from you? Total nonsense!"
Unless handed directly by the fixer, the tickets looked like kids' toys to people.
'This won't do.'
He couldn't give up here. These tickets were business gold for ordinary folks and elites alike.
"Ow, that stings! Fix this damn thing already!"
Back at the boarding house, he pondered.
'What if I sell tickets with economic rewards to conglomerate chairmen? Tickets controlling the public to politicians?'
Then he could get filthy rich and seize power!
'But how to solve the trust issue?'
It wasn't hard.
"Fixer sir!"
If trust was lacking, create credentials to build trust.
"Please hire me as an employee!"
＊＊＊
Im Jin-guk spilled his entire backstory.
"I was a con artist. Lost my parents young, struggled in poverty, grew to hate the world, and took the wrong path..."
Good-hearted suckers are weak to stories.
To open the fixer's heart, armed with naive goodwill, he needed a long tale mixing truth and lies, disguising himself as a "reformed ex-con pitifully discriminated against."
"Confucius said that humans must have benevolence and righteousness. Benevolence is love, care, and empathy toward others; righteousness is judging right from wrong and practicing what is proper."
As expected, the fixer accepted him.
"I believe humans can change. So everyone deserves a chance to change. You can too, Mr. Im. If the world won't give you one, I will. That's my benevolence toward you."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
The next day, Im Jin-guk started working as the fixer's assistant.
'What? This guy's even more of a sucker than I thought?'
He was stunned by what happened at the office.
"One mission for the 'leg restoration' reward ticket is 'donate 100 million won.' I'll deposit it into your account now—donate to the charity right away."
He used his own money to help those who couldn't complete missions on their own.
"For eyesight restoration, there's 'burn a 12-carat diamond.' I have one ready, come this way."
"One PTSD removal mission from an accident is slapping three current ruling party politicians. I've promised political funds and got their cooperation, so go ahead and slap."
Im Jin-guk asked about the incomprehensible actions.
"Why spend your own money to help? Charity's good, but is it necessary?"
"Those seeking to regain what they lost and live normal lives aren't challenging—it's recovery. We must help them directly."
"And those you don't help?"
"They're challenging for personal greed. I could help them too to boost success rates, but that would make the challenge meaningless."
To Im Jin-guk, the fixer was truly bizarre.
"Success brings sweet fruit and a proactive life attitude from the challenge. Failure teaches caution against greed and self-limits, so growth either way."
"Do you want them to succeed or fail?"
"I want them to challenge. I believe in human potential."
"Does that mean unchallenging humans aren't human?"
"They are human too. Abandoning greed for small daily happinesses is also human potential."
Sometimes a kind sucker, sometimes a eerie glint of madness in clear eyes.
"Ah, I see. As expected of the fixer! I didn't realize the depth!"
"It's not that deep. Just my personal philosophy."
One day, Im Jin-guk saw it.
"This is the ticket vending machine."
"You make them here."
His coveted treasure trove.
"Yes, input the reward via this touchpad, and tickets come out."
"Wow, amazing. Who made this?"
"I don't know."
From working there, he learned even same rewards had various missions.
If he could make and sell tickets with good rewards and money-solvable missions, he could fleece the rich and powerful for money and power.
"There are tons of things like this in the world. People like me who know call them 'entities.'"
"Entities..."
"Entities are very mysterious. Even machine-shaped ones can have self-awareness. So never handle them carelessly."
"Oho."
"I'm telling you because you'll encounter entities often if you keep working here."
The fixer was too nice, even to him.
"I believe you can change, Mr. Im, and want to keep a good relationship."
"Thanks for believing in me!"
Sucker.
That evening, Im Jin-guk sneaked into the office.
'I left a window open beforehand!'
He headed to the vending room.
"Why leave such a good thing just sitting here? What does he trust?"
He soon found out why.
"Why won't this lift?"
It wasn't big, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't move it.
"Not even bolted to the floor. Weird."
Another oddity.
'No power cord, but it's powered on?'
Should he just print a ton of tickets and bolt?
He had photos with the fixer and office shots saved, enough to impersonate his disciple.
'Yeah, that's the plan.'
Print tons, then smash the machine.
That way, his tickets' value would rise.
[Enter desired reward.]
He input prepped rewards, printing 100 each.
'With this, I'm rich!'
Not just rich—the king of the underworld, power in hand!
Grinning as he checked tickets, a fiery memory flashed in his mind.
Story from an ex-check forger in prison.
'Look close—this isn't thermal paper? It's inked?'
If he could dismantle, extract tickets and ink.
He could write any reward and mission, fulfilling any wish.
'Ticket grants even absurd wishes. If truly possible...'
Forget underworld king—he could be a god.
He pulled tools. Before carefully disassembling, the fixer's words echoed.
Hesitation was brief.
"You wanted challenges, right? I'll challenge as you say."
Unscrewing bolts revealed internals.
Blank ticket stack and ink cartridge found, he yanked them, swung hammer to smash machine.
'What? Why won't it break?'
Not even a scratch.
[Enter desired reward.]
[Damaging our product or tampering with tickets may result in severe penalty.]
Smash inside.
Opening again, ink and tickets were back intact.
"......"
An inexplicable chill. He restored it and fled.
'Good enough. If my plan works, I can be god anyway!'
No need to smash.
Back at boarding house, he made custom tickets with stolen goods.
[Reward: 100 million won cash]
[Mission: Stand up and sit down 10 times]
[Deadline: Unlimited]
Signed, performed mission.
On tiny boarding house bed, stacks of 50,000-won bills piled like mountains.
"Done!"
Now I'm rich!
Then, a clear image in his head.
[Illegal tampering detected]
[Penalty activated]
[Your penalty is “Balloon.”]
Balloon?
What kind of penalty is that?
'Hang on, body feels light?'
Something wrong. Body bouncy light every move.
'It's actually floating!'
Balloon meant literally becoming a balloon?
That make sense?
Tickets were nonsense anyway, but person turning into balloon alive?
"H-Phone! Fixer! Fixeeer!"
Balloon body desperately poked smartphone, but no biometrics—wouldn't respond.
'Oh no!'
Must meet in person.
Door handle hard to turn, but forced open, bounced down hall.
'Please, fixer knows reversal!'
Front door ahead.
"Ow, that stings!"
＊＊＊
Early morning, boarding house owner visited to clean.
"?"
Clothes strewn in hall. Owner cautiously poked.
'Who dumped clothes here?'
Shoes, pants, even underwear.
"Dear me, what's this?"
Found balloon scrap inside clothes.
Huge but deflated, wrinkly.
'Something drawn on it?'
Unfolded shriveled balloon.
Nude man's picture on surface.
"Good grief, indecent!"
Uncannily realistic drawing.
Man's shocked expression gave inexplicable unease.
'Face looks familiar.'
Shaking off creepy realness, owner tossed into trash without thought.
"Sheesh! Gives me the creeps."
Owner started cleaning.
A quiet weekend morning.