Chapter 11
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Establishing the Company
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'…2, 14, 15… 22… Huh? Why are Young Master Kangyul's lotto numbers right there exactly?'
For a moment, whether it was the booze or what, he couldn't quite grasp the situation.
"…Honey. If those numbers all hit… that's the jackpot, right?"
"Yeah, why? Did you buy a lotto ticket?"
"Ahem, no. Why would I buy something like that!"
Jang Deokcheol shouted as he unwittingly tucked the lotto ticket into his pocket.
"Hey, why are you yelling! If you didn't buy it, you didn't buy it."
His heart was pounding like mad.
The two jackpot winners each receive ₩5,851,910,000. Congratulations!
The announcer's congratulations felt oddly like they were directed at him, stirring a strange mix of emotions.
'…Jackpot? ₩5.85 billion?'
It was money he couldn't earn in a lifetime of work—not even if Seongtae grew up and they pooled it together generation after generation.
As the saying goes, seeing stirs desire, and greed for the lotto began to creep up on Jang Deokcheol.
'…I bought it with my own money, right? So isn't it mine?'
His heartbeat quickened, blood rushing to his head.
His mouth kept going dry as he swallowed hard.
'If I just take the money and flee abroad, no one would know. Heck, who would believe a kid anyway?'
His wife, who had suffered with a miserly husband all these years, and his one and only son, Seongtae. With this money, they could live happily ever after.
'Yeah, just close my eyes tight and take it!'
The moment Jang Deokcheol steeled his resolve, Seongtae tugged at his arm.
"Dad. When are we going to see Kangyul?"
"…What?"
This wasn't his usually timid son. His eyes sparkled as he chattered on about Young Master Kangyul, looking genuinely happy.
"…We even promised to play games together later."
"…Seongtae. Do you like being with Young Master Kangyul?"
"Yes."
Seongtae nodded without a hint of hesitation.
Jang Deokcheol felt his heated head cool right down.
'Only those chosen by the heavens shall win.'
That's what Kangyul had said.
'…Right. God chose Young Master Kangyul. Not me.'
Jang Deokcheol decided to let go of his wriggling greed for the lotto. It was hard to wrap his head around it logically, but if Young Master Kangyul was truly heaven-sent, then just having Seongtae by his side was enough to satisfy him.
"…Phew. Alright, my boy. We'll go right after kindergarten on Monday. Got it?"
Jang Deokcheol pulled Seongtae into a tight hug and rubbed his face against the boy's.
Seongtae squirmed to escape, wrinkling his nose at the booze smell.
"Oh my, are you drunk? Why are you doing something you never do?"
"Never do? Come to think of it, it's been ages since you gave me a kiss too, hasn't it? C'mere!"
Jang Deokcheol wrapped his wife in a bear hug and planted a deep kiss on her.
'Yeah. Money can't buy happiness.'
In that brief moment, Jang Deokcheol reconfirmed that his choice was the right one.
'Damn. He wouldn't just eat it and run, would he?'
On the flip side, Kangyul was biting his nails in anxiety. He tried to act bold on the outside, but inside, he was burning up.
He'd thought there'd at least be a text if it hit the jackpot, but the whole weekend passed without a peep.
'Should've gotten a contract at least.'
But contrary to Kangyul's unease, Jang Deokcheol showed up as usual.
"Young Masters, we'll be late for kindergarten. Let's hurry."
"I want the front seat!"
"It's my turn today!"
Kangyul naturally headed for the front, only to get shoved to the back by his brothers.
'Ahem.'
The whole ride to kindergarten, Jang Deokcheol said nothing unusual. Finally, they arrived, and the brothers dashed inside.
Kangyul deliberately stayed seated in the car a bit longer.
Once the brothers were all out, Jang Deokcheol finally spoke.
"…Young Master. As you probably know, the lotto you told me to buy hit the jackpot."
"Oh, really?"
Kangyul feigned surprise, playing dumb.
"I lost the bet. Haha, I'll do as you say, Young Master."
"…For real?"
"Yes. You're the one chosen by heaven, so I should follow. Hahaha!"
Jang Deokcheol let out a hearty laugh, showing no greed for the money at all.
'He's more level-headed than I thought.'
"Alright. Looking forward to working with you."
"Likewise, Young Master."
Kangyul exchanged a light handshake with Jang Deokcheol.
Even then, Kangyul's mind was already sorting out the next steps.
'Phew, one worry down.'
₩3,953,780,030
The remaining sum after taxes from the ₩5.8 billion lotto jackpot.
And the initial capital for the investment company Kangyul was about to establish.
"This amount should be plenty as startup capital, right?"
"More than plenty, Young Master—overflowing, even. So, where do you plan to make the initial investments?"
'Hmm, initial investments.'
He'd had zero interest in business or companies in his past life, so no way he'd excel there on his own.
That said, Kangyul did have a business model in mind. If there was any field he knew a bit about, it was games, YouTube, and personal streaming.
'Let's start an MCN company. Target YouTube—it's going to explode huge.'
It was 2010. YouTube had only been in Korea for under three years.
The YouTuber profession hadn't even been born yet.
Thinking of how it'd devour other platforms and grow into a massive behemoth, it was worth a shot.
'But if I explain the concept now, would Uncle Jang even get it?'
"Uncle, first things first—find us a building to use as the company HQ. Something big, with lots of floors if possible."
"Any preferred location?"
"Busy area in Seoul. Price doesn't matter."
Buy now, and building prices were guaranteed to rise.
In 2010, there were all sorts of policies to curb Seoul real estate—half-price apartments and such—but they were short-lived, and prices skyrocketed eventually.
"Got it."
Jang Deokcheol pulled out a notepad from his pocket and jotted down Kangyul's instructions one by one.
"Oh, and since I don't know much, investment companies can invest in virtual currency too, right?"
"…Virtual currency?"
Jang Deokcheol tilted his head. After hearing Kangyul's explanation, he replied,
"Yes, possible. But isn't it too risky?"
"It's fine. I'll only use money I have."
While he was at it, Kangyul transferred all the money from Donghyun's account to the Midas Investment company account.
Knowing Donghyun's personality, he'd just get new ones instead of chasing down the missing phone and bankbook.
'Still… it's past me, so I'll leave some pocket money.'
He left about ₩10 million in Donghyun's account and trashed the phone.
Now investments could be made under the company name without Donghyun's involvement.
"Uncle, what we're doing from now on is deeply tied to YouTube. So whenever you have time, hop on the YouTube site and watch videos."
"YouTube, you say?"
From that day on, Jang Deokcheol watched YouTube videos on his phone whenever he could. At first, he didn't even know how to use it or what to watch, so he clicked randomly.
Mostly music or pointless clips. But once he got the hang of it, there was no better pastime for his downtime.
'Whoa, from animal videos to news, games… it's got everything.'
Jang Deokcheol finished an animal documentary he'd gotten hooked on lately and turned off his phone.
'But how exactly does Young Master Kangyul plan to invest in this?'
Whenever a question popped up, he asked Kangyul on the kindergarten pickup route.
Kangyul didn't seem to watch much himself, yet he knew way more than Jang Deokcheol.
"Oh, right. We haven't set your salary yet, Uncle."
"…Salary? What I make as a driver is plenty. Haha."
"Nah, you're the Vice President of Midas Corporation—you deserve proper pay."
Kangyul had reserved the CEO spot for himself, leaving Vice President for Jang Deokcheol.
"₩100 million sound good?"
"Phew, that's more than enough—way over. My current salary's ₩30 million a year, so that's over three times…"
"No, ₩100 million per month. You're the Vice President, after all."
Jang Deokcheol's eyes went wide.
"W-Wait… that's too much…"
"Money's gonna roll in soon. So don't worry and just work hard."
"…I'll work till my bones shatter."
Jang Deokcheol bowed his head solemnly.
Kangyul chuckled at the sight and leaned back in his seat.
'Sigh, did I play hide-and-seek with Hye-mi too long today? Why am I so beat?'
"I wanna play house too! I'll be the Chairman!"
"No way. You're the CEO. I'm the Chairman."
"Nuh-uh! I'm the Chairman!"
In the back seat, the twins—thinking the whole conversation was play-pretend—mimicked Kangyul's lines.
'Who knows when those two will grow up.'
"Oh, now that we've got the company, we should start hiring staff, right?"
"Hire staff?"
"We need to hire staff!"
The first line was Kangyul's; the rest were the twins echoing him.
Jang Deokcheol glanced warily at the twins and nodded.
"…Yes. Understood."