Chapter 8

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 8

Chapter Title: Making Seed Money

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Ugh, when the heck is it gonna get here?"

Kangyul was staring holes through the front door from the balcony.

He'd been waiting for something all morning, gazing endlessly out the window all day long.

Vroom―

Right then, he spotted a delivery truck climbing up the hill road.

"It's here!"

Kangyul flung open the front door and dashed across the garden. He peeked his face out through the gap in the gate.

"Mister, got a package for our house?"

"Hmm, let me see... Yep, a small box. You live here?"

"Yeah, just hand it over. Thanks."

Kangyul took the box—about the size of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠book—and bowed his head politely.

"Well, I'll be. Such good manners, and sweet too."

The delivery guy gave his head a quick pat before heading off.

Kangyul suppressed his excitement, which threatened to make him jump for joy, and headed to his room.

His parents weren't home, but the nanny was.

She was busy prepping dinner right now.

'Just gotta sneak to my room!'

Kangyul tiptoed carefully, soundlessly toward his room.

He'd just reached the door when a voice called from behind.

It was Jiyul.

"Hyung. Where'd you go?"

"Huh? Oh, there was a sparrow outside, so I went to check it out."

Jiyul sucked on his thumb, staring blankly at Kangyul's belly.

His stomach was bulging from the hidden package.

"Jiyul, go play with Deokyul. Hyung's gotta take care of something quick."

Kangyul slipped into his room and shut the door.

'Phew.'

If Jiyul or Deokyul saw it and blabbed, things could get messy.

Kangyul cracked the door open to check if Jiyul was gone.

Jiyul had gone to the living room and was playing with toys alongside Deokyul.

Luckily, he seemed to think whatever Kangyul was hiding wasn't a big deal.

'Deokyul would've charged at it desperately, but good thing it was Jiyul.'

Only then did Kangyul climb onto his bed and peel off the tape wrapped tightly around the box.

Inside was none other than a smartphone.

'Heh, perfect. Now the real seed money grind begins.'

He powered it on, and a familiar face appeared on the screen.

Donghyun's face from before his regression.

Kangyul had called his old landlord's place, claiming it was family sending the phone via delivery.

The landlord had refused at first, but after some begging and clearing up suspicions about Donghyun's "family," he'd sent it.

'Nice, even included the charger.'

The battery was low, so he hurriedly plugged it into the outlet.

Kangyul grinned ear to ear as he examined the phone.

With the digital certificate, bank app, and everything inside, it was as good as having an anonymous account.

'How much was in the account back then?'

He opened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the banking app and checked the balance first.

'Ten grand? Man, I was broke as hell.'

Still, having over 10,000 won—even with transfer fees—was a relief. If not, things would've gotten complicated again.

Kangyul immediately logged into the Sports Toto site and created an account.

[dobaksin07]

[*******]

After setting up the ID, he verified his identity and created a dedicated account. He transferred the 10,000 won from Donghyun's bank and topped up his deposit.

'What games are on today?'

There were World Cup matches, MLB, KBO—plenty to choose from.

The only ones Kangyul remembered crystal clear were the soccer games.

'Perfect timing with the World Cup season.'

He pulled up just the World Cup matches and scanned them.

He would've loved to fill all 10 slots, but there were only 6 matches.

Kangyul picked win/draw/loss for each one right away and placed his bet.

'Chile wins, Korea loses, France wins.'

The one shocker that defied expectations was Spain vs Switzerland.

Spain, favored for a blowout win, ended up losing to Switzerland.

'People ripped into that one hard. Heh.'

Just 6 games, but the projected return was a whopping 38,500%.

Stock market gains could eat its heart out.

'Who'd believe I made this in a day?'

Kangyul slammed the confirm button and stuffed the phone under his bed.

He planned to grow the money like this every day for the remaining year until Donghyun's discharge.

'After that... coins!'

If things went to plan, he'd have billions before adulthood.

Kangyul stepped out in high spirits to play with his little brothers.

"Hey, Deokyul, Jiyul—playing with your toys?"

"Huh?"

"Wanna play together with hyung?"

The twins were startled by Kangyul's sudden beaming approach.

"Hyung, you got a fever again?"

Deokyul tilted his head, but Kangyul just kept grinning.

Worried by the sight, Jiyul threw his arms around Kangyul.

"Don't get sick, hyung!"

"Hahaha! This hyung's invincible. No worries!"

Two days later, in the morning.

Kangyul's eyes snapped open on their own, and he bolted upright in bed. He knew he'd hit it since he remembered the results, but he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

'Hah!'

That was after income tax and local taxes were deducted.

'Yes!'

A single bet had netted him over 300x returns.

Kangyul beamed as he searched for the next games.

He knew 8 World Cup matches across three days perfectly. Much better than last time.

Toto payouts exploded with more games bet on at once.

'This one's gonna pay out huge.'

Slovakia beating Italy for 5x odds, plus plenty of 3x-ish ones.

Kangyul bet the max daily 50,000 won. His eyes went wide at the projected payout.

'Gasp! Fifty-four million?!'

Over a thousand times the bet.

Impossible odds in reality—but Kangyul knew it'd hit. He couldn't stifle his bursting laughter.

'Keep this up, and I'll catch up to Dad's fortune!'

No way that'd happen, but Kangyul clenched his fist in glee anyway.

The one downside: daily bets capped at 50k.

Illegal Toto sites allowed more, but he had zero intention of going there.

He'd stick strictly to legal channels.

'Payouts under 300 million can be claimed online anyway.'

Lotto required a bank visit, but online Toto let you cash out up to 300 million without it.

Perfect for Kangyul.

A month later, his deposit balance neared 100 million.

A bit low compared to the 50 million from round two. But post-World Cup, there weren't many sure bets.

K League was all he half-remembered, and even that hit maybe 80%—plenty of misses.

'Gotta settle for small bets for a while.'

Kangyul smacked his lips in mild regret as he hid the phone under the bed. "Small" to him meant millions—average folks' monthly salaries.

'Got my seed money. Time to start buying Bitcoin?'

In 2010, Bitcoin went for just 100-300 won each.

By late 2017, it'd smash 20 million—insane growth.

'Sure, it'd crash a few times first.'

Kangyul planned to buy tons with his Toto winnings. He even knew where.

'Mt. Gox.'

Mt. Gox was a crypto exchange based in Shibuya, Tokyo. It handled over 70% of global Bitcoin trades until its 2014 hack and bankruptcy.

Kangyul would dump before then, so no issue.

'Hack tanks the price—then rebuy cheap.'

He had Bitcoin price charts neatly noted on his phone—milestones for buy/sell.

'Buy like crazy first!'

He signed up for Mt. Gox, wired funds overseas—about 10 million won, nothing huge.

'Grab everything in sight!'

Kangyul snapped up every sell order he saw.

Couldn't babysit the phone 24/7, which sucked for real-time buying.

The "Guardian Angels" club Kangyul had jokingly started met weekly without fail. Truth be told, it was the moms keeping it going, more than the kids.

"Oh! That's great! My place this time?"

"Sounds good!"

Bored housewives used the kids' meetups as excuses to visit and gossip.

Leaving Kangyul exhausted.

"Kangyul, help Hye-mi with this!"

Hye-mi handed him an English workbook.

"...Apple is apple, chicken is chicken."

"Yay! Thanks!"

"Me too, me! Hyung, help with this!"

Now Deokyul shoved over a similar sheet.

"5+13 is 18, not 12. Use a pencil, not your fingers."

Jiyul, unlike Deokyul, powered through on his own. No surprise—he'd grabbed the calculator at the doljabi ceremony. Even as identical twins, his math talent stood out.

'Sigh. Guardian Angels was supposed to be playtime—why'd it turn into study hall? Already tired, and this just makes it worse.'

Kangyul sighed wearily as he oversaw their work. Then he spotted someone in his peripheral: Driver Jang Deokcheol, who'd brought the twins.

The ajusshi stood at a distance, peeking curiously at the workbooks.

'Come to think of it, didn't Jang ajusshi say he had a kid our age?'

He drove them to and from kindergarten, so they chatted sometimes. Ajusshi always said his own son would be thrilled just to be in Kangyul's class.

'Hmm. Jang ajusshi's trustworthy.'

A brilliant idea suddenly flashed through Kangyul's mind.