Chapter 16: I Want to Repay the Favor
"Mr. Suhyun. You worked hard."
Eight o'clock in the afternoon.
After finishing all the reservations, Suhyun prepared to leave work sharply.
Today was the first day of the premium course, so before heading to the accommodation, he asked the male manager about the situation.
"No complaints or claims regarding the price, right?"
"Yeah. I thought reservations would drop off, but it didn't happen. Good work. Please continue like this in the future."
"I see. Understood. Then, take care."
"Rest well. See you tomorrow."
Suhyun went up to the accommodation and prepared to go out for evening exercise.
When he changed clothes and came out, Jang Gwanghyun was just coming up to the accommodation.
"Going to the gym again?"
Gwanghyun spoke with a tired face.
Suhyun, who gets massages for twelve hours every day except on rest days.
Yet he also doesn't skip exercise in the morning and evening.
Truly a monster-like stamina.
"Yeah. You should exercise too. Don't just lie around after work."
"Ahaha... I just need to get used to work a bit more. I'm tired even now..."
"Tsk tsk. It's because you don't exercise."
"B-but I work hard during massages! It seems the things I learned from you are effective. The customers leave satisfied, saying their faces are glowing. They'll call me again next time."
"That's good. If you keep working hard like that, you'll shine too."
"Yes. Please take care. Bye!"
Gwanghyun's nagging wasn't that bad.
Suhyun smiled and brushed off his chatter, then ran through the night streets.
Meanwhile, he heard a faint sound from an alley.
"Ugh..."
A very small sound.
If it weren't Suhyun, who had raised his realm to the second class through all the effort so far, he wouldn't have heard it.
Suhyun ran to the alley where the sound came from.
And there he found an old man collapsed on the ground.
At the end of his outstretched hand, there were fallen medicine bottles and scattered pills rolling around.
Clearly a serious situation.
"Hey! Snap out of it!"
"Ugh..."
"There's an old man collapsed here! Come quickly!"
Suhyun called 119 first.
He used his internal energy to check the old man's condition.
'Myocardial infarction? Caused by high blood pressure?'
"Um... um... medicine..."
The moaning old man continued with difficulty.
Suhyun immediately picked up the medicine and put it in the old man's mouth.
It looked hard to swallow like this.
Suhyun lightly tapped the acupoint to make the tongue moist.
Swallowing the pills into the stomach.
But even then, it was risky.
At least a few minutes were needed for the medicine to spread in the stomach acid.
Before that, the old man was likely to die from myocardial infarction.
'If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't know. Since I've already met him.'
Meeting Suhyun was the old man's good fortune.
Myocardial infarction is a disease caused by blockage of arteries leading to the heart.
In the old man's case, it was due to damaged blood vessels from high blood pressure.
First, Suhyun repaired the damaged blood vessels using Chugung-gwahyeol.
Extreme point in the armpit, Jiyang point under the scapula, Gumi point near the epigastrium.
All good for the heart, and when injected with internal energy, it strengthens the heart.
Suhyun's internal energy entered the old man's body and cleared the blocked blood vessels.
Just that made the old man's expression very relaxed.
'Next is the regeneration of blood vessels.'
This was a very difficult task with the current martial arts level.
But there's always a shortcut.
Suhyun raised the neck qi.
The firm and pure neck qi would repel any approaching turbid qi and remain the longest until the blood vessels regenerated.
He would lose a bit of internal energy, but only a tiny amount to wrap around the blood vessels.
Since blood vessels are passages for blood, if blocked with internal energy, the wounds would start healing in a few minutes.
"Hoo..."
"You... How are you? Doing such things...? No, that's not it. Thank you. You saved me. I'm really grateful."
"No. As a human, it's only natural to do so."
The old man, who had been feeling pain as if he was about to die, couldn't hide his joy in his relieved chest.
He grabbed Suhyun's hand as if about to bow and greet.
Suhyun humbly said it was nothing.
"Heh heh, won't you give me your contact information? I want to repay the favor."
"It's really fine. I didn't do it expecting any reward. Still, you should go to the hospital just in case."
At the right time, the ambulance arrived.
South Korea's emergency call is the fastest in any country.
Suhyun thought that if the old man got in the ambulance, this matter would be settled.
But the old man didn't get in the ambulance.
"Sorry, it wasn't a prank call. I collapsed over there. But these young men helped me."
"Still, you should go to the hospital quickly to check."
"I can't do that. I can't leave until you give me your contact information. I'm a person too, I have to repay the favor."
The old man was holding on to repay the favor.
It was a difficult situation.
The time of the ambulance crew couldn't be valued in money.
Because it's a job that saves lives.
So, Suhyun sighed slightly and gave the old man his phone number.
"Grandpa. Really, I don't need anything. There's no need to repay the favor. I just helped because I saw you. If someone else collapsed, I would have done the same."
"Heh heh, this person. Isn't the important thing that I received the help? Anyway, as you said, I'll go to the hospital once, so you must receive the call. Definitely!"
The old man showed stubbornness not to move until hearing Suhyun's answer.
Suhyun had no choice but to nod again.
The next day, the old man came to find Suhyun.
Suhyun kept saying he was fine, but due to persistent phone calls, he had no choice but to meet him.
An old teahouse near L Massage near the old days.
It was more like a cafe than a teahouse.
"Sorry for always asking for favors. And thank you. You saved my life thanks to you."
"It wasn't something I did expecting repayment, so you don't need to be so mindful."
"Is that so? But I did receive the help, so I have to repay it, right?"
"Ah, I understand."
Suhyun couldn't win against the old man's stubbornness.
He was also a person with firm beliefs, but he didn't need to be stubborn in such matters.
Since the old man wanted to relieve his mental burden, let's quickly receive the repayment and end it.
When he thought that, the old man opened his mouth again.
"The doctor at the hospital said that there was no bleeding despite the arterial damage. This is a one in a million probability. Was what you did correct?"
"If you're going to say that, I'll stand up."
The old man realized that Suhyun was trying to hide his abilities.
Then, it would be right to follow the will of the benefactor.
"Sorry. If you want to hide it, I won't reveal it. I'm Park Wonik. My assets are quite substantial."
Park Wonik was a real estate tycoon.
It's not confirmed, but if he sells all his assets, it would be 1-2 trillion won.
One can't put a life in monetary terms.
But Park Wonik wanted to solve it by matching it to the closest legal case in such situations.
Since he recovered the almost lost life, it would be the best match for lost property compensation.
In this case, 5% to maximum 20% compensation.
So, even if you appropriately value the property value, it would be 300 billion.
"If it's up to 300 billion, I can give you anything. Cash is also possible, but that would incur a lot of taxes."
"... Yes?"
Suhyun reacted to the unexpectedly huge amount that popped up suddenly.
It was really the first time his composure was broken.
"Heh heh, is it a lot? No need to be surprised. This old man's assets are that much. If you were a medical professional, I wouldn't have said this huge sum. Your... anyway, it seems you can live longer by staying by my side."
Park Wonik wasn't simply offering 300 billion purely.
He had realized that Suhyun had special powers.
Whether martial arts, qi healing, or truly miraculous massage skills, Suhyun had abilities different from others.
Without that, he couldn't have survived in that situation.
Even the doctor said so.
Myocardial infarction with arterial damage, surviving was close to a miracle.
Park Wonik firmly believed all this was done by Suhyun.
Perhaps if he stayed by his side, he would live another 5 or 10 years.
And with that time, he could earn more than 300 billion.
"The amount is quite large?"
300 billion is larger than the sales of a typical company.
A person who could casually earn that much.
He thought he was just a struggling person, but now he had to receive it.
"Didn't I say? I have quite a bit of assets. The land and buildings I own in Seoul and Gyeonggi are substantial."
"Is that so? Then, can I receive the building or land?"
"Buildings and land. It's a good choice. What kind of real estate do you want? Long-term profit? Short-term profit? Or do you want a place to live?"
"I'm currently working as a massage parlor. My skills are quite good too."
"Of course. With that skill, even a dead person could be saved."
"So, I was planning to open a massage treatment salon."
"Massage treatment salon... Ah, I have a building in mind. Wait a moment. Is it time now?"
Park Wonik brought him in front of a shabby 7-story small building.
"This is it. I bought it about 3 years ago. There was a bathhouse on the first and second floors. It's closed now, but the facilities should still be there."
There was a liquor store on the first floor with a bathhouse concept, and the second floor was vacant.
From the third floor, there were karaoke, billiards, and various entertainment facilities.
"It looks okay?"
Okay?
Well...
It looked quite shabby on the surface.
The vacant spaces on the second and seventh floors also bothered him.
"It doesn't seem to suit my taste. Do you know how much this building is?"
"How much is it?"
"It's 7.9 billion. Even though it looks shabby, it's close to the main commercial area, and since the station is nearby, it can be said to have high development potential."
Upon hearing that, Suhyun thought buildings are expensive.
A shabby building costing 7.9 billion.
"If I remodel it, the building will become more expensive. But do you know why I don't remodel?"
"Why is that?"
"If it exceeds 80 billion, I have to pay comprehensive real estate tax."
"Ah..."
"If you receive this building, I'll give it to you exactly at 7.9 billion. And the remaining money will be for remodeling costs and land. Is that okay?"
"Understood."
This was a transaction that satisfied both Suhyun and Park Wonik.
Suhyun was happy to receive the building for free, and Park Wonik was happy to relieve his mental burden.
Moreover, Park Wonik's house was 5 minutes away from this small building.
***
Jang Jihui was an ordinary housewife.
When her husband went to work, she took the kids to school, did laundry, cleaned, and managed the household.
Up to this point, it was the same as others.
But when she entered the internet world, she became different.
The named member of the largest mom cafe in Korea, Daehan Yuga, was her.
At first, she just posted tips that helped with housework.
Then, her name became known, and with the fun of recommendations and comments, she deliberately researched more tips and wrote the posts carefully.
As her name value rose, she received a proposal from the cafe operator to operate the bulletin board, and she realized it was a good side job for operating and managing the bulletin board.
'What should I write today...'
When it was just for fun and interest, there was no such worry.
But when she started getting paid, the posts she posted twice or three times a week became a burden.
But she couldn't give up her current income.
As the kids grew, the money they needed increased, and with only her husband's monthly salary, it was unstable.
"Hah, my head hurts..."
Her throbbing headache was bothering her.
At the hospital, it was diagnosed as stress-induced nervous headache.
They said to keep your mind as relaxed as possible and not create things to worry about.
How easy is that for a person's mind.
In the past few years, most tips that could help with childcare and housework had been released.
Reposting was noticeable.
Once a month, she was reposting the highly recommended old post under the name 'pull up'.
Ultimately, she had to tell new tips or information.
That was really not easy.
"Let me search."
When stuck, sometimes looking around the cafe gave solutions.
If someone posted wrong knowledge in popular posts, she could tell them it's wrong.
If it wasn't widely known information, she could subtly reinforce it and post it as a tip post.
"Massage...?"
Among many cafe posts, the noticeable one was about massage.
Ten members or so were talking about the same salon.
It could be viral promotion, but looking at the cafe grade and activity records, it didn't seem so.
When they wrote the posts, it seemed like they ate a panacea instead of massage.
All ailments and fatigue in the body disappear?
Moreover, it felt good.
'This is it.'
Jang Jihui felt it as soon as she saw it.
This was the theme of this week.
Most of the comments said they couldn't believe it.
There were also comments saying it's nonsense, don't promote.
But Jang Jihui's intuition, who had been staying in the internet for a long time, felt that this post might be true.
And if it wasn't true, it didn't matter.
Then, she could lightly hint at the massage and criticize it.
Jang Jihui clicked the phone number of L Massage Treatment Salon through the post.
"Yes. I called because I wanted to get a massage. Is it possible to make a reservation?"
Jang Jihui, who had thought of getting a light massage.
She mentioned the name Kim Suhyun from the post.
And she had to hear surprising words.
"No, why does it take 3 weeks to make a reservation?"
"Then, it's not possible. The deadline for posting the post was this evening."
"Reservations are so backed up? Then, when is the earliest reservation time you can get?"
"Yes, customer. The earliest time slot among the empty times is 8:30 tomorrow morning. Is that time okay?"
"Hah, no choice. Please book it for that time."
"Yes, customer. Then, please give me your name and date of birth."
The reservation process was disgustingly complicated for a massage salon.
Moreover, the massage master Kim Suhyun charged double because it was a premium course.
A chuckle came out, but it was okay.
The more details, the more content to post in the post.
Jang Jihui waited for tomorrow morning with the mind that she would see how good the massage skills were.