Chapter 8: Seventy-One Billion
6 p.m. — quitting time.
The sun was setting, bleeding red across the sky.
"Have a good evening, everyone."
The moment Team Leader Jeong confirmed that his boss had left, Dong-su stood up from his desk.
Because his Monday time-passing self took care of all the daytime work perfectly, nothing ever piled up.
What's the point of hanging around the office?
Time to go home.
These days, the moment he got home, he packed moving boxes.
This Saturday.
The day he would finally move into his new place.
The second floor of a neighborhood commercial building in Gangnam.
The moving company would handle most of the packing, but the important things he had to box up himself.
And the things to throw away.
A spare room piled high with memories of his ex-wife.
The wedding portrait and photo albums.
And the hanbok and suit she had brought as wedding gifts from her family.
The memory of that day surfaced.
Three years ago already.
"......."
What's the point of dwelling on it.
She's a stranger now.
He pulled the photos out of their frames and dug every last one out of the albums.
Then he took them into the bathroom and burned them.
Sssssshh―
The ashes swirled down the toilet and vanished.
May I never remember any of it again.
The ceremonial clothes went into a clothing donation bin, and everything else he reported to the building management office and threw out.
"Hoooh."
A cold autumn wind blew in with the night.
He exhaled a long, deep breath — as if to shake loose even the rot festering inside him.
Ziiiing―
The moment he walked in the door, his phone vibrated.
Elsius: Trading has begun
"It's already listed?"
His eyes went wide as he stared at the screen.
When he tapped the notification, it connected straight to the exchange.
The listing he'd assumed would take days had gone live on Onbit, the country's largest exchange.
Opening price: 5 won.
Before long, 8 won.
10 won.
12 won.
"Whoa, it's actually climbing."
A little later, Youngsoo called.
"Hey, hey, did you see?! Elsius is going crazy right now!"
"I saw. So it's finally listed. Don't make a scene."
"Easy for you to say! It just broke 20 won! This is insane!"
Youngsoo's voice was like an excited shriek.
Dong-su switched to speakerphone and watched the market as they talked.
"Hey. I told you it'd go up tenfold."
"Y-yeah, you did. Anyway, congratulations."
"Congratulations my ass. It's not my money until I sell. I'm cashing out the second it hits ten times."
"W-wait, hold on. It'll do at least ten times. Just hold on a bit longer."
"No. I want to sell at exactly ten times. What rockets up comes crashing down. Ten times is plenty for me."
"Ugh... fine... you know what you're doing, I guess. Just let me know when you sell!"
Even after hanging up with Youngsoo, the price kept climbing.
20 won. 25 won. 30 won.
The graph line shot upward like it had lost its mind.
Over in the exchange chat room —
Words chasing the surge flooded the feed.
And then, the number in the price window touched exactly 51 won.
"······Broke 50 won."
Ziiiing―
Youngsoo again.
"Hey! Did you sell? It's at 50!! It went up ten times in an hour!"
"I was about to, and then you called."
"Ah! Oh yeah? Then call me back once the order goes through."
By the time he hung up, the price stood at 71 won.
It had climbed another 20 won in the meantime.
Thanks to Youngsoo's call.
Without a moment's hesitation, he hit Sell.
A massive wave of buy orders swallowed his entire position in an instant.
His account balance filled the screen.
Purchase price → 5 won
Sell price → 71 won
Total valuation: 7,110,000,000 won
His fingertips trembled, ever so slightly.
His heart pounded, heavy in his chest.
"......Is this actually real?"
Ziiiing―
Youngsoo calling again.
"Hey! Did you sell? You sold, right? Tell me you sold!"
"What's with the sudden shouting?"
"You didn't sell?! Look at the order book, now!"
He pulled up the order book — a long red candle was plunging straight down.
20 won??
Fifty won had evaporated in the blink of an eye.
If he'd sat still, five billion won would have vanished.
Holy crap!!
It actually did that??
Still, he'd gotten out at a jaw-droppingly perfect moment.
When it came to investing, greed truly was poison.
"Thank God I sold everything. Now all that's left is our little arrangement, right?"
"Huh??"
"Hurry up and get over here. You know where I live."
He called Youngsoo over to his place.
It was time to keep a promise.
"Hyung-nim."
"Drop it."
"I will serve you as my hyung-nim from this day forward."
"Get lost."
"Yes, hyung-nim."
Youngsoo had come running the moment he was called.
He hadn't even had dinner, by the look of him.
Dong-su ordered him a hamburger,
and right then and there, punched in a bank transfer.
120 million won.
All of Youngsoo's debt.
"So we're back to normal now, right?"
"Obviously. If I ever touch coins again, I'm a dog. A dog. A son of a bitch dog!"
"Hey, investing is fine. Just no more junk coins, deal?"
"Got it. But look, I can't pay you back all at once. A million a month — just give me ten years."
"Forget it. Pay me back when you've got money."
"No way. Do you know how much I save just on interest? A million a month barely covers the interest as it is."
"I said forget it!"
"Come on, if I ever want to see your face again, you gotta let me do at least this much."
Dong-su let out a long sigh.
"Haaah... you little bastard, honestly."
Youngsoo snorted with laughter.
"So if I pay back the debt, you won't call me hyung-nim anymore?"
"You lunatic."
"Hahaha! I'm alive again! Dong-su, thank you. Seriously!"
Youngsoo's laughter was light and hollow, but the resignation that had weighed on him for so long had finally lifted from it.
8 a.m. the next morning.
The commute.
He was nodding off so badly he walked straight past his platform.
Yesterday, he had come into seventy billion won.
That fact alone was more than enough to keep him up all night.
A different kind of thrill than winning the lottery.
And a bigger sum than any jackpot, too.
He was a bank employee, but the moment he deposited seven billion won into Daehan Bank, someone at the company was bound to find out.
Rich Kim Dong-su, they'd say.
There was no reason to take on that kind of risk, so he deposited it with an internet bank instead.
Maybe because it was an online-only bank, the interest rate was 0.1% higher, too.
3.4%.
To anyone trading stocks or coins, that might look like a pitiful return — but putting money into something you don't understand isn't investing, it's gambling.
Now more than ever, the smart play was to protect his assets conservatively.
Besides, stocks and coins simply didn't interest him, and he didn't know them well enough — so he passed.
Real estate made up about 30% of his portfolio, which was a reasonable level.
Should he buy some gold?
Platinum was all the rage these days, wasn't it?
He considered it, but it had climbed so high already — over 700,000 won per gram.
A price too scary to jump into rashly.
Just leave it in savings for now.
There was no hurry.
Huh?
Maybe I should buy a car?
With his own vehicle, he'd never have to sprint past a missed platform again.
He had a house, and seventy billion won sitting in his account — time to treat himself to a nice one.
Right after the move, though. First things first!