Chapter 88
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Weight on Your Shoulders
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Do you know what Mom regretted the most after everything went down like that?”
“...What?”
“That I made the wrong wish!”
Gong Nari mimicked her mom in an exaggerated tone.
“That was her biggest regret. So now she’s praying for the coins to do well.”
“...”
“They say you can’t quit gambling addiction even if you chop off your hands. Dad stayed quiet for a few months, but then he heard that a guy from the group chat who bought those biotech stocks made double what he lost on coins. Boom, he opened an account right away.”
“And now he’s dumping his entire salary into it.”
“Yep. At least he can’t go too big since he’s broke. House is already sold, no more loans from legit banks. Luckily, he’s scared of loan sharks.”
She chuckled as she continued.
“Dad says people who are good at coin futures can turn 100,000 won into 100 million or even a billion.”
“Sure, someone like that exists somewhere.”
Probably using heavy leverage on futures? Nah, just some shitcoin pump, right?
“Right? You know it’s not Dad. But believing he might make it and blowing pocket money from his salary is better than blowing it on loan sharks.”
“I see.”
“When I say that, Mom gets mad, saying I don’t truly believe so bad luck keeps hitting us. Then when she runs out of money, she laughs it off like nothing happened: ‘Nari-ya~ We’re out of bottled water~ What have you been doing without buying more~?’”
Gong Nari chugged her canned beer.
The air was getting pretty chilly these days, but her face was flushed red.
Was she angry? Or was it the weak booze?
“My parents are total lost causes, right?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded without hesitation.
“It’s frustrating for me too, right? Like Teacher Inae says, I should just bail! Tell them to fend for themselves!”
“Teacher Inae’s impressive. It’s easy to give advice from the outside, but when it’s your own mess, emotions take over. I get it.”
I empathized with Gong Nari first.
Her face twitched, like she was holding back tears.
“I just want to live for myself. But what if I can’t pay next month’s rent? What if Dad can’t pay interest and becomes a total credit deadbeat, or worse, turns to loan sharks? And I have to cover my little brother’s college tuition!”
She poured out the pent-up frustration like spitting out congealed blood.
“Your brother’s starting college this year?”
“Yeah. Even with our family being a total wreck, he studied hard and got into a national uni. I’m so proud.”
Only when her brother came up did Gong Nari break into a genuine smile.
“I’m proud of you too, Teacher Nari.”
“Hehe...”
“And...”
I placed both hands on Gong Nari’s shoulders and gripped her trapezius muscles hard.
“Aaaack!”
Caught off guard, she let out a scream.
“Your shoulders are way too heavy.”
“I-Is that so?”
“How many people’s worth are you carrying here? Your brother makes four?”
“Ugh, yeah, pretty much.”
I pondered what to tell her as we walked through the park.
Then I ran into her mom by chance. Or maybe it was luck? I got to see what kind of person she was with my own eyes.
‘Whatever religion it is... she doesn’t believe in it one bit.’
Her mom told me to believe, and Gong Nari too.
That if you truly believe, it’ll come true for sure.
But her wish—her husband succeeding with coins—still hadn’t happened.
Yet she kept switching gods and religions. To truly believe.
Truth is, she knows.
That nothing changes like this.
That the money for food and a place to sleep comes from her daughter’s wallet, not faith.
I’d seen true fanatics who’d burn their lives for the Heavenly Demon.
So I could be sure.
Gong Nari’s mom still had a shred of reason, not touching loan sharks. Same for Dad.
They just still had a place to stretch their legs.
“Lately in wuxia novels, there’s this trend with saving ruined sects or families.”
“Huh?”
She was startled by the sudden novel talk but caught on quick—‘ruined family’ meant I was drawing a metaphor.
“The world’s greatest expert who failed to save the world regresses to the past, or a master who saved the world but not his clan travels to the future to raise his descendants. Sounds fun, right?”
“Yeah.”
She gave me that otaku stare, but I ignored it and kept going.
“Why slap that setup on when a normal disciple or heir could just save the family?”
“Uh... because they can’t?”
“Right. Doesn’t feel plausible. Too heavy for an ordinary person. Feels like only the world’s greatest could pull it off.”
Gong Nari brushed back her hair and chuckled.
It was like admitting she didn’t have the chops to save her family, but the silly metaphor probably hit harder.
“Plus, even the protagonist’s friends power up their own strength before seriously rebuilding the sect. They hunt for spirit herbs, go into secluded training. Gotta get strong enough to fend off worldly threats.”
“Ah.”
“But... there are more realistic novels too. The protagonist isn’t a regressor or reincarnator. Just a second-rate warrior, a bit above average talent, not mastered qi circulation or opened the conception and governing vessels. What if a guy like that tries to shoulder a ruined, debt-ridden family?”
“Uh... he couldn’t?”
This last bit was actually something I’d seen for real.
Sect destructions happen easy as breathing—not like those novels where rebuilding sects is a dime a dozen. The central plains are vast, clashes between righteous factions endless.
But reviving a family on the brink of ruin? Almost never happens. Takes a true prodigy of the world’s greatest caliber.
“What if he absolutely has to? What’s first?”
“In a wuxia novel... get stronger?”
But I’d seen it succeed anyway.
“Right. Train secret arts, go on a martial journey to gain experience and power up.”
“Yeah...”
“Stay put, no fateful encounters come. If the protagonist skips training to feed the family at home, nothing happens.”
The guy dropped everything and hit the martial road.
Didn’t find a manual in a cave, but came back a peak expert with a cool nickname.
“What about the family left behind?”
“Sell assets to clear debts, open a small dojo teaching kids for a living. Drop titles like elder or clan head, find their own paths.”
His skills and rep were enough to revive a minor sect.
Kids who trained at the dojo for fun became disciples of a peak expert—one even rose to vice leader of the Martial Alliance.
“Haha, yeah. That works.”
“You get what I’m saying, right?”
“Seriously, I had to watch one wuxia webtoon to get it.”
Good enough she understood.
Message delivered.
“Let go. Family’ll be fine without me trying so hard, like Teacher Inae says. They’ll scrape by on basics... and even if they cross the line, our welfare system’s better than you think. They won’t let you freeze on the streets.”
“Maybe.”
I nodded calmly.
“If it were truly unavoidable—like endless chemo bills—I’d think about helping. But throwing in a few hundred thousand, even millions or tens of millions, solves nothing here.”
“...True.”
“Either parents snap out and handle their own share, or they crash totally and the state steps in. Keeping them afloat just delays the fix.”
Gong Nari nodded vigorously.
Seemed she bought that maintaining the status quo was off-limits.
Now for concrete steps.
“Teacher Nari. That incentive from last month—you didn’t blow it all, right? Saved it for your brother’s tuition?”
Her eyes widened at my words.
“How’d you know?”
“If you were really broke, you’d have mentioned unavoidable stuff like implants last month. You’re good at hiding chocolate but suck at hiding money.”
She wasn’t handing over her whole paycheck like Seo Inae’s sister.
She was trying to manage, had priorities.
And she admired her brother—easy deduction.
“Don’t give that to your brother. Like Teacher Inae said, get your own place. He can get student loans, part-time gigs. Like you did at twenty.”
“...”
“Your brother’s asking for help?”
“No! Absolutely not. He said no need, he’ll apply for loans himself.”
Gong Nari waved her hands frantically.
Her brother wasn’t like the parents—she just wanted him comfy, her own selfish wish.
“I said it earlier? Greed...”
“Only after you’ve got the ability. Whew, Director’s right. I’ll talk to my brother too.”
I’d avoided directness on purpose, but she nailed the point.
Couldn’t resist one grandma worry.
“Not cutting ties forever—not with brother or parents. Ties like that don’t snap easy. But don’t give your address, meet outside if you wanna see them.”
“Got it!”
“Never give money. Not till you can handle four shares.”
“Ahaha, four shares? Feels impossible forever.”
“If you’ve got the greed, keep finding ways like Teacher Inae. No greed? One share’s plenty.”
“Right!”
Gong Nari shook out her empty beer can.
One full can down, but the flush from the first swig was gone.
The forced smile hiding sorrow and anger vanished too.
She sprang up from the bench.
“Gotta prep now. Thanks so much for all this, Director!”
She bowed with a much clearer face.
“Fighting. I’m always Team Nari.”
“Hehe.”
“And if you’ve got nowhere, crash at the clinic.”
“Director, come on, joking!”
Was that so absurd?
This time I meant it—a guy actually lived there a month.
Come to think of it, with Hwang Sanghun and Seo Inae, over half my staff had ditched home.
Accidentally became a company pushing independence.
Gong Nari got home in a flash and knocked on the door.
Living in a two-room villa, sharing with her brother, but they always knocked out of respect.
“Maru-ya, you in your room?”
“Yeah, come in.”
Room had bunk beds, a desk, closet—that’s it.
Her brother rose from the desk to greet her.
“Exams are over—what’re you up to?”
“Ah... Wanted dorms, but seems almost no spots for Busan locals.”
Dorms? Commute’s like an hour one way.
Not expecting her brother to leave home, Gong Nari paused.
Then a better idea hit.
“Wanna move out and live together with sis?”