Chapter 45: Even Being Beaten With Money Can Kill You
Chapter 45: Even Being Beaten With Money Can Kill You
A typical fairy tale ends with something like: “After defeating the demon king and rescuing the princess, the prince lived happily ever after.”
But once people became adults, they stopped believing in fairy tale happy endings.
In reality, overcoming one hardship didn’t make every problem vanish like magic.
That was exactly the reality the Republic of Korea was facing now.
The Chinese government—the force behind the evil acts of killing people through terror, spreading drugs, and kidnapping people—only doubled down with absurd denial once clear evidence emerged, and even carried out an armed invasion.
But the Republic of Korea Navy, hailed as the reincarnation of Eulji Mundeok and Yi Sun-sin, toppled the Chinese forces—many times stronger—overnight and won a great victory.
The entire country swayed in the intoxication of victory for a week.
But before that joy could even settle, strange signs appeared.
“Within the EU, voices are growing louder that stronger sanctions must be imposed on the Republic of Korea, which carried out a mass slaughter. The UN Human Rights Council has also said it is considering expelling the Republic of Korea—an atrocity war-criminal nation—from UN membership. The U.S. Congress is pressuring the U.S. government, arguing that diplomatic relations must be reestablished with the Republic of Korea, which massacred millions of civilians overnight. The U.S. president has not yet stated a position, but multiple sources report he is sympathetic to these claims.”
“Japan says there is a horrifying monster state next door and is considering a total trade suspension. Ultra-right forces are protesting, shouting NO-KOREA and anti–Korean Wave slogans, insisting that diplomatic relations must be severed with a nation that killed countless lives and is trying to forcibly annex another country’s territory.”
“Despite having seemed certain to fall from power over responsibility for China’s defeat in the war, the Chinese president’s reappointment has passed. Though they lost the war, public sympathy has grown, saying China fought against foreign pressure. The mood is spreading that Korea is the bad one and China is the victim. Some Chinese citizens are committing terror attacks against Koreans living in China, and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a travel ban to China.”
The nerve.
You beat back the guy who charged at you with a knife, and now the whole world bands together to scold you for going too far.
“Breaking news. With unanimous agreement by the UN Security Council permanent members, economic sanctions against the Republic of Korea have passed. Meanwhile, all previous sanctions against North Korea have been lifted. Our companies are now on emergency footing.”
Everything went to hell.
“This is worse than the IMF crisis. Back then, at least small business owners could still survive!”
Owner Gwanggeun sat in the office with a deeply troubled face.
“Why did they have to go overboard and kill so many people and cause all this? Seriously—our country’s problem is always those politician bastards!”
The president, who only days ago had been compared to Gwanggaeto the Great and Kim Yu-sin, was losing popularity by the day. Even our motel, which had been bursting at the seams for nearly ten days, was empty today—just flies buzzing.
Then breaking news appeared.
“Five countries—the United States, Russia, China, the EU, and Japan—have designated Korea a currency manipulator. They announced they will force an appreciation of the exchange rate, which has reached 1,800 won, and fix it at 1,000 won per U.S. dollar. Major corporations, already struggling under anti-Korea sentiment in international affairs, are expected to face even greater difficulties due to this measure. The government is limiting comments on foreign sanctions but announced it will aggressively cut interest rates to near-zero in order to stimulate the economy and overcome the crisis for the time being. Business circles oppose this, saying it is identical to Japan’s Plaza Accord era and that ultra-low rates are economic suicide.”
I kind of understood economic talk, but also didn’t.
But it was obviously bad for Korea.
I glanced at the owner and spoke in an indifferent, passing tone.
“This is serious. I’m worried the motel might go under at this rate.”
The owner snorted.
“Don’t worry about nonsense! If that happens, we’ll be drowning in a boom for a while. Besides, they say we got 300 trillion won in war reparations—what’s there to worry about? If 300 trillion gets released into the market at ultra-low interest rates, all real estate prices will jump by multiples! If anything, we’ll hit the jackpot. There’s no way our motel goes under!”
Our owner was the type who constantly bragged that he built his wealth with his bare hands.
I didn’t understand everything he said, but most of it sounded like it had logic.
The problem was the content.
The motel price would go up even more from here? From 20 billion won to what—multiples?
“Th-then… our motel price goes up even higher than 20 billion?”
I tried to sound calm, but my voice trembled slightly.
“Of course! Within three years, double is guaranteed. Triple might be tough, though.”
Double was 40 billion. Triple was 60 billion.
That was insane. This couldn’t be right.
All my effort—saving diligently every day to become a motel owner—suddenly felt small and empty.
“Chan, when you get your paycheck, don’t waste it on stupid things. Buy a small officetel at auction or something! If you can’t, stockpile gold! One day you’ll thank me for telling you.”
The owner spoke in an arrogant tone, but it barely registered in my ears.
Why did prices go up when business was good, go up when a crisis hit, and even go up when the country looked like it was about to collapse?
Doesn’t that make no sense?
Is the idea of working hard and saving to achieve your dreams just a pointless wish?
In this capitalist world, is money the ultimate power—even more than strength?
We crushed China, and they responded by banding together and tormenting us through survival and livelihood.
Should I hang Hyunmu missiles over the capitals of the EU, Japan, the U.S., Russia, and China?
Then they couldn’t pull this kind of crap.
No.
That was what a psychopath would do, not a decent criminal like me. Everything will flow as it should.
There was no guarantee the owner’s prediction would come true.
In only a few days, the Republic of Korea—boiling with festival fever—turned into a funeral atmosphere.
Even on weekdays, the short-stay rooms that used to turn over a hundred times now struggled to even reach ten a day.
“I’m back, junior.”
It wasn’t even 4 p.m., but Cheolmin-hyung came back from work.
“Good work.”
Cheolmin-hyung went straight to his room, showered, and changed clothes.
After Cheolmin-hyung saved his life, Chairman Yang—boss of one of Gangnam’s three major organizations—voluntarily entered under the Isu Gang.
These days, he and Cheolmin-hyung were attempting a merger that was basically a threat toward the other two organizations.
Cheolmin-hyung couldn’t do sword-flight, but his negotiation method—using a real blade wrapped in qi to slice steel pipes and sashimi cleanly—worked effectively on gangsters.
At this rate, in a few days, Cheolmin-hyung would probably unify both Gangnam and Gangbuk.
“Man, I’m exhausted!”
Cheolmin-hyung, now in a luxury-brand tracksuit, sat in the office drinking a cup of instant coffee.
The owner quietly disappeared the moment Cheolmin-hyung showed up.
As if Lauren heard Cheolmin-hyung arrive, she came running from Room 104 into the office, made herself a cup of coffee, and sat down too.
“Why? What’s exhausting?”
Lauren asked gently.
Cheolmin-hyung’s body didn’t seem like it would feel fatigue at all…
“The economy is so bad that people are running around looking for money, not caring whether it’s loan sharks or high interest.”
“But on the news, they said the government is injecting money and offering lots of low-interest loans.”
“That only works for people who can still kind of survive. There are too many people suddenly gasping because their cash flow dried up—SMEs, small businesses, even ordinary households. But banks reject them for not meeting conditions, and people who are about to end up on the street in a few days are coming to us asking for loans. Most of them probably won’t be able to repay, so it’s hard for us too.”
“So people who seem like they can’t pay back are asking to borrow money? But in movies, they lend first and then show up to threaten them and collect no matter what.”
“Until recently, we ran things that way too. But as I walk the path of martial virtue and the path of the chivalrous hero, I decided I won’t watch common people cry blood tears. So I’m lending even knowing it’ll be stolen. Without that money, there are countless people who would hang themselves and die. Thankfully, Chairman Yang is joining my intent and putting up almost his entire fortune, so we can maintain it—for now. But if this drags on, it’ll be hard.”
Listening to Cheolmin-hyung, I could really feel how harsh things had become.
“But isn’t the U.S. helping at all? We’re blood allies. The whole world is unfairly isolating us—can’t the U.S. do something?”
Cheolmin said this to Lauren, who was sitting beside him and quietly listening.
But Lauren was just an artist—how would she know? Cheolmin-hyung was probably just venting to her because she was an American citizen.
“Global public opinion is so bad that the U.S. can’t do much either. If it had been tens of thousands, they could’ve overlooked it given it was wartime. But 3.2 million people died in a single day. At that scale, you can call it a massacre. Some extremists even think Korea is the same as the Nazis.”
“Nazis, my ass!”
Cheolmin-hyung, angry, drained his coffee and crushed the paper cup in his hand.
“What do you think will happen next, Cheolmin?”
“Huh? What do you mean, what’ll happen?”
“I mean the world is strengthening sanctions on Korea. In months—not years—Korea could fall from a developed country to a developing one. But do you think a Korea with military power strong enough to beat China will just sit there and destroy itself? Before that, won’t it use force against other countries?”
Cheolmin thought for a moment, then spoke.
“Our government probably won’t just sit there and destroy itself. They’ll do something. But I oppose using force against other countries just because we’re struggling. If you compare it to a person, that’s not a chivalrous hero—that’s just a thug.”
“Isn’t it thug behavior for rich, powerful guys to bully our country?”
I said what I thought in response.
“Huh?”
“Think about it. In this world, the strongest guy is the one with the most money. Our country is being treated like this because we don’t have as much money as them. This is a war with money instead of guns and knives. If we sit still, we’ll die like this. Shouldn’t we do something?”
At my words, Cheolmin-hyung spoke as if he’d gained a huge realization.
“You’re right. As expected of you, junior. My thinking was short and foolish. Even in our gang world, the guy with the most money is the strongest. No matter how good you are at fighting, you bow your head to the rich. So that means our country is being beaten with money because we don’t have power. Then the story changes. Because of what those bastards are doing, common people are hanging themselves and jumping into the Han River—it’s chaos. In that case, it’s right for our Pobangbu to turn Europe and America and all those bastards into a sea of fire!”
At Cheolmin-hyung’s words, Lauren’s face went pale.
I was genuinely happy Cheolmin-hyung agreed with me.
That’s right.
I’m not a psychopath.
Reaching that conclusion is what a normal person does.
You don’t only die from knives and guns.
Even being beaten with money can kill you.
I pulled out all the Hyunmu-4 missiles the Ministry of National Defense had carefully hidden after the Korea–China war.
Eighty-seven in total.
I distributed them evenly and moved them to a point 1,500 kilometers above the capitals of Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and Russia. I considered sending some to China too, but held back.
The loudest ones were the EU bastards.
Next were Japan and Russia.
The U.S. looked like it was following along because it had to, but it was still infuriating. A real friend sides with you when things are hard—these were the kind who acted like it wasn’t their problem when things got bad.
“Just a second. I got an urgent call.”
Still looking pale, Lauren said she’d gotten a call and went out to the parking lot to talk.
She looked frantic.
I aimed the Hyunmu missiles floating in midair straight down and began lowering them slowly at a speed of one meter per second.
I only mean to threaten them.
Only a threat…
This method Bella taught me was extremely effective.