How a Regressor Uses a Debit Card (1)
“What the hell is this bastard’s deal? He’s completely reckless!”
“...You’re telling me. Is he really just a kid?”
The response team leader felt a chill crawl up the back of his neck.
He had been listening in on the counselor’s call. The ridiculously young punk had answered as if he already knew every gear turning inside a coin exchange.
Appbit, whose stock price had been climbing hard lately. This was the moment they needed giant whales, not just ordinary retail traders. With the recent surge in registered Tether and coins, the exchange’s credit had risen quite a bit. They were already working competitors Gobit and Batsum to poach whales. And into that gap, a young whale had simply rolled in on his own.
They had guessed he would dig in and fatten himself up, but they never expected him to have this kind of guts.
“What do you think this oppa’s identity is? His voice was really something.”
Even knowing he was a kid, the word “oppa” slipped out of Go Hana’s mouth as naturally as breathing. Appbit’s response team wasn’t large—two teams of three. Subtract the team leader and you had two members. Until now the three of them had handled just about everything without breaking a sweat.
Counselor Go Hana, glasses oversized for her face, still looked flushed, her voice running a little high.
“That guy’s going places.”
The team leader felt it in his bones. Korea had plenty of whales sitting on hundreds of billions in coin assets. He could smell that scent on this one.
“With a voice that nice, his face has to be handsome too, right?”
Go Hana still hadn’t shaken the customer she’d just spoken with; her eyes had gone soft and unfocused.
“What, are you planning to contact him privately?”
“Is that allowed??”
“...Go Hana!”
“Tch! Fine. I know the company rules perfectly well.”
She smacked her lips in genuine regret. After junior college she hadn’t landed a job right away and spent a stretch unemployed. Then her uncle’s introduction got her into Appbit. That uncle was a grade-4 aide to a three-term National Assembly member. The work itself wasn’t hard. She passed every late-night phone consultation. Her real job was managing the part-time chat counselors. Only occasionally—like today—did she take a call from a customer operating on a completely different level.
“Team leader, is this really going to be okay?”
“What is?”
“Raising the limit to a billion won...”
The timid male teammate shot him a worried look. Approving it without a formal order was exactly the kind of move that could draw fire from above.
“And what do we do if it isn’t okay? Who takes the blame when the whale swims away?”
“Team leader oppa’s right. We did real work today.”
“Still, a billion... that’s VIP territory...”
“Cheonsu. You think that bastard earlier only has eight hundred thousand USDT?”
“Huh?”
“This hyung’s instincts are good. I can feel it!”
An anonymous big-money client. The team leader kept replaying the voice of the customer whose answers had been pure accident-in-the-making. The sound of it kept rolling through his head.
“Ha Taewoong! That bastard... he’s going to cause a massive incident soon!”
My ears had been itching nonstop for days. People were talking about me everywhere.
“Look at that finish! White? Red? For a customer your age this blue blood is perfect. Hear that engine?”
Vroom-vroom.
The man sat in the driver’s seat with the door open, turning the key.
“3.3 turbo. Same engine that goes into the H90. The H70’s small and light—stomp it and you shoot straight into orbit.”
The used-car dealer sprayed saliva as he explained. Mid-thirties, give or take. Unlike the other dealers in suits, he wore ripped jeans and a red T-shirt, short bleached-blond hair spiked with mousse. Sharp movements, lightweight talk—classic street-rat energy. The kind of guy who loved cars enough to make selling them his job. His eyes were full of life as he kept going.
“Highway run with a pretty girl beside you, panoramic sunroof wide open—you just die. Especially that new Yangyang Expressway they just punched through. Stars, ocean, Lexicon audio blasting DJ tracks... with a face like yours, it’s game over. Heh-heh-heh.”
A man who clearly enjoyed living. His laugh was a little sly, but the passion was real. How many people had actually bought a car from this dealer? It had been a while since I’d heard a salesman this light and weightless. Still, he had a strange, lively charm. His voice would have fit a cheap trot medley perfectly.
“And cars are about safety, right? Optional latest Active Safety Control 2 package—smart cruise control, forward collision-avoidance assist, high-beam assist, highway driving assist, vibration-warning steering wheel, lane-keep assist, the works! Full options. Full opt!”
He actually knew a lot about cars. I had come to one of the larger used-car complexes in the capital region. Buying new would take too long. I needed a car now. The license had been issued on the spot at the test center. In my previous life I had never owned a personal vehicle; I’d only driven company cars now and then. Even then, the first thing I’d wanted once money loosened up was a car of my own. A used-car lot offered the widest choices, so here I was. New cars took time to deliver; I’d already checked.
The dealers had clustered near the complex entrance waiting for customers to pick them. I picked this one. I didn’t know any of them, of course. Several were standing around, yet none of them looked my way. Dealer Ha Jinseong. He was the only one whose eyes met mine.
A kid buying a car? Nothing special. That was the conclusion the sharp-eyed dealers had drawn from my appearance alone. Ha Jinseong’s pitch, though, was overflowing with passion. The car he showed me was one I liked. In that dreamlike previous life, a college senior had driven it. I’d wanted to take the wheel at least once. Right now, though, the feeling just wasn’t there.
“You know Brembo brakes, right? When you want to stop you stomp and it stops. Fly, then cut. Full-time four-wheel drive—safe in rain, safe in snow... Kyaaah! There’s nothing like this car in Korea.”
He hadn’t been drinking in the middle of the day, yet he kept gasping in admiration by himself. Dealer Ha Jinseong explained with his whole soul, as if the car were his own.
“And here’s the real point! Look at the odometer. 1,004 km! This one’s a pure 1004. Polished and ceramic-coated the second it left the lot. Previous owner needed a fire-sale, so some of the plastic is still on it. Used car? It’s a new car—no, it’s a virgin! Heh-heh.”
Cheap talk. It almost looked deliberate, like he was playing the thug on purpose. I studied him carefully. Clear golden light. From the moment I’d stepped through the complex gate he’d stood out. Among the cluster of dealers he alone carried a different color. The rest gave off murky gray and dark auras. I still didn’t have exact data on the light people carried, but this ability was clearly not something to take lightly.
“I’ve been in this game ten years. Never once cheated a customer. Dealer Ha Jinseong! Introducing only cars of conscience, built on trust and love for my clients!”
Sincerity lived inside that easy-to-misunderstand lightweight delivery. The way he put weight on his own name made me believe him.
“Brokered stock, right?”
“...Yes, sir! I still don’t have the capital to put high-end cars like this under my own name.”
He opened his situation without hesitation. To really make money in this business you needed your own capital and inventory. But this world ran on the same rich-get-richer rule as everywhere else.
I glanced around. And there it was—one solid piece that caught my eye. A satisfied smile spread across my face on its own. Before regression the H70 had been a dream. Obviously not anymore. I had enough money now.
“Show me that one.”
“Huh? That one... Hah!”
The dealer checked where my gaze had landed and startled.
“Is that a problem?”
“N-no problem! Absolutely no problem!!”
Ha Jinseong hurried over to the vehicle I’d marked.
“Kyaaah! Young hyung-nim knows what’s what! BNW’s X7 SUV!! Every dad’s dream—no, every hyung’s hope. Look at that solid frame. This friend here has a twin-turbo V8, 530 horsepower gasoline, torque so insane it could tow a tank!”
Overacting Ha Jinseong sprayed more saliva as he explained. This man was serious about cars.
“Top speed 250 km/h, zero-to-hundred in 4.7 seconds! Kheu, it kills!! Full-time four-wheel drive—rain, snow, life’s road, you just keep rolling safely!”
“How much?”
The white BNW X7 SUV. I liked it a lot.
“This is last month’s facelift model... almost no depreciation. For financing, though...”
He had been explaining with fire until he started glancing back and forth between me and the car.
“So how much is it?”
“...One hundred seventy million. No haggling.”
The power drained from Ha Jinseong’s voice. His face clearly said today was a bust. Anyone looking at me would see an ordinary young guy—jeans and a cotton T-shirt. Young, and nowhere near rich enough to drop 170 million on a car. That was the natural conclusion.
“Ha Jinseong’s getting played again today.”
“Heh-heh-heh. Why’s he going so hard for some kid?”
“Just half-ass it, man. If Ha Jinseong sells that one, dinner’s on me tonight.”
“I’ll take coffee!”
Three men watching from a distance snickered among themselves.
“Dealer’s sale price, right?”
“Yes. I could probably shave about a million off with negotiation...”
“One hundred seventy-two million. I’ll take it.”
“What?”
“The two million is a tip. Clock out early and, if you’ve got a girlfriend, treat her to a good time.”
“C-customer!!”
A word that sounded almost like “sucker.” Ha Jinseong’s face flushed deep red, eyes already brimming as if tears would spill any second.
They did.
“Kheu! I’ve sold a lot of cars over the last ten years, but a customer who pays more than the asking price? You’re the first! From this day on, no matter what hard times come, Dealer Ha Jinseong will remember this customer overflowing with humanity and love, and live life at full throttle!!”
This guy was a little scary. He moved like someone who’d just walked out of prison. Peaceful phrases like “humanity and love” poured out of his mouth without a hitch. Ha Jinseong bent ninety degrees right in front of my face. Embarrassed, I bowed with him.
“What kind of service can I throw in? It’s practically new—warranty’s still fully alive, and all the accessories are still in the trunk.”
“No service needed. Once we sign, I can drive it out right away, yes?”
“Of course! After insurance and transfer paperwork you can take it immediately!”
“Then let’s write the contract.”
“Thank you! Thank you again!”
Ha Jinseong folded at the waist another ninety degrees. This had to be the easiest sale of his entire life.
“Then about payment...”
Complicated calculations flickered again in both his eyes.
“Card okay?”
“Card? I-it is. But a card with a limit over a hundred million in this country...”
Only something like a black card could manage it.
“It works.”
“What??”
Dealer Ha Jinseong’s eyes blinked frantically. I gave him a grin. Then I pulled my wallet from my pocket, slid out a single card, and held it out.
“Debit card. One lump sum.”
“Ah!! Debit!!”