I'll Just Win It Back
I lived for the company.
Life was so brutal that grinding myself into dust at a shitty little firm was the only option I had.
Unpaid overtime. Taking over entire departments with no actual owner. A new hire who just so happened to be the boss's nephew. A superior who sexually harassed the women under the guise of "looking out for them."
For a paycheck the size of a rat's tail, I swallowed every last bit of it and worked myself to death.
"Ghk."
And then, in the middle of another round of unpaid overtime like any other night, a pain like something ripping my heart out hit me. The world bled white, and my consciousness started to slip.
Ah. This is going to kill me.
The doctor told me to cut it out with the powdered caffeine.
I always knew I'd go out like this.
If there's such a thing as a next life… I want to spend it lounging around doing nothing.
I don't want another shitty little company. I don't want to work. Please let me be reborn as the youngest son of a chaebol family!
"Waaah!"
"Ohhh! What a set of lungs on you! From this day forward, your name is Otto!"
And just like that, the dream came true.
I became the youngest son of a major trading house in another world.
"Son."
"Yes, Father."
"It's time you learned the family business."
"Can't I just loaf around and live off the money?"
"I'm cutting off your allowance."
"Ah."
For a man with that much money, he was awfully stingy.
The trading house was going to my older brothers and sisters anyway. Did I really need to learn the work?
"I'm putting you in charge of a small trading company. Run it well and show me some results."
"I don't know the first thing about this. How am I supposed to produce results?"
"Nonsense. Even as a child you showed an extraordinary instinct for business. Your father believes you have tremendous potential."
"That was ages ago…"
To be fair, I had helped Dad with work once as a kid, using knowledge from my previous life. Ever since then, he'd been under the delusion that I was some kind of monster genius.
He had a soft spot for his kids like that.
Then again, every parent thinks their own child is a genius.
"Haah… What kind of trading company is it?"
"A magic stone recycling company."
"Magic stone recycling?"
"That's right. They collect Spent Magic Stones left over from the Magic Towers and process them into industrial-grade magic stone powder."
"Doesn't sound like there's much for me to actually do."
Pretty straightforward business, from the sound of it.
Couldn't I just leave everything to the staff?
"I trust your instincts."
"Ah. Yes, sir."
"Whoa. This place is tiny."
"Y-Young Master of the Lotringen family… what brings you to a humble place like this…?"
"Ah. Just work at your own pace."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
It really was a tiny operation. The only assets worth mentioning were the industrial magic tools for processing magic stones. A subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary, basically.
There's… nothing for me to do here?
The employees were already running the place just fine on their own.
All they did was take in Spent Magic Stones and sell magic stone powder, after all.
And the operating margin keeps climbing, too.
A nice, gentle upward trajectory.
Recycling businesses don't scale easily by nature, but the profits that stick to your hands are solid. It'll grow just fine even if I do absolutely nothing.
Meaning all I had to do was stamp the papers.
Wait. That… might be a problem?
Hold on.
If this company grows, doesn't all of that count as my performance?
Then Father will start handing me more companies, and before I know it my workload multiplies. For a man whose goal in life is to rest until he's old, that is a deeply undesirable outcome.
I needed to look as incompetent as humanly possible.
Should I just wreck the place?
Reject every single document that comes across my desk?
No. That might look like the employees failed and tanked the company. I couldn't go around scarring other people's careers for no reason.
Better that I just become the lunatic myself.
"Manager."
"Yes! Young Master!"
"I can spend some of the budget, right? Father said he gave me full authority."
"Yes! That's correct!"
"Great. Then I'm going to take this and hit the casino for a bit of gambling."
"Pardon?"
"I'll win it back and pay it off."
"Pardon?"
Ahh.
Gambling with company money… how perfectly horrible and terrifying an idea is that?
For the record, this is something I actually witnessed at my old shitty little firm.
Isn't that illegal? Yes. It is.
But people labor under a funny misconception: illegal only becomes a problem if someone makes it one. You can gamble with company money, as long as you quietly put it back later.
And I am the youngest son of a chaebol family.
Father will top it up for me eventually. Probably.
"Purpose of expenditure… let's go with 'investment and speculation.'"
"Y-Young Master?!"
"I'll be back."
"Young Master!"
The manager came chasing after me with tears in his eyes.
Then his feet tangled and he went down hard.
"Guaaagh…!"
Oof. That looked painful.
"Young Master…! You can't…!"
The sight of a grown man sprawled on the floor sniffling was oddly novel.
Looking at him, a scene from a web novel I'd read in my past life suddenly floated up.
The protagonist had a famous line. What was it again?
Ah. Right. Got it.
"Hoo. Operation successful."
Operation name… let's call it I Became a Chaebol Family's Scoundrel.
I strode into a hotel casino with the full swagger of a man on a mission.
Then I picked a game that looked reasonably simple and gambled for about an hour.
Ahh. So this is the level.
The casino's level.
It was so boring I wanted to die.
"Ohh! He went all-in again and won?!"
"Roulette, blackjack, baccarat—he's won every single game so far!"
"I'm betting with him!"
"Please, just give me one chip!"
"Drag that beggar out of here!"
No, seriously. This is boring.
Why is the money duplicating itself?
What the hell is this.
I won.
I won, and won, and won, and won again. The chips multiplied.
I had no particular gift for gambling, so I'd been hopping between the simplest-looking tables I could find. And every single place I went, I hit the jackpot.
A line of other patrons formed behind me, watching in awe.
Isn't gambling supposed to be a money-delete button?
Today, my common sense collapsed.
While I was still reeling, a staff member with a name tag approached me.
"Good evening. I'm the manager in charge of this casino."
"Ah. Yes. What can I do for you?"
"First, allow me to say what an honor it is to welcome Young Master Otto of the Lotringen family. We are truly grateful that you've chosen to enjoy our casino."
"Right. And?"
The manager bowed deeply.
Apparently he'd scrambled to look up my name after watching me print money.
"For our valued VIP guests who have so graciously enjoyed our casino, we have prepared a special VIP suite. Perhaps a brief rest to clear your head?"
"Ah. I only came to enjoy the casino. I don't need a room."
"We've also prepared a special meal befitting a guest of your standing."
"Our family chef is a former imperial cook."
"…Please, we beg for your mercy. If this continues, we will go under."
"Whoa, hold on. I feel like I'm about to start losing any second now?"
"We'll give you a hotel VIP membership—please just…"
"Just one more hand."
No, seriously, I can lose if I just play a little more!
I'll lose and pay it back!
Don't you trust me?!
This time I'm really going to lose!
I've won everything so far, so this time has to be a loss!
"Black six. Maximum."
"B-Black six, confirmed."
"I'll take black six too!"
"I-I'll bet on black!"
"Even numbers for me!"
The moment I put my money on six, the three other people who'd edged onto the same table after a careful game of chicken joined the bet. One matched me on six; the other two played it safer.
The ball spun around the roulette wheel.
And it stopped, precisely, on the number I had chosen.
"…Black six."
"YEEAAAH!"
"Gyaaaaah! I should've bet on six!"
"To lose faith is—"
Haha. Absolute chaos.
I scooped up my newly duplicated chips and stood. The others immediately started trailing after me.
Hmm. Probably best not to gamble any further.
If I got even one wrong at this point, I had a feeling I'd catch a knife for it.
"Manager, what were you offering me again?"
"…Our hotel's annual VVIP membership!"
Wasn't it a VIP membership a minute ago?
The tier went up in the time it took me to blink.
"What are the benefits?"
"Complimentary room upgrades, state-guest-level reception with a dedicated staff member, free dining vouchers, priority booking for private rooms, and more."
"Hmm, decent enough. I'll take it."
"Th-Thank you…!"
The manager bowed at the waist with tears in his eyes.
I felt a little bad for tormenting him, so I handed him a chip. Calling it "one chip" makes it sound cheap, but this was an extremely high-denomination piece.
"That's a tip."
"Thank you…!"
"Well then, I'll be going. Where do I cash out?"
"Ah! Allow me to assist you at once!"
The cashed-out money went straight back into the company account.
Wow! The money duplicated itself!
When I got back to the company, the employees were sitting on the floor bawling their eyes out.
"We're finished!"
"Hic… Manager, you should have stopped him somehow!"
"How was I supposed to stop the master's son…?!"
Hmm. Hmmmm. Hmmmmmm.
I felt a little guilty.
I'd planned to just ask Father to cover it even if I lost, but they seemed genuinely attached to this place.
"I'm back."
"Y-Young Master…! You've returned! I-It was a joke after all, wasn't it?! Haha!"
"No. I did gamble, but…"
"D-Don't tell me you lost everything?! Already?!"
"Not quite. Hmm. Want to check the account?"
"Pardon? How much did you lose that you… haah…"
The manager immediately accessed the financial magic tool and checked the account.
Then he saw the numbers, and his eyes went wide.
"Wh-What?!"
"Luck was pretty much on my side."
"Y-Young Master!"
"Haha…"
"I-I believed in you the whole time!"
The manager burst into tears and threw himself at me.
I yelped and ran for my life.