“Something like this?” The thing that he handed the old man was a plain-looking ring.
“What is this?”
Meanwhile, Old Man Kwon’s tone was quite different now.
This was a green light.
It meant that he would treat Kang Chul-In as a business partner instead of some little kid of unknown origin.
“A ring of strength.”
“A ring of strength?”
“It will increase the strength of the one wearing it by about 10kg. It is cheap, but the effect is apparent.”
“Are you telling me to believe…?”
“Old man.”
Kang Chul-In cut him off.
“You think I came to sell drugs?”
The cold question and the colder eyes. Old Man Kwon had to fight the urge to want to faint.
What kind of guy has eyes that look like that…!
It was a horrifying glare that he had never seen in his many years of life.
Could this be?
Due to his line of work, the old man had to meet all sorts of criminals, and amongst them were guns for hire or gangsters who had killed many. However, amongst even those cruel gangsters, there were none who made his hair stand on edge like this young man. He did not know where this guy had come from.
“I-I’m sorry…. I made a mistake.”
Finally, Old Man Kwon lowered his tail.
Kwon could not believe it either.
His pride as a man was hurt, for he had gotten scared with eight bulky, armed bodyguards behind him.
He thought that there were all sorts of people in this world.
“Well, it’s okay.”
Kang Chul-In had scared him without intending to and swatted his hand.
“There is a saying, ‘seeing is believing.’ It would be easier for you to understand when you use it once than me saying it a thousand times.”
“Could I?”
“Of course.”
Kang Chul-In nodded and carefully extended his hand to put the two rings on his finger.
“Hmm….hm…”
The old man coughed softly as if he was embarrassed.
“This…”
“It has no special feeling?”
“Yes, it’s that.”
“It’s not an expensive item, and it is just a commonplace object. Expect plausible things, old man.”
“…how do you use it?”
“Just lift anything. It would be better if it was something you usually could not carry because you did not have enough strength.”
“Hm…”
At Kang Chul-In’s words, the old man stroked his white beard and picked up a 20kg barbell that was at the corner of the office. It was a dumbbell that one of his bodyguards used often to work out.
“…!”
The old man’s eyes opened wide.
“W-What is this?!”
Of course the old man would have been surprised, seeing that he lifted the dumbbell (which he couldn’t picked up with two hands before) with one hand.
“You wore two at once so you can lift 20kg more than usual. It would be possible for you to swing it too.”
Kang Chul-In kindly explained.
“Is that true?”
“Of course.”
“Can I try?”
“Of course.”
After receiving permission, Old Man Kwon felt as if he had become young again. He spread out his shoulders, prepared, and swung the barbells.
Swish!
The 20kg dumbbells danced in the old man’s hand.
Well-built men would have strained their joints… For a man who was almost 80, it was surprise-worthy. It was as if he had gone back in time.
“……!”
“What…!”
“No way!”
The bodyguards who had been watching silently also made awed remarks.
“Amazing… hey, in that Pangaea or whatever it was, are there lots of things like this?”
“I called it cheap,” Kang Chul-In said.
“That ring is an extremely small part of the things that one can bring from Pangaea. Some things… are strong enough to bring down entire cities.”
“Then… that means…”
“Whether you believe it or not is not important. As time passes, you will come to believe it.” “Hm… that is true too.”
“First, I want to start our deal by selling off the gold that I brought today. What do you think? Can you do it?”
“Well, no reason I couldn’t. If what you say is true, I will jump into the business that you suggested and not this one. This business is a goose that lays golden eggs!”
“Of course. Then, you can have a fresh start and be honest with your family. Didn’t the daughter you had hate your job?”
“…!”
“I will say this again, but this is an opportunity.”
“….seems like there is nothing you do not know about me.”
“Do you think I would have come not knowing?” Kang Chul-In knew very well of Old Man Kwon’s desires.
These were desires and hunger that all criminals could not help but have.
Humans, from the moment they commit a crime, become engulfed in the grasp and suffering under the law. The more they avoided capture, the more they needed to live in fear of the day they stand trial in a court of law. Therefore, of course they would want to escape their criminal status and live as a clean member of society.
The mentality and desire were also the same for the old man, no, even greater, seeing that he was such a powerful figure in the underworld.
It was a last wish for someone who had lived his entire life as a criminal. For Kang Chul-In who knew that better than anyone, he could easily control the old man.
“Your wish, I can make it come true.”
“R-r-really?”
The old man’s voice shook violently.
“Just wait and see. The world will change after one or two months.”
“Sigh… who would have guessed I would hear something like this when I’m in my twilight years?”
“That’s why living is so fun. Who knew that a gate to a different world would open?”
“You are right. The world is funny. You have to live long and see.”
In no time, there was a large smile plastered on the old man’s face.
“Hey, Chief Oh.”
“Yes, chairman.”
“Take a couple of the kids and take $300,000 out of the safe.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was a $100,000 more than the actual price of the gold.
“I will not take commission. The $200,000 is for the gold, and the $100,000 is for the ring.”
“It is not worth that much. Two or three thousand at most.”
“Really?”
“You can just have it, old man.”
“This, you are just giving this for free?”
“Let’s just call it a reception expense for our future deals. I have no use for it even if I carry it around anyway.”
“…you go big. But I also cannot take it for free. Take the extra. I need to show at least that much appreciation for my future possible partner.”
“Well, if you insist, I will take it.”
And like that, the first deal between Kang Chul-In and Old Man Kwon was done.
It was a deal that both sides was satisfied with.
Kang Chul-In was happy that he could get cash, and Old Man Kwon was happy because he had gained items for business and was able to rekindle his old dreams. It was a win-win situation for both sides.
“I will contact you in a month. Be careful with your deals for a while. Even better if you close shop for a while. It would be unfortunate if it falls apart before you ride the flower train. It’s annoying for me to find a new business too.”
Kang Chul-In checked that the mounds of money were in the trunk and did not forget a request to be careful as he left the office. It would be difficult if Old Man Kwon had to go to prison even before he had started the new business.
“Of course I will.”
The old man nodded.
“If you are to do some big jobs, you need to watch your safety. Don’t worry, I did not live my life in vain, so prepare well for our next deal.”
“Of course.”
With those final words, Kang Chul-In got in his now heavy mustang and headed to Park Doo-Sik’s office.
“Chairman.”
Chief Oh called to Old Man Kwon who was watching the back of Kang Chul-In’s car that was speeding away.
“Ah, Chief Oh.”
“Even so, don’t you think $100,000 was too much? What part of him do you trust?”
“Intuition.”
“Intuition?”
At the strange response, Chief Oh’s face showed a grimace.
Intuition.
Business was an evil that should never be done on intuition but should only be done with secure information and cold reason. Business was something that would put a person in debt with one wrong step, but the old man had given away $100,000 on pure intuition. It was not something that the great Old Man Kwon would have done.
“Chairman, are you by any chance…”
“I haven’t gone senile, so don’t question me!”
Old Man Kwon, who saw right through Chief Oh’s thoughts, screamed.
“Oh, Chief Oh… you stupid idiot! Because you have a head like that on your shoulders, I don’t chance your business!”
“…”
“This business, you don’t need to do anything at all. You know? He said you cannot take anything from this world into the other one, so from a businessman’s perspective, there are no expenditures if you take out labor costs! It means that if you secure the ones who can move from this world to that, you will get filthy rich!”
“Oh, is that true…?”
“And this ring.”
Old Man Kwon mumbled looking at the cheap strength ring that was on his finger.
“Science and technology aside, I have never seen or heard of something like this. What would happen if I give a professional baseball player something like this, huh?”
“Well, well… crazy play.”
“And what if that professional baseball player played in the major league?”
“…the yearly pay would be well over the millions?”
“An idiot who knows that complains about $100,000?”
“Oh!”
Chief Oh clenched the back of his head and looked as if he was going to pass out.
It was not the strength of an old man. The ring of strength had increased his powers, and he was as strong as a fit man.
“From now on, when that friend comes, be good to him. Although I don’t know for sure, he isn’t ordinary. Huh, where did someone like that come from? Like he said, you need to live long and see! Hahaha!”
Old Man Kwon laughed loudly and smiled.
It was really a chance that had come after a long time… an opportunity of a lifetime that came at the age of 80.
———————————-
Kang Chul-In arrived at Park Doo-Sik’s office and was treated like a king. He sat in Park Du-Sik’s “Chairman Chair”.
“Report.”
“It’s… it’s that…”
“Seems like there isn’t too much progress?”
“…” Park Doo-Sik had no excuses.
“I understand.”
“…!”
“I did not think you could find him within a couple of days anyway. It would take at least a couple of months.”
Kang Chul-In thought of Liu Bei, who waited for a long time to gain the great tactician Zhuge Liang, and reminded himself to remain calm.
You bastard born with a golden spoon in your mouth, how dare you eat up Lee Gong-Myung too!
On the other hand, his anger towards Rothschild bubbled. Rothschild was the prime example of someone who was born with a golden spoon and was handed things left and right throughout his life.
Lee Gong-Myung, a Chinese immigrant residing in Korea, had been able to study at Harvard because of his intelligence. Rothschild, as the student body president there, had kept a keen eye on Lee Gong-Myung for his capabilities.
Kang Chul-In tried to calm his anger and placed four stacks of money on the table, each with a hundred 50-dollar bills.
“Aigoo, oh, big boss! Why are you giving us something like this?”
“You know what it means?”
“Of course. I will send out three or four more and definitely find him.”
Park Doo-Sik clenched his fists tightly, as if to tell Kang Chul-In to trust him.
“But… isn’t this a little too much? Two is more than enough…”
“Don’t pretend to care for my circumstances.”
“… yes, big boss.”
Kwak Jung was the key if he wanted to teach Rothschild and Lee Gong-Myung a real lesson. A bit of money was not valuable to him at all. If he could have Kwak Jung, he would try three, no ten more times.
“I’m leaving. I’ll come again soon.”
Kang Chul-In finished his business at Park Doo-Sik’s office and left immediately after, headed to Bucheon. It was to visit his mother.
I am such an unfilial child…
If he thought back to the last 10 years, aside from the early 2 to 3, he had almost never seen his mother. To that extent, Kang Chul-In was crazed over Pangaea, and so he had committed the sin of turning his back on his only family. No matter how much money he gave her, he did not massage her shoulders once. As her son, he felt sorry.
I can’t even take care of my own family, so how can I rule Pangaea…?
Kang Chul-In ruminated and then pledged to be dutiful to his mother.
It was then.
The silent phone vibrated. It was from…
“Agent Lee?”
It was the Lord that he didn’t know about, Lee Chae-Rin.
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