Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
Earth. July 17th, 2023; 10 AM…
The clanging of machines and presses churning their gears echoed through the large factory.
“Good. Hold it tight there, Jiwon.”
“Okay.” Mr. Seo and I were on both sides of the compression press, carefully collecting and assembling the products that were steadily churned out.
“Oof. Hey, Mr. Jung, come on down. Let’s take a break.”
“You got it, boss.”
“You too, Jiwon.”
“Yes sir.” I followed the owner into the small break room next to the mold press.
The owner sat down next to me and said, “Do you have anything else you can do after quitting this job? You’ve been here for the past two years, and even began to learn how to fix the machines. You’ll be putting all that skill to waste.”
“Sorry, boss.”
The owner sighed. “It’s alright. If that’s what you want to do, I won’t stop you.”
I had already told the owner of the factory a month ago that I would be leaving due to personal reasons. But because the factory had gotten a request for a new product and was short on hands, I said that today would be my last day. Thankfully, today was going to be the last day we were going to assemble the product.
“Let’s have a company dinner tonight to celebrate a job well done, and to say goodbye to Jiwon.”
“Of course, sir.”
That afternoon, with all orders completed, the owner took us to a nearby barbecue restaurant as he promised. After dinner, I slowly walked back to my rooftop room, with my paycheck and a ₩500,000 bonus for all my hard work.
—
10 PM…
I sat down on a raggedy old chair outside my rooftop room, sipping on a can of beer. From the way the moonlight gently washed over me, it was like I was at a rooftop café. It was a perfectly normal day but I couldn’t help, but feel restless because today was supposed to be that day.
‘I want more banana candy!’
Kyuu! Kyuu!
‘This place is interesting. Hehehe!’
I couldn’t enjoy the night thanks to the Dungeon Mole and the Achilles Tendon chattering on next to me. This time, they had a new friend, a really big friend. Was it Shaman Ko? No, this guy was way bigger.
‘Hey! Mr. Master. Do something about all that radiation!’
I couldn’t hold a conversation with either the Dungeon Mole or the Achilles Tendon, I could only hear what they said. But I could talk to this guy. It was probably because those two weren’t born on Earth, while I was.
“Hey, I heard that radiation comes from Earth, too. Do you really hate it that much?”
‘Crazy son of a… what the hell are you saying? Would you like it if the shit you crap gets stuck on you? It’s your shit, isn’t it?’
“…” He had a point there.
‘If you’re a master now, take better care of your Summons!’
“Why don’t you treat me like a master first?”
‘Why don’t you act like a master first?’
“Ugh. Alright, alright. I get it.” I noticed a while ago but Earth was a real brat. And unfortunately, Earth wasn’t the only child I had to look after.
Shaman Ko suddenly materialized before me.”Hey, he’s back.”
‘It’s…Shaman Ko!’
‘No!’
Shaman Ko picked up the Dungeon Mole and the Tendon and looked at me. He reached up to brush away his untamable hair, revealing his childish face.
“Leave them alone, will you?”
“Hmph!” Shaman Ko hid the Mole and the Tendon away. I knew that I couldn’t communicate with the Mole and the Tendon and honestly, I wasn’t sure if Shaman Ko even understood me. It did feel like it, though.
I sent away Shaman Ko, the Mole, and the Tendon and entered my room. I was going to be busy tomorrow.
——–
The next day…
“This should be enough.”
‘You better pay me back!’
“I know, I know. I’m not going to steal from you,” I said to Earth as I picked up an orb the size of a bowling ball. The orb wasn’t just any orb; it was solid gold that I told Earth to give to me. I had squeezed all of the gold down to the size of a bowling ball and put it inside a backpack. There was someone I needed to give this to.
{Ed. Note: Gold is heavy. Bowling ball 5,447 cu cm, gold 19.3 gram/cu cm = 105 kg. We’ll just… roll with it.}
I left my rooftop room and hailed a cab to head to Oh Hyungjae’s office in Gangnam.
——
“It’s still here,” I said as I stood outside an old five-story building at the outskirts of Gangnam. I walked up the small, outer staircase to the fourth floor, where his office was located. Two burly men stood outside the door to the fourth floor. Grunts.
“Hey bro. What brings you here?”
“I want to borrow some money from Hyungjae Loans.”
“Oh yeah? But we don’t lend to just anyone,” the grunt said, as he looked me up and down.
I also looked down at the clothes I was wearing. They were pretty shabby, but I didn’t care. I just tapped the bag I was carrying. “I brought collateral, too.”
“Kekeke. Fine. Go on ahead. We’re not a pawnshop, but you look like you really need the money.”
“Hey, what if the boss yells at us for letting some rat in?”
“What do you mean? The boss yelled at us last time for turning away that bum. He said everyone’s got something we can squeeze out.”
“Kekeke! You’re still holding a grudge about that?”
“I’m not a holding a grudge. I’m just following the boss’s orders to the tee. Hey, bro. Hurry up and go inside. Go borrow a couple of bucks and buy yourself a drink.”
“Thank you.” I passed the two grunts and entered the fourth floor. I passed by Pig Loans and The Best Loans and entered Hyungjae Loans, located at the very end of the hall.
“Welcome,” a female employee greeted me. She was the same woman whose kneecap I had smashed. It happened ten years ago, but I remembered it like it was yesterday.
“I’m here to borrow some money.”
“I understand. Manager Kim can see you right now.”
“Thank you.”
Soon, I met the same Manager Kim again. He was the guy who had answered my call back then.
“Welcome to Hyungjae Loans. Everyone here is ready to help you out, like brothers at your side.” He said the same thing he told me on the phone last time.
I sat down on the sofa he gestured to and told him that I wanted to borrow one hundred million Won, the same amount I stole from them, as I placed the seventy kilogram ball of gold on the table with a thud.
—
Oh Hyungjae wasn’t in a good mood these days, ever since those shop owners began to stand up to him and his boys. He showed them what would happen if they kept refusing to pay up but every time he did, it was at a loss. Those shop owners were his source of income; he couldn’t hurt them to the point that they couldn’t work or even kill them.
“Hmm… I need to do something about those pricks over at Seonggil Fishery, but the moment I touch them, I’m going to have an uprising in my hands.” President Park of Seonggil Fishery was the man behind this headache.
Then, while Oh Hyungjae was deep in his thoughts as he sat in his expensive office, Manager Lee burst through the door. “What is it, you prick? You scared me.”
“Boss! I…I think you need to come out here right now.”
“Why?”
“Some guy came in asking for a hundred million.”
“What does he look like?”
“Well… he looks pretty poor.”
“You stupid bastard. Do we look like the type of guys to deal with bums? Get rid of him, retard!”
“But… he brought collateral.”
“Fuck. When did we become a pawnshop? Fine. Let’s say we take it. Is it enough to lend him a hundred million?”
“It’s gold.”
“Eh?” Oh Hyungjae’s eyes widened in surprise. Gold was better than cash. But there needed to be a lot of gold for a hundred million Won. “How many bars of gold did he bring?”
At current rates, one bar was equivalent to ₩170,000, so Oh Hyungjae expected to hear at least a thousand bars. He needed to make as much profit as he could.
“Well… I don’t know about bars, but it looks to be at least several kilograms.”
“Eh?” Oh Hyungjae thought he had misheard Manager Kim or maybe Manager Kim was too stupid to know the difference between bars and kilograms.
“Move, you dumbass,” Oh Hyungjae said as he got up from his chair. Either way, gold was enough to make Oh Hyungjae get off his butt.
—
“…” Oh Hyungjae had spent many years in the underground. He had seen and experienced many unspeakable things, and even had a hand in them himself. He also had a few chances to see gold in his lifetime, and even had several bars of his own. So he knew right away that what he saw was real gold. He pressed his thumb into the orb of gold, leaving a small imprint.
“Call… Mr. Baek.”
“Do you mean the jewelry guy on the other side of town?”
“Yes, him!
“Yes, sir.”
It really was gold, Oh Hyungjae was sure of that. But he just couldn’t bring himself to believe it. He had never seen that much gold in one chunk before. Three billion? No, it had to be much more than that.
Oh Hyungjae occasionally glanced over at the sad-looking youth sitting to the side, thinking of everything he could do. He wanted to steal it right now. He could kill the youth and bury his body where no one would ever find it.
But Oh Hyungjae’s experience told him that the man didn’t steal or find the gold. He was also very calm. Oh Hyungjae didn’t see a single trace of fear or nervousness. There was a chance he was on an errand for someone very powerful. Oh Hyungjae had to be careful. One hundred million Won was a small price to pay for all that gold.
—
Ten minutes later, Mr. Baek arrived at Hyungjae Loans. Mr. Baek spent half his life touching and appraising precious metals and gems, but this was his first time seeing so much pure gold in one solid chunk. No technique existed in this world that could produce such a masterpiece. Mr. Baek slowly turned to Oh Hyungjae and nodded. It was pure gold and weighed exactly seventy-nine kilograms.
{Ed. Note: $41.62 per gram, x 79,000 grams. 3 million dollars or so, 3 billion won.}
Oh Hyungjae smiled at Mr. Baek’s approval and turned to the young man. “Oh dear. You must really need the cash to bring something so precious. As you may know, we of Hyungjae Loans are known for our reliability and our sincerity towards our clients. We’ve never had a scandal or an accident.”
“One hundred million.”
“Oh, of course! We can definitely do that. Hey! Hurry up and bring the money!”
“Huh? Oh! Yes sir!”
Everyone working at Hyungjae Loans had never seen that much gold at once. The employees scrambled at Oh Hyungjae’s shout. Soon, stacks of stiff ₩50,000 bills were placed on the table.
“Now, if you take a look at this contract, you will see just why we are so reliable and sincere…” As Oh Hyungjae pushed the contract to the young man, he paid close attention to the fellow’s eyes. The contract had an interest rate of 14,700%.
But before Oh Hyungjae could even finish explaining, the young man began to sign the contract. Once he was done, Oh Hyungjae practically ripped away the contract and put it away, not forgetting to brownnose.
“My, my. You have such a great name too, Mr. Lee!”
“Are we done here?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“What? Already?”
“You said we’re done.”
“I…I did.” Lee Jiwon was too cool, but nonetheless, Oh Hyungjae walked Lee Jiwon out himself. “Thank you for coming to Hyungjae Loans. Our doors are always open so please, feel free to come back anytime,” Oh Hyungjae said as he bowed deeply.
Oh Hyungjae watched as Lee Jiwon went out the door to the stairwell and quickly went back to the ball of gold. He turned to Mr. Baek who was still closely inspecting it. “Mr. Baek, you know what to do, right?”
“Ah… of course I do. Man… I’ve just never seen this much gold in one place before.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Thanks for coming. You can go now. Hey, give him some money for the cab ride.”
“Yes, sir.”
After sending Mr. Baek on his way, Oh Hyungjae picked up the heavy ball of gold and barely managed to bring it into his office. He dropped it onto the table with a loud thud and stared at it. “Maybe this will be my luckiest year. What a jackpot!”
Oh Hyungjae then took out his phone and made a call. “It’s me.”
“Yes, boss.”
“You know that ratty looking guy who just left, right?”
“Yes sir.”
“Empty his pockets.”
“You got it, boss.”
Oh Hyungjae wanted to keep this chunk of gold without any loose ends. If Lee Jiwon was clean, then he was going to get rid of him. No one was going to take this gold away from him.
—
With the money in my bag, I slowly walked out of the office building. I knew that I had tail on me the moment I left, but I didn’t care. The poor guy didn’t know anything about what was about to happen. Even if he did, it didn’t matter.
“It’s my gift to you. Enjoy the time you have left.” I never forgot about him. He was my first murder victim. This time, I was going to make his entire life hell, but I wanted to let him have some good days first.
Once I was a good distance away from the building, I quickened my pace and headed for a nearby mall. I needed to look my best if I was going to meet Haein.
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