I returned home and lay down on my bed, but sleep wouldn't come easily.
My mind was clearer and more wide awake than ever before.
Leaving the ten lottery slips on the bedside table, I sank into thought.
What if these really won first prize?
In the history of over a thousand lottery draws, I would go down as the luckiest man alive.
A disciplinary committee was scheduled to be held over the Sillim branch incident.
If it went according to the record, the result would be a three-month pay cut.
It was an ironic situation where I was wishing for my own pay cut.
Because only then would these lottery tickets also become first-prize winners.
Let's tap even a stone bridge before crossing!
I needed a slightly more definitive verification of this miraculous phenomenon.
I picked up my smartphone, which was plugged into the charger, and turned on the diary app.
The first test was the possibility of communicating with the future.
After pressing the record button, I recorded a new diary entry.
[Wednesday, March 4th. A diary entry sent to the future me. If you're reading this, please reply.
Today, I didn't hand the lottery ticket over to Senior Manager Kim.
How will he react when he finds out he lost a first-prize lottery ticket because he wouldn't pay 5,000 won?
If you read this diary entry, I hope you'll record what kind of face he made.]
I hoped that a happy future would be written in the diary where I had only ever recorded anger.
Is it a failure?
I pressed the save button and refreshed the screen repeatedly for thirty minutes, but no reply came back.
Communication with the future was impossible.
The diary app wasn't a messenger.
It was structured so that the present me peeked at diary entries written by the future me.
It meant it was a one-way street where the past me could interfere with the future, but couldn't hold a conversation with it.
The second test was the real-time reflection of causality.
Through the Sillim branch incident, I had learned that the future changed depending on my actions.
In that case, I needed to verify under what exact conditions and in what manner a diary entry got recorded.
‘Emotional trash can.’
I had never recorded good things.
I had only ever spewed out anger, injustice, self-loathing, and the misery of corporate life.
Shall I try inducing that kind of situation?
If this test succeeded, I would be able to prevent every misfortune headed my way.
A foolish act that the future me would inevitably regret.
All I had to do was try doing something like that while still keeping it manageable.
The time right now was one o'clock in the morning.
After launching my messenger app, I clicked on Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun's profile.
-Senior Manager. I apologize for contacting you at this late hour. I am truly sorry for acting emotionally. I will come into the office early tomorrow morning and take care of your instructions to perfection. Have a restful night.
Just as I was about to press the send button, I erased the text.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn't it.
The next option was my father.
There was no way my father, who woke up at the crack of dawn, would read a message at this hour.
That meant I just had to delete it before the unread indicator disappeared.
-You got home safely, right? Listen, could you possibly get your hands on about a million won for me? I'll pay it back within a few days.
Worrying over what I would do if he happened to read the message, I pressed the send button…….
-Ding!
It was a success.
A new record had been added to the diary.
[Thursday, March 5th. Why did I do that….
After checking the text I sent last night, Father put off going to work and came to see me.
A million won withdrawn from an ATM early in the morning.
Father's eyes were filled with worry.
Crazy bastard. Payday is just around the corner, and I couldn't even hold out until then before holding my hand out to my father.
I honestly wanted to die.]
“……Haha.”
A self-deprecating laugh burst out.
The contents were heartbreaking, but the result was perfect.
Confirming that the number 1 next to the message hadn't disappeared, I long-pressed the message I had written.
Along with the deletion of the message, the record in the diary app vanished.
Once the cause disappeared, the effect disappeared as well.
This is real.
This was an app that warned me of the misfortunes my actions would bring about.
At last, I had complete certainty about the lottery tickets on the bedside table.
By not giving the lottery ticket to Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun, Monday's misfortune had disappeared.
All verification was complete.
Now, all that remained was to hold my breath and wait until Monday.
I just had to pass the time happily pondering what I would do with that money.
The psychology of people who buy lottery tickets.
They say a single 5,000-won slip of paper helps them endure a grueling week.
Didn't they call it spinning their hope circuits as they pondered where to spend the money if they won the lottery?
For the first time, I understood how they felt.
Suddenly, the tens of thousands of commercial district analysis data files sleeping in the company server came to mind.
Parcels of land where investment had been put on hold because their future value was deemed uncertain.
‘The backstreets of Seongsu-dong, the outskirts of Yeonnam-dong, the ironworks alleys of Mullae-dong.’
A map unfolded automatically inside my head.
Using the company's intelligence network was a bit risky, but what if I applied my own intuition and experience to the land the company had shelved for lacking business viability?
Places that fell short of a major corporation's entry criteria, but would become a goose that laid golden eggs for an individual investor.
Investing there wouldn't violate company regulations or the law either.
And if I made a mistake, it would be recorded.
A future diary entry regretting buying the wrong land.
It truly was a diary app with an insane ability.
***
Friday, March 6th.
The long-awaited disciplinary committee was held.
A three-month pay cut was confirmed.
What absolutely had to happen had happened right on schedule.
And so, with a slightly more relaxed heart, I was able to wait for Saturday evening.
After drawing the curtains and turning off the living room lights, I sat down in front of the TV.
A weekend movie began screening in my Guro-dong rooftop room.
A masterpiece meant solely for me.
On the scorched brown linoleum floor lay a can of beer, some peanuts, and ten lottery slips fanned out like a folding fan.
-The 1,291st Lottery Draw Broadcast begins right now!
Along with upbeat opening music, the host appeared.
Dozens of balls spun around noisily.
Even though the confirmed pay cut had given me certainty, now that I was actually about to witness it firsthand, my palms were drenched in sweat.
-Now! Let's check the first lucky number!
It didn't even take a minute for the numbers that would completely upend my life to be drawn.
35, 7, 42, 14, 31.
Crazy….
My hand trembled uncontrollably as I circled each number.
The remaining number was 23.
Squeezing my eyes shut and clenching my teeth, I strained my ears toward the announcer's voice.
“And now, the long-awaited final number is? 23! It is number 23! 35, 7, 42, 14, 31, 23. Congratulations!”
I couldn't open my eyes.
Had I turned to ice?
The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat.
Coming to my senses, I slowly opened my eyes, and the crumpled lottery slips came into view.
It seemed I had gripped them too hard without realizing it out of sheer shock.
Pieces of paper worth a whopping 1.3 billion won each.
“……Phew-.”
Exhaling the breath I had been holding, I turned my gaze back to the TV.
Every single one matched.
The lottery ticket that should have gone to Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun was in my hand.
And a whopping ten of them, at that.
-There are a total of 12 first-prize winners in this draw!
The host's excited voice continued.
Twelve winners. Eleven of them were my father and me.
The trembling wouldn't stop.
-The total prize pool is 24.6 billion won! The first-prize payout is 2.05 billion won each!
Two billion won.
Some people might say that even winning first prize in the lottery couldn't buy a single apartment in Gangnam anymore, but that was only when you had one ticket.
Including the lottery ticket tucked into my father's wallet, we had claimed a total of eleven tickets.
Would about 5 billion won be deducted in taxes?
For a brief moment, I envied Japan's lottery policy.
Didn't they say you couldn't tax a dream?
I didn't have the slightest desire to become a citizen of that country, but when it came to its lottery policy, it sure was a romantic country.
No, wait.
In our country, the taxes collected from the lottery were used to help underprivileged neighbors, so wasn't this even more romantic?
Sharing good fortune.
I had practically monopolized good fortune using a cheat-like method, but I too would share my fortune in various ways.
Though, of course, I would use most of it for myself.
Now that the win was certain, the thoughts I had been mulling over for the past few days grew in scale.
The parcels of land I had looked into while waiting for the lottery draw.
And the building I coveted most among them.
I turned on my laptop and pulled up a report I had written three years ago.
[Mullae-dong Commercial District Analysis Report]
It was a report I had personally analyzed three years ago to select a site for a fashion outlet.
Due to compensation issues tangled up with redevelopment, the group had chosen a different area.
Even now, I held a strong conviction.
Mullae-dong is at its cheapest today.
Every time I passed near Mullae-dong, I had thought the same thing.
That if I had even a little spare capital, I would want to invest here.
It was an area that had plunged everyone into despair as redevelopment was postponed again and again, but because of that, buildings that could be bought up at low prices were hidden all over the place.
The one thing that bothered me was internal company regulations.
No employee of the Integrated Development Division was allowed to secretly purchase real estate.
It wasn't a big problem.
Because all I had to do was proceed with the investment according to the procedures written in the internal regulations.
I would buy up the Mullae-dong factory I had my eye on for under 7 billion won and put up my own building.
Just thinking about it was reassuring.
Monthly rent amounting to dozens of times my salary would pour into my bank account.
And with that money, I would freely pursue whatever I wanted to do.
I swept up the 10 lottery slips and held them to my chest.
Who knew the texture of paper could feel this warm?
My laughter wouldn't stop.
What made me happiest at this moment was that this lottery ticket had been meant for none other than Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun.
Chuckling like a madman, I rolled around on the floor and burst into roaring laughter.
“Hahaha! Kim Seok-hun! The lottery ticket you kicked away because you were too stingy to part with five thousand won is worth 15 billion won! 15 billion!”
I was so happy that tears almost came to my eyes.
The sorrows of the past ten years, my father's hunched back, and my own servile figure flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.
It's over now. No, now is the beginning.
Didn't they say that as you grow older, you only dream dreams that are achievable?
By winning the lottery, the scale of my dreams had completely changed.
Right away, the word resignation floated around inside my head.
I could leave whenever I wanted.
I had the confidence to grow my wealth by putting up buildings all across the country, and I could also run a consulting firm with the money coming in from rent.
Of course, utilizing Seongun's power was the easiest way to exert influence over a wide range.
And without spending a single penny of my own money, at that.
The problem was Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun, who was firmly guarding the Team Leader seat through all sorts of scheming and trickery.
I didn't know how that bastard would act, but there was no need to bow my head to him like before.
If things got ugly, I could just walk away.
If I ended up resigning, I would definitely write “incompetent superior” as the reason for resignation.
‘Still, it'd probably be better to stay at Seongun a bit longer….’
Quitting the company overnight would be a foolish move.
If I intended to run a business rather than just sit back and live off my money, I needed a preparation period all the more.
I had to gather more information.
Could I start a franchise business right this instant?
Maybe if I were only planning to open a single small fried chicken shop, but I now had the capital to open hundreds of chicken shops.
I had to look at the big picture.
Running a consulting firm was the same.
Having a lot of money didn't automatically earn a client's trust.
I needed to spend at least a year mapping out plans and preparing for my business.
Until then, staying attached to Seongun would be to my advantage.
It truly was a train of thought I wouldn't have dared dream of before.
The grateful little thing that had completely transformed my life.
I picked up the smartphone lying on the floor and turned on the diary app.
A future with nothing written in it.
Good. Nothing was going to make me miserable because of winning the lottery.
The future unfolding before our family would be nothing short of golden.
***
Wait, why is Father so quiet?
Thinking “surely not,” I sprang to my feet and called my father.
-Is that you, Jin-hyeok?
A calm reaction.
It seemed he didn't even know what day today was.
“Where are you?”
-Where else? At home.
“Did you not watch TV?”
-TV? Did something happen?
Ha…. It was simply a shame that he had missed the thrilling moment of checking the numbers revealed in real time and going wild with joy.
“I told you I had a good dream, remember? You still have the lottery ticket safe, right?”
-Huh? It's still right inside my wallet. Why do you ask, though? Did it really win? What place? Third prize? Wait, no. Don't tell me it's second prize?
“Phew, Father, really…. Mom is next to you, right?”
After confirming there was someone next to him to keep him from collapsing in shock, I broke the news.
-…I-I-Is it true? It won first prize?
“I'm telling you it's true. Even after taxes, it's over 1.3 billion won. Hand in your resignation letter right away, Father. Pay off all the loans in one sweep, and go on those trips Mom has been talking about for so long.”
-Huh…….
A long silence stretched across the smartphone line.
“Father? Are you listening to me?”
What came through the line was my mom's voice.
-Is that you, Jin-hyeok? What's wrong with your father?
“Mom? What is Father doing?”
-I'm not sure. He threw his phone onto the sofa and ran into the bedroom. Did something happen?
My mom's question was filled with worry.
I needed to share this wonderful news with my mom as well.
“Haha. Go pour him a cup of cold water. He's acting like that because he's so happy. The lottery ticket I gave him won first prize.”
-Thud. Patter, patter, patter.
Strange sounds came from the other end of the smartphone.
It seemed my mom had also tossed the phone aside and dashed into the master bedroom.
How much time had passed?
As if they had completely forgotten they were in the middle of a call with their son, the two of them didn't even pick up the phone and just talked between themselves.
-Did Jin-hyeok really give you this?
-I'm telling you he did! Said something about dreaming that a dog that used to bite him ran away. Anyway, he says this really won first prize. Over 1.3 billion won!
-Really? Does that mean you don't have to do that job anymore? And you could even start a restaurant again?
It seemed my mom felt the exact same way I did.
The time when my father had been happiest.
It had been when he watched the smiles of customers deliciously eating the meat he had painstakingly aged.
-Let's think a bit more about running a business.
-Alright. Still, is it okay for us to keep this? Maybe we should just pay off the debt and give the rest back to him….
-That would be right, wouldn't it? We're going to pass everything down to him later anyway, and keeping it would only rack up inheritance tax for no reason….
-Are you going to keep working your current job? I really wish you would quit the night shifts….
-Huhu. I keep telling you, it's fine.
They were driving me crazy.
It seemed they really had completely forgotten that I was listening on the line.
Since they wouldn't answer no matter how loudly I called out, I hung up and dialed again.
-Oh! Jin-hyeok!
“Ha-. No matter how surprised you were, how could the two of you just talk amongst yourselves in the middle of a call?”
-Hahaha. Right, we were on the phone with you.
“It's fine. Thanks to that, I heard everything in both of your hearts. Don't worry about me, and use that money as your retirement fund.”
-Hmm…. No. This money…….
“I didn't buy just two tickets, you know. So don't worry about me and go on a trip together. And don't forget your promise to manage my building for me.”
Silence fell once again.
It seemed we would have to meet in person to finish this conversation.
Even after paying off the debts, at least 700 million won would remain in my father's hands.
That meant it was more than enough for the two of them to retire on.
They weren't the type of people to squander money on foolish things, so there was no need to worry.
After hanging up the phone, I stretched my arms out wide.
Had stretching always felt this refreshing?
Every joint in my body popped with a crack and rejoiced.
So this was what they meant by “the end of hardship, the beginning of happiness.”
***
And so Monday morning arrived.
Glancing at the drivers wearing sour expressions as they fought the morning commute war from the very start of the week, I hummed a tune.
For some, it might have been the start of the Monday blues, feeling like they were being dragged to the slaughterhouse, but for me, it was an impossibly happy Monday morning.
I decided to put off my resignation letter for later and start by taking a half-day leave.
Above all, I really wanted to see that bastard Senior Manager Kim writhe in envy.
Should I write “claiming lottery prize money” as the reason for my half-day leave?
And write “Nonghyup Main Branch” as my destination?
It was delightful.
For the first time since entering corporate life, it was a Monday morning that could not have been more joyful.