I was in trouble.
I had come to work in high spirits, but I couldn't focus on my work at all.
My head was filled entirely with thoughts of claiming the prize money.
The commercial district analysis data pulled up on my monitor looked less like work and more like a tool to grow my personal wealth.
Sure enough, I couldn't quit right away.
High-level information that would be hard for an ordinary person to get their hands on.
While compiling the latest information on a parcel of land I had personally analyzed a year ago, I printed out a form.
[Request for Prior Approval of Real Estate Transaction]
Employees of the Integrated Development Division had to submit it whenever they purchased real estate.
After printing the document and filling in the lot number, scale, and purpose of purchase for the property I intended to buy, I headed to the Audit Team.
“Huh? You are buying land in Mullae-dong?”
Manager Park Eun-mi of the Audit Team blinked her eyes as if surprised.
Even if she didn't know the details, it seemed she at least knew that my financial situation wasn't exactly comfortable.
“Yes. I am planning to buy a factory building. I wrote down the address and purpose right there.”
“…Ah, yes. I see that, but…….”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
I didn't know what she was thinking, but there was nothing problematic about it at all.
This was merely a safety measure in case an issue arose later on.
“No, not at all. If it is Mullae-dong, there does not seem to be any issue. As soon as our Team Leader gets back, I will submit it for approval right away.”
“Yes, thank you. This information will not be made public, right?”
“Of course. Personal assets are recorded under strict confidentiality.”
Good. I had no desire to hide the fact that I was becoming a building owner, but I didn't want to go out of my way to announce it either.
After taking care of that matter simply, I returned to my seat.
Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun walked in after finishing the weekly meeting.
Approaching him while he didn't even spare me a glance, I held out the half-day leave request form I had filled out in advance.
“I would like to use a half-day leave. Something urgent came up for this afternoon.”
Senior Manager Kim's eyebrow twitched.
Suddenly asking to take an afternoon half-day leave without prior notice was bound to be incomprehensible by his standards.
“Huh-. You really do it all. Why? Did getting hit with a pay cut kill all your affection for the company? Going to a job interview or something?”
He had never been the type to watch his mouth to begin with, but since the 5,000-won incident, his verbal abuse had reached its peak.
“No, sir. If you say it is not possible, it is something I can go take care of tomorrow morning instead.”
He wouldn't block it.
Submitting leave requests in advance was merely for operational convenience, not a mandatory requirement.
And just as I told the bastard, if today didn't work, I could just go tomorrow.
“Tsk. Fine, leave it there and get lost. I can't stand the sight of you.”
Senior Manager Kim waved his hand dismissively and shooed me away.
This was fun.
I could feel my coworkers' pitying gazes behind my back, but I really couldn't have cared less.
[Reason for Leave : Claiming Prize Money]
I had wanted to write that, but I just wrote “Bank Visit” instead.
Only Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun needed to know that I had won the lottery.
I'd let him know by text message in a little while.
Would he be able to shout it out?
Like “The king has donkey ears”?
There was no way.
He was the kind of bastard who could never admit to anyone that the lottery ticket he had kicked away over a measly 5,000 won had won first prize.
Alright! Now, shall I go collect my money?
Barely holding back the laughter threatening to leak out, I stepped out of the office.
It was a real blessing that the back of my head didn't have facial expressions.
***
Returning to his seat while picking his teeth, Seok-hun glared irritably at Jin-hyeok's empty desk.
An inflexible personality.
Even knowing there was nothing he could do on his own terms, he was an unyielding bastard who refused to bend when it came to something he believed was right.
Incidents like Etoile Bakery weren't even the first time.
More than once or twice, Seok-hun had wanted to ship him off to another department, but when it came to work ability, he was top-notch.
That was the reason Seok-hun hadn't cast Jin-hyeok out.
Obedient yet incompetent employees were convenient, of course, but there were moments when a capable subordinate was an absolute necessity.
Any report he didn't like could just be shoved into a corner while he extracted only the information he needed.
“What made a guy who always gives at least a week's notice rush out like that?”
Seok-hun picked up the half-day leave request form he had pushed aside.
What is… this? Bank visit?
In a box where he could have simply written “Personal Reasons,” he had gone out of his way to write down a specific reason.
And then, a text message arrived.
-There were too many people around earlier for me to tell you, sir, but I am on my way to the Nonghyup Main Branch. After I claim the prize money, I will treat you to a meal.
Nonghyup Main Branch? Claiming… prize money? Don't tell me the lottery ticket I told him to buy…?
That thought crossed his mind for a fleeting second, but if that were true, Jin-hyeok wouldn't have even shown up for work today.
The bastard had been acting strange ever since the car accident.
Huffing and puffing while demanding 5,000 won had been strange, and meekly admitting fault at the disciplinary committee had been strange too.
Has this bastard really lost his mind….
Pausing just as he was about to stamp his approval, Seok-hun let out a scoffing laugh in disbelief.
It seemed the bastard still hadn't let it go and was trying to mess with him one more time.
‘Funny. Real funny. This bastard has completely lost his mind, hasn't he?’
Seok-hun picked up his smartphone.
‘He dares mock his superior? Wants to take this all the way, does he?’
Had the dial tone rung for about ten seconds?
At the automated message saying the call was being forwarded to voicemail, Seok-hun's brow crumpled like a sheet of paper.
‘Call declined? Look at this bastard?’
With irritation surging up inside him, Seok-hun kept trying to call as if to harass him, but the result was the same every time.
Right after, a text message arrived.
-I am currently claiming my prize money, so please call back later.
SLAM—!
It was a call-rejection message he had unmistakably typed out himself.
Now certain that Jin-hyeok was ignoring his calls on purpose, Seok-hun slammed his fist down on the desk in a fit of temper.
“Kang Jin-hyeok, has this bastard really lost his mind?!!!”
Paying no mind to the people watching around him, Seok-hun unleashed a nonstop barrage of curses.
The atmosphere in the Commercial District Analysis Team turned icy in an instant.
***
Having declined his calls one after another, I was driving down Gangbyeonbuk-ro in high spirits.
It was beautiful.
Even the cars crawling along in the first lane, and even the cars turning on their left blinkers while cutting into the right lane—everything was beautiful.
The sound of my phone ringing shattered my sweet reverie.
It wasn't Senior Manager Kim, but Assistant Manager Park Jong-il from the same team.
He was the team member I worked best with.
Even though I hadn't done much for him, he trusted and followed me to an almost excessive degree.
“Oh! Assistant Manager Park! What's up?”
-Manager, where are you right now? Senior Manager Kim is going berserk!
“Why? Did something happen? I took a half-day leave and left the office.”
-I do not know. He has been shouting your name and fuming for a while now.
Laughter came out on its own.
He must have exploded after seeing my text.
Just as I expected, it seemed he hadn't been able to tell a soul why.
“Why's he acting like that? Did his cousin win the lottery or something?”
-It does not seem like that, and he is shouting your name saying he will not let you off the hook. Why is he acting like that? Did something happen?
“Who knows? I wonder why.”
A brief silence flowed from the other end of the smartphone.
It seemed he had some idea of the reason behind the harassment that had gotten noticeably worse lately, but found it awkward to bring up out loud.
“Just leave Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun alone. He's been acting like that ever since I asked him for the five thousand won for the lottery ticket. I'm sorry about all this. The team members must be walking on eggshells for no reason because of me.”
-Phew, not at all. How is that your fault, Manager? You did the right thing. It felt so refreshing to watch, honestly! All the other team members probably feel the exact same way.
“Alright. See you when I get back.”
Seongun Group's biggest cuckoo bird.
Faster than the company intranet, Assistant Manager Park Jong-il's mouth would spread word all over the place that the reason Senior Manager Kim was furious was over 5,000 won.
I had no intention of announcing my lottery win to the company, but Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun would be driven to the brink of madness by the rumors Assistant Manager Park spread.
***
The VIP consultation room at the Seodaemun Nonghyup Main Branch.
I had heard that branch managers didn't personally attend to lottery winners like they used to in the old days, but it seemed this time was a bit different.
The branch manager's voice couldn't hide his excitement as he looked at the ten lottery slips.
It was my money anyway, so I didn't know why he was getting so worked up.
“After tax deductions, 13,779,387,515 won has been deposited in full into your account, sir. Congratulations.”
I opened my smartphone and checked the transaction details.
[NH Nonghyup, Deposit 13,779,387,515 won. Balance 13,720,862,500 won]
13.7 billion won. The negative balance that had maxed out my overdraft limit was gone, replaced by a number hard to even count at a single glance.
The money I could earn only by working a full year while enduring all sorts of humiliation from Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun was 50 million won.
Yet right now, money amounting to well over 200 times my annual salary had landed in my hands in a matter of seconds.
It meant I could live off this without working for 200 years.
It felt hollow. And at the same time, thrilling.
The sense of liberation gained after living as a slave to capitalism was truly overwhelming.
“We have an ultra-short-term deposit product newly released exclusively for VVIP clients, and the interest rate is very…….”
“No. I will not be signing up for any financial products.”
When I cut the branch manager off firmly, his hand, which had been reaching for a product brochure, froze in midair.
“I have other uses for it. Please just raise my transfer limit to the maximum. I have somewhere to send a large sum of money. Ah! The 862,500 won—could you withdraw that for me in cash?”
“Ah…… Understood. I will process that for you right away.”
Disappointment was written all over the branch manager's face, but seeing my resolute expression, he didn't press the matter any further.
I had no intention of making investments with an uncertain future.
It was one of the tests I had run while tossing and turning last night.
I had tried writing an entry saying I would buy more lottery tickets with the lottery prize money, and I had also tried writing an entry naming a specific company and saying I would go all-in on its stock.
The result was dead silence.
While it wasn't 100% certain, it seemed the diary app only reacted to things I would genuinely do in reality.
It was simply a shame that I had lived my whole life without ever trading stocks once.
“Here you go, sir.”
Less than a minute later, I was handed a plastic tray.
After counting everything down to the 500-won coin, I slipped the bills into a bank envelope.
It was a strange feeling.
The thick envelope warmed my heart even more than the bankbook showing 13.7 billion won.
If there hadn't been eyes watching, I would have lain right down on the floor and savored this happiness to the fullest.
“Excuse me… sir?”
Just as I had closed both eyes and immersed myself in bliss, the tactless branch manager interrupted my moment.
“Yes. What is it?”
“Before you leave, there is one very simple procedure remaining.”
“A procedure? All the money has already been deposited, though.”
“Haha, it is not a matter of the money. We ask first-prize winners to complete a brief survey for statistical purposes. It is a routine procedure.”
Smiling affably, the branch manager gestured toward a tablet PC.
On the screen was written the title: Lottery First-Prize Winner Survey.
I had seen this on the news before.
That survey where they asked winners what kind of dream they had, whether they picked automatic or manual, and so on.
I let out a light chuckle and sat back down in my seat.
“Go ahead and ask.”
“Yes, thank you! Then here is the first question. Were your winning numbers this time automatic or manual?”
He already knew the answer, yet he was asking anyway.
It seemed he was simply reading off the survey form as written.
I had taken the single automatic ticket Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun ordered me to buy and manually filled out ten more tickets with the exact same numbers.
And I had given one of them to my father.
Then answering like this would be right, wouldn't it?
Well, it didn't seem like an answer that needed to be strictly exact anyway.
“One automatic, nine manual. After buying one automatic ticket, I bought more with the exact same numbers.”
He must have been dying of curiosity as to why I had made such a bizarre choice.
However, the prompt written on the tablet stopped his mouth from asking.
“Ahem, next question. This is the most important one. By any chance, did you have a special dream before winning?”
“A dream?”
“Yes! People usually say they dream of their ancestors appearing, a herd of pigs rushing in, or their house catching fire….”
Curious about the secret himself, the branch manager leaned forward as he asked.
For a moment, I pictured Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun's face.
That red-and-blue face throwing my report and raging this morning.
And that voice barking away without rest.
“A dog dream. I had a dog dream.”
“Pardon? A dog… dream?”
The branch manager blinked as if flustered.
“Yes. I dreamed that a very vicious, noisy mad dog tucked its tail between its legs and ran away.”
“…Um, people usually say a dream where a dog barks is an unlucky omen…….”
“No. Not for me. Thanks to that dog barking away, I snapped wide awake and picked up the lottery slip that had fallen on the floor. Well, it was that kind of dream.”
The corners of my mouth curled up without my realizing it.
Even though there was no way the branch manager could understand what I meant, he laughed along awkwardly to match the mood.
“Haha… ah, I see. The dog… haha. It must have been the kind of dream where a dog brings wealth in its mouth. Hahaha. Then let me ask you the final question. How do you plan to use this massive prize money?”
There was no need to hide this either.
Because a winner's confidentiality was strictly maintained.
“I am going to buy a building.”
“A b-building?”
“Yes. I want to put up a commercial building.”
All the questions were finished, but the branch manager seemed to have lingering regrets.
“Oh, sir. Do you know how bad the real estate market is these days…. On top of that, there are tax issues, and managing it will be difficult, so even if you just put it into our safe deposit product and collect the interest….”
What nonsense.
South Korea's tax laws weren't that easygoing.
With 14 billion won, you could earn around 400 million won a year in interest, but once comprehensive financial income taxation was applied, 150 million of it would fly right out the window.
On the other hand, what if I put up a 10-story building?
Rental income alone would bring in 100 million won every single month.
And with that income, I could launch an even bigger business.
There was nothing to fear.
Because on top of the experience I had built up over the years, I had a diary app that prevented misfortune.
That meant there was no chance of me making a bad investment like he was worrying about.
“Branch Manager. I told you the dream I had was a dog dream, right?”
“Pardon? Ah… yes, you did. Why do you ask, though……?”
“Do you know the saying, ‘The train keeps moving even if the dogs bark’? No matter what others say, I decide my own path. Thank you for your help today. Even if I do not sign up for that product, I will always use this bank.”
The branch manager couldn't hold me back any longer.
He must have understood the hidden warning that if he kept pestering me, I would move my money to another bank.
“Ah… understood. If you ever experience any inconvenience, please call my direct line anytime…….”
“Keep up the good work.”
Leaving the branch manager's polite bow behind, I stepped out of the VIP room.
Right on cue, a phone call came in.
It was Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun, who sure had all sorts of ways to bark.
I briskly declined the call.
He must be dying of curiosity.
Wondering whether I had truly lost my mind, or whether I had actually won the lottery.
He would desperately want it to be the former, but what can you do?
My car was already heading toward a real estate agency in Mullae-dong.