After rampaging around like a madman for a good while, I finally managed to regain my senses.
Panting heavily, I collapsed back into my chair.
Every pair of eyes in the PC café was still fixed on me.
The students engrossed in Sudden Attack, the middle-aged men trading Lineage items—everyone had stopped what they were doing, staring at me with expressions that clearly said, Has that guy finally lost it?
I didn't care.
Right now, my entire world existed inside this small monitor.
Jin-woo was still standing there, completely dumbfounded, alternating his gaze between me and the HTS screen.
With a voice trembling somewhere between shock and reverence, he asked,
"Hey… you seriously… what the hell are you?"
"What do you think?" I replied, forcing myself to sound calm. "I just… got lucky."
But my heart was still pounding out of control, and the hand gripping the mouse trembled ever so slightly.
"Lucky? You call this luck? You were bawling your eyes out in the park just a while ago! Saying it was all over! So how the hell did this happen? Don't tell me you ride a jakdu or something."
"Yeah, tell me about it. I don't really get it either. I just… had a feeling."
I shrugged.
I neither wanted to explain, nor could I.
Jin-woo clearly didn't buy my ridiculous excuse, but he didn't press the issue further. Instead, he pointed at the numbers on the screen.
"So… how much did it go up? I don't really know stocks."
"Upper limit."
"Huh? What's that?"
"It means it hit the maximum it's allowed to rise in a single day. Fifteen percent."
Back in 2007, the daily upper and lower limits were ±15%.
"Only fifteen percent? That's it? I thought it doubled or tripled or something."
Jin-woo looked oddly disappointed.
I snorted and turned the screen so he could see my account valuation.
"Look at this."
Including the margin amount, my total assets had grown from 11.5 million won to around 13 million won.
One day.1.5 million won.
That was the kind of money a thirty-one-year-old me would've had to break his back working an entire month to earn.
"Whoa…"
A low gasp escaped Jin-woo's lips.
He rubbed his eyes and leaned closer to the screen.
"Wait—so you're telling me… you held on through all that drama yesterday because you believed this would happen?"
"Yeah."
"You're insane… no, you're a straight-up lunatic."
Jin-woo clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"And this… you made this in a single day?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"This is just the beginning."
I turned my gaze back to the HTS screen.
3:00 p.m.
The regular trading session ended, and all the numbers froze in place.
I already knew what those numbers would look like tomorrow morning.
Today's announcement was only the opening act.
Starting tomorrow, Daeyoung Tech would go into consecutive limit-up opens—days where it would open straight at the upper limit and not even trade.
I smiled faintly, picturing that intoxicating future.
My second life was finally raising the curtain on its miracle.
"What do you mean, beginning? Don't tell me you're not selling this."
Jin-woo stared at me in horror.
"Hey, Park Cheol-min. Get a grip. One and a half million won in a single day is huge. You sell now and lock in the profit! Get greedy and you'll lose everything!"
His reaction was perfectly normal.
Eighteen years ago, I would've thought exactly the same.
No—I probably wouldn't even have had the guts to ride a limit-up. I would've sold the moment it went up ten percent, hands shaking.
But I was different now.
I knew exactly where this stock's ceiling was.
"No. I'm not selling."
"What?! Are you out of your mind? Why?! Give me one good reason!"
"Because… it's going higher."
"Your 'feeling' again? That damn feeling?"
Jin-woo grabbed his hair in frustration.
For the first time, I smiled at him with a hint of mischief.
"Yeah. A feeling. Why—want to trust it once?"
"…."
"Don't regret it later."
My confidence left him speechless.
He looked back and forth between me and the HTS screen, then finally shook his head as if surrendering completely.
"Fine, fine. It's your money—do whatever you want. But if you lose it all and come crying to me later, you're dead."
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
I closed the HTS window and clicked the PC usage end button.
There was no reason to stay in this dim place anymore.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"To celebrate. Drinks are on me today."
At that, Jin-woo's face lit up.
"Oh! Seriously? Then let's eat something expensive! Beef! Hanwoo!"
"Deal."
I answered without hesitation.
The money wasn't in my hands yet—but it might as well have been.
We stepped out of the PC café and back into the streets of Sillim.
The same streets where I had been wandering in despair just hours ago.
But now, everything looked different.
The gray world had turned vivid and colorful.
People passing by all looked happy. Even the noisy chaos felt like upbeat music.
So this was the power of money.
The realization sent a bitter yet electrifying thrill through my body.
"Hey… you really are something else," Jin-woo said seriously as we walked.
"What?"
"Your mental strength. It's unreal. If it were me, I would've sold yesterday—or cut my losses this morning. But you held through everything and came out on top."
"…."
"You're not just some guy who dances for fun. You're gonna become something big."
I didn't respond.
Instead, I looked up at the sky.
The sky of 2007 was far bluer and clearer than the one in 2025.
Staring at it, I made a quiet vow.
Yeah. I will become something big. Big enough that no one can ignore me.
My second life—
was only just beginning.
The place we went to was a hanwoo specialty restaurant near Sillim Station—one that looked fairly upscale at a glance.
If it had been me eighteen years ago, I might've splurged on pork ribs on payday at best. A place like this? I wouldn't have even dared to step inside.
As soon as we entered, the rich aroma of grilled meat greeted us, along with a clean, tasteful interior. Under the soft lighting, the partitioned seating made it perfect for quiet conversation.
We were guided to a table by the window and sat down.
"What do you want to eat? Order the most expensive thing. The one at the very top of the menu."
As I handed him the menu, Jinwoo's eyes widened as he scanned through it.
"Ya, this is over 30,000 won per serving. Are you crazy? Let's just go eat samgyeopsal."
"It's fine. Today's on me, right? If not now, when are we ever going to eat something like this?"
At my firm response, Jinwoo stopped protesting and shouted excitedly instead.
"Imo! Two servings of chuck flap tail and two servings of ribeye, please! And one bottle of soju!"
It was an insane amount of food for two thirty-one-year-old men, but I simply nodded without saying a word.
At least for today, I wanted to eat without worrying about money.
A short while later, a brazier filled with glowing red charcoal arrived, followed by beef so beautifully marbled it was practically art.
"Whoa… damn. Just look at that color."
Jinwoo let out a rustic exclamation of awe.
I picked up the tongs and placed the best cut—the chuck flap tail—onto the grill.
Chiiiiiik—
The sound of the meat cooking was more beautiful than any music in the world. The savory aroma rose with the smoke, tickling my nose.
We downed our first shots of soju and brought a piece of perfectly cooked meat, lightly dipped in salt, to our mouths.
"..."
Melt-in-your-mouth was a phrase made for moments like this.
The rich juices wrapped around my tongue, spreading throughout my mouth. It was so tender it disappeared without needing to be chewed.
"Ya… this is seriously good. So this is what beef is."
Jinwoo said, his voice full of emotion.
"Eat up. Today's on me."
We grilled meat and refilled our glasses in silence, over and over.
After a few drinks, Jinwoo asked in a slightly more serious tone.
"But Cheolmin-ah, what are you really planning to do from now on?"
"Not sure. For now… I'm thinking of growing as much money as I can with this stock."
"And after that?"
"After that…"
I fell into thought for a moment.
The coming crash.
I planned to use that opportunity to completely change my life.
Not just to make money—but to rise to a position where I could control the flow of this world with my own hands.
But I couldn't share such massive ambition with a friend I'd only just reunited with.
I forced a smile and replied,
"Well, I'll think about it after making money first. A modest dream, you know—being a rich unemployed guy."
At my words, Jinwoo let out a small chuckle.
"Let me dream that dream with you. When you really become rich someday, hire me as your driver or something. I'm damn good at driving."
"What driver? You'll be sitting next to me, eating beef together. Every day."
Jinwoo stared at me for a moment, then his face softened with genuine emotion.
"Ya… you're really… a cool guy. Don't forget that promise."
"Yeah. Watch closely whether I forget it or not."
We clinked our glasses once more.
Outside the window, night had fully fallen. The streets of Sillim were beginning to glow with neon lights.
And within that darkness, I could see my shining future.
By the time the third bottle of soju was emptied, we were already thoroughly drunk.
With a flushed face, Jinwoo went on and on bragging about his sons.
"My oldest already knows how to read Hangul. I'm telling you, he's a total genius. A genius."
I listened with a smile to his doting father talk.
It overlapped with a memory of my past self—back when Seoyoon first called me 'Dad', and I'd gone around the entire neighborhood bragging about it.
After rambling on for a while, Jinwoo suddenly spoke with a hint of envy.
"Ya… I'm really jealous of you."
"Of what?"
"Just… everything. You've got nothing but open sky ahead of you now. Me? I've got to watch my wife's mood, earn money for the kids' formula. I can't even dream of gambling my life like you are."
His voice carried both the responsibility of being a breadwinner and resignation toward reality.
I lightly patted his shoulder.
"Ya, you've got something way greater than I do."
"What?"
"Family. That's something you can't buy with money, man."
At my words, Jinwoo fell silent for a moment.
He emptied his soju glass, then smiled wryly.
"That's true. My wife nags a lot, but she wouldn't survive without me. Haha."
We drank on—envying what the other lacked, and finding comfort in what the other had.
As the meal was coming to an end, I stood up to pay the bill.
Well over 100,000 won.
An amount equal to my monthly allowance eighteen years ago.
I didn't hesitate for even a second as I handed over my card.
Seeing that, Jinwoo's eyes widened once more.
"Ya… you really…"
"What?"
"No, just… you really look like a rich guy now."
I didn't reply—just smiled.
After leaving the restaurant, we walked together for a bit in the cool night air.
"I should head home now. If I'm late, my wife will seriously kill me."
"Yeah. Get home safe."
"Mm. You too. See you next Saturday at Bugiwugi. And don't lose all your money by then."
Cracking jokes till the very end, Jinwoo flagged down a taxi and disappeared into the night.
Left alone, I stood there for a moment, looking at the night street.
A pleasant buzz of alcohol wrapped around my body.
Hands in my pockets, I slowly headed toward my tiny studio apartment.
By tomorrow morning, Daeyoung Tech would hit limit-up again.
And the day after that. And the day after that.
In just a few days, I'd be holding money in the hundreds of millions for the first time in my life.
What would I do with it?
First things first—I needed to get out of that cramped studio.
And then…
I had to begin preparing to jump into the futures market.
My real hunt hadn't even begun yet.
With a faint smile, I walked into the darkness.
My steps were lighter—and more full of hope—than ever before.