Chapter Title: I Became a Chaebol Family's Scumbag
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After eliminating my Drug Addiction, I bought a house in Songdo through the app.
It was a three-story mansion with about 500 pyeong of land and a 150-pyeong building footprint per floor, costing a whopping 16 billion won.
Of course, I paid with Goryeo Entertainment's capital.
Considering Goryeo Entertainment's capital was 100 billion won, that was a massive 16% of it!
Even then, it was a bargain because it was a distressed sale—the previous owner, the one before, and the one before that had all died one after another, tanking the price.
'Turns out it was just coincidence.'
It was a property that would eventually skyrocket several times over, so buying it at this premium was still a steal.
I had the cops deliver the drugs and other items from the underground warehouse to my new house, then headed to my next destination with Im Soo-ah.
The initial tasks were:
1. Get a secretary.
2. Acquire the female protagonist.
3. Kill the male protagonist.
4. Secure facilities for developing and manufacturing RK-99.
That boiled down to four major ones.
Number one was no big deal.
If things went well, it could tie into number two, and if not, I could just contact Goryeo Prestige to hire one.
Or scout Im Soo-ah outright. She struck me as the type who'd come running if the pay was right.
So first up was number two.
This game had two protagonists.
Even if you started as a woman, the male protagonist lived on somewhere, and if you started as a man, the female protagonist did.
They gradually wielded greater influence.
So with me possessing Go Moo-yeol now, it was safe to assume both the female and male protagonists were alive simultaneously.
The female protagonist, Seo A-ram, had a seriously bleak backstory.
Her mother battled a rare disease, struggling until she couldn't afford it and had to sell her body.
Then in the summer of '77, her mother died, kicking off the main story.
Today was August 25, '76, so she hadn't reached the selling-herself stage yet. She was probably agonizing over debt collectors, though.
My goal was to pay off her debts, treat her mom, and win Seo A-ram's loyalty in return.
Bonus if I could use her as a secretary too.
The male protagonist? Just kill him.
No upside to keeping him around.
As for RK-99, it was a room-temperature superconductor.
During gameplay, you could rarely obtain a highly encrypted manufacturing recipe, decode it through collaborations with various companies, and get the vaguely written RK-99 recipe.
Roughly like this:
1. Roast lead or copper at 110~190 degrees for 12~24 hours.
2. Roast copper or lead at 190~250 degrees for 24~48 hours.
3. Mix the roasted lead and copper in a 'certain ratio' and roast again for 24~48 hours.
Of course, that wasn't all—dozens of steps, each with wildly varying temperature, time, and ratio ranges, requiring massive trial and error to find the optimal points.
Hence the need for many people and companies collaborating.
Once you nailed the optimal points, you'd birth a dream material that revolutionized every industry worldwide.
But I didn't need collaborations. I already knew the perfect recipe and optimal points.
"Where... are we?"
We arrived at the hospital where Seo A-ram's mom was admitted.
"Did you get hurt somewhere?"
"No. I have someone to see."
***
"This month's total is 17.32 million won. Sign here, please."
"Se-seventeen... million?"
"Yes. Just sign right here."
Seo A-ram signed with a trembling hand.
Normally, the payment would transfer to the hospital instantly, but unfortunately, she had no balance left.
"...I'm sorry. It says insufficient funds. Do you have another payment method?"
"Ah.... Ju-just a moment... please."
She stepped away from the counter.
'Ha.... Money.... I need money so bad....'
She worked all day, then evenings for a side gig, night shifts from midnight to 4 a.m., snatched a quick nap at home, and was back at work by 8.
This hellish routine had dragged on for two years already.
And still, no money.
Her debts just kept piling up.
No matter how optimistically she looked at it, no solution was in sight.
If she didn't pay the hospital bills, her mom would die.
With shaking hands, she pulled out her phone.
The contact was her current loan shark.
- How much.
The shark rattled off the amount like clockwork.
Seo A-ram's small lips trembled a few times before she named her figure.
"Seven hundred... no, eight hundred."
- Eight hundred? You sure?
"..."
Loan sharks charged advance interest.
They deducted interest upfront, so at 10%, a 10 million loan gave you only 9 million.
And that wasn't all—the interest still accrued separately.
This shark's terms: 15% advance, 10% monthly.
120% over a year, compounded. Insane.
She needed about 7 million won right now.
Factoring in advance interest, 700 or 800 was nowhere near enough.
Plus, hospital bills weren't everything— she needed living expenses too.
In the end, A-ram called out a thousand.
- You look beat. Why not just close your eyes and decide? I told you, you'd sell like hotcakes.
"..."
Normally, she'd coldly refuse and hang up.
Take the money, pay the hospital, head back to work.
But....
She was exhausted.
The shark's bullshit promises started sounding tempting.
'With your face and figure, you could make a grand a day. I'll hook you up with a high-pay opi spot. Minimum 60 per session there.'
'No, for real. Have you been getting scammed your whole life? I'll take an intro fee since I'm referring you.'
'The world's not that easy. Work your ass off forever—will the debt ever clear?'
'You're gonna end up in this life anyway.'
"...Mom."
She hung up, checked the 8.5 million transfer and IOU from the shark, and choked back sobs.
The hardest part right now was starting to resent the mom she loved so much.
"Haa...."
After sobbing internally for a while, she headed back to the counter.
The staff had seen this before and didn't comment on A-ram's reddened face.
They just silently handed over the bill.
As A-ram went to sign, someone suddenly snatched it away.
"Yep. Seo A-ram."
***
I'd just arrived and got lucky spotting Seo A-ram.
"Huh? A-are you the guardian?"
"Wh-who are you?!"
"Who am I? Me?"
She asked with eyes still red from crying.
As expected of a protagonist, she had a strikingly pretty face.
Too much of a waste for her to sell her body. I needed to groom her and keep her all to myself.
"Your master."
"Huh?"
I signed the bill and tossed it to the staff like trash.
The clerk, glancing between me and Im Soo-ah, hurriedly took it.
"P-payment processed...!"
"Depending on how you play it, I could free you from this shitty yoke. What do you say?"
"..."
A-ram blankly stared at me and the bill.
She hadn't fully grasped the situation yet.
I asked the clerk who'd taken the bill.
"How much was that? The total."
"Ah, yes. 17.32 million won—"
"If I'm dropping that much, I deserve a few minutes to talk, right? Come down to the lobby. Wash your face, fix your makeup, show up with a clean look."
"Ah, um...!"
I left those words and headed for the elevator.
From behind, Seo A-ram shouted, "Thank you!!"
Already thanking me, like she knew what price she'd pay.
She hadn't even begun haggling yet.
Im Soo-ah, who'd watched it all, hurried after me.
"You know her?"
"Nope. Someone I'm about to get to know."
"Oh my. So a total stranger.... You just burned 17 million on a guy like that? Well, for a young master like you, that's pocket change, huh?"
Chattering beside me as we walked, she spotted the elevator and dashed ahead to hit the button.
"Or maybe... for that kind of use?"
"?"
When I tilted my head, Im Soo-ah made a lewd gesture with a sly grin.
Left thumb and index forming a circle hole, right index poking through.
"Looks like the type guys go crazy for."
"That coming from a cop?"
"What's wrong with it? In this day and age."
Ding.
Even in the elevator, Im Soo-ah kept talking.
"Even inside the police, higher-ups have one or two girlfriends—no big deal. Hell, not just girlfriends—they flaunt slaves outright. Y'know, Incheon has tons of people off the grid, no records or anything."
"End times. If cops are like that."
"No one's working for justice these days. Especially not in our proud demon realm of Incheon! All the righteous ones croaked long ago. Only the types who overlook injustice unless there's money or merit survive."
"Impressive. Brushing off evil like that."
Usually, people ranting about this showed disappointment or bitterness toward their organization, but she didn't.
She shrugged.
"Isn't that the way of the world? Survival of the fittest. In a city like this, playing hero every time gets you sunk in the ocean."
"And you?"
"Me? You can see for yourself, right? Hehe."
She glanced at me with a feigned shy smile.
The vixen seemed to be seducing me.
Whether she meant to or my lust was flaring up, I couldn't tell.
"I'm already your young master's.... Ah, too forward? Sorry—,"
"How about this, then?"
I reached out.
Stroked her police skirt—basically an H-line—then grabbed her ass hard.
"!!"
"When faced with injustice like this, how will our Im Soo-ah team leader respond?"