Round Two, I Plan to Monopolize Everything — Episode 5
Uhyeok pulled his hoodie down low and let out a long yawn as he stepped out the front door.
The bag filled with receipts from buying Toto felt reassuringly solid.
“Alright, shall we go collect?”
Uhyeok headed to a nearby Woori Bank branch.
If the prize exceeded 100,000 won, he had to claim it at a bank rather than the point of sale.
If the amount was 2 million won or less, and the odds were 100x or lower, there was no need to pay taxes or present identification.
That was why Uhyeok had combined only three matches.
“Congratulations. Would you like the prize of 1,153,000 won deposited into your account?”
“One million in cashier’s checks, please, and deposit the rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
Uhyeok spent the entire morning going from one bank branch to another across Seoul.
Thanks to that, his bag was now stuffed with stacks of cashier’s checks that smelled like nothing but happiness.
Beads of sweat dotted his face, but he didn’t even feel the heat.
*Should I use this money to move first? Or a car? Stocks?*
Uhyeok shook his head, setting aside such happy musings.
At this point in time, 50 million won was a fortune to him, but he couldn’t afford to be satisfied with just this.
He needed much more money to accomplish the goals he had set.
*The King of Moneylenders in Myeongdong. Would someone like him be enough?*
Geumsacheon, founder of Haewang Industries.
A legendary figure who had dominated the business world through sheer money lending.
In an era when Samsung’s annual revenue was 20 billion won, he had handled hundreds of billions per day, clearing up the clogged capital of corporations.
If he called at dawn, even Chairman Jeong Uyeong or Chairman I Yeongcheol would leap out of bed.
Yet many people degradingly labeled him a moneylender or loan shark rather than respecting him.
*Because to Koreans, money is a dirty thing.*
At this time, if you said you traded stocks, people would point fingers at you as a punk blinded by greed.
*But was he truly disrespected simply because he loved money?*
Uhyeok shook his head.
Having once been a major player in the underworld himself, he knew all too well how miserly people became in front of money.
*An ordinary person envies and resents someone with ten times their wealth, fears someone with a hundred times, becomes an errand boy for someone with a thousand times, and if someone has ten thousand times…*
They try to become a slave.
That was why, to Uhyeok, the King of Moneylenders had merely failed to amass enough cash to enslave everyone.
*Then how much money must I have? 1 trillion? 10 trillion?*
As his thoughts expanded, he realized how pathetic the 50 million won in his possession truly was.
*Don’t be satisfied. Desire and crave endlessly.*
By the time he finished visiting the very last bank, Uhyeok headed straight back to the Sports Toto shops without even a moment’s rest.
This time, too, the odds were set so that he wouldn’t have to pay taxes or show identification.
*A 100,000-won bet at 19.1 odds means 1.91 million each, and fifty times that makes the next collection 95.5 million won?*
Calculated as an hourly wage, even over half a day—twelve hours—it was 7.96 million won.
He almost regretted not memorizing lottery or Toto numbers before he died.
As he entered the last shop, a part-timer with hair grown shaggy down to his nose bowed in greeting.
“Welcome.”
Uhyeok bought his final 100,000-won worth of matches and looked around the shop.
In the corner, he spotted a computer set up for purchasing Toto online.
“Is the computer available?”
“Yes. But please make sure to log out after you purchase.”
Uhyeok sat down, registered on the site, and marked the win-draw-loss outcomes for the World Cup group stage qualifiers.
[Poland vs USA] Win
[Win 4.17 Draw 2.96 Loss 1.97]
[Portugal vs Korea] Loss
[Win 1.96 Draw 3.18 Loss 4.06]
[USA vs Portugal] Win
[Win 7.67 Draw 4.30 Loss 1.40]
[Costa Rica vs Turkey] Draw
[Win 4.18 Draw 3.02 Loss 1.88]
[Denmark vs France] Win
[Win 6.72 Draw 3.86 Loss 1.53]
[France vs Senegal] Loss
[Win 1.32 Draw 4.38 Loss 8.97]
[Ecuador vs Croatia] Win
[Win 5.96 Draw 3.68 Loss 1.58]
[Mexico vs Italy] Draw
[Win 6.09 Draw 3.53 Loss 1.55]
[Italy vs Croatia] Loss
[Win 1.60 Draw 3.53 Loss 5.98]
[Croatia vs Mexico] Loss
[Win 2.34 Draw 2.93 Loss 3.35]
[Odds: 9,963,067x]
They looked like random picks, but each single bet was below the maximum payout limit of 100 million won.
If he bought one ticket at the minimum bet of 100 won, the prize would be about 99.63 million won.
If he bought 50 tickets up to the maximum purchase limit of 50,000 won…
*The prize would be 49,815,336,900 won.*
Of course, he would have to deduct 22% in taxes from each, so the actual amount entering Uhyeok’s account would be…
*38,855,962,782 won.*
It was a staggering fortune of 38.8 billion won.
A greater amount than the jackpot of a typical lottery.
*The records I remember with certainty only go up to the 2002 World Cup. I have to squeeze out every drop.*
Uhyeok made the purchase fifty times at 100 won each.
At the continuous clicking of the mouse, the part-timer watching from afar glanced over.
“…You bought 100,000 won worth last time too, and this time as well. You’re an incredible moth to the flame.”
“You remember me?”
“Yes. Usually no one buys that hot-bloodedly. Even if they do, they split it across multiple scenarios.”
Uhyeok answered with a nod.
Perhaps bored, the part-timer kept talking.
“You should change your picks even now. Odds aren’t just numbers—they factor in player conditions too. At a glance, your bets are completely wrong.”
“We’ll know whether they’re wrong or not when the results come out.”
The part-timer snickered at Uhyeok’s confidence.
“Ah, I’m not laughing at you. I used to bet only on underdogs too. They all snapped in the end, though.”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“If I may offer some advice, Toto is ultimately about probability and prediction. It’s better to stick to the favorites and mix in underdogs sparingly.”
He scanned the ten matches Uhyeok had selected and shook his head vehemently.
“Looking at your picks, you have Senegal and Denmark beating France, and the USA and Korea beating Portugal. This… is something that could only happen in a parallel world.”
“A parallel world?”
“Yes. In short, it’s absurd. France has Zidane, who won the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Senegal and Denmark absolutely cannot beat France.”
Unfortunately, that “absolutely” was about to snap clean in half.
Whether he knew that inward thought or not, the part-timer argued even more passionately.
“And common sense says if you bet 100 won… a payout close to 100 million won is impossible. In short, you’re throwing your money away.”
“Throwing it away? But if it hits, it’s a jackpot.”
“True. If it hits.”
Uhyeok finished paying for the last match and logged out.
Then he stood up, grabbed a Coke from the fridge, and placed a 10,000-won bill on the counter.
“Hope sometimes comes like a lie, like a bluff. The rest is a tip.”
“…Um, the drink is 500 won.”
Uhyeok left the shop after those words.
To the part-timer, intentional or not, it was no different from seeing the winning lottery numbers.
*Whether I believe it or not is my own luck.*
Fshhh—
The Coke was incredibly refreshing, enough to wash away the blazing heat.
* * *
Jaehyeon stared blankly at the door Uhyeok had left through.
The hourly wage he earned here was a mere 2,000 won.
He envied the man who had casually left 10,000 won as a tip.
“Hope comes like a bluff?”
Jaehyeon shook his head at those words.
There had been a time when he wanted to believe that, but not anymore.
After hope had been shattered time and again, what remained was a wall of reality as cold as ice.
Bzzt—
He sighed at the number that appeared on his vibrating phone screen.
—This is Seongsim Hospital. Is this Mr. Gu Jaehyeon? We’re calling regarding your overdue medical bill.
“…Yes. I’ll make sure to deposit it by the end of this week.”
—You said the same thing last time. If you’re late again, we’ll have no choice but to arrange for discharge.
“…I’m sorry. I’ll pay by the end of this week for certain.”
—*Sigh*. I’m asking you as a favor.
The moment he hung up, the first thing that appeared was his mother smiling brightly on his phone wallpaper.
Perhaps because she had lost his father early and raised him alone through such hardship?
She had recently received a kidney transplant, and most of their savings had been spent on hospital bills.
It had been all the tuition money he had saved up for college.
“It’s still a while until I get my paycheck… Should I get a refund on my academy fees?”
He had given up on college long ago, ever since his mother collapsed.
“College can wait until later. Mom’s health comes first.”
The moment he made that resolve, why did the words Uhyeok had left behind resurface?
*Hope sometimes comes like a lie, like a bluff.*
“….”
Jaehyeon pulled out a blank Toto sheet and recorded the win-draw-loss outcomes exactly as Uhyeok had picked.
“If it’s just 100 won, it wouldn’t be bad to pour it into a vain hope either.”
Clink—
The sound of a 100-won coin falling from his pocket onto the counter.
Afterward, Jaehyeon completely forgot about it.
* * *
Uhyeok stopped by home and organized the crisp cashier’s checks first.
There were five bundles of 100,000-won checks, each bundle containing a hundred.
Counting them took quite some time, but he felt not the slightest bit tired.
Uhyeok took ten of them and stored the rest in a plastic bag inside the refrigerator.
*No thief would break into a dump like this and bother opening the fridge.*
And the place he headed to was the Gangnam Daeseong Academy where he had seen Huiyeon.
Since he had decided to study again, he planned to properly enroll in an academy.
The woman at the front desk spotted Uhyeok and stood up.
“Hello. What brings you here?”
“I’d like to register for classes.”
“Please come this way.”
The academy was already bustling with students.
Uhyeok looked around, half-hoping to run into Huiyeon, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He entered a small room, and soon a counselor stepped in.
“You brought your transcript, right? Shall we talk while I take a look?”
“No. I came to register today.”
“Register first? We need to know your basic level to place you in the right class.”
The counselor looked him up and down as if gauging him.
“The most basic class will do. I’ve been out of touch with studying for quite a while.”
“You still look young, so what does it matter? Please fill this out first.”
While he was filling out the personal information form, the counselor brought a worksheet of basic problems.
“It’s only been a year since you graduated. Usually, students work for a year before enrolling here. In fact, they tend to work harder. Could you try solving these?”
*It’s not been one year for me, but thirty.*
Uhyeok smiled inwardly and solved the problems.
The result was 35 out of 100.
Most of those points came from lucky guesses.
The counselor looked down at the worksheet for a moment, then asked with an awkward smile.
“…Uh. Do you have a target university in mind?”
Uhyeok answered powerfully.
“Hanguk University. The Department of Political Science.”