After resting for about a day, Clan Leader I Danbi returned to work.
At a meal with her clan members, she heard about what had happened outside while she was climbing the tower.
Following the highest-grade healing potion, the appearance of highest-grade disease treatment and highest-grade regeneration potions on the global auction house,
one of America’s top S-rank Admitties, Joshua Evans, suddenly naturalizing, then neither joining any clan nor climbing the tower afterward, his whereabouts unknown.
The sudden release of thousands of mid-grade disease treatment potions.
Not a single one of them was ordinary news.
As expected, what I Danbi thought of was the seller of Star Light.
No matter how much she tried not to connect them, the turning point of this situation could be none other than that person.
The time after the meal, drinking tea and chatting freely,
a conversation between two people at the corner of the table caught her ear.
“Hey, do you think some kind of Potion King-class Admittie appeared or something?”
“Potion King? Where’d you get that. So cheesy, heh.”
“But think about it. Highest-grade healing, disease treatment, regeneration—they were things we didn’t even know existed before. And this time, the sudden mass release of mid-grade healing potions is definitely the same person.”
“I’m sure everyone thinks that much. Haa, whoever they are, they must have made an absolute killing.”
“How much do you think they made?”
“During the last disease treatment potion auction, I watched even though I didn’t see it through to the end.”
“Oh, really? How much did it sell for?”
“It was in the hundred-millions of points.”
“*Gasp*... So you’re saying it was in the trillions, then.”
“Right. And that was just the disease treatment ones. Before that, highest-grade healing, after that, regeneration, and this time mid-grade... if you add them all up, who knows how much it is. Whew...”
“Must be nice... But what do they even do with that much money?”
“Who knows.”
A clan member listening to the story shrugged and said,
“Can’t say for sure, but if it’s someone who can keep earning that much, money probably doesn’t hold much meaning anymore, right?”
Hearing this, I Danbi felt as though lightning had struck her head.
Money probably didn’t hold much meaning anymore.
That was it.
Why hadn’t she thought of this?
The satisfaction money provided had clear limits.
It would be difficult for their Sanarae Clan to offer financially favorable conditions to someone who could earn money to that degree.
He could probably buy this entire clan in one go with the money he had;
what conditions could her clan possibly offer to recruit him?
She had agonized for a long time with a desperate desire to obtain this special S-rank Admittie,
but her approach had been wrong from the start.
Her eyes snapped open.
‘Good treatment won’t work... I need a different approach.’
A newly awakened, newborn S-rank Admittie.
Unlike all the other S-ranks, the only person whose S-rank awakening was not publicly known.
She had thought it was strange from the beginning.
It was a sense of incongruity that not only she but already many people held.
Though there was no officially revealed correlation between him and the items newly appearing on the Ontower Auction House,
I Danbi was certain.
‘A change this massive has never happened before. The timing fits too perfectly. It can’t be anyone but... that person.’
The man named Jeong Suho. She had already figured out who he was.
The Administration knew, the Ontower Auction House knew, and Manage knew—how could the major clans not find out?
She had tried to recruit him, offering whatever conditions and treatment she could promise, but truthfully, seeing the items listed on the auction house had completely deflated her, and she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do it.
What treatment could she possibly offer to someone who could earn trillions whenever they set their mind to it?
But when she looked in a different direction, a path appeared.
‘That’s right... it’s not money.’
What was important to him might not be money.
*Bang.*
The clan leader, Frost Sword I Danbi, sprang up, pushing off the table.
Everyone who had been chatting looked at her.
“Call an executive meeting immediately. I have something to say.”
* * *
Suho heard his younger sister Suji’s story and went to find his second brother, Jiho.
After not coming home for a while, Jiho entered the house after several days with a haggard face, and Suho immediately followed him inside.
“Uh,.. Hyung.”
“Hey, Jeong Jiho. Let’s talk.”
Suho said straightforwardly as he sat in the chair of Jiho’s room.
“Uh... I-I’m a bit tired... Can’t we do it later?”
As expected, Suji’s story hadn’t been empty words; something seemed to be wrong.
A face that had grown noticeably gaunt. Disheveled hair. A strong smell of alcohol.
“What’ve you been up to lately? Your Witube content hasn’t been uploading either. You had set up a new studio and were filming videos.”
“Ah... the subscribers weren’t really picking up... so I was, trying something different...”
“Something different?”
“Yeah...”
Jiho couldn’t meet Suho’s eyes and averted his gaze this way and that.
Gambling addiction was indeed terrifying.
Excitement and dopamine, the illusion of control that made one think they had almost won,
escape from reality, growing numb to long-term losses...
All sorts of elements interacted to cause gambling addiction.
A serious mental health problem already well-known.
Those lost in gambling, under the illusion that they could win big, bet more and more money, unable to get thoughts of gambling out of their heads all day long.
But they inevitably lost large sums, losses piled up, and debts grew.
Eventually those debts swelled like a snowball, dealing a severe blow to the household, ultimately the family collapsing, becoming isolated from all relationships and even life ending...
How many such examples there had been.
Human desire that knew no satisfaction,
that desire of unknown depths could easily lead a person’s life to ruin and beyond.
But then, Suho suddenly grew curious.
Was human desire that knew no satisfaction deeper, or was Cheonyangwon greater?
Suho called out to Jiho in a gentle, tender voice.
“Jiho, how much did you spend?”
Jiho’s eyes widened and he floundered.
“Huh...? What? W-what are you talking about?”
“The casino. You spent a lot there, didn’t you? I’m asking how much.”
“Ha...... did you hear from Suji...?”
“Is that important?”
“......I didn’t spend much. It’s my mess, and I’ll take care of it myself.”
“Really? How are you going to solve it?”
“Somehow...”
Jiho frowned.
“You spent all ten billion I gave you, and you borrowed from Suji too—if you borrowed from Suji, you must have borrowed from elsewhere too. How much did you borrow?”
Since Jiho squeezed his eyes shut and clamped his mouth shut, Suho spoke again in a gentle voice as if soothing him.
“Jiho, I’m not saying this to scold you or lecture you. I’m trying to help.”
“I-I don’t need help. I told you I can handle it myself.”
Jiho’s voice grew sharper.
“No, not the kind of help to get you out of the casino. I’m saying I’ll help you enjoy gambling more. You need money to keep playing, don’t you?”
Only then did Jiho raise his head. His wavering eyes were fixed on Suho.
And eyes opened wide.
“What...? Hyung, are you giv... giving me money?”
“Yeah.”
“H-how much...?”
“How much do you need? That’s why I’m asking. Be honest with me. That way I can back you up properly. First, how much is the total you borrowed from outside, not counting Suji?”
“Fo... forty...”
“Yeah, forty trillion?”
“N-no! It’s four billion... what do you mean trillion...”
“Where are your androids? They didn’t come with you.”
“...They’re collateral for now...”
“Aha, so they got seized because you borrowed money?”
Jiho hung his head deeply again, and Suho smiled gently.
“So this time you’re going to win for sure, recover the several billions you lost, pay back Suji’s one billion, pay back the four billion you borrowed outside, get your security androids back? That’s the plan, right?”
“Yeah... I’ve got a feel for it now... This time for sure...!”
“How was it?”
“W... what?”
“Gambling. How was it? Was it fun?”
To Jiho, who was frowning again, Suho spoke softly once more.
“Ah, I’m not interrogating you. Sorry if it sounded that way. I’m purely asking if it was really fun. These days, nothing is truly fun for me... so life isn’t fun either. That’s why I’m asking.”
Jiho looked at Suho blankly.
What on earth was this hyung talking about?
Jiho couldn’t grasp his hyung’s intentions at all—whether he was trying to mock him, criticize him, or if it was truly pure curiosity.
“Great!”
When Suho sprang up from his seat, Jiho looked up at him blankly.
Suho looked around Jiho’s room here and there, then clapped his hands with a sharp *clap*!
“Hmm... Here, this spot looks good. Jiho, let’s clear away the little things on the floor here.”
“Uh.. uh-huh?”
Jiho’s fairly spacious room was a mess, having not been organized for a long time. Suho pointed to a corner of the room and said to clear away the fallen items on the floor, then began moving busily.
Not knowing what was going on, Jiho was also led by Suho to clear away the scattered household items on the floor.
Suho, trying to clear most of the room’s space for whatever he was trying to do.
After a while, the wide room floor was revealed.
“Okay.”
As Suho gazed at one corner of Jiho’s room,
*Fwoooooosh-*
A pallet filled with 50,000-won bills appeared.
“Huuuup!”
Jiho was so startled he fell over. Fortunately, there was a bed behind him, so he ended up sitting on it.
Suho manifested not just one but a whopping four pallets of wrapped cash, each worth 2.5 billion won.
Jiho’s room became almost too cramped to step foot in.
“Suho, this is a hundred billion. A hundred billion. I want to give you more, but the space here is too cramped. Use this for now, and if it’s not enough, tell me again. I’ll keep giving you more.”
“Uh... uh... uhh...?”
Jiho stammered, unable to find anything to say, like a lagging computer.
“As I said earlier, go all out. Pay off all your debts with this, get your androids back, win as much money as you want. Buy whatever you want. Hell, just buy the entire casino. If you need money, I’ll keep giving you more by the trillions.”
“Uhh... uhh...”
To Jiho, who was still in a zombie-like state, Suho spoke as though driving in a nail.
“But promise me just one thing. Go all out, and if it’s still really fun after that, recommend it to me too.”
“Uh... uhh...?”
Suho lightly patted Jiho’s shoulder and spoke as he left the room.
“Ah, right, take my android, Minsu, with you. It’s dangerous to go around alone after all. Minsu is pretty useful.”
Only then did Jiho regain his senses and barely open his moving lips.
“Th... th-thanks, Hyung.”
“No need for thanks.”
“But, Hyu... Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Why... aren’t you... spending money? You have so much... and you’re an Admittie, yet you’re still working at an agency... why...?”
Suho, about to leave the room, turned back and pinched Jiho’s cheeks.
The guy was only a few years younger but for some reason looked cute today.
Because of that, he spoke with sincerity.
“You rascal, you should be grateful when you have something fun. Right now, this is more fun for me. That’s all.”
With a face that said he couldn’t understand the meaning, Jiho simply stared blankly at Suho.
Truthfully, Suho wasn’t without his own thoughts.
He had looked into it.
There were already many treatment facilities for gambling addiction, and related information was widely available.
But existing treatment methods had clear limitations.
First, the person in question had to recognize the problem and have the voluntary will to receive help.
Only afterward were methods like professional consultation, treatment plans, family therapy, group counseling, medication therapy... introduced comprehensively,
and this required the active help of family members and a lot of time.
And it didn’t end there—after treatment too, they had to help them have healthy activities to replace the interest in gambling, like stress management, healthy lifestyle habits, new hobbies...
Anyway, a long and lengthy process was necessary.
If the person didn’t want treatment,
there were also methods to intervene legally, control finances, block access to the environment, and force admission to professional treatment facilities, but
that was another difficult process in its own right.
So the extreme method Suho prescribed was,
the so-called “Jeong Suho Method — Therapeutic Emptiness through Abundance.”
The core appeal of gambling lay in the excitement from uncertainty, in the psychological mechanism of that interest and addiction,
destroying that psychological reward structure in one blow.
Making monetary gains and losses completely meaningless,
making the tension of winning and losing disappear,
and deleting the sense of accomplishment when succeeding,
or the thrill and pleasure that came from risk-taking.
Using only endlessly poured-out money.
Until gambling itself looked like a child’s game of make-believe played with fake money.
Even then, would gambling still be thrilling and fun?
Would desire win, or would money win?
Suho was genuinely curious.