4. The Hunting Man on the Beach (1)
The exams were more or less over.
From Monday to Thursday, I’d taken a total of seven exams. Except for Statics, I had to rely on an occult belief—praying or hoping that I’d made a good impression on the professors—but anyway, the exams were over.
And then Friday.
I was seriously looking over the lottery amounts.
The last jackpot was 1.5 billion. How much tax gets taken out?
Over 300 million, it’s 33%. *Sigh*, they really nick a lot. Then it’d be a little over 1 billion. Yeah, good.
I decided.
The first-place lottery prize is a little over 1 billion after taxes. On average, that is.
So if I made a wish to obtain about 1 billion in money or assets by tomorrow, I’d almost certainly win the lottery. Because there’d be no other way!
Good. Very good.
There was one last thing to check.
‘Hey, watch.’
[Yes, speak.]
Hmm, but calling it “watch” all the time felt a bit off. I had a lot to ask, and it seemed to have a personality too.
‘Do you have a name, by any chance?’
The watch paused briefly before answering.
[Yes. My name is Hadin.]
Ah, so you do… I was a bit rude.
‘Yeah, okay. Then, Hadin, you always only answered when I asked. Is that a rule?’
[No. I simply did so until now.]
‘Then from now on, speak up when you have something to say, or when there’s something good to tell me. Got it?’
[Understood.]
Good. Ah, right.
‘You said you’d reveal your identity when the rank or whatever of your soul reaches 300, right? The rank goes up a lot when a difficult wish is fulfilled?’
[Yes, that is correct.]
‘Good, then here’s my wish.’
[Speak anything.]
‘Give me something worth 1 billion or more by midnight tomorrow night. And that includes the condition that this wealth must carry no danger whatsoever.’
I slowly recited the prepared lines as if acting.
It was a wish I’d agonized over and thought through many times. If the wish was fulfilled exactly like this, there’d be no way other than the lottery.
Even if there were another way, it was just one day. Thinking back to that Statics exam, even if the price I paid were doubled, 1 billion would be more than enough.
Past me would probably curse me a bit, but eventually, even that cursing version of me would thank me.
O future me, forgive me for a moment!
[Tomorrow night, exactly until April 20th, 24:00, may I accept the wish as acquiring 1 billion in cash or equivalent wealth with no danger whatsoever?]
‘Yes!’
[Understood. Calculating probability. — The current probability of Master acquiring 1 billion by tomorrow at midnight is 0.000000001%. For reference, probabilities lower than this are not displayed.]
Well, it’s saying the probability is basically zero. I expected that.
[Adjusting probability — Paused at 0.001% probability — Adjusting spacetime — Complete. The probability of Master acquiring 1 billion by midnight tomorrow has now risen to 1.112%.]
‘Good. But what was that spacetime adjustment in the middle?’
[Please wait a moment. Spacetime adjustment requires a brief period of time.]
And then, I felt something similar to what I’d experienced when Recycling.
* * *
Suddenly, the surrounding terrain changed. Not only that, but countless people and loud noises assaulted me like an ambush.
“Where is this?”
What was meant to be a question to Hadin in my mind involuntarily slipped out of my mouth. I couldn’t adjust to the scene that had suddenly appeared before my eyes.
A vast ocean and a white sand beach teeming with people. Sunlight that was scorching rather than warm.
It was a beach. The kind where everyone except me was enjoying an exciting vacation.
[This is Haeundae, Busan, Republic of Korea. Do you wish to know the exact latitude and longitude?]
‘No, it’s fine. More importantly, the weather is summer right now, isn’t it? What happened?’
[We manipulated spacetime to increase the probability. This is Haeundae Beach on July 21, 2017.]
Haeundae in July 2017?
I’d experienced time travel before, so I accepted it. Space too, well, it was nothing compared to time manipulation. Yeah, it was possible. I just hadn’t thought of it.
‘Hadin, the point in time when I acquire the 1 billion is still April 20, 2018, right?’
[That is correct.]
‘Ah, wait. Then do I really have to spend half a year here?’
My body trembled in terror. That was truly something that must not happen.
[No. I cannot tell you any more than that. However, it will absolutely not take that long.]
Whew… thank goodness.
My strength drained out of my body as I plopped down on the steps near Haeundae Beach.
The sunlight was too harsh.
Somehow, sensing the atmosphere, it felt like achieving the wish might take a while, so I decided to take it slowly and leisurely at first.
I’d get the feeling of being on a trip, enjoy a summer vacation in spring (?), and so on.
But something felt off.
An emptiness, as if something was missing.
‘What is it.’
After pondering for a while, I got thirsty and went to a nearby cafe to order coffee, only to realize what was missing.
My wallet wasn’t in my pocket.
I didn’t have a single penny.
Not even a common thousand-won bill. No coins, and of course no cards.
Literally a penniless beggar.
I grumbled as I slipped out of the cafe. It wasn’t like I’d starve to death, but the reality of not having a single penny hit me with more mental pressure than I’d expected.
‘Damn it.’
I spaced out briefly, but barely came to my senses and left the cafe.
‘Hadin.’
[What is it?]
‘If the probability changes, you can tell me right away, right?’
[Yes, of course.]
‘Tell me immediately, even if it changes by 0.01%.’
[Understood.]
Good, rapid resolution. I don’t want to go hungry.
First, I walked around the beach.
Thinking about the amount of 1 billion, I’d steeled myself for roughly a hundred Recycles. Not that I’d enjoy those hundred Recycles with a smile.
The goal was to finish quickly somehow and enjoy a happy, wealthy college life.
To do that, the first thing I needed was reconnaissance.
As I walked around, Hadin would recite the probability changes. I roamed the beach with that purpose.
There were no notable probability changes for a while, but soon I had to think about resting. Why?
‘It’s too hot.’
Walking around the beach for dozens of minutes in spring clothes, my whole body was drenched in sweat. Besides, everyone around me wore clothes for playing in the water.
I stood out way too much.
My sweat-soaked T-shirt was unsightly, and my cotton pants were cumbersome. The only saving grace was that the slippers I wore weren’t uncomfortable.
‘Isn’t there anywhere to get clothes?’
After looking around for a while, I found a pair of Nike shorts carelessly discarded in the corner of the sand. Soaked in seawater and clearly worn by someone else before being thrown away, they still seemed better in many ways than the cotton pants I was wearing.
Pushing through the bustling crowd, I reached the shore, roughly rinsed the shorts in seawater, then tried to change in the shower room. But lo and behold, using the shower room cost a whopping 1,500 won.
‘What do I do about this.’
To be in trouble because I didn’t have 1,500 won. Except for when I was an elementary school kid, this was the first time.
While worrying about what to do, I took off my top, placed it in a corner of the sand, and went into the water.
The shallows were swarming with people. There were so many, it wouldn’t be strange to think of it as a bathhouse.
Going a bit deeper until the water reached my neck, I could put some distance between them and me.
‘This should be enough.’
I looked around once and changed my pants in the water.
After quickly swapping the cumbersome cotton pants for shorts, my mind felt much lighter.
[Probability has risen by 0.32% to 1.43%.]
What? Why?
Even after thinking for a moment, I couldn’t tell the reason, but it was a good start.
Taking it as a good flow and feeling comfortable, I came back out onto the beach, looking reasonably like a vacationer.
Short shorts and slippers, and no shirt.
I wasn’t muscular or sleek, so I felt a bit unsightly, but it wasn’t exactly an awkward appearance.
Looking at the flashy vacationers around me, the thought that I was in the middle of fulfilling a wish disappeared, and my mood lifted.
Then came more good news.
[It has become 1.52%.]
I was momentarily dumbfounded but accepted it positively. I just didn’t know anymore. This time, I’d enjoy the sea comfortably.
With that mindset, I enjoyed the vacation.
* * *
“Ah, I had fun.”
It was already past 5 PM. All I’d done during that time was splash around in the ocean with clumsy swimming motions or lie flat on the sand to bake.
I hadn’t brought sunscreen, so my whole body was roasted red.
The day was getting chilly, so I changed into the cotton pants and T-shirt I’d left drying in the sun.
They were slightly musty and smelled of various things, but it was far better than being cold.
I was a bit hungry, but I’d skillfully scavenged food and snacks left behind by vacationers, like a seagull snatching shrimp crackers, so I wasn’t severely hungry.
Not cold, not hungry, and in a good mood. And better than that, the probability was already approaching 5%.
4.82%.
The probability that I would obtain 1 billion.
If you calculated it as expected value, didn’t that mean I’d already earned 48.2 million won?
Hope bloomed that this time, I wouldn’t have to suffer like last time. Maybe last time was an especially difficult case.
It could be because it was the first time, or because I’d met the wrong professor. Maybe it had been a difficult wish.
‘It’s going well.’
Meanwhile, the people around me were changing over. Most of those who had been playing in the water had disappeared, replaced by young men and women drinking and attempting what is called “hunting.”
They still seemed rare, but here and there, a few groups caught the eye. Men dressed unnaturally formally for the beach, or groups of women with heavy makeup.
‘Hmm… what do I do.’
To reiterate at this point, I have zero experience with women. You might misunderstand, but it’s not ‘that’ kind of experience.
I graduated from an all-boys middle school and high school, and I attend the mechanical engineering department, which prides itself on competing for the top spot in male ratio. I haven’t gone to the military yet, but I’m soon going and then returning to the mechanical engineering department teeming with men.
In short, since growing up, I’ve never dealt with a woman my age. Beyond awkward or burdensome, I was unfamiliar with it to the point of fear.
Yeah, that was the most accurate expression.
Women are scary.
So I naturally started to leave the beach. Soon the sun would set, and then the young men and women sizing each other up would show something similar to jungle competition.
I wanted to avoid getting caught in between them.
Then I had to get out.
Looking for somewhere to kill time as I was leaving the shore, Hadin warned.
[The probability has dropped. It is 3.45%.]
‘Why?’
[It has dropped further. It is 3.12%.]
The farther I got from the shore, the more the probability of fulfilling the wish dropped proportionally.
‘Ah.’
A sigh escaped me.
A rough picture formed in my head. I’d somehow hit on a woman at the shore. And that would probably be the starting point.
I hated it, but that scene wouldn’t leave my head.
Gulp.
My throat was parched. I was so nervous my mouth went dry; my heart felt like it was pounding.
Finally, as a test, I moved a bit farther from the shore.
[It is 2.76%.]
Aah, I get it.
I steeled my resolve. What’s so scary about a little hunting.
It should be better than sitting at a desk studying for exams all day.
…Probably, right?