Chapter 19. My First Hundred-Million-Won Bank Account
"Would you consider becoming my personal mercenary?"
Ariel's words instantly silenced the noisy Mercenary Guild.
Mercenaries holding drinks stopped.
People reading request sheets froze.
Even those collecting rewards at the counter stopped moving.
Dozens of eyes turned toward Do-yoon at once.
Do-yoon looked around briefly.
Then returned his gaze to Ariel.
"Your personal mercenary?"
"Yes."
Ariel nodded as naturally as though she had made an ordinary suggestion.
Her long blonde hair fell over her silver armor.
Her blue eyes shone beneath the Mana Stone lamps.
Almost no one inside the guild failed to recognize her as the young lady of the Estelle Duchy.
Becoming the personal mercenary of a great noble house was not ordinary employment.
Food, housing, and equipment could all be provided.
A personal mercenary could participate in requests ordinary mercenaries could not even approach.
Most importantly...
Simply being under the protection of a ducal house meant most nobles and merchant companies would hesitate to provoke you.
For a mercenary...
This was an opportunity that might come only once in a lifetime.
Ariel looked directly at Do-yoon.
"I have a fairly good eye for people."
"Do you?"
"You're interesting."
Do-yoon laughed without realizing it.
"I've never heard of someone hiring me because I'm interesting."
"I'll pay you too."
Do-yoon's smile stiffened slightly.
Ariel raised one finger.
"A salary."
A second finger.
"Bonuses too."
Before Do-yoon could answer...
Liana stepped forward.
"No."
Ariel blinked at the immediate refusal.
"Why?"
"Because he's one of ours."
"Since when?"
"..."
Liana fell silent.
Do-yoon also looked at her curiously.
This was the first time he had heard that he belonged to Liana.
She avoided his gaze.
Then forced herself to continue.
"Because we're working together."
Ariel looked between the two.
Then laughed quietly.
"I'm joking."
"..."
"I'm not here to force you to answer immediately."
"So you don't need to be that cautious."
She took a small metal token from inside her clothes.
The silver plate was smaller than her palm.
The Estelle family crest was engraved across it.
Faint mana flowed around the crest.
This was clearly more than decoration.
Ariel held it toward Do-yoon.
"If you change your mind, bring this to the ducal estate."
Do-yoon accepted the token.
Cold.
Heavy.
"If I show this, they'll let me inside?"
"At the very least, they won't throw you out at the gate."
Ariel smiled brightly.
"Then I'll see you again, Kim Do-yoon."
She offered no further explanation.
The moment she left with her attendants...
Noise slowly returned to the guild.
But the mercenaries continued staring at the silver token in Do-yoon's hand.
Do-yoon examined it.
Then asked Liana,
"Are nobles usually like that?"
Liana sighed deeply.
"No."
"Then?"
"She's weird."
"So high-ranking nobles don't normally personally recruit people?"
"Not merely uncommon."
"They usually send subordinates."
Liana frowned toward the entrance Ariel had left through.
"Especially someone from the Estelle Duchy."
"She has absolutely no reason to personally come looking for a rookie mercenary."
Do-yoon put the token away.
"Still doesn't sound like a bad offer."
"You know nothing until you hear the actual conditions."
Liana was firm.
"Money from nobles is never free."
"The more they pay..."
"The more dangerous the work they might demand."
Do-yoon nodded.
It was similar to Han Myeong-jae's proposal.
Good conditions always had a reason.
Signing a contract without understanding what the other person wanted and what you would have to surrender was dangerous.
Still...
Do-yoon had no intention of rejecting Ariel outright.
A connection with the Estelle Duchy could give him access not only to money...
But information.
Power.
Rare potions.
Mana Stones.
He did not need to decide immediately.
What mattered was that the choice belonged to him.
That night...
The first thing Do-yoon did after returning to reality was check his bank balance.
He locked his bedroom door.
Sat on the bed.
Then opened his banking application.
His fingers unconsciously tightened as he entered the password.
A moment later...
The balance appeared.
[100,347,822 won]
Do-yoon's hand stopped.
He blinked several times to make sure he was reading correctly.
One hundred million.
There was really more than one hundred million won in his account.
"Wow..."
That was all he could say after staring for a long time.
Only months ago...
He had debated whether he could afford a ten-thousand-won chicken meal.
Whenever he and his mother ordered food, he picked it up himself because the delivery fee felt wasteful.
Whenever he needed school supplies...
He worried that it might leave them short on living expenses.
He had been used to seeing less than one hundred thousand won in his account.
Now...
One hundred million.
Every time he counted the zeroes, a strange feeling came over him.
Happiness.
And anxiety.
Was this really his money?
Would it suddenly disappear one day?
Do-yoon refreshed the screen several times.
The balance did not change.
Then his bedroom door opened.
"Do-yoon, aren't you sleeping yet?"
His mother.
Do-yoon instinctively turned off his phone screen and slid it beside the blanket.
"Not yet."
His mother did not notice that he had hidden anything.
She went toward the kitchen.
Poured herself a glass of water.
Then looked toward Do-yoon's room.
"School okay?"
"Yeah."
"Nothing's happening lately?"
Do-yoon thought briefly.
Then nodded.
"I'm okay."
His mother's expression relaxed.
"What about friends?"
Do-yoon could not immediately answer.
The word friend had always felt unrelated to him.
He had always been alone at school.
Whenever someone approached...
His first thought was whether they intended to bully him.
He had never had anyone he could trust enough to share his feelings.
Now...
Things were slightly different.
There was Liana in the other world.
Han Seo-yeon at school.
He still did not know whether he could fully call either one a friend.
But at least...
He had people he could laugh and talk with.
"A few."
His mother smiled.
"That's good."
Such a simple sentence.
Yet Do-yoon's chest felt strangely warm.
It was different from the feeling he had when looking at one hundred million won.
Making money felt good.
But seeing his mother worry less...
Felt even better.
Do-yoon remembered why he wanted money.
Not simply because he wanted to become rich.
He wanted to leave this semi-basement.
He wanted his mother to live without worrying about money.
And he never again wanted to live a life where lacking money meant having no choices.
The next morning...
Do-yoon noticed an empty seat at the back of the classroom.
Park Tae-seong's.
"Absent?"
Han Seo-yeon heard him.
"Yeah."
"He's been missing school a lot lately."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"I heard things aren't going well at home."
Seo-yeon opened her book as though she did not care much.
Do-yoon did not ask anything else.
But he could guess.
The friends who had followed Tae-seong were gradually leaving.
Teachers could no longer act only according to his family's wishes.
His father's business relationship with the school was now being investigated.
It was becoming difficult for Tae-seong to wield power the way he once had.
Everything that had supported him...
Was collapsing at once.
Strangely...
Do-yoon did not feel satisfied.
Not long ago...
He had hated Tae-seong enough to wish him dead.
He had wanted the person who trampled him to suffer just as much.
Now...
