Chapter 11

I Became the Loan Shark Queen’s Grandson!

Chapter 11

Jo Sun-ja’s private lending office.

Kim Dong-su sat calmly across from me.

Several thick bundles of cash were neatly stacked on the table.

“...Settle the accounts?”

Kim Dong-su blinked and stared at me.

“After paying off all the principal and interest, and subtracting the funeral expenses, you have fifteen million won left. I also deducted one hundred thousand won per day for three days as payment for the company employees who helped.”

I slowly pushed the calculation sheet toward him.

The numbers written on the paper looked even clearer.

Nothing in this world was free.

I had never worked for free either.

Anyway, Kim Dong-su had now “died” once, cleared all his debts, and still had fifteen million won left.

That meant he had escaped from debt and could finally move toward the light.

I quietly watched him and nodded.

“There’s really fifteen million won left?”

Kim Dong-su asked again with a shocked expression.

His voice still sounded like he couldn’t believe it.

“You must’ve treated people well during your time as a corrections officer. Surprisingly, most of the mourners were former convicts.”

I smiled and continued.

“They were still people before they were criminals. I just treated them like people.”

Kim Dong-su emphasized the last part.

His hand rested quietly on the table.

“I see. Either way, I ended up gaining quite a few new connections. Hahaha.”

Those mourners would remember me as Kim Dong-su’s son from now on.

It wasn’t legal or official.

But relationships weren’t built only through paperwork.

And...

Quite a few corrections officers had come too.

Some of them knew I was acting as the chief mourner and still said nothing.

That meant they accepted me.

Someone said prisons could make money.

Two ex-convicts at the funeral had said that.

At the time, it sounded like a joke.

But the words stayed in my head.

Correctional facilities.

Rehabilitation programs.

Managing released prisoners.

If the private sector ever handled those systems, could it really become profitable?

The more I thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

But if I acted on that thought in the wrong way, it would become a crime.

That was a line.

A line I shouldn’t cross.

You don’t become a chaebol by chasing pocket change.

I lightly tapped the table with my finger.

For now, I had no intention of crossing that line.

I was confident I could make more money than almost anyone else.

If I truly wanted to, becoming the richest person in the world according to Forbes wasn’t just a fantasy.

Even just buying Nvidia...

That alone would be incredible.

Realistic goals flashed through my mind.

It was 1996.

Within ten years, Apple would release the iPhone.

The iPhone would change the world, and Apple would eventually become a trillion-dollar company.

Buying Apple stock once I have enough money wouldn’t be bad either.

The more I thought about it, the more investment opportunities I could see.

Of course, Bitcoin was the ultimate answer.

If I quietly accumulated it from the very beginning, the result would be completely different.

I knew what was coming before anyone else.

And I had the chance to prepare before anyone else.

I reminded myself once again.

I had to move before everyone else.

“Anyway, now that you’re free from debt, you’re finally standing in the light.”

Kim Dong-su pressed his lips together.

He stayed silent for a while before slowly nodding.

Then he nodded again.

“Yes. I should. I will.”

His eyes showed his determination to begin a new life.

It looked like he had finally organized something deep inside himself.

There was a heavy resolve in his expression.

Come to think of it, he’s my first customer.

Everyone had a use.

Even ex-convicts.

Some of the people who came to the funeral would probably cross paths with me again someday.

Even the two punks outside the office.

They had value too.

And they would become even more useful later.

“Mr. Kim Dong-su, would you like to work with me?”

I carefully made the offer.

The atmosphere inside the office subtly changed.

“Me?”

Kim Dong-su looked at me in surprise.

“Yes. Let’s work together.”

I repeated it clearly.

Manager Park also looked between us with a surprised expression.

Kim Dong-su was clearly shocked by my offer.

He stared at me silently.

Manager Park looked equally surprised.

At that moment, Jo Sun-ja, who had stepped out for a while, returned to the office.

The way she looked at me was clearly different from a few days ago.

Or maybe not?

Jo Sun-ja had said from the beginning that she would give me work whether or not we were related by blood.

But people’s feelings were rarely that simple.

Damn. I got excited for nothing.

It felt like fifty billion won had entered my hands and then disappeared.

It hadn’t even been confirmed as mine, yet I already felt disappointed.

I must have gotten greedy.

“Manager Park, did everything wrap up properly?”

Jo Sun-ja asked after seeing Kim Dong-su sitting in front of me.

“Yes. He repaid all the principal and interest.”

“Impressive. Kang Taesan is impressive. Hohoho!”

A few days later.

The private lending office.

“Hyungnim, we handed out all two thousand flyers again today.”

I lightly nodded.

I had adapted quickly to the private lending business.

“My hands are seriously numb. It was windy today too. A few almost blew into the road.”

“They blew away?”

“No. I still handed out every single one.”

The guy who worked deliveries with a metal food box reported naturally as he passed through the entrance.

He still held a stack of flyers damp with sweat.

Exhaustion clung to his breathing.

Another guy soon came over, panting.

“Hyungnim, I put flyers up in every alley while making deliveries.”

“Every alley?”

“Yes. Some lady threw a fit and told me not to put them up.”

“So?”

“I pretended not to hear her and put them all up anyway. If there’s a problem, tell her to come to me.”

He looked exhausted, but his voice was still strong.

The tout standing beside him wiped sweat from his cheek and approached.

“Hyung, the karaoke bar is doing well these days.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They’re getting a lot of group reservations from office workers.”

I smiled lightly.

“The owner said business improved because of you and asked me to thank you.”

He rolled up his sleeves and whispered proudly.

I nodded and acknowledged him.

Information about the local nightlife district was now reaching my ears in real time.

Soon, a runner from the illegal gambling house approached and reported quietly.

“Hyung, President Kang tried to run to the Philippines, but Manager Park’s men caught him.”

“The Philippines?”

“Yes. President Kang is still managing the gambling house.”

“President Kang?”

“Yes, Hyungnim.”

There was a strange mixture of relief and tension on his face.

Gambling house work was always dangerous.

But under my control, major accidents were less likely.

I quietly reviewed the situation.

It was only then that I fully realized how far my reach had extended.

Even the very bottom of the private lending organization was now connected to me.

Information.

Money.

Connections.

Everything in this neighborhood was slowly moving under my control.

There was no reason to pretend to be kind.

And no reason to feel unnecessary guilt.

Then there was Uncle Kim Dong-su.

I had deliberately brought him into my circle.

He had once been a corrections officer.

Thanks to that, he had connections to all kinds of criminals and access to real-world information.

Through him, even the human relationships inside and outside prison were beginning to fall into my hands.

Criminals still had their uses depending on the situation.

I accepted that.

I had no interest in earning the title of “good guy.”

In this world, that kind of title would only trip me up.

At that moment, I instinctively turned toward the low sound of dress shoes in the hallway.

I already knew someone was coming.

The footsteps stopped outside the door.

A quiet moment passed.

The office door slowly opened.

Kim Dong-su, who had become my uncle, entered.

A woman I didn’t recognize carefully followed beside him.

At first glance, she looked Vietnamese.

She kept her eyes lowered and walked with her shoulders slightly hunched.

Her skin was fair.

Her features were distinct.

The punks beside me immediately stared at her.

Their mouths even opened slightly as they watched her in a daze.

Kim Dong-su’s expression hardened when he noticed.

His brows furrowed in irritation.

I gave a short sigh and waved at the guys.

“Don’t you have work to do? Get out and go work.”

They finally snapped out of it and hurried outside.

Kim Dong-su’s stiff expression relaxed slightly.

He walked toward me.

As usual, he spoke politely.

“Taesan, do you have a moment?”

I nodded.

The office became quiet again.

“If you have something to say, go ahead.”

I sat down and glanced naturally toward the woman beside him.

She stood with both hands clasped together as if holding her breath.

Her eyes cautiously peeked toward my face before dropping back to the floor.

The moment I looked at her, my uncle gently explained.

“This is Lin.”

“Ms. Lin?”

“Yes. She came from Vietnam.”

“Vietnam?”

“Yes. Her Korean is still poor.”

My uncle spoke carefully and gently.

Then he added,

“She entered Korea through marriage, but she has a separate husband.”

“A separate husband?”

“Yes. I don’t want you to misunderstand.”

After speaking, Uncle Kim Dong-su gave Lin a slight smile.

A brief silence passed.

Lin raised her head and met my eyes.

She let out a small breath and cautiously greeted me.

“...Hello. Lin. Vietnam person...”

She even struggled with a simple greeting.

Her Korean really was almost nonexistent.

The awkward Korean relaxed some of the tension in the room.

There was caution and anxiety in her voice and body language.

But also a faint courage.

I took in her hands, shoulders, and even their slight trembling.

I nodded casually and observed her expression and behavior one more time.

Then I gave her only a light smile.

With that face and atmosphere, she definitely has potential value.

In this world, usefulness came before emotion.

The moment I saw her, my mind had already started calculating how she could fit into something profitable.

That kind of thinking had already become a habit.

Whenever I met someone, I unconsciously analyzed what role they could play inside my system.

Lin was no exception.

After the 2020s...

The nightlife industry would change completely.

Foreign women would become more popular than Korean women.

Especially Vietnamese and Chinese women.

Russian and Uzbek dancers would also come to Korea and make the nightlife scene even hotter.

Karaoke bars and drinking establishments would eventually become multinational.

The person who moved ahead of a trend made the money.

In my mind, I could almost hear foreign languages spreading through the alleys of neighborhoods like this.

Places once dismissed as backward would one day become filled with foreigners.

Even looking at neighborhoods in the future, you often heard Vietnamese or Chinese before Korean.

A cold formula naturally came to mind.

The one who opens the game first wins in the end.

The moment I looked at Lin, an idea flashed through my head.