Chapter 1: I Made 1 Billion Won
"Ah, you damn gold-farming bastard!"
I slammed my keyboard and shouted.
Gold farming.
It referred to players who made a living by selling items and currency from online games for real money.
It was also used as an insult.
I typed exactly what I'd shouted into the chat.
Because of that gold farmer, we had failed the raid and timed out.
·
Gold farmer? Look who's talking, lol. Your Combat Power is only 1,050.
·
Combat Power: 1,050.
It wasn't extremely high.
But it wasn't low either.
At the very least, mine was higher than that bastard's.
I furiously typed back.
·
You're not even at 1,000, asshole. At least I have a Unique weapon. What's your damage?
·
·
35 billion. You?
·
"Thirty-five billion? Bullshit."
My damage was only 25 billion even with a Unique weapon.
And this guy, whose Combat Power was only 980, claimed he did 35 billion?
Impossible.
·
Bullsh...
·
·
LMAO. Judging by that reaction, you don't even hit 30 billion, do you? Wanna compare screenshots?
·
·
Sure. Post it. If your damage really is 35 billion, I'll give you 100,000 gold.
·
·
Screenshot taken. Better have that 100,000 gold ready. If you run away, prepare to become famous on the Incident Board, lol.
·
The Incident Board was where all sorts of infamous troublemakers became celebrities.
Well, not celebrities.
Infamous celebrities.
A moment later, the other guy took a screenshot of his damage and sent it to me through DM.
"...It really is 35 billion."
·
Hand over my 100,000 gold, you fake-veteran bastard LMAOOOOO.
·
"Fake veteran" referred to someone who pretended to be an experienced player despite not knowing what they were doing.
"Yeah, yeah. Good for you, bastard."
[CoolHyunwoo has left the game.]
"One hundred thousand gold is worth twenty thousand won in real money. Why would I waste that?"
Obviously, I had been lying when I said I'd give him 100,000 gold.
My precious gold!
I had sold every unnecessary item, spent the bare minimum on upgrading my character, and painstakingly gathered every single coin.
I'll probably become famous on the Incident Board again.
Whatever.
I could just change my nickname.
Whistling, I listed the one million gold I'd saved in my inventory on an item-trading website.
[Web Message]
[KakaoBank]
3333-01-987654
Deposit Amount: ₩200,000
Sender: ItemMan
"Whew. At least I can pay today's rent with this."
I sighed in relief.
But thinking about my precious money disappearing into rent immediately made my stomach hurt again.
Choi Hyunwoo.
A high-school graduate.
Unemployed.
A man in his twenties who survived by farming online games for real money.
That was me.
I threw myself onto my bed and muttered.
"...I want life to be easy."
Would the heavens grant my wish?
Some people would probably call me pathetic.
But so what?
There really were people in this world who lived life on easy mode without anyone noticing.
The children of powerful politicians and business tycoons.
People lucky enough to be born with extraordinary talent.
And...
"Hunters!"
[Proud S-rank Hunter of the Republic of Korea, Yoo Seorin! Returns in triumph after clearing the 75th Floor, "Hall of Hell"!]
[A-rank Hunter Kim Hansik: "I only drive a compact car. We should avoid excessive spending and think about the environment."]
Every day, the internet news was covered with stories about Hunters.
Hunters.
Ever since the "Tower" appeared on Earth, they had been praised as heroes and earned anywhere from hundreds of millions to hundreds of billions of won every year.
To become a Hunter, you first had to "Awaken."
Had they done anything to become Hunters?
No.
Had they passed some incredibly difficult exam?
No.
Then what was the requirement for becoming a Hunter?
"Luck."
Exactly.
Luck!
No one had ever discovered any conditions for Awakening.
One day, it simply happened.
As a joke, people often said that Awakening meant being "chosen by heaven."
Because of this damned luck, I was stuck at the bottom of society, farming gold in online games.
Meanwhile, other people became rich overnight.
Of course!
Some people would say my miserable life was my own fault.
But compared to them, wasn't it still true that I was hopelessly unlucky?
"Life is fucking unfair."
Some people would probably tell me this.
Study hard.
Work delivery gigs.
Do something with your life.
Maybe I wouldn't become rich, but at least I could live like a proper human being.
But!
"I don't want to do hard work..."
Rather than desperately struggle to make money, I'd prefer being looked down on while tightening my belt and living an easy, peaceful life.
No.
My true feelings were...
"I want to become rich easily..."
Was that wish pathetic?
I didn't think so.
Like I said earlier, some people actually lived that kind of life.
Were their lives pathetic?
Of course not.
Their lives were probably incredibly luxurious.
They probably drove supercars through Gangnam every day and ate steaks in Cheongdam-dong.
All while receiving everyone's jealous and envious stares.
And then...
[Congratulations.]
[You have Awakened as "Gate Keeper (EX)."]
It seemed that kind of luck had finally come to me too.
"Oh... Oooooooooh!"
Anyone who Awakened as a Hunter became able to see a Status Window.
I'd heard that everyone's Status Window looked different.
That was because it only showed information that particular Hunter needed.
For example, mine looked like this.
[Choi Hyunwoo's Status Window]
[Ability: Gate Keeper (EX)]
[Description: You can open or close any Gate you desire. Gather Followers to develop your ability.]
[Current Followers: 0]
But...
"EX-rank?"
I pinched my cheek.
It hurt.
I had never heard of an EX-rank ability existing anywhere in the world.
And there was something even stranger.
I'm not entering Gates?
Actual Hunters climbed the Tower, hunted monsters, and earned money.
Stories about Gates opening somewhere on Earth, connecting to other worlds filled with monsters...
Those only happened in web novels.
I'll understand once I use the ability.
But how did I use it?
Hunter abilities had different activation conditions depending on the individual.
Some used mana.
Some required special sacrifices.
Others even required money.
There were all kinds.
I'd heard that if mana was required, a mana stat would appear on the Status Window.
While I was thinking about it, additional messages appeared.
[Gather Followers to develop your ability.]
[The current maximum Gate rank you can open or close is F.]
[As a reward for Awakening your ability, you will receive Gate Open Tickets from E-rank through EX-rank.]
[As a reward for Awakening your ability, you will receive Gate Close Tickets from E-rank through EX-rank.]
And there was another important fact.
Forget EX-rank.
Not a single Gate had ever opened in this world before.
"How do I use my ability?"
[Specify a time and location in any manner, then decide what kind of Gate you wish to open or close.]
A system message appeared as if answering my question.
I didn't know if the system was normally this helpful.
Hunters were reluctant to reveal their abilities, and the government tightly controlled information about them.
"Can it be any kind of Gate?"
[Possible, provided the conditions given by the user can be satisfied.]
At that moment, an incredible idea entered my mind.
"An F-rank Gate leading to a warehouse filled with gold and treasures... No, bundles of cash."
High-ranking Gates sounded scary.
[Searching for conditions matching the user's request...]
[Search complete.]
[Opening "Chairman of S Company's Slush Fund Gate (F)."]
Vwoooong!
A bright cluster of light erupted before my eyes.
But calling it a "Slush Fund Gate" made it sound like the name of some major scandal.
It suddenly felt like I'd opened something I really shouldn't have.
Flash!
Before long, a tall, egg-shaped portal appeared in midair.
Just in case something dangerous was waiting inside, I threw a pen through it.
Nothing happened.
Looks safe.
Having gained confidence, I immediately threw myself through the portal.
Tiptoe, tiptoe.
The inside of the Gate was dark.
It also felt a little damp.
The ceiling was so low that I had to bend my back.
"Let's see..."
I turned on my smartphone flashlight and shone it around.
And then...
"Gasp."
Bundles of golden paper filled the tiny space, which was barely three square meters.
Who was the greatest person in Korean history?
King Sejong.
And whose face was printed on the bills above his denomination?
Shin Saimdang.
My face immediately hardened.
Because...
"These evil bastards... How dare they bury Lady Shin Saimdang, one of the greatest figures in five thousand years of Korean history, in such a dark and gloomy place!"
This was unforgivable.
Such a precious person deserved to be moved somewhere warm and sunny as soon as possible.
With the spirit of the Korean people burning in my chest, I quickly, but solemnly, embraced bundles of Shin Saimdang bills and threw them through the Gate into my room.
"Please endure just a little longer. I'll rescue you."
Sweat poured down my body because of the strange tension.
But I wasn't tired at all.
As a proud descendant of the Korean people, how could I possibly complain that rescuing a great Korean historical figure was difficult?
Eventually, every bundle of Shin Saimdang had been moved into my room.
Then I noticed the pen I'd thrown earlier.
My fingerprints would be on it.
I picked it up.
I also erased my footprints.
I'd watched plenty of detective cartoons as a kid where a child pretended to be an adult, so I knew the basics of what to be careful about.
After returning to my room, I pointed at the Gate.
"Get rid of this again."
[Closing "Chairman of S Company's Slush Fund Gate (F)."]
[Consumed "F-rank Gate Close Ticket."]
With that, the perfect crime was complete.
"No. This isn't a crime."
I had rescued Teacher Shin Saimdang from a stale prison that didn't receive a single ray of sunlight.
The only people who would criticize someone for rescuing a Korean historical figure from prison would be foreign invaders.
Therefore, anyone who criticized me was an enemy invader.
"Exactly!"
Anyway, after calming my pounding heart, I roughly counted the bundles.
There were two hundred.
Judging from their thickness, each bundle seemed to contain one hundred bills.
Then the total was...
"O-One billion!"
Only after everything was finished did I truly realize what I'd done.
The old me wouldn't even have dreamed of possessing this much money.
It was literally enough to make someone shout in shock.
"How am I supposed to spend all of this?"
Just thinking about it made my heart drop.
My hands started trembling.
This is terrifying...!
My entire body shook.
Shake, shake, shake, shake.
