Chapter 13: I Became a Boss
Hunter Lee Jinho was the one who signed the contract.
I was simply receiving the compensation I was legally owed.
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Then I'll transfer the 76.5 billion later.
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"Okay. Thank you."
I ended the call.
"Seventy-six point five billion won..."
I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
That makes 77.5 billion total now.
One billion plus 76.5 billion.
77.5 billion won in total.
"What should I do with this money?"
Spend it on the game?
Buy a house?
A car?
Whenever you're struggling with a difficult decision...
Play games first.
I turned on my computer.
When people had problems, they needed to cool their heads.
Ding!
[Web Message]
[KakaoBank]
3333-01-987654
Deposit Amount: 76,500,000,000 KRW
Sender: Friends Capital
"Oh..."
I checked my balance.
[Balance: 76,500,000,000 won]
Exactly 76.5 billion won!
"Khh...!"
Just looking at the number made my hands shake.
Shake, shake, shake, shake!
"Seventy-six point five billion won..."
My grin reached my ears.
I took a screenshot of the balance and made it my phone wallpaper.
What should I do now?
I had asked myself the same question when I first got one billion won.
But with 76.5 billion, the weight of the problem was different.
With one billion, the question had been:
How do I spend it?
Now it was:
How do I spend it without getting arrested?
The National Tax Service.
Just thinking about them made my spine cold.
76.5 billion won had appeared in my bank account overnight.
And the source was "Friends Capital."
From the National Tax Service's point of view?
I'd look suspicious as hell.
Of course I would.
If 76.5 billion suddenly appeared in the account of an unemployed man, it would be strange if nobody found it suspicious.
What if I explain it as profit from transferring a debt claim?
That made sense.
I had the contract with Hunter Lee Jinho.
I also had settlement documents from Friend at Friends Capital.
But then...
What about taxes?
I opened the calculator.
How much tax would I owe on 76.5 billion won in transferred-claim profit?
"...This is not a number I can calculate myself."
I took out Attorney Kim Dongho's business card.
Seeing it reminded me of the two million won I'd wasted last time.
But!
My hourly rate was four billion won.
If a single phone call could solve this and I sat around worrying about it myself...
That would be the real waste.
I called him.
Ring, ring.
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Kim Dongho Law Office.
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"Hello. I'm Choi Hyunwoo. I consulted there before."
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Ah, yes! One moment, sir.
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Hold music played for three seconds.
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Mr. Choi Hyunwoo, hello. This is Kim Dongho.
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"Yes. I'd like another consultation."
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Of course. When would you like to come?
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"Can I come right now?"
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...Right now?
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"I'll pay double."
Half a second of silence.
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Come over.
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Money really was power.
Attorney Kim Dongho's Office.
"Seventy-six point five billion won?"
The lawyer adjusted his glasses.
The look in his eyes subtly changed.
This is the power of money.
Last time, his expression had said:
Why is someone like this paying two million won?
Now it said:
I should take very good care of this client.
"I received 76.5 billion won as profit from transferring a debt claim. I want to know how to handle the taxes and how I can legally use this money going forward."
"You have the contract, right?"
"Yes."
"And the settlement records?"
"Yes."
The lawyer looked through the documents and nodded.
"Let's talk taxes first. Profit from transferring this type of debt claim would be categorized as miscellaneous income. Roughly..."
He tapped on a calculator.
"You'd be looking at around twenty-seven billion won."
"Twenty-seven billion?!"
My voice rose without thinking.
Twenty-seven billion.
Measured in my hourly wage...
You're telling me six hours and forty-five minutes of my life disappear as taxes?
That was ridiculous.
"Is there a legal way to reduce it?"
"There is. Establish a corporation."
"A corporation?"
"Yes. Corporate tax rates are much lower than individual income tax rates in certain structures. Business-related expenses can also be deducted."
The lawyer continued explaining smoothly.
I only listened to half of it.
Corporation.
That sounded impressive.
Corporate representative.
CEO Choi Hyunwoo.
Not bad.
I liked the sound of it.
"How much tax could I save?"
"If structured properly, the difference could exceed ten billion won."
"Then let's establish one immediately."
"That's a surprisingly quick decision."
"My time is expensive."
The lawyer nodded.
His expression seemed to say, That makes sense.
"What business category do you want? It depends on what you're planning to do."
"Hmm..."
What kind of company should I create?
What did I actually do?
Open and close Gates.
Obviously, I couldn't write that as the official business purpose.
"Real estate leasing."
"Real estate? Do you currently own any property?"
"Not yet."
"...You can technically acquire it after incorporation."
The lawyer began preparing documents.
"Company name?"
"Company name?"
"The name of your company."
"Oh."
I thought for a moment.
Should I just use my own name?
Choi Hyunwoo Corporation.
Hmm...
That sounded lame.
I want something that sounds impressive.
Then it suddenly came to me.
I opened and closed Gates.
So...
"Gateway Company."
"Gateway Company?"
"Yes."
"If you're using the English name as-is, the registration requires a Korean rendering as well. Could you provide one?"
"Gateway Company Co., Ltd."
"...So you're just using the English words?"
"Yes."
The lawyer fell silent for a moment before typing.
He looked like he had something to say.
But he held himself back.
Probably because this was a two-million-won consultation.
[Gateway Company Co., Ltd.]
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CEO: Choi Hyunwoo
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Business Purpose: Real Estate Leasing, Investment, Other Profit-Seeking Activities
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"How much capital would you like to invest?"
"How much do I need?"
"More capital can improve credibility, but legally, even one hundred won is possible."
"A company needs credibility?"
"It's useful. Higher capitalization can help with things like business loans."
Would I ever need a loan?
Still, how much capital did companies normally start with?
I have no idea.
I'd never done this before.
But if it was a company, I'd probably need a respectable office.
Employees.
Rent.
Things like that.
Then...
"Would ten billion won be enough?"
"...Ten billion?"
"Is that too little?"
The lawyer adjusted his glasses again.
"No. That's more than enough."
"Then I'll put in ten billion."
And just like that...
I became CEO of a corporation with ten billion won in capital.
My house.
[Gateway Company Co., Ltd. has been successfully established.]
I looked proudly at the notification on my smartphone.
I'm a boss now.
Gateway Company Co., Ltd.
CEO Choi Hyunwoo.
I'm not a useless unemployed bum anymore.
Should I print business cards later?
But I don't have employees.
Without employees, wasn't I just a one-man company?
And wasn't the owner of a one-man company basically self-employed?
Doesn't matter.
I could hire people when I found something worth doing.
I launched my game.
The game world was peaceful as ever.
While running life-skill content, the chat suddenly became noisy.
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Guys, have you seen gas prices? ㄷㄷ
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Apparently it's over 4,000 won per liter.
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They say a Tower appeared near Middle Eastern oil fields and wiped them out?
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Saudi king canceled his press conference.
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Seriously? They must be panicking.
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Do we all have to buy electric cars now?
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You still need fuel to generate electricity lol.
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Damn it, what am I supposed to do about gas prices?
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Is Man City going bankrupt now?
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I stared blankly at the chat.
Then my fingers stopped moving.
A Tower appeared near Middle Eastern oil fields?
Four thousand won per liter.
That meant fuel prices had doubled.
Then...
A brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
What if oil came out of my land?
An oil field deep underground.
Crude oil pouring out endlessly.
What would happen if I opened a Gate leading directly to it?
Can the system search for that?
I muttered experimentally.
"An F-rank Gate leading to an underground oil deposit."
[Searching for conditions matching the user's request...]
Oh. It's actually searching.
My heart began pounding.
[Search complete.]
[Multiple Gates matching the conditions have been found.]
It worked?
And there are multiple options?
Jackpot.
"Recommend one that's appropriate."
[Unable to determine user intent.]
[More specific information is required.]
"Something big enough that Korea could brag about becoming an oil-producing nation, but not dangerous, and easy to extract."
[Search complete.]
[Approximately 15 billion barrels of crude oil are stored beneath "Endless Desert," Tower of Fate Floor 25.]
[Warning! The oil-bearing formation is under high pressure. Opening a Gate may cause crude oil and gas to flow backward through the Gate.]
"Flow backward?"
I imagined it.
Boom!
Crude oil exploding out in the middle of my studio apartment.
A black fountain blasting into the ceiling.
The walls.
The bed.
The computer.
Even Teacher Shin Saimdang.
...Absolutely not.
I could never allow Teacher Shin Saimdang to be soaked in oil.
The thought of the spirit of the Korean people being contaminated by crude oil was horrifying.
If I opened the Gate underground...
The ground might collapse too.
Can't I just change the location?
Couldn't I open it in an empty lot?
But then...
What happens if oil starts exploding out of an empty lot?
That sounded like a problem too.
For starters, I had nothing to store crude oil in.
Should I rent tanker trucks?
And how do I sell crude oil?
I'd need refining facilities.
Distribution channels.
How much money would all of that cost?
This is more complicated than I thought.
If I messed around carelessly, I might get arrested for environmental pollution.
Actually, before that, I might suffocate from toxic gas.
What about the land itself?
What if I bought the land where oil would come out?
I could purchase it under the corporation's name too.
Gateway Company!
I'd already registered it as a real estate leasing company.
I could buy land and then add underground resource development as a business purpose.
Perfectly legal.
Probably.
But what land should I buy?
I muttered again.
"Can you tell me what land looks promising for oil?"
[Searching for undeveloped domestic resource prospects...]
[Search complete.]
[Promising signs detected in an undersea zone near the East Sea deepwater gas field.]
[However, due to the characteristics of the undersea zone, maintaining an F-rank Gate would be unstable. A D-rank or higher Gate Ticket is required.]
"I have D-rank Tickets."
I checked my inventory.
There were still several D-rank Tickets left.
But...
The bottom of the East Sea?
