After erasing my drug addiction, I bought a house in Songdo through an app.
It was a three-story mansion with a land area of approximately 500 pyeong (Pyenong= about 3.3 m^2) and a building area (first floor) of 150 pyeong, costing around 16 billion won.
Of course, I paid for it using Goryeo Entertainment's capital.
Considering Goryeo Entertainment's total capital was 100 billion won, this was a massive sum—16% of it!
And yet, this was actually a bargain. The house had been listed as a distress sale because the previous owner, the owner before that, and even the one before that had all died, causing its value to plummet.
'Turns out, it was all just a coincidence.'
In the end, the property's value would rise several times over, so even buying it at this high price was a profitable investment.
I ordered the police to transport the drugs and other items from the underground warehouse to my newly purchased house. Then, I set off with Lim Su-ah to our next destination.
At this stage, there were four main objectives to accomplish:
1. Hiring a secretary
2.
3. Securing the female protagonist
4.
5. Killing the male protagonist
6.
7. Developing and securing a production facility for RK-99
8.
The first task wasn't difficult.
If things went well, it could be resolved through the second objective. If not, I could just contact Goryeo to hire someone.
Or I could even scout Lim Su-ah. From what I could tell, she would switch sides easily if given the right salary.
So the next immediate goal was securing the female protagonist.
This game had two protagonists.
Even if the player started as a female character, somewhere in the world, the male protagonist existed.
And if the player started as a male character, the female protagonist existed somewhere as well.
As the game progressed, they would wield increasing influence.
Therefore, even now that I had possessed Go Mu-yeol, it was safe to assume that both the male and female protagonists were alive and active in the world.
The female protagonist, Seo A-ram, had a particularly tragic backstory.
Her mother was diagnosed with a rare disease, and despite her desperate struggles, she eventually couldn't handle the financial burden and was forced into prostitution.
The real story began in the summer of '77 when her mother passed away.
Today was August 25, 1976.
She likely hadn't resorted to selling her body yet, though she was probably under severe pressure from debt collectors and contemplating her options.
My goal was to pay off her debt and fund her mother's treatment in exchange for Seo A-ram's absolute loyalty.
If possible, I would also use her as my secretary.
As for the male protagonist, I would simply kill him.
There was no reason to let him live.
Then there was RK-99—an ambient-pressure room-temperature superconductor.
In the game, obtaining the highly encrypted formula for its production was extremely rare.
Players had to collaborate with various corporations to decode it, and even after decrypting it, the RK-99 recipe remained frustratingly vague.
It was something like this:
1. Bake lead or copper at 110–190°C for 12–24 hours.
2.
3. Bake copper or lead at 190–250°C for 24–48 hours.
4.
5. Mix the baked lead and copper in a "certain ratio," then bake again for 24–48 hours.
6.
Naturally, this wasn't all. There were dozens more steps, each with absurdly variable ranges for temperature, time, and composition ratios, requiring extensive trial and error to pinpoint the optimal process.
That's why collaboration with many researchers and corporations was necessary.
But once the optimal method was finally discovered, it would give birth to a revolutionary material capable of transforming every industry in the world.
Of course, I didn't need to collaborate with anyone.
I already knew the perfect manufacturing method and the exact optimal conditions.
.
.
.
"Where is this…?"
We had arrived at the hospital where Seo A-ram's mother was admitted.
"Are you hurt or something?"
"No. There's someone I need to see."
"This month's total is 17,320,000 won. Please sign here."
"Se-seventeen million…?"
"Yes. You just need to sign right here."
Seo A-ram signed with trembling hands.
Normally, the payment would be processed and transferred to the hospital immediately upon signing, but unfortunately, she had no balance left.
"…I'm sorry, but it says there are insufficient funds. Do you have another payment method?"
"Ah… J-just a moment…"
She stepped away from the counter.
'Ha… I have… no money…'
She worked all day, then took on a second job in the evening.
At midnight, she would take on a night shift until 4 AM, snatch a few hours of sleep at home, and head back to work by 8 AM.
This miserable routine had been her life for two years now.
Even so, she had no money.
Instead, her debt kept increasing.
No matter how optimistically she tried to think about it, there was no way out of this situation.
And if she didn't pay the hospital bill, her mother would die.
With trembling hands, she picked up her phone.
She called a loan shark she had been dealing with recently.
"How much?"
The loan shark skipped pleasantries and went straight to the amount.
Seo A-ram's lips quivered as she struggled to speak before finally giving a number.
"Seven hundred… No, eight hundred."
"Eight hundred? You sure?"
"…."
Loans came with an upfront interest deduction.
If the lender took 10% as an initial cut, borrowing 10 million won meant receiving only 9 million in hand.
Of course, that didn't mean there was no additional interest—the actual interest accumulated separately.
This loan shark charged a 15% upfront fee and a 10% monthly interest rate.
Over a year, the effective interest was a staggering 120%, compounded.
She needed around 7 million won.
Considering the upfront deduction, borrowing 700 or 800 wouldn't be enough.
Besides, paying the hospital bill wasn't the only concern—she also needed money for basic living expenses.
In the end, A-ram asked for 10 million won.
"You're starting to struggle, huh? Why don't you just make the decision already? You'd sell really well."
"…."
Normally, she would have coldly refused and hung up.
She would have taken the money, paid the hospital bill, and gone straight back to work.
But now…
She was exhausted.
The loan shark's persistent coaxing, which she had dismissed as nonsense before, now sounded tempting.
"With that face and body of yours, you could make a million won a day. I'll set you up at a high-end op salon. The minimum there is 600,000 per session."
"I swear it's legit. Have you been living under a rock? Of course, I'll take a referral fee."
"The world isn't that easy, you know. Work yourself to the bone for a lifetime—see if that debt ever disappears."
"You're going to end up in this business eventually."
"…Mom…"
She hung up and checked the 8.5 million won that had been transferred from the loan shark, along with the loan agreement.
Tears welled in her eyes.
What hurt the most wasn't the crushing debt or the endless struggle.
It was the growing resentment and bitterness she felt toward the mother she loved so much.
"…Haah…"
After silently crying for a long time, she walked back to the counter.
The staff, familiar with cases like hers, said nothing about her tear-streaked face.
They simply pushed the bill forward, waiting.
Just as A-ram was about to sign, someone suddenly snatched the bill from her hands.
"…It really is you, Seo A-ram."
I had just arrived when I got lucky and spotted Seo A-ram.
"Oh? A-are you the guardian?"
"W-who are you?!"
"Who am I? Me?"
Seo A-ram, eyes red from crying, asked cautiously.
As expected of a protagonist, she had an incredibly pretty face.
A woman like this selling her body? What a waste.
I should raise her properly and keep her all to myself.
"Your master."
"…What?"
I signed the bill and casually tossed it to the employee.
The staff member glanced between me and Lim Su-ah before hurriedly taking it.
"P-payment complete…!"
"Depending on what you do, I could get you out of this miserable cycle. What do you say?"
"…."
A-ram stared blankly at me and the receipt.
She still seemed to be processing the situation.
I turned to the employee holding the receipt.
"How much was that again?"
"Oh, yes. Seventeen million, three hundred twenty thousand won—"
"If I spent that much, I think I deserve a bit of conversation. Come down to the lobby. Wash your face, fix your makeup, and make yourself presentable."
"Ah, I—"
I left those words behind and walked toward the elevator.
From behind me, I heard A-ram shout, "Thank you!!"
She was already expressing gratitude before even knowing what I expected in return.
Still so naive.
Lim Su-ah, who had been watching the situation unfold, hurried after me.
"Do you know her?"
"No. But I'm about to."
"Oh my, so she's a complete stranger? And you just spent seventeen million on her? Well, I guess for a young master like you, that's nothing."
As she chattered beside me, she dashed ahead to press the elevator button as soon as she saw it.
"Or is it… for that purpose?"
"?"
I tilted my head, and Su-ah made an obscene gesture with a smirk.
She formed a circle with her left thumb and index finger and pushed her right index finger through it.
"She's exactly the type men go crazy for."
"And that's something a cop should be saying?"
"Oh, come on. It's the world we live in."
Ding.
Even inside the elevator, Su-ah kept talking.
"Even in the police force, once you climb high enough, having a mistress or two is nothing unusual. Actually, not just mistresses—some even brag openly about their slaves. You know, there are a ton of people in Incheon who don't officially exist—no registration, no records."
"What a disgrace. If even the police are like that."
"Almost no one works for justice anymore, especially in our beloved Demon City, Incheon! The ones who used to be righteous? They all died ages ago. The only ones left are those who know when to turn a blind eye if it won't bring them money or promotions."
"Oh, just fantastic. Ignoring injustice like it's nothing."
Usually, when people talk like this, they sound at least a little bitter or disappointed about their organization.
But she didn't.
She just shrugged.
"That's just the way of the world, isn't it? Survival of the fittest. In a place like this, if you try to be righteous all the time, you'll just end up at the bottom of the ocean."
"And what about you?"
"Well… isn't it obvious? Hehe."
She smiled at me teasingly, pretending to be embarrassed.
A cunning woman—almost as if she were trying to seduce me.
Was she actually trying, or was it just my own lust clouding my thoughts?
"I'm already your… Ah, would it be rude to say that? My apolo—"
"How about this instead?"
I reached out my hand.
Her police uniform skirt was practically an H-line skirt anyway, so I ran my fingers over it before grabbing her ass firmly.
"!!"
"How will our dear Team Leader Lim Su-ah react to such injustice?"