
Just imagine a life in poverty that looks noble and elegant, you will not be able to find anywhere but in soap operas. No matter how poor you are, your condition will not prevent you from helping strangers selflessly, even willing to give the only food in hand to others with a warm smile.
If anyone claimed that such an illusion existed in the real world, Lee Hyun would beat him to a punching hole until KO.
Life is cruel to the poor. The Government's revised Labor Welfare Law makes all jobs unavailable to minors. Although illegally, Lee Hyun has worked in all sorts of jobs that could employ him.
From the age of 14 he began sewing work in a factory. His salary is very small, fortunately he can eat for free.
However, due to the work in the basement without ventilation, there were only 2 old fans available, his health deteriorated further. His lungs often hurt, so many medical bills could not be avoided.
Then he moved to the gas station. Sometimes he went around pulling carts to collect and sell used items. But no matter how hard he worked, the money he had was just pennies.
As a minor, he was forced to work illegally. This fact was used by his bosses to hire him mercilessly.
He continued to live such a life until he was 20. Therefore, Lee Hyun knew very well the value of money. However, things will be different now. After he grew up, he got an ID card that could be used to work legally.
While inserting his ID card into the wallet, Lee Hyun muttered. "I have to work until my body can no longer hold it. I should be able to do three jobs in a day."
When he was a child, his parents died, now he only has a grandmother and a younger sister.
"good. From now on we will be rich!” Lee Hyun vowed to do so, then went home.
“Have you just come home?” Her grandmother was lying down under the blanket. After falling down the stairs a few days ago, her hip sprained making her unable to do anything.
Despite taking medication, with mediocre conditions, he was unable to go to the hospital for proper treatment, and could only rest at home.
Not receiving proper treatment, she groaned in pain every night.
Every time Lee Hyun entered the house, he felt his chest tight. It was a quiet house with a loner little sister and an old grandmother. That's why Lee Hyun would rather not go home.
"Where's Hye Yeon, grandma?"
"I don't know. He went out and hasn't come back. Maybe he's making friends with a bad gang again, I'm not sure."
Lee Hye Yeon is his younger sister. He hasn't seen his face often lately.
“It will be fine, don't worry.”
“You are his only brother. And the duty of a brother should be to protect his little sister."
"Yes my grandma." Lee Hyun smiled wryly and went to his room. Even if he is forced to do physical labor or become a taxi driver, he insists he will put his younger sister in college.
For a while now she may have been unstable, but her sister is a smart and intelligent person, unlike Lee Hyun. She believes that in college the sister will meet a good husband to be able to live properly. She also wants to support her elderly and ailing grandmother for all the sacrifices she has made to raise Lee Hyun and Lee Hye Yeon alone.
“Good, now find a job first. There may be a good job.”
Lee Hyun muttered while turning on the computer. A good old computer can still function. Once connected to the internet, as usual, he accesses a game. That game is Continent of Magic. A classic game released 20 years ago. Online games that once made a stir among gamers in the Republic of Korea. That game remained at the top until 3 years ago.
Lee Hyun's ancient computer that was assembled by combining parts from here and there was not able to handle most of the game. Only the Continent of Magic was running smoothly.
It was the first game he had ever played, but only during that match could he feel the pleasure.
Lee Hyun's playing style was very strange. He was not friends with anyone else, only hunting all day. After killing monsters and leveling up, he headed for a more difficult hunting ground. He did not participate in guild battles or wars at all.
He finds pleasure in the game by gradually improving his character's abilities and improving the equipment. He's been hunting for 200 hours without stopping. It made him satisfied by fighting for a month to level up or catch monsters.
Some people might question what kind of fun he was looking for, but for him it was nice to see his character grow stronger and when he could defeat a monster he previously could not defeat, he was really happy.
In a short time, Lee Hyun reached the highest level. He had reached the highest state where the level no longer rose.
In the decade of Continent of Magic, it was the first and last record in history. As Lee Hyun contemplated the past, he found nothing could rival his character in supremacy. At the hunting grounds where others were fighting beesama, he alone exterminated all the monsters.
After rising to the highest level, he single-handedly hunted all the ultimate monsters, including Dragons. Until he gets bored.
Nowadays with the advancement of technology, the ultimate goal of any game is virtual reality system.
A very good game called Royal Road, which is referred to as the standard for virtual reality. Starting with a fully implemented world, this game contains tens of thousands of races and users. More than tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of skills.
You can enjoy adventure as you wish or even fishing at sea with friends for days, as long as there are no storms of course.
There's a huge scale of freedom that's amazing, but the best thing above all is that amazing game system. Royal Road has a reputation for creating the highest level of fun that humans can enjoy in a game.
"For me, it's all just cake in the sky."
What can Lee Hyun expect from a slow computer because the web pages are a little more complicated?
And to install equipment that embodies virtual reality would cost over 10,000,000 won. If she had that kind of money, she would choose to take care of her grandmother in the hospital, or pay for her sister's college tuition. And now it's time to make some money, the game has to end.
Are you sure you want to delete your account?
Yes/no
Lee Hyun pointed the mouse cursor at 'Yes'. Now, with a single click of the mouse, the precious character he guarded would disappear forever. As he flexed his finger, a thought flashed across his mind.
"Why don't I sell accounts to make money?"
It looks like somewhere. Newspapers or something that says buying and selling gaming accounts is common. Lee Hyun realized that it was not a bad idea to sell his account to someone else.
Lee Hyun started to open the internet to search account trading sites. One click resulted in dozens of sites, and among them he found the site with the largest trading volume.
"So I just have to post an account here at a certain price and done?"
Lee Hyun uploaded a photo along with his own character.
The highest level in Continent of Magic with the best equipment came from Dragons worth 30 trillion marks.
He decided to start the auction with an initial price of 50,000 won. He was afraid that no one would bid if he asked for too high a price.
The auction deadline is one day.
The time is quite long to get a large amount of money seems impossible.
There were usually various characters and items to determine the price, but the auction content of others could only be seen by the members of the group so Lee Hyun was denied access.
Lee Hyun decided to go to sleep. Tomorrow he plans to stop by the nearest labor office.
Not even an hour after Lee Hyun posted, the netizens who found out about it started to get in an uproar. Meanwhile, Lee Hyun was sound asleep, completely unaware of this.
“Physical Work 50 thousand won per day. Washing dishes in a restaurant, 30 thousand won. Chicken dinner guring.”
He was busy deducing what to do the next day in a dream.
Because the internet is widespread, until auction prices soar.
So far, no one knew who the highest level of Continent of Magic was, but it stirred up the desire to possess and show off the immortal characters of the greatest game ever.
The auction price eventually exceeded 100 million won.
At this point, ownership exceeds the market price for individual ownership and equipment. Some people complained of a lack of money and came out of the auction.
"I think the guy who sold this account is a very strange person."
“How can he set up an auction period for a priceless avatar in just one day?”
“Is he very sure he will receive a high price?”
People started commenting, to vent their frustration. It did not last long the number of comments exceeded 900.
The auto auction was extended several times, and when it exceeded 300 million won, several companies began to get involved.
The simple matter of the auction, the only thing people knew was that the auction was endless. If the deal was settled by a very large amount, many people would hear it through the news or by word of mouth, the effect of its spread was incredible.
To place just one ad requires a stack of money, too, after spending hard-earned money to create an ad, people still don't bother looking closely. However, what about the news about the highest level characters being sold for a small profit? People's interest and attention will center there.
Every corporate public relations department approaches with such a perspective. Digital media intensifies the competition, game broadcasters want to get the highest level characters. The market value or price of that character is not an issue. Organizing a series of special events about famous games in the past and then featuring those characters will improve the reliability and public image of the broadcasters.
The fierce competition caused prices to skyrocket, and the surge in visitor numbers made the goods trading site smile with satisfaction.
The auction is finally over.
Five game broadcasters fought each other, but breaking through all competitions, the one that made a successful bid and accepted the character was CTS Media. The latest situation is the rapid expansion and increased share of broadcasts which makes it a promising company to visit. With the intervention of the presidential secretary, the winning bid is written and submitted when the auction ends.
...* * *...
"Hello."
Lee Hyun received a phone call waking him from a deep sleep in the morning.
The construction work from the previous day made him tired and he fell into a deep sleep. Wages are only 30 thousand won. It was less than average because he was said to be incompetent.
-Hello.
Unexpectedly, the receiver of the phone was the sweet voice of a woman.
“Um-it looks like you're on the wrong side.”
Lee Hyun, was sure that no sane person would call his house. He'll put the phone back.
However-
- You sell accounts over the internet, don't you?
"true."
- This CTS Media Incorporated. I'm president secretary Yoon Nahee. We have deposited the current successful bid amount at auction into your account, you can confirm on the goods trading site, and feel free to contact us.
“Wah, wait a minute. Any offers that work?”
- um. Yes exists. May I ask if you haven't checked it yet?
“Not yet, I'm a little busy.”
Yoon Nahee from CTS Media.
The President's secretary, even working in financial resources, she is no ordinary woman. Also knowing 8 languages, everyone around him was busy flattering him. But the fact that he did not check for such a large auction was enough to leave Yoon Nahee dumbfounded.
“How many successful offers?”
Lee Hyun was filled with anxiety. Hoping for at least over 200,000 won to pay the medical bills, she thought she should ask, but the voice Lee Hyun heard over the phone made her shocked.
-3.090.000.000 won.
Originally, Lee Hyun's character, Weed, according to the market price was 150 million won.
Currently, the game is at the peak of popularity, the equipment alone can pass for 100 million won, but if it is an old game, the market price is on the very low side.
However, several factors including limited auction deadlines, its unique rarity, and its fame made it to over 3 billion won. The auction itself is newsworthy, and that's the purpose of CTS Media.
However, Lee Hyun replied bluntly.
"Are you kidding me?"
-what?
“I can't believe you called me just to talk about something this stupid. I'll hang up.”
After putting down the phone, Lee Hyun laughed bitterly. “How does he know about the auction post? And how did he get my number just for mere imprank?"
Lee Hyun did not believe any of that. Sounds too absurd.
However, once he accessed the site, his auction post appeared on the main screen of the goods trading site. Many people posted comments in real time, and the number of successful auction bids was as he said, 3,090,000,000 won!
It was fortunate that Lee Hyun did not faint because of it. "If it's a dream, I hope I never wake up."
...***...
He pinched his cheek until it was red, "It's not wrong anymore, it's real!" Lee Hyun hurried to show his grandmother the bankbook. He still did not dare to tell her in its entirety.
"Grandma, I make money."
"Yes." Yeah." His grandmother answered helplessly. Only 3 days after the ID is issued. He can't produce much.
"Alright, good job, Hyun-ah."
"No, this is no different." Lee Hyun handed over his savings book.
"What's this?"
"See. This is the money I got. "
Her grandmother rubbed her myopic eyes a few times while looking at the bankbook. The amount stamped into the account, his reaction was disbelief. “You, did you steal? No, no, this much money can't be stolen.”
“What I do is sell my game account.”
"Account?"
“Difficult to explain. Anyway, I earned this money legally.”
“Then be thankful.” Both of her grandmother's eyes were watery. “Hyun-ah, like everyone else, now we can live without worrying about water and electricity bills anymore.”
"of course. We can even have our own home.”
“You can go back to school and Hye Yeon can go to college. We no longer have to live with envy in others."
Her grandmother shed tears together with Lee Hyun. While remembering the suffering and bitterness they had gone through.
“Now we can live happily together, grandma.”
"Yes, of course."
With the hard times together, the two men were much happier.
...***...
After a few days they bought a new house and her grandmother received treatment at the hospital. In addition to her grandmother's hip, she was sick in many ways and had to be hospitalized. Her younger sister Hye Yeon was also happy. But their happiness only gets there.
The men wear black suits. The least he wanted to see came to the hospital.
The man in black with the limited edition shoes, came. They were sturdy, even though only 5 people came, the hospital room seemed full.
All the other patients panicked in fear with the help of the nurses, they quietly slipped out.
Only Lee Hyun, his grandmother, and the men remained. Lee Hyun felt lucky that his little sister was not there when they came. But nothing good comes from those people. He hoped it would be no different than before.
"Lee Hyun's. I heard about the fortune bestowed on your family.” A blond man raised his voice.
Lee Hyun sharply retorted. "Yes. Any issues?"
“Your father used to take out a loan, we are here to collect that debt.”
"Debit?"
"Yes. And now that you have the money, I'm sure you're ready to pay. "
Lee Hyun swallowed his saliva. When his parents died, Lee Hyun inherited a debt of 100 million won.
It would have been fine if he did the inheritance exemption, but at that time Lee Hyun was young and had no idea about the law. In addition, her grandmother, with grief over the loss of her child, did not file an inheritance waiver in court within 3 months and the inheritance was inherited.
Therefore, Lee Hyun became indebted to the loan shark of 100 million won. He knew how cruel they were, but now he had plenty of money. There's no need to be afraid.
“I'll pay her debt. How much?"
"Pay back? Your words are a little hm-but that's good. We appreciate our valued customers. The money you have to pay is 3 billion won."
Hearing the man's words, Lee Hyun's head throbbed with anger.
"ridiculous. The money dad borrowed was obviously only 100 million won."
“Hey, it's been 8 years. As time goes by, the flowers accumulate.”
"It makes no sense, I'll report it to the police."
"Reporting? You think the police will side with you?”
"Police are the protectors of the people."
"Morrah."
Those people laughed at Lee Hyun's words. Especially the blonde-haired man, hearing his absurd words, he put his hands on his forehead and laughed out loud.
The man standing still behind spoke. It melted the atmosphere, and he looked like their leader. “Explain directly to the child. Don't cause unnecessary trouble.”
“Yes, Hyung-nim. Im sorry. All right, son, listen carefully. What we do does not violate any law. Because we receive legitimate flowers. First of all, the interest is 50% of the total amount of trees per year. Do you want me to count? Year 1 increased from 100 million to 150 million, year two about 220 million, year 3 reached 330 million, year 4 approached almost 500 million."
On the calculation report, Lee Hyun felt desperate. Debt increased 5-fold in just 4 years.8 years passed, so maybe 2,500,000,000, but the time that passed was more than exactly 8 years so it is not wrong to say 3,000,000,000.
Lee Hyun while being bullied by gang members had no idea how much debt he owed. Without him noticing, it accumulated to as many as 3,000,000,000.
Bankrupt!
Anyone else with a debt of 3,000,000,000 will go bankrupt. Even after bankruptcy you may owe several thousand won.
Lee Hyun did not even consider the lawsuit. Because it requires a small fee, to hire a lawyer and so on, eventually he will still go bankrupt.
"We want 3 billion won."
"No, it's impossible."
"Can't be? Whatever you. If you can't pay now, we'll come back tomorrow. At that time, what you have to pay back increases a little more."
The men wearing black suits exuded confidence. Confidence in power.
Also, Lee Hyun knew it was better to pay his debt if he could. First of all there was no other alternative, they came because they knew he had money. The men laughed while grinning.
“Poor grandmother is sick and well cared for, she looks very comfortable in the hospital. As for your sister in the lobby. Beautiful girl, I'm sure she can be sold for a hefty price in this country.”
"Don't you dare touch Hye Yeon!"
“Quiet, nothing has happened yet. Right now, we are just negotiating. But what if this family of three is hospitalized at once. That would be the most touching sight.”
Lee Hyun could no longer bear the threat. How else would rice be porridge. If not paid, fear will fate like a beggar on the streets there.
Not even able to rely on the law, Lee Hyun had to hand over his savings book. The men instantly received the bankbook, and took out 90 million won cash from a bag. With it is an IOU for 100 million won written by Lee Hyun's parents 8 years ago. From the beginning they knew everything and came very prepared.
"thank you. And sorry for your trouble. "
As the man walked out of the hospital room, Lee Hyun shouted. "Wait a minute!"
“Why son? What's up?"
“Someday, I will definitely make you pay the price.”
"What?"
“Because the money has been paid, you think this is the end of everything. Which means I'll take revenge."
Those people will laugh again. However, upon seeing Lee Hyun's eyes, their laughter disappeared instantly.
A young beast. The confidence from his eyes made them goosebumps. “How dare you *****small. We need to teach a brave boy like you about the cruelty of the world. "
The men rolled up their sleeves. But Lee Hyun was not afraid at all, nor did he retreat.
"Enough. We've collected the money, don't do anything unnecessary."
"But-"
“Do you guys really want to make a fuss in the hospital?”
“No, Hyung-nim.”
Those people are rumbling out.
"And son." The man's casual leader looked at Lee Hyun and gave him advice.
“I'm Han Jinsup from Myongdong. Do you think courage alone is enough to challenge the cruelty of the world? If you think that's unfair, make 3 billion won in 5 years and look for me. Then I will serve you as my Hyung-nim.”
The loan sharks are gone. Lee Hyun sat on the floor helplessly. And as her sister's voice cried in front of the room, her grandmother let out a long sigh.
...***...
After being robbed to the sum of 3 billion won, Lee Hyun did not have the strength to do anything. He was shaken by the harsh reality. However, on the third day after being robbed, he stood up straight.
There's hope. He could not continue to sit and daydream the past.he smiled slightly then wiped away the remaining tears.
In just a moment, the heartwarming experience of a large sum of money seemed to enlighten him a little about how to live in the world.
"good. If I hit the jackpot once, I can get it again."
Lee Hyun was busy.90 million won was not taken, but that did not mean he could use all of them. Since the house contract had already been set, 50 million won he set aside.
Able to cancel, but he has to pay a fine. He'd rather die than pay a fine.
In the end, the amount that could be used was only 40 million won!
All thanks to the downturn of real estate in the early 21st century.
Using a portion of the remaining money, Lee Hyun enrolled in martial arts halls such as aikido, kendo, and taekwondo. He puts himself on a strict schedule that takes up as many as 6 activities in a day. Although his body could not withstand the pain, but he mastered martial arts. The instructors there called him a Beast.
Training his stamina, Lee Hyun swung his sword all day even until his body was covered in bruises and full of blood.
Virtual reality games!
The place where someone moves their body means you can act like you are in real life. Then learning martial arts and learning the game system even more, wouldn't that help?
Of course, those who studied martial arts would not be fully benefited. But to become stronger even at level 1, it was better to learn martial arts.
Imagine being at least 10% stronger throughout the game, the amazing effects it will produce. Because of this, Lee Hyun in the morning and during the day studied martial arts, and in the evening learned about virtual reality games. Which games have the most users, and how the gaming system works are thoroughly analyzed.
For every profession, city, and skill, Lee Hyun created an analysis table and attached it to the wall of his room. Paper records filled Lee Hyun's room.
1-year-old Lee Hyun studied martial arts and studied virtual reality games. The time of 1 year was not only a period of preparation, but also used to observe the development of Royal Road.
The virtual reality game was ultimately as expected, Royal Road and as the name suggests walked the path of the emperor with tranquility. Having more than 75% of the world's gaming market share, over 90% of Korean gamers play this game. It could practically be called the highest user.
Especially during the war of the kings, it got to the point where the viewership of all the stations was overwhelmed. The only game in the world where anyone can get fame, power, and money. Royal Road was the result of an ingenious system intertwined with virtual reality.
"good. All according to plan. "
Lee Hyun's cold eyes stared at the monitor.
That day he bought a capsule used to connect to Royal Road for 10,000,000 won. It was expensive enough that tears seeped, but he constantly reminded himself that it was a necessary investment. All preparations are done. That was the beginning of the game. He felt like a soldier heading into the battlefield.
Connect to Royal Road
Yes | No
When the message came, Lee Hyun shouted without hesitation.
"Yes!"