Do-Jun was an avid reader.
Since his days in the Central Plains, he had always kept his books close to him. After returning to Earth, Do-Jun immersed himself in a wide range of literature on lifestyle, economics, culture, current affairs, and politics to quickly adapt to life here, even reading the newspaper as an alternative when he didn’t have time for books.
Perhaps because of this, he felt he had now fully adapted to life on Earth.
His smartphone vibrated, interrupting his train of thought. Do-Jun picked up the phone from the dining table and checked the message. It was from Kiriel, and it also included a photo.
Kiriel: Does this mean I won?
When Do-Jun opened the photo, it showed a lottery ticket. Astonishingly, the numbers on the ticket matched the winning numbers from last Saturday’s drawing.
Kiriel worked at Hakase’s food stall. Earning 50,000 won a day for over ten hours of work, Kiriel thought he was being paid well. While 50,000 won wasn’t a fortune, he believed it was enough to live pretty comfortably with some frugality.
Early in the morning, Kiriel showed Hakase a white pouch. It was the Pouch of Greed, an item that most adventurers in the Core carried to store mastery stones or artifacts. Although the pouch was small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, its internal space spanned an area of about a square meter.
Hakase scratched his head and looked into the Pouch of Greed. Soon, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he rubbed them again for confirmation. The pouch was filled with stacks of cash—an incredible sum of 1 billion won. Where could such money have come from?
Hakase stammered, his voice trembling as he asked, “W-what is this? W-where did you get all this money?”
“I won the lottery,” Kiriel said nonchalantly.
“The lottery...?” Now that he thought about it, Kiriel occasionally spent 1,000 won to 2,000 won on lottery tickets at convenience stores.
“The King of Earth took my ticket and filled my pouch with the amount corresponding to first place. In short, I am now rich.”
“Ha...?” Hakase looked dumbfounded.
Kiriel grinned so wide that it reached his ears. Looking at the lizard’s face, he clearly sensed that the power dynamic between them had shifted.
“Lizard. How much do you have in your bank account?” he asked.
“And how much do I have?”
“So, who’s the senior now?” Kiriel snickered gleefully.
Hakase ground his teeth. Regardless of how Kiriel obtained the money, the fact remained that he now had a billion won. On Earth, where money was everything, it was definitely something to envy. However, Hakase could never make that obvious. His pride as a dragon wouldn’t allow it. So, he decided to act indifferent.
“Meh. I don’t really need money. Even this food stall is a hobby.”
Kiriel looked visibly disappointed by Hakase’s lukewarm reaction. He scratched his head and sat down with a pout, opening the spending notebook Do-Jun had given him.
“What’s that?” Hakase asked curiously.
“This is called a spending notebook. The king told me not to waste money and to track all my expenses here. Apparently, it helps manage money efficiently.”
Hakase genuinely envied Kiriel. With a billion won, the possibilities were endless. For someone who had to rely on public transportation due to a lack of funds, a billion won could mean taxis or even buying a car.
Money significantly improved one’s quality of life.
Kiriel decided to take the day off. Or maybe, he thought, he could take the rest of his life off. After all, a billion won was an extraordinary amount.
Laughter came naturally as he walked with light steps. The world seemed beautiful.
To celebrate, Kiriel headed to a comic book café. Reading comic books was one of life’s greatest joys, and Kiriel especially loved shonen comics.
“Welcome,” greeted the café owner as Kiriel returned six manga volumes in a bag.
The owner scanned the books and saw an overdue fee of 1,800 won displayed on the monitor.
“You have a late fee.”
Kiriel flinched and asked, “L-late fee? How much is it?”
“1,800 won. That’s a bummer, you were only late by a day.”
Kiriel reached into his Pouch of Greed, feeling the thick wad of cash inside. Once again, the realization of his newfound wealth struck him. With a billion won, 1,800 won was mere pocket change.
“Hehe,” he let out a smug chuckle.
It caught the owner off guard. “H-huh?”
The owner tilted his head curiously at Kiriel’s unusually cheerful demeanor as he handed over the money.
Kiriel paid the late fee and began browsing the shelves for new releases. New releases cost 700 won per volume, which was 200 won more than older volumes. Normally, Kiriel would have waited for new releases to become older volumes and rent them for 500 won each. But today, he indulged himself.
“I’ll take these,” he said, choosing six new releases.
“All new ones? That’ll be 4,200 won,” the café owner said.
“W-wait a second. Isn’t there a deal where you rent five and get one free?”
“That only applies to older volumes.”
“Damn, I didn’t know that.” Kiriel returned the new releases and swapped them for six older volumes.
“That’ll be 2,500 won.”
Finally, satisfied, Kiriel smiled. The thrill of getting one volume free was too good to pass up.
The first place Kiriel visited after borrowing the comic books was an arcade. The room was filled with the blaring sounds of effects and various game music. Young people were enjoying themselves, engrossed in their games. Among the numerous arcade machines, Kiriel had a favorite game: Tekken.
“Alright, alright! Players, get ready!” The arcade owner used a loudspeaker to grab everyone’s attention.
Yes, today was the day of the Tekken tournament. Kiriel was one of the competitors. It was a small-scale competition with around fifty participants who were considered skilled players. There were eight Tekken machines. Kiriel sat in a corner seat as directed by the owner. His opponent, seated across from him, appeared to be a man in his late twenties. The spectators clicked their tongues, pitying Kiriel.
“Of all people, he has to face the national champion in the first round.”
“That’s just awful luck.”
Kiriel’s opponent was Kang Do-Hyeok, a renowned master who had recently won the national Tekken championship. However, Kiriel paid no attention. The game began, and the character selection screen appeared.
Kang Do-Hyeok selected the most popular character in the game. Meanwhile, Kiriel chose Ogre for one slot and spun the other slot randomly. A boxing glove-wearing kangaroo appeared.
The spectators couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Wow, he picked a random character...”
“Is he mocking Kang Do-Hyeok?”
“Just leave him be. He’s probably given up already.”
“Ogre and the kangaroo? Totally niche picks.”
The game started. Kang Do-Hyeok’s Kazama immediately went on the offensive. Kiriel’s Ogre, on the other hand, leaped into the air and breathed fire. Of course, Kazama easily dodged the attack. Kang Do-Hyeok smirked and moved to grab Ogre from behind.
This guy’s a complete noob. This’ll be a walk in the park... Or so he thought.
With a crunching sound, Ogre’s hand pierced Kazama’s body. It was an attack from a completely unexpected angle. Kang Do-Hyeok could not understand how the move had connected. He attributed it to beginner’s luck. But as time went on, Kang Do-Hyeok’s face turned pale as his screen displayed two letters.
The Tekken tournament ended with Kiriel’s resounding victory.
The spectators were left speechless by Kiriel’s impressive performance. No matter who his opponent was or which characters they picked, Kiriel always used Ogre and spun the second slot at random. What stood out most was that Kiriel never switched characters. Even when Ogre’s health was low, he stuck with him to the end.
“Congratulations. Here’s the first-place prize: 300,000 won!”
“I’m curious, though, and I bet the others are too—why did you stick with the Ogre the entire tournament?”
Kiriel shrugged. “Because dragons are the most OP characters.”
Kiriel, it seemed, thought Ogre was a dragon.
After finishing her academy classes, Yoon-Hee was heading home with groceries.
“Huh?” She spotted Kiriel sitting at the entrance to the Changshin Villa complex, staring intently at a notebook.
With a smile, Yoon-Hee greeted him cheerfully. “Hello!”
“Oh, hey. Perfect timing. Take this.” Kiriel handed her a white pouch.
“Hmm? What’s this? A pouch?” Yoon-Hee tilted her head in confusion as she accepted the pouch.
“Give it to the King.”
“Just give it to him?”
“Yeah, and tell him he can spend it all.” With that, Kiriel walked off.
Still puzzled, Yoon-Hee placed the pouch in her shopping bag and headed home.
Kiriel returned to Hakase’s food stall before evening. Although he had taken the day off, he decided to spend the rest of it working since there wasn’t much else to do. Besides, comic books were best enjoyed between serving customers.
“You’re back?” Hakase asked curiously.
“Bet you had an exciting day?”
“It was... ordinary,” Kiriel answered.
Hakase was curious about what Kiriel had done all day with a billion won in hand. Surely, with that much money, he must have had a day full of extraordinary events. Yet, Kiriel called it ordinary? It didn’t make sense. Hakase glanced at the comic books on the table, along with a bag labeled “Comic & Novel Rental Shop.” Next to the bag was Kiriel’s spending notebook. Hakase opened it.
Lotto winnings: +1,000,000,000 won
Overdue comic rental fee: -1,800 won
Comic book rental: -2,500 won
Tekken tournament prize: +300,000 won
5 rounds of Iron Fist: -1,000 won
Returned lotto winnings: -1,000,000,000 won
Hakase rubbed his eyes and checked again. Everything else seemed normal, but... “returning” the lotto winnings?
“This last line about returning the lotto winnings... what’s this about?”
“I gave it to Seol Yoon-Hee. Told her to pass it on to the King of Earth.”
“Why...? I mean, why would you do that?” Hakase asked, incredulous.
Kiriel pulled out a comic book from the bag and flipped it open. “Because, on second thought, I was already rich even without that billion.”
Through the spending notebook, Kiriel had realized something. His daily expenses—borrowing six comic books and playing a few rounds of Tekken—never exceeded 10,000 won a day. With a daily income of 50,000 won, he was left with 40,000 won in savings every day.
If he could do everything he wanted and still have money left over, wasn’t that the very definition of being rich?