Chapter 3
Before the regression, bribes had disappeared due to various laws.
But in this era, the bribe culture still remained.
Of course, our family didn’t give bribes to the homeroom teacher.
There’s no case where they’d take bribes even from a student who’s always last in class.
“Bribes? Are you threatening me right now? A young punk learning only strange things.”
“I’ve never threatened you. What I’m about to say now is the threat. Go ahead and try to hit me. But you know who my father is, right? The moment you hit me, you’ll have to fight against Sewoon Group’s legal team.”
“Hah, look at the way you talk. What are you, some kind of gangster?”
The homeroom teacher’s hands are trembling.
That’s what you get for messing with me.
When doing business, there are many times when you have to threaten or coerce.
A situation like this is really child’s play level.
There were many cases where real gangsters were mobilized, or even politicians and media were involved.
“Well, I don’t want to go that far with you, teacher. But you see, if you keep acting like that, I have no choice. And I have quite a narrow mind. I’ll remember today’s incident even when I become an adult. Even when I inherit the company and reach a position where I can move many people, I won’t forget.”
“What are you going to do!”
“I know very well why you, homeroom teacher, receive bribes. You have a son going to university this time and a daughter becoming a high school student, right? I’ll only say this much. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”
TREMBLE, TREMBLE, TREMBLE-!
The homeroom teacher’s hands shake.
He slowly lowered his eyes.
“I-I’ll pretend this incident never happened. Go on now.”
“That’s obvious. But shouldn’t you apologize?”
“S-sorry. I was wrong…”
“Yes. You thought well. I’ll remember today’s incident as a very good memory.”
I left the counseling room, leaving the student affairs teacher behind.
As if he had been waiting, Gartin spoke to me.
<Very much to my liking. That human won’t crawl up to you anymore. Fear, when used well, becomes a very useful tool. It’s also why bad humans succeed.>
‘I don’t think I’m bad. It wasn’t a battle between good and evil. In a fight between evil and evil, naturally the greater evil wins, doesn’t it?’
Rather, good people are troublesome to deal with.
Those who are moderately evil can just be devoured and that’s the end of it.
Chairman Jo Munhong’s mansion, bustling from early morning.
More than 10 housekeepers filled the dining table with deliciously prepared food.
“The aroma is very good. Tell everyone to come down. I can’t stand being hungry any longer.”
“Yes, Chairman. I’ll call the young masters.”
At the breakfast table, four people always gathered together.
Sewoon Group Chairman Jo Munhong and his three sons.
The eldest and second sons who had become independent came to work at the mansion early in the morning.
The three sons entered the dining room one by one.
The eldest son, Jo Dohoon.
He was 41 years old and worked as a deputy manager at Sewoon Group.
The second son, Jo Doyoung.
He was 40 years old, and like Jo Dohoon, held a deputy manager position.
Finally, Jo Dogyeom.
He was 16 years old.
Chairman Jo Munhong, who at an age to see grandchildren, had made a late-born child the same age as his grandchildren.
“Everyone, let’s start eating.”
“Father, the final exam report card came out.”
Jo Dogyeom took out an envelope.
Chairman Jo Munhong, who was about to eat soup, put down his spoon and received the envelope, tearing it open.
“Hah hah, is this really your report card? 30th place in the entire school!”
“Father! Let me see for a moment. He must have forged the report card. With Dogyeom’s brain, even 30th place in the class would be difficult, let alone 30th place in the entire school.”
Jo Doyoung received the report card.
He held the report card up to the fluorescent light, trying to find evidence of manipulation.
“Brother, it’s not manipulated. If you’re suspicious, call the school. Why would I lie about something that would be revealed with one phone call?”
“Because it’s you! With your brain, you’d do that and more.”
“Stop it. Hah hah, Dogyeom has made an effort. As promised, go to a regular high school instead of a physical education high school.”
Chairman Jo Munhong took the report card again.
He smiled contentedly at the good grades achieved by the son he had half given up on.
However, the eldest son Jo Dohoon poured cold water on his pleased father.
“It’s difficult for Dogyeom to go to a regular high school. Even though he did well on this exam, his grades for the 1st and 2nd years are very poor. Since they select students by combining internal assessment scores, acceptance is impossible.”
“Hmm, would it be difficult even with 30th place in the entire school?”
“That’s right. He hasn’t done any special activities, and his certificates or language scores aren’t good either, so it’s difficult.”
Jo Dohoon’s eyes were looking at Dogyeom.
He wouldn’t send such a look even when looking at bugs.
It was as if he was looking at something lower than bugs, not a human being.
“Father, eldest brother is right. With my current internal assessment, it’s difficult to advance to a regular high school. So I want to prepare for the qualification exam.”
“As expected, I knew it would be like this. You were doing this because you didn’t want to go to high school. You want to play around without going to school that badly?”
The second son Jo Doyoung, who was nearby, pointed his finger.
He didn’t believe that the late-born child had suddenly gone crazy and started studying.
Naturally, he thought there was some scheme, and the clue was solved when he said he wouldn’t go to high school.
“Are you determined to ruin our family? Just go to a physical education high school. The only way for you not to bring shame is to work hard at sports.”
“Quiet. Let’s hear more of what Dogyeom has to say. Are you confident you can pass the qualification exam?”
“Yes. I’ll pass the qualification exam within a year and immediately prepare for the college entrance exam. Rather, school is a place of temptation for me. I want to refrain from meeting friends and focus only on studying.”
Chairman Jo Munhong fell into thought.
The second son still raised his voice in opposition.
But the eldest son actually came out in agreement with Dogyeom’s words.
Of course, he wasn’t agreeing with good intentions.
“I think it’s not bad. Even if he goes to school, he’ll only cause trouble. I’ll take responsibility and find a decent teacher.”
“I’m really confident. I’ll show you with monthly qualification exam mock test scores. If I don’t meet expectations, I’ll accept any punishment.”
Chairman Jo Munhong nodded.
This was the first time his late-born child had shown such strong will.
“Do that. If you disappoint my expectations this time too, I’ll never look at your face again.”
“I’ll meet your expectations. Thank you!”
After finishing breakfast, I returned to my room.
Eating with my two Brothers makes the food taste worse.
<Why do you hate your Brothers so much? You looked at them like enemies.>
“Because they are enemies. My Brothers are involved in the cause of my father’s death, and they’re the ones who took away everything I had.”
The group that was in the ranks of major corporations had collapsed.
Since I knew nothing, I was assigned a small subsidiary.
But my Brothers took charge of important subsidiaries and ruined them spectacularly.
After doing that, they cornered me and pushed me out.
<I see. Then you need to earn even more money. To use magic to repay your grudge, you need to earn money to satisfy the Dragon Heart.>
“I have to earn it from now on. Do you think I said I wouldn’t go to high school for nothing? I’m doing this to earn money during the time I would have spent attending classes at school.”
Time spent going to school is a waste.
If I’m tied up at school for three years, I’ll miss opportunities to make money.
That’s also why I focused on the final exams even though it was bothersome.
<What method do you plan to use to earn money?>
“The time of opportunity will come soon. Next year, an event that will be called the day of national bankruptcy will break out.”
The day when the IMF crisis would hit wasn’t far away.
Crisis is opportunity, and the bigger the crisis, the bigger the opportunity becomes.
<I agree with the saying that crisis is opportunity, but to seize an opportunity, you need minimum cost.>
“If initial funds are needed, you mean? I was thinking about that too. I need to secure minimum funds first.”
Even though I’m the son of a conglomerate family.
The money I have isn’t much.
The money in my bank account balance is just over 1 million won.
It might be a lot of money for a middle school student to have, but it’s woefully insufficient funds to seize a big opportunity.
“There are many restrictions because I’m not an adult.”
Whatever I try to do, I’m blocked by age restrictions.
There’s no way to earn money through conventional methods.
Then I have no choice but to make a flanking maneuver.
In front of a small restaurant in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.
As I kept taking deep breaths and paced around the restaurant, Gartin made a comment.
<Why aren’t you going in and doing this?>
“This is my maternal grandmother’s house. My mother passed away not long after leaving me. She couldn’t endure giving birth at an advanced age. It was also one of the reasons my Brothers hate me. And my maternal grandmother too.”
My maternal grandmother had actively opposed childbirth.
After mother passed away, she completely cut ties with the Jo family.
‘I only saw her through a portrait photo at the funeral hall.’
Before the regression, I had never seen my maternal grandmother.
She had a particularly bad relationship with father, and since she would get disgusted at any Jo family man, I never thought of visiting her.
<Why are you trying to meet someone who hates you so much?>
“Because it seems like she only pretended to hate me but didn’t actually hate me.”
There were words I heard from my maternal grandmother’s acquaintances at the funeral hall.
They said she sometimes came to see me secretly in disguise.
<Since you’re connected by blood, that would be so. But what would change by meeting your maternal grandmother? Looking at her living in a shabby building, she doesn’t seem like she’d be of much help.>
“You’re saying that because you don’t know. People call my maternal grandmother ‘Jigwan.’ People who find auspicious sites are usually called Jigwan, but the land my maternal grandmother picks always goes up several times in value, so that’s why they call her that.”
Real estate tycoon.
My maternal grandmother had staked claims on all major strategic points in Korea.
In that way, she accumulated more wealth than most corporate chairmen.
But she received just as much criticism.
However, when she passed away, she returned all her assets to society.
‘I really resented her a lot back then.’
My maternal grandmother who didn’t leave a single penny to her grandson.
Honestly, it’s ridiculous to hope for anything.
We’re strangers who never met once, so asking for inheritance just because she’s my maternal grandmother is laughable.
“Let’s go in. Surely she won’t turn away a grandson who’s visiting after 16 years.”
I entered the shabby restaurant.
The interior of the restaurant, which could barely seat 10 people, was packed with people.
If it were this kind of restaurant, ordinary common people would usually use it.
But all the restaurant’s customers were wearing luxury suits and luxury watches – they were all wealthy people.
“Are you here for a meal? We only accept customers by reservation.”
A middle-aged woman sitting at the counter frowned as she spoke.
She was a staff member with absolutely no service spirit.
Naturally so. This is a strange place where the rule applied is that the owner is the boss, not the customer.
“I came to see my maternal grandmother. Please tell her that Jo Dogyeom has come to visit.”
“Maternal grandson? Our Jigwan has never mentioned such a thing. Please sit down for now. I’ll go tell her quickly and come back.”
The staff member went into the kitchen.
Then she returned to the counter without a word and tapped the abacus.
<It’s not quite turning you away, but your maternal grandmother doesn’t seem to have any intention of meeting you.>
‘I have to wait and see.’
The time of waiting continued.
1 hour passed and 2 hours passed.
Even when the restaurant’s customers were reduced to half, there was no news.
Only after 6 hours had passed did the staff member come looking for me.
“Jigwan says to come into the kitchen. She looks very displeased, so don’t say anything strange and just see her face and leave.”
The staff member was giving a warning.
If she’s in a bad mood, I just need to make her feel good.
Isn’t that the advantage of being a late-born child?
There’s a reason why elderly people smile whenever they see a late-born child.
