Chapter 11:Money and Talent Pour In

          Chapter 11: Setting a Goal (1)

Right before falling asleep.

He belatedly realized that there was still one card left.

Ah, right.

When he had been shopping and completed the collection quest, he had completely forgotten about the card he received back then.

At the time, he had been quite conflicted about it. Now that the coins had been neatly wrapped up, he decided to draw the card while feeling good.

“Anyway, it’s probably a dud.”

Card open.

As he selected one from the spinning cards, it burst with blinding light and flew straight toward his face. It was absorbed between his eyebrows, and something materialized on his palm.

[You have selected the lowest-grade ‘Physical’ card.]

[What an exquisite choice.]

[As a reward, you are granted a ‘Stamina Enhancement Potion’.]

It wasn’t a dud.

Nevertheless, rather than joy, Ryu Seong’s face was filled with doubt.

A enhancement potion?

This was the first time he had received this kind of reward.

It felt unfamiliar.

Narrowing his eyes, he carefully picked up the yellow potion that had appeared on his palm.

[Stamina Enhancement Potion]

[Slightly enhances the basic stamina that a human naturally possesses.]

A simple description of the potion appeared.

Only then did he understand.

Aside from the fact that this wasn’t something sold in the shop, a much more fundamental shock hit him from behind.

It strengthens stamina.

He couldn’t know exactly which parts would change, but he could guess it would be something good.

It would probably reduce fatigue too.

He felt like he wouldn’t get tired as easily as before.

Hmm, and…

He might even become a little healthier.

“I’ll know once I drink it.”

Since it was clearly something that would benefit his life, he immediately opened the cap to drink it. Right before putting the spout to his lips, Ryu Seong paused for a moment.

His parents came to mind.

Would even a small amount have an effect?

Just to check, he took a tiny sip.

Gulp.

The cool sensation slid down his throat, followed by a physical uplift.

“Ahh…!”

Something that made up his body had changed.

It was a fundamental shift.

The heavy pressure that had been weighing down his entire body disappeared.

So that had been fatigue.

He had never thought of himself as particularly tired, but after drinking the potion, he realized how wrong he had been.

The difference was stark.

Even his heartbeat felt stronger, and vitality surged through his whole body. At this rate, he felt confident he could completely overpower Ryu Hyun-ah in a fight.

“Khehehe.”

He even felt an urge to do something right away.

A sensation of overflowing energy.

He closed his eyes and fully savored the change.

Eventually, he snapped himself back to reality.

“It’s burning hot.”

He simply couldn’t suppress this surging energy. In the end, he spent a considerable amount of time doing squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and more before he could finally calm down.

“Huuup, huuaa.”

While catching his breath.

Once again.

He marveled at the greatness of the quests.

“This is insane.”

It was an incredible stroke of luck.

What kind of person in the world could experience something this ridiculous?

Squeeze.

He picked up the potion bottle on the desk again.

After hesitating, he took another small sip.

Gulp.

He felt a very slight change once more, but the gap compared to the first sip was so huge that it was clearly a waste. He had confirmed enough. Now the only thing left was to give it to his family.

He quietly stepped out of his room to check and saw that his parents and Ryu Hyun-ah were still in the living room, watching TV and laughing together.

“Ehehehe!”

“Heh heh.”

Ryu Hwan was most likely either gaming in his room or browsing cars again—very high probability. Carefully heading to the kitchen, Ryu Seong opened the fridge and poured the potion into the half-full bottle of barley tea.

Glug glug glug.

This way, it would be diluted enough that they wouldn’t feel any sudden drastic change, but their condition would steadily improve every time they drank it. He closed the cap and gave it a good shake.

Once it seemed well mixed,

he poured some of the barley tea into a small cup and carried it to Ryu Hwan’s room. As expected, his little brother was in the middle of a game, so Ryu Seong quietly set the cup down on the empty spot to the left of the desk and slipped back out.

“If you’re thirsty, drink it.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

He returned to the kitchen, poured three more cups of barley tea, placed them on a tray, and headed to the living room.

“Dad, Mom. Have some water while you watch.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“I’ll drink it well, son.”

His father and mother accepted the cups with warm, pleased smiles. Ryu Hyun-ah, on the other hand, looked at Ryu Seong with suspicion.

“What’s this? Why are you suddenly doing something you never do? You didn’t spit in it, did you?”

“Ugh, seriously.”

How could she be so consistently like this?

“Fine, if you don’t want it, whatever.”

If she didn’t drink it, she’d only be hurting herself.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t drink it. Anyway… thanks.”

“Tch, whatever then.”

It felt a little disappointing, but good things were good things.

Yeah, you get healthy too.

“Khuh, nice and cool—feels great.”

“You drank it well.”

Just then, his parents finished gulping down the water and handed back the empty cups. Their expressions and eyes were noticeably brighter and more vivid than before.

“Hmm… I suddenly feel full of energy.”

“Oh my, you too?”

“It’s weird—my sleepiness just vanished.”

“Oh my, oh my.”

Then they looked at each other with heated gazes.

Oh boy.

It seemed like they were going to have quite a passionate night tonight. Sensing the strange atmosphere, Ryu Hyun-ah and Ryu Seong cleared their throats awkwardly and retreated to their rooms.

“Good night.”

“Yeah, sleep well.”

Soon after, all the lights in the house went out.

*

Even though quite a bit of time had passed, the coin café and gallery were still blazing hot with talk about Liar Coin. But Ryu Seong no longer paid any attention to it. The reason he’d made money so quickly in the first place was entirely thanks to the quest information.

Greed was poison.

Now that he had no more usable information, he had no intention of touching stocks or coins again.

Above all, the limited-time quest still hadn’t been cleared.

“When is it going to clear…”

He checked the quest—there was still a little time left on the limit.

They’d come in once it was over.

A vague daydream crept in.

How many points would come in?

If it was enough to buy stock or coin information, that would be a jackpot. After this incident, he had personally experienced just how incredibly valuable that kind of information could be, and since he’d already made a lot of money, if he got another piece of information, he could make far more than he had this time.

“Hehe.”

Just thinking about it made him feel good.

Of course, that probably wouldn’t happen.

It was just idle fantasy. No matter how many points were distributed based on the number of participants, there was no way they’d hand out a massive amount like 30 points all at once.

After letting his mind wander a bit longer, he got up from the bed.

There was no point in spacing out, and suddenly he thought of Lee Shin-woo.

“That guy… he probably overdid it.”

The right thing to do was pay him back as quickly as possible.

With plenty of interest, too.

He took out his smartphone and called Lee Shin-woo.

(Yeah, what’s up.)

“Let’s grab dinner together.”

(Dinner? Hold on. Honey, can I go out for dinner?)

(Who is it?)

(Ryu Seong.)

(Go ahead, but don’t stay out too late. You know it’s hard for me handling the kids alone.)

(I know. I’ll come back quick!)

(While you’re out, eat something delicious.)

A small exchange of voices could be heard faintly.

Ahem, now he felt a little guilty for no reason.

If he ever got his hands on more information later, he planned to pass some of it on to Lee Shin-woo as well. The guy was too cautious to handle large sums, but it would still be a small help for the long journey of raising twins as a father.

(Should I head out now?)

“No, I’ll come to your place by 5:30.”

(Okay.)

After exchanging only the necessary details, he ended the call.

Nya~aa.

There was still some time left, so he petted Lucky, who was acting cute beside him, then got up and took out a toy.

“Wanna play a bit before I go?”

He waved the stick with the mouse-shaped toy attached. Lucky immediately swiped with his tiny front paws in an adorable way. Then he flattened himself to the floor and began stalking like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to pounce, eyes sharply fixed on the swaying mouse doll.

“Pfft.”

That sight in itself was just too adorable.

While still laughing and waving the toy back and forth,

Nya aaang!

Lucky let out his own version of a roar, cutely leaping into the air and snatching the mouse-shaped doll with his claws. After batting it around a few times to confirm its movements, he chomped down on it with his mouth.

“Pfft, still a cat after all.”

It seemed some of his instincts were still dormant. Of course, even that just made him endlessly lovable.

“You little rascal.”

Ryu Seong crouched down, gently stroking Lucky’s belly while the cat was busy gnawing on the toy. Lucky immediately dropped the toy and grabbed Ryu Seong’s hand tightly with both front paws.

Nya?

He hadn’t extended a single claw, so it didn’t hurt at all. Thanks to that, the soft, pink paw pads felt completely like jelly—squishy and plump. The smooth yet bouncy texture was enough to make his soul melt away.

“Ughhh…”

He’d heard that most cats hated having their paw pads touched, but there was no way he could resist this.

He kept gently kneading Lucky’s paw pads.

Squish.

So this was the addictive feeling that turned people into willing servants.

Nya aaaah.

Lucky continued playing with an innocent expression, as if he had no idea what was happening. It didn’t seem like he minded the paw-touching that much.

Good for me, then.

They played for so long that time just vanished.

“Huh, already?”

Snapping back to reality belatedly, he hurriedly headed to the front door. Seeing Lucky follow him all the way to see him off made a proud dad-smile spread across his face.

“I’ll play with you more when I get back.”

Nya aaah…

The moment Lucky’s cry—like he was begging him not to go—made Ryu Seong flinch,

Beep, bee-rip.

His mother opened the front door and stepped inside.

“Hm? You’re heading out?”

“Yeah. I’ve got something to talk about with Shin-woo. I’ll eat dinner out, but should I pick something up on the way back?”

“Then can you get me one serving of sushi?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll just watch some drama with Lucky in the meantime. Aww, my Lucky. Ohhh, you’re so pretty~”

His mother scooped Lucky up in her arms and headed to the living room. Seeing that scene, Ryu Seong felt relief—not just for Lucky, but for his mom too—that she wouldn’t be left alone. He stepped out the door.

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay, be careful!”

Lee Shin-woo’s place wasn’t far.

A five-minute walk.

If he fiddled with his phone on the way, it felt like it passed in an instant. Shin-woo was already waiting outside, looking like a total mess with his cap pulled low over his face.

“You’re here.”

“Yeah. You didn’t wash up? Why do you look so grimy?”

“Ah, too lazy. I’ve got the cap on, so it’s fine.”

“Ugh, do whatever. Anyway, I’m treating today, so let’s go eat some beef.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Interest.”

“Interest? You’re paying me back already?”

“Of course I have to.”

“You’re fast. Honestly, I was starting to feel a little tight on cash.”

They chatted as they got into Shin-woo’s car. Once he started the engine and began driving, Shin-woo asked in a blunt tone,

“So, did you take care of that urgent thing?”

“Completely.”

“Then should we head to the place I know well?”

“Sure, whatever.”

The place they actually arrived at was an all-you-can-eat beef restaurant.

“What the hell is this place?”

“The one I know well.”

“You crazy bastard. Forget it—let’s just go to the black hanwoo specialty place.”

“That place is expensive…”

“Just go if I tell you to go.”

At Ryu Seong’s firm tone, Shin-woo nodded reluctantly.

“Fine, whatever. Don’t regret it later.”

“How much can one person even eat?”

Not long after, they arrived at the famous black hanwoo (Korean black beef) specialty restaurant.

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