When I had just been promoted to Private First Class, our unit was conducting mortar fire training under the command of the division commander.
Boom! Boom!
The thunderous sound of explosions echoed as the shells launched and hit their targets.
Sergeant Kim Jae-hak, who was the gunner, loaded a shell into the barrel with practiced precision.
At that moment, something appeared in front of my eyes like a hologram.
At first, I couldn't understand what I was seeing.
What is this? Why is it showing up in front of me?
KM188 was the name of a new model of mortar that had recently been distributed, and one was right in front of me.
Even now, I don't know why it happened, but instinctively, I threw myself to the ground and shouted:
"Get down!"
That split-second decision saved my life.
Boom!
An explosion erupted, followed by screams and cries of pain.
"Argh!"
"Ahhh! My leg!"
The shell had failed to fire and exploded inside the barrel. The tube burst, and Sergeant Kim was struck by shrapnel and collapsed.
One person lost their life, and another was seriously injured because of that accident..
As for me, I was largely unscathed, except for some temporary hearing loss. I had instinctively hit the ground fast enough to avoid injury, but I was hospitalized in the military hospital for a month.
I didn't tell my mother, worried it would upset her. However, I Informed Tae-kyu, and he came to visit me at the hospital right away.
"Why didn't you say anything back then?"
"Would you have believed me if I had?"
"Good point."
That incident left me with tinnitus for a while, possibly due to damage to my eardrums. Later, when I had time to think, I began wondering if I had imagined it all.
I eventually dismissed it and moved on.
"But while we were talking earlier, it suddenly appeared again."
"A hologram?"
"Yeah."
When I saw that thing in front of me the first time, if I hadn't ducked, I might have been killed or seriously injured.
The only reason I'm still here today is because of that moment.
"So, when I saw the words 'MountainHill Bankruptcy' appear, I told you to sell immediately. I just thought something bad was about to happen."
Tae-kyu still looked skeptical, and who could blame him? If our roles were reversed, I wouldn't believe a word of this either.
"Does this even make sense?"
"Who cares if it makes sense? The point is you got out in time."
If he had delayed even a few hours, all his BantCoin would have been gone.
Wait a minute. Doesn't that make me some kind of lifesaver?
"What is this, some kind of superpower?"
At first, I wondered the same thing. Was it some kind of ability?
But come on, there's no such thing as superpowers in real life.
"It's probably just intuition, like when people say they avoided a doomed flight because they had a bad feeling about it."
"Hmm..."
After a long moment of thought, Tae-kyu asked cautiously:
"Is it okay to tell me about this? Shouldn't you keep something like this a secret?"
"Who would believe me anyway?"
When I once told a military counselor that I saw a warning message moments before the explosion, they didn't act shocked. Instead, they said it was probably just confusion caused by the blast and prescribed me medication.
If I had something more tangible, like the ability to move objects with my mind, I would have kept it under wraps for sure. Such things can be tested and proven.
But this? This is just something that happens in my head. It's not even clear what it is.
And besides...
"There are probably a million people out there claiming they have superpowers."
The world is full of people making wild claims about supernatural abilities on TV and the internet.
Who's going to care if I say I see random holograms sometimes?
Still, there's no reason to announce it to the world.
"I only told you because I trust you. Don't tell anyone else."
Tae-kyu nodded solemnly.
"Got it. I'll keep my mouth shut."
He can be a blabbermouth sometimes, but he's good at keeping secrets when it matters.
I asked him, "So, how much did you make from selling?"
"See for yourself."
Tae-kyu pulled up his account on the computer.
[12,387,000]
It didn't seem like much at first glance.
Anyone could earn that in a year if they worked hard enough. But this figure wasn't in Korean won—it was in US dollars.
"..."
That's about 13.6 billion won.
There really are things in this world that defy belief.
"Is this a U.S. account?"
"Yeah. Ever heard of Dela Island?"
"What's that?"
"It's an island in the eastern Caribbean."
Dela Island, a U.S. territory, has a population of just 20,000 people and relies on sugarcane farming and tourism.
Most people have never heard of it, but every wealthy entrepreneur knows its name.
Not because it's a beautiful natural paradise worth visiting, but because it's a tax haven.
Tae-kyu scratched his head as he explained.
"When I finally recovered my crypto keys and looked into selling, I found out the tax situation is ridiculously complicated."
Cryptocurrency has only been around for a little over a decade. Its legal definition isn't well-established, and there's no international consensus on how to regulate it.
If BantCoin is classified as currency, Tae-kyu would simply be profiting from an exchange rate difference, meaning no taxes. But if it's considered a commodity, income tax applies.
The Korean tax authority currently treats BantCoin as a commodity and intends to tax it accordingly. That could mean handing over tens of billions in taxes.
Tae-kyu's sister had suggested a solution: setting up a corporation on Dela Island.
By routing profits through a company in a tax haven, taxes could be avoided.
"So I set up a company called OTK Company on Dela Island."
"OTK as in 'Otaku'?"
"...It's short for Oh Tae-kyu."
It's really just a shell company.
"Isn't that illegal?"
Tae-kyu shook his head.
"Technically, it's not illegal. Anyone can set up a company anywhere they want. Even major global corporations like NPL and Goobl base their companies in tax havens."
"..."
It might not be illegal, but it sure feels shady.
Still, if it meant avoiding tens of billions in taxes, I'd probably do the same.
I looked at the account again. Even seeing it with my own eyes, the amount didn't feel real.
"That's incredible."
"Ha! I can live a life of luxury from now on."
From what I could tell, he was already living that way.
I folded my arms and fell into thought.
"Hmm."
"What's wrong?"
"I feel like I'm forgetting something important. It's right on the tip of my tongue..."
Tae-kyu nodded with a serious expression.
"Same here. I've had this nagging feeling for days, like I've overlooked something. But what is it?"
I mentally traced my steps back through the past. After a long while, a forgotten fact finally surfaced.
"Wait! Didn't you sell my character too?"
At my words, Tae-kyu shouted:
"Oh, right! I remember now. I sold my character for 10,000 and yours for 1,000!"
Back then, it was such a small amount of money that I didn't care.
Then BantCoin skyrocketed to 50 million won each, and when Tae-kyu lost access to his keys, we fought over the lost fortune for a month.
In the end, he paid me back with free meals for weeks, and we let it go.
I quickly did some math in my head.
Out of 11,000BNT, 1,000BNT was mine, or about 9.1%.
9.1% of 13.6 billion won comes to approximately 1.24 billion won.
I held out my hand to Tae-kyu.
"Pay up."
After a moment of stunned silence, he stammered:
"Y-you'll get it."
The day after my discharge, I suddenly had 1.24 billion won.
Morning arrived, and I went to the bank. At the ATM, I inserted my card.
After entering my PIN, my account balance displayed:
[500,000,000]
"Yes!"
I clenched my fist in triumph.
I already knew the deposit had been made, but seeing it with my own eyes was something else. The sheer number of zeroes didn't feel real.
How many zeroes even is this?
It was hard to process.
Before the army, I had once saved up 3 million won through tutoring and scrimping. But I had never seen this kind of money before.
Originally, I was owed 1.24 billion won.
However, transferring all that money at once posed tax issues. If Tae-kyu transferred the funds directly to me, it would be classified as a gift, subject to steep taxes.
While the first 500 million won was taxed at 20%, higher amounts would incur progressively higher rates.
To minimize taxes, I accepted 500 million won for now and decided to find a workaround for the remaining 740 million won later.
This isn't a dream, right?
I withdrew 1 million won as a test.
Whirr!
The ATM spat out twenty crisp 50,000-won bills, and the balance displayed 499,000,000 won.
"...Ah."
It worked. This was real.
I quickly stuffed the money into my wallet, glancing around to make sure no one saw.
In just one day, my life had changed.
As I stepped outside, the bright sunlight poured over me. The world suddenly looked different. Even the chill of winter felt warm.
Was it my body that felt cold before, or my heart?
I stopped and glanced at my reflection in a shop window. A stretched-out T-shirt, faded jeans, and a jacket with fraying sleeves.
I was still wearing the same clothes I'd had before the army.
At best, it could pass as thrift store chic, but honestly, it just looked shabby.
I reeked of poverty.
"Guess I should buy some new clothes."
My mom was probably working at the department store now.
I'd buy some clothes and visit her too.
With that thought, I headed to the Lotte Department Store in Gangnam.