novelnext Chapter 53 : Chapter 53
Chapter 53 : Chapter 53
Chapter 53
“Wait a minute, this is a scam…… this makes no sense!”
Kim Ju-han's cry tore through the air.
However, November was expressionless.
The place where Kim Ju-han stood was no longer a game site.
It was fitting to call it a debt collection scene.
A light came on in Kim Ju-han's Money Watch.
His account status was printed on the liquid crystal display.
-900 million won.
1 win against No Tae-jin, 1 win against the believer.
The surplus of 200 million had long been offset by losing everything while purchasing ambiguous results in an attempt to save money halfway through.
Eventually, as minus 1.5 billion was settled into his existing balance, he ended up in a mountain of debt.
Now, even the money, which was the only pillar supporting Kim Ju-han's self-esteem, had disappeared.
Kim Ju-han denied reality because he could not accept this miserable result at all.
“Why do I have to be in debt? Why? Why! It should have ended with those bastards winning, so why are you even touching my balance!”
Then he raised his finger and pointed toward November.
The accusatory finger-pointing was full of trembling.
“Where is the logic in proceeding with things regardless of my will! Why, why, why do I have to be in debt? That’s…… that’s!”
“We saved your life. If we had continued as we were, you would have definitely died.”
November's voice was as stiff as a mechanical sound.
It was dry, indifferent, and devoid of any emotion.
He seemed to be declaring that he was only fulfilling his duty as a spokesperson for the system.
“The 10 billion won mentioned when Lee Ju-seong threatened you. It is physically impossible to earn that 10 billion won.”
It was an accurate point.
No matter how many times I repeated Back-do, eventually, No Tae-jin or August would have crossed the finish line.
November's words continued.
“Considering that part, we declared a decision win. Because any amount between 1 billion and 1.5 billion can be earned as much as one wants.”
“You’re crazy. This is a scam!!”
“A scam is only valid when the opponent doesn't know. You knew the future that would befall you. Therefore, this is a contract.”
A short silence.
Kim Ju-han's Money Watch was still emitting a clear light.
Kim Ju-han panted while looking at the numbers reflected on the screen.
Sweat ran down his forehead, and his knees slowly buckled.
He couldn't even sit down in a chair and knelt on the floor.
“This…… makes no sense. Just because I saved 200 million, this kind of result…… if I had known it would be like this…….”
November said nothing.
There was no biased judgment whatsoever in this game.
He was merely settling reasonably within the set framework.
The outlines of Kim Ju-han's facial muscles sagged as if they were full of swelling.
It was an appearance that seemed to show with all his might through his face that his mind had collapsed.
As if announcing that the judgment was officially confirmed, noise flowed out from the indoor speakers, and an announcement resonated.
[The Straight Yutnori game is now over.]
[The team of Lee Ju-seong, No Tae-jin, and Jo A-rin has won.]
[We will pay 340 million won per person as prize money.]
The time for prize money settlement had arrived.
The amount I had to receive was 1.99 billion won.
It narrowly missed being 2 billion won.
I felt a sense of humanity in the part where it didn't match up perfectly.
It was a game where the human aspect played a large role, after all.
High risk high return vs low risk low return.
It wouldn't have been strange no matter which side won, but the element of luck, which humans can do nothing about, decided the match.
Just like life.
When the settlement was finished, my balance increased noticeably.
[Current balance: 5.09 billion won.]
The scrap amount of 90 million won caught my eye.
So, I jokingly threw a comment in November with some humor.
“It would look clean if it fell exactly on the billion unit. So, give me 10 million won more.”
November responded with a formidable wit.
“Conversely, it would be much cleaner for you to donate 90 million won. Doesn't 5 billion won feel cleaner than 5.1 billion won?”
In the sense that we could throw jokes involving tens of millions of won casually, the values that November and I held regarding money were revealed.
Just a tool. Just a number.
Nothing more, nothing less.
November finished his short joke and intended to guide us outside to fulfill his original mission.
“Good job playing consecutive matches. I will take you outside. Please follow me.”
The three of us on our team followed November without a word.
All three of us had different levels of tension.
I had closed one deal, but I was busy looking several moves ahead to plan my next move.
No Tae-jin was busy suppressing his excitement while repeatedly checking his balance.
August was agonizing over her future conduct regarding the results of this mission.
And…… Kim Ju-han knelt on both knees and showed no sign of getting up.
Among us, only No Tae-jin cared about the lagging Kim Ju-han.
“Excuse me…… Mr. November? Mr. Kim Ju-han is not coming.”
November's answer was cold.
“My job does not include playing the role of a daycare teacher who carries people around. I want to work only as much as my salary, if possible.”
While saying that, he added that the copper mask organization members scheduled to come and clean the inside of the game site later would take him out on their own.
No Tae-jin didn't seem to know, but I knew the reason the organization kept Kim Ju-han alive.
‘The organization is acting quite poorly. It seems they’re in trouble because the number of players is decreasing at a rate exceeding expectations because of me. They’re struggling to keep even one more useful ability user.’
It was not an easy task to constantly procure people to participate in this game.
If there is more outflow than inflow, the game itself cannot be established.
Like a failed game falling into a vicious cycle because matching is not properly caught.
Yoon Ji-ho's early elimination.
Bang Su-hyeok's long-term departure.
In a situation where several players with powerful abilities were dropping out, if even Kim Ju-han, who formed the form of a proper faction within this game, departed, things would become even bigger.
The moment Kim Ju-han disappeared, the many believers following him would pull out of this game.
They wanted to avoid that at least.
That’s why they even attempted mediation while paying me a huge amount of money.
As for me, I didn't care whether Kim Ju-han lived or died.
‘The existence of someone with a deep-seated trauma regarding me means there will be many options in its own way. Just as there are always point vending machines due to human compatibility in sports leagues.’
Since this Money Game was the only place where I could perceive my own existence, I did not welcome an early service termination due to a lack of players.
So, everyone in the organization, please keep struggling for the survival of the Money Game.
For me.
November opened the elevator and let us inside.
“It is a rest period from now on, so please rest freely. Those who want to rest, rest, and those who need treatment, get treated. Then, I will see you again in the next game.”
Like that, we took the elevator down and left the Game Tower.
After going outside, the three of us all scattered to handle our respective business.
Just before parting, the words August left for me were impressive.
“Don't get the wrong idea. It’s not that I’m conscious of you because I like you or anything.”
It was a complaint lamenting her situation where she had to perform mind control even at this moment to perceive me as a comrade.
It was August who walked away with her back to me after snapping sharply.
I chuckled while looking at her back.
“I’m sure you are.”
***
Control Room.
It was a realm of apathy where neither cheers of victory nor cries of defeat could be heard.
When August opened the door and entered, the space was quiet.
Excessively quiet.
“Dealer August. I have just returned after completing the mission.”
Monitors lined up along the wall were reflecting each player's movements and biological signals in real time.
The graphics were simple, and the colors were pale.
A room where it felt like only white light was flowing down in a straight line.
August stopped her steps for a moment.
Even while sensing that her existence was heterogeneous to the entire space, she calmly stepped forward.
Every time the soles of her soiled sneakers tapped the floor, the interception microphones reacted sensitively as if dealing with an enemy's approach.
January was standing in the center of the silence.
“You’ve come.”
He didn't hold a gavel, but he bore a solemn atmosphere like a judge facing a defendant.
The dealers stationed on both sides of January were looking at August bleakly with their hands folded over their lower abdomens, as if claiming to be jurors.
January opened his mouth again.
“Are you still making an effort to perceive Lee Ju-seong as a comrade?”
For August, the gazes directed at her were not very pleasing.
The atmosphere was too heavy for a mere questioning of responsibility for a mission failure.
She thought that while she might be reprimanded as a subordinate employee, it was not a matter of being treated as a criminal.
“The higher-ups told me not to kill Lee Ju-seong. Since he threatened me using his own life as collateral, I merely made an appropriate judgment as a field agent.”
“I understand. I would have made the same judgment.”
“For someone who understands, the atmosphere in which you treat me seems unusual. I’d like to know the reason.”
January exhaled a long breath audibly.
As moisture condensed inside the mask, his eyes inside the eye holes billowed like a pond facing a strong wind.
“In Round 2, Lee Ju-seong showed an appearance that was inconsistent with the information researched by the organization.”
“Yes, I know. Seo Ji-hye's ability didn't work on him.”
“At that time, I thought of one possibility.”
He paused for a moment and added with a strong accent.
“The possibility that there is a traitor among our dealers. So, I took action before Round 3 began.”
“As expected, you are flawless.”
“Please listen until the end. To weed out the traitor, I gave different instructions to each of you dealers.”
August's eyebrows arched significantly.
She had an intuition.
That January had been doubting all the dealers for a long time.
She finally realized that she, August herself, was also on the list of suspects.
“You told me to participate in Round 3 directly. Does that mean the other dealers didn't know this fact?”
“That's right. It was a fact known only to me, July, and you, August.”
“So that's why I didn't know that Round 4 would start immediately.”
“Yes, the fact that consecutive matches would be played was known only to me, May, and November.”
In addition, he told a few dealers the details of the additional rules of Straight Yutnori, and told another few dealers the abilities of Kim Ju-han and some believers.
Through such tactics, they were able to narrow down the suspects of betrayal.
January pressured August.
“Lee Ju-seong recognized you as soon as he saw you. However, he didn't know that Round 3 and 4 would be played consecutively. And he seemed to be encountering the additional rules of Straight Yutnori for the first time, and he only found out the abilities of Kim Ju-han and some believers after observing them until No Tae-jin was hit.”
In other words, the only information Lee Ju-seong had received in advance was the fact that August would participate in Round 3.
The person who could leak the information was limited to the person who had the advanced information.
January, July, August.
Since the person who devised the tactic wouldn't have leaked it, January had to be excluded.
August appealed with a sense of injustice.
“According to January's logic, isn't July also a suspect?”
“That is impossible. I was keeping July's Money Watch, which can make contact, the whole time, and I kept him by my side since before Round 3 started.”
“Ah…….”
According to the method of elimination, only August remained as the traitor.
Even the fact that Lee Ju-seong was going back and forth about whether to tell her who the traitor was during the game could be dismissed as acting by August to avoid being suspected as a traitor, so she had nothing to say.
Above all, the fact that she succeeded in perceiving Lee Ju-seong as a comrade in a short time during the game was also one of the strong pieces of evidence.
At this rate, she would really be branded as a traitor.
August, feeling a sense of crisis, squeezed out a last resort.
The plan she thought of after much deliberation was none other than overestimating Lee Ju-seong.
“Wait a minute. As the field manager, I’ll give my honest opinion. Lee Ju-seong, that man's insight has surpassed the human level. I’d like to cast a vote for the possibility that Lee Ju-seong recognized me because he is far superior to others.”
Immediately after saying it, she got goosebumps.
Lee Ju-seong had said it during Round 3.
He had said that after the game ended, August would highly evaluate Lee Ju-seong and defend him instead, even if she hated it.
It was just scary that things were flowing exactly according to his prophecy.
She really hated it. Even though she sincerely hated him, this situation where she had to move for Lee Ju-seong with all her might was absurd.
‘Why do I have to protect that man? I’m going crazy.’