Chapter 15

Chapter 15

15. I Became a Boss

Im Seokjun pulled the woman closer by the shoulder and laughed.

“If I didn’t at least have these girls, life wouldn’t be any fun. Right?”

“I suppose.”

“Take one with you. My treat.”

“I’m fine.”

“Why? Still haven’t gotten over your ex-wife?”

Instead of answering, the loan shark emptied his glass.

Chairman Im Seokjun poured him another drink and spoke quietly.

“Starting next month, raise it a little.”

“...By how much?”

“About thirty percent.”

“Chairman.”

“Prices have gone up. Gas too.”

Gas prices?

Something flashed through the loan shark’s mind.

But nothing showed on his face.

Chairman Im Seokjun jerked his chin toward the men being beaten in a line.

“Know why those bastards are like that?”

“No.”

“They were managing one of my slush funds, and it got robbed. One billion won. Every last bit.”

The loan shark’s eyes briefly swept over the man beaten into pulp and the two lying face-down.

‘The pulped one is A-Rank. The two getting hit with the bat are B-Rank.’

His assessment was immediate.

Chairman Im Seokjun continued.

“One billion is more than enough compensation for roughing those bastards up, right? Accounts have to be settled properly. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Around 1 a.m.

The lights of Gangnam flowed past the windows of a luxury SUV.

The loan shark sat in the driver’s seat with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

The time it had taken for a 400-million-won ring to change owners.

Just five seconds.

‘Money is power.’

The real gangster wasn’t a fist.

There had been a time when he played gangster with his fists.

But ultimately, money was what held the world in its grip.

‘Tribute plus thirty percent. Starting next month.’

He had to raise it.

There was no refusing.

Those were the rules of this world.

‘If I want to change the rules.’

I need to grow bigger.

Bigger than Chairman Im Seokjun.

Big enough to become the one who controls the rules.

The loan shark opened his eyes and took out his smartphone.

He opened his contacts.

‘Divine One.’

He stared at the saved number for a long while.

He remembered the proposal he had rejected earlier that day.

Fifteen billion barrels.

1.5 trillion dollars.

‘Can I believe him? Oil in Korea?’

But thinking about it.

That kid.

He had no idea how Choi Hyunwoo obtained an S-Rank weapon.

‘The Shadow Dagger originally belonged to Lee Jinho.’

The loan shark knew that too.

That much information wasn’t hard to obtain.

‘And he sold Lee Jinho’s own weapon... to Lee Jinho?’

How had he managed that?

‘I didn’t ask.’

There was no point.

The guy would obviously say it was a secret.

More importantly, asking where a client’s money came from was taboo in this business.

If the transaction were perfectly legal and ordinary, they’d go to a major bank.

They wouldn’t come to someone like him.

Eventually, the car stopped at a traffic light.

The loan shark pressed the call button.

Riiing.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

-Hello? Who is this?

“It’s me. Friends Capital.”

-...Boss? It’s one in the morning.

“I know.”

-...What is it?

“That thing you mentioned earlier. Is the offer still good?”

-The oil?

“Yeah.”

Silence followed.

He heard blankets rustling through the phone.

-You want in?

“Fifty-fifty.”

-Ah, you should’ve said so earlier. That bus already left.

“Then turn the bus around.”

-Turning a bus around uses a lot of fuel.

“Hah.”

The loan shark laughed dryly.

‘Right. Time passes, interest accrues.’

That was how he himself made a living, so he couldn’t complain.

“Sixty-forty.”

-Seventy-thirty.

“Forget it. I’m out.”

-In exchange!

The loan shark, who had been about to hang up, hesitated and put the phone back to his ear.

“In exchange for what?”

-I’ll give you the CEO position and full management control. How about that?

“...Deal.”

-So you’re doing it?

“Yeah. You and me. Let’s live like dragons.”