Chapter 4 · 13 min

Chapter 4

May 2002.

Around the time the whole of the Republic of Korea was beginning to be dyed in red T-shirts.

Every late-light hour I had my head buried in an old notebook, laying a meticulous plan.

Sports Toto.

I had assumed it had always been there, but they say it only started last October.

Anyway, I decided to bet legally.

The limit per bet was 100,000 won.

In all honesty, I wanted to use overseas books with no bet limit and blow a jackpot in the billions...

If I had had financial knowledge that advanced to begin with, I would have shorted the US market on the spot when 9/11 blew up last fall.

'And would the CIA have taken me? Heh heh.'

To a wild-goose father who sent every won he made to his family, that sort of thing was no different from a picture of a rice cake.

'Don't get greedy. I have to hold back.'

I drew a deep breath and pressed down the desire boiling up.

Anyway, in the future I knew, chances to build vast wealth lay everywhere.

This time it was enough to get sure starting capital in hand.

So I decided to bet exactly three times during the World Cup.

Three bets, drawing maximum efficiency while avoiding the bank's suspicion and the penalty of being a soldier.

For that, I turned my head furiously.

* * *

A peaceful afternoon in the assistant instructors' office at the Army Engineer School, and a familiar voice came from the guard post.

"Han Jeong-su! You have a visitor!"

He's here!

I shot up from my seat and ran to the visiting room.

There was Sang-u, a friend I had not seen in a long while, face scrunched, looking around.

"Hey, Han Jeong-su! You crazy? What is it that you tell me to come all the way to Jangseong in Jeolla? Don't you know I'm going to the army next month too!"

"Heh heh. Hey, hey. Calm down first. This is good for you too. Go cut an outing pass, quick."

"Ah, damn! It better not be nothing!"

Sang-u grumbled and went to cut an outing pass.

To do it the way I had planned, I could not pull all of my leave forward and use it.

So for the first bet I absolutely needed an accomplice.

I coaxed and soothed Sang-u, who would not listen no matter how I told him to do his army early, and had him come down to Jeolla.

We took a bus out to downtown Gwangju.

And on the way I talked with Sang-u.

"What's this about?"

I had worried over this part a great deal too.

But there seemed to be no answer, so I just laid iron on my face.

"Sang-u."

"What, setting the mood like that?"

"I had a strange dream a few days ago."

"A dream? What dream?"

From the start, Sang-u's face darkened.

I went on quickly.

"No, listen. It was so vivid that no matter how I chewed it over, it was nothing but a pig dream. On a huge field there was a tiger and a chicken, one each."

Sang-u looked at me and pricked up his ears.

For thin ears, he is first in the whole school.

"A tiger? Korea? Then what's the chicken?"

"France. The France national team mark is a rooster. Anyway, these guys are running around the field fighting. At first the tiger bites the chicken twice, very bravely. Then the chicken snaps back and pecks once."

Sang-u looked at me strangely.

I know! It doesn't make sense!

But I did not show it, and spoke seriously.

"The two seemed to rest a moment from exhaustion, and then they started fighting again. This time the chicken started the counter. And twice!"

"······So?"

"What do you mean, so! You don't get the feel just looking? This is the friendly this time! France wins 3 to 2!"

"You son of a bitch!"

Sang-u ground his molars and growled.

I went shameless to the end.

"Hey! What are you going to do if it goes like my dream?"

"You think that makes sense right now!"

"No! So I'm asking what you'll do if a jackpot really blows up like I said!"

"What'll I do, you bastard! Then I guess that's how it is!"

I laughed and put an arm around Sang-u's shoulder.

"Hey. Let's go buy Toto."

"What?"

"Sports Toto. There, yours and mine, let's buy just two slips."

"······."

Sang-u, silent a moment, glared at me.

"Don't tell me you had me come down for this?"

"Of course. Who else do I have to ask but you? We're best friends. Right, friend?"

When I clung on disgustingly, he recoiled and shoved me off.

"Aaaagh! Get off! You bastard! Wow! I'm really going crazy. What kind of lunatic is this."

Sang-u pounded his chest as if his insides were burning.

"You bastard. I'm telling you I'm right. Buy it and a jackpot blows."

"Fine! Let's go, go! If it's wrong, then you die and I live."

"Ha! This bastard. No faith at all."

And so we headed for a Sports Toto lottery shop in downtown Gwangju.

There I picked up a computer marking pen and marked the OMR card with a trembling hand.

[First half 2:1 Korea lead, final score 2:3 France win]

"Here. Write it the same as me."

I showed Sang-u what I had marked and had him write it the same.

And when we took it to the counter, the lottery-shop man glanced at us and said.

"Aigu, soldier. A hundred thousand won, do you know what army pay is, and the nerve on you. But what is this score? Against art-soccer France, with Zidane playing, we win the first half? Then get turned over again in the second? Heh heh, money is easy to throw away."

The man clicked his tongue.

From behind, Sang-u's deep sigh followed along.

"Haha. Sir, you don't trust Coach Hiddink! I trust Coach Hiddink. Here's the money. Please issue it."

And so I bought the soccer Toto special.

Not simply hitting win or loss, but a combination of first-half score, second-half score, and the result — in Korea there was no bet with higher odds than this.

'If there had been something like a proto or an accumulator, I really would have blown a huge jackpot. A shame.'

I quickly shook my head and flung the stray thought away.

'Don't get greedy!'

And the result was as everyone knows.

May 26, Korea went ahead 2 to 1 on goals by Park Ji-sung and Seol Ki-hyeon, but in the second half France's fierce counter turned it to a 2 to 3 reverse loss.

"Waaaaaah!!!!"

When the result came out I called Sang-u, and the moment he picked up, his voice throwing a fit hit my eardrum.

"Jeong-su!!!! I believed in you!!! You bastard!!! I love you!! Han Jeong-su!!! Han. Jeong. Su!!! Kiyahot!"

Having tasted money, he is definitely crazy.

I gave a short laugh and said.

"I told you to trust only this hyung from now on. That's a gift for going to the army."

"······Ah, shit. The army."

He will not even have time to spend the money.

I chuckled and hung up.

Odds of 361.08.

Sang-u and I each brought in 36,108,000 won before tax.

'I'm still hungry.'

* * *

"Loyalty! Going on leave."

"Right. See to things at home and come back."

"Yes, sir!"

Mid-June, while the whole country was going mad with shouts of "Dae~hanminguk!", I got leave and headed for Seoul.

This target was the round-of-16 match against Italy.

Originally the seniors should have taken the leave, but I had already applied, long before the World Cup opened, saying I had to go for family matters, so no one could stop me.

Who would have expected our country to advance to the round of 16?

That was how I was able to take the regular leave of fourteen nights and fifteen days.

First I arrived in Seoul, changed into civilian clothes, and went to the main branch of Chohung Bank.

'This merges with Shinhan Bank later, doesn't it?'

The memory is hazy, but anyway it was a bank that would disappear in my future.

"How can I help you, sir?"

After drawing a waiting ticket and waiting, I said to the banker I approached.

"I came to collect Sports Toto winnings."

"Ah, is that so? The lottery division is not here, you have to go up to the second floor. Shall I show you the way?"

Guided by the banker, I went up to the lottery division on the second floor.

Quieter than the ordinary counters on the first floor, with a strange tension in the air.

I went to the counter and carefully held out my identification together with the winning slip I had kept uncreased, tucked reverently between the pages of a book.

The clerk took the slip and scanned the barcode.

With a brisk beep of a notification, the clerk who checked the monitor went wide-eyed.

"Oh my, goodness. Congratulations, sir! You hit the reverse-odds special on the France friendly. Odds times, 36,108,000 won before tax."

At the clerk's voice, the surrounding bankers' eyes flicked toward me.

Well, next to a first-prize lottery it is not much, but to avoid suspicion I started the act.

"Heh heh. Thank you. I bought it the way my late grandfather told me in a dream, and it hit."

"Oh my! Goodness, you must have treated your ancestors well."

The bank clerk, looking about mid-thirties, played along good-naturedly.

I laughed along and scratched my head.

"Still, the next ones all missed. I wrote in every one of them that we lose 2 to 3. I never imagined our country would do this well."

"Ho ho. Unfortunate for you, but luck for the Republic of Korea."

"True. Our country winning, I felt good even losing money. So the next bet I'm going to go a bit more realistically."

"You mean the Italy match?"

"Yes. Both are defense-first teams that play with fighting spirit, so I figure either a one-goal difference or a draw. This time I'll bet that way."

"Ho ho. I'll wish you luck."

"Thank you."

"Then the winnings, after deducting 22 percent prize tax, we'll transfer to a Chohung Bank account. Please wait a moment."

"Yes, please do that."

Thanks to the friendly bank clerk, my tail-cutting act seemed to have gone down very well.

"There, it's all processed."

I took the bankbook and identification the clerk handed me, bowed politely, and left the bank.

Opening the glass door and coming out, I saw the old overpass from before the Cheonggyecheon restoration.

Until I went into the bank the overpass had looked dingy, and now even that looked pretty.

I stepped aside on the street for a moment and looked at the number stamped in the bankbook.

'28,164,240 won'

The amount brought in from a single bet.

I mean to spend this money.

I will do what I wanted to do in my previous life and could not, and reward myself.

I did not go far.

Anyway I planned to watch the Italy match from City Hall Plaza, so I went down south of Cheonggyecheon and walked toward Deoksugung.

On the way I did not forget to stop at a lottery shop and buy Toto for the Italy match.

First half 1:0 Italy lead, then a second-half equalizer, and a dramatic golden goal in extra time.

But Toto's official rule is based on regulation time, ninety minutes, so the final score is a 1:1 draw.

Feeling the thickened bankbook, I stepped into the lobby of L Hotel on the right side of Deoksugung.

"How can I help you, sir?"

"A suite, please. How much a night?"

The front clerk smiled kindly and said.

"The royal suite is 7,770,000 won a night."

"Hah!"

I was genuinely startled, eyes nearly popping out.

Sleep there and the navel would be bigger than the belly.

"And because it is the World Cup period, there are no royal suites remaining."

"...Hoo."

I let out a sigh of relief without meaning to.

Then I watched the front clerk's face.

She was simply waiting, wearing a professional smile.

"Then is there a room cheaper than that? I want to watch the Italy match from the room."

"Yes. I'll show you. There happens to be one deluxe suite open, with a view toward City Hall Plaza."

I hesitated a moment and asked.

"...By any chance, how much is that room?"

"One million won a night, sir."

I brightened and said.

"Then I'll stay the three days until the Italy match is over!"

"Understood. I'll help you check in."

And so I enjoyed an ultra-luxury hotel stay, the first of my life.

* * *

"Dae~hanminguk!! Clap clap clap clap clap!"

Street cheering for the Italy match, looked down on through the suite's floor-to-ceiling glass, was something else.

Looking down from above on the hundreds of thousands dyeing City Hall Plaza and the roads around it red, the sweetness of capitalism was felt in my whole body.

Cutting the steak I had ordered from room service, I leisurely watched Ahn Jung-hwan head in the golden goal in extra time and kiss his ring.

Suddenly a strange feeling came over me.

"Haa. In Australia I never once got to eat that common clean beef, and here I'm drinking wine with steak in a hotel. Money is good, it really is."

Back then I thought the home cooking my wife made was the best.

Thinking of it now, she probably just did not want to go out and be seen with me.

An idiot who did not even know there were that many cattle in Australia...

I wiped at the corner of my eye for no reason.

* * *

"Oh my! You're here again!?"

The next day, winning ticket in hand, I went again to the lottery division on the second floor of Chohung Bank.

"Hahaha! I bet realistically and it hit again!"

"Aigu. Congratulations."

"Congratulations."

Congratulations poured from the bankers on every side.

I bowed and sat again in front of that woman clerk, and set down the bankbook, the Toto slip, and my identification.

"Well. A complete man of luck. This time it's 150 times odds."

"Heh heh. I was going to tear up the slip because we won 2 to 1."

"Oh my! Really?"

"Yes. But when I checked, they said Toto is a ninety-minute rule. When I found out the golden goal doesn't count, I shouted. Heh heh."

"Well. The energy of the universe seems to be gathering on you. Please wait a moment. I'll settle it right away."

"Hahaha! Yes."

The calculation ended quickly.

From 15,000,000 won, 22 percent fee taken, 11,700,000 won.

Even after spending four million won freely over the three days at the hotel, the total remaining had swelled again to 35,864,240 won.

"Goodbye, sir."

Receiving the clerk's farewell, I headed for the express-bus terminal.

Now it was time to go home.

Of course, on the way down I did not forget to stop at a Toto shop and buy Toto for the Spain match.

The result, 0:0, a draw.

I arrived at the family house, rested deep while watching the Spain match with my parents, and then went again to the Gwangju branch of Chohung Bank.

"Congratulations, sir. You hit a 50-times jackpot."

The bank clerk checking my identification tilted his head.

For a moment I thought I was caught, and my chest dropped.

"Hitting them in a row, your luck is good."

The clerk said, smiling brightly.

I had bet only three times because I thought it would be like this.

My chest had gone a little tight, but it passed easily, and that was a relief.

"Haha. Thank you."

Fortunate that I did not need to go up to the main branch — if I had gone to the main branch this time too, I would definitely have been suspected.

Sports Toto of ten thousand won or under can be cashed at an agency, and one of ten million won or under can be taken to any Chohung Bank branch.

Only when it exceeds ten million won do you go to the main branch.

The winnings on this Spain match were five million won, 22 percent tax taken, and I received 3,900,000 won.

And so a total of 39,764,240 won gathered in my account.

"Do you also do investment consultations?"

"Of course, sir! This way, please."

I had no intention of leaving this precious seed money sitting in an account without interest and returning to the unit.