Ch.213208 – 40%

“That can’t be right… I was sure it was Bitcoin… I was sure it was Bitcoin!”

Baek Hochan was barely touching his food.

Seeing this, Arin whispered in my ear.

“Hey NoName, isn’t 200 million won still a lot of money?”

Overhearing this, Baek Minwoo flicked Arin’s forehead.

“Baek A-rin! We’ve been deceived…!”

“Why are you hitting someone who’s just trying to eat in peace!”

SMACK-!

“ARGGHHH!”

I channeled my aura into a forehead flick right on Minwoo’s temple.

Minwoo rolled around on the heated floor, groaning in pain.

Despite all this commotion, Professor Cheon was carefully removing bones from a croaker fish and placing the meat on top of my rice.

Slide-

The sliding door opened and Teacher Baek sat down at the table.

After giving us all a piercing glare, he finally spoke.

“After thinking about it, I just remembered the Bitcoin was in another account.”

“…!”

Baek Hochan, who had been visibly depressed until now, suddenly perked up.

“Hochan, bring me my glasses.”

“Here they are, Grandfather!”

“My, no need for such theatrics.”

He carefully examined his phone, then turned the screen toward us.

[My Assets]

[5.86182 BTC(Bitcoin): ₩147,508,011]

“Hohoho, that’s 340 million won in total! Hochan! That’s more than the debt you’re carrying! Hahahahaha.”

Teacher Baek Bonggon explained that he had accidentally purchased Bitcoin Gold back then and created a new account to buy Bitcoin instead.

But even back then, Bitcoin was quite expensive, so his digital wallet only contained about 5 coins.

“Actually, I got interested in cryptocurrency after that and tried trading a few times. But I got frustrated and quit pretty quickly.”

340 million won.

It wasn’t enough to revive Baek Hochan’s company, but it was just enough to avoid personal bankruptcy.

In fact, considering the amount, it was no small sum that Teacher Baek Bonggon was generously giving to his grandson.

“I’m sorry, Hochan. When you kept saying ‘2 billion, 2 billion,’ I thought you meant 2 billion won. I only realized later you meant 2 billion dollars.”

The miscommunication arose because they were using different currency units.

Baek Hochan was a young man who had spent more time in America, while Teacher Baek Bonggon was Korean to the bone.

“No… I’m sorry, Grandfather. I think I was blinded by money.”

After a night of deep reflection, morning came with the rooster crowing.

Wait, rooster…? Was there a rooster here?

“Why are we having chicken soup so early in the morning?”

Baek Hochan, looking completely at peace, was busy stirring with a ladle.

“I talked with Grandfather yesterday. I realized what’s the point of him having 200 billion won? It’s not like I can use it right now anyway.”

He said he’d reconsidered how amazing his grandfather was for willingly giving him 300 million won.

“NoName, I don’t know what you said to him yesterday, but my grandfather seems different now.”

“How so?”

“He acknowledged my dreams as they are. I’ll have to start from scratch, but just being able to start over gives me hope.”

Baek Hochan also didn’t forget to apologize to the children.

He suddenly stopped eating and prostrated himself on the floor.

“Minwoo, Arin. I’m truly sorry for putting you through all this… As they say, ‘a man’s word is worth a thousand gold.’ I promise I’ll never go back on my word to give you each 10 billion won. I’ll definitely succeed and repay you both.”

He pulled out documents from his black bag and handed them to the children.

“Kids, I’m really lacking as a person. I’m over 30, but sometimes when I look at my grandfather, I wonder if I’m really an adult at all.”

Minwoo’s eyes widened as he took the paper.

“Uncle, is this for real?”

At the top, in bold letters, it said ‘Adoption Consent Form.’

“It’s been 10 months—long in some ways, short in others—but I’ve been happiest when I’m with you two. That’s the honest truth. So… would you allow this inadequate uncle to formally adopt you…?”

After a long silence, Minwoo handed the paper back.

Baek Hochan quietly accepted it, misinterpreting the gesture as rejection.

Then, Minwoo smiled and said:

“So should I call you Dad instead of Uncle? That’s a bit weird.”

“M-Minwoo!”

“Ahh, what are you doing!”

Baek Hochan rubbed his stubbly beard against Minwoo’s face.

Minwoo tried to push him away with all his might, but he couldn’t overcome the strength of a grown man.

Meanwhile, Arin was sniffling, looking back and forth between me and Baek Hochan.

“If… if I get adopted, will I not see NoName anymore?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Uncle’s going to America, right? If we go to America, I’ll have to say goodbye to NoName again…”

Baek Hochan waved his hands dismissively.

“Why would I go to that cursed land! I’m staying in Seoul, Arin.”

“Really?”

“Of course! And you know what? Korea has great startup support these days. Professor, do you know how much tax money the Korean government pours into startup support?”

“Hmm? About 400 billion won?”

“What are you saying!”

He held up five fingers.

“500 billion?”

“5 trillion!”

“That much?”

“Yes! Every year!”

Compared to how Baek Hochan had been running around America trying to gather investors, starting a business in Korea seemed much easier.

“Aren’t you taking starting a business too lightly?”

“While there’s a ceiling compared to the US, it’s true that the entry barrier is much lower. And I still have the core technology in my head! I might not be able to build something as big as before, but I can create a company of similar quality.”

Arin expressed that she just wanted to live near my house.

Baek Hochan agreed, and Arin happily signed the document.

I watched this whole situation with a skeptical expression.

“By the way, Mr. Baek Hochan, I don’t recall promising to give you 300 million won?”

“What…?”

Baek Hochan’s eyes trembled at this bombshell.

The funds Teacher Baek Bonggon had handed over were now in my account.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

The bear does the work, but the owner takes the profit?

That’s definitely not happening.

* * *

The romance of countryside living usually shatters once you actually live there.

First, there aren’t many entertainment options like in the city. Second, summer brings swarms of bugs and extreme weather. Third, you have to deal with the territorial nature of local residents.

But things are different when you have a servant.

They provide entertainment, spray away bugs, and fan you wherever you go.

And best of all, this was an uninhabited island, so there were no residents.

When the breeze started to die down, I waved my hand pretending to be hot, and Baek Hochan immediately started fanning again.

“40%.”

“Come on, NoName. A startup isn’t some hole-in-the-wall shop I run by myself—it’s a complex ecosystem with multiple institutional investors involved.”

“40%.”

“When doing business, you have to distribute shares to angel investors through capital increases, and allocate additional shares whenever funds run short.”

“40%.”

“Plus, 40% is enough influence to pass special resolutions with a single attendance. If I have less shares than you, what will other investors think of our company?”

“40%.”

“Fine, I’ll give you 40% of the shares! Happy now? Are you?”

“Okay, thank you.”

“So you’ll send the money now, right?”

“Dream on until we specify the share ratio in the shareholders’ agreement.”

“You ruthless… Fine! Fine!”

Baek Hochan was huffing and puffing as he prepared to leave the island.

I was starting to get tired of this rural life anyway.

I was even beginning to miss the concrete jungle of buildings.

Still, Baek Hochan adapted to reality quite quickly.

What’s the point of obsessing over money that was never there to begin with?

Entrepreneurs shouldn’t consider sunk costs.

They should only consider how much cash flow they can generate in the future.

And I quite liked his entrepreneurial attitude.

“Mr. Baek Hochan, would you consider the pharmaceutical business as well?”

“You know what pharmaceuticals are, right?”

“Of course.”

“Pharmaceutical biotech startups are the graveyard of entrepreneurs. If major corporations fail after investing astronomical amounts, how could an individual succeed?”

He prioritized safety over profitability.

Perhaps that’s why he chose cell observation disease diagnosis, a field with lower losses, even when his company went under.

“I see.”

“Just think of it as a lottery. Someone definitely succeeds and makes a fortune, but it’s not always going to be me.”

“A lottery… what if you already knew 5 out of 7 numbers in advance? Would you give it a try?”

“What do you mean?”

The molecular formula for multiple sclerosis treatment recorded in my Akashic Record.

If only we could somehow implement the next-generation Interferon Beta that currently exists only as magic.

Before leaving Durido Island, I expressed my opinion as a prospective major shareholder to the professional manager.

And so, the two of us ended up in the same boat.

Perhaps with Adella as well.

* * *

When establishing a company, the tasks multiply exponentially.

I’m well aware of that.

However…

“AHHHHH! I was supposed to use it first! Minwoo, you played games all day yesterday!”

“You’re the one who suggested rock-paper-scissors to decide the order. Baek A-rin, are you throwing a tantrum now?”

“NoName! Come quick and scold Minwoo!”

“Hey, wait, that’s cheating…!”

The Baek siblings, Minwoo and Arin, were staying at our house for the summer vacation.

Meanwhile, Hochan said he’d sleep at the office and focus solely on company work for now—making me wonder what that whole adoption speech was about if he was going to be this irresponsible.

Still, I didn’t complain much since the children adored their Uncle Hochan.

“Minwoo, just let her go first.”

“Ugh… fine…”

“Yes!”

“And Minwoo, follow me to my room. We’re going to finish 8th grade math by today. Did you complete the homework I gave you yesterday?”

“NoName, who covers an entire unit in one day? This is seriously child abuse.”

“…?”

Is he serious?

I pointed my finger back and forth between us.

[Me: 2nd grade elementary school. You: 8th grade middle school.]

Therefore, child abuse doesn’t apply.

At first, Baek Minwoo had scoffed at the idea of me tutoring him, but now there was no trace of that smugness.

“Today we’re learning probability. If you keep resisting like this, what’s the probability of getting a forehead flick from me?”

“What…? Um… about 800?”

“The answer is 1. Because the minimum value of probability is 0 and the maximum is 1. Now come here and present your forehead.”

By now, Baek Minwoo would get PTSD just from seeing my bent middle finger.

I channeled aura into my fingertip and slowly cornered him.

Click-

“NoName? Are you ready?”

Professor Cheon opened the door and asked.

“Huh? We’re going already?”

“It’s 2:45 PM now, so we should probably get going.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll change clothes and be right out. You got lucky this time.”

“She doesn’t even call me ‘oppa’ anymore. My life, seriously.”

July 10, 2051, Monday.

The day I began an unexpected college life.

* * *

[Korea University Everytime]

[Free Board]

[Wait, I think I just saw NoName at school?]

[NoName spotted at Korea University lol is this for real]

[Upvote if you’re taking summer classes lol I’ll start]

[Does anyone know where NoName is right now?]

[Where is NoName now?]

[She’s at school right now? But why?!]

[I just missed NoName in front of the student center TT]

[LMAO WHAT IS HAPPENING]

[Please share NoName’s location I’m begging you]

[Why does all the fun stuff happen on days I don’t go to school…]