episode_0001

I just heard rumors.

I need a break from studying for the civil service exam. I like games, but I can’t spend a lot of time on online games.

I just bought it after hearing rumors that it was an indie game with decent reviews.

, a medieval fantasy game with a story divided into three parts.

After playing through the first part, the Academy part, I found it to be just an average indie game. Decent graphics, decent story, decent content.

However, it was not without reason that the rumors were true, as the difficulty level was quite high. It took me over 10 hours to clear the Academy part, which was supposed to be the easiest.

‘Let’s stop here for today.’

As a test taker, I can’t just keep playing games, so I’ll save the next part for tomorrow’s part-time job.

I fell asleep with my laptop closed.

and.

“Fuck.”

“Hey, Minister of Finance? Why all of a sudden… … .”

“Nothing, Chairman. I was just thinking about the old days.”

“If that’s the case… … .”

I had never met a so-called god, nor had I ever received an email from an unknown game company.

I was transported to the world of .

Five years passed like that.

At first, I was in a state of confusion. I wondered if I was dreaming, and if I had said that I would vacate the room myself within the month even though I couldn’t pay the rent, but was he kicking me out of the goshiwon in the middle of the night?

I tried shouting out the status window into the air and even tried saying things like logging out just in case, but there was no response.

I woke up in a remote cabin, and went out in my pajamas, asking anyone I could find, and heard a few familiar words.

Like a kingdom, a wizard, or a dark sword.

Only then did I realize that I was in a game world. I remembered many of the settings and proper nouns while playing the Academy part.

“That, the Minister of Finance? The Minister of Finance?”

But the good thing is that I don’t really have any intention of going back to my original world. My parents ran away after their divorce, and I barely managed to pass the GED exam with government subsidies and part-time job wages, and I was preparing for the civil service exam.

Rather than living a life where I get kicked out of my goshiwon because I can’t pay rent, it seemed like trying a second life in another world would be more likely to succeed.

I sold the eye-catching pajamas for a reasonable price and took new clothes and a little military funds. The merchant said that he bought it for a high price because it was good fabric, but since I didn’t know the market price, I could only say thank you. Thinking about it now, I was scammed. What a piece of shit.

“Minister of Finance? You’re not ignoring me, are you?”

And while working odd jobs in nearby towns and cities, I decided to go to the academy.

It wasn’t that I wanted to see the main character or heroine, or intervene in the story, it was just that the academy in the game had crazy cheap tuition, but they gave out all kinds of scholarships and grants.

How much attachment can you have to a character in a game that you only played for about 10 hours? Just in case, I looked into it and found out that the academy’s tuition and scholarships are actually the same as the ones in the game.

To be honest, I didn’t want to live a life of just doing odd jobs, and since I was preparing to become a civil servant, I wanted a suitable administrative position. Wouldn’t that be enough to lead a successful life?

After studying for a year, I finally passed the academy entrance exam. To be honest, a lot happened during that year, but I passed anyway.

“Oh, but that’s too much! I know I made a big mistake this time, but you’re blatantly ignoring me!”

The only regret I had was that I received the lowest grade, 1, in the rating evaluation.

Since I was already in the game world, I wanted to try using magic, but if I was a 1st grader, I was just a normal person. Well, since I was majoring in public administration anyway, I didn’t have any regrets and just let it go.

So, I studied hard at the academy for three years, received a scholarship, was selected as an excellent scholarship student, and had a good academy life.

Students who major in administration at the academy are given one special privilege when they graduate.

An opportunity to get hired directly into an administrative position at the Academy.

Unlike other applicants, graduates majoring in public administration can almost unconditionally get a job if they are in the top 5. Since I was in the top 5, I decided to just get a job at the academy.

After all my hard work, I got a job at what was considered the most prestigious private academy, and I thought I had a job for life, living almost like a quasi-civil servant.

I thought I had succeeded in my second life.

“Minister of Finance!!!!!”

“Chairman, my ears are going to burst. Don’t you know that the screaming of a rank 8 person can easily burst a rank 1’s eardrums?”

“That’s it! You! You suddenly stopped talking and ignored me! More importantly, who was the one who screamed… !!”

“Keep your dignity. If other employees see you, their illusions about you will be shattered.”

“It’s just me and the finance director here!”

Boom bang!

Well, I guess he was pretty pissed off when I saw him hitting the desk with a shotgun. Suddenly, I remembered the old days and went through them one by one, and it seemed like the chairman had misunderstood without meaning to.

The chairman, the owner of this private academy, is a level 8 strongman. If that shotgun, which looks like a joke, were to hit me, a level 1 strongman, directly, I would die.

‘But what do you want me to do?’

It was my fault for suddenly being lost in memories of the past, so I just kept quiet and listened.

It seemed like the chairman had momentarily forgotten.

“Okay. Then let’s get back to the original story.”

“Yes! I am the CEO and you are a subordinate. You should show the minimum courtesy──”

“For smooth conversation, let me start with the conclusion again.”

Even if I didn’t know it normally, I don’t know who A and B are in this meeting.

In the first place, why did the chairman and I end up meeting alone in the chairman’s office?

“As the Finance Minister, I would like to say that if we continue with the current trend, considering the budget and expenses for the next five years, our academy will go bankrupt in three years.”

“… … … 3 years, you say?”

“Originally, it was about 5 years, but this is the conclusion I came to because half of the reserve funds were lost in a secret gift transaction that the chairman secretly conducted a week ago.”

“… … … … … .”

“You didn’t even report it right away, and you hid it for a week? The conversation just now was when I found it in the ledger and questioned the chairman.”

“… … That.”

“I’ll give you 5 seconds.”

“Oh, yes?”

“If you can’t come up with a valid excuse within 5 seconds, I’ll resign and leave. 5, 4.”

“Okay, wait a minute! I can explain, I can explain everything! It’s true!”

Yeah, you should be able to explain it. Please, you should.

The CEOs I know are arrogant, simple-minded, do whatever they want, have a lot of pride, and are annoying.

But I’m not the type of person who gambles. If I had, this academy would have gone bankrupt before I even enrolled.

As I waited silently with my arms folded, the hesitant chairman began to hesitate a little.

So I took out the end of the resignation letter that I had been carrying in my bosom.

“I, I think it was something I did for the academy!”

“3.”

“Really! Even before the Finance Minister came, I knew that if things were like this, the Academy would fail! Instead of small changes, we needed one big hit!”

“2.”

“Not to brag, but you know I’m not even interested in gambling! But when I heard the profit margins if I succeeded, I was shocked! If I succeeded, I could go bankrupt after 5 years and go bankrupt after 10 years!”

“1.”

“Let’s be honest, I’m running this private academy with all my money! It’s an academy that I built and grew with the money I earned throughout my life!”

Oh, of course. That’s not wrong at all.

Unlike most academies in the kingdom that are public, this one is private, and thanks to the chairman’s vast wealth, it quickly became the most prestigious academy in the kingdom.

The best professors brought in with a lot of money, tuition that even I, who was working odd jobs, could afford, and support that ensured that no student would ever miss out on a scholarship.

The buildings and research facilities are top-notch, and they employ a lot of people to keep the academy clean. I had no intention of denying that all of this was possible thanks to the chairman’s wealth.

There’s only one problem.

That it ‘was’ possible.

“How much of the Chairman’s assets does he currently have left?”

“… … … half.”

“You mean there’s half left?”

“Half of half of half of half of half of half of half… … about that… … … .”

Then, in reality, only 1 percent remains.

The chairman’s wealth, which was said to be among the top five in the kingdom before the academy was founded, has been depleted over the decades of the academy’s operation.

When I thought about why other rich people didn’t set up private academies, the reason was obvious: academies and universities are places to spend money like water, not places to earn money.

Of course, even considering that, the CEO was particularly severe. She vaguely thought that this would be enough, but the reality was much more daunting than she had thought.

Should I be surprised that this huge academy can be maintained for three years with only 1 percent of its remaining assets, or should I just take my retirement money before it goes bankrupt?

While I was seriously contemplating, the chairman got up from his seat and came next to me.

“Hey, Finance Director! You know that you’re the only person I trust with this kind of thing! The Academy’s financial situation is a secret shared only between me and the Finance Director! ”

“That’s a really touching secret.”

They say I’m the Minister of Finance, but I’m the only one in the Finance Department. If I hadn’t accidentally discovered the financial status documents in the chairman’s office, the Finance Department wouldn’t have existed.

The chairman also personally managed the budget to hide the financial situation that was on the verge of bankruptcy. To be honest, professors and other departments didn’t really care as long as the budget and salaries were paid regularly.

In other words, the bankruptcy after three years was a secret that only the chairman and I knew. Damn it.

“I’ll do anything! I’ll really do anything!”

“… … Anything, you say?”

“I don’t doubt the Minister of Finance’s ability! Thanks to the Minister of Finance, many situations that I couldn’t solve on my own have improved! I trust him!”

Let’s not even mention that the situation has improved so much that we can afford to trade futures. That would break the weak heart and conscience of the chairman.

More importantly, the chairman said he would do anything.

The chairman, who was holding onto my trouser leg so tightly that it was almost like he was holding it, looked up at me with an expression that seemed determined about something.

“If it’s to keep the Minister of Finance in this academy… …! My body!”

“Good. Then, please use that body.”

“Huh!? Even so, right here is a bit… … … Huh?”

“It’s not called an 8th-grade martial arts. If it’s something that requires physical strength, I’ve already compiled a list. There’s the deep-sea fishing boats on the eastern coast, the coal mines in the southern mountains, and the salt farms on the island over there. There are other things that can earn relatively high wages in a short period of time, so choose wisely.”

“… … … … … .”