The room was dark.
The only source of light came from the flashing monitors scattered around the room.
In one of the darker corners stood a short, nervous-looking guy.
His fingers repeatedly played with the hem of his shirt.
Light turned toward Magg.
"So who is he?"
Magg glanced at the nervous guy.
"He's a customer."
"Oh…"
Light turned toward him and approached.
"Hey there, I'm Light. Nice to meet you."
He extended his hand.
The guy looked up nervously.
"I-I'm Daeho. Kim Daeho."
He cautiously took Light's hand and shook it.
After letting go, Light smiled.
"Kim Daeho… You were here first. We'll wait until your work with Magg is done. Don't worry."
Magg interrupted.
"It may take weeks to finish his job myself, y'know."
"Huh?!"
"Huh?!"
Light and Jamie exclaimed at the exact same time.
Magg scoffed.
"Well… Don't 'huh?!' me!"
"It's not my fault that idiot got involved in gambling!"
Light and Jamie's eyes widened simultaneously.
"Gambling?"
They slowly turned toward Daeho.
"Seriously, dude? Gambling?"
Daeho chuckled awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact.
Light sighed.
"Then what about my job?"
Magg pretense to think for a while
"If only... i got some help..."
"So we gotta help you solve his case?"
"Yeah."
With that, all of them dragged their chairs into place, forming a circle around the light cast by the monitors.
They sat down.
Light leaned forward.
"So… What are we working with, then?"
Magg turned toward Daeho.
"Explain."
"O-okay!"
Daeho swallowed.
"Um… So… It all started one month ago…"
One month ago. February 2033
As usual, Daeho walked into his classroom and sat down in his seat.
Everything was normal.
Until-
BANG!
The classroom doors flew open.
Someone walked in.
Almost immediately, the girls in the classroom rushed toward him.
"Wow! Jinsung, you look great in that outfit!"
Jinsung casually flailed his brown overcoat around as he walked past them.
"Yeah. I know."
He adjusted the coat proudly.
"It's a coat from The North Face after all…"
He glanced toward the window.
"And it's the end of winter anyway…"
Jinsung looked toward one of the girls.
"So I was thinking… I'd give this coat to Minji."
The girl in question froze.
Her eyes sparkled.
"Wow! You'd do that for me?"
She smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Jinsung-ah!"
Meanwhile…
Daeho remained seated in the distant front row.
His eyes narrowed.
Damn that bastard!
How dare he try to bag my crush?!
His fists tightened.
I swear to God… I'm gonna be rich one day.
When class finally ended, Daeho rushed home.
The moment he entered his room, he pulled out his phone.
He immediately opened the search bar.
How to earn money online?
"Yeah… online."
He scoffed.
"Who the hell would work offline? I'm not some low-class peasant."
The search results appeared.
Daeho scrolled through them.
Freelancing.
Programming.
Video editing.
Online businesses.
Investing.
He frowned.
Every result seemed to require some kind of skill.
And Daeho had none.
Well…
None other than blaming his parents.
Dammit!
If only my parents had studied well and earned a lot…
Then Minji would've been mine.
A small piece of dry wall paint suddenly fell onto his head.
Daeho blinked.
He brushed it off.
"…Whatever."
He continued scrolling.
Then-
An advertisement appeared.
Daeho stopped.
It was an advertisement for a gambling application.
He had seen the same advertisement thousands of times before.
Normally, he would've ignored it.
But this time…
Something flashed through his mind.
Wait…
What if I make it big?
He stared at the advertisement.
It won't hurt to try…
A few minutes later, the application was installed.
Daeho linked his parents' bank account to the completely unsafe and illegal gambling app.
Yeah.
The safest thing in the world.
He opened the app.
The first game he saw was a dice game.
The rules were simple.
Predict what number the dice would roll.
Daeho stared at the six possible outcomes.
A dice game…
There are only six outcomes.
So the possibility of me winning is one-sixth.
He smiled.
That's not bad.
He placed his first bet.
1,000 won.
His prediction:
Six.
The virtual dice rolled.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then-
Six.
Daeho's eyes widened.
Yes!
I doubled my 1,000 won to 2,000!
He immediately placed another bet.
And won again.
"Woohoo!"
Daeho jumped from his chair.
"3,000 won, baby!"
He stared at the screen.
"Wait…"
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Do I have a knack for this?"
He leaned closer.
"If I keep winning like this…"
That night…
Daeho kept playing.
Again.
And again.
And again.
He played through the entire night.
And somehow…
He won almost three-quarters of the games.
The next day, his winning rate dropped to almost fifty percent.
Daeho frowned.
It's fine.
I'm still winning.
So he kept playing.
And on the third day…
His winning rate dropped to around twenty-five percent.
"Dammit!"
Daeho slammed his hand against the desk.
"Why?!"
He stared at the screen.
"Does God not want to see me win once in my life?!"
He rubbed his face.
Then remembered something he'd heard before.
Like the saying goes…
Every gambler quits before he hits the jackpot.
His eyes returned to the screen.
But there was one problem.
He had no money left to gamble.
That led to loans from his friends.
He lost those too.
To pay them back, he borrowed more.
And lost that money as well.
Every time he lost, he convinced himself that the next game would fix everything.
Until eventually…
There was nothing left.
Nothing except the house documents sitting inside his parents' locker.
Daeho stared at them.
His breathing became heavier.
If…
If I can just win big once…
I'll get the house back.
I'll pay all the loans.
He stared at the documents.
Just one big win.
His hand slowly reached toward them.
Later that night, Daeho approached an illegal money lender.
The house documents were placed on the table.
In exchange…
500,000 won.
Daeho took the money.
His hands trembled.
But there was still hope in his eyes.
This time…
I'm definitely winning.
He lost it all.
Every single won.
Gone.
Daeho sat crouched in the corner of his room.
His eyes were filled with tears.
His body trembled.
Every time his parents walked anywhere near the locker, his heart nearly stopped.
What should I do…?
He covered his face with both hands.
What the hell am I going to do…?