Chapter 2
After coming to his senses, Kim Si-min immediately went through the procedures to be discharged from the hospital that very day.
His senior team leader insisted on driving him all the way home, so Kim Si-min returned to his apartment without having to lift a finger and collapsed onto his bed.
It must have been my imagination.
His gaze shifted toward his wrist.
If it really had been his imagination, then why was this bracelet on his wrist?
“If you have any questions, please ask. I will answer them.”
Thump!
Startled by the voice coming from the empty room, Kim Si-min abruptly sat up.
“You may speak aloud, or you may ask your question in your mind. I will answer.”
This isn’t a hallucination.
This is the real voice of something.
“What are you?”
“I am the main system of Lighthouse Co., Ltd., a company that lends out opportunities.”
“So what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“Lighthouse Co., Ltd. is a company that provides opportunities to people who need them and receives compensation in return. I am its main system.”
None of it made any sense.
“Please think of it simply. You are lending opportunities to someone using your own power. It is not difficult.”
“How am I supposed to know whether it’s difficult or not when I don’t understand anything about what’s happening?”
He couldn’t even comprehend the situation he was currently in.
At the hospital, Team Leader Park clearly hadn’t been able to hear the bracelet’s voice. No, it seemed he hadn’t even been aware that the bracelet existed.
The same was true of everyone else.
“People cannot see me. Nor can they hear my voice.”
“So what do you want? Did you think I’d say, ‘Thank you,’ just because you suddenly declared me the owner of some company?”
Kim Si-min was a corporate banking officer.
He knew better than anyone how many different kinds of companies existed and just how diverse their circumstances could be.
“Of course not. However, I can at least tell you that becoming the owner of Lighthouse Co., Ltd. is not something that will be bad for you.”
“…”
“I simply hope that you will experience it for yourself before making a judgment.”
“…”
Kim Si-min stopped talking to the system of Lighthouse Co., Ltd.
As he tried to make sense of this mind-boggling situation, he couldn’t reach any conclusion.
Eventually, he simply buried himself in bed.
‘By tomorrow morning, everything will be back to normal.’
The next morning, Kim Si-min woke up after sleeping more deeply than he had expected and looked toward the shelf beside his bed.
The bracelet he had received from the supermarket owner was still there.
Fortunately, it didn’t speak to him first thing in the morning.
‘…’
I must have been so exhausted yesterday that I hallucinated.
He washed up and left home.
It was still early dawn. Kim Si-min looked around at the surroundings before sunrise and took a deep breath.
Sometimes strange things happen in life.
That was what he was thinking when—
“What the…? Why is this here?”
The bracelet was fastened around his wrist.
He had definitely taken it off before leaving.
His face stiffened.
[Please go to 888 Eonju-ro, Gangnam-gu.]
Why is it suddenly telling me to go to Gangnam-gu?
Ignoring the bracelet’s inexplicable command, Kim Si-min went to work as usual.
“Manager Kim, are you okay?”
“I heard you collapsed.”
“I heard you even grabbed the hand of that person who was trying to jump off the bridge.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If you watch the news, apparently you’re the one who was holding Mr. Park Mun-seong when he fell…”
“Wow… seriously?”
There was a strange irony in the fact that the person who had been trying to save a man from falling into the river was the same person who had been pressuring him for repayment.
“I thought Manager Kim was normally pretty cold-hearted, so I figured you’d just brush this off too. This is unexpected.”
“Come on. Even if he is like that, would anyone be normal after watching someone fall right in front of them?”
“To become a manager and head a corporate banking team at that age… Sometimes I wonder if he even counts as human. Honestly, you’d have to be a machine to get that far—a machine loyal to the organization.”
Kim Si-min was an exceptional figure who had become a manager at Narae Bank at the young age of thirty-three.
People who rise through the ranks quickly are bound to attract envy and jealousy from those around them.
Regardless of what kind of person he actually was, an incident like this was perfect gossip for office workers who enjoyed talking about others.
“Good morning.”
Speak of the devil.
Just as they were gossiping about Kim Si-min, he arrived at the office.
His strangely hollow eyes and gloomy expression seemed to reveal his current state.
“Are you okay, Manager? Why would something like this happen to someone as kind as you?”
The people who had been gossiping moments earlier approached him with bright smiles, as though nothing had happened.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Of course, he knew what the older assistant managers thought of him.
Unlike the others, Kim Si-min entered the private office assigned to him as the head of the corporate banking team.
As he picked up his notebook containing his day’s tasks, he remembered what had happened that morning.
That evening, Kim Si-min finished his work quickly and left exactly at 6:00 p.m.
And, without fail, the message sounded in his ears as soon as he left work.
[Please go to 888 Eonju-ro, Gangnam-gu.]
“…”
Kim Si-min frowned at the system window that appeared before him, then let out a quiet sigh and boarded the subway.
Since he worked near Nowon Station, it was easy enough to reach Gangnam by taking Line 7.
He opened the map app and arrived near the building indicated by the address.
Among the towering buildings of Gangnam, Kim Si-min eventually reached the building corresponding to number 888.
[燈臺]
When he saw the eight-story building with the Chinese characters meaning Lighthouse engraved on it, his professional instincts immediately kicked in and he estimated its market value.
‘It must be worth around 50 to 60 billion won.’
Because he dealt with loans every day, whenever he entered an unfamiliar area, one of the first things he thought about was the price of its buildings.
Step. Step.
After entering the building and checking the elevator, he discovered that the entire building was the headquarters of Lighthouse Co., Ltd.
Ding.
He stepped into the elevator on the first floor and absentmindedly pressed the button for the eighth floor, the highest floor.
When the elevator doors opened, he found an office space with a somewhat old-fashioned atmosphere.
Ding-dong.
Perhaps because visiting various companies was part of his job, or perhaps because he was gradually getting used to this bizarre series of events.
Whatever the reason, Kim Si-min’s hand confidently pressed the office doorbell.
Step. Step.
He heard someone walking toward the door from inside.
Because the door was made of glass, he could see through it.
A middle-aged man was approaching.
He wore a neat gray suit and had neatly groomed hair with streaks of gray running through it.
His beard was carefully maintained, much like those of middle-aged foreign actors.
Creaaak.
The door opened, and the man stood before him.
“You’re Representative Kim Si-min, correct? It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Park Won-jung. I serve as the chief of the secretariat and an adviser to Lighthouse Co., Ltd.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Please, come in. I’ll show you to the CEO’s office.”
“…”
Since he had no idea what was going on, there was little point in saying anything.
For now, he simply followed Park Won-jung into the CEO’s office.
The style was somewhat old-fashioned, but the private office set aside for the company’s representative on one side of the eighth floor had the peculiar aura characteristic of an old-fashioned executive’s office.
“Would you like some tea?”
“Yes, sure. Anything is fine.”
A moment later, Park Won-jung placed a warm cup of tea in front of him.
Sip.
Kim Si-min drank the tea without saying much.
Given the circumstances, he could barely taste it.
“You’re quite different from the people I’ve met before, Representative.”
“…?”
“Normally, when someone comes here, they don’t come straight to the eighth floor like this. But you naturally came directly here.”
“Yes.”
“And usually, the moment they see me, they start asking all sorts of questions. This certainly isn’t something that’s easy to understand.”
“I suppose not.”
“But you, Representative, are simply drinking your tea and waiting for me to explain.”
“Occupational habit.”
As the head of a corporate banking team, he had met countless company executives.
He always began his work by listening to what the company’s representative had to say.
“Since you aren’t asking any questions, I suppose I’ll have to start explaining myself.”
He smiled lightly before continuing.
“Lighthouse is a company that lends out opportunities.”
“What kind of opportunities?”
“The things people long for. The things they desperately wish for.”
Kim Si-min couldn’t understand.
How could someone lend what another person desperately wished for?
How would such a thing be valued, and what would be accepted as payment?
“I imagine this is difficult to understand.”
“Yes. I don’t understand it at all.”
“We don’t measure our miracles ourselves.”
“Then who does?”
“The Lighthouse system makes that determination.”
At his words, Kim Si-min’s eyes turned toward the bracelet.
“That’s correct. I am the one who makes the determination.”
“Can you hear the voice of the bracelet?”
“No. The bracelet’s voice is only permitted to be heard by the Representative.”
“…”
Everything about this place was strange.
Even though it was located in Gangnam, the fact that the entire surrounding area was so quiet was strange in itself.
“Why do I have to become the representative?”
“Because you were chosen. However, we don’t know why you were chosen either.”
“…Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Lend opportunities to those who need them.”
“I’m just an ordinary banker. If you’re talking about money, loans are approved according to the bank’s internal regulations. I don’t have the authority to lend money based on my own discretion.”
Even a scam wouldn’t work like this.
He was certain they weren’t con artists.
But they were definitely strange people.
“We aren’t asking for money. In fact, we’ll be the ones giving you money. The opportunities we’re talking about are… well, things people might call miracles. You’ll understand once you start working. It’s difficult to explain everything in words. However, if you accept this job, ownership of this building will be transferred to you immediately.”
“…”
Insane.
Anyone could see that the building was worth more than 50 billion won.
And they were offering it to him?
“All taxes associated with acquiring the building, including acquisition tax and gift tax, will be taken care of automatically. However, you will have to take on this position for at least ten years.”
Ten years for a building worth 50 billion won.
There was no way he could refuse such a deal.
But what exactly was he being asked to do in return?
He couldn’t even begin to imagine what the price of receiving a building worth 50 billion won might be.
“…”
“Not once has a representative of Lighthouse voluntarily resigned from the position.”
Kim Si-min was fairly good at judging people.
He had to be.
After all, he had spent years in a position where he had to evaluate people before approving their loans.
“How long do I have to decide?”
“You have to make your decision right here, right now.”
It sounded like a typical scammer’s line.
But the man standing before him was clearly not a scammer.
“What about my current job?”
“You may do as you wish, but I doubt it will be easy to hold both positions simultaneously.”
“I’d like to see the contract.”
Park Won-jung smiled and waved his hand.
At that moment, as if by magic, a contract appeared in midair.
The contract was literally floating in the air.
“…”
Even in the midst of this absurd situation, Kim Si-min remained as calm as possible and began reading the contract floating before him.
[Standard Employment Contract]
Lighthouse Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) and employee Kim Si-min (hereinafter referred to as the “CEO”) hereby enter into the following employment contract and agree to faithfully fulfill its terms.
Article 1 — Contract Period
- The mandatory employment period shall be ten years.
- If there is no expiration date, the contract shall be automatically renewed.
Article 2 — Workplace and Duties
- The CEO’s workplace: All places in the world of the living.
- The CEO’s duties: Provide opportunities to those who need them.
- The Company may change the employee’s workplace and duties when necessary.
Article 3 — Working Hours and Breaks
Working hours shall be a maximum of eight hours, with no minimum working-hour requirement.
Article 4 — Holidays and Leave
- The weekly holiday shall be every Sunday.
- Paid annual leave shall be provided according to the regulations of Lighthouse Co., Ltd.
Article 5 — Salary
- The salary shall primarily be performance-based, with a guaranteed base salary of 10 million won per month in the currency of the world of the living. Subsequent salary increases shall be determined individually.
Article 6 — Special Provisions
- The CEO shall possess all decision-making authority regarding the operation of Lighthouse Co., Ltd.
- Upon Kim Si-min assuming the position of CEO, all ownership rights to the building at 888 Eonju-ro shall be transferred to Kim Si-min, on the condition that Kim Si-min works for Lighthouse Co., Ltd. for ten years.
- The CEO may hold another position concurrently, but this must not interfere with his duties at Lighthouse Co., Ltd.
- If either party wishes to terminate the contract, an agreement must be reached between both parties.
“Is the salary… really ten million won a month?”
“Of course.”
“What is Lighthouse’s ownership structure? Is this company legally registered in Korea?”
That was something he could easily verify simply by checking the company’s business registration number.
“The base salary is indeed ten million won per month. Representative, do you really think everything happening here right now is possible according to the standards of the real world?”
“…No. I suppose it isn’t.”
“Lighthouse is not a company that exists in the real world.”
“Then how am I supposed to trust this contract?”
“You really are an interesting person, Representative.”
Park Won-jung laughed as though he genuinely found Kim Si-min amusing.
“No country in the real world can give this contract greater legal force than it already possesses.”
There was an inexplicable power in his words.
Is this what it feels like to be possessed by a ghost?
Kim Si-min, who had signed countless agreements throughout his career, felt as though he were under some kind of spell as he wrote his name on the contract.
At that moment, the two copies of the contract began glowing brightly before disappearing on the spot.
“…”
A contract that floats in midair and disappears the instant I sign it.
If I close my eyes and open them again, will I be back in the hospital?
“It’s a pleasure working with you, Representative. I look forward to serving you. My name is Park Won-jung, and I am the chief of the secretariat who will be assisting you from now on. Your first month’s salary will be paid in advance. You’ll learn about the rewards for the remaining performance-based compensation as we go.”
At that moment, Kim Si-min felt his pocket vibrate.
[₩10,000,000 has been deposited.]
