Chapter 02

“Sir, do you have the key to Apartment 813?”

“Oh, Singa~ You’re back already? Your mom said that when you come home, you should go stay at Haewon’s place.”

“Ah, okay. Thank you!”

“Your mother worries about you a lot!”

The security guard shouted after me as I walked away.

A world where people even left their house keys with the apartment security office.

Completely unimaginable in 2026, but back then, this was perfectly normal.

Swinging my kindergarten backpack, I trudged along.

Yep. The ’90s.

The air is unbelievably fresh. The sky is high and blue, and the cicadas are making just the right amount of noise.

Though… Mom won’t even let me go home anymore.

I understood.

No matter how diligently she sent her daughter to kindergarten first thing in the morning, that same six-year-old kept finding excuses to “clock out early.”

Who wouldn’t worry?

One night, I even overheard Mom whispering to Dad over a plate of spicy chicken feet.

“Do you think our daughter is being bullied?”

If this were modern times, they’d demand CCTV footage and turn the kindergarten upside down.

But in the trust-and-handshake culture of the ’90s…

There was no such thing.

Mom inspected my body a few times during bath time, looking for bruises.

Finding nothing unusual, she simply concluded that her daughter was… weird.

Then again, that wasn’t just because it was the ’90s.

That was simply who my mom was.

If you wanted to be nice, you’d call her easygoing.

If you wanted to be honest…

You’d call her an airhead.

Still…

No one could ever question how much she loved her children.

That was enough for me.

I’d already reincarnated.

I’d just make enough money to take care of her myself.

That’s right.

I had returned to the past.

Why?

No idea.

Who was responsible?

Probably…

That delivery truck.

Honestly, the truck driver must’ve been pretty surprised too.

I doubt I was the person it had originally intended to hit.

I stared wistfully at a poster hanging on the bulletin board beside the elevator.

Korea’s Miracle Astonishes the World!

A Young Hero of the Nation Conquers Silicon Valley!

Taking Korea to the World!

The Legendary Founder of a World-Class Company in the 20th Century

QERA Chairman Park Min-soo’s Success Story!

Look at that.

Seriously, look at him.

How could anyone believe that glossy, successful-looking man in his thirties…

…was the very same homeless man I’d seen before?

Even getting Rejuran injections every single day wouldn’t create a transformation that dramatic.

So that was what Gollum looked like before life crushed him.

“…Mr. Min-soo.”

As expected.

You’re the protagonist of this world, aren’t you?

To summarize…

Homeless Park Min-soo was the main character of one of those “returning billionaire” stories—like Jin Do-jun from Reborn Rich.

And I?

I was Extra #1.

The unlucky bystander who just happened to be standing at the protagonist’s starting point and got dragged into the time regression with him.

After being reborn and figuring out the situation…

My first thought had naturally been—

Jesus Christ! Thank you!

A free trip back in time?!

What incredible luck!

Especially because I wasn’t the protagonist.

That was the best part.

If I’d had time to prepare, maybe it’d be different.

But I’d been thrown back without warning.

What did I know?

Stocks?

I was just another ordinary retail investor.

The only companies I knew were the same ones everyone else knew.

Apple.

Microsoft.

Google.

NVIDIA.

Tesla.

Samsung.

SK Hynix…

Options?

Futures?

Leverage?

No clue.

I barely even remembered that the Asian Financial Crisis happened in 1997.

I couldn’t recall the exact date.

I’d been a humanities major, so I had absolutely no useful engineering or science knowledge either.

The only financial information I remembered with complete certainty…

…was the exact time my college freshman friend Seok Eun-chu bought Bitcoin.

Back then, every time I showered or tried to fall asleep, I’d imagine what I’d do if I could go back in time with ten billion won…

Anyway…

I was just an extra who had accidentally traveled back in time without any special knowledge.

I didn’t even remember a single winning lottery number.

From my perspective…

There couldn’t have been a better situation.

While the protagonist worked hard to drive Korea toward becoming an economic superpower…

I’d quietly sit in the corner…

…and buy Bitcoin.

What a beautiful extra’s life.

…

Or so I thought.

If only this thing hadn’t appeared…!

【Mission: Become a Billionaire (Measured in U.S. Dollars)】

Challenger: Seo Singa (Unconfirmed Variable)

Time Limit: March 1, 2026, 00:00 (KST)

Failure: Return to the original timeline

Success: Choose one:

• Return
• Stay

※ Injuries sustained in the original timeline will NOT be restored.
(Current condition upon returning: Brain dead)

Current Assets

$1,402 (₩1,102,624)

Mission Progress: 0.0001%

Hey~

Miss me?

It’s me.

Your status window. 🙂

“WAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

“H-Hey! Why is she crying?! S-Suk-young!”

“What happened?! Seo Shin-hyun! What did you do this time?!”

“I’m innocent! I seriously didn’t do anything!”

“Honey, sweetheart! Mommy’s here! Don’t cry! Okay?”

“WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”

“W-What’s wrong with her?!”

“Hey! Mom from Apartment 813! Do something! Why’s your kid crying like the world’s ending? Did she see a ghost or something?”

…

I did see something.

One day…

It simply appeared before my eyes.

Back when I was just a baby who ate, slept, and cried, nothing happened.

But the moment I turned six…

The instant my brain became capable of understanding…

That crimson status window descended as though it had been waiting.

A billionaire?

It even kindly specified…

In U.S. dollars.

A U.S. dollar billionaire meant…

One billion dollars.

At today’s exchange rate in 1996…

Roughly ₩900 billion.

And once the IMF crisis hit and the exchange rate exploded…

That’d become almost ₩2 trillion.

Seriously…?

Are you kidding me?!

“…Ah…”

“I’m crying again.”

Should I at least comfort myself by remembering that my total assets included the little savings account my parents had opened in my name…

…plus every coin inside my piggy bank?

Incidentally…

March 1, 2026…

…was the exact day that Park Min-soo and I were hit by that delivery truck.

Meaning…

If I failed to earn one trillion won within thirty years…

I’d be reset back into my thirty-year-old brain-dead body.

In other words…

I had contracted the terminal illness known as…

“Die if you don’t make one trillion won.”

I-It’s okay.

Calm down.

We still had Bitcoin.

Seok Eun-chu started investing around the fall of 2015.

He turned ₩5 million into ₩10 billion.

Why couldn’t I do the same?

If I somehow accumulated around ₩30 billion beforehand…

…and entered even earlier than he did…

Maybe it wasn’t impossible.

Bitcoin will save me.

Lord Satoshi…

You’re working hard, right?

Please don’t disappear because of some butterfly effect caused by Park Min-soo.

Only you can save me…

Of course…

To go all-in on Bitcoin at the perfect moment…

I’d first need enough seed money.

I still had a long road ahead.

Let’s think this through.

Dad worked in automobile sales for H Motors.

Mom owned a children’s clothing shop.

We were the definition of an ordinary middle-class Korean family in the ’90s.

Neither side of the family had money.

No wealthy relatives.

No safety net.

If I wanted to build enough capital…

I had to start planning immediately.

Fortunately…

For reasons I still didn’t understand…

Instead of being born in my original year, 1996…

I’d been born in 1991.

That gave me an extra five years to prepare.

The IMF crisis would arrive next year.

If I wanted to begin the first stage of my plan…

I didn’t have much time.

Ding-dong.

[Who’s there?]

“It’s Singa~ Is Oppa Chambyeol home?”

[It’s Singa! Mom! Singa’s here! Hurry, open the door!]

[Don’t run!]

This was Apartment 1403 in the building next door.

One of the largest units in the apartment complex.

The richest family living here.

The front door flew open.

A smiling little boy greeted me.

“Singa! Did you come to see me?”

“Hi, Chambyeol Oppa!”

I waved cheerfully while discreetly glancing past him.

Yep.

She was home today.

“Hello, ma’am!”

“Mom! Can I play with Singa?”

“Just a moment. Singa… shouldn’t you be at kindergarten right now? How did you get here? Does your mother know?”

Someone once said you can’t spit at a smiling face.

Whoever said that clearly hadn’t met people like Yoon Ire.

Even though I was giving her the sweetest, most innocent little-kid smile imaginable…

Chambyeol’s mother shot questions at me without the slightest hesitation.

But she wasn’t doing it because she disliked me.

That was simply her personality.

Knowing that…

I didn’t panic.

Instead, I deliberately shrank back and murmured timidly,

“I heard Chambyeol Oppa got hurt… I was worried. I thought… if I played by myself… maybe he’d be sad…”

“…Did I do something wrong?”

“N-No! Singa! Don’t cry! You didn’t do anything wrong! Mooooom!”

I’m not crying, little guy.

Still…

To match the atmosphere, I rubbed my sleeves over my eyes.

Seeing even her own son on the verge of tears…

Mrs. Yoon hurriedly softened her tone.

“I didn’t mean you did anything wrong. I was just worried… Never mind. Come inside first. Don’t cry.”

She wasn’t a patient woman.

She was strict even with her only son.

If I’d actually burst into tears here…

She would’ve immediately called my mom and told her to come pick me up.

So I instantly stopped.

Then followed her inside with neat little steps.

Her voice became noticeably gentler.

“Singa, everyone’s talking about how you keep skipping kindergarten. Even I’ve heard the rumors. I’ll let it slide today, but don’t do it again.”

“Yes…”

“But today I really came because I was worried about Chambyeol Oppa.”

“He’s my only friend at kindergarten.”

“Really?”

Mrs. Yoon looked genuinely surprised.

Apparently she knew exactly how poor her son’s social life was.

Then again…

Even a busy career woman couldn’t possibly be unaware of how her child was treated at kindergarten.

It was true.

Before I started spending time with him…

Choi Chambyeol had been absolutely miserable there.

The other kids bullied him so badly that they’d broken his round glasses several times.

“N-No, Mom!”

“Singa’s really popular!”

“She’s the most popular kid in the Chick Class and the Sparrow Class too!”

“Everyone wants to be her friend…”

“I just…”

Chambyeol’s face turned bright red as he lowered his head.

Mrs. Yoon finally seemed to understand.

Why else would a younger girl from a different class…

…keep playing with her timid, friendless son?

Out of pity.

Kindness.

Charity.

Or so she probably believed.

Looks like I’ve built enough goodwill.

Time to make my move.

Tilting my head innocently…

I held Chambyeol’s sweaty little hand tightly…

And smiled like Florence Nightingale herself.

“But Teacher said friends have to like each other.”

“It doesn’t work if only one person likes the other.”

“And you can’t just be friends with anyone.”

“Chambyeol Oppa is smart and kind.”

“He always teaches me things and lets me have my way.”

“That’s why I like him.”

“We like each other.”

“That’s why we’re friends.”

“Right, ma’am?”

“S-Singa…”

“…”

Mrs. Yoon let out a quiet sigh.

“You’re such a kind child.”

“Far more mature than my son.”

“Take your time playing.”

“I’ll bring you some snacks.”

“Thank you, ma’am!”

As she turned away…

She paused.

Then awkwardly reached out…

And gently patted my head.

Her touch was clumsy.

Her voice slightly hoarse.

“Please…”

“Keep being friends with my Chambyeol.”

I simply nodded.

Success.

Does this count as completing Step One?

Remembering the name Yoon Ire from the depths of my old memories had been nothing but sheer luck.

After receiving the trillion-won mission…

I’d spent days agonizing over how someone with no special powers, no genius intellect, and trapped inside a six-year-old’s body could possibly earn enough startup capital.

Then one evening…

As always…

Mom was chatting endlessly with Dad after he came home from work, gossiping about the neighborhood.

The moment she casually mentioned,

“Chambyeol’s mom… something about a divorce…”

It hit me like lightning.

Oh my God.

So that Yoon Ire…