<CHAPTER 4>

“Your inheritance is one billion won. The inheritance tax has already been paid in full.”

“Ten—ten hundred million won?”

“Under normal circumstances, it should have been handed over to you on January 1, when you turned nineteen. However, as you can see, I was involved in a serious accident. Once I was well enough to move around, I came here as quickly as I could.”

It was obvious at a glance that he had been badly injured.

He was limping on his right leg, and every so often he squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced in pain.

Still, inviting him inside felt awkward.

The room was so small that there wasn’t even a proper place for him to sit.

I quickly fetched the red folding chair that had been lying around on the rooftop.

Then I brought him a glass of cold water from inside and handed it to him.

“By any chance, is Han Ok-ja my grandmother?”

“Yes. You didn’t know?”

“No. I’ve never met her in person. I’ve heard her name, though.”

“……She was Mr. Ha Tae-woong’s paternal grandmother.”

“……”

Of course, I knew I had a grandmother.

The problem was that I’d never actually met her even once.

I’d only heard her name through the media.

Swish.

The lawyer pulled something out of his bag.

It was a bankbook.

My eyes naturally fixed on it.

And then—

“Huh?!”

Why was that bankbook here?!

“You still don’t know what this money is, do you?”

“No.”

“……I’ve thought about this a lot.”

Attorney Kim paused.

His face was filled with anguish.

“……?”

“If you accept this money, you might very well lose your life.”

What kind of terrifying thing was he saying while handing someone money?

His calm voice somehow made the warning sound even more frightening.

I could more or less guess what was going on.

I might not look like it, but I’d served in the military and had some experience in the real world.

This wasn’t criminal proceeds.

But there were people who would rather die than let this money slip through their fingers.

I remembered what had happened back then.

The memories of that time came flooding back with startling clarity.

“Don’t tell me you’re injured because of those beasts?”

“……It could be. Or it might not be. Heh.”

Attorney Kim gave a hollow chuckle as he drank the plain cold water I’d offered him, without even so much as a proper beverage to accompany it.

But his eyes betrayed him.

There was anger simmering in them.

“I’ll take it.”

“You should discuss it with your parents—”

“No. You can give it to me.”

His attitude was remarkably firm for a high school student.

Grandma had arranged this directly with him.

And I had a strong feeling that she was protecting me.

This was a completely different development from the life I’d lived up until yesterday.

The lawyer standing before me with the bankbook was someone I had never met back then, either.

But things were different now.

Somewhere along the way, the rules and flow of events had changed.

“Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Yes.”

Attorney Kim was worried about me.

“You’re still a high school student…… But you seem to take after your grandmother when she was alive. It’s in your eyes.”

As a lawyer, he was probably good at reading people’s personalities.

He’d accurately seen through my life experience just by looking into my eyes.

“I…… grew up early.”

“Have those bastards come after you yet?”

“Not yet……”

Back then, my father’s death had made no sense.

He’d died for a reason that I simply couldn’t accept.

It was easy enough to suspect that they had something to do with his death.

“You’re brave.”

“Isn’t a well-fed ghost better than a hungry one?”

“Hahahahaha! Young man, you really don’t hold back. Yes, yes. You’re absolutely right.”

Attorney Kim’s hearty laughter strangely lifted my spirits.

“Here. Take it. This is the pocket money your grandmother left for you.”

The bankbook Grandma had handed me in my dream.

I was now receiving the real thing through her lawyer.

Even the seal I’d seen in my dream matched perfectly.

My hand trembled slightly as I held the bankbook.

One billion won.

To the wealthy, it was pocket change.

To me, it was an enormous sum of money I’d never even touched in my entire life.

“Your grandmother did a lot of good things while she was alive. I’m standing here today because I was fortunate enough to benefit from her kindness as well.”

I could hear the sincerity in Attorney Kim’s voice.

Grandma had told me the same thing in my dream.

Live your life doing plenty of good.

“I’m glad to hear she was a good person……”

The grandmother my father had searched for so desperately.

At least now I knew that she had truly been a warm-hearted person.

“If anything happens, call the number on my business card. I may have been caught off guard this time, but I’m not exactly a pushover.”

His personality suited his strong features.

I could practically see how badly he wanted to grind his teeth and fight back.

“Thank you for looking out for me.”

“Not at all. I’m just glad I can repay even a little of the kindness I received from your grandmother.”

There was clearly a relationship between the two of them that I knew nothing about.

Attorney Kim rose from his chair.

“When you don’t have the strength, there’s nothing wrong with bowing your head. The world has a way of balancing itself out in the end.”

He turned away, then offered me one last piece of advice.

There was genuine warmth and encouragement in his words.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hahahaha. You’re quite an interesting student, Tae-woong. I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”

The lawyer had used honorifics from the moment we’d met, and he never once dropped them until the very end.

Even his manner of speaking told me he was a good man.

“I have a feeling we’ll meet again.”

“I think so too. Take care.”

Tap. Tap.

He limped away on his injured leg.

Using his cane, Attorney Kim carefully made his way down the stairs.

“Please take care.”

I bowed my head toward his retreating figure.

Now that I had the healthy body of a high school student again, I still carried with me all the manners I’d learned through years of social experience.

The lucky messenger who had appeared out of nowhere like a daylight goblin had finally left.

“It’s not like I’ve been bewitched by a ghost or something.”

The bankbook clearly showed a balance of one billion won.

I held it in my hands and examined it over and over again.

Even with the physical bankbook in my hands, I still couldn’t believe it.

It was an amount of money I’d never even seen in my entire life.

Throughout my years of working, the highest balance I’d ever had in my bank account had been around ten million won.

Now, my account held a staggering amount more than a hundred times that.

My birthday had already passed, making me an adult.

I didn’t need my parents’ permission.

My primary bank account, linked to my student ID, was with Daehan Bank.

Everything was already set up for online authentication.

Swish.

I opened the bankbook again.

Even after looking at it once more, it was still the exact same bankbook Grandma had given me in my dream.

It had felt so real—I’d touched it and seen it as vividly as if it were happening in reality.

“Live as quietly as a dead mouse……”

That was the advice Attorney Kim had left me with as he handed over the bankbook.

I had to live quietly.

I could easily guess the hidden meaning behind those words.

—Ring-ring-ring, ring-ring-ring.

The simple ringtone of my now-obsolete smartphone rang out.

It was the name of someone I’d missed terribly.

How long had it been since I’d seen that name?

A smile naturally spread across my lips.

I pressed the answer button.

—Son?

That single word sounded like magic.

My heart clenched with emotion.

For a moment, I couldn’t find the words to answer.

My throat felt completely blocked.

—Son?

She called for me again.

“Uh…… Mom.”

—Mom? What’s this strange way of addressing me?

I’d called her Mom until I enlisted in the military.

After I was discharged, found a job, and entered the working world, my personality had changed as well.

As I adapted to the harsh world of adulthood, the word Mother had naturally become the way I addressed her.

And just like the change in how I called her, the emotional distance between us had grown.

“Uh…… Mom.”

My face suddenly grew hot.

For some reason, I felt embarrassed.

—Hoho. Yes. I’m your mom.

My mother’s familiar laughter returned.

After failing to land a job several times, I’d spent a long time drifting through life.

And through it all, she had always been like a great old tree—cheering me on with a smile, never once letting me see how worried she was.

My eyes stung.

“Thank you.”

—Thank you? What’s gotten into you today, son? You’re saying all sorts of things you never normally say.

Mom’s radar had gone into full scanning mode.

She’d detected something unusual about me.

“Thank you for giving birth to such an amazing son! I’ll serve you faithfully for the rest of my life! Salute! Salute!”

I quickly brushed it off with a joke, just like I used to back in high school.

Thinking back, I had actually been quite close to Mom before Dad’s accident.

She had always maintained her girlish personality, joking around with me like a friend.

—Oh! Ha Tae-woong! Thank you, thank you.

Her familiar voice bounced brightly through the phone.

Another smile spread across my lips.

“How’s Dad?”

—He went out of town for work. He’ll probably be back tomorrow.

As I expected, Dad was alive.

Thank God.

My fist clenched.

This was exactly the right point in time for my regression.

Once again, I silently thanked Grandma.

“I miss you.”

My voice trembled on its own.

I meant it with all my heart.

After graduating high school, I hadn’t seen my parents together even once.

But now, I could see them again!

—We just saw each other the other day. You miss us already?

“Yes! I miss you so much!!”

—Come to Sokcho when you have time. I’ll have some sashimi and soju waiting for you.

“Yes!!”

My mouth watered at the thought.

Once I’d become an adult, drinking alcohol had become a natural part of life.

In my previous life, I’d grown distant from Mom.

No, it was more accurate to say I barely had the time or means to see her.

After Dad died like that, I went through a difficult period myself.

I became a passive, distant son.

The appearance of creditors claiming that Dad owed them money hadn’t helped.

A lawsuit had even been filed against Dad’s company over an act of embezzlement.

The house the three of us had lived in was auctioned off practically overnight.

That was why I had continued living in the rooftop room I’d chosen as my place to live alone.

By then, I’d become an adult.

I was too busy paying for college and covering my living expenses.

It wasn’t a lie.

Even looking back on it now, I genuinely hadn’t had any time.

I was juggling four online tutoring jobs a week.

At best, I saw Mom once or twice a year.

I was a college student, but I spent most of my time holed up in the school club room, obsessing over cryptocurrency investments.

During my military leave, I killed time meeting up with friends.

It would be more accurate to say that I deliberately avoided Mom.

Mom spent every day looking out at the sea and missing Dad.

It was unbearable to see her like that.

Even after I was discharged from the military, I poured my entire soul into job hunting and part-time work.

Studying required money, too.

After returning to college, I covered my living expenses with student loans and part-time jobs.

Around that time, Mom was running a small flower shop.

Even managing her own living expenses was a struggle.

I had turned myself into a survivalist just trying to get through each day.

And then, after living without hope for so long, I regressed!

A chance granted to me by the heavens.

I bit down hard on my lip.

From the rooftop room, I could see a massive electronic news billboard directly across the street.

An elderly man with a kind face, age spots scattered across his skin, appeared on the screen.

Huge letters were displayed prominently enough to catch anyone’s eye.

—Ha-ryun Group Donates 300 Billion Won to Support Self-Reliance of Low-Income Citizens.

Ha-ryun Group.

One of the top ten chaebol families in South Korea.

Its chairman was Ha Cheol-gon.

“My grandpa…… He has more money than he knows what to do with. Heh.”

That old man appearing on the electronic billboard was my paternal grandfather.

And I—

I was Ha Tae-woong, the youngest grandson of a chaebol family!!