Chapter 2 : It became a thunderbolt!

Santa Monica Beach, California.

As California is known for its warm Mediterranean climate, people were dressed quite lightly.

It was summer, and a beach, so tourists in Hawaiian shirts were a common sight, as were women in bikinis.

Beautiful women in stylish bikinis drew the gazes of many men, and the sight of cute children building sandcastles with their shovels brought warm smiles.

But there was one thing that drew the most attention.

“What’s that?”

“A sunbed… I think?”

“On the sand? This isn’t a hotel, is it?”

It was a pure white, luxurious sunbed set up right in the middle of the sandy beach.

If it had just been a single sunbed, with no clue where it came from, one might have thought someone was playing a prank. But behind the sunbed was a parasol, and next to it, a pure white side table.

And most importantly, on the sunbed.

An Asian girl in a Hawaiian shirt adorned with green palm leaves lay leisurely.

Yes, a girl.

Though she sipped her zero-calorie cola from a glass like a cocktail, legs crossed elegantly, her appearance seemed no older than a 7th or 8th grader.

Countless Americans and tourists, watching this bizarre yet somehow fitting scene, whispered to each other.

“She’s clearly a little kid trying to act grown-up… but why does that air of leisure feel so natural?”

“Who cares? She’s cute. Kids always want to look mature. Besides, she’s really pretty.”

“I never understood why my daughter liked those skinny boys from that K-POP thing. Now I think I understand her.”

“What a dangerous thing to say.”

Carefree tourists admired the girl’s beauty. It was as if Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, had manifested in human form—a slightly young Aphrodite, perhaps.

Meanwhile, those with a keen eye had a different conversation.

“Did you see the sunbed? I think that thing costs…”

“That shirt and shorts are pretty expensive too, aren’t they? All designer brands.”

“Hmm, a rich family’s daughter? But there’s no bodyguard.”

“Are you stupid? The rich hate making ordinary people feel uncomfortable. How weird would it be to have suited men in sunglasses on a resort beach? That’s why you went to Brown instead of Harvard.”

“Ha, I wish I had a rich and pretty girlfriend like that.”

“Dream on, idiot. Or go talk to her. Of course, some suspiciously muscular guys would probably grab you then.”

People’s murmurings varied, but the conclusion was the same.

The girl was truly beautiful.

The magic wielded by the girl’s immense beauty had definitely captivated the eyes of everyone on the beach.

*

Leisurely.

How many years had it been since I enjoyed this kind of relaxation?

After being dragged into another world, I was worked like a dog. Actually, it was the same when I was in the modern world, rolling around.

So this is my respite.

A real, truly, loooooong-awaited respite.

Slurp.

Lying on the sunbed, feeling the warm sunlight, I briefly sipped my zero-calorie Pepsi Lime. Sensing the commotion around me, I raised my index finger and slightly pushed up my sunglasses.

The sunlight, shining warmly from the sky, pierced my eyes as the protection of the sunglasses vanished, but instead of squinting, a sinister smile crept across my face.

Many people around me were saying something.

Whisper, whisper, whisper.

‘It’s like when I brought the demon lord’s head to the holy land.’

I couldn’t understand what those people were saying.

I could speak the language of the other world, but not English.

Ugh, why didn’t that other world use English? If those guys had used the language of the United States, I’d be a master of English by now.

But now, I didn’t care about English.

‘Why learn a language when I can hire an interpreter?’

I chuckled and checked the banking app on my smartphone.

Then, enormous numbers came into view.

[Hello, Won Seong!]
[$20,209,140,000.00]

20 billion dollars. A whopping 11 digits.

In Korean won, let’s see…

Roughly a little less than 27 trillion won.

I smiled sinisterly.

“Hu, huhuhu.”

Yes, this is it. This is how the world’s balance should be.

How much did I strive to protect that damn other world? Honestly, it’s a little lacking as compensation for that hardship, but it’s not like they didn’t reward my dedication.

27 trillion won. If I had stayed in the modern world normally, could I have earned 2.7 billion? Probably not.

“Huhuhuhu…”

I could feel the people on the beach staring at me, captivated by my immense happiness and sinister laughter, but I didn’t care at all.

Who cares what others think when I have 20 billion dollars in my bank account? Aren’t they people I could make kneel with just 0.0001% of the ‘power’ and ‘wisdom’ in my account?

Who am I? A 27 trillion won asset holder.

Now, nothing could stop me.

“Huhuhuhahaha…”

As I laughed like that for a while, I sensed a presence from behind.

I lost most of the powerful abilities I acquired in the other world when I returned, but the senses that reached a transcendent level remained.

Thanks to that, I easily noticed that someone was approaching me directly.

Of course, I didn’t react much.

“Hello. I’m David Kim, a private banker from Goldman Sachs.”

Why would I react when I know who it is?

I just moved my gaze to check, and a suited Asian man who looked to be in his late 30s or early 40s was smiling. Seeing his last name, it seemed they sent a Korean-American as I requested from the bank. Well, since he’s speaking Korean, he must be of Korean descent.

“It’s Seong Won. Seong is the last name, Won is the first name.”

“Yes, Ms. Seong Won. Before we get to know each other better, first, congratulations on your win. A sole winner of the Super Mega Ball after two years. You must be very happy. It’s truly a case of the goddess of fortune herself descending.”

“Hmm. Fortune…”

Honestly, I’m happy to be a 27 trillion won asset holder, but it’s not like this happened by luck. Didn’t I become this because I worked hard on the savior meta in the other world?

Calling it a lucky jackpot life-changing success, or something like that, makes me feel a bit melancholic? Of course, David Kim wouldn’t know about that, so I’ll give him some leeway.

But, perhaps sensing my slight discomfort, I saw a drop of cold sweat form on David Kim’s forehead. David Kim’s tongue immediately started rolling.

“Of, course! I have no doubt that such fortune came to you because you have performed many good deeds in your life. It must be so.”

An elite, indeed. A marvelous ability to escape the minefield and retreat to a safe place in an instant. Is this what it takes to be a private banker at Goldman Sachs?

A smile naturally came to my face.

“You have good intuition, mister.”

“Ha, haha.”

I chuckled and stood up from the sunbed.

As I raised my body and my vision was obscured, I felt David Kim discreetly wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, but I decided not to point it out since he was trying hard.

Besides, who in this world could do something near me while avoiding my senses? Rather, the effort to wipe it away while my vision was obscured was commendable.

“Let’s talk about my money.”

“Yes. First, I’d like to ask if you have any insights regarding investment. Do you have any direction or beliefs? If so, we will create a portfolio that adheres to that direction while maximizing profit.”

Hmm. How to manage my money. A very important issue.

If you don’t manage your money diligently and let it grow like a snowball, you’ll quickly lose the principal and become penniless. You don’t need to study economics to know that.

But…

“I don’t have any great insights, really?”

Do I really need to manage it?

It’s 27 trillion won.

27 trillion won. Written in numbers, it’s 27,000,000,000,000 won. Wow! How many zeros is that? It’s so many that it would take all day to count them.

And how could I have any insights on investment?

Until I received the lottery winnings from the American bank, I didn’t even know what futures and options were.

What are futures and options? Is it an option to decide what birthday present to get? I’m an orphan who never received birthday presents, so I don’t know about such things.

“I don’t really plan to get involved in investment. Just leave enough for me to spend, and you can manage the rest as you see fit.”

David Kim burst into laughter at my answer.

“Haha. You have a great sense of humor.”

“I’m serious. Of course, it would be nice to not lose the principal. It would be even better if you could make it grow.”

But, as I added that, David Kim’s face slowly stiffened. As I stared at him silently, David Kim’s pupils trembled as if there was an earthquake.

“A-Are you serious?”

“I’m serious. Oh, and I need to send about 5 billion to Korea, can you make it so I pay less tax? I need money to use in Korea, but I don’t want to pay taxes.”

“Oh my.”

Realizing that I was completely serious, David Kim wiped his face with both hands. He chewed on his lip for a while, then opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

“Th-Then, may I ask why you requested PB (private banking) services? From what you’re saying, you’re not particularly interested in increasing your assets, and sending about 3.5 million dollars to Korea could be done with lower fees by hiring a specialist, so why PB?”

His words poured out rapidly. He was so nervous that he called Korea ‘Korea’ and converted won to dollars. Despite that, the units were roughly correct.

I shrugged and said.

“I should leave things I’m not good at to experts. I don’t know much about investment, but I know that things go well just by placing the right people in the right places. Moreover, I have more than enough money, so of course, I should use experts?”

At that answer, David Kim gulped.

A very embarrassed expression. He probably hasn’t met someone who acts like this with so much money.

But I don’t know anything. I need to know something to do something, but how can I do anything when I don’t know anything?

‘I didn’t have these worries when I was under Jusin.’

I was a bit crazy back then, but I had a diligently loyal saintess, and many cardinals, bishops, and others to help me.

It was nice back then… no, maybe not.

‘Is this gaslighting?’

Anyway, thinking about it again, I needed a subordinate to help me. Wouldn’t that make life easier?

I looked at David Kim, still bewildered. I heard he was an elite from Yale. According to Goldman Sachs, he had connections and skills.

‘Then…’

I straightened my posture and made a suggestion to David Kim.

“How about, you come under me instead?”

“Pardon?”

“Well, simply put, it’s employment.”

At that, David Kim swallowed again.

“Aren’t you already employing me?”

He gave a fragile smile, pretending not to understand my words, a response that was not from the heart.

But unfortunately, I could know the other person’s intentions just by listening to their heartbeat. Have you ever tried a lie detector test using the heartbeat speed of a demon? I have.

“You’re with Goldman Sachs now, aren’t you? Let’s change that.”

“…”

“I realized I don’t need someone to manage my money, but someone to act as a secretary. Do you have any interest in being something like a chief of staff?”

I tapped my smartphone and smiled.

“I don’t know how much Goldman Sachs is paying you, but I’m willing to offer several times more. And authority too. Well, are you interested? If not, it’s fine.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

David Kim answered with a face dripping with cold sweat. Well, it’s normal to take a step back now.

‘But, can he really do that?’

I may look like this, but I’ve been the head of a religious group for several years. I’ve tamed unruly, unpredictable fanatics, so persuading a human who pushes a pen at a desk is a piece of cake.

‘David Kim, you’re mine.’

Work under me like a s*ave for me.