After completing the level-up quest, two choices suddenly appeared before me, and I was momentarily caught off guard. But thanks to that, I learned a few things.
First, my current minimum daily return rate was set at 5%. That explained why I was still profiting even during a bearish market.
Second, both the profit rate and the number of daily stocks could increase as I leveled up. For someone like me, whose returns had started to thin out as the seed money grew, this was welcome news.
'This one's a no-brainer.'
Currently, I could invest in up to five stocks a day, with a minimum return of 5% and a maximum of 30% per stock.
It was rare to see a day with just 5%, and the more stocks I handled, the higher the chance of hitting better returns. It also made it easier to manage larger amounts of money.
As the market closed, I checked my account.
**[Balance: 1.79163 billion won]**
To top it off, the two stocks I had spotted as tomorrow's upper-limit picks had already been partially bought today.
'At this rate, it'll be at least 2.2 billion tomorrow.'
I was on track to recoup today's spending in just one day. It almost made me suspicious—was the system purposely dealing me such good hands to offset the quest spending?
Still, there was one downside. Because the stocks were bought through staggered purchasing, prices had gone up, so I could only expect about a 20% return per stock.
'If I could invest in more stocks, I could cover that margin.'
I clenched my right fist.
**[You have selected Option 2]**
**[From tomorrow, your daily stock limit will increase to 7]**
'This is insane.'
With just Level 1, I had turned 10 million won into nearly 1.8 billion in two months. Now that I was Level 2 and had more stock options, the potential for profit growth was mind-blowing.
'Crazy. Absolutely crazy.'
But the pop-ups didn't stop there.
**[Elapsed Time: 3 days 23 hours 29 minutes 33 seconds]**
**[You have acquired the special skill: Eye of Trust (Cooldown: 24 hours)]**
**[Special reward granted]**
I couldn't help but lick my lips at the phrase *special reward*.
'Eye of Trust?'
**[Effect: Reveals the target's loyalty level]**
**[Caution]**
1. The lower the loyalty, the higher the risk of betrayal.
2. Some people have rapidly changing loyalty.
3. You can only see their current loyalty.
4. No one except yourself has 100% loyalty.
That last line carried some weight.
Yeah, it's never easy to fully trust someone else.
**[To use: Look at the target and clench your right fist]**
The pop-up faded from my vision.
"Sir, are you okay?"
"Jaegoo, you alright?"
The Cartier staff and my father were looking at me with concern. I smiled and shrugged.
"Just had something on my mind for a moment."
"Ah, okay."
"When should I come back to pick up the rings?"
"Please return in about a month."
After receiving a polite farewell from the staff, we exited the department store.
I was itching to try the new skill, *Eye of Trust*.
'If there's anyone worth trusting, it's family.'
My father had even abandoned his job to protest and clear my name when I was falsely accused—if anyone could have near-100% loyalty, it'd be him.
The system had said only *you* could be 100%, but I still hoped to see it.
I clenched my right fist while looking at my dad. A pop-up appeared over his head.
**[Eye of Trust activated]**
**[Loyalty: 95%]**
**[Cooldown: 23:59:59]**
The countdown started.
95%. That was practically absolute trust in my book.
'Still, I'll need more samples to get a proper grasp of this skill.'
My father stretched with a groan.
"Ughh... We going home now?"
"Yes. Let's head to the car."
"Where to?"
"Superior Motors."
"Superior Motors? Ohhh! You mean that flashy ride from earlier?"
He was clearly more talkative than usual.
He must've really liked the car.
"Yes."
"Congrats on the new car."
He beamed with genuine pride and joy.
I originally planned to use the car for work, but on paper, it was a company car gifted to me.
"Feel free to use it whenever you need to, Dad."
"No need for that. A car that expensive… I can't possibly..."
Well, I figured if it's at home, he'll use it when he needs to.
Maybe I'll take him out for a drive now and then.
'Still, a car worth 400 million won…!'
Just a little while ago, it was a dream car I couldn't even imagine owning.
But then again—
'Who am I? I'm a guy who makes a billion won a day.'
I could earn at least 5 billion in a week, no problem.
Thinking of it that way made me feel more at ease.
***
It had been a hectic day, like a war—but I gained a lot.
First, I bought one of my dream cars, a **Bentley Flying Spur**. The sight of this high-performance luxury car parked in front of a rundown countryside house was hilariously mismatched.
'I need to move once I save enough.'
I couldn't stay in the countryside forever. After I was falsely accused, things with the locals soured, and the family mart we ran for over 20 years was on the verge of going under. I had no reason to linger here anymore.
I hadn't touched it yet since capital was crucial, but if my funds kept increasing, it might be worth considering.
Same with the **Rolex watch**. A 40-million-won timepiece I couldn't even look at before, now sitting in my desk drawer—it still didn't feel real.
'But more important than any of that…'
What really mattered was gaining the skill **Eye of Trust**, which was worth far more than a few billion won—and getting **two more stock picks per day**.
Modern society might call itself a trust-based society, but it's not easy to find people who won't betray you for money.
I remembered how humiliating it was when I called up friends for help getting seed money after getting out of prison.
**[Get lost, you con artist bastard.]**
'Sons of bitches.'
Sure, I'd been accused of embezzlement, but we had shared years together. For them to mock me on top of that—I wanted to pay them back, badly.
But I didn't have time to waste on losers like that.
I had to use my new skill wisely to gather trustworthy allies and leverage tomorrow's stock prices to accumulate serious wealth.
**So I could get revenge on my ex-wife and her affair partner.**
I couldn't be too reckless and draw attention too soon. If I openly went after Dokgo Corporation now, they'd turn me into an enemy too quickly. I still lacked enough capital, and my identity being exposed would be dangerous.
Especially with **Ha-yeon practically a hostage**.
'Reality isn't a movie, but considering how I was framed, the Dokgo Group guys must be seriously shady.'
No way my ex-wife could've pulled all that off on her own.
So I had to take things step by step.
For now, I needed more money.
With two new stock slots added, I had to update my program. I needed to expand the input field from 5 to 7 slots.
'Where was the option to change the number of input fields?'
In the request form I submitted, I'd asked for flexibility to handle anywhere from 5 to 20 stocks.
The daily pop-ups were important, but I didn't know when or where I'd get even better information—so being ready was key.
According to the manual, I could increase the number of input slots to a maximum of 12. I followed the steps and tweaked the settings.
The number of slots went from 5 to 7.
'Nice.'
Setup complete.
After running around all day, I let out a big yawn.
"Phewww... Time to sleep."
I stretched out and laid down.
But once I hit the bed, my thoughts started spinning, and I couldn't sleep.
'Did I really get 7 stocks now? How much return will I see?'
***
**9 AM, the next morning.**
Just like usual, the pop-up appeared.
**[Lv2. Would you like to see tomorrow's stock prices?]**
**[Clench your right hand to confirm, or your left to decline.]**
The **Lv2** label looked incredibly satisfying.
'Come on, come on, come on, come on…'
Heart pounding, I quickly clenched my right hand.
**[NaOne Tech: 2,240
Yeongwol Chemical: 9,730
Drama Pictures: 21,430
Heungseong Bio: 57,450
New Transition: 16,420
Bonsan Industries: 1,470
Seoil: 874]**
'It's really 7. This is insane.'
I hurriedly entered the values into the program.
The program instantly showed the results.
**[Price Change Compared to Current]**
- NaOne Tech: 2,240 (+5%)
- Yeongwol Chemical: 9,730 (−8%)
- Drama Pictures: 21,430 (−12%)
- Heungseong Bio: 57,450 (+20%)
- New Transition: 16,420 (–)
- Bonsan Industries: 1,470 (+15%)
- Seoil: 874 (−20%)
**[Expected Return: 14%]**
It calculated the projected return, taking into account previous trading volumes and the number of shares issued, along with expected price increases at the time of purchase.
All of this took less than a second.
'I love how lightweight this program is.'
Good thing I commissioned a KAIST professor for it. If I'd gone with some half-baked software company, there's no way it would've run this fast.
'Not sure what the final return will be, but 14% is pretty solid. Glad I chose 7 stock picks instead of assuming it meant a minimum 7% gain.'
Since it shows the **closing price for the next day**, I couldn't buy stocks on the same day and sell them at that predicted closing price.
But the program analyzed real-time price fluctuations and automatically made trades in a way that would maximize returns.
I was genuinely glad I had built the program early. As it started executing trades based on market shifts, my phone began lighting up with a flood of notifications.
***
**Saturday morning.**
"Ugh… My head's killing me."
I'd had too much to drink at the farewell party on Friday night. With three younger people full of energy there, I didn't even realize how many bottles of makgeolli we went through.
'Guess I went too hard because I was in a good mood.'
The resignation process went super smoothly. **Im Han-ul** brought in a replacement by Wednesday, and there wasn't much to hand over anyway.
Even while I was doing the handover, the program was handling trades, so I could focus without stress.
I remembered the farewells from everyone.
**{Mr. Jae-gu! Say hi if we meet on the street later!}**
—A bubbly send-off from 20-something **No Yu-ri**.
**{Take care.}**
—Still cautious **Park Min-seok**.
**{Goodbye.}**
—The new hire.
**{Jae-gu! Let's meet Saturday, okay?}**
—My friend, **Im Han-ul**.
When I mentioned I was thinking of starting a business, Han-ul just went ahead and scheduled a meet-up that afternoon.
'I should probably have some sort of business plan ready by then.'
Even as I was thinking that, my fingers were already opening the **Daebak Securities** app. Lately, nothing made me happier than watching my portfolio value go up in real time.
**'Oh my god...'**
It really felt like the universe was paying me back for all the money I poured into those quests. This week had been absolutely insane.
As I checked the numbers, I mentally reviewed the week.
- **[Tuesday: 38% return | Portfolio: 2.465 billion won]**
An absolutely unbelievable day.
- **[Wednesday: 22% return | Portfolio: 2.998 billion won]**
Not bad at all.
- **[Thursday: 10% return | Portfolio: 3.288 billion won]**
I honestly thought the magic was running out then.
- **[Friday: 24% return | Portfolio: 4.065 billion won]**
*"Portfolio: 4.065 billion won."*
Just a week ago, I barely hit 2 billion and completed the quest. Now I couldn't even believe how far I'd come.
**'I made 2 billion won in a single week. Is this real?'**
It was such an insane number.
Even just staring at it made me feel ridiculously happy. I felt like I could just sit and watch my account balance all day.
But I couldn't stay lying around forever. My startup-savvy friend **Im Han-ul** had offered to give me some expert mentoring—and I couldn't show up totally unprepared.
I stretched once and sat down at my desk, sorting through all the notes and research I'd gathered about startups.
But at the final step, my hand stopped.
**'How much capital should I start with?'**