3

Taekgyu seemed taken aback by my words.

[Why are you doing this? What is the reason?]

It is natural to have this reaction.

If they suddenly tell me to sell it, I'll say, 'Yes. All right. It would be even weirder to say, 'I'll sell it right away.'

I don't even know why I'm saying this.

But beyond just a feeling, I felt a strong conviction. Sometimes instinct takes precedence over reason. If I hadn't done that then, I wouldn't be here now.

"Listen to me."

[Yes why?]

"Do you believe me?"

[why? Do you need a warranty?]

I screamed loudly.

"Shut up and just sell! You don't lose money by selling it. "Cash it out right away."

[No, you have to tell me the reason to be convinced.]

"······."

How should I explain this?

I used a different method instead.

"You broke the side mirror of your sister's car when practicing driving. You said you would be beaten to death if you got caught, so I said I was the one driving. "At that time, i had to beg Hyeonju noona on your behalf."

Taekgyu was embarrassed.

[Why are you suddenly saying that, you crazy person?]

"Do you remember that you agreed to grant me one wish in return?"

[You bastard...]

"Now is the time to grant that wish, man! Sell ​​Bantcoin right away. okay?"

No words were heard for a moment.

You might be wondering why i was even bringing up old stories like this. I wish he wouldn't ask any more questions and just follow what I say...

After a while, Taek-gyu grumbled and spoke as if he had lost.

[okay. I already wanted to sell it, so I told my sister and set up a dollar account. I was going to sell it slowly, but as you said, I'll sell it right away. Then it's okay, right?]

I sighed in relief.

"Good idea."

[When do we meet?]

"I'll see you tomorrow. "I'll go to your house."

[okay.]

I hung up the phone.

The hologram floating in front of my eyes had long ago disappeared. I thought I must have seen something wrong.

Surely it won't be like it was then?

"Oh, no way..."

Even if nothing happens, we have nothing to lose by selling it. But If the Bantcoin price rises later, my stomach will hurt a bit.

It's just a shame that I wasted my precious wish like this.

"13.5 billion..."

How much was the lottery winnings these days? Is it 2 billion?

This is equivalent to winning the lottery multiple times.

This kind of luck cannot happen in reality. Even to a guy like Oh Taek-gyu.

For a moment, an old incident came to mind.

When he was in high school, he lied to me about winning the lottery. Thinking it was real, we took a taxi together and followed it to the Nonghyup headquarters.

I remember him giggling at me right before he went inside.

"Could it be that you lied again this bastard?"

Have I been fooled again?

* * *

As I lay down, the sun had already set.

Squeak!

I heard the front door opening.

My mother came inside and was happy to see me.

"You were home, son."

"Are you here?"

It's been a while i saw you last on your vacation.

Mother said as she put down her bag.

"Let's go out to eat to celebrate your discharge."

"yes."

I got dressed and went outside with my mother.

"What does my son want to eat? Do you want to eat meat?"

"I'll Eat anything."

We went into a nearby pork rib restaurant.

My mother took tongs and scissors and started grilling the meat. Her hand holding the tongs was rough and swollen.

I saw my mother's face.

When I looked closely, I saw fine wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. She looked much thinner than when I saw her before.

After my father passed away, my mother became the head of the household. Unlike me, who had it easy in the military, my mother worked as hard as she could.

My mother has lived at home all her life. It was obvious to her that this was something a middle-aged woman with no skills or experience could do.

"What are you doing if you're not eating?"

"Oh, I want to eat now."

For a moment, I felt like I was choking.

I quickly lowered my head, pretending to eat meat.

"Isn't what you're doing now difficult?"

All i do is sitting down and talking to the customers anyway."

"What about those who call and curse at you?"I heard there are a lot of people like that these days."

Mother said with a smile.

"It's a prosperous neighborhood, so there are no people like that. How friendly and nice everyone is. "Do you know how hard it is to find a comfortable job like this?"

"Then I'm glad."

Heaps of cooked meat were piled up in front of me.

"Just grill it and eat some."

"Mom ate a lot of delicious food from the department store. So you should eat it quickly."

I forced myself to chew and swallow the meat that wouldn't go down.

"Anyway, when are you going to go back to school?"

"I have time, so I'll think about it."

"Mom prepared all the tuition, so don't worry."

Korean University is a public university, so tuition is cheaper than private universities. Still, it is a large amount that can be a burden to ordinary families.

It looks like she saved up tuition money from her own household expenses.

"all right."

* * *

I spread the blanket on the floor of the narrow room and lay down with my mother.

Perhaps because she was tired, my mother fell asleep as soon as she lay down. Her cough could be heard occasionally in the darkness.

Is it because the bed has changed?

I couldn't fall asleep easily. After trying to force myself to sleep for a while, I finally gave up and got up.

When I looked at my phone, it was 3 am.

Should I go to the convenience store and have some beer?

I went out carefully so as not to wake my mother. The cold night air hit my face.

"ha."

I thought that if I just came out to society, I would achieve something. But when I was discharged from the military, the future became daunting.

I can't make my mother work alone, so I need to make some money quickly.

As I was walking to the convenience store, thinking about various things, my cell phone rang.

Tiriring!

Who's calling at this hour?

I looked at my phone and saw that it was Taekgyu. I pressed the answer button.

"hey! "What kind of phone call are you making at this hour?"

Before I could finish speaking, I heard an urgent voice.

[Wow, we're in big trouble!]

"That sounds like a big deal. "You lied earlier, right?"

[Mountain Hill Exchange just closed!]

I said as if admonishing.

"Stop joking around when I'm saying something nice."

Then Taek-gyu screamed.

[Is this like a joke!?]

[Where are you now?]

"I'm home."

[Come to my house right now. Check with your own eyes whether it's a joke or not!]

Taek-gyu said and hung up the call.

"······."

what? Is it really real?

I went out onto the main street and waved at a taxi.

"taxi!"

When the taxi stopped, I quickly got in.

"Please go to Gangnam. "Hurry up."

* * *

Taek-gyu lived alone in a studio in Yeoksam-dong.

I go there so often that I even memorized the password. When I opened the front door and went inside, the floor was littered with game magazines and comic books, and there was an animation poster on the wall.

On the desk, the cords of computers and game consoles were tangled in a mess. And a man sitting in front of it.

He was a man in his early 20s with a chubby build, hair cut short like a soldier, and horn-rimmed glasses so thick that they made his eyes look small.

It was as if he had lost his mind.

"hey! "What happened?"

Instead of answering, Taekgyu pointed to the computer monitor.

A bulletin board was open in the Internet window.

-All Bantcoins registered at Mountain Hill have been withdrawn.

-me too. 150.387 BNT is gone!

-That's all my property.

-What happened to this?

-They took my money!

-I can't access the exchange, and they don't answer the phone.

-The news is on CNN right now. It says that Mountain Hill appears to have been closed due to hacking.

-Hackers hacked the exchange and stole all Bantcoins.

-Then what happens? Does Mountain Hill compensate me?

-No, you bastards!!!

I kept reading the posts that came up.

People who are angry, people who despair, people who cry, people who curse, people who say things like death, etc.

The bulletin board was literally like a bloody battle.

"What the hell is this...?"

I said while looking at Taekgyu.

"Hey, please explain."

"I told you. "Mountain Hill is closed."

The exchange was closed when Taekgyu called me. He suddenly couldn't connect to an exchange that was operating normally.

If it were just that, he might have thought it was just a brief inspection.

However, all Bantcoins disappeared from the account registered at the exchange!

Just like voice phishing, the entire balance was taken out without your knowledge. It wasn't just one or two people, all Mountain Hill Exchange users experienced the same thing.

So was everything Taekkyu said during the day true?

The first thing that came to mind was the 11,000 BNT that Taekgyu said he had.

"What happened to you? Did you get robbed too?"

"······."

Taek-gyu was still sitting with a blank expression, probably not hearing me.

An ominous feeling ran down my spine.

I shouted, shaking Taekgyu's shoulder.

"hey! Oh Taek-gyu!"

Taekgyu looked at me with unfocused eyes. Then, stammering, he said:

"Oh, I sold everything earlier.i listened to what you said "I sold around 12 o'clock at night."

"ha!"

For a moment, it felt like all the strength in my legs was gone.

Still, I got it.

While I was thinking that, Taekgyu suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

"Did you really know?"

"what?"

"Mountain Hill is going to be hacked! "You knew, right?"

I shook my head.

"No, I didn't know either."

"Then why did you tell me to sell it right away? "It doesn't make sense!"

"that······."

In fact, it is natural for Taekgyu to react this way. Unless you are an insider, it is impossible to know in advance that a hack will occur.

When I didn't answer, Taek-gyu spat and questioned me.

"Ho, did you hack it? "Is that why you told me in advance?"

I was so dumbfounded that I shouted.

"What bullshit?"

Taekkyu said with a confident expression.

"You don't have to hide it from me. "I won't report it to the police, so tell me honestly."

"I said no."

Actually, the person who is most embarrassed by this situation is none other than me.

"We'll talk, so just calm down first."

I calmed Taekgyu down and made him sit down. The guy sat down on the floor and took a deep breath.

Taekgyu seemed to have had some effect as he calmed down his excitement and spoke.

"Go ahead and tell me."

I thought about it for a while.

Should I tell him that a hologram suddenly appeared in front of me or not?

This guy is the only person I can trust besides my mother. There's no need to lie to him, right?

If he told someone else, they won't believe him anyway.

After I finished thinking, I spoke honestly about the situation from earlier.

"So that's it…"

After hearing the whole story, Taek-gyu nodded as if he understood.

"Ah, I see. While talking on the phone, the 'Mountain Hill bankruptcy' appeared before your eyes like a hologram. right?"

"uh. That's right."

Taek-gyu screamed.

"are you kidding!?"

"······Really."

It's normal not to believe.

I sighed as I recalled the past.

"Actually, this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

The first time I saw 'it' was in the military.