[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 150

Father’s Study.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about this space.

Part of it was because we had just moved in, but more importantly, even at the previous house, I had only visited my father’s study a few times.

It wasn’t like there was an outright ban on entering the study. However, beyond the physical space of the house, there was always a peculiar atmosphere at the entrance of the room named my father’s study, making it hard to just barge in.

“…….”

A heavy silence hangs thick. A weight I usually wouldn’t feel.

Yeah, right now I’m here not as my father’s child, but as a borrower looking for some cash.

So this heavy feeling was somewhat expected.

“Uh, Yujin.”

Slowly, slowly.

I can see my father’s face emerging from the shadows of the bookshelf. His usually warm smile was tightly sealed.

And very slowly, that firmly closed mouth began to move.

“I watched your broadcast.”

“Cough! Cough!”

“…Are you okay? Are you hurt? We need to get you to the hospital—”

“I’m, I’m fine.”

‘…You saw that?’

So, that…

‘Screaming like a lunatic at ghosts, dancing like crazy to get some balloons… really?’

You actually saw that? Not just anyone, but family? My father?

‘…Should I just die?’

The shock I’m feeling right now is so overwhelming that I’m seriously considering giving up this newly-acquired life.

I can now feel firsthand how a single word can kill someone.

‘It’s just… something you casually glanced at. Yeah, that must be it.’

How long had I been broadcasting? There’s no way a busy person like him would watch that, right? No way, that’s ridiculous.

That’s definitely it.

Wheee~ My happy train of thought is chugging along in my brain.

It’s a sort of self-justification for survival.

Yeah, let’s just pretend that didn’t happen.

“Are you really okay?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m really fine.”

Honestly, in another sense, I’m not fine… but I can’t say something ridiculous like that.

“Good. Then sit down. We’ve got something to discuss.”

“Ah, okay.”

Following my father’s gesture, I sat in a chair beside the massive oval table in the study. It felt like a conference room setup.

“Did you come because of the promise?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“Did you gather the 100 million?”

Even though I expected the question, I couldn’t help but flinch.

The reason was simple.

“…No.”

In conclusion, I had failed to gather the 100 million I promised my father.

[Number of balloons to exchange: 1,663,415]

[Exchange fee: -66,536,600 won]

[Total settlement amount: 99,804,900 won]

The number of balloons surpassed a million long ago, but that darn fee was the problem.

I did everything I could to gather balloons to make up for the shortfall, but with just two days left, I was way off from closing the 12 million shortfall.

Sure, someone might say the shortfall was just 200,000 won, but there was a significant trap here.

‘If we deduct the 3.3% withholding tax… I’m way off.’

The withholding tax on the current settlement amount of 99,804,900 won is about 3,293,562 won.

In other words, my actual take-home amount is about 96,511,338 won.

There might be a slight difference of a 1 or 2 won here or there… but with that margin, there’s no way I could fill the remaining amount to a hundred million.

Thus, I need to negotiate with my father from here on.

“Yujin, 100 million isn’t something you can easily earn. You’ve learned that this time, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“So for the 1 billion…”

“Wait a minute.”

I cut off my father’s words. I couldn’t just let him conclude our deal like this.

“I’ve almost gathered it…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Here.”

I showed my father the banking app I had prepared in advance. It was a newly created account specifically for receiving balloons.

[Current balance: 96,511,338 won]

“…What’s this?”

“My earnings from this month.”

“…What?”

My father’s eyes widened.

He said he watched my broadcast, but it seemed he didn’t watch closely enough to anticipate my income.

What a relief.

“So… this is really your revenue for this month?”

“Yeah.”

“Whoa.”

…Is he processing this?

It wasn’t a lie; my father looked somewhat baffled by the amount I had earned this month.

After all, he probably never imagined I’d earn a hundred million.

So I had failed to gather the promised amount, but it was clear that I’d shown close results.

However…

“I see. You’ve worked hard.”

The momentary surprise on my father’s face was short-lived. Just like that, it was over.

“However, a contract is a contract. You understand? You didn’t fulfill your end of the deal, Yujin.”

My father was stern.

Even though I had expected it, I felt small nonetheless.

“I know, but…”

“I understand you worked hard. But there can’t be personal feelings involved in a contract, Yujin. It’s the promise you made.”

“…”

He was right. Absolutely right.

There was no room for excuses.

The confident negotiation I had prepared for was now leaving me feeling pathetic.

Perhaps the conclusion to this bet had been decided the moment I failed to gather 100 million.

I was a fool.

“By the way, you mentioned you were forming a team? A professional gaming team?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…”

I vaguely answered my father’s question. I felt drained.

I just wanted to hurry and lie down on my bed.

“Yujin.”

“Yeah?”

“Need some pocket money?”

“…Pocket money?”

Suddenly, what’s with the pocket money?

There’s no way he’s planning to give me 1 billion as pocket money…

“…I do.”

“How much?”

I could feel my father’s gaze upon me.

Looking into his gently smiling eyes made me belatedly realize he had been teasing me all along.

“…3.5 million won.”

This must be the right answer.

An amount insufficient to reach 100 million.

This was the actual nature of the pocket money I asked my father for.

“Hmm, okay. I can give you that much pocket money.”

Then, as if it was ready, my father pulled out a check worth 3.5 million won from his drawer and handed it to me.

“…Dad.”

“Uh, Yujin.”

“…Look, you kept your promise.”

What a ridiculous scene this was, but evidently, my father seemed to see this process as necessary.

“Hmm, right. 100 million.”

My father nodded as he cross-verified the check and the banking app I had shown.

“Alright, I’ll lend it to you. 1 billion.”

Even though I had finally heard what I wanted, an uneasy feeling lingered.

Probably because of what he would say next.

“However, there’s a condition.”

“…What condition?”

“If you borrow money, you must pay the proper interest. Isn’t that right?”

Of course, I knew this kind of thing was coming.

“I mean, you won’t have any collateral… so this is unsecured debt, and the base interest rate for unsecured loans varies based on the credit score. You know that? So Yujin, your credit score… although you lack stability, you have quite a high income, so we can consider you as an A-class. That would be roughly 2.84%. Are you listening? This is significantly generous of me. Freelancers like Internet broadcasters usually struggle to get their credit score recognized that easily.”

“Ah, uh-huh.”

“Let’s see… on 1 billion at 2.84%, that’s 28.4 million won in interest. That’s quite a lump sum, can you handle both the principal and interest?”

This was the fundamental question.

If my father were to actually lend me such a large sum as 1 billion, would I be able to repay the principal and interest?

“…I can repay it.”

I will.

I will create a team,

win,

and win again.

“Okay. You need to pay the interest promptly every month. Understood? Dividing 28.4 million won over twelve months gives you… 2,366,666 won. You need to pay it even down to the last won.”

“…You’re a thief.”

“You don’t know, but generally, even though we’re parent and child, if I lend you money, and if the interest you pay falls below the legal rate of 4.6%, it counts as a gift and incurs tax penalties. You’d get hit with a tax bomb. So under normal circumstances, you’d owe me 4.6% interest, and I’d cover the remaining bit of it. By the way, you should be very grateful for my leniency here.”

“…Aren’t you something else?”

I can tell that my father gave me a discount on the interest.

But does that really warrant a bragging rights banner on it?

“Look, if you don’t want to borrow, you don’t have to. So, what will it be? Are you going to borrow or not? Once again, 1 billion is a significant amount, Yujin.”

Listening to my father’s pompous expression put me on edge.

“…Lend it to me.”

“Alright.”

What a refreshing answer, completely absurd.

Maybe I was being played right under my father’s thumb all along.

“Then tomorrow, we’ll have Lawyer Kim notarize the loan agreement, so come back. You’ve met Lawyer Kim a few times before, right?”

“…Okay.”

With my father’s consideration, the contract was finalized.

But even though I had obtained what I wanted, I somehow felt drained.

I understood rationally why my father was going through all this.

It was to make me feel the weight of money that I had been enjoying too comfortably.

But still…

Life doesn’t always flow logically.

“Dad.”

As I gingerly stepped out of the study, I slowly looked back.

I felt like I couldn’t leave without telling him something.

Does he really think he’ll get away with tormenting me like this?

“I’m telling Mom everything.”

For the first time, my father’s expression genuinely showed shock.