The Greatest Conglomerate Ever With the American Lottery

5. Don’t forget, I’m now astronomically rich!

Me?

I was loyal enough to serve my country.

In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say I did more than most people my age.

I’ve been in the military for over four years, albeit due to family circumstances, and that was after crawling like a dog in a tight spot in the South.

Now, you want to take over 100 billion won of my money without contributing even 0.001% to the American lottery that I paid for with my own money?

This is not the way of the mighty, is it?

– Look, you seem to be very upset, but at least you won’t have to pay the local taxes. If that’s any consolation—.

“…”

What?

You’re saying that if I hadn’t taken the local tax, they would have taken another 4%?

And that’s comforting?

I was a little upset for a moment, but I still won nearly 1 trillion won.

Until the phone call from the US, wasn’t I the one who wished I had a billion?

Yeah, I’ll tell them to take it all.

After all, no matter what I do, I won’t spend it all until I die.

“Aah! Well, that still leaves me with over $900 million, I see what you mean.”

– hahahaha, that’s right, you’d better get comfortable with that. And, and I hate to break it to you, but if you’re good, you might be able to stop the taxes they’re taking from you.

“What? No, I don’t like to be illegal or cheat or anything like that. It’s just, it’s easy.”

– I don’t like that either. What I’m telling you is completely legal, but we can talk about that later.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I don’t want to do something stupid to get another trillion or 100 billion.

– Now you have one decision to make.

“What is it?”

I could hear the tension in the US Lotto president’s voice and it made me nervous.

– “I apologize if I seem to be digressing, but this is something we need to decide now. Have you noticed that the US Lottery’s purchasing agent is talking about site equity?

“Equity? What equity? Oh! 5%?”

– Well, you’re in luck, because US lottery retailers usually specify a site share for the grand prize winner. It’s a little embarrassing, but we’ve decided to go a little differently and leave it entirely up to the first prize winner to decide, and instead of 10%, they’ll only get 5%.

“Yeah, I know what you’re saying, that’s why I chose US Lotto because they have the lowest stake and it’s voluntary.”

– hahahaha, I see, so let me make it easy for you: how do you want to recognize our stake?

“But first, I’d like to know the difference between when you do and don’t recognize it.”

– Oh, no! I was only thinking of the older members of our site. If you don’t recognize our stake first.

“Yes.”

– We’ll give you a lottery ticket if you come to the US unconditionally. And that’s it. Oh, we’ll give you some advice, of course.

In short, we’re going to give you a lottery ticket, but you’re going to have to apply to the lottery on your own to claim your winnings.

That’s basically the rule, and it works.

As long as they give you a physical lottery ticket.

“What if I give you a 5% share?”

– Then we’ll take care of everything for Mr. Kang, starting with his flight to the U.S. and ending with his return to Korea to collect his first prize. Of course, the plane will be first class, and we’ll arrange for a hotel suite.

How much money is that?

I’d rob you if you tried to take 5% of it.

– Most importantly, we’ll arrange for the best lawyers and accountants to take care of all the legal, administrative, and tax procedures that come with winning the first prize in the lottery. Of course, we’ll also arrange for an investment advisor, given that it’s a lot of money to roll in Korea.

“Hmm, is that it?”

– Yes, that’s it.

“You’re sure there’s nothing stopping me from getting the physical lottery ticket even if I don’t recognize your stake?”

– Yes, I can promise you that.

“Okay, so can you give me another 30 minutes, I’m craving a cigarette again.”

– hahahaha! This is something that needs to be decided up front, but you can take a few days to think about it.

“No, I’m not the kind of person to drag this out. Oh, by the way, let me ask you a question.”

– Yes, say it.

“If you’re going to give me equity, how do you do that, do you have an equity agreement up front, or do I just take it all and give you 5% from there?”

– We do a 95/50 equity agreement up front, and we apply to receive the first prize money jointly. If you don’t do that, it gets pretty complicated.

“Okay, great, call me back in 30 minutes.”

– Yes, burn that cigarette.

“That sounds like you’re asking me to die an early death.”

– hahahahaha! How could that be?

“hahahaha! Just kidding, then.”

I picked up the cigarette again and went out to the front of the house to light it.

I thought about it.

Why do they ask for a 5% or 10% equity stake, as they do at other fulfillment sites, as they do here?

They’re going to take $2 or $1.65 out of your game purchase anyway, right?

First class airplanes?

A suite in a luxury hotel?

The best lawyers and accountants?

That stuff is just a front, a sideshow.

How much would they get if I gave them a 5% share?

I did the math.

Five percent of $2.54 billion is $127 million.

That’s 140 billion in our money, and they’re going to take a cut of this and that, so it’s close to 60 billion in real terms.

That’s a lot of money to spend on first class, suites, lawyers?

You’re going to slap me with this?

You can do all sorts of bullsh*t and get the best of them, and they’ll still f*ck you for a few billion?

It’s a clear imbalance.

There is no rationale, there is none.

And yet, here we are, and elsewhere the 10% is stipulated from the start of the game.

And the people who buy it seem to accept it naturally.

I wonder why?

Why are they so bold in demanding it even though there is no reason for it, and why do they accept it naturally?

Are these people all assholes?

I don’t think so.

The bottom line is this.

The buyer may take 5% or 10% and walk away, but they want you to stop messing around in the middle, and the site wants to make sure they don’t lose their sh*t when they actually have a grand prize winner.

In the case of US Lotto, I was told that they will always give you the actual ticket.

However, it’s going to be a while before I get to the US.

What if they change their minds before then?

Judging by their tone, they are at least based in the US, if not citizens.

If there’s a legal dispute, they’re on home turf and I’m just a foreigner.

Based on their demeanor so far, I doubt it, but you never know.

A trillion or 950 billion is what it is to me, and I don’t need to take unnecessary risks.

Yeah, let’s give it to them neatly and ask for what I’m going to ask for.

I don’t want to try to eat it all myself.

“International call!”

As if on cue, at exactly 30 minutes to the minute, my smartphone screamed out an international call.

Doesn’t this thing even have a volume control?

“Hello?”

– Yes, it’s US Lotto, have you decided?

The voice sounded very nervous.

Probably very nervous amongst themselves.

“Yes, we’ve decided.”

– How?

“We’ll accept your 5% share.”

– Aah!

A sigh of relief escaped me, and I could almost hear the muffled cheers from the other side of the room.

Okay, let’s call it a partnership.

– Thank you so much! I’ll do my best to make sure you get your winnings without a hitch.

“Mr. President, there are a few conditions.”

– What? Conditions? Oh, anything. We’ll do whatever we can.

“I’ll tell you the most important thing first, the rest won’t be a problem. It’s about my identity. I need you to keep it a secret at all costs. Can you do that?”

– What? Keep my identity a secret?

“Yes, you know Korea, and I don’t intend to spend the rest of my life in this tiny country being called Lotto.”

I think the highest lotto prize in Korea was 400 million won in the early days of lotto.

I think it was a police officer in Gangwon province, and he took it upon himself to give a scholarship to the police station he worked at.

The result?

A few years ago, there was an article about it, and it was said that the aftermath was very bad, such as children being called lotto in school.

I’m thirty-one.

It depends on your personality, but for me, I’m already old enough to live in Korea, and it’s too late to adapt and live in the US or abroad.

My friends and family are all in Korea, so where am I?

Anyway, there is also a different sentiment that Koreans point fingers behind their backs for something that is obvious, and it should never be kept secret.

– Well, that’s true, but let me give you a rule of thumb: every state in the U.S. has a state lottery, so it’s all different whether or not they disclose the identity of the first prize winner, and unfortunately, in California, it’s public.

“I don’t know about that, is it possible or not, just tell me that.”

This is a condition that I can’t concede.

It was a significant factor in my decision to give up my 5% stake.

– Would you mind staying on the line for a second, because my colleague next to me seems to know something.

“Yeah, I’ll wait.”

Maybe seven or eight minutes passed?

– Hello?

“Yes, I’m listening. Go ahead.”

– My coworker says, “I think it’s doable. If we take it alone, we’re going to be identified, but since we have a 5% stake, we can take it jointly and make us the representative payee.

“Mr. President, you can’t say yes to this. It’s unconditional, unconditional!”

– hahahaha! Okay, if it doesn’t work, we’ll pay you a couple million dollars, we’ll get the best lawyers, we’ll figure it out somehow, because in America, there’s nothing that can’t be solved by an expensive lawyer.

“Okay, so you have an agreement, and you put it in the contract?”

– Yes, it’s okay!

“hahahaha, thank you. The rest is no big deal, I just want to spend some money in Korea before I go over to the U.S. Can you send me about $200,000 first, I don’t know if there’s any foreign exchange restrictions there.”

– “hahahahaha! No problem! No problem at all, we’ll take care of it, even if it’s a little bit of a hassle, we’ll take care of it, even if it’s a little bit of a hassle, we’ll take care of it, even if it’s a little bit of a hassle, we’ll take care of it.

“Oh, thanks, so do I need to open a foreign exchange account?”

– No, just give us any commercial bank account you have. You’re supposed to get a preferential exchange rate up front, but don’t forget, you’re now astronomically rich, hahahahaha!

I see.

Now I don’t have to worry about which bank has the best terms and conditions.

I told him a few more small conditions, and he said that they weren’t even conditions, and that I could always ask him if I needed anything, even if I didn’t tell him now.

He said that even if I didn’t put it in the contract, he would listen to everything.

After a couple of exchanges of the 5% equity transfer agreement with my terms, I signed the Korean contract, which was printed out on the in-office multifunction printer, and scanned and sent to the US.

– So when can you come to the US?

“I have a job, so it will be a while. Even if you’re a trillionaire, you still have to do the handover.”

– hahahahaha! That’s right, that’s right, that’s right, that’s right.

The people I was cursing at, the ones who said they were going to quit tomorrow, who were handing in their resignations today.

No matter how bad the company is, it’s the coworkers who suffer in the end.

I’m not saying f*ck the company, I’m saying f*ck your coworkers.

For the sake of decency, I’ll give them a month, but not more than a month, and then I’ll organize it in three weeks, and I’ll go over in four weeks, because I need to take a week or so.

– So, I look forward to seeing you in the States. Have a happy night.

“I’m already so happy I’m going to go crazy.”

– hahahaha!

“hahahaha!”

A $2.8 trillion lotto?

I don’t think it’s going to be a trillion after all this, but that’s what it is.

Between all of this, it’s already past 9pm, but I’ve never been one to fall asleep early.

Lying on the bed of a 6-pyeong studio, I thought about nothing in particular.

My home with a deposit of 500,000 won and a monthly rent of 500,000 won.

It looked very shabby today.

Should I buy a house?

A modest one for 10 billion won?

What about a car?

Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls Royce?

I could buy anything. What’s the problem?

How much would it cost to buy the oriental apparel that the performer wears?

Baby Room, a baby clothing brand with a long history and tradition, was recently sold to China for 80 billion.

I’d say it’s more like 60 or 70 billion.

Should I buy it and surprise him with a performance?

No, I’m just going to sell it and go out with you.

f*ck!

What do I tell my parents, who have been struggling for decades?

Do I tell them that I won the American Lotto and that it’s the end of the struggle and the beginning of happiness?

No, don’t tell anyone that you won the lotto.

For my parents, I’d tell them I made money on something else and give them a money bomb.

What should I get my cute little sister Somi?

The Apple phone you were singing about?

Aah! That’s a given.

It’s an Apple phone, it’s the Milky Way, let’s buy it.

As I was thinking about all these fantasies that are now a reality, I realized that it’s already 3am.

I need to get some sleep if I’m going to hand in my resignation tomorrow.

You force yourself to close your eyes.

As I lay on my bed with my eyes closed, I noticed the beads on my left wrist.

What an incredible stroke of luck that suddenly befell me.

Could it have anything to do with the beads?

No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t.

Even if it was just my imagination that I saw it sparkle whenever I touched the number last night while sleeping.

The monk said this would be a beacon for my life going forward.

If so, it won’t be the last time this bead guides me.

And you said to keep accumulating good deeds, right?

Yes, enjoy the fun, but be good!

And help those in need.