12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

‘Tiriri.’

The alarm went off. While looking at the monitor, I looked at the office clock. 12 a.m. It was time to have lunch.

“Let’s eat, everyone. Eat your food,” Heo said first.

When I was at work, there was free time given to eat: lunch time.

“Uggggh…” I got up from my seat and did a long stretch.

Choi, who ate lunch together with, came up and said, “What do you want to eat today?”

I said with a wave of my hand, “Oh… I’ll eat by myself today. I have an appointment.”

“Appointment?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll go out first.”

I got out of the company first, leaving him who had a hurt look. It was to buy a Proto for tonight’s game.

‘Well… Utah Jazz won the LA Lakers by a score of 103 to 95…’

I only remembered the key information, then walked toward the Proto store, just a little distance away from the company. Although it was the company that I would resign soon, I didn’t want such a story to spread around. ‘He bought Lotto tickets and then he left all of a sudden.’

On the way, I stopped by the toast restaurant first.

“I’d like some vegetables, cheese, and ham. I’d like coffee instead of coke. How much?”

After buying toast and coffee, I walked down the street, munching on it. It was inconvenient to buy a Proto because I was stuck at the company.

‘I’ll have to leave the company soon.’

In my mind, I wanted to leave the company as soon as possible, but there were three reasons why I could not. The first was money. Even if I were to be rich soon, it was in the future. I only had two thousand dollars in my hand right now, but if I could not make money for thirty days of subscription due to something such as a road accident or an accident, I would be a beggar. I was planning to leave the company after earning at least ten thousand dollars to extend the subscription period.

The second reason was because of my parents. My parents were very proud of me for getting a job during this difficult time. However, if I suddenly quit, they would have been devastated. So it seemed good that I would tell the truth to my parents only if I had some convincing arguments.

Lastly, I was afraid I would need a loan. I might want to make a loan when I got a big hit of information. I found out on the Internet that workers could easily borrow up to sixty to seventy percent of their annual salary. My salary was about thirty thousand dollars. They said that I could borrow up to twenty thousand dollars, independent of the student loans.

‘If there is a clear winner, I will take out a loan and put everything into it.’

That was my plan. So… In order to maintain my credit, I should be working at the company. Right now yet. I crossed the street chewing toast. Just in front of me, a low-body Lamborghini passed through the broad daylight Teheran Road.

“Bi~ing~.”

I envied him, probably the son of a rich family. I thought, putting all the remaining toast in my mouth. ‘Wait, Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Bentley. I am on my way.’

I went into the Proto store with that thought.

“Welcome.”

The new place was a brightly lit shop where the owner welcomed me. It was much better than that dark shop in the studio near my house.

‘Hmm, yeah. This is what it’s like to do business.’

I went straight to Proto, thinking about it.

‘Let’s see… Utah Jazz vs. L.A. Lakers…’

But the dividend rate was not very good. According to the ranking chart, both the Utah Jazz and the LA Lakers were in the upper-middle class. As their power was near the same, the dividend was not high.

‘I can’t help it.’

I wet my lips. However, I could not help it. Actually, there were not many dramatic games like Real Madrid.

‘Well, I’ll just have to fund the money until something like that comes out, slowly from day to day.’

I first put on a Utah Jazz victory, then found another one, a sure game of nearly one times.

‘Hmm… there is. Jeonbuk Hyundai vs. Jeonnam Dragons… It’s 1.2 times to Jeonbuk Hyundai win…’

It was 1.2 times, low dividend, but not as low as Real Madrid or Barcelona. In other words, there was a chance that Jeonnam Dragons would win. I looked at the ranking table. Jeonbuk Hyundai was the first rank in the K-League, and Jeonnam Dragons was the second in the back. Korean teams did not seem to be as far apart as other countries’.

‘It’s 1.2 times… Let’s bet. I’ll get 1.8 times as much anyway. The first team will not lose to the second team from behind. I can get a loan if I miss it.’

With that in mind, I marked Jeonbuk Hyundai and approached the owner. The owner of the store had a slight smile on his smooth appearance. It was quite a contrast to the man near my house.

“Do you want this way, sir?”

“Yes.”

“How much do you want?”

I said the same amount as before. “One thousand dollars.”

But an unexpected answer came back. “Oh, sir, one thousand dollars is not permitted.”

I asked, opening my eyes in a circle. “Why?”

“Proto has a betting limit of up to one hundred dollars. Sir, it’s illegal beyond that.”

“Yes?” I almost said, ‘They did it for me somewhere else.’

But before that, the owner said, pointing to the OMR card that I had marked. “Look here.”

On the bottom of the OMR card, it was clearly written, ‘You can bet up to one hundred dollars at a time.’

‘What’s that, then… there… Ah…’

Now that I thought about it, everything was strange. A mean-looking man, cash in an unbecoming safe, even a regular customer who seemed to be hooked on gambling… I had thought it was suspicious. It was something quite illegal there.

“What would you like me to do, then? Do you want one hundred dollars’ bet?”

In a daze, I replied, “Oh… yes, please.”

Soon the owner drew out a receipt for one hundred dollars. I walked out of there with it.

——————-

“Ha… It’s real.”

That night, I surfed the Internet at home, looking for everything about the Proto. The conclusion I had come to was like that.

‘More than one hundred dollars is illegal, but there is a place where more is implicitly allowed.’

In other words, they did not accept bets for more than one hundred dollars. It was illegal to do more than that.

When I hit, ‘I want to bet more than one hundred dollars. What should I do?’ in the search engine, the advertisements of illegal gambling sites sprang up one after another.

[We will pay fifty dollars in cash as soon as you sign up.]

[Sure payment, no fraud]

[Compare the dividend rate with the other sites.]

Last time I didn’t know much and crossed the line of the law, but I did not want to make money by committing crimes. I might be caught by the police before making money.

‘Ha, what should I do? I was going to bet tens of thousand dollars through Proto…’

Of course, I didn’t even think about solving everything with Proto. I was just trying to raise funds. The way cash came in immediately was easy and convenient. But as long as it was like this, I should move on to the next level.

‘Well… there’s nothing I can do about it… just like a warm-up… let’s get started now…’

I started looking for an icon in one of the program lists by pressing the Window button.

‘Let’s see… Did I erase it?’