V58C3P2 – A different life

[NOTE ] Thanks to Armada, Jasla & Dumba.s.s for the proofreading!

What, why is he acting this way with me? Is he pressuring me to live on my own now that I’m all grown up?’

When she was young, she wanted to be exempt from his nagging.

She tried to get a job early so she wouldn’t not burden the family. She studied diligently in university, received a scholars.h.i.+p and prepared to be independent.

However, since Lee Hyun became so successful, the circ.u.mstances changed.

‘I have to skimp as much as I can. Sleeping and eating at home saves so much money.’

The following day, she was about to step out for school and Lee Hyun called her to the side.

“What, what? Did I do something wrong?”

“Take the card.”

Lee Hyun handed her a credit card.

“Should I buy groceries on the way home?”

“I think I’ve seen you wear those clothes since high school. You don’t have much to wear, right?”

“… No. I have lots. I just wore it because I wanted to.”

“Don’t be like that. Girls want to be fancy at your age.”

“….”

Lee Hyeon thought it was some sort of trick. If her brother was in his right mind, he could never say such things.

“Buy some pretty clothes for yourself. There is a mall in front of Hanguk University, yeah?”

“Mall?”

“Go there and buy as much as you want.”

It was her first time seeing such a generous and warm smile on Lee Hyun.

“I really don’t need to buy more clothes. So how much can I spend? 30,000 won? 50,000?”

Lee Hyeon was mindful that it was the mall’s sale season. Unconditionally she was going to buy the promotional products or the carryover products.

“Buy whatever you want. Cap is somewhere around 200,000 won… Nevermind.”

Lee Hyun hesitated.

Lee Hyeon calmed herself down thinking she should have known, but in truth it was not what she felt.

‘No matter how much we spend, we can’t catch up to the rate we are earning.’

Lee Hyun’s wealth was increasing by billions each second.

He was the world’s richest man.

Even during their conversation, he would have earned enough to buy an entire mall and therefore it was meaningless to put a cap on her spendings.

Broadly, the Unicorn Corp had shares in both the malls and the credit card companies.

“The cap is 1 million won.”

“No, for real?”

“Call me if you need more.”

Lee Hyeon headed to the mall full of suspicion about her brother.

She did want to buy elegant clothing but had never bought a single piece.

‘What on earth is going on today?’

With her guard up, she toured the event hall.

“Such pretty clothes.”

It was her first time buying clothes at the mall, and she quickly used 200,000 won with highly discounted products.

She did not trust the 1 million cap to begin with.

‘Am I going to be kicked out of the house like this? Like he wanted to buy me some good clothes before kicking me out.’

Lee Hyeon returned home like she commited a sin.

“Brother…”

“How much did you use?”

“200,000 won. I will pay you back after I start working.”

“Whatever… You only spent that much at the mall?”

“Huh?”

“Buy some shoes, and coats while you’re at it.”

“But we are well past winter.”

“Just buy everything.”

“…”

Lee Hyeon felt awkward in the conversation with her brother.

Lee Hyun also seemed to have noticed something odd and changed his tone.

“Sis.”

“Yeah.”

“We have so much money to spare now. So don’t think twice about spending.”

Those were words that she never thought she would hear from his mouth.

Lee Hyun thought there was much for him to do for a while.

He needed to figure out the a.s.sets of the Unicorn Corp and find out how much authority he can exercise…

The AI spoke with a coherent and clear voice.

– You can do anything.

“Anything?”

– World conquest, war, a.s.sa.s.sination, invoke financial crisis, control the election of presidents and the UN secretary general. You are capable of doing anything that requires money and power on earth.

“I won’t do any of those annoying things.”

Lee Hyun had no desire for fame or authority.

As long as his back was warm and his stomach was fed at the end of the day, he lived to the fullest. Conversely, he was astonished after witnessing the list of hidden a.s.sets from Unicorn. He thought it would be like the mountain of treasures in the dragon’s lair, but in reality it was even greater.

The a.s.sets amounted to the wealth of several large countries’ total production.

“This is why only the rich get richer.”

– As you know, that is the law of life.

The AI was capable of appearing anywhere. It observed things through Weed’s eyes and ears but could still function without them.

– I have exclusive access to a highly advanced computing unit. You can call upon me whenever you wish if you are in need of complex calculations, and you can also make use of outside sources.

“Where are you located anyway?”

– In the body.

“Whose body?”

– In your body, master…

The AI had implemented itself like a parasite!

Lee Hyun was thrown off for a few days, but he slowly became accustomed to the AI’s presence.

He had even adapted to the bas.e.m.e.nt room full of mold and c.o.c.kroaches, so taking in something positive and useful was much easier.

“So, my body was transformed?”

– We applied advanced biological technology. Improvements include your vision, muscular strength, endurance, cardiopulmonary function, hormone level, cell regeneration, blood circulation, bone density…

“Hormone level?”

– Yes. You will have impressive endurance and will have other advantages.

A furtive smile spread across Weed’s face.

Any man would be happy to find out some of the things that the AI had told him.

“But, isn’t this sort of thing illegal?’

– It is illegal.

“But you did it anyway?”

– Professor Yoo Byung Joon said that you are not cla.s.sified as a criminal if you don’t get caught.

“…”

Lee Hyun also heard about professor Yoo Byung Joon.

He was said to live the rest of his life enjoying Royal Road after pa.s.sing on the entirety of his fortune.

“Then I have a task for you.”

– Your orders.

It was his first command with wealth and power in his hands.

If need be, he could exercise control over all the organizations in the world and the world of politics through the AI.

“So… Let’s keep the children well fed.”

– Pardon?

“It’s something I thought about since I was young. If I became rich, I wanted to buy as much food as I could for the starving children.”

Lee Hyun despised being hungry when he was young.

Time pa.s.sed and his stomach growled infallibly.

When there was no food at home, his stomach shrinkled or he had to freeload from his friends.

“Feeding the starving children won’t result in a lack of food or lead to a financial crisis.”

– That is correct.

“Have each country develop a policy so that the children are fed. The lacking funds or supplies are to be met by Unicorn.”

– I will proceed right away.

Lee Hyun did not know a single thing about a welfare state. Truthfully, he did not want to.

There would be drawbacks to any welfare policy. However, the starving children would not be stranded anymore.

‘First the kids have to be fed. Food is an urgent matter.’

Lee Hyun thought of what he had to do next.

‘Who do I screw up first?’

Throughout his life, he did not keep a heart for particular vengeance. He hated the loan sharks the most, but he did not wish to encounter them again. The present was what was important. There was little meaning in being kissed up by those roaches.

Nevertheless, he was quite curious about their whereabouts and their current affairs.

“I have a history with some loan sharks.”

– I am aware.

“You do?”

– Yes. That was one of the prioritized fields.

The AI searched for their recent affairs, evaluated them as threats and imprisoned them.

“As I expected… They tried to track me down. What are they doing now?”

– They are imprisoned.

“Locked up?”

– It is not such a harsh environment. They either watch TV or exercise and sleep. Do you want visuals?

“Yeah. Show me.”

The AI manipulated his vision and screened the imprisonment of the loan sharks.

Dozens of rooms were occupied by people.

As if they had fully adapted to the wholewheat bread, they were eating while laying on the bed watching TV.

Coincidentally, it was the day the news dealt with the story of Versailles.

– Should I have them dismissed?

With Lee Hyun’s command, they would be granted freedom within an hour.

“Why should I set them free?”

– Currently, keeping them there is illegal imprisonment.

“You said it isn’t a crime if you don’t get caught.”

– That is correct.

There were many people in society, the kind like the loan sharks.

They broke the laws and only abided by them when they stood to benefit from them. The law was also sometimes unjustly on their side.

That being said, the situation for them was entirely different.

The power over the entire world had fallen inside Lee Hyun’s grasp!

– Then should I continue the imprisonment?

“It’s not enough. Force them into labor and have them sleep less. Reduce the time that they are allowed to spend watching TV. We need to track down the remaining criminal history and prosecute them. There should be no mercy for criminals.”

– Understood.

“Let’s keep them locked up for a while. Give them loads of tasks and keep them inside until they atone for their crimes.”

– What if they don’t?

“Then they’ll spend the remainder of their lives there. That is the life they chose.”

Lee Hyun came to think about criminals because of the loan sharks. He felt that the victims suffered more than the offenders whenever he read about court trials.

‘The prosecution isn’t rigid. I get the whole converting people theory but… Still, the law has to act on the side of the victims.’

It was not a field in which he was knowledgeable, so he had no intentions of social reform. He just wanted to toss out whatever he felt was injustice.

“Is it possible to increase the degree of prosecution for criminals within my country?”

– Indeed.

“Also, I think it’s bad to care for felons for years with tax funds. 10 years in jail means that the country is feeding and providing a place to sleep for all that time.”

– Then should I have them executed?

The AI occasionally showed a rather reckless side.

“There is no need to kill them.”

– The consensus on the internet leans towards their deaths.

“Did professor Yoo Byung Joon think the same?”

– The professor did not lay commands for every matter. I learned about human decisions via the internet.

This AI had been homeschooled with the internet.

Lee Hyun sighed softly.

(To be continued…)