“Life sure is unpredictable.”

I muttered while lighting a cigarette.

I was in the car with my secretary and several attendants, but I didn’t care.

“To think I’d experience something like this.”

Transmigration.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

The more I digested the fact, the more excited I got.

I used to live like a gaming addict, chasing after the pleasure and dopamine that couldn’t be served by reality.

But now, I was inside a game as a character, and I didn’t even have to worry about money because I’d become part of a wealthy family.

‘Plus, I played the game all the way to the end, so I’ve got some useful knowledge.’

The fact that Go Mu-yeol had completely trashed his reputation wasn’t great, but I could think of that as a penalty.

‘Let’s see… Go-ryeo Entertainment? So, I guess I’m supposed to scout actors or pump out idols?’

Honestly, I didn’t have much interest in that field, so I had no idea what to do.

The only thing that came to mind was… recruiting pretty aspiring idols or actresses to sleep with them, or buying out popular stars to do the same.

Yeah. Those were the only kinds of thoughts I had.

‘… No. That doesn’t have to be the case. Now that it’s mine, I could turn it into an investment company, and no one would question me.’

I wasn’t some all-knowing character like the ultimate gamer with every single detail memorized, but since I’d seen the game’s ending, I had a good grasp on the major events and key plot points.

I was confident I could turn it into a trillion-won company in a year through aggressive investments, or if I could commercialize the world-altering RK-99 from the game, I’d be able to rake in every penny on the planet.

The question was, what do I want to do in this world?

It was something I would have to figure out.

‘For now, I think I’ll just relax for a bit.’

———

Around the Sun Palace in Geumsusan was the largest skyscraper district in the northern peninsula.

Countless massive buildings towered over hundreds of meters high, and the skies were filled with a constant flow of AVs (Aero Vehicles).

Go-ryeo Hotel was here too.

Swish.

As the car came to a stop, men in black suits quickly ran up and opened the door.

“Welcome, Young Master.”

As I stepped out, a group of attendants immediately gathered around me.

They all remained deeply bowed until I passed them and entered through the glass doors.

The treatment was unfamiliar to me, and the rush of excitement made my ears tingle, but I held it back.

It’d be weird if a spoiled brat like Go Mu-yeol suddenly started getting a kick out of things like this.

“Chief Han.”

“Yes, Young Master?”

“What do you know about Go-ryeo Entertainment?”

As we made our way to the room, I received a quick briefing.

It appeared even Chief Han didn’t know much about the company.

“The company was established in July. It has only one actor signed—Han Seong-gi, a male actor—”

“A male actor? Kick him out.”

“… Excuse me?”

“I said, kick him out.”

“Oh. Understood.”

I had no interest in grooming male actors.

Only actresses.

Only female idols.

That’s just common sense and justice.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened as we reached the top floor.

One of the secretaries stepped ahead of me and swiped a card.

Beep.

The door to the royal suite opened, but then, suddenly, Chief Han stepped forward and bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry, Young Master. As of this moment, there’s been a personnel change, and I’ll no longer be able to serve you.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“This is an order that just came from the head office.”

“…”

It appeared the chairman had finally had enough of Go Mu-yeol’s failures and started cleaning up.

If he was going as far as to retrieve even the secretary staff…

“What am I supposed to do now, then?”

“A new staff will be arranged for you by tomorrow morning.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like I was being completely abandoned.

“Fine. Do what you need to do.”

“Yes, sir.”

It seemed like they were planning to send me the rookies or the ones who’d caused trouble and gotten on someone’s bad side, while the capable ones were being taken to the main office.

That was pretty disappointing.

Once Chief Han and the secretaries left, I was finally alone.

As I threw myself onto the spacious bed, I finally felt like time was flowing properly.

Before that, it felt like… I wasn’t quite grasping reality.

I knew what had happened, but it didn’t really sink in.

‘How I got transmigrated… Well, there’s no point thinking about it, right?’

There was no use dwelling on something beyond my control.

Nothing would change.

With that, I picked up my phone and called Chief Han, who had just left.

He answered after just one ring.

“Yes, Young Master. Is there something you’d like to discuss?”

“About the funds at Go-ryeo Entertainment. Can I use them however I want?”

“If the law is strictly enforced, you could be charged with breach of trust or embezzlement. However, in South Korea, there’s no chance of you being held accountable by the law.”

“That’s right, isn’t it? Then get it ready so I can access it.”

“Yes. I’ll link it up right away.”

“Oh. And regarding the secretaries, don’t send me the whole team. Just send over candidates for the head secretary, and I’ll choose myself.”

“You’ll choose them personally, sir?”

“Yeah. I’ll know whether they’re good or not when I see them.”

“Understood. I’ll handle it.”

I hung up and walked over to the window.

From the top floor of Go-ryeo Hotel, which was over 100 stories high, the night view of Pyongyang was stunning.

It was mesmerizing, brilliant, and gave off the illusion of eternal prosperity.

“Damn! All of this is mine.”

For now, all I had was a talent agency with no celebrities and about 100 billion won, but…

I already felt like I owned Pyongyang, South Korea, and the entire world.

I felt so good that I even found the game developers I once hated to be endearing.

“Oh. Since this is a game, I wonder if there’s a stat screen or something?”

Then I remembered something I had forgotten because of how realistic everything felt. The UI and stat screen, the things that make games feel like games.

Since ‘Demonic Seoul 2077’ was a game, it should have stats and items too.

[Go Mu-yeol]

Age: 20

Affiliation: Go-ryeo Entertainment

Race: Human

Level: 17

Strength: 39

Willpower: 11

Tech: 23

Leadership: 69

Charm: 3

<Cyberware>

None

<Special Abilities>

None

<Skills>

None

<Traits>

Member of Go-ryeo Group’s Owner Family.

Nicotine Addiction, Drug Addiction, Sex Addiction, Weak-Willed, ADHD

“Oh… Oh wow…!”

As expected, there was a stat screen.

But…

“How has this guy survived until now?”

The stats were abysmal.

Even for a regular person, their specialized stat should be around 70-80 to be somewhat useful, but this guy only had 69 in Leadership, and everything else was rock bottom.

And even that Leadership stat was just because of the chaebol buff.

“Wow… By the time the story starts next year, most of the characters will have main stats of 90 or higher, and this guy can’t even compare to a middle schooler.”

And that was not the worst of it.

The debuffs attached to my traits were lined up like a string of sausages and gave me a headache.

Okay. I could deal with being weak-willed, but smoking addiction, drug addiction, and even sex addiction?

Why not throw in alcohol addiction while you’re at it? Why leave that one out?

“… I’ll deal with this tomorrow.”

The overwhelming hopelessness hit me the moment I saw the stat screen.

I collapsed onto the bed.

———

The next day.

Rubbing my bleary eyes, I woke up to a splitting headache.

It was so bad that I couldn’t focus—it felt like withdrawal symptoms.

Smoking addiction, drug addiction, sex addiction.

I was really screwed.

Out of all of them, the drug addiction…

‘Damn it! I don’t care about the others, but this one needs to go.’

Even though I made up my mind, I instinctively started searching for the drugs.

Withdrawal isn’t something a person can just tough out with willpower.

While mentally cursing Go Mu-yeol about ten times over, I rifled through my memory.

There was no way this druggie would’ve put the drugs far away. They should be in his clothes or wallet, right?

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Even getting to the closet felt like a marathon.

I stumbled a few times on the way and nearly collapsed onto the floor.

When I finally reached the closet, I clung to it like an octopus and pulled out the clothes with trembling hands.

Thankfully, I found the drugs in the pocket of a jacket.

“Hah… Hah… This idiot… Seriously.”

Following the memory, I filled a syringe with the drug, found a vein, and injected it.

The large needle pierced my flesh, but I didn’t care about the pain.

I was only focused on the massive rush that was about to come—

“Khhhooooooop?!”

An overwhelming wave of euphoria hit me in an instant.

I felt like a god, as if I was looking down on the entire world.

I understood the truths of the universe, comprehended everything with a godlike wisdom, and my mind reached enlightenment.

‘So this is… Why people do drugs…’

I melted into bliss.

———-

When the effects of the drug wore off, my body finally calmed down.

The pounding headache that had been driving me crazy also subsided.

“Hah… Hah…”

It was a feeling of ecstasy unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

But instinctively, I knew.

If I did this again, I’d go straight to hell.

I couldn’t do it again.

Even if I had to rip out my brain, I had to get rid of this drug addiction.

 

‘I’ve got to live a long, happy life. If I die young as a drug addict like some idiot, I’d be losing out big time.’

The only silver lining was that after one hit, I’d be good for at least a day.

I had to find a way to deal with this by the end of today.

That’s when the doorbell rang.

I walked over to the intercom and saw Chief Han along with some people who appeared to be the secretary candidates.

“It’s Chief Han, Young Master. I’ve brought the candidates.”

“Come in.”

I threw on a coat and ran a hand through my hair without much thought.

 

Now that I looked, I was drenched in sweat.

Was it from withdrawal?

Or was it because of the drugs I had taken?

Either way, it wasn’t good.

But whatever. It was not like I needed to impress the secretaries.

I grabbed some water and sank into the softness of the couch just as Chief Han and the secretary candidates entered.

Four of them were men, and the last one was the woman whose butt I had grabbed yesterday.

I hadn’t noticed before, but from the front, she had a very pretty face too.

‘They don’t look like they’ve got much experience… Is this just a token effort to get the job done?’

It was possible Chief Han was disregarding me, but it could just as easily be the influence of headquarters.

After all, it was HQ that dismantled my previous secretary team and reassigned Chief Han.

“Introduce yourselves. You first.”

I pointed to one of the men.

“Ah! Yes, Young Master. I am—”

The man I gestured began introducing himself.

He didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic.

I listened half-heartedly and instead opened the info screen for the only woman in the group.

After all, a young woman was better than—

[Ha Eun-young]

Age: 23

Affiliation: Go-ryeo Group, National Intelligence Service of South Korea

Race: Human

Level: 107

Strength: 81

Willpower: 112

Tech: 108

Leadership: 98

Charm: 92

<Traits>

Patriotism

“Pfft!!”

I spit out the water I was drinking.