I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Too Much Talent That Pays 012
“Kim, crush them.”
The Branch Manager’s voice was unwavering.
I’d never seen him look like that before.
If this were the Bank, it would be a command I’d have to obey without question.
So I could only nod.
His pride was on the line.
That gaze wasn’t simple encouragement—it was something closer to angry expectation.
Of course.
‘I’m not going to lose.’
Not arrogance.
Justified confidence.
And some part of it was my own reckoning with deceiving the Branch Manager while knowing how to play Go.
My way of making it right.
I sat at the Tournament Board where the Gyeonggi Province Strongest Division Semi-finals would be played.
“Then let’s meet with good news, yes?”
“Yes, sir. Make sure you win!”
As the Do Branch Manager moved to the senior section, Jung Su-ho settled across from me.
He wore thick horn-rimmed glasses, and his build was slight.
He looked to be in his mid-thirties, but those beady eyes gave him an altogether unpleasant air.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you at the in-house tournament… so the Samilil Branch has another Go player.”
Now that he mentioned it, something the Branch Manager had said some time ago came back to me.
That there was an employee at the neighboring branch who played Go well.
Someone who’d placed in the in-house tournament and had solid performance numbers.
I recalled him clicking his tongue: ‘Why don’t we have talent like that?’
The man sitting across from me.
This must be him.
“I’m Jung Su-ho from the PB Team. And you are?”
“…Kim In-ha. My position is contract security.”
“Ah, a security guard.”
Jung Su-ho smiled awkwardly and nodded.
In that instant, the air shifted subtly.
The moment I stated my position, I felt his gaze change.
It was a look I’d seen countless times in my security work.
-We will now begin the Semi-finals matches in each division.
As the announcement played, we began drawing lots for color.
It turned out I’d be Black and Jung Su-ho would be White.
“Looking forward to a good match.”
I offered the greeting plainly, going first.
“Yes, well… let’s both play well.”
Jung Su-ho’s tone grated on me.
It wasn’t quite dropping formality or insisting on politeness—it was a blurred register, wavering in its respect.
Buried beneath that vagueness was a subtle contempt.
…Another reason not to lose.
This wasn’t the Bank.
Career, rank, position—none of it mattered here as grounds for hierarchy.
Everything was decided by a single stone, a single move.
Click.
I played my opening move at the lower-right star point.
Jung Su-ho answered symmetrically at another star point, establishing balance.
By the time only twenty moves had passed, Jung Su-ho’s nature began to surface.
An aggressive player who chased influence over material gain.
The stones he’d played mostly on the fourth line, not the practical third—that was the proof.
A player who moves with momentum.
Once he caught a wave, he’d be unstoppable.
For now, things were calm, but his stone placement was steadily building toward a massive offensive.
‘This is interesting Go.’
Just that.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“….”
I glanced to the side.
The Branch Manager stood watching with his arms crossed.
His expression was graver, more serious than when the branch’s performance had slipped.
‘There’s no reason to go easy on him.’
I had no intention of playing this game ordinarily, nor of winning it that way.
I meant to crush him with overwhelming skill.
That would be the “perfect victory” to lift the Branch Manager’s spirits.

* * *
For Jung the deputy manager, Go was networking.
Thanks to Go, he’d caught the attention of the Do Branch Manager, and it always favored him in performance evaluations.
Some branch staff resented Jung for it, but he paid them no mind.
If they didn’t like it, let them try the same.
Did they think it was easy, surrendering weekends and carving time out of every holiday to attend Go tournaments with the branch manager?
‘A security guard at a bank—what threat could he possibly pose?’
Jung watched In-ha, who was considering his next move, and twisted his mouth into a sneer.
A contracted police officer.
If he’d had good education and real ability, he wouldn’t have ended up in such work in the first place.
Perhaps he’d climbed this far because he had some skill, but Jung didn’t truly expect to lose.
‘I’ll just grind him down and rack up points for the branch manager.’
So far the board position had flowed quietly.
But soon the territories would clash.
There was nowhere left to expand.
It would come down to seizing or being seized from.
A close match could only unfold at that border.
‘I’ll seize the initiative.’
Jung fired the first shot.
Before his opponent could establish control, he meant to disrupt the shape and open the board wide.
‘What, he’s pushing back?’
He smiled inwardly and countered with a strong move.
It was meant to force Black to retreat.
Yet something was wrong.
This time too, Black dodged by a single line and pushed back head-on.
‘This move actually works?’
Jung’s face darkened, his confidence shaken.
Frequent sighs.
Wandering eyes.
Time ticking away.
With each stone laid, the board position tilted sharply against him.
‘This can’t be happening……’
Momentum?
There was no room to build flow, no opportunity to ride the wave.
Black’s relentless assault—no breathing room.
Consecutive moves that gripped the entire board left him reeling.
It was pure domination.
The depth of reading itself was on another level.
The ten moves ahead that Jung could see were utterly crushed and demolished by In-ha’s sequences.
‘No, this is absurd. This isn’t 5-dan or 6-dan play—a security guard shouldn’t be able to play at this level at all!’
Jung’s Go strength in the amateur tournaments was 6-dan.
If his bank work weren’t so demanding and he could increase his game count, 7-dan was within reach.
Yet even he had lost his way.
He couldn’t accept it—losing to a mere security guard?
It was unthinkable.
He clung to the game, struggling forward, trying to drag it into territory counting, but the gap only widened.
‘Damn it.’
Jung bit his lip.
His hands had begun to tremble with anxiety.
Any further struggle felt meaningless.

* * *
Was I being too ruthless?
The momentum of the match had shifted long ago.
There were no more moves to pursue.
I always gave my best effort, but this game demanded even greater concentration.
And the result.
A difference of more than thirty points.
It was such an overwhelming gap that continuing to play seemed pointless.
A glance.
I stole a look at the Branch Manager’s expression.
Where it had been rigid at the opening, now it was visibly at ease.
A deeply satisfied face, you might say.
‘Wait—Do Branch Manager came too?’
Through the crowd of spectators, I caught sight of Do Branch Manager’s face.
Our Branch Manager approached him where he stood with a serious expression and said something.
In an instant, Do Branch Manager’s face twisted into a grimace.
‘……I don’t even need to hear what was said to know,’
Even in ordinary times, whenever Seongdong Branch’s performance fell below his own, he’d summon the staff and grill them like he was hunting rats.
But to lose to Do Branch Manager at a tournament—he must have been absolutely seething.
At least there was this small mercy: I had soundly defeated Jung, Do Branch Manager’s subordinate, at Go.
From the look on the Branch Manager’s face, he seemed to have salvaged some dignity.
“I concede.”
Jung, who had clung to the game so stubbornly, finally admitted defeat.
“Thank you for the match.”
I offered a calm greeting and cleared the stones from the board.
“Excellent, you did wonderfully!”
As if he’d been waiting for this very moment, the Branch Manager placed a hand on my shoulder and beamed.
“What can we do? Our employee went and won.”
A flush of pride crossed the Branch Manager’s face.
“Win or lose, that’s just how it goes. But we both placed—two of us made the prizes.”
Do Branch Manager shot back without yielding.
Most amateur Go tournaments have no third-place playoff.
Those who reach the semi-finals share third place and receive prizes.
“No, that’s not how it works. Look at the Olympics—one silver or one gold is always better than two bronzes.”
At the Branch Manager’s escalation, I couldn’t hide my shock.
‘Wow, is it possible to be this childish……’
I found myself doubting whether this calculating, charismatic Branch Manager was the same person.
But the truly surprising part.
Was that Do Branch Manager’s eyebrows twitched.
“From what I saw just now, it looked like you didn’t even know your own employee played Go.”
“What did you say?”
“Am I wrong?”
Our flustered Branch Manager glanced at me.
A brief silence.
A tense current rippled through the moment.
“That was out of consideration for me, sir.”
“……Kim?”
I cut in abruptly.
The Branch Manager’s eyes widened.
“I don’t particularly enjoy playing Go. I hadn’t planned to enter this tournament at all, but your words changed my mind, sir. I apologize for not mentioning it beforehand.”
The lie flowed out naturally.
It just seemed like the right thing to do.
I felt this was part of navigating professional life.
At my words, Do Branch Manager pressed his lips shut.
“No, I understand. Think nothing of it.”
The Branch Manager’s face broke into a wide smile.
Seeing that warm expression, my answer seemed to have satisfied him greatly.
“Now then, we should report the results to the organizers. Go ahead and take care of it.”
“Yes, sir.”
I bowed lightly and excused myself from the table.
When I glanced back, the Branch Manager was grinning contentedly, talking away to himself.
By contrast, Do Branch Manager and the other manager’s faces had gone sour.
‘That should be enough.’
Once I reported to the tournament organizers, my name appeared at the top of the Tournament Board.
Finals.
No matter how many times I hear it, it never gets old.
One more win and I could have something even sweeter—the championship.
Just as I was about to head back to the playing hall, I noticed a crowd gathering near the stage.
‘Right. The event answer announcement.’
I’d been so caught up I’d completely forgotten.
They said they’d announce it right before the finals.
I made my way toward the front of the stage.
The Puzzle Solving problems had been fiendishly difficult, and most of the people eliminated from the tournament had already left.
Still, more than thirty event participants remained.
Jang Yu-na, a 2-dan player, took the microphone on stage.
“Sorry for the long wait. I’m here to announce the final problem and answer for our special Puzzle Solving event.”
Jang Yu-na placed a magnetic stone on the oversized Go Board.
“Hmm, from the shape it looks like this should be the answer… Is that right, Master Kang Hyeok?”
“The placement is technically correct, but if White pulls back, Black’s next move becomes impossible.”
The two of them continued placing incorrect moves while explaining why each one failed.
I folded my arms and waited for the correct answer to be announced.
Once most of the board was filled, Kang Hyeok, a 9-dan player, picked up a black stone.
“The correct answer is here.”
It matched what I’d solved.
A brilliant move that induced a self-atari sequence, ultimately forcing White’s large group to destroy itself.
From my perspective it hadn’t been an especially difficult problem, but for the others it clearly had been.
“Ugh.”
“Wrong.”
Most of the participants turned away in disappointment.
About ten people remained, and I was one of them.
“Now then, let’s announce our correct answer winner. As you know, the winner will receive a premium Go Board as their prize. Master?”
“Yes, the Puzzle Solving winner is…….”
Kang Hyeok paused for a moment, then announced it clearly.
“Entry number 564, Kim In-ha.”
“Congratulations. Please come up to the stage right away!”
I’d won.
Since I’d gotten the answer right and submitted my sheet first, there was no surprise in it.
I awkwardly raised my hand and climbed onto the stage.
“Congratulations. You’re a participant?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Seeing Jang Yu-na in person felt strange.
There was a discrepancy between the screen and reality.
Though of course, in a good way.
“Which division were you participating in?”
“……The Gyeonggi Province Strongest Division.”
“No wonder you’re so skilled at Puzzle Solving—you’re a high-ranked player. Congratulations once again.”
“Thank you.”
“You can pick up the Go Board downstairs.”
I nodded and descended from the stage.
A staff member guided me toward the prize display area.
‘I finally have a Go Board.’
A real one I could place stones on with my own hands, not just stones on a screen.
Somehow it felt meaningful.
After confirming my entry certificate, the staff member lugged over the Go Board and Go Stones, grunting with effort.
“Congratulations. You can take these with you.”
At a glance, the premium wooden Go Board gleamed, and the Go Stone Container and stones shone with a lustrous polish.
Just looking at it brought a smile to my face.
‘Wait.’
An ominous feeling flashed through my mind.
‘I have to carry all this myself?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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