I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 2

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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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Talents Worth Money 002
A Ciel Bank Branch located on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
The teller windows had been pandemonium since morning.
Monday, month-end, and utility bill payments all converged at once—which was why customers were flooding in.
“How many times do I have to tell you! The machine won’t give me my money!”
In front of the ATM, an elderly man with a sharp face worked himself into a fury, veins bulging at his neck.
“As I mentioned, sir, your passbook doesn’t have ATM withdrawal authorization enabled.”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking—why isn’t it enabled! Everyone else’s is!”
I wiped the flecks of spittle from my face with the back of my hand.
The kind of person who won’t listen to reason, thinks obstinacy solves everything, throws fits.
A troublemaker.
“Please calm down, sir. If you have your ID and seal, I’ll help you apply for withdrawal authorization at the inner counter.”
“What—you’re the ones who messed up! Do I look like I have time on my hands to you!?”
The troublemaker thrust his finger at me and bellowed.
His face had turned beet red with rage, his breathing ragged.
“Do you even know how much money I’ve got deposited here? You think you can order me around like this? Go get the branch manager!”
……
I clamped my mouth shut as the familiar refrain played out yet again.
At this point, whether the customer’s at fault barely matters.
You wait for the rage to burn itself out.
Minutes, tens of minutes—you absorb the abuse and insults.
It’s in the manual. That’s customer service.
‘In other words, be an emotional garbage bin.’
Tap. Tap.
The man who’d been ranting jabbed my name badge with the edge of his passbook.
“Kim In-ha? I’m remembering your name.”
……
“A kid like you, nothing but a security guard—talking back to your elders with every word. No respect.”
The troublemaker glared at me once more, then stormed past the automated corner and out.
I swallowed hard on the fury and injustice rising in my chest.
Yeah, he’s right. I work at this bank, but I’m not a bank employee.
A commissioned security officer.
Official title: Bank Security Guard.
Primary duty is the bank’s security, but I mostly help with customer guidance for operational comfort.
Is that reason enough to be treated like this?
Sigh.
I swallowed my bitter feelings and headed inside.
I drank a glass of water, then sat at the desk by the entrance—my station.
Despite the commotion outside, the interior felt like a different world. Peaceful.
Especially standing out against the teller selling financial products to meet quotas—the contrast between them and me stung.
‘I wanted to work like that once.’
I’d graduated from a regional university with a degree in business management, then worked hard to shore up my weak resume.
But landing a job at my target company proved elusive.
Even when I got past the initial screening, I’d fail at the second interview almost every time.
As my job search dragged on, anxiety and pressure strangled me.
I couldn’t think about dating, and I dreaded seeing friends.
Feeling useless, my self-worth hit rock bottom.
That’s when I took this job as a bank security guard.
At the time, I had to do something—anything.
‘I never thought I’d still be here after two years, though.’
Because it was close to home and the hours were fixed, I managed to earn three additional certifications while working.
But I kept failing at job interviews.
Meanwhile, I’d turned twenty-nine.
Still stuck as a contract-based bank security guard.
“In-ha, could you come here a moment?”
Before my frazzled mind could settle, O Min-a, the loan department manager, came looking for me.
“The branch manager wanted to grab lunch with you today too.”
“Me as well?”
“Yes. Don’t eat alone. Wait here.”
……Understood.
Eating with the bank staff is awkward enough, but lunch with the branch manager on top of it all?
I could picture it clearly—he’d keep me seated across from him the whole meal, talking my ear off about himself.
Lately, he’d been subtly pressuring me to learn Baduk, a game I had zero interest in, and the stress was mounting by the day.
‘I’m going to throw up before we even finish.’
I swallowed the suffocating tightness in my chest and returned to my desk.
That’s when it happened.
-Ding!
‘What—what is that?’
The alert sound made me snap my head up instinctively.
A translucent window I’d never seen before spread across my vision.
[Congratulations. You, who have endured the worst of days, have satisfied some of the System’s activation conditions.]
[Once all conditions are met, System usage will become available.]
My heart hammered against my ribs at this impossible sight.
Was I so stressed I was hallucinating?
I rubbed my eyes over and over.
But the hologram didn’t fade—it hung stubbornly in front of me like it was carved from reality.
“Excuse me!”
‘Oh.’
Clarity crashed back. A middle-aged woman with a perm was glaring at me.
“I called you several times. Why didn’t you answer?”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Just give me a parking ticket already.”
I rushed to open the drawer and handed her a parking ticket.
She snatched it away with a disapproving look and spun around sharply.
Sshhh.
The automatic doors slid open and closed, the sound fading away.
‘Wait—the text disappeared?’
The hologram that had been floating in the air moments before was simply gone.
I glanced around frantically but found no trace of it.
As if it had never existed at all.
“Did I… see that wrong?”
I stared blankly at empty space for a moment, then let out a nervous laugh.
Right, status windows appearing in real life? That made no sense. It wasn’t some web novel or webtoon.
This won’t do. I need to splash some water on my face.
I have to keep it together if I’m going to last until I clock out.

* * *
The afternoon shift was pure hell.
Tasks that happen maybe once a week came pouring in all at once.
Requests to exchange and sort coins caked with stuck gum and candy.
Emergency repairs for ATMs with bills or passbooks jammed inside.
And when wait times grew long, one of the staff members shot me looks for supposedly managing the queue poorly.
Every last bit of grunt work in that bank fell to me.
I was a security guard in name only—basically just a janitor.
To make matters worse, the kimchi stew I’d eaten for lunch with the branch manager was sitting heavy in my stomach, making me feel worse by the hour.
“Closing up now.”
I lowered the shutter on the front entrance.
The bank’s official closing time was 4 p.m.
There was an exception for urgent matters that came in up to 4:30 p.m., but otherwise—
Business hours were officially done.
From this point on, the bank staff would move into verifying cash and financial transactions, then settle accounts.
Meanwhile, I had to handle the rest: restocking supplies, emptying trash bins, turning off tablets and TVs.
“Ow, hot!”
Just then, Ha Jong-woo, one of the other staff members, dropped his coffee cup while pulling it from the machine.
Splash.
The coffee pooled on the floor like a puddle, spattering and staining everything around it.
“Damn, what rotten luck.”
Ha Jong-woo wiped irritably at the coffee staining his pants, dabbing at it with tissues.
Then he looked over at me with an annoyed expression.
“In-ha, you’re not busy, are you?”
“Pardon?”
“Sorry, but could you mop the floor for me instead? I’m swamped right now. I’d really appreciate it.”
Ha Jong-woo dumped the cleanup on me and walked off with his fresh coffee.
‘What kind of person is he…….’
Watching him go, I felt utterly speechless.
He called it a favor, but there wasn’t a shred of apology in it—not even a trace.
The sheer audacity of it, the unspoken assumption that of course I’d do it, made my blood boil.
‘Just bear it. Bear it.’
Any way you looked at it, the order was unfair.
It irritated me. It infuriated me.
But what could I do about it?
I was just a temporary contract security guard sent from a dispatch company—not even a full-time employee.
‘Should I just quit?’
While wringing out the wet mop in the bathroom, thoughts of quitting wouldn’t leave my head.
Discrimination. Comparison. Contempt.
This kind of treatment was nothing new.
Every time something like this happened, I wanted to walk away ten times a day—no, twenty times.
But I couldn’t.
Forget about the goal of landing a job at a major corporation.
The simple truth was, there wasn’t a suitable company I could jump to right now.
—Son, I’m sorry, but could I borrow 500,000 won? I’ll pay you back next month.
Late last year, my father’s galbi restaurant—started with his severance pay and high hopes—had gone under, leaving us with substantial debt.
Despite both my parents working, we could barely scrape together the monthly interest and principal payments.
I had no choice but to contribute whatever I could toward paying off that debt.
On top of everything else, there was my student loan.
In this situation, I couldn’t afford to quit without a backup plan.
“……I’ll just have to lower my sights and find somewhere else to transfer to.”
Wherever that might be, it had to have better prospects than this.
With that resolve, I was heading out of the bathroom when it happened.
—Ding!
A familiar notification sound chimed.
At the same moment, a holographic window unfolded before my eyes.
[Congratulations! You have achieved The Worst Day. System access has been authorized.]
[Talent acquisition is now available.]
[As an initial reward, you have received a Diamond Roulette Ticket. (Guaranteed minimum A-Rank Talent)]
[Use it now? (Yes or No)]
“Talent…… acquisition?”
Like a man possessed, I reached out and pressed the Yes button.
—Ding-ding!
The system window vanished, and in its place, an enormous roulette wheel materialized—the kind you’d see in a casino.
[You have used the Diamond Roulette Ticket.]
A circular wheel bordered by thirty-six slots marked with question marks spun at tremendous speed.
Whirr-whirr-whirr.
The relentless spinning gradually slowed.
One of the question-mark slots aligned with the twelve-o’clock needle and came to a halt.
Gulp.
The question marks faded away, and the hidden talent revealed itself.
[Talent: Baduk (A)]
“B…… aduk?”
My expression soured in an instant.
‘Is this even a good thing?’
I’d secretly hoped for some extraordinary talent that could transform my life.
Failing that, practical skills like English or Mandarin—something that could help with employment—wouldn’t have been so bad.
But what did I get? Baduk, of all things.
I’d never even held a go stone in my entire life.
It felt like being smacked hard across the back of my head—worse than disappointment.
[The talent ‘Baduk’ is being updated in your System.]
“……!”
In that instant, something sparked inside my mind.
Joseki, life and death, forcing moves—baduk terminology and rules flooded in.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of game records.
The ability to read moves and judge value—the very elements that determine victory and defeat.
It all came flooding into his mind like a program updating, overwhelming and forceful.
‘This… this is real?’
It was a mysterious, wondrous experience.
The sensation of inner strength accumulating, layer upon layer.
[Talent ‘Baduk’ has completed its update.]
Like a man entranced, he placed his index and middle fingers together and mimed the motion of gripping a stone.
It felt natural.
Familiar, as if he’d been doing this his whole life.
“I… I know how to play Baduk?”

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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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