I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 50
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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 Many Money-Making Talents Episode 50
“Grandmother, is something the matter?”
She startled, clutching her smartphone tightly in her fist.
Her eyes darted about, trembling with panic.
Like someone fleeing from an invisible pursuer, her words tumbled out in disarray.
“I, it’s nothing to worry about. I just have to send some money, that’s all…… Now go. Don’t bother me.”
While she dismissed me and operated the ATM machine,
a faint male voice leaked from the smartphone pressed to her ear.
“Now, just a moment…… Go on, press it. S, sorry about that. I need you to press it again…… I’ll be quick, don’t hang up.”
I caught a glimpse of her smartphone screen.
There was no caller information, and “Call in progress” blinked at the top.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Are you processing a wire transfer right now?”
“I told you to go. Why are you getting in my way?”
“The ATM may experience delays due to server issues. If you don’t mind, I can help you.”
She looked at me for a moment, then pressed the smartphone close to her chest and whispered.
“Then…… hurry up and help me. This is, well…… money I’ve scraped together, that’s right. Rent—I have to send it now.”
A rambling rush of words.
Neither the content nor the flow made any sense.
She clearly didn’t understand the situation properly, or was being swept along by fear.
“Grandmother, I’ll process this for you right at the counter inside.”
I guided her as calmly as I could, my voice layered with reassurance.
“P, please do that for me.”
I soothed her worries and carefully led her to the inner counter.
By chance, Yeon-hee’s station was open.
“Welcome, how may I assist you today?”
Yeon-hee greeted her with a bright expression.
Then our eyes met.
I mouthed the words while gesturing toward the grandmother with my eyes.
‘Voice phishing.’
In that instant, Yeon-hee’s eyes widened.
But she quickly composed her expression.
“Ma’am, if you give me the account number, I’ll process it right away.”
“Yes, here, send it to this number. Oh, I haven’t hung up yet. I’ll send it in a moment…… just wait a little.”
As Yeon-hee entered the account number, she reached out and pressed the call button.
Yet she never lost her natural smile or composed tone.
“How much are we transferring?”
“Ten million won…… H, hurry up and do it!”
“Please wait just a moment.”
Yeon-hee typed on the keyboard and began verifying the account.
I too waited tensely for the police to arrive.
‘They’d better not be late.’
In cases like this, a bank has limited options.
A temporary hold on the transaction, decided at the employee’s discretion.
A request to verify accounts suspected of voice phishing.
Even that cannot be delayed indefinitely without the customer’s consent.
In the end, we had to hold out until the police arrived and could persuade the customer directly.
“H, hurry it up. Why is a young person so slow?”
“I’m sorry. We have server maintenance today.”
Yeon-hee answered with a gentle smile.
Beside her, the grandmother’s foot tapped impatiently as I spoke quietly.
“It’ll be done soon. Please just wait a little longer.”
The grandmother still held the smartphone, the receiver pressed tightly against her ear.
“It’s almost done. Processing it now…… No, no one suspects anything. Don’t worry……”
Her voice trembled faintly.
A whisper as if trying to hide from the person on the other end.
Her tone mingled with anxiety, pressure, and fear.
At that moment, Jeong Su-yeon and her film crew seemed to sense something was amiss and shifted their camera angle.
‘Don’t come over.’
The instant they began moving toward me, I stopped them with a look and a silent gesture.
They froze.
In the moment when Jeong Su-yeon was gauging my reaction, I watched the Branch Manager quickly size up the situation and begin his explanation.
And then.
Ding.
The automatic door at the main entrance slid open.
Two police officers who had responded to the call stepped into the bank.
“Hello there, ma’am? Could we have a word with you for a moment?”
“You, stay back! Miss, please hurry and process the deposit. My grandchild…… is in danger. Please, quickly!”
The grandmother’s eyes betrayed her urgency.
Her shoulders heaved as though she could barely breathe, and the smartphone gripped in her hand was damp with perspiration.
With that same hand, she tapped on the counter glass, pressing the teller to hurry.
But Yeon-hee remained composed.
“This account number…… it’s flagged as suspected voice phishing.”
At those words, the officers standing nearby intervened at once.
“Ma’am, please stay calm. First, hang up the phone. The most important thing is to contact your child directly. This matches the pattern of recent voice phishing incidents we’ve been seeing.”
The officer’s steady, decisive explanation continued.
His words entered the grandmother’s ears quietly but with unmistakable weight.
“What…… what?”
The grandmother’s gaze wavered.
Her wrinkled fingertips began to tremble, and her lips went dry.
After a moment of hesitation, she slowly lowered the smartphone from her ear.
Beep. Beep.
In that instant, the caller hung up first.
A moment still weighted with lingering dread.
A call came through from the grandmother’s actual son.
“Yes, Hyun-seok? Why haven’t you been answering?! Is Ji-su…… is our Ji-su all right? He’s…… at daycare? Thank goodness…… thank heavens.”
The grandmother’s voice trailed off into quiet sobs.
Clutching the bankbook in her hand, she remained silent for a long while.
Finally, she managed to lift her head and meet my eyes.
“Thank you, young man. If it hadn’t been for you…… something terrible could have happened.”
I lowered my head quietly.
“It’s a relief there was no harm. Truly.”
“That money…… it was my life’s savings. I was trying to leave something for my precious grandson Ji-su…… I’d saved it so carefully.”
The grandmother’s lips trembled as she clutched the bankbook, and her eyes grew red.
Something inside my chest began to throb with an indefinable warmth.
The realization that I had protected something precious to someone.
That quiet sense of fulfillment was filling me.
“Thank you…… thank you so much.”
I said nothing in the end.
Instead, I answered with a smile.
Just then, the Branch Manager approached and gave my shoulder a light pat.
“Good work. You handled the initial response well—that’s the most critical moment.”
“I’m glad there was no loss.”
The grandmother was escorted to the counseling room under police supervision.
Yeon-hee was occupied with follow-up procedures and attending to customers.
I, too, was about to return to my own post.
“Kim In-ha.”
Jeong Su-yeon approached with a slight smile.
Behind her, a camera crew waited quietly with their equipment at the ready.
“If you have a moment, would a brief interview be possible?”
Her tone was respectful, but unmistakable anticipation lay beneath it.
I shook my head briefly.
“I’d prefer to decline, if this is about today’s incident.”
“I beg your pardon?”
A moment of surprise.
But I continued calmly.
“And I would appreciate it if today’s situation were not filmed.”
“That’s…… rather disappointing. You did prevent a customer from suffering a loss. From our perspective, it’s a commendable case to highlight.”
Regret filled Jeong Su-yeon’s eyes.
She was clearly intent on persuading me one way or another.
But I spoke with quiet resolve.
“I was only doing what I needed to do. I don’t have any interest in drawing attention for it.”
Jeong Su-yeon seemed intent on highlighting me further.
There was an unmistakable desire to package me as the central figure who had stopped the voice phishing.
But that wasn’t something I wanted.
‘I don’t want this.’
To be seen as some kind of hero over this, to have my name circulate through people’s mouths.
That wasn’t the direction I wanted to move in.
“More than anything, this wasn’t something I accomplished alone. This employee remained composed and checked the account details for us, and the police responded swiftly.”
I paused to collect myself.
Then I spoke quietly, adding to what I’d already said.
“And most importantly, I’d like people to focus on my Go. That’s what I’d prefer.”
That was what I truly felt in that moment.
Of course, I held a dispatched position and worked as part of Ciel Bank’s staff.
I had no intention of denying that fact.
But I didn’t want to be defined by it.
The path I’m moving toward.
The value I’m creating.
That’s what matters more.
It’s fine if it goes unrecognized. Good deeds are best left simply as good deeds.
“I respect your wishes, In-ha.”
Her voice still carried a note of reluctance, but there was genuine sincerity beneath it.
“Then we’ll organize it around staff interviews without mentioning your name, and use it for the company’s awareness campaigns and prevention publicity. That much should be acceptable, shouldn’t it?”
“Yes, that much is fine with me.”
I nodded.
Jeong Su-yeon relaxed visibly, offering a gentle smile.
“You’re quite impressive, In-ha. Quietly impressive.”
I said nothing in response.
I simply lowered my head quietly.
The Branch Manager looked at me approvingly from beyond the counseling room and nodded.
And Yeon-hee caught my eye from her window post with a subtle, knowing smile.
Then I returned to my place.
As I always did—by the entrance.
The spot where people passed through and I greeted them.
Back to my post as a bank security guard.
* * *
Giseong Research Society.
With the Ciel Bank Cup main tournament ahead, I visited the Dojang.
The small vehicle I’d received as compensation from the Bi-Ryong Tournament hadn’t been delivered yet, so I’d had to settle for public transportation.
As I stepped through the door, Jeong Su-yeon and her film crew were already there, setting up in the corner.
“Welcome, In-ha. We’ll film quietly from the corner so we don’t get in the way.”
I nodded quietly.
We had already received permission beforehand through Kang Hyuk and Park Jin-woo.
The professional players belonging to the Research Society looked briefly tense.
But soon they seemed accustomed to it and returned their focus to their games.
“You made it?”
Park Jin-woo emerged from the inner office with a bright face and extended his hand.
“Congratulations on advancing to the Ciel Bank Cup main tournament, even if it’s a little late. We’ve got two players from our Research Society going—you and Yu Jeuh-ha.”
“Thank you.”
At that moment, the door opened and a familiar voice rang out.
“In-ha!”
It was Yu Jeuh-ha.
She wore training clothes and a light jacket.
Her height and proportions made her look like a model even in plain attire.
She began pulling drinks from the carrier in her hand and distributing them one by one to everyone present.
“I got yours too. A-ra.”
“Thanks.”
I smiled and accepted the coffee.
“You two, come this way.”
Following Park Jin-woo, I moved into a small office inside the Dojang.
Kang Hyuk’s usual workspace held a desk, a monitor, a small sofa, and a table.
Jeong Su-yeon and the camera crew maintained their distance, positioning themselves along the wall.
The camera began recording our conversation from afar.
“Should we talk while looking at this?”
The screen displayed the Ciel Bank Cup Round of 32 roster.
Names, nationalities, playing styles, records for the year—all laid out in a neat table.
‘Wow, when did he even manage to….’
I’d felt it before during the Integrated preliminary tournament preparations, but Park’s thoroughness in preparation deserved recognition.
“You both know this already, but the Ciel Bank Cup main tournament uses a random draw system. You could face a tournament favorite in the first round, or even play each other.”
Yu Jeuh-ha and I exchanged a quiet glance.
She smiled silently.
“Since we won’t know who you’ll face beforehand, detailed advance preparation is difficult. In cases like this, it’s better to sharpen your instincts by maximizing your strengths rather than shoring up weaknesses.”
I nodded quietly.
Yu Jeuh-ha was watching the screen with serious eyes.
“Especially you, Yu Jeuh-ha—you were on a razor’s edge. Throughout the integrated preliminaries, you were losing, but most of your wins came when you induced reading errors in your opponent mid-game and reversed the outcome.”
“…Yes.”
Yu Jeuh-ha bit her lip and answered quietly.
“You won’t get many opportunities like that in the main tournament. Top-level professionals make few mistakes to begin with, and they’ll never surrender momentum.”
She listened in silence.
It was clear she understood this better than anyone else.
Park’s gaze shifted to me.
“As for you, In-ha…”
He paused, choosing his words carefully, then spoke in a low, measured voice.
“I can’t evaluate you.”
“Pardon?”
I asked, flustered.
“Your Go in that fourth match—the one where you defeated Byun Woo-bin—it wasn’t at a level I could evaluate. That instinct and intuition… I’m the one who wants to ask where you learned it.”
“That is…”
It was I who found myself at a loss for the counter-question.
Unable to find an adequate answer, I trailed off awkwardly.
“I understand. You don’t need to say anything. You can’t really say, anyway. That’s not something you can learn through instruction, and it’s not something you can imitate.”
Park nodded slowly.
“…It’s talent. Innate talent.”
The weight of those words lingered.
Yu Jeuh-ha lifted her eyes and looked at me.
There was a glimmer of acknowledgment in her gaze.
“But don’t grow arrogant.”
Park’s voice continued low and earnest.
“Every top-level professional you’ll face in the main tournament is a genius.”
I breathed quietly.
His words struck deeper than expected.
‘Real geniuses.’
Perhaps beings whose talent surpassed the magnitude of what I’d gained.
The Ciel Bank Cup main tournament was the stage where I would face them.
“Especially Jung Si-hu, 9-dan—the tournament favorite—and Kim Eun-woo, 9-dan. From China, Luo Quan, 9-dan, Jin Mo-hui, 9-dan, Zhou Xuwan, 9-dan, and from Japan, Fujisaki, 9-dan—they’re prodigies beyond the word genius.”
Jung Si-hu, 9-dan, has dominated world Go rankings for seven consecutive years.
Zhou Xuwan, 9-dan, recently exceeded a 70% accuracy rate against AI analysis.
The rest are among the world’s elite professionals.
“I’m not trying to discourage you. It’s the opposite, actually.”
Park continued quietly.
“I’m anticipating your Go. But…”
Park looked between me and Yu Jeuh-ha alternately.
Expectation and a hint of tension were both visible in his eyes.
“We need to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
“The worst case?”
“…If you face Jung Si-hu, 9-dan, or Luo Quan, 9-dan in the first round and are eliminated. If you fail to become a professional.”
At Park Jin-woo’s words, the room fell silent for a moment.
A realistic worst possibility.
The assumption that becoming a professional would be delayed, that you might remain an amateur.
It was a statement delivered with more coldness than anyone else’s, yet with more care than anyone else’s.
“That’s what I wanted to ask you about…….”
He glanced back and forth between me and Yu Jeuh-ha.
“What do you two think about entering the Suyeon Cup Fair Go Championship?”
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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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