Life’s Second Round in Epic Mode - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Returning Investment Funds

“Alright, I’ll talk to my father and invest 2 billion won right away.”

“Wow, 2 billion won?”

“Yes, I could probably gather up to 3 billion won at most, but I think Geon will bring in the remaining 500 million won like last time, with an investment proposal. Right?”

“Hahaha, you’re indeed quick-witted.”

“Hehehe~”

“Hahaha.”

The two exchanged sinister laughter, which was difficult to decipher. As expected of experienced players, they quickly came to an agreement without beating around the bush.

Under the condition that Ja-hoon would invest 2 billion won and provide additional management support, they agreed to acquire a 4% stake in Taco Max and, depending on the future contract terms, an additional 1% to 2% of CDs.

“Now that we’re on the same boat, I hope you’ll be of great help.”

“Yes, let’s work together, Yi Geon.”

“Hahaha, that’s what I wanted to say.”

Yi Geon forced a smile. Ja-hoon was helpful for now, but he seemed too dangerous to work with until the end.

June 2nd, 1993.

It had been exactly one month since they started selling tacos.

On this day, unlike usual, the students in Class 3-1 couldn’t get their hands on the tacos they wanted. The taco stand in front of the school was not open.

“Hey, why aren’t there any tacos today?”

“Damn it, why isn’t that first-year selling tacos? I’m starving.”

“I’m hungry too.”

“Ja-hoon, aren’t you selling tacos?”

The students, feeling betrayed, clutched their hungry stomachs.

“I don’t know, is it a group day off today?”

“Damn the guy who’s been raking in money from the taco stand.”

“Ja-hoon, teach that first-year in Class 5 a lesson for me, will you? What’s his name? Park Geon?”

“Yi Geon.”

As the words left their mouths, Yi Geon entered the classroom.

“Hello, seniors? I’m your lovely junior, Yi Geon, who loves you all.”

“Damn you. Forget about you, just give us our tacos!”

“Hey, it’s because of you that we’re starving. Why aren’t you selling tacos?”

“Damn it, I skipped breakfast, and now there are no tacos?”

The seniors from Class 1 expressed their dissatisfaction. The atmosphere was on the verge of turning hostile with so many hungry people.

At that moment, Sang-du, Sang-il, and Dong-pal’s group appeared.

“Hello, seniors? Today, in appreciation of your support, we’re celebrating the one-month anniversary of our taco sales. To express our gratitude, we’ll be giving away six free tacos per person.”

“Oh? Why all of a sudden?”

“Thank you for your support. We’ve also prepared special beverages for our seniors today.”

Upon realizing the situation, the seniors erupted in cheers.

“Wow~!”

“Wow~!”

“We believed in you, our dear juniors!”

“Hey, we really made the right choice with our juniors. It makes going to school worthwhile.”

“I feel rewarded for hitting 20 sales.”

“I must admit, our junior Park Geon is quite cute.”

“It’s not Park Geon, it’s Yi Geon, you moron.”

The seniors, who were just cursing at Yi Geon moments ago, suddenly changed their attitude and became friendly. However, there were still a few seniors who expressed their dissatisfaction.

“Ah, shoot. I usually eat ten of these a day, but who can manage with just six?”

The burly senior in his judo club uniform wasn’t happy about not being able to eat more tacos, even if they were free.

“I apologize. I should have prepared more for you, Judo Club senior.”

“It’s alright. Just give me the tacos quickly, junior. I’m starving and about to collapse.”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

At his words, all the students burst into laughter.

“Hey, don’t laugh. I’m hungry. Give me one each and I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”

“Ah, that big glutton.”

“I only have two left, but they are quite generous.”

The packaging had changed completely from the usual.

Yi Geon explained the new set menu packaging.

“Today, we have prepared a 2,000 won set menu for you. To help you have a cool and refreshing summer study session as the weather gets hotter, we’ve added a pack of fruit juice and are serving it as a set with three tacos.”

“Ah, is this a tasting event?”

“Oh, this is delicious. Fresh fruit juice.”

“That’s right. It must be expensive, but it goes well with the tacos in terms of cost-effectiveness.”

In fact, it wasn’t 100% fruit juice but 30% fruit juice concentrate.

However, the taste buds in 1993 weren’t sensitive enough to discern such things.

Moreover, Yi Geon used a fruit cocktail recipe from the 2030s, so the taste was actually better than 100% fruit juice.

“Also, seniors, today is the day we return your 20-account investment. I’ve put your investment income in the envelope as well. Please sign the investment principal and profit receipt, and we’ll distribute the stock purchase priority.”

Sang-il and Dong-pal handed out envelopes, checking the seniors’ names one by one.

“Wow, I invested for just over a month and got a 20% interest – that’s an additional 20,000 won on 100,000 won. Such a great profit.”

“Indeed, we’re fortunate to have such juniors.”

One by one, the seniors opened the envelopes with smiling faces.

“Let’s see how much we made. Huh? What’s this?”

Instead of the 120,000 won, which included the principal and interest on the 20-account investment, there was a whopping 145,000 won in the envelope.

“Hey, junior, it seems like there’s an extra 25,000 won here. Can’t you count properly?”

“Me too.”

“Huh? Me too.”

Only then did the seniors realize that they had received 45,000 won in interest.

“Wow, is this really 45,000 won in interest?”

“Rather than interest, it’s additional investment profit for the investments you made.”

“Wow, this is incredible. But wait, does that mean if we keep investing 100,000 won, we’ll keep generating interest?”

“That’s right, 1,000,000 won would generate 450,000 won in a month!”

“450,000 won is better than delivering milk and newspapers.”

“Junior, can we just keep our investment money and continue investing?”

“Ha ha ha, that would be a bit difficult. From now on, our company will only accept investments in the form of CDs, so instead, you can use your stock purchase priority to buy shares in our company, Taco Max.”

“Ah, you mean the stock market ticker board at the securities company. Then I’ll save this money and add more to buy stocks.”

“Maybe I should take a year off after the college entrance exam and put all my university tuition money into it?”

“Right, if we invest in stocks, we can make a fortune. I should talk to my mom about this. This company can’t fail. It’s as if they’ve mixed drugs into the tacos.”

“Me too, I get withdrawal symptoms on days when I don’t eat tacos.”

“I quit smoking for tacos, but it’s harder to quit tacos than cigarettes.”

“Ah, I need to buy some too, but I have no money because I keep buying and eating ten tacos at a time.”

“Ah, that big judo club glutton.”

The judo club senior, unable to invest in stocks himself, wept as his fellow seniors greedily discussed stocks. And so, on this day, the future initial shareholders of Taco Max, a company destined to become a mega-unicorn worth trillions of won, impulsively decided to invest all their money.

Wow! Wow!

As cheers erupted from classrooms on the third and fourth floors, the teachers in the staff room turned their heads in curiosity.

“What’s going on today, Mr. Park?”

“I’m not sure, but earlier, first-year student Yi Geon said they were holding an event to return investment funds. Look at this, the kids even brought tacos for the teachers.”

“Oh, those tacos are delicious. I’ve tried them myself, standing in line.”

Gym teacher Mr. Kim, who had a strong appetite, had tried the tacos without caring about the students’ reactions. In fact, Mr. Kim was the only regular customer in the staff room.

“Ah, I didn’t try them because I was worried about how it would look when the students were coming to school, but they must be delicious.”

“Yes.”

“I’m trying it for the first time, too.”

The teachers in the staff room picked up the taco sets that Yi Geon had handed over and began to savor the taste.

“Oh!”

“What is this?”

“Why is it so delicious?”

All the teachers widened their eyes in surprise. They had thought that a mere high school freshman couldn’t possibly create such delicious tacos, but the taste was nothing short of a shocking revelation. It was as if the tacos had been grilled by a hidden 30-year culinary master.

“Can you believe the students have been eating these all by themselves? How audacious!”

The first-year homeroom teacher frowned as if she were angry. A female teacher also clenched her fists as if she were displeased.

“Right, it’s so audacious that they’ve been eating these delicious tacos all by themselves. From tomorrow, I’ll eat ten of these every day to teach them a lesson.”

“Right, I’ve been reluctant to eat breakfast and lunch, but this is much simpler and better.”

“Oh, even the juice is pretty good. It’s like fresh fruit juice, and it must be quite expensive. The packaging is pretty too. How much are they selling this for?”

“They’ll sell a ton of these. A first-year student is starting a business with this, so how much money are they making?”

Since there were students who didn’t eat tacos, but none who only ate them once, even the math teacher couldn’t estimate how much money they were making.

“Right, they must be making a fortune. Once you eat this, you can’t stop.”

“I don’t usually like Western food or bread, but this is just right for my taste. They’ll make a fortune with this.”

“Should we ask them to contribute some to the school fund?”

“Please talk to the vice principal.”

The teachers’ attention suddenly focused on Yi Geon and his friends, who were making astronomical amounts of money.