Chapter 0

I was minding my own business at home when disaster struck.

“You son of a bitch!!”

A middle-aged man dressed in hiking gear delivered a surprise slap. Every time my head turned with a crack, it felt like my soul was leaving my body.

‘What the hell is going on here, exactly?’

Truthfully, compared to what I’ve been through, this was nothing. When my father’s assets were stolen by my aunt’s husband and I was hit with an ashtray. Or when I was harassed by a victims’ group after a rumor spread that I was my father’s treasurer, and even when some lunatic hit me with a monkey wrench—I survived all that.

Lately, I’ve been on high alert, which has helped me avoid trouble.

But this guy was methodical.

Pretending to be from the management office, he knocked on my door a few times half-heartedly, not even rushing me. When I checked the door camera, I saw an uncle type lazily flipping through papers. He looked exactly like a management office worker.

‘He went through all that just to slap me a few times?’

My feeble resistance seemed to egg him on. The middle-aged man’s emotions grew more volatile.

Grabbing me by the collar, hurling profanities, and unleashing some kind of monologue.

“Uncle, calm down first.”

“Calm down?! You bastard, bring my daughter back to her senses…!”

Looks like talking won’t work. Thankfully, there was a Taekwondo trophy within reach. I swung it with all my might.

A “thud” as it connected with his head—I must admit, it felt pretty good.

Still, I figured one hit wouldn’t be enough to calm him down, so I was about to hit him again.

“…Hold on! Just stop!”

His surrender was much faster than expected.

Clearly, he didn’t come here to mess with me. The awkward posture and cautious glance of the middle-aged man made me feel less anger than, well, something like helplessness. I wondered why I even had to get slapped in the first place.

“How much did you lose?”

“What…?”

“Father… no, the bastard Choe Hui-jun, right? But it doesn’t make sense—he’s in Anyang Prison. He’s eligible for parole next year, but… oh, I get it now. That guy could pull strings even from afar.”

“….”

“How much did you lose to get this upset? 100 million won? 200 million won? By the way, Uncle, I don’t manage Choe Hui-jun’s slush funds. In fact, I even cooperated with the southern district prosecutor’s office to help catch that guy. If it weren’t for me, he’d still be out there.”

Confused, the man just tilted his head awkwardly. The initial momentum to slap me first seemed to wane as he even started stepping backward.

Could I have misunderstood the situation?

That would indeed be surprising. Until now, everyone who came after me were victims swindled by Choe Hui-jun.

The fraudster Choe Hui-jun.

A financial criminal who turned South Korea’s stock market into his personal playground, creating countless victims.

His track record is extensive—pyramid schemes, violations of the Special Economic Law, stock manipulation—you name it. Once celebrated as the “300-billion Super-Ant,” he’s now just a criminal.

Due to his scheming, eight companies went bankrupt, and the number of people who suffered losses is incalculable—after all, he’s been active since the dot-com bubble.

Choe Hui-jun also had a preferred method of dodging responsibility.

Provoking his victims into crossing the line.

So clever that he even managed to get the leader of a victims’ group imprisoned. Forcing victims to write petitions for leniency was common practice for him.

As expected, the garbage among garbage cared not a whit whose ox was gored during the process.

Even I, his son, was not spared. After all, the rumor that I manage the profits from his crimes—where else could that have come from except him and his cronies?

‘Wasn’t Choe Hui-jun, then… maybe it’s because of Mom?’

That could be a possibility. Mom is not well-known, but if we were to compare criminal careers, she rivals Choe Hui-jun.

While Choe Hui-jun specialized in economics, Mom’s forte was politics. After working at a multi-level marketing company in her youth, she divorced Choe Hui-jun as a front and transitioned into becoming a political broker.

Connecting politicians with wealthy donors, rigging intra-party primaries, and receiving various requests in return—that’s her gig.

This may sound like an odd profession, but her influence is considerable. She was even involved in the list of pardons for the President last year.

“Was it someone victimized by Mom? Surprising. Unlike Choe Hui-jun, she doesn’t tend to harbor grudges against anyone in her work.”

“What the hell are you talking about?! How should I, a mere stranger, know your parents?”

Mom wasn’t it either. Then what?

Mental patient? That didn’t seem right either. The embarrassed expression on the middle-aged man’s face, and his apparent suspicion that he’d come to the wrong address, made me think otherwise.

At this point, one person came to mind.

The scenario I dreaded most. If not because of the parents, then there’s only one person left.

Cho Ye-rim, my younger sibling. Profession: Club MD. She’s got a promising future as trash, but we’ve gotten along fine up until now.

“Cho Ye-rim. Do you know that name?”

The man’s eyes regained their focus at last.

I had hoped not, but it seems my sister, someone I still considered family, betrayed me.

“Ye-rim and my daughter are friends… apparently. When I asked, she said that your sister introduced my daughter to some drinking game, where suddenly her brother showed up and forced some strange alcohol on her… and, wait… something about drugs? It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Slow down. What happened to your daughter?”

“Pentobarbital overdose, and she’s been unconscious for over a week.”

“I’ve never even seen pentobarbital. Don’t believe me? I can arrange a confrontation with my sister if you want.”

“Wha…?”

“Drugging drinks is part of her business. Likely an accidental mishap while trying to entangle your daughter. Either way, it wasn’t me.”

The man gave me a pitiful look, unable to reply. I expected him to go berserk, admitting to his mistake, but he remained oddly calm. It probably wasn’t because he was afraid of the Taekwondo trophy, but more due to me revealing my family background.

“Huh?”

With such absurd words, he left my house, stumbling a bit, maybe from the blow to the head.

‘Is he just going to leave like this?’

Well, what would be the point in accepting his apology anyway? Judging by his actions, the possibility that his daughter’s condition has driven him mad seems high. Being in a coma for a week due to overdose suggests she isn’t likely to wake up soon.

Though I should go after him and teach him a lesson, I lack the motivation. I could only snicker.

Me getting slapped by a stranger at my front door,

My family, who’s probably still planning crimes even now,

I’ll never escape from this situation, and all I could do is laugh.

In the past, when I faced these situations, I struggled desperately to live. I made appearances on rescue channels to declare disassociation from my family. I’ve cooperated with investigations with the police. I even confronted Choe Hui-jun with a broom.

But ever since I realized that no matter what I did, I could never break free from the shackles of family, I no longer felt anger.

‘Pointless. Those people wouldn’t change anyway.’

After standing there blankly for a while, I logged into a novel platform. Not out of any particular desire to read, but more out of habit.

An idea came to mind as soon as I logged in.

Wouldn’t it be better to just get reincarnated into fiction than to keep dealing with this?

I always have this thought when playing games or reading novels, but today, the desire for transmigration was especially strong. I didn’t think my sister would betray me this way.

Since it’s a no-loss situation, I decided to sponsor and ask an author to make it happen.

The novel I chose was a romance called “Even Failures Want Love.”

The protagonist hides his strength for some reason and gradually reveals his talent in his second year at the academy, fooling around with noble ladies. It was the tamest option from the list of novels I’ve read.

[Please send me. I want to live.]

If only I could go to a world where I never have to see my family again. With that desperate wish, I hit the comment submission button.

…

“I should’ve asked sooner.”

Surprisingly, my wish came true too easily.

Somehow, I found myself holding a heavily-used morning star in my hand.