Chapter 1: Report Card of Life

It seems my son is about to get married.

They say an arranged meeting between families is a silent battlefield.

“For the sake of my son’s happy family! I must keep my temper and go in calmly!”

With that resolve firmly in place, I stepped out.

The moment the in-laws appeared at the meeting, they flinched when they saw me.

“Oh my, goodness!”

“Ahem!”

It was because of the burn scars covering more than half of my face.

I took off my fedora and greeted them as politely as I could.

“Nice to meet you. I am Cha Jeonghyeok, Kangwoo’s father.”

As expected, their words were sharper than any blade, spoken right to my face.

Their eyes scanned me up and down, sizing me up.

It was as if this was an evaluation of my entire life.

“I heard you live in a multi-family house in Sillim-dong?”

“So you can’t even afford to help with the villa’s deposit? Hmph!”

“If you’re living off dirty money… could you be a sanitation worker?”

My life had turned out so damn messy that I dealt in Black Money.

In this world, people call me the ‘Sillim-dong Ant Hell.’

While the chaebols operate in the light, we move in the shadows.

I was one of the five giants controlling underground finance in South Korea.

“Of course, you probably haven’t prepared for retirement.”

“Do you intend to leech off your children for living expenses?”

Since this was a serious matter, I had to make my intentions clear.

I waved my hands dismissively.

“Of course not. As a parent, I would never cling like a parasite to my children. I’m not that shameless.”

I meant to clear up their misunderstanding, but the in-laws looked at my hands in horror.

I quickly hid my blunt fingers under the table and tried to lighten the mood with a smile.

Failed.

My gold teeth — four on top, eight on the bottom — made the atmosphere even colder.

“You’re missing two fingers?”

If I told the truth about those fingers lost in past dealings with gangsters, they’d probably faint.

“And I saw you limping earlier.”

That was from an incident with a Joseonjok hitman… no way to explain that either.

‘Time to change the subject.’

I pulled out the two old, worn bankbooks I had prepared.

“These belonged to Kangwoo’s late mother.”

She was the type to diligently save even small amounts of money.

As soon as she saw the bankbooks, the prospective mother-in-law snatched them like an eagle.

She rifled through them and sneered.

“No matter how much dust you gather, it’s still just dust. How dare you bring such things as bankbooks? This is ridiculous.”

The future mother-in-law gulped down her water loudly.

Then she glared fiercely at her daughter.

“Hey, do you really have to go through with this marriage? How do you always manage to pick a man worse off than an orphan!”

She mouthed the words silently.

“You said he had money!”

The prospective daughter-in-law sealed her lips tightly and glared venomously at my son.

My son was getting cursed with his eyes even by the woman he was supposed to marry.

“Forget about ancestral rites and holidays, and don’t bother looking ahead. Just consider me as someone with nothing.”

I shook my head.

“Can you please just look kindly on my son? Without me, he’s actually quite respectable. I ask this as a favor.”

A request always needs sincerity.

‘That’s why I prepared a 124-pyeong Han River View penthouse.’

Seven rooms, four bathrooms, parking for four cars per unit, and a price tag of 14.9 billion won.

Just as I was about to pull out the deed, my son was faster.

“Father, please raise your head. Why are you bowing like a criminal?”

He threw down his napkin and stood up abruptly.

“Hyunyoung, I’m sorry. I don’t think I can go through with this marriage.”

“Kangwoo!”

“No need to explain the reason.”

“Just one thing — Kangwoo, you really couldn’t bring a single 80-pyeong apartment in Gangnam?”

My son squeezed his eyes shut.

“Was everything—the designer goods, the foreign cars, even the spending—all fake?”

“Father, that’s enough. Please get up.”

Without looking back, he stormed out of the meeting.

I stood up as well.

***

“My son is still young and doesn’t understand well. I’ll go get him right away.”

“Hmph, forget it! I don’t think we’ll have to see you again!”

The prospective mother-in-law threw her napkin down irritably and was about to stand.

My gaze toward the in-laws naturally turned icy.

When our eyes met, the woman hesitated.

“The meeting isn’t over yet.”

My tone turned cold.

The in-laws hesitated but then sat back down.

“Those bankbooks aren’t yours yet either.”

The future mother-in-law tried to grab the bankbooks again, but the prospective father-in-law quickly snatched them and pushed them toward me.

Only then did I look away and turn my back.

I limped with my bad leg and followed after my son.

There was still room to salvage this.

“Kangwoo!”

My son was sitting on a bench nearby, smoking a cigarette.

The red glow traveled quickly along the cigarette.

It looked just like the fire burning inside my son’s heart.

The words I wanted to say got stuck in my throat.

I had no choice but to sit beside him and pat his shoulder a few times.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“No, Father, you were the one insulted. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s my fault for having no eye for women.”

My son sighed deeply.

He had always dreamed of marrying a good woman and creating a home filled with laughter.

“Wasn’t she the woman you loved enough to consider marriage?”

“Forget it.”

“That’s enough. No need to ruin a marriage over money.”

“I was always confused. Did she love me, or did she love my money? Now that I’ve seen the truth, it stings a little.”

I took out a cigarette and lit it, feeling the frustration.

“My mother saved up that money for me,” I said, pointing at the bankbook.

“Yeah. Your mother probably squeezed every penny she could.”

‘Why did I bring this here?’

“So you can buy delicious food for your wife, snacks for your kids. Even if Mom couldn’t buy a house, she could at least give you that. Consider it your mother’s wedding gift.”

“……”

My son looked troubled.

“This is the wedding gift I’ve prepared for you.”

I handed him the deed and the bankbooks I was about to take out earlier.

He shook his head firmly.

“How can I accept this? Just raising me was enough, Father.”

“Take it.”

I forced the bankbooks into his hand.

They were quite thick.

“This is your report card of life.”

I added a few documents on top and handed them over.

“What’s this?”

“A weapon I brought just in case.”

‘Would I come into a battlefield empty-handed?’

Rumor had it I had thoroughly searched the future in-laws’ place.

“Ha, what a trashy household.”

My son kept chuckling awkwardly as he flipped through the documents.

Then the papers crumpled tightly in his hand.

‘Did I give this for nothing? No, it’s better to face the truth prepared than be blindsided.’

It’s true seeing ugly truths you could have avoided is unpleasant.

I patted my son’s shoulder a few more times.

“Go back in. If she’s a woman worth catching, then catch her.”

“After seeing their family’s mess, you really want me to go for it?”

“A few rotten grapes don’t spoil the whole bunch.”

“……”

“Look at her alone. Without her parents, is she a good woman? And would you want to spend your life with her even if you had to accept her parents? That’s the only question you need to ask yourself.”

I smiled wryly.

“Don’t lose someone precious over foolish pride. That’s the mark of a fool.”

“……”

“Just be happy. That’s all I want. So…”

“Oh, I forgot my mother’s bankbook. Wait a second.”

My son smiled, a look of resolution on his face.

“That would be too much for Hyunyoung. Thanks, Father!”

He waved the documents, proof of how thoroughly he had investigated the other family, and headed back to the meeting.

“Like you said, Father, the secret to happiness is letting go of what you must. I’m not going to pick up a dirty tissue and use it again.”

Damn it.

‘If I had known, I should’ve dragged him to the basement first, threatened him, and then held the meeting. Our company’s underground workshop has excellent soundproofing.’

I furrowed my brows and took a deep drag of cigarette smoke into my lungs.

“Life isn’t easy… cough, cough!”

The coughing wouldn’t stop.

Buzz.

I pulled out my smartphone.

Caller ID: [Taeseong University Hospital Director.]

My one and only brother-in-arms.

“Hey, Cha Jeonghyeok! Aren’t you coming to the hospital right now? You’re a terminal lung cancer patient!”

That was why I was rushing my son’s marriage.

“They say if it’s long, you have a year, if short, six months. Before, you said to prepare yourself mentally.”

“So you’re just going to sit back and die quietly? Fine, hang up. I’m about to call Kangwoo.”

“Who said I wouldn’t go? I’m going!”

He hung up first.

“Damn temper. No wonder he’s not my friend.”

I stubbed out the cigarette on a sand-filled ashtray.

Turning away those who wanted to follow, I grabbed the steering wheel myself.

Since it wasn’t rush hour, the road to the hospital was relatively quiet.

“Children crossing ahead. Drive safely.”

A crosswalk in front of a kindergarten.

Children in yellow uniforms lined up and climbed into the bus one by one.

A smile unconsciously spread across my lips.

“They were once just as small as Kangwoo.”

When I found him wandering the cold streets hungry and crying in the dead of winter, he was just that small.

I couldn’t turn my back on that child.

I had arranged for the funerals of his parents, whose bodies had been left abandoned at home, and registered Kangwoo under my family registry to raise him.

Vroooom.

A 25-ton trailer sped down the opposite lane.

Despite the red light, it showed no sign of slowing.

‘What kind of crazy idiot is driving like that… huh?’

He was drowsy driving.

The trailer charged straight toward the kindergarten children.

“……!”

Silent screams escaped.

A horrific tragedy played out in my mind.

“No! The kids…!”

A thousand thoughts flooded my head.

I bit my lips hard.

“Damn it!”

From decision to action, it all happened unbelievably fast.

I slammed the accelerator.

Then the brakes.

The brake pedal wasn’t enough, so I pulled the handbrake with all my might.

Screeeeeech! Crash!

The charging trailer slammed into the side of my car.

The impact was tremendous.

Far beyond what I had prepared for.

Bang bang bang!

The car spun like a top, flipping repeatedly in all directions.

That was my last memory.

Yama spoke.

[Cha Jeonghyeok, 52 years old, accidental death. You struggled all your life. It was a miserable existence.]

The 52 years of my life, flashing before me like a slideshow, summed up in two words: struggling alone and miserable life.

I had no intention of denying it.

Because it was true.

[With such a filthy fate, you would’ve ended as a disabled homeless person dying alone.]

I looked bitterly at my inconvenient limbs.

Since my body was gone, even that seemed faint.

But the burn scars on my face and the surgical mark from having to sell one of my kidneys because of money still throbbed painfully.

[You endured divine punishment but still managed to make your final years somewhat decent. Well done.]

‘Was that so?’

[Divine Net. The net of heaven is vast and seems loose, but it never lets anything slip through.]

[You were a rogue. Though you lived a miserable life in the back alleys, you always struggled to not cross that final line. That was no easy feat.]

Yama smiled kindly.

[You raised someone else’s child as your own, showed mercy to the weak, and cared for the needy whenever you could. How could I overlook such merit?]

I closed my eyes.

I realized this was the true report card of my life.

Sacrificing my own life for fifteen young souls bound for the afterlife was the noblest self-sacrifice of all.

Fortunately, the children were safe.

[Thus, all your sins from your past life are forgiven.]

“Wait. Wait a minute.”

“Forgiven for sins of a past life?”

[Yes. You betrayed your country in your past life.]

“I never thought I would have sold out my country in a past life.”

[Because of those sins, you had to live a miserable and harsh life in this one. You should blame yourself, not heaven.]

There was a time when I cursed heaven for why my life was such a sewer.

But now I see there was a reason.

And that made me very curious about that past life.

“How exactly did I sell out the country?”

I figured it couldn’t have been in any ordinary way.

[Very well. Considering your achievements this time, I will let you see it firsthand.]

Something dropped with a thud.

[This is the Yeopgyeong, the mirror that reflects the karma of your past life.]

The mirror revealed my past life.

A general sweeping away the Whygu who invaded Joseon at the forefront.

That general was me.

“Do not retreat! Defeat the invaders and save this country and its people! Follow me!”

That’s how I fought a desperate last stand against the Whygu and died.

[——-]

“……”

Silence filled the air.

Yama’s complexion, already pale as snow, instantly turned blue.

I ran my hand through my hair and laughed.

“Divine punishment?”

Yama shouted anxiously.

[Divine Net. I will take responsibility for this life. You will live as the luckiest man since the dawn of history!]