Chapter 57: Youth Grant: 800 Million (1)

[Click]

<Level reached 450.>

“Hm, I’m really getting strong.”

With Memorials and monsters like the Black Slaughter Sword Demon—hundreds of levels high—invading, I can boost stats by hundreds at once.

Thanks to that, I invested in Speed, which was lagging among my combat stats, without hesitation.

It synergized with my already high Strength, letting me take down monsters in a blink with a flyswatter or stomping.

So, I’ve been stupidly maxing out Strength, Stamina, and Charisma all this time.

Plus, I needed Magic and Intelligence, so I neglected Speed, Luck, and Dexterity.

If Luck felt more tangible, I’d have pumped it up—lottery only hit 50,000 won once, then nothing.

Guess that’s not Luck.

“Shouldn’t have gone all-in on the doubling events…”

[Isn’t going all-in usually a dumb move?]

“Don’t wanna hear that from a cat who maxed out Speed. Your major’s thievery?”

[Hmph, I just wanted to run faster than a car.]

“Why?”

[Thought it’d get me to Grandma faster. Didn’t expect this, though.]

“…Look at this sneaky guy.”

Tch.

Can’t argue when he’s using a cheat code.

CatMan’s got his reasons for acting like that.

I could take him without a car, but I don’t have time to go to some South Coast spot.

Lately, too many monsters summon above RiceCookerMan, so I’ve gotta watch him too.

If the dragon in the fridge hatches and actively defends with superpowers, maybe I’d have more time.

“Gonna step out for a bit.”

[Where to?]

“None of your business. Guard the house.”

Since CatMan misses that grandma, I didn’t mention my destination and left my room.

Grabbed a few rice drinks.

Extended the Intelligence buff duration to 24 hours.

Then I called the number from a recent call.

“Uh, yes. I’ll visit. Yes? No, I’m not Ri Soo-chan. No, not a defector. Haha, no. Names get mixed up, it happens. Yes, yes.”

Damn Ri Soo-chan.

The old man asked me to visit, but I thought it’d be a one-time thing.

Then his daughter called.

Said her dad’s going crazy looking for the guy with the rice drinks—me—and asked me to visit.

I was gonna go anyway, moved by the old man’s care for his kids.

But his daughter insisted on showing gratitude.

Even though I refused, she sent pocket money—practically a caregiver’s monthly salary.

Couldn’t say no.

It’s just a 15-minute walk anyway.

“Grandson?”

“Uh, something like that.”

Same surname made visiting easy.

Still, it’s a hospital, so I followed COVID protocols to enter.

Not some bleak, remote nursing home—it’s near the open Gapcheon River, with a big mart and main road nearby.

“He’s quiet today. Here. Father? Faaather!”

She calls loudly to the old man staring blankly out the window.

The frail old man’s nice single room is stacked with yellow rice drink cans.

The weak, withered old man sees me, flashes a toothless grin, and lights up.

“Uh, hello.”

They assume I’m his grandson, so I greeted awkwardly since I’m not.

But the old man… stretches out his arm.

I get what he means.

Intelligence is still 1, but he recognizes the rice drink.

I pulled out a homemade rice drink, and he waved his arms excitedly, so I handed it over.

Soon, his hollow eyes regained focus.

“Oh, oh, you came.”

“Yes, heard you were looking for me.”

“Thank you again. Truly, thank you. How can I repay this kindness…”

Getting thanked like this is awkward.

I’m not exactly brimming with volunteer spirit.

“I’ll leave a couple more bottles. Drink one every 23 hours or so.”

Any longer, it might spoil, but there’s a fridge, so it’s fine.

Demand’s low since it’s by reservation.

“How do you make this miracle happen?”

“Just, uh, personal research. Hard to explain, please understand.”

“No, no. Giving me even this brief chance—I feel like the grim reaper showed a bit of mercy.”

Well, it’s mercy from another world’s being, so he’s not wrong.

“Sir.”

“Yes, yes.”

“I know my time’s short. At first, it was just cognitive decline, but now cancer’s growing everywhere, they say. I don’t know how this works, but it’s not just a fleeting pre-death clarity.”

…

How many terrifying diseases is he carrying?

Aging is sad and scary.

I’ve got the phoenix meat that guarantees regeneration, but I’ll save it for my parents, myself, or future kids if it stays preserved.

The old man asks something out of the blue.

“Young man, got a job? KAIST student?”

“Graduated a while ago. Not a student now.”

Here comes the classic old-man interrogation.

I’m just a home guard—kinda awkward.

“Then, got a dream?”

“Well, can’t say I don’t.”

“What is it?”

It’s just an old man who’ll forget soon, so…

“Protecting the world.”

“Protecting the world?”

“Might sound silly, but first, I keep getting stronger. Second, I handle crises without anyone knowing.”

Never thought I’d live with such a crazy goal.

But it’s happening, and I’ve got no choice but to accept it as fate.

From the moment I overcome the Nightmare Queen, I’ll practice Gate Utilization to block the gates entirely.

“Not making new drugs?”

“New drugs are part of protecting the world.”

“So, don’t you need funds for that?”

You’ll give me money?

Pretty random for an old-timer, but I’m not turning down a youth grant.

“Well, financial stability’s necessary. I’m working and researching to save about 800 million won.”

“800 million, huh… Sir?”

Spending all day staring out the window, how miserable and powerless a foggy mind must feel.

“Yes.”

“Normally, I can’t remember, so I live forgetting. But your rice drink brings it back painfully clear.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Even so, I recall how I live here. When my mind’s foggy and anger surges, I wreck this place, lash out at caregivers young enough to be my daughter, wail, soil myself like a beast, and rampage again from the discomfort. All because of the rage boiling inside.”

“Ugh.”

It’s infuriating when your body won’t listen due to illness.

“My anger and rage surge because I haven’t done enough in my life.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll repay this drug. So, sir.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Help me.”

For just a moment, to escape this stifling hospital, this prison for the sins I’ve committed against my children.

“Escape?”

“Give me a bit more of the drug. A month should do. I’ll pay the price.”

“What are you planning?”

“I… lost a son and my wife in an accident long ago.”

The old man’s life was full of twists and turns.

Kids who lived just a decade have drama, even a two-year-old cat has storms—how much more for an 80-something old man?

His life seems especially turbulent.

As he desperately speaks before forgetting again, something drips from his forehead.

<Memorial>

What’s this?

I grabbed the Memorial since I could see it, but the old man doesn’t notice and keeps talking.

This old man has no level… but can produce a Memorial?

“I’m not saying this to burden you. In short…”

His life story’s too long, though he speaks clearly.

I try to summarize.

“So, your son-in-law…”

“A bastard. That guy.”

“Haha.”

Felt awkward badmouthing the husband of the daughter he cherishes, but he’s so blunt, I could only laugh.

In summary, he lost his wife and a child in an accident early on.

Got some compensation and insurance money…

“I thought of it as my children’s mother and worked hard to grow it. When I ended up like this, I worried about my kids. No mother, and if I die, what then? I struggled to leave them wealth, but that son-in-law…!”

Since money came late, he couldn’t give his eldest daughter a lavish education.

“She suffered young, and as her father, I did nothing. So I wanted to make her life abundant later. But it came to this.”

His daughter chased a poor medical student, so as her father-in-law, he set him up with a clinic in his building and funded his studies abroad.

Treated him like a live-in son-in-law to support his eldest, who raised her siblings without a mom, but he was betrayed.

“He said it wasn’t true, wasn’t true, and I believed him. I wanted to believe.”

The son-in-law, renowned for cognitive tests, lied to him and his daughter, saying it was just forgetfulness, not dementia, and did nothing.

When symptoms worsened, he admitted his misdiagnosis and locked the old man here.

That’s his claim.

Thus, the old man lost all rights to his assets.

Even before, the son-in-law had affairs, forced his wife to raise his illegitimate child, belittled her as uneducated, and failed two clinics…

Ugh, too much.

In short, a “bastard” who stole the building meant to protect his kids in place of his late wife.

“Oh, this building’s yours? No wonder it’s not the nursing home I imagined.”

He’s rich.

The old man remembers the building’s address—prime downtown commercial property, rebuilt grandly.

The 2nd and 3rd floors have a clinic specializing in dementia cognitive tests.

I thought nursing homes were run-down or creepy, based on stats about elderly poverty—isolated places where immobile, disoriented elders wait to die.

That’s my cynical view.

But this old man’s situation is similar, yet the place isn’t.

He’s in a VIP suite, alone in a spacious room with a caregiver bed that’s more like a hotel triple room than a hospital cot.

His wealth claim seems legit.

“Looks nice? Just a fancy coffin.”

“I can see why you’d feel that way.”

“Give me this mind-clearing drug. Keep giving it. You said 800 million? This drug’s worth billions to me. I’ll wear a fedora and suit, and take back my wife’s legacy from that bastard’s whims.”

“Yes, I’ll help.”

With his payment ability, it’s worth helping.

“As a down payment, I hid billions in dollars under my parents’ house in my hometown. I’ll give you the address—go claim it.”

Sounds real.

He can’t see it, but I acquired a Memorial steeped in his rage and indignation.

Beyond that, I see the money he saved as a mother’s role for his kids, and a sacred stash for disasters like the accident that took their mom.

<Trait: Future Investment>

Increases the success rate of investments for descendants.

<Trait: Loss of Personhood>

Temporarily lose your mind. Nullifies mental attacks by losing sanity. Rage never subsides.

…

You can gain traits like this without levels or skills?