The Regressed Vault Keeper Took It All

Chapter 28: Please, Keep the Promise

Creaaak—

With a dull metallic sound, the thick iron door opened.

One of the men I’d seen at the black market, the one with wary eyes, appeared from behind it.

He recognized me, and his words trailed off.

“You’re that guy from before…”

“Is the Elder here?”

I cut him off and got straight to the point.

“How did you find this place?”

Instead of the answer I wanted, he glared at me and asked sharply.

I didn’t avoid his gaze and instead threw the question back at him.

“Am I obligated to answer that?”

“It’d be better if you did. You’ve already stepped inside this door—if you want to leave in one piece, that is.”

It was obvious why he was being so overly cautious.

This building itself was both a massive vault and a fortress for the Elder.

Every secret and all his wealth must have been sleeping here.

“You’ve been overstepping your bounds lately.”

I replied coldly, and the man’s face twisted into a nasty expression.

Ignoring him, I continued.

“The Elder and I made a deal. And I came here to keep that promise. If you’re curious about anything, the Elder himself should ask, not you. Why are you overstepping your role?”

“What did you just say?”

“For a servant to speak and act on behalf of his master without permission is to challenge his master’s authority. Tell the Elder this: a guest has come to discuss a deal. Isn’t that your job?”

The man was momentarily at a loss for words.

Perhaps he didn’t realize that excessive loyalty could sometimes harm the very person he served.

After glaring at me for quite a while, he finally turned around and muttered curtly, as if going to report to the Elder.

“Wait here.”

The door slammed shut again with a heavy thud.

A short while later, it opened once more, and the man motioned with his chin.

“He says to come in. Follow me.”

I followed him inside.

When we reached the second floor, a long corridor came into view.

On both sides stood identical iron doors in a row.

Each one must’ve been a vault.

Now I understood why Han Sang-hoon never revealed his office to outsiders.

Even if someone tried to follow him, they’d never find it—he entered and exited through secret passages built during the Japanese occupation, leading directly to the underground level of this building.

Of course, people would eventually learn about it later, but for a long time, that secret remained safe.

Lost in thought, I soon found myself standing before a massive door at the far end of the corridor.

“Elder, your guest has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

I heard Han Sang-hoon’s quiet voice. The man opened the door, and I stepped in without hesitation.

As expected from such a large building, the office was spacious.

Han Sang-hoon sat before a Go board on the table, studying the game record as he placed stones one by one.

Even as I approached, he didn’t lift his gaze from the board.

Placing another stone, he muttered to himself.

“Hmm… He played like this here?”

“It’s Grandmaster Cho’s match, isn’t it?”

At my words, Han Sang-hoon’s hand, which had been about to place a stone, froze midair.

He slowly lifted his head and looked at me.

“You play Go?”

“To some extent, yes.”

“Hmm…”

Han Sang-hoon set the stone down and looked over my face carefully, as though gauging whether I was lying.

“I believe that’s the record of the match between Grandmaster Cho and Fifth Dan Kim Bong-seon from last year, correct?”

“That’s right. To recognize it immediately—you must know the game quite well.”

“I picked up a bit from watching the elders play on the streets.”

Back then, Go was one of the few pastimes people had.

Though truthfully, the person who made me take the game seriously was none other than Jeong Tae-soo.

He was known for his obsession with Go.

He even invited the top masters of the time, including Grandmaster Cho Nam-cheol, for teaching matches.

To win his favor and trust, I had desperately studied the game.

In time, I’d become good enough that no amateur could stand against me.

“Please, have a seat.”

I sat across from him.

The Go board, half-filled with stones, radiated quiet tension.

Han Sang-hoon set aside the game record and spoke.

“Would you like to play a match with me, then?”

“Gladly. I’ll take black.”

I chose the black stones—the disadvantageous side—unlike Grandmaster Cho, who had played white.

Apparently surprised, Han Sang-hoon asked,

“White already has the upper hand, yet you’d still choose black?”

“That makes it more interesting, doesn’t it?”

“Hahaha!”

Han Sang-hoon burst into hearty laughter.

“You really are an amusing young man. Very well. If you manage to win this match, I’ll grant you one more favor.”

He clearly didn’t believe there was any chance he’d lose.

Smiling faintly, I picked up a black stone and placed it on the board.

“Please, keep your promise.”

At those words, Han Sang-hoon placed a white stone, and we began the game in silence, completely focused on Go.

As the match moved from the middle to the endgame, the atmosphere in the room subtly shifted.

The composure on Han Sang-hoon’s face gradually disappeared, replaced by seriousness.

He grunted softly, rolling a white stone between his fingers.

“How… how did it end up like this?”

“Will you continue? If we play to the end, I’ll win by half a point.”

“Ha…”

Han Sang-hoon let out a short sigh, frowning deeply as he stared intently at the board.

“You managed to turn it around like this?”

“I was just lucky.”

“My boy! No one overturns a lost game like this out of luck!”

Of course, if my opponent had been Grandmaster Cho, it would’ve been impossible. But my opponent right now was Han Sang-hoon.

After a long while of reviewing the board silently, Han Sang-hoon finally threw his stone down.

“I’ve lost. You win.”

“It was an enjoyable match.”

I set my stone down as well.

“Wait a moment.”

Han Sang-hoon studied the board again, replaying the game alone.

After who knows how long, a satisfied expression spread across his face as he looked back up at me.

“Thanks to you, I’ve had quite the learning experience.”

“I hope I’ll have the chance to play again sometime.”

“Would you really?”

“Of course. I’ll make sure to contact you whenever I have time.”

Satisfied with my answer, Han Sang-hoon smiled gently.

Maintaining a good relationship with him would surely help with my plans.

“Well then…”

In an instant, the smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a serious expression once more.

“Let’s talk business.”

“Good. As promised, I’d like to exchange the money. The total amount is five hundred million hwan. I’ll convert all of it into dollars.”

“Why only five hundred million? You’ve secured more than seven hundred million, haven’t you?”

Han Sang-hoon already knew everything. Had someone leaked the information?

“How did you know that?”

“Haha, don’t be so defensive. Did you really think those greedy bastards would hand over all their profits to the brokerage?”

“…Don’t tell me that money was all funded through you, Elder?”

“That’s right. They borrowed five hundred million hwan from me. They were expecting the price to hover around forty-two hwan per share.”

“To be exact, they traded at forty-three. You must trust them quite a bit to lend such a large sum.”

Han Sang-hoon twisted his lips into a smirk.

“I don’t trust people. I only trust collateral. I secured both their brokerage shares and all the Daegung stock they purchased as collateral.”

Collateral in the form of shares that would soon be worthless.

In the end, even Han Sang-hoon had been dragged deep into this mess because of me.

Well, I had no reason to save him.

Losing five hundred million hwan would deal a heavy blow even to someone like him, but that was his choice.

“I see. Although I have more than seven hundred million hwan, I have other uses for it, so I’ll only exchange five hundred million.”

“Very well. A promise is a promise.”

Han Sang-hoon nodded.

“As agreed, I’ll calculate it at one dollar to one thousand three hundred fifty hwan.”

That finalized the terms of our deal.

“Thank you, Elder.”

“So, where is the five hundred million you’re bringing?”

“It’s stored safely elsewhere.”

“Good. Then let’s make the exchange three days from now.”

“Yes, understood.”

For a transaction involving such a large sum, it was a remarkably brief conversation.

But since both the exchange rate and the amount had already been decided, there wasn’t much more to discuss.

After a brief silence, Han Sang-hoon asked casually, as if it were nothing important.

“By the way… are you aware that I met with Master Yang?”

“You mean Teacher Yang?”

“Yes. He came to see me not long ago. Out of nowhere, he threatened me. Told me that unless I intended to challenge him head-on, I shouldn’t lay eyes on one of his men.”

That was something I hadn’t expected.

Yang Sobo had personally visited Han Sang-hoon to warn him about me?

The cunning Yang Sobo rarely moved in person.

What was he scheming?

I masked my surprise with a calm expression, and Han Sang-hoon chuckled softly.

He spoke with the relaxed tone of someone sharing a casual story.

“That only makes me want it more, you see?”

But his eyes gleamed with undisguised greed.

“The cold-blooded Yang Sobo values you that much? Makes me want you for myself even more.”

His gaze lingered on me with blatant desire.

He tried once again to win me over.

“I’ll ask again—are you sure you don’t want to work with me? You’d be much more comfortable under my wing than under that old man’s. I could give you far greater wings to fly.”

“I’m not something you can simply own because you want it, Elder.”

I drew a firm line.

“And right now, there’s something I must do with Teacher first.”

“Hmm… I see. I won’t press further.”

Though his tone suggested regret, he didn’t insist.

I rose from my seat.

“Then I’ll see you in three days.”

“Wait. We’re not done talking.”

“Do you have something more to say?”

His voice had grown sharper than before.

“How did you find this place?”

There it was. I’d wondered when he’d finally ask.

I’d already prepared for the question, so my answer came naturally.

“I found it by coincidence.”

“…Coincidence, you say. Do you really think that makes sense? No one knows this place except my most trusted men.”

“Whether you believe me or not is up to you, Elder, but I have no other explanation.”

Han Sang-hoon glared at me for a long while before finally sighing deeply.

“Fine. I won’t ask again. But you must never speak of this place to anyone. If this location ever becomes known to the outside world, I’ll assume it was your doing. And when that happens… you’ll face a situation far worse than you could ever imagine.”

His quiet voice carried a chilling menace.

Feeling the weight of his warning, I nodded.

“Of course. I haven’t even told Teacher Yang.”

“Good. Now leave. We’ll meet at the black market in three days. And don’t ever come here again.”

I bowed and took my leave.

The man I’d seen at the entrance earlier led me out with a blank expression.

Descending the stairs and stepping outside the building, I finally felt a bit of tension ease.

I looked up at the windowless, desolate building and thought to myself,

“So the Elder lent those three bastards money? Five hundred million hwan, no less?”

In the history I knew, Han Sang-hoon had never been directly involved in this stock market upheaval.

But because of me, history had begun to twist.

What kind of butterfly effect would this bring? Even I didn’t know.

“This is getting interesting.”

A cold smile spread across my lips as I stepped into the dark alleyway.

After finishing my conversation with the Elder, I headed to the secret office in Myeong-dong where I’d stored the money.

There, I set aside 7.84 million hwan—the remainder after excluding the seven hundred million.

Carrying the heavy briefcase, I went to the office that Ma Dong-jin and I had used as our operations base.

When I opened the door, Kang Cheol-min and Yoon Ji-seong were already waiting inside.

“Please, have a seat.”

I placed the briefcase on the table with a soft thud.

At my words, the three of them sat down in unison, as if on cue.

“All matters are now settled. Our planned Daegung stock sell-off has been successfully completed, and for the time being, we won’t need to make any more moves ourselves.”

Even as I spoke, Kang Cheol-min and Yoon Ji-seong’s gazes remained fixed on the briefcase rather than on me.

“There’s 7.8 million hwan inside this bag.”

I opened it, revealing stacks of cash inside.

“This is a small token of my gratitude for your efforts over the past month—

and the bonus I promised you.”

At that, Ma Dong-jin’s eyes widened along with the other two’s.

Especially Kang Cheol-min and Yoon Ji-seong, whose jaws dropped in disbelief.

7.8 million hwan.

Enough to buy several houses in this era—an enormous sum of money.

“I wish I could give you more, but for now, I hope this will do.”

“N-No, sir! You’re giving all of this to us? It’s far too much!”

So stunned was Kang Cheol-min that he even stammered.

I smiled faintly and began taking out bundles of 100,000-hwan notes.

As the pile of money on the table grew higher, the three men’s breathing grew heavier.

After laying out all seventy-eight bundles, I divided them evenly—twenty-six for each man.

2.6 million hwan per person.

A fortune they might never have dreamed of touching in their entire lives.

Their expressions each told a different story as they stared at the money before them.