CHAPTER 1
In South Korea, respect was measured in silence.
When Kang Min-jae entered a room, conversations did not stop they softened, bent, adjusted themselves carefully around him. People smiled, bowed, offered drinks.
But their eyes always drifted past him.
Toward someone richer.
The ballroom of the Grand Haneul Hotel glittered with crystal chandeliers and quiet competition. It was the annual Wealth Summit a gathering of the most powerful men in the state. Cameras flashed like lightning. Names were announced with reverence.
Min-jae adjusted his cufflinks, listening.
"Sixth place Kang Min-jae, CEO of Mirae Holdings."
Polite applause followed. Respectful. Controlled.
Not awe.
He stepped onto the stage, his expression calm, but inside something twisted sharply.
Sixth.
Always sixth.
Above him stood five men who shaped the state's economy like gods shaping a world. Among them, Chairman Park Do-shik the richest smiled down at him with effortless superiority.
Min-jae bowed, accepting the plaque.
For a moment, he imagined smashing it into Park's face.
Instead, he walked off the stage with perfect composure.
Outside, snow had begun to fall over Seoul, covering the city in a white silence that felt like mockery.
His driver opened the car door.
"Congratulations, sir."
Min-jae didn't respond.
As the car moved through the glowing city, he stared out the window at the skyline towers owned by other men.
"I will not die as number six," he murmured.
CHAPTER 2
Han So-yeon was waiting when he returned home.
Their penthouse overlooked the Han River, floating above the city like a palace in the sky. Soft church music played from hidden speakers.
She stood by the window in a pale dress, hands folded like a painting of a saint.
"You're home early," she said gently.
Her voice always sounded like forgiveness.
Min-jae loosened his tie. "It was pointless."
"You moved up last year."
"I didn't move this year."
She turned to face him, her expression full of sympathy that felt almost rehearsed.
"You work too hard. God sees your efforts."
He almost laughed.
God had nothing to do with wealth rankings.
"You went to church today?" he asked.
She nodded.
"I prayed for you."
That should have comforted him.
Instead, it irritated him.
"Prayer won't make me number one."
Something flickered in her eyes quick, sharp, gone in an instant.
"No," she agreed quietly. "It won't."
She stepped closer, placing a hand on his chest.
"Then maybe you need something stronger than prayer."
Her touch was cold.
Min-jae looked down at her. For years, he had seen her as pure, gentle, harmless.
But in that moment, he felt as if he were standing before someone who had been waiting for this exact conversation.
CHAPTER 3
The next weeks were torture.
Every news article, every business report, every whisper among executives reminded him of his position.
Sixth.
At meetings, men richer than him interrupted without apology. Politicians answered their calls first. Invitations arrived addressed to others as "honored guest" while his read "distinguished attendee.
Money could buy luxury.
It could not buy reverence.
One night, after another failed attempt to secure a major acquisition, Min-jae returned home furious.
"I offered double the price," he snapped, throwing his coat aside.
So-yeon poured tea calmly.
"Yet they chose Chairman Park.
"They said his influence would 'protect their future.
He slammed his hand on the table.
"They don't fear me."
The word echoed in the room.
Fear.
So-yeon's lips curved slowly.
"Respect built on admiration fades," she said softly.
"Respect built on fear lasts forever."
Min-jae looked up.
"Where did you hear that?"
She met his gaze without blinking.
"From someone who understands power.
Silence stretched between them.
Then she said the words that would change everything:
"There's a woman in Insadong… people say she grants impossible wishes."
Min-jae frowned. "A fortune teller?
"Not exactly."
Her smile was small, secretive.
"They say powerful men visit her when they want more than the world allows.
Chapter 4
The alley smelled of incense and rain.
Min-jae felt ridiculous standing there a billionaire in a tailored coat, staring at a door that looked abandoned.
No sign. No light. Only a faded talisman pasted across the wood.
He almost turned back.
Then the door opened by itself.
Inside, candles flickered along the walls, casting shadows that moved as if alive.
Madam Wol-hwa sat at a low table, waiting.
"You took your time," she said.
Her voice carried the certainty of someone who already knew the outcome.
Min-jae stepped forward slowly.
"I was told you help people achieve impossible things."
She studied him, eyes sharp as knives.
"You don't need help becoming rich," she said.
"You want something else."
He swallowed.
"I want to be number one."
Her laughter filled the room not amused, not kind.
"What will you exchange for that?"
Min-jae hesitated.
"I don't know."
The candles bent toward her as she leaned forward.
"Then I will choose for you."
Chapter 5
Madam Wol-hwa poured tea that smelled bitter, like burned herbs and something older than memory.
"You want to be number one," she said calmly. "Do you know what that means?"
"It means everyone bows to me," Min-jae replied.
Her lips curled.
"No. It means standing alone where no one can reach you."
He didn't care.
"I'll pay anything."
The spiritualist began to laugh.
Not politely.
Not normally.
It was a laugh that seemed to come from the walls, the floor, the air itself as if something unseen found him amusing.
"Men always say that," she said. "Until they hear the price."
Min-jae's confidence flickered, but pride forced him forward.
"Tell me."
Her eyes sharpened.
"You have two choices."
The candles dimmed.
"Stay awake for ninety days without sleep not a moment, not a blink long enough to dream."
"That's impossible."
"Or…"
She leaned closer.
"Sell your soul."
The room fell silent.
Chapter 6
Min-jae tried the first option.
He hired doctors, stimulants, specialists. His schedule became a battlefield against exhaustion. Bright lights filled his office day and night. Assistants monitored him constantly.
Day 3 — headaches.
Day 7 — trembling hands.
Day 10 — shadows moving where nothing existed.
By Day 14, reality began to crack.
He saw people standing in corners who vanished when he looked directly at them. Heard whispers inside the hum of air conditioners.
By Day 18, he collapsed during a meeting.
When he woke in the hospital, So-yeon sat beside him, her expression calm.
"You're going to die if you continue," she said softly.
"I can still do it."
She shook her head.
"You don't have the strength for that path."
Her fingers brushed his cheek.
"But there's another way."
CHAPTER 7
He returned to the alley.
Madam Wol-hwa did not look surprised.
"The sleepless path breaks the body," she said. "The other breaks something deeper."
Min-jae's voice was hoarse.
"I'll sell it."
"Your soul?" she asked quietly.
He hesitated only a moment.
"Yes."
She produced a sheet of paper that looked ancient, its surface faintly stained as if it remembered previous signatures.
"Once you sign, there is no reversal," she warned.
"No prayer. No regret. No redemption."
Min-jae picked up the brush.
"For respect," he said.
The ink was cold.
The moment his name was complete, every candle in the room went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Something invisible tore through him not pain, not exactly, but a hollowing, like a piece of him had been lifted out and carried away.
When the lights returned, Madam Wol-hwa looked older.
"It's done."
Chapter 8
Success came immediately.
Deals he had chased for years fell into his hands overnight. Competitors withdrew without explanation. Government approvals arrived instantly.
People began to speak his name carefully.
Fear had entered the room before he did.
But other things changed too.
Food tasted dull. Music sounded empty. He no longer laughed not because he was sad, but because the emotion simply didn't exist.
At night, he stood before mirrors, studying his reflection.
His eyes looked the same.
But something inside them was gone.
Chapter 9
Chairman Park Do-shik died on a bright afternoon.
No storm. No mechanical failure. His car simply swerved off an empty road.
The news shook the state.
Min-jae watched the broadcast in silence.
So-yeon stood behind him, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders.
"You're number one now," she whispered.
He should have felt victorious.
Instead, a chill crawled through him.
Because in the reflection of the TV screen, for a brief second
He saw someone standing behind them.
Not So-yeon.
Something taller.
Watching.
When he turned, nothing was there.
Chapter 10
The ceremony crowning him as the richest man in the state was grander than any before it.
Applause thundered.
Cameras flashed.
People bowed lower than they ever had.
Respect.
Fear.
Obedience.
He had everything he wanted.
Yet as he stood on the stage, looking out over the crowd, a strange thought slipped into his mind:
This isn't enough.
Above the stage hung a massive map of South Korea glowing, powerful, untouchable.
His gaze lingered on it.
If he could become number one here…
Why not the entire country?
In the front row, So-yeon met his eyes.
And slowly, she smiled.
As if she had been waiting for that exact thou