The winning lottery numbers remained on the TV screen for a while.

Could it be…

Shin Haesu checked the note the store owner was holding. It was a first-prize winning ticket for the Daehan Bank lottery.

He placed a finger under the man’s nose—no breath. His chest wasn’t moving either. The shock of this good news had caused him to collapse from a heart attack.

Haesu hesitated for a moment. He was 60 million won in debt due to settlement fees from excessive force complaints. The convenience store was empty. The lottery ticket was outside the range of the CCTV cameras.

No.

Haesu shook his head to dispel the temptation. Then, at the same time, a much better idea came to him.

Just in case the reset didn’t work, he first called 119 and then began CPR.

Even as he worked, his eyes remained fixed on the lottery numbers.

33, 28, 7, 17, 43, 45… All right, reset.

Honk! Honk, honk!

Haesu’s eyes snapped open. The blaring of car horns, flashing traffic lights—he was in the middle of the road.

The first thing he did was check the time.

7:52 PM.

The lottery sales deadline was 8:00 PM. Less than eight minutes remained, and traffic was at a standstill.

In the distance, he saw a convenience store that sold lottery tickets. Haesu stomped on the gas and swerved onto the shoulder. But he was soon forced to stop—illegally parked cars blocked the way. Should he get out and run? Or just give up? The decision was quick.

Vroom!

He scraped past two illegally parked cars, pushing them aside. A middle-aged man, coming out of a restaurant while picking his teeth with a toothpick, shouted in shock.

“Hey, you crazy bastard!”

“What the hell is wrong with this son of a—?!”

Ignoring their curses, Haesu sprinted into the convenience store, slapped down a 5,000 won bill, and manually marked his lottery numbers.

Three minutes left. He placed his phone on the counter and monitored the seconds ticking away as he swiftly filled in the numbers.

The part-time cashier, sensing the urgency, positioned himself in front of the lottery machine, ready without needing instructions.

At 59 minutes and 40 seconds, Haesu lifted the completed lottery card.

“I’d like to buy this!”

“Yes, sir!”

Beep. Whirrr—

Success.

The cashier grinned as if it were his own victory and handed Haesu the ticket.

“Did you have a dream or something?”

“Ah, haha.”

Holding it reverently with both hands, Haesu carefully placed it in his wallet.

“Thanks! If I win, I’ll treat you!”

He paid and dashed out of the store, hurrying back to his car. The whole process had delayed him by about ten minutes compared to before the reset.

In the distance, the owners of the illegally parked cars were running toward him.

“Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“Were you rushing to take a damn emergency shit or something?”

There was no time to argue. Haesu handed them his business card and turned away.

“Handle it through insurance and contact me.”

“Hey, hey!!”

Ignoring them, he got into his car—now scratched along one side and missing a side mirror—and sped toward the convenience store near his home.

8:48 PM.

Just about the same time as before the reset. Through the glass, he saw the store owner staring wide-eyed at the TV screen.

As Haesu burst through the door, the announcer’s voice rang out.

“-The final number is 47. Congratulations to all the winners.”

“Hu, hu, da, dang, kkeo, kkeo, kkeok—”

The store owner’s mouth hung open in shock, his breathing became erratic, and he clutched his chest before collapsing.

“Sir!”

Haesu caught him as he fell, softening the impact. Before he could even begin CPR, the convenience store door swung open, and paramedics rushed in.

He had already called 119 from his car.

Before the owner was taken away, Haesu tucked the lottery ticket into the man’s jacket pocket and zipped it up.

“Phew.”

Only then did he let out a long sigh and head upstairs to his apartment.

The next morning, on his way to work, Haesu stopped by the convenience store to buy breakfast. The store owner stepped out from behind the counter and clasped his hands tightly.

“I heard. They told me you saved my life. Thank you. Truly, thank you!”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

“You really do have a way with words, being a police officer and all. You know… actually…”

The owner pulled a folded lottery ticket from his pocket.

“I won first prize. This ticket almost cost me my life. The money nearly swallowed me whole.”

Something about his tone was off. What was he trying to say?

“I see…”

“The prize is over three billion won. Here… you take it. I have no wife or children. If I had died, it would’ve been useless anyway.”

“…What?”

No matter how much gratitude he felt, this wasn’t something a modern person, bound by money, would ever say. Was it because he had faced death?

Normally, Haesu would have jumped at such a kind offer, but now, his conscience wouldn’t allow it.

Because of him, the store owner would receive several billion won less than he was supposed to.

With a quiet motion, Haesu took the ticket from the owner’s hand and gently curled his fingers around it.

“Sir, use this money to enjoy your life from now on. If you enjoy yourself, you might even find a wife and children. You’re still young.”

“Ahaha, you’re joking.”

It wasn’t a joke. Nowadays, plenty of people in their early fifties remarried. If he had enough money to enjoy his later years, it would be even easier.

And human emotions were fickle. Right now, he might be giving away his winnings out of gratitude, but as time passed, he could come to regret it bitterly.

After rejecting the offer multiple times, Haesu accepted only two triangular kimbaps and a cup of instant noodles for free before leaving the store.

Though it wasn’t his day off, he took a personal day. The thought of having a ticket worth tens of billions of won in his wallet made it impossible to focus.

What if he lost it while apprehending a suspect? What if he left it at home and someone broke in?

So, he spent the entire day holed up in his apartment.

After a long, uneventful day, the long-awaited Monday finally arrived.

Waking up at dawn, Haesu prepared to go out. The Daehan Bank headquarters was in Seoul, a two-hour trip from here.

Since his car needed repairs anyway, and since driving carried the risk of an accident where he might lose the ticket, he chose to minimize variables.

Instead, he took the train to Seoul.

Haesu stood in front of the Daehan Bank headquarters, crossing his arms to better protect the wallet in his inner pocket while scanning his surroundings.

Just in case any thugs tried to jump him, he had even brought his expandable baton.

Everyone who passed by or made eye contact with him seemed suspicious.

Even though he was confident he could take down a truckload of people, the paranoia was making him feel like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Now he could understand why half of all lottery winners showed up at the bank first thing on Monday morning, even before the doors opened.

At the first-floor counter of Daehan Bank headquarters, Haesu quickly scanned the area. As expected of a bank holding vast amounts of cash, four armed security guards were stationed, their sharp eyes sweeping over the lobby.

Three people had their identities concealed under caps or hoodies, but none of them had made any suspicious moves yet.

Ding-dong.

“Number 94.”

It was Haesu’s turn. The bank teller greeted him with a gentle smile.

“How may I assist you today?”

“Yes, I’m here to claim my winnings.”

“Oh, congratulations! May I see your ID and the lottery ticket?”

Haesu took another careful look around before slowly retrieving his wallet from his inner pocket and pulling out the ticket.

His thick hands visibly trembled. Even more than when he had once infiltrated a serial killer’s house alone.

The bank teller, who must have seen reactions like this countless times, gave a knowing smile as she took the ticket. But the moment she checked it, her mouth dropped open.

“Ah… um… Congratulations.”

The ₩5,000 ticket she held had the same numbers printed five times.

Claiming the winnings was a complicated process. It wasn’t as simple as opening an account at the counter and getting the money deposited immediately.

After confirming the winning ticket in the system, a well-dressed male banker approached and guided Haesu to a private office.

There, he was briefed on a 2:1 deposit account, and for quite some time, various wealth managers and fund advisors were recommended to him.

But since they were about to hand over an astronomical amount of money, Haesu had no problem listening to their offers a hundred times if needed.

“…This is a special account exclusively available to VVIPs who deposit over ₩10 billion. It offers a 1% annual interest rate with unrestricted deposits and withdrawals. If you maintain over ₩10 billion, the interest rate will increase by 0.1% each year for up to 10 years—a truly exceptional benefit.”

“I see. Thank you. Is that all?”

“Yes, that’s all. Just to confirm, is this your correct address? A VVIP gift worth ₩1 million will be delivered in a few days, so accuracy is important.”

“Yes.”

The banker clicked his tongue lightly as he looked at Haesu.

“You’re incredibly lucky. You get to take home more than half of the prize pool…”

“…Ha ha. I had a good dream.”

Normally, there would be around a dozen winners, but this time, luck had been on his side—only eight winners had emerged, so the payout per person was much higher.

After taxes, Haesu received ₩11.4 billion.

“Phew.”

Now that the fragile slip of paper—easily lost, soaked, or torn—had been safely deposited in an account where he could withdraw as needed without fear of losing it, he felt a tremendous sense of relief.

Leaving the bank, Haesu walked to the train station with a much lighter heart, no longer glancing over his shoulder.

On the train, his mind filled with happy thoughts. Dreams he had only imagined could now become reality.

First, he would refill his bank account, which had been drained by settlement payments, and clear all his loans.

But above all else, one thing made him the happiest.

“Now… I don’t have to suffer from settlement fees anymore.”

Just thinking about being able to use excessive force freely made him excited.

People who didn’t fear the law needed to fear fists instead—that was his unshakable belief.

As soon as he arrived in Gangjin City, he didn’t even stop by his house. He went straight to work.

Officer Lim, who had once been his squad leader but was now a subordinate, looked at him curiously.

“Sergeant Shin, you look unusually cheerful today. Something good happen?”

“I paid off all my debts.”

“Wow… Congratulations! I still have about 20 years left on my apartment loan. That’s amazing.”

“I live in a studio. Monthly rent.”

“…What?”

“The debt I paid off was from settlement fees.”

“Oh…”

Officer Lim fell silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought.

After another exhausting day of wrestling with drunk troublemakers, it was finally time to go home.

Noticing that Haesu was walking instead of driving, Officer Lim called out.

“Sergeant Shin, where’s your car?”

“Had a minor accident. Scrapped it.”

“…Wait, a minor accident, but you scrapped it…? Never mind. Hop in, I’ll give you a ride.”

“No, thanks. I feel like walking today. See you tomorrow.”

“Ah… Alright. See you tomorrow!”

Watching her drive away, Haesu continued his walk home with light, cheerful steps. It was nearly a 30-minute walk, but today, everything seemed beautiful, and he was simply happy.

Along the way, he passed a fried chicken shop where he ordered from once a month.

Unlike usual, he walked in without hesitation.

His biggest dilemma when ordering delivery was always choosing between soy sauce and spicy seasoning. Both were equally delicious, making it agonizing to decide.

But today was different.

“Give me both soy sauce and spicy seasoning. To go!”

And that was how it would be from now on. If there was too much, he’d throw it away—not that there would be any leftovers.

Rustle, rustle.

The black plastic bag holding the chicken brushed against his clothes, making a satisfying sound.

Like a child, Haesu swung the bag playfully as he walked into his home.

Click.

He placed his palm on the door lock to activate the keypad, but just before pressing the numbers, his eyes sharpened.

He felt someone watching him.

He turned his head, but the presence disappeared.

Worried that they might try to snatch his chicken, Haesu shielded the keypad with his hand, randomly pressing decoy numbers before finally entering the real password and opening the door.

Inside the dark apartment, the air was cold and still.

As he stepped forward and the entrance light flicked on, he caught a glimpse of something inside.

Three unfamiliar men, each holding a weapon, were staring at him.

One had a sashimi knife, another a hammer, and the third a pipe wrench.

The man with the knife scratched his head with the handle and stepped forward.

“Don’t try anything stupid. Just come in and sit down. If you cooperate, we won’t kill you.”

Haesu looked down at the neatly wrapped chicken in the black bag, then lifted his gaze again.

“Can I eat the chicken first?”