A regular office worker, Karl, thought to himself.
‘This empire seems to be a country filled with nothing but empty-headed fools.’
‘Why does everyone complain about how hard life is?’
‘Even stupidity should have its limits.’
‘Making money is so easy, yet they whine.’
‘Don’t they understand the current situation?’
‘Professor Riyan is literally giving out money! He’s practically shoveling it and delivering it to everyone!’
‘There’s no need to work.’
‘All you need is faith.’
‘With just that, you can live a successful life.’
“Uhuhuhu.”
Thinking about the wealth that must be accumulating even now, Karl let out a sinister smile.
Since he wasn’t a wizard, he didn’t understand how amazing decoding runes was.
He wasn’t part of the Academy, nor was he interested in current events, so he didn’t know much about Riyan’s achievements.
He only figured that someone whose name appeared in newspapers all the time and who was mentioned frequently must be remarkable.
But now, things were a little different.
A famous professor, known as a genius in the academy, had invested there.
Surely, he must have spotted some hidden value invisible to people like us, the ordinary ones.
The information he had heard with skepticism had turned out to be true.
The money he had invested on a whim, thinking he had nothing to lose, had multiplied like crazy.
The dream of wealth beyond imagination seemed achievable.
Frequenting high-end entertainment venues wasn’t enough—he could even buy one.
He could quit his detestable job and start his own company.
At this rate of stock price growth, achieving those unrealistic dreams didn’t seem impossible.
He even started to resent the ancestral dragon he had always respected.
‘If it weren’t for that law, I’d already be swimming in money.’
Decades ago, during the Great Depression, a grieving dragon had abused all its authority to enforce a law after witnessing that horrific scene.
Because of it, taking out loans for investments or pouring all your assets into stocks was impossible.
Of course, he understood her desire to prevent such a disaster from happening again, but that law needed to go.
Many economic experts argued the same, and above all…
‘I can’t efficiently copy money because of it.’
If he could gather every bit of his resources and invest them in the stock endorsed by Professor Riyan, his success in life would be guaranteed.
Knowing the surefire method but not being able to act on it was beyond frustrating—it was heartbreaking.
Karl felt tears welling up from regret, but nothing would change no matter what he did.
After all, if the great ancestral dragon had decreed it, what could he possibly say or do to overturn it?
Attempting such insolence wasn’t even an option.
He decided to be content with his current reality.
After all, he was already incredibly fortunate.
Two months’ worth of salary.
Just yesterday, it had tripled in a single day.
All he did was visit the stock exchange, sign a few papers, and effortlessly earned six months’ worth of pay.
Living a life of effortless gains was exhilarating.
The joy of surpassing ordinary office workers with just a few strokes of a pen brought a devilish smile to his lips.
This was what he called the normalization of the labor structure.
To bask in His blessings once more, Karl rushed to the stock exchange as soon as work ended.
Though the atmosphere seemed a bit chaotic, he paid it no mind.
Surely, it was just non-believers who still doubted Professor Riyan, seething with envy over the skyrocketing stock prices.
Karl’s faith wasn’t shallow enough to waver at something like that.
He ignored the commotion entirely and went to check the professor’s divine protection.
The current stock price of H.L. Corporation.
With a pounding heart, Karl looked it up and…
“Huh?”
A dumbfounded sound escaped his lips.
His skin turned pale.
His expression was one of utter shock, as if his soul had left his body.
He stood there blankly, rubbing his eyes.
No matter how much he struggled to comprehend, the scene before him didn’t change.
What he saw on the screen made him genuinely question if he had counted the digits wrong.
The stock price had plummeted to a quarter of its value in a single day.
The dream of unimaginable wealth was shattered in that instant.
‘Wh-why? The professor said it would rise. He said this was a company the entire empire should watch out for!’
The hastily built faith crumbled in an instant.
Even though Karl still had money to get by, what was the point of life without alcohol, women, and meat?
Desperate, Karl threw himself into the bustling crowd and eavesdropped on their conversations.
He peered over shoulders to glance at the newspapers people were holding and skimmed the contents.
[Professor Riyan, a rising star, declares that H.L. Corporation’s current stock price is overly inflated.]
[Blatant stock manipulation? The market sways with every careless remark from Riyan. Isn’t it time for the imperial family to step in?]
[Is the professor profiting behind the scenes? Conspiracy theories abound. Is Riyan truly an honest and upright person?]
***
Finally, the world was functioning as it should.
Professor Riyan smiled contentedly as he thought, ‘If targeting the ancestral dragon and her students is too challenging, I’ll simply focus elsewhere.’
Unlike the people in the Academy, the general public didn’t know him all that well.
The plan to stir up trouble, earn their hatred, and get fired had succeeded magnificently this time.
Just look at the chaos around him now.
On his way to a press conference to give an explanation, an angry mob had gathered to harshly criticize him.
Some were even throwing raw eggs at him.
The ever-present escort guards he hadn’t asked for surrounded him as usual.
On top of that, with his slightly enhanced magical powers, the range of spells he could use had expanded.
No matter what these people tried, he could move safely.
Though the furious mob screamed at him, their voices grating on his ears, Riyan couldn’t help but feel exhilarated.
People were angry at him.
People were criticizing him, pointing out the absurdity of his actions.
To someone else, their reaction might seem natural, but to Riyan, it was deeply moving.
‘Hadn’t he endured humiliation and hardships for so long?’
‘Why had it been so difficult to receive this obvious reaction?’
Thinking of the past made him tear up unintentionally.
‘But it’s still too early to be relieved.’
He couldn’t afford to let his guard down until the very end.
Although he had successfully worsened public opinion beyond his target level, he would only celebrate once everything was fully settled.
He would be arrested on charges of stock manipulation.
The ancestral dragon would intervene to save him from punishment, but the scandal would leave him too humiliated to show his face.
In his ruined state, he would plead with the ancestral dragon to let him escape to a place where no one knew him.
He’d end up living leisurely in a luxurious resort.
Until that vision came true, he couldn’t relax.
Resolving himself once more, Riyan stepped in front of the reporters.
Flashes popped incessantly, dazzling him.
Hundreds of eyes fixated solely on him.
The reporters hurled the most provocative questions they could muster, asking if he felt guilty about the situation and whether he had any remorse for his actions.
Their sharp questions pressed him, but Riyan wasn’t the type to crumble under such pressure.
After all, his sole purpose here was to stir up trouble.
“I just don’t understand,” he began, donning a metaphorical iron mask of shamelessness.
“Why should I be held responsible for something they did wrong?”
His defiant face made his next remarks all the more infuriating.
“I merely pointed out the need to pay attention to H.L. Corporation. I swear I never once claimed its stock price would rise.”
It was blatantly obvious that saying “pay attention to the company” and claiming the stock price would rise were practically the same thing.
Karl’s deceptive wordplay, akin to covering one’s eyes and pretending not to see, was enough to drive anyone mad.
But since he was already here, why not go all out?
“Honestly, there’s a limit to how disgusting this all is. People are so materialistic, judging all values by money. It’s impossible to have a meaningful conversation at such a low level.”
He outright insulted others after causing the problem, flaunting his sense of superiority without restraint.
And then came his final blow—a statement so ludicrous that no one could accept it.
A ridiculous excuse akin to “The dog ate my homework.”
“My comments had nothing to do with the secular value of stock prices. I simply said people should pay attention to the company itself.”
He concluded with, “The mascot was just so adorable that I wanted everyone to know about it,” utterly destroying any remaining semblance of rationality in his audience.
After causing such a mess, Karl’s nonsensical remarks left people utterly enraged.
They should have rioted right then and there…
But before he could finish speaking, the press conference descended into chaos.
Suddenly, communication devices began ringing in unison.
Reporters, placing their earpieces in, turned pale and shouted out loud.
“Is it true that the CEO of H.L. Corporation is a serial killer?”
“How did you uncover that Hannibal Lecter is the cannibal who terrified the Empire?”
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