Chapter 3

The Hyenas of Capitalism - Chapter 3 (3/215)

In the end, Maru looked at me as if I were crazy, drank his makgeolli to his heart's content, and left. I kind of expected it, but it's still a bit disappointing. He's a reliable guy, though.

While hammering away, I thought about yesterday's drinking session. After a month, I'm getting the hang of it.

I was hammering rhythmically when I heard the boss calling me from the side.

"Sol, come here."

"Yes, boss."

"It's been a month now, right? How's it going? Are you going to continue?"

"Of course. The more I do, the more fun it is."

The boss chuckled and suddenly threw me a car key.

"I took it. But what's this? It looks like an old car. It's not a New Grandeur, is it?"

"That's the key to the Porter parked over there."

"Porter? A truck key?"

"Right. I'll lend you the truck. Go and do some collection. I'll pay you the rate minus the fuel cost."

My eyes widened. I didn't expect you to go this far.

"Really? You're really telling me to go and collect things? You're lending me a car? And you're paying for the items?"

"Yeah, man. It's a major service. I must be getting old; I've become so soft."

I bowed 90 degrees to the boss, who was shaking his head.

"Thank you! Meeting you, boss, feels like a stroke of luck from heaven!"

"Don't overdo it. Go and try it. I'm not just giving you an opportunity. I want you to see how difficult it is."

"Ah, give me a chance. I'll do the first collection for free."

"Shut up and go."

Indeed, it was a truck that looked quite old.

The inside of the car smelled musty, probably because it hadn't been used for a long time.

Unlike regular trucks, this one had wooden boards on both sides to make the truck bed higher, allowing for more items to be collected. It was a genuine junk truck.

After turning the key several times, I finally managed to start the engine.

"Let's go! First start!"

I thought strategically.

Basically, the most valuable items are scrap copper and scrap wires, but they are hard to find in residential areas.

Since the junkyard is in a densely populated residential area, I skipped those and went for the next most valuable item: aluminum cans.

However, they don't come out often. There are more steel cans than aluminum cans.

"Well, I'll just go wherever my feet take me and collect whatever looks valuable."

Not long after starting, I found a pile of garbage in an alley between residential buildings.

I shouted "Lucky!" and parked the car, starting to rummage through the garbage bags.

"Ugh. What's this? So many food scraps, paper, and plastic mixed together? Oh, there's even a diaper. Ah, an aluminum can!"

I took out an aluminum can and a ball of paper from one garbage bag and tied it back up.

Even though I'm rummaging through garbage, I have manners. I threw the collected items into the back of the truck and started rummaging through the next bag.

The garbage bags contained all sorts of things. After about 30 minutes of checking all the bags, the results were poor.

"Two aluminum cans, six steel cans, five PET bottles, and a handful of scrap paper. Wow. Old men and women with carts fill theirs up, but when will I ever fill this? At this rate, it'll never end."

I sighed and started driving the truck through the alleys again. I rummaged through a few more piles of garbage, but the results were similar.

When I was crouching to rummage through the fifth pile of garbage, someone called out.

"Hey, aren't you the young man who works for Mr. Kim?"

It was an old lady who brings scrap paper to the boss's junkyard.

"Who's this? Isn't it Mrs. Ahn?"

Actually, I don't call the old ladies and gentlemen "boss," but they like it when I call them that, so it became my signature line. Thanks to this, I got a lot of free milk.

"Ah, it's you, young man. What are you doing here?"

"Ah, the boss told me to drive the truck and do some collection. I have to start working on the front lines, right?"

"Is that so? But why are you rummaging through garbage here?"

"Well, to collect, don't you have to rummage through garbage bags?"

"Ah, that old man Mr. Kim didn't even teach you the basics before sending you out? What a terrible old man."

So that's what he meant by "try hard."

"Ah... Then, Mrs. Ahn, could you maybe share some tips? I'll buy you a glass of milk."

"Oh, just milk? I don't teach others, but I'll teach you, young man. In return, promise not to touch the residential areas and commercial areas I collect from."

"Of course. I have principles. Will you tell me?"

"In residential areas, you'd have to collect a lot of garbage and rummage through it, which takes a long time. Even if you collect for a hundred days, it's hard to fill a cart. Instead, go to the entertainment district's trash cans. After people drink, they throw away a lot of drink containers. Also, in the morning, go to the commercial areas where there are a lot of empty boxes. That's a good spot too."

"I see! I learned a lot from Mrs. Ahn. Do you have any specific places to recommend?"

"Someone said the next district doesn't have a junkyard yet, but I'm not sure. Anyway, try your best."

I thanked her and drove the truck to the commercial area of the next district. It was already past morning, and I drove to a shop preparing for lunch. The restaurant owner called out.

"Here! Here! Garbage man!"

"Gar... Garbage man?"

I was momentarily flustered but managed to keep my composure and rolled down the window.

"Yes, did you call me?"

"Oh, a garbage man? No, you're a young man. I thought you were the garbage man who comes to collect. I was going to ask him to clear some boxes."

"I can do that for you."

"Thanks. Thanks. This garbage is really a problem, just taking up space."

"No problem. If you need me, just call. ...Maybe you can call me 'collection guy'?"

"Huh? Oh, I called you that out of habit. Now that I think about it, it might be offensive. Sorry, young man."

"No, it's fine."

I got out of the car and started collecting boxes. There was a considerable amount, at least a dozen kilograms.

'But even if I collect this, it's only 50 won per kilogram, so it's just a few hundred won. When will I ever collect enough?'

But that was a worry. Starting with the first shop owner, scrap paper started pouring out from the line of restaurants.

It took only 2-3 minutes to collect from each shop, and both restaurants and shops were throwing out scrap paper from the day's deliveries and PET bottles from the previous day.

In less than an hour, the truck was full of scrap paper and PET bottles.

"The truck is full. I'll be back soon."

I returned to the junkyard with a light step.

The boss, who was hammering, looked at the truck with wide eyes. I stood up straight and said confidently.

"Here. I brought it back full. I said the first collection is free, right?"

"I sent you out to work hard, but what did you do?"

"Mrs. Ahn told me. She said the next district is good for collection."

"Ah, that old lady is talking nonsense. Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's good. You need to work hard to know how difficult it is."

"Still, I worked hard in the residential areas. Please weigh it quickly. The truck is full, and I couldn't finish collecting."

"Alright, bring it over."

I got out of the truck and weighed the items. The paper alone weighed over 400 kilograms. Including PET bottles and other items, it came to 22,000 won.

It took 30 minutes to drive to the next district and 1 hour to collect, excluding the time spent in the residential area. I earned 22,000 won in 1.5 hours.

"So, the first collection is free, and I'll go back to collect the rest."

I started the truck with a whistle. A day of manual labor usually earns 50,000 won.

If I keep collecting, theoretically, working 10 hours a day would earn me over 130,000 won.

Indeed, my intuition was right. I arrived back at the commercial area, but the first run was a fluke.

In the short time I was gone, the garbage man had already collected the rest.

"Disappointing, but what can I do?"

I recorded the time I spent collecting today and headed to the nearby entertainment district.

The entertainment district was already cleaned by someone, but I noticed a trash can that seemed untouched. I was about to start rummaging when something hit my head.

"Ouch!"

Something flew and hit my head. It stung a bit.

I rubbed my head and looked in the direction it came from. A kid was standing there with a BB gun.

"Homeless guy is rummaging through garbage! Homeless, homeless!"

The kid aimed at me again and started shooting. I felt humiliated. I thought I was doing this for money and didn't care about others' opinions, but I didn't expect this.

Homeless? I could look like a homeless person. At the same time, I blamed myself.

'Park Sol, when you decided to work at the junkyard, you should have been prepared for this. I'm confident. I'm confident in myself! I'll become rich by earning money this way! I can see it. I can see the money.'

I stood up. Although I can't compare to Maru, I'm not small. I'm 180 cm tall and weigh 90 kg.

When I stood up, the kid flinched. But he aimed at me again and started shooting.

"Homeless, die! Die, die!"

I took a step toward the kid with each BB pellet that hit me. I didn't run. I walked slowly. The kid, scared, started backing away. When he tried to run, I said,

"Kid, what's your name?"

"I... I'm Baek Yong! Homeless guy!"

I pointed at the kid and said,

"I remember you."