Chapter 5

If a commoner regresses, they become a golden spoon—Chapter 5 (5/405)

‘My half-finished house, my Hanam de Hill, my Lamborghini….’

I quietly swallowed my tears. Ah, what a crazy world….

The symbols of wealth that had floated above my head quickly dispersed.

Ding-

An ominous sound effect rang out as the status window appeared.

「▶▶▶Error….」

「▶System

【Nothing comes without effort: Occurred!】

Investment using knowledge of the future is not allowed. Investments in stocks, lotteries, coins, etc., are restricted, and penalties will be applied if you encourage others to invest by sharing information.

※ Penalty▷ Random!」

I looked at the status window that appeared before my eyes. Annoyingly, it was a gloomy gray color.

I… had spent the last 30 seconds happily imagining myself becoming an oil tycoon, buying a few buildings in Seoul, and getting a sports car. I had felt a surge of pride, thinking I was a genius…

‘Wait, should I just do it even with the penalty?’

I wanted to burst into the living room and shout, "Mom! Buy Bitcoin!!!" KakaoTalk, Il Sung, Tesla…. The beautiful dream of being a retail investor was quickly fading. System, what do you know? The mindset of a salaryman is to quit.

I bit my lip and glared at the status window still floating before my eyes.

‘The “Nothing comes without effort” message on the status window might be a hint.’

If investments using future information are restricted, I could just start the companies I want to invest in.

Instead of being the one who wants to invest, I could become the one who wants to invest in me.

Ding-

「▶System

【Clap, clap, clap! Correct choice】

You have chosen the right direction. A reward is given.

○Random reward draw☜ Click」

The status window is the best. It’s a one-of-a-kind savior, and its generosity is beyond words. I clasped my hands together at the sudden reward.

‘Status window, I believe in you.’

A small window flashed, and a box appeared. There was a mark indicating I should click it, so I did, and the papers inside exploded upwards.

My hair fluttered in the wind as countless papers rained down. I caught one of the papers that fell near my hand.

‘This is my first reward, so it should be something good… right?’

Rustle-

「▶[Reward: ‘I love you as much as you love me’ (F) obtained!]

+30,000 Gold」

…Is that all the love you have?

「Current Gold: 490,000」

* * *

While pondering the system, my throat dried up, and I went to the living room. In the dark living room, someone was sobbing quietly.

“Sob….”

Mom was sitting on the sofa, her face covered by her hands, surrounded by piled-up bills. I had momentarily forgotten.

The reason I had always felt inferior while scrolling through social media.

Celebrating Parents' Day with Mom and Dad, we came to Jeju, but Dad had to buy golf clothes on the spot because he couldn't play without them, and I was happy with the purchase. 😊 Does it show too much that I'm a golf newbie? 😢

I didn't want to be part of others' glamorous lives.

Today, I had sushi again. Among the omakase I know, this place is the best, and the chef keeps giving me more, making me full. 😢 I almost opened another bottle of champagne but was too full.

I wanted to include my parents.

Going shopping with Mom, I got something too. Next time, I'll aim for a bag for when I'm 100! It's hard for Mom to maintain her VIP status, but I'll help her. 😊

A leisurely life. Luxury hotels, spontaneous trips, meals costing over 200,000 won, and golf resorts and massages with membership cards.

I wanted the ability to give these things to Mom and Dad, which I envied and sometimes felt miserable about.

Buzz-

Suddenly, my phone vibrated. It was Dad.

Ding-

「[Health] stat increased.

▶ +10」

Ding-

「[Health] stat increased.

▶ +10」

Ding-

「[Health] stat increased.

▶ +10」

I could see my rapidly decreasing health being restored.

Wait, Dad. Things will definitely get better. I'll make sure of it.

I felt a surge of energy from somewhere. Hang in there.

‘…I’ll sleep later.’

Current HP: 80. Perfect for an all-nighter.

I tied my hair up and spent the night checking news and the internet on my computer, keeping up with current trends and the knowledge of the future I knew.

Everything is fine for now. But I'm a student, and there are limits to running a social media account…. Real influencers will be looking at it all day, and I lack the information-gathering ability.

Shopping time, the right amount of money, and the time to upload photos.

‘Even if I had ten bodies, it wouldn’t be enough.’

I tapped the paper lightly with the pen in my hand. Roll, brain. Roll faster…!

Thinking of the phone screen, I smiled as a brilliant idea struck me.

“If I had ten bodies, it would be fine.”

Card news on social media, promotional accounts, a small community.

There's nothing better than a Facebook page at this time. The status window that appeared just now even suggested becoming an influencer. With my current state, I can do anything. Paying off debts with social media, becoming an influencer.

I quickly grabbed my phone and opened the Facebook app.

▷Do you want to create a [Page]?

☞ Click

The number of followers on a social media page directly affects advertising revenue. With many followers, more ads naturally come in, and those ads attract more followers.

‘This is the closest example of money begetting money.’

I know exactly how much advertising revenue per follower I can get from a rough lifestyle. I've handled blogger and influencer recruitment, and even written posts for them if they couldn't upload within the set time.

Today, I visited my aunt's sushi restaurant in Pohang. (Bald eyes sparkling) The view of the sea makes my heart open up in Pohang! The side dishes are very generous, and the price is the best! (Bald thumbs up) The chewy clams are perfect for a date with my boyfriend.

Of course, I've never been to my aunt's sushi restaurant in Pohang. That's not all. I've never used a rose gold compact or taken diet enzymes.

I was just a junior employee who had to work overtime like eating.

“This is my specialty.”

Before officially opening the Facebook page, I installed the most popular app of the year and started browsing the most popular posts.

A startup app that seems insignificant now. Kiki Guest.

Kiki Guest is an app that curates and provides interesting and entertaining content that people will like from a vast amount of information. It features mobile-optimized content such as photos, GIFs, music, and short texts, making it easy to enjoy. @News Korea

I used to enjoy this app around this time. After the end of the second-semester final exams, I would browse Kiki Guest with my friends during meaningless school days.

Card news that appears on social media for easy reading was revolutionary.

‘I used to wait for certain days to check them.’

A few years later, when golden spoons and luxury brands swept through, this app faded, but at this time, it was common to queue up to buy new products from drugstore makeup brands when they were on sale or had 1+1 deals.

Later, Kiki Guest even collaborated with brands to launch new products.

“What if I became an editor at Kiki Guest?”

The speed of paying off debts might be faster than expected.

Holding my phone that glowed in the dark room, I scrolled endlessly with red eyes all night.

* * *

A few days later, I headed to the American Apparel store in Gangnam. This was the brand most loved by teenagers and young adults at the time.

Fitted leather shorts, raglan T-shirts, thick fisherman's knits. Hoodies that students often bought before the start of the school year, and the brand's unique skirts that everyone wore.

“Let's get started.”

After a quick look around the store, where loud pop music played, I began taking photos of the most popular items on the shelves and checking the sizes.

I had already organized the most popular items by contacting Nayeon, who was well-versed in trends.

Thanks to Nayeon's expertise, I finished shooting much faster than expected and moved on to another SPA brand store.

I planned to visit five stores in Gangnam Station today.

I couldn't spend too much money in the early stages of running the page.

「Current Gold: 490,000」

Choosing a few pieces of clothing today would use up half of my gold.

What I want isn't content that I spend money on.

‘It’s what others ask for.’

* * *

That evening, I added light Photoshop to the photos I had taken. It was the start of the new school year, so most SPA brands were having sales.

The most important thing in a sale is to promote it as soon as it starts.

I didn't even have time to go home, so I made simple card news at an internet cafe.

“What? Why is that person typing so fast?”

“Is he streaming…?”

My skill of handling three people's work alone hadn't rusted.

I added readable fonts to the photos and quickly created and updated the card news.

‘There aren't many pages like this yet.’

And for my beloved source of income, no, my followers. I set up an event on the page.

▶A page you can't call without friends

To celebrate the first post 🙂 Leave a like and comment, and I'll send a gifticon for an Odia hot chocolate to 10 people.

…My gold. I plan to spend it all on this for a while. For likes.

「▶System

【Mission: Normal】

▶A million followers start with one step

Find the current trend and post the first post on SNS!

Reward

○Charm stat increase

▷Successfully completed (1) times.

▷Complete (10) times to receive a reward ☞‘First gift’.

○Gift: Random!」

A few days after creating the page and posting the first post, the number of followers was increasing daily.

「Current Gold: 347,500」

* * *

Thanks to the early event, people gathered more quickly. And because the topics in the comments were easy to mention, when one person followed, others around them followed as well. In less than a week, the number of followers had already reached nearly a thousand.

It was the perfect time to focus on the page before the school opening ceremony, and I spent the whole day managing the page.

@Kim Minjeong: Look at this, it's what you wanted to buy.

˪ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I'll buy it for you

-Liked! Participating in the event

@Kim Seokho: Look at this, honey.

˪The skirt is too short. I'll be jealous if my baby wears this.

@Kim Seokho: ㅠㅠI'm always jealous.

˪If I tell you not to wear it, don't wear it.

‘I was right to draw attention with the page name.’

This is what works on Facebook. And it doesn't have to match the name on YouTube and Facebook.

I planned to post the same photos on Facebook and YouTube to maximize advertising revenue. The increasing number of followers, likes, and comments gave me an indescribable thrill.

Previously, it was hard to gather followers no matter how hard I tried.

“Status window.”

I checked my status window again.

After taking and editing hundreds of photos over the past few days, my stats should have increased significantly.

「<Status Window>

Health: 45HP /999

Charm: 100/999

Photography: 31(↑1)/999

Photo editing: 35(↑2)/999

Persuasion: 87/999」

…Why are they increasing so modestly? Even a bank's fixed deposit would grow faster.

I recalled Chae Baek-hwi's stats again.

Did he only increase that much after taking hundreds of photos?

* * *

On the seventh day of opening the page, I finally gathered three thousand followers. And I headed back to the American Apparel store.

This time, to try on clothes.

▶A page you can't call without friends

I'll try them on for you 😀 No store near you? No reviews for new items? Don't cry, leave a comment with the clothes you're most curious about, and I'll try them on for you.

February. Just before spring. A time when clothing shopping is active.

Remembering how haul videos were frequently uploaded on Intube before the regression, I did the same on Facebook.

The result was, of course, expected.

‘I can't even count all the comments….’

-That American Apparel tennis skirt. Really, please. I'm so curious if the white one is see-through. Please wear the fisherman's knit on top!

-Is it possible to try on the SPUO hoodie in different sizes? I'm 160 cm and 53 kg, and I don't know if I should get L or M. Also, please let me know how tight the bottom hem is!

-@Go Eunjae: Wow, Eunjae, all the clothes you wanted are here! 😂😂

˪Should I buy the fleece when the real item is posted?

The comments were coming in so fast that I planned to make a series of posts over several days. If the response is this good, a brand might soon offer an advertisement.

Thinking about the numbers that would soon be deposited in my account, I smiled and took photos in the fitting room.

During this, the status window notification sound rang out.

Ding-

「▶System

【Mission: Hidden】

▷Taking over 100 photos a day

You have diligently practiced photography.

○Hidden reward

▶ +1

▶ +1」

There was a hidden mission too. But what's with this reward?

‘Really, it's so stingy.’

I still have a long way to go….

* * *

On the way home, checking the photos I had tried on over the past few days. It took much longer to shoot two versions: a regular outfit and a school uniform coordination, as requested in the comments.

My HP was almost at its limit.

‘But the likes are definitely increasing.’

I entered a nearby convenience store with weak, tired steps.

A few days ago, I found out that, like items in the game, using items in real life increases health.

For example, the 500ml Pocari Sweat in my hand.

“Oops.”

As I was about to take out the Pocari Sweat, my hand touched someone else's who was reaching for the same bottle.

“…You go first.”

The tall man only said two words and stepped back slightly.

He was wearing a gray hoodie, so his face wasn't clearly visible, but he looked very tired too. A subtle friendship formed between two tired modern people. How beautiful.

I reached up and grabbed the Pocari Sweat, which was slightly above my height, and stepped aside.

‘Am I imagining it, or is he looking at me?’

As I moved away from the shelf to go to the cash register, I saw the man in the hoodie casually reach for the Pocari Sweat.

He's really tall.

Ding-

「▶[Pocari Sweat] Using the item increases the HP stat (↑10)」

As the sound of my health stat increasing rang out, I put the empty Pocari Sweat bottle in the trash and was about to leave when,

“Huh?”

「▶System

【Mission: Normal】

▶A million followers start with one step

Find the current trend and post the first post on SNS!

—Successfully completed. Rewards are received.

▶ +1

○Random gift draw☜ Click

○Hidden reward: Random sponsorship draw☜ Click」

Meeting the second box, my adrenaline surged as if my health had skyrocketed. The immediate results after hard work gave an indescribable thrill.

No matter how hard I worked at goodgoodso or scanned barcodes at the convenience store, I never saw a reward box like this.

‘Please, please, let it be something good this time….’

「▶[Random reward: ‘Good job today’ (F) obtained!]

○Pocari Sweat gifticon (one-time use)

Congratulations!

Ah, the adrenaline is still going. Feeling like I got a 1+1 deal, I pressed the button to add it to my inventory.

The sponsorship will probably be some cheap thing….

When I added it to my inventory, the notification sound rang out again. It was the email app on my phone, not the status window.