[BL] ESC (Escape)

Chapter 2

"There might be other options available..." I tried my best to smile, but it felt like a grimace. The person I was staring at raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Quite bold of you to smile in this situation."

Should I cry, then? Would pretending to cry save me? The person's arm, suddenly reaching out, grabbed me by the collar.

"Ryujin, if you continue with this nonsense, I'll rip out your tongue and gouge out your eyeballs one by one."

Could life be any more surreal? I never expected to meet someone who would make such threats, not as a joke, but as a serious statement. I've only lived a little over twenty years, yet life was truly dynamic.

"Even if you kill me, it won't bring back the missing billion dollars."

"...So what?"

"I'll recover it all within a year."

Before the person had a chance to change his mind, I blurted out without a moment's hesitation. There was a brief moment of silence.

"A year?" The man furrowed his brow as if he couldn't believe it. His gaze bore into me, leaving me speechless.

It sounded easy, converting a billion dollars into Korean won amounted to one trillion. What kind of feat could earn me one trillion within a year? Countless thoughts raced through my mind, but for now, I had to buy some time. I would survive and find another solution depending on the circumstances in a year.

"Wow," The man burst into disbelieving laughter. "You're a bold one. Just blowing away a billion dollars should only take a month. Why can't it work the other way around?"

It seemed unlikely. I pondered my options for a moment, but I couldn't come up with a clever solution. Nonetheless, I tried to remain calm and composed as I responded to the man.

A man in a black suit approached the person and whispered something in his ear. Judging by his face, he was the only one who had been able to communicate in English when he brought me here. So he must have understood the entire conversation.

He will probably say it's impossible. He will argue that I should be killed immediately. To think that my life would come to an end just after turning twenty...

"Fine. I'll give you some time."

Huh? I froze, thinking I must have misheard.

"What? Was that just a thoughtless remark?" The man's gaze turned sharp.

I quickly shook my head and denied it but was still taken aback.

"As a test, invest $100,000. I'll spare your life for a year if you can turn it into $10 million within a month."

$100,000 would amount to $1 million, and investing such a large sum just to test my abilities was beyond audacious. Well, in the first place, the money I had wasted was a thousand times more than what he was asking for. What kind of people were they that money was so disposable? Anyway, I managed to buy myself a one-month grace period.

While lost in my own thoughts, the person made a gesture towards the man standing behind him. After exchanging a few words in Russian, the man approached and ordered me to follow him.

"Come with me."

Fortunately, there were no restraints or blindfolds. They didn't do anything to obstruct my vision. Perhaps they thought that as a Korean, even if I tried to escape, it wouldn't get me far, especially since they had brought me all the way to Moscow. No, even before that, could I even escape from this mansion? It wasn't like Doverman was guarding it, but there was a menacing black wolf. Not only could I be torn apart by the beast, but bullets could rain from all directions, turning it into a hornet's nest.