Life is suffering.
Therefore, a swift and comfortable end is happiness.
No one said that. The second part is something I made up.
"I just wanna sock the Team Leader right in the face."
I spat it out in a fit of anger, then glanced around.
Fortunately, no one was there.
"Haa..."
Even I thought I sounded pathetic, and a sigh escaped me naturally.
Someone once said it.
Humans find their sense of self-worth through labor.
I'd bet the person who said that never did an honest day's work in their life.
No one in their right mind—especially not any office worker—would ever say something like that.
Stewing in my rage with those kinds of thoughts, I boarded the rattling subway and made it home.
Like a snake shedding its skin, I stripped off my clothes haphazardly, letting them drop to the floor with dull thuds, then flung myself onto the bed.
Of course, sleeping right away wasn't even on my mind.
If I slept now, I'd just wake up and have to head to work again. What a waste of time that would be.
So I pulled out my phone and opened the community site I always checked.
You might think this is a waste of time too, but for me, it's rest.
Rest is important.
No one but an AI could work their whole life without it.
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(A photo of a red button on a white background has been uploaded.)
🔴 RED BUTTON 🔴Press this red button right now, and you'll immediately receive 50 billion won after taxes—completely legally. However, there's a 50% chance your gender will change. Will you press it?💬 Comments— AnonymousWhy wouldn't you press it?— Anonymous↳ ReplyTurning into a woman is the real win here.Augh.— AnonymousSeriously, 50 billion after taxes? Buy a house and call it a day.↳ ReplyWhat house costs all of that?↳↳ ReplyNo no, sex.↳↳↳ ReplyWhat bullshit lol.◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Posts like this are a dime a dozen."
A run-of-the-mill community post.
There are all sorts.
Press the red button, and suddenly the community admin loses all their hair.
Or every time you press it, a couple disappears.
Sometimes it's just, "It's just a button. Wanna press it?"
Anyway, it's meaningless.
There's no need to read too much into posts meant just to kill time, but for some reason today, it had me thinking seriously.
"I wanna quit so bad..."
The company I work for is what you'd call a Shitty Company. Nah, a small and medium enterprise.
A place where I can get along with my coworkers—practically a family (everyone but me really is family).
Overtime pay? Weekly holidays? Fat chance. The industry's so tight-knit that if you snitch, you're blacklisted forever. Our beautiful company.
And today, the Team Leader must've taken a hit on crypto, 'cause he spent the whole day grumbling and picked on me for smelling like cigarettes—reamed me out nonstop.
"Haa... What would 50 billion even get you?"
Even if yesterday's lotto hit, it wouldn't top 2 billion.
Hard to wrap my head around.
They say your average office drone, scrimping and saving, needs about eight years to hit 100 million won.
"So... 4,000 years?"
I just multiplied it out real quick, and that's what I got.
"No way, for real."
With that kinda cash, your grandkids' grandkids could live worry-free.
"Even if I turned into a chick, I'd hit it like ten times."
I indulged in a brief happy fantasy, let out a sigh, and mindlessly tapped the red button on my screen—tap tap tap.
What could be more pointless than hoping for the impossible?
I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes.
And when I opened them...
"...??"
I'd become a stunning beauty—with 500 billion won in my bank account.