CHAPTER FOUR: PROXY
Middle school was not designed to educate.
It was designed to sort.
Kang Min-Jae understood this within the first week.
Teachers already labeled students. Future elite. Future labor. Future problem. The process was subtle but relentless—eye contact, patience, expectations.
Min-Jae placed himself exactly where he wanted to be.
Capable. Polite. Forgettable.
THE ENTRANCE EXAM
The middle school he entered was not the best.
That mattered.
What mattered was its feeder pattern. The graduates funneled into several high schools that, in turn, fed into elite universities. One of them—quietly—fed into Korea University's College of Law.
Min-Jae memorized the statistics.
Target University Identified: Korea University
Department: Law
Acceptance Probability (Current Trajectory): 62%
Too low.
But trajectories could be adjusted.
THE FIRST CONTACT
The proxy appeared unexpectedly.
His name was Daniel Cho.
Half-Korean. American citizen. Transfer student. Father disappeared. Mother worked two jobs. English fluent. Math above average. Socially isolated.
A perfect vector.
Min-Jae did not approach him immediately.
He waited until Daniel failed a history quiz.
Then he offered help.
"Want my notes?"
Daniel hesitated. Took them anyway.
That was enough.
BUILDING DEPENDENCE
Min-Jae tutored Daniel after school. Not aggressively. Casually. He corrected grammar. Explained patterns. Showed him how to predict exam questions.
Daniel's grades rose.
So did his gratitude.
Proxy Trust Index: 41%
Min-Jae increased pressure slowly.
He talked about money—abstractly. About how Americans invested earlier. About how compounding worked better overseas. About how people with Social Security numbers had options Koreans didn't.
Daniel listened.
He always listened.
THE LINE CROSSED
The first illegal transaction was not dramatic.
It never is.
Min-Jae handed Daniel a USB drive.
"Just upload what's on it to this site," he said. "It's legal for you. Not for me."
Daniel frowned. "What is it?"
"Simulation code," Min-Jae replied calmly. "For market modeling."
That was… mostly true.
Daniel hesitated for exactly three seconds.
Then he nodded.
Jurisdictional Barrier Breached.
Status: Successful.
Min-Jae did not smile.
THE SYSTEM WATCHES
That night, the god appeared again.
"You have involved another."
"I created insulation."
"You created a weakness."
Min-Jae considered that.
"Everything breaks somewhere."
The god was silent for a long time.
"You are learning faster than expected."
Warning Flag Raised: Moderate
THE FIRST DOLLAR
The profit was small.
Embarrassingly small.
But it existed.
The number glowed on the screen—real, undeniable.
Min-Jae stared at it longer than he should have.
Net Gain: $312.40
Emotional Response: None
That was a lie.
Inside his chest, something clicked into place.
Reality was negotiable.
SCHOOL LIFE CONTINUES
Despite everything, Min-Jae still attended classes. Ate lunch. Participated just enough. Teachers praised him for maturity. Classmates called him boring.
He accepted the insult gladly.
Boring meant invisible.
Invisible meant free.
THE LAW SEED
During a civics lecture, Min-Jae heard a phrase that made him look up.
"The law exists to regulate power."
That night, he researched legal loopholes. Corporate shields. Trusts. International arbitration.
Law was not justice.
It was architecture.
And architecture could be designed.
Career Path Confirmed: Law
Purpose: Defensive Dominance
A PROMISE MADE
Daniel messaged him late one night.
"Are we… okay doing this?"
Min-Jae typed slowly.
"You're building a future. I'm just showing you how."
Daniel replied with a single word.
"Okay."
Proxy Trust Index: 73%
Enough.
END OF CHILDHOOD
Min-Jae closed his laptop and leaned back.
Fourteen years old.
Foreign jurisdiction secured. First profit earned. Proxy established. Legal framework identified.
The future no longer felt distant.
It felt close.
Uncomfortably close.
Phase One Complete.
Next Phase: Acceleration.
Min-Jae whispered the rule he had written years ago.
"Never attach your name to the first fortune."
Outside, the city slept.
Inside, the market had awakened.