(In one world, one Kim Rok Soo woke up in the body of an eighteen year old Cale Henituse’s body. However, this is not that story.) 

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Once upon a time there was a hero— 

Scratch that. 

Once upon a time, there was a lunatic miser. Even though he was a hero, he still couldn’t give up his greed for money. Some called him a cheapskate, others mocked him for being a penny-pincher; There were even a few cursed him for being a scrooge, but he cared naught for their opinions. 

He lived his life the way he wanted –causing mayhem and chaos with his band of misfits, while trying to save the world from the clutches of a madman– accumulating a lot of wealth along the way. Alas, he never got the chance to enjoy the luxuries that his wealth could provide, for he died in a battle against dead mana golems. 

For someone like him, who had always been obsessed with money, such a death was regretful. So what if his death was heroic?! What use was sacrificing himself for others’ sake? Can he exchange his heroic death for money? Can he?

No, right? Instead, he just lost all the wealth he had painstakingly collected all his life. How was that fair?! For whom had he painstakingly collected all that money and gold for, after working like a dog hero all his life? Not for that stupid thief who was always eying his money, (even though she did that to just tease him, but the point still stands) that’s for sure! 

He didn’t accumulate all that wealth just for it to be used as a parting gift by anyone! What a miserable end for a money-obsessed hero. 

……and yet, the story didn’t end here. 

By some stroke of luck, that very same lunatic cheapskate got a second chance at life. He woke up in the body of a trashy Young Master from a wealthy noble household, ten thousand years later. 

“Hallelujah! Did New Year come early this year?!” 

“….Young Master?” Ron, the elderly butler, asked in concern. 

“Nothing,” The red haired youngster coughed to hide his embarrassed expression at his impromptu outburst. “Did you need me for something?” 

“The master wishes to dine with the young master.” 

“Alright,” he nodded. “Bring me something to drink. The more expensive, the better.” He tried to send away the butler with a random excuse. It wasn’t because he wanted to he wanted to drink something expensive the first thing in the morning- like a true rich second generation. Of course not. 

A hero wouldn’t care about the monetary value of something, right? 

Che, like he had actually cared about being a true hero. A selfish person like him would always be far from the definition of a ‘true hero’. 

(“Sometimes, I suspect if you’re a real hero,” Rock-for-brains once said to him in exasperation. “What kind of hero asks for monetary rewards for their help?” 

The cheapskate had pointed towards himself and said arrogantly, “Of course, it’s ore-sama~” He had then pointed at the simpleton and said “It’s nincompoops like you who are unfathomable.” He complained, “Why do you do everything for free?!” 

Rock-for-brains just smiled as if he wasn’t affected by his words. “Well, that’s just how I am.” He shrugged. 

Tch, that fool.) 

Ron looked at him with a puzzled look on his face, but still did as he was told. He waited until the elderly butler walked out of the room, closing the door behind him as he stepped outside. Only then did he let his poker face fall, letting a huge grin cross his face. His brown eyes sparkled in delight as he thought of his current situation.

Cale Henituse. This is the person whose body he had woken up in. He was a young man –practically a child in the eyes of this ancient grandpa– of eighteen, with beautiful red hair and brown eyes. He was the eldest Young Master of the Henituse Family, which happens to be the richest noble household in the Roan Kingdom. 

That’s the reason why the cheapskate felt that for him, Christmas came early this year. To wake up as the young master of a rich noble household –ahem, correction, THE richest household– was like a blessing for a money obsessed person like him. 

“There’s a god up there and he’s just,” The red haired man said in delight as he bounced on his soft and fluffy bed. “Ah of course, I don’t mean that moronic God of War-” He added as an afterthought, and was about to add a few more colourful swears to compliment the bane of that crazy kid’s existence. However, he got distracted by the sunlight coming from the windows –that now had their curtains parted thanks to Ron– that brightened up the room. Oh wait, it’s his room now. 

This luxurious room was his now. He wasn’t a poor pauper anymore. 

He was fucking rich. 

Unable to contain his inner joy, he immediately grabbed a pillow nearest to him and buried his face into it’s soft fabric. He then screamed in joy, the sound was thankfully muffled due to the pillow. 

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees!” 

After screaming to his heart’s content, he pulled the pillow away from him, revealing a face flushed with pure joy. He hugged the pillow to his chest and rolled on the king-sized bed like a silly person. 

“I am rich now! Woohoo~” 

He exclaimed in delight as he rolled around the bed. Doing so messed his pajamas and his hair, not that he cared one bit of that. 

He had never been one who meticulously cared for their looks anyways. He was someone who was previously born to poor parents. He was someone who had to search for herbs and edible plants in mountains to fill in his stomach, someone who worked on the fields of the landlord for a bag of wheat, someone who had rolled in the mud in his childhood while playing silly games. He was someone who didn’t even know about warm water baths until he was under the care of a glutton. 

He was also the kind of guy who was looked down upon by many people. Of course, his hotblooded personality and headstrong nature didn’t help score any brownie points. He remembered all kinds of insults, prejudices and injustices he had to face because of those people. They were the people who made fun of his penny-pinching ways, the ones who called him a poor beggar. He had never liked those aristocrats people anyways.

Heh, if those morons knew that he got such a good deal in the afterlife, they would turn in their graves. 

“Heh,” he smirked in a provocative manner. “Take that, suckers!” He strutted like a peacock. “I am now richer than you could ever imagine~” 

He hugged the pillow tighter to him, and grinned. 

“Not only am I rich, I don’t need to carry on with the hero business!” 

“This is truly the best~” 

He loosened his grip on the pillow, and stretched his arms on both sides. He lay with his arms outstretched like salted fish and hummed in satisfaction. 

“The life of a trashy, hedonistic, good-for-nothing Young Master truly suits me the best! I can spend however much I want, buy whatever I like, do whatever I want. No one would look down on me now for something as stupid as lineage.” 

“I also won’t have to run around like any so-called ‘hero’, and won’t have to worry about any saving the world business.” 

“This is the peaceful retirement life I had always imagined of!” 

A peaceful place, surrounded by family, friends, and wealth. That is the retirement life he had always wanted. Having a shopping spree every once in a while, messing around with his friends by blowing up a mountain or two (this is tame compared to all kinds of mess they used to cause on a daily basis), looting borrowing money and other monetary valuable things of stuck up aristocrats whom he disliked, and occasionally meeting acquaintances every once in a while. Hmm~ That kind of life really isn’t bad huuh~ 

“Ah, speaking of meeting acquaintances, maybe I should visit the old man world tree. That old block of wood must be missing me huh~” 

(Somewhere in the Lake of Despair, a certain scrawny tree shuddered in terror.)

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