The Thousand-Won Punch
I was going to call Mark, but on second thought, it’s better not to. I need to stand on my own two feet. Am I really going to keep rudely calling Maru every time I want to collab with her? …Yeah. I do want to. No!! I can’t say that. Start over. Am I going to keep saying I want to collab with Maru and actually do it? What about your own stream? …No. I’ll take care of it…!! I will.
I nodded with difficulty. Yeah. I need to do my own stream. Grow on my own. Make today’s solo stream fun and exciting. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do. I made up my mind again today. I only ever think about growth. What a truly amazing person. Those three syllables. Dae-Seon-a. No, no, Yoo Seon-a…!!
I turned on the stream. My hands were itching to play Minecraft after so long. You have to prepare content in advance to earn viewers’ love. I immediately launched Minecraft. After booting it up, I glanced at the chat window. What the…? A truly shocking situation unfolded. Wait, what’s with the viewer count? Is this a bug? It jumped to 600 right away, and now it’s at 1,500. I can’t really predict these things… but right now, it’s a bull market. Roughly guessing, won’t it go even higher? Seriously, it’s already over 1,700. Why are so many people flooding in all of a sudden? What’s the reason? I scratched my itchy eyebrow and thought about it.
“Hmm… what could it be?”
“Suddenly calling me your wife? No thanks. Where did you all come from? Why are there so many of you? Who are you guys?”
I tried to figure it out, but I had no clue. I could tell someone had driven a wave of floating viewers over, but why? I read the chat window seriously.
“So you want me to explain what happened yesterday? Me? Why?”
Even if I wanted to tell them, I couldn’t remember. How would I know what I did yesterday? Go watch someone else’s stream… I’m really sorry, but I don’t know.
“Hmm. I don’t get it. Anyway, I’m playing Minecraft.”
I brought up Minecraft on screen. “I’ve been dying to play Minecraft, my hands were so itchy. I’m doing it. A story? That’s… wow, a brand-new level of herbivore. I never dreamed you’d skip the story and just play Minecraft, Seon-a. I’m learning something new today. Ehh… Got it… No, I came early because I wanted to play Minecraft. The stream isn’t over yet. Listen to the story later. Moddeok, Raming… even Maru’s here. Go listen to them.”
The chat atmosphere was pretty bad… but it couldn’t be helped. I didn’t remember. Even if I wanted to explain, I needed to know something first. Still, if I just moved on, the chat would probably explode, so I closed my eyes and thought hard.
“Wait a second. Hmm… what happened? Ah! Maru bought me 300,000 won worth of clothes. Moddeok bought me 150,000 won worth of delivery coupons. That’s it.”
“Maru? She bought me spring clothes. Said to wear them in spring… You want to see them? They’re at my parents’ house, so I can’t show you. Any other questions? I really want to play Minecraft now. If I don’t, I feel like something bad will happen… I’m sensing murderous intent, pyabak. I’ll answer your questions!! Ask me anything you’re curious about.”
I read the questions carefully and answered. “Ah. What did I do? I made tteokguk. Ah… after that? After that I did sebae. Sebae? Ah!! Now that I think about sebae, I remember something. Mom and Dad only gave me a thousand-won punch. Everyone else got big donations from the chairmen, but I got a thousand won… What do you mean by that? It’s exactly what it sounds like.”
Hmm… got it. I only ever grow, so I absorb good advice.
“Ah, then I’ll speak slowly.” I took a deep breath and let it out. First, organize my thoughts. So, I did sebae? That’s right. Mom and Dad only gave me a small amount of New Year’s money. How much? A thousand-won bill… so I called it a thousand-won punch… Emphasize the wordplay!! Next, Maru, Moddeok, Raming, and Pyeong each received generous donations from the chairmen as their sebae money. Okay, thoughts organized. Now, second, add some flavor. Hmm… I don’t know about that part. Pass. Third, now I just have to say it. Speak slowly, without trembling, and confidently.
“It was New Year’s, so I did sebae. Everyone did sebae, right? Yes. I did sebae. Why do sebae? I have a question. Why do we do it?”
“Everyone’s right…!! You do it to get New Year’s money. Our group did sebae. Good job. Then we should get New Year’s money, right? We did. But… the amount was shocking. They gave me a thousand-won bill. In total… was it ten thousand won? No, that’s too much, isn’t it? I didn’t even get ten thousand, I got a thousand-won bill. How much did you guys get?”
Sudden indignation welled up. A thousand-won punch really wasn’t fair. I watched the chat carefully.
“‘Broke’ sounds so violent. Broke, really… Are you playing a game? Anyway, I got a thousand-won bill. But do you know what’s really upsetting? The other members who went with me—Maru, Moddeok, Raming… Pyeong—sometimes the chairmen give them money. Exactly 500,000 won each… they each got that much.”
“I didn’t even get any, so why give it to you guys? Anyway, that’s why I made the wordplay. I got a thousand won, so thousand-won punch… the others got generous donations. You get it now? That’s the end.”
Now I’m really going to play Minecraft. I read one last question and answered. “Still, Maru’s better… Moddeok is… No, that’s not it. I refused. I can accept from Maru because she’s an adult. But Moddeok isn’t an adult yet, and she already split the mission money with me. If I asked for more, I’d have no conscience!! The others are friends and subordinates, so I couldn’t take it. Now I’m playing Minecraft, okay?”
No, I’d already said this much. The atmosphere still wasn’t great.
“Uh… no.” I saw a familiar username. One of the people who always donated in ten-thousand or hundred-thousand won units… now giving a thousand-won punch…
“Th… thank you… thank you. Yes.”
One person became the catalyst, and others started donating only a thousand won as New Year’s money too. It was sad, but what could I do? At least they were donating!! Always think positive…!! Always be grateful…!! For five minutes I received a barrage of thousand-won punches. I waited just in case, but it was the same as with my parents. No follow-up donations.
“Looks like it’s over now. Then I’ll play Minecraft.”
I logged into Minecraft. I was surprised once again by the number of players. Even the day after New Year’s, there were 160 people on. Is nobody going home for the holidays? Why are so many playing?
“There are so many people.” The moment I logged in, I was surprised again. “Wait, what is this?” I hadn’t been on for about three days. Three days could be long or short, but to me it felt very long. A Renaissance-style cathedral made of quartz and the surrounding buildings… I almost thought it was a real religious group. Since I’m here… wow!! “This is amazing.” On the path leading into the cathedral, a large fountain had been built in the center. In that fountain stood a towering statue of an angel praying—Maru. Wow… you can do this in Minecraft? The words slipped out on their own. “They really made this well. Who built this? That person… what was their name again? Our architecture lead. What was their name again?”
“Ah!! Ah!! Joseph. Right. Did Joseph make this? Wow, what is he? He’s really talented. The god of architecture.”
“I discovered Joseph. Why did other guilds approach him? Is he the only one good at building? Everyone, please love Joseph. Anyway, I’m going to pray.”
Of course I had to pray the moment I entered. I went inside the cathedral and prayed in front of the picture of Maru. You don’t lie to God. You have to be honest about everything.
“Please let today pass without incident. Maru…!! Thank you so much for the clothes. I’ll definitely wear them in spring… Moddeok…!! But honestly, I liked the delivery coupons more… I’m sorry. Sniff. I’m only saying this now… Moddeok!!”