Ants Keep Going Today, Too - 3
Ayoung’s back bent like a bow.
“O-gok, o-go-gok….”
Dududududu—
That was because the massage chair was working out the knots in her lower back.
I sat beside her, sipping coffee as I watched.
“…”
“O-go-go-gok….”
Ayoung trembled and praised the five grains.
It was the sort of sound an idol should never make. But this round, I’d decided to be the ultimate all-positive sponsor uncle, so I figured I could accept even this.
“…”
I blinked slowly and nodded. I couldn’t force RP on a virtual idol who’d come down off the stage.
She must have had it rough.
Baby idol trainee Ayoung had a hard life.
Aki-chan?
Who was that…?
Hmm.
No idea.
“O-go-gok…! Oho…!”
“…”
It was Friday evening.
Ayoung and I were in the employee lounge on the second floor of the convenience store building that had once been empty. She’d come to look over the employee welfare facilities I’d set up for her.
The space had been created during the building’s remodel.
The employee lounge was, to put it bluntly, lavish.
Coffee pot.
Massage chair.
Folding bed.
Gaming PC.
Karaoke machine.
Free beverage vending machine.
And so on.
The lounge even came with Wi-Fi and soundproofing pads. On top of that, there was a screen connected to the CCTV inside the convenience store, so she could go deal with customers whenever she needed to.
It was a base camp through and through.
A space made for resting.
Between the remodel and everything else, the two hundred million won I’d put into it had been worth it.
“…”
With this much space, she can probably slip in some dance practice without feeling self-conscious. She can bring a laptop too, manage the channel, plan content.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.
That was the deal I’d made with the previous owner. This branch was quiet, so as convenience-store jobs went, it was relatively easy money.
...But it’s a problem because it’s not her main job.
“O-go-gok…!”
“…”
No matter that Ayoung was only in her early twenties. Between weekday broadcasts and lessons, then weekend all-nighters on top of that, there was no way she could keep up this punishing pace without it wearing her down.
So even though dancing has made her body pretty lean, her muscles are all knotted up like that. Her proportions make it hard to tell, but she’s small too.
How long had she meant to keep burning that little body of hers?
...Unlike me, she only gets one life.
Beep.
“!”
The massage chair’s reserved time was up.
Ayoung sat there blankly, her eyes all loose and unfocused.
“Hoo….”
“Want to do another round?”
“Eeh…?”
I could hear the disappointment in her voice. So I pressed the massage chair button again.
Beep.
“!”
Ayoung’s back bent once more.
Dududududu—
“Ohohok…! Th-th-tha, tha, than, k, you—!”
“Take it easy. I’ve got a few things I need to sort out calmly on my own today. If anything comes up, contact me on my phone.”
“Uuugh…! I-I-I c-c-could, h-h-help yo—”
“It’s fine. Just think of today as another shift you’re observing. I’ll make sure you get paid properly. I’ll call if I need you, so if you’re tired, get some sleep.”
“Th-tha, than, k you…!”
With that voice behind me, I left the lounge. Then I went up the stairs and reached the rooftop of the two-story building. There, I found a tiny rooftop room, only a few pyeong in size.
It was cramped, yes,
but perfectly fine as a living space.
Good for getting around from place to place.
…Maybe I should ditch the one-room apartment I’m living in now and move here. Commuting back and forth for tens of minutes every day is too much wasted motion.
And if I’m going to run the convenience store on weekdays, this place is easier anyway.
In the end, this convenience store was meant to be a resting place for Ayoung. Whether it made money or not didn’t matter much. My main income came from investing and trading stocks with knowledge from the regression.
Still, I felt like I had to protect this place.
More precisely,
someone who would work at the convenience store on the first floor.
Someone who could let Ayoung burn herself down, not into pain and light, but into a smile as she reached for her dream.
That was this round’s promise.
“Hmm.”
Anyway.
That wasn’t important right now.
I turned on my phone and checked my balance.
“…”
It was currently May 28.
My balance had dropped from 7.1 billion won to 5.9 billion.
If this had been a round where I clenched my teeth and saved every penny, I should’ve been past 10 billion by now. But I spent the last loop trying to get to 100 billion, lived too carelessly, and now…
I let out a sigh.
The reason I needed to get past 10 billion with the short-term trades I’d memorized all through May was simple: I had to catch the huge event happening on May 31.
The wealth-doubling big event.
It happened because of a crypto surge.
It was a necessary condition for getting into the hundreds of billions.
But that train had already left the station.
So I had to take the next best route.
...Even if I only had 5 billion, it was still enough to potentially grow into 10 billion. That was at least something.
It was small compared to hundreds of billions.
But 10 billion was never light.
It was a knife that could tear through the rules.
The world that had driven Ayoung into a shabby convenience store.
To bring down part of that solid wall,
I had to take the dream back within the short time I had left in the loop.
“…”
To get that knife,
I pressed the button for buying crypto. In a market ruled by madness and chance, it was the regressor’s cheat code: the only answer sheet anyone had.
According to the preset order,
5 billion vanished in an instant.
Balance: 900 million won
“Hmm.”
I felt nothing.
The outcome had already been obvious.
Then, at that moment, I heard a shy knock from behind me.
Knock, knock—!
“!”
“Manager, were you up here?”
It was Ayoung. She’d come up to the rooftop after enjoying her massage with those “o-go-gok” sounds. She was holding a can of soda in both hands.
Ayoung looked around the rooftop and seemed surprised.
“Wow, this is my first time coming up here in a whole year of working here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Everything above the second floor was empty, so it was kinda scary.”
“You managed night shifts all by yourself, though.”
“Hehe, I guess so….”
She handed me a can of soda.
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
I took it. A cool dampness and crisp chill pressed into my palm.
We both opened our cans at the same time.
Chiiik—!
“…”
“…”
We drank our sodas,
then stared out into space.
In the darkness of Seoul,
the night view glittered so far away it felt almost within reach.
“…”
“…”
The first to speak was Ayoung.
“Manager.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you b-buy this place? Nobody comes here, and it’s creepy. Didn’t it cost a ton of money too? People said this place was really bad.”
“…”
It wasn’t mockery. It was the pure curiosity of a woman who had guarded this place every weekend for a year.
I answered.
“That night, I happened to pass by alone and thought it looked good.”
“Huh?”
“It looked like a good place to make dreams come true. So I thought I’d get myself back on track and try again. Not just wandering around aimlessly this time, but with real sincerity. ...No matter what other people said.”
“!”
Ayoung’s eyes widened. Then, as if she understood, she nodded. The yellow hair beneath her baseball cap swayed and traced a little arc.
“I think I get that feeling.”
“…”
“I like it here too. If I dream by myself, nobody tells me off.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Ayoung said it with faraway eyes.
“I was surprised when you asked if it was hard… but I heard that from a lot of other people.”
“…”
“Why be an idol? Why dance? Why do it there….”
“…”
“And then….”
“…”
Ayoung stopped herself with a small gasp and closed her mouth.
“…”
“…”
She didn’t say it, but I could guess what came next.
Why be a VTuber….
It was a feeling only Bigman could understand.
So I didn’t ask any further.
Ayoung hurriedly changed the subject.
“B-but, you know, when I look at it, Seoul’s night view feels similar to Tokyo.”
“Tokyo?”
“Yeah. For some reason, the feeling’s similar.”
“Hmm, I guess so. Maybe because they’re neighboring countries.”
“…”
This wasn’t the real point.
She looked like she wanted to bring up another topic.
I waited for her to find the words.
“…”
“…”
At last, Ayoung said,
“I’m actually Japanese by birth. I naturalized.”
“I see.”
“You can tell from my pronunciation, right?”
“A little.”
“Hehe….”
She kicked at the rooftop floor for no reason and said,
“So, um… I think I get how you feel.”
“?”
“At night, alone… wandering around, not really belonging to any… any place….”
“…”
“So, I mean… it’s not weird or anything. You, manager.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes.”
We fell silent again.
“…”
“…”
A manager and his part-timer.
It was a ridiculous conversation for the first time we’d ever met.
But in its own way, it defined our relationship.
With the belief that even if we did something stupid,
we wouldn’t be laughed at for it.
So we quietly watched the same night view.
Looking out there, I said,
“Ayoung.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s keep getting along from here on out.”
“Yes.”
“Whatever you do, I’ll support you. Even when you just want to rest alone, go into the lounge and use it however you like. I’ll leave it open anytime. You can lock the door and use it comfortably by yourself too.”
“!”
Ayoung swallowed hard for a moment. Then, after hesitating, she answered.
“...Yes, thank you.”
*
Aki-chan spoke energetically from Sunday noon onward.
...
...
...
And, as always, the promised god arrived.
Big123456Man donated 2.5 million won!
“!”
Aki-chan beamed and clapped. She was happy not because money had arrived, but because he had.
Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap—!
“Thank you for the 2.5 million won donation—! Everyone, could you wait just a moment—!”
Aki-chan pretended not to see the reactions. Then she lifted her chin and gently closed her eyes. The yellow side ponytails swayed, drawing little arcs.
“BigMan….”
...
...
...
After a brief prayer, the live chat normalized quickly. Bigman had now become as natural a presence as the sun in the sky.
Aki-chan shook her head and said, “The cover songs are still in prep, but today I’ll sing a few songs! I was agonizing over what to sing at the convenience store. I picked out only the best songs after a lot of thought, so please look forward to it!”
At that one line, the chat erupted.
Aki-chan hesitated for a moment, then said brightly, “It’s okay. It’s a really good convenience store. Want me to tell you where it is?”
Aki-chan whispered, “...Secret!”
“What are you saying? lol”
“No, lol”
“What, why is Aki-chan suddenly acting so cute?”
“Hee hee, such a gyaru move….”
“Lmfaoo”
“Just sing already lol”
Aki-chan laughed along with the viewers.
*
The next day.
A notice went up on each ABCD member’s channel.
This was about moving beyond the obscure platform and advancing to a major streaming platform.