Welcome to My Arcade - 1
Wednesday morning.
Father Kwon greeted Kang Do-dam, who had once again returned to the Olive Sprout Orphanage, in the director’s office. She often came back under the excuse that she was visiting the younger kids.
And this time, Do-dam had made an outrageous proposal.
Now that she had money, she wanted all of them to move together into a bigger building. Somewhere more comfortable, more open, and brighter.
Father Kwon refused at once.
"Don't be ridiculous. Absolutely not."
"?! "
Do-dam hurried to defend herself, serious in a way that was completely unlike her usual sneaky self.
"No, Father, I'm serious. I really do have money. I've got a little over 1.9 billion won, so if we moved somewhere on the outskirts, we could live together pretty comfortably. If we went way out into the provinces, we could almost build a palace."
"Is that so."
Father Kwon sipped his instant coffee. A sweet aroma lingered at the corners of his mouth, but the aftertaste was a little bitter. Then, lowering the paper cup from his lips, he said, "Do-dam."
"What."
"It's been three years already since you left because you were old enough to go. You're not a child living in this orphanage anymore. You're a proper young woman now. You need to build your own life, not remain tied to this place."
"…."
Do-dam puffed out her lips and turned sharply to the side. Then she muttered under her breath, one of the habits she showed when she was really sulking.
"Am I embarrassing you? Because I'm an orphan? Because I keep coming back?"
"…."
Father Kwon let out a sigh.
"…."
Embarrassing?She's the finger that hurts the most, and the one that's prettiest.
When Do-dam first came to him, she had been four years old and sniffling constantly, and the way she clung to the arcade machine while playing had been so adorable that it still made his chest ache. Before he knew it, she had grown into an eighteen-year-old young woman and left the orphanage.
She had been, quite literally, a daughter born in his heart.
Even now, at twenty-one, she still came back faithfully, and he was so proud of her that he had even brushed off the sisters and staff asking whether this was really okay by saying, "Do-dam is here for volunteer work."
But that was one thing. This was another.
He spoke calmly.
"Do-dam."
"…."
"You were twenty-one now, weren't you. It feels like just yesterday you were eighteen and leaving as a grown lady. Time really does fly."
"…."
As he said that, he took another long swallow of coffee.
Father Kwon set the paper cup down.
"You don't see those slackers from the Brothers around much these days, do you? I mean the slacker brothers you used to fight with all the time over hogging the orphanage computer."
"Hyuk and Su-gyeong?"
"They'll be leaving the year after next. They told me they want to learn a trade and live independently."
"…."
Do-dam had no words. Those kids who used to splash around and play with her had already grown that much?
"And Boram."
"Boram?"
"Yes. The kid you practically raised by changing diapers when you were in middle school."
"What about her?"
Father Kwon said, "She's eleven now. In six years, our youngest Boram will be old enough to leave too. Time really does pass, doesn't it? The little ones who used to run around with 'Big Sis Dam' the whole orphanage talked about are growing up and getting ready to go."
"…."
"These days, there are more kids who know you as the sister who visits sometimes than as the 'Big Sis Dam' who used to go to the arcade and come back."
"…."
Do-dam avoided Father Kwon's warm eyes. But she had already understood what he was trying to say long ago, so her gaze kept wavering back and forth.
He went on.
"It was only three years. Three years after you left, most of the kids who knew Big Sis Dam are already getting ready to go."
"…."
"What do you think it'll be like in ten more years?"
…Time was merciless.
And the people one knew drifted apart.
An orphanage with all the younger siblings gone from it... would that still be the orphanage Do-dam remembered? Would she have to call back the children who had already found their own paths and live together with them again?
Father Kwon shook his head.
"No."
"…."
"Do-dam, that's not it. I know you love this place, and that you remember me, and that you care about the younger kids... "
"…."
"But it can't be forever."
As a father,
he spoke seriously to the daughter he had raised in his heart.
My dear daughter.
"Do-dam. From now on, your life belongs to you, and no one can tell you otherwise. You're a lovely young woman who has the freedom to live where you love, and do the things you love."
"…Father."
"But not here. This is a place that gives lost little lambs one last lesson in mercy and love, not a place where a young woman who is already steering her own life stays forever."
"…."
"When you're tired, you can come by for a while. But you can't come back as 'Big Sis Dam.' That time has already passed."
"…."
Do-dam asked, "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"…."
Father Kwon answered, "Find one."
"Find what?"
"A new place you can love."
*
In the end, she left the orphanage.
Three years ago,
and now too,
Do-dam mulled over Father Kwon's words. Then she wandered the streets without any destination. As soon as she stepped out of that sweet childhood, that empty freedom came rushing back again.
"…."
She shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts and walked briskly, as if she were on her way somewhere important, slipping through the crowd around her.
"…."
A place I can love.
Thinking that, she entered the one-room apartment district where she had once lived.
It was a place famous for cheap rent.
Do-dam muttered, "It's been a while."
Back when she'd first left the orphanage at eighteen, she had used the ten million won in subsidies from the local government as a deposit, then carefully saved every bit of the monthly support money she received. From one small corner of her room, she sold game items she had farmed on her laptop.
Alone.
Quietly.
For two years.
That was when she had lived off grinding for gold.
There had been a time when she didn't step outside her room for half a month. When dehydration hit and she rushed to drink tap water, she learned for the first time that her water had been shut off because she hadn't paid the bill.
So in her grubby clothes, she went to the drinking fountain at a nearby elementary school and hurriedly quenched her thirst. Then she sat alone in an empty alley and bawled her eyes out.
She felt like she had no place in the world.
She just wanted to go back to the orphanage.
That had been three months before she submitted the ABCD project application.
Do-dam grimaced at the memory.
"Ugh."
She fled the one-room district in a hurry.
This isn't it. No way in hell.
So she looked for another place. She searched the Mapo-gu area where she usually used to wander, trying to find somewhere that made her heart stir.
The snack bar she used to eat at all the time.
The PC bang where she stayed out late playing games.
Even the area near the high school she had graduated from.
"…."
But there was nowhere left to go.
Do-dam stood there in a daze, in the middle of the street.
The city wind ruffled her bobbed hair.
"…."
Her life had been short to begin with.
Because she was a game addict, her range of movement had always been limited. In the end, aside from ABCD activities, she had never done anything especially productive.
She hadn't found any new interests,
or anything she could throw herself into with passion.
Do-dam sighed.
Even with 1.9 billion won,
she was so clueless she couldn't even make herself a home.
Maybe it would be better to throw herself entirely into ABCD activities, like Aki?
"…."
Aki... after she started going around with Duryeong-nim, she completely woke up as an idol. I don't know whether it's the power of love or what, but she seemed so grown-up.
It was somehow embarrassing.
She had always thought of herself as a soft touch, but when money actually landed in her hands, the way she had gone straight to the company without hesitation to reinvest it looked dazzling.
Unlike her, who was still hesitating.
Maybe this was why people said money revealed your true nature.
Do-dam walked with her hands clasped behind her back, dragging her feet.
"…."
If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've tried all sorts of things. Ever since I was little, whenever Father Kwon gave me allowance, I'd either camp out at the PC bang or drag the younger kids to the snack bar. Or I'd go to the arcade... "
At that moment, Do-dam suddenly lifted her head.
"!"
Ah.
Right.
There was one thing left.
The arcade.
A small arcade in the alley in front of Hongdae.
It was a place she'd sneaked into since she was little, without Father Kwon knowing. And it was also the place that had taught her the truth that she liked games.
Do-dam headed there.
And found it.
A place she wanted to own again.
A piece of the past she could take back....
*
Inside the convenience store manager's office, Do-dam finished explaining everything to me.
"So what should I do, Duryeong-nim?"
"…."
What she told me amounted to this:
1. ABCD activities were great, but she wanted a home base of some kind.
2. An old arcade in the alley in front of Hongdae had supposedly come up for sale. It was a place she'd frequented since childhood, so she was attached to it. She wanted to buy it.
3. She wanted to know what she should do in the process.
When she finished explaining,
her face had gone red with excitement again. She looked genuinely thrilled. Her hands were clenched tight, and she was bouncing them up and down for good measure.
Feeling that energy,
I closed my eyes and thought.
"…."
It's the classic emotion-anchored real estate purchase.
It was a surprisingly common pattern. The only unusual part was that a woman in her early twenties was showing the same spending pattern usually seen in older people.
But when I thought about Do-dam's background, it made sense.
The top viewer of ABCD.
No major dissatisfaction with her current life.
And yet, a place to lean her emotions on was still necessary. It had been a desire accumulated steadily over a long time, and she thought this chance might be the one to satisfy it.
In other words, she had hit the lottery.
"…."
I said, "The arcade is already listed for sale, and if Do-dam-ssi isn't buying it purely for profit... then you can go ahead with it. Normally we'd need prior research and a careful review of profitability, but that's not what this is for."
"…."
Do-dam said, "I-Isn't it weird? Just buying it because I want it. Everyone else grinds their teeth and investigates because they want to make money."
"A lot of people want real estate just because it's a place full of memories. They just don't have the means to do it."
"Really?"
"Yes. If profit isn't the point and it's simply for ownership, there's no problem proceeding. Emotion is a resource no one can measure."
"!"
Do-dam's eyes widened. Her already large pupils caught the blue reflection of the sky and shone brightly. It looked as though they might burst at any second.
Before that light could overflow, I stopped it with my hand.
"However."
"Hm?"
"There are a few things you should watch out for."
"What is it?"
I put a sheet of paper on the desk and wrote down the cautions.
"First, for taxes and incidental costs, it's best to estimate about ten percent of the transaction price in total."
"Ten? Ten percent?!"
"Yes. Taxes can sometimes be reclaimed later, and incidental costs vary depending on the building's condition. But if you don't leave around that much room overall, you won't be able to respond immediately when something comes up."
"Got it... "
Then I wrote the second point.
"Second, you should be clear about the building's purpose. Even if you don't expect profit, using a building that's been permitted for commercial use however you like can still cause trouble."
"…."
Carefully, Do-dam asked, "Could I at least put a small bed in the manager's room and sleep there for a while?"
"That much is fine. But if you want to register it separately as a residence, there'll be procedures afterward. If a complaint comes in while it's not registered as a residential facility, it would be very troublesome."
"I see."
Writing the third point, I said, "Third, I strongly advise against spending the entire budget at once. If you go all the way to the limit from the start, it'll be hard to cover the taxes that come with the purchase. And you also need to think about the cost of keeping it running for at least three years."
Do-dam waved a hand.
"Pfft, no matter how much money I have, I'm not gonna do some extreme spend-it-all binge. Duryeong-nim, you really don't know that I'm the type who hoards elixirs until the last boss?"
"I don't."
"Then know it now. Nyang."
"What does 'nyang' mean?"
"A cute sound effect."
"I see."
"Was it cute?"
"Your intention succeeded."
"Hehe... "
Do-dam laughed for a while.
After that, I kept telling her about the documents she'd need for the purchase and the proper way to file with the relevant agencies. She wrote everything down, then brushed herself off and got to her feet.
"Anyway, thanks, Duryeong-nim. Thanks to you, I think I can live pretty happily in my own way."
"I'm glad you feel satisfied. If there's anything else you want to ask, tell me any time. I'll help."
"Hmph! You say that, but you're really thinking about doing something dirty, aren't you? Like an ero doujinshi, like an ero doujinshi...! I'll tell Aki everything!"
"…."
For whatever reason,
not a trace of a strangely sultry atmosphere appeared.
I shook my head.
"I'm not."
"As expected of Duryeong-nim."
"…."
Do-dam laughed brightly and left the convenience store.
I waved her off.
"…."
Honestly, it would be better to pause the purchase for now, review the overall estimate from scratch, and design the future operating strategy first... but with the way Do-dam handled things in the previous loop, she probably won't make any irreversible mistakes.
A-yeong was the same way.
"…."
Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to stop them as they moved forward on their own strength alone. Sometimes there are paths you have to take even while knowing you'll stumble.
Believing that, I went back up to the rooftop room.
Then Friday came. As my assets climbed to twenty billion won, Do-dam contacted me.
"...Already?"
I headed to the address Do-dam sent me.
What I saw there was a sight far worse than I had imagined.
The arcade in the alley in front of Hongdae.
The old, rusted sign was so tacky it was almost thrilling.
Vivid Youth Arcade
"…."
When I went inside,
I found an interior full of dust pits.
The front desk was peeling and cracked. The furniture and appliances there, once white, had gone yellow with age.
The arcade machines inside were running games that had to be at least fifteen years old. Some of them looked more than thirty years old.
And in the middle of it all,
a petite girl with a bob haircut was humming to herself in sweatpants. She was perched on a chair with one leg folded under the other, stacks of 100-won coins lined up beside her.
Do-dam was tapping the controller with her hands, her eyes fixed on the arcade screen. A ten-year-old classic game was playing there.
Without looking away, she said, "Welcome to my arcade."
"Hello."
"Tch. Duryeong-nim is always so plain it's boring. Your blood must be running with plain naengmyeon broth."
"…."
I looked around and said, "Looks like the deal went through smoothly."
"Yeah. Since it's an old arcade, they just gave me everything that was already here."
The building itself was decent enough.
But the interior was a disaster.
There was dust everywhere.
Dust
Dust
Dust
And furniture that smelled stale....
"…."
The place was in worse shape than I'd imagined.
I had lost my words.
Do-dam said casually, "Maybe because it's so old? Even though it's in front of Hongdae, I got the whole thing for 900 million."
"900 million won?"
"Yeah, it's pretty comfortable, actually. I even slept in the manager's room on the second floor here yesterday after my stream ended. It was livable enough."
"…."
Here?
Come to think of it, her hair did look a little rough. And this doesn't seem like a very hygienic environment. On top of that, a young woman living alone in a place like this... "
I started worrying about all sorts of things.
But...
Do-dam smiled at me. That smile was shining blue. On the arcade screen, the words [You Win!] were displayed in large letters.
"Hehe, being here after so long makes me feel incredibly relaxed. Duryeong-nim, have fun and stay a while!"
"…."
She was dirty and shabby.
But she looked deeply satisfied.
"…."
Somehow, it felt like the contentment of someone who had found the root she came from.
So I sat down beside Do-dam.
"Oh, Duryeong-nim knows how to play this too?"
"A little."
"Then let's play a few rounds. I have tons of 100-won coins, so you can play as much as you want."
"Yes."
And so the game began.
At the same time, so did my resolve.
Maybe I should start the new big plan a little sooner.
---