Welcome to My Arcade - 2
Saturday.
It was the sixth day of Big Man’s indiscriminate bombardment.
His actions were recorded in numbers.
Expected donation amount: 1.178 billion won
Total number of domestic VTubers who received support: 1,178
Average donation per VTuber: 1 million won
1 million won.
In a capitalist society, that was enough money to buy someone’s pride.
He could make them kneel like a child being punished,
make them perform some ridiculous stunt for no reason,
or force them to declare themselves his slave,
and so on.
Especially in livestreaming.
It was a market where capital and emotion were tied together.
But Big Man didn’t want any kind of reaction. And he didn’t want honor or worship of any kind, either.
He left only a single line behind.
That one sentence swept across Korean communities.
It was no longer just a donation.
It wasn’t even money thrown around for VTubers alone.
It was hope.
Even in the little world of capitalism, there was small hope. There existed someone who gave unconditional support and encouragement to a tiny corner of the world the larger one would never even glance at.
Someone who affirmed the “minority” of VTubers.
And more than that, it felt like even they, the ones laughing at it, were being affirmed too. Warm words of respect, hard to find in a capitalist society, spread everywhere.
One sentence dedicated to every outsider in the world.
You have my support, too.
Those words.
Even people who disliked VTubers liked them.
Because no one could read any motive in Big Man beyond goodwill, and that goodwill was aimed at everyone.
Almost colorless, close to white.
That sort of goodwill was hard to hate.
- What kind of psycho loves VTubers this much lol
- Hm, is it really that big a deal? Isn’t he just throwing money around?
- At this point he’s basically the guy paying domestic VTubers’ salaries lol
- This is so funny lol, he’s a total joy mountain lol
- It’s still an abuse of power, but look at everyone acting thrilled lol
- Supporting people by giving them money is such a cheat code lol
- “You have my support, too.”
Most people who heard the news went wild.
And the direction of that wild excitement split in different ways.
Some wanted, if only by 1 percent, to understand him and come closer. Some simply worshiped him in silence. And some twisted themselves up for no reason at all and lashed out with hate.
There were even enough discussions around Big Man in VTuber communities that a dedicated topic category appeared.
Of course, there were also people who abused his goodwill.
Because the donation bombardment was indiscriminate, even a little trickery could let someone benefit from it. Not many did, but it was certainly abused.
But...
Big Man’s support was still real.
That one sentence and that 1 million won were desperately needed by countless small streamers. They were the sort of people who just wanted one person to tell them that what they loved was right.
So the small streamers left behind gratitude and follow-up posts about what they had received, bragging that someone had believed in them for no reason at all.
- Seriously, I suddenly felt like streaming again lol
- I got so high on dopamine for a second that I started stuttering...
- Should I have done more reactions? T_T
- I gained 18 too!
- I also started getting more people donating 1,000 won out of nowhere
- Seems like some people are copying Big Man too lol
Natural imitation.
People trying to follow Big Man started springing up everywhere.
But because the range of streams and people Big Man supported was so wide, aside from a few exceptions, people began to see the act of “donation” itself as meaningful.
1,000 won
10,000 won
100,000 won
Everyone pulled out a sum they could spare from their own pockets and offered “support.”
That didn’t need much of a reason.
Big Man hadn’t given a big reason, either.
- I just wanted to support someone for once lol
That one feeling was enough.
Countless streaming platform companies cheered.
It was a culture that helped platform revenue, including fees, and had a positive effect on the livestreaming market as a whole. Thanks to that, even the mainstream institutions that were sensitive to public opinion didn’t react too strongly.
“...”
So it’s just a meme culture that’s activating the market.
Some subculture companies even tried to recruit Big Man. They wanted to turn him into a positive icon who could influence donation culture and its growth through advertising.
But his identity remained a mystery. Even with every administrative resource they could throw at the problem, the companies’ tracking methods couldn’t find him.
All the top administrative teams could do was click their tongues in frustration.
“What, did the donation account pass through overseas twice or something...?”
“And it’s linked to cryptocurrency, too.”
“It’s not even a domestic legal entity... It’s based in Singapore, so we can’t just find out willy-nilly.”
“What on earth is he? Some kind of oil tycoon in disguise?”
“An oil tycoon into VTubers...?”
“Come to think of it, yeah.”
The companies that had been tracking him all week clicked their tongues and headed into the weekend in disappointment, holding VIP benefit lists and headquarters visit schedules in their hands.
They sighed.
Still, I’d like to contact him someday...
The person every internet broadcasting company and every subculture company wanted to meet.
Big Man.
He was at Incheon Airport right now.
*
Saturday morning.
I had come to see Dr. Jang off.
He was leaving for London.
It was the final place to say goodbye before the airport departure hall.
Dr. Jang smiled awkwardly.
Then he adjusted the expensive suit and tie he was wearing. His once shaggy beard and hair had also been trimmed at a high-end barbershop.
In his hand was a calm brown travel bag. And on his head, instead of a bucket hat, he wore a gentleman’s luxury cap.
He looked every inch the polished old gentleman on a journey.
It was very different from his usual shabby appearance. It was thanks to the things I’d picked out at a department store near the airport after he said he wanted to look good in front of his family.
Maybe because he used to tour Europe in his younger days, he looks surprisingly calm even though it’s a trip to London. The fact that he’s smiling probably just means he’s happy to be seeing his family...
He spoke to me.
“Hah, hahah... It’s been so long since I dressed like this. I’m starting to think I’m being ridiculous at my age. Spending several million won on clothes...”
“Things like this last longer when you buy good ones from the start.”
“True enough. If it’s an instrument you’ll use for life, you end up spending less later if you buy something decent and commit to it. Thinking of it that way does make me feel better.”
“Gear obsession can ruin a person in no time if they let it climb step by step.”
“Kukuku! Exactly, exactly.”
Dr. Jang grinned, gave my shoulder a light thump, then waved his passport. After that, he pulled his suitcase behind him. The wheels scraped over the airport floor with a rattling sound.
“I’ll be back. I plan to take my time seeing my family’s faces, so I probably won’t return until sometime after June.”
“...”
At his words,
I let out a low breath.
One month.
Compared to my three-month regression cycle, it was an absurdly long time. If Dr. Jang changed his mind even a little and let the summer slip by, our meeting would be over.
With no way of knowing how long the miracle of this cycle would last, I hesitated for a moment.
“...”
But...
I believed.
This time too,
and the next time...
And someday.
Beyond three months.
I believed I would be able to stay with them.
Let’s get through this together.
Don’t let go of the bond.
Toward the August 1st that would someday come.
“...”
I said, “Have a good trip. I’ll do my part here, too.”
“...”
Dr. Jang looked back at me.
We were silent.
“...”
“...”
He put down his suitcase and strode over to me. Then he pulled me into a tight hug. The old man’s rough hands were clumsy and hard.
“...Thank you. For everything, from the very beginning.”
“It was nothing.”
“...”
Dr. Jang stepped back a few paces, then studied my face carefully.
“You look very different from a few months ago.”
“Do I?”
“You’ve been smiling more. It’s still faint, but it feels like melody has come into a score that used to have no notes at all.”
“!”
Without thinking, I touched the corner of my mouth.
The corners were lifted just a little.
Not the usual smile I wore out of habit,
the one that only twitched faintly.
It was a real smile, one that had slipped out on its own.
“It seems so.”
“Well, now...”
Dr. Jang said,
“Isn’t it funny? In the lives of you and me, which seemed like they would end on an endless repeat sign, something like this sudden variation comes along.”
“...”
“The movement of regret has ended, and now the movement of hope comes back again... Is there ever a variation as astonishing as this? If Mozart saw it, I’m sure he’d be pleased.”
He laughed as he spoke.
“I’m looking forward to the next movement. I don’t know what it will be, though.”
“...”
Like an idiot.
It hadn’t even been that long since despair and regret passed by, and yet...
Even if darkness might come rushing back again...
“Still. I think I’ll try believing.”
I said,
“Hope only means something if you trust it.”
After that, we exchanged our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I headed for the parking lot, and Dr. Jang for the plane.
Was his earlier remark a piece of foreshadowing?
When I returned to the parking lot, I found an unexpected variation waiting for me. My phone rang with a message alert.
Ding!
“!”
I looked at the screen.
It was a message from Do-dam.
...
It was Do-dam’s invitation.
We had only spent yesterday and the night before with old games until the time A-yeong came by in the evening, but it seemed she wanted to come play again from morning today too.
We had only seen each other for two days.
And yet the arcade seemed to be giving her real comfort.
It’s not just that she spent a lot of money and liked it. Is it that she feels like she’s reclaimed a place she’s known since she was little, and, with it, her own life?
For someone who had been an orphan, it was an unfamiliar feeling.
She was enjoying the joy of belonging, of regaining her roots.
I could understand that feeling a little. How much comfort had I myself found in seeing the bonds that survived into this cycle?
“...”
So I replied to Do-dam.
*
The same old arcade.
Do-dam greeted me in the same posture as yesterday. Sitting cross-legged on a chair, she was playing a fighting game that had come out more than twenty years ago.
“Welcome to my arcade.”
“...”
“Yesterday, boss, you used Aki as an excuse, won, and ran off. But since you came early today, you can’t run away, right?”
“It wasn’t an excuse.”
“Hey, this isn’t a place where words prove anything. Draw your deck, you bastard.”
“Is this a card game?”
“Nah, nah. Just a bit.”
“...”
Do-dam grinned at me. For some reason, it was a smile that seemed to flicker back and forth between a boy’s and a girl’s.
“I’m planning to stay until lunch today, so I’m ordering jjajangmyeon too. Boss, you eating with me?”
“Yes.”
“Nice.”
Then she jerked her chin toward the seat next to her.
I sat down there.
Above the arcade screen, the fighting game selection menu blinked. Dozens of characters waited with solemn expressions to be chosen.
I picked a suitable one from among them.
Then a booming narration rang out.
[NEW Challenger!!!]
“...”
“Nice! Today I’m gonna beat the hell out of you, boss, so be ready!”
And she started working the controller with practiced ease. Memories from the cycle in which I had gone up against the masters of old games came flooding back.
Tap
Tap
“...”
Right, my physical skills have completely gone to hell after all these cycles.
But the one making sounds like they were dying was Do-dam. It was as if every hit on her character was linked directly to her senses.
“Ah! Aah! Ack! Hah!”
“...”
“It hurts! Ngh! Ah! Stop stabbing me in the same place!”
“...”
“Boss! Please...! Give me a break...!”
“...”
What was this.
The nuance was strange.
Is this some kind of psychological strategy?
I glanced at Do-dam.
But she was serious about it above all else. There wasn’t a trace of some cheap trick meant to confuse the opponent in her face.
So those are just sounds she’s making without realizing it.
In the end, the game was over.
I had won.
Maybe because it was a game she’d played when she was younger, she was rough compared to the old-game masters who studied the most current strategies.
Do-dam still didn’t give up. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and said,
“Phew... phew... Boss, you can still keep going, right?”
“Yes.”
We played several more rounds after that.
“...”
Of course, I mean rounds of the game.
Anyway, a few hours later, we ended our games with the arrival of the delivery rider who came into the arcade. Then we ate jjajangmyeon and talked.
Do-dam said, with sauce on the corner of her mouth, “Ah, I like everything about this arcade, but it’s a little weird that there aren’t any new games. Old games don’t change their meta, and since I already know all of them, they’re not as fun to play.”
“They change more than you’d think.”
“Huh?”
“There are still people researching them and changing the meta.”
“A game this old? It’s over thirty years old.”
“There are still people studying it.”
“...”
“...That’s terrifying.”
Do-dam gave a little shiver of her shoulders. Then she returned to what she’d been saying.
“Anyway. What I’m trying to say is, I like this arcade a lot, but it is a little disappointing that there aren’t any new games. But then I checked the replacement cost, and damn, it was no joke.”
“Arcade machines aren’t cheap.”
“And the coin changers and interior work cost more than you’d imagine...”
She sighed.
“It just feels like the budget would go way too high, you know...? It was a little much, so I gave up. I wanted to overhaul it properly and use it for streaming too. I’m just going to leave it like this and use it as a place to play by myself.”
“...”
At those words.
I fiddled with the business card in my pocket.
BigPlan Holdings Korea
Investment Director Seonwoo Taek
“If...”
“?”
“Would you be interested in taking investment under decent terms?”
“In-investment? In this old, run-down arcade?”
“Yes.”
I said,
“I happen to know a major foreign investor who’s very interested in revitalizing subculture. He’s famous for investing with almost no conditions.”