Defense Champion - 1
-If you’ve got a problem, come here.
“....”
“....”
“....”
An aggro bait line, blasted through subway stations all across Seoul.
Most people only paused for a second before moving on. To them, subway ads were never anything worth paying attention to.
Idol birthdays.
VTuber birthdays.
Mobile game ads.
And so on.
Subway ad boards were just a meaningless shimmer where countless bits of information flashed past. So even after seeing a provocative line, they turned their heads away within two seconds.
What is this, some game ad?
Seriously, what a massive otaku ad.
Man, this is embarrassing.
With thoughts like that, they went back to their own business.
But among them, there were the real ones.
People who weren’t pros, but had pride riding on their game tier, or consumers of subculture who kept up with VTuber trends. They muttered to themselves.
“Oh, that’s the side with Guro Stadium, isn’t it?”
“ABCD? Aren’t those some no-name VTubers?”
“They’re pulling aggro like crazy out of nowhere....”
They looked around for a moment, checking whether anyone was nearby. Once they confirmed there was no one watching a discreet phone screen, they understood.
They turned on their camera.
They took a picture of the blue advertisement board.
Click!
Because claims need evidence.
And then they logged into the internet.
Into the sea of infinite information, toward Valhalla for warriors armed with keyboards and mice. They were warriors who delighted in endless battle there.
Drip instead of swords.
Facts instead of shields.
Glory eternal, won with meme-posts as medals!
Warriors who feared neither anonymous IPs nor fixed handles!
May you live forever.
May you live forever.
Even today, ruthless battles of ferocious argument raged in Valhalla. Time flowed there at a pace different from the real world.
Within the endless current of time,
warriors who could never stay dead fought on.
In that battlefield, the warriors who had returned from the subway shouted:
As the hard-core gamers slowly approached the truth, the ones who identified her first were, as expected, the VTuber communities.
Testimonies from those who had arrived on site.
Bigman?
Really, Bigman?
Then it’s Bigman who ordered it, isn’t it?
Wow, lol, so ABCD is doing something with Bigman money too?
Like some huge festival event, the way Romantic Drive does?
Everyone, lower your voices! The will of God has been delivered!
Ahahaha, worshipping Bigman is impossible to resist, lol.
They had finally reached the truth.
This had not been for a passing burst of aggro.
Ah, so that was the will of God.
Those who followed the VTubers bowed their heads in silence. In their minds, “Bigman” was simply an object of devotion to trust and follow. He was, in every sense, the god who governed capitalism and festivals.
BigMan.
BigMan!
BigMan....
BigMan.
BigMan.
BigMan.
We pray....
...
...
...
“BigMan....”
-If that is the will of God....
-...then this is going to be insanely fun.
And the brave ones who weren’t afraid to open the door set out on pilgrimage, heading for the festival site made possible by Bigman’s capital.
*
In the previous loop, I was Bigman myself, so I never even went to the Big Plan event venue. But this time, because I’m the head of investment, it’d be more natural for me to show up.
Right after I came here at DoDam’s request.
In front of me stood a giant golden Bigman trophy.
BigMan
The golden trophy was enormous.
And it had been set up right along the roadside. To keep people from damaging it with their hands, it was covered in thick acrylic as an extra measure.
This gigantic Bigman trophy served as an excellent landmark.
-Oh! It’s here.
-Did they make it big because it’s Bigman?
-Let’s take a picture first.
“...!”
I turned around.
There weren’t many people gathering in front of the stadium. They all seemed to be VTuber fans, praying or making a show of kneeling while looking at the golden trophy. Around them, people laughed as they took pictures.
-BigMan!
-Wow, it’s really huge.
-Are they holding some kind of tournament with this?
Probably the VTuber fandom.
To avoid disturbing them while they were having fun, I slipped quietly off to the side. Then I looked back at the trophy and fell into thought again.
Was this the trophy shown in the ad? It’s almost a meter tall, so the production cost couldn’t have been cheap. There’s a ridiculous amount of gold decoration on it too....
Honestly.
I was a little thrown off.
No.
A lot.
...
DoDam did say she was doing something centered on Bigman. But I didn’t expect her to treat Bigman with this much affection.
This stadium,
and this tournament.
Wasn’t this an important place to DoDam?
So why put a Bigman trophy at the entrance of such an important place....
As large as the trophy was,
a corner of my heart felt a little heavy.
...
So I lifted my gaze.
The changed stadium sign... that blue color caught my eye. They had changed the stadium’s name as part of the renovation this time, too. Naturally, that had been DoDam’s choice.
The new name of the stadium was....
D/FENCE
“...!”
As I was thinking about what it meant, a woman beside me came over and spoke.
“Would that be read as ‘Dee-Fence’? It makes me think of the owner of the stadium, and it also fits this event. That’s fun.”
“...!”
It was a familiar voice.
I looked over.
A woman wearing a black brimmed cap and a mask was standing beside me, staring blankly at the sign. Unlike usual, she wasn’t wearing glasses. When our eyes met, the exposed ones curved like crescent moons.
“Hello, Director. Do you know who I am? I heard ABCD was going big this time with Big Plan, so.... I came to see it personally.”
“...”
“Director?”
Of course I didn’t answer.
Romantic Drive’s Danhui, Ms. Eunhwa....
I looked at her, then pulled my phone from my pocket. I tapped out the words I wanted to say.
“...”
“...?”
At Eunhwa, who tilted her head,
I quietly held up the phone and showed it to her.
[Ms. Eunhwa, wouldn’t it be a problem for you to come here in person?]
“...”
“...”
Eunhwa laughed softly at whatever she found so funny about my words. She took out her own phone and tapped away.
[It’s fine. I already got de-masked ages ago since I used to be a regional announcer, and I also go around checking out other people’s event sites from time to time. Surprisingly, people don’t seem to care much if I walk around beside them. Still, standing here like this is awkward, so shall we go inside?]
My concern
was smoothly turned into a suggestion.
“...”
“...”
Something about it.
Something....
Eunhwa’s totally unbothered attitude made me feel a little worried instead. But after glancing around for a moment, she just started walking lightly forward.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m coming.”
We still had to go in and look around anyway.
Bold, or
careless, or
...
Come to think of it, A-yeong and DoDam never showed their faces openly either. They just didn’t hide their speech patterns or personalities....
Forcing myself to make peace with it,
Eunhwa and I entered the stadium.
The world in front of me immediately turned blue.
The walls, facilities, and seats inside the stadium had all been decorated around a blue theme. And in the entry area, staff were stationed to guide visitors.
-Please come this way!
-The detailed event explanation is posted inside, so please refer to that.
Some of the people from the last meeting are here too.
I gave them a slight bow.
“Good afternoon.”
“Ah! Director Seonwoo Taek...! Hello. Is there something you need us to do?”
“No. I just came to look around for a bit.”
“I see.”
They stood and greeted me. Then they looked at Eunhwa beside me and tilted their heads slightly, not recognizing her at first.
“And the person next to you is...?”
“...”
Eunhwa lowered her mask a little and smiled. The staff recognized her immediately after that. Her face was the kind it was hard not to recognize in the first place.
“Ah, Eun....”
“Ahem, ahem....”
“Sorry. Did the two of you come together?”
“Yes. This is the first event among this week’s Big Plan lineup, so I came to see how it all works.”
“Ah, I see. Take your time and look around. There’s a staff lounge and a broadcast room inside too, so feel free to check those out as well.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Eunhwa answered with a bow. Then she looked at me and said,
“Shall we go in, then?”
“...”
I nodded.
“...”
“...?”
I turned my head.
Then I spoke to the employees from the partner company under Big Plan who were looking at Eunhwa and me from the side.
“We did not come together. We just happened to meet in front of the stadium.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
We entered the stadium interior.
What hit me at once was DoDa’s taunting voice. On the enormous display inside the stadium, DoDa’s face wore a sly smile. She was probably broadcasting directly from the studio.
-Welcome to my kingdom. If you want to survive here, you’ll have to beat me.
She said,
-Can you keep up? My speed.
“...”
“...’
Eunhwa murmured,
“Your confidence is really something else.”