WRC Champion and the H-Cup Calamity
At the Woldeumcon, "I brought money!" "How much?" "Fifty thousand dollars!" "????????????????" Everyone's eyes flew wide open as every gaze snapped toward me.
"So... we don't have to worry about starving anymore...?" A tiny teardrop slid down Yoo Seop's cheek. The resentment he'd bottled up after having his business shut down by force, leaving his homeland, and struggling to communicate in a foreign country finally burst free. After scraping by with nothing but uncertainty ahead, this cold hard cash was the ultimate validation. Having gone through something similar back in my original world, I understood exactly how he felt. That said, it was pretty hilarious that a guy who looked like a shady narrow-eyed mastermind cried this easily. Still, nobody teased him about it this time. We all got it.
Objectively speaking, we really had been in a dangerous spot. I wasn't worried because I knew we'd succeed, but the truth was that a single hiccup in the arcade industry could have turned us into homeless street dwellers. That was why everyone had thrown themselves into programming as an escape, living like coding slaves without a single complaint.
Huh. Seeing it like this, maybe a little tension is actually good for the story.
"Today we're throwing a meat party! Someone grab the barbecue grill from the warehouse!"
The space behind the garage had officially been promoted to warehouse status. Or was promoted the right word? Whatever. The important fact was that our future was finally looking healthy.
"Whoa, that smell is killer!"
"This is... real American barbecue...?"
"Ah, this one's called a tomahawk. The way it tears apart is fantastic."
"So gooood!!!!"
"I-seo-san, where the heck did you even get something like this?"
The truth was the investment money hadn't arrived yet, so I'd bought everything with my own cash. It had been a while since we'd had alcohol, and everyone's energy shot through the roof. Surprisingly, they even sold something similar to soju here.
"Actually, I scammed all of you."
"Huh?"
"I told you to work as much as you got paid, then didn't pay you and worked you to the bone anyway! A full month of passion pay is a serious crime! I'm sorry!!!!!!!!"
"Isn't this a kejime matter for I-seo-san?"
"Aieee!! What an incredibly rude thing to say!"
A bright yet somehow dark and profound atmosphere filled the garage...!
"I'll pay your salaries as soon as the investment money comes in!"
"But honestly, we don't really need it. It's not like we go out anywhere. We basically just stay in the garage or hit the arcade once in a while. Instead of spreading the money thin, wouldn't it be better to keep it as shared assets for now..."
"Wait, isn't that literally a hippie commune or a communist collective fa—"
"STOOOOOP!!!! Say one more word and the National Security Agency will fly over here to arrest us!"
"Isn't this a kejime matter for Jeong-jun-san?"
"Aiee! I'll offer my right pinky as kejime... ah, wait, I need that for typing semicolons."
"What admirable spirit from a true coding slave! I'll let it slide just this once!"
"Thank you... Overwhelming thanks...!"
All day long, that garage on the outskirts of Silicon Valley turned into a nonstop comedy routine. Everyone suffered from brutal hangovers the next day, of course.
Two months passed. AdSense, which had proven its own advertising power, was doing absurdly well. KIN was absolutely raking in the ad revenue. Meanwhile, Digital Inside was on fire once again. When was it not on fire? I don't know, lol. Anyway, the reason this time was simple.
The Worldwide Rhythm Contest—shortened to WRC, or sometimes Wolicon. In Korean it was more commonly called Woldeumcon, but let's move on. Everyone had been counting down to 8 p.m., when the voting results would finally be tallied.
Even in Digital Inside, where every kind of human gathered, the rhythm game gallery that had held the number one spot in the popular galleries for two straight months was now going completely feral alongside people facing the end of the world. Promotion posts for their favorite songs, predictions about the results, public opinion tests—hot threads were being refreshed every single second.
And then, finally, 8 p.m. arrived. The server crashed, of course. It took exactly thirty minutes to recover. It didn't take any longer than that because Yoon I-seo, who had predicted this, borrowed a bit of capacity from the AdSense servers.
"Please let this song blow up...! The pattern could be absolutely insane...!"
"Oh God, please let my song at least make top three!!!"
The results were finally revealed to the world.
"Huh? This is second place? Did someone rig it?"
A brief conspiracy theory about the rankings circulated, but it died down quickly.
They'd gone nuclear by releasing the entire server log, instantly shutting down the conspiracy theories. For reference, this first WRC vote would later be cited as the textbook example of fair and transparent large-scale internet voting for generations to come. Unlike a certain peach-flavored cereal.
Anyway, back to the results. There was a tiny bit of controversy, but it was limited to second and third place. Everyone had already guessed who would take first.
"BlueWhite" by HAYAKU
"Honestly, isn't that cheating? Don't you think so, I-seo?"
"Ahaha..."
It was obviously the song I'd submitted under a pseudonym. The rhythm game gallery, completely unaware of this, was desperately trying to figure out who HAYAKU was.
Shockingly, among all the wild guesses, the correct answer was mixed in. But no one outside of KIN's members—well, employees—knew that. Yoon I-seo had simply twisted the pseudonym of an anonymous composer she'd used in her original world a little.
"That was naughty."
"Come on, I didn't even put that much effort into it. I didn't expect it to do this well."
"What? You didn't put in effort? You spent all day giving feedback with Eun-ji and acting all lovey-dovey?"
The thing she was mad about seemed slightly off, but of course Yoo Ji-young didn't realize it.
"No, this is actually pretty important. If we create a culture of submitting songs anonymously, we can fish out talented unknown composers who would otherwise be buried because they don't have a famous name, right?"
"That wasn't your original intention, was it?"
"...Well, the prize money is secured, so isn't it a win?"
"Demon. Go die."
"Being insulted by a beautiful girl... heh..."
Out of what little conscience I had left, I didn't accept the prize money. It belonged to KIN anyway, so it didn't really matter.
"So what now?"
"First we'll invite the prize winners, pay out the money, and discuss BGA production. The Strikers team just needs to wait for the hardware parts to arrive, so we can hand that off..."
"After that you're making another game, right?"
"Um... I'm going to put games on hold for a bit. There's something I need to do first."
"What is it?"
"It's still in the concept stage, so it's too early to talk about. I'll tell you later."
Our new game was being delayed quite a bit, but this was an absolutely essential step for our future. Once this was done, we'd focus exclusively on games...!
After that, we invited the winners.
"Whoa, hello~"
"Ah, hello..."
The second-place winner, DonCare, was already somewhat famous. Third place, ho11ow, was completely unknown.
"I'll send you the BGA drafts based on the concept you described once they're finalized. Any additional questions?"
Once the discussion wrapped up and I opened the floor for questions, both of them raised their hands at the same time.
"Um... did HAYAKU-nim not come...?"
"Ah, that's me."
"...Excuse me?"
"I'm going with a mysterious artist concept this time, so please keep it a secret, okay?"
"Ah. Yes, of course."
"As for you, DonCare..."
"Ah, would it be possible to receive some one-on-one lessons, lady? I'd like to learn how to use Flux Sound."
"Sure, why not. From your tracks, it seems like you're moving toward house music."
"Perfect! Haha, you have a good eye."
"Just don't confess to me in the middle of it. I'm not interested in that right now."
"Oops. Too bad, ahaha!"
After that I grabbed both of them and gave them an absolutely brutal lecture. Of course, it was purely educational. I could feel them sneaking glances at my chest every now and then, but I'd probably do the same in their position, so I let it slide. I had zero intention of filming anything AV-related.
Teaching people who already had some foundation was genuinely fun. Since they weren't complete beginners, I didn't have to waste time on basic stuff like I did back in high school.
"By the way, I-seo, you've been eating nothing but hamburgers lately. Haven't you gained weight?" Lee Eun-ji struck me right where it hurt. I'd been surviving on three-dollar cheap burgers because I was worried about money, but hitting me with facts like that was just unfair!
"Your weight has gone up a bit... Honestly, with all that patty and cheese, it'd be weird if you didn't gain weight."
"This is the perfect time. Let's go clothes shopping with me. Especially underwear!"
"...Do we really have to?"
"All your T-shirt collars are stretched out, your pants are falling apart, and you don't have a single decent outfit. What do you mean 'do we have to'? Shut up and come shopping with me tomorrow."
"Sigh... fine..."
Resisting was pointless. Knowing Eun-ji's personality, she'd drag me out by force anyway. And so the next day arrived.
I ended up at a department store in the city with Eun-ji and Jung-ah.
"Wait, I thought we were just going to some regular clothing stores nearby?"
"We're doing this properly this time. You agreed, remember?"
"Ah..."
I had a bad feeling I'd walked into something terrible.
"How about this one?"
"I-seo, cool tones would suit you better. What about this?"
"Doesn't literally anything look good on her?"
"Your body is actually cheating..."
"Are we... done now...?"
"What are you talking about? We still have to buy underwear."
"Ah..."
The doll-dressing game still wasn't over.
"Um... according to the measurements, you're an H-cup..."
"I said G! G!!!"
"Ow! Ow! Stop hitting me! What do you want me to do about it getting bigger!"
"Traitor! I stopped at F!"
"Eun-ji, yours are plenty big too!"
Look at Jung-ah down there, hollow-eyed, reaching out toward the cliff of her flat chest. You're a traitor too, Eun-ji.
"Ahem. We only carry a few options in H size... Please try on anything that catches your eye."
There were only three brands. My life was truly pitiful.
"They say on magical days it gets even bigger...?"
"Unfair unfair unfair—"
Eun-ji and Jung-ah were both squatting in the corner muttering together. This was driving me insane.
"I'll try this one on."
I bought a few reasonable ones and the underwear shopping from hell finally ended. It was a day where everyone except me left with emotional scars.
"So what now?"
"We're going to the bank."
"To get the investment money?"
"Well... that's part of it, but there's something bigger."
"What is it?"
"Wouldn't it be convenient if you could use the money in your account anytime, anywhere?"
The curtain rose on the 1972nd season of the internet revolution!