Desperate Weekend and Otaku Mecca
……Is this, Korea? Most people probably think they'll spend their two-day weekend really productively. After all, those 48 hours are entirely in their hands. But surprisingly few actually use their weekends that way. At least, none of the people around me seemed to. And the reason's easy to guess. Because the weekend's only two days. You blow one day slacking off, but hey, there's still another one left—that sense of relief makes people lazy.
So what if the weekend was just one day from the start? How would people approach it then? Probably with some desperate urgency, right?
"I should've planned what to do during my regular streaming break…!! Sh-should I decide what to do tomorrow right now?"
Anyway, I was taking it extremely desperately.
"No good movies out, huh."
If there was a decent anime film in theaters, I could've gone right away, then done a weird food mukbang the next day while spilling the details. …Yeah. If there was, I'd have squeezed it in before the stream anyway.
I checked the editor applications just in case, but it's only been four days since I posted the ad. The odds of a solid candidate popping up were basically zero.
"Maybe head out first and think about it then? But I don't wanna force myself that much…."
I wanted to make the holiday productive, but not by dragging myself through stuff I hated.
Aunt and Uncle… they're probably working on a weekday. So no family reunion option.
I didn't used to agonize like this. Back then, I was running around like crazy trying to save Night Rise.
That's when one thought flashed through my mind.
"…Huh? Am I actually a workaholic?"
There's this saying: people who know how to play are the ones who've really played before. For someone who'd been holed up at home streaming games non-stop, "having fun" felt like an impossibly huge task.
A sense of crisis slammed my brain. If I kept this up, I'd waste my vibrant twenties in vain. That warning started controlling my fingers.
People often say once you hit your thirties or forties, your body won't even feel like your own anymore. So make the most of your youth privilege while you can.
Why? Why did words I'd brushed off back then now shake me so hard?
"I gotta do something, anything."
Before I knew it, I'd bought a train ticket to Seoul.
(…So that's how you ended up on this unplanned Seoul trip, huh.)
Eunha's exasperated voice leaked from my smartphone speaker.
…Explaining it myself, even I felt a tiny bit ridiculous.
"It just kinda happened."
(Sigh…. I was gonna suggest shopping together for the first time in ages. Whatever, no helping it. Have fun while you're there.)
"I'll grab you a souvenir."
Silence fell for a moment after I said that.
(……Natsumi Nesoberi, please.)
The plushie of the SD character in a prostrating pose—Nesoberi. Of course Eunha would want that. She secretly loves cute stuff, even if she doesn't show it.
"Got it."
I was about to hang up, but her voice came through the speaker again, so no dice.
(Sis, you're going there, right?)
"Duh? When an otaku hits Seoul, stopping by is basically the national rule."
(…You sure fans won't swarm if they recognize you? Place is packed. Maybe grab some sunglasses?)
Eunha's words made me snort without thinking. Couldn't help it—hers was way too over the top.
"No way. I'm not some big-corp streamer. That's straight-up delusion."
(Is it…? Still, better safe.)
"Fine. I'll snap a pic of the sunglasses and KakaoTalk it over. Chill."
(……No need to go that far.)
"Anyway, you rest up too. Days off like this, you need a break as much as I do. You've been killing yourself editing lately."
This time, Eunha snorted.
(Got it. Even without you saying, if there's nothing today, I planned to sleep all day. Want a sleeping pic?)
"How're you snapping a pic while asleep? Anyway, gotta roll. Hanging up!"
(Okay———)
Click. Hung up, then fired up my pre-installed map and subway apps. In a world where a smartphone keeps even hardcore directionally-challenged folks from getting lost, life's pretty sweet.
Searched for today's destination on the map.
Yongsan Ani Road
"…Ah. No wonder it didn't show—wrong search."
Deleted the last four letters, added one.
Yongsan Station
Akihabara. The landmark and holy site of otaku culture. Naturally, it boasts the world's largest scale.
Does Korea have a massive street where otaku culture gathers in one spot like that? Yup. One that's evolved in a pretty similar form to Akihabara—a mecca of Korean otaku culture blooming from the old Yongsan Electronics Market. A place that rivals Akihabara in size.
That place was Yongsan Ani Road.
"…I'd only heard about it, never actually been."
This is a whole different world. I'd caught a whiff of something off from the anime OP blaring at Yongsan Station, but stepping out to street level? My jaw dropped for a solid minute.
……Is this, Korea?
The Korea I knew meant hunting around everywhere for anime merch shops. They weren't clustered like this. Hell, there weren't this many even.
Anime merch shops in Seoul? You could count 'em on your fingers and toes if you tried. How many were there here? And in this country, could anime and game ads be this blatant? Dozens of 'em?
…More than that—if it's this nuts already, what the hell happened inside those old electronics market buildings? No way….
Did that massive structure fail to hold all the exploding anime merch shops, so they spilled out everywhere?
"I had no idea it'd be like this!!"
The year I'd poured into Night Rise suddenly felt wasted.
"A maid cafe… Korea has a maid cafe…."
When a woman in maid attire called me "Master," chanted "moe moe kyun" live to make my food delicious, and threw a hand heart? I rationally suspected I was dreaming.
Even scarier: there were multiple such places. If it was a dream, no way I'd wanna wake up.
Was this culture shock? After that anime movie hitting ten million viewers, I'd thought nothing could surprise me anymore.
Then reality hit.
"…Huh? Where's my money?"
Paid for all the maid cafe services, bought Eunha's Nesoberi souvenir, browsed merch shops, and at the figure store, spotted one that screamed Mom! I gotta have this!!!—poof, hundreds of thousands gone.
Most went to figures, so it didn't even feel like spending money. Just acquiring stuff.
…Impulse buy? Shoulda thought harder?
I pulled out the figure and glanced.
"…Nailed it!"
Not impulse, then. As I headed to the next spot—
"…M-Merhen? Is that you, Merhen?"
……Someone actually recognized me?! Wait, that voice….
"A female viewer?!"
We had female viewers in my stream?! Well, Eunha was my first, so not zero—but I hadn't done anything to attract 'em, so if a fan spotted me, it'd def be a guy first.
…Actually, most of my viewers don't show it, but aren't they mostly housewives and female high school vets? This girl looked super young too, backing my guess.
"It's really you, Merhen?! Whoa…. You're way prettier in person!"
"Aw, thanks. …Want an autograph?"
Marker? Grab one nearby.
"For real!? H-hold on!"
She dashed off, returned clutching something.
"Sign this T-shirt, please!"
She thrust a marker and an anime character tee at me. One I recognized, of course.
Nice. Proper otaku life.
My fondness for this fan ticked up a notch.
"What's your nickname? For a streamer sig, better add it too."
"…Uh, well."
"Even if it's a trash one, no prob! Think a streamer can't handle that? I know my stream's vibe—we embrace the nasty nicks."
She hesitated, then nodded resolutely.
"……MerhenBreastMilkDispenserSlurpSlurp."
"Sure, MerhenBreastMilkDispenserSlurpSlur—what?"