Multiplayer Chick Chaos and Japanese Dubbing
"Nah, no way. 'Ah, n-no, th-that, but if we do multiplayer, it'll be easier.' I tilted my head at Kang Sangi's trailing words.
'Does this support multiplayer?'
Even if Kang Sangi was a genius developer, had he already set up a dedicated server for online play?
'Ah, n-no, not that kind of multiplayer.'
But he sat down naturally next to me, hands on the keyboard, as if to say otherwise.
'L-like this, together.'
So "multiplayer" meant 1P and 2P? The key mappings were perfect too—no overlaps with mine.
'Th-the viewpoint is locked to the main character, th-that is, Ari.'
With that, his character appeared: a cute little bee next to the chick. It was drawn like a mascot, adorable but a bit rough around the edges—probably because it was a solo dev project.
"Mm-hmm, if the two of us team up, we can clear it!"
Oh, and the bee's name was Vivi, by the way.
That marked the end of his words. Peep peep. Bzzzzz. The tiny, cute, startling duo of chick and bee stared up at the massive giant.
Cognitive dissonance alert.
The characters looked straight out of a kids' show for seven-year-olds, but the monster they faced had the hulking vibe of a god-beast from Yu-Gi-Oh!
"Let's go!"
"Huh? Uh, okay."
I moved my character on autopilot in response to his hype.
Thud!
The giant's stomp came in the same pattern as before. Normally lightning-fast, but—
Bzzzzzz!
Kang Sangi poked its sole with Vivi. Groooar! The pained roar slowed it right down.
"So Ari the chick handles main character duties, while Vivi supports!"
We kept at it like that. Until—
Roooar! Thud!
Dead again, inevitably.
This game's way too brutal.
It wasn't just hard—it was soul-crushingly punishing. And this was the tutorial monster?
A foe meant to guide newbies was wiping us from the jump?
He caught my skeptical look and flashed an excited glint, like he had something fun to show.
"I said it's multiplayer, right? So we can add one more."
"One more?"
"Yeah, this one's super simple to control. Like... for a friend who sucks at games?"
Click click.
Another tweak, and poof—a new character spawned next to Ari and Vivi. A goldfish this time.
Chick was yellow, bee was yellow...
Hence the yellow goldfish?
"Her name's Goldie."
"...Goldfish Goldfish~."
"Huh?"
"Nothing, just felt like saying it."
The game restarted. Now Kang Sangi handled Vivi and Goldie simultaneously. With me on main keys, it ended up using pretty much the whole board.
That's what makes it 'multiplayer'?
A bad feeling crept in. First projects always brim with wild experiments, sure.
But still...
No, the game's just too damn hard.
I couldn't blurt that out recklessly, though. I knew how insanely successful Kang Sangi would become in the future.
"It's still rough around the edges—only implemented up to here for now."
He kept manipulating Vivi and Goldie diligently as he said it. But since I controlled the main character, the assists hit their limit fast.
The all-too-familiar phrase for the third time.
"Shouldn't it be 'YOU DIED' with an extra D?"
"Oh, that's just placeholder text. Planning to make it more Korean-style later."
"Ahh, gotcha..."
But after three sightings, a weird fire ignited. Like an itch to conquer it no matter what.
"We can beat this, right?"
"Uh... y-yeah, but I-I... I have to do it to clear."
"Huh?"
Before I could ask what that meant, he kicked off a new run. Solo this time, picking Ari.
"W-wait, lemme show you how."
"It's early build, so I set difficulty a bit high."
With that, he pulled off the impossible right in front of me.
Controlling... three characters at once?
WASD for constant movement, mouse-free moments for arrow keys and numpad on Vivi and Goldie.
"This way, I can slow 'em at the perfect timing for Ari's attacks."
One guy puppeteering three, but they moved like a single unit. Ari striking, assists backing perfectly.
Groooaaar!
The giant actually toppled.
"N-not meant to be beatable, but... story progression? Kinda like a boss?"
"But you made it beatable?"
"Uh... j-just in case someone did, for the thrill."
He'd even thought of rewards, and launched into excited rambling about the game's vision.
This guy's crafting a devil of a game.
I was stunned by the fiendish glint in this innocent-looking dude.
After a long chat, I asked the big one.
"So, what's the game called?"
"...D-dev time's another two years... Ah, th-the name's Golden Resolve!"
"Whoa... cool."
"In English, The Golden Resolve... More assist chars coming later."
"Nice, seriously hyped."
"Heh heh."
He beamed genuinely, thumbs-up and all.
"Donghu, I'll repay your faith in me tenfold."
No clue why, but his voice didn't waver there.
Time flew to mid-October. Peak autumn vibes.
Yeokjeok: Bud of Corruption shooting kicked off.
"Training camp shoot?"
"Yeah, they said so."
"But me and Sunbae Jin Yuseong are excluded?"
"Yep, different roles—better not to cross paths."
The film's rival factions demanded total immersion, hence the camp.
Villains separate, heroes bonding for that tight-knit vibe.
Smart directing from the planning stage. Lesson learned.
Then—
"Donghu, you good with foreign languages by any chance?"
Choi Seokho's random question hit.
"Foreign languages?"
"Yeah, like English, Japanese."
Perfect—both in my wheelhouse.
Common examples, sure.
"Ah, see, the thing is..."
"I can do 'em all."
Our timing synced perfectly. He blanked for a sec, stared, then eyes widened.
"All? You can do all? Like, h-how good?"
"Hmm..."
How good? I'd tested it before: Tower of Babel's limits.
Daily convo level? Way beyond.
No-subs anime? Child's play. Emigrate tomorrow, zero language barriers.
"Wh-what?! For real?! No, it's not disbelief—it's just, this film's got issues."
"Film issues?"
"Yeah, remember the overseas export clause in the contract?"
"Yep."
Hearing that clicked why Yeokjeok had dual ratings.
One's for overseas.
Next sequel prep? Or DVD? Not sure.
Now showing overseas rating too, huh.
Seokho continued.
"They asked if dubbing's possible."
"Dubbing?"
"Yeah. So I checked your level."
Dubbing's no joke, though.
I nodded. True.
Actor dubbing their role is ideal, but pro-level foreign fluency? Rare.
Accent work needs lifelong grind.
Hence native voice actors usually.
But pulling this off?
Quality skyrockets.
Maybe why overseas got B-grade.
If I dub, that bumps it to B.
Dubbing—intriguing. Perfect timing.
"I can do it."
"R-really?! I'll tell 'em yes?"
"Where's the dub?"
"Argh, forgot. Too shocked..."
He checked his phone notes.
"Japan dub request."
"Japan, huh?"
"Yeah, fits their vibe—aiming at that market."
"Sounds good."
"Right? Changes the contract big time... With dubbing skills like yours..."
He grinned ear-to-ear, thrilled for my win, then vanished with an "Got it."
Right on cue—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
First up: Kang Sangi's rage over the game loss. One defeat got him that salty?
I was the one who lost.
Then—
—the future message shook my eyes.
Me, dubbing? Japanese anime?
Nah, no way.