The Arcade Opens
The day the arcade opened.
It was tucked away in a corner of the capital’s central market.
The building had once been a dilapidated warehouse used for stacking grain sacks and rotting wooden planks. Mold bloomed across the walls, and the cracks in the floor were crusted with old straw and dried mud.
Into that place steeped in nostalgia, we had hauled in several arcade machines.
The magic-stone circuits hummed, the screens flickered, and for the price of a single copper coin, a game would begin.
The machines were flashing their main-screen animations. Around them we had placed a basketball hoop machine, a claw machine, and a coin-exchange station, all salvaged from old memories.
Yeah. This was the vibe. If only a noisy ventilation fan were spinning overhead, it would be perfect.
Honestly, I thought it would do well. I never imagined it would fail because no one showed up.
But… wasn’t this crowd a little too much?
“Hey, get back! I was here first!”
“Don’t make me laugh! You just didn’t see me standing here with those blind eyes of yours!”
“A noble has arrived! Make way!”
“Who cares if you’re a noble? The entry fee is the same for everyone!”
The area in front of the warehouse was packed shoulder to shoulder with people.
Mud-caked boots stomped across the ground while silk shoes danced around them to avoid the filth. The mingled stench of sweat and perfume created a nauseating harmony in the air.
“Ugh, fuck.”
The smell of fish, iron, and cheap liquor.
This was a marketplace, after all.
Actually, a regular market might have been better. At least there everyone wanted different things.
But here, everyone had their eyes fixed on the same prize.
The arcade machines, flashing their lights and seducing the crowd with promises of fun.
…I had been naïve.
The concept of an arcade didn’t exist in this world.
To play games, you needed a computer, and computers were expensive. But arcade machines were different.
One copper coin. That was all it took.
Of course people flocked here. The problem was that the people who came hated each other.
“Ugh, why do these commoner bastards keep crawling in? I heard these were magical tools made by the magic tower!”
“Exactly. Won’t they break if those stinking iron workers touch them?”
“A single copper coin? They priced it so low that anyone can just rush in.”
The nobles weren’t even willing to stand in line.
The broad backs of laborers, the frayed hems of maids’ skirts, the mud-stained shoes of children—none of it mattered to them. They treated those people like nothing more than pebbles sticking out of the roadside.
“Ugh, why are these noble bastards even trying to play games? Shouldn’t they just stick to their sword-training grounds and social parties?”
“If those guys join in, the line will never move. I bet they’ll try to buy their spots with money later.”
“They’ll definitely pick a fight if they lose. Ugh, I’m already getting annoyed.”
The commoners ground their teeth at the mere sight of noble clothing.
Silk cloaks, gleaming boots, pale hands without a single callus.
Everything about them irritated the commoners, who kept spitting curses.
They already monopolized every good thing in the world, yet they still tried to snatch away even the opportunities given to everyone.
Oil and water. The crowd split apart like the Red Sea, as if the two groups would never mix.
It looked less like they were about to play a fighting game and more like they were about to start a real street brawl. How could I not sigh?
“Ha…”
The staff from the Blue Magic Tower wiped cold sweat from their brows as they spoke.
“Shouldn’t we separate it into a nobles-only section?”
“Or maybe prepare separate machines just for commoners…”
“No.”
“Lord Reven, at this rate a fight is going to break out.”
“Right now it’s just verbal, but once the doors actually open, it’ll turn into a physical brawl.”
“Do not separate them.”
It was unpleasant.
A nobles-only arcade. A commoners-only arcade.
Sure, it would be easy. Just split the entrance, split the lines, split the seats. Charge the nobles more and give the commoners cheaper machines. Management would be simpler, and there would be less noise.
The world would accept it as natural. After all, this was a medieval society.
But would that really be an arcade? At least, not the one I remembered.
Of course, I wasn’t asking for perfect equality.
People without money couldn’t play for long.
People who were bad got up quickly.
People who were good kept sitting there even while getting cursed out.
But one thing stayed the same.
You put in a coin and it starts. If you win, you stay. If you lose, you go to the back and wait your turn.
Where an elementary school kid could beat a salaryman right after work.
Where a guy in a school uniform mercilessly destroyed an elementary schooler.
Where a seventy-year-old grandfather used his ultimate old-man skills to thoroughly toy with delinquent students.
That was the lawless zone I wanted.
“Games should be something everyone can play. An arcade even more so.”
The magic tower staff all wore awkward expressions as they pointed at one man in front of them.
Their faces clearly asked what I was going to do about that noble currently grabbing a commoner by the collar, despite my pretty words.
“Realistically, that’s the only way to make money. If you alienate the nobles, your sales will drop.”
“I-is that so?”
“If you only accept nobles, the turnover is slow. If you only accept commoners, the unit price is low. Taking both will bring in the most revenue.”
Only then did their faces show a hint of understanding.
I had zero intention of making money, so it was basically a lie, but whatever.
“Move! Do you even know who I—”
“Who cares? Get in line like everyone else!”
As the argument escalated, the nobles’ attendants stepped forward.
They looked ready to draw the swords at their waists at any moment.
The commoners were no different.
They clenched their fists, brandished knives that had just been used to gut fish, and raised hammers and shovels.
This was bad. A brawl was about to explode any second.
“U-um…”
A small voice slipped in. It clearly wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the commotion.
Yet strangely, the nobles closed their mouths first. The commoners whispered among themselves, confused.
Abella peeked out from behind me.
She was awkwardly wearing an oversized Blue Magic Tower research uniform, both hands clasped in front of her chest.
Only then did everyone recognize her.
The person before them was the Third Princess of the Direv Kingdom, Abella de Direv.
Everyone instinctively dropped to one knee.
“We greet the star of the kingdom. Your Highness Abella.”
Abella looked uncomfortable with the scene.
“If… if you keep fighting, I will have to suppress you?”
In the middle of the normally noisy market, a deep silence fell.
Abella was royalty. That meant she could wield public authority.
If anyone earned the royal family’s displeasure, it was nothing for an entire estate—or even a whole family—to be destroyed.
Moreover, Abella was the princess the king cherished most. There had even been a time when he declared he would crush anyone who dared send a marriage proposal to his daughter.
“Y-Your Highness…”
“This is a misunderstanding. We never intended to cause a disturbance…”
“T-that’s right! How could we dare draw a blade in front of Your Highness!”
“No! Those lowly things committed rudeness first—”
One fool who couldn’t read the room chimed in.
“…Lowly things?”
“N-no! Your Highness, that’s not what I meant…”
“Then what did you mean?”
“W-well… I-I’m sorry!”
The man who would normally crush someone with just a few words was now choking on a single innocent question.
That was what a princess was.
She might look harmless, but the moment you said the wrong thing, the elders of your family would rush over and slam your head into the ground.
“W-wait, the princess?”
“Why is a member of the royal family here…”
“So the rumor that she joined the Blue Magic Tower was true?”
“Hold on, aren’t we committing treason right now?”
“Then was this a royal project?”
…It’s just an arcade.
Somehow the situation was spiraling out of control.
Abella blinked in confusion at the commoners’ whispers. Then she gently grabbed my arm.
“…Please follow the order. I made this so that everyone could play.”
What the—why did the hand touching my arm feel so distracting?
“Both nobles and commoners are citizens of this country. Please use it under the same rules.”
The faces of the noble children hardened.
“Princess Abella, I—”
“It’s the rule.”
Abella gripped my arm a little tighter.
“Mister Reven decided it that way.”
In an instant, everyone’s eyes turned to me.
Abella looked up at me and smiled sweetly. Her eyes clearly said, ‘You’ll take care of it now, right?’
…When did this become my responsibility?
I cleared my throat slightly and spoke.
“One copper coin per game. If you win, you stay. If you lose, go to the back.”
The noble scion whose words had been cut off earlier frowned.
“Even if I’m a noble?”
“Of course.”
“Even if nobles pay more?”
“I’m not doing this to make money.”
The crowd murmured.
This world still had a deeply entrenched class system. What Reven was saying was simple.
You nobles, get along with the commoners.
“If you don’t want to play, then don’t.”
“What if we have complaints?”
“Then just leave.”
Everyone was stunned.
‘What kind of insolent bastard is this?’
‘A noble isn’t protecting other nobles?’
Was it over now?
…Come to think of it, there was one more problem. No, it had just been created.
Abella was stuck to my arm and wouldn’t let go.
“…Abella.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t this a bit too close?”
“Hehe… is it?”