Fair and Square (4)
“Is that guy crazy?”
The venue was the Sega Sonic Festival, currently packed with countless spectators. Not only that, but the tournament was being broadcast live on JTV—and in prime time, no less. If you factored in the inevitable reruns, it was essentially being watched by half the population of Japan. In such a situation, using a bug—which was essentially “illegal” in the context of the game—was an act that could only be committed by someone who was either completely thoughtless or someone who had discarded all sense of decency in favor of winning at any cost.
“There really are people in this world who defy common sense.”
Just as Yoon-gi was thinking this, the audience was indeed buzzing with commotion. Furthermore, the tournament committee members seemed to be in a state of panic, exchanging opinions with flustered expressions as they tried to figure out how to handle the situation.
“What should I do…?”
It wasn’t that Yoon-gi didn’t know about the bug. In fact, it was a well-known glitch that had already been featured in magazines. It was a chronic disease of the games of this era; since there was no way to patch games in real-time, once a bug existed, it was destined to remain. However, this bug wasn’t actually serious. If you used it alone, it was a somewhat convenient feature, and if you didn’t want to use it, you could simply choose not to. But the story was entirely different when it was used in an official setting like this, especially one where prize money was on the line.
“Looks like they’re going to stop it.”
It was a logical decision, in a way. Just as the referee was about to walk toward the Shikoku representative, Yoon-gi called out to him first.
“Wait a moment!”
“Yes?”
The referee approached Yoon-gi, looking flustered.
“Please, just let them continue.”
“C-continue?”
The referee asked back, looking at Yoon-gi as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“Yes, continue. I want to finish this match to the end.”
“Are you… perhaps planning to use the bug yourself?”
“No. I’m going to decide this match fair and square. I’d rather fight fair and lose than have the match interrupted.”
“Hmm….”
The referee seemed to think this wasn’t a matter he could decide on his own, so he ran back to where the organizing committee was gathered. Since only a handful of people knew that Yoon-gi was the “Golden Mask of Sega,” his request was passed through like a free pass, largely because one of Nakayama’s confidants was on the committee. No, they even granted him an additional advantage.
At the referee’s shout, a passionate roar erupted from the buzzing crowd.
[Outdoor! Outdoor! Outdoor!]
[Kanto! Kanto! Kanto!]
It was an almost one-sided cheer. But it was only natural. Defeating an opponent who uses illegal methods with a fair and square approach—this was a cliché frequently seen in Japanese media, which meant it was a guaranteed box-office hit that worked perfectly in Japan.
“Ho, I like this.”
Amused by the fitting framing, Yoon-gi smiled and focused back on the game. It was a level of concentration worthy of a movie protagonist. Because of this, the audience began to empathize with Yoon-gi and cheer for him like crazy, even though Yoon-gi was currently on the third stage while his opponent was on the fifth. Of course, Yoon-gi had a secret plan.
“Of course, I won’t be using the bug. But.”
Yoon-gi smiled inwardly and spoke to Choi Deok-bae.
“Can you do it?”
Since Choi Deok-bae was always eager to help with anything that involved screwing over Japan, Yoon-gi didn’t even consider the possibility of failure. At Choi Deok-bae’s words, the ghost appeared in mid-air and headed straight for the Shikoku representative. Or, to be precise, toward the Super Genesis the Shikoku representative was using. A moment later, the ghost slipped inside the Super Genesis and vanished.
[[[Huh?]]]
In an instant, the entire audience let out a gasp of confusion.
“W-what the!”
The Shikoku representative was just as flustered. It couldn’t be helped; the game screen was glitching, and the speed had slowed to a crawl.
“Referee! Do something!”
At the Shikoku representative’s plea, the referee approached the committee members again. And faster than expected, the referee stood before the audience.
Cheers erupted from the stands again.
[[[[[WOAAAAAAAH!!!]]]]]
The villain falls into his own trap, and the protagonist, who was in a crisis, uses it as an opportunity to close the gap. It was a story straight out of a movie. Before he knew it, Yoon-gi had reached the fifth stage that the Shikoku representative had been playing. And he did it faster than the record he had achieved in the quarterfinals.
“This should be just about right.”
No sooner had Yoon-gi thought this than the ghost slipped out of the Shikoku representative’s Super Genesis. The game screen returned to normal, and the Shikoku representative hurriedly returned to the game.
“Gaaaaah!”
The Shikoku representative’s frantic cries could be heard even from a distance. Although the Shikoku representative was still slightly ahead, this was all part of Yoon-gi’s plan.
“It wouldn’t be fun if I overtook him already, would it?”
It was a nail-biting match. Seeing Yoon-gi’s skill as he slowly caught up, the audience held their breath and cheered for him incessantly.
[Outdoor! Outdoor! Outdoor!]
[Kanto! Kanto! Kanto!]
And finally, the seventh stage. As they reached the final stage, the audience fell silent. Everyone was clenching their fists and staring at the screen. The Shikoku representative was still slightly ahead, but it wouldn’t have been strange for Yoon-gi to overtake him at any moment. The audience looked as if they had the word “please” written all over their faces. Glancing at them, the Shikoku representative gritted his teeth and focused on the game, determined not to lose. Having already resorted to using a bug and taking on the role of the villain, he knew he would be showered with every insult imaginable if he lost. He was desperate.
However.
“Now!”
During the battle with the seventh stage boss—the final boss—Yoon-gi began to pick up speed. And finally.
Kukukukukukung-!
With the sound of the robot piloted by the final boss shattering, the ending credits rolled on Yoon-gi’s screen, and the festival grounds descended into a frenzy.
[[[[[WOAAAAAAAH!!]]]]]
Less than three seconds later, the ending credits rolled on the Shikoku representative’s screen as well, but no one paid him any mind. Because the one who had won was the “fair and square” Yoon-gi.
“Check it! Check the footage! I cleared it first!”
The Shikoku representative protested to the referee, but it was rejected. They had started at the same time, after all.
[The 1st Sega Sonic Festival! The Sonic King is the Kanto representative, Outdoor Boy!]
At the host’s booming shout, Yoon-gi raised both hands, and everyone cheered for the word “fair and square.”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Seeing Yoon-gi fan-servicing the crowd that cheered for him, the audience praised his politeness to no end, and the first day of the Sega Sonic Festival ended perfectly. However, there was one fact the audience didn’t know: the fair and square Outdoor Boy was Korean, and the despicable opponent who used the bug was Japanese.
The second day of the Sega Sonic Festival. In truth, there was no reason for Yoon-gi to be here anymore. The tournament was over, and he had swept up most of the prize money. But Yoon-gi decided to enjoy the festival. With his younger sister, Jung-ah.
“Jung-ah, thank you so much. Everything oppa is doing this time, Jung-ah did almost all of it.”
“Hehehe.”
Seeming happy just to be praised by Yoon-gi, Jung-ah smiled and hugged him.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Give me a piggyback ride!”
“A piggyback? Of course!”
In reality, giving an eight-year-old a piggyback ride wasn’t easy. But Yoon-gi hoisted Jung-ah up with ease, which inadvertently created victims nearby. Because other children started begging their own fathers for piggyback rides, too.
[Ughhh-!]
[Kyaaa-!]
The screams of countless fathers. With those as background noise, Yoon-gi and Jung-ah wandered around the festival.
“Oppa, buy me that!”
Jung-ah pointed to a Sonic doll. There was no reason he couldn’t buy it for her. No, Yoon-gi was the kind of man who could buy the entire festival grounds if she asked. But thanks to Jung-ah’s thrifty(?) spending habits, it ended with just one doll.
“Oppa, thank you!”
Jung-ah got down, hugged the doll with one hand, and grabbed Yoon-gi’s hand with the other. It was the picture of a happy pair of siblings. For siblings to maintain a good relationship, two prerequisites are needed: a large age gap, and the older one having economic power when they grow up. Yoon-gi, of course, satisfied both. So, he enjoyed the festival as happily as anyone could.
However, it became difficult to enjoy the festival alone. For a happy reason, in a way.
“Um… excuse me, are you the one from… *God of Pachinko*…?”
At the words of a man in his 30s who had cautiously approached him, Yoon-gi nodded.
“Yes. This is my sister, Jung-ah, who played the neighbor’s kid.”
Yoon-gi’s Japanese was fluent. Since Jung-ah used her Korean name for her Japanese activities, there was a chance her identity as “Outdoor Boy’s” sister could be discovered through this conversation. But Yoon-gi didn’t care. He’d rather be found out than try to pass Jung-ah off as Japanese.
“Ah! I knew it! Um… oh… wait a second!”
The man immediately bought a Sonic doll from a nearby stall and handed it to Jung-ah. “Little one, I really enjoyed the movie. Please play the cute neighbor’s kid role again next time, okay?”
When the man’s hand cautiously reached out toward Jung-ah’s head, Yoon-gi seriously debated whether or not to allow the touch. But Jung-ah was faster. She leaned her head into his hand, making it easier for him to pat her. Thanks to that, the man beamed and patted Jung-ah’s head a few times before pulling his hand away.
“Thank you!”
Surprisingly, Jung-ah bowed and thanked him in quite fluent Japanese. The man, looking even more charmed, waved at Jung-ah and walked away.
“Wow, our Jung-ah is popular.”
It wasn’t just “popular.” Because after seeing that, other people started to recognize Jung-ah.
[Huh? That’s the girl from *God of Pachinko*!]
[Really? Where! Where!]
[It’s her! Really, Jung-ah is right there!]
[Outdoor Boy is there too!]
[What, are they siblings?]
[I don’t think so? Jung-ah is Korean, and Outdoor Boy is Japanese, right?]
[They must be close!]
Jung-ah, being clever, didn’t cause Yoon-gi trouble by saying something like, “My oppa is Korean!” Instead, she pretended not to notice the Japanese people flocking toward her and looked at Yoon-gi.
“Oppa.”
In Japanese, “oppa” is *ni-chan*. There are various ways to say it, like *onii-chan* or *onii-san*, but Jung-ah called Yoon-gi by the cutest term possible.
“Why?”
Yoon-gi replied to Jung-ah in fluent Japanese as well.
[See, I told you Outdoor Boy was Japanese.]
[Yeah. Then why is Jung-ah so good at Japanese?]
[She was good at it in the movie, too.]
[Oh, right.]
The people around them interpreted the situation on their own, and thanks to that, Yoon-gi felt much more at ease. Then came Jung-ah’s words.
“Oppa, I’m hungry….”
Jung-ah clutched her stomach. At that sight, people around them rushed to nearby shops, buying octopus balls and Japanese-style pancakes like crazy.
“Jung-ah, eat this!”
“No, Jung-ah, eat this!”
“This one is tastier!”
“Have you heard of takoyaki? It’s bread with octopus inside….”
So much food was offered to Jung-ah that she had to sit down at a nearby rest area. Thanks to that, an impromptu fan meeting naturally took place.
“Kya-hahahaha.”
Seeing Jung-ah laughing genuinely, Yoon-gi thought he had done a great job bringing her here today. “It would have been nice if Merrill had come too.” If Merrill, who was working hard in the US, had seen this, she would have been disappointed in many ways. But in a sense, it didn’t matter. Yoon-gi was a boyfriend with the wealth to throw an identical festival just for Merrill.
One month after the Sega Sonic Festival. Suspicions that “Outdoor Boy” might be Korean began to gain traction. The source of the suspicion was none other than Japan’s National Tax Agency. However, there was only the claim that the source was the Tax Agency, and the agency itself didn’t release any further details, leaving the identity of Outdoor Boy in a state of heated debate.
[Outdoor Boy is the Kanto representative! Therefore, he is Japanese!]
[The Tax Agency said he might be Korean!]
[The Tax Agency is keeping its mouth shut! There’s no guarantee the claim came from them!]
[People saw Outdoor Boy with the Korean actress Jung-ah!]
[How does that prove Outdoor Boy is Korean? Outdoor Boy’s pronunciation was perfect Kanto dialect. He must be from Tokyo!]
“If they were people who purely cheered for me, I would have loved them purely in return.”
Yoon-gi gave a bitter smile as he read the newspaper article discussing Outdoor Boy’s identity. Japan was a place with too many people who absolutely refused to accept that a winner could be Korean. The desire to keep Korea beneath them was too strong throughout Japan, and Yoon-gi felt this part very clearly.
“Well, it’s fine. If anything, it makes me feel more at ease.”
As Yoon-gi put down the newspaper, Nakayama, who had been itching to speak, immediately chimed in.
“Eight million units in three months. This is a sales volume with no precedent!”
The Super Genesis had sold so well that they had started expanding factories from the very first day of release. It was fortunate that they had bought up abandoned factories in preparation for high sales; otherwise, they would have faced a situation where they could have sold units but had none to sell.
“I could retire now.”
Nakayama held 20 percent of the shares in the cartridge production factory. In effect, Nakayama had acquired a pension that would allow his family to live off the interest forever. For every game console sold, at least one game was guaranteed to be sold. Assuming a net profit of 1,000 yen per game, that meant a profit of 8 billion yen, and a dividend of 1.6 billion yen would be deposited into Nakayama’s account. Of course, since the net profit was far higher than 1,000 yen per unit, the money Nakayama was earning was beyond imagination. Yoon-gi, of course, held 80 percent.
“Are you planning to retire?”
When Yoon-gi looked at him with a puzzled expression, Nakayama hurriedly waved his hands.
“No! No! That’s not it. I just meant I’m in a position where I could. I’m still hungry for more.”
“You almost made me misunderstand.”
Yoon-gi smiled and continued. “Anyway, at the current sales trend, it doesn’t look like Nintendo will be overtaking Sega anytime soon.”
“That’s right. With over 8 million Super Genesis units already spread across Japan, parents won’t be buying their children a new game console.”
To parents, all game consoles are the same. One of the conditions that allowed *Super Mario* to be a hit in the original history was that the Famicom had already spread somewhat in Japan. Of course, Nintendo had spread as much as it had in the original world in this era, too. The problem was that the Super Genesis had been released into homes far more aggressively. Therefore, even if a new game was released, the games for the Super Genesis were bound to get the spotlight. The sales difference was often ten times over, which was laughable.
“The situation seems stable, so I’ll leave the management of Sega to you for a while. When it’s time to develop the Super Genesis 2, I’ll intervene in Sega again.”
“Understood!”
The power of money is great. Having witnessed the massive hit of the Super Genesis, Nakayama solidified his loyalty to Yoon-gi once again.
Yoon-gi began to enjoy a daily life that felt like a vacation. In Japan, the Super Genesis was a massive hit, and enormous profits were pouring into his account, which were then withdrawn and steadily converted into land. In four years, that land would be converted back into cash, and that cash would flow straight to Yoon-gi in Korea. And Japan’s economy, as the bubble burst, would suffer a devastating blow. If Yoon-gi were to pour that cash back into Japan as “foreign capital” after the bubble burst, the Japanese economy would likely become subservient to Korea—or rather, to Yoon-gi. At least in one region or more.
“Money is pouring in from Japan, and Korea is the same. Now, do I just have to wait until Russia opens its doors?”
At least according to Yoon-gi’s judgment so far, that was the right move. Expanding the scale of his current businesses wasn’t exactly a good method, either. He was already maximizing revenue to the limit; what would be the point of expanding the scale? He could find other investment opportunities if he tried, but at this point, the opening of the Soviet Union was the most certain investment, so Yoon-gi was quietly enjoying his daily life.
“Yoon-gi, what are you thinking about so deeply?”
At Won-hee’s voice from beside him, Yoon-gi snapped out of his thoughts.
“Ah, sorry. I had something to think about for a moment.”
With both Korea and Japan stabilized, Yoon-gi could faithfully attend school. He was adjusting his attendance just enough not to be held back. Because of that, walking home together like this had been quite rare recently.
“It’s been a while since we all walked home together, should I treat you guys to some bread?”
At Yoon-gi’s words, Won-hee’s eyes sparkled.
“Really?”
“Aren’t your reactions a bit too exaggerated?”
Although it was slightly overshadowed by being next to Yoon-gi, Won-hee was also a gold spoon. She had once been demoted to a silver spoon, but as her relationship with Yoon-gi deepened, she had become even wealthier than before. You could say an 18K gold spoon had become a 24K gold spoon.
“No, it’s just… eating bread with you….”
The word “schoolgirl” seemed clearly visible on Won-hee’s blushing face.
“It’s about time Jin-soo started teasing her, right?”
However, unexpectedly, the words that came out of Jin-soo’s mouth were different.
“I’ll treat you today!”
““What? Really?””
Won-hee, and even Yoon-gi, looked at Jin-soo as if he were a curiosity.
“Yeah! My dad gets his paycheck today, so we’re finally paying off all our family’s debt! I’m treating you guys to celebrate!”
For a moment, it wasn’t Yoon-gi or Won-hee, but Choi Deok-bae who let out a voice of confusion.