A Tiny Visitor to the Arcade
The arcade, befitting its claim as the largest multi-game venue in the area, spanned two full floors and boasted an impressive collection of titles that were usually hard to find elsewhere.
They even had VR games. For Seia, it was like stepping into an entirely new world.
The place perfectly matched its gaming theme, looking as if someone had transported the future itself into the present.
It was already past three in the afternoon, and students fresh out of class were beginning to appear near the arcade.
“Hey, what do you wanna play today?”
“We didn’t finish that one yesterday, so let’s clear it first.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
The students strode inside with determined expressions, and Seia watched them with sparkling eyes.
“Mershita…”
“Hm? You thought they looked cool?”
“Yees. Their clothes were mershita.”
“Ah, you mean their school uniforms looked cool?”
Jeong-woo had wondered what she found impressive, but it turned out the students’ uniforms had caught her eye.
Come to think of it, he remembered feeling the same way when he first got his own uniform. It really had looked incredibly stylish back then.
They resembled proper attire, almost like a uniform, so it was no wonder they seemed impressive to kids who rarely got to wear anything like that.
“You’ll get to wear one someday too, Seia.”
“Wooow… when can I wear it?”
“Hmm…”
How was he supposed to explain this?
It would take about ten years before Seia could enter middle school.
If you multiplied that by 365…?
For Seia, the concept of a “night” felt far more tangible than a “year.”
“Three thousand six hundred and fifty nights.”
“Eh…?”
Seia blinked her large eyes, wondering if she had heard correctly.
Then she spread her fingers and began folding them one by one.
“One… two…”
How long would it take for that number to reach three thousand six hundred and fifty?
Jeong-woo let out a soft chuckle, ruffled her hair, and stepped forward.
“It’s still a long way off, my daughter. Let’s head inside for now.”
“Yes, yees!”
Seia unfolded and refolded her fingers several more times, but she eventually realized it was impossible. With that, she sent the number 3,650 fluttering away from her mind.
The interior of the arcade was already packed with people.
Most of them were students, each completely absorbed in their chosen games.
“Over there! That way!”
“Ugh, I was so close to clearing it.”
“Man… what a waste.”
This arcade had only opened recently, which explained why it was still in its peak popularity phase.
“Ugh… damn it. I have to clear this today. It even showed up in my dream last night.”
“That just means you’ve been playing too much…”
“If I clear it, it probably won’t show up anym— hey.”
His friend’s expression had suddenly turned serious.
Startled as if he had seen something unbelievable, the other boy followed his gaze.
“What? What is it?”
“Look, look over there.”
The direction his friend pointed held nothing but another person playing a different game. Yet something completely out of place in this arcade caught their eye—a tiny figure.
“A baby? Why is there a baby here?”
“Wait, just hold on a second.”
The child’s round, fluffy head looked adorable, but since she was facing away, they couldn’t see the rest of her.
The little girl seemed fascinated by the arcade itself, glancing around in every direction. As her gaze slowly turned, it eventually landed on them.
“Did you see? Did you see her?”
“Y-yeah… wow. She’s insanely cute.”
“Right? She must be here with her dad.”
The smallest child in the arcade and the tallest adult were holding hands, looking around together.
“Is that really her dad?”
“Maybe her brother?”
“What are you guys staring at?”
“Hey, Choi Su-yeon, look over there.”
“Why?”
The direction her friends pointed held the largest person and the smallest person in the entire arcade.
“Whoa, he’s ridiculously handsome. Who is that? Do you know him?”
“…Look at the kid too.”
Su-yeon, who had been stunned by Jeong-woo, widened her eyes the moment she saw Seia.
“What the— is that a doll?”
“She’s unreal. Absolutely adorable.”
“Wow, wow… what do I do?”
“Hey, hey!”
Su-yeon was unconsciously walking toward Seia.
If her friends hadn’t stopped her, she would have already been standing right in front of the little girl.
“What are you doing?”
“She’s so cute…”
“This girl has lost her mind.”
“Ugh, here we go again. Hurry up and drag her out.”
Choi Su-yeon was pulled outside by her friends’ hands, but her gaze never left Seia for a second.
She loved cute things more than anyone, yet out of everything she had ever seen, Seia was by far the cutest.
And she was moving. Alive.
She wasn’t some fictional or virtual being.
“Huu… haa…”
Once outside, Su-yeon breathed in the fresh air to clear her head. She nodded at her friend to say she was fine.
While catching her breath, a truly excellent plan had occurred to her.
Completely unaware of any of this, Jeong-woo and Seia were busy deciding which game to play first.
He had assumed she could play anything, but unfortunately Seia was simply too short.
Games played at tables had no footrests, so she couldn’t even see the screen properly. And even if she could see, her arms were far too short to reach the controls.
“Hiiing…”
Seia looked utterly disappointed at the realization that she couldn’t do anything.
Her big, round eyes were sparkling even more than usual.
It was adorable, of course, but Jeong-woo knew what came next.
In just a little while, those sparkling eyes would start spilling fat tears.
“Hey, sweetheart. Want to try a VR game with Dad?”
“Vee… ar?”
The teary eyes that had been on the verge of crying quickly filled with curiosity instead. Jeong-woo took her hand and led her toward the VR section.
There were many different kinds. Some only let you watch videos, while others allowed you to play games yourself.
Playing an actual game would probably be too difficult for Seia, so Jeong-woo decided on the viewing experience instead.
“Oh my, what a cute little princess we have here.”
The owner, who had been greeting customers, broke into a wide grin that showed his gums. He crouched down to meet Seia at eye level.
Jeong-woo was 182 centimeters tall. The owner was even taller, with a massive build and a thick beard covering his chin.
He looked exactly like a giant bear.
Jeong-woo had worried Seia might be scared, but she didn’t look frightened at all.
“Hellooo.”
“Hehe, hello there. Did you come with your brother?”
Seia shook her head vigorously.
“I came with my daddy.”
“Oh? So he’s your dad. I was wondering where such a pretty princess came from. Looks like her father’s genes played a big part. Are you here to play, or just to watch?”
“We’re here to watch.”
“Hmm… has the little one ever been to an amusement park?”
“Haha… not yet.”
“Then this is perfect. Roller coaster VR.”
Roller coaster VR, huh.
It sounded pretty good.
He planned to take her to a real amusement park someday. This might help her get used to the feeling in case she got scared of the real thing later.
Besides, Seia was still too small to ride an actual roller coaster anyway.
‘It should be fine, right? She handles slides really well.’
The real problem was something else.
It was that Jeong-woo himself didn’t handle them well.
Still, it was just VR. How scary could it be? He followed the owner.
There, they found seats designed to look exactly like roller coaster cars.
“Here, please have a seat…”
“Boss! Me too!”
A youthful voice called out from behind them.
“What? Su-yeon? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“I just… felt like trying it.”
The owner and Choi Su-yeon had known each other for a while. She had been a regular customer ever since the arcade first opened.
Her friends today had all been dragged along by her persistent sales pitch.
When Su-yeon had first tried this VR experience, she had complained that it didn’t feel realistic enough and that she wasn’t impressed.
Now she suddenly wanted to ride it—and was even willing to pay for it.
“Well, that’s fine by me. Hop on.”
Su-yeon’s seat happened to be right next to Seia’s.
Jeong-woo had placed Seia in the middle seat for her, and since it was meant for three people, one spot remained open.
Su-yeon sat down carefully beside her and let out a silent deep breath.
Seia looked up at her with wide, blinking eyes.
The breathing she had just calmed down was growing rapid again.
‘Huu… haa… calm down.’
She couldn’t lose her composure here.
If she did, she might make this tiny child wary of her.
“H-hi—?”
She raised her tone as brightly and innocently as possible, but it backfired.
Her voice cracked completely.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
Startled by her own voice crack, she began to hiccup.
‘I’m doomed!’
But the little girl Su-yeon was looking at was an angel.
The voice crack and hiccups must have been funny, because Seia broke into a bright smile, bowed her head politely, and greeted her.
“Hellooo.”
The hiccups stopped instantly at Seia’s greeting.
Even when she was just blinking, she was unbelievably cute. But when she smiled, she became even cuter.
“How old…”
“Alright, please put on the equipment. And here’s a special set just for our princess. Glad I bought this.”
The owner, suddenly receiving a resentful glare from Su-yeon, handed out the devices with a puzzled expression.
While Su-yeon was busy imagining what Seia would look like wearing the headset, a video of someone boarding a roller coaster appeared before her eyes.
At the same time, the chair began to jolt and move.
“Ahh!”
She couldn’t see Seia’s face, but she could perfectly picture her expression.
Along with Seia’s startled voice, the roller coaster slowly began to move.
“Oh, we’re going up!”
From the sound of Seia’s voice, it was half excitement and half fear.
She didn’t seem to realize she was wearing something on her head.
Before long, Seia was tightly gripping Jeong-woo’s arm.
He gently placed his other hand over hers. Soon the roller coaster reached the top.
The chair, which had been jolting irregularly, came to a brief stop.
They had entered the eye of the storm. Now it was time to leave it behind.
The parabolic curve at the peak meant only one thing.
They would plunge forward—or rather, downward—along the track ahead.
The momentary sense of stillness vanished in an instant.
The roller coaster dropped suddenly, and Seia’s voice rang out.
“Kyaaa!”
It was a sound Jeong-woo, who had been by her side every day, couldn’t quite read.
Seia’s grip on his arm tightened, but he couldn’t tell whether it was from delight or fear.
“Hup…!”
The problem was that Jeong-woo himself was struggling with this roller coaster.
How had the technology advanced so far? It felt far too real.
The descents, ascents, and sharp corners kept coming without pause. Seia’s voice could be heard each time, but Jeong-woo could no longer pay attention to it.
“Aaaah…”
When the roller coaster finally reached the end, Jeong-woo let out a deep sigh.
“Wooow!”
Seia let out a cry of pure joy.
The voices of father and daughter rang out at the same time, their emotions completely opposite.