Echoes of Bangya in the Game Center
Even though it was all over, Jungwoo couldn't bring himself to take off the VR headset.
He sat there in a daze, his mind burned blank and white, until a small hand on his arm brought him back to his senses.
"Daddy?"
"Uh, yeah."
Once he removed the device and looked at Seia, he saw an expression on her face even brighter than when she'd ridden the slide.
"Did you have fun, Seia?"
"Yes! It was the best!"
Watching how well she handled scary things, it seemed that in this regard she took after her mother rather than him.
There was no trace of the fear that had flickered in Seia's eyes earlier.
Though someone here was still sweating in his palms.
"Haha... well, that's a relief."
"Hehe, looks like Daddy was a little scared, huh?"
The owner was tidying up the machine, his laughter ringing out.
A tall, handsome young man like him, terrified of a VR roller coaster that wasn't even the real thing.
On the other hand, this adorable little child didn't seem frightened at all. If anything, her eyes sparkled with the desire to ride it again.
Though Choi Su-yeon beside them didn't seem particularly interested.
"Well then, shall we give it another go?"
At the owner's question, delivered with a broad smile, Seia couldn't quite say yes or no.
Her heart wanted to, but she remembered the lessons Jungwoo had always shown her: that there was a price for what you received.
She believed that if you got something, you had to give something in return.
On top of that, her most precious daddy was slumped over as if completely exhausted.
"Seia. Do you want to ride it one more time?"
"Yeees... but is it okay?"
"Haha. Sure. But just once more, all right?"
"Yes!"
With Jungwoo's permission, Seia lit up with excitement.
Sitting in the chair and thrusting both hands into the air, she looked utterly thrilled.
"Um, mister. Can I have one more turn too?"
"Huh? I thought you said this wasn't fun."
"Aww, when did I ever say that? It's super fun. I'll tell all my friends about it too."
"Hmm... if you say so, Su-yeon."
Having benefited plenty from this young salesgirl in the past, the owner nodded and handed over the VR machine once more.
"This one is..."
He was about to place the headset on Seia again when—
"I'll do it. Let me put it on her. Please get it ready."
"Huh? Well, all right."
Choi Su-yeon took the machine from the owner and carefully placed it on Seia's head.
Those large, beautiful eyes gazing up at her were so lovely that she smiled without even realizing it, completely enchanted.
Seia's second roller coaster ride more than fulfilled her expectations.
"Next time I'll have to prepare some different rides. Haha."
Leaving behind the owner's voice brimming with satisfaction, Jungwoo and Seia headed toward the area with the other game machines.
To Seia's eyes, everything here was brand new.
She saw people jumping up and down on certain machines, and others throwing balls into targets.
They were all playing different games, but they shared one common trait.
Every single one of them wore a happy expression.
It might leave a little regret, but only for a moment.
"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"Seia wants to play that one."
What Seia pointed to was a large screen accompanied by two guns.
It was a machine Jungwoo recognized.
A game where you shot at the screen to take down enemies.
The guns looked somewhat different from ordinary firearms.
A bit futuristic, perhaps? That was the best way to describe the design.
Seia's gaze was locked on those guns, her eyes shining with unhidden curiosity.
"All right. Let's go!"
Father and daughter stood side by side in front of the machine.
Maybe it was the guns in front of them, but their mindsets seemed to shift.
"Seia. Can you hold this?"
"Yes!"
The moment Seia took the gun from Jungwoo, her hands dropped heavily downward.
"Eh?"
It was far heavier than she'd expected.
Not knowing the proper grip, she clutched the handle with both hands, grunting with effort as she barely managed to lift it.
Completely unaware that the muzzle was pointed toward herself.
"Seia. You know what a gun is, right?"
"Yes. Bangya bangya."
"When monsters appear on that screen over there, that's when you do bangya bangya. Understand?"
"Yes!"
Seia answered bravely, but her gun had other ideas.
It would point toward the screen for a brief moment before the muzzle drooped straight down to the floor.
"Hiiing..."
Seia's lips poked out in a disappointed pout.
Those chubby cheeks only made her cuteness more irresistible, but now wasn't the time to savor it.
"Put it on this stand and shoot. Then it won't feel heavy."
When he placed it on the mount, just as Jungwoo promised, it wasn't heavy at all.
He brought over the footrest and taught Seia how to shoot properly.
"Okay, brace it firmly against your shoulder like this, close one eye, and aim through here."
"Like this..."
Seia followed his instructions surprisingly well.
From the side, her posture looked quite professional, like watching a sniper straight out of a movie.
There was just one fatal flaw.
She was closing the wrong eye and keeping the other one open.
Swallowing a laugh, Jungwoo corrected her properly before starting the game.
"Um, how do I do it?"
"When a monster appears, aim and bang! Got it?"
"...Nye!"
It seemed they'd discovered a new habit of Seia's.
Did she pronounce it as "Nye" when she got nervous?
The game began. After a simple introductory video, enemies started appearing.
"Shoot!"
"Bangya!"
Fortunately, she didn't seem frightened by the monsters. Seia shouted "Bangya!" with passionate enthusiasm as she fired away.
Her accuracy wasn't great, of course, but Jungwoo deliberately cleared the monsters near where she was aiming, guiding the game along smoothly.
She was so focused that her little mouth hung slightly open. Keeping his eyes from drifting to that adorable sight was the hardest part of the whole game.
While both Jungwoo and Seia poured all their attention into the game—
People's gazes were beginning to gather in their direction.
It hadn't started that way.
But the repeated sound of "Bangya!" from somewhere made it impossible not to look.
She wasn't even shouting that loudly, yet as more and more people turned this way, the surrounding noise gradually faded away.
Eventually, inside the vast game center, only Seia's "Bangya!" rang out clearly.
What's more, perhaps because she was so absorbed in the game, the sound seemed to be growing louder and louder.
A quiet game center.
Thanks to that, Seia's voice carried all the way outside, where someone who recognized it happened to be walking by.
"Hmm? That voice sounds familiar."
It was an unforgettable voice.
Recently, it had become one of her greatest joys.
It belonged to Park Geon-su, a regular customer at Seona's Restaurant and the guild leader of Sajeol Guild.
Today he was on his way back from the association office in the city.
With gate subjugation casualties slowly increasing, the association had called a strategy meeting.
The relationship between guilds and the association was not exactly bad, but it could hardly be called good.
Mutual cooperation was the extent of it. Anything deeper was nearly impossible due to conflicting interests.
What benefited the guild harmed the association, and what benefited the association harmed the guild.
Opinions had been exchanged with almost vicious intensity.
What was supposed to be a strategy meeting had turned into a meaningless cycle of each side trying to claim a little more advantage.
Backing down first would mean giving up far too much, and the other side felt the same.
His head throbbed.
Even though this was something he'd been through dozens—no, hundreds—of times before.
That was why he had sent his secretary ahead and walked alone.
At least on this path from the association back to the guild, he wanted to clear his cluttered thoughts with the noise of the streets, undisturbed by anyone.
"Bangya!"
That was the voice he heard then.
So Park Geon-su, after a long time, turned back along the path he had just walked.
And there, inside the game center, was Seia standing in front of a machine, aiming a gun in a rather impressive stance.
A smile bloomed on his face without warning.
It was rare for him to smile so unconsciously, but lately all such moments had been thanks to Seia.
"She said it was her day off. Looks like she came out to play with her father."
Park Geon-su remained standing in that spot for a long while.
Just watching them from a distance was enough to warm one side of his chest.
The slight irritation he'd felt vanished completely, and he stood there for some time, simply watching Seia and Jungwoo.
What game would they play next?
Since Park Geon-su had played them all before, he found himself wanting to offer advice whenever he spotted them doing something wrong.
"Aigoo, you shouldn't do it that way there."
People might not know it, but Park Geon-su quite enjoyed games and played them often.
Though he held the title of guild leader, he had delegated most of the actual work to his vice leader.
He only stepped forward personally when it was something that required the guild leader's involvement, like today.
His steps slowly carried him into the game center.
Inside, everyone's attention was focused on Seia.
People watched the small child immersed in her game with warm, fond expressions.
"The facilities are well-made."
Feeling the meticulously crafted magic stones, he had no particular concerns.
"Ah!"
At that moment, Seia let out a disappointed cry as the words GAME OVER appeared on the screen.
"Too bad. We were so close to clearing it, right?"
"Hiiing... we could have cleeeared it..."
"Let's clear it next time for sure. Was it fun?"
"Yes! Super fun!"
Fortunately, Seia seemed happy.
He didn't know when the next time would be, but it felt like a place worth visiting often.
"Oh, Grandpa?"
"Nice to see you again, little one."
Thanks to all the new grandpas in her life recently, Seia wondered which one had appeared this time, but it turned out to be the customer who had visited the restaurant twice.
"Ah, hello. Fancy meeting you here."
"Nice to see you. You came out to play with the little one."
"Haha, yes. We've hardly ever had a proper day of fun like this."
"I see. I hope you enjoy your time. I just stopped by because I saw a familiar face."
After gently stroking Seia's head, Park Geon-su turned and left.
Simply meeting Seia had made Park Geon-su feel as if his entire day had been a refreshing trip to a quiet nearby spot.
After watching the guild leader walk away without a hint of regret, the father and daughter began conquering the rest of the games.
It was only when the setting sun had completely vanished from the sky that their grand conquest of the game center finally came to an end.
"Phew. That was fun, wasn't it?"
"Yes! Totally! Super fun!"
To see Seia this excited.
Jungwoo felt a little drained, but Seia showed no signs of fatigue.
Had she always had this much stamina?
Or were all children her age like this?
Even after playing so much, they still hadn't tried every game in the center.
Besides the arcade machines, there were things like archery, so next time they came, he planned to try those too.
"Seia, aren't you hungry?"
"I am. Seia's hungry."
She had been so absorbed in playing that she'd forgotten all about food.
After playing to her heart's content, it was time to eat to her heart's content.
"Shall we head out now? Daddy will make something delicious for you."
"Woowaa—!"
Taking the energetic Seia with him, Jungwoo headed back to the bus stop where they had gotten off earlier.
It was the same path, yet the scenery felt completely different.
As they walked toward the setting sun.