episode_0017

The arcade was always bustling and was quite the talk of the town.

The music used in rhythm games received considerable attention from electronic music clubs, and the BGA, which was ahead of its time, received considerable attention from video editing clubs and subculture clubs. The arcade was treated as a mecca for these clubs, and became a popular place where the lights were never turned off.

By the way, the name of the arcade has been completely changed to KIN Arcade. The sign has the KIN logo placed diagonally, clearly showing the play on words.

“Hey, Lee Seo. But how do you do the last blue-white pattern? I’ve never gotten over there before.”

pattern.

The notes that come down the line corresponding to each button are called patterns. No matter how good the song is, if the pattern is too weird, some people will not play it. Patterns are the most important element of rhythm games that are closest to the ‘playing experience’ which is the core of the game.

I also thoughtlessly copied the note patterns I had seen on the computer in the original world, but after experiencing the bitter taste, I started over from the beginning.

“You can play it more comfortably by changing your hand placement like this. So that you can do it like this when you tap the drum.”

The biggest difference between computers and arcades is the placement of the buttons.

Unlike keyboards where the buttons are arranged in a row or can be freely changed, arcades often have many buttons arranged in a zigzag pattern, so changing the position of your hands, also known as hand placement, is often necessary.

Taking that into account, you need to create a pattern in which the notes come down to feel the thrill of combining physical and mental skills, such as hand feel and hand placement.

“Hey. I should try that next time… Ah! ”

Eunji suddenly clapped her hands as if something had occurred to her.

“I thought about it because you said you were going to do it next time, but you’re still not wearing any makeup or anything, right? ”

Oops. I stepped on a landmine.

“… Wouldn’t sunscreen be enough…?”

“Will it work?”

When I came to my senses, I was inside a cosmetics store.

“No no no sunscreen is enough”

“Why are you trying to rot this face? You’re not even trying to deceive me?”

“I’m not interested in decorating…!”

“It’s a national loss to let this rot. If you just put on makeup properly, the arcade sales will increase by half?”

“I don’t intend to be a madam with that kind of face?!”

But I couldn’t resist the women’s gentle touch.

“I think this would suit you. What do you think?”

“But isn’t it true that they don’t do it this well before buying it?”

“Don’t worry and apply it^^ If you put our cosmetics on a face like this, it will benefit us too~”

I was forced to put makeup on my face after hearing something similar to the nuance of whether it was Eunji Mk.2.

It’s all in the same bucket, damn it.

The store employee stopped working and held a mirror up to me, indicating that my makeup was done.

“Huh…? What is this…?”

After waking up from my previous life, I once again said the words that I had said only once before.

I couldn’t help it. Even in my eyes, he had the kind of looks that would make any celebrity look like that.

“… Why are you touching something like a computer”

“…”

The employees all have their mouths wide open and are speechless, and Eunji’s eyes are wide open.

… It makes sense. Even if I look at it, it’s like Miss Korea, but the moment she leaves, she’ll be considered one of the best Miss Koreas of all time. At this level, I think she could even aim for Miss Universe.

“Let’s go look at the clothes. I can’t stand this”

I wonder how many times mines will explode today. I don’t think I’ll be able to return to the PC room before the sun sets today.

***

“…”

Again. I was passing the arcade and trying to enter the PC room, but everyone was staring at me with their mouths wide open.

It’s not like they’re being overly self-conscious. People who would normally be studying hand placement while looking at rhythm game displays are all looking out the window.

From those people’s perspective, wouldn’t the seats outside the arcade be the winner today?

“…Lee Seo-eonni?”

Even Jeong-ah can’t help but be astonished. I’m starting to get tired of this reaction.

“The gods have finally descended upon the world! You uncivilized humans- Kkaaaak!!!”

“Please don’t talk like that…”

I broke Kim Jeong-jun’s head, who was about to become a fanatic with his eyes popping out, and sat down with a thud. Then, the feeling of my heart shaking for a moment ruined my mood even more.

At first I thought it was a good thing, but this hideous lump of fat was nothing more or less than my own daughter.

No, that’s right. I’m not going to meet a guy, so what’s the point of having guys get crazy about it? This is just a penalty that hurts my shoulders.

After all, sitting in front of a computer and coding is the right thing for me. Or doing something like shopping while basking in the sunlight. Nerds have their own way of life.

A blue morning, ready to enjoy a smooth night and weekend.

I leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper delivered in front of the arcade…

[Rapid arcades are rampant… Is this okay?]

“Phuhuhuh?!!”

Damn it, it’s another piece of trash. I have to blame.

***

Let’s say you took pictures of someone else’s store without permission. The content describes the arcade as a den of thugs, and the attached black and white photo looks like it was adjusted for brightness and looks like a back alley thug smoking a cigarette.

“퉷”

Naturally, in an era when the only mass media were newspapers and TV news, the public was properly incited to believe that arcades were the root of evil, and people began to spit in front of arcades. If that gets on the glass, you have to wash it with a rag again.

My back is sore all over. My shoulders, neck, back of my head, there’s no place that doesn’t hurt. Oh.

“Hey! I’m here…?”

Jeongjun and his friends come into the PC room together, but they stop when they see me.

“Lee Seo is dead!”

“I’m not dead…”

Then he asked if he could look at the newspaper in front of me, so I gave permission.

“During the day, they take money from children and at night, they make young people addicted to gambling, taking away their already small amount of money. This reminds me of a low-level entertainment culture like pachinko… We need to have a proper discussion about the gambling and addictive nature of the arcade, which has been pointed out before…”

This is a newspaper article, a poorly written editorial.

Surprisingly, this is a newspaper article that appeared on page 4 of the newspaper.

It is a situation where the heat cannot but rise. The faces of Jeong-jun and the members who arrived late turn bright red and it feels like steam is coming out.

“What the heck! Call the newspaper company to complain right now…”

“… Since the editorial department allowed the article to be published, there’s no way to refute it. Even if a correction is made, people’s perceptions won’t change much since it’s already been published like that. ”

“Then how…”

“Let’s just write an editorial. To a competing newspaper.”

It’s time to show the public opinion war of the 1920s, when public opinion was the king.

***

The newspaper that published this article is Dongjo Shinmun, the king of established newspapers. And the new newspaper that has been on the rise recently, Kyunghan Shinmun.

This Kyunghyang Shinmun is a target that we must recruit as our ally.

Actually, I don’t trust this one that much either. I used to subscribe, but I ended up canceling my subscription after seeing that they filled two pages with anti-communist editorials.

“I think it might be possible because they are seriously looking at new culture like Seo Taiji. If it doesn’t work out, then I can just say I knew it would happen.”

The sender wrote under the name of KIN Arcade, typed the column in Word, printed it out, and sent it to the newspaper.

And then a few days later, I received a letter. It basically said that I should come to the Kyunghan Shinmun and talk.

Since it wasn’t that far away, I ran straight there. When I showed him the letter, he let me in.

“Oh, you’re here. I’m Kim Han-gyeol, editor-in-chief.”

My first impression was, well, he seemed like a businessman. Or, to put it in a bad way, like an ordinary suit guy.

“This is not entertainment, but a play that adds participation to music, making it easier to approach and understand music. In the narrow view of entertainment-”

“Why are you reading that again…”

As we talked, he seemed to be impressed by my column and even read a portion of it out loud. It felt a bit strange, like reading an elementary school diary.

“Well, I like it. I’ve been thinking about doing something about arcades since there’s been a lot of talk about them lately, and now I have the chance.”

“Then…!”

“But I have a suggestion. In exchange for publishing this column as an editorial, please write a regular column for me.”

“How regular do you mean?”

“Please decide as you wish. If it is too much of a burden, how about a two-week interval?”

“That’s fine with me. But why such a generous offer…”

“In my opinion, Lee Seo-yang will become a great person. From what I’ve heard, he’s already a great person.”

Kim Han-gyeol had a very good eye for people.

The next day, an editorial was published in the Kyunghan Shinmun under Yoon Yi-seo’s name. And it was without any censorship.

[I recently saw a newspaper article about an arcade in front of Seoul Station and actually experienced it… (omitted)… Even if you look into the arcade just a little bit, you can see that they only play games that match the beat to music styled after Seo Taiji, a leader in new culture. It’s really pathetic that the reporters of major newspapers write articles without even verifying these facts, and the editors who let it pass…]

An editorial full of provocative, arrogant, and even critical comments about major newspapers.

It seems that Kyunghyang Shinmun has also suffered a lot from Dongjo Shinmun. Judging from the fact that they even openly allowed sniping.

Changing perspectives for a moment, people who read this editorial are very divided in their opinions.

Anyone who reads the newspaper would meet people or argue with someone who reads the other newspaper during their break time.

“Doesn’t it make sense that an unhealthy culture like arcades still exists?”

“No! When I went there once, it was full of people who were purely enjoying music, not to mention unhealthy or defective ones! At least the arcade where the incident started was a pure cradle of new culture!”

The incident later known as [Arcade Gate] had already begun.

***

The debate over arcades quickly ignited and spilled over into the broadcasting industry.

And there were people who were watching the debate closely…

“That… PD-nim…?”

“Oh, Writer Kim. Why?”

“We said last time that we ran out of topics to discuss. This time, I asked something outrageous. What do you think?”

“Let’s see… What is this. Isn’t this the Orange Tribe story again?”

“No. It’s completely different. They reported that it was a decadent arcade in Dongjo and got embarrassed, so let’s try to raise the viewer ratings with this.”

“… You are eligible for this incentive.”

“Yay! Thank you!”

The TV educational discussion program that was causing me trouble due to lack of material got caught on the hook of the fishing rod that was just being set up without even throwing out the bait.

Yoon Yi-seo, who had just started an enjoyable public opinion war with Kyunghyang Shinmun, was just bewildered.

That doesn’t mean she didn’t like it. If anything, she liked it.

Since she had already prepared the materials, Yoon prepared for the discussion by running the virtual discussion machine in her brain.

Due to the nature of TV debates, the debates are broadcast live across the country. Thinking that even the slightest mistake could lead to the public opinion war being misguided from the start, Yoon Yi-seo completely handed over the music work she had been doing to Lee Eun-ji and started thinking outside the box.

A week, whether long or short, passed by, and the day of the debate finally arrived.