Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Chapter 78 We're All MeTube Stars (1)

They say history repeats itself.

It took less than a month for another coffin to be placed in front of the coffeehouse.

Fortunately, this time there was no mournful singing from pallbearers, and the coffin had shrunk enough to be called an ordinary box.

Of course, that didn't change the fact that a box of money had been delivered to my doorstep.

"At least there's a little less this time. Heh heh."

"The amount isn't the problem. This might happen every single time."

The saying that many a little makes a mickle suited the situation perfectly.

This money must have been all the funeral money accumulated over the past month from people who had died across the country.

And since this was the second delivery, there would surely be a third and a fourth.

There was no way to refuse a box of money delivered through a gate to the underworld. Even my first attempt to return it through Gangnim Doryeong had failed spectacularly.

The reason was that doing so would directly defy King Yama's orders.

Unless I carried the money into the underworld myself, ownership had effectively passed to me.

And the amount far exceeded what an ordinary office worker could earn.

After all, I was already receiving thirty million won a month from the National Intelligence Service on top of my salary.

"You've fulfilled your obligations, so just keep the rest. You'll probably leave it untouched and deposit it in the bank anyway, so it shouldn't matter much."

"That's what I intend to do."

"Huh? I thought you'd say something old-fashioned again. What's gotten into you?"

"One good deed is enough. Shouldn't I receive some compensation for my labor too?"

There could hardly be a more hollow lie than claiming not to care about money.

The same went for me.

I'd intended to spend the large sum I'd received before as quickly as possible because its source made me uncomfortable, but if this was going to become a regular monthly income, that changed things.

Wasn't taking calls from Gangnim Doryeong and arranging for wreath suppliers and funeral service providers every time genuine work?

I was willing to work out of goodwill for a month. But if this was something I'd have to keep doing, I intended to receive fair compensation.

"First, I need to go to work."

"You're going to work even after receiving this much money?"

"These days, even winning first prize in the lottery doesn't mean you can quit your job. My circumstances are much better, since I only have to go in twice a week."

A new lottery success story appeared every week.

The lottery might be a tax on people who hadn't studied mathematics diligently in school, but someone always won. Sometimes as many as ten or fifteen people each week.

There was even a lucky fellow in another department at our company who had won first prize.

Naturally, he was still working there.

I'd heard that his winnings had gone entirely toward buying an apartment near the company, with a mortgage to cover the rest. He now had the distinction of owning a home in Seoul and a slightly shorter commute.

That was the full extent of the wealth a first-prize lottery win afforded an ordinary working person.

The same applied to me.

In my experience, misfortunes that required large sums of money were overwhelmingly more common than lucky windfalls.

That was why I needed to earn money whenever I could.

Especially for someone employed by a major corporation, the reckless thought of "Maybe I should try starting a business" was practically taboo.

It took less than a week for that conviction to be shattered into pieces.

____________

At the same time, in Classroom One of the first grade at Geumhyo Elementary School.

The words "My Dream Job" were written in large letters across the blackboard.

The children were taking turns coming forward to present what they'd written in their notebooks in crooked handwriting.

"My. Dream. Is. To. Be. A. MeTuber. I. Want. To. Become. A. MeTuber. And. Get. One. Million. Subscribers."

"Everyone, let's give Minseo, our future MeTuber, a round of applause!"

-Clap, clap, clap.

Having finished her presentation in the halting manner typical of a young child reading aloud from a textbook, Minseo returned to her seat with a broad smile.

"All right, next is Sia."

"I. Want. To. Be. A. Dance. MeTuber. And. Show. People. My. Choreography. So. My. Dream. Is. To. Be. A. MeTuber."

"Let's give Sia, our future dance MeTuber, a r-round of applause too."

-Clap, clap, clap.

Although Sia had specified dance as her chosen genre, her dream was still fundamentally the same, leaving the homeroom teacher somewhat bewildered as she offered her encouragement.

But the MeTuber craze didn't end with those two presentations.

"I. Want. To. Become. A. Gaming. MeTuber..."

Even a new teacher barely in her mid-twenties couldn't escape the changing times.

'That's strange. When I was little, everyone wanted to be president or a scientist.'

Seven children had finished presenting, and six of them dreamed of becoming MeTubers.

The remaining child had answered "streamer," earning impressed exclamations of "Ooh!" from the other children.

Everyone was free to dream, but surely something was wrong when nearly every child in her first class wanted to become a MeTuber.

"That's enough presentations for today! The rest of you can continue tomorrow. Understood?"

"Yes!"

"And today's homework is..."

The writing on the electronic blackboard disappeared and was replaced with a new message.

『Talk to your parents about your dream job.』

"Everyone, write that in your school planners and present again tomorrow. All right?"

"Yes, teacher!"

After writing down their homework, the children gathered in small groups and headed toward the schoolyard, where their school buses and parents' cars were waiting.

"Lia, what did you write for your dream job?"

"I want to be a MeTuber! What about you, Serin?"

"Me too, hehe."

Children propping up their phones to dance or clumsily review toys they'd bought online during every break had long since become an ordinary sight.

The two girls' dreams weren't much different from those of their classmates.

"But isn't a million too many? Mom says getting a million MeTube subscribers is really hard."

"Then should we aim for about a hundred?"

"Yeah!"

Just as the two were discussing their specific plans,

"Girls! Hurry up!"

"Yes!"

Unable to watch them walk so slowly because of their long conversation, Serin's mother opened her car window and called out.

"Didn't you see Mom's car? Honestly, do you know how long it's taken you to get here from the school entrance?"

"Sorry, hehe."

"What were you two talking about so seriously?"

"Oh, right! Our teacher gave us homework to talk to our parents about what we want to be when we grow up."

"Oh my, really?"

Few parents were unaware of the dreams of children who had only just started elementary school.

Serin's mother was no exception. In fact, she even knew the dream of Lia, her daughter's best friend.

But there was no reason to object to hearing her child's dream again under the pretext of homework.

And she had a vague idea why the teacher had assigned it.

Even in her eyes, becoming a MeTuber wasn't a particularly desirable ambition. It was simply something the children admired because they encountered it so frequently.

The teacher had given them another opportunity to think seriously about that dream with their parents, rather than simply letting it pass without much thought.

"So, what do you two want to be when you grow up?"

"MeTubers!"

"MeTubers!"

"Just as I thought."

Parents shouldn't decide their children's dreams for them. So Serin's mother swallowed her disappointment.

"Oh, right. But what will we do about video editing? We need to add those little 'pew-pew' sounds and put words on the screen too."

"Mister does that on his computer! Last time, he edited a video of us playing Blue Marble with Miss and got paid for it!"

"Then Lia can learn from Mister first and teach me!"

There wasn't a single lie in Lia's words.

Jinseong had edited a video and sent it to Yama, and in return, he was receiving an enormous sum of money in cash every month.

But to Serin's mother, the CEO of SL Software who had taken it upon herself to act as Lia's guardian, those words sounded rather different.

'So he must be doing video editing from home. I imagine it's hard to make ends meet.'

Her company had commissioned videos several times for promotional and business purposes.

She recalled that even considering freelance rates, the costs hadn't been particularly high.

"Chief Son."

"Yes, ma'am."

"We bought some filming and video editing equipment last time that we aren't using, didn't we?"

"Yes. It's practically ready for disposal."

"Gather all of it and send it to Lia's house."

"I'll send it first thing tomorrow."

There was no reason for a software development company to have such equipment lying around.

But the perceptive Chief Son understood his superior's intentions perfectly.

Just like the premium snacks and fruit that repeatedly found their way into Lia's hands, the expensive equipment destined for the coffeehouse would carry a discreet act of kindness.

____________

When I returned from work, I found a pile of delivery boxes stacked at the coffeehouse entrance.

It had been exactly one day since Serin's mother contacted me to say she'd send over a few pieces of office equipment her company no longer used.

The boxes contained portable cameras, microphones, lighting equipment, and even license keys for video editing software. Every single item was an expensive branded product, far removed from anything one might call good value for money.

"No, Serin's mother... This is a bit much... Yes, yes. I'll put everything to good use. Thank you."

"Heh heh. It seems you failed."

"She already knew I was going to refuse."

I'd hurriedly called her back, but returning the equipment was out of the question.

She said she'd sent items that were due to be discarded anyway, and that if I didn't use them, she'd pay me the disposal costs separately. There was no way my polite protests about feeling burdened could overcome that argument.

Besides, Lia's and Serin's dreams were involved.

In fact, I'd only learned the day before yesterday that the two girls wanted to become MeTubers.

When I'd asked recently, they'd said they weren't sure. Perhaps they'd decided during the few days I spent working on the video for King Yama. Or maybe Lia had simply followed Serin's lead.

Children's dreams could change several times in a single month, so it wasn't particularly unusual. But parents didn't see things that way.

If a child said they wanted to become a webtoon artist, an art academy you'd normally walk straight past would suddenly catch your attention. If they wanted to become a professional gamer, you'd find yourself searching for tournament videos you'd never have clicked on before.

These filming devices were probably the result of that parental instinct combined with the misunderstanding that I worked as a video editor.

Which meant there wasn't even an opportunity to correct the misunderstanding.

No matter what I said, the answer would simply be, "Then please dispose of them."

Well, since I'd received them anyway, perhaps I should put in a little effort too.

Video editing was a matter of creativity. I'd mastered the technical functions long ago.

And as it happened, we now had two rooms at home whose purposes hadn't yet been decided.

Though the renovations weren't finished yet.

"Jinseong is thinking of something fun again!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are! Whenever Jinseong squints his eyes like that, something really fun happens!"

Ah.

I'd heard similar remarks occasionally.

Recently, even the department head and another manager at work had been alarmed by it.

Apparently, no matter how old I got, I still had no talent for hiding my expressions.

"We're all going to make MeTube videos together."

"Wow! Really?"

"Are we going to be in them too? Ooooooh! I knew I was right!"

And so Dangsan Enterprises, following its expansion into the café business and funeral services, was unable to avoid branching out into yet another field: media content production.