Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 143

Hyung, Am I Cute? (143/500)

Novels, movies, dramas, plays.

There are countless scenarios, but games are a bit different.

In some ways, they might seem similar to movies, but if you look deeper, you can see they are really different.

There’s something I overlooked here.

The story flow of a game scenario is a system.

Not emotional or rational.

Everything progresses rigidly as a system, as if governed only by laws.

It’s different from novels that convey stories primarily through text.

In games, the proportion of text isn’t as large.

‘So, maybe that’s why they entrusted the story to me?’

I’ve written before, but I’ve never written a long story exactly like a novel.

Game scenarios flow through a system, and players crave experiences.

In short, the fun lies in the experience with the character.

Not just text read through letters.

‘In that sense, can’t Siha’s movements also be categorized like a system?’

Quest.

A mission to draw an emoticon came up.

Player Siha draws an emoticon.

He gains experience by drawing the image in his head.

And receives a reward (money).

‘This is the system.’

The story progresses with such a simple system, and the fun comes from providing experiences.

In these parts, the fewer textual lines, the better.

It means only include the necessary stories.

In that sense, it was a good thing to use the protagonist character with Siha as the motif.

Because Siha doesn’t have many lines.

‘Could it be that this world is a world inside a game, and Siha is a game character?!’

If so, I definitely want to play it.

I might take out a loan to “whale” on it [spend a lot of money on in-game purchases].

‘Ahem, ahem.’

I stopped the useless thoughts there and looked at the laptop.

A program made up of some unknown alien language.

But if you know the method, there’s no problem interpreting it.

I could easily interpret the program 짜n [presumably, a Korean term for ‘coded’ or ‘created’] by the club because I already had the knowledge in my head.

A single algorithm.

A single system.

A world where only commands exist.

Because of that, the world inside the game isn’t as elaborate as the real world.

So, there are bugs, holes, in this world.

What tells you about those holes is the player’s experience.

So-called beta testers.

If there are lacking parts, programmers add to the system.

In the end, a game is a collection of systems.

The world of computers is amazing.

‘Was my understanding of the system lacking?’

I nodded as I looked at it.

This alone was a big gain.

The problem is, how should I write the scenario now?

“Hyung!”

“Yeah! Siha.”

“Moya?” [What is it?]

Siha pointed to the program on the laptop.

The strange arrangement of letters must be fascinating.

“This is, well, a quest!”

“Kwesu?” [Mispronunciation of ‘quest’]

I racked my brain to use easy words so Siha could understand.

“Yeah. It’s like Siha receives an errand in the game and carries it out.”

“Ah.”

“Then, Siha character, today Hyung will give you a mission.”

“Mission?”

“Yeah! Today’s mission is an errand!”

“Ah!”

He had done an errand for my pencil case at daycare before, but he hadn’t exactly gone to buy something.

If you don’t go to buy something, it’s not an errand.

You have to give money and receive the change well to be a true errand.

“Siha, we’re going to make something delicious with ham today. You know ham, right?”

“Ah!”

“Okay. You have to go buy ham with this. Got it?”

When I took out ten thousand won [approximately $8 USD], Siha ran quickly and brought his penguin bag.

He carefully put the ten thousand won in it and put on the bag.

“Can you really buy it well? You just have to go to the supermarket over there.”

“Ah!”

“Then Hyung will leave the door open, so you have to go buy it and come back.”

“Ah.”

I opened the door and sent Siha off.

Then I quickly went into the room, grabbed a hat and mask, and followed him.

It was time to watch if Siha could do the quest well.

Step by step.

The penguin waddles back and forth.

It’s hard asphalt, but it feels like soft footsteps are bouncing off the floor.

The swaying butt is keeping its balance.

Then suddenly, he stops for a moment.

Because there are things you can only see when you stop.

“Ah! Ants!”

Yeah. Ants are moving in a line, carrying cookie crumbs.

Siha quietly waits for all the ants to pass so he doesn’t step on them.

It’s like cars are waiting for him to cross the crosswalk.

“Ah.”

I was sure that’s what it was, but suddenly Siha just crouched down and started watching the ants.

It seems like he’s checking how far the ant line goes.

Anyway, Siha is cute.

I had another thought here.

When you play a game, you inevitably have to move, but that process is bound to be boring.

Like Siha seeing some creature, there should be hunting grounds or subquests in the middle.

That way, the player won’t feel bored.

Just moving around isn’t fun.

Thanks to Siha, I understand how the scenario should branch out in the middle.

It’s ironic that I’m learning this by watching Siha, not the game.

“Gatta!” [Let’s go! (mispronounced)]

Siha finally moves, now that all the ants have passed.

He arrives at the nearby supermarket before I know it.

As he goes inside, the supermarket 아저씨 [ajussi – a term for a middle-aged man, like ‘mister’ or ‘uncle’] greets Siha.

“Haha! Isn’t that Siha? Where’s your 형 [hyung – older brother or male friend]?”

“Siha. 심부 [simbu – errand].”

“Yeah. Siha is the bride and 형 is the groom? Hahaha!”

“Ah?”

아저씨’s dad joke didn’t work on Siha.

Originally, jokes fail when you explain them.

아저씨 awkwardly laughed, knowing that Siha didn’t know what a bride and groom were.

“Ahem. Seeing as 형 isn’t here, you came to do an errand?”

“Ah!”

“I see. Then good luck with your errand.”

“Ah!”

Siha waved his arms enthusiastically and roamed inside.

In the meantime, 아저씨 glanced outside.

딱 [Ttak – sound of eye contact].

When our eyes met, I quietly bowed my head.

“Ahem, ahem.”

아저씨’s face changed comfortably.

He gave me a sign, raising his thumb as if to tell me to leave it to him.

Can I really trust him?

I secretly watched Siha’s back.

“Ham. Ham. Ham?”

Siha walks around here and there, looking for ham.

Then he raised his arm as if he had found the ham.

But he was too short to reach.

I deeply hid myself as I saw him returning to 아저씨 without a choice.

“Ajji!” [A shortened, cuter way of saying Ajussi]

“Yeah? What’s wrong? Couldn’t find it?”

“Anya. Ham! Ham! Siha ara [Siha knows].”

“Oh! Ham is a word to call 형. Puhahat! Si혁 Ham [Si-hyung Ham – playing on words]. Si혁 Ham.”

“Ah?”

Oh, dear.

I covered my eyes with my hands.

Can’t he give up on dad jokes?

아저씨 [ajussi – a Korean term for middle-aged man, often used informally] smiled again at Siha, who still looked confused, and came out from behind the counter.

“You couldn’t get the ham, right?”

“Ah, ah.”

“아저씨 [Ajussi] will get it for you.”

“Thank you!”

“You should say, ‘Thank you.’ properly.”

“Thank you-nida!” [Adding ‘-nida’ makes it overly formal and a bit childish]

“You can’t just tack on ‘-nida,’ you know? Thank. You. Very. Much.”

“Thank you much!”

“Puhahat! Don’t you have more talent for comedy than me?”

Maybe?

I thought, narrowing my eyes through the gap in the window.

It was fortunate that the display case and the items on it hid me from view.

But the problem was, I couldn’t see well from here either.

“What’s that man doing over there?”

“Shouldn’t we report him?”

I scratched my head, feeling embarrassed for no reason.

“Ah. Actually, my little brother is running an errand.”

The two 아줌마s [ajummas – Korean term for middle-aged women] laughed, saying, “Is that so?” and walked past.

I probably looked suspicious. Ahem.

But there’s no helping it.

This quest must not be discovered by Siha.

‘Is this a variation of the protagonist trope?’

If the protagonist’s relationships in a game are weak, it becomes boring.

You need to create various relationships, such as helper, friendly, and adversarial ones.

In that sense, I’m a helper, right?

“Siha, there are several kinds of ham. Which one should I get you? String ham, round ham, or chunk ham?”

“Ah?”

Siha seemed confused and fell into thought.

This was the branching point and choice in the game, like a dialogue option.

In many ways, today is like a game.

What choice will Siha make?

“Okay. Which one will it be?”

Siha raised both index fingers and tapped the sides of his head.

He seemed to be struggling because they all looked delicious.

“Ah!”

“Oh! Okay. Have you decided?”

“Ah, ah! This!”

Siha put down his penguin bag and took out ten thousand won [approximately $8 USD].

“Ten thousand won’s worth!”

“Puhahat! Do you think this is a market? You want me to get you whatever I can with the money?”

“Ah, ah.”

I chuckled.

He must have remembered what I said when we were shopping at the market.

He must have thought that buying as much as possible with ten thousand won was the best he could do.

Siha is such a copycat.

This was really unexpected.

Perhaps players might find unexpected developments more interesting.

Like how a twist that could be a double-edged sword can make a story more interesting if written well.

“Okay. With ten thousand won, you can buy all three types. Let’s go.”

“Ah, ah.”

아저씨 [Ajussi] scanned the barcodes of the three types of ham and carefully put them in Siha’s bag.

“Okay. I’ll give you the change.”

The price was 9650 won.

Change: 350 won.

Four coins fell into Siha’s hand.

“But Siha, can you count the change? No, never mind. You’re only three years old.”

“Anya [No]. Siha ara [Siha knows]. Number!”

“Oh! You know numbers?”

“Ah, ah!”

Siha started counting the coins.

“One, two, three, four. Right.”

“Huh? Is that really right?”

“Ah, ah. Siha. Four. Ara [Knows].”

“You don’t know five?”

“Five-eo?”

“Ah. Never mind. It’s enough if you can say your age. It’s not a problem for living.”

Of course. If you’re cute, you can get by. [Implied: People will be lenient]

Ahem. It’s not that Siha doesn’t know five.

He knows 오(5) [the Sino-Korean word for five], but he doesn’t know 다섯 [the native Korean word for five].

“Okay. All done! Take the change and go to 형 [hyung – older brother or close male friend] now.”

“Ah, ah! Ajji [Cute way of saying Ajussi]. Bye-bye.”

“Okay. Bye-bye.”

Siha waved his hand and left the supermarket.

I followed him.

Wait. If we go like this, Siha will arrive home first.

‘Oh? That won’t do.’

It was also a matter of Siha’s safety if he went first.

I can’t let Siha get kidnapped because he’s too cute while I take my eyes off him for a moment.

Just then, Siha arrived home and called for me.

“형 [Hyung]!”

He threw off his shoes and announced his arrival loudly.

“형 [Hyung]!”

Dododo [sound of small footsteps].

He went into the room, confirmed that I wasn’t there, and came back.

He came back too quickly, and I was caught just as I was taking off my shoes.

“형 [Hyung]?”

“Yeah. Siha, after taking off your shoes, you have to put them away neatly like this.”

It was really natural.

Because I was able to naturally position myself at the shoe rack by pretending to organize Siha’s shoes.

“Organize!”

“Yeah. Did you go on your errand well?”

“Ah, ah.”

Siha rustled and took out the ham from his bag.

As expected, there were all three types of ham.

He also took out the coins he had carefully put in his pocket.

“Wow! You really bought them well?”

“Ah, ah!”

“I can trust Siha with errands now. You’ve grown up so much!”

“Ah? Siha height. Small.”

Siha looked back and forth between my height and his height.

That’s not what I meant.

Anyway, Siha is cute.

“Haha. Okay. That’s great. Wow. You really bought well. We’re going to have a ham feast today, aren’t we?”

“Ham. Delicious.”

“Yeah. Ham is delicious. You even bought round sausage. It’s really delicious if you coat it in egg and grill it.”

Nostalgic pink sausage.

It’s perfect for putting in a lunch box.

“Good job!”

I hugged Siha and praised him like crazy.

Now it’s time to give a reward.

“You did a good job with the errand, so I’ll give Siha a prize. Here’s your allowance. You have to save it?”

I gave the change back to Siha.

Siha really liked the coins.

“형 [Hyung]. This. Bankbook.”

“Yeah. You have to put this in your bankbook. Our Siha is smart.”

“Ah, ah!”

I said with a smile.

“Siha, shall we go to the bank to put it in your bankbook?”

“Ah, ah.”

Siha probably doesn’t know how much money will be in his bankbook.

He will be surprised when he sees it tomorrow.

‘That’s right…. I think I can write the scenario well now.’

The player’s fun is experience.

You have to reduce the proportion of text and immerse them in the character with limited direction.

Then the answer to how to write it is there.

It seemed that the planning would proceed a little faster in the future.

It’s all thanks to Siha.

If I had been agonizing alone, the subtle discrepancies would have continued.

“Siha. Thank you.”

“Ah, ah.”

“Look forward to your bankbook tomorrow.”

“Ah, ah.”

Like that, I ate delicious ham with Siha and started revising the scenario in earnest.