1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 33



Only Noblemtl

Episode 33 – Emergency Stairs Christmas Morning Star

Christmas has returned to the world I returned to.

The world was busy preparing for Christmas. A large Christmas tree was erected in front of the Seoul City Hall fountain.

We also made a Christmas tree at our house, although it was smaller. It wasn’t a fake plastic one. It was a real tree. It was probably at least 2 meters tall.

The youngest got excited and started hanging up all sorts of decorations. The youngest, who was still short, was busy climbing up and down the ladder.

“The most important star! This is mine!”

“You almost got it anyway.”

The youngest one simply ignored the second one’s nagging. But when he was almost up the ladder, he hesitated and called out to me.

“Brother, I’m scared.”

“Ugh, wait.”

As I held the youngest from behind, he came down with a star on the top.

“Whew, what’s wrong with you, oppa?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

“No. You have to put something on. Mom too! Sister too! Auntie too!”

The youngest child’s family and even co-workers hung bells, socks, and pine cones on the tree.

Instead of decorations, I hung the rom pack on the Christmas tree.

When the decorations were all finished and the youngest turned on the power, the light bulbs began to twinkle.

“Wow! It’s pretty!”

“The decorations are all a mess.”

“What? It’s just pretty.”

The second one didn’t really appeal to me, but it looked pretty cool to me. When I saw the hanging on the tree, I felt proud that I had made Namjoon’s dream come true.

But I haven’t achieved my dream yet. I’ve only just taken my first step into the vast land.

On Christmas Eve morning, we had our breakfast early as usual. Now, there was no longer the awkwardness of eating breakfast.

“So, the games we made in the garage are selling well?”

“Yes, there are a few game shops, but the fact that people are waiting in line makes the game sell better. I think I’ll be interviewed by a magazine called .”

“Oh? Really? Then you’re in the magazine?”

“Yeah, cool, right?”

“I was in a magazine too. When I was in middle school.”

“That’s right. When our Soobin won the competition, she was interviewed in a classical magazine. She took pictures like a model, and she speaks so fluently.”

“Was it like that?”

“Mom has saved all of Subin’s stuff. Now I have to do Namjoon’s stuff too. When the magazine comes out, give me one too.”

“Yes, I will.”

“I’m glad it sold well. So, have you made any plans for next year?”

“You. Are you treating the child like the president of an affiliate company?”

“It’s okay. Next year, I’m going to start recruiting people and growing the company in earnest. I did by myself, but now I need to hire more employees and make more games. And I’m also going to push for overseas exports.”

“You’re not alone, oppa? I made it with you too?!”

“me too.”

“Oh, that’s right. Our whole family worked together to make it. My mother helped with the business capital, and my father helped with the soldering.”

The family laughed at each other at the dinner table. was binding this family together even more tightly.

“Brother, what are you doing today?”

“Today, I’m going to eat and go to the Saetbyeol branch.”

“Morning star?”

“The morning star? What is that?”

The chairman asked me if he was curious too.

‘Saebyeoljeom’ is the name I came up with instead of a pop-up store. In 1988, the concept of a pop-up store was unfamiliar, and I thought people would have a hard time accepting it if I wrote the name in English.

“It’s not an official store, but a special shop that opens for a short period of time. It’s a place where empty stores are located in good locations. We opened one in Myeongdong as a pilot project and it’s opening today. If the response is good, we’ll try it in other places.”

“Hehehe, Namjoon, what on earth did you think of that? Do all game companies do their marketing like that?”

“We’re trying to promote and sell it because there aren’t enough game retailers. But the design is amazing. Do you want to see it? Myungsung Planning is working very hard on it.”

“Really? I guess I should call the president of Myeongseong Planning and have a meal together. Hehehe.”

The chairman looked at the perspective drawing of the Myeongdong Saetbyeol store (pop-up store) for a long time. Since has many visual elements, it was also very good for decorating the store.

When I explained about the Saetbyeol store and said I wanted to open it in time for Christmas, Manager Park hurriedly searched for a place to set up a store in Myeongdong, and under the leadership of Manager Choi Han-il, the art team worked busily to design the interior.

Because the schedule was extremely tight, I only discussed the space layout and left the design almost entirely up to Manager Choi Han-il.

“I’m sorry for always keeping you so busy.”

“No. I’m a bit impatient because I don’t have enough time, but I still enjoy the work. The Saetbyeol store is also refreshing. I realized that this kind of store is possible. It felt like my eyes were opened a little.”

“What? I’m just struggling to somehow make it known and sell it.”

“This kind of idea should have come from an advertising agency first. Oh, it’s embarrassing.”

“No. Mr. Manager, please just proceed with the design.”

“Yes, but I think it would look a bit empty if we just put the title on the central wall and make paper panels of characters. I was thinking about stacking bricks and installing an emergency staircase. We also have plenty of space.”

“The emergency stairs? Is that possible?”

“I think the work can be done overnight, but the production and installation costs are still···.”

“If it seems possible, go ahead and try it. Don’t worry about the cost.”

“Please leave it to me. If I had more time, I would make life-size dolls of Jack, the police officer, and the apartment residents and put them together, but unfortunately I don’t have time.”

I’m also quite picky about quality, but Manager Choi Han-il was even more obsessed with details than I was. Next to him, Manager Park Joo-bong had his eyes closed as if he had already given up on everything.

Although he pushed me to try it, honestly, I was half in doubt.

However, when I arrived at the Saetbyeol branch of in Myeongdong on Christmas Eve morning, I thought I stopped breathing on the spot.

“Sir, are you here?”

“No, did you really do this?”

The moment you enter Saetbyeoljeom, the walls you immediately face are covered in brown bricks, and there really is an iron emergency staircase installed.

Next to the emergency stairs, a large neon sign with the title “Emergency Stairs” flashed brightly.

Oh my goodness. Even if you lay bricks all night, I thought you couldn’t do an emergency staircase.

The stairs were lined with coins made of paper panels, and the railings were lined with dogs and cats from the game. On the wall was a wanted poster of the main character Jack, and Jack, a police officer, and townspeople made of paper panels were lined up in front of the wall.

It felt like a scene from a real game had been brought to life.

“There was a building that was being demolished, so I took out the emergency stairs there. Luckily, the size was just right, so I just cut it down and repainted it a little. It has an old-fashioned feel to it, and I think it makes the atmosphere come alive a little more, don’t you think?”

“That’s right. It really feels like I’m at a game site. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

What a shame. If this were the 21st century, this would be totally Instagrammable.

I took a picture of myself going up the emergency stairs. I also took a picture of myself getting caught by a police officer cosplaying as a police officer. I also did a performance of picking up coins.

If only there was Cyworld, not Instagram.

“You did a great job, beyond my expectations. It would be a shame to only run it for a few days.”

“This is my first time designing a standalone store, but since there are so many elements I can take from games, it wasn’t that difficult. Oh, but the bricks are all too new. They have a bit of a broken corner here and there…”

Even though he probably couldn’t sleep properly because he had been working all night, Manager Choi started to intentionally scratch the bricks by chipping them away with a chisel and hammer.

I figured it wouldn’t be of much use trying to stop it, so I just left it alone and looked around the store.

Myeongdong Saetbyeol store is largely composed of an experience space, an exhibition space, and a sales space. In the experience space, several Jemixes are installed so that you can try out the games yourself.

The only regret is that the products being sold are not diverse and that because it was done so hastily, there was no promotion at all.

The products were the ROM pack, the Jemix V purchased in bulk from Jewoo Electronics, and the hastily made Emergency Stairs notebook and pencil.

It would have been nice if I could have made even a small doll. It’s a shame that I don’t have time to make a sample, but there’s nothing I can do. It’s a miracle that I can have a pop-up store like this right now.

As for the promotion, honestly, I thought it would work out somehow since this was Myeongdong.

Later, when we have enough Starbeat game lineups, we should open a direct store filled with our Starbeat games and goods. The first store can be built in Yongsan.

Looking at the standalone store brings a new dream to mind. Just thinking about it makes my heart race.

“Here, you can avoid it like this.”

While I was teaching part-time workers who were supposed to inspect the store and run the experience zone about games, an unexpected customer showed up.

“Namjoon.”

“father···?!”

“This is Saetbyeoljeom. It’s much better than what I heard at home. It’s really great.”

My father visited Saetbyeoljeom without saying a word, accompanied only by his chief secretary, and looked around here and there.

“Who is it?”

“You are the chairman of Myeongseong Group.”

“really?”

Suddenly, the chairman of Myeongseong Group appeared at the small Saetbyeol store, and everyone was surprised. Manager Park Joo-bong’s face turned pale.

“Director Ahn, I think your fame planning skills are better than I thought. Is it possible that you could have done this before but didn’t?”

“Maybe Namjoon gave the right order.”

The chairman laughed heartily, joking as if he was in a good mood.

“Who is in Myeongseong Planning?”

“Yes, Chairman! I am Park Joo-bong, head of Planning Team 3 at Myeongseong Planning.”

Manager Park suddenly jumped out and stood motionless in front of my father. His hands and chin were trembling slightly.

“Yeah, you’ve worked hard. Let’s all buy a meal together with this that worked hard today.”

“Thank you, Chairman.”

When his father handed him a thick envelope, Manager Park bent at a 90-degree angle and received the envelope with both hands.

“This person is the art team leader, Choi Han-il, who was in charge of the Saetbyeol store design.”

“Hello, Chairman.”

“Oh, right. I heard you prepared it in a hurry, but it’s really well made. It captures the game’s atmosphere well. I didn’t know that Myeongseong Planning had such a talented person.”

“You are too kind.”

Manager Choi was covered in dust and wearing overalls from working on brick details. The chairman looked at him with satisfaction and patted the manager on the shoulder.

“I knew Namjoon was good at making games, but I didn’t know he had ideas like this. We need to watch and learn from this. When you’re done, upload a report on the event results.”

“Yes, I will explain it to you in detail.”

“Okay, I’ll be busy, so I’ll go now.”

My father only stayed at Saetbyeoljeom for a few minutes before leaving. When my father said something as he was leaving, Director Ahn nodded.

“Wow, I got to meet the chairman of a conglomerate!”

“I need to buy a lottery ticket after school today.”

I only went out for a moment, but everyone had a moved look on their face. In particular, Manager Park Joo-bong’s shoulders were much higher than usual.

“Now, let’s all run together with all our strength at Saetbyeoljeom!”

Manager Park Joo-bong shouted in a lively voice. The Saetbyeol store was overflowing with energy just before opening.

“Then I will open it.”

At 1pm on Christmas Eve, the emergency staircase Saetbyeol store opened after completing all checks. The streets of Myeongdong were already bustling with people buying gifts and having fun on Christmas Eve.

But after a few minutes, no one came in.

I was like, oh no. This isn’t Seun Shopping Mall. There are people lining up there to buy , but in the whole of South Korea, there aren’t even a handful of people like that.

There were people loitering around wondering what they were doing as they passed by, but since there was no one there, I just passed by as if it was burdensome.

I felt a little anxious. I felt like if I just watched, all the wonderfully made pop-up store would go to waste.

“That won’t work. Let’s go out and gather some people.”

I went out and talked to young people and people with children.

“Hello. Do you like video games? I have a new game coming out. Would you like to try it?”

“We’re having a video game experience event. You can try it for free.”

“Are you a couple? What do you think of some games that are great for spending time together during Christmas?”

“Hello? Do you like computer games? There’s a new game out. Do you want to try it?”

I’m not the type of person who would easily talk to anyone, but once I started my business, my body started moving on its own.

A few people quickly followed and started to solicit customers together. Thanks to this, people started to gradually fill the Saetbyeol store.

“Dad, I’ll buy this!”

“I’d like to do that too, but we don’t have a mixer at home.”

“Don’t worry, we’re selling Jemix too. Plus, it’s on sale for Christmas.”

“Buy it! Buy it for me! Buy it! I’ll buy this~~!!!”

“Eun-ju, you shouldn’t be lying on the floor like that. Get up, quickly! Okay, I’ll buy it for you. Get up.”

The first customer to buy from the Myeongdong Saetbyeol store was a young child I picked up from the street.

Seeing him lying on the ground and throwing a tantrum begging to buy him a game console brings back old memories. I used to get beaten up a lot when I begged him to buy me the new game packs too.

The Saetbyeol store was getting more and more crowded. After about an hour, people had to wait to play the game. The tea and coffee I had prepared for the customers were running low, so I hurriedly bought more.

Couples, friends, and families who came out to Myeongdong to enjoy Christmas Eve were all having fun playing . It was a heartwarming sight just to watch.

“Representative!”

As I was explaining the game to a couple, Manager Park came running over and looked for me with an urgent expression.

“What’s going on?”

“That, that’s only now···!”

“Outside?”

“The broadcasting station’s cameras are here. They’re here to film the year-end scenery of Myeongdong, and they want to cover our Saetbyeol store!”

At the broadcasting station?

In the 80s, TV was the absolute king of media. The emergency staircase morning star store got a huge free publicity opportunity.