“That’s right! The friend famous for playing the violin!”
The man clapped his hands together and said.
“What a coincidence! Hey Maki, have you not recognized this until now? She’s a TikTok celebrity too!”
The cameraman excitedly showed me the TikTok app.
“She’s the violin girl who reached number one in weekly videos last month with 15 million likes! Maki, you should keep an eye on other people’s videos too. How can you not recognize your fellow content creator?”
“There aren’t any fellow content creators on TikTok. There are so many people…”
Suddenly at a loss for words, Maki looked at me and quickly changed his claim.
“Aah, that’s right, fellow creator! Haha… We’re really sorry. We didn’t mean to say it so harshly; our bodyguards must have been too enthusiastic. Let’s go now, Felix.”
“Where are you going? You got my contact info—”
“Enough with the chit-chat! Let’s go quickly! It was dirty being together, and let’s not meet again, kid!”
“This has been awkward since earlier!”
“Nameya, hold on! It ended well!”
Yoonseul grabbed my armpit, leaving me dangling in the air and flailing my legs.
The two incredibly frivolous men quickly left the police station, and in the end, the incident concluded rather anticlimactically.
This country Germany really has run out of affection.
I calmed my anger by popping the last remaining piece of candy into my mouth.
“Hey guys!”
Not long after, Headmaster Ku Weonyu arrived.
It was a loud entrance, almost like the police station’s glass doors might shatter.
“Principal, the incident has been resolved, so I was just about to—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Headmaster Ku Weonyu knelt slightly and hugged me tightly.
I blinked in surprise at her sudden action and rolled my eyes sideways.
“Principal?”
“I’m so glad… really glad… that you weren’t hurt…”
And soon, the elderly woman’s hand gently patted my back.
I felt all the sharp emotions from just a moment ago ease away.
“It’s nothing. Then I couldn’t be considered a student of Seviron Academy.”
Still, it’s nice to see a principal worry about her students, right?
After a long time, feeling the warmth of another person, I leaned my head against her shoulder.
Being in a foreign land, I found myself missing my mom more than usual.
Römer Square, located in the heart of Frankfurt’s old town, is a popular tourist attraction.
Especially on a beautiful day like today, everyone inevitably carries a selfie stick.
However, there were bloodstains on the wooden buildings and the ground surrounding the square.
A group of Japanese tourists who had just arrived were questioning the residents about the chilling sight.
“Um… is this really human blood?”
“Don’t even ask! A little kid swung her fists and smashed four people!”
“Is that so? In the middle of Germany during the daytime?”
“It’s true! I even filmed it!”
Before the confusion could settle, police officers wearing vests with ‘POLIZEI’ printed on them, accompanied by a sanitation worker, began cleaning the streets.
A few magic circles swept across the ground, and the area was reborn as if nothing had happened.
The grandfather who had just answered the tourists kindly pointed to a spot in the square where beautiful music was coming from and shouted.
“That’s it! Do you see that? That kid did it! What is she planning to do now…!”
He pointed to a group of elderly men in suits busking with violins and cellos.
But because there were so many people around, the Japanese girl couldn’t easily find the child he was pointing at.
“Miss Katsuhata, we’re in a hurry. If we don’t leave now, we might miss our next flight.”
To them, Frankfurt was just a layover.
After standing blankly for a while, the girl reluctantly nodded and rejoined her group.
Meanwhile, in the concert hall, applause erupted after the end of one piece.
Another girl squeezed her way through the crowd with her short legs.
It was Noname, who, as usual, sported her low twin-tail hairstyle today.
She tossed a handful of coins into the violin case that the performers had turned upside down to collect tips.
“Thank you so much, angel lady!”
It was a heartwarming sight, evoking smiles from everyone, regardless of whether they were performers or audience members.
“Can I play too?”
“Can you even play the violin, little lady? How old are you?”
“I’m eight.”
“Haha! Here, want to try holding it?”
“Yes, yes.”
Contrary to expectations that she would fumble awkwardly, Nameya took a comfortable and skilled stance.
“Oh?”
From her hand positioning on the strings and bow, there was a feeling of substantial skill.
“Can my friend join and play too?”
“Friend? Oh, that sounds good! Do you need another violin?”
“No, one of us will be playing in virtual reality.”
“In virtual reality?”
Daniel was already logged into virtual reality at a nearby PC bang.
I was initially surprised to learn that there were PC bangs in Germany, but Yoonseul explained it as if it were natural.
After all, not every household could purchase bulky capsules.
Moreover, there are always people who are not satisfied with the old-style helmet capsules, so it makes sense that PC bangs would emerge as a natural development of capitalism.
A hologram projector revealed an avatar on the floor.
It was a temporary model that would serve as the foundation for the avatar ‘Yudex’ that Niel would be using.
“Where are you two from?”
“We’re from Korea. From South Korea.”
“Oh, South Korea! It seems angelic girls from South Korea are going to play the violin! Everyone, give a big round of applause!”
Niel’s cheeks turned red from the warm welcome.
Yoonseul and Headmaster Ku Weonyu were cheering for us from nearby.
“Looks like you’re not scared of the capsule, Niel?”
“I realized there are things scarier than claustrophobia in the world… But do we really have to go this far? This is so embarrassing…”
“This is just the beginning, Niel.”
Kariri’s plan for the American Dream, or rather the ‘Safari Dream’, began before their debut.
Why do agencies conduct survival programs with trainees even before their debut?
The answer lies in recognition.
“Starting is half the battle. In other words, if you don’t get half ahead right from the start, it’s a failure!”
As a former idol trainee, Kariri passionately expressed that a debut is an event that must be executed successfully with great effort.
If a virtual YouTuber has just started their activities, people would have nothing to enjoy except for watching replays of live broadcasts.
In other words, creating content beforehand to steadily build recognition is a good idea in my opinion.
“Then why do I have to join in too?”
“It’s called the trickle-down effect!”
“What does that mean… you’re just sucking the benefits off me!”
“Come on, just this once, Nameya! Just for this tour, please team up with me; you promised!”
So I was in reality while Daniel was in virtual reality.
Thus began our journey through various cities in Europe, searching for violin busking performances.
Starting from Frankfurt in Germany,
to Zurich in Switzerland,
to Salzburg in Austria,
and our short journey came to an end in Venice, Italy.
On the plane back to Korea, Yoonseul smiled while reviewing the video that captured our moments.
The first song at every performance always began with ‘Arirang’.
“What should we title it? How about ‘Playing the iconic Korean song Arirang in a foreign busking’? Does that sound a bit weak?”
It’s truly a monster born of capitalism. She knows what national pride is.
After casually dismissing her, I decided to put on a sleep mask and try to get some rest first.
On the return flight, Principal Ku upgraded us to business class, making it much more comfortable.
Now, I plan to stay at home for a while without moving.
This difficult trip to Europe was enough for one time.
*
“Hey, if you were offered a billion won, would you leave Korea?”
– I’d leave even if I only got a million won, this damn country.
– Honestly, I want to leave now, but I don’t even have money for a plane ticketㅠㅠㅠ
– Leaving Korea for a hundred billion won vs just living.
└ By the way, that balance game was a bit misguided, wasn’t it? Haha.
└ Do you think Korea is an easy country to live in? What a ridiculous framing.
– So jealous, some people get money and Swiss citizenship…
└ Who?
└ Don’t you know Noname? She’s basically one second away from immigrating right now.
└ Why is she suddenly immigrating?
└ Switzerland offered her a hundred billion. What would other countries offer?
[Star spotted) Noname boards a flight to Frankfurt]
[ThesePatch=Reporter Kang Hwang Yeong] The sole survivor of the Korea Valpurgis extermination operation, ‘Noname’, departed for Frankfurt, Germany, through Incheon International Airport in Jung-gu, Incheon City, on August 2.
A week prior, an internet article published alongside her departure photo sparked immense interest.
The journalist who broke the story initially received a lot of hate comments for it.
People asked why they needed to know about some ambiguous average person boarding a plane.
But soon, news broke that the amount offered to Noname from Switzerland was estimated to be between 10 billion and 30 billion, and the situation turned upside down.
Stories related to money always receive attention, whether they are good or bad.
There are certainly people who feel resentment towards the fact that a mere eight-year-old girl is being valued at a hundred billion.
[Corporate executives earn only 500 million a year, and the top professionals barely make several billions a year; yet how does an eight-year-old get a hundred billion? Seriously, I can’t live with this deprivation.]
– Then prove yourself at eight years old.
└ If it’s to be proven, I still have to wait another year. I’ll bet my life that they’re all in cahoots.
└ Treating professors from Korea University like scammers, haha. But then again, I guess an armchair warrior can’t really say much.
-I think it feels demotivating to think that regardless of whether they deserve it or not, I could never earn a hundred billion in my lifetime…
└ 2222
└ 333 I hope Noname does well, but I don’t understand why my life feels so miserable.
Thanks to the public’s interest, channels reporting on her recent activities began to gain popularity.
Current affairs VTubers gathered witness accounts from various communities to create videos, and it wasn’t hard to learn that she had been darting around Europe.
“Wait, didn’t she just say she was in Switzerland until the day before yesterday? When did she get to Austria?”
– Salzburg was yesterday, and now she’s in Venice, gay boy, haha.
└ Noname! You finally made it to the land of pasta!
-Is there something going on with Italy?
└ They say Italy is experiencing an economic crisis. Where would they get the money?
Germany? Switzerland? Austria is unlikely, but we can’t rule out Italy just yet.
Alternatively, there’s speculation that she might have already completed immigration procedures and is traveling around Europe with the money she received.
At that time, simultaneous videos were uploaded on Kariri and Noname’s VTuber channels.
It was a grand video that Yoonseul had ambitiously planned, filled with national pride.
In the heart of Europe, two girls wielding violins were playing Arirang and K-Pop.
The few European fans who were actually present at the scene were the first to comment, and soon after, loyal K-Pop fans from the United States and Southeast Asia found the video through algorithms and contributed to a celebratory atmosphere.
At the end of the video, a five-second cookie shot of Noname snoring on the plane back to Korea stunned everyone.
[Best comment]
– Why did you come back? [Likes: 6.8k]
The person who previously received the best comment with “Why are you really leaving?” asked the same question again.
It’s not just any amount; it’s a hundred billion won.
Even if Noname decides to leave Korea behind, no one could ever blame her.
Yet, she made a point to go to Europe and play a song that represents Korea, quietly returning as if nothing ever happened.
Several people quietly exclaimed at her incomprehensible behavior.
– She’s a real patriot.
That shout began to spread throughout South Korea like the first ripple in a calm lake.
