There were faint memories of old times that came to mind whenever I closed my eyes.
Memories from the past, now all faded and tinged in sepia tones.
Back in early elementary school, when my parents weren’t around, my only friend was the TV.
The computer was too slow to play games on, and since we moved frequently, I didn’t have any friends waiting for me at the playground.
The sound from that cheap TV playing a game with a crude UI, probably made in Flash, echoed through the room.
The host’s playful voice chimed in with a comment:
“Oh dear, friends! Our hero is in danger of losing! Cheer for the hero right now by calling in!”
And then, the number, repeated twice:
“060~ **** ***~060~ **** **~”
“Call 060-– right now and hit the button three times! Without friends to cheer them on, our hero can’t find the strength to go on! And remember, one of the participants will win a brand-new gaming console, so don’t miss out!”
I’d heard that number so many times it practically stuck in my ears.
I, with little thought, had dialed the number as a kid.
In the empty house, hitting that button three times and helping the hero on-screen was one of my only sources of fun, given that I didn’t really have any friends to speak of.
“Alright! Thanks to all of you hitting the button three times, the hero safely made it through the ordeal! Haha! It’s all thanks to you, kids!”
Afterward, they would announce the winners of the prizes using the last digits of the phone numbers, but honestly, I didn’t really care about the prize.
I was satisfied just to have gone through the hero’s ordeal with them.
I was happy to know that my three button presses had given them strength.
Looking back, it must have been a sort of hero complex or sense of exhilaration.
I thought other kids probably did it for similar reasons.
—Of course, being a hero for even a short time came with a heavy price.
“Oh, Mom! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…!”
“What on earth did you do to rack up this kind of phone bill! You’re not allowed to watch cable TV anymore.”
“But… but if I didn’t cheer, the hero wouldn’t have made it…”
“They’re all just scammers! And do you think you’re someone important? If you didn’t do it, someone else would have, so why did you have to go meddling in this nonsense and cause all this trouble?”
That day, I got a serious spanking, and the childhood dream of being a hero was badly wounded.
It wasn’t that I blamed my mother; I think she was simply teaching me a necessary lesson.
It didn’t take long to realize that those heartless shows were nothing more than scammy broadcasts, tricking naive kids to extract every penny they could.
Then, why am I recalling this bittersweet memory?
Because—
“If you don’t donate, this family’s fate will be disastrous, Please support the Millia family now!”
“Hah…”
Absentmindedly browsing through challenge comics, I let out a derisive chuckle.
A request for donations?
In this day and age?
And it wasn’t even some famous author doing something philosophical or interactive with readers.
Just a comic where a family was about to be murdered by bandits, begging readers to donate to support them.
Naturally, the few comments there weren’t exactly kind:
- Merndalonia: Is the artist a moron? Go back to the drawing board.
- skxm7888: No way I’m donating. Thumbs up if you’re with me.
- HangBoong’s MammaJo: Came for the art, but it turned out to be a kid’s begging comic…
- RaePha: Is this your sketchpad? If you want donations, draw something decent.
Actually, those comments were relatively mild.
The problem lay in the following episode.
The scene where the family was killed by bandits was portrayed in pointless and gruesome detail.
“…ugh.”
A sickening sequence of unpleasant scenes.
Not enough quality to satisfy a gore fanbase, and without any story-driven reason for the violence.
And then there was the artist’s message at the bottom:
“Not a single person donated, so the poor family had to be slaughtered, So tragic…!!!”
Unsurprisingly, there were hardly any comments… It was too pathetic to attract even a decent argument. The comic was obscure, and I’d stumbled upon it purely by chance.
“It’s really hard to get attention these days.”
Since we’re now in a time where anyone can view comics with a few clicks, trying to attract attention wasn’t odd.
But why go head-to-head with readers like this?
I considered leaving a harsh critique about the unprofessional mindset of a creator… but decided against it.
There was nothing to gain from it.
Normally, I’d just close the page, pull up a video, or play a game, but somehow, the comic stirred up an old memory.
That time when I called 060 and did something similar, only to rack up a massive phone bill and get a severe spanking from my mom.
I saw that there were still quite a few episodes left.
I decided to check how it all unfolded and clicked the “Read Next Episode” button.
***
The comic’s storyline was utterly ridiculous.
Aside from the ‘Millia family,’ various characters were introduced, but the pattern never changed.
Each character was shown in peril, under the pretense of needing donations to survive.
Now, with no viewers left to even leave nasty comments, no donations came in, so everyone was brutally killed, one after another.
The only survivor, a girl named Erin, was depicted barely managing to survive on her own in the latest episode.
Of course, there was no meaningful plot development whatsoever.
As if the artist were hell-bent on creating “misery porn,” several frames showed Erin suffering from hunger, each one from a slightly different angle, as if no detail should be overlooked.
Since each gruesome death scene was unique, I could tell the artist had a twisted commitment to portraying suffering.
The artist even had the nerve to beg for donations in each “author’s message” section:
“Since there are a lot of dislikes, Erin won’t be able to eat today without donations!”
“Last time, no one donated, so Erin had to go hungry for the day… Please donate to cheer Erin on!”
“Oh no… with no donations, Erin has been without water for three days. Please donate to save her before it’s too late!”
“So even the latest episodes follow the same pattern.”
The artist’s words had never changed once.
Begging for donations, blaming readers for not donating, then moving on to another character to repeat the same cycle.
When I clicked on the latest episode, I noticed the view count was “1.”
“Wow, even with no views, this person has stuck to their concept.”
After seeing so many pointless gory scenes, I felt a bit grossed out, but I figured I’d forget it in about three days. This comic meant little more than that to me.
If I’d seen it when I was younger, I might have been more reactive, but I was in my late twenties.
It’d take more than some cheap narrative tricks to move me.
As I was about to close the page, I paused for a moment.
Something inside me kept whispering.
“Hey. What if you made a donation? Aren’t you curious what would happen? Just look at Erin.”
“Isn’t she pitiful? Wouldn’t it be kind to at least let her drink some water?”
“What…?”
I tried to suppress my curiosity, but…
To be honest, I was curious.
With all the begging, what kind of plot twist would happen if I donated?
I left a comment as I typed out, [What happens if you donate? Does she get water?]
I didn’t think much of it at the time.
I thought I might forget all about it tomorrow.
“Huh?”
—Not even three seconds had passed when a reply came back.
【MoneyPlease (Author): For a 1,000-won donation, Erin will get water! The plot changes according to the amount of the donation!】
What? Were they actually watching the page?
“1,000 won, huh…”
Much less than the phone bill I’d once paid as a kid to help a hero through their ordeal.
Adjusted for inflation, it was practically nothing.
Alright.
At this point, I might as well respect the artist’s consistency.
I clicked the “Donate” button and paid the 1,000 won.
【Payment Completed.】
【YiguGodun (Donation/1,000 won): Here’s for Erin to have some water】
This time, a reply came almost instantaneously.
【MoneyPlease (Author): Thank you! The next update is planned for next week! Erin will be able to drink water, all thanks to YiguGodun! Thank you for cheering her on!】
“Alright! Thanks to you all hitting the button three times, the hero safely made it through the ordeal! Haha! It’s all thanks to you, kids!”
Feeling a faint taste of that bittersweet childhood memory, I closed the page.