What is gold farming?
It's a term that originated from the idea of converting in-game currency or items into real money, then using that money to buy rice — the most basic staple of life.
As more and more people moved beyond treating games as a hobby and started using them as a side hustle or even a livelihood, the practice spread.
And eventually, the concept expanded beyond online games into all kinds of real-world pursuits.
*Heh heh, I wonder how much all of this is worth.*
The pile of cards stacked in front of me right now — yeah, you could call this gold farming too.
"Hehe."
And I didn't spend a single penny to get these precious things!
"Chae-won, do you really like those that much?"
"Yep. You should start collecting them too — for the future."
Kim Si-yeon, who'd been hovering around me since yesterday, tilted her head with a look that said *is she really that into it?*
*Foolish child. I could shove the answer right in her mouth and she still wouldn't swallow it.*
No reason to look out for her any fur—
"Ta-daa. I bought some cards too 'cause Chae-won likes them. I got two packs. I'll give one to Chae-won."
"What?!"
She pulled out two card packs and promptly shoved one right into my hand.
*You little— turns out you're a sharp one after all!*
Not that she had any idea her rating in my head had just flipped like a pancake in under a second. Si-yeon just kept on smiling her goofy smile.
"So we're friends now, right?"
"Obviously. Friends for life."
"Waaah. Hehehe."
At a glance, it might look like I shook her down for her lunch money.
But I never begged for them, and I never threatened to end the friendship if she didn't hand over the cards.
She offered them on her own. Refusing would just be rude.
"C-can I open it like this?"
I grabbed Si-yeon before she could just boringly tear the pack open in one go.
"Stop!"
"Oh! W-why, why?"
"There's no suspense."
"Suspense? What's that?"
"Uh…."
How do I explain this.
*Your dopamine isn't firing? There's no thrill?*
*All English words….*
I glanced around and spotted the kid in the green outfit from yesterday.
"Hey, Green."
"My name's not Greenie…."
"Anyway, you know cards, right?"
Given how much she'd been showing off yesterday, she should know at least a little.
"Of course I do!"
"Yeah? Then when we open our packs, tell us if what comes out is good or not."
"Sure. Easy."
Perfect. Card-reveal announcer: secured.
I could read her face — whether it was a common card or some Special Ultra whatever, I'd be able to tell.
"Anyone else with nothing to do, come gather round!"
"Why?"
"What are you doing?"
"She brought Duel King cards!"
"I wanna see too."
In an instant, a swarm of snotty-nosed kids came rushing over.
Audience: acquired.
Like a true gamer marinated in gacha dopamine, I'd built a state-of-the-art system.
First layer: Green's facial expressions.
Second layer: the audience's reactions.
It would've been perfect with some dramatic sound effects, but that was asking too much.
"Okay, we'll open Si-yeon's pack first. You flip them one by one."
I handed the cards to Green and took my spot.
"Begin."
With everyone's eyes on her, Green's hands trembled as she opened the pack.
Seven cards inside.
She flipped them over one by one, slowly.
Just when I was thinking *hmm, all duds?*—
"Oh!"
The usually calm kid's eyes lit up.
Wait — is it something rare?!
"Wow, a cat!"
"Is it good? Is it rare?"
"No, it's just cute."
"……."
Ugh, I got all worked up for nothing.
Si-yeon giggled and happily took it back, clearly delighted.
But I wasn't the type to be satisfied with that.
"Alright, this one's mine. I'm counting on you."
I solemnly held out my card pack, and Green started flipping through it the same way.
"That one! Is that one good?"
"It's super common…."
"Oh, the fluffy one's cute."
"I've got tons of those… want mine too?"
"Oh, a dragon! It's a dragon! That's expensive!"
"…It's a lizard."
Tch. They all looked impressive, and every single one turned out to be a dud?
"Last one."
*Gulp* — Green, who'd already peeked, went wide-eyed.
"What is it? What is it?!"
And then the final card was revealed.
"Oh."
"Whoa."
"It sparkles!"
"What is this?"
Unlike everything that had come before, the surface shimmered.
And it wasn't a monster — it was a human-shaped girl.
*This one's definitely expensive! Definitely, I'm telling you! Yes!*
Just as I was about to break into a victory dance—
"Hmm. It's not actually a good card."
"What?! You wanna die?! Look properly!"
"W-well, my older brother said she's not that great…."
"She's all sparkly and gorgeous! How can she not be good?! This whole game is a scam."
"What do you mean? A scam…?"
That can't be right.
She's a human-shaped girl in a sea of monsters, she's pretty, *and* she sparkles?
Right. It's just — it's still early days. People are judging by performance over rarity right now. That's all it is.
I carefully cradled the card that looked just like a magical girl against my chest.
"Hmph, come with me. Don't listen to such nonsense about you being no good."
I was busy consoling myself when the kids who'd been watching crowded in and offered their words of comfort (?).
"Chae-won. Even I think your card looks the coolest."
"Yeah. That one seems like it'd be the strongest?"
"Want to trade with mine?"
"It's pink so it looks like a princess! It's totally you, Chae-won!"
*……Is it actually terrible.*
Ugh.
Just as my nose was starting to sting—
*Clatter—!*
"I'm here!"
The door burst open and a boy came barging in.
***
Ha Jin-su had originally planned to take today off for a family trip, but he'd come back during lunch because he wanted to play at the kindergarten.
Something about the Sunshine Class felt off, though.
Boys and girls were all jumbled together, playing in one big group.
He looked around in confusion, and his eyes landed on one person.
Kim Si-yeon.
Like any kid that age who doesn't quite know what to do with feelings, the line between affection and torment was razor-thin for him.
Pulling her hair, snatching her things, making her cry — hovering around her any way he could was Ha Jin-su's honest truth.
But there was Si-yeon.
Glued to the side of some girl he'd never seen before.
She always made a face like she'd bitten into something sour when she was around him, and now she was over there being all sweet and cozy.
And on top of that, boys were mixed in with them too, which rubbed him the wrong way.
Stomp, stomp.
Ha Jin-su walked straight over and casually wedged himself in.
Chae-won and Si-yeon happened to be in the middle of sorting through the cards they'd pulled and received.
"Pfft, lame. Those are totally cards only girls would like~"
He put his hands behind his back and raised his voice so everyone could hear.
A few boys quietly sidled up next to him, and he grew bolder.
"Check it out~ I've got a dragon, a dinosaur, even a transforming robot~ Psh~ What even is that, looks totally weak!"
Jin-su puffed out his chest at Si-yeon and the newcomer who was staring blankly at him.
Most girls would've pouted and run off by now, or at least grumbled.
*What's her deal?*
Chae-won fixed him with a deeply unimpressed look.
The moment he met those eyes — a soft, faint amber — Ha Jin-su was the one who snapped his head away first, for some reason.
*W-what was that?*
Just a girl, he told himself. She was probably scared. But—
"Hey, you."
"…Me?"
"Yeah, you. You ugly mug."
*Boom—!*
*Mom said I was the most handsome boy in the whole world?!*
"Wh-what! Th-then you're ugly too!"
"Where have you ever seen an ugly person this pretty."
"…Ugh…!"
He couldn't exactly argue with that.
But in a kids' fight, it's all about momentum.
Facts don't matter.
Ha Jin-su cranked up the volume the way he always did when he made Si-yeon cry.
"You're hilarious, looking like a busted dumpling!"
Chae-won didn't even blink. She just smirked and opened her mouth.
"You dare call my cards trash? Did you grow up eating garbage, is that why you turned out looking like that?!"
"…I didn't say they were garbage."
Sensing this was no ordinary opponent, Ha Jin-su balled his fists.
He was about to just bulldoze through with sheer force.
But then.
"A true duelisht settles things with a duel."
"What?"
"If you're a real man, fight me fair and square — in a duel!"
Jin-su couldn't find the words to respond.
*To be a real man… I have to duel?*
Everyone was watching him.
If he backed down now, wouldn't that make him a coward?
But if he just agreed on the spot—
*…How do you even do that.*
Chae-won stepped toward him.
"You talked trash about my cards, didn't you?!"
"They are bad. Mine are way better."
"Fine! Then let's make a bet. You put up your cards. I'll put up all of mine too."
"Huh?"
"What? Scared? Your cards are stronger, so why are you scared? Coward."
Even as his cheeks quivered from the relentless taunting, Ha Jin-su didn't take the bait completely.
"I don't need those girly cards anyway."
Facing Chae-won's shameless confidence, he instinctively made excuses.
"Hmm—?"
Chae-won tilted her head, then snapped her fingers like something had just come to her.
"Fine. Then I'll bet something else."
"…What."
*Snap—!*
A slender finger pointed straight at Kim Si-yeon.
"If I lose, I'll give you Si-yeon!!"
"Huh?!"
"What?!"
Si-yeon frantically latched onto Chae-won's arm and tugged.
"Ch-Chae-won."
"You trust me, right?"
"……."
*…Huh. Why isn't she nodding right away.*
It was the first time Si-yeon — who'd been trying to stick to her side no matter what — had ever looked at Chae-won with suspicious eyes.
Even so, Si-yeon thought it over for a moment, then—
"If Chae-won takes responsibility… it's okay."
She gave a shy little nod.
"If I lose, the responsibility falls to that ugly kid over there. You'd belong to him."
"Wha?! That's what this is?! I don't want that!"
"Don't worry. I'm not going to lose."
"R-really, can I trust you?"
"Obviously."
Jin-su, who'd been protesting just moments ago, quietly agreed.
The rules were simple.
Each of them had ten cards. They'd each draw one at random, and whoever won more rounds won the whole thing.
They immediately each drew a card.
"Ha. I win, right?"
"Are you stupid. Mine has 2000 attack points and yours has 1000."
"Huh…? Two thousand? One thousand? But mine's a dinosaur and yours is a person…."
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Which is bigger, 2 or 1?"
"…2?"
"Right. So 2000 is stronger than 1000."
"But… it's a dinosaur though…."
The match ended in almost laughably anticlimactic fashion.
From the start, the cards Chae-won had gotten her hands on were the ones that looked valuable — meaning a good number of them had high attack points.
Ha Jin-su, on the other hand, had only picked the ones that looked cool to him. The outcome was never in question.
"Losing to some little kid… hmph."
Now, time to exercise the winner's rights.
"Hand over all your cards."
She held out her palm to the dejected Jin-su.
She'd gotten revenge for her first friend at kindergarten.
And she'd scored a whole pile of new cards on top of it.
A true two-for-one deal.
"Ugh—"
*Hm?*
A wet, sniffly sound from down on the floor startled her.
*Wait, is he crying?? Oh no, what do I do?*
Had she gone too far?
"Hey hey hey. No no, forget it, I don't need them, I won't take them. Just give me one card."
"R-really?"
"Yep. You can keep the rest."
Only then did Ha Jin-su wipe his tears and get back up.
"Thanks… you're nicer than you look."
"Say that again and you're dead."
She was humming to herself, flipping through the cards to pick one, when Jin-su watched her for a moment and gave a solemn nod.
Like he'd arrived at a very grave and important decision, he opened his mouth with great solemnity.
"In return… I'll go out with you. I was originally gonna go out with Si-yeon."
*Creak—* Chae-won's head slowly turned to the side.
"…?"
*Did my ears just break? What did this tiny little thing just say?*
"You don't have to thank me. Sorry to Si-yeon, but… you're pretty too."
Before he even finished the sentence, a chill ran down her spine, and without thinking, Chae-won's small foot cut through the air.
*Thwack—!*
"Squawk—"
Ha Jin-su crumpled to the ground and burst into full-on wailing.
"Oh wow, Chae-won is so strong!"
"……She's a delinquent."
"Chae-won is so cool…!"
The kids buzzed that there was a new boss in town,
and the commotion brought the teacher rushing over in a panic.
And just like that.
Lee Chae-won, on only her second day at kindergarten, was crowned the new boss of the Sunshine Class.
***
Chae-won's mother, Park Eun-jeong, had already mentally rehearsed the whole scene — a dramatic confrontation straight out of a TV drama, slaps flying and all.
But the actual conversation with Ha Jin-su's guardian turned out to be nothing but warm and pleasant.
"Kids fight when they play together, that's just how it goes. My boy is such a handful himself, I completely understand. And he's not hurt anywhere."
"Still, I'm so sorry…. I think she got overexcited — this is her first time at kindergarten."
"Oh my! Really? She's never been to daycare either?"
"No…."
Her face went a little red, worried she'd come across as a neglectful parent.
"That happens~ But is your daughter perhaps a child actress or something?"
"What? No?"
"She's just so delicate and lovely, I assumed she'd been too busy with work to attend. Hohoho."
Among mothers, nothing breaks down walls faster than complimenting each other's children.
Chatting away, time flew by in an instant.
When it was finally time to say goodbye—
"Oh, Chae-won's mom. You work so hard. I know exactly how it feels — we're a two-income household too. If you're ever interested in the child acting world, try reaching out to the place I mentioned. In my eyes, there's no kid quite like Chae-won."
"Haha, thank you. I'm not sure if she'd even be interested. You go on ahead."
The woman had a friend who ran an acting school that doubled as an agency, and somehow Park Eun-jeong ended up with a business card in her hand.
*So it's not just my mom-goggles — other people think she's pretty too.*
The corner of Park Eun-jeong's mouth was quietly curling upward when—
"Mom, are you done? Are we going home?"
The little troublemaker who'd been waiting outside made her appearance.
She was holding an empty wooden popsicle stick, which meant her father had bought her an ice cream.
*Lecturing her, my foot — he probably just coddled her silly. Honestly.*
"Lee Chae-won. Is it okay or not okay to go around throwing punches?"
"Not okay."
"You know that perfectly well, don't you!"
"But it was an emergency."
Jeong-hwan immediately jumped to his daughter's defense.
"See, I heard Chae-won's side of the story. I mean, can you believe it — someone had the nerve to propose to our daughter. I'm unconditionally on Chae-won's side this time. Nothing you say will change my mind, honey."
"Oh, stop it. What kind of example are you setting for her?"
Jeong-hwan paid no mind and ruffled Chae-won's hair.
"Good job, sweetheart. From now on, if any boys come at you like that, just smack them first. Got it?"
"Yep."
"That's my girl. And remember — the only one you're marrying is Daddy~?"
*Thwack—!*
"Ow! Princess! Why'd you hit Daddy!"
"…? You said to hit boys who come at me."
"Obviously except for Dad…! Ow, my nose. You've got a mean right hand, kiddo…."
"…Why except for Dad? It feels the same to me."
Park Eun-jeong watched the dumb-and-dumber routine and let out a sigh deep enough to sink the floor.
Fortunately, after that day, no more calls came from the kindergarten about Chae-won causing trouble.
A year passed, and Chae-won turned seven.