I Have Supported My Favorite Character for 10 Years

1. Ah, I don’t know. I’ll just sponsor both.

[Patreon for Gamers]

Patreon for Gamers. A platform where indie game developers, who can’t afford to invest in new crap- er, projects, can roughly showcase their upcoming games to the public and receive sponsorships.

In simpler terms, it’s a crowdfunding site for game developers.

Developers utilize the sponsored funds to develop and launch their games.

Sponsors, in return, receive rewards from the game developers. Either they receive goods like merchandise, or their username could be embedded within the game as an Easter egg.

It’s a system that both developers and heavy indie gamers can appreciate. Whoever created it did a fantastic job.

Particularly for me, born as the only son of a wealthy family, left with nothing but money and time, it is the greatest pleasure of my life.

From the late teens when I started receiving an allowance, till now, a decade later, still unemployed.

Countless games have been released since then, and each time, I received numerous words of gratitude.

Because I always only sponsor the top tiers. The least I’ve supported would be in the hundreds, and at the most, up to a thousand a month.

One of the indie game developers who made it big even gifted me one of the only three limited edition figures in the world.

That’s the joy of my life, and though I’m always happy to receive them…

Groan─

＜Notification: [Developer VenonGod] has sent this month’s word of thanks!＞

“Cut the crap. So is it coming out today or not?”

Just like this, not all are great. Developer VenonGod. Bloody bastard.

He’s the developer of the dating simulation game, [Venon Academy].

Venon Academy is the only game that I’ve been sponsoring since high school, 10 years ago when I started receiving a large allowance, and still do till now.

This crazy bastard hasn’t released the game yet in 10 years.

The reason for my sponsorship was really simple.

.

.

.

~10 years ago.

[Patreon For Gamer’s Real-time Rising Rankings]

The real-time rising rankings that I habitually clicked on. There was a sudden surge of one title that caught my eye.

1st Place: [New Release: Venon Academy!]

There’s a reason why it’s in first place. Click.

“…Wow.”

A sigh of admiration escaped my lips the moment I clicked.

The graphics and CG were not just extravagant, they were groundbreaking. They were so realistic, it could pass off as real.

“What game is this?”

Putting everything else aside…

[Please sponsor your favorite female character!]

Normally, they would ask to sponsor the game, but this game uniquely asked to ‘sponsor a character.’

Definitely an otaku game, meaning it’s just my type. I clicked on the game’s sponsorship page.

Then, from the main screen, graphic quality of an unbelievable standard were showcased.

At one corner of the screen was the listing for the sponsorship tiers.

From tier 5 subscriptions to top tier subscriptions.

However, the button structure was different from other games.

Usually, benefits are written under each tier.

A [Subscribe] button is typically found beneath the benefits.

When you subscribe, by the tier you subscribed to, the money is automatically donated monthly.

However, in a game called [Vernon Academy], there was one more box.

[Please enter the name of your favorite character]

“…Interesting?”

Meaning, ‘enter the name of your favorite character and subscribe.’ It would give the feeling of ‘supporting a cute and beautiful character, not a hairy-legged developer.’ A pretty slick move, it seems.

This guy does good business.

So who are the characters here? If there’s someone I like, I might as well sponsor them once.

[Character List]

I clicked, and…

Even with my high-end computer, there was a lag.

“What’s this…”

Funny enough, in this indie crap game, there were about 300,000 female characters. Even 30 female characters would be deemed plenty unless it’s not some harem fantasy game. But this one has ‘300’ thousand.

That’s insane.

It baffled me.

“This developer seems to be a bit mad.”

Typically, games claiming ‘Our game features billions of planets and so on~’ or ‘our game provides ten trillion possibilities of freedom and so on~’ are usually bullsh*t. They usually mass-produce games that are nothing more than a grind created by cut and paste.

Yet there was a reason why I didn’t exit the page immediately.

“But, the random generation seems quite good?”

Typically, games that prattle on about their ‘billions of planets and so on~’ often have maps that are randomly generated. They just lay down presets and randomly generate billions.

In this case, the quality would naturally be a disaster. Informing me none of it was hand made, it was all randomly generated.

However, the female character CGs weren’t like that in this game.

“…Did they really use real life models?”

Even so, it didn’t make sense. You couldn’t possibly use 300,000 real-life models.

Then they would all have to be sculpted….

With distinctive appearances and unique looks. Even the expressions were individually varied.

What kind of insane person made all these? Is it possible? I’m not so sure.

[New Release: Vernon Academy!]

Sponsor: 11,351

“…Is it because there’re so many sponsors?”

Even so, it doesn’t make sense. Since this is a new game, it hasn’t been long since they started receiving sponsorships.

Leave that aside, regarding 3D CG, if it’s made poorly, there’re many cases where it falls into the unsettling valley making it truly horrifying. I just wondered how did they manage to make these- when suddenly.

there was a knock at the door.

Knock knock─

“Sir, it’s time for your meal.”

Has it been that long already? But I don’t want to eat.

“I won’t eat dinner today.”

Besides, tomorrow is the weekend.

My hand naturally drifted to the pages of the numerous female characters, amounting to about 300,000.

Before I knew it, I had stayed up all night.

Scroll, scroll—

Scroll, scroll—

Without realizing, I repeatedly scrolled down. Dawn had already broken outside. Considering I’ve been doing this since 6 in the evening, I must’ve been at it for 12 hours.

I didn’t manage to look through all the 300,000 female characters. However, I skimmed quickly and picked out those that caught my eye. To be honest, the majority of female characters were average. There were quite a few pretty ones as well.

Among them, there were some that particularly stood out.

In the beginning, about 100 were shortlisted.

I further narrowed that down to about 10 after examining them again.

From those 10…

“Wow, these two definitely come out on top.”

[Azel]

[Jeana]

I picked two who were overwhelmingly cute. Whether it’s intentional or not, their fashion style is no better than that of a beggar, making them even more adorable.

Even so, they couldn’t hide their beauty. If they continue to grow like this, they would be legally guilty even if they hit top celebrities full swing, right?

“I’m not a pedophile but…”

Nevertheless, I couldn’t resist their cuteness.

Anyway, since I said I need to choose a favourite character, I have to choose one of the two…

Knock, knock—

The door knocked again.

“Sir, it’s time for breakfast.”

Is it already breakfast time? My mother is going to nag me again. She can tell if I stayed up all night just by looking at my eyes.

…Even though I’m going to get scolded, I should decide this first.

“Yes, just a moment. I’ll be down soon.”

[Azel] / [Jeana]

I deleted the other female characters’ photos and thought about these two. Wow, I really can’t decide.

Ten minutes. Staring at this for ten minutes is just too hard.

Azel has black hair. Jeana has blonde hair.

These two certainly have distinct appearances. The black-haired one has pale skin and an innocent yet cute impression. Jeana looks like she’s always active and playing in the neighborhood, potentially turning into a hot-blooded person when she grows up.

The problem is that it’s hard to gauge my preference here.

“…Both of them are just really great.”

I’m not a Lolicon, mind you.

I just really like the idea of cheering on a cute younger sister. This is supposed to be a stupid game, but it makes me feel as if I’m supporting an idol.

So anyhow, I need to choose a favorite…

The phrase keeps popping into my head.

[If you sponsor your favorite character, they will be removed from the ‘sponsor-able characters’ list. A favorite character just for you!]

In other words, if someone sponsors either one of these two first, I won’t be able to choose them.

“Ahhhhh…! Ah! Guess which one I should choose. Ding dong daeng dong….”

In a state of frenzy, I was wavering over the black-haired one, then the blonde one, when the door knocked again.

Bang, bang—

“Eun! Are you not coming down yet?! You didn’t even eat dinner last night! Did you stay up all night… again?!”

Phew, what a nagging mother.

“Ye-yes, I’m about to go out now!”

Ah, I can’t decide. I’ll just be a patron to both.

I quickly penciled down both female characters’ names.

Then, I directly chose the highest tier for the pledge.

[SUBSCRIBE TO TOP TIER]

Limit: 0/2

[You’ve written 2 names of your favorite characters. The pledge will be applied twofold. Do you wish to proceed?]

Yes, damn. Yes.

Limit: 2/2

The top tier that was limited to two spots. There were already more than ten thousand patrons…

$2000.

Roughly $2000, in our currency, over 2,000,000 won. A pledge no one else had ever made.

Of course, I just went for it right away. About 400 to 500 per month?

Half of my allowance is gone.

Feeling a bit gloomy, I quickly left the room.

“Eun! Did you stay up all night again yesterday?!”

“Eh? No, not really. Just feeling a bit tired….”

At that time, I really didn’t know anything.