In the comic ‘The 500 Million Year Button,’
you can receive 10 million won just by pressing a button.
But in reality, the person who presses it has their consciousness
trapped in a void-like virtual world for 500 million years.
Because those memories are erased and you return to the moment you pressed it,
it feels like you’re getting money for doing absolutely nothing.
I don’t think I would press that button.
The version of me suffering for 500 million years feels like someone being exploited for labor on the other side of the planet,
allowing me to purchase cheap goods.
You say the ‘me’ in the virtual world has no substance?
Do others have substance?
I only assume that others think and have feelings just like I do.
So, I think the intention itself—trying my best
not to cause harm to anyone—is what truly matters.
And if I can think of the person trapped in the virtual world as ‘another me,’
Couldn’t I also think of others as ‘a version of me that’s less like me’?
Thinking this way, the ‘selves’ in my world continue to grow.
And acting for the sake of others eventually becomes acting for myself.
gryeo.com
