아시발꿈

Meme Name: Ah-shibal-kkum (Pronounced: Ah-she-bahl-koom)

The "Ah-shibal-kkum" meme originated on June 16, 2007, from a comic titled 'Lotto' uploaded to DC Inside's Cartoon-Series Gallery (카연갤), which mimicked the art style of 'Ingwi'. This comic gained cult popularity and quickly became a popular internet slang term. Its spread accelerated, notably being parodied as 'Kkum-bal-sia' during a Valentine's event in the 2009 online game 'Emil Chronicle Online'. Since then, it has been consistently parodied in various popular culture content, including song lyrics by artists like Defconn and DickPunks, popular webtoons, and games. It remains a long-lasting meme, widely recognized and used to this day.

"Ah-shibal-kkum" translates to something like "Ah, damn, it was a dream." It expresses a complex mix of emotions such as emptiness, frustration, and anger when a highly desired positive event turns out to have been merely a dream. The meme originated from a comic where the protagonist experiences the joy of winning the lottery, only to realize it was all a dream. It is primarily used to describe situations that seem too good to be true, or when a deeply wished-for event vanishes in an instant, leaving a sense of futility. Occasionally, it is also used as a term to refer to an anticlimactic narrative ending where "everything was a dream."

Originating from DC Inside's Cartoon-Series Gallery, this meme spread primarily through internet communities. It has been actively parodied in various online content, including webtoons, online games, and popular music, making it widely known among all age groups familiar with internet culture.

• Used in the chorus of Defconn's song <Dr.Dre> from his 5th album 'The Rage Theater' with the lyric "근데 다 시발꿈" (But it was all a damn dream).
• DickPunks' song <아! 始發 꿈(꿈으로의 첫 출발)> borrows the meme's meaning in its title and lyrics. (Note: The Korean title uses a homonym for "shibal" that means "first departure/start" but sounds like the expletive).
• Parodied in numerous webtoons, including 'University Life' (Episode 31), 'Mojo's Journal' (Episode 26), 'Beautiful Guunbari' (Episode 157), 'Life's Meddling', 'Will You Marry Me' (Episode 87), and 'Lee Mal-nyeon Series' (Episode 7, 'Zhuge Liang Part 2').
• In the game 'Gray City', the ending of the 3rd side episode after a successful mission was titled '아젠장꿈' (Ah, damn, dream).
• It is also used to describe an anticlimactic ending, as in the saying, "If a protagonist experiences something good and the last panel doesn't contain the four words 'Ah-shibal-kkum,' it cannot be considered complete."

The phrase "Ah-shibal-kkum" includes the expletive "시발" (shibal). Therefore, it is advisable to avoid using it in formal settings or situations that require politeness.