The Real Talk Nobody Tells You About AI-Assisted Coding

Looking at the reality of vibe coding that nobody tells you about. So you see the whole vibe coding craze and think "Wait? I have an idea too, and if I get AI to do it, I become a startup founder, right?" The moment you go in with that mindset, your life gets a little twisted. At first it's actually really easy. Everyone on YouTube says it: "You don't need to know coding." "You just need an idea." "AI agents will make everything for you." "I launched a SaaS in one day." So as an unemployed person, your eyes light up. 'Wait, I haven't done it this whole time, I haven't been unable to do it?' 'Developers were just acting like it was hard?' 'If I just talk well to AI, I'm a CEO too?' Then suddenly you go into Coupang and look at laptops. Normally an 80 man won used laptop would be enough, but when you come to your senses, you're looking at computers with RTX. "It's the AI era, equipment is an investment." "This isn't consumption, it's a means of production." "If I make 10 million won a month later, it's nothing." So you slap down 2-3 million won in card installments. And then subscriptions start. You thought ChatGPT Plus alone would do it, but when you actually try it, you hit a limit. So you're looking at Pro. Pro is 200 dollars a month. Roughly 300k won a month. Add a coding tool, editor, deployment, DB, domain, design tool one by one, and with zero revenue yet, you've completed the structure where money goes out every month. But up to here, the dream is still big. You tell AI: "Make me a B2B SaaS. With login, with payment, with admin, with auto link generation, mobile responsive, and sophisticated." AI makes something. A screen appears. Wow, I'm crazy. I think I've become a developer. Looking at localhost:3000 and founder eyes light up. Once things start getting more complex, that's where the problems start. It works locally but won't deploy. Deploy works but DB won't connect. DB connected but login crashes. Login works but mobile menu disappears. I told AI to fix it and it destroyed another perfectly fine feature. From this point on, it's not "vibe coding" but "vibe praying." "Please, this time just fix the file you touched." "Please don't delete existing features." "Please don't create 43 type errors." "Please let this build pass." That's what you're doing. Somehow you make something MVP-like. Now when you try to launch, reality comes again. To attach payment, you need a business license. You need to check on telecom sales licenses. You need to apply for a PG. You need to submit documents. You need to get reviewed. You need terms of service, privacy policy, refund policy. Your initial thought was: "Can't I just attach the Toss API?" But reality is PG signup fee 220k won, annual management fee 110k won, card commission 3.4%, VAT separate, that's how it starts. Naver Pay, Kakao Pay too—you thought "Wow, if I attach the national payment method, trust goes up, right?" but when you actually go in, you have to look at merchant conditions, commissions, reviews, settlement, policy, event conditions. This is where the unemployed person's expression hardens for the first time. "Uh. Zero revenue yet?" But computer installments are already going out. AI subscription is going out. Domain bought. Server attached. DB attached. To attach payment, you need more money. If you get a business license, taxes, reporting, management come with it. And the grand launch. Promote on a bulletin board. 83 views. 2 comments. 1: "Who uses this?" 2: "Why is the price like this?" No buyers. A few days later, one payment comes in. Finally, first customer. Heart races. 'Done. This is the start now.' But the first customer inquires: "Doesn't work on mobile." "I clicked the link and got a blank screen." "Can I get a refund?" "Can you add this feature?" "What I want is a bit different?" "How long will you fix it?" This is when you realize. What I made wasn't a product, it was a maintenance ghost attached to my life. One customer appeared, but instead of being happy, I'm scared. I was trying to get 9,900