Season 4: Chapter 133. Servant Negotiations (1)
ForeverAlone hadn’t logged in for a while since his house burned down. Everything he’d built had disappeared. Who could summon the will to start over? That morning, he finally logged in again.
[ForeverAlone has logged in.]
— Oh
— Whoa
— Gi-Chan’s back!
— Guess he pulled himself together
“Ehh. I’m here. Still gotta play, right?” He smiled weakly with resignation in his voice.
His expression almost looked like he would cry.
— Oh no...
— You can rebuild!
— You still have your assets
— You just need a new house!
His viewers welcomed him back with open arms and more than just words.
Bam!
[Junggi has donated 10,000 won!]
[Welcome back...]
A wave of donations followed.
Bam!
[IAmGi-Chan has donated 10,000 won!]
[We always believe in you~! \o/]
Bam!
[ForeverLoner has donated 10,000 won!]
[ForeverAlone, stream until you graduate from being single!]
— lololol
— Legendary
— Damn
— \o/
— Let’s gooo!
“H-Holy... such big donations all of a sudden...”
For ForeverAlone, still young and with a small channel, even ten-thousand-won donations were rare. Now, a bunch of donations came in bursts.
‘It... it was worth coming back.’
On top of that, he also received buffs. His eyes welled up.
[Random Buff: Damage +30%]
[Random Buff: Movement Speed +20%]
[Random Buff: Telescope]
...
“Th-Thank you! Everyone!” He bowed deeply. “I’ll work hard until I graduate from being single, I swear!”
— lolololol
— So you are graduating? lol
— If there’s a special stream, won’t you be the star of it?
— 300-episode special incoming lol
— Legendary
— lolol
— But why are you here so early?
Reading the chat, Forever Alone explained, “Oh, you mean logging in early today? Well, I’ve got a lot to do. Rebuilding the house... and in the afternoon, I have my Knight interview.”
— ?
— ???
— Knights lol
— Oh god lol
— wtf;
— lololol
The chat turned strange. Nothing was censored, but some viewers were heavy with disbelief that he was aiming for the Knights.
“What? You don’t think I can make it? I’m basically guaranteed... right? Or... not?” He scratched his head and second-guessed himself after their reactions.
— Nah, you’ll be a free pass lol
— #*%(@@
— Don’t worry, you’re in
— Accepted!
— *#&@
Filtered chat messages rolled in too.
“Wait, are those curses? Come on...”
He assumed that the filtered messages were just insults.
As he headed to buy supplies at the plaza, ForeverAlone spotted a huge board.
[The Bubble Daily]
His eyes lit up at Bubblegum’s daily newspaper.
“Oh! Bubblegum?”
The herbalist who always brought him news had now become a full-blown journalist.
“He’s totally a reporter now! Amazing.”
Bubblegum had been his only real contact in this village, so ForeverAlone trusted the paper without hesitation. The main article with the biggest photo read:
[Great Fire of Cheese Village: Only the Knights Ran Into the Flames]
ForeverAlone’s eyes went wide.
‘The Knights? For me?’
“No way.” His oversized chibi head quivered with emotion. “T-The Knights... came to save me!?”
— Whoa
— lolololol
— Ah... lol
— I can’t watch this...
— Uh...
— #&*$@&$@&**
— Legendary~
— )$@*$(@
Viewers who knew the truth had their messages filtered out. Those who didn’t, or pretended not to, only reinforced his belief. The viewers had no way to correct him.
“How could this be...?” Shaking and filled with emotions, ForeverAlone clenched his fist. “I, Jung Gi-Chan, the alpha, will join the Knights and dedicate myself to them!”
— LOL
— lolololol
— Oh...
— Oh no...
Viewers expressed mixed reactions in the chat.
***
Meanwhile, Almond found himself surrounded by countless NPCs.
[Legendary Class Discovered!]
Something completely unexpected had happened.
[Guardian]
— My god, why give him this power...?
— Guardian lololol
— Damn;
— Donuts crying rn lol
— Is this real? Legendary??
— It’s hidden content for sure
A Legendary class had suddenly appeared. Neither Almond nor the viewers knew why. They could only speculate.
— Bubblegum is carrying
— Was this thanks to Bubblegum??
— Is it because of the newspaper?
Everyone’s first guess was that it had something to do with Bubblegum’s article.
— Maybe it’s the Patron Coin?
— The Patron Coin foreshadowing finally pays off
— So that’s how it’s used
Perhaps it was the very Village Patron Coin that the hermit had mentioned.
— It’s both
— You need both conditions
— lol the snowball is insane
In truth, both the Patron Coin and the newspaper article led to this. Still, one question lingered.
— But why Almond?
Three players fit the bill for those two conditions: Sweet Potato, Sweet Radish, and Almond. Why did only Almond get chosen?
Bam!
[RubySword has donated 70,000 won!]
[So he’s just lucky? << Why tho?]
Was it simply dumb luck?
Ding.
[EggPlant has donated 2,000 won!]
[Nietzsche: God is dead...]
Or maybe god really was dead?
— lolololol
— If the balance is this broken, god really is dead
— True...
— Didn’t you see god burn to death with ForeverAlone?
— EggPlant, you madman lol
— But seriously, why only Almond?
No one knew for sure, but the scales were clearly tipping toward one side. The Knights had won the public opinion, gained a loyal servant crew, and plundered all the equipment from the Nonghyup Union and Paprika Village. Fertile Soil also immensely fueled their agriculture.
Almond only lacked a job and a fishing rod. Now, he had finally secured even the former. Not just any job, but a legendary one. Only fishing remained.
Beeeep!
[Class Change Requirements Not Met]
A message appeared when Almond tried to advance.
The white-bearded hermit stroked his whiskers. “Ho-ho. Not yet. There are conditions to become a Guardian.”
“What are they?”
“They are...” The hermit winked. “A secret.”
— ?
— ??
— lolol
— Almond’s hand just twitched toward his sword
— Wanna be fertile that badly?
— ??? What kind of soil do you get if you burn a hermit?
— So it’s not time yet lol
“A s-secret, huh.” Almond lowered his hand from his blade with visible effort.
“Isn’t discovery half the fun? Ho-ho. Just remember, the title is Guardian.”
With that, the hermit snapped his fingers.
Poof.
White smoke billowed, and he suddenly vanished.
***
The discovery of a hidden job caused chaos among the operators.
“How the hell did Almond trigger that!? What are the conditions?”
They had rushed in when the NPCs mobbed Almond. Word spread fast. Soon, Camebert and Mozzarella, the village administrators, heard about it too.
“What? A hidden legendary job?”
“It literally said legendary. We all saw it.”
Operators could view player notifications. They had clearly witnessed the legendary class being introduced.
“This could wreck the balance completely.”
“But he couldn’t advance right away. The hermit said there were conditions.”
“What conditions?”
Even the operators didn’t memorize every hidden job.
“It was called Guardian?”
Camebert opened his notepad and scanned the entries.
[Guardian]
The extensive file detailed every discovery requirement and power.
“Legendary classes have separate discovery and advancement conditions. Thank god.”
Discovering it didn’t mean instant advancement. Therefore, Almond couldn’t become a Guardian yet.
“Discovering it requires a Patron Coin and being featured as the protagonist in a Bard’s song... or the ballad of a minstrel...”
“Or on the front page of a Storyteller’s paper?”
“Yes, exactly. Praised by a Storyteller.”
“Huh?”
“And the next step... says he must be recognized by a hermit?”
“Why would the hermit recognize him?”
“Hmm.”
Ding.
Camebert flicked through the village stats and pulled up the data on the Cheese Village streamers. Two metrics placed Almond far above the rest. First was his kill count.
“His kill count?”
“No, no way. He’s supposed to be a Guardian.”
“Then?”
“Monsters...?”
Second was monster kills. Almond’s number was astronomical when including all the burned monsters. Every invasion that the Knights stopped contributed to this number. Of course, he led by far compared to everyone else.
“Could that be it?”
“It seems likely, but Radish Servant and Potato Servant are high too.”
“True. Then what? Just luck? Wait...” Camebert froze and stared at one line.
[Invader Kills: 53]
“W-Wait. Fifty-three invader kills? When?”
“Huh? No one ever died here.”
“What the hell...?”
The operators only possessed Cheese Village data. They didn’t know that Almond had stormed Paprika Village and wiped it out. They didn’t even know that Paprika Village existed.
“Why? Is that important?”
“Because...” Camebert highlighted one line.
[Advancement Requirement: 70 Invader Kills]
Almond wasn’t far off.
“This is insane, but... what does a Guardian even do?”
“The abilities? Let’s see...” As Camebert silently read, his expression darkened.
He shut the window with a grave face.
“My god...”
“W-What is it?”
“If he earns this class, the balance of this entire world collapses.”