Season 4: Chapter 140. Ghost Busters Assemble (2)
“Daring to challenge me in a battle of wits... How brave.”
Almond brimmed with confidence, but his viewers weren’t buying it. Not even close.
Ding.
[RubySword has donated 30,000 won.]
[Challenge him in a battle of wits? That’s a losing game...]
— Pfft hahahaha
— Ignoring the rules lol
— So true
— “Don’t challenge him, just move up by default!”
Even RubySword, Almond’s most loyal follower, had doubts. And who could blame him? Anyone who had watched Almond’s deductions certainly would. Even the Knight Order members looked uneasy.
‘Do we really just follow his lead?’
‘Honestly, I’m nervous.’
‘Almond and Bubblegum teaming up for a strategy match...?’
Of all people, he chose to ally with Bubblegum.
“Uh... we’re really contacting Bubblegum?” Radish Servant asked again, uncertain.
Sure, Bubblegum had power as a Storyteller, but hadn’t he just misread everything last time? He was notorious for derailing things without even meaning to.
To a former pro-gamer like Radish Servant, making such an ally was unthinkable. Bubblegum was scariest as an ally.
“Yes. Send him a DM.”
“W-With all due respect, sir... May I offer one piece of advice?”
“What is it?”
“You mean to... fight a battle of wits alongside Bubblegum?”
“That’s right.”
Almond still didn’t see the problem with himself, strategy, and Bubblegum all in the same sentence.
‘He’s a tough one,’ Radish Servant grimly thought.
However, Radish Servant couldn’t just give up. He was part of the Knight Order now, so he couldn’t back down.
“Do you know what analogy suits this situation? Haha...”
“Rival of the greats?”
“Pfft!” Maid Black Tea burst into laughter.
That wasn’t even an idiom, but Radish Servant’s own answer wasn’t much better.
“Dumb and Dumber.”
— HAHAHAHAHAHA
— Radish Servant, you madman
— Does he have two lives or what??
— Legendary
Almond stared at him with wide eyes.
Radish Servant tightly squeezed his own eyes shut, ready for death.
An unexpected reply came. “That’s... that’s a legit analogy? I thought it was just a movie?”
“...”
“?”
“I’ll send the DM.” Radish Servant instantly realized there was no winning this conversation.
— LMAO
— Can’t deal with this guy
— So funny omg
***
Not long afterward, Bubblegum stepped out of his house.
“Hey... you’re not abandoning me, right? Bro?” Acorn Jelly, his roommate, fretted. “You’re not getting some Knight Order fast-track recruitment, are you?”
— Hahaha Acorn, chill
— Bro, let it go
— Let’s just find All Black already
— This guy is so clingy lol
Bubblegum brushed him off with a wave. “Come on, Radish Servant just called me out for tea. That’s all.”
The grin stretching across his face betrayed him. After all, wasn’t Balloon Stars’ real goal here to make contact with Almond for the upcoming Platform War?
“Then why are you smiling like that~~~! Take me toooo!”
Thump.
Bubblegum shoved Acorn Jelly aside. “Move, man. You couldn’t even find All Black.”
— LMAO
— Insane hahaha
— That delivery was gold
— The voice acting is too good
Crash!
Acorn Jelly exaggerated his fall and groaned. “Ugh! I’m dying! I’m dyyyying!”
Bubblegum just stepped right on him.
Boing boing boing.
“Then die already. Maybe you’ll drop some Fertile Soil.”
“AAAAH!”
— LMAO Bubblegum
— Guess he’s got a lot pent up
— Considering the All Black grind, yeah I’d be salty too
— Making it big changes people hahaha
Life had changed ever since unlocking his hidden class. Now, even the big companies were calling Bubblegum.
[SweetRadish: The master wishes to see you.]
“Hehehe...” Bubblegum walked toward the Knight Order with a spring in his step. “The Knight Order is calling me~~”
He even hummed as he went. Behind him, the bushes rustled.
***
In a dimly lit room like an interrogation chamber...
“Did you plant him properly?” Donuts asked MiddleAgedDetective.
“Yeah. He’s solid.” MiddleAgedDetective nodded gravely.
“And did you tell him the target? We need proof of collusion between Bubblegum and the Knight Order. That’s the only way to win for sure.”
“Of course.” MiddleAgedDetective struck a match and lit a cigarette.
A farmer capable of producing tobacco. The Union had reached such heights.
“Hey! Put that out! Fire still traumatizes me!” Horn Ramen snapped at him.
“C’mon, man. It’s Green Tea’s harvest. Give him a plug.”
“Smoke it outside!”
— PTSD, fair enough
— If you’ve been kicked into a burning house, yeah, you’d never forget
— Same, I still see Almond in my dreams lol
Horn Ramen still had nightmares about being booted into the flames.
“Anyway, Horn Ramen, how’s the Farmer Coin?”
“Didn’t you see? We’ve dumped it all on Green Tea. He’s almost at the fourth tier already.”
They had funneled everything into Green Tea so he could advance into a Druid. Among the Union members, they judged him to be the most combat-capable. The catch was that his girlfriend was a knight.
“Split it with someone else too.”
“What? That’ll slow us down.”
“So what? The Knight Order doesn’t have the numbers for this strategy. One Green Tea isn’t enough. I don’t trust it.” Donuts didn’t feel reassured.
Whether it was just a game or not, Green Tea was still a liability with his girlfriend in the enemy camp.
“Well... then who?”
“Who else can fight?”
“Uh...” Horn Ramen hesitated.
They had plenty of people, but no real talent.
“Dammit, this communist-style management drives talent away.”
“You’re one of those talents.”
“...”
— LOL true
— Donuts hahahaha
— Not wrong
— Downside of communism: Horn Ramen
The Union’s model propped up even the weakest. Naturally, the weak flocked in. They easily had numbers, but scarce real talent.
“White Chicken?”
“He’s too close to Green Tea. Splitting it with him isn’t feasible.”
“Then... what about Pepper...? Pepperoni, the former Grandmaster jungler.”
Pepperoni, aka Pepper, had also participated in the LIL tournament back then.
“Isn’t he just a brainless diver?” Even Donuts knew his playstyle by reputation.
“The Druid class can use plants and trees, but it can also transform into different animals. He’ll be fine.”
“Okay...” Donuts nodded in approval.
“We must lead in class progression. Got it? Then, let’s adjourn...”
Thump.
“Uh, excuse me...” A scout burst into the meeting room.
They had tasked him with monitoring village rumors.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Al... Almond...”
“Almond?”
“There’s a rumor that he discovered a legendary class.”
“What!?”
The room froze.
“That’s impossible!” Donuts snapped at him.
“We would’ve seen it in server chat if it were real!”
“Almond didn’t promote into it yet, sir. He just discovered the conditions to unlock it, but it looks genuine. Several eyewitnesses saw it.”
— Holy crap
— No way
— Whaaat
— He’s getting the best class??
— Is this real???
— How?!
Bang!
Donuts slammed the desk. “Almondoyle...”
At last, he acknowledged his rival.
“He’s got some skill.” Donuts narrowed his eyes meaningfully. “But it ends here.”
— HAHAHAHA
— Bro looking straight at the camera
— Classic old-school villain pose
— Feels like a 2000s drama lmao
— Stopppp hahaha
Yes, Donuts had been staring at the camera the entire time.
“Ahem. Was it obvious?”
“Editing will make it look great.”
“Right?”
“Of course, totally badass.”
The middle-aged men nodded, pleased with themselves.
***
Knock knock.
“Excuse me~?” Bubblegum arrived at Sweet Radish House and knocked on the door.
“No, no... That’s not it?”
He glanced at his chat, corrected himself, and tried again.
Thump, thump.
“Come in, come in~!”
— LOL that’s it
— Perfect hahaha
— Peak roleplay
Bang.
He heard a commotion inside, and a red-haired avatar stumbled out.
“H-Huff... P-Please, come in!” Maid Black Tea, the youngest, greeted him.
“Ah, thank you.” Bubblegum scratched his cheek awkwardly and stepped inside.
Maid Black Tea escorted him.
Click.
A faint shutter sounded from somewhere behind, too soft for them to notice. When the door to Sweet Radish’s house closed, figures stirred from the bushes. Two people crept out.
“Hehehe, got the shot?”
“Of course. You?”
“Me too.”
They grinned and shared their photos.
[Soju]
[Maekju]
It was the Somaek Duo.
“This proves their collusion.”
“No, not yet.” Maekju shook his head. “We need more. Get them through a window and make it look like bribery.”
“What if there is no bribe?”
“So what?”
“?”
“It only needs to look like one.”
— True journalism lol
— Do they really need to go this far? hahaha
— Cheese Village politics omg
They circled around and snapped pictures of the area.
“Get the fields too. Their farm is massive.”
“Greedy bastards, aren’t they?”
They captured the Knight Order’s fertile land, lush with soil. Then, creeping closer, they found an angle through a window.
“Looks like they went upstairs.”
“Upstairs??”
Everyone was on the second floor.
“Climb up. Quick.”
“Where?”
“There!”
They spotted an ideal position on another villager’s house.
“Dammit...”
They had no choice. This material was too juicy to pass up, so they climbed onto the neighbor’s roof, lay flat, and zoomed in their lenses on the upstairs window.
“There, now! Look!”
Click!
The perfect scene depicted Almond handing a box to Bubblegum. In the frame, the sprawling fertile fields glowed behind them.
“This is Pulitzer material.”
“Wow...”
They could already see the headline in their heads.
[Almond, Fertile Land Baron, Caught Colluding with the Press.]
“Upload it to The Farmer’s Daily.”
The Somaek Duo could already imagine the impact this would make.