Season 4: Chapter 159. Office (1)
The idea for the Trial of National Betrayal came from none other than Servant ForeverAlone.
“We must purge them all!”
He believed that they had to completely erase anything opposing the Order.
— Servant ForeverAlone, please...
—This is why you don’t give nerds power. History already taught us that with Hitler.
— Is he insane?!
— Dude, your opponent is Zelo.
“Now’s not the time to go easy! Traitors to Cheese must have their entire bloodline erased!”
“Uh... W-Well, fine then.” Radish Servant reluctantly agreed.
Moments later...
Ding.
[ForeverAlone: Greetings. I am ForeverAlone, Branding & PR Officer of the Order. Once our base is complete, we will hold a Trial of National Betrayal. The first defendant is Zelo. He stands accused of leaking internal village information to Paprika and supplying them with high-grade Obsidian...]
This message wasn’t just seen by Zelo. It had been broadcast to the entire server. Such was the nature of the public chat.
[CreamPuff: Whoa... Zelo, is that real?]
[Miho: Zelo betrayed the nation!?]
[WhiteChicken: The Order has gone too far~]
[Soboru: Mr. Zelo... Why did you do it!?]
Zelo froze, overwhelmed by the flood of stares. “W-What is this?! What, are we in North Korea now?! Or Russia!? Do I not even have human rights anymore?!”
— No human rights for traitors
— This is killing me lmao
— He’s losing it LOL
Zelo cried foul, but it was pointless.
[JustDie has donated 30,000 won.]
[The Order is in power now. Of course, they’re doing purges.]
— “Purges,” lmao
— K-healing game, by the way
— Perfectly balanced LOL
— Honestly, based
Even his viewers urged him to accept his fate.
“Thanks for the donation, but could you not sound so casual about me dying, please!?”
Meanwhile, Donuts had been quietly watching. “Uh... Zelo?” He gently declined Zelo’s earlier offer to overthrow the world together. “I don’t think we can work with Paprika anymore.”
“W-What!? Why!?”
“We have to survive too.”
“Survive? We’re already dead! The Boredom Company is dead! The only choice left is do we die boringly or entertainingly!”
— Bro’s a content genius
— Can’t argue with that logic
— LMAO truth bomb
Donuts just shook his head. “Even honest farming has its charm, don’t you think?”
— LOL
— The Nonghyup Union finally acting like farmers lol
— Too late for that...
— Oh no...
Thud.
Donuts placed a hand on Zelo’s shoulder, then turned away.
“H-Hey! Donuts! Where are you going!?”
Donuts waved once as he walked back to the Union’s base.
“You’re really retiring from politics!? The ghosts of your fallen comrades cry out! Don’t you feel wronged!?”
— Who died tho?
— They literally all respawned.
— This is straight-up political drama now.
— ‘Retiring from politics’ LOL
Zelo tried one last time to stop him. “Dammit! You think the Order will spare you?! Those monsters will hang your guts in the plaza and make your skin into serf uniforms!”
— LMFAO the dramatics
— Villains always go out like this
“No matter what you do, the Union is already traitors with Zelo, you idiot!”
However, Donuts never even looked back.
Pop-pop-pop!
He ran off faster than Zelo could blink.
— He bolted lmao
— Didn’t know the old man could move that fast LOL
***
Meanwhile, inside the Order...
“That’s all for today’s stream~” Almond ended his broadcast and disconnected from Survival Craft.
— Nooo
— He streamed so long today though...
— Don’t leave us!!
— Stay alive in Survival Craft, Almond!
His viewers lamented as the stream shut off.
Psshh...
The capsule lid opened, and Sang-Hyeon slowly sat up.
“Wow...”
So much had happened today.
“I’m starving.”
It was already late and well past dinner time. He’d been spending more and more time in Survival Craft lately.
‘Am I overdoing it?’
He stretched experimentally. His body wasn’t in perfect shape, but...
‘Not bad.’
His custom capsule was top-of-the-line, complete with automatic massage functions. Without it, his whole body would’ve been stiff and sore by now, not just his injured arm.
‘Guess this really is a high-end capsule.’
He stretched again, quietly impressed by Nova’s technology. After so many long sessions, he could really feel the difference.
He glanced down at his right hand, which trembled faintly.
‘Still the same.’
The capsule couldn’t fix his arm, but at least it wasn’t getting worse.
“Hmm?” Then, he noticed something strange. “Ju-Hyeok~?”
No answer came. Where had that guy gone? Sang-Hyeon checked his phone.
[Ju-Hyeok: Stepped out for a bit.]
He’d been gone for a while now. Normally, he’d say where he was going.
“Weird,” Sang-Hyeon muttered and rummaged through the cupboard for cereal.
His right hand trembled as he reached up.
“Seriously? He only puts stuff where he can reach.”
Shaking his head at Ju-Hyeok’s petty sabotage, Sang-Hyeon grabbed a bowl and the milk.
Then, a thought struck him.
“Oh.”
Maybe Ju-Hyeok had gone to see Ji-Ah. That made sense.
He sent her a message.
[Sang-Hyeon: Hey, did you meet with Ju-Hyeok today?]
[Ji-Ah: Huh? No? He left?]
[Ji-Ah: I didn’t... know that.]
[Ji-Ah: (suspicious)]
The side-eye emoji made him wince.
‘Crap.’
Even Sang-Hyeon knew this wasn’t good. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked.
[Ji-Ah: LOL, probably about the office interior. He’s been working on that a lot lately.]
It seemed like a joke. Ji-Ah knew exactly what was going on.
‘Oh, right. The office renovation.’
He recalled Ju-Hyeok mentioning that he wanted to spruce the place up before they settled in.
‘At this hour?’
Was someone really working on interior design in the middle of the night? Sang-Hyeon wasn’t sure. He poured cereal into a bowl and pushed the thought aside.
Rattle.
‘Why worry?’
Worrying about someone like Kim Ju-Hyeok was absurd. Who in their right mind would try anything funny against a man built like a tank?
Trickle...
The milk flowed into his bowl. His mind cleared as neatly as the milk washing the cereal.
Sang-Hyeon scooped up a spoonful.
Crunch. Crunch.
The sweet, nutty flavors filled his mouth.
‘That’s it. Perfect.’
Bzzz.
His phone buzzed with a new message.
[Ju-Hyeok: What, you came out? There’s stew in the pot. Have some.]
“Oh...” Sang-Hyeon blinked at the message, chewing once more.
Crunch.
‘Well, now what?’
***
After sending the text, Ju-Hyeok went right back to work.
Ziiip.
He pulled the tape measure across the wall, jotting down numbers.
“Ugh, so dusty.”
The place hadn’t been properly cleaned yet. A fine layer of dust drifted in the air. He adjusted his mask and measured again.
“Eighteen hundred for the desk... Two thousand for the shelves...”
This had become his latest hobby, checking furniture dimensions online and deciding where to put everything in the office.
“Maybe I should add a plant here.” He scrolled through his phone, mumbling to himself.
The place was still dark, gray, and full of dust, but his lips curved into a smile.
“Plants would look great there too.”
In his mind, this wasn’t an empty concrete box. He could already see a cozy space filled with wooden desks, soft lighting, and lush greenery.
“And the posters go here.”
Soon, the walls would feature MixedNuts logos and promotional banners of Almond. It would be a future headquarters for Korea’s top streamer management agency.
“The studio should go... about here.”
He sketched out partitions on his tablet, planning a studio space where Almond and others could collaborate or host talk shows. Only Almond and Pang were profitable right now, but there’d be more someday.
“For now, let’s move what we’ve got.”
Setting aside his dreams, he began dragging furniture into place. The pieces were cheap, old, and mismatched. Nothing like the warm, modern look he had envisioned.
“It’s temporary.”
No one got it perfect on the first try.
Creeeak!
The desks scraped across the floor. He jammed in a few partitions and stepped back.
“Now it looks like an office.”
He scratched his head, glancing between the drab scene and the polished offices he’d seen on Runstagram earlier.
“Hmm.”
It didn’t look much different from the neglected corners of Ah-Sung’s least popular departments. And yet...
“It looks great,” someone said from behind him.
It was Sang-Hyeon.
“Ji-Ah is editing a video right now, so I came alone.”
“Oh, huh? How’d you know I was here?” Ju-Hyeok lowered his mask, startled.
“Ji-Ah told me.”
Then, it clicked. The office interior work Ji-Ah had mentioned wasn’t a contractor job. It was Ju-Hyeok doing everything himself. If they had hired a firm, Ju-Hyeok would’ve discussed it with him first.
“Wait, not that...”
“Hm?”
Thunk.
Ju-Hyeok pointed to the paper bag in Sang-Hyeon’s hand. “How’d you know I was hungry?”
Inside were a full roast chicken and a can of beer.
“Oh, the stew pot was full to the brim. If you’d eaten, it would’ve been half gone.”
“Figures. Almond instinct.” Ju-Hyeok chuckled and took the bag. “You didn’t eat the stew, then?” Even as he asked, he eyed the chicken with a watering mouth.
‘Still the multitasking king.’
Sang-Hyeon smiled and recalled this exact energy from their office days. He sat at the edge of the table.
“We can eat it tomorrow. No way I can finish it alone.”
“You sure you want to eat here? It’s dusty.”
“It’s clean in this spot.”
The central area was spotless since Ju-Hyeok had already wiped it down.
“Besides, it only feels right to eat here. Go wash your hands.”
“Got it.”
A few minutes later, Ju-Hyeok returned.
Sang-Hyeon lifted his can of beer with a grin.
“Don’t think I said this yet, but congrats on the opening, Director Kim,” he said in that polished tone of a Cheese Village executive.
“Haha, the opening was ages ago.” Even so, Ju-Hyeok grinned from ear to ear as their cans clinked together.
Gulp. Gulp.
“Ahhh~” He grabbed a drumstick and tore into it. “Man, I’ll never get tired of this place. The fried chicken here... Seriously...”
Chomp, chomp.
Ju-Hyeok spoke with his mouth full, already reaching for another piece.
‘He still eats like it’s a job.’
Sang-Hyeon watched, amused, until he noticed something.
“Hey, this desk and partition.”
They looked very familiar.
“Oh, these? Yeah... they’re from Ah-Sung.” Ju-Hyeok swallowed and sheepishly laughed. “I, uh... asked if I could have the stuff they were throwing out.”
Sang-Hyeon became speechless.
‘Is this guy really from a rich family?’
When it came to work, Ju-Hyeok acted like the stingiest man alive.
“What? Some of this is your money too, you know. We gotta save.”
“I know.”
“Save on the small stuff if you want to grow big. You’ve seen Ah-Sung, right? Aside from HQ, that place sure didn’t look like the top company in the country.”
“I know.”
“Still...” Ju-Hyeok trailed off and looked out the window. “Thanks for coming.”
Sang-Hyeon blinked. He hadn’t expected that and smiled. “Don’t mention it.”
“I mean it. Also, I need your help with that.”
Thunk.
Ju-Hyeok pointed at the biggest room. A massive bookshelf, easily three meters tall, stood inside.
“Oh...”
Yeah, it made sense. At that moment, Sang-Hyeon realized how lucky Ju-Hyeok probably felt to have an extra pair of hands.