Season 4: Chapter 184. Working Holiday (4)
Zelu had beaten a monster to death with nothing but a burning stick scavenged from the campfire. Suddenly, the soil beneath him turned fertile. Was it always fertile, and he simply missed it earlier? Was it too dark to see?
‘No way.’
Zelu didn’t believe that.
“This had to be normal soil earlier, right?” He asked again as if seeking confirmation from the viewers.
— idk lol
— ?
— no clue~
— how would we know, bro?
— LMAO
In his streaming career, he never expected a straight answer. The chat existed only to tease, deflect, and watch him struggle.
‘Hmm.’
His eyes sharpened.
‘So, it was something.’
The evasive replies and the playful ignorance felt intentional, as if the chat was hiding something. If there was something tied to this fertile land, what was it?
‘No way...’
He glanced at what lay beside him: charred corpses and blackened soil. Could that be a coincidence? His gaze moved to another monster corpse, and he set it on fire.
Whoosh.
Zelu waited until the ground beneath turned black and cleared the remains.
[Fertile Soil]
Again, it appeared. Like a slash-and-burn farmer, he had created Fertile Soil by burning the monster corpses. The chat exploded.
— HOLY
— wtf
— big discovery incoming
— what am I seeing rn?
— omg lol
Trembling, Zelu said, “So, that’s why the Order kept hunting monsters...”
— LMAO ACTUALLY TRUE
— A boy who learned too much, too soon...
— This is insane
— Early education is wild out here
He was touching upon a forbidden truth.
“But... hah... Something still feels wrong.”
The pieces clicked in his mind, but not fully.
‘Let’s dig it.’
Clink.
He mined the Fertile Soil.
==== ====
[Fertile Soil]
Rarity: Legendary
Grade: B
Description: Black soil forged from blood and sweat. All crop yields will increase by 200%.
==== ====
“Blood and sweat...”
The same words suddenly held a different weight.
— The description literally told the truth
— It was blood and sweat all along lol
— Not hard work, but actual blood and sweat
— A nation powered by corpses is crazy
There was more.
‘Why is it only Grade B?’
He recalled what the Paprika villagers once told them.
“An unknown madman came and wiped us out with a dragon.”
“He burned everything. All of it.”
Zelu froze, then cursed. “You sons of bitches...”
— PFFFF
— He figured it out
— Zelu has awakened
— A hero opens his eyes at last
— IM DYING
The viewers instantly understood. Zelu had realized why the Order did what they did, and the industrial horror behind it.
He stormed to Choco Shroom. “Mother...!”
“W-What now? What’s wrong?”
“I know why Father died!” Tears streamed down his face like a staged drama as he held the Fertile Soil up high.
“What?”
“Why he was burned!? Why ForeverAlone’s house was burned down!? Why Black Tea’s House was burned too?!!”
— oh shiiii
— HE CONNECTED EVERYTHING
— Mother’s face LMAO
— He sees the system now
“What are you saying...?”
“They’re demons, mother! Monsters!”
“I, I don’t understand!”
Zelu explained every detail.
Choco Shroom froze in silence. This reaction wasn’t an act. “They’re insane! Completely insane!”
— even MOM is swearing now LMAO
— This Order really went beyond limits
— Mother confirmed the atrocities lol
— Dictatorship much??
“We need to tell Cheese Village. Fix everything and expose them! They’re broken, beyond broken!”
“R-Return and expose them...?”
“Mother, no one trusts us there. We’re deserters and a traitor’s wife and son.”
“Zelu...?”
“What good is the truth? They’ll just drag us out, beat us, and execute us. Bang bang, and it’s over! Then, instead of Zelu, they’ll need another kid named Zela! Mother!!”
— ZELA LMAOOOO
— love that name
— Wait, another offspring??
— pls stop, I'm choking hahaha
Choco Shroom fell silent. She knew he was right. “Then... what will you do?”
“I’ll take this technique to Paprika.”
Yes, his choice remained the same. They would head to Paprika and save that starving village with Fertile Soil since Paprika didn’t know how to make it.
“If Paprika solves their food shortage, they can stand against Cheese again.” Zelu set off once more with renewed resolve. “I will rebuild Paprika.”
— CHILLS
— Leadership arc unlocked
— Zelo, who struggled to speak properly, is now a leader...
— The son surpasses the father
— Except he’s Cheese-born hahaha
His father screamed for Cheese, but Zelu chose otherwise.
“I will become... Paprika’s Hokage, Pakage!!”
“What...?”
— LOOOL PACKAGE
— he really said it with his whole chest
— Pakage lmaooo
— Go Zeluto!!
***
Meanwhile, PD Jang and the production team watched the broadcast unfold.
“I will become Pakage!”
Stunned, Park Oh-Hoon whispered, “C-Can we really let this happen?”
“I didn’t expect it to go this far.” PD Jang scratched his head.
This was supposed to be a Cheese Village unity event since Cheese Village funded the show and was the sponsor. Now, the protagonist had defected to Paprika. Zelu was planning to cultivate and rule Paprika Village instead. He wanted to dismantle Cheese’s agricultural monopoly and claim the title of village chief somewhere else.
“Should we... cut that part out for the broadcast version?”
That would be like covering the sun with a leaf.
“Nah. He’s clearly betraying Cheese to side with Paprika. That’s his core now.”
“Right. I guess so.”
PD Jang sighed long and deep. “It’s fine as long as the people upstairs aren’t upset.”
“So, we keep it?”
“Keep it? That line belongs in the main trailer.”
Park Oh-hoon couldn’t speak.
‘The man is addicted to dopamine...’
Fun mattered, yes, but putting anti-Cheese propaganda in the highlight trailer when Cheese funded them? That was... bold.
“Shouldn’t we ask Cheese for approval first?”
PD Jang scoffed loud enough to shake the room. “Oh-hoon, you think this is our first year in the business? When we were at SBC, did HQ ever approve anything fun when we asked nicely?”
“Well, no.”
“Imagine requesting permission. ‘We are abandoning Cheese Village content, joining Paprika, and overthrowing Cheese’s system... but please keep the sponsorship money flowing.’ Does that sound like something they’d approve?”
“Definitely not.”
“Exactly, so what do you do in situations like this?”
Park Oh-hoon repeated the infamous motto that PD Jang had drilled into him. “Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
“Correct.”
“I mean, but this was supposed to benefit...”
“Enough. Clip that line and save it.”
“Yes, sir!”
Thus, “I will become Pakage” was destined not merely to air, but to headline the show’s preview. And so, a perfect rivalry was born. The man who conquered Cheese Village through agriculture, Farmer King Almon D. Roger. And the boy who defected to Paprika to become its ruler, Pakage Zeluto.
“The clash of the century.” PD Jang chuckled to himself.
However, the Pakage’s journey would prove harsh from the very first step.
***
Step... step...
Zelu climbed the hill, his breathing ragged. “Huff... Mother... w-we’re almost there... Don’t collapse...!”
Choco Shroom followed calmly without any signs of collapse or struggling. She simply walked normally like her son.
“I’m fine. Just keep moving.”
— LMAO fake acting arc
— dude stop pretending she’s dying
Choco Shroom, exhausted from traveling, no longer bothered matching his dramatic energy. However, Zelu continued performing as if in a tragedy.
“T-That... that must be the place Father mentioned...”
Once they crossed this final slope, Paprika would await them.
“Finally, we made it!”
They saw it with their own eyes.
[Paprika Village]
The system text confirmed it. Just a little farther past the gate and his legend would begin.
“The savior of Paprika has arrived... Huh?”
Instead of a Paprika banner or emblem... a giant flag fluttered overhead.
Flap.
[Working Holiday]
The phrase made no sense.
Then, someone familiar appeared on top of the village wall.
“Hoh?”
[Almond]
‘Are you kidding me?’
Zelu’s face twisted.
— WELCOME HOME Zelu
— LMAOOOO NO WAY
— he arrived at the wrong server
— I’m SCREAMING
Almond clapped behind him. “Two more miners have arrived!”
Knights leaped down and surrounded Zelu and Choco Shroom in seconds.
Clank!
Adamantium spears pointed at their throats.
One knight, eyes burning with devotion, declared, “Welcome to the working holiday, Worker.”
“W-Worker?” Zelu stood stunned.
The Order followed swiftly.
“Drop everything you have. Enter with pickaxes only. Now!”
[ForeverAlone]
It was ForeverAlone.
— ForeverAlone, MY KING
— terrifying aura lol
— He actually looks like a military vet
— this is peak comedy, I swear
— bro is more soldier than soldiers