Season 4: Chapter 210. History of Ruin (2)
Two days passed in the real world. No one knew how many days had gone by inside Cheese Village.
Fweeee!
Spring was nearing, yet Cheese Village remained locked in a frozen winter. On its front gate, the One-Village Alliance’s banner fluttered stiffly in the wind.
Every poster from The Bubble Daily had been torn down. The single and newly established state newspaper, One-Village News, took its place everywhere.
Its first headline read:
[From Iron-Selling Boy to the Leader of Two Villages]
The statues of the old Knight Order had been toppled. In their place stood a massive statue of Zelu proudly hoisting a pickaxe.
Villagers passing by bowed their heads and muttered softly, “Miners are great... May the miners who descend into the darkness today be blessed.”
“Miners are great,” became the new slogan of Cheese Village. Behind Zelu’s statue, a row of wanted posters had been nailed up.
[WANTED]
[Almond, Sweet Radish, Sweet Potato, Black Tea, Lemon.]
None of the five knights had returned to the village.
***
When news first spread that the Knights had been driven out, the villagers cheered wildly.
“Woooo! Down with the dictatorship!”
“That rotten regime is finally gone!”
“Long live the democratic government!”
Public fury exploded once the embargo lifted, and the videos circulated. People grabbed flags and marched into the square.
“Down with tyranny!”
“Cheese Village is democratic now!”
If one asked any of them why they chased the Knights out, most would answer:
“The moment felt hype, you know? Everyone was chanting, so I just followed.”
“It just looked fun. Everyone was doing it.”
That was the simple truth. After all, Survival Craft was just a game, and Cheese Village was content. Who held power or when it changed hands was simply a matter of fun to its residents. The honesty truly hurt when Bubblegum later interviewed participants.
“The embargo ended, and reactions to the video weren’t great, you know? I just went along with it.”
“Haha... I understand. By the way, reporter... are you doing okay these days?”
Bubblegum exhaled deeply. “No. Of course, I’m not. The interview ends here. Please go.”
“Ah... yes.”
He returned to his desk and began hammering at his typewriter.
Tak-tak-tak-tak...
“It was just... too peaceful.”
— true
— they got complacent
— ugh...
— I miss the Lord...
Tak-tak-tak...
As the keys clacked, Bubblegum reminisced. Back when Almond ruled, Cheese Village had enjoyed a golden age.
Dangerous, exhausting mining labor had been offloaded to foreigners through the Working Holiday System. The Knights fully handled the nightly monster raids. Some residents didn’t even know what day monsters attacked. A world where monsters simply didn’t come had become normal for them.
So, they celebrated when the Knights fell. To them, the bad guys had simply fought each other, and both lost. They wanted a peaceful and dictatorship-free Cheese Village.
[GreenTea]
“K-Kiyaaaaaaak!! E-Everyone! Something terrible is coming!”
The absence of tyranny had nothing to do with the strength of one’s enemies.
“P-Paprika forces are marching here! We have to stop them! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”
Enemies didn’t care whether their target was democratic or authoritarian. This was the cold reality of international conflict. Only strength mattered.
“What? How would Paprika beat us?”
“Paprika? Pfft! Bring them. We’ll smoke them like ham.”
“More Fertile Soil for us, I guess!”
They had completely forgotten why Cheese Village had never been stronger than Paprika.
“Wh-What nonsense are you spouting!?” Green Tea was horrified.
The villagers only turned on him.
“Wasn’t this guy a board member of the Knights?”
“Right! Hang him! He even betrayed the Nonghyup Union!”
“Hang him!”
Anyone tied to the Knights was distrusted. People didn’t care about justice. They just wanted a regime change. The crowd couldn’t be stopped once swept up in the madness.
— hang him!
— traitor lmao
— let’s flip the world just once!
— we deserve a turn at power too!
The frenzy didn’t last long.
“Huh?”
“Wh-What’s that...?”
Above Cheese Village, a colossal red hammer materialized in the sky.
Boom.
Zelu’s hammer skill crashed down with monstrous force.
KWA-A-A-A-AANG!!!
The ground split open, and lava burst forth. Flames swept across the village. Buildings collapsed, half-destroyed. Chaos erupted among the villagers.
“M-M-Monster...”
“H-How are we supposed to fight that?!”
“A-Adaman... Where’s the Adamantium?!”
The Cheese villagers had no Adamantium. Most didn’t even own Obsidian weapons. Why would they? They never had to fight. Before long, the invaders breached the main gate.
Kwang!
An army equipped with red armor and red weapons, all forged from Hellsteel, marched in. Within moments, the flag of a new ruler fluttered on top of Cheese Village’s highest keep.
‘One-Village Alliance’
***
The rule of the One-Village Alliance began. At first, it wasn’t so bad. Zelu personally walked through the town and shook hands with the residents as he greeted them.
“Ah~ I just got a little too excited seeing folks from my hometown! Ahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
Despite the awkward laughter, the villagers thought to themselves.
‘Guess he’s not planning to hurt us?’
‘The ruler just changed. We’ll be fine.’
‘He’s better than that murderous dictator, at least.’
Surely anything would be better than the Knights’ dictatorship. Yes, Paprika had invaded, but its leader was originally from Cheese Village. And among his ranks were many of the same people who’d led the coup against the Knights: ForeverAlone and his followers. That alone reassured the people.
“Look, ForeverAlone is over there too.”
“Right? I mean, after everything the Knights did to him... He wouldn’t let anything like that happen again, right?”
“Of course not, I’m sure they won’t be making any more Fertile Soil.”
ForeverAlone’s presence was incredibly persuasive. After the embargo lifted, the videos had painted ForeverAlone as the biggest victim.
Zelu knew that. That’s why he’d cast a forbidden curse on ForeverAlone just to keep him around.
Zelu climbed the platform in the plaza for his inauguration speech. “For your safety! And for the prosperity of our homeland! I will give everything I have! Just as my father did before me!”
“Wooooooo!!”
The people of Cheese Village broke into applause.
“However, no matter how hard I try... I still need one thing from you.”
The Cheese villagers gradually went silent.
“You are all gravely mistaken about one thing.”
Soon, Zelu’s true colors showed.
Ssk.
He adjusted his sunglasses. “You think miners are a lowly profession.”
The Cheese villagers flinched and glanced at each other anxiously. Honestly, everyone had always looked down on miners.
“But from today onward, that kind of discrimination will no longer exist. Miners are, in fact, a noble profession! Now, repeat after me. Miners are great!”
The crowd remained silent.
Miners... were great? To Cheese Village, that was an utterly foreign concept.
“I said, repeat after me.”
Clang!
The soldiers around them raised their blades. Swords and spears made of blood-red Hellsteel gleamed in the light.
Gulp.
Of course, the citizens felt terrified.
— lmao
— wow
— they really replaced evil with worse evil
— I knew this would happen ffs
— he’s already at Almond’s level, at minimum
— if this is the inauguration speech, it’s over lol
“M-Miners are great!”
“Louder!”
“MINERS ARE GREAT!!”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Zelu slowly applauded in satisfaction. “Excellent. People of Cheese Village, I want to share that noble work with you. My father never achieved his grand dream. I want you to be the ones to fulfill it.”
Miho raised her hand hesitantly. “Uh? B-But most of us are farmers... Our mining level is...”
Zelu suddenly exploded. “Then you can go level it up in the mines!”
“Eek.” Miho shrank back.
And so did everyone else.
“Are you saying you would refuse the great work of mining? Do you find it... beneath you?”
— BRUH
— “so noble? you do it then” lol
— this is insane
“Oh, and... since you’ll all be miners now, you won’t be needing your farmland, will you? We’ll take over and cultivate it properly. In return, we’ll provide bountiful meals for our noble miners.”
“WOOOOOOOOOO!!” Zelu’s soldiers roared.
“Miners are great!”
Thoom!
They stomped and chanted, “MINERS ARE GREAT!!”
THOOM!!
***
Presently, a statue of Zelu, with his pickaxe raised high, stood in the center of the village plaza.
In front of it, a man bowed his head. “Miners are great. May the miners who descend into the darkness today be blessed.”
Bubblegum bowed, but his eyes quietly darted around. Then, cautiously, he pulled out a bundle of leaflets.
Sssk.
He’d written these little articles based on his investigations. However, he left the paper nameless and didn’t dare print The Bubble Daily’s name on them because that would get him flagged immediately. Holding the stack tightly, he walked toward the notice board behind the statue.
[WANTED]
The faces of the five knights stared back at him from the wanted posters.
“Lord... please allow me to become a righteous thief.”
— ?
— ??
— “righteous thief” sure buddy
— with that body type, he’s just a rice-thief
— angelic middle-aged netizen energy tho;;
After his little prayer, Bubblegum completely draped himself in a black hooded cloth.
[Extra Edition]
Shaaak!
He used his Storyteller skill and scattered the leaflets into the air.
“Extra! Extra!”
The papers rode the wind, spreading far and wide. Someone crossing the street bent down and picked one up. It was Cream Puff, who used to run the ranch with Miho. The bright smile she once naturally wore had long disappeared.
“Uncle Gum, you really think this will bring them back?”
“They will. Someday...”
“They don’t even respond to whispers anymore.”
“T-That... There must be a reason...”
“What reason? They’re just off fishing and camping somewhere. They abandoned Cheese Village. Don’t you know why Almond became the Lord? He just wanted to get a fishing rod!”
— LOOOOOL
— she’s spitting facts
— omg
— pure truth bomb
Bubblegum hung his head at that. “No... that was only at the start. Later on, the Lord really did try to build this village up properly. You saw it too, didn’t you?”
— Awww
— don’t be mean to Gum bro!
“The Lord is gone now, unc. And we’re being dragged off to the mines.”
“What do you mean!? The Lord will come back! Like he always does!”
Cream Puff smiled sadly and shook her head. “You’re all crazy. Sister Miho is too.”
“Miho?”
“She spends every day waiting for the Lord. Keeps saying that he’ll come back if she becomes Fertile Soil in his place. That the Lord loves Fertile Soil... She’s gone completely mad.”
“W-What... When is she planning to become Fertile Soil? I mean, I could use some myself...”
— LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO
— this dude is still a board member at heart
— are you insane, sir?
Cream Puff ripped one of the leaflets in half.
Rrrip.
“Enough. Just stop with this already.”
“C-Cream...”
— Nooooo!
— the acting is insane
— how did this get so heavy and funny at the same time?
— Miho...
— LORD!!
— #$@($*
— where are they actually? why aren’t they coming back?
— @@(@!(
— pretty sure Miho isn’t even roleplaying anymore LOL
Then, it happened.
“ROOOOOAAAAAAAR!!”
A terrifying roar echoed across the entire server.
Ding.
A system notice appeared in the server chat.
[Six players in total: Almond, Sweet Radish, Sweet Potato, Black Tea, Lemon, and Orange have activated the Main Scenario.]
[The server will now enter the Main Scenario.]