Season 4: Chapter 223. A Moment to Remember Forever (3)
After the Expedition Squad left Cheese Village, the operations team made a round through the village and checked on the residents.
“Everyone’s living well.”
“Everything has... returned to normal.”
The villagers focused on their own work. Farmers tended their fields, and miners went back to digging ore.
By the Lord’s order, discriminatory remarks toward miners were no longer openly tolerated. Unity, rather than division, had become the prevailing view. Of course, some still discriminated anyway.
“Damn it! You lowly Scrub-bellied trash! Ptooey!” People like Onion continued to hate.
“Hey, Onion! Watch your mouth!” LackLackey scolded him.
“Ah, ah, yes... I understand, but they keep glaring at me as they pass, don’t they?”
“Even so, restrain yourself. You’re just imagining it because you’re suffering from dissociative Knight disorder as a side effect of the worm. I went through it myself.”
“Ugh. Y-Yes, yes....”
— What kind of concept is this? lol
— Onion
— It’s almost that level, honestly
At the very least, openly belittling miners was no longer acceptable. Anyone who did so would receive dissociative discipline.
“We’re finally being treated like people. About damn time.”
The miners, for their part, seemed satisfied enough. An operator held a microphone out to one of them.
[Salt]
Salt, from Paprika, expressed his thoughts. “Satisfaction? Well... It’s not bad.”
“Better than when you lived as a Paprika elite?”
“Hmm. Being a Paprika elite held more power, sure. Back then, I always felt uneasy. It felt like the village wasn’t really working.”
“Ah... so is now better?”
“My heart is more at ease now. A miner should mine, after all. Haha!” With that, Salt headed toward the mine.
— So this really was the right answer
— A miner is happiest when mining...
— ??? Miner uncle~! Please stay healthy~!
— All they needed was no discrimination
The operations team moved toward the center of the village. Statues of the Legendary Four Knights stood at the newly built fountain.
“Everyone? These are the Four Guardian Deities who protect our village. To the north, Maid Black Tea. To the east, Radish Servant. To the south, Lemon Servant. And to the west, Potato Servant...”
Miho brought out the village’s NPC children and told their stories.
“When the village is in danger, they’ll appear again from each direction and save us.”
“Wow~ I’ve heard this story before, teacher!”
“Right? It’s a famous tale.”
Everyone already knew thanks to an article posted on The Bubble Daily notice board.
[The Four Guardian Deities Returned to Protect the Village]
It told of how the Lord had led the Legendary Four Knights and saved the village from peril. The directions were even clearly assigned, lending it credibility. As a result, the Legendary Four Knights became revered figures in the village.
“And who led these Legendary Four Knights here?”
Above them all was always him.
“The Lord!”
“The Lord!”
Miho smiled brightly. Every lesson reached the same conclusion.
“Wasn’t all of this thanks to the Lord’s grace?”
Everything was thanks to the Lord’s grace.
“Yes, teacher!”
“That’s all for today!”
“Waaaah!”
The children scattered, riding horses and playing around.
The operations team warmly approached Miho with the microphone.
“Miho ma’am, what are you doing right now?”
“Oh, this? It’s a children’s horseback riding program at the ranch. We also do history tours.”
“Ah... that’s meaningful work.”
“It pays pretty well too. Cheese Village’s population has grown a lot.”
As the NPC residents’ satisfaction increased, their numbers gradually grew as well. Cheese Village had reached its maximum population now. The village had truly reached its peak.
— Send the Lord to the White House!
— With the Lord’s grace, even the birth rate might recover!
— Cheese Village’s birth rate is better than Korea’s
“How satisfied are you living in Cheese Village?”
“Me? One hundred percent! I’m so happy! I want to live here forever, but...” Miho’s expression darkened slightly.
“Why is that?”
“Well, you know. The time limit has been making me anxious.”
[17:24:38]
Every villager could see that timer. It had started at twenty-four hours and kept ticking down. No one knew what would happen when it reached zero.
“Among the villagers, people are saying it’s the Treevy server shutdown... but we still don’t know why it showed up in Cheese Village. Is it some kind of event?”
“Hahaha... W-We honestly don’t know either.”
***
“This one. It’s this one.”
“No, it’s this one!”
“What would a Paprika traitor know, huh?”
Back in the library, the struggle to arrange the puzzle continued in full swing.
“Mmph...! Mmm!”
Almond wasn’t just tied up anymore. At some point, they had gagged his mouth too. Even tied up, he kept talking, so they silenced him.
— Look at their speed now that Almond’s mouth is shut lol
— Treevy history, Zelu hard-carry
— Oh, they’re almost done?
“This one is JeonJaPa’s first match.”
“OrangeKing’s tears come after that...”
“And then Mr. JeonJaPa’s first stream.”
“Mr. Zelo’s first stream was around here too, right?”
As they linked pieces of Treevy’s history together, the screens began forming a single timeline.
“Bubblegum’s triple-mag zero kills! Put it here!”
“This part is...”
“No, look. OrangeKing was already commentating in the first Treevy LIL Tournament here. How could LIL Champs with Tangerine as a player come after that?”
“Ah...? That wasn’t the same LIL Champs.”
Bit by bit, the old events fell into place.
—Are bows... not good?
Almond’s first stream finally entered the puzzle as well.
“Lord Almond’s first stream!”
“But when was this?”
They all knew it was his first stream, but pinning down exactly when it happened was difficult.
“Shouldn’t we ungag the Lord?”
“Ah... y-yeah. Let’s do that.”
Maid Black Tea stepped forward and removed the gag from the Lord’s mouth.
“My lord, do you know where it goes?”
— Hahahaha
— What’s the point of calling him Lord when he’s treated like this? lol
— He probably doesn’t know either lol
Almond knew the exact date, but the key to this puzzle was relative placement. One also had to know what came before and after.
Almond remained silent.
Maid Black Tea poked him lightly and asked again, “My lord? Are you sulking?”
She tugged at his cheek to check, but Almond stubbornly remained silent.
— ?
— What’s wrong with the Lord?
— What is it?
— Did he crash? lol
“Ah, come on. I know this one, Maid Black Tea. It goes here. The Lord’s debut was definitely after this!” Zelu brought over another screen.
“And what’s that?”
“You don’t know this legendary stream? It’s Miho’s Ring Fit streamathon!”
— Kyaa
— An event for the history books
— That was before Almond’s debut?!
— How new is this nut guy anyway? lol
— Before Miho’s Ring Fit?? DAMN
“You sure? If you’re wrong, we start from the beginning.”
“I’m sure! That Ring Fit marathon was legendary! How do you not know this? Honestly!”
Thump.
Zelu slammed the puzzle piece into place. It correctly flashed with light.
“Well!? Huh!? Zelu did something too, right!? Wow~ Zelu! You’re a hero of Cheese Village!”
— Holy shit lol
— This guy is insane hahaha
— The one thing Zelu wanted to hear: hero
— No, you’re not, you’re an iron-ore vendor!
Zelu basked in the praise after contributing to the puzzle, but the looks aimed at him weren’t exactly friendly, especially from Maid Black Tea and Lemon Servant.
“But Zelu, how do you know the timing of Miho’s Ring Fit stream so well?”
“Hehe. You must’ve watched it all day long, huh?”
Treeana added quietly, “You sound more confident about that than your own debut.”
Zelu shook his head wildly. “N-No! That’s not it! Everyone! I mean, it was a legendary stream, right!? There were tons of clips! And sh-shorts too!”
After much effort like this, the puzzle pieces filled in one by one. As with all puzzles, things sped up toward the end. Since the latter half involved more recent events, their pace grew even faster.
More and more events involving Almond appeared. Winning the Treevy LIL Tournament, running for the bathroom in Zombie School, the G-Star incident where he said there was a missing zero...
“Hahahaha! What is this? Did you really think no one would see you if you ran to the bathroom?”
“So the Lord had a cute phase too.”
“Hehe. He was totally Newbiemond back then~.”
Maid Black Tea placed the piece showing the Civil Empire championship.
“I seriously cried at this part. For real.”
Only one final puzzle piece remained.
“This is...”
“Oh...”
—We have some unfortunate news for you...
The live broadcast by Treevy’s operator had announced that Treevy Korea would cease operations in a few months. This was the final piece of Treevy’s broadcast history.
“Put it in.”
“Yeah.”
Maid Black Tea placed the last piece, and light erupted from all directions.
“Well done, my disciples.”
The fragmented screens merged into a single, massive display. It showed their present selves with everyone gathered in the library.
“Th-That’s us?”
“Huh?”
“It is, isn’t it?”
Treeana declared, “This is the energy that once led a great city, momentary yet remembered forever.”
Boom...!
The screen split in half and revealed a space within. A violet sphere rested inside, enshrined like something sacred.
“It is the artifact, Treevy.”
Gasps rippled through the group.
‘Treevy?’
‘That’s Treevy?’
‘I thought the city itself was Treevy.’
Treeana stepped forward and touched the violet sphere. It flared violently with light.
“This created the city. That is why the city was named Treevy.”
The artifact Treevy came first. The city merely inherited its name.
“With this, we must raise the city of Treevy, long buried, back to the surface. However...”
Kugugugung!
A massive tremor shook the air.
“It seems the Dragon of Streaming Destruction has sensed this energy.”
Boom!
The library’s outer wall buckled.
“Kiiaaaaaaah!”
Boom! Boom!
The walls warped further, and even the doors shook.
“Uh...?”
“Wh-What the hell? This is insane.”
Monsters appeared right outside the library.
Kuuung!
Boom!
“M-Monsters!?”
“This doesn’t look normal at all...!”
“My lord!” Zelu rushed over and freed the Lord from his bindings. “M-My lord! Quickly... please take care of them!”
— They only tied him up for the puzzle lol
— No way hahaha
— This is the Lord’s job
— Ahahaha
— Terrifying decision-making
Even so, Almond didn’t move an inch.
“No, my lord! This isn’t the time to go on strike!”
Still, Almond didn’t respond and simply stared into space.
“Th-This guy is something else...”
— Did he crash?
— Hahahaha what is this?
— Huh?
— Is he in standby mode and went to eat?
Kwaaang!
The library’s outer wall collapsed, and a horde of monsters revealed themselves. They had never seen most of these creatures before that served as minions to the Dragon of Streaming Destruction.