Season 4: Chapter 243. Stars and Campfire (1)
The Survival Craft joint server had a long history. So much so that Cheddar, the head of Cheese, had entered the streaming world for this very broadcast. Concerts at the end of joint servers were common, but awards ceremonies were rare.
“An awards ceremony? How are they doing that?”
“Probably not the kind of awards ceremony we’re thinking of.”
As a result, the villagers threw out guesses one by one. Most agreed it wouldn’t be a conventional ceremony. They were right.
“Alright~ everyone! Your achievements are right here in the exhibition hall! Feel free to look around!”
They toured the exhibition instead of stepping onto a stage to receive awards. It was an incredibly freeform approach.
Almond chatted with his viewers for the first time in a while as he slowly walked through the exhibition hall. “Shall we take a look around?”
The displays were remarkably varied.
[Survival Craft Adventurer – Villager Who Visited the Most Locations]
The text floated in the air. Behind it was a symbolic print depicting the scene that earned first place. A black silhouette stood alone in an unknown snowfield.
“Oh...”
It really felt like a museum piece. Beside it stood five statues arranged at different heights. Anyone could tell who ranked first just by which statue stood tallest.
[Black Pepper]
Black Pepper took first place.
“Oh.”
— Wow...
— They were flying around nonstop
— Nice
— True adventurer
— Actual adventurers don’t even show up in rankings
— Paprika folks all went through hell...
— Paprika youth...
Four out of the five statues belonged to Paprika villagers.
Black Pepper appeared beside him. “Hehehe. Almond, you’re not even ranked here, huh? Hehehe!”
“Ah, hello.”
Once enemies as the Avenger and Guardian, the two now exchanged an awkward handshake.
“It’s a shame I couldn’t participate at the very end. Enjoy the exhibit, Almond.”
“Yes~”
After parting with Black Pepper, Almond moved on to the next display.
[Death Master – Villager Who Died the Most]
A massive print depicted someone being killed. It was hard to tell who the killer even was due to the brutal death.
— Death Master LOL
— The DM!
— Wait, this isn’t Bubblegum?
— Bubblegum lost?!
“Huh.” Almond had naturally expected it to be Bubblegum too, but it wasn’t.
[Black Pepper]
Once again, the tallest statue belonged to Black Pepper, which meant the one dying in that print was Black Pepper. The opponent was...?
— LOL
— The culprit is you!
— Ah...
— Kingmaker Almond
— This is insane
— That counts as dying the most?? LOL
— Cause of death: Almond
— Honestly, how else do you die in Survival Craft...
— LOL
— That’s why Black Pepper just dipped at the end
The chat exploded with accusations. Anyone could tell that Almond had created this masterpiece.
Bubblegum made a ruckus nearby. “Hey! What the heck!? I’m not first!? Hahaha! See, guys? What did I tell you? Your hyung is just good at games!”
He had been shocked that he wasn’t first, but immediately began bragging like it was obvious.
— He was freaking out a second ago LOL
— LMAO
— This is how it turns out??
— Game sense! Game sense!
— But you’re second though LOL
In fact, Bubblegum’s statue stood right next to Black Pepper’s. Black Pepper’s was just so overwhelmingly tall that it was hard to notice.
Bubblegum hadn’t even realized that. “Uh... I’m second?”
This perfectly demonstrated his in-game awareness.
— You just noticed now?
— LOL
— Miracle vision
— Ah...
— this checks out if a sword flies at his face and he misses it
He earned another round of scolding from the viewers.
“Hey. Still, I didn’t get first.”
— Insane. Sticking to it till the end
— Honestly true~
— That’s just the Lord’s grace
— It was all the Lord’s grace, after all.
“Gum bro.”
“Huh? Almond!”
Tap, tap.
They shook hands and patted each other’s shoulders.
“Thanks to you, my lord, I was spared first place.”
— LOL
— At least he knows
— So close
— It’d be funnier if Bubblegum won
“No, you just barely lost.”
— LOL
— What is he even saying? LMAO
— Clear-eyed lunatic
— winning first isn’t a good thing, idiot
After greeting Bubblegum, Almond headed to another exhibit. Judging by how noisy it was, this one seemed pretty important too.
[Human Tractor – Villager Who Harvested the Most Crops]
Apparently, the competition had been tight. A huge illustration showed a golden harvest field in autumn. Someone stood there, smiling blissfully. Behind them loomed a massive black shadow. Who was this supposed to be?
[Sweet Potato]
Surprisingly, the main figure was Sweet Potato. Five statues surged up in a close contest. Behind him were ForeverAlone, Horn Ramen, Black Tea, and Almond.
‘Oh.’
For the first time, Almond found himself on a ranking list.
— King-Potato
— This is fifth place
— Is that shadow Almond?
— How hard did Sweet Potato get worked, holy crap
— The Lord’s shadow!
— Probably only counted personally harvested crops
— The Lord is everywhere!
Since Almond had rarely harvested crops himself past the early stages, he ended up in fifth place.
“My looord~!”
He ran into Potato Servant, no, Sweet Potato.
“Potato Servant.”
The name stuck better than Sweet Potato ever would.
— Game is over and he’s still Potato Servant LOL
— ??? From today on, you are Potato Servant
— How long is he Potato Servant?
— And that guy is still a lord too!
“Did you rest well?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks to you, I got first place, bro~!”
“Right. Congrats.”
— “Thanks to you”
— Got worked like crazy and still says thanks
— ??
— Is he low-key roasting him?
Black Tea called out from behind, “Ah. There you are.”
Lemon popped out from behind Black Tea and greeted him. “Oooh~! Loooord~!”
Even though it had only been two days, it felt strangely like seeing them again after a long time.
Sweet Radish walked over as well. “You’re all here?”
Maybe because they had all started as farmers, everyone seemed curious about the harvest numbers.
“Oh, so Sweet Potato got first.”
Unlike how he spoke to Almond, Sweet Potato casually said to Sweet Radish, “Yeah. Thanks to you, punk.”
— LOL
— Hahahaha
— Finally the truth comes out
— LMFAO
“Sweet Potato has talent for farm work.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“Let’s work together again next time.”
Sweet Potato flew into a rage at the mutiny of the rebels. “What do you mean? You ranked below me! Huh? You don’t remember?”
He still seemed extremely sensitive about hierarchy.
— LOL
— As expected of the officer
— Hahahaha
— Potato Servant never forgave the rebels
— How dare you challenge Potato Servant!
Black Tea asked Almond, “Shall we walk around together?”
Lemon chimed in, “It’ll be more fun if we look together~!”
Almond had no reason to decline. “Sure.”
Shk.
He turned around and whispered into his viewer channel, “Thank god I’m the oldest.”
— LOL so true
— That could’ve been awkward
— Luckily they’re all younger hahaha
— This is insane
— I was thinking the same LOL
Since everyone in the Knights was younger, all his past misdeeds somehow felt forgivable from a traditional perspective. Of course, maybe only Almond thought that way. Seeing the bright expressions of the younger ones behind him, he couldn’t help but smile.
“Should we check the top slaughter ranking?”
“That’s the psychopath ranking, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s the murderer ranking.”
Maybe not. Almond chose to remain silent.
— LOL
— Oh god...
— This is nuts
— They were saving it LOL
— Ahahaha...
— Almond’s pupils are shaking LOL
— Time to pay for your sins~
***
As they toured the exhibition in earnest, displays highlighting Almond’s exploits began to appear. From here on, these were the truly important parts.
[Korean Elon Musk – Villager Who Accumulated the Most Wealth]
Just like the farming exhibit, an enormous painting had been prepared. Someone lay on top of mountains of money, laughing wickedly. Whoever it was, they looked like a dictator steeped in greed. Almond checked the statue beside it. One statue towered overwhelmingly above the rest.
[Almond]
Naturally, it was himself.
— Kya
— Korean Elon Musk LMAO
— LOL
— Legendary
— Look at that gap
This exhibit even featured an explanation.
[The infamous tyrannical group that appeared in Cheese, the Knights. All wealth they earned, directly or indirectly, flowed into the hands of their leader, the one called the Lord. Despite this, the people hailed him as a hero.]
“Isn’t this historical distortion?”
— For real
— I mean, it’s not wrong
— Insane
— They should explain why he’s a hero
— Ahaha...
— “Infamous tyrannical group”
Almond felt uncomfortable. Had he ever spent all that money on himself? He couldn’t even remember where it went. Most of it had gone into maintaining the Knights.
“It only shows the money earned, not what was spent, so misunderstandings like this...”
It was pointless to explain.
“Wow, my lord. Incredible.”
“As expected of the Lord.”
“This too must be the Lord’s tyranny.”
The Knights each threw in a comment.
— They’re rebelling now
— Looks like they really built this up
— Knights' roasting begins
— LOL
Almond moved on to the next exhibit. “Ahem.”
[Korean Joker – Villager With the Highest Kill Count]
The title sounded milder than the Knights had imagined, but it was still ominous.
— Holy crap
— Korean Joker
— Ahaha
— This is insane
— They made him look like a complete madman
They didn’t even need to look. Of course, Almond ranked first.
“Wow. Korean Joker.”
“I’m jealous of the Joker.”
“The Joker is better than being the Queen or King.”
The Knights chimed in from the side. After that, Almond took first place in all sorts of categories.
[Villager With the Worst Reputation]
[Villager Who Held the Most Power]
[Forbes’ Most Influential...]
The most important metric for a streamer appeared near the very end of the exhibition.
[Viewer Magnet – Villager With the Highest Viewership]
The massive display seemed like it wouldn’t even fit on a single screen. The grand exhibit showed one figure firing something while radiating red energy, and another figure countered it with blue energy. The explanation was brief.
[A clash that makes your heart pump.]
— Kya!
— This is it
— Wow...
— Insane
They checked the statue beside it.
[Zelo / Almond]
The two shared first place.
— Whoa!
— Damn
— Wait, really???
— That’s crazy
— This actually happened??
— Is this for real?
Almond had tied Zelo in viewership.
“Wooooah!”
Even the Knights, for once, couldn’t tease him and felt genuinely shocked.
“W-What is this?”
“M-My lord.”
Zelo approached them. “Ah. Mr. Almond.”
He smiled and held out his hand.
“Mr. Zelo.”
Tap.
They clasped hands in greeting.
“Nice to meet you. We shared first place, huh?”
A strange tension hung in the air. Zelo, the monster, had never once had his status threatened in the streaming scene. Almond, the rising star, even if only once, tied him in overall viewership.
“Ah, yes. I got lucky.”
Perhaps Almond sensed the odd atmosphere too. Uncharacteristically, he brushed it off with a humble response. Honestly, it had been luck. He had never surpassed Zelo’s viewership. All the attention had simply converged on him in the final battle. He knew this because he had gone over the graphs in detail with Ju-Hyeok.
Zelo pointed to one side. “Have you seen the last exhibit?”
“No? What is it?”
“They say everyone sees something different.”
“What?”
“You’ll understand when you see it. Haha.” With that, Zelo disappeared.
Almond and the Knights all grew curious. What was this final exhibit? They moved toward the end of the exhibition route.
[Your Best Team]
The massive room contained a single large mirror. The exhibit was for the Best Team. One person stood there, staring silently with tears streaming down their face. Had it moved him that deeply?
“Uh... Lord?”
“ForeverAlone?”
— What’s wrong with him? LOL
— Gi-Chan again, what now
— He’s crying???
— Huh?
ForeverAlone noticed Almond and stepped aside. “I, I’ve already seen it.”
‘What is it?’
What could it be for ForeverAlone to react like that? Almond stepped closer and read the description.
[An AI analyzes your Cheese Village activity data and shows you the team that suits you best.]
‘A team?’
What was so special about that to warrant such a grand setup? Then, he heard people murmuring nearby.
“Isn’t this for the Platform War?”
“Oh, I think you’re right. So, this is how they’re doing it.”
“Wow...”
The teams for the Platform War had already been formed.
Gulp.
Almond swallowed dryly and stood in front of the mirror.
‘How close was I with Gum bro again?’
He couldn’t help but think that.