Chapter 144: Rainas Reason (1)
As Sang-Hyeon exited the capsule, Ju-Hyeok was on standby.
"Hey, the ad teaser came out. Let's play it."
"You scared me! When did you come?"
Sang-Hyeon clenched his nose because Ju-Hyeok reeked of alcohol.
"What's that smell?"
"Ji-Ah and I had a drink at the pork stew restaurant."
The two celebrated the success of the community posts promoting Almond and shared a bottle of soju. When the excitement died down, they saw the three empty bottles beside them. Ji-Ah was more excited than usual because of her pay.
"Shame to those who drink during the day."
Sang-Hyeon repeated exactly what Ju-Hyeok said to him back then.
"How will you get through the day drunk in the morning?"
"What are you talking about?"
"If you start the day drunk, you won’t be able to think rationally throughout the day and won't get anything done. Then you'll be stressed about that the next day, so you'll drink again. And again for a month, then a year..."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Tell them you're going to play the ad. I'll turn it on."
Ju-Hyeok raised his arms in defeat. Sang-Hyeon chuckled and went back into the capsule to tell his viewers. The viewers weren't happy to hear that he would play an ad.
— Baka Almond! He only cares about money!
— Chat: care less about money! // ???: why // chat: just don't! // ???: how's that possible?
— We're SICK of it.
— Go to hell, capitalism!
— Children... Almond only sees money.
However, discovering that Almond was featured in the ad piqued their interest.
"This isn't just any ad. I was the model for it. Bubblegum and Miho are in it too."
— Oh, is this the one you went to the studio for the other day?
— Almond is in it???
— For real?
— Miho too!?
— Damn, Almond??
— Wow! You're in a video commercial!? Hell yeah!
— Damn, you're world class!
All the viewers knew there was a big difference in pay between a random ad and a video commercial.
[RubySword has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]
[Wow! Congratulations on becoming Fantasia's model! I didn't know because I didn't read the announcements!]
[EggPlant has donated 50,000 won!]
[Damn! A real model now! I can't believe you're coming out in a video commercial!]
— Just by playing the AD, you earn money??
— Shooting the commercial earns you money. Turning it on earns you money and you earn money for doing it... a true alpha male.
— Wow, I'm so proud of Almond. I've been watching him since Kingdom Age, hehe.
— As expected of Kingdom Age Almond! Even shooting a video commercial! Go Kingdom Age!
— Kingdom fanboys are amazing. They're everywhere!
The viewers continued to chat.
"Alright, I'm going to quickly eat."
The screen turned black.
[FANTASIA]
Some text with a clean font appeared.
[WePLUG]
It was a well-executed ad that was supposed to run for a limited time.
[Presents...]
The background music changed and an actor appeared on the screen.
The man looked annoyed when he started to speak, “Hey, Pam.”
“Yes! You called for me, soldier? Teehee!”
A fairy with a funny laugh came to his side. It looked like a fairy from a children's tale. The man looked at the fairy and said something with a determined look.
“We killed... the devil king.”
“Yes! We killed him!” the fairy answered back cheerfully.
“It took 10 years…”
“You're right. It took you 10 years! You sure took your time! Teehee!”
The man looked angry, ready to swing at the fairy.
“I went through all that trouble in this wretched place to kill it! I killed it for sure!!! So now you have to keep your promise!!!”
It seemed like the man was promised a reward for killing the devil king. He started shouting at the fairy.
“Teehee!?Promise? I did keep it.”
“I asked you to send it to my house. You said I'd get paid for it as well. You said my warrior's tale became famous among other fairies too. You said you'd send me home with 30 million won!”
“I did send it to your house.”
“Sigh... You did?”
The man angrily opened his curtains.
Swish.
As the curtains opened, a bright light shone in. The city in the distance was burning with monsters killing people left and right. The only building standing was a tower across the river that was crumbling down. The gate opened and the world fell into doom. It was a miracle that the man's house was unaffected.
“What do you mean this is my home!! This isn't Earth!!!”
“This is home.”
The fairy tapped the wall with her wand and pointed outside the window.
“And that's Earth.”
The fairy was holding in her laughter.
“It's just as I promised! Ah, I put 30 million won in your bank account as well! That was a promise too, right?! But I don't know if you can use it! Teehee!”
“This bitch! What are you planning?!”
“Huh!? What do you want me to do about Earth turning out this way!?”
“You made it this way! You used me and sold my tales!!”
“Teehee! Do you have any proof!?”
The man couldn't hold it in any longer and grabbed the fairy by the neck, shaking it around.
“Hey!!! —! —! —!”
Judging from his expression, it seemed like he was heavily cursing. The next cutscene started playing.
— LOL
— That's hilarious.
— No wonder he's lazy now.
— For real.
— Is this a collab with WePlug? No wonder Pam comes out.
— Oh shit!
— Hey! Pam! Die!
Then the gameplay footage was shown. It was a generic mobile game ad.
[I fell for the damn fairy! But I still need to live!]
Bubblegum rolled around wearing a tanker outfit.
— Hahahaha
— It's Bubblegum!
— Can that tank even dodge any skills?
— He's suffering here too...
— He seems super weak for some reason, LOL
— A tank with terrible aim? Even better.
[Gather teammates!]
Miho appeared as a priestess, burning all the enemies in sight. She was like an angel descending from the sky, but her outfit was the opposite of innocent.
— Wow!
— Noona! You're killing me!
— The outfit is insane...
— Almond... I completely understand if you need to take your time.
— Bring the gacha! I'll pay whatever it takes!!!
After a single smile from her, the chat was filled with all sorts of memes.
— If Miho blesses us, she can cure cancer.
— If Miho had been born a little earlier, she could've prevented wars.
— If Miho was born a thousand years ago, she'd be the Cleopatra.
— If anyone asks how our country is doing, just show them a magazine of Miho.
— Only Miho knows our fates...!
And the last text appeared.
[Get stronger!]
Almond appeared.
— Oh!
— Finally, the peanut appeared.
— Almond!
— Wow!
The reaction wasn't as strong as Miho's, but it wasn't too bad since it was still Almond's stream. Almond leaned against a tree and faced a large monster.
“Kraaaawr!”
As soon as the giant was about to approach Almond, his eyes lit up and he quickly moved to the next hiding spot.
Slam!
The giant's mace swung down and destroyed the spot where Almond was just standing. Then, Almond pulled his bowstring.
Pabababang!
Four arrows lined up on the giant from his crotch to his head.
— Wowww!
— I don't think that's CG!
— Insane.
— Did he shoot it himself? It looks the same as in the game.
— Wow, he can do it in real life too?
— Wow!
Even though CG technology evolved, the viewers could distinguish if the 3D model of a person was real or not. The viewers could instantly tell it was actual footage of Almond and recognized his ability to shoot well in person.
— He must be really athletic in real life too!
— So cool! Oppa, take me!!
— Oppa, I'm dying!!!
— That's incredible…
“Kroaar…”
The giant collapsed with all the arrows embedded in him and covered the screen.
Slam!
[Raising a Lazy Soldier]
The commercial finished.
***
Crunch.
Sang-Hyeon was impressed as he finished his almond flakes.
"Wow, they can do this in one day? That's crazy."
The current video technology was truly astounding. It was a world where even a full-dive game was possible in a regular home. He could’ve never imagined a world where everything would be so accessible.
"Yeah, this is the teaser video. The full version is still unreleased."
Ju-Hyeok couldn't take his eyes off the video.
"It does make me excited even though the game is for a limited time."
"The viewers are excited too. No one left even though the commercial was running. Only like 500 left."
Slurp.
Sang-Hyeon finished the cereal because he didn't want to lose further viewers.
"I should get back soon."
"But will that be enough? You ate cereal in the morning too."
"If I'm full, I can't focus."
Sang-Hyeon started stretching and got ready to get back into the capsule.
Whip, whip.
The way he stretched with expertise was impressive. It was clear that he was an athlete back in the day.
"Hey."
Ju-Hyeok grabbed him by the shoulder.
"What?" Sang-Hyeon answered back with his head between his legs while stretching.
"... Are you Batman or something. Anyway, tomorrow is the doctor's checkup, right?
"Ah, yeah. I know."
"Don't go too hard today."
"Don't worry. I won’t."
Since Sang-Hyeon was talking upside down, Ju-Hyeok couldn't trust him.
"Fine, alright."
"Good."
As Ju-Hyeok sat in front of his computer, Sang-Hyeon finished stretching and opened the capsule.
***
Almond went back inside the capsule. He read the past donations and checked the mission reward.
'This much?'
It started at 500,000 won.
[Mission]
[Earn Raina's three stars]
[1,250,000 won]
It reached 1.25 million won already. The viewers doubted he would be able to earn three stars.
— Almond, are you going to see the ending today?
— Beating it one go?
— Finally?
The viewers wanted to see him play to the end, which meant he'd have to play all day to beat the boss and finish the content.
'I'll do it today. When else will I do it?'
Contents like story mode exerted his body, so it was better for him to complete it earlier. For a game like LIL, he'd be greeted by the grim reaper if he were to play all day. If it was Raina's story mode, it was possible because the battles were short. He had time to take a break in between.
"I need to get the mission rewards. I'll beat it today."
The mission time limit was only until today. He couldn't let 1.25 million won go.
— Wowww!
— Let's gooo!
— Kyaaa
— Wow! Almond's first long stream!
— Really? A wish come true!
— I just ordered some chicken!
— Me too!?
— I'm going to get some BBQ!
— Me three!
The viewers were excited to hear the news. They talked about ordering delivery food and started donating.
There was even a big donation.
Baba bam!!!
[BigHandColony has donated a whopping 500,000 won!]
[Kya! Let's beat this today! You can do this!]
A username he had never seen before donated 500,000 won out of nowhere. He could tell from the username that it was someone big...
'Huh?'
— Damn, is it really him?
— The big daddy is here.
— Wow! It's him!
— He's the holy one!
It was a famous user.
'It's the rich donor from Bubblegum's stream.'
Almond had seen the name before. That guy was a frequent donor for Bubblegum's streams. Anytime Bubblegum stated he would stream for a long period, the user always donated.
'So now I've turned into that streamer as well...'
Once again, Almond felt how different his life had become and started the game.
"Thank you, BigHand! I'll clear it today! The reaction's coming later!"
— I knew it.
— He's going to end the stream again.
— I wonder how he's going to kill himself in story mode.
— This man... I wonder what he'd be like in a coffin?
— The same old reaction, LOL
— I love long streams.
He started up LIL again with many viewers excited to watch him.