Season 2: Chapter 27. Reaction (2)
Only a faint light descended in a dark, dim space like the opening aria of a grand musical. Sang-Hyeon sat where the spotlight shone... on a toilet!
— Wow!
— Encore! Encore!
Cheers could be heard from the audience in the dark. Almond sat on the toilet and wondered if he was really on a musical stage as he heard their calls for an encore. It would have been better if that were the case. In reality, Sang-Hyeon was experiencing stomach pain and his pants were down.
That was the reality. He wanted to pull up his pants immediately, but there was no way to do so. His body wouldn't move.
— I love you! Almond!
— Mom, when I grow up, I want to be Almond's poop!
— Kyaa!
The audience cheered louder. Sang-Hyeon, perplexed, looked back at the seats.
‘Huh?’
They were empty. The noise didn’t come from the audience. On closer inspection, numerous firefly-like creatures swirled around and emitted the noise.
— Lol
— Haha
— Lmao
Above these fireflies's heads (or what seemed to be their heads) was the word [Constellation].
Sang-Hyeon had no choice but to accept this audience. Even as they roamed around him in all directions – north, south, east, west, up, down, left, and right – examining him. That was said to be the way of the Constellation. It was utterly unfair.
***
Early in the morning, Sang-Hyeon startled awake.
“Haa... Haa...”
His sleeve grew wet from wiping his forehead and he tilted his head in confusion.
"It was a dream."
This was the first time he sweated so much without exercising since changing capsules. The dream felt shocking. It was vivid and replayed events that would never happen again.
‘What kind of dream was that...?’
It was probably because of what Ju-Hyeok said yesterday.
"Today, we’re uploading Ran’s story mode. Tomorrow, the first video of Zombie School will go up on YouTube. Evening Wide will also be airing at night."
Tomorrow... so it was today now. The first video of Zombie School would be uploaded on YouTube. Probably around lunchtime so as not to coincide with Evening Wide.
‘It’s definitely going to be uploaded.’
Having some experience as a streamer, Sang-Hyeon had a rough idea of what would be included in the video. The most obvious would be the scene where the viewers deceived him and he logged out in a hurry. As it already spread far and wide through clips and became famous, it was likely to be included in the YouTube video.
He would be lucky if it weren’t edited into a separate short video and uploaded additionally... but Sang-Hyeon probably wouldn’t be that lucky. Ji-Ah was a good editor.
Numerous related videos would circulate on YouTube.
“Whew.”
Anyway, he had a bizarre dream because of this. He went to sleep feeling the heavy responsibility of having his defecating and logging out scene spread nationwide.
Sang-Hyeon thus rationalized his situation and, after making his bed, headed to the living room. Quite naturally, his path led to the kitchen cabinet. Upon opening it, the Green Diamond company's almonds always awaited him.
Crunch.
Sang-Hyeon swiftly threw a few almonds into his mouth and took out milk from the fridge. No matter how much he thought about it, nothing seemed better than roasted almonds and milk to keep his body light and somewhat fill his stomach.
Crunch. Crunch.
As he chewed and enjoyed the interesting texture and savory flavors spreading in his mouth, he gulped down the milk.
Gulp.
The creaminess doubled his satisfaction.
"Ah, you're up," Sang-Hyeon greeted him and wiped the milk around his mouth.
Ju-Hyeok just came out of his room.
"Ah, uh..."
"Do you want some too?"
"... Ah, yes."
Ju-Hyeok just woke up and seemed out of it. He mindlessly accepted and ate the almonds that Sang-Hyeon offered.
Crunch crunch.
He chewed the almonds with a blank expression as if reluctantly taking a supplement with no signs of enjoyment.
Sang-Hyeon suddenly pointed to another cabinet and said, "Next time, eat these."
"...?"
Ju-Hyeok looked confused.
'Those are also almonds.'
Indeed, what Sang-Hyeon gestured to was also almonds.
'Am I still half asleep?'
He rubbed his eyes as if he seeing things, but rubbing his eyes wouldn't turn the almonds into walnuts. They were still almonds.
"Those are also... almonds."
"Yeah."
"Then why should I eat those?"
"Those are cheaper."
"...?"
Ju-Hyeok tilted his head in confusion, but quickly grasped Sang-Hyeon's intention. It was the kind of psychology when one wanted other people to eat their favorite food to hear how delicious it was.
"Ah, Green Diamond's almonds. They’re really savory! These are the top-grade ones from California..."
"Am I a fool? Just eat those."
"Okay," Ju-Hyeok easily accepted.
He couldn't tell the difference in taste anyway. He once tried the more expensive ones out of curiosity, but that attempt failed and he was content with eating the cheaper ones.
Sang-Hyeon chuckled as if amused. Unfortunately, the type of almonds didn’t matter to Ju-Hyeok. His mind was filled with much more important matters for the day.
"Anyway, I wonder why Director Jang hasn’t sent in the edited version yet?"
The edited version, which was supposed to arrive yesterday, still hadn’t come in this morning. The time to review and request changes had long passed, but Ju-Hyeok still wanted to see it in advance. Such was human nature.
Especially for Ju-Hyeok, Almond’s debut on a major channel was a significant event. He couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Just wait a bit. Editing such a program takes time."
Ironically, it was Sang-Hyeon, the actual participant, reassuring him. Originally, deadlines had to be met regardless of any hindrances.
"Seriously, those TV station guys make things too easy."
Crunch.
Ju-Hyeok furrowed his brows and tossed an almond into his mouth. Some would think that Ju-Hyeok was being too strict, but Sang-Hyeon didn't see it that way.
Sang-Hyeon thought, 'That's a fair assessment from Ju-Hyeok.'
Having always observed him at work in Ahsung, Sang-Hyeon knew him better than anyone.
Ju-Hyeok had every right to say such things. His ability to handle assigned tasks within the set time, regardless of any unexpected variables, was extraordinary even when viewed from the sidelines.
Sang-Hyeon even wondered if it could be some sort of superpower because Ju-Hyeok wasn’t just capable of handling tasks. It manifested in various ways in different situations. Thus, Sang-Hyeon concluded that it was indeed a kind of superpower.
"Take it easy. Nagging won't make things happen immediately," Sang-Hyeon said and returned to his room with words that could seem idle to that superhuman.
"Alright. I should at least post an announcement," Ju-Hyeok sighed and began typing the announcement on his computer. He effortlessly found what he needed to do amid everything.
***
Back in his room, Sang-Hyeon lay on the bed and browsed through a community site. This seemed leisurely compared to Ju-Hyeok, but this was part of his work. It was important to know how people reacted to the new game he started.
First, he decided to visit LILPro, a site he frequently visited. It was a place to discuss LIL, but his main audience was also comprised of LIL players, which made this a crucial site to check.
He found no mention of Zombie School as he scanned the big bulletin board. It hadn’t made it to the Big section yet. Even if it had, most users probably would’ve overlooked it since it wasn’t related to LIL.
However, there was a discussion about Almond.
[Today's Almond YouTube video, he’s so cocky.]
Cocky? Curious about what that meant, Sang-Hyeon clicked on the post.
A clip with a thumbnail showed Raina looking at Almond with an unusual gaze. The playback showed the last scene when Raina and Almond parted.
“Are you leaving soon?”
“Probably.”
After shaking hands and waving, Raina suddenly...
Whoosh.
...pulled him in and kissed him.
“Farewell.”
He had streamed the story mode with minimal chat interaction, so many would see it for the first time on YouTube.
— What's this?
— Is that Raina right now?
— Almond’s face was perfectly recreated???
└ His face is OP, needs a nerf.
Consequently, many viewers felt confused about the situation.
[It was revealed that the mercenary commander, an ally in the story mode, actually turned out to be Raina. It seems like an Easter egg after achieving Raina’s three-star clear.
Almond possessed Ran’s friend Lete and fought. Almond and Raina discovered each other in that scene and had an intense confrontation.]
Of course, an explanation followed. However, community users rarely read beyond three lines.
‘We never had an intense confrontation...’
Almond felt slightly wronged by the description and continued to browse other comments.
— This is Ran’s story mode? I’m going to watch the full version now!
— Raina’s lips again...
— Lips! Lips! Lips!
— No way, Raina's lips were this easy!? What?! Noona!!! Was it like that?!
— I hate myself for spending all that money on her skin...
— Let’s send a truck to hit them. I can’t stay silent any longer.
└ 2222
└ 33333
Viewers who understood the situation busily expressed their anger over Raina's lips being taken again. Other related videos besides this one also appeared.
— The story about how Raina's lips got stolen has surfaced. (Link) A story about how Raina's lips got stolen. (Link) A story about how Raina's lips got stolen. (Link)
└ Points whore, disgusting.
└ Please refrain from spamming.
Upon clicking such a link out of curiosity, Almond wondered if the spam comments paid off. The post was already moved to the Big forum.
[So, that was the reason! Raina!]
[Video]
The attached video showed Raina sneaking a glance at Almond.
“... Is that your real face?”
She looked away immediately after asking.
“Ah. Yes. This is my real face.”
“I see. It suits you much better.”
Her face lit up with a bright smile upon hearing that was his real face.
— They kissed right after this, damn it.
— Are Raina's lips an iPhone? Why does it open with Face ID!? What!?
— Checking the face and then taking the deal, typical of an ADC, haha.
└ Face check lol.
— It suits you much better! Lol.
— Please nerf the visuals...
— I bet my entire fortune of 15,000 won that it wouldn't have been possible if he said it wasn't his real face.
└ For real, lol.
└ For real.
Nearly half of the posts concerning the story mode talked about Raina. Around 40% praised Almond for skillfully fighting without any light, and 10% was bait regarding Lorang.
This wasn't an issue, but he couldn’t find anything about Zombie School.
‘Maybe I should go there after all.’
Sang-Hyeon left LILPro and headed to a new community, Zoms Garden. This was a newly established community with fewer people, but that wasn’t a drawback. It was remarkable that a community had formed for a game still in early access. This was largely thanks to Bubblegum playing Zombie School.
The first discussion regarding Bubblegum and Almond's route analysis appeared there. The analysis article became a hot topic in such a small community.
Sang-Hyeon realized that only sincere gamers gathered here and clicked the article thinking, ‘So this is how it's done?’
He watched Bubblegum playing Zombie School in a starkly different way from himself.