Season 2: Chapter 28. Reaction (3)
Sang-Hyeon's eyes shook at the post.
[Analysis of Bubblegum and Almond’s Routes, LOL.]
Indeed, it was quite a lengthy analytical article and its content was as followed.
[Everyone knows that Zombie School is a game with high freedom. It’s also widely acknowledged for its pursuit of realism with successful implementation.
'Freedom + Realism + Survival'
These three elements, when combined, make the game incredibly difficult. Something that we, Kingdom players, were aware of.
I thought that RedHat, even with a great collaborator like WePlug, had once again created a terrible game. However, that isn't the case.
Whether it was learning from Kingdom's failure or WePlug's unique commercial sense kicking in, their new game is remarkably different.
Firstly, it maintains player freedom while introducing user-specific difficulty adjustments. The foremost element is indeed the difficulty adjustment system. This isn’t simply about choosing the easy, intermediate, or difficult mode at the start.
Surprisingly, the game systematically gauges your abilities in the beginning. Notably, Almond avoided the bully's attacks while Bubblegum did not.
This single aspect led them to experience entirely different games...]
The post was too lengthy to read in its entirety. It wasn’t because Sang-Hyeon lacked concentration. The comments echoed a similar sentiment.
— Interesting analysis
— Can someone summarize in three lines?
└ Almond suffered unnecessarily. I'm talkative. The end.
└ The Hemingway of Zombies Garden
— Didn’t read but still recommended, LOL
— Crazy detailed, seriously
Most users didn’t read it thoroughly, yet it was the top post. Firstly, because it was a well-conducted analysis. Secondly, because the community was still small enough for such a post to reach the top.
Anyway, Sang-Hyeon didn’t need to read the whole thing. Watching the first attached video was enough.
“Let's check. Weapons, check. An abundance of hygiene items, check. Medicine, check. Food supply, check...”
Bubblegum woke up in the infirmary and assessed the surrounding items.
'Golf clubs, food, bandages, and even a bed...'
The infirmary essentially had everything needed for survival, akin to an easy mode mentioned in the article.
However, Sang-Hyeon still had doubts.
— Is it just a natural difficulty adjustment or is it a high level of freedom? Aside from Almond, can anyone else dodge those bullies and deal with those debuffs?
└ Seriously, LOL
└ Seems like someone just really loves the developers of Kingdom
└ I was thinking the same haha. It just seems like Almond had it hard for no reason.
Some comments precisely echoed Sang-Hyeon's concerns. Instead of an inherent difficulty adjustment feature, it could’ve just been an accident due to the game's high freedom. Yes, an accident that simply occurred.
Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal. In fact, it could even be considered good that his gameplay was unique.
However, the situation was a bit different now.
'Does this make for good advertising?'
If a person playing the game for the first time happened to have the most unusual gameplay, it could steer the advertising in a strange direction. For instance, it would be problematic if he was tasked with advertising an easy survival game, but ended up playing a hardcore action game.
'It’s good that Gum joined in.'
Fortunately, Bubblegum demonstrated the original route.
‘I got lucky.’
Sang-Hyeon was quite fortunate. Everything continued flowing in the right direction beyond simply increasing the scale of the advertisement.
— Still, single mode seems easier than expected if you go through the normal route.
— If you can overcome the terror of the bullies... zombies are too weak, aren't they?
— Wow, I think I could do it too, haha.
Users who thought the game was impossibly difficult began resolving their misunderstandings after watching Bubblegum's stream. Thus, they began inadvertently praising the game for its high freedom.
— The sense of freedom is awesome.
— Unlike games that are just open-world in name but actually make you follow specific rules.
— WePlug has improved a lot.
— Wow, something from our country! I feel so proud!
A positive first impression was successfully established.
'Is this a successful advertisement?'
Whether Almond was worth the forty million won or not was unclear, but the existing Kingdom players seemed convinced.
Posts of former Kingdom players starting Zombie School became numerous. Other streamers also participated, notably Takoyaki.
[Gum & Tako Zombie Thrashing in Collaboration Stream]
In summary, Bubblegum died so many times that he asked Takoyaki for help. In short, asking for help turned out to be effective. Takoyaki, with his excellent gaming sense, was fully competent in this new game.
They were strategizing in front of the snack bar.
***
"Here! Here!"
Takoyaki lured the zombies by noisily playing the drums in the music room.
“Woah! Woah!”
His energetic playing felt like watching a traditional Korean performance.
— Why are you turning your head when you don't even have one?
— You are witnessing an octopus luring zombies.
— Music is a drug...
Was it because of the lively playing? The zombies instantly swarmed in.
Kkugugugung.
They pushed through the desks piled up in front of the music room's entrance.
Indeed, Bubblegum and Takoyako had set up a makeshift barricade at the front door for Takoyaki's safety. Not a barricade meant to be impenetrable, but just like a speed bump for enough zombies to gather.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
As the zombies pushed back this speed bump into the classroom, Takoyaki ran toward the back door while causing a commotion. Bubblegum waited outside for the right moment and opened the back door. Before the zombies could follow and escape, he closed it.
Bubblegum pulled a string he connected earlier to close the music room's front door.
"Wow! Hahaha! It works!?"
"Of course. Bro, what did I tell you? I'm a professional gamer!"
Takoyaki's strategy worked particularly well in classrooms like the music room, which was quite large. There was ample space to run around and enough time to wait until a sufficient number of zombies filled the room.
***
“...”
Almond watched the video and became speechless.
— The music room trap, LOL.
— The zombie trap is awesome.
— Almond would flip seeing this, LOL.
Sure enough, their chat mentioned Almond.
'This seems right...'
He thought this method was the standard way to deal with the zombies and realized he had unnecessarily complicated the game.
Just as he was feeling a bit down, he read some comments expressing an opposite viewpoint.
— Seriously, why do these guys make it so hard? LOL. Just paralyze them like Almond and toss them in the body disposal room. LOL.
└ LOL, that's right.
└ Yeah, LOL, it's not hard to paralyze 20 zombies with a couple of mops. Why work so hard? LOL.
— Beep. Almond's play is the standard!
— Just go and beat them up! What's with these sneaky tactics?
Seeing these comments restored his confidence.
"I was right," he concluded that his approach was indeed the correct one.
— Did the nut squad get collectively shot in the head? LOL.
└ LOL, how is this easier? LOL.
└ 22222
Ignoring the reality-check replies, Sang-Hyeon left the Zombie School Garden site.
"The reaction isn’t bad."
He felt that his Zombie School advertisement stream was quite successful. It was the first time he played an advertisement game for so long.
"I'm glad it's going well."
He was happy about making progress and not just the money. Kingdom Age meant a lot to Sang-Hyeon. He felt a sense of fulfillment in repaying its kindness this way.
Knock. Knock.
Ju-Hyeok knocked on his door.
"... Yeah. What's up?"
"Hey... it finally arrived. The edited version of Evening Wide."
Ju-Hyeok entered with a look of anticipation. Debuting on a major channel held special significance for him.
"Want to watch it together?"
"Ah, well. Um..."
Sang-Hyeon initially wondered why he would watch it now when it would air at 9 P.M. However, seeing Ju-Hyeok so excited wasn’t common, so he decided to join in.
"Let's watch it."
The beginning was quite predictable. After the opening remarks, the hosts casually exchanged personal updates and small talk, slowly building up the tension.
“Do you have any news?”
“Me? I've got nothing.”
“Hey, Min-Gu. You got divorced recently, didn't you? What do you mean by nothing?”
“True, bro! You should be careful too! Didn't you watch The Three Taboos of Marriage?”
Amusingly, they mentioned Han Min-Gu's divorce.
— Kim True is living up to his nickname, LOL.
— Me? I've got nothing! No wife!
— ??? Divorce is a common thing these days~.
The entertaining chats were edited in after the hosts’ comments. The messages were quite enjoyable to read. Only the funniest among hundreds of chat messages made the cut, making it quite impressive.
Then, the first guest appeared.
[A hip-hop artist with anti-Confucian, anti-government lyrics, born from a prestigious university's Eastern Philosophy department! The great rebellion of Confucian Girl, Lil Grass!]
Lil Grass made her entrance with flamboyantly colored hair and music that wasn’t playing during the live broadcast. Her song, influenced by her Eastern Philosophy major, had lyrics that strikingly caught the ear.
“Bright hair! Slim waist! Bitch I’m the real pussy!”
— LOL
— A Confucian rebellion!
— Lil pussy bitch! Lil pussy bitch!
— Glowing hair!
— Sister’s aura is intimidating.
After her flashy entrance, adding appropriate chat messages was only natural.
Lil Grass shouted energetically with her signature cheerful smile, “Hellooooo!”
“Puhahahaha!”
Her presence alone made the hosts burst into hearty laughter. Some people were just naturally funny and Lil Grass was one of them.
“Ah, it's really Lil Grass with grass-colored hair, right?”
Han Min-Gu's teasing began, followed by the other hosts ribbing Lil Grass.
After a brief introduction and a few exchanges, In-Ho made his appearance a bit earlier than expected.
“This gentleman is also from a prestigious university, right? An engineering student who suddenly turned into an idol, and now he's transformed into an actor!”
Next up was In-Ho.
'Depending on In-Ho's segment, our fate will be decided.'
Ju-Hyeok adjusted his glasses and considered the broadcast’s remaining time.
***
"Oh, here I come. Bro, I'm on," In-Ho excitedly exclaimed from the back seat.
"Hey, don't worry, okay? Why are you even watching that? You get carsick," the manager confidently reassured In-Ho while checking his expression in the rearview mirror.
In-Ho always made sure to watch his own scenes and was a true attention-seeker. Well, such a personality suited his profession.
"You were there too, right? To talk with their executive. Do you know how many cosmetic ads our company had to put in there? It was a headache to get in. Even if we just stayed put..."
The manager was in the middle of reassuring him when In-Ho's expression started to harden.
"... What's wrong?"
It hadn't even been five minutes since In-Ho appeared on the show. There was no reason for his expression to sour so quickly. It was strange.
"Hey, In-Ho. What's wrong?"
However, In-Ho couldn't hear the manager’s question.
'Something's off.'
In-Ho watched his entrance scene with wide eyes and stared intently without a word.
'What's going on?'
He felt quite displeased. The scene seemed exceedingly strange, but he couldn't pinpoint the cause. To put it superficially, the production team had no intention of highlighting In-Ho. At least when a guest appeared, shouldn't the spotlight be on them? What about now?
It felt as if someone who was expected to appear just showed up. In-Ho couldn't precisely explain what filming technique they used, but something was definitely off.
"It's too... fast."
"Now? We're going thirty kilometers per hour. It's a school zone, so..."
"No!" In-Ho suddenly raised his voice.
"My entrance! It went by too quickly! I had less screen time than Lil Grass!?"
"What?"
The manager thought that couldn't be true.
"No. They probably shortened your introduction because a lot of people know you. The real deal starts from the next round."
He sighed and turned the steering wheel.
"In-Ho, have some patience. Famous people usually have shorter introductions, right? Does the main MC Han Min-Gu go around saying, 'I'm Han Min-Gu. This and that?’"
The manager's words had some merit.
'That's not the issue...'
It wasn't just the scene moving too quickly. In-Ho felt a bizarre feeling like they weren’t showing the necessary cuts and only compiled the unnecessary ones.
Then, Almond appeared.
In-Ho's face, which had been rigid, contorted helplessly.