Season 2: Chapter 52. Schrdingers Almond (5)
Shorts were brief videos that maximized the benefits of YouTube. They were quite popular due to their low viewing fatigue and were said to be unparalleled for boosting simple view counts.
Of course, there were downsides too. The most significant one was that it required extensive editing. A short had to be kept to within a minute, which meant everything had to be tightly packed into that timeframe. This was the biggest barrier to entry for shorts, but Ji-Ah was an exception.
"It didn't take long anyway."
Was it because of her superior editing skills? That was only half true.
"From catching the arrow with his mouth to killing Baek Joon-Soo..."
The primary reason was that there wasn't much to edit.
"It was about five minutes?"
Almond dodging the arrow and killing Baek Joon-Soo hardly took three minutes without significant editing.
Ji-Ah shortened it to one minute by removing the scene where the class president provoked Baek Joon-Soo and eliminated unnecessary frames to make the movements appear faster. This editing made the already fast sequence seem almost like a martial arts scene.
"Let's see..."
With tired eyes, Ji-Ah leaned on her chin and clicked the mouse.
[Play]
Shhhhk!
First, the arrow flew in slow motion.
Then...
Thwack!
Almond caught the arrow in his mouth.
Click.
Everything ended in the blink of an eye once he pulled the bowstring and Baek Joon-Soo appeared.
Bang!
The door flew open and a massive silhouette could be seen through the hazy dust. Once again, this part happened in slow motion.
Baek Joon-Soo looked even more powerful as the door slowly flew open. He lifted his shield and bellowed, “Kim Ju-Hyeok!”
His intensity could make someone tremble, but that didn't last long.
Whoosh!
Something flew in from above.
Thud!
Baek Joon-Soo, the giant figure, lifelessly fell.
Then, the camera zoomed in on Almond's mouth.
“Chikicha.”
The video hit the one-minute mark with this.
"Oh, this is worth uploading. Yawn."
Ji-Ah stretched and stood up.
"I'm hungry."
She scurried away to pour water into her cup noodles.
"Ah."
Realizing she had forgotten something, she headed back to the computer.
[Ju-Hyeok: I thought this would be fun to include in the editing]
[Ju-Hyeok: (photo)]
Ju-Hyeok had sent over some community reactions.
"He definitely has good sense."
Ji-Ah smiled contently and inserted the photo at the beginning of the video.
***
Ding!
[Zombie School: "Chikicha"ing the Haters]
The unexpected video puzzled viewers.
— ?
— Another short?
— Today’s a feast!
— Thank you, editor!
— What’s this? Some conspiracy?
Almond’s channel hadn’t produced many shorts since the tournament incident, so two consecutive uploads surprised everyone.
— The thumbnail though LOL
— Is that even possible???
— Lol, really?
Secondly, the thumbnail startled them.
[What the ^Almond^ Fans Wanted]
[Almond almost died, but he checked the chat and quickly turned off the broadcast in a frenzy -> He returned today and caught the arrow mid-air. Then he shot Baek Joon-Soo directly in the head -> This was his reaction. Game end.]
The community post Ju-Hyeok sent was used as the thumbnail. This was an uncommon occurrence on Almond’s channel.
— The thumbnail, LOL
— Are they mocking Almond’s fans?
— What’s with the thumbnail? ??
Initially, some viewers misunderstood Ji-Ah's intent. As more and more watched the video and started commenting, the reactions changed drastically.
— Wow... how is this even possible?
— How did he kill him??
— I never expected him to kill Baek Joon-Soo like that...
└ This is Almond's “Real Punch.”
└ Really, I was just like "Wow" at him dodging, but damn, then he shoots Baek Joon-Soo with a curve shot...
Viewers showed immense admiration at the sequence of Almond catching the flying arrow and shooting Baek Joon-Soo. It felt like a scene from an action movie with the appropriate edits, making it even more unbelievable.
— DAMN that post was a prophecy LOL
└ This too is a Chikicha...
└ The thumbnail is the editor's Chikicha LOL
— The story arc from “Are you still alive?” to “Chikicha” is just perfect.
└ I can die without regrets...
└ Really I need to make a 1 hour loop of "Are you still alive?"
└ Look closely, it's all about “Almond”
Moreover, the final chikicha felt like a refreshing blow to those who doubted Almond.
— So that’s why elders say a hundred herrings aren’t as good as one Almond...
└ Really... a legendary Almond.
└ LOL
└ Almond haters come out and bark
— Almond haters annihilated like dogs
└ Almond fans resurrected like dogs
Almond's fans went wild and some haters reflected on their past actions.
— I bow my head. Bro, I mocked you for not beating the game in one try yesterday. I’ll never doubt Almond again. Almond! Almond!
└ HAHA get lost, poser
└ Idiot
└ Straight to calling him bro
This was a better case. Most haters neither repented nor disappeared.
— Just edited crap lol
└ Really pitiful how normies fall for this.
└ People are always like that.
— Show the live footage. I can be electromagnetic waves with editing too
└ Really
└ Stupid haters mocked him for failing in one try and now they're whining about the editing
“Always the same, huh...”
Slurp.
Ji-Ah ate her cup noodles in front of the monitor and muttered to herself. She quietly scrolled with her mouse, deleting and banning such comments.
She didn't bother to upload the live footage to convince them any further. That would be utterly useless. Even if she showed them everything, they would only retreat temporarily and come back to attack at the slightest weakness.
The video was uploaded to please the fans, not the haters. It wasn’t even to chikicha the haters.
“Anyway, the video was a success.”
She sent a message with a bitter smile.
[Ji-Ah: Good job~ The controversy is nice]
[Ju-Hyeok: It’s me]
Ju-Hyeok sent an emoji, pointing to himself with a thumb.
Her lips softly curled into a grin.
***
Almond unlocked an achievement after the cutscene.
[Achievement: Personal Revenge. Achieved!]
"Wow."
Completely taking down the group of bullies unlocked the achievement. Almond checked if he had regained control of his body and flexed his hands.
"Oh, it's moving."
— Wow, even Yoon So-Hee did a chikicha.
— The bully gang has been annihilated
— Why didn’t Yoon So-Hee do a chikicha too?
The viewers cheered for the complete annihilation of the bully gang.
Almond felt good about it, although he was reminded of Kim Ju-Hyeok's words.
“This situation wasn’t because of the zombies or this damned school, but because of you guys.”
Kim Ju-Hyeok blamed the bystanders and bullies for what happened. Was he being sincere? Was it to make them feel bad or to make himself feel better?
‘Has this made things a bit better?’
He opened Kim Ju-Hyeok’s emotional status window.
[Anxiety]
[Agitation]
[Fatigue]
There was no happiness. Of course, that was expected.
— Wow, congratulations.
— Is this almost the ending???
— Finally, the bully gang is wiped out.
— So satisfying.
— Congrats, congrats.
The congratulatory chat messages poured in and Almond thoughtfully gazed at them.
Then, donations started coming in.
Ba-bam!
[TrueEducation has donated 10,000 won!]
[You’ve corrected the school order. (After the world ended)]
As expected, viewers felt happy seeing the bullies punished.
[GreatTeacherAlmond has donated 5,000 won!]
[Zombie Schooled!]
A playful donation also arrived, playing with words by saying Zombie School was schooled.
[Omen has donated 50,000 won!]
[But... is it just me or does this feel like a typical school webtoon plot? Lol, anyway congrats.]
Some comments pointed out how Zombie School's story resembled a typical youth webtoon plot.
Almond bowed his head in gratitude.
"Thank you for the donations TrueEducation, GreatTeacherAlmond, and Omen. It’s not over yet, so let’s continue."
— Lol, GreatTeacherAlmond gets a full read.
— School webtoon
— Almond reads every nickname properly except those that annoy him
‘At least the revenge is over with.’
There was no positive change in Kim Ju-Hyeok’s emotional state, but it was better to complete his revenge than never.
"Let's move on to the next step now that his revenge is done, shall we?"
It was time to progress further and move on from the bullies and Kim Ju-Hyeok's past.
— What’s next, a conspiracy?
— Escaping to the air-raid shelter?!
— Need to find the immune ones.
Almond turned to the class president's group.
"Let's go back. To the construction site."
He planned on meeting up with Hyun-Ah and Soo-Hyun again at the construction site. From Almond's perspective, Kim Ju-Hyeok seemed to be in his best emotional state when he was with them. Almond felt good about it too.
***
Almond heard a loud noise upon arriving at the construction site with the class president.
Zing.
It sounded like machinery operating at the construction site. Zombies flocked to the entrance because of the noise, flailing their arms in an attempt to get in.
“Graaahhhh...!”
“Graaah!”
The zombies merely screamed and couldn’t penetrate the sturdy barricade.
Whump! Whump!
Sharp spears protruded through the barricade, piercing the zombies' heads. The construction site's defense force fought back. The defenders became visible through the gaps in the barricade, including Hyun-Ah.
“Hey! You guys made it!” Hyun-Ah warmly greeted Almond and the class president as they returned.
Rattle!
The students pushed the barricade aside to welcome Almond and the class president inside.
Almond immediately explained the situation after entering. He wanted to let them know so they didn’t have to make more arrows in a rush.
“I've dealt with Baek Joon-Soo's gang. You can stop making arrows for now.”
However, their response was quite cold.
“What...?”
Ziiiiiing.
Amid the ongoing noise of them making arrows, Hyun-Ah tilted her head at a ninety-degree angle and looked utterly baffled.
“What do you mean? You only took three arrows, right? How did you deal with all of them? There were twelve of them... weren’t there?”
— ??? He dealt with twelve people using only three arrows? Hmm, doubtful?!
— I don’t even understand what he’s saying too.
— Even we saw it and don’t understand, ma’am.
Hyun-Ah looked at the class president for an explanation, but...
“... Ah... Well...”
The class president's head moved awkwardly as if he was stuck.
— Lagging Damn
— Does the class president purposely lag whenever things get tough?
— His expression looks crazy
The class president always had a strange expression when his brain seemed to malfunction.
Almond felt frustrated.
“No, what I mean is...”
The NPCs didn’t seem to understand despite him telling them that they didn’t need to make more arrows in a rush anymore.
“I've already taken care of all of them.”
Hyun-Ah still looked perplexed.
In fact, it wasn’t that hard to understand. Something seemed off, whether it was the algorithm or some other factor.
— Why can’t they understand?
— Do they lack NPC logic or what?
— It’s Almond's fault
At that moment, someone donated in an attempt to help.
Ding.
[ExplainingOnYourBehalf! has donated 10,000 won.]
[You need to explain in detail! You took three arrows, used one to deflect a spear, two to kill the guards, picked up another one to kill a fleeing guy, and the last one I almost used to off myself with a 180-degree curve shot, but then I realized I shouldn’t die, so I caught it with my mouth and used it to hit Baek Joon-Soo in the head...]
The donation didn't seem particularly helpful.