Season 2: Chapter 57. Impossible to Cross (1)
“What's this...?”
[What ^Nut^ Fans Are Hoping For]
Sang-Hyeon didn’t visit the community just for praise, but seeing such a post in the top ranks when he expected compliments didn’t feel pleasing. Moreover, he was particularly sensitive to praise.
“Zombie School Garden behaving like this to me, really now?”
It felt unsettling to see such a post taking the top spot in a forum that usually favored him.
“Let’s see what they’re saying.”
It would have been wiser to just ignore it, but Sang-Hyeon had a peculiar stubbornness about facing such things head-on. Ignoring or avoiding unpleasantness wasn’t his style.
“Huh?”
His eyes, which grew fierce, suddenly softened.
[What ^Nut^ Fans Are Hoping For]
[Fact: Almond almost died, saw the chat, and abruptly ended the stream -> Today, he returned triumphantly, catching an arrow in mid-air, and scoring a direct hit on Baek Joon-Soo's head -> Actually, this is the real reaction.]
The person clearly wrote it sarcastically considering the post’s timing and tone.
— Seriously, none of this makes sense lol pure Nut ^^
— lol Nut fans’ average IQ
— Nut fans’ delusions
The initial comments all took the same tone. Sang-Hyeon’s mood brightened up with the following comments.
└ Yep ^^ Thanks for the pilgrimage
└ Wow, make me score perfect on the SATs.
└ Grant me a jackpot in my university applications
└ Idiots lolololol imagining things lolololol Nut fans’ average IQ
└ Wow lol Did this guy come from the future? lololol How far will Ethereum go?
A pilgrimage involved going to a post that perfectly predicted the future whether by coincidence or intent and making a wish there. In this case, people flocked to mock the author of the post.
“So that's why it was number one.”
Almond’s fans deliberately liked the post to pin it at the top and turned it into a pilgrimage site. Becoming a pilgrimage site was enough to propel it to the top.
[+458]
It had an astonishing number of comments. This figure was extraordinary for a forum the size of Zombie School Garden. Was it because people were making wishes since the post became a pilgrimage site?
— This idiot got pinned lololol
— The idiot from the future lololol
└ Seriously lololol
No, most of the comments were mocking the author.
— If you came from the future, you should've invested in cryptocurrency instead of doing this lol Nut fans’ average IQ
— Here are the Nut fans talking about average IQ; all gone now lololol
└ Seriously, come out and bark again
— Why is this happening? lololol
There seemed to be roughly 200-300 mocking comments. The original post had about forty comments and the remaining sixty or so genuinely made wishes.
— Oh man...
— Almighty Nut, please enlighten my walnut...
— Please let me have a boyfriend next year!
└ And make him young, rich, and handsome.
└ LOL, adding that last part is hilarious.
Sang-Hyeon’s lips gradually curved into a smile as he scrolled through the comments. Finally, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He wondered what the author of the post was doing now.
Knowing the site, the author would be bombarded with notifications for each comment. They could still be asleep and unaware. They would probably delete the post and disappear once they realized what happened.
‘That would be a shame.’
He felt it would be a pity for the post to get deleted. He wondered if he should take a screenshot, but noticed someone already had.
— I captured this just in case the Nut author decides to delete it LOL. You’re done for LOL
Someone already commented as such under the post.
— LOL, suffer forever.
— So cunning LOL.
Indeed, the internet was a fearsome place.
Sang-Hyeon closed his eyes, feeling drowsy again after the tension disappeared. In his dream that night, he saw a man with a question mark on his face being pelted by a crowd. However, they were throwing almonds at him instead of stones.
— Throw this and your wish will come true!
— Really, Dad?
— Of course!
— Yaaaaay!
The crowd, regardless of age or gender, hurled almonds at the man.
***
The next morning, Sang-Hyeon ate almond cereal for breakfast.
“It’s almost the end of the year,” he muttered.
Thud.
Ju-Hyeok slumped down in front of him and murmured, “Sigh. It feels so lonely~”
Ju-Hyeok’s phone screen displayed a chat where the responses had stopped, but Sang-Hyeon couldn’t see that.
“Yeah. It’s winter, after all,” Sang-Hyeon casually responded and focused more on munching his cereal.
He wasn’t the type to feel lonely or melancholic. Christmas, New Year's... most holidays were just tiresome and expensive to him. His only fond memories of such occasions were his few dates with So-Yeon. Maybe that was why he preferred not to think about it. His attention was on a replay of Bubblegum's stream.
‘... Impressive.’
He had watched Bubblegum's gameplay for a while, but still found it hard to get used to his skills. No wonder people couldn’t help watching him.
“By the way, I wonder how our awards voting is going. I wish they would release the numbers...”
“It’s okay whether we get it or not,” Sang-Hyeon commented while watching Bubblegum’s stream.
“Ha. You’re so laid-back.”
Ju-Hyeok shook his head and dipped his spoon back into his cereal.
“I’ve become kind of lazy lately...”
“... What?”
Sang-Hyeon finally turned to look at Ju-Hyeok in confusion.
“We don’t make breakfast anymore, right?”
“You’re lazy because of that?”
Sang-Hyeon was shocked. Did he finally convert Ju-Hyeok?
“I get a power outage in my mouth just from touching cereal now.”
“Because of the thrilling almonds?”
Ju-Hyeok chuckled with his head still bowed.
“No, it’s not because it’s funny. It’s just absurd.”
“?”
He seemed slightly offended at the idea of laughing.
"Anyway! Starting tomorrow, we're back to having rice for breakfast."
"Sounds good."
"... Seriously. Look at this, I was thinking about a place for the fan meeting."
Ju-Hyeok pulled out his phone and holograms floated around.
"Wow."
Sang-Hyeon's eyes followed the images floating in front of him.
"I thought it would be nice to do something fun for the fans."
Ju-Hyeok selected an image from the floating options.
"Since your image is somewhat sports-related."
The image he chose featured a glittering carousel surrounded by a wide silver field and a giant snowman. It was an outdoor ice skating rink.
"... Wow."
It looked like a spectacular place for a fan meeting at first glance.
"We could have dinner in the restaurant inside... and then go out for skating..."
As Sang-Hyeon listened to Ju-Hyeok's explanation while watching a video of the ice rink, he felt like he was planning a schedule for a princess.
"But, you know..."
"... And lastly, a spot to take group photos... Huh?"
Something felt off. Back when he worked at Ah-Sung, he would finish the day, crack open a beer, and watch Bubblegum's stream. That was his simple pleasure in life. He wondered if he, as a typical viewer, would enjoy such a fan meeting. Would he like skating, eating fancy food in a restaurant, and taking various photos?
"Wouldn't it be too tiring for the viewers?"
People watched streams because investing time and energy into games was too demanding for them. Streams satiated their longings. Those who also didn’t have the time or energy to meet friends could find a temporary companion in the streamer.
Would that type of person enjoy actively participating in such activities at a fan meeting? Some extroverted and active fans would participate, but most viewers probably wouldn't.
"Something... doesn't fit with Treevy."
"...!"
Ju-Hyeok also seemed struck by his comment. It didn't seem to fit the atmosphere of Treevy.
"... Right."
Ju-Hyeok adjusted his glasses and nodded.
"That was it. Something is a bit off. Skating itself is a barrier to entry. If it were something like sledding that anyone could do..."
"No, more than that, a relaxed atmosphere would be better. I'm not some great star. Just a guy who plays games."
Sang-Hyeon’s point made sense.
"Okay."
***
Like any other day, Almond's stream began at 3 P.M.
"Hey everyone!"
— Hi!
— Hello!
— Hey!
Chat messages rapidly flooded in. As usual, a large number of viewers gathered.
[Current Viewers: 7.2k]
From the start, seven to eight thousand viewers tuned in. The rate at which viewers joined seemed even faster than during a LIL stream.
'It seems Zombie School really has a cult following.'
The nature of the game seemed to attract people who went crazy over such genres. LIL, being a more mainstream game, had fewer of these enthusiasts.
"Did you enjoy Bubblegum's stream yesterday?"
— :(
— Why did you send us there?
— It was too spicy!
— My teeth nearly broke
— Bubblegum...
Everyone seemed quite satisfied with yesterday's raid.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]
[Did you send us there to show off your skills?]
"No, not at all."
— LOL
— Hahaha
— A reasonable suspicion...
"I sent you there to see the original route of the game. I felt like mine was somewhat off track."
— LOL The wrong game
— Bubblegum's stream is quite fun too. Kids just can't handle the spice.
— Open-world games have that kind of flavor.
"Now, I'll start today's game."
[Zombie School]
[Loading...]
The screen went dark for a moment before it lit back up.
Almond stood at the boundary where the school gate used to be. Around him stood four members of the exploration team, all with tense expressions.
He paused the game for a moment and began explaining, "Let me explain. Yesterday, I took care of Yoon So-Hee and occupied the school."
— Yes
— LOL
— All of them got chikicha Haha
— Chikicha
In yesterday's stream, he defeated Baek Joon-Soo’s gang and unlocked an achievement for it.
[AlDente has donated 10,000 won!]
[Almond! The editor even made a video of you "chikicha-ing" the nuts!]
"Oh, yes. AlDente, thank you for your donation. I saw the video too."
— How many did you "chikicha" with just three arrows?
— Breaking News: Streamer Almond slaughters thousands of haters with just three arrows...
— Really chikicha
His play had garnered quite a lot of attention both in and out of the game.
"I dealt with the delinquents, set up a new base in the gym, and found an immune person. Now it's time to head outside. I did a lot yesterday."
Yesterday's stream didn’t just feel lengthy. A lot had happened.
— Maybe it’s because you usually play too short?
— Bubblegum restarts 12 times a day... and you complain
— Already outside
"Currently, the five member exploration team, including myself, will step outside the school gates for the first time."
He resumed the game as they prepared to begin their first exploration outside the school.
"Let's go."
The exploration team of five, including Almond, started moving. They headed toward the ruined city.