Season 2: Chapter 161: New Year’s Resolution (3)
They had discussed the private scrim on the day of the awards ceremony.
[KimchiWarrior: Sorry, bro. Due to our team's circumstances, it seems difficult to make the scrim public. The Korean civilization's strategy is too important…]
That was roughly the situation. Sang-Hyeon easily accepted it after recalling the previous scrim.
‘It’s actually good. We could potentially lose every day too.’
He acknowledged the possibility of frequently losing in front of viewers. Given the different characteristics of civilizations, competing against the top rankers from various countries was not easy.
Sang-Hyeon's performance in the match against England was due to his exceptional fundamental skills, but almost more than half of his success was due to the coincidental positioning that arose.
"It turned out for the best. They've been asking if you're a variety game streamer. Add this to your New Year's plan."
After hearing the scrims would be private, Ju-Hyeok gave him a list of games.
1. Jet Pumped!
2. LIL: Survival Mode or Flashy Blade Story Mode
3. Kingdom Age: Rosenita’s Route
Almond's viewers were currently seeing the same list.
— Ohhhhh!
— Are we voting??
— Is Kingdom on the list for real!??!?
— Rosenita!
— New games, but why do they seem familiar? Lol
In fact, among the games listed, two were games he had played before. However, he wanted to play them again in different ways.
The only new game was the comic fighting game called Jet Pumped!
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]
[Hmm. These faces all seem familiar?]
— Oh! My princess! My stomach hurts!
— Ruby’s humor!? Oh, I'm dying!
— lol Is this an impersonation of Ruby? Lol
A donation came in from RubySword, who seldom joked around.
— The princess is killing me!
— lol so funny lol
— Oh chairman! My diaphragm is bursting, I'm dying!
— Is everyone here from Ah-Sung? What kind of social life is this?
Whether or not her joke was funny, many viewers simply laughed along because she was the one who donated most frequently in the stream.
"Thank you for the donation, RubySword. Number 1 is a new game for us."
While Almond was responding, another donation from RubySword came in.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]
[Oh! Please explain what Jet Pumped is.]
"Ah, yes. Jet Pumped!"
Almond eagerly licked his lips as if he had been waiting for this.
— What is it? lol
— Was this prepared? lol
— lol
— It's too cute lol
He had anticipated that many viewers wouldn't know what Jet Pumped was even though it was fairly popular. However, the balance in the game had been completely ruined due to its management team or perhaps it was due to the balance design team's excessive workload.
"It's a comic fighting game focused on beating opponents with bare hands."
— Ohhh...
— Oh, that game lol
— Fact: No one uses bare hands
— Info: It used to be a bare-hand fighting game, but turned into a Marvel universe battle ages ago
— Pay-to-win trash game
"Jet parts are attached to the body and you fight by pumping these parts up. As the chat mentioned, you can become much stronger if you pay."
— Not just a bit
— A bit?
— You meant extremely, right? lol
— They're flying lol
— Just pay a bit, folks lol
"Anyway, that's the game."
Then, Almond began to explain the new stream format again.
"After voting for which game you want to watch, we will split the stream into two parts for different games. The second part of the stream will be Civil Empire. The first part will be one of the games on the list right now. That's the plan."
[Dionysus has donated 1,000 won.]
[But boss, aren’t the Civil Empire scrims going to be private?]
"Yes, the second part won't be streamed due to that reason."
— ?
— …?
— ???
Question marks filled the chat.
[ThisIsUnbelievable has donated 3,000 won.]
[I thought the stream would double, but you're saying it's actually going to be cut in half, LOL]
— True lol
— What now? lol
— Whoa lol
[Dionysus has donated 10,000 won.]
[President, since you broke all the promises. Take responsibility.]
— lol Dionysus lol
— DionySOS
— Magic of pretending to extend the stream with two parts, but actually reducing it by half!?
— Noooo! Why is it private…?
— Eh…
Almond felt that it was a good thing he clarified the format again.
"Thank you Dionysus for the 10,000 won. The point is that after Civil Empire ends in 2036, we'll continue with two parts. Wouldn't that be better in the long term?"
— In a threatening tone? Why does it sound like that? lol
— lol He's saying, "If you don't agree now, we'll only do one part!"
— Accepted 10,000 won but won't take responsibility! The pleasure without responsibility!
— Well, Civil Empire ends before January, doesn't it~!?
"I'll post this voting list on TSB. Please vote when you have time."
— Yes
— Okay, definitely Flashy Blade.
— Kingdom is out.
— Kingdom fans, assemble lol
— Jet Pumped! Please!
"Let's move on to the next topic."
Almond transitioned to the next issue at hand.
Clap!
He made another editing point.
"Communication!"
The page turned and revealed a new topic.
4. Communication
"There was a lot of feedback saying that our stream doesn’t have enough interactions with other streamers. This opinion seems to have only appeared this year, which means there might be some manipulation, but..."
— lol
— This man's concept is crazy lol
— Manipulation lol lol
"We've decided to accept it graciously."
— ???
— ?
— Small man special: Claims to be a great man
— lol lol lol
— Great man: Gets hit by Chikicha once and pays it back over 120 times
Despite various responses from the chat, Almond displayed the next screen.
"First off, how will we engage more with better communication..."
Click.
1) Collaborative streams
2) Participating in other streams
"These are the methods."
Collaborative streams with other streamers and appearing in their streams. Both were practically the same thing.
Anyway, there would be content that wasn’t done solo.
— Ohhh
— Are you becoming a social butterfly?
— Nice
— I don't want collabs…
— Let's go global
The viewers had mixed reactions. Some welcomed the idea while others seemed less thrilled. That was usually the case with stream collabs.
Collaborations were always a gamble fraught with risks, yet they were deemed essential for growing a streamer's channel size according to Ju-Hyeok's analysis.
"Not a single person who has made it big as a streamer has done so without forming connections with other streamers. The synergy from these relationships seems significant, probably due to the characters involved."
After all, the streaming market was ultimately a battle of characters. How well one played a game or how perfect they were mattered less than how appealing their character was.
A character's true colors didn’t fully show when they were alone. Just as one needed to compare colors to appreciate their hue, the same went for characters. This was red with a complementary color. This looked like this with blue. Such information collectively defined what green was.
Almond's character and the color he represented would be more firmly established through relationships with other streamers. Therefore, connections with other streamers were unavoidable.
Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon concluded that collaborations had to be a regular part of the schedule from the next year onward.
"There aren’t many collaborations planned yet. There might be something with the Balloon Stars members and a collaboration with Lil Grass is also in the works."
— For real??
— A collab with Lil Grass?!
— Is she going to come over???
— LOL
— I’m excited
"Regarding participating in other streams, we’ve been declining most. However, there’s a good proposition that seems feasible due to the timing."
— ???
— What?
— Really?
It wasn’t a major variety show or anything. It was a broadcast run by LIL’s producer, Police. After a brief discussion with Ju-Hyeok, they decided on this shortly after yesterday’s awards ceremony.
"It’s called The Avatar of LIL."
The Avatar of LIL was a special broadcast run whenever they introduced a new avatar character in LIL. It featured top players showcasing how to best play the new avatar to an audience.
Typically, professionals frequented this show because of their skills and high understanding of the game. However, Almond was chosen to appear this time. He wasn’t even an LIL challenger, let alone a professional.
— ??
— For real?
— Wasn’t that for pros?
— That’s insane
— A debut on Police’s broadcast!
"It seems I was selected because it’s an avatar that uses a bow."
Almond’s inclusion as a non-professional sparked excitement over the new character in the game.
— An ADC!?
— That’s sick
— A new character???
— Isn’t this a spoiler, LOL
"Oops. Was I not supposed to say that?"
— LOL
— You’re done
— Spoilers banned
— Alright. Next stream?
Although it seemed like a slip, such leaks were actually encouraged to a degree to build anticipation. Some quick-witted viewers caught on to the act.
— I think he’s acting
— This is an ad!
"Ahem. Ah, there’s another broadcast I’m likely to appear on."
— ?
— Another one?
— This guy is too popular
— CHAD
“It’s a show called Invite the Expert. Players come on and show off their skills with the champion they’re good with… The title is self-explanatory.”
— Oh I watch that
— Yeah a lot of good players come on that show
— If it’s LIL, are you going on as a Raina main?
“Surprisingly, they invited me for Flashy Blade and not Raina. I don’t know how it’ll work with my schedule yet.”
— ???
— Don’t you have zero games with him?
— He’s an expert even though he only played him in the tournament, LOL.
Almond’s official record with Flashy Blade was zero games because playing in the tournament servers didn’t contribute to his official play record. The only record of Almond playing as Flashy Blade was in the LIL tournament final.
"And now, for the last one. Number 5."
Having said all he needed, Almond turned to the last page.
5. Thank You
A photo of Almond's "Chikicha" was overlaid with the text "Thank you." This was the last page.
"I just added this page for the freshman PowerPoint vibes. Thank you."
Almond bowed to the camera. Then, he popped something onto his head.
— ???
— What?
— This guy's crazy, lol
— No way; lol
— He’s really outdoing himself, lol
Upon lifting his head, it became clear that it was a toy arrow.
"New Year's resolutions, done!"
— What a way to end a stream, lol
— Almond-style stream ending (literally)
— Lol
— When did he even prepare that arrow? Lol
— Ends it like this????
— Don't gooo!!
Pop.
The screen turned black.
[CorporalEliteSoldier has donated 10,000 won!]
[Is that thing on your head perhaps a plunger?]
A belated donation emptily echoed out.
— He really left
— What's with the donation? lol
— A plunger, lol
— He's never not gone through with it
— Corporal: Just donating
— Just thinking about him preparing that and keeping it by his side makes me crack up, lol
— Lol, that's the plunger from the Zombie School bathroom???
— The donation is so pitiful, lol
— Goodbye
The lonely remaining chatters slowly faded away as the stream completely ended.
[CorporalEliteSoldier has donated 1,000 won.]
[Ah...]
***
After the stream ended, an announcement appeared on the Treevy Board.
[Please vote for a game.]
1. Jet Pumped!
2. LIL: Survival Mode or Flashy Blade’s Story Mode
3. Kingdom Age: Rosenita’s Route
Viewers could finally vote for the game they wanted.
— Wow, is this democracy!?
— Mom! I got another vote!
— Can I really vote in this country too...?
Since it was practically the first time Almond’s stream considered the audience’s opinions to decide on something, many comments were moved by the gesture. Above all, merely appearing on the Treevy Board brought them joy.
— The stream is over? Who decided that!?
— This is it! Almond's community! True happiness!!
— The Treevy Board is dead today lol The posts "increased by 100 times"
With the Treevy Board open, viewers could continue to engage in related chatter after the stream, creating a temporary club or society around shared interests.
Sure enough, posts started quickly appearing on the Treevy Board. Almond would read them before starting the next day's stream.
[Real-time collection of Almond's Chikicha photos lol]
[Why the number of banned viewers increased in today's broadcast]
[Why it's become harder to clear 3 stars for Flashy Blade after the JeonJaPa]
[Almond 3rd in the entertainment category, real or fake?]
[Guys, please look at Rosenita~~]
[Legend of Almond's short hair… Photo collection]
[Sharing photos taken while attending the award ceremony]
And so on. Posts related to games, Almond’s photos, and videos filled the Treevy Board.
Consequently, the number of votes also gradually increased.
[25,000 participants.]
Perhaps it was because this was the first vote. By the next day, nearly eighty percent of the live viewers had participated in the vote.
— What's with this voting rate? lol
— Crazy, lol
— First place here becomes the first part of the stream, right?
└ Yep
└ That's correct
— Presidential election voting rate here, lol
After receiving votes until the next day, the game rankings were as followed.