Season 2: Chapter 228: Memory Arcade (1)
The challenge that Almond just won usually involved rewards for the viewers. In fact, this also significantly benefited the streamer because more viewers wanting such rewards flocked to the streamer who performed well.
Above all, they would post authentication posts in the community when they actually received the rewards.
[Part-timer turned on Almond's stream and got chicken!!]
[Ordered nuts, got birds]
[Just got my BBQ chicken coupon lol]
[Used my BBQ coupon right away, chicken and beer tonight lol lol lol]
It was better for the streamer that the viewers received these rewards for the advertising effect rather than keeping the one hundred chickens for themselves.
[This ninja mode looks fun]
[The speed in ninja mode was insane??]
[Who made this crazy game? lol]
From the game company's perspective, continuously mentioning the game in the community naturally garnered marketing attention. The effect was maximized especially when a famous streamer like Almond won the challenge.
[Almond wins ninja mode!! Awesome!]
[The scene of him fighting BubbleSniper was really satisfying lol]
[??? To perform on this skill level without a single drop of sweat!?]
[The last part was crazy lol]
Almond even fought against two enemies simultaneously in the end, which significantly increased mentions.
[8. ??? Sorry, I lured you in to show you this]
A related post reached eighth place on Battle31’s hot issue list. The content was as followed.
[Is the fight between BubbleSniper and Almond for real? It's truly a mockery. BubbleSniper just seems like a total loser against the strongest in the universe. It's exhilarating.]
This was a parody of a once trending meme in the communities.
— Is this the place…? lol
— Was BubbleSniper really that much of a loser? It should be, but they just blatantly said he's a loser lol lol lol
└ For real lol lol lol
└ I'm dying here lol
— Playing against the strongest in the universe lol lol
— Crybaby... what kind of fight was that…?
└ By the way, how much did the per-kill mission make?
└ Dunno. Didn't it hit like 300-400 thousand won?
└ There were 7 left and he killed 6 himself, so 330,000 won lol
└ Crazy lol, he's playing the game alone lol
└ This game is supposed to be played alone, idiot
***
Meanwhile, Almond was in the middle of receiving his mission reward.
Ba-bam!
[Mission per kill succeeded!]
[33 kills]
[ShyNapoleon has donated 330,000 won!]
First, he completed the mission and received 330,000 won from ShyNapoleon.
"Ah. Thank you, Shy Napoleon!"
He bowed to the air.
— lol lol lol 330,000 lol
— 33 out of 60, damn damn
— Wow, his wallet is full...!
— Kya
The donations didn't stop there since he won the challenge.
[RubySword has donated a whopping 300,000 won!]
[Wow! You won the challenge! What's the next challenge?]
— Whoa, that's Ruby
— Just threw 300,000 won without a mission lol
— Killed the crybaby twice lol
— Wow, Princess Ruby is following again
"RubySword, thank you for the 300,000 won donation! The next challenge, as I mentioned earlier, will be JetPumped."
[Jensen has donated 30,000 won.]
[If I were there, BubbleSniper would’ve been zero competition, right?]
— lol lol lol
— This guy always talks about himself lol
[EggPlant has donated 20,000 won.]
[Instead, Ruby's sign would’ve probably said “Go die, Jensen”]
— What the heck, lol, seizing the opportunity to do damage here?
— Whoa, lol.
— It's a battle for the strongest in the world.
"Thank you EggPlant and Jensen for the donations. If Jensen had been here, wouldn't he have been the one acting up?"
— Lol.
— For real.
— A pro at speaking the truth.
— The law of conservation of acting up, lol.
— Is there no scenario where someone doesn't act up?
Donations continued from a few first-time viewers.
[Flameking has donated 30,000 won.]
[First time watching and it's really amazing lol]
[Horuru has donated 20,000 won.]
[Was Almond always going to win the whole time!?]
Shortly afterward, Sang-Hyeon went to the food court plaza with Ju-Hyeok and BornToB.
"Let's fill up before we head to the challenge. I'm on an empty stomach."
The food court plaza featured famous franchises from all over the country and quite a number of niche brands hardly seen. In addition, several food trucks contributed to the nice atmosphere of sitting around tables outside and eating together.
"Hey, you haven't even played a single round of JetPump, right? What challenge are you talking about?"
"Uh... let's find an empty table first."
"The main thing here is to win, right? The rewards go to the viewers."
Ju-Hyeok was suggesting that Sang-Hyeon sweep the easy and familiar challenges.
"I also heard that later on they give special rewards to those who win a lot of challenges."
"Wow, this looks delicious."
Of course, Sang-Hyeon didn’t listen to him at all and headed toward a truck to satisfy his hunger. Given that this was an outdoor stream, viewers found the scene amusing.
— lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol, lol
— Wow, his hearing is crazy
— Planetary defense of the eardrums, lol
— Poor Almond...
— So, are you really going to play JetPump?
[Current Viewers: 41,000]
Almond's viewer count had peaked just before winning the challenge and slightly declined now, yet he was still at a personal record of 41,000 viewers. The chat was buzzing more than usual.
"Sigh. Let's eat first."
Ju-Hyeok put off persuading him for a moment and followed Sang-Hyeon to the food truck.
"Hello..."
"Yahooooo!"
"?"
The food truck owner interrupted him and suddenly shouted with a strange cheer.
"Hakuna~ Matata~!"
Despite the confusion, Ju-Hyeok adjusted his glasses and checked the food truck's sign.
'Hakuna Matata?'
This childish naming sense seemed familiar.
'Wait...'
His gaze shifted to the owner. At first, he couldn’t recognize him because of the turban, but that face looked familiar. With familiar gestures, the owner pressed a sandwich onto the grill and spoke. His voice also sounded familiar.
"We only sell Cuban sandwiches here! With cola combo! Or a simple non-alcoholic mojito! How may I serve you!"
"Popcorn...?"
Indeed, the food truck owner was Popcorn.
— Whoa.
— Insane lol is he really doing this?
— Wow, he's really running a food truck. So romantic
— Who's the female part-timer next to him?
Most viewers recognized Popcorn and reacted with joy or amazement.
"Oh? You recognize me... no, Almond?!"
Popcorn finally recognized Almond and Ju-Hyeok.
"Wow! It's an honor for you to visit my food truck! The person in front must be the manager, right? And this is..."
"Ah. I'm BornToB. I'm a newbie streamer and a one-day cameraman!"
"Oh. Two jobs! Two jobs are good! I'm also working two jobs, you know? I'm a pro gamer and a food truck owner!"
"…?"
— What kind of two jobs is that? lol
— I'm a full-time jobless and a part-time convenience store worker!?
— lol, what logic.
— He's really running a food truck? That's so romantic, lol.
The puzzled Ju-Hyeok asked, "You said it would take a while to launch. Are you already doing it?"
"It just happened. I got selected for a youth business support project. They offered to let me set up here for free. There was no reason not to start right away. It'll still take a bit more time to properly start though!"
"Ah... that's impressive. Honestly, with your status, just asking would have probably gotten you a spot at G-Star."
"Ahaha... So, should I serve one for each of you?"
"Yes please."
"Will you be eating here?"
"Yes, well… there's nowhere else to sit."
They ended up sitting at a table in front of the food truck and took a bite of their sandwiches while resting.
"Mm, this is good."
"The flavor is exotic, but really nice."
All three of them enjoyed the sandwiches and quickly devoured them. When the food truck had a moment of respite, Popcorn initiated a conversation.
"Ah, Almond! About that challenge, the one with Kim Yi-Seo."
"Kim Yi-Seo?"
"JetPump’s developer."
"Ah, yes."
With a sandwich in his mouth, Sang-Hyeon couldn't talk properly.
"You'll have to wait in line for a while to face him. A lot of people are waiting for their turn."
Sang-Hyeon swallowed the mouthful in his mouth with a gulp of his drink and asked back, "Waiting for their turn?"
"Yes. That person... I mean, many people adore… ah, respect him a lot. Hahaha."
— What's with the tongue twister, lol?
— lol
— Why isn't Popcorn streaming, lol?
— A swift tongue dribble, lol.
— lol
"It would probably require the manager to queue up and wait for your turn. It was an open run since the morning, you know? I thought it was a Chanel store~"
— Developer Kim Yi-Seo, lol.
— How badly they wanted to beat him up for an open run, lol.
— lol, so funny.
"Ah... the wait is going to be long..."
It seemed that an opportunity to personally compete against the developer wouldn't come by so easily.
Popcorn suggested, "Yes. Why don't you queue up for now and try a different challenge in the meantime?"
"A different... challenge?"
"Yes."
Popcorn pointed somewhere. It was a booth right next to them.
"Playing VR games can drain your physical strength, right? There are some interesting challenges over there too! If you achieve a winning streak, there will be something special for you."
Sang-Hyeon turned his head and followed Popcorn's pointing finger. He felt surprised by the unexpected sight.
[Old-School Arcade]
The text appeared in his goggles.
[Win 3 consecutive matches in a fighting game for 10 chickens per win]
[Achieve a one coin clear in a fighter jet game for 10 chickens]
[Achieve a one coin clear in a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game for 10 chickens]
The rewards were modest for relatively easy challenges. The fighting game's reward was particularly attractive.
Ten chickens for achieving more than three consecutive wins, twenty for four consecutive wins, and thirty for five consecutive wins.
"Definitely… playing virtual reality games only gets you tired quickly."
As Popcorn said, continuously playing virtual reality games in a regular capsule tired him out. Taking a break with something like this wasn’t a bad idea.
"That sounds good. I'll go line up at JetPump for us."
"Uh? You're going to line up? You told me not to earlier."
"Do you ever listen properly? I have no choice but to do it."
Ju-Hyeok shrugged and disposed of the trash in a nearby bin and headed toward the JetPump booth.
"Hey, you're not just pretending to line up, right?" Sang-Hyeon asked for confirmation.
All he got in response was a thumbs-up from Ju-Hyeok, who turned away.
"He's definitely going to line up."
— lol, is that sign language?
— The language of real men, wow.
— So from now on, should I raise that finger to indicate I'm definitely going to do something?
Sang-Hyeon turned his attention to the classic arcade and BornToB followed him with the camera.
***
In one corner of the classic arcade, two characters fiercely fought on a large screen.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
More accurately, one character was getting pummeled.
Interestingly, instead of beating the opponent through combos which seemed like the essence of fighting games, they used their precise range and attack speed to poke and whittle away the opponent to death.
Thunk. Thunk. Thwack.
With god-like distance control and defense that never led to combos, no openings could be found.
Eventually, the result was…
[K.O.]
"Wow… shit…! This game is so cheap!"
Bang.
Unable to land a single hit properly, the player unknowingly reverted to a childhood habit of slamming the arcade machine.
"Who the hell from where plays the game with such a lack of basics…?"
Almond tiptoed to look over at the other side and hesitated.
'Is that a girl?'
The opponent was a woman with long black hair. Surprisingly…
'In a wheelchair?'
She was sitting in a wheelchair.
Was it just him or did he hear some whispering?
"So unsportsmanlike…"
"Ah, what's this?"
The player who lost suddenly became the villain, having threatened someone weaker.
"Ah, ah… this, in this industry, that’s high praise!"
Ultimately, he left with those words and vanished.
"What?"
The person being insulted seemed unbothered and just fiddled with the joystick, waiting for the next challenger.
[Five win streak!]
No one immediately rushed to challenge next perhaps because of the unstoppable momentum with five consecutive wins.
The battle against an AI opponent dragged on with no challengers until…
"If there are no challengers, it will be treated as a ten win streak and the challenge winner will be declared!" the announcer shouted.
[A new challenger has appeared!]
A new prey jumped in to fight.