Season 3: Chapter 83: The Time I Got Almond’s Number (4)
On YouTube, even recorded and edited videos could receive donations. In fact, not even the most popular streamers ever saw this donation feature used. If viewers wanted to donate, they usually did so during a live stream to see the streamer's reaction. This donation feature for YouTube videos was only meaningful for a minority of agitators making political videos.
[$3,000 Donation]
[No puedo enviar dinero, así que solo lo envío aquí.]
Who could have anticipated that such a thing would appear on Almond's channel?
— What is this??
— Wow lol he actually deposited it
— $3,000? Isn't that almost 40-50 million won?? Legend......
— Crazy amigo!
— ??? Hey! Amigo! There's a zero missing!?
— lolololol
— This is insane
The $3,000 donation naturally appeared at the top of the comments. As a result, many fans saw it. Almost everyone would know that Almond had received the bounty placed on his own head.
The number of comments was too significant to ignore.
— Wow, the Spaniards keep their word
— To actually give this, what a badass
— Wow!
— United by donations!
Korean users highly regarded the Spanish users who truly kept their promise. Of course, they still displayed their malice amid this by mocking the defeat.
— Even if the players don't keep their promises, the fans do, the land of amigos...
— Not invincible, but not unemployed either... a country that pays...
— LOL
— ??? Hrgzmrgz~
Since the Spanish had lost, they could only humbly accept this level of teasing. In fact, they transferred the bounty not out of goodwill toward Almond, but to preserve their pride. They had given it merely to maintain a minimum sense of honor.
"... That's why they gave it to you, at least that's what I think."
At least, Ju-Hyeok analyzed it like that.
"Oh..."
Sang-Hyeon hadn't listened to everything, but understood that they gave the money just to save face.
He nodded and posed another question, "Ju-Hyeok, but..."
More than the mysterious donor's true intentions, Sang-Hyeon grew curious about something else.
"…?"
"Will the dollar rise even more?"
He wondered if it would be advantageous to exchange currencies now or later.
***
The bizarre news that Almond had personally received the bounty on his own head naturally spread to communities like LIL Pro.
[Breaking News: Almond received the bounty on himself]
The post included a screenshot of the comments on Almond's YouTube channel.
— Thought it was a prank but it's real
└ Why is it always real with this guy? LOL
— lolololl
— Wow, $3000… crazy…
— Nutty guy's expected reply: There's a zero missing?
└ lol
└ Is he asking for $30,000 now? LOL
└ Fact, he actually said that.
This post eventually became a hot topic as it climbed to the top of the site.
— Do they have any local news from Spain? Haha.
— The Spaniards must be really furious, LOL.
— Tres must be rolling his eyes.
By this point, users naturally became curious about the reactions from Spain. At first, only provocative posts circulated.
[Breaking News: Everyone in Spain Died from Anger]
[Another Epidemic in Spain? “Almond” — 45% Died]
[Government: "Invincible Fleet" Should Be Renamed to "Unemployed Fleet"]
Soon, someone scraped together some credible information.
[I've Translated Overseas Reactions to This Match #1 France]
This post came from someone who had previously translated foreign reactions. Interestingly, the first post was about France's reaction.
[France's reaction to Spain was interesting, so I started with France~ Enjoy]
[France
— To think Spain and us are both at the bottom of our group... unbelievable
└ Joint last? We died in the second era, but Spain died in the first
— We should also put a bounty on Mark like Spain LOL
— I enjoyed watching the fame of the Invincible Fleet :D
— We'll only defeat the weakest, Spain, with the spirit of chivalry~
— Indeed, “Spain=dog” got eaten up by Korea, hahaha
└ LOL
└ I'm learning from you, teacher.
└ Then, what about us?
— Spain was devoured like a dog by Korea]
It seemed France and Spain weren't on good terms. France appeared to be very openly happy about Spain’s loss. Of course, the author picked out these reactions just for fun. ŗ�
— LOL
— Spain = dog LOL This is freaking hilarious LOL
└ You idiots, can't you drop that dog joke LOL
└ Those baguette guys really know how to joke LOL
— Devoured like a dog LOL Is this some kind of transcendent translation?? Or did they actually say that?
└ They really said it. Of course, you wouldn't know how we use "like a dog" in our country
└ It’s about dog meat, but it seems like a coincidence LOL
└ Just a coincidence LOL
└ Punchline king
— “Spirit of chivalry”
└ LOL
└ Like the Invincible Fleet LOL
└ 22222 LOL
France, also at the bottom of the group, spoke with a joking tone since the match had nothing to do with them.
What about Spain?
[I've Translated Overseas Reactions to This Match #2 Spain]
The author also gathered the reactions from Spain, which was the main subject of this match.
[Spain is still fuming LOL Enjoy~]
[Spain
— Never put a bounty on Almond again.
— I threw out all the almond milk at home
— Bounty on Nacho's neck
— Just push for a cappuccino cut and become monks
— The tin-can knights of France are underestimating us. It's all because of Tres
└ Isn’t it Nacho's fault?
└ What about Uno?
└ Just go Mexican style and hang everyone on power lines :D
— Is it true that the bounty on Almond went to Almond himself?
└ It turned into just a reward
— If we can't catch Almond next time, even if we beat Korea, it's not a win. He completely made fools out of us.
— We were devoured like dogs and toyed with like cows.
└ Factos.
*Note: There was actually a post about bounties being placed on the commanders' necks LOL]
Spain seemed to be very angry.
— Mexican-style execution :O
— Bounty on Nacho's neck LOL
— You're not really going to kill them like a gang, right?? LOL
— "Never put a bounty on Almond again" LOL
— Devoured like a dog and toyed with like a cow LOL
└ What's with the cow? Do they also have a saying like “either a dog or a cow?” LOL
└ They’re talking about bullfighting LOL
└ LOL That makes sense
— Fyi: An old Colombian soccer player was actually shot dead after scoring against his own team
— Scary :O
***
"It's scary. It's frightening."
Meanwhile, Italy’s national team also heard the news and could only stick out their tongues in astonishment.
"Apparently, Spain really put a bounty on their own commanders."
Fans putting bounties on their own team. Such passion would even make South America cry.
"Are they serious?"
"It’s probably a joke, but you never know since they actually paid the last bounty they joked about..."
The leader of the Italian think tank, Toby, shook his head in disbelief.
"This way, the players won't be able to play the game properly."
"Every member is a professional. Since they lost to Korea, the weakest team in our group, they have to handle such jokes."
The one who casually responded was Anto, the Italian supreme commander.
They had gone to watch the match between Korea and France.
"Ah, by the way Anto, we completed the investigation on Almond."
Anto had ordered an investigation into whichever player was most annoying during the match between Korea and France. That player ended up being Almond.
"He's actually a player who streams under the name Almond. His background is unusual. He almost became a national archery representative."
"Archery?"
"Yes. And unofficially, his VNS score is unbelievably high."
"How high is it?"
VNS scores weren't really a factor worth mentioning in such investigations. It was considered a bit more important than APM in a keyboard and mouse game. The score didn't necessarily correlate with actual game skills.
'However, it would be different if someone could really use that score to win games.'
If someone was good at games and also had a high VNS score, then there was a need to be wary. That meant the individual knew how to use that score in games.
"It's... essentially among the highest in the world."
"?"
"Some even rate him higher than that because they say JeonJaPa's test was easier..."
"But he would have seen all of JJP's test scenarios, so also take that into account."
"Right. It's just something that's being said among people."
Anto sat down on the sofa with a somewhat serious expression.
"Hmm. A true combat member after a long time?"
"Yes. He seems to be in the same category as Tres."
Civil Empire was essentially a strategy game. Rather than just fighting, soldiers were incredibly sharp in strategy and had to act somewhat independently since the supreme commanders couldn't dictate every action. If soldiers couldn’t act independently, the whole game would become very difficult.
The combat in Civil Empire wasn't about individual fighting ability, but about organization and timing. As time went on, strategically adept players were preferred and pure combat roles grew less.
This piqued Anto’s interest.
"Cookie will have a hard time controlling him? Not to underestimate him, but Cookie excels at seeing the big picture. He's not interested in looking at trees."
"That's why he always positions strategically excellent players around him."
"Ah. Really? Is that enough?"
There were limits to that too. So far, Korea’s games ended early with them still sticking together. As the game progressed into the third era and skirmishes continued, all the soldiers would eventually get mixed up.
"Ah."
After poring over the information about Almond for a while, Anto raised his head and seemingly realized something.
"Good job investigating. Look here, Toby."
He gave Toby a thumbs-up.
Click.
"You were right."
"Yes?"
"It seems Korea didn't use any of these strategies in the scrims. They intentionally hid it. Instead of a foolish best option, they chose a genius alternative. Cookie often takes bold risks like this."
During the match against France, Toby had assessed that Korea had hidden their strategies in the scrims. Anto had thought that was a stretch, but he changed his mind now.
Toby had been right.
"!?"
Toby's eyes widened in surprise.
Who was Anto? He was a constant candidate for one of the greatest commanders in the game’s history. Undoubtedly, he was the top among all Roman commanders.
It was very rare for him to admit a mistake. Usually, he did not back down in his stubbornness because he always won that way. However, he always managed to break his stubbornness at crucial moments to achieve unexpected victories.
'So, he's serious about the match against Korea.'
That meant the match against Korea was important. It meant Korea was a worthy adversary.
Toby asked with a trembling voice, "So... what happens now?"
He was asking about the direction of the think tank. Until now, they had prepared for Korea's solid buildup strategy. Now, it needed to change.
"We also have to prepare for this kind of irregularity."
Anto smiled slightly as he opened his strategy notebook.
"Let's roughly guess what they might do. There aren't many possibilities, actually."