Season 3: Chapter 120: After Qualification (3)
As the Civil Empire category became active, many refugees flocked to LIL Pro.
[Is this place working?]
[LIL Pro is now Embul...]
[Embul can't row, lol]
The speed of posts being generated gradually matched that of the LIL category. By the time of the post-final qualification interview, it had even begun to surpass it.
[Ah, the summoning of the demon interview failed, lol]
[Oh, it's Cookie this time]
[Cookie deserved it]
As Cookie's interview came out, many posts headed toward Big.
Big) The demon of interviews? I raised him
— lol
— lol seriously
— Didn't expect the excuse that he followed Cookie's words to be true, lol
— So that was the original, lol
This was because even Cookie's interview provoked the opponent.
Big) A guy who provokes without knowing anything vs. a guy who knows everything and provokes for fun
People started to compare Almond's interview skills with those of Cookie.
— How do you choose? lol
— It’s a hilarious balance, lol
— Thanos trying to purify the world vs. Joker
└ lol
— I... I choose death!
— The cheerful Almond who hits with facts vs. Cookie who only hits where it hurts, epic
— I still choose the former, lol
└ Face ID doesn't acknowledge that
└ Then the latter
└ What's with the immediate switch, lol
└ Damn, lol
Such discussions began to increase on the Big board.
Big) A guy who stabs randomly but all are critical hits vs. a guy who knows all my weak points
— lol
— What's the difference? lol
— Still, the latter might stab with a generous heart
└ lol
└ True
└The former has no hope
— lol this is hilarious
— Wow, the Big board is all about Civil Empire now...
LIL Pro quickly divided the categories, but the system where popular posts move to the Big board remained the same. Even with different categories, the Big board was shared.
Naturally, they couldn't change this system for just Civil Empire. The Big board became dominated by Civil Empire posts rather than LIL stories.
Big) Lee Wan-Yong sold the country.gif
Even the scene of Malatang opening the castle gate started trending.
— Wow
— Malatang, the master...
— This scene is legendary…
— Lee Wan-Yong: Just this once...!
— When Lee Wan-Yong and the Five Traitors jumped out of the siege vehicle, it was truly thrilling
└ Five Traitors, lol
└ What the heck, lol
└ They're crazy, lol
— Mom! When I grow up, I want to be Lee Wan-Yong... huh?
└ lol
└ Oops, lol
Users also uploaded the scene of Tres and Almond's duel.
Big) Tres vs. Almond 1v1
This post was particularly well-liked despite a slight issue.
— Crazy, can't even tell what's happening at the original speed
— So Almond did well, right? haha
— Wow, amazing
└ Honestly, I don't know
— Newbies everywhere. Can't you tell at a glance? So when's the 0.5 speed upload?
└ lol
— Wow, it's legendary even if you don't understand
The video at original speed was too fast to grasp anything, so users uploaded a slower version.
Big) Tres vs. Almond 0.5x speed
— Wow
— This is it, wow
— Tres feinting during that is insane
└ lol
— Almond's final fadeaway shot is really cool
└ 222222
└ 333
— This will become famous overseas too, lol
└ lol, seriously
└ Tres is forever dead
— Is it just me or could it be slower?
└ 22222, me too, lol
└ Oops, lol
└ I've been wanting to say that too, lol
Some users even wanted it slower than 0.5x speed. Thus, similar posts started appearing more frequently on the Big board.
Big) Uploaded Almond Tres slower
Big) Almond vs. Tres 0.3x speed
Big) Almond vs. Tres 0.2x speed
Eventually, it even got to 0.1x speed and 0.01x speed. All these posts ended up on the Big board.
— ??? Please, kill me...
— So damn slow, lol 0.01x speed
— Bubblegum speed is extreme
└ Damn, lol, not 100x slower
— How slow can it get? lol
— We didn't ask for it this slow, lol
— 0.01x speed is insane, lol
— They must be mad at people asking for it to be slower
— 0.5x was still too fast, haha
— Wow, now I can finally see it clearly
— Bubblegum: (Oh...)
└ lol
└ Bubblegum is secretly satisfied at 0.01x speed, lol
└ Shh, pretend you didn't see!
How would other topics fare with so many similar posts on the Big board?
As users uploaded every famous scene, there was less room for LIL stories on the Big board. Naturally, users who only wanted to talk about LIL grew angry.
— LIL Pro is doomed
— Is Civil Empire that popular?
— Wow... the hype is crazy
They could only leave a few comments on Big posts that would only go up with many likes. They couldn't prevent such posts from flooding in.
Eventually, some users grew curious about what was going on.
— What the heck is this? You weebs…
└No idea, they're talking about some traitors and Lee Wan-Yong, is it a historical drama, damn
└ Historical drama, lol
— What game has Lee Wan-Yong selling Spain to Korea?
└ Crazy, lol
└ lol
Many casual users on LIL Pro still didn't know about Civil Empire. Of course, none of those who logged on to LIL Pro today could still be unaware.
Then, news came out regarding someone well-known to both LIL and Civil Empire players.
Big) Breaking news! Almond's live viewership is skyrocketing~ lol
— Did Almond start streaming?
— Wow
— Already grabbed a spot, lol
— It's crazy, really
— Almond?? Wasn't he the guy playing in the LIL tournament before?
— Wow
***
Almond stared at the rapidly scrolling chat.
— Why did he stop?
— Is it a bug?
— Did the stories end already? lol
— Hi
— AlHa~
Only top streamers, a handful of people in the country, could achieve this overwhelming speed with domestic viewers alone.
[Current Viewers: 105k]
Almond’s live viewership count had surpassed 100,000.
— Wow, so many people
— It's kind of lagging
— Almond is streaming on a computer, not a capsule
— Hi
— Upgrade your computer, you nut
Even just the chat could cause occasional lag while streaming on an old computer instead of a capsule.
‘Ah. I should speak.’
Almond had been spacing out and realized he needed to talk.
“Uh... please slow down the chat a bit.”
— His first words are to slow down the chat, lol crazy
— So harsh, lol
— If you shoot bullets slowly, it doesn’t hurt?
— Will that work? lol
— No way, lol
Rather than slowing down, the chat only increased after his words.
“...”
At this, Almond closed his mouth for a moment. It was useless.
Ding.
[Xiaolongbao has donated 100,000 won]
[To the finals! Awesome~]
Donations began to flood in.
— Starting with 100,000 won, wow
— Donations matching the number of viewers? haha
— Nice
Ding. Ding.
[BigSon has donated 500,000 won]
[I felt patriotic for the first time in a while. Buy a capsule and stop throwing bats~]
Even a big donation from a prominent user came in.
— Wow
— As expected, what a big spender
— Nice, Chairman
— Throwing bats, lol
[ShyNapoleon has donated 100,000 won]
[Good thing you didn’t set a finals mission, lol]
ShyNapoleon always added fun missions and also joined in.
‘I’ll just have to stream slowly.’
Almond hoped that the laggy stream would slow down the chat speed, but he couldn’t ignore the incoming donations.
“Thank you so much for the donations Xiaolongbao, BigSon, and ShyNapoleon.”
Almond eventually spoke. He continued to thank each donor as more donations came in.
— Has the silent vow ended?
— There’s a streamer who speaks for money!?
— lol chat is too slow
— Wow, donations are crazy
— Too many donations piling up?
With so many donations, responding to them all took most of the stream time.
[Latte has donated 100,000 won]
[Wow, 100,000 won in the past would make him shoot an arrow into his own head and turn off the capsule. Now he only speaks for 100,000 won!?]
— lol
— So true, lol
— Exactly, lol
— One word for 100,000 won, wow
— The price is insane
— Almond’s interest rate took a giant step, wow
“Yes, thank you, Latte.”
Almond thanked them without any excuses. He had no time for anything else.
[RubySword has donated 300,000 won!]
[Oh. I’m late, but congratulations on making it to the finals!]
— The princess makes a grand entrance
— Nice
— The main character arrives late
— Zero group appearance
“Ah. RubySword, thank you for the 300,000 won donation.”
Even RubySword donated after appearing late.
After a while, the donation speed started to slow down.
“I’ll now start sharing some behind-the-scenes stories, but... the chat is too laggy. What do you think about turning off the chat and just keeping the donations?”
— ????
— Paid chat, lol
— Pay-to-chat, lol
— No way, lol
— It’s scary because he’s serious
— lol
“Just kidding~”
Almond ended it as a joke after glancing around and changed the topic.
“If you have any questions about the game, ask them and I’ll answer.”
With that, questions started pouring in.
Ding.
[Eggplant has donated 10,000 won]
[Did you know the gate would open when you were all charging?]
“Ah, Eggplant. Uh... a 10,000 won donation? Thank you.”
Even Eggplant, who usually donated in units of 1,000 won, sent 10,000 won.
— Almond is flustered, lol
— lol 10,000 won, why?
— Did Eggplant steal his brother’s card?
— Did Eggplant invest in crypto?
— lol
“I had no idea the gate would open and was the most confused. Why are we running? What the heck?”
— What’s with the acting? lol
— Don’t act, lol
— lol, his expression
[Liar has donated 10,000 won]
[Lies! You play with an empty head!]
— Liar, true to his name
— Liar, lol
— Why suddenly pretend to think?
— lol, sharp
“Ah, thank you for the donation Liar. Even while playing with a blank mind, running into a closed gate is weird for me too.”
— lol, true
— Why doesn’t he deny playing with an empty head, lol
— ??? Not the reaction I expected
— He’s supposed to die, how can he empty his mind, lol
— Almond declares “I play with an empty head”
A heated debate erupted over whether Almond played while thinking.
Ding.
[Jjajangmyeon has donated 10,000 won]
[Seriously, how do you empty your mind when it looks like your head is about to split open, lol]
— True, lol
— Empty head (literally) lol
— lol
— If the gate didn’t open, his walnut contents would spill out, lol
— True words, wow
“Jjajangmyeon, thank you. Anyway, I was really surprised when the gate suddenly opened.”
— Lee Wan-Yong who sold the country, lol
— lol that
— National bargain sale, lol
— Second-hand “country” dealer
Comments about Lee Wan-Yong, who opened the gate, flooded the chat. It seemed to be a meme circulating in the community.
“Oh, many of you are talking about Malatang. I only found out later through memes that Malatang was there. It happened so quickly. I didn’t even know how it opened.”
— He just went in and shot, lol
— True, lol, they passed through in 0.1 seconds
— How would he know? lol
— Only Pang seemed to know.
At the time, Almond had no idea that it was Malatang who opened the gate. He didn’t have time to think about any of that. The command to charge in straight immediately turned into an attack order. He only thought about going in and shooting.
[RubySword has donated 30,000 won]
[Almond, Almond, how do you give the signal for everyone to duck together?]
RubySword asked about the scene when the mounted archers simultaneously dodged the bullets by leaning to the side.
“Ah. RubySword, thank you for another donation.”
— The princess’ question fee, wow
— Today’s donations are insane
— I’m curious about that too
He thought it was a good question that viewers would be curious about. Even commands weren’t properly delivered sometimes, yet all the mounted archers executed the same maneuver simultaneously. That wasn’t easy.
“That was a practiced situation, so it happened that way. We practiced countermeasures against musketeers. There was a signal. Pang gives the signal from the front.”
[LegendarySceneBot has donated 50,000 won]
[Is this it? (video)]
Someone donated with a video of that scene.
“Ah. LegendarySceneBot, thank you. Yes, that’s the one.”
— Nice
— “That scene”
— That’s truly legendary
— It’s widely circulating as a gif
— I can’t help but tear up when I see it…
— Viewers pay to edit for the stream!? What an amazing, creative economy
— Nice...
Almond continued the stream, sharing war stories and interacting with viewers. Despite not sharing particularly exciting stories, the number of viewers kept increasing and never decreased.
[Current Viewers: 112k]
This was not an isolated incident only happening to Almond. Every Civil Empire player experienced similar increases. Perhaps everyone was having the best day of their lives since they started playing Civil Empire.
Then—
“Oh. Everyone, I have an important announcement,” Almond spoke in a serious tone and changed the subject.
— ??
— What is it?
— Important announcement, wow
— Are you going to the military?
— Finally revealing he’s a nut and not human...! Nuttilian!
— He’s talking longer than usual... is it an ad? lol
— Is it a song to celebrate the finals?