Season 3: Chapter 219. Ragtag Group (1)
Finally, the day of the event arrived.
"It's here."
Ju-Hyeok stood at the entrance of the stadium with a determined expression. The vast open space before him was currently empty, but it would soon be filled with people. Among them, only a few would purchase his items.
He needed to maximize that ratio. First, he prepared the stall.
“Should we place it here?”
“Oh, yes.”
He wasn't working alone. He had two people helping him today and one of them was BornToB.
“Yes. Should we move it a bit more this way? We need to hang the suits.”
“Ah, I understand.”
The other was an employee sent by the Monster team.
“Sir, we plan to lay out the Monster merchandise here. How does that sound?”
Whenever Ju-Hyeok heard the word sir, he would unconsciously look around. He kept thinking the employee was addressing someone else.
“Oh, that's... yes, that's a good spot.”
He chuckled awkwardly as he pondered being called sir. It seemed overly polite from someone from another company, but Ju-Hyeok indeed owned a company.
“An owner...”
They said a position shaped a person.
Ju-Hyeok felt a greater sense of responsibility and meticulously checked every detail. He placed popular items in the front and adjusted the signs to be as visible as possible. While these details wouldn't greatly impact sales, they laid the foundation for the match between Korea and Japan.
Koreans had a week-long gap to reserve tickets for the quarterfinals. Sales would be high regardless, but Ju-Hyeok wanted to ensure they were exceptionally high. He also wanted those who bought the merchandise to have a pleasant memory of this place.
A famous saying existed in the business world, "Don't sell to a hundred people once. Make one person come back a hundred times and you will succeed."
The memory of their purchase needed to be positive for them to buy again.
Ju-Hyeok wanted to sell cheering items in the spirit of supporting the Fake National Team. Especially for Almond fans, he was selling them a way to convey their feelings to Almond. If this experience was positive, they would return to convey their feelings again even if it wasn't for a national team match or even a Korea-Japan match. Just a friendly competition between streamers would bring them back.
Clap!
At some point, everything looked ready and he clapped his hands.
"Now..."
He felt fully prepared now. Standing in front of the stadium, he checked the time. They still had two hours before the match.
“Let’s sell well today!”
“Yes!”
“Sure!”
From afar, a crowd was gradually approaching.
***
On the day of the match, headlines already started appearing in major media outlets. By 8 A.M., all the main pages of the daily newspapers mentioned the national competition.
[Reenactment of Joseon vs. Japan Historical Battle: Who Will Win?]
[A Chance to Avenge Japanese Occupation: “National Competition”]
["Joseon vs. Japan" Fake National Teams, Fake Historical Battle, But Real Interest]
Until the quarterfinals, only one major media outlet had barely mentioned them. However, with the quarterfinal confirmed as Korea vs. Japan, all three major outlets covered the topic. The viewership potential evidently enticed the journalists. Naturally, the response was hot.
— Joseon vs. Japan lol games these days are fun, haha
— I didn’t know about this game. Should I watch it? Can't miss a Korea-Japan match!
— Wow, this looks fun. I didn’t know this existed.
— What if the players lose? I'm already worried.
People who weren't even interested in the game showed curiosity. Fans took this chance to promote the team.
— Everyone, if you're interested in this game, definitely watch the Fake National Team today!! It's really fun!!!
— Honestly, if you're Korean, you must watch Almond's interview even if you don’t watch the match.
└ Hahaha
└ That's the main event, indeed
They recommended the Fake National Team and Almond's interview, which could be watched without knowing the game rules. Some promotions were overly confident.
— It's Joseon vs. Japan and a naval battle in the quarterfinals. What are you going to do? How can you not watch? What can you do about it?
└ Calm down...
└ Hahaha, hilarious
With news comments in such a state, the game-related community practically turned into a multi-channel for Embul. At this moment around 5 P.M., about an hour before the national competition match, certain posts flooded the community.
[Civil Empire skyrocketing in popularity, even the purchase graph is rising]
[As expected, its glory days are coming. I told you it was a masterpiece!!]
[Breaking news: The national competition is on the front page of all news sites]
Reports of Civil Empire's soaring popularity went beyond just words and could be felt in real life.
[I ordered chicken, but it says the wait is an hour and a half]
[Is this because of the national competition??? Legendary. Is this really the same Civil Empire that used to be so pitiful? It feels like yesterday that there weren't even ten thousand viewers during a national competition. Did it really soar after recruiting Almond? My chest is swelling with pride.]
— Seriously, recruiting Almond was a godsend move by Kim Chi-Seung.
— That guy is just a superstar.
└ Indeed, his planning is insane.
└ Walnut works well. Fake National Team is on Almond's channel too.
— At this rate, it will surpass LIL Worlds, haha.
— I've been playing this since it came out. Seriously, it brings tears to my eyes.
Chicken orders being delayed like this only happened during national soccer or baseball games. In esports, only the LIL World Championship could cause such a phenomenon.
[I work part-time at a chicken shop and it’s really because of the national competition]
[I heard there will be street cheering today too. Is it true?]
[Ah, I’m so excited, haha]
This rapid rise left a significant impression on Civil Empire fans and Almond's fans, especially those from his early broadcasting days in the Kingdom forum.
[I've been watching since he had only 8 viewers, it's so emotional]
[Almond is now truly a celebrity]
[After this, he'll be invited to various shows, haha]
[Is this another round of Almond talk? Ugh]
[Will he ever play Kingdom again?]
[Why mention the guy who abandoned Rosenita? So frustrating]
[Now he’s so distant, it’s embarrassing to ask for more, haha]
While most cheered for Almond, some felt sad that he had become almost a national star compared to his early broadcasting days. This reflected the intense excitement surrounding Civil Empire at the moment.
As the match approached, a regular content upload appeared.
Ding.
All of Almond's subscribers received the notification.
[Fake National Team ep.8 Ragtag Crew]
[Now premiering!]
— Wow
— It’s here, wow
— It took a while this time
— Oh, oh, oh
— Great!!
— Making us wait a week is too much!
***
[Joseon vs. Persia]
[Match Day]
[Players' Waiting Room]
Right after Joseon lost the second game against Persia. Chi-Seung and the think tank team watched the game footage.
“... What is this?”
He discovered the delay caused by the disconnection between the commander's orders and the players' judgments.
“What's wrong?”
“Look at this. The command was given here. There’s a delay, right? They couldn't escape before the wall collapsed.”
In the replay, the Joseon soldiers fell with the wall brought down by an elephant.
— Did he already know? Wow.
— Ah, it was because of a delay??
— The delay isn’t that big, but more than expected.
— Was this during their defeat?
— This was shocking, they all died.
Failing to respond properly, Joseon was unilaterally crushed by Persia’s organization.
Chi-Seung held his forehead and muttered, “At this rate... they’re just a ragtag crew.”
He angrily closed his laptop. At that moment, the screen went dark.
Boom!
[Fake National Team]
[Fake Athlete]
The title appeared.
[ep.8 Ragtag Crew]
— Great
— Haha, they really are a ragtag crew.
— No...
— It can’t be helped
— Winning this was legendary.
— Oh, oh
The screen transitioned to a white background interview studio. It was empty. The screen flickered once. Suddenly, a woman in a wheelchair appeared in the center.
— Oh, oh
— Best Yi Sun-Shin, wow
— Amazing
— She looks younger than expected.
It was her first interview. She had refused to participate in the Fake National Team filming until now. Perhaps because of this, viewers felt excited just by her appearance.
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
She smiled at the staff and greeted them. A moment later, she looked straight at the camera.
[How was the second match?]
The question appeared above her head.
“It didn't meet expectations, but it was a necessary process.”
[Is this really your first real tournament?]
“... Yes, well, it’s my first time with Civil Empire.”
A strangely evasive answer. However, another question quickly followed and the viewers didn’t feel much discomfort.
[I heard the feedback was very strong. What did you say?]
“I told them they were a ragtag crew and to go die.”
— ??
— What??
— Oh, wow
— So refreshing.
“... I didn’t actually say that. I just told them to play to win. The feedback wasn't strong. If it felt that way, it’s probably because I asked if they didn’t want to win.”
— The dribble, haha.
— That seemed sincere just now.
— Please tell them to go die one more time, haha.
She softened the actual events significantly.
“Rather than changing two hundred soldiers, I needed to give them feedback about myself.”
[What kind of feedback?]
“Giving them commands in advance even if it takes more time. Most importantly, giving commands to the leaders first. The think tank informed me about it.”
[Your orders are impressively detailed. What made you adopt this style?]
“I usually don’t trust others’ judgments easily. I think that’s reflected in my style.”
— I see.
— Great.
— Steve Jobs-style commander, wow.
— Do you really ghost texts? << Ask that.
— Is she really a rookie? She speaks so well.
She continued discussing various in-game matters quite fluently. However, she hesitated when answering the final question.
[You previously refused to appear on camera. What changed your mind?]
Her eyes wavered slightly and her lips quivered as if she was about to say something.
“What changed my mind...? It was...”