Chapter 76: Journey to Diamond (2)
Almond needed to win twelve games to reach the Platinum II promotion matches.
In Battle Large, winning simply meant placing at least in the top ten. He could reach the promotion matches in just four games if he won first in all of them. Twelve games in one day were too much, but four were doable.
'It should be easy until the promotion matches.'
Almond felt confident like usual. He would win first place in four straight games.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]
[Mission: Reach promotion matches straight away for 100,000 won.]
His goal became clearer thanks to his longtime viewer.
"Thank you for the 100,000 won, RubySword."
— LOL He's already thanking in advance.
— It's only 10,000 won?
— Hahaha
— Almond... you used to do a ceremony for 100,000 won back in the day…
"Thank you for the donations and missions at the start! Let's get started!"
He booted up Battle Large and prepared to play.
Dududu!
[OnionSoup has donated 100,000 won!]
[Boss! Tell us about the broadcast! Is Ha-Yeon pretty in person?]
'Hm?'
He never received a donation asking him to talk before because he strictly only gamed.
"She's pretty. Really pretty."
— Boss, tell us more!
— Almond: 100,000 won! I see you're really curious!
— Talk to us today!
— Tell us about the doctor lady too!
"I saw her in person first before seeing her on TV. I think she's a little prettier in person. There's almost no difference. The doctor isn't a celebrity, so I don't want to comment on her..."
Most of the viewers usually came to watch Almond's gameplay, but today's atmosphere felt different.
He wondered if it was because of the big event yesterday or the handful of new viewers. They kept asking about what happened.
[Oohsoi has donated 10,000 won!]
[How did you feel about tying with JeonJaPa?]
[Slope has donated 1000 won.]
[Why did you get carried off afterward? What did the doctor say!?]
A wave of donations like these poured in.
'Is it weirder to ignore such a big event?'
Tying JeonJaPa's score in this industry was a big deal. It could be argued that JeonJaPa didn't give it his all back then when it came to Almond’s record in achieving platinum. However, the test score was a different matter.
— What's he talking about? Tie with JeonJaPa?
— What happened...
— Am I the only one confused? Am I a loner?!
Viewers who only watched Almond's stream hadn’t heard the news yet.
'I guess it'd be best to take some time and talk about it.'
Bubblegum's stream also started with a chatting segment where he casually talked to viewers about what he was up to.
It seemed like an excellent time for Almond to start doing the same since he had eight thousand viewers now.
"Hmm... Thank you for the donation, Oohsoi. I grabbed my manager by the neck when I found out it was a tie because I thought it was staged."
— LOL
— No way.
— TMI
— So honest!
— It really did seem like it was staged.
— Grabbed him by the neck LOL
— Hello everyone, this is his manager Kim Ju-Hyeok. He really did grab me by the neck.
"Hey, Ju-Hyeok! Ban Ju-Hyeok!"
— Ju-Hyeok banning Ju-Hyeok hahaha
— LOL
— Damn, it must be the real one!
— The real one has appeared!
Slam!
The capsule suddenly shook.
"Oh... Ju-Hyeok actually lives with me. He banged on my capsule and left."
— Hahaha, no way.
— That was really the manager? And he actually hit your capsule?
— Grabbed him by the neck LMAO
— Hahaha
— How can they fake it if you're so scary, Almond!
"But it wasn't staged. The engineer explained it to me. He told me even he thought it was weird, but no other external factors were involved."
— Ooh, I see.
— I guess Fantasia is no small company.
— Who fakes it these days? It's not like they're an old TV network.
— For real!
"That's right. There's no way Fantasia would do that while promoting their own product, right? And if they wanted to stage it, I would’ve finished 0.00001 seconds faster than JeonJaPa."
— For real!
— True.
— Yeah, I agree.?
— Almond's thinking: Stage it!
He could see their live reactions.
"What are you talking about? I never asked them to stage it."
— LOL
— Hahahaha
— LMAO
— S-Sorry…
Apparently, celebrities liked to read comments about themselves once they became famous. Streamers experienced this in real-time. He saw countless comments since he had eight thousand viewers.
'It's pretty fun.'
This was one of the perks of a larger audience. Some downsides existed, but the bigger upsides outweighed them.
— Hey! Tell us about the medical check!
— Reply to the other donation too!
— ??? Ah, I see… 1000 won is too little.
— 1000 won? Too low!
Almond recalled the donation that came afterward.
"Ah, thank you for the donation, Slope. I saw it too late! I got carried away during the show because I’m not fit enough to stay in capsules for a long time."
— What does that mean??
— Is it because of your blood type?
— For real?
— No...
— Oppa, I'm worried!
"It's nothing to worry about. I just can't play for long periods."
— Damn
— So he has to celebrate by ending the stream.
— Isn't that like rat poison for streamers?
"It'll get better if I exercise regularly."
That was a lie. The doctor never said he would get better, but the least he could do was exercise and eat healthier.
'It'll get better.'
Almond just hoped so. He liked this job. He could interact with people who liked him and could happily shoot the bow again in games.
This was the perfect job for Yu Sang-Hyeon right now. He wanted to continue doing this for a long time without any problems.
[Fishcake has donated 2000 won.]
[Yes or No: I'm more talented than JeonJaPa.]
"Hmm. It's hard to define what talent is, so I'll just say no. I think results determine everything."
— Kya
— So modest!
— That was a trap. No way he chooses yes.
— For real, how could he pick yes even if it were true?
— It's a trap!
[PaPaPa has donated 2000 won.]
[Be honest. You don't know much about JeonJaPa, do you?]
This donor hit the nail on the head. Almond didn't know JeonJaPa too well. However, he recently watched some videos of JeonJaPa playing the Stay Alive test. JeonJaPa was indeed an incredible player.
"I've heard of his name, but I'm not too familiar with him since I just started playing. I was going to study up on him soon, but he doesn't talk much during his streams, right?"
— Yeah, JeonJaPa said his voice is his complex.
— That's his character.
— But he still talks in interviews.
— I like his voice.
— It's not a voice girls would like too much.
— He says it's his complex, so what can you do?
'I see. I didn't know that.'
[CalmBee has donated 1000 won.]
[Yes or No: I think JeonJaPa ain't shit.]
— LOL
— Hahaha
— Damn LOL
— That's hilarious
— Out of nowhere? LOL
This sudden provocation put him on thin ice, but these kinds of donations were also quite funny. However, it would domino into an issue later on if he let it be. There would be no end once the ice cracked.
Without hesitation, Almond cracked down on the viewer like he was taught.
"Ju-Hyeok, ban him."
— LOL donates to get banned.
— Hahahaha
— 2000 won ban!
— So ruthless!
Almond studied Bubblegum's stream more than learning about video games. He knew his main job centered around streaming and not gaming. Regardless, he excelled at video games anyways.
[AwakeCitizen has donated 1000 won.]
[Conservative or Liberal?]
"Ban him too!"
***
A cold voice could be heard in a dark room, "How long is he going to talk for?"
The voice belonged to a somber girl.
As if he heard her…
“Alright, I'll start playing now.”
Almond finally began the game after talking with the viewers for a long time.
He easily reached the Platinum II promotion matches, but failed to win first in one game because he couldn't find a bow. He won first in every other game though. As a result, he reached the promotion matches in one day.
“I'll end my stream here for today. I'll continue playing the promotion matches tomorrow.”
"..."
The girl turned off the TV without a word and rolled her wheelchair out of the room.
***
The lights turned on again in the empty room at 3 P.M. The TV played Almond's stream.
“Today is the Platinum II promotion matches! I’ll get promoted immediately if I win first, right? I'll get on it.”
Thump, thump.
A middle-aged man walked toward her, "Ma'am, are you watching it today as well?"
"Yeah…" she replied straightforwardly.
The wheelchair and the middle-aged man faced the TV.
“Thank you again for the mission, RubySword!”
A live stream played on the TV. This usual sight didn’t surprise the middle-aged man.
"That person is of concern to you lately?"
"Yeah."
"I think I know who he is. He's Almond."
The girl glared at the middle-aged man. She seemed uncomfortable that he recognized Almond and didn’t want him to ask any questions.
"Butler, do you also think like what the others are saying?"
"Others? That he's going to catch up to JeonJaPa? Hoho," the middle-aged butler laughed. "A title like that isn't overtaken so quickly, ma'am. Even if the score is overtaken."
"The score is already overtaken." The girl continued to talk while focusing on the screen.
The Almond on TV began playing Battle Large and continued his journey to diamond.
"Didn't they tie?"
"They didn't tie. His VNS score was higher and he achieved Platinum II. He already beat JeonJaPa twice."
"Didn't he say so himself that it was a tie? VNS is meaningless."
The girl became silent. She wore a calm expression, but the butler could see her burning gaze.
"You're upset he said that, right?"
"Yeah," the girl nodded. "He seems relaxed as if he can beat the record anytime he wants."
"There were countless cocky amateurs in the past, ma'am. But do you remember any of their names?"
.
"..."
The girl shook her head. That's right. She couldn't recall a single one of them. It was hard to survive even a year in this industry.
"I'm not worried."
"Then there's no issue. Hoho."
The butler turned around and left to do his work.
Only the man on TV and the girl remained in the large room.
After talking for a while, Almond descended toward the survival island.
Swoosh—?
He headed to the Arsenal and stuck to the same strategy since his last placement matches. It always worked.
The strategy was quite foolish, but he overcame it with his skills. He would win first again like usual if things went according to plan.
'Will it work again?'
However, the girl seemed doubtful.
'It'll be different this time.'
A promotion match couldn’t be compared to a normal one, especially for a streamer.