Season 4: Chapter 43. Assemble vs. Complement (1)
When Almond drew his sword, Bubblegum rushed in to stop him. Of course, he failed. Instead of the sword, Bubblegum had blocked the senior’s only escape route.
Thunk!
— No way lol
— LMAO what am I watching?
— Bubblegum’s idea of a heroic rescue is something else...
The senior, who tried to flee, slammed into an invisible barrier and crumpled against it. Almond’s blade gleamed as he prepared to strike.
"Nooooooo!" Bubblegum cried out in despair.
— Why is this so dramatic? lmao
— Thought someone actually died there
— LOL stop, I’m wheezing
Laughter filled the chat as Bubblegum screamed.
"Noooo—wait, hold on."
Then, a thought brushed past Bubblegum’s mind. If the senior died here, wouldn’t that actually prove that he was innocent? Someone important enough to be the villain’s agent wouldn’t die so easily, right?
‘That’s it!’
Bubblegum had an epiphany. The senior’s death would prove his innocence.
"Right! Just die! Die and prove your innocence!"
— ??
— What kind of plot twist is this?
— That attitude change was too fast bro lol
The world was rarely so accommodating, especially for Bubblegum. With a sharp motion, Almond’s exorcist slash cleanly passed through the senior. The attack had missed. At that exact moment, a donation came in purely by cosmic coincidence.
Ding!
[GumSadTales has donated 10,000 won.]
[If he tells you to die, you’ll live. If he tells you to live, you’ll die.]
Ding!
[GumMandment has donated 5,000 won.]
[Earn his resentment. It’s worth more than an army of ten million.]
— LOLOLOL
— The timing...
— The wisdom of the ancients never fails
— I can’t... this is too much
— Gumsenior quotes strike again
Clang!
Almond’s sword struck the floor. He had missed even though the hit landed.
Everyone was stunned. Even the Modeling Club students turned around despite trying to run away.
"What the heck?"
"Was that magic?"
"Huh?"
They had all assumed that they were about to see a corpse, but the sword simply passed through harmlessly.
Even Almond looked shaken.
‘Just now...’
He hadn’t missed.
‘It went through him.’
The blade had passed right through the senior. Almond had seen it with his own eyes.
‘Again.’
He moved to swing once more, but suddenly froze. The senior, panicking and stumbling just moments ago, now rose naturally and warmly smiled like before.
"Looks like... there was some kind of mistake?"
— Bro the mistake was Bubblegum’s
— Wait, what is this?
— Is he actually the villain???
The senior stared at Almond intently as if offering one final chance to correct his mistake.
‘What’s up with his eyes?’
His pupils had turned pitch black, and his irises were an eerie, milky white. Dark mist seemed to curl out of them like demonic smoke. This wasn’t the same person or even the same soul.
Jingle...
The small charm in Almond’s pocket began to react.
— What is happening?
— Wait... it was the senior?? For real??
— Polygon-based deduction actually worked?!
— NO WAY
— How is this real?
‘It’s him.’
Almond had no doubts anymore. This senior was connected to the mastermind and couldn’t simply be struck down.
Clack.
Almond sheathed his sword, and the senior’s eyes returned to normal.
"H-Hwaaaaugh!?" the senior gasped, and panic overtook him.
Thud thud!
He scrambled toward the corner by the barrier, trembling.
"W-What the—I-Is this a prank? Some prank show?!"
The senior had returned to normal like before.
‘What the?’
Could another soul be partially inhabiting his body? He didn’t seem to remember anything that had just happened.
"Phew... I thought..."
"Oh, this is a prank, huh? You should’ve told me."
"Okay. Let’s start over then."
Clap clap.
The teacher clapped to regain everyone’s attention, and the NPCs resumed class like nothing had happened. Everyone’s expressions reset to bright and cheerful ones. Even Almond, who failed to take down the senior, looked pleased. After all, his deduction had been spot on.
"Target identified."
He had triumphed once again in his tug-of-war with the chat.
— Let’s gooo
— LOL
— Bro doesn’t miss
— He really nailed it again
— How
— WHY is he always right? lol
Ding.
[FamousHan has donated 30,000 won.]
[Deduction? Almondoyle! Deduction? Almondoyle! Deduction? Almondoyle!]
— Certified facts
— Almondoyle Era: Activated
— Wait... is Almond actually a genius pretending to be dumb?
— This doesn’t make sense!!
Those who mocked his physiognomy-based deductions now worshipped him.
Bam!
[Factos has donated 10,000 won.]
[The Almondoyle Era will continue for the foreseeable future. If you’re not a Nuttilian, you don’t have citizenship.]
— Nuttilians rise lol
— Nuttilians are powerful!!
— :(
— The revolution failed. We failed gloriously.
Amused by the sudden shift in the chat, Almond said, "I’ve noted down everyone who talked smack about my physiognomy-based deductions earlier."
— Lock 'em up!
— LOL
— Oh no
— Yikes
— Remember: a failed revolution is just a rebellion
— Purge begins now~
— Haha I’m crying
— Are we entering dictatorship mode now?
Almond had been on a roll ever since accepting the full-clear challenge. From bell-hunting to solving math ghost puzzles to identifying the mastermind... his intellect had never shone brighter. Whatever the process, he bulldozed his way to the right answers.
It wasn’t just his gameplay that improved. His abilities as a streamer were evolving too.
[Current Viewers: 181,000]
***
‘What is this? It’s blowing up way too much.’
At first, Ju-Hyeok thought Almond had gone insane for accepting the full-clear challenge. Even if his stamina had recovered, full-clear missions were hardcore content.
Almond was already five hours in and nearing the seven-hour mark, which was his usual total broadcast time. There was no telling when the game would end.
Doing a full-clear stream was just madness. One would have to be obsessed with money to take on something like this.
‘Or maybe not.’
Ju-Hyeok began to reconsider it.
‘Maybe it’s not about the money.’
He hadn’t realized it even after watching Almond all this time. Money wasn’t the issue. All it took to ignite Almond was a mission that he had never tried before.
It was an athlete’s instinct, the thrill of a challenge. Something primal and incomprehensible to people like Ju-Hyeok, who calculated everything.
Almond had joined the Civil Empire tournament for the same reason. He accepted the full-clear stream because he wanted to cement his place as a top streamer. He had to conquer a full clear. With his condition the best it had ever been, he charged forward.
‘Though... he probably didn’t know the game had an estimated playtime of 23 hours.’
Whatever the case, Almond’s challenge sparked a massive reaction.
[Current Viewers: 183,000]
The numbers spoke for themselves. His name was trending on every forum and search engine. It had gone beyond what his streams usually reached due to accepting the challenge.
Would Ju-Hyeok have accepted this mission knowing it could become a huge deal even with a looming punishment? Maybe, but he shook his head.
"No, I wouldn’t have calculated this far."
He never could have predicted it would blow up this much. He would’ve played it safe. However, a true star always went beyond the calculations.
Stars shone simply because they burned. Not to illuminate planets or for some greater purpose, they just ignited and blazed because of their nature. Some gave life while others incinerated everything around them. They simply burned, knowing full well that they would someday become a cold, tiny white dwarf.
***
Such light, while it brought about life, could just as easily burn everything to ashes.
"Grrrrraaaaagh!!" someone screamed as if their soul was being scorched.
"Dammit! He actually confirmed it completely!?"
Manager Kim’s last hope had gone up in flames. He had counted on Bubblegum to stop Almond. Of course, Bubblegum had failed spectacularly as usual.
"How do you block his escape path?! What kind of aim is that?! WHO BLOCKS THE ESCAPE ROUTE?!"
Furious, Manager Kim punched the air.
"The, the, the FREAKING ESCAPE ROUTE!"
"S-Sir, please calm down."
Assistant Manager Kim tried to pacify him. He had to present the next ray of hope. Technically, this wasn’t over yet.
"Knowing who the puppet is doesn’t mean you can stop them."
"What? What now? Stop selling nonsense and chip in already!"
"Chip in?!"
"I’m going to donate to Almond. You’re paying half!"
"???"
"Let’s toss him like 300K and make him end the stream right now!"
Manager Kim had lost it. He was still hung up on that idea. That would definitely not happen, and Assistant Manager Kim wondered why he had to pay half. They didn’t even have equal salaries.
Assistant Manager Kim frantically explained, "No, seriously! This isn’t going to proceed so easily. Look!"
Swoosh.
He gestured to the screen.
Bubblegum and Almond had gone back to participating in the Modeling Club like nothing ever happened.
Manager Kim’s face contorted in confusion.
"They’re just... sitting and resuming class again?"
He thought everything would blow up into chaos. Instead, the game oddly continued exactly as the developers intended.
"They’ve realized that finding the puppet isn’t enough. They can’t even do anything about it with their current spiritual power."
"I see?"
This opponent was no pushover and was linked directly to the mastermind.
"To reach the villain, they have to be scouted by that senior."
"Scouted?"
"Yeah. That’s how they’ll be taken to the boss."
In fact, killing the senior would be the worst possible choice because he would lead them deeper into the story.
"A GTA-style resolution doesn’t work here."
"That’s right!?"
Manager Kim’s expression brightened.
"So they have to impress the senior to meet the mastermind. No wonder they’re behaving!"
"Exactly."
The Pat & Mat duo had suddenly calmed down. To progress, they needed a good evaluation from the Modeling Club. Just like a high schooler trying to get into college, they had to study and ace their grades.
“This is the subset vs. superset strategy,” Almond suddenly declared a bizarre math-inspired strategy.
Then, he executed it.
"W-What is he...?"
The calm, diligent students had no idea they could earn top marks another way.
— LOLOLOLOL this is it
— Math Demon strikes again
— Chef’s kiss
— Wait... this might actually work??
— Seriously tho?? I think it could work
— Ad sponsors are crying rn~