Season 4: Chapter 76. Star Appearance (1)
Survival Craft belonged to the genre commonly known as sandbox games. Players usually described this genre in a certain way to those unfamiliar with gaming.
"You know how you used to play house at the playground as a kid? It's like that, but in a game."
That was the gist of it, but such a simple comparison didn’t really do Survival Craft justice.
"It’s like playing StarCraft user maps, but in virtual reality. The users make up all the rules and play however they want."
Some compared it to the era of StarCraft custom maps. Still, even that didn’t fully explain the modern Survival Craft.
"It’s like playing StarCraft user maps on a playground, but anyone can join in at any time."
That explanation came pretty close. Once someone created a server, anyone with permission could jump in at any time. That was Survival Craft’s defining feature.
For example, if Almond logged into the server on Day 1, then skipped an entire week and returned on Day 8, the game would keep progressing without him due to the other players. The game's progression depended entirely on the creator and their design.
“Apparently, it originally began as a simple survival game about just surviving together in an empty field and fighting monsters.”
Almond read a sentence from the Korean wiki and paused in confusion.
“How did that kind of game turn into this?”
— He doesn’t seem to know either lol
— Is this his first time learning about it too?
— Bro doesn’t even know what a sandbox game is
“Ummm... So... originally, survival was the goal. Over time, it evolved into a sandbox game where... players set their own goals. Survival became a given. On top of that, players added their own rules and objectives...”
— Zzz...
— What even is this??
— Is this the Zombie School principal’s inauguration speech?
— We're just learning together at this point, right?
Almond finally understood the game’s genre by the time he wrapped up his messy explanation.
“Ah, I got it now.”
— LOL what?
— He really didn’t know??
— The twist: He had no clue!!
What the viewers joked about turned out to be true. Almond genuinely hadn’t known.
“Now that I understand... I’ll explain again.”
Two hours into his stream, he started all over again.
— Noooo!
— Please have mercy, Professor!
— “Almond, just die once. PLEASE!”
— LMAO
— He's going wild now that he's secured the SleepCraft viewers
— Chat is dead, but viewership is sky-high!
The next day arrived after the stream that secured a solid base of sleeping viewers. All the Treevy streamers would officially move to their new home. Then, something strange started to happen.
[Bubblegum]
[Notice: Everyone! First Cheese stream today at 7:30 P.M.~!]
[Miho]
[Notice: First stream at 7:30 P.M.! Please look forward to it! Thank you!]
[Black Tea]
[Notice: First stream at 7:30 P.M. That’s just how it ended up.]
One by one, streamers all began syncing their debut stream to 7:30 P.M. Naturally, the streamer community forums began buzzing.
[Why are all the streamers starting at 7:30? Is there some event planned??]
— Can their servers even handle that? It’s launch day.
└ Looks like they’re stress-testing the servers lol
└ For real
└ Guess they’re confident?
— Isn’t it that thing? They’re all doing Survival Craft, right?
└ Something’s definitely happening in there
└ But there’s no official word about it yet
No one had put out any banners, announcements, or promotions about a Survival Craft event. Of course, they had deliberately planned it like this.
Ju-Hyeok suggested making it feel as natural and unscripted as possible, so viewers would simply drift into the event. He checked the time.
‘Almost there.’
Soon, it would be 7:30 P.M.
[Almond]
[Notice: I’ll be live at 7:30 P.M. tonight~]
Almond also posted his stream time.
Unlike usual, Ju-Hyeok wasn’t at Sang-Hyeon’s place. He stood in front of a capsule room.
“It’s been a while.”
Looking a bit tense, he descended the stairs into the capsule cafe.
“Whoa, look who it is. You really showed up.” Someone immediately greeted him.
“Ah, Kang-Seok.”
Clap!
They shook hands. It was Kang Seok, the guy who had sold Almond his first capsule at a discount.
“Our used capsule business has been booming, thanks to you.”
“That thing still has impact?”
“Of course! We blew up after Almond won the world championship and gave me a shoutout for selling him a cheap capsule.”
“Guess that’s true.”
“Trust is everything in secondhand sales. And your shoutout gave me just that. The moment a unit comes in, it’s gone in a flash. Haha!” Kang Seok chuckled, his large frame jiggling with pride. “Sales are up twentyfold. My phone was overheating from calls on day one.”
“Whoa. That big, huh.”
“Way more people are buying and selling now. It’s a goldmine.”
Ju-Hyeok hadn’t expected it to be that big. He rarely used secondhand platforms, so he didn’t understand how crucial trust was in that market.
‘Well... yeah. If I went to buy a used car and the guy had tattoos on his arms, I’d U-turn too...’
He thought about how that logic applied to the only used market he was familiar with.
“Anyway! Use the capsule today on the house.”
“Huh? No, I couldn’t.”
“Come on. It’s not like it costs anything. Get in there before I smack you!”
Before Ju-Hyeok could protest, Kang Seok shoved him inside the capsule room. The timer read 9999 hours. He basically received infinite time. If he actually used it all, he’d become a Matrix battery.
“A-Ah... thank you so...”
Thunk!
The lid slammed shut.
‘Geez...’
Who would've thought that Sang-Hyeon’s shoutout during the Civil Empire tournament would have this much of an impact? He really was a superstar now. Ju-Hyeok could feel the weight of Almond’s influence anew.
‘Anyway...’
He fiddled with the unfamiliar capsule. He didn’t usually use capsules, so he felt a bit clumsy.
‘It’s already 7:10.’
He had to hurry. Kang Seok had already prepared the game for him.
[Survival Craft]
Ju-Hyeok selected [Multiplayer] and began typing in the server code.
‘What was the server number again?’
***
“What was the server number again?” Sang-Hyeon, alone at home without Ju-Hyeok, checked the notepad. “Got it, czkt11012.”
In Survival Craft, the player had to enter the exact server code to join the right one. Otherwise, they would end up in a random, empty world all by themselves.
“... czkt11012, czkt11012...” Muttering to himself, Almond slipped into his capsule. He could’ve just synced it with a memo file, but...
‘I can remember this much.’
He insisted on testing his memory. Moments later...
— Hi Almond~
— Wow, Cheese debut stream!
— Let’s gooo
— Cheese-flavored Almond!
Almond’s stream began.
“Hi Tr... I mean, hello.”
— Noooo
— Say “Hi Treevy!” one last time
— We’re still in Treevy!!
Almond glanced at the chat. Viewers still felt split between Cheese and Treevy. In fact, most of them were watching from Treevy.
‘Something...’
Something tugged at his heart. That old interface would soon disappear. It finally started to feel real now that Cheese had officially launched.
‘Treevy.’
So much had happened on that platform. It had changed his life. Although it hadn’t disappeared yet, it felt a lot more distant now. Almond gently waved at the chat window that had been pushed to the second tab.
“Hi Treevy~”
— Hi Treevy!
— Hi Almond!
— Noooo
— He said it lol
— Thank you!
Almond checked the time.
‘I need to enter at 8.’
He had started testing the stream at 7:30 since this was his first broadcast on Cheese. He needed to make sure that everything worked properly like the stream output, chat, and buffering.
“Everyone, is the stream okay?”
Usually, Ju-Hyeok handled these kinds of things. Since he couldn’t be here today, Almond had to ask the viewers.
— Yep
— Yuh
— Seems smooth
— Super buttery, wow
[PaprikaYouth has donated 10,000 won!]
[I don’t know how much bandwidth you paid for, but there’s zero buffering. Dang.]
— LOL
— Oops...
— Domestic traffic gets a Cheese Membership discount apparently~
— Fr tho
— Must’ve paid big bucks
— Them insider connections are hitting hard
Donations came in just fine.
Bwah-dum!
[RubySword has donated a whopping 1,000,000 won!]
[Support fund for newbie migration]
— Whoa whoa whoa
— WHAT
— HUH
— Queen Ruby
— Ruby mama with the class
— Did she just...?
— That’s stream-ending money right there lol
“Whoa. RubySword! Thank you so much for the massive donation on my first stream!” Almond bowed deeply in response.
Ding!
[EggPlant has donated 3,000 won.]
[My little brother isn’t saving money anymore these days.]
— ??
— LOL what is this now?
— Eggplant back at it
— You really don’t know why?!
— He’s still a loyal donor tho
— Why pour water into a broken pot? lmao
— BeggPlant strikes again
“Thank you too, Eggplant.”
More donations kept rolling in.
Ba-bam!
[Xiaolongbao has donated 500,000 won!]
[Cheese has a donation discount, you know.]
— Sheeeesh
— Legendary Xiaolongbao coming in hot
— Respect
Ding!
[OurADCBubblegum has donated 100,000 won!]
[Please don’t make me live up to my username. We have to beat Paprika.]
— LMAO outta nowhere
— This after he clowned Bubblegum nonstop!
— Haven’t you watched G2B? Bubblegum plays better
— Wait, what?? lol
“Thank you, Xiaolongbao! And OurADC, thank you too!”
As the wave of donations continued, one caught Almond’s eye.
‘Huh?’
Ding!
[AK47 has donated 100,000 won!]
[Ah... You really moved to Cheese...]
Almond recognized the username. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but he had a feeling it was that person.
“Thank you, Ack. Looks like the stream is working fine.”
He didn’t express any particular emotion toward Orange. It was almost 8 P.M. and time to get ready.
“You all remember the game we chose together through a very democratic vote, right? After a nail-biting race, the winner is...”
Dun-dun~
He added the effect himself while launching the game.
[Survival Craft]
“Brought to you by your precious votes. Please look forward to it.”
— LOL
— The teabagging is real
— Precious votes indeed. There were barely any for that one
— Is this part of an event?
— Every nutjob streamer is playing this! What was the vote even for? lol
As the sharp viewers caught on, Almond raised his voice. “Let’s begin, Survival Craft!”
Pop!
The game launched, the screen went black, and a wild uninhabited landscape came into view. A deserted island floated across the sky with the title above the clouds.
[Survival Craft]
Then, the game menu appeared.
[Single Player]
[Multiplayer]
[Sandbox Mode]
He had to choose Multiplayer.
‘The code is...’
It was now 7:58 P.M. Most of the streamers had probably already gathered on the server. Almond typed in the code.
[Code: czkt12012]
The correct code was czkt11012. However, it wouldn’t be a big deal. He’d just get booted and re-enter.
‘Oh?’
Instead of getting kicked... he connected somewhere else.
[Entering server...]