Season 4: Chapter 77. Star Appearance (2)
Survival Craft was a survival game and one of the more hardcore ones at that. Surprisingly, many players also enjoyed it casually. Partly thanks to its sandbox system that let players freely modify the rules, but mostly because of its basic avatar design.
[Entering server...]
Take Almond, for example, who had just been summoned.
“...?”
Pop.
He had short legs, a huge head, large eyes that took up half his face, and mitten-like white hands. It wasn’t the Almond everyone knew.
— LOLLLLL
— Omg short-legged Almond
— So cute LOL
— This is insane hahaha
— That’s Survival Craft for you~
Survival Craft’s design was incredibly casual. One of its key features transformed all players into short-legged characters, which became a major hit. Anyone who entered this game could become one of those adorable characters from childhood memories.
“Oh...” Almond looked down at his smaller body in awe.
‘This is seriously cool.’
In the old PC gaming era, this graphic style indicated a low budget. In VR gaming, it was the opposite. Designs like these were actually harder to render. Raw 3D data would automatically come out realistic, but this was intentionally altered. How the short-legged characters moved so naturally showed just how skilled the devs were.
‘There’s barely any awkwardness.’
Pop, pop!
As Almond hopped around, a quirky sound played each time. The movement felt smooth, though.
“Feels kind of weird... Probably because I’m small, but it works great.”
— LOL so cute
— If I’d known this was the game, I’d have voted sooner T_T it’s too adorable
— I wanna bite him, he’s so cute
— Can you buy this game character?
— MOM! I wanna buy Almond when I grow up!
— This game is dangerous... it’s bad for my heart...
[RubySword has donated 100,000 won!]
[My... my heart hurts.]
[Pewpew has donated 100,000 won!]
[Cutie-pie Almond T_T]
Pop. Pop.
Almond kept bouncing around. Not just to get used to the game, but also to keep those donations coming.
“Ah, thank you! Thank you so much~”
Pop! Pop!
More donations flooded in. Before he knew it, quite a bit of time had passed.
‘Hm?’
Then, Almond noticed something. Not a single person had joined the game yet.
Whooooosh...
Only dry desert wind blew through with no buildings or other players in sight.
‘What the...?’
He had started streaming for the opening event. Did he come too early? Almond checked the time.
‘Nope, it’s correct.’
In fact, over ten minutes had already passed. Still, nobody showed up.
“Um... Why is no one here? I thought something was supposed to happen here.”
— ?
— Wait, what’s going on?
— Is this a bug?
Thinking he had entered the wrong coordinates, Almond began walking around.
“I’ll go look around~”
The desert contained some pyramid-shaped rock formations and sparse trees.
“Oh. Maybe up there.”
He hopped toward a certain area.
Pop, pop, pop.
The sound effects echoed as he moved quickly.
Thunk... thunk...
Someone was chopping trees with an axe.
“Huh? You here? Wait, who is this?” The person looked surprised when they saw Almond and glanced at the game log.
‘cheez_almond?’
That was Almond’s character ID.
“Who are you?”
“I was invited here.”
“...”
The two stared at each other awkwardly.
Ding!
[RubySword has donated 30,000 won!]
[Almond... you’re in the wrong server! All the other streamers are already together elsewhere!]
— Huh??
— Wait, seriously?
— I checked their streams, she’s right LOL
— OMG he’s late for the event!
“Ah...”
***
Meanwhile, the real Cheese server wasn’t a desert at all. It featured a lush green field with rivers, oceans, mountains, and towering trees. A large square surrounded a pond in the heart of the forest. There, the streamers had all gathered.
[cheez_blacktea]
[cheez_gum]
[cheez_tako]
Many more familiar usernames appeared.
Everyone had turned into short-legged avatars, making it quite tricky to tell them apart at first. With some focus, it became clear who was who.
[Official Cheese Village Opening Ceremony]
[Current Viewers: 258,000]
— Whoa, so many streamers
— Love the top-view, it looks so fresh LOL
— I can spot Black Tea’s hair from even here haha
— Ooh is this an event?
Cheese’s official channel was broadcasting the event.
“Mmm. Looks good.” PD Jang nodded in satisfaction.
His production company was managing the event broadcast and editing since the investor behind it all was MixedNuts, aka Kim Ju-Hyeok.
“Operations team. Ju-Hyeok, standby.” PD Jang spoke into the mic while adjusting several camera zooms.
“Yes!”
“Roger!”
“We’re ready!”
As the signal came from his team, PD Jang gave the cue.
Pop!
The game's lighting darkened, and a stage rose at the edge of the square. All the lights focused on it.
Dun dun!
Music played, and more people suddenly appeared.
“Whoa...”
“What is this?”
“Dang.”
“They can do that in this game?”
“They really went all out.”
The short-legged streamers all looked around curiously.
At the center of the stage, someone stepped up and greeted them. “Welcome, streamers of Cheese Village! I’m the village chief, Cheddar!”
[cheez_cheddar]
As he greeted them, the streamers applauded.
Clap clap clap...
Other staff members appeared as well. One of them looked familiar. He was scanning the crowd nervously from below the stage.
‘Where’s Almond?’
[cheez_walnut]
Codename Walnut, it was Kim Ju-Hyeok. He had joined as one of the event organizers too.
‘He’s really not here?!’
All the other streamers had arrived except Almond. How could this happen?
‘How did this even go wrong...?’
Just then, the village chief began explaining the rules.
“From here on out, you’ll build the village yourselves. You’ll collaborate with others to build houses, farm, fish, and collect coins to get jobs.”
Dun dun.
A large graphic appeared above.
[Rules for Daily Life]
[Jobs & Coins]
[Outskirts Dungeon]
Details scrolled by beneath the texts.
“Whoa, there are a bunch of jobs.”
“Everyone starts as a beginner, huh.”
“There’s a dungeon too?”
“What’s the actual goal here, though?”
“Do we just kill monsters?”
“Guess we gotta earn money.”
The streamers murmured as they read the rules. They grew especially curious about the goal. What was this game’s actual point?
“There is no set goal in this game! As long as you survive, you’ll be fine. You don’t need to obsess over money or combat power. Just live.”
— Ohhh
— So it’s like a wholesome game?
— Or basically: “Go work like a dog.”
— Give a healing game to a Korean... LOL
— Looks fun!
“Live in whatever house you want, build your dream farm, pick a job, and live your life. The server will end in one or two weeks.”
That was all the explanation offered. The developers had prepared many hidden features, but didn’t mention any of them because the point of this game was its very lack of a goal.
‘That way, the streamers would naturally get to know one another.’
It wouldn’t be easy to truly grow closer if the goal was a raid, fighting, or making money. Players would just stick with who suited the goal best. Having no clear objective changed everything. It meant they could connect based on each other’s personalities, philosophies, and lives. One could call that genuine friendship.
‘Sang-Hyeon can meet people he really clicks with.’
This idea had come from none other than Ju-Hyeok. He had planned it all to help Almond make friends.
“Well! Now that we’ve gone over the game, let’s bring out the person who worked very hard to plan today’s event! Please welcome our event planner, Walnut!”
At that moment, the Village Chief Cheddar beckoned him forward.
“Wooooooo!”
“Waaah! He’s so good-looking!”
The streamers cheered him on.
“Aha... haha...” Walnut stepped out awkwardly, scratching his oversized head.
Some viewers reacted immediately after hearing the name Walnut.
— lol Walnut
— Why is Walnut there?
— Wait, isn’t that Almond’s manager?
— Where’s Almond then? lol
— Whoa
— The Great Walnut
— He planned this whole thing???
— Damn...
***
A huge number of streamers had gathered in one place and even celebrities had joined in. It made for a rare sight and an exciting moment for everyone, but also some unease. After all, everything in human society was evaluated with comparisons.
Even in a perfectly polished K-pop group, people argued over which idol had more fans. What would happen when this many streamers gathered together? Would their fans just sit back quietly?
Of course not, the already fired-up fans eagerly pointed at who stood out the most.
— Could they focus the camera more on Sweet Potato, please!
— Why isn’t ForeverAlone getting screen time!! Is he hiding cause he’s a real loner??
— Black Tea’s red hair is OP~
— At least jump or something!!
— If you can’t stand out, you’re done...
— Miho is seriously at a disadvantage, honestly...
The chat on the main broadcast had already kicked off this unspoken competition. Everyone wanted their favorite streamer to shine among the crowd, but it wouldn’t be easy.
— Isn’t standing next to Zelo actually a bad idea? If you’re not strong enough, you’ll just get overshadowed LOL
— CutiePie grabs attention even when standing still
— Gum bro is the only one who looks real LOL he’s got a huge advantage
Among these top streamers with live viewer counts easily hitting more than 200k, mid-level streamers struggled to get noticed. Once the game actually began, even the top streamers would start to separate into tiers. Almond, who had just joined the ranks of the big names, wasn’t an exception. Except... he wasn’t just blending in. He wasn’t even there.
— Where’s Almond?
— Let’s see how well Mr. Cheat-Code-Face-ID performs in a world where looks don’t work, lol
— Yu Sang-Hyeon is currently lost in another server hahaha
Ju-Hyeok smiled on the outside while greeting everyone, but secretly burned on the inside.
‘Why isn’t Almond here??’
He wanted Almond to shine the most, but Almond hadn’t shown up for the most important part.
‘That crazy guy. Don’t tell me he’s asleep? What the hell is going on?’
Ju-Hyeok couldn’t check the stream since he had entered the game. He had no way of knowing what had happened. Barely managing to finish his greetings, Ju-Hyeok turned back behind the stage.
‘Seriously... what is going on? Yu Sang-Hyeon, please just show up. Please.’
The panic he once felt during an important overseas meeting in his rookie days came flooding back.
‘But this is a virtual world. Can you even get lost here?’
No matter how hard he thought, Ju-Hyeok couldn’t come up with any likely scenario. Meanwhile, the on-stage introductions continued.
“I’m the princess of Cheese Village, Mozzarella~!”
“Salute! This is security officer Camembert reporting~!”
“Hello! I’m...”
The operating team members consisting of Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, and Camembert all gave brief introductions.
“Now, before we launch the opening fireworks for Cheese Village, let’s spotlight each of the streamers who have joined us today!”
Thud!
Spotlights began to shine on the streamers one row at a time. Each streamer gave their own short greeting. Ju-Hyeok’s face grew paler by the second.
‘Wait, the streamers are doing individual greetings?’
Everyone would notice if Almond didn’t show up now. This would definitely damage his image, but the introductions continued regardless.
“Wahaha! It’s Gum here! I’ll carry once again~”
“Hi everyone! I’m Miho! Miyeow~”
“I’m Zelo. Yep. Nice to meet you.”
“Fast and accurate targeting. This is Green Onion. Thank you.”
— Whoa
— Miho got nerfed hard with the chibi body LOL
— Why is Gum the only one who looks real??? Bug maybe?
— Green Onion is here, too?
— Did he finish his military service? Damn
And finally...
“Guess I’m the last one! Your idol, CutiePie, is hereeee!”
Almond still hadn’t appeared even as the light reached the last row.
— Damn
— Whoa
— That’s our protagonist
— Let’s go~
— GoddessPie
— CutiePie also in this collab?? Epic
— But seriously, where is Almond?
As CutiePie finished her bubbly greeting, Cheddar raised his hand high.
“Alright! Let’s light the opening fireworks for the Cheese Village server!”
Fwoooosh!
Countless lights converged in the center of the sky.
“Cheese...”
Then, it happened just as the fireworks launched.
Pop!
Something appeared in the sky.
‘What is this place?’
A tiny black figure loomed large against the light.
[cheez_almond]
‘Huh?’
“Almond?” Village Chief Cheddar muttered before he could stop himself.
That name echoed through the speaker system.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
As if to celebrate his arrival, colorful fireworks exploded behind him.
— ?
— ???
— ?!
— What the heck?
— Is that Almond??? LOL
— That entrance was insane LOL
— True protagonist moment LOL
The real main character had finally arrived.