Season 4: Chapter 86. Paprika vs Almond (2)
Even for a sandbox game as endlessly moddable as Survival Craft, a system like the one in Cheese Village couldn’t be built overnight.
“Gasp! One million won! Thank y-Aaaaagh!”
[Cheez_Miho has ascended.]
[BlackTea: Damn, so jealous lol]
[Greentea: Ascended LOL]
[Chouxcream: She really ascended hahaha]
Everything ran smoothly from donation-triggered events to land plots sold off for farming. It all felt like part of the base game.
“How much is this plot? Can we farm on it?”
“Yes, this one is good for crops...”
None of these features actually existed in the original Survival Craft. The base game was just about planting crops, gathering materials, building a house, and surviving nighttime monsters. It had no real estate market, item economy, pricing system, and certainly no donation mechanics.
All of this had been crafted by the server makers. Cheese Village itself was a commissioned build custom-made by professionals. A project of this scale took around two weeks with a full dev team and a serious chunk of cash.
Where did all of that money come from? That big question continued to weigh on the minds of the Cheese execs.
“Do you think donation fees alone can cover it?”
“Hmm... probably not. We’ll have to pull in some advertisements too.”
The most immediate revenue stream was donation fees. Cheese took a cut whenever viewers donated to streamers in the village. The system encouraged donations that created more value for everyone involved. It was a win-win model.
Still, betting the entire budget on viewers’ goodwill was risky. Donations weren’t guaranteed. Viewers donated if they felt like it, and ignored it if they didn’t.
“Yeah... we’ll probably need sponsorships.”
The team was already leaning toward product placements and indirect ads.
“God, advertisements are so cringey. Product placements in a livestream?”
The idea of streamers reading ads in the middle of doing content felt forced and awkward.
“Then maybe just slap up some banners?” Someone suggested going full billboard mode.
“Like those old merchant sims? Ew. No way. We are not ruining Cheese’s brand on day one.”
“Y-Yeah. Agreed.”
This was their debut. They didn’t want to tarnish their image right off the bat. Maybe they could chalk it up to marketing costs and take the hit, but the employees working on the project didn’t have that luxury. They needed to break even somehow, which created more stress.
All that worry seemed to be for nothing. The moment the server opened...
“It happened again! Another one blew up!”
On the opening day of Cheese Village, the entire team had their eyes glued to the metrics.
“Again?!”
Donations popped off non-stop. Even a one-million-won instant death donation came in almost immediately. The first target was Almond.
“Almond! Hell yeah! I knew he’d deliver!”
Joo Ok-Ji had fought hard to get Almond on board, and Go Ah-Sung, Almond’s assigned handler, high-fived each other triumphantly.
Smack!
They seemed to be daring the naysayers to argue against them now.
“Ugh...”
The other handler teams didn’t look as happy.
“Opening day always pops the hardest. That’s just how it is.”
“Haha, true. Still, setting the tone is key, right? He had a killer entrance, and that million-won hit? That’s a statement.” Go Ah-Sung didn’t back down.
Just like that, donations began raining down on the other streamers too. Zelo also died from a million-won donation. Next were Miho, CutiePie, and Bubblegum. They all got knocked out in rapid succession. Only then did the staff begin to relax.
“See? Everyone is doing fine now.”
“Whew...”
As players settled into building up their villages, the donation graph began to dip. The initial flood from viewers messing around slowed. After all, it wasn’t that fun to keep killing streamers. A million won also wasn’t exactly pocket change.
“Hmmm...”
“So... that’s it for now?”
The staff grew nervous again. Then, it happened. The graph surged hard.
“Wait, what?”
“What is that?!”
“Holy crap, what’s going on?!”
“It’s rising every second?”
“No, every tenth of a second?!”
The donation graph started spiking at 0.1-second intervals, all because of one streamer.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]
[Everyone, give him your strength! \o/]
That one message sparked a wave of viewer support.
[Kai has donated 10,000 won!]
[SasukeGirlfriend has donated 10,000 won!]
[Vegeta has donated 10,000 won!]
[LeReMiFa has donated 10,000 won!]
[EggPlant has donated 10,000 won!]
...
Almond was on the verge of being overwhelmed by enemy players. The viewers rallied together and buffed him nonstop.
“If we knew it’d turn out like this, we should’ve made buffs cost 100,000 instead of giving instant-death for that price!” One staffer shouted in mock regret, but their grin was already up to their ears.
“This... this business model is working.”
They had never even planned for this type of donation from the buff system. Cheese Village’s monetization model was firing on all cylinders.
“They’re spending this much just to buff someone?”
Traditionally, content like this thrived on viewers spending money to troll their favorite streamers. Here, the donations flooded in to support the streamer instead.
Joo Ok-Ji frantically scrolled through her tablet and pointed at the stats. “According to the data we got from Treevy, people who have never donated before are throwing in ten thousand won. Do you know how important that first purchase is?”
“Exactly. Once they break the seal, the rest is easy.” Go Ah-Sung chimed in, and the rest of the staff nodded silently in agreement.
“If this keeps up, we might not even need to take sponsors.”
“No kidding.”
“This launch is off to a great start.”
Among them, Cheese executive Choi Da-Hee looked especially intrigued. “The fact that this situation even happened... That’s what’s impressive.”
One of the workers beside her tilted his head. “This situation?”
“Yeah. There have been other viewer-interaction models like this, right?”
“Sure... but most didn’t do well.”
“Exactly, that’s why this is so impressive. They actually got non-donators to open their wallets.”
To Choi Da-Hee, this success wasn’t just about the business model. It was Almond’s audacity, charging into a 1 vs 20 fight without blinking and slashing away with total confidence. That energy pulled the entire system into motion.
“Almond forced himself into an extreme situation, and the viewers naturally wanted to help. They don’t mind trolling their favorite streamers, but they hate seeing them get ganged up on.”
“To provoke that kind of support with nothing but skills...”
“Huh? Provoke?”
“Yes, he understands the monetization model perfectly. Why else would he dive into something like that?”
Go Ah-Sung and Joo Ok-Ji exchanged a glance.
‘Does she actually believe that? Is this a joke?’
‘Pretty sure she hasn’t watched his streams much. Let her think what she wants.’
‘Got it.’
It was a classic case of a smart person assuming everyone else was smart too.
Choi Da-Hee continued marveling at Almond’s mysterious brilliance. “Even the way he pulls in donations feels genius. It’s been so long since I felt this kind of excitement.”
The donation graph kept rising. With it, the light on Almond’s sword burned brighter.
Choi Da-Hee’s eyes sparkled too. “Incredible...”
***
Almond was raking in a small fortune, but his situation in the game was far from easy. No matter how many he cut down, the Paprika villagers just kept respawning and coming back.
“Stop him!”
“Stop him no matter what!”
“Kill or be killed! It doesn’t matter if we die a hundred times if we have to! We’ll stop you, unknown scum!”
— These lunatics LOL
— What the hell? hahaha
— Why do they all sound like Black Pepper now?! Are they using TTS?
— I’m dead
— I’m losing it hahaha
— Who even are these guys?!
Even Almond began to slip.
Thwack!
[HP: 83%]
He had held out so far thanks to an endless stream of buffs, but he was up against over twenty seasoned streamers. They weren’t casuals and hadn’t joined Paprika Village on a whim. Most of them were highly skilled and naturally began pushing back Almond.
‘They’re way stronger than I expected.’
Even he could feel it now. They weren’t the likes of Bubblegum or other casual players. These players quickly adapted and improved in real time.
— \o/
— \o/ \o/
— Someone cast another buff!
— You’ve got this!
— Let’s goooo T_T
— LOL
Viewers cheered their hearts out, but cheering could only do so much. To make matters worse...
‘What?’
Not all viewers stood with the streamer. Almond knew that, but knowing it didn’t make the betrayal sting any less.
Bbam!
[EggPlant has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]
[I’m here to end this fight... Almond, stand still!]
EggPlant, the guy who always stole money from his little brother to donate, rarely ever donated more than ten thousand won. And yet, here he was, dropping a full 100k because of the donation effect.
[Random Status Effect]
— LOLOLOLOL
— You maniac omg
— This guy is unhinged HAHAHA
— ???
— EggPlant’s brother is crying rn
— He’s actually insane
— Please tell me that’s a fake account
Even Almond, who rarely lost composure, felt like his brain had been sucker-punched.
‘This psycho...’
[Frozen]
Ping!
Of course, of all the status effects, he got hit with Frozen. Locked in place, he couldn’t do anything for a while.
Even the Paprika villagers attacking him felt taken aback.
“Huh? He, he’s frozen?”
Only Black Pepper, still burning with rage, lunged forward and punched without hesitation.
Boop!
“What are you standing around for?! Kill him already!!!”
“Drop your gear! Leave it all behind!”
Was this it for Almond? Would he lose everything and have to start all over again? He gazed up at the sky, overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all.
‘Damn you, EggPlant... huh?’
However, that betrayal wasn’t the only twist. From above, something massive filled the sky and cast a shadow over the entire Paprika plaza.
“KAAAAAAAHHH!”
Everyone froze and looked up at the creature with wings wide as buildings, a long sweeping tail, and serpentine eyes.
[Dragon]
“Wh-What the hell?”
“Is he, wait, is this guy a Dragon Knight?! How the hell does he have a dragon already?!”
At this point in the game, it shouldn’t have been possible. The very beast that once tried to kill Almond now opened its jaws again. No one had time to react as flames already gathered in its throat.
“KRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
An inferno swept across the plaza and scorched everything in its path. Dozens of players caught in the blast had no chance to escape.
“AAAAAAAAGHH!!”
“NOOOOOOO!!!”
[js002 has been reduced to ashes.]
[oto8 has been reduced to ashes.]
[38837 has been reduced to ashes.]
[9993hj has been reduced to ashes.]
[aimjh221 has been reduced to ashes.]
...
All of them instantly died, except for one. He didn’t lose his life, but something else.
[Frozen status removed]
[HP: 43%]
His health remained mostly intact. The flames had melted the ice and saved him in the process.
“Rrraaaaah!”
The dragon, apparently satisfied after breathing out fire just once, flapped its wings and vanished into the distance. It left behind nothing but ashes and Almond standing alone in the Paprika plaza.