Season 4: Chapter 105. Servants (1)
The second day after Cheese Village launched, under a bright and clear spring sky, a video was uploaded at eleven in the morning.
[Come visit Cheese Village.]
The very first video, a short teaser, was posted on the official Cheese channel. After clicking on it, a childlike narration flowed out. The sort of voice one would expect from a toddler’s YouTube video.
“This is Cheese Village. Cute birds sing, and the sun smiles down on us.”
The screen showed wide green fields. Tiny rooftops in Cheese Village dotted the horizon.
Clang, clang...
Chibi characters wandered around, crafting little tools or tilling the land to grow crops.
“Here, there are no heavy assignments, no exhausting competition, no polluted air.”
“Kya-ha-ha-ha!” Camebert, the village’s operator, ran across the fields laughing.
His laugh sounded painfully artificial. A rainbow arched overhead, and the video seemed ready to end.
“Come visit! Cheese Village!”
“Moo!” A blocky polygon cow mooed as the screen faded to black.
However, the video didn’t end yet.
Bzzzzzt...!
Dun-dun!
The background music changed, and the screen blurred into chaos.
“Wha... is that an unknown player!?”
A scream burst through the black static.
“Kill themmmm!”
“Aaaargh!”
The screen filled with blood-red text.
[sa474 has been murdered!]
[pep731 has been murdered!]
[38837 has been murdered!]
[9993hj has been murdered!]
...
“This... wasn’t this supposed to be a peaceful game?”
Miho trembled on screen, her voice quaking. Other streamers appeared briefly, staring at the kill logs in shock.
“What the hell is this?”
“Who’s doing the killing?”
“There’s a... a serial killer in the village.”
Thud, thud, thud...!
The music swelled, pounding harder, and the scenes flashed faster.
“You said we could farm here!” Zelo grabbed Big Farm by the collar and shook him. “Say something, dammit!”
Shhhhhh...
The dirt spilling through Choco Shroom’s fingers crumbled away. It was sand, nothing but sand.
“Huuuuhhhhhh... sob...” Choco Shroom wailed while the sound of endless pickaxes rang out from Sweet Radish’s house.
“Your name is Potato Servant now.”
Unable to repay his debt, Sweet Potato had been renamed Potato Servant. Then, the camera zoomed in on Acorn Jelly’s wide, crazed eyes.
“All Black... exists.”
Thud, thud, BOOM!
The music roared into a grand climax as a dragon appeared.
“Grrrr...!”
A torrent of flames swept across everything. Fallen iron gear from the dead clattered to the ground in slow motion. In the darkened screen, someone unseen chuckled.
“Wow.”
All that remained was blackened soil in his gaze.
Thud, thud, thud, BOOM!
At the final peak of the music, the dark screen blazed from the sunrise. Golden crops sprouted beneath the dawn. A lone man stood with his back to the light.
Sweet Radish shouted, “Th-That’s Mon D. Roger! The man who’ll become the Farmer King!!”
Bababam~!
With a triumphant effect, the Cheese Village title appeared.
[Come visit Cheese Village.]
The video ended, and comments poured in.
— ??
— Thought this was a healing game lol
— What the hell is this hahahaha
— Mon D. Rogerrrr hahahaha
— Acorn Jelly really looked insane hahaha
— Wow, I wanna visit (not really)
└ You’d die the second you arrive
└ Instant death with our skills lol
— LMAO
— Okay, now give us the healing game
— Crazy hahaha
— What even was that?
The top comments quickly rose. The first read:
— Would you believe it if one person caused almost everything in this video?
└ hahahahahahaha
└ Legend
└ For real??? Hahaha
└ WTF hahaha
└ The fact it’s true makes it funnier
└ Mon D. Roger...
Others mocked the claim that it was a healing game.
— How can you “come visit” if no one is actually playing there?
└ hahahahahaha
└ It’s basically a job invite
└ ??? Our company is where you work, eat, and sleep!
— Who makes a battle royale and then calls it a vacation spot?
└ lololol
└ For real hahaha
└ This content is insane
***
Clap!
As he scrolled through, Ju-Hyeok clapped and grinned. “That was great.”
Almond’s had quite an impressive screen time in just the teaser.
“He looked like the main character.”
PD Jang wasn’t the type to give Almond extra exposure just because of Mixed Nuts’ investment. This was clearly Almond’s own doing. Cheese Village’s early storyline undeniably revolved around him.
Discovering the Paprika villagers and creating Fertile Soil had been a game-changer. From there, every story thread naturally centered on him. The only serious rivals in this unfolding Cheese Village narrative were Donuts from the Nonghyup Union and Zelo from the mines. At least, until today’s events, they had seemed like strong contenders.
***
Unlike reality, it was still night in Cheese Village. In that darkness, chaos erupted.
“F-Fire! Fireee!”
Black Tea’s house was burning. Part of the structure had collapsed due to the Ground-Diggers. The flames had spread from the lanterns and hearth inside.
Fwoooosh!
The fire was far too strong for anyone to even think of extinguishing it. Worse yet, the monsters had come.
[Ground-Digger]
They shredded the crops and were impossible to catch as they burrowed in and out of the ground.
[Ahwooolf]
The Ahwooolves had high combat strength on their own and were even deadlier when attacking in packs.
“U-Unnie, what do we do!? Should we retreat?”
Black Tea smacked Lemon on the head. “Fight, of course! Retreat where, idiot!? That’s our house!”
— Yeah!
— This is it!
— But how do you even...
— fight here?
“Can we even win?” Green Tea asked from behind.
“I don’t know, but we have to try! The average tier here is basically Master. We’ll figure it out!” Black Tea pulled out a stone knife and charged forward.
Green Tea, White Chicken, and Lemon followed with no other choice.
“L-Let’s gooo!”
“Come at us, you bastards!”
The Ahwooolves reacted to their taunts.
Thud-thud-thud!
In an instant, the monsters charged at them.
“Grrrk!”
“Uwaagh!” Black Tea struck one clean across the skull with her stone blade.
Crack!
The wolf staggered back for a moment, but its health bar barely budged.
[Ahwooolf]
[HP: 89%]
However, her stone knife snapped apart.
[Durability: 0]
Crack.
“Huh?”
Was that it? They’d never fought monsters here before, so they hadn’t realized the sheer difference in power. This game drew a hard line between equipment tiers. A stone knife could take down a Ground-Digger or a Leech Spider, but not an Ahwooolf. At night, the wolves grew even stronger.
“Kyaaa! Unnie!”
A wolf sank its fangs into Lemon’s arm and dragged her off.
“H-Help me! Help!”
“Lemon!”
Black Tea drew another stone knife and desperately hacked away.
Clang!
One swing, two swings, and her stone knife shattered again. The wolf remained almost unscathed.
“Grrrk!”
More Ahwooolves lunged from behind.
“U-Uwagh! Get off!”
Three wolves piled onto Black Tea’s back.
— Dead
— Crazy
— ??? I’m a fan!
— This is over.
— They’re way too strong, fr
— How do you even win this?
Green Tea and White Chicken fared no better.
“D-Damn it, what do we do!?”
“I-I’m out of weapons... Nothing left...”
All their gear broke as the moles swarmed the fields, and the exhaustion brought Black Tea to her knees.
“U-Unnie!!” Lemon still reached out toward her despite being dragged away.
“Lemon!”
“O-Our crops... What about them...? What do we do?”
“Just... hold on. Somehow...”
However, Black Tea couldn’t shake off the wolves latched onto her.
— Oh no...
— Holy shit
— Team Tea is crying now
— What even is this?
— So hopeless lol
For Lemon, who trusted Black Tea more than anyone, it felt heartbreaking.
“Are we... going to lose everything?”
She had never felt this helpless.
Shrrrak!
A gleam of steel flashed, and one of the wolves dropped.
‘What? How?’
Even with iron swords, no one could kill an Ahwooolf so quickly. The answer was simple. Three swords had struck simultaneously.
[Almond]
[SweetRadish]
[SweetPotato]
Clad in shining iron armor, the three men looked like saviors to Lemon and Black Tea.
That feeling only increased as Sweet Radish stepped forward and declared, “Lord Almond, soon-to-be ruler of this village, has come to save you!”
— ?
— ??
— Lord?? Lmao
— ‘Soon-to-be lord’ isn’t even a real title hahaha
— Petitioning for lordship lol
— lmaooo
“If you join us, we’ll share iron equipment and protect these lands together! All you’ll need to do is farm!” Sweet Potato chimed in. “But of course, you’ll need to change your name to Servant Black Tea!”
— Yesss
— LMAO
— Already excited for a Servant Black Tea junior
— Black Tea, get ready for deployment~
— Knights? This is straight feudalism lmao
— lmfao
— He really won’t give up the Servant Black Tea thing
Black Tea bit her lip. “Not Servant Black Tea.”
“What? Then we’re leaving.” Sweet Potato turned away without hesitation.
“Grrrk!”
As if on cue, the wolves bared their fangs again.
“N-No, wait!” Black Tea reached out desperately, her face flushed red. “Call me... Maid Black Tea instead.”
“Unnie!?”
— HAHAHAHAHA
— Her last shred of pride
— Maid Black Tea lmaoo
— What are you, a rookie? Hahaha
— She still wanted a girly name in the end LOL