Season 4: Chapter 109. Servants (5)
The Nonghyup Union was a true farmers’ union and arguably the most powerful faction in Cheese Village. They possessed two great weapons.
First, every member shared their farms as communal plots. Even if someone logged off, others online could tend their fields. This ensured that the Nonghyup Union’s farms never stopped producing. Crops piled up endlessly.
Second, they possessed a refrigerated warehouse. It was expensive and hard to maintain, but pooled funds made it possible. All crops went into cold storage, lasting up to a week. This allowed them to wait for the best prices with Donuts making those calls. He was a shrewd manager and split the profits based on each member’s investments.
It was essentially a miniature stock market. Only someone of Donuts’ caliber could orchestrate such a complex capitalistic system. With this system, the Union steadily tightened its grip on Cheese Village.
Then, everything changed.
[AcornJelly: All Black... exists!!]
Fertile Soil had appeared. Not in the Nonghyup Union’s hands, but in Sweet Radish’s territory. From then on, the entire village only buzzed about Fertile Soil.
“It really triples harvests?”
“Rumor says everything grows top-tier there.”
“It barely needs watering too?”
“Where did Almond even get it?”
“Maybe he made it himself.”
“Some say it’s from Almond’s... poop.”
Absurd gossip spread. Fertile Soil had become both a dream and an obsession.
“Ah... if only we had it too...”
“Shh! Don’t even say that here. Morale will drop.”
Within the Nonghyup Union, mentioning it became almost taboo. Fertile Soil was like the forbidden fruit, a coveted treasure.
“What... What is all this...?”
Now, it lay spread across Black Tea’s ruined land. She could hardly believe it. Born not from deliberate effort, but from fire and monster corpses. In front of her, Almond stood smiling with a block of Fertile Soil in hand. Among the bleak ruins of her home, he appeared as the bringer of her greatest desire.
Ding.
[MissBlackTea has donated 20,000 won.]
[My savior, here to ruin my life.]
Just like the message, Almond appeared as a savior who came to destroy.
— Wait, he just gave her that??
— LMAO becoming Maid Black Tea is worth it
— Nonghyup Union never did this for her...
— Hot damn
— Knight order doesn’t sound so bad now
— All hail Almond!!
Even her viewers swayed toward Almond. Black Tea herself wavered the most. He gave her Fertile Soil like it was nothing and came running when her house burned. He fought alongside her as her heart pounded. Yes, his scheme had burned down her home, but that memory was already being buried like the black soil itself.
Almond pointed to the fields and grinned. “Farm with Lemon Servant here. We’ll split the profits.”
Black Tea snapped to attention.
Snap!
“Loyalty! I’ll give my life to the knight order!!”
— HAHAHA
— That’s the energy we want
— General vibes, I swear
— She’s gone full knight now
Wait, didn’t she belong to the Nonghyup Union? Why did her hand rise on its own?
Even worse, Lemon followed suit. “M-Me too!! I pledge loyalty!!”
***
Later, Almond returned to Sweet Radish’s estate with his servants. Black Tea remained to rebuild her home with Lemon.
Lemon sidled up. “Unnie... did we switch to Almond’s side?”
Black Tea’s salute earlier had seemed too genuine. Lemon knew her well enough to notice.
“No, we’re the Nonghyup Union. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Mmm? But earlier you said we’d ambush Almond... and you didn’t.”
Originally, the plan had been to lull him into conversation, then stab him.
“Ha. I don’t know.” Black Tea frowned, frustrated with herself.
“Guess you’re just... enjoying the moment?”
“...”
“This is insane, though. Look at this Fertile Soil! Hahaha!”
Lemon held up a chunk with glee. “It’s really double the yield.”
Black Tea watched, her expression turning thoughtful. “Yeah...”
Something gnawed at her mind.
“Lemon. Isn’t interference-blocking still active here?”
“I’m co-owner with you.”
“No, not you. Almond.”
“Of course, it blocks him.”
“Then, how did he lay the Fertile Soil?”
Exactly, interference-blocking prevented anyone from altering land or structures. The player could take harvested crops or pick up items, but they couldn’t build or place anything. Almond had overlooked that detail when bluffing, but fate was on his side.
“Maybe the monsters overturned it all and broke the block?” Lemon suggested.
Indeed, monster destruction could disable the protection. That was how Almond took some blocks but not the others. The recipe risked exposure if even a little remained, so he handed over all of it.
“Oh...” Black Tea nodded slowly. “Those damn monsters. Just how much did they tear up?”
Neither she nor Lemon realized that some Fertile Soil still carried interference-blocking. Hidden among the fields, traces of the truth remained.
***
Whether or not Black Tea truly meant it, everyone who saw her believed that she had betrayed them. The Nonghyup Union thought the same.
“Is it true... Black Tea has defected?” At the head of the table, Donuts asked gravely.
Green Tea kept his head bowed low while White Chicken stiffly nodded.
“Ha...” Donuts could hardly believe it.
Black Tea had been one of the Nonghyup Union’s most loyal members and one of their greatest assets. She owned the union’s largest fields and produced the highest yields. Worse still, this entire operation had been her plan.
“What in the world happened?”
“The monsters didn’t go to Sweet Radish’s place. They went to Black Tea’s.”
“What?”
White Chicken’s words stirred a buzz of confusion.
“You said they’d attack the biggest estate! You did!” One member jabbed a finger toward Donuts.
“It’s the truth.”
“Then why?! Why would they hit Black Tea’s!?”
The blame shifted to Donuts.
Sensing his chance, Horn Ramen slammed the table and bellowed. “I told you, didn’t I!? This bastard has to go!!”
He pointed squarely at Donuts, the head of the Nonghyup Union. Disaster stacked on disaster from the failed crop reconnaissance to the loss of Black Tea and Lemon. It was like a company failing to sabotage a rival, only to have its core technology stolen in the process.
Donuts lowered his head. “I apologize. I have failed as a leader. I have nothing to say for what has...”
Before he could finish, members hurled cabbages and eggs at him. To scorn a man while he bowed seemed cruel, but few thought it undeserved given the stakes.
“I have something to say!!” Suddenly, Donuts snapped his head up with flashing eyes.
— LMAO didn’t he just say he had nothing to say?
— He always has something to say
— Classic
He declared boldly, “You act like everything I said was wrong!”
“It was!”
“No, it wasn’t! Aside from the potato incident, everything I calculated was correct! The only reason monsters went to Black Tea was because they must’ve sold off their fields!”
Indeed, he struck at the truth.
“What!? Farmers selling their fields just to avoid monsters? That’s like refusing to make kimchi because you’re afraid of maggots!”
To sell farmland was unthinkable because land size was everything to a farmer.
“Besides, there’d be a record if they sold! Nothing’s on the board!”
Any land sale was posted publicly on the village board. If Sweet Radish had sold, it could only have been to Big Farm.
Land always appreciated in value. To sell it back at its cost was madness. Unless, of course, they had Fertile Soil to make up the difference.
“They sold to Big Farm...” Donuts tried to explain.
“What? Selling land back to Big Farm at the original cost? That’s like selling your house to the construction company at the original price! What the hell are you talking about!?”
“No, that’s not what I... Listen to me!”
“You dare say you’ve got something to say!? You’ve got nothing to say!” Horn Ramen pressed harder.
Donuts snapped back. “And who are you to decide that!? If I’ve got something to say, I’ll damn well say it, you maggot!”
“What!? Maggot? You’re dead, old man!”
“I’m not done yet! I told you, I have more to say!!”
Horn Ramen finally drew steel.
Shing!
“Gentlemen, please!! Calm down!!” Pickle leaped up to stop him.
“Out of my way! I’ll cut his head off and put it on this table. Then, we’ll talk!”
“And how are you going to talk if he’s dead?! Is this how you plan to run a union!?”
“Back in my day, even the National Assembly was run like this! A union should be settled with fists!”
Pickle froze.
‘Wait... the National Assembly... really?’
— LOL 90s-style politics
— Parliament by fistfights!
— Only black belts could pass bills back then LOL
— Peak democracy
While Pickle wavered as Horn Ramen lunged.
“Die, bastard!!”
Clang!!
Donuts drew his blade just in time to parry.
“No!! You die!!”
— HAHA the old men are going at it
— This is how they settle things in Cheese Village
— Blood politics ftw
The village’s first settlement was regressing to an older form of governance: trial by combat. As history showed, such duels rarely stayed one-on-one.
Scrape!
White Chicken suddenly rose by Donuts’s side. “Say what you will, but it was Donuts who brought this Union this far!”
“And now it’s time for him to go!” MiddleAgedDetective stood with Horn Ramen, blade drawn.
Steel rang out as both sides split into two armed factions.
— OMG it’s a civil war
— Nonghyup Union: Civil War edition
— Peak movie
“Only the landless support him! Because crop sharing benefits them, huh!?”
“And what’s wrong with building a world where even the landless can live!?”
Those with less land rallied to Donuts. Those with more sided with Horn Ramen. Two ideologies, always at odds, now clashed openly.
Donuts believed in modestly favoring the big landowners, but ensured equity for smallholders for the sake of organizational stability. Horn Ramen demanded pure proportional rewards: the larger the land, the larger the share. This ideological rift now exploded into bloodshed.
“What did you say!?”
“Kill them all!!”
“Damn you!!”
Clash! Crash!
Steel clashed as shouts rang out.
“Argh!!”
“Kill Donuts first!!” Horn Ramen cut through the fray and drove his blade toward Donuts.
“You vile bastard!!”
Clang!
Donuts batted the attack aside.
— What a mess
— All thanks to Almond’s potato incident!
— Nonghyup Union Civil War arc starts now
The union’s members fought among themselves, swords flashing and blood flying. Even as they battled, the same thought gnawed in every one of their minds. Could the Nonghyup Union survive this? What if they had never challenged Almond in the first place? Regret seeped through the chaos.
[Zelo has logged in.]
[ChocoShroom has logged in.]
Zelo and Choco Shroom logged into the server.