Season 4: Chapter 117. Iron Rain (3)
Click.
Almond pressed the button, and the entire front of the house blew away.
Pop!
“...?”
He blinked for a moment. Hadn’t the button just solved everything? The explosion killed the two intruders and returned all the items they’d tried to steal. That wasn’t all.
‘No way.’
He stepped closer to the scene and looked down. Sure enough, he spotted a blackened mark. However, Almond knew better than anyone that it wasn’t just soot.
“Huh...”
Struck by the lucky jackpot, he glanced at the chat for an explanation.
— LOOOOOOL
— WTF just happened???
— Almondheimer lol
— Beautiful
— That’s the stuff
— So cathartic~
— Wait was that Zelco Shroom??
‘Zelco Shroom?’
What did that mean? He checked the server chat.
[Bubblegum: Whoa, another murder???]
[MiddleAgedDetective: He’s finally committing murders in the village too! Serial killer!]
[Miho: An explosion kill again?]
[CreamPuff: Maybe it was just an accident? Miners...]
The other streamers made a buzz in the server chat. Almond scrolled up and found the answer.
[Zelo has died from an explosion.]
[Choco Shroom has died from an explosion.]
He’d been too stunned by the blast to notice the names.
“That was Mr. Zelo?”
He had just blown up the most popular streamer.
— LOOOOOOL
— Why was Zelo even here?
— For real lol
— That’s a big one to nuke
Why had Zelo snuck in? Almond had no idea. He’d only just learned that Donuts was the head of the Nonghyup Union. How could he know what Zelo was up to? One thing still puzzled him.
“But... who’s Choco Shroom?”
Who was the girl beside him?
— ?
— ??
— Digital dementia lol
— Did he actually forget??
— Come on hahaha
Almond read the chat for a bit. “Just kidding~”
— No you weren’t lol
— Say who Choco Shroom is then
— LOL
— He’s got a new bit now
He changed the subject. “Anyway... I’ve got a lunch appointment. I’ll clean up later. I’m just going to farm the drops and go.”
— Of course, he still farms
— “Farm” hahaha
— Business is business
— That’s exactly the cleanup
Clack, clack, clack...
Almond collected the fallen iron gear and scooped up the iron ore.
“Weird. Why is there so much ore? Did their gear melt...?”
His imagination ran wild at the ridiculous amount of iron scattered everywhere.
— It’s theirs, dude lol
— Golden goblins, apparently
— No, but seriously, isn’t that a lot??
He gathered everything and dumped it into storage.
Thunk.
The heavy door shut, and he locked it properly this time.
Clack.
“I’m heading out.”
Whoosh.
Almond immediately logged out. He wanted to fix the door, but he was running late.
***
Zelo shot up in bed.
“Uwaaaaaa!”
He screamed like he had a nightmare, but it wasn’t a nightmare.
[Inventory]
‘It’s empty.’
“Haaah.” He buried his face in his knees.
Thump.
His big head hit the floor, and his viewers howled.
— LOOOOOOL
— Hahaha
— Who are you apologizing to?
— Empty empty
— Absolute disaster lol
— Killed by his own bomb
— This is hilarious
Ding.
[0 has donated 30,000 won.]
[Starting with Zelo items.]
Zelo raised his head again. “It’s not from zero!”
— Zelo items, lmao
— No one said zero, bro
— It’s zero, Zelo...
“It’s not zero. I left everything in storage just in case...”
Creak.
He opened his storage.
‘Huh?’
It was totally empty. What? Had his house been robbed? How? Had he stayed away too long? Zelo felt shocked.
— Zelo... please
— He actually forgot
— Dude you yourself put it back in your inventory... for Miner coins...
— So it really is from zero lol
Right, he’d forgotten. Zelo had carried all that iron to get verified for his second-class Miner advancement to prove his commitment to the Miner path. He’d forgotten about it and went straight to Sweet Radish’s house, thinking that everything was sitting safely in his storage like usual.
“Th-Then...”
All the iron that rained down after he died... had been his. Despair crashed over him.
“Hwaaaaaaah!” he wailed in raw grief.
— LOOOOOOL
— AHAHAHA
— That’s a clip for sure
— I’m dying
The viewers were ecstatic. For streamers, sometimes the best way to convey their sheer despair was just to let it rip. Of course, Zelo wasn’t acting. He truly felt deeply crushed.
“Dammit! Argh! Am I crazy?!”
Thud! Thud!
He furiously kicked at the walls of his hut.
“Haa... haa...” Even as he panted, the anger didn’t fade.
He had lost everything. Not just the loot he tried to steal, but also every bit of iron he had mined. Even the equipment he had crafted with his own hands. The days he had spent in the mines with Choco Shroom flashed before his eyes like a cruel slideshow.
Ding.
[ThatWasYou has donated 10,000 won.]
[Back at the start...]
The donation message rang out like a funeral bell.
“Hwaaaaaaaaah!” Zelo wailed again.
— LOOOOOOL
— Hahaha
— Unbelievable lol
— Too funny
The 10,000-won donation triggered a random buff.
[Random Buff]
[Attribute: Fire]
Fwoooosh!
Flames engulfed Zelo’s body.
“Hwaaaaaaaaah!!” He continued wailing in the fire.
— Legend
— Honestly fair
— This is too much, haha
Ding.
[Rude has registered a mission!]
[Put your fist in your mouth and cry: 200,000 won]
Through his tears, Zelo glanced at the mission and shoved his fist into his mouth. “Mmmmmmhh!”
— LOOOOOOL
— This is insane
— He’s a crying clown...
— Why’s this actually killing me?
Ding.
[Oo has donated 10,000 won.]
[While Almond is out having lunch with friends, this guy is eating his own fist lol]
[Random Buff]
[Attribute: Poison]
Shhhhhh!
A green miasma seeped from Zelo’s body.
“What’s the point of these buffs now?! Huh?! What good are they now?!”
— LOOOOOOL
— For real
— Too late, haha
— Slow like the streamer himself
Knock, knock.
Someone tapped at the hut door. “M-Mr. Zelo?”
It was Choco Shroom.
Creak.
Zelo opened the door.
The moment Choco Shroom saw him, she dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground. “Mr. Zelo! I’m so sorry! I-I threw the remote by mistake! I thought the last item was the sign...”
— Biggest troll of all time
— LOL
— Get out
— Female Bubblegum hahaha
— So it really was an accident lmao
— GTFO Bubble Girl
Zelo, who had been raging at his viewers a moment earlier, shook his head. “N-No... It’s fine. Things happen in life.”
— You literally died
— You didn’t live lol
— LMAO he can’t even scold a girl
— Female Bubblegum LOL
— All-time troll, for sure
The chat absolutely despised Choco Shroom.
Zelo sighed and shook his head. “I’m done being a miner. All my ore is gone anyway.”
“Huh? Y-You’re quitting?”
“Yeah. Like an idiot, I carried everything with me instead of leaving it in storage.”
Choco Shroom’s eyes widened as she jumped to her feet. “What?! R-really?”
“Yes, it’s over.”
“No, you can’t quit mining! You even advanced to Miner Second Class!”
“And that’s exactly why all this happened!!” His sudden roar made her flinch.
— Holy crap lol
— That was loud haha
— Zelo Cola with the sudden burst
“M-Mr. Zelo...” Her gaze wavered.
Zelo calmed down again. “Sorry. Mining Second Class will be useful somewhat, but right now... I don’t have the strength for it.”
Then, Choco Shroom began dropping items onto the floor. “Here. This is everything I have. Take it. Start over.”
“What...?”
“I don’t need iron ore. Without you, I’d have been a failed farmer anyway.”
— Whoa
— For real?
— Oh man...
— She’s giving everything away?
“N-No, you can’t give me all this.”
“It’s fine. Take it all. I’ll start over. It was my fault.”
— Awww
— Choco Shroom is an angel
— Female Bubblegum redeemed?
Seeing the chat soften toward her, Zelo hesitated. He blinked and quietly began shoving the ore into his inventory.
Choco Shroom’s eyes trembled.
‘I thought he’d at least refuse twice...’
— LOL what was that?
— He took it so fast lol
— Warm words, cold hands...
She had expected him to return at least half. Still, she didn’t falter and pressed on. “Anyway... I set something up with the Nonghyup Union.”
“What?”
“Try selling them the ore. I sent whispers to a few members. The response wasn’t bad.”
She had reached out to the Nonghyup members and proposed a trade. A few had agreed to meet.
— That’s what you call support
— Rising from the ashes
— Iron magnate arc incoming?
— Making up for trolling at least
Zelo’s first iron deal could potentially happen soon.
***
Meanwhile, the servants had finished eating and logged back in.
Whoosh.
“Did you enjoy your meal, sir?”
“Yeah, Potato Servant. I did.”
— Is this the army lol
— Potato Servant hahaha
They had eaten faster than the rest because they settled for fast food near their place.
“Why are the new brats taking so long with lunch?” Potato Servant grumbled, his lips jutting out. “Huh?”
His eyes went wide.
“N-No way... what the!?”
— ?
— WTF
— Holy crap lol
— What is that...
The entire front of Sweet Radish’s house had been blown away.
“What the hell happened here!?”
“N-No...” Radish Servant felt stunned too. It was his house, after all.
— Bruh
— What am I even looking at?
— LMAO
“This won’t do, Sir Radish Servant.” Potato Servant fumed and stormed into the server chat.
[SweetPotato: Who dared to blow up our front gate!?]
[SweetPotato: You dare touch the Knights’ stronghold? Confess and I won’t kill you. Ten seconds.]
[SweetPotato: No, never mind. Don’t confess. There’s no point. I’m not letting this go anyway!]