Season 4: Chapter 120. The Invaders (3)
KWA-BOOM!
A burst of crimson lava shot up from the white volcano.
“Volcano sable cake, everyone.”
Servers placed slices in front of each guest. A white mound of cake, dripping with molten-red “lava,” sat on every plate.
“Woooow~!” The archery club members cheered and snapped photos.
Despite being a dessert, this volcano sable cake was the restaurant’s signature dish.
“This is the one I saw on Runestar, right?”
“Unreal. Amazing.”
A slice appeared before Sang-Hyeon as well.
“The snowcap is almond powder, and the lava is raspberry jam. Enjoy.”
“Oh.”
At the mention of almond powder, he leaned in with interest and took a bite.
Crisp.
The base was a delicate biscuit that tasted rich and buttery with a soft crunch. Above it, the light cake, layered with nutty cream and almond powder, folded around the biscuit’s flavor and melted at the touch of his tongue. The once-crispy bite dissolved like mist. Then, the raspberry jam struck with a sharp, refreshing punch.
Pop.
Sang-Hyeon’s eyes widened. He had never experienced dessert like this.
Dongsu supplied the reaction he couldn’t put into words. “Mmmmmm~~!”
He clearly thought it was incredible.
“Ugh. What’s with that noise?”
“Pathetic. Embarrassing.”
“Jeez, you scared my ears.”
People laughed as they teased Dongsu. Sang-Hyeon laughed along. Eating a sweet dessert with good people turned out to be more enjoyable than he imagined.
“Wow. Delicious.”
Raspberry lava trickled down the side of his cut cake.
***
KWA-BOOM!
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
At that very moment in Cheese Village, lava flowed as well, only this was no raspberry jam.
“The... the plaza!?”
The village square was melting.
Rumble...!
Thick black smoke billowed into the air, doubling the fear.
“What’s happening?!”
“An intruder! We’ve got intruders in the village!!”
The Cheese Village streamers screamed and scattered.
Meanwhile, the Paprika Village streamers laughed.
“Wahaha! The age of peace in Cheese Village is over!” The leader, a streamer called Shrimp, declared triumphantly. “Now you’ve seen our power!”
Over twenty Paprika streamers had pooled every coin they had to create one single Lava Shaman, Shrimp himself. He climbed onto the volcanic rock he’d raised.
“Hup... there.”
With some effort, he stood on top and announced, “This is the eye-level between you and me.”
— ?
— What is this? lol
— He really said hup
— His knees hurt or what
— Hahahahahahaha
His need to stand higher only made him look ridiculous, but that didn’t matter. His point stood. The Lava Shaman’s overwhelming strength made the power gap impossible to bridge.
“Ahem. Anyway!” He continued. “If you bring us food regularly, there will be no casualties.”
The villagers murmured.
“Wait, they barged in here just to demand food?”
“‘Provide us with our daily bread...’ Is that what this is?”
“They sound like beggars.”
The Paprika villager’s expressions hardened. They hadn’t expected such reactions.
— LOOOOOOL
— The villagers’ faces omg
— They really came for food??
— What are they, freeloaders?
Paprika Village had no farmland. They were rich in ore, but starving for food. To the abundant Cheese villagers, hearing invaders demand meals after all this destruction was laughable.
“Th-These capitalist swine! Brother, let’s just start the revolution! Kill them!” Salt shouted, full of venom.
He had lost everything to Almond, including his items and his life.
“Calm down,” Shrimp whispered.
‘If we actually fight, we don’t know how it’ll end. We’re outnumbered.’
‘R-Right.’
Even with a Lava Shaman, their numbers couldn’t compare. Many of them hadn’t even managed to advance to Miner jobs because they had dumped all their coins into Shrimp.
Meanwhile, most Cheese villagers had already gone through at least a first advancement. The only advantage they had was Shrimp’s magic and the fear it inspired. They had to scare them, not fight.
“Offer thirty days’ worth of food! Do that, and we’ll leave without a single casualty!” Shrimp raised a hand and summoned another lava ball.
Rumble...!
It writhed and glowed menacingly.
One terrified villager asked, “Do you swear there will be no deaths?”
“Yes, I promise. No one will die. Even now, no one has died at...”
Then, it happened.
“Aaaahhh! Help me!!”
One of the herbalists, trying to slip away from the plaza, stumbled into the lava and burst into flames.
[Bubblegum has melted.]
Bubblegum had wrongly stepped into the molten rock.
— ?
— ??
— Holy crap hahahahaha
— Killed himself...
— That’s a casualty right there
— LMAO
Silence fell, but no one pressed the issue. Instead, the conversation shifted to the logistics of delivering food.
“Alright, fine. They won’t kill us, but how do we do this? Who’s going to provide it?”
“Yeah. Who brings how much?”
“What about people who aren’t farmers?”
“Do we collect it like taxes?”
— No one cares about Bubblegum lmao
— He doesn’t even count as a casualty?
— Poor Gum-hyung...
Cheese Village found itself in a bind. Even if they wanted to, they had no system of paying. Unlike Paprika, they never united under a single structure. They had no authority to decide who owed what. The indecision dragged on.
Shrimp lost his patience. “Fine! Then we’ll take it ourselves! We’ll raid the biggest storehouse!”
Snap!
He pointed at the massive refrigerated warehouse in plain sight.
The Nonghyup members’ eyes bulged.
‘Shit.’
‘What do we do?’
‘We’re screwed.’
Because the largest storehouse in the village... was the Nonghyup’s communal warehouse.
“Judging by their faces, that’s the one, right? Let’s go, everyone!”
“W-Wait, wait a second!” Donuts rushed out. “Please, just wait a moment!”
The Paprika villagers, who looked ready to charge, hesitated.
‘Is that... Donuts?’
‘It is Donut!’
‘No way.’
The crowd buzzed at Donuts, the massive economics streamer with millions of subscribers. He was the last person anyone expected to take part in this kind of content, yet here he was in Cheese Village. Clearly, the villagers had shelled out big money.
“Hmph. And who might you be?” Shrimp asked, pretending not to know.
“Well, I... I’m, uh, the head of an association here. Since we don’t have a voting system in place yet, we can’t exactly organize the food supply. If you just take from whoever you like, then there’ll be no way to gather anything at all next time. The ones you rob won’t want to pay again, and the rest will simply wash their hands of it. Even back in the Yuan dynasty, they gave deadlines when taking tribute! You need to give people time to gather before you can demand anything.”
In other words, he was asking for time.
“Hmph. How long?”
“One week, in server time.”
“No... Five days. You get five.”
“Fine... Five days.”
“In five days, we’ll return, stronger than before. Don’t do anything foolish.”
One by one, the Paprika invaders pulled out their Return Scrolls.
Shhhk. Shhhk. Shhhk.
“Wh-What the...?”
“Are they magicians?”
They vanished, leaving only one figure behind. Orange glanced around the village and pulled out a flyer from his inventory.
[WANTED]
Flap.
He tossed it to the ground. “If you see this man, report to us immediately. He is extremely dangerous.”
Shhhk.
Then, he too disappeared.
The villagers gathered around to inspect the flyer.
“What’s this?”
“Who’s that supposed to be?”
“Hmm... this...”
With everyone reduced to stubby chibi avatars in Survival Craft, it was hard to tell who the composite sketch depicted at a glance. Still, those who had been with the man himself would know. Right then, they came clanking into the square.
Clank, clank...!
The fully armored Knights arrived.
“Who the hell were they?! How dare they cause such havoc and vanish! Where did they go?!” Potato Servant roared.
“If they had stuck around, I would’ve ended them myself! Hehe!” Servant Lemon added.
“They left before the Knights even arrived... Tch.” Even Maid Black Tea was now a full-fledged Knight.
— Late flexing lol
— Potato Servant hahaha
— Oh right, these guys exist
— Maid Black Tea lmao
The Knights had been eating when the commotion broke out. Only now did they reach the square.
Seeing the scorched plaza and flyer, Radish Servant muttered, “Potato Servant, it’s them.”
“What?”
Clack.
Radish Servant held up the wanted poster.
[WANTED]
The Knights recognized Almond’s face on it. Almond had already told them too.
“Outsiders.”
“Gasp!”
The ones who had once been turned into Fertile Soil. They had come for revenge even though they didn’t actually know their target’s whereabouts.
The Knights came to an obvious conclusion.
“They came for Lord Almond?”
“Of course, why else would they make a poster like this?”
“D-Do you think anyone else will recognize him?”
“No. Honestly, no one else can be certain.” Even as Radish Servant said this, his expression twisted.
‘But still...’
That voice he had heard earlier sounded disturbingly familiar.
‘Where have I heard it before?’
It sounded like someone from his pro-gamer days.
***
On the opposite side of the plaza, the Nonghyup members gathered around Donuts.
“Chairman, what were you thinking? Are we really going to pay them?”
“Who gets to decide that? Hm? Who?”
“Pay them? No way.” Donuts turned to the Nonghyup. “Buy up every piece of iron ore Zelo brought.”
That was his plan. For five days, they would prepare a different strategy.
“This is war.”
— Whoa
— Damn
— Insane
— LOL
— Zelo hit the jackpot hahahaha
— The invaders just helped Zelo
The viewers thought Donuts meant war against the Paprika invaders, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.
‘Not every war has to be fought against outsiders.’
With his experience, Donuts knew better.
‘The battle will be over voting rights.’
Whether they liked it or not, conflict would inevitably occur over Cheese Village’s decision. Who would pay the most taxes, and who would defend against invasions? Power would decide everything.
[Almond has logged in.]
At that very moment, Almond returned to Cheese Village after finishing his lunch meeting.