Season 4: Chapter 130. Fishing (1)
The next day. Sang-Hyeon rubbed his eyes as he woke up. Almost by instinct, his hand searched for his phone.
“Oh...” He scrolled through the latest news.
The community reacted quite strongly.
[Where did Almond go??]
[Cheese Village is insanely fun lol]
[The Nonghyup Union had it coming for them]
[All the others play like game addicts, but only Almond acts like a regular adult. It’s hilarious.
[Bubblegum actually pulled it off lol]
On Streamer Garden, users only talked about Cheese Village for nearly the entire day. Even on LIL Pro, threads about Cheese Village made it to the Big Board.
[Big: Chaos in Cheese Village after only two days.]
“Even LIL Pro...” Sang-Hyeon nodded in satisfaction.
He didn’t click the post because spoilers would ruin the fun. The posts went something like this:
==== ====
Everyone’s gone crazy over farming. Efficiency is just too good. Under Donuts’s lead, they formed the Nonghyup Union, a total scam guild.
Even while logged out, they shared fields, harvested nonstop, farmed twenty-four hours a day, and used communal cold storage. It looked like they might end up controlling the whole village economy.
Then, Almond crossed the Silk Road. His absurd Fertile Soil completely rebalanced the game. The All Black Gang appeared. Once a noble, Sweet Radish became Radish Servant. The Nonghyup Union nearly collapsed under Almond’s potato illusion magic lol.
==== ====
In short, a ridiculous number of things had already happened.
— Whoa
— Actually, if you count the hours, that’s three days’ worth. They’ve been pulling all-nighters lol
— Even from Bubblegum’s perspective, this is hilarious.
└ Yeah, all the other POVs are fun too.
— Wow lol
— Can’t wait for the edited video. For real
└ Is it today?
└ No clue, no schedule. Only teasers so far.
— Poor Zelo stuck between those two giant factions lol
└ lol Zelo’s screen time deleted
— Scary Almond Story: except for forming the Nonghyup Union, nearly everything described was Almond’s doing.
└ lolololol
└ For real lol
— Beautiful
— When’s the official video dropping? The teaser was insane.
— If Almond’s POV video goes up, views will explode lol
The comments piled up, brimming with excitement. Thanks to that, Sang-Hyeon felt refreshed as he went out for his morning jog. Cheese Village consumed his attention, but a part of him remained focused on preparing for the Platform War. He couldn’t neglect his body or mind.
‘Orange... is still out there.’
Recalling Orange only fueled his determination further.
“Huff. Huff. Huff...!”
He pushed harder and ran faster through the riverside park.
***
Ji-Ah had stayed up all night while Cheese Village pressed forward at full throttle.
“Sigh... Our channel will end up the slowest.”
Some streamers had already uploaded their edited Cheese Village highlights, but Ji-Ah hadn’t finished yet.
“Everywhere I look, it’s Almond, Almond, Almond.”
Ji-Ah couldn’t handle all the Almond’s highlights in a single day. She would need at least four or five separate videos to cover everything. On top of that, because of Cheese Village’s interconnected structure, even events after Almond logged off tied back to him. She had to reach out to other streamers’ editors just to secure relevant footage.
[Macaron: Received the video.]
[Macaron: (Attachment)]
Bzzz.
Bzz.
The new editor, Macaron, handled that task. Once known for making parody videos of Almond, they had recruited him to join the team. Persuading Macaron had taken a while. He rarely left home and hardly interacted with people. Usually, he just did his work and didn’t talk much.
[Ji-Ah: Thank you. Please handle File 4 as well.]
[Macaron: Got it!]
These short messages were the extent of their exchanges. They had never even met. With MixedNuts lacking an actual office for now, they didn’t even have a place to meet.
‘Maybe we’ll meet once the office is ready?’
Ju-Hyeok was preparing a space for MixedNuts. If that happened, Ji-Ah could finally meet Macaron in person. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person he was. Could he handle this work long-term?
‘Wait... does that make me his boss?’
She had never thought of herself in that way. How she gave him tasks and the way he asked her questions and sought her approval... This totally felt like a boss-subordinate dynamic to her.
‘Should I... discipline him or something?’
Ji-Ah imagined calling him Servant Macaron and immediately cringed at herself. Of course, she could never actually act like that. Just holding a normal conversation with people was hard enough.
Thump.
Ji-Ah smacked her own forehead and shook her head. “Ugh. What are you doing, Seo Ji-Ah? Get to work.”
Too much time had already slipped away. She had no room for pointless thoughts. They’d be in serious trouble if they fell behind the official Cheese channel’s uploads.
***
Bang!
Sang-Hyeon shoved the front door open and stepped inside.
“Phew... Now it really feels like summer.”
Spring had ended with the world championship tournament. The muggy season began creeping in, but today was the first day that truly screamed summer. Heat shimmered off the ground, and even a short walk left sweat clinging to the skin.
He stripped off his shirt the moment he stepped inside and headed straight for the shower.
Shhhhhhaaa!
Ju-Hyeok grumbled from the other room. “Ugh... Does this guy have to be so damn productive...”
The sunlight flooding through Sang-Hyeon’s curtains and the noise of him storming in had woken Ju-Hyeok up.
“I need to buy a sleeping mask or something.”
Scratching his messy hair, Ju-Hyeok shuffled to the kitchen and slid some bread into the toaster. Not for himself, but for Sang-Hyeon.
“Still, at least I’ll feed you before I send you off to Cheese Village.”
Ding~
The bread popped up. He spread some butter and jam on it for a simple sandwich and poured a glass of milk.
“Oh.” Sang-Hyeon’s eyes lit up as he came out with a towel around his shoulders. “Bread today.”
“Yeah. Hey! Dry off properly, would you? And don’t walk around naked.”
“Ah, I forgot.” Sang-Hyeon’s careless reply made it obvious that he hadn’t forgotten at all.
He tugged on a pair of pants, sat down, and clasped his hands dramatically.
“Thanks for the food~!”
Crunch.
The perfectly toasted bread was crispy on the outside and buttery rich on the inside. The jam’s tangy sweetness cut through it all magnificently.
“Thuh we ahrh ehhrrr? (Why breakfast so early?)”
Ju-Hyeok sat across from him and answered, “You’re heading straight into Cheese Village, right? You need food in your stomach first. At our age, it’s hard to keep up if your sugar crashes in there.”
Gulp.
“Our age?”
For the record, they weren’t the same age. Sang-Hyeon often pulled this card in moments like this.
“You punk! Only when it suits you, huh!” Ju-Hyeok swung a fist through the air as a mock threat.
Sang-Hyeon doubled over laughing and clutched his stomach. “But how did you know that I was going into Cheese Village?”
“You heard about Orange yesterday, didn’t you?” Ju-Hyeok smugly shrugged.
“Oooh... Deduction on par with Almondoyle.”
“That’s the worst deduction possible.”
Ju-Hyeok burst into laughter at Sang-Hyeon’s blank face.
“So, you’re going in, right?”
“Yeah.”
Ju-Hyeok had guessed correctly. Sang-Hyeon would head straight back into Cheese Village. Orange partly had to do with it, sure, but the real reason was much simpler. The truth was, Sang-Hyeon was actually enjoying himself.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve talked this much with people.’
Chatting with new faces and working together felt more fun than he’d expected. Back when he was working at Ah-Sung, he only ever wished to work alone. After quitting, he found himself relishing teamwork and camaraderie.
‘It’s quite a mystery...’
Sang-Hyeon scratched his head. Maybe it was something to think about later.
Clack.
He downed the milk in one go and set the glass down.
“I’m off.”
After carrying his dishes to the sink, he headed straight for the capsule.
Ju-Hyeok simply waved, too busy chewing on his own toast.
***
Ding.
[Almond has logged in.]
The notice flashed across the Cheese Village server chat at exactly eight in the morning. At this hour, most streamers were offline. Anyone active had basically stayed up all night, and few could manage that.
“Ugh... I-I’m done for today.”
“Yeah, same here.”
Even Zelo and Choco Shroom, who had gone nearly two days without sleep, finally hit their limit.
— T_T
— Rip Zelo
— For real, they lasted quite long
— Go sleep lol
— You’ll die at this rate lol
Most had burned out on the first or second night. By the third morning at eight, Cheese Village was practically deserted. Even the servant duo and the new recruits were gone.
“What the... It’s so empty.”
Maybe it was just the time of day. Not only were the streamers missing, but even viewers trickled in later than usual.
— Morning stream? lol
— Rushing in like I’m commuting
— Damn
— This is the corporate worker lifestyle lol
— All the streamers are asleep
— Almond living like a normal adult is hilarious lol
To them, it felt strange to see Almond logging off at night and logging back on in the morning. This was perfectly normal for ordinary people, but almost unheard of in the streamer world.
— His body remembers the 9-to-5... what is this place...?
— Peak normal person routine
— Watching Almond on my way to work, I’m blessed
— “At a normal hour”
— All the streamers are gone, only Almond remains lol
‘I didn’t think it’d be this empty...’
He felt a little awkward, almost like he was the only one having fun. At the same time, another thought came to mind.
‘Is this... my chance?’
He spotted an opening, a chance to move unseen, free from prying eyes. Maybe, just maybe, this was the moment to do what he’d been waiting for.
“Everyone, today I’m really going to try it.” His tone brimmed with resolve.
— ?
— What?
— ??
— Don’t tell me you’re gonna kill everyone?
— Is the whole map about to turn fertile?
— Destroying Cheese Village...?
Wild guesses flew around, but he planned on doing something entirely different and perhaps even more dangerous.
“I’m going fishing.”
Finally, he could achieve his long-cherished goal!
— Whoa
— No way
— Fishing lololol
— Wait, you’re still trying that?? lol
— Fishing?? What did Cheese Village ever do to deserve this??
Bam!
[RubySword has donated 100,000 won!]
[??? (Translation: Today, I will truly kill them all.)]
— That translation tho
— lololol Nut-tilion translator
— Nut announcing the end of the world lol
— He really means to wipe them out T_T
Despite his declaration, no one believed him.
“One hundred thousand won... urgh?”
[Random Status Effect: Dizziness]
RubySword’s donation triggered a status effect.
“Wha, what the...?”
His screen tilted and swayed as his avatar stumbled like he would topple over.
— lololol
— What the hell? lol
— Even stuff like this exists? lol
— Stop him before he destroys the village with fishing! \o/ \o/
— lololol
Were the viewers deliberately sabotaging him now?
[Xiaolongbao has donated 100,000 won!]
[Recruiting to kill Almond (2/10,000)]
[GodlifeFan has donated 100,000 won!]
[Freeze!]
Boom! Boom!
One bizarre debuff after another hit him. Almond could barely even reach the door, staggering under the effects.
“I... I’m still... going to fish...”
Clack.
He grabbed the doorknob and forced the door open.
— lolololol
— Why go this far? lol
— The more you try to stop him, the more stubborn he gets T_T lol
— omg
— What even is fishing??