Season 4: Chapter 135. Servant Negotiations (3)

Potato Servant’s eyes trembled wide. “Did you say... 1%?”

“That’s right.”

“So, you’ll let me live the life of the top 1%?

Ahahaha?!

”

“You wretched foooool!”

Thud!

Radish Servant kicked Potato Servant square in the head. Potato Servant’s huge head snapped back like a punch machine.

— lolololol

— Radish Servant’s kick skill keeps leveling up

— I’m crying lol

— Too funny

“Top 1%, my foot! We took in a beggar from the bottom 0.01%, clothed and fed you, and you still want more!?”

“Ah,

ow!

I-I’m sorry... b-but 1% sounds so...”

“Do you even know our Knight Order’s current profits?”

“Are... are we struggling?” Hearing that there was nothing for him, Potato Servant assumed the Order wasn’t earning much.

“What nonsense. The Order is thriving. It won’t be long before we’re the richest in the village.”

“Hey! I mean, Sir... t-then why only 1%!?”

For a second, the real Sweet Potato slipped out.

— lolol

— Real one almost came out

— He’s genuinely mad lol

“Because with profits this high, even 1% is plenty.”

“...”

— Damn

— Is Radish Servant a small-firm veteran or what lol

— Low-key true though. Why give equity?

— Indie-company mindset lol

“What about everything I’ve done? All my hard work?” Potato Servant pleaded for mercy.

“You think an entry-level grunt gets stock options? Should I just pay you a salary?”

“Weren’t we a startup!? Don’t startups hand stock to fresh hires!?”

“And do you think fresh hires at startups are truly fresh? They’re stacked with experience and credentials!”

“Why do you know this stuff so well!? You were a pro gamer!!”

“What’s that got to do with anything!?”

“So, you’re gonna dump your shares and exit the Knight Order, is that it!?”

Neither side yielded an inch.

— Why are they so knowledgeable? lol

— Did they study startups for this negotiation?

— Stock options and exits in a Knight Order, I’m dying

They had studied hard so they wouldn’t lose to Almond. To defeat a greater enemy, they had honed their “martial arts,” only for Almond’s scheme to turn them against each other.

Radish Servant grabbed Potato Servant by the collar. “Exit? I’ll be buried with this company! I’m taking it to an IPO (Initial Public Offering)!”

“Oh yeah? And when we’re listed, you won’t give a founding member a single stock option? Who would join such a Knight Order!? Everyone knows I’m one of the founding members!”

“You imbecile!”

Thwack! Thump!

No matter how many kicks he took from Radish Servant, Potato Servant didn’t back down.

“Raise it! R-Raise it!!”

“Let go! Hands off!”

Potato Servant knew that if he got locked at 1% now, it would never go up.

— Clutching his pants lol

— Potato Servant’s desperation is real

— Give him more, you tyrant

— Almond predicted this mud fight and dipped...

— Stay strong, Potato Servant

“

Tsk!

Fine.” Radish Servant announced, bored with the struggle.

“!?”

“I’ll raise it to 2.5%. That’s more than double. With that, you’ll be considered village rich. Surely the debtor, who couldn’t even pay his debts, wouldn’t dare to demand more?”

— 2.5% lol

— So stingy

— But coming up from 1% makes it tempting...

— He’s wavering

“Try to push further, and I’ll expel you.”

“W-What!?”

“I already have master’s authority.”

What on earth had awakened inside Radish Servant? What had turned him into this? Seeing Potato Servant fall silent, Radish Servant took it as acceptance.

“Don’t look so sour. I’ve shed my old self. Now, there is only the Knight Order.”

‘What nonsense.’

A beat of silence passed.

“Understood. I’ll take 2.5%.”

“Good. Wise choice.”

Clack.

Radish Servant placed a hand on Potato Servant’s shoulder. “If you keep performing, it’ll go up. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Well... 2.5 wasn’t bad. The Order’s profits would be enormous anyway. Potato Servant comforted himself, but he didn’t know one thing.

Radish Servant whispered to his own viewers, “The fool has no idea where that 2.5 comes from.”

It wasn’t 2.5% of the entire Order’s profits, but 2.5% of Radish Servant’s 40%. Doing the math, it came out to exactly 1%. The very 1% Potato Servant had refused at the start.

— Gasp lol

— Wait... 2.5 of Sweet Radish’s cut??

— I’m deceased

— So it is 1% in the end

— Master negotiator

— Layers upon layers of scheming lol

“Up you go, Potato Servant. We’ve got Knight interviews today.”

“...!”

At the mention of recruits, Potato Servant’s face lit up, and not in a kind way.

“

Heh-heh...

Someone’s dead, whoever they are.”

He fully intended to uphold the Order’s proud, cruel tradition.

— Potato Servant, you menace lol

— Top-tier talent

— The Order’s tiny devil

Thump.

“Why aren’t you answering your whispers, seniors!?” Maid Black Tea burst into Sweet Radish’s house.

“Uh... huh?”

“I kept saying I found something and... huh?” Maid Black Tea glanced around at the overturned chairs and sofas scattered across the room.

“Did you two... have a duel or something?”

“N-No. Just a little salary negotiation.”

— ?

— Salary negotiation, really lol

— Even negotiations turn into duels in the Knight Order

— This is what they call bargaining?

Black Tea’s viewers felt shocked at the state of the house, but the ones truly stunned were the servant duo’s viewers.

“You two seem... quite close.

Ahem.

Anyway, I picked up something.”

Clack.

Black Tea revealed the item.

[Remote Detonation Device]

“!?”

Only a miner with a second job advancement could craft such an explosive device.

“I found this on one of the Nonghyup bastards’ corpses.”

***

The morning of Day 3 in Cheese Village arrived.

On Streamer Garden, discussions about Cheese Village dominated the online community. With nearly every streamer participating, no other topic existed. The entire scene revolved around it.

[The whole world is just Survival Craft now]

[When does this Survival Craft era end...?]

[Take Survival Craft away~~~]

Cheese Village was a massive project. For something that big, it had to deliver entertainment. So far, things were sailing smoothly.

“It’s about time. Once this goes up, the tides will shift.”

As Ju-Hyeok said, today’s release of

Welcome to Cheese Village Episode 1

would decide the project’s fate.

‘With YouTube, if Episode 1 flops, the later ones have no chance...’

The start was everything. The teaser had done well, but teasers were like movie trailers. Plenty of films died after flashy previews. If the first episode disappointed, Ju-Hyeok could already picture the backlash.

[So the teaser was the only good part lol Welcome to Chee~~se Village]

[Ep 1 is so dull, did they burn all the budget on the trailer?]

[Did the editing team quit right after the teaser?]

He could already hear the complaints in his head. Years of dealing with online ghosts had trained him to predict how they’d react. That came with pros and cons. The con was imaginary stress and being cursed out in his mind before anyone even said anything.

— They gathered Zelo, Bubblegum, CutiePie and still made this? That’s talent.

— Peak MZ cringe lol were old men behind this?

— Release us from this Survival Craft era already

— Who even planned this? Wasn’t Almond’s manager part of it?

The phantom chat scrolled by in his brain.

Tap, tap.

Ju-Hyeok nervously chewed his nails.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

‘Dammit.’

As Almond’s manager, he was used to being behind the scenes and quietly pulling the strings.

‘This is the first time something I planned is going public like this.’

His project, all his efforts, now lay bare before the masses. And Cheese Village wasn’t cheap. Money poured in from everywhere for the servers, operations, casting fees, and production costs.

‘This has to succeed.’

Ding.

[Cheese_Official has uploaded a new video.]

The series went live.

‘Finally!’

Ju-Hyeok rushed to click it.

[Premiere in 1 hour!]

Thunk.

He slammed his forehead onto the desk before he realized it.

“R-Right. We decided to do that...”

He’d known, but forgot. One by one, people like him gathered.

[14,000 waiting]

In seconds, the waiting room filled past ten thousand with the premiere still an hour away.

‘Good. We’re already at ten thousand... The benchmark is a hundred thousand live watchers.’

The numbers looked good. Whether viewers would love it after watching was another matter, but at least the theater was filling up.

— Hihi

— Finally...

— It’s here lol so hyped

— At last, my healing game

— Premiere hype!

— Let’s gooooo

— Please, give my Acorn Jelly some screentime!

— So the Cheese Village streamers are doing a battle royale, right? Is this it?

— Yesss finally

Users bubbled with excitement as they waited.

A tense Ju-Hyeok spent the hour scouring reactions.

[Now Premiering!]

The video began.