Season 4: Chapter 137. Don’t Play Around (2)

Bzzt.

“Ah, greetings. This is your comrade, Donuts.”

An avatar with an oversized head sat on a small chair in front of a white backdrop. A question floated above Donuts’s head in the interview.

[Did you trust Horn Ramen from the start?]

“No, of course not, but... everyone seemed so young. I thought it was worth talking to him. See, it’s not enough to just know that something is good. You have to know why it’s good.”

— Ah, I get it! Brain survival!

— ??? Come visit Cheese Village!

— Wait, is this a backstab show?? Lol, wasn’t this supposed to be farming and healing??

— The editing feels so off hahaha

It felt like a brain-survival program. At first, viewers couldn’t understand why Producer Jang had gone with this style of editing, but he had his reasons.

‘Well, it didn’t turn out to be healing.’

Since the series had veered so far from its original intent, PD Jang had simply adjusted the editing to match.

Another question popped up over Donuts’s head.

[Why did you think Farmer was the best choice?]

“First off, food is secured right away. It has the same advantage as Fisherman, but fishing is based on probability. If the soil is good for farming, you can gradually increase the odds until it stabilizes. It can be systematized. And...!”

Donuts grinned and tapped his temple.

“The produce market works almost like a miniature stock exchange. That’s where I’m strongest.”

He raised a finger for emphasis.

“And most important of all, it was speed.”

— Speed?

— Why speed??

— Huh?

— Note: stocks = speed...

Bzzt.

The screen cut again, and upbeat music played.

— Haha the BGM

— Total brain-survival vibes

— So much for healing...

Events moved quickly. Donuts crafted a pickaxe and began farming in earnest. Horn Ramen claimed a plot beside him.

Thunk! Thunk!

They plowed the fields and sowed seeds.

Whirr!

The footage sped up, showing their growing crops. They hauled produce to the market and sold exactly according to Donuts’s orders. The profits piled up.

Clap!

They high-fived each other.

“Okay~!”

“Man, that was good~~!!”

Villagers watched with envy or curiosity.

“Do they really make money like that?”

“Looks like it. Just look at that coin pouch.”

Clink.

Donuts rattled his purse on purpose before stashing it in his inventory.

“Here, Donuts. Take some more.” Horn Ramen slipped extra coins into his pouch.

“Eh, hey now! What’s this for?!”

“C’mon, I owe you. You helped me a ton.”

“Ha! Hahaha!

You really know how to play, don’t you?”

— LMAO

— They’re loving it lol

— Too funny hahaha

— So they really started farming right away, huh

Bzzt.

The scene returned to Donuts’s interview.

[Why was speed so important?]

“Checking variables.” He shrugged as if the answer was obvious. “Going in first means you face the system in its rawest form. See, in this game, prices fluctuate even if no one is buying or selling.”

Even without trades, the system created artificial shifts. Once players got involved, their actions added even greater variables.

“At first, only our trades were affecting things. We sold a bit, bought a bit, and logged every number. No pattern emerged. Then I thought, maybe...”

Whoosh.

His words cut to footage of him scribbling.

Scritch.

Donuts sketched out graphs. One by one, familiar shapes appeared.

“There were patterns. Graphs like the Cat Curve and Spike Curve... The kinds that only existed in stock market theories, but here, they were real.”

— No way hahahahaha

— Wtf omg

— As expected of the Ivy League

— Stock Ideals lololol

— This is insane

“I was the first to notice. We kept mixing in our sales until the original graph became unrecognizable.”

Bzzt.

The screen shifted again and fast-forwarded through their progress.

Clink!

“Today’s sales total.” Emmental handed over a heavier pouch from the produce stall.

Clunk!

“Today’s sales total.”

Jingle!

“T-Today’s sales total...”

Clap!

Donuts and Horn Ramen high-fived again as they turned away.

Villagers stared in awe.

“How do they always sell at the peak?”

“What the... Is this the power of Donuts?”

From then on, the villagers’ trust in Donuts grew. Every sale at the market brought more land and wealth. Every time, he sold right at the high point. No matter how often they watched, his dominance remained unshaken.

Then, a narrator cut in. “Donuts’s early dominance was undeniable, but...”

Dundudu~

Ominous music swelled.

Gasp.

— Wait, what??

— What’s happening? lol

— Huh?

— ???

[We will now rank the villagers based on the money they’ve earned so far.]

Swoosh.

A graph slowly appeared.

[1. Sweet Radish]

[2. Donuts]

[3. Horn Ramen]

[4. Black Tea]

— ???

— Sweet Radish???

— Where did he come from?

— Whoa

— What is this?

— No way

Pararararam! Bababam~!

The background music reached a climax, and the screen shifted. A blond man stood at the produce stall, quietly smiling.

[Sweet Radish]

The camera zoomed in on his face, freezing the frame as his profile popped up.

==== ====

Former LIL pro-gamer

2030 LIL Champs Summer Runner-up, 2030 Worlds Runner-up, 2031 LIL Champs Spring Runner-up, 2031 LIL Champs Summer Runner-up, 2031 Worlds Semifinals, plus numerous other runner-up finishes.

Even achieved runner-up at the 2035 LIL Tournament.

Nicknames: The Man of Twos, The King Without a Crown, and more.

==== ====

— LMAO runner-up legend

— His “2nd place history” is insane hahaha

— The King Without a Crown T_T

— The Silver Surfer omg

— Wait, he’s this stacked?

— Even came runner-up at a streamer event? No excuse hahaha

— Peak 2 energy

As his illustrious record of second-place finishes rolled, his interview voiceover played.

“I knew it all along. I just hopped on the bandwagon, but...”

Thump.

The shot cut to Emmental handing him a heavy coin pouch.

“Maybe my bandwagon was a bit too heavy.”

Sweet Radish smirked as he tucked away the pouch.

— Damn

— Hahahaha what

— Unbelievable lol

— So Donuts just made things easy for him??

— Donuts basically ran a stock-tip chatroom hahaha

— Pump group “Hope Edition” lmfao

— Chills omg

Whirrr!

The tape rewound and took the viewers back one hour earlier.

[One hour ago]

“Farmer?”

As Horn Ramen and Donuts whispered in secret, they hadn’t been as alone as they thought. A blond-haired avatar had been listening.

“Huh, what’s that? Farmer?”

[Sweet Radish]

Dun!

With dramatic music, the camera zoomed in on his face. He turned to Sweet Potato’s avatar beside him.

“They said Farmer. Farmer.”

“Farmer?”

“Donuts whispered it to Horn Ramen.”

“Really?”

Thump.

The frame froze, and the narration continued. “Yes. Donuts didn’t hide his success. He flaunted it. And by doing so, he gave quick-footed followers the chance to profit even more than him.”

— Whoa...

— Life lesson right there

— Damn...

— The downfall of a show-off rich guy

— And Sweet Radish is the one who took it all lol

This wasn’t just the tale of vanity and flaunted wealth.

[However...]

Bzzzt!

The timeline snapped back to the present, returning to Donuts’s interview. The background music changed into something darker.

Dun-dun~

“Oh, that guy? I knew.”

— Huh? He knew??

— What???

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

— This isn’t brain survival, this is war

— Unbelievable lmao

A new question floated above his head.

[Then, why did you let it happen?]

Donuts shook his head with a grin.

“Young folks don’t get it. What really matters in the stock market...” He clenched his fist and held it up. “... is influence.”

Boom!

With a thunderous sound, the music cut out and the screen went black.

[Two hours later]

A scream rang out in the darkness.

“

U-Uaaaarghhh!!

”

An avatar, blurred with mosaic, collapsed at the produce stall and howled.

“B-Bankrupt!? Admin! How can I be bankrupt!? Doesn’t the price change today? W-When does it change!?”

“Unfortunately, the adjustment period has already passed. It cannot be changed.”

“P-Please! Admin, no, madam! What do you mean it can’t be changed!?”

“It cannot be changed.”

It looked like someone had been utterly crushed by Donuts.

— So much for healing hahahahaha

— Shut it down! Cheese Village!

— Who was it??

— Is Sweet Radish the one who got wrecked??

— No way lol

— None of the teaser scenes have even happened yet...

— Cheese Village was already hell before Almond even arrived...