Season 4: Chapter 154. Spoils of War (1)

Once again, Paprika villagers returned in defeat.

“W-What do we do now?”

Shrimp, their leader, sat crouched in the middle of the village square with his shoulders slumped. He had commanded the entire operation. This crushing failure was his to bear. The weight of it pressed on him like lead. Still... perhaps this was what it meant to be a streamer.

— Cheer up, Shrimp...

— Shrimp lost his country, lol

— Welcome to Paprika!

— Is this your first dual-stream here today??

Only the viewers comforted him. It was Shrimp’s first time doing a simultaneous stream on Paprika, but the chat was surprisingly warm. Some even sent donations.

[WelcomeFee has donated 100,000 won!]

[There weren’t many Survival Craft pros on Paprika, good to have you here!]

[ShrimpBro has donated 50,000 won!]

[I watched you often on YouTube, Shrimp lol. Hang in there!]

Shrimp had worried about Paprika’s raw and chaotic atmosphere, but it turned out to be fine. It felt almost cozy.

“Ah, the... the stream is on, huh? Everyone, thank you. And, uh, sorry. We started with a total disaster...”

As he offered thanks and apologies, the fallen Paprika villagers began to reappear one by one.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

“Holy!”

“

Ahhhhh?!

Wait, oh. I died, huh.”

“

AAAH!

”

Most of them came back screaming.

— What is this? lol

— They all react the same way lol

— Why are they like this?

Of course, every one of them had been shot down by Almond’s arrows. Shrimp chuckled softly and stood. Maybe it was due to the viewers’ encouragement, but he looked a little lighter now, light enough to joke.

“There’s an old saying in Paprika. When you die, Shrimp, who died first, comes to greet you. I’ve always liked that one...” He spread his arms wide, and the other streamers burst out laughing.

“

Pfft!

Shrimp, you were the first to die, weren’t you?”

“Man, I feel so betrayed. We all dumped our coins on you, and you died first!”

“Shrimp, you clown!”

The Paprika crew joked and teased each other, easing the tension.

— LOL

— Shrimp, you absolute joke

— He really came out to greet them lol

— This guy’s insane hahaha

After all,

Survival Craft

was meant to be fun. Even if immersion was part of the content, it was still just a game. A failed plan wasn’t the end of the world. No one was seriously blaming Shrimp. Still, he bowed his head slightly toward those who’d just returned.

“Sorry, everyone... I ruined the content because of my call.”

They refused to accept his apology in the best possible way.

“What are you talking about? This is even better!”

“This is our style! Team Rocket vibes all the way.”

— Team Rocket style lol

— LMAO

— They’re literal clowns

— They exist purely for comedy

Someone added with a laugh, “If we’d actually taken over that place and colonized it, the chat would’ve turned against us. This is a Cheese event.”

“

Hah!

You’re right.”

— True lol

— If they really colonized it, the outrage mob would’ve exploded

— Cheese fans are sensitive as hell lol

— This is better anyway

Orange nodded. “Yeah. Shrimp, we can just chill here. We don’t have to conquer Cheese Village.”

— Agreed

— Orange speaks facts

— No need to dance to the devs’ tune

— Paprika bros already got this

“You guys...” Shrimp pretended to wipe away tears.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

— This... this is friendship.

— LOL

— Look at that face

— Beautiful

“Right. We’ll build our circle our way. The land’s rough? So what. We’ll farm it. Even if we have to move.”

New ideas began to form in Shrimp’s mind like moving Paprika’s base to somewhere else with richer soil, growing it like Cheese Village, and one day meeting as equals.

“That sounds good.”

“Then, maybe I’ll retire from Team Rocket and go fishing.”

“Let’s ask the admins for help. We’re kinda doomed right now.”

“Yeah, maybe they can toss us a few resources.”

Murmurs spread among the villagers as they looked toward the future. Most agreed that maybe it was time to stop attacking Cheese. They had no real reason to anymore.

“Hatred doesn’t solve anything.” Shrimp sounded almost enlightened.

Truthfully, they had a change of heart for a much simpler reason. They’d lost every single Obsidian ore they’d gathered.

Ding!

[Black Pepper has advanced to the Legendary Class Avenger.]

A sudden notification popped up in the server chat.

“Black Pepper? A legendary class?”

Everyone turned to look at her.

“Huh? Out of nowhere?”

“What did you do?”

“I, I don’t even know!” Black Pepper stared blankly at the floating message before her.

[Avenger]

[You have been killed by the same target ten times. Your hatred for your killer knows no bounds...]

She muttered as she read the script aloud.

“So... basically, I got killed by the same person ten times, and now I’m a legendary class?”

— ?

— ??

— When did that happen? lol

— You died ten times?!

— Is this a bug??

Black Pepper was completely baffled. The others crowded around, asking what happened. Even as she explained, no one understood, not even her.

“What does that even mean?”

— ?

— No clue

— Wtf lol

— ???

The villagers murmured among themselves.

“She died to the same person ten times? How? When?”

“We didn’t even respawn there, did we?”

“This has to be a bug.”

At first, that seemed to be the most likely explanation.

“Wait, sis.” Orange suddenly frowned and rubbed his temple.

A memory resurfaced. It was a vivid and terrifying memory.

“W-We did get killed multiple times by one guy, remember?”

“...!”

Rustle.

He pulled out a wanted poster from his inventory and unfolded it.

[WANTED]

The face printed on it was unmistakably Almond’s.

“N-No way.”

Gulp.

Black Pepper’s eyes widened.

— Whoa...

— What’s happening??

— What does that mean??

“That unknown player... was from Cheese Village?”

The entire Paprika crowd fell silent.

Parsley broke the silence first. “W-Wait a second. If that’s true, we should’ve died ten times too. Why only Black Pepper?”

Salt explained, “Because Black Pepper and I were the first to die. That lunatic killed us while looking for a fishing rod.”

“...”

— The fishing rod killer, omg

— He’s insane lol

— Who is that guy??

— The Cheese folks are terrifying...

Right, Parsley finally remembered.

“Then... just that one death made the difference?”

Black Pepper shook her head, trembling. “N-No... I died

way

more than that. When he attacked, I was the first to die, and almost the last again...”

If she counted roughly, it had to be more than seven or eight times.

“So, it must’ve been exactly nine.”

“Then, that means... that unknown player

is

in Cheese Village...”

Parsley’s eyes quivered. She had always believed the unknown player was someone entirely beyond Cheese, beyond any normal realm.

“W-Wait!” Orange raised a hand with a sharp tone. “Black Pepper, the last time you died... Was it from an arrow?”

An arrow? The Paprika villagers began murmuring, confused. Most of them didn’t even remember how they’d died.

The chatter grew louder until Black Pepper finally answered, “Yeah. I was shot by an arrow.”

“Oh, no...” Orange’s hands trembled as he looked back down at the poster. “I... I think I know who it is...”

He had never appeared on the battlefield, but his presence had already been felt. Someone precise, deadly, and unmistakable. Someone Orange had always been watching closely.

“There was something off about that Knight Order.”

“Huh?”

“That so-called Knight Order... I don’t think Sweet Radish was the real leader.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“You can just

feel

it, you know? I know Sweet Radish, but that type of leadership... wasn’t his.”

“That’s... true.”

“And I saw their banner.”

“You did?”

Next to Sweet Radish’s tent was a strange flag. They hadn’t recognized the symbol at the time.

“I thought it looked weird. But now... now I get it.”

“What? Who is it?”

“It was Almond.”

“!”

Everyone’s eyes went wide.

“Almond?”

“A-Almond?!”

“No way.”

“Yeah, that guy is with Cheese, right?”

“Then... Almond is...”

Orange nodded. “Yeah.”

It all came together. Paprika’s downfall was Almond. Their failed invasion was also due to Almond. The unknown player was Almond. The Knight commander was also Almond. Almond was everything and everywhere all at once.

“ALMOND!!!” Shrimp furiously roared that name. “I’ll kill him myself!!!”

He immediately began plotting another invasion of Cheese Village.

— ?

— Bruh lol

— ??? Hatred solves nothing.

— LMAO what happened to his enlightenment??

— Shrimp went feral again

— The final puzzle piece clicks into place... Shrimp reborn

— HAHAHAHA

— Shrimp’s awakening, omg

***

In a dark forest near Sweet Radish’s house, Almond and his servants gathered in the shadows, grinning.

“

Heh heh heh.

”

“

Fufufu.

”

They kept their greedy laughter low due to the Fertile Soil they had just crafted.

“It needs testing. Bring out a standard one for comparison,” Almond calmly ordered.

“Yes, my lord.”

[Fertile Soil]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Grade: A]

[Description: A rich, black soil forged from blood and sweat. Increases all harvest yields by 300%.]

It boasted a three-hundred-percent yield boost.

“So, when made from humans, it caps at three hundred percent.”

“That’s correct, my lord.”

Monster-made soil yielded only double. Human soil reached three hundred, which was already enough to make anyone lose their mind.

“What if you temper it with the Vermilion Bird’s flames?”

“Then you get this, my lord.”

Clack.

Radish Servant presented the new soil. It looked nearly identical, just with a faint sheen that looked brighter. However, the stats told another story.

— Holy crap lol

— That’s insane

— The stats are different?!

[Fertile Soil]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Grade: S+]

[Description: A rich, black soil forged from blood, sweat, and the feathers of the Vermilion Bird. Increases all harvest yields by 300%.]

[Moisture Retention: Holds water twice as long.]

[Water Management: All harvested crops are at least Grade A with a 15% chance of S-grade growth.]

[Resilient Vitality: Anything touched by the Vermilion Bird’s feather endures through the heat. Crops do not lose their grade even after long storage.]

“The Dragon’s Breath variant was good... but this one surpasses it.”

The Dragon’s Breath soil had granted Warmth, an automatic greenhouse effect that protected crops even in the freezing cold. Useful, yes, but winter was still far off for Cheese Village. This new variant was far more practical.

“This is a jackpot, my lord!” Radish Servant’s eyes gleamed.

“Is it really that impressive?” Almond asked dryly.

Radish Servant nearly spat from excitement. “Of course, my lord! The only reason the Nonghyup Union dominated was because they had cold-storage warehouses!”

He was right. The power of the Nonghyup Union came from more than just Donuts’s market instincts. They possessed refrigerated storage, which allowed them to hoard crops and sell only when prices peaked.

“But with this... we can store crops forever without any warehouse!”

— No way...

— He’s found the perfect soil

— That’s actually broken lol

— They don’t even need cold storage now??

“Crops grown here will

never

spoil!”

In other words, they’d just obtained a free cold-storage system, courtesy of the Vermilion Bird.