Chapter 104: Sang-Hyeon's Reward (3)

Ji-Ah felt a skull-crushing headache followed by blurry visions of the previous night.

'Last night was fun.'

Despite her headache, Ji-Ah couldn't hold back a smile while thinking of last night. They were able to get closer while drinking.

She laughed and talked a lot more than their first time out. Ji-Ah felt a connection with these two that she hadn't felt with anyone in a long time.

They seemed to have warm hearts. Ju-Hyeok would joke that only dead bodies were cold-hearted if she said that.

How else would she think when all the people in her previous workplace were like dead people? Maybe the whole country was full of dead people. Perhaps the country was built for dead people.

They treated those alive worse than those who were dead. No one listened to anyone alive. Only the dead had weight to their words.

Ji-Ah’s company only stopped working their employees overtime when a co-worker died from overwork.

The first thing she felt when she heard the news was relief because, finally, something would change. Finally, someone would listen to that person.

That was the first thing that came to her head. She was one of the dead.

‘Me too.’

"... Anyways, this ceiling is unfamiliar."

Ji-Ah looked up at the ceiling and blinked a few times.

‘Did the light in my room look like that?’

The wallpaper looked different too.

"!"

Fwhip.

Ji-Ah suddenly got up and looked around.

'... W-What the?! Where am I?'

The sunlight shone through the trees and grass and came through the window. It was an unfamiliar scene. Ji-Ah covered her mouth in shock.

'No way...'

Her hunch was correct.

***

"I'm sorry."

Ji-Ah sat at the table with her head down.

On the table was beef tomato soup that Ju-Hyeok made. The aroma of beef and spices made her want to eat, but she apologized first.

Ju-Hyeok took the opportunity to scold her, "Hey, you have to be careful, okay? You're going to get in big trouble like that, you little one."

"..."

For once, Ji-Ah couldn't retaliate.

"Did you know some guy was waiting for you outside your door last night? What if you were alone?!"

"...!" Ji-Ah's eyes widened.

So that's why they brought her here. She thought it was because they couldn't find her keys.

"A guy..."

"Yeah, he was a little shorter than Sang-Hyeon…"

Ju-Hyeok described the man. Only Sang-Hyeon had seen the man, but Ju-Hyeok explained as if he was the one who saw him.

'That bastard... came all the way to my house?'

She could tell from the description that it was her ex-boyfriend. Coincidentally, she also received text messages from him, but ignored and deleted all of them. He must've texted her that he came to her house.

She explicitly told him that she didn't want to see or hear from him anymore, but he still came over despite those warnings.

"The breakup must've been bad," Sang-Hyeon remarked as he sat beside Ji-Ah.

"H-How..." Ji-Ah responded in surprise.

"Your expression and... from this angle, I can see everything. I wasn't trying to look."

Sang-Hyeon pointed at Ji-Ah's phone.

"I'm curious how bad the breakup was if his name on your phone is motherfucker."

"It's a long story."

"I bet it is."

Sang-Hyeon seemed disinterested as he gave a simple reply and started eating the tomato soup.

"B-But thank you. You brought me here thinking it'd be dangerous..."

“Pfft,”?

Sang-Hyeon and Ju-Hyeok just laughed and didn't scold her any further. After their meal, they dropped her off at her house.

When they arrived at her door, Sang-Hyeon patted Ji-Ah on her shoulder and said, "Whenever you feel comfortable, you can tell us. Then I'll tell you too."

"... What are you going to tell me?"

"My first love," Sang-Hyeon smirked with a wide smile that showed his white teeth. His smile looked sad though.

"Sure..."

Sang-Hyeon waved her off as he went back up the stairs. Ji-Ah stared intently at his back.

"Almond's... first love."

A 28-year-old's first love was probably an old tale, but she was still curious.

"I want to know."

***

"Did you drop her off?" Ju-Hyeok asked as he washed the dishes.

"Yeah, of course. I was going to do the dishes."

"I can't stand seeing it stacked up."

"Sure, sure."

Sang-Hyeon sat on the sofa and scratched his head.

The sunlight shining through the trees felt warm. It felt like a holiday for him since yesterday.

"

Ah

, right. We have a meeting with Bubblegum," Ju-Hyeok told Sang-Hyeon as he finished the dishes.

"Two hours before tomorrow's stream, so around 5 P.M. should be good. We decided to meet up at This World."

"

Ah

, online?"

"Yeah, since you’ll be a duo anyways."

Most streamers collaborated by meeting online, especially if it was gaming related and more so with Bubblegum. Bubblegum rarely streamed together in person with other people.

Despite knowing this, Sang-Hyeon felt a little disappointed to hear it.

"We'll be able to meet him if the collab goes well, so don't worry."

"Alright."

Ju-Hyeok told him yesterday that if the stream went well, he and Bubblegum could become main models.

The original plan was for Bubblegum to be the main model alone, but there were talks about adding Almond. However, their chemistry was important.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

'It should be fine then.'

Sang-Hyeon had watched Bubblegum almost every day for over three years. He wasn't worried about their chemistry together.

However, Sang-Hyeon scratched his head in confusion.

"Wait...?"

"What?"

"What am I going to stream today?"

Reaching Diamond was the only thing on his mind. He forgot to look ahead. Ju-Hyeok thought for a moment as well.

"I don't think this is just a temporary problem. Should we discuss it more?"

It felt like a critical moment in Almond's streaming career.

***

Almond's stream didn't turn on even after 3 P.M. The community was slowly starting to talk about him.

[Isn't diamond and master level too much for Almond?]

[Almond plays without thinking, so he'd get fucked in the higher ranks.]

[Probably going to be taught a lesson from masters.]

[Diamond is probably his peak with that gameplay.]

[At the very least, he won't be able to kill everyone like he always does.]

The users seemed to have forgotten that Almond beat JeonJaPa's record four times quicker as they debated his skills again. This was a common sight in gaming communities.

Almond was about to turn on his stream at around 7 P.M. when the posts about him further accumulated.

[This guy's probably scared and switched to a different game. I bet my hands.]

[LOL True. Almond can't play Battle Large anymore.]

[Are these guys trying to provoke Almond so he plays Battle Large? You guys are dark.]

[Almond is going to play Kingdom Age again, you fuckers!]

[Fuck off with that Kingdom shit!]

[I mean, obviously, he's going to get shit on in masters. Would you guys play?]

There were even talks of Almond being too afraid of playing

Battle Large

.

"Oh man."

Sang-Hyeon couldn't help but laugh. He was familiar with this situation and would’ve felt discouraged if there weren't such posts about him.

"I'm going in."

"Okay."

After he checked the community posts, Sang-Hyeon went inside the capsule. The stream turned on around 8 P.M. Despite the late schedule, lots of people tuned in to watch him.

— He's turning his stream on at 8 PM?!

— The OGs tune in an hour before he starts!

— Hey you! Are you getting cocky right after turning to diamond?!

— Another random stream?

— As soon as he hits diamond, he's back!

— Forbes most voted: the streamer who never loses focus!

— Kya, Almond!

— Perfect, right as I finish work!

— What are we jobless people supposed to do in the meantime!

— AlHa! AlHa!

— AlHa! (Almond Hai)

The chat quickly rose. They greeted him positively unlike the community forums.

[Current viewers: 3.8k]

Almost four thousand viewers tuned in as the stream began. It was a small number compared to when he was doing his Diamond challenge.

'This difference is expected.'

Almond didn't care. This was expected.

People worldwide tuned in to watch his Diamond challenge, but he wasn't streaming anything in particular anymore. The view count would go back to normal.

"Hi, Treevy!"

As the intro music finished, more viewers tuned in.

[Current viewers: 5.3k]

Around six to seven thousand viewers would come in once he started playing games. This was good.

— AlHa! AlHa!

— AlHa!

— Haii

— Oh man…

As always, RubySword was the first to donate.

[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]

[Almond, when is your stream with Bubblegum!?]

"

Ah

, that's tomorrow. I wanted to get a taste of Diamond today, but I think I'm going to play against low-tier Masters since my MMR is so high."

— Wow, master...

— Your MMR must be crazy high.

— Master annihilation, go!

— Master annihilation LOL

— Masters is too much. It's not like he's going to be a pro-gamer

Master annihilation was a good content idea since he reached Diamond so quickly. It was natural to plan content around the master rank.

However, the Master rank housed pro players and Almond was simply a streamer.

In his meeting with Ju-Hyeok, they discussed that it was important for Sang-Hyeon to enjoy streaming.

Even though people accused him of being afraid of Master rank, giving joy to the viewers watching him was more important. He could handle all the accusations.

"Master rank is a little hard and I busted my ass up until now, so I'm just going to screw around and have fun!"

Sang-Hyeon made his intent clear, but the viewers were disappointed by something else.

[KAFCEO has donated 10,000 won!]

[Damn... Battle Large again!]

"Ah... Kingdom Age... hmm..."

— Kingdom Age is in the USA

— USA? More like the afterlife!

— How is it there? Emilia, are you doing well?

[Rosenita has donated 10,000 won!]

[Almond... you forgot about me?]

Donations from KAF players poured in.

'I should play it at least once next time.'

Almond kept Kingdom Age in mind as he booted up a game. It was his first round in Diamond.

"Alright, today's game is

Battle Large

!"

Du dun—?

Battle Large's music sound came on after his cheerful greeting sound. The background immediately changed.

***

— Have fun? He's making excuses already.

— Even he seems to know that he doesn't have a chance here.

— Excuses already?

Some comments spat on Almond. It was inevitable with such a large viewer count. The best thing to do in this situation was to ignore them.

Regardless, he stayed true to his words and headed directly to the Arsenal.

"I'm going to the Arsenal!"

The strategy was similar to when he was in platinum. It was a fight with knives and bows. Even in Diamond or Master, nobody could challenge him.

The only difference was the number of people. There were fewer players. Were the players smart enough to avoid the Arsenal?

Whatever the case, Almond blew up the Arsenal and killed other players as he went toward the safe zone.

Even without a kill mission, he racked up over thirty kills. Thirty kills in Diamond rank was his idea of fun?

'Huh...?'

After he had his fun, he saw a text before him.

[1st]

He won his first round.

Then, the next one.

[1st]

And the one after that.

[1st]

'What's going on?'

Almond was confused because the games were all too easy.

[You have qualified for Diamond IV promotion matches!]

Almond won the last game too and was one game away from promotion.

— What the?

— You said you weren’t going for Master!

— AI: Please go to masters.

— Promo matches in the third game already?!

— It's a repeat of last time!

Almond had to seriously consider it.

'Should I get to Master rank?'