Season 4: Chapter 208. Ancient Ruins (3)

Deep underground somewhere, the Knights stood face to face with Orange.

“W-Who are you!?” Black Tea leveled her spear at him.

“I was just down here investigating some ruins, ma’am. Pure coincidence, I swear!” Orange raised both hands in surrender. “Please, my lord Almond~! Believe me~!”

He still acted exactly like an old recruit.

— wild natural human spotted

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

— he really doesn’t know what’s going on

— has he not watched any of the videos??

— this is what isolation does to a man

He really was like an archaeologist cut off from civilization.

“The Lord can’t answer you right now.”

“Sorry? What happened to him...?”

“You don’t need to know.” Black Tea turned away, ready to move on.

“

Mm?

Is he... in a deep sleep, by any chance?”

“What?”

Tap.

Orange pulled something from his inventory.

“

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!

” a plant screamed and flailed in his grip.

“I, I found this. It says it can wake someone from a deep sleep...”

“What?” This time, Radish Servant stepped up to inspect it.

[Mandragora]

The description checked out.

“Where did you get that?”

Orange quickly hid it behind his back. He realized that he suddenly had the leverage.

“I cannot simply hand this over, sir.”

“What?” Radish Servant faltered.

Black Tea’s Black Flame Spear came poking from behind. “Oh? Then how about we just pop you and loot your inventory?”

— LMAOOOO

— that would solve it tbh

— Black Tea MVP again

— she’s saying what we’re all thinking

Almond, unable to speak, cheered her on inwardly.

‘Yes. That’s it!’

Things didn’t go his way.

“P-Please, calm down and hear me out. You can’t make a potion with just one. We need more.”

“Yeah?”

“Please follow me. We’ll go harvest more Mandragora together.”

Orange acted way too suspiciously.

‘If we just stab him, it’ll drop from his inventory.’

Almond felt convinced that Orange’s bag was already full of Mandragora, but he couldn’t speak.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

In the end, the Knights followed Orange to gather more Mandragora.

— this is sus

— big trap energy

— ??

— why are they going along with this? lol

***

CLANG!

The iron door slammed shut.

“Look at you locked up like that, ForeverAlone.”

Someone smirking stood beyond the bars, arms crossed.

[LackLackey]

Once, he had been Lord Almond’s chief blacksmith.

“You... you made this?” ForeverAlone grabbed the bars that looked a vivid, unnatural red.

“I did. Hellsteel is a delicious ore. Every time you temper it, it screams... Such a thrilling scream.

Huhuhu?!

”

— LMAO

— LackLackey’s villain acting is killing me

— mad blacksmith arc

— what kind of Chakra did he get?

“M... Monster...” ForeverAlone rubbed his forehead. “You’ve fallen into heart deviation too, huh?”

“Heart deviation? Who cares, ForeverAlone!? We live and die by chakra anyway, don’t we!?”

— that’s literally streamer behavior

— I mean... he’s not wrong

— like this if you also nuked your mental chasing viewership

ForeverAlone almost nodded without thinking.

‘I remember...’

He’d almost broken through to three hundred thousand live viewers. As a streamer, it had been a dream.

‘No.’

He touched his neck without a mark on it. Even though the Lord’s sword had cut him clean.

‘I didn’t trust the Lord.’

From the start, Almond had never intended to kill anyone from Cheese Village. In fact, he couldn’t. Saying he didn’t remember ForeverAlone had been a lie. Maybe he had been trying to ease ForeverAlone’s guilt to hand over the Knights to him.

“No matter what!”

BANG!

ForeverAlone slammed his fist into the red bars. “How could you betray the Lord!? After everything he did for you!”

“What? You told me to betray him. I just followed along.”

‘Right. I was the one who suggested it...’

The memory finally clicked.

— LMAOOOO

— is he senile

— this man forgot his own coup

— say that to yourself, bro

“

Huhuhu?!

Don’t they call this hypocrisy, ForeverAlone?” LackLackey twisted his hand at a weird angle and tilted his head, fully committed to his madman persona.

After betraying the Knights, he needed a new character. However, some people didn’t need to act at all.

“It’s not like it was a romance or anything.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t an affair! I just sent one letter! And even that, my sister asked me to. I didn’t want to, but she kept insisting and...”

LackLackey froze.

‘What is this lunatic even saying...? He thinks hypocrisy literally means cheating?’

LackLackey realized something. No matter how hard he tried, he could not out-crazy the real thing.

— ???

— no one thought it was a romance, dude

— this is the true talent gap, LackLackey

— how did an affair even enter the chat

— he’s ACTUALLY insane

LackLackey quickly changed the subject. “Anyway... the Lord’s sword, Lackey ForeverAlone. The knight of midwinter who made everyone tremble...!”

Lackey ForeverAlone could only remain silent.

“And now you’re stuck in my iron cage. Look at you. Life’s funny, isn’t it? Anyway, I’m off.”

“Just like that?”

— LMAO what was that?

— he got overwhelmed by the raw cringe and fled

— the “knight of midwinter” line, I’m deceased

— that’s the face of an extrovert who wants out of this conversation asap

LackLackey hurried off, almost running away.

“I defeated him...” ForeverAlone sighed and sank down in his cell. “Damn... What now? My stream is ruined.”

— now he realizes

— this is the real punishment

— streamer execution arc

— back to lonely farmer life

— he’s alone again...

— only the Lord ever truly understood you, kid...

He stared at the viewer counter at the bottom of his screen.

[Current Viewers: 37,000]

It felt pathetic compared to when he nearly hit 300k viewers. At least, he needed to keep the stream going.

“But what if... no one comes at all and they just leave me here?”

Locked in a cell, ForeverAlone reverted to his awkward farmer self.

— this is the harshest sentence of all

— no content, no chat, only silence...

— this is justice

— alone again...

“Ever since I joined the Knights, I haven’t felt this lonely.”

Faint memories drifted through his mind. When he finally built up the courage and applied for the public recruitment... Almond had accepted him on the spot. When they all hunted monsters together and seized Paprika... Those moments were... his first real memories.

ForeverAlone had worked himself to the bone just to be recognized in the Knight Order, but he’d never felt tired or overworked. Every moment had been joyful.

To be acknowledged as one of them, to grow and have comrades like the old group before everything fell apart... The adorable junior Lackeys and Scrubs, and Servants whom he admired...

“

Sigh...

” ForeverAlone stared at the ground.

— bro say something PLEASE

— say a WORD omg

— full-on depression livestream

— this really feels like a punishment cell

— omg he’s back to early-farmer ForeverAlone mode

Thump.

Thump.

Thump...!

A drumbeat echoed through the dungeon.

“Huh?” Forever Alone instantly brightened. He recognized that drumbeat. “L-Lord Almond!?”

This same drum always signaled the Lord’s grand arrival.

“The Chieftain approaches!”

“Chieftain?”

What now?

THUMP!

A figure appeared as the drums beat.

[Zelu]

Of course, it was Zelu.

“Chieftain...?”

“That’s right.” Zelu raised his chin high and proudly grinned. “I will soon rule both Paprika and Cheese. I’ve named our alliance the One Village Federation. As its leader, the title Chieftain is appropriate, no?”

— LMAO the name

— dream big, king

— One Village Federation LOL

— this man wants to be streamer-president

— kinda scary but also kinda cool??

ForeverAlone didn’t dare respond. One wrong word and he’d be flattened.

“As the name suggests, the Federation’s purpose is unity.”

“So?”

“I’m no conqueror. I wish to integrate, so I’ll preserve both factions’ titles and authority systems. That includes restoring your status as a member of our squad.”

They wanted to let him out and restore his position?

“On one condition. You follow me.”

That seemed fine. ForeverAlone could just pretend to comply after getting out. Then, he could go find the Lord. He planned to do so until Zelu held something out.

“What is this?”

“A pledge of loyalty, the Rage Worm. I’m giving you another chance to receive chakra.”

‘Rage... Worm?’

“Eat it. You’ll gain great chakra, but it’ll burst your heart if you defy my command.”

— IS THIS A BLOOD CULT

— this man is clinically unwell

— what the hell is that bug?

— Chieftain? More like demonic sect leader

— why is this so funny but scary

‘What is he even talking about?’

ForeverAlone stared at the worm that simply looked like a fat caterpillar.

[Caterpillar]

It seemed to have no functions.

“I... just have to eat this?”

“Yes.”

“And then you’ll free me and restore my title?”

“Refuse to be my knight, and you’ll die.”

ForeverAlone had no idea how this mechanic even worked, but refusing wouldn’t make sense, especially while live on stream.

“I’ll eat it.”

Gulp.

He swallowed the worm.

[Nausea]

[Fullness]

Nothing special happened.

— ?

— ??

— lol this is just a bug??

— Rage Worm more like Sad Worm

— was this whole thing role-play??

Everyone assumed it was just another dramatic bit. Even ForeverAlone figured he had to at least act along, so he clutched his chest.

“

Ughh...

M-My heart...! It’s coming...!

Aaaaaugh!

”

He acted surprisingly well.

— ???

— where was THIS acting when you needed it?

— man’s performing for his life

— did he unlock Mangekyou or something earlier??

— Zelu’s right-hand clown arc starts now

Then, something none of them expected happened.

PABAM!

[RageWorm has donated 100,000 won.]

[It’s me. RageWorm.]

[Random Status Effect!]

[Burn]

FWOOOSH!

Just for a moment, ForeverAlone’s body burst into flames.

“W-W-What!?”

— WHAT

— HOLY SHIT

— LMAOOOOOOO

— THE VIEWER WAS THE RAGEWORM??

— ZELU’S CULTIST VIEWERS STRIKE AGAIN

— I’m crying pls

Zelu’s infamous viewer base was the real Rage Worm and forbidden sorcery.

“Consider that your warning, ForeverAlone.”

“Th-This... this crosses the line! You think your chakra will survive something like this!?”

A viewer infiltrating someone else’s stream to donate damage was utterly taboo. This was one of the strictest social no-gos in the streamer server.

“

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

” Zelu doubled over laughing.

To him, this was but a small worry. Only a mid-tier streamer would worry.

He leaned forward and loomed over ForeverAlone. “You know nothing about my chakra.”

“What...?”

“These creatures...” He tapped the screen. “Come from hell. A living hell of loneliness and inferiority.”

ForeverAlone stared at him in shock.

“Always angry. Always hungry. Always looking for prey.”

— LMAOOOO

— the viewer base slander is insane

— this is the most accurate depiction of chat I’ve ever seen

— these aren’t fans, they’re familiars

— the true demonic sect was Zelu’s chat

Zelu lowered his sunglasses and whispered, “Do not become their next meal.”

— WHAT AN EXIT LINE

— chills

— this is why he’s top-tier

— terrifying but iconic

— dude I’m joining his membership immediately

— he actually looks cool wtf

Meanwhile, his chat had zero idea that they’d been insulted. Instead, they embraced it.

— fear us

— feed us

— ZeluCult COMETH

— hand over your figures, nerd

— your crops wither when we pass

They were the real monsters.

ForeverAlone swallowed hard.

‘I’m screwed.’

He regretted eating that worm, but could no longer go back.