Season 4: Chapter 228. The Closing Show (3)

Even ForeverAlone, the current Prime Minister, drew his sword and rushed out to resist when the Dragon of Streaming Destruction invaded Cheese Village.

The moment he saw its size, he realized this was not something that could be resisted.

“

Uh...

What do I do?”

— DAMN

— What is that thing

— Oh god

— This can’t be happening

— Huh?

— We need to run, right?

ForeverAlone, who had played plenty of games, understood immediately. They could only run from this enemy.

“B-But... The village is here.”

If they just fled, the village would turn to ashes.

As if it held a personal grudge against Cheese Village, the Dragon of Streaming Destruction overturned and tore apart the land itself.

Kwahaaaaaaah!!

It didn’t breathe out fire or anything tangible, but pure light. Everything in its path instantly vanished when struck. Those areas became hollow, gaping voids where nothing remained.

“St-Still... still... we have to fight!”

ForeverAlone charged forward.

Clang!

He thrust his sword out. “Chaaaaaarge!!”

The other Cheese forces ran after him.

“

Waaaaaaah!!

”

Considering the situation, their morale was surprisingly high.

“You bastard! We’ll kill you!!”

Every one of them had more than enough personal resentment toward the Dragon of Streaming Destruction.

“Everyone! Lend me your strength!”

They believed their chakra would activate properly in the final battle to defend Cheese Village. The big spenders would surely move now.

“Huh?”

“Wait?”

Donations poured in, but the effects didn’t.

“What... what is this?”

The Dragon of Streaming Destruction’s mocking laughter echoed. “Resolve has been severed, you foolish beings.”

— DAMN

— What

— This doesn’t work either?

— Those damn telecom bastards...

— Pay to send texts, huh lol

— Upgrade to a 5G (not really) plan lol

The surface dwellers, unaware of what had happened underground, panicked.

‘Damn it. Honestly, I stayed up all this time thinking I’d make a killing in the final battle.’

‘You’re telling me this chance for donations is gone?’

‘Is Cheese Village really going this far?’

Before they were villagers, they were streamers. Naturally, they expected massive viewer participation in the final world boss raid. They had never imagined their chakra would be cut off. Morale instantly collapsed.

“C-Can we even win this?”

“I suddenly feel really sleepy.”

“We’ve been streaming for a long time today...”

The Dragon of Streaming Destruction opened its jaws wide and roared, “Then disappear!”

It fired a pitch-black beam from its mouth.

Kwahaaaaaaah!!

Those who hesitated after their resolve broke disappeared on the spot. This wasn’t a metaphor.

[User FishCan’s data has been deleted.]

[User Amure’s data has been deleted.]

[User Today’s data has been deleted.]

Logs appeared in the server chat. They had truly been deleted and didn’t respawn. Shock swept through everyone.

“Th-This is insane?”

“What? D-Deleted?”

Death had never been the end in Cheese Village. As long as the player had a proper bed, they could be reborn and continue living. That utopia ended the moment the Dragon of Streaming Destruction appeared. From now on, this was reality.

“Until now, you have existed and breathed without paying any price.”

Whooong!

The Dragon of Streaming Destruction flapped its massive black wings and rose again.

A being larger than the entire village spread itself across the sky.

“Everything that exists bears responsibility for its existence. Even trivial plants and insects offer something to remain in this world. What are you?”

Its body completely blocked the moonlight, plunging everything into darkness. This felt like a curtain call for the village, as if it had declared that the performance was over and it was time to close the stage.

Woooong!

A massive magic circle formed around the dragon’s maw.

“You step into this world without offering anything in return. You are beings that deserve to vanish.”

Kwahaaaaaaah!!

The breath that passed through the magic circle grew even larger. A black shroud swept over the village.

ForeverAlone shouted to all the Cheese villagers, “E-Evade!”

“Where!? It’s almost full coverage!”

ForeverAlone had noticed the mechanism earlier. The breath completely erased surface blocks, but the power diminished layer by layer as it went deeper.

“B-Below! Dig down and hide!”

Everyone grabbed pickaxes and started digging.

“It’s coming!”

Kwakwa-gwang!!!

The black breath swept across the area. Villagers dove into the tunnels they had dug.

ForeverAlone had made the correct call. Only around three layers beneath the surface had been affected. Of course, not everyone could dig fast enough.

[User TunaCan’s data has been deleted.]

[User Ogu’s data has been deleted.]

[User Bubblegum’s data has been deleted.]

ForeverAlone’s face went pale. “T-The Minister of Culture and Sports!?”

— Oh god, Gum bro!!

— Even now lol Minister of Culture

— The position is vacant now!

— Ministry of Culture lol

Cheese Village lost its storyteller.

“D-Damn it!”

Thud!

Inside the tunnel, ForeverAlone furiously slammed his fist into a dirt block.

“A-At this rate... Won’t we end up living underground forever?”

What would happen if this continued? The Dragon of Streaming Destruction’s magically enhanced breath would keep shaving away at the surface. The villagers had to abandon the surface and hide underground.

Ding.

Messages appeared in the survivor chat.

[Takoyaki: Does the server chat still work? The Expedition Squad needs to come back.]

[Zelo: You won’t see them in the server chat... There’s a quest restriction.]

[Takoyaki: Then Zelo-nim can watch and tell us, right?]

[Zelo: Um... I’m not Zelo. I’m Zela now? hehe]

ForeverAlone was reading the chat too. He understood the moment he saw the name Zela.

“He died...”

— LOL this is insane

— Is Zelo in Cheese Village too???

— No way lol

— Zela LMAO

— What do we do then? Our communication link is gone?

— If Zelo died, something must’ve happened underground too

— The others are Paprika anyway, so they probably can’t see either

The Expedition Squad couldn’t use the server chat, and the Paprika members couldn’t see this chat in the first place. Communication between the underground and the surface had been completely cut off.

[AcornJelly: Mr. Zelo, where exactly are you? Is it the Library of a Moment and Eternity?]

It wasn’t the library itself, but a region connected to it.

[Zelo: Huh? How do you know about that?]

[AcornJelly: I can get there.]

[Zelo: How?]

[AcornJelly: My class is Adventurer. I can open portals.]

‘Something like that existed?’

Zelo froze in shock for a moment before typing again.

[Zelo: That’s an awesome class.]

— Kya

— Awesome class lolololololol

— For real

— Wohooo!

[Zelo: But it might be dangerous if you come alone. It’s not exactly the library... You’ll need to go to the Ancient City ruins.]

[AcornJelly: I can go there too.]

Acorn Jelly had already discovered that area through past adventures.

[Zelo: Then you already knew everything. Why didn’t you do anything until now?]

Zelo felt dumbfounded that Acorn Jelly had already discovered all the key locations. Why had Acorn Jelly stayed completely inactive this whole time?

[AcornJelly: I thought this was just a Fertile Soil building game.]

He’d been so absorbed in making Fertile Soil that he’d ignored everything else.

— LOL

— It kind of is a Fertile Soil game

— WTF

— True though

— That’s how it always was

— No one thought something this huge would be hidden in Cheese Village

[AcornJelly: I can’t go alone. I’ll read out my coordinates, so whoever’s closest, join me. We’ll take the portal together.]

Apparently, the portal wasn’t limited to one person. Moments later, Acorn Jelly sent out his coordinates.

ForeverAlone’s eyes widened. “

Uh...?

That’s me. I’m close! I’m right near there!”

He hurriedly typed into the chat.

[ForeverAlone: I’m super close! I’ll dig through the wall and get there!]

ForeverAlone wasn’t the only one nearby.

[CutiePie: Me too?]

[Takoyaki: I’m literally right next to it lol]

[Miho: I’m close too! I’m coming as well!]

Several others joined in as well.

[AcornJelly: Perfect. Five in total. Just right. Let’s go.]

***

Meanwhile, in the underground ruins, everyone discussed the true meaning of the quest.

“We were supposed to kill the dragon, but it hasn’t shown up at all.”

Almond’s observation made everyone uneasy. The quest clearly said to stop the Dragon of Streaming Destruction.

“But what we’re actually doing is reviving the City of Treevy.”

Currently, they had only restored Treevy. At first glance, the two seemed connected. In reality, they weren’t related at all. They had done something completely unrelated to the quest.

Almond confidently said, “The Dragon of Streaming Destruction definitely came.”

Everyone had heard its roar.

“It must’ve gone to the surface. It’s probably attacking the village.”

— DAMN

— That makes sense

— Is Almondoyle finally popping off!?

— No tree stands if you chop it enough times!

— Did someone else log in while he was asleep or something?

Almondoyle’s deduction class suddenly began. His brain spun so fast that viewers even suspected that someone else had taken over.

The corner of Almond’s mouth rose as his confidence brimmed. He moved on to the climax.

“I think I know who’s behind all this.”

Everyone froze.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“B-Behind all this!?”

“What do you mean...?”

A mastermind had planned this.

“While Cheese Village fell apart, who told us to save Treevy?”

The same person came to everyone’s mind.

‘Could it be Treeana?’

She had seemed strange from the start. An NPC who looked completely human with perfect proportions instead of the stylized ratios.

Snap.

Almond pointed decisively and revealed the answer. “Orange.”

— ?

— ??

— Huh?

— Wtf lolololol

— No way

— Holy shit

“

A-Ah!

My lord! Isn’t that a bit much!? I just ran around like a dog trying my best!”

However, Almond wouldn’t stop once his reasoning caught fire. “He trapped us down here and told us to save Treevy... while digging a trap.”

“A trap? What trap could I possibly set from here!?”

Orange couldn’t do anything alone down here.

‘Not alone.’

Almond pushed his deduction further. “Reinforcements.”

“Pardon...?”

“Reinforcements are coming. Until then, we’ve been kept stuck here while Cheese, already weakened, faces the Dragon of Streaming Destruction in the final battle.”

He assumed Paprika would be enemies in the final battle as well.

Orange protested bitterly, “No! What kind of logic is that!? Fighting Paprika again!?”

Almond’s assumptions weren’t entirely baseless.

“This content was made to lay the groundwork for the Platform Battle, wasn’t it?”

This project was meant to build camaraderie among Cheese streamers ahead of the upcoming Platform Battle against Paprika. Almond and all the villagers had been told this.

The Knights seemed convinced and approached.

“Huh? Now that you say it...”

“Damn... I was totally fooled.”

Lemon Servant and Maid Black Tea nodded.

Even Radish Servant felt betrayed. “Hey, Orange, you’ve gotten real good at lying, huh?”

Orange desperately denied it. “No! That’s not it! If you kill me, we all die here!”

Then, it happened.

Uuuwoong...!

A massive rift tore open in the center of the ruins, and a portal formed.

Almond shouted, “Told you! Reinforcements were coming!”

— DAMN

— Holy shit

— Almond’s energy is insane lol he’s losing it

— Whoa

— Guess even he didn’t think he’d be right lol

— What is it!?

— Almondoyle! Almondoyle! Almondoyle!

— This is actually happening???

Almondoyle stood triumphantly after finishing his long deduction. The viewers, who had listened the entire time, couldn’t help but feel moved.

Donations poured in.

Ba-bam!

[Detective has donated a whopping 500,000 won!]

[Almondoyle is finally pulling through??]

Ba-ba-bam!

[RubySword has donated a whopping 1,000,000 won!]

[Leave deduction for Almondoyle!]

The brilliant deduction completely swept the Knights.

Radish Servant shouted, “Kill this bastard first!”

“Yes!”

With their weapons raised, the Knights closed in on Orange.

“Huh? Why is everyone fighting!?”

All of them froze. Instead of Paprika’s forces stepping out of the portal, Cheese villagers had appeared. They promptly explained why.

Almond stiffened.

— Wtf LOL

— So that’s what it was? Lol

— No way

— Unbelievable

— We should still tie this guy up

— Almondoyle refund the donations~!

— This is straight up donation fraud

— Wanna just go eat or something?

— Bang!~