An old and small office exuded energy that was far from old.

“This reaction is amazing, Director!”

It was filled with hope and a sense of rising potential. This was the new production company set up by Director Jang.

“It might get more views than the first episode. Is that even possible?”

The good atmosphere was due to things going well. The Fake National Team series they produced was unexpectedly successful.

“I thought the first episode would do well due to the hype and the novelty factor, but…”

In this industry, the real challenge began with the second episode. The first episode could gather views through all sorts of promotions and publicity, creating the necessary hype.

From the second episode onward, no one would watch it if it wasn’t entertaining. If the second episode was just as popular or even more so than the first, that meant the content was on an upward trajectory. It was only a matter of time before it became successful.

However, the Fake National Team

series immediately became a hit without them even having to wait and see. It was what they called a blockbuster success, yet Director Jang did not seem particularly happy about it as the creator.

“Sure, sure. What's that you brought?” he responded indifferently with a dry, cracked voice to the staff who brought the good news.

“Oh, this is…”

“Just leave it. I’ll forget it even if I hear it now.”

His dark circles reached down to his mouth. His hair was disheveled and he wore the same clothes every day. His eyes looked bloodshot, constantly fixed on the monitor. This was how Director Jang looked these days.

“Director, are you alright?”

“Editing this live footage is killing me.

Sigh…

”

Attaching cameras 24/7 and editing the footage. This method was known in the industry as a ticket to hell. Even the original staff found it hard to handle.

After all, Director Jang only brought two people who used to work under him.

“You should take a break...”

“If I rest, I’ll really die.”

“You look like you’re already dead.”

They had no choice. The project had already begun. To meet the schedule, he had to push his body to its limits.

“At least, the video is doing well like you said so you don’t have to worry about your pay.”

“Haha…”

Director Jang acutely realized how difficult it was to hire people and run a business. He sometimes had goosebumps that he missed being at the broadcasting station.

“We're still recruiting, right?” one editor carefully asked as he brought coffee to Director Jang.

“Yes, we are. Finding decent people isn’t easy though. Where can I find top elites like you?”

“Hahaha.”

Everyone laughed at Director Jang's joke, but a hint of anxiety lingered in the air. They all knew how grueling the editing work was for this live reality show. If they couldn’t hire more staff, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to handle it for long.

“Well, anyway! To share more good news! Not only the viewers, but also the sponsors are reacting well. We might get additional ads, especially since the second episode has become a hot topic in the community.”

Director Jang smiled slightly as if he already knew.

“Is it because of Chi-Seung?”

“Yes.”

He mentioned Chi-Seung's confession attack episode. It was a grim and solemn scene where Chi-Seung pretended to confess to stop a coworker from demanding that he cover their shift. This scene spread as a clip and gained cult popularity.

[God Chi-Seung’s Confession Attack.gif]

[Found this clip of Kimchi Warrior]

[What is this??? LMAO.]

“Why did this catch on?”

Content creators always wondered about their successes to replicate it.

“Because the confession attack was funny?”

Director Jang shook his head.

“It’s probably not because this has been covered a lot in subculture media.”

“Then…”

“But no one has probably seen this happen in real life.”

“!”

The confession attack was real and unscripted. The reality of it shocked the viewers.

The production team even posted a notice to emphasize this shock.

[Notice: All situations shown in the video were real.]

Although the notice said all situations,

what they really wanted to highlight was Chi-Seung's confession attack.

— Are you saying that the part at 14:32 was real???

└ LOL, that part is the most unbelievable.

└ I've only seen such things done by YouTubers pretending to be like this, but seeing it for real is something else.

└ Same here!

— YouTubers who pretend to be losers should be nervous now. The “real deal” has appeared.

└ KwakTube is about to lose his job~

“The fact that it was all real made it interesting. So… you sit down and help with the cuts.”

“Oh, yes, sir!”

They wanted to ask how he reached that conclusion, but the editors didn’t have the time to question him. One deadline came after another. They had to start preparing the video for the upcoming match against Spain.

***

“What is this confession attack?

Puhaha!”

Ju-Hyeok lay on the sofa, laughing heartily. He was watching the Fake National Team.

“

Ha…

This is insane.”

After laughing for a while, Ju-Hyeok checked Almond’s channel progress.

[Almond]

[Subscribers: 938,000]

After the international tournament, Almond’s channel received another boost and headed toward one million subscribers. One million meant attracting not only those who liked game streamers, but also the general public who had little interest in games. In other words, they were attracting a broader audience beyond just gamers.

This was likely due to the tremendous response to the second episode of the Fake National Team.

[Fake National Team ep.2 Release]

— I cried so much...

— Ah… even the Cookie video was perfect, lol.

— Ah, confession attack, HAHAHA. I laughed and cried, it’s crazy!!

Not only did the video receive positive comments, but the impact of Chi-Seung’s confession attack spread beyond gaming communities as a meme.

[This is really hilarious, lol]

[What is this? Is this real?]

[The appearance of the “real deal” lol (posted on LilPro)]

[Alpha generation’s confession style]

[How a loser wins]

Because it was technically a confession,

it even spread to communities that mainly discussed romantic relationships. It also spread to places where older people shared information.

[Is the confession attack acceptable these days?]

In these cases, discussions erupted about whether this behavior was acceptable.

— She was wrong to demand he cover her shift. So rude! I’d be worried if my daughter acted like that.

— No matter what, doesn’t he consider the recipient’s feelings with his confession attack?

└ No, he didn’t really confess. It’s because she was too rude in demanding he cover her shift.

— I think Chi-Seung was right. Honestly, even if he cursed her out worse than confessing, it would’ve been justified.

More people grew interested as they debated and discussed it. All of them ended up on Almond’s channel.

Although Chi-Seung’s impact created the meme, the videos featuring him were on Almond’s channel.

‘It increased again.’

[Almond]

[Subscribers: 939,000]

Watching the subscriber count increase in real time, Ju-Hyeok smiled victoriously. The unreasonable demands to bring the videos to their channel had definitely been worth it. As long as the content continued to perform well, new subscribers would keep coming.

As he scrolled through while feeling hopeful, his phone screen suddenly changed.

Bzzz.

[Sana Bank Kim Young-Ho]

‘It’s him.’

Ju-Hyeok had been waiting for this call. It was from a senior working as an in-house lawyer at Sana Bank.

“Oh, hello. How have you been?”

Ju-Hyeok stood up with a broad smile as if facing someone in person.

“No, it’s nothing serious. Yes, yes,” he said as he turned off the TV screen with the interview playing on it.

Ping.

***

‘He’s coming…’

The reporter swallowed dryly as she looked at the scoreboard.

[MVP: Almond]

Korea had won the match against France and the MVP was Almond as expected.

‘Just one vote difference with Cookie.’

The France match was so strategically brilliant that it came down to just one vote between Cookie and Almond. Without Almond’s efforts, the gold containment wouldn’t have been so smooth, so Almond was selected as the MVP.

‘It was so close.’

The reporter felt regret. If Cookie had been the MVP, the interview would’ve been easier. Cookie was like flowing water, whereas Almond was like a rugby ball. Instead of flowing, she never knew how he’d bounce.

Bang!

The director snapped his fingers and shouted, “Here comes the grand duke of interview demons~”

She chuckled as if finding it funny. She had a reason to.

‘Because the one who has to fight this demon grand duke with a microphone is me!’

Swoosh…!

With a blue light, Almond appeared.

At the same time, a chat window popped up in front of the reporter.

— Let’s goooo~!

— Demon summoning ritual, lol.

— Nice~

— I watched the whole game just for this.

— The reporter’s extreme tension, lol.

— France was just a sacrifice to summon this demon…

— The main game starts now, LMAO.

As expected, the chat window filled with viewers eagerly anticipating Almond’s interview.

The reporter cleared her throat and spoke in a lively voice, “Wow~! Almond! Once again, you’ve been selected as the MVP!”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Being selected as the MVP consecutively is not an easy feat! Could you share your thoughts?”

“Ah, yes…”

At first, the questions and answers flowed smoothly. Almond thanked everyone for the MVP selection and mentioned that even if Cookie had received it this time, it would have been well-deserved given how close it was.

It was unexpectedly going well.

‘It’s going well today.’

The reporter felt relieved for a moment. However, problems always arose in such moments.

“We’ve done the calculations for the resulting possibilities! If Korea wins just one more match, you’ll be secured to the finals! Do you have any strategies or resolutions for the next match?”

This final question was the same one that had caused trouble before. It was essentially bait to encourage trash-talking.

— Translation: Please trash talk Spain for us.

— Almond’s “Invincible Fleet” will be launched…

— Oh no...

— Tres is preparing for chaos again~

Almond listened attentively to the reporter’s question and nodded.

“Ah, the next match…”

The reporter watched his expression closely, but couldn’t read his thoughts. There were no indications that he intended to say anything provocative. Perhaps he just wanted to end it smoothly.

“I don’t know much about strategy, but I do have a goal.”

“Oh… a goal! Let’s hear it! I’m very excited!”

— Excited? Your voice is shaking

— So excited! (trembling).

— Why is the reporter so nervous, haha.

The reporter’s nervousness was palpable to the viewers.

However, Almond calmly spoke about their efforts.

“First, we’ve been focusing on training to counter heavy infantry. Many archers, not just me, won’t be intimidated by their heavy infantry. We were psychologically overwhelmed by Italy’s momentum in the last match…”

Something seemed off.

— ??

— Why is he mentioning Italy?

— What? The nut lol. I thought he understood till now.

— Huh?

‘This is supposed to be about the next match.’

The next match was against Spain, but Almond kept talking about Italy.

Did he not listen to the question properly?

“Um… Almond? You’re talking about Italy, right?”

“Yes, we… Sorry?”

“About Italy, right?”

“Ah, yes. Of course…”

“Then, could we hear about your thoughts on the next opponent?”

The reporter’s eyes filled with anxiety. Something was coming. She felt it instinctively.

As expected, Almond replied with a puzzled expression.

“Our next opponent is Italy.”

— ?

— What the hell?

— Nut is lagging.

— Someone stop him please.

— LMAO.

The reporter’s eyes widened in shock.

“W-Well, I believe it’s Spain! Just like the first match…”

“Oh.”

Almond suddenly remembered and realized his mistake.

‘How could I make such a mistake?’

He tried to smooth over the situation with a sheepish smile.

“Spain is no match for us.”

Spain was no match for them, so their next opponent was Italy.

“!?”

The reporter felt utterly dumbfounded.

The chat exploded.

— Wow.

— He did it again!

— Skipping Spain, lol.

— Fact: This nut has mastered archery so he spends all day practicing interviews.

— Insane, lol.

— “Do not hand him the microphone”

That day, Spain suffered an even more severe defeat against Italy than in the first match.