Between night and dawn at a convenience store, a young man crouched down and organized the shelves. He looked like an ordinary college student.

Thud. Thud.

He placed the newly arrived snacks with familiar movements.

Then, his phone rang.

Bzzz.

[Hui-Chul hyung]

Why a call at this hour?

Chi-Seung felt puzzled and answered, “Yes. Hello.”

He kept one earbud in as his hands moved busily.

Then—

“A sponsor?”

Thud.

Chi-Seung felt so surprised that he stopped working.

“Yeah. I didn’t say anything to avoid getting your hopes up, but it worked out. Almond's manager helped us.”

“Huh? His manager?”

“It’s a long story. To sum it up…”

After hearing Hui-Chul's explanation, Chi-Seung's jaws dropped.

“... Wow.”

Honestly, he barely heard the rest of the conversation. The fact that their team got a sponsor felt like a miracle.

‘A sponsor?’

Even Hui-Chul's old team, which had reached the finals before, didn't get a sponsor.

“Frankly, many teams that have advanced to the finals more than three times still don’t have sponsors. We’re lucky. So... um. If I say any more, it’ll sound like nagging. Let’s do our best.”

“Yes! We have to do well!”

Chi-Seung clenched his fist even though Hui-Chul couldn't see it.

‘Hui-Chul hyung is right.’

Even among the national teams that frequently advanced to the finals, many didn’t have official sponsors. The structure of the

Civil Empire

national competition made it hard to have sponsors. Since it had a nationalistic concept, the country’s name was the biggest sponsor and left little room for private companies.

The famous foreign players participating in this event made a lot of money in professional leagues and only joined the national competition for the honor.

However, the Korean team had gotten a sponsor through the national competition. What an amazing feat.

‘Is it because of that?’

Chi-Seung thought of the Fake National Team series.

‘The sponsor decided to advertise with the Fake National Team too, right?’

Actually, Ju-Hyeok had steered the sponsor toward this even though they wanted to sponsor the national competition directly. Chi-Seung didn’t know the internal details, so it looked like the sponsor came because of the Fake National Team.

“Wow... a sponsor...”

He stared blankly at the white ceiling light for a moment.

“Excuse me. Can I get a checkout?” a customer called him.

The college student was carrying four cans of beer. The register was open, so he couldn’t put them down.

“Oh, yes.”

Chi-Seung got up and headed to the register.

Beep

.

He scanned the barcode and told them the price.

“Huh?”

The college student tilted his head.

Was the price wrong? Chi-Seung looked up anxiously and their eyes met, leading to an unexpected question.

“... Aren’t you Kimchi Warrior?”

“Excuse me?”

“The Fake National Team! Aren’t you the guy from that?”

Chi-Seung's eyes widened.

“

Haha...

No, I’m not.”

He avoided eye contact and shook his head.

“...”

The student felt sure that it was him but only tilted his head.

Chi-Seung had a very ordinary appearance, making it hard to recognize him.

“Oh... I see. Sorry.”

The customer scratched his head and apologized with a bow.

“Oh, no problem.”

As he was about to leave, the clerk’s name tag caught his eye.

Glint.

“...?”

He saw it.

‘Kim Chi-Seung’

The worker’s real name was on the name tag.

The customer realized that it was indeed Kimchi Warrior, but felt surprised by something else.

“No way... that’s your real name?”

He never imagined that Kim Chi-Seung was Kimchi Warrior’s actual name, thinking it was only a funny alias from a drama or something.

“Of course it’s my real name... oh.”

Only then did Chi-Seung realize that he had revealed his identity.

“Wow. You really work here. I watch the Fake National Team a lot.”

“Oh... thank you...”

Chi-Seung laughed awkwardly.

“Well, goodbye. Good luck in the finals.”

Luckily, the customer didn’t question why Chi-Seung initially denied it and just cheered him on as if it was natural.

“Thank you!”

After the loud doorbell and the convenience store door closed, Chi-Seung sighed in relief.

“Phew...”

He wasn’t used to this kind of situation, but it didn’t feel bad to be a celebrity.

“This is amazing.”

His heart pounded a little.

“Maybe this kind of part-time job will be hard to keep.”

Clearing his throat, he started organizing the items again.

Thud. Thud.

He placed the snack bags one by one.

“Oh.”

Suddenly recalling something, he headed to the beverage section. After searching for a while, he found it in the bottom corner.

“Is this it?”

A sports drink with a white, long can. It was the brand sponsoring their national team.

“Hmm...”

He hesitated for a moment and changed the can’s position to the most visible spot in the center.

‘This should be okay.’

Chi-Seung smiled at his reflection in the refrigerator glass.

***

Almond stared at the drink and made a resolution.

‘Whew. Let’s do this.’

In his hand was a white can labeled:

[Monster Water (怪水)]

Monster, as in strange or unusual, water. It was a peculiar name for a sports drink.

— Oh lol, that

— That name sounds like something from a wuxia novel, lol

— Any yokai drinks?

— Monster Water lol

— I’ve tried it, it’s tasty lol

With its original concept and name, the demand was also unique.

‘Here goes.’

Pop!

Almond opened a can and drank it. Then, he performed the promised action.

Thud!

He raised his hands like a dinosaur.

“Raaaargh!”

He roared with all his might. This was the order: to roar like a monster after drinking the beverage.

“Aaaargh…”

The pose felt awkward and his roar weakened toward the end. He had been determined, but it turned out to be embarrassing. He couldn’t bear hearing his own roar echo back in his ears.

— lol

— What is he doing? lol

— This is crazy, lol

— So cute!

— What even is this? lol

It was awkward, but the reaction turned out good. Maybe because it was awkward?

Anyway, the chat exploded and donations came in.

Ding.

[Dumbfish has donated 30,000 won]

[Does drinking that really turn you into a monster?]

“Ah… thank you for the donation, Dumbfish. No, it doesn’t have that function. I just did it.”

— lol

— True to his name

— Just what, lol

— Dumbfish, lol

— They probably wanted him to pretend to be a monster, lol

— Raaaargh, do it again!

Almond hesitated, wondering if he should do it again, but decided against it. Instead, he continued explaining about the sponsor.

“Anyway, Monster is an awakening sports drink. It’s a domestic brand.”

— Monster is the sponsor

— A team sponsored by Monster, wow

— Nice, a local brand

Wolsoohyang had little brand recognition, so they planned to use their sports drink’s name. In other words, their main product Monster was the team’s sponsor.

“Since Monster is sponsoring the national team, you’ll probably see it in the videos often. It tastes pretty good, so I recommend you try it.”

— I’m buying a box

— lol The national team is with Monster

— The name is hilarious, the ad will do well, lol

— They aimed for viral marketing in the community, lol

— Monster! Raaaargh! lol

— Legendary clip, lol

***

The next day, Sang-Hyeon woke up feeling extremely drained.

“Ugh…”

Actually, it wasn’t morning. It was already past noon.

‘Overslept… not good.’

He shook his head and headed to the bathroom to shower and wake himself up. He felt unusually tired today.

‘Was it because of that drink yesterday? I stayed up too late.’

He instinctively looked at himself in the mirror.

“…”

He hesitated before striking a pose in front of the mirror.

“Raaaargh.”

It was the monster pose.

“Hmm…”

He tilted his head and just started showering.

Ssshhhh.

***

After showering, Sang-Hyeon decided to clean up after last night.

“Did you stream late last night?” Ju-Hyeok asked.

Streaming late was unusual for Sang-Hyeon.

“I had too much energy, so I just tried it.”

“Too much energy…? Then shouldn’t you be dating?”

Ju-Hyeok still felt sensitive about Sang-Hyeon’s capsule usage time. Even though it was a custom capsule, he believed there were still limits.

“It’s because of this. This.”

Sang-Hyeon lifted the can he was about to throw away.

“Monster?”

“Yeah… I only drank one can. It’s really effective.

Haha…

”

Sang-Hyeon chuckled awkwardly as he threw the empty can into the recycling bin.

Ju-Hyeok stared at the sponsor’s drink.

‘What is this? Does it really turn you into a monster?’

Ju-Hyeok worried that it gave Sang-Hyeon too much energy. Was it some kind of drug? He suddenly realized that they hadn’t properly tested the drink’s effects.

‘Honestly, would I even know what to look for?’

Of course, Ju-Hyeok wouldn’t understand the ingredients as a humanities major.

‘But with my experience in trading companies, it should be fine.’

He had often closed deals on products that he knew nothing about. With his experience, he could sense whether a business was legitimate or a scam. Based on his data, Wolsoohyang seemed legitimate.

‘Maybe they just made it too well.’

He decided to let it go. After all, a sports drink actually energizing someone wasn’t a bad thing.

“Don’t drink it too often just because it’s a sponsor. Just keep the can visible.”

“Okay~”

Just like one wouldn’t drink coffee all day because of a coffee ad. The same applied to sports drinks. It was enough to just show off the product.

“After all, it’s a fake sponsor for us. A fake sponsor,” Ju-Hyeok said critically.

Almond’s channel didn’t directly receive any money from this sponsor. The money came from the national competition. Even so, featuring this sponsor on Almond’s stream was a kind of service that showed the connection between the national competition and Almond’s stream.

The national competition and Almond were inseparable now.

‘The reverse is also true.’

Conversely, Almond receiving an ad would also impact the Fake National Team and the national competition. It wasn’t just about money. Their relationship was so intertwined that it couldn’t be helped.

Ju-Hyeok thought this would be very appealing to advertisers. The same product always sold better when labeled 1+1. The same went for ads.

‘I can grow this.’

That was why he implied a 1+1 connection with the ads on Almond’s channel. He believed they could achieve something with the national competition team.

***

After the finals had been confirmed, there weren’t any tense matches left in Group E where Korea belonged.

“Ah! Are the Vikings advancing!?”

“Here! Vietnam is dropping out! Can you believe it!?”

“The Viking civilization is truly amazing!”

“They took a great advantage with their early era power!”

Other groups continued fighting decisive battles.

“The Vikings will now play additional matches against… ah… was it the Ottomans? They’ll decide who will be the group leader against the Ottomans.”

“The group leader will likely face our country?”

“That’s right.”

The Vikings and Ottomans would play an additional match.

“England secured their advancement! They’ll move up as the group runners-up!”

“Wow… It’s unfortunate for the Principality of Rus.”

“Yes… They couldn’t overcome the longbow wall and got eliminated!”

“So now… Japan advances as the group leader?”

England barely secured their advancement as runners-up. Portugal, China, Persia, Japan, and Mongolia also confirmed their advancement.

“Next is Group E’s match: Joseon vs. Rome!”

“It’s not a dead match like Spain vs. France, right?”

The day to determine Group E’s final fate was approaching.

[Joseon vs. Rome Round 2]

It was the last match of the preliminaries.

And—

[Fake National Team ep 4. The Moment of Victory]

The next episode of the Fake National Team series would also be released.