Season 4: Chapter 78. Star Appearance (3)

Today marked the launch of another major live streaming platform in Korea. Naturally, Cheese’s grand opening became a hot topic within the streaming communities.

[Did all the streamers really show up???]

[The scale of this Cheese launch event is insane lol]

[Is this like a week-long group retreat? lol Amazing]

[All the streamers moving into a dorm just to beat Paprika!? lol]

This event was unprecedented in the history of live streaming platforms. The grand opening was essentially a massive group collab.

[If you love Cheese, smash that like lol]

[Whoever planned this is a genius, props to whoever pulled it off.]

[Are they all really playing together? I’m freaking out lol I can’t calm down]

It wasn’t just about gathering a large number of people. Individuals who rarely interacted would now be playing the same game together. The participants came from all types of backgrounds. They didn’t just have gaming streamers, but also singers, talk show hosts, voice actors, models, and more. Virtually every kind of streamer participated.

— I can’t believe my favorite creators are all here...

└ Still feels like a prank lol

└ Guess Cheese really shelled out some cash

— Is this for real? How did they gather everyone??

└ How did they even convince them?

— Even Zelo is here lol

└ For real???

└ Yeah yeah, look closely lol

— CutiePie and Zelo are both here... is this lineup real???

This once-in-a-lifetime event came from the simultaneous launch of Cheese and the closure of Treevy. Naturally, everyone felt excited, and the buzz in the community was palpable. Posts flooded in at breakneck speed.

[Now that they’re chibi-sized, Black Tea is super visible lol the red ponytail helps]

[Bubblegum bro looks practically photorealistic lol easy to spot]

[Miho is a model, but that chibi nerf hit hard... TT]

[The little chibi avatars are too cute lol]

With a large crowd came the inevitable downside. On LIL Pro, a platform known for its seasoned takes, a warning post had already made it to the trending tab.

[Big: Did you see the Cheese launch? Looks like we’re about to see some hardcore fan wars lol]

— Let’s enter the Colosseum~

— Even if Treevy shuts down, the battlefield remains open 24/7 lol

└ True lol

— I’m already excited, drooling over the drama

└ You psycho lol

└ These people only exist to fight... the LIL Pro demons...

— That’s literally why they hosted this

— It’s a gladiator arena opening ceremony lol

Whenever so many streamers gathered, viewers began measuring how much attention their favorites received. It turned into an unspoken contest of who shone the brightest among the top streamers. Right now, Zelo took the spotlight.

[I’ve never seen Zelo in a collab before. Even the other streamers looked shocked lol]

Despite having a massive fandom and being at the top of the industry, Zelo rarely did collabs. His participation in this large-scale event was a huge surprise. Naturally, all eyes were on him.

— For real lol

— Choco Shroom looks ecstatic sitting right next to Zelo lol

└ Wow lol jackpot

— The streamer of streamers...

— Gotta cling to Zelo to make anything happen

— But does Zelo even do collabs?

└ I’ve never seen him talk properly with anyone besides close friends lol

Everyone focused on who would get to interact with Zelo.

“It’s time to launch the fireworks to celebrate the opening of Cheese Village!”

The celebratory fireworks began to launch.

“Cheese’s...!” Mayor Cheddar raised his hand, and fireworks shot into the sky.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

“Almond?”

Right in the middle of this spectacle, Almond suddenly appeared.

— ?

— ??

— ?

— What?

The chat in the main broadcast channel exploded with question marks. Meanwhile, the fireworks went off.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Brilliant lights filled the air, and Almond’s shadow stretched out in every direction across the square, dividing it into eight equal sections.

— Almond??

— Is that really Almond??? Lol

— What is this, a villain's entrance? Lol

— LMAO

— Damn

Almond’s silhouette felt imposing, like a true villain making an entrance, even though he was in chibi form.

— How did he spawn up there?? Insane

— This really is a star entrance lol

— Main character vibes lol

— Was the square too full so he spawned on the roof? Lol

— Darth Vader moment lol

— This is it~

— Probably spawned on the wrong server and ported over lol

— Some people are just born lucky lol

— I was wondering where he went

— Such an attention seeker lol

The streamers erupted at Almond’s simultaneously heroic and villainous entrance.

“

Woooooooahhhh!

”

“Almond, your entrance is insane~!”

“Bro! You look so cool!!”

“Man, I’m jealous.”

Many of them had secretly hoped to team up with Almond in the upcoming platform battle event.

— LOL

— This is it

— Almond just became the protagonist out of nowhere lol

— Truly born to win lol

“Ah... r-right now, Almond just appeared...” Mayor Cheddar tried to explain what had happened.

‘Was this pre-planned? Some kind of surprise performance?’

He couldn’t rule out the idea that it had been scripted. The timing and positioning simply felt too perfect. It seemed all the more likely given that Almond’s manager, Walnut, had planned this event.

Mayor Cheddar turned around and looked at Walnut.

‘Maybe not?’

Walnut looked more shocked than anyone else. His eyes practically popped out of his head.

“W-What the hell? Why did he spawn there?!”

If this were an act, they should’ve been at the Oscars instead of Cheese’s launch event.

‘So it wasn’t staged.’

Realizing that, Mayor Cheddar tried to explain again. “A-Almond must’ve spawned there due to some special circumstan...”

However, the superstar Almond didn’t let him finish.

“

WHOA WHOA WHOAAA!?

” He screamed as he plummeted into the center of the stage.

Of course, anyone appearing in mid-air would naturally free-fall.

‘Oh no.’

SPLAT!

Just like that, he obeyed the laws of physics... and died.

[DEAD]

Almond’s starter items scattered all over the ground.

“D-Dead?!” Cheddar suddenly went silent.

The chat in the main channel flew by so fast that the scroll bar disappeared.

— ?

— ??

— LMAO

— LOLLLLLLLLLLLL

— Even in death, he exits like a true artist

— “A comet-like rookie”

— He fell from too high lol

— First death in the village lol historic

— Died for special reasons lol

— INSANE lol

— LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

***

Almond felt the most shocked.

“

WHOA WHOA!?

”

SPLAT!

[DEAD]

The screen went gray as Almond received the death screen. He never expected to die the moment he showed up.

‘No way.’

He scanned the chat for an explanation, but only saw viewers laughing at him.

— There wasn’t even a 1 million won donation, why the death reaction...

— Who donated? Lol

— LOL

— Legendary

— Damn

— LOL that face

— Starting off strong lol

He didn’t know what had happened, but it didn’t seem too serious based on the reactions.

[RESPAWNED]

Almond respawned at the server’s default revival point.

‘Is this... the village?’

He heard a village would already be prepared, but this looked way too barren. Then again, the players had to build Cheese Village over time. For someone like Almond, who had never played

Survival Craft

before, such a wasteland looked jarring.

“Is this the village?”

— Seems like it?

— No idea...

— How would we know...?

The viewers had no clue either.

“Why did I fall from the sky in the first place?”

Of course, no one gave him a real answer.

— No clue lol

— Glitch lol

— Maybe server transfer kept the Z-axis height?

— Never seen that before lol

— How would we know?

— Because you’re a superstar

They genuinely didn’t know. That was when it happened.

Bababam!

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

[Reaction first, donation later]

‘Reaction first... donation later?’

Almond didn’t understand what that meant at first until it hit him.

‘Ah... because I fell and died?’

His reaction to big donations used to be killing himself.

— Oooooh

— Damn

— LMAO

— Making money even in death

— LOL this is insane

— A dead Almond outshines the living top streamers...

Just like that, he received the first million-won donation of the day.

“Wow! Thank y...”

Almond bowed his chibi avatar’s head to express his thanks.

BOOM!

“!?”

His character suddenly exploded again.

[DEAD]

— ???

— ?

— What?

— LOL what the heck?

— Is this some auto-donation death trigger??

— LOOOOOL

— This is nuts

— Two deaths in a row LOL

Thankfully, he had no more items to drop. Still, he had died two times now.

“What is going on?!” Almond looked around, bewildered.

He was known for doing no-death clears in every game, yet he had immediately died twice after starting this new game. Was

Survival Craft

secretly a horror game? Still trying to process everything, he glanced around.

“

Chu-chu-chu~

Congrats, congrats~” A character in a white cheese-patterned T-shirt appeared beside him.

[Camembert]

It was one of the admins, Camembert.

“This is our server’s first million-won donation death! Congratulations!”

“Congratulations?”

She was congratulating him at what felt like a funeral.

— LOLLLLL

— That facial expression

— First time seeing a death celebration

— What even is this? LOL

“Oh... you didn’t know? We explained it earlier. Maybe you forgot.

Kahahaha!

” Camembert pulled out a signboard. “Here, look.”

[Cheese Village Donation Rewards]

[5,000 won = Cheese Cookie]

[10,000 won = Random Buff]

[100,000 won = Random Status Effect]

[300,000 won = Random Monster Summon]

[1,000,000 won = Instant Death]

Yep, a million-won donation would kill the streamer. This system literally allowed viewers to harass streamers with money.

“Ah...” Almond scratched his head and vaguely recalled seeing this during the orientation.

“I’ll attach this to your stream window.”

Snap.

With a snap of her fingers, a banner popped up in the corner of Almond’s stream.

— Oooh

— One million won to snipe Almond? Cheaper than market price LOL

— This system is wild LOL

— They really brought over that streamer-killer mechanic from other servers LOL

— Cheese is going all-in on cash flow

— Honestly, Almond’s biggest reaction is dying. It’s a win-win LOL

“Anyway, since you died first, you arrived in the village zone earlier than anyone else. You can also use that to your advantage and maybe start building something.”

“Ah...” Almond nodded as if he understood.

Then, he started walking... in a completely unrelated direction.

“Uh, Almond? You understood, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you get there first, you can claim a good plot of land. This will help you bounce back since you lost all your items from dying!”

“Yes, that makes sense.”

— LOL please listen

— “Yes, that makes sense.” (he has no clue)

— Someone kill him one more time to knock some sense in LOL

— He clearly already has something else in mind

Though

Survival Craft

was primarily a survival game, life continued even after achieving basic survival. Players could farm, buy land, build houses, and accumulate wealth. They could also hunt high-level monsters and earn powerful items. The game didn’t have any set goals, but plenty of content could become a goal.

Almond had taken the “no objective” explanation literally.

“Hope you earn lots of money, Almond! Hot streamers like you should be raking it in and taking center stage...” Camembert’s shallow encouragement didn’t sway him.

‘Why would I want to make money in a game too?’

Almond had no intention of chasing wealth or rare items in Cheese Village. He just wanted to chill. Among all the content, fishing seemed the most relaxing.

“Yup. I’ll make money fishing. Off I go~”

He dashed off toward a lake on the map.

Boing boing boing!

His stubby chibi legs covered the distance in no time.

— LOL why is he so fast?

— This guy’s movement tech is on another level LOL

— Why is he zooming? LOL

“Ah, Almond?! Do you even know how to make a fishing rod?! Also, you need to change your nickname to Korean!!” Camembert, unable to intervene further, shouted out the last rule and disappeared.

And so, Almond died first and became the village’s first official resident. He promptly ran off to fish by the lake and didn’t know it yet at the time.

‘Where’s Almond?’

‘Did Almond oppa wander off alone?’

‘I have to partner with Almond.’

From the start, he was never destined to just relax here.