Season 5: Chapter 148. Patch Notes (1)

The next day, Ju-Hyeok walked in, threw his briefcase onto the wide desk without ceremony, and sat in front of the computer.

"Hmm..."

He was checking the reaction to yesterday's scrimmage.

[#7. The reason why the Knight Order side is currently quiet]

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The coach drew all the aggro yesterday and summoned all the cockroaches then stomped them all lmaooooooo

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"Nice!" Ju-Hyeok threw an uppercut in the air and quickly left a comment.

— Cockroach-cut!

He grinned and felt pleased with himself. Then, he waited briefly for a reaction.

'Hmm...'

No likes or replies came. He cautiously pressed the edit button.

— Cockroach... cut~!

He added a little flair and waited for reactions again.

Tap, tap...

Arms crossed, he tapped the floor with his dress shoes.

"Oh, forget it." Ju-Hyeok closed the community window. "What am I doing?"

A certain saying came to mind.

'Gaze into the abyss and the abyss gazes back into you.'

After pressing that quote back into his heart, Ju-Hyeok opened the community window again. He had no choice. Work was work.

'Are other teams okay...?'

He skimmed posts about the other teams' infighting instead of Knight Order incidents. Clearly, the Knight Order was passing through relatively incident-free. At a minimum, no one had quarreled about the scrimmage.

Sour grapes, as the saying went. The Knight Order's fans had experienced the worst first.

Being pushed all the way to 7th, even Ju-Hyeok couldn't bear to look at the community and put his phone away for a while.

In the last game, Sa-Rang had declared first place. The Knight Order finished beautifully in first place, just as she declared. Having wrapped up the last game on a high note, the fans seemed very satisfied.

If the order had been reversed, it would have been enormously difficult. When fan complaints came in, even players were shaken. Ultimately, it would affect their performance.

Perhaps the reason Sa-Rang only revealed the split strategy at the very end was for this reason. This measure accounted for even the players' mental states.

"She genuinely operates on a different level." Ju-Hyeok sighed, arms crossed. "Could Sang-Hyeon ever beat her even once?"

Sang-Hyeon had casually mentioned before that one of his goals was beating JeonJaPa when he'd exceeded her VNS stat and broken her Battle Large record. Being an unusually confident person, he'd said such things.

Ju-Hyeok, at the time, had vaguely thought it was a good goal to have.

'At this point, I don't know if that's possible.'

Through Ju-Hyeok's cold eyes, JeonJaPa was a being standing far ahead. Sa-Rang couldn't simply be defined by VNS stats or records. She was someone who had mastered every requirement for victory.

Not just in LIL, but also within the concept of any competition inside a capsule over a set period. Whether or not Sang-Hyeon could beat her was uncertain. Her only limitation was her own body.

"They're similar."

The image of Sang-Hyeon crying like a small child inside a capsule flashed through his head. He didn't know the details, but it felt like she'd had a moment like that too a very long time ago. It seemed those tears had already all dried up.

Ju-Hyeok slapped his own cheek and shook himself awake. From here out was what mattered.

"Well, fine. Good..."

The Knight Order getting through without incident was a good thing. It was a very good thing.

"Very good. Very!"

This good thing would connect to even better things. It would go according to his plan. He'd checked public opinion the moment he arrived as part of managing Almond management and to gauge the entire Knight Order’s mental state.

"They should be in a very good state!" Ju-Hyeok put his phone on the desk and waved as if casting a spell. "Come come come come~!"

Ju-Hyeok cast the spell with all his might.

"Come-come-come-comeeee~!"

And it came.

Rattle...

"What are you doing, Director?"

It was Team Leader Seo Ji-Ah.

"Oh... ah-hem, I was calling for the team leader. Come, come, come!"

Ji-Ah's eyes went to the phone sitting awkwardly in the middle of the desk.

“Pfft.”

What he was hoping for was far too obvious.

Ji-Ah mocked him with a pitying look. "They'll come because you do that?"

"Wh-ahem...! Hey! I'm the director! That's no way to talk! Receive the aura!"

Thud!

Ju-Hyeok was the one who received something. It was a pile of documents Ji-Ah had brought.

"Sigh. The premature celebration contracts you requested."

"Pre-mature? They're really going to come. Come, come...!"

"Even if they come, it's just content. You think they'd sign with an MCN, Director?"

She had prepared standard contracts currently in use in the industry. Ju-Hyeok referred to them as draft contracts. Almond was Mixed Nuts itself, so they had almost nothing to address contractually. It would be a different story if other streamers came in.

"Macaron was saying it might still be hard for a while since it feels too much like an Almond solo operation. Give it some time..."

Buzzzz!

Ji-Ah's eyes, half-closed from fatigue, went wide.

[Sweet Radish: Director. I've thought it over.]

[Sweet Radish: Sweet Potato says he's in.]

[Sweet Radish: Of course, so am I.]

"Oh!"

Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah each grabbed one side of the same phone and stared at it.

"Th-this, so you're saying they'll do the joint content?"

It seemed like it'd just be content. Ji-Ah didn't think it looked like an MCN decision.

Ju-Hyeok actually agreed. "Yeah. For now, that seems like it..."

Bzzzt!

Messages kept coming.

[Sweet Radish: Black Tea and Lemon said they'll do joint content but not individual content.]

Sweet Radish had apparently talked with Black Tea and Lemon too. The joint content for all five Knight Order members was settled.

[Sweet Radish: Oh, and they found out we received an MCN proposal.]

Suddenly, the MCN topic appeared. Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah's faces gradually pressed together. Getting closer didn't make anything more visible, but they were being magnetically drawn to the phone without realizing it.

[Sweet Radish: I think sneaking in isn't the right approach]

Thud!

Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah's cheeks collided. Unable to look at it until the unread indicator disappeared, they urgently asked each other instead.

"Oh, oppa. This, they’re saying they'll do it, right?"

"Wh-don't get ahead of yourself."

"Who started getting ahead of themselves first!?"

"Be quiet. I can't hear!"

"Sign...!"

It was a text, so there was no sound to begin with.

Ji-Ah covered her mouth. The focus was intense. Mixed Nuts had been an Almond solo operation for quite a long time since its launch.

Pang and BornToB were affiliated, but they were both newcomers who only started streaming because of Almond. In a way, it felt like a family company. Who would want to get involved in someone else's family business?

Then, what if people who already had some recognition came in?

Sweet Radish was a former pro. Beyond streaming viewership, he already had the fame and standing of an athlete. Sweet Potato had a distinct streaming tendency, fusing his character and music with a clear viewer base. If these two joined, Mixed Nuts' color would change dramatically.

Ji-Ah and Ju-Hyeok both knew this well, which was why there was anticipation. Now, Ji-Ah was more anxious than Ju-Hyeok.

"Are they joining or not!?"

The next message wasn't coming, but they couldn't just ask, “You're joining, right?”

Bzzt!

The last message arrived.

[Sweet Radish: The information did leak, but they said they'd keep the embargo. When can Sweet Potato and I come in to sign?]

They would do it. This message, no matter how negative a person was, would be taken as a yes.

"YEAAAAAAAH!"

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

Neither even waited for the other. Both of them raised their arms and embraced. Then, they made eye contact with someone.

"I... I, I thought someone fainted again..."

The door had apparently been open for some time. Macaron was standing there, looking bewildered.

Ji-Ah's face went bright red.

'Oh no. I see this person every day...'

'I, I have a plan.'

Ju-Hyeok cleared his throat. "Good news, Macaron."

"Hm?"

***

He delivered Mixed Nuts' victory report to Macaron.

"Oh! So, so!" Macaron's eyes went wide at the company's good news.

"YAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ju-Hyeok grabbed Macaron and jumped up and down.

He did it as if it were completely normal.

'What are you doing! Come on!'

Ju-Hyeok waved at Ji-Ah too.

'This person is insane...'

Even so, Ji-Ah went over. They all circled each other, jumping.

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

"Te-Team Leader!?"

Macaron didn’t know what to do.

Rattle!

Someone else came.

"Wh-what!? What is it!" BornToB arrived late.

Ju-Hyeok explained very quickly.

BornToB let out a battle cry. "YEAAAAAAAAAH! Amazing! AMAZIIIING!"

All of Mixed Nuts ended up wrapped together, spinning in circles.

Sang-Hyeon arrived last at the office. He stared open-mouthed at the employees spinning in circles inside the director's office.

'Wow. Kim Ju-Hyeok... said he wouldn't run it military-style like a tech company, but he's doing physical punishment?'

He caught glimpses of Macaron, who looked tormented. This appeared to be some kind of discipline exercise.

'People change when they get authority.'

He thought of Ju-Hyeok at those drinking sessions at Ah-Sung, cursing out authoritarian bosses.

"Ahem... it wasn't like that," Ju-Hyeok explained, rambling to Sang-Hyeon.

"Never mind. We have a lot to do today." Sang-Hyeon cut him off cleanly and tried to start the stream.

"Oh, yeah. Right. We got the ads, and we have that pending assignment."

"Assignment...?"

***

Almond's stream started.

— Hey hey

— Ahhh~

— Ooo

— Coming on time lately lmaooo

— Ahh!

— Streaming on PC today

"Today it's an ad."

He'd arranged to play a specific mobile game.

"The puzzle game you all love, Bubble Pang~!"

It happened to be a 3D puzzle mobile game that required using one’s brain.

— lmaooooo

— Just split the puzzle too

— So funny lmaooo

— Wow

— Briefly becoming Bubblegum magic...

The game company had sent it with the typical ad expectation of “He'll be so bad at it that viewers get angry and think they can do better and download it.” Apparently, at a different 3D puzzle ad he'd done before, his performance had been terrible.

— ?

— What

— ??

— Why is he good?

— Awakened by the split

— Wow

Unexpectedly, Almond was solving this puzzle far too well because it was a Sudoku-based puzzle.

"Oh, I'm good at Sudoku."

— ?

— This is Sudoku??

— Hm?

— Who made his brain and left out parts

— Wow come to think of it is this 3D Sudoku?

— Why is he good at Sudoku lmaooo

— lmaooooooooooo

Setting aside Sudoku's connection to math, a story actually existed behind Almond's success at Sudoku.

"Well, when I first went to the company... they didn't make me do anything, so I just played Minesweeper."

— Wow

— I see

— What the

— Aww...

— Ahsung...

— What...

— Minesweeper master

Everyone seemingly felt sorry for him.

'Hm? That's not right.'

Almond remembered this was an ad and tried to steer back to a brighter tone. He held the phone screen toward the camera.

"Has your desk disappeared too? Then how about Candy Crush in the bathroom?"

Like this, Almond had, somewhere along the way, become a professional streamer.

— ?

— ???

— LOL

— lmaooooo

— Getting paid to play candy crush lol

— Wait isn't that him lmaooo

— LOL

— lmaooooo

— Hahaha

"Oh. Done."

— What

— Clear already?

— Why is he so good??

— What even is this

— This is a misleading ad

— Hell mode gogogo

"I'll leave hell mode for you all. We have a long road today..."

Almond finished Bubble Pang and several other ads.

"Oh, today I'll be reading a patch note."

He'd prepared another unusual piece of content.

— Oh

— The split changed the man

— Going this far?

Most viewers assumed he was reading the LIL Survival mode patch note.

[Jet-Pumped!]

[Version 14.8 Patch Notes]

— ?

— ???

— ?

— ?

— What is this also an ad? lmaooo

— What?

Shockingly, it was a completely different game's patch notes. Viewers who'd been watching him for a long time with sharp intuition knew what was happening.

Ba-bam!

[RubySword has donated 100,000 won!]

[Wait. Are you actually going through with this!? Lmaooo]

— ?

— What is this!

— What is this?

— Sigh, tournament newcomers smh

"Oh, I kept getting emails from the developers saying I had to participate in the patch... so I thought I'd read through the patch note once. And I'll decide how to buff or nerf my favorite pet?"

— ?

— ???

— Pet? lmaooo you don't know anything

— It's a jet LOL

— lmaooooo

— This person is going to change the timeline...?

— Moment of silence for the Jet-Pumped users who entrusted the world to a child's hands...

— How can you just casually do this LOL

Ba-bam!

[DevTeam has donated 10,000 won!]

[It's a jet, not a pet... a jet...]

"Oh, yes. Jet... Jet-Pumped. Let's get into the patch then."

A disaster was descending upon an innocent game.