Season 5: Chapter 67. Remnants of Almond (2)
Where there were losers, there were winners.
[Congratulations. We hereby announce our liberation from the Almond Era!]
Such posts plastered the Community Garden. Users included Liberation Day photos to go with them.
— Popcorn did this lmao
— I'll remember you, martyr Popcorn...
└ Wasn't it the Kraken that actually freed us?
└ The Kraken was made possible by the tireless diplomatic efforts and relentless resistance of our independence fighters
└ lmaooo
└ Living history right here
— Thank you! Hiroshima Kraken! Nagasaki Kraken!
└ You're insane lmao
└ Oh wow...
└ lmaooo
└ That's too much lmao
— We don't have to go by our colonial names anymore right?!
└ lmaooo
└ LetMeTank, log in
One post even reached the top.
[1st. Proof that the Almond Era is truly over]
Almond, unable to answer: "Order?"
(video)
The post had a video attached. The clip showed when one of Almond's viewers had sent the "Order?" donation. After the second-place finish, Almond had held his silent protest and never responded to it.
— It's really over
— Does that mean we don't have to bow at the shrine anymore?
└ lmaooo
└ lmao
└ The Almond shrine lmao
— Almond's blank face... feels kind of bad actually :(
— Feels refreshing. This is what liberation is!
— Never have to hear the words "Smart Young Man" again, thank God. I was about to quit the community for a while
└ Just quit lmao
The Almond Era had definitively ended, but the end of the era didn't mean the end of the Smart Young Man.
[3. Upvote if you honestly think he's kind of smart.]
The remnants of the Almond faithful had burrowed deep into the community and couldn't be fully rooted out.
Did you miss the mind games he was running on Popcorn? Faked as if he'd never go straight-on, then went straight-on.
He was even anticipating Popcorn's movements. Anyone who actually understands the game has to admit this.
— Fr
— Agreed
— Ugh... Almond loyalists are genuinely something else
└ lmaooo
└ lmao
— They really are
— He just plays on instinct, there's nothing smart about it lmao
— Because liberation came through the Kraken and not Popcorn, the remnants of the Almond regime were never fully purged
└ Fr lmao
└ Ouch...
└ lmaooo
— Honestly he is smart, everyone's just pretending not to admit it for the memes
└ This type is the most dangerous lmao
The scars ran deep across the community, a testament to just how brutal the occupation had been.
[5. The ancestors who were forced to change their names]
Let us remember.
(photo)
Those who were "Bang’d" in the very first placement match.
MeowMeowPunch...
We will not forget.
— Why is it in black and white lmao
— lmaooo
— lmao fr
— But technically they were all shouting "Smart Young Man" too
└ If you didn't shout it you got eliminated...
└ lmao it was that bad?? lmao
└ lmaooo
└ The Nuts Punk universe just keeps evolving
— Not everyone could be an independence fighter... those people did their best too...
└ lmaooo
— I'll remember them...
— ??? Why did you change your name? Did someone threaten you with a bow?
Even with lingering pockets of resistance here and there, the mood across the community was celebratory because the Almond Era had ended. Only a few stragglers remained. Given a few more days, they'd be gone.
The Almond loyalists had nowhere left to stand in the court of public opinion. Everyone was certain of it. Community Garden had taken on the air of a festival until a new video appeared.
[Trash Slam Dunk]
A few hours earlier, Almond lost and ended his stream. Sang-Hyeon and Ju-Hyeok had finished their day, but one person's work was just beginning.
Hm?
By tomorrow? No, that's not possible. Bubblegum is going to upload it? What do you mean... Oh, because they're all streamers...?"
Ji-Ah was on the phone with Ju-Hyeok, discussing the upcoming video. The situation had grown more complicated. This match had turned into something of a collab stream with Bubblegum and several other streamers involved, so they had more to deal with.
She had to call around and get everyone's permission to use their footage. Amid all that, an unusual proposal came in.
“Let's make a promise. If we win this, we're all uploading this match to YouTube together. The title is... Revolt of the Trash.”
The idea was to make that kind of video together. Of course, each channel's editor would handle their own version and upload it separately. The problem was the timing.
“The upload date is kind of important, right? If we get pushed back...”
The later it went up, the worse it performed in terms of views. Given the current momentum, Almond's channel would obviously end up being the one pushed back. Ju-Hyeok was worried about that.
"I know, I know, but the Four-Tank video is still unfinished. And we still have more office setup to do."
Things were piling up for a reason. The real issue was Mixed Nuts' situation. They were in the middle of relocating operations to the new office while simultaneously trying to keep work going. So far, the only editor they'd brought on was Macaron. That was the actual problem.
“Macaron is... still not coming in? You said you'd handle it.”
Mmm...
They're not really responding."
Macaron wasn't the type who did well offline. Put generously, they were shy. Put bluntly, they were someone who had barely managed to drag themselves in for the interview and generally avoided going outside.
When Mixed Nuts shifted to an office system and suddenly required a commute, Macaron had said they'd think it over. Then, they went dark. Going from a job with no commute to a job with one was, admittedly, a significant change.
"You can't just stop working with zero notice..."
Ji-Ah sighed. She'd known Macaron was unconventional, but wasn't this going too far? Just dropping off the map like that. Were they quickly trying to find something else? “
Ah...
well... should we look for someone new fast? The settlement is coming up soon.”
That was on Ju-Hyeok's mind too. Genuinely talented people in this field were often strange people. Honestly, from Ju-Hyeok's perspective, Seo Ji-Ah herself wasn't exactly what one would call normal. Looking at things now, though, she was a saint.
“Should I just show up at Macaron's place?”
Ji-Ah nearly choked. "Oppa. What?! Are you insane? You'll never see them again."
“Huh? Why? I'll bring a little gift and...”
"Wow. Incredible solution."
“Incredible? It's just the obvious thing to do.”
"No, that's not..."
People like Ju-Hyeok, social butterflies, had no idea what would happen to someone like Macaron when one invaded their space.
"Let me handle the communication. Just leave them alone."
“But they've gone dark. What about the settlement?”
"That's... we just pay out whatever was under contract."
“Seems like the kind of thing you settle face to face...”
Ji-Ah pressed a hand to her forehead at Ju-Hyeok doing his best impression of a reasonable adult. "Oppa..."
“Fine. Fine. I'm just frustrated. Work hard.”
"Yeah..."
Click.
After the call ended, Ji-Ah let out a deep breath. She had at least stopped the Kim Ju-Hyeok bulldozer from spontaneously crashing through Macaron's front wall. Honestly, she didn't know what to do either.
Ji-Ah buried her face in her hands and sat still for a moment. "I don't know. I'm useless. Completely useless."
Watching Ju-Hyeok made her think. She thought about the company she used to work for. Despite her hazy memory, that place had been a textbook nightmare workplace. The people there had all been cold and irritating without exception. She really hated to admit it.
"I just don't know how to function in normal society."
Honestly, looking at Macaron, she saw herself from a few years ago. Not that she had ever gone dark on anyone. Absolutely never, not even once, but there was an overlap somewhere as people who didn’t quite fit into the world.
Ju-Hyeok, on the other hand, was born entirely differently. He didn't understand people like Macaron at all and would just charge in, ready to fix everything with a conversation.
‘If Kim Ju-Hyeok had been in my old position...’
Things probably would have gone differently. She hated admitting that. That was just how it was. Giving acknowledgment was always harder than receiving it.
‘For sure...’
It was hard, annoyingly hard.
Ji-Ah decided she had to do something and pulled up her KakaoTalk thread with Macaron.
"What the... This punk?" She swore without meaning to.
The message appeared to be read. Ji-Ah felt a flash of irritation, but steadied herself.
"Ah, no... at least they're reading it."
She told herself to look at the bright side. If they stopped opening messages entirely, there would be no way to communicate at all. As long as they were reading, there was still a chance.
"So..."
Ji-Ah had felt that she and Macaron were similar. If she were in their position, what would she want someone to say? Actually, why had they gone dark in the first place? She had a pretty good guess.
‘Because the terms had changed from the original agreement.’
Not having to commute had probably been a far bigger draw for Macaron than anyone had realized. Ju-Hyeok didn't understand what adding that requirement actually meant. He simply thought a higher base salary made it a fine deal. It wasn't. That had never been a workable arrangement to begin with.
‘We should've consulted them and adjusted gradually.’
It would have been better to talk through the commute with Macaron. Sure, one could argue that the person paying didn't have to bend over backwards for the person being paid. However, weren't they partners working toward mutual benefits? Mixed Nuts needed Macaron too.
‘But that's water under the bridge now...’
Bringing up the commute at this point would get either silence or a "I'm looking elsewhere."
‘If it were me...’
Ji-Ah put herself in Macaron’s position. How would she even approach this? What did Macaron care about? What had made them want to do this work in the first place?
Tap tap tap tap tap!
Something clicked, and she started typing.
[Ji-Ah: Macaron, did you watch Almond's stream today? lol ShyNapoleon’s mission failed for the first time ever. The team was unhinged. BornToB AND Bubblegum in the same match. I swear this wasn't staged.]
It had been read almost immediately. Who could resist BornToB and Bubblegum?? Still, no reply came.
Ji-Ah dropped her head.
‘Damn.’
She couldn’t do anything more and decided to just process things in order even if everything was uploaded late. If the order got tangled while she worked alone, some of the better videos would end up buried.
The next day, Ji-Ah woke up to a text.
[New message from Macaron]
A notification was waiting for her. She opened it.
[Macaron: Hello.]
[Macaron: I've been in a low place for a while and couldn't watch anything... but I saw your message and watched Almond's stream.]
[Macaron: Instead of watching it for work, I genuinely just watched it smiling the whole time with my brain turned off. It’s been a long time since I did that.]
[Macaron: The truth is, when I heard I'd have to commute... I just couldn't get myself to edit properly. I got really unsettled...]
[Macaron: And then the director started sending dozens of messages...]
"Dozens of messages..."
Ji-Ah took a moment to appreciate Kim Ju-Hyeok’s sheer relentlessness even in this context. “
Pfft.
” She relaxed and pulled her phone close to her chest. "
Hah.
Thank god. Damn."
The last message relieved her.
[Macaron: I heard it was urgent so I made it. I was so into it that the video came together fast.]
[Macaron: (file)]
Ji-Ah opened the file and started reviewing it. The video began. Her sharp eyes slowly went wide. The footage played across her brightening pupils.
‘This...’
She couldn't believe something like this had come together so fast.
‘They really made this in a day?’
She decided she'd only touch the thumbnail.
‘Just the thumbnail and it's done...’
Some time passed.
[Trash Slam Dunk]
A video with that title was uploaded. The thumbnail was a photo washed out in white light. It included five people: Almond, LetMeTank, Bubblegum, BornToB, and Choco Shroom. Written across the thumbnail were these words:
[But this photo was never used.]
— lmaooo what
— What is this?!
— Is this the last placement match?? lmao
— You're seriously going to turn the end of a ranking match into a sports movie climax? You maniac!?
[Viewers waiting: 1,800]
The viewers wandered in with nothing in mind, ready to laugh and mess around. They had no idea what this video was about to set in motion.

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