Season 5: Chapter 71. The Weight of Showing Up (3)
Everything had two sides. Losing a four-million-won mission because of two unfair Bubblegum draws was undeniably painful. It was enough to shake one’s fist at the sky. If something like this happened to Zelo, he would’ve complained about it for nearly a week. That was how unlucky it had been.
Sometimes, that was just life. One just had bad luck. And sometimes, just as simply, one would have good luck. Almond's defeat hadn't only affected his stream.
"Wh... what is this? The viewer count isn't bugged, right?" LetMeTank opened her stream the day after Trash Slam Dunk went up and couldn't believe her own eyes.
— LetMeTank... you blew up.
— I thought mentioning viewer counts was a ban offense lmao
— LetMeTank!!
— Finally, you're actually taking off!
[Current Viewers: 1,200]
Her all-time high was 300 viewers. The usual average hovered around two hundred. Now, she’d broken a thousand the moment she went live.
"This isn't because I... said something bad about Almond, is it? Like a mob thing?"
Outside of a controversy, those numbers made no sense.
— Wow
— What
— Did that happen?? lmao
— If you talked bad about the Smart Young Man, you are a decorated hero...
— lmaooo sudden confession lmao
— When did she talk bad about anyone? I only ever saw her say true things
— lmaooo
LetMeTank had accidentally confessed without meaning to, but her viewers loved it. Talking back at the Smart Young Man had earned her goodwill. That wasn't all.
"A whopping 5,120,000 won." Ju-Hyeok mentioned it over a lunch of kimchi stew. "That day, five million won came in through donations. The next day, people were still hyped. Another four hundred thousand rolled in."
The financial gains earned through that loss were staggering. At this point, one almost had to wonder what would have happened if they had won.
"And if we'd won, Macaron's video wouldn't have been anything like what it was. Personally, I think losing the mission about once every ten times is the right call."
He was earnestly constructing a theory about why losing a mission once in a while was beneficial.
"A mission is like wine." “
Pffft!
” Ji-Ah had been listening patiently before spitting out her water. She couldn't hold it anymore. "Stop saying things that make no sense!"
"No sense? Ji-Ah, you have your own biases, you know? This is business. The real world. The data says..."
Even as Ju-Hyeok enthusiastically explained, he knew it too. If they actually tried to deliberately lose once every ten missions, the effect would never be the same. Almond wasn't the kind of person who suited a scripted broadcast anyway, so why mention it?
‘The guy is out of it right now.’
Sang-Hyeon hadn't been right since that day.
Hmm...
Whatever was being said in front of him, he just sighed and stared off somewhere else.
‘But telling him to lose one out of ten on purpose...’
Ji-Ah understood the logic too. She stopped Ju-Hyeok because his approach was completely ridiculous and tried nudging the topic in a slightly different direction.
"Did you see that? The Raina Challenge trend." She pushed her phone in front of Almond. "The 'I hate Zelo' video went viral, and now people are doing something called the Raina Challenge."
Ji-Ah pulled up a Raina Challenge video. The format was simple. First, it showed gameplay from Almond’s Raina. Then, with ridiculous music, the participating streamer's own Raina gameplay. The result was getting verbally destroyed by Raina at the end.
— lmaooooooo
— Zelo was actually the dignified version lmao
— Micro-Organism Zelo wins again today...
— lmao Raina is absolutely ruthless~
— That first part has to be AI-generated, right? How is she complimenting him??
— The Raina in the first part is a streamer named Almond's wife cosplaying and acting. Please do not use her as a reference point.
— I'm losing my mind lmaooo
— The variety of insults Raina has seems like the actual point of the challenge
Many comments laughed at the short clip.
Sang-Hyeon, the person directly involved, still looked distant and blank. "I see.
Hmm.
Hah.
" Ju-Hyeok finally sighed and pulled out his secret weapon.
A brain-rot AI-generated short video showed the chibi Almond from
Survival Craft
. Drawn in cartoon proportions, he ran after the viewer with an almond-shaped baseball bat.
[Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart Smart!]
The wide-eyed chibi Almond sprinted forward, chanting nothing but "Smart" over and over.
— lmaooooooo
— What even is this lmao
— Actually terrifying
— The Almond era... a painful chapter of history...
— lmaooo
When one’s head was cluttered, something simple worked best.
"What on earth is that thing?
Pfft.
” Despite everything he said, Sang-Hyeon laughed.
In the end, the only thing actually making him laugh was the Smart Young Man’s resurrection. It was the one thing that the loss hadn't taken from him.
‘No way.’
‘Finally...!’
Ji-Ah and Ju-Hyeok looked at each other with unmistakable satisfaction. They were like parents when their baby finally said "mama" and "dada" for the first time. Ju-Hyeok could finally dig into his food in peace.
Ji-Ah steered things back to work. "Anyway, placement matches are done. We've got a decent rank established... Now, it's practicing with the Knights Order members and everything, right? I'll need footage from that side too if I'm editing."
"Yeah, that's the plan now. The whole Survival mode thing is ultimately for the Platform War."
"But... isn't today the day?"
"What day?"
The Platform War was still a distant concern for Ji-Ah. An editor's job was processing things after the stream, not before. Something else was currently happening.
"The full office move. And... Macaron is coming, right?"
"Macaron?" Unexpectedly, Sang-Hyeon perked up.
To him, Macaron was practically the person who had brought the Smart Young Man back from the dead.
"Yeah, it's Macaron's first day. He doesn’t really go outside much..."
"I should come too."
Sang-Hyeon's broadcast studio was still in the final stages of setup. Soundproofing the room and moving the capsule were delicate tasks that still needed to be coordinated right up to the last moment. Visiting the office hadn't been part of the plan today. Obviously, Macaron had no idea about any of this.
Ju-Hyeok clapped in delight. "Oh, that's great. Macaron is going to love that."
Just moments ago, Sang-Hyeon had been too out of it to engage with anything. This was something, at least.
Ji-Ah's eyes moved around nervously.
‘This is fine... right?’
She felt an inexplicable feeling of dread, the powerful rising energy of a corporate machine!
Sure enough, Ju-Hyeok said, "Wait, since we're all getting together anyway! Should we do a team dinner? Just take the day off!"
"Oh!"
Ju-Hyeok made the gesture of tipping back a shot glass, and Sang-Hyeon nodded vigorously.
"Let's do it!"
Ji-Ah felt rattled. She'd known this was coming.
‘These ridiculously extroverted people.’
Regardless, the plan rolled forward like water flowing downhill. Up to this point, it was still manageable. Some bonding between the Mixed Nuts team was exactly what Macaron needed to experience.
"Hold on. I mentioned the schedule in the group chat."
Sang-Hyeon held up his phone screen.
[SweetPotato: Whoa, CAPTAIN~ You moved into a new office!? We'll bring a housewarming gift!!]
[SweetRadish: Wow, a proper office?? Can we come too?]
[BlackTea: Huh? We were already supposed to shoot some bonding content anyway. Should we just go for it today?]
[Lemon: Yes yes yesyesyes lol]
"That's great!"
Clap!
Ju-Hyeok was especially enthusiastic. Of course, because most of the Knight Order members were independent. He'd been eyeing recruitment opportunities already. Now, they were coming to him on their own. How could he say no?
[Almond: Whoa. That's great. Let's do today]
With that one line from Sang-Hyeon, the Knight Order’s bonding session was also locked in for today.
"They're coming too."
Spontaneously, the Knight Order members had been added to the gathering. This was good news for Mixed Nuts. Above all, it was good news for Sang-Hyeon, who had been in low spirits for two days straight.
Ji-Ah couldn't say anything against it either.
‘Macaron... isn't going to turn around and run away, right?’
She was worried about Macaron.
"Pang is coming too!"
"Ohhh?!"
"He says he's bringing actual fish!"
"WHAT?!"
Thud!
Macaron, aka Kim Ji-Hu, packed his laptop into his backpack. He stepped out of the house for the first time.
Phew...
It's just saying hi today. That's all."
It wasn’t during regular commute hours, but essentially right before the end of the business day. Macaron opened the map app and checked the location again before heading to the company. He looked up the subway times again and again.
‘Plenty of time.’
Today's plan was simple: meet at three, take a quick look around the office, set up his workstation, say hello to everyone, have dinner, and come home. His parents stood at the door to see him off. It was his first time leaving the house, and he was already heading straight to a job.
"J-Ji-Hu, you're not pushing yourself too hard, are you?"
"Oppa. This is really a job, right?"
Haha.
What's wrong with everyone? I said I was going to work."
Everyone, except his father, seemed unable to believe it.
His father winked at him.
‘I know what's going on. Just go have fun.’
For some reason, his father seemed to think he had a girlfriend or something.
Ji-Hu answered with silence. He couldn’t explain right now. How would he even begin to describe this chain of miracles? He spent all that time locked in his room making Trash Slam Dunk, stepped outside, and then came back the next day for the first day of work?
"I'm off!"
"Make sure you come back! Okay?"
Ji-Hu walked out with his head held up.
Haah... hah...
The air outside was unmistakably different from the air inside. It wasn’t the temperature-controlled and humidity-adjusted air of a greenhouse. This was wild and untamed, doing whatever it wanted.
"Oh? Ji-Hu, isn't it? It's been so long~!" a woman called out to him on his way out of the apartment complex.
It was his friend's mother from school.
Ah...
hello."
"How have you been? Where are you off to so eagerly?"
"I'm,
um...
g-going to work."
"Work? You got a job? That's amazing!"
She didn't ask why he was going to work at three in the afternoon. Either way, as Ji-Hu stepped out of the complex, his expression was nothing but confident.
"I'm a working adult. Starting today!"
He thumped his own chest and headed to the nearby subway station. He didn't realize yet the weight of the words he'd just said.

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