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Season 2: Chapter 128: Cookie (2)

The next morning, Sang-Hyeon leisurely ate his cereal while Ju-Hyeok bustled about.

“Hey, is this the suit you were talking about?”

“Yeah, that’s right…”

Ju-Hyeok planned on going to the dry cleaners to drop off Sang-Hyeon’s suit for the next day's award ceremony.

“Will it be ready by tomorrow if you go today?”

“I made a reservation. Don’t you need makeup or anything?”

“Me, makeup?”

Sang-Hyeon still wasn’t accustomed to having makeup on, having only experienced it a few times for advertisements.

“They keep offering you variety show appearances. You should get used to this kind of thing.”

“Hmm.”

Variety shows… Sang-Hyeon felt bewildered. The talk show he attended last time was well-received due to good fortune. He felt unsure how he would fare on other shows.

“Right now, I'm focusing on streaming and turning everything else down... Well, I’ll think about it.”

Ju-Hyeok seemed to want Sang-Hyeon to go on variety shows too.

‘Ju-Hyeok always wants to climb higher.’

Not out of personal greed, but Kim Ju-Hyeok was inherently that kind of person. He was always aspiring for more.

‘What about me?’ Sang-Hyeon asked himself.

He didn’t know yet.

“Or you can go with Ji-Ah. I heard she’s booking a salon.”

“Ji-Ah said she didn’t want to go to such things. She's becoming quite proactive.”

“Pfft,” Ju-Hyeok laughed loudly at Sang-Hyeon's sharp remark.

“That's what I'm saying.”

“I’ll just do the basics and go.”

“That’s fine. Let’s do that.”

Ju-Hyeok seemed okay with that idea.

“Basic makeup, this suit, and I rented a van.”

Ju-Hyeok jotted down notes on his phone, mumbled to himself, and said he'd be back soon as he left.

Sang-Hyeon remained alone at home.

“...”

In the silence, random thoughts popped into his head. He would see Bubblegum and Tako again at the award ceremony among others. The thought of seeing them in person after a long time made him happy.

An idol group would also perform at the ceremony. Would it be fun to watch together? The members of Bubblegum’s team would probably enjoy it except for Miho.

‘Ah, speaking of couple awards…’

Sang-Hyeon recalled that he and Miho were nominated for a couple award. Would they be able to win that? Such awards were really just for fun, so it was hard to tell.

Sang-Hyeon got up and operated the coffee machine that Ji-Ah gifted him.

Zzzing.

The fragrant scent of coffee filled the house. He took out the almond cookies Miho also gifted him from the drawer. There were still plenty of cookies even after sharing them with the fans.

Crunch.

The rich flavors spread in his mouth. Sipping coffee along with it felt just right.

‘What should I give Miho as a gift?’

He felt he should return the favor but couldn’t think of anything. Ju-Hyeok would probably sort it out well if he asked.

Sang-Hyeon leaned against the window and opened it.

Whooosh.

A cold breeze blew in. The cold didn’t feel unpleasant. The refreshing winter morning air was rich in oxygen.

‘The air is quite good here.’

They lived on top of a hill where it was hard to walk up and cars couldn’t access. Even the delivery guys always complained, but... The air was quite fresh as a mountain was directly behind them.

Sang-Hyeon took a deep breath. He watched the slowly rising sun, one of the last sunrises of the year.

‘Will I be leaving this place next year?’

He contemplated possibly looking for a new house next year. His grandmother was no longer here and her ashes were placed in a decent columbarium. During her lifetime, she always told him to earn a lot of money and leave this neighborhood, saying that a better living space led to better fortune in life. Sang-Hyeon was starting to understand what she meant and planned to fulfill her wish.

A message suddenly arrived.

[Miho: What are you wearing tomorrow!?]

Sang-Hyeon wondered if it was too late to ask such a question. He tilted his head, unaware that Miho had been fretting over it before finally sending the message.

After sipping his coffee, he replied.

[Sang-Hyeon: Because of the couple award?]

[Miho: Yes! Hehe]

'How should I explain?'

He had an expensive black suit, but couldn’t describe it in fashion terms as he didn't know how to.

[Sang-Hyeon: I have a black suit... Ju-Hyeok took it just now, so I don’t have a picture...]

[Miho: Ah, got it!]

[Sang-Hyeon: But don’t women usually avoid black at award ceremonies?]

Sang-Hyeon thought Miho wanted to match colors and expressed his concern, but…

[Miho: I’m wearing red!]

[Miho: It doesn’t match my pink hair, so I dyed it black again lol]

[Miho: (Photo) (Photo)]

[Sang-Hyeon: ?]

She wasn't wearing black. Sang-Hyeon wondered why she even asked and felt puzzled.

[Miho: lolololol you’re so predictable lol]

Sang-Hyeon chuckled at Miho’s confession.

[Miho: I’ll go with black accessories though!]

[Miho: A slightly forced similar look lol]

[Sang-Hyeon: lololol that's cool]

[Miho: Yes! See you then! Hope I get the award!]

Sang-Hyeon finished chatting with Miho and murmured, “She’s really excited.”

He smiled at the dress photos that Miho sent him. It seemed like people who enjoyed dressing up felt excited to attend such events.

‘It’s almost 1 o’clock.’

He had arranged to meet Cookie at 1 P.M. today in advance.

Sang-Hyeon prepared to enter the capsule.

***

Right after lunch at 1 P.M., Sang-Hyeon entered the capsule.

[Starting the stream.]

He also started his stream. It wouldn’t be proper to stream right before a tournament, but streaming today was allowed as he was only learning the national team rules. Apparently, Cookie had agreed to this as well.

— Hi hi

— Yesss! 2 hours of life gained lol

— Why so early?

— What’s with the random stream title lol

Despite the sudden start, viewers poured in. His basic viewership had surged significantly with the recent Civil Empire rank climb.

[Current Viewers: 9,000]

Right after beginning the stream at 1 P.M., the stream reached 9,000 viewers.

"Hey!" Almond quickly greeted and explained what he was doing today. "We usually start the rank matches at 3 P.M., but I came on right now to learn the national team rules..."

Before he could finish, a donation came in.

Ding!

[GodJia has donated 10,000 won.]

[Change the stream title to something patriotic, quick!]

"Ah, GodJia, thank you for the 10,000 won. The title... was auto-generated because I started the stream in a hurry..."

Almond scratched his head. Most of the stream titles were usually set by Ju-Hyeok or Ji-Ah. Today, neither of them were around and he hastily started the stream.

Another donation came in.

[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]

[It wasn’t Almond who did that, it was Walnut haha]

— lololol true??

— If Ruby says so, it must be true.

— I guess that's the case lol

"Thank you RubySword for the 10,000 won. Hmm, I will think about the title while playing the game," Almond replied.

Around five minutes after starting the stream, he quickly switched to the game.

— Playing already? :(

— Are we just a business relationship!? Where are you going!!

— lololol as expected of Almond.

Unlike other streamers who usually spent a couple of hours interacting with viewers, Almond wasn’t very confident with words and usually went straight into the game. He only reserved communication time occasionally during special events. Even then, he never said much.

— There's no interaction here

— Almond the ruthless streamer;

— Bro, let's talk a bit more…

Recently, he frequently saw such messages.

'As the viewers increase, those who want that kind of interaction also seem to have increased.'

Until now, the majority had been hardcore gamers. Significantly more light gamers had joined since then.

'I'll just go with it today.'

For today, he intended to go straight into the game.

[KimchiWarrior: I'll give you the code!]

[TUH37PK]

Almond didn’t want to keep them waiting and quickly announced, "Everyone, I have someone important waiting today so I'll save the communication time for later."

— Really??

— He’ll interact with us later!?

— Who?

— Wow, an interaction stream after so long? lol

— Do you even know how to interact?

The audience seemed more interested in an interaction stream than the mention of an important person.

Almond answered his own question, "Ah, who is it? It’s Cookie, our national team captain."

— Wow, Cookie

— Ah! Cookie! You know him!

— What a scripted question lol

— Who asked?

— Is he a famous person?

Half the viewers knew and half didn't. It seemed divided because only the hardcore users mostly chatted, but most people probably didn't know. Ninety percent of the viewers probably didn't even have Civil Empire installed at home.

"Let’s go," he said and entered the code Kimchi Warrior sent him.

***

After a moment of darkness, the world brightened again.

Doom...!

The following text appeared.

[Practice Mode - National Competition]

The code Kimchi Warrior gave him wasn’t for entering This World. It was an entry code for accessing Civil Empire’s practice mode.

'This place...'

Wide plains and hills spread out before Almond. In the distance, there seemed to be a river flowing.

He couldn’t spot any people. Just as he thought this—

Swoosh!

Blue beams of light started to fall everywhere.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Countless blue lights fell around Almond.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

He couldn’t count them all as people emerged from the blue light. Countless individuals, not just anyone, but armed soldiers.

Before Almond knew it, hundreds of soldiers were lined up and he found himself trapped in the middle of their formation.

Giant figures and shoulders cast a shadow in every direction.

— What’s this???

— ???

— Wow, so intense

— That startled me

A moment later, the soldiers simultaneously struck their weapons on the ground.

Boom!!!

They caused an immense vibration and all let out a short shout.

"War!!!"

Just the sound made the ground shake. A heavy wave seemed to press down on everyone. This feeling of pressure was palpable on the skin.

Boom!

Once again, the soldiers stomped and shouted.

"War!!!"

This time, they did it continuously.

"War!!! War!!!! War!!!!!"

Their hearts started beating uncontrollably.

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

That was when it happened. A group of soldiers simultaneously started clearing a path like the parting of the Red Sea in the bible.

Swoosh.

The wall of people cleared a path and three people appeared at the vanishing point of that path. All three were riding horses slowly trotting toward Almond.

The man in the middle with a calm demeanor gradually grew clearer. He seemed to be in his mid-30s, a bit older than Ju-Hyeok. The other two stopped as he kept approaching closer.

He greeted Almond when his face became fully visible, "Nice to meet you."

Almond immediately recognized him even without any introduction.

This man was Cookie. He dismounted from the horse and formally greeted Almond.

Almond’s first impression of him was that he was quite thin. His skin color looked quite pale as if he was somewhat sick.

However…

"I'm Cookie, the commander-in-chief for this national team."

"Yes, I’m Almond."

His eyes fiercely burned.

"We'll get straight into the explanation. Just for your information, we'll skip the formalities from now on."

Cookie started the conversation and abruptly turned around.

"First."

Snap.

He snapped his fingers high and his tone changed. It didn’t sound as resounding as generals in the army, but the voice that came through the microphone had a sharp edge to it. It felt clear and distinct like it could cut through one’s eardrums.

"In the national competition, all two hundred soldiers are summoned from the beginning."

“Gulp.”

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