The medal brightly shone.
"Oh... I've been promoted."
Now, he was only two ranks away from diamond despite being a week into his challenge.
— Wow, he really did it!
— He might actually be able to get diamond.
— I think we can say for sure another one of JeonJaPa's records will be broken.
— He can do it if he won with all those stream snipers.
— This guy is no joke.
— If only JeonJaPa tried a little harder...
— What's JeonJaPa up to these days? Teach this nut a lesson!
Everyone had been skeptical when Almond announced that he would reach Diamond in two weeks. Even his fans thought he was overconfident because he had only played two matches at the time.
However, no one doubted he would reach Diamond anymore. The question was how quickly he would reach it now.
"Everyone! I reached my goal for today, so I'm leaving."
— Aren't you going to get diamond? Aren't you going to get diamond? Aren't you going to get diamond? Aren't you going to get diamond?
The chat turned into an ocean of tears.
[OhNo has d 10,000 won.]
[You'll reach diamond, right?]
[RubySword has d 10,000 won.]
[EggPlant has d 5000 won.]
It was a shame, but Almond had to end his stream due to his health.
"Thank you RubySword and EggPlant. I'm going now! Bye, Treevy!"
The familiar sound of the capsule opening could be heard. Almond walked out like a zombie drenched in sweat.
'I feel like I'm wearing a heavy bondage suit after flying around in the power suit.'
Almond felt more tired than usual because of the power suit. As a result, he had to end his streamer earlier than usual.
'Was I too immersed in it? Am I the problem?’
Almond grew curious if he was the only one who faced these problems. He would've heard about it if his condition was common, but he never did.
Ju-Hyeok came up to him and asked, "How was it today? Was it difficult? I don't know about earlier, but it seems like you destroyed everyone later on."
He noticed Sang-Hyeon seemed more tired than usual and the stream ended earlier than planned too.
"Ah... Dealing with those stream snipers early on was a little tiring."
Sang-Hyeon quickly headed to the shower.
"Ah, alright. I'll go ahead and report them!" Ju-Hyeok shouted, but Sang-Hyeon probably couldn't hear him. "They should be in the community."
Ju-Hyeok went to Battle31, the biggest Battle Large community on the internet.
The site didn’t look an hour ago.
'The stream just ended.'
Only five minutes had passed since Sang-Hyeon's stream ended.
[1. Almond's power suit play]
[2. Almond reaching plat II in one game]
[3. Miho's statement on Almond]
[4. Miho's outfit today!]
[5. Bubblegum back to playing Battle Large! Win rate: 0.04% → 0.03%]
Almond frequently appeared on the trending posts. Ju-Hyeok spotted Bubblegum's name at the bottom as well.
'Bubblegum is starting to play again.'
Bubblegum often changed games. He would move on after completing a game and usually switched after a season for online games. He was playing Battle Large for an event the last time Almond met him. Many didn't expect him to return since he already played Battle Large, but he made it his main game again.
'The manager meant what he said.'
Bubblegum's manager, Park Sung-Tae, had notified Ju-Hyeok.
[We're planning to make Battle Large our main game for this quarter. It's probably for the best to naturally collaborate with Almond.]
They were setting up to collaborate, but Almond had to reach Diamond first to teach Bubblegum how to play.
[Isn't it a given he'll reach diamond? Now we just have to see if he'll beat the record or not.]
Park Sung-Tae had no doubts that Almond would reach Diamond.
'He has a good sense for people.'
Ju-Hyeok continued scrolling with a smile on his face.
He had been looking for this post.
[List of Almond's stream snipers today]
Thankfully, someone conveniently made a list of all the users who targeted Almond in today's stream. Ju-Hyeok copied the list and pasted it into his notes.
It was difficult to report them for a single incident, but Ju-Hyeok could easily report them in the future if they repeated the offense.
"Anyways, public opinion changed so quickly. Pfft." He couldn't help but laugh as he read the comments.
[When will Almond reach Diamond? 8 days? 9 days?]
[A week away from JeonJaPa's record being broken.]
[JeonJaPa's over the hill now.]
The community had been full of posts doubting Almond just a few days ago. Now, most posts wanted to see how fast he would break JeonJaPa's record. Those who still cheered for JeonJaPa were considered to be clinging to the past.
Sang-Hyeon felt refreshed after his shower.
He placed the towel around his head after lightly splashing some water. Then he ate a sweet fruit pudding from the fridge because he thought he needed the sugar.
It tasted so satisfying and his condition recovered after the snack.
Sang-Hyeon checked the time.
He would be getting ready to work overtime after dinner if he was still at the company. However, his day had already finished now since he won his promotion matches in one round.
'This is how it should be.'
Sang-Hyeon lay on his bed with a light heart. He felt lighter on his bed than in the power suit. It felt great.
As usual, he went on his phone and watched some YouTube videos before checking the community comments.
Anyone could tell that Almond had become the hottest streamer on Battle31. His name appeared in the titles of every trending post in the community.
It felt exciting to be known by so many people even if it was just online. Almond naturally sought attention since his days as a young athlete and felt thrilled about it.
'The reactions are good.'
The public’s opinion had reached its peak.
[He got promoted after crushing those stream snipers! So cool]
[For real. I've never seen such a cooler way to get promoted.]
[Barbarian warrior Almond...]
They praised him for wiping out the stream snipers early on.
A post about his 1v5 matchup steadily gained attention.
'1v5?' Sang-Hyeon felt slightly confused. Was it 1v5? At most, it was 1v4 in his memory.
He clicked on the post and a montage of him killing the jackpot player on the second floor appeared.
"Nah, this is a 1v1," Sang-Hyeon smirked and kept watching the montage.
It started as 1v1. Then three other players went after him. Even he felt pleased watching himself fight off three players at once. It felt like watching an action movie. It was a shame this montage didn't have any sound.
— I'm going to watch this right now.
— I can't believe I couldn't watch this live... what am I doing with my life...
— I'll watch it when it’s on YouTube. It's cooler that way haha.
└ For real. Almond's editor makes him look even cooler.?
└ The editor's name is Seo Ji-Ah? How do you know?
└ She ran his fanpage a while ago, Almond's fan Seo Ji-Ah.
"Wow, they know Seo Ji-Ah too?"
It felt weird how much they knew about him. Almond went to the next page.
[Jensen! This crazy bastard! LOL]
[Jensen is fucking hilarious!]
[The gods helped Almond in today's stream. Freaking Jensen!]
A couple of posts celebrated Jensen with the power suit.
A stream sniper didn't always negatively impact a stream. Sometimes, it made the stream more interesting for the viewers. Jensen's character had an overall positive impact on his stream.
'It was pretty funny.'
Even Almond couldn't help but laugh when he thought back on it. An avid fan running around in a power suit. That made for quite the sight.
[I got Jensen's video! Turn on your sound!]
The post with a clip of Jensen trended more than the others. In the video, Jensen kept shouting,?'Mom, I want to be Almond when I grow up!'
— Can't believe I missed this!
— Ah frick, it’ll be on YouTube, right?
— He does seem insane with the power suit on.
— The stream god blessed Almond today.
└ Still, a stream sniper is a stream sniper.
Sang-Hyeon replied to the bottom comment and moved on. He wasn't willing to forgive Jensen.
[The reason he looked so badass while killing the five idiot musketeers.]
‘Five idiot musketeers?’?Sang-Hyeon briefly thought about what the post was referring to before bursting into laughter. The viewers had already nicknamed the five players who targeted him.
[Wasn't he so badass when he climbed up to the second floor using knives? It felt like watching a protagonist in a thriller movie.]
The post didn't say much, so Sang-Hyeon felt surprised at why it trended.
— I never imagined that would work.
└ One of the viewers told him to do that!
— He listened to his viewers! Sweet Almond!
— Wow, someone find the clip. I can't seem to find it…
The post had lots of comments though. Any post that mentioned Almond seemed to gain attention.
Almond suddenly learned something new.
— The user who told Almond about that strategy, PaPaPa, isn't that JeonJaPa?
└ WTF are you talking about?
└ No, for real. PaPaPa is JeonJaPa's Treevy username. It's his sub-account, but it's true. I'm his fan, so I recognized it.
└ Do you think JeonJaPa would be commenting in his stream?
‘Was it JeonJaPa?’?Sang-Hyeon got up from his comfortable position. He recalled countless chats when he read PaPaPa’s username. 'What was it?'
It could've been false, but Sang-Hyeon wanted to double-check for some reason. He logged into Treevy on his phone and checked his chat log.
— Go up using your knives.
— Use the knife... ah, I guess I should use a donation message
— Woah, the arrow is curving? First time seeing something .
— You just need to kill everyone while slowly closing in if you have the power suit!
The chat entries had been nothing special.
It felt strange because everything PaPaPa said ended up correct. Everything he typed was the best possible action in that scenario. At least, it felt like that from Sang-Hyeon's perspective.
Could a viewer luckily guess the right course of action every time?
Ju-Hyeok knocked on his door.
"Hey, it's been a while. Let's go out and eat."
"I want some kimchi stew. I hear there's a new franchise."
"Yeah, they offered an ad for you. I want to see if they're good or not."
"Ah... The place with a ten thousand year old tradition or whatever it was called?"
"Yeah, there.?Puhaha!"?Ju-Hyeok laughed at the restaurant’s ridiculous slogan of a ten thousand year old tradition.
They went out to eat dinner at 6:40 P.M.
It had been a while. They didn’t have any time to eat out unless it was for work. It was the first time they went out since eating chicken when Ju-Hyeok moved in.
Sang-Hyeon loved chicken and beer, but he also loved the thought of kimchi stew with some soju.