Season 5: Chapter 45. The Hopeless Trio (1)
“Haah... What is this!?” The moment Acorn Jelly exited the game, he pulled up Zelo’s gameplay instead of Almond’s. “I feel like I almost get it now?”
— Get what??
— What?
— Have you considered your IQ?
— LOL
— After full loss: I get it now
“No, seriously. I’m not joking. Look at this.”
Acorn Jelly froze the footage when Zelo became frozen and couldn’t move. He rewatched it to see what even pro players couldn’t manage.
“I’m telling you, it exists. Perfect Death.”
— Oh that’s what this is about
— Ahh... he’s back on it...
— Not this again...
— It’s a bit, right?
— But honestly, a lot of what he said lines up
— Perfect Death my ass
Ding.
[YOUcrazy has donated 1,000 won.]
[It’s just a bug~]
Unlike All Black or Perfect Shot, this really did look like nothing more than a bug.
“Huh? A bug?” Acorn Jelly snorted as if he’d expected that response. “That’s exactly why I pulled up Zelo’s screen.”
— ?
— Why?
— Huh?
— What is it?
— Another conspiracy?
The chat mocked him endlessly, but Acorn Jelly ignored it and kept talking. “Alright. Look here.”
He fast-forwarded Zelo’s footage. The three-generation epic flew by on screen: Zelo freezing, Zelu being born, and then Zela appearing.
“And he freezes again!”
At the very end, the lone Zelo froze again.
“And then Bubblegum shows up!”
— Oh?
— He did it again?
— Huh?
— Lmao
Most viewers who had only watched from Acorn Jelly’s perspective hadn’t known what happened afterward.
“See? The game disconnected!”
— ?
— What!?
— Huh?
— Damn
— No way
— Is this real?
— What the hell?!
“Is that a coincidence? During the match, Zelu couldn’t do anything but wander the afterlife. Right when the game was about to end, he got kicked out of the game entirely!?”
As usual, Acorn Jelly’s argument was riddled with holes. Suddenly, the viewers began backing him.
— This actually seems legit?
— This is kind of...
— Is he showing it again?
— So it’s not a bug?
— Something big is coming?
— Freeze into stun, got it
— This actually sounds plausible, yeah
Public opinion instantly flipped. Clearly, some force had stepped in.
— The stock manipulators are here again
— They figured it out again!
— These guys are crazy
They were called the Squirrel Squad. To be clear, the Squirrel Squad wasn’t Acorn Jelly’s fandom name. That was simply called the Acorn Corps, so who was the Squirrel Squad?
If the Acorn Corps were regular soldiers, the Squirrel Squad was the special forces. These elite viewers received a squirrel badge by donating or watching heavily. Like special forces, their tendencies varied.
Some found Acorn Jelly’s conspiracy theories amusing, and others genuinely believed them. They pushed the extremes just to prove him wrong. Like special forces with different missions, their end goal remained the same.
No matter the reason, when Acorn Jelly came up with a theory, they simply pushed it to make it go mainstream. The Squirrel Squad’s purpose was to get people talking. Their combat power was on an entirely different level from the casual Acorn Corps. Thanks to them, Acorn Jelly had been able to keep pushing Perfect Shot all this time.
— The Squirrel Squad just swarmed in
— It’s over now
— Here we go again
— Didn’t you already achieve enlightenment with Perfect Shot?
With the Squirrel Squad joining in, Acorn Jelly gained momentum.
“No. Fine, let’s say it’s a bug.”
Someone who preached conspiracies knew how to talk. Acorn Jelly deliberately took a step back, feigning flexibility. He pretended to concede and pretended to be objective. It was a classic feint before the real point.
“Then what? You think the devs are gonna fix this? Before the Survival Platform War? You think we’re playing in LIL Champs? And it’s Survival on top of that?”
— True
— Facts
— Agreed
Acorn Jelly slashed through the air with his hand as he launched into a rant. “An unfixed bug! Is! Indistinguishable! From! A skill!”
— Damn
— Damn!!
— Damn he’s right
— Daaaaamn
— That hits
— What a quote!
The Squirrel Squad showed overwhelming support.
— Holy shit
— What is this dictator speech?!
— LMAO
— LOL
— This place is actually insane...
The Acorn Corps looked on, bewildered.
“So Perfect Death is a skill! You have to learn it! Imagine a Platform War where you can use this freely!”
— Bug abuse!
— No way
— You’re saying you’ll use it in a tournament?
— This guy is trying to win a tourney with bugs
— That’s horrifying
— You’re insane
— He’s actually lost it...
He had crossed a line, and the counterattack came immediately.
Ba-bam!
[Report has donated 30,000 won.]
[Isn’t this just a malicious bug user?]
— True
— He might actually get kicked out
— Just a lunatic
— First ever tournament ban incoming!
Using bugs would openly get one expelled, but Acorn Jelly ignored those messages entirely.
“Perfect Death is...”
He did what he always did. What mattered was conviction and madness.
“IT EXISTS!!!”
As his eyes flashed, almost everyone went wild.
— Kyaa
— LMAO
— This crazy bastard
— No, even if it exists, you can’t use it...
— DTL! DTL! DTL! (kneeling)
— Let’s gooo~
— It exiiists!
— ??? A bug? Nah, the Squirrel Squad is hyped~!
***
“Almond, when are you queuing?”
“...”
“Almond?”
Meanwhile, Bubblegum was hounding Almond to play together.
“I’ll queue. Together.”
“What!? For real?”
“Yes.”
He decided to queue with Bubblegum.
— DAMN
— Gasp
— That decisiveness
— You’re doing this?!
— Bubblegum actually pulled it off!
This was the result of Bubblegum’s relentless pestering.
“Wow! That’s a great call, Almond! This is pure profit. I’m telling you! Wahahaha! Then I’ll go queue?”
“Yes.”
Bubblegum started to leave, then suddenly turned back.
Whoosh!
“You’re not offset-queuing, right?”
“...”
— No way LOL
— Why is he so obsessive haha
— Holy shit that guy
— LOOL
“Wahaha! I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
With that, Bubblegum vanished from the This World room.
‘Just one game, huh?’
Almond glanced at the mission window and sighed.
[Mission]
[Placement: Five First-Place Finishes]
[1/5]
[880,000 won]
The mission had originally started at 500,000 won. Bubblegum had inflated it to a ridiculous amount. It made sense. If Almond failed to place first even once because of Bubblegum, the mission would end anyway. In a way, it was a safety asset. Of course, it wasn’t much of a safety net anymore since he’d already won one placement match with Bubblegum.
Ding.
[890,000 won]
Another ten thousand won was added.
‘Why?’
— Huh? It went up?
— Bubblegum effect!
— it jumped the moment he said they’d queue together!
— What if they meet as enemies!!
A lot of people were betting that five straight first-place finishes would be hard if Almond met Bubblegum as an ally again.
Ding! Ding!
[930,000 won]
The mission payout climbed higher, and Almond’s lips curled up.
— Look at Almond’s face LOL
— Was this the plan, Almondoyle!?
— This really was pure profit
— Honestly, Almondoyle could calculate this
Stocks rose and fell on expectations alone, didn’t they? Queueing with Bubblegum meant Almond could lose regardless of his own skill. That uncertainty itself offered value. Compared to solo queueing, it was on a completely different level.
“I’ll queue right away.”
Not wanting to hear accusations of offset-queueing again, Almond quickly queued up.
‘Oh.’
After confirming he wasn’t on the same team as Bubblegum, Almond surged forward with overwhelming momentum.
Brrraaam!
[First Place]
He ran straight to first place!
— Kyaa
— Holy shit
— Insane
— Not rushing so he doesn’t pick Raina
— Damn~
— Easy first place
— Without Bubblegum, he just drops Raina instantly
They had queued at the same time, but ended up on different teams. Thanks to that, Almond achieved an effortless first-place finish.
“Orders? Leave it to the Smart Young Man.”
Almond attributed their win to his play-calling. In truth, it was his usual overwhelming burst-damage show.
— True!
— Smart Young Man! Smart Young Man! Smart Young Man!
— Those orders were nuts~
— Kyaa
— Yes, this is it!
— Orders? Smart Young Man! Orders? Smart Young Man! Orders? Smart Young Man!
— Are people doubting our Smart Young Man? Didn’t you see him win with Bubblegum?
Public opinion backed the Smart Young Man. A few loyal critics persisted.
— You lunatics
— Of all things to push, you push the Smart Young Man
— The spirits of those slain by the Smart Young Man in Civil Empire are crying! Please stop!
Why were they pushing the Smart Young Man so hard?
Ding.
[BeginnerTip has donated 5,000 won.]
[Shh! It’s the Smart Young Man era. Close your mouths and praise him.]
— LOL
— Yes
— So true
— If you’re mad about it, win with Bubblegum~
Winning while issuing orders with Bubblegum on the same team? That alone proved that Almond was a Smart Young Man, at least for now. It had only been one game, but still.
Hiss.
Almond nodded, satisfied. “Even the tip says so. Alright, I’ll head back to This World.”
Whoosh.
He returned to This World. As expected, Bubblegum had already finished and was waiting.
“Oh? Wow, Almond. Your random pick was insane. Randoms kinda suck in Survival, though.”
“You were watching?”
“What, you didn’t see me? I was reviving. Then your team wiped us all.”
So Bubblegum had been there. That had been close.
— Wait, he was there?!
— Holy shit
— Ghost meta
— It was the same game?!
— I was swapping streams and didn’t even notice
— literally zero presence
— Same game!? That’s crazy
Unless one watched carefully, no one would even realize they had been in the same match. Bubblegum’s team had been wiped out that easily.
“Bad team luck. You’re queueing again, right?”
— Blaming it on luck...
— Team luck?!
— Well, you did get first last game~
— This is basically Russian roulette!
“Ah... Yeah, let’s go again?”
It felt terrifying, but Almond didn’t stop. He was born to withstand pressure.
‘The odds are low.’
[Mission]
[Placement: Five First-Place Finishes]
[2/5]
[1,010,000 won]
Out of ten teams, the chance of being on the same team as Bubblegum was one in ten. The chance of Bubblegum being an enemy was nine out of ten. He had a 90% advantage. With the remaining ten percent of uncertainty, the mission payout kept climbing.
[1,030,000 won]
The money went up again. Viewers thought they would meet this time. The higher the payout, the funnier it would be to mock the streamer’s failure. Viewers kept pushing it higher. However, they didn’t realize Almond was exploiting that.
‘Gum was right. This really is pure profit.’
— Almondoyle learned how to do business!
— He plays dumb, but his walnut goes insane when money is involved
— Isn’t this straight-up fraud?
— Gum setting the table so Almond can make money...
— Holy shit
— People throwing money like moths to a flame, seriously
Just because Bubblegum was a variable, the mission payout had ballooned this much.
Moths to a flame was the perfect description, but Almond didn’t know.
‘One more.’
Ba-bam!
[First Place]
— Victory again
— Kyaa
— Insane
[3/5]
“Bubblegum really wasn’t in that game, right?”
— Yeah
— For real
— Lol
— Ooooh
— One more?
“I’ll go one more.”
— Kyaa
— What an alpha male!
— This can’t be stopped~!
— This is addictive to watch
— The only variable is Bubblegum
— Straight-up Russian roulette
Ba-bam!
[First Place]
He won again for the fourth game in a row, and he didn’t end up on the same team as Bubblegum.
[4/5]
Almond had achieved four straight wins.
[1,470,000 won]
The mission payout had reached 1,470,000 won.
Gulp.
‘Wow.’
Almond’s stream wasn’t usually a mission friendly one. Missions were often impossible tasks just to mock the streamer. Who would do that to Almond? Today was different.
‘Gum... he really is an incredible streamer.’
That single variable did this much work.
“Haah. Almond, I lost again. Bad team luck. Wanna go again?”
— Go go go
— One more~
— LOL
— Gotta save the mission farmers, right?
— Let’s go~~
Everyone wanted to see Almond spin the last chamber of this Russian roulette.
***
“You’re queueing up a game?”
“Yeah, watch me play,” Popcorn shamelessly said as he stepped into the capsule. “Whoa, nice capsule. Huh?”
Shooong.
Choi Sa-Rang’s custom capsule opened smoothly.
“That one is mine.”
“Anyone can use it.”
True enough, others could still use it even though the owner got the most out of it.
“What’s your Survival tier?”
“Me? I’m still doing placements.”
“Get out. Tiers below Challenger can’t use this.”
“Come on. Just watch~.”
“Unbelievable.”
Why would she want to watch a placement match? Choi Sa-Rang wanted to say that, but Popcorn was already inside the capsule.
Whoosh.
