Season 2: Chapter 57. Impossible to Cross (1)
“What's this...?”
[What ^Nut^ Fans Are Hoping For]
Sang-Hyeon didn’t visit the community just for praise, but seeing such a post in the top ranks when he expected compliments didn’t feel pleasing. Moreover, he was particularly sensitive to praise.
“Zombie School Garden behaving like this to me, really now?”
It felt unsettling to see such a post taking the top spot in a forum that usually favored him.
“Let’s see what they’re saying.”
It would have been wiser to just ignore it, but Sang-Hyeon had a peculiar stubbornness about facing such things head-on. Ignoring or avoiding unpleasantness wasn’t his style.
“Huh?”
His eyes, which grew fierce, suddenly softened.
[What ^Nut^ Fans Are Hoping For]
[Fact: Almond almost died, saw the chat, and abruptly ended the stream -> Today, he returned triumphantly, catching an arrow in mid-air, and scoring a direct hit on Baek Joon-Soo's head -> Actually, this is the real reaction.]
The person clearly wrote it sarcastically considering the post’s timing and tone.
— Seriously, none of this makes sense lol pure Nut ^^
— lol Nut fans’ average IQ
— Nut fans’ delusions
The initial comments all took the same tone. Sang-Hyeon’s mood brightened up with the following comments.
└ Yep ^^ Thanks for the pilgrimage
└ Wow, make me score perfect on the SATs.
└ Grant me a jackpot in my university applications
└ Idiots lolololol imagining things lolololol Nut fans’ average IQ
└ Wow lol Did this guy come from the future? lololol How far will Ethereum go?
A pilgrimage involved going to a post that perfectly predicted the future whether by coincidence or intent and making a wish there. In this case, people flocked to mock the author of the post.
“So that's why it was number one.”
Almond’s fans deliberately liked the post to pin it at the top and turned it into a pilgrimage site. Becoming a pilgrimage site was enough to propel it to the top.
[+458]
It had an astonishing number of comments. This figure was extraordinary for a forum the size of Zombie School Garden. Was it because people were making wishes since the post became a pilgrimage site?
— This idiot got pinned lololol
— The idiot from the future lololol
└ Seriously lololol
No, most of the comments were mocking the author.
— If you came from the future, you should've invested in cryptocurrency instead of doing this lol Nut fans’ average IQ
— Here are the Nut fans talking about average IQ; all gone now lololol
└ Seriously, come out and bark again
— Why is this happening? lololol
There seemed to be roughly 200-300 mocking comments. The original post had about forty comments and the remaining sixty or so genuinely made wishes.
— Oh man... New novel chapters are published on
— Almighty Nut, please enlighten my walnut...
— Please let me have a boyfriend next year!
└ And make him young, rich, and handsome.
└ LOL, adding that last part is hilarious.
Sang-Hyeon’s lips gradually curved into a smile as he scrolled through the comments. Finally, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He wondered what the author of the post was doing now.
Knowing the site, the author would be bombarded with notifications for each comment. They could still be asleep and unaware. They would probably delete the post and disappear once they realized what happened.
‘That would be a shame.’
He felt it would be a pity for the post to get deleted. He wondered if he should take a screenshot, but noticed someone already had.
— I captured this just in case the Nut author decides to delete it LOL. You’re done for LOL
Someone already commented as such under the post.
— LOL, suffer forever.
— So cunning LOL.
Indeed, the internet was a fearsome place.
Sang-Hyeon closed his eyes, feeling drowsy again after the tension disappeared. In his dream that night, he saw a man with a question mark on his face being pelted by a crowd. However, they were throwing almonds at him instead of stones.
— Throw this and your wish will come true!
— Really, Dad?
— Of course!
— Yaaaaay!
The crowd, regardless of age or gender, hurled almonds at the man.
***
Like any other day, Almond's stream began at 3 P.M.
"Hey everyone!"
— Hi!
— Hello!
— Hey!
Chat messages rapidly flooded in. As usual, a large number of viewers gathered.
[Current Viewers: 7.2k]
From the start, seven to eight thousand viewers tuned in. The rate at which viewers joined seemed even faster than during a LIL stream.
'It seems Zombie School really has a cult following.'
The nature of the game seemed to attract people who went crazy over such genres. LIL, being a more mainstream game, had fewer of these enthusiasts.
"Did you enjoy Bubblegum's stream yesterday?"
— :(
— Why did you send us there?
— It was too spicy!
— My teeth nearly broke
— Bubblegum...
Everyone seemed quite satisfied with yesterday's raid.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]
[Did you send us there to show off your skills?]
"No, not at all."
— LOL
— Hahaha
— A reasonable suspicion...
"I sent you there to see the original route of the game. I felt like mine was somewhat off track."
— LOL The wrong game
— Bubblegum's stream is quite fun too. Kids just can't handle the spice.
— Open-world games have that kind of flavor.
"Now, I'll start today's game."
[Zombie School]
[Loading...]
The screen went dark for a moment before it lit back up.
Almond stood at the boundary where the school gate used to be. Around him stood four members of the exploration team, all with tense expressions.
He paused the game for a moment and began explaining, "Let me explain. Yesterday, I took care of Yoon So-Hee and occupied the school."
— Yes
— LOL
— All of them got chikicha Haha
— Chikicha
In yesterday's stream, he defeated Baek Joon-Soo’s gang and unlocked an achievement for it.
[AlDente has donated 10,000 won!]
[Almond! The editor even made a video of you "chikicha-ing" the nuts!]
"Oh, yes. AlDente, thank you for your donation. I saw the video too."
— How many did you "chikicha" with just three arrows?
— Breaking News: Streamer Almond slaughters thousands of haters with just three arrows...
— Really chikicha
His play had garnered quite a lot of attention both in and out of the game.
"I dealt with the delinquents, set up a new base in the gym, and found an immune person. Now it's time to head outside. I did a lot yesterday."
Yesterday's stream didn’t just feel lengthy. A lot had happened.
— Maybe it’s because you usually play too short?
— Bubblegum restarts 12 times a day... and you complain
— Already outside
"Currently, the five member exploration team, including myself, will step outside the school gates for the first time."
He resumed the game as they prepared to begin their first exploration outside the school.
"Let's go."
The exploration team of five, including Almond, started moving. They headed toward the ruined city.
