<em>Kingdom</em> had ranked first ce in votes. First ce clearly meant something, but… In reality, <em>Kingdom Age</em> was never as popr as this game. Then, why did it rank first?


    <em>— Ah, it''s definitely the Kingdom fanboys, lol</em>


    <em>— The essence of voting</em>


    <em>— Why y a fantasy game where you can fly in the sky and shoot pew pew!? Back in our days, it was all just Kingdom!</em>


    In Almond’s chat, <em>Kingdom</em> had be one of the top ten ssic masterpieces that had to be yed. <em>Kingdom</em> was well-known as an unpopr game only loved by enthusiasts, yet it ranked first because of the memes in the chat.


    <em>— King~~~ dom!</em>


    <em>— Kingdom''s arrow, Almond!</em>


    <em>— King~ You can''t beat me! ~dom</em>


    All the enthusiasts in the chat wanted <em>Kingdom</em> and spammed these messages. Others also started excessively using these memes and joined in on the joke. In fact, around eighty percent of the few thousand people who voted for <em>Kingdom</em> didn''t even know about the game. "This can''t be considered a real opinion," Ju-Hyeok firmly conveyed to Almond.


    Taking it as the public’s real sentiment would be a big mistake. If they actually yed <em>Kingdom Age</em>, there was a high chance their viewership would drastically drop. It would be better to y a game that aligned more with their goals.


    "There''s a coboration with Lil Grass soon and a new champion ising out. It would be good to go with that and y <em>LIL</em> a bit."


    In the end, they chose to y <em>LIL</em>. <em>Jet Pumped</em> was also an attractive game, but it could wait untilter. Since <em>LIL</em> attracted a lot of attention even at the awards ceremony, the new audience they brought in through the ceremony would likely want to watch<em> LIL</em>. They decided to choose <em>LIL</em> for those reasons.


    <em>[Life is Legend]</em>


    <em>[Loading...]</em>


    <em>— Ah, this is crazy</em>


    <em>— If you''re going to do this, why vote? lol</em>


    <em>— Is this a secret advertisement for LIL? Huh? Just say it!</em>


    <em>[Starfish has donated 3,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[Ah lol, he didn''t say he would y it just because it’s first lolol]</em>


    "Mr. Fish is right."


    <em>— Fish, lolol</em>


    <em>— I think you forgot something, lol</em>


    <em>— lol lol lol</em>


    <em>— Starfish!</em>


    The topic quickly changed. In the meantime, Almond fully connected to<em> LIL</em>.


    "It''s been a while."


    Almond entered the basic world of <em>LIL</em>. He suddenly became immersed in past memories as he looked around.


    "I''ll try the story mode instead of the survival mode. I should grow a bit closer to shy de."


    <em>— Nice</em>


    <em>— The shy de 3-star clear is super tough…</em>


    "Since I''m on my way anyway, I''ll check out the other champions. I haven''t yed for so long, my affinity might have decreased."


    <em>— Ooooh</em>


    <em>— Raina~!</em>


    <em>— Noonaaa</em>


    <em>— Please take a look at Ran too…</em>


    Almond worried that his affinity with characters had decreased over time and headed toward the exchange area.


    <em>[Wee to the Exchange Area.]</em>


    A soothing voice greeted him along with the sound of a waterfall, the chirping of birds, and warm sunlight.


    First, he looked for his main champion, Raina.


    "..."


    Raina was not hard to find. She was sitting on a big rock right in front of the entrance, looking elsewhere without saying a word. The atmosphere seemed tense.


    "Raina. It''s been a while."


    "..."


    Raina did not look at him at all as if Almond didn’t exist.


    <em>— Huh lol</em>


    <em>— She''s mad lol</em>


    <em>— Lol lol lol</em>


    <em>— Big trouble for our Mond</em>


    He asked through the viewers'' mic channel, "Hm. What phenomenon could this be?"


    Someone answered with a donation.


    <em>[DemianAssociation1stperson has donated 1,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[What do you mean...? Are you calling our Raina, huh? Are you not afraid of the DemianAssociation?]</em>


    <em>— lol lol lol</em>


    <em>— Kick out the fanboy!</em>


    <em>— So funny lol</em>


    <em>— What''s with the voice sync lol</em>


    <em>— Ugh...</em>


    “<em>Haha</em>,” Almondughed awkwardly and waited for more information.


    <em>— An unavoidableugh lol</em>


    <em>— A fakeugh</em>


    <em>— Haha… ^^</em>


    <em>— Popr kids wouldn''t understand. Leave him, Raina.</em>


    <em>[NotDemianAssociation has donated 5,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[Raina''s affinity can only be raised through y. If you don''t visit often, she can get upset. Moreover, the higher Raina''s affinity, the stronger her resistance.]</em>


    <em>— Dang</em>


    <em>— Tsundere algorithm</em>


    <em>— An expert appears</em>


    <em>— Almond, it''s not affinity but favor you''re talking about?</em>


    "Ah. NotDemianAssociation, thank you for the information."


    <em>— ???</em>


    <em>— NotDemianAssociation is just a scapegoat lol</em>


    <em>— NotDemianAssociation lol</em>


    <em>— It''s NotDemianAssociation though…</em>


    <em>— lol lol lol</em>


    Almond moved closer to Raina to appease her.


    "Raina. I''ll go do something else and then we''ll fight on the battlefield together. Just wait a bit."


    "..."


    Raina continued to act as if she didn’t see Almond. Amid this…


    "Ah! Lady Raina! You were here? I saw you suddenly running off earlier. Where did you go...?"


    It was Ran. He rushed over with his clothes covered in sheep wool. Upon closer inspection, Raina''s blue cloak was also full of sheep wool.


    "Ah, Almond! It''s been a while!" Ran greeted him brightly. Once his affinity was built, it didn''t easily fade away.


    "Ah. Ran. It''s been a while."


    <em>“Hehe.”</em>


    Ran smiled as he approached, clearly happy to see Almond. He seemed like a loyal dog breed.


    "Were you grooming the sheep again?"


    "Yes. It''s my hobby. Lady Raina wanted to try it too, so I was teaching her. Then, she suddenly ran off at an incredible speed. So..."


    Raina red at Ran as if she wanted to shoot him dead with her eyes.


    "... Uh... I''m worried about the sheep."


    Ran quickly left the ce.


    <em>— So Raina ran here lol</em>


    <em>— So cute</em>


    <em>— Ran! Don’t go!</em>


    <em>— Did Raina run here with a cold expression and just sat down? Lol</em>


    No wonder she was breathing a bit heavily. Almond grinned as if he finally understood what happened.


    "... It''s all lies."


    "?"


    "What Ran said. It''s all lies!" Raina said and disappeared into the forest with her face turning red.


    It seemed to be a widely epted fact that Raina''s emotions fluctuated more as her intimacy level increased.


    Even as she ran away, she made sure to add this.


    "Keep your promise!"


    She was referring to Almond’s promise that he woulde back and y again.


    <em>— Got to y Raina lol</em>


    <em>— ??? shy de''s story mode, maybe?</em>


    <em>— Yep~ Gonna do shy de~</em>


    <em>[DemianAssociation has donated 10,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[We do not forget. We do not forgive]</em>


    <em>— Seriously, so solemn lol</em>


    <em>— No lol, is it that serious? lol</em>


    <em>— You can hear the teeth grinding from here lol</em>


    <em>— We do not forgive lol</em>


    <em>— Why even donate? lol</em>


    "DemianAssociation, thank you for the 10,000 won donation. Then, I''ll try going to shy de. It seems he hasn''t warmed up to me yet, so he''s not showing up."


    The standards for intimacy with the champions varied. For some, giving gifts quickly raised their favorability while others required frequent visits and conversations.


    "Contractor. ALazySoldier, was it? It''s been a while."


    <em>— LazySoldier lol</em>


    <em>— Oh right, that was his ID lol</em>


    <em>— Only Ran and Raina call Almond by his name, wow...</em>


    <em>— What''s with the topless look?</em>


    <em>— Was he a tattoo junkie?</em>


    <em>Kiying. Kiying.</em>


    shy de was sharpening his sword. He seemed to be quite hot as he had taken off his shirt. Tattoos covered his muscr upper body here and there, appearing somewhat threatening.


    He didn’t even bother to look toward Almond and asked, "What do you want?"


    Almond was well aware of what he needed to do to unlock shy de’s story mode.


    "A duel."


    shy de finally turned toward Almond.


    ***


    Although a considerable amount of intimacy had been built up with shy de, it had quickly disappeared due to the very few times Almond yed him.


    Fortunately, shy de was a champion whose intimacy could be built up based on skill like Raina. One method would increase intimacy with him the fastest.


    <em>''I’ve got one shot with a duel.'' </em>


    Winning a duel against shy de could rapidly build up a great amount of intimacy. It seemed more like submission rather than intimacy. Anyway, it wasn''t easy.


    shy de possessed skills beyond a master in a duel, yet Almond boldly requested a duel.


    "A duel."


    "...?"


    The directness of his request made even shy de hesitate for a moment.


    <em>— Is this a shonen manga lol</em>


    <em>— It''s a duel. Vermin.</em>


    <em>— shy de, the cool aloof man of a shonen manga, smirks.</em>


    "You''ve hardly ever yed with me, have you?"


    <em>— ???</em>


    <em>— What''s he talking about? This ungrateful jerk</em>


    <em>— Is it a bug?</em>


    There wasn’t a bug with shy de''s memory. Except for the tournament finals, Almond had never yed shy de in any other official games. No matter how impressive his gamey had been at the time, the champions didn''t recognize it as valid data because it was on the tournament server. To properly umte data for the champions, ying ranked matches on the official server was the most reliable way.


    <em>[AlmondChocte has donated 1,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[Ah lol, turns out he''s never actually used shy de outside the tournament server~~ lol]</em>


    <em>— Ah...</em>


    <em>— Lol, forgot about that</em>


    <em>— Ah, so he''s never tried solo rank lol</em>


    Thanks to the donation, the viewers quickly understood.


    Almond looked directly at shy de and requested a duel again.


    "It doesn''t matter if we haven''t yed before. Let''s duel."


    <em>— Wow~</em>


    <em>— ??? "I''ll refresh your memory"</em>


    <em>— "One hit and you''ll remember everything, Mr. shy de~"</em>


    shy de smirked, not even remembering exactly who was in front of him.


    "Alright. That''s quite a wee. Take this."


    <em>Whisk.</em>


    He handed his sword over to Almond.


    "Let''s start immediately."


    <em>Wooosh...!</em>


    Was there a bit of anger?


    A void quickly enveloped them and transformed the area into a dueling arena. All the champions ying around came to watch.


    “Wo.”


    "Ho. A duel?"


    "Wow?! Contractor! Isn''t this too rash? That Mr. shy de spares no one!"


    The Spirit Sorcerer Melly emitted a sinister aura and Haruki the Storm Ninja smiled as if excited.


    Raina, of course, was observing too. She sat on a tree far away, unseen.


    <em>Whisk.</em>


    shy de Swift lightly spun his sword and stepped forward. They stood off, each looking for an opening. Almond swung his sword, trying to adapt.


    <em>''?''</em>


    Something felt off. It had been too long since hest held shy de''s de.


    "Wait. It''s been too long─"


    <em>ng!</em>


    Before Almond could finish his sentence, sparks flew. He blocked Swift''s sword, which suddenly lunged at him.


    <em>— I told you he spares no one lol</em>


    <em>— Been a while? You deserve a hit~~</em>


    <em>— lol lol Nutjob, take that</em>


    <em>ng! Kang!</em>


    Almond stepped back to block as Swift pressed on with attacks.


    <em>Tatatat</em>.


    Swift stepped in deeper, aiming for a closer approach.


    Almond seized the opportunity and, for the first time, moved forward too.


    <em>Tat.</em>


    The enemy would be surprised by the sudden increase in speed as he also closed the distance.


    <em>Swoosh!</em>


    Blood sprayed into the air.


    "Wo!"


    The cheers from the spectators momentarily snapped Almond out of his daze. Their dted pupils were all locked on him.


    The same wound was reflected in both the fighters’ eyes.


    "You''re decent, LazySoldier."


    Swift smiled with a bloodied face.


    <em>Whisk.</em>


    Another sword appeared in his other hand.


    <em>— Oooo</em>


    <em>— Level 6 shy de</em>


    <em>— Is it just starting?</em>


    <em>Whisk.</em>


    Another sword appeared for Almond too. Now, he was getting used to the feeling and wiped the blood off with the back of his hand.


    "<em>Phew. </em>Now I''m starting to remember."


    He forgot to switch to the mic channel. It seemed the audio could be heard in the game too.


    "<em>Hmph.</em> Bravado."


    <em>— Bravado lol</em>


    <em>— Lol</em>


    <em>— What a jab lol</em>


    Almond added, "That''s true. Even if you remember, nothing changes."


    His face stiffened momentarily.


    Then he spoke without bothering to switch to the mic channel, "I''ll take this chance to discipline you."


    <em>— lol lol lol</em>


    <em>— Lol</em>


    <em>— Isn''t that bubble text something else?</em>


    <em>— Ok, let''s really discipline him!</em>


    <em>— Gggg</em>


    “<em>Hmph</em>,” Swift scoffed. "Thene!"


    Without hesitation, both of them threw their swords.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    Four swords flew and crossed each other in the air.


    <em>Crackle!</em>


    <em>[Blink]</em>


    Both figures instantly disappeared.