Meanwhile, themunity was buzzing about how much Almond had earned for the day as the tally at G-Star was underway.


    <em>[Isn''t it over 900 if you calcte it?]</em>


    <em>[Still hasn''t surpassed 900.jpg]</em>


    <em>[Just from missions he received 500!!]</em>


    <em>[Evidence that it''s at least 700]</em>


    Although it was impossible to calcte the exact amount unless one was the streamer himself, it was clear that he made a lot of money. Perhaps it was due to the ripple effect of the phrase, "Heard how much they made~?” Such posts also started trending.


    <em>17. Reasons Why Almond Made a Lot of Money Today</em>


    The post included a GIF of Almond reacting. Below it was written:


    <em>[His unyielding determination to convert everything, even his own life and Hannah''s, into money.]</em><em>— Unyielding determination lol lol</em>


    <em>— Not really, someone falsely imed he made ten million today... Uh-oh! Who are you!?</em>


    <em>— Unyielding... just like my military service.</em>


    <em>— Someone called it "exchange dating" lol it was hrious</em>


    <em>└ Not a transfer but an exchange lol lol lol</em>


    <em>└ Exchange lol dating lol that''s too much lol</em>


    <em>— He’d be rich by converting every penny into money~</em>


    <em>└ Really lol</em>


    <em>— Facts. Just because he’s good-looking and shoots well.</em>


    Discussions rted to this continued across variousmunities. It was a beneficial phenomenon for a streamer engaging in streaming activities. After all, celebrities needed to be the talk of many.


    <em>[Trending Rankings]</em>


    <em>1) G-Star</em>


    <em>2) Cosy</em>


    <em>3) BattleLarge Ninja Mode</em>


    <em>4) Almond</em>


    <em>5) Exchange</em>


    Almond inadvertently generated 900 million won worth of misunderstandings. He could possibly get extremely annoyed soon.


    However, among the streamers at this G-Star, he was experiencing an unrivaled amount of mentions. Perhaps he was gaining something much more valuable than just 900 million won.


    ***


    "Over here. This way."


    Ju-Hyeok waved from the VIP section of the event venue. This ce was considerably quieter than the noisy and chaotic regr seats.


    "Wow. There are really a lot of people."


    Sang-Hyeon’s words were urately transmitted through the streaming microphone.


    <em>— Really</em>


    <em>— If it weren’t for VIP, I wouldn’t see properly lol lol</em>


    <em>— Sounds fun</em>


    Invited streamers and celebrities filled the VIP section.


    Naturally, he spotted a few familiar faces like Miho, Bubblegum, and Takoyaki. He also saw ckTea and GreenTea.


    <em>‘Is that CutiePie?’</em>


    Far away, he spotted someone in a rather mboyant outfit. It appeared to be the major streamer CutiePie. Her surroundings were bustling with streamers trying to appear on her stream.


    <em>Beep-beep-beep.</em>


    Then, the sound of a microphone sharply hit their ears.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, gamers who havee to G-Star!"


    The host came up on stage and greeted everyone.


    "The first event of the challenge points tally and the ranking awards will begin shortly!"


    The first event of the show would be the rewards based on challenge point rankings. Through these awards, one could understand how challenge points were distributed and take them into consideration for the auction.


    The organizers could proceed with the event while predicting the flow too.


    "Through this event, the prices of sponsored products for today and auction trends will be determined! Who and how much!? Many points have been earned! Please watch carefully!"


    Since challenge points were a capped currency, their value changed depending on how they were distributed. Therefore, if the awards had not been held and they just proceeded, the pricing of purchases could be severely distorted.


    What if, in an extreme case, one person took ny percent of the points? Other participants would have no points and the prices of products would remain the same. The market would not function. No matter how much money one person had, the items they could buy were limited.


    Therefore, it was quite important that challenge points were shared among the top rankers and everyone paid close attention.


    "The ranking announcement will being soon. This year, only the top ten will be called out."


    <em>Creak!</em>


    The screen unfolded and the staff hurriedly prepared. A moment passed.


    <em>Ping!</em>


    The screen turned on and the presenter shouted.


    <em>''I wonder how much.''</em>


    Sang-Hyeon watched the screen with a slightly stiff face. He had confidently said he would receive the ten million won, but he knew nothing about the other contestants'' challenge points. He couldn''t be sure of anything.


    Above all, Sang-Hyeon was unaware of the final tally of challenge points. He could not simply look on with bright eyes. It was a point of anxiety for him.


    "First of all, in tenth ce! We have…!"


    <em>Boom.</em>


    The reveal itself was not a drawn-out process. The results came out immediately.


    <em>[10th]</em>


    <em>[yer code: 589]</em>


    <em>[1,032pt]</em>


    "Oh oh."


    "Tenth ce has over 1,000 points?


    Tenth ce had a total of 1,032 points.


    <em>— Is 1,000 points high??</em>


    <em>— We can''t see,</em>


    <em>— The nutcracker doesn''t show us </em>


    <em>— Hey, isn''t it higher than a thousand?</em>


    Each person''s challenge points could only be checked by the individual themselves. Unless someone stole Sang-Hyeon''s goggles, they wouldn''t see his.


    Sang-Hyeon sneakily looked at the numbers piled up on his goggles.<em></em>The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk.


    <em>"Ahem."</em>


    He pretended not to show it, but it was already obvious.


    <em>— Oh, that rxed expression… It''s infuriating</em>


    <em>— The cheetah isughing......</em>


    <em>— Wow~ too obvious, LOL</em>


    <em>— How many points does he have???</em>


    <em>— Rx~~</em>


    Worrying about tenth ce and onward was truly an unfounded concern. The gap was too big.


    Sang-Hyeon smiled and congratted the tenth ce.


    "Ah, one thousand points is quite high."


    <em>p, p, p.</em>


    <em>— So fake, LOL</em>


    <em>— Not fooled! Not fooled!</em>


    <em>— That''s quite high (looking down a long time)</em>


    <em>— What kind of buildup is this?</em>


    "Now, the person in tenth ce? Are you here?!" the presenter looked around the audience and asked.


    Sometimes, people had already left.


    “Over here!”


    Fortunately, the tenth ce contestant had not left yet.


    "Pleasee up!"


    "Wow. Thank you."


    The contestant who ced tenth was a streamer. Indeed, it was unthinkable for someone who wasn''t a streamer to stake their life on challenges to such an extent.


    "Wow. You almost didn''t eat all day as you participated in challenges! The number of games is a whopping thirty?!"


    "<em>Ahaha.</em> I managed with my body."


    "I''ll give you exactly ten seconds for some promotion."


    "Yes!"


    He turned toward the camera as if he had been waiting and enthusiastically introduced himself as, "Streamer! Yang-Gaeng! Yang! Gaeng-Gaeng!..." and exited after some more words.


    <em>— Gaeng-Gaeng, right, lol</em>


    <em>— What the hell?</em>


    <em>— He yed 30 games? lol</em>


    <em>— I wonder how many games the dog couldn''t y? Suddenly worried</em>


    "Good. A very spirited streamer indeed. Next up, ninth ce!"


    Ninth, eighth, and seventh ce were called out one after another. All of them were either YouTubers or streamers. They were also individuals who were known as challenge hunters.


    <em>''Hmm?''</em>


    The points they had gathered were nothingpared to what Sang-Hyeon had amassed.


    "Oh. That''s quite high."


    <em>— He''s gritting his teeth while saying it''s high lol</em>


    <em>— lol lol The expression lol</em>


    <em>— How high is it? This guy...</em>


    Sang-Hyeon couldn’t manage his own expression, but it couldn''t be helped.


    <em>''Is the gap really this big?''</em>


    The scores were really abysmal. He hadn''t participated in many challenges and hadn''t expected the gap to be this big. Perhaps thest two games he yed had really helped.


    Regardless, Sang-Hyeon watched the rankings with a rtively rxed mind.


    "Pleasee up, fourth ce!"


    Then, fourth ce appeared. It was a familiar face.


    "Ah, it''s streamer Radish Kimchi! He’s famous for sweeping challengesst time. Unfortunately, it''s fourth ce this time?"


    "Ah... Yes. I messed up a big challenge... <em>haha.</em>"


    Falling tost ce in <em>Zombie School</em> essentially meant receiving only the participation points. Sang-Hyeon knew all too well who was responsible for that. It was him.


    "Ah..."


    He sighed as if in pity, essentially killing Radish Kimchi twice.


    <em>— Ah... right, lol</em>


    <em>— What? lol</em>


    <em>— Isn''t that the guy you chopped up in Zombie School? lol</em>


    <em>— 1 second viin, lol</em>


    <em>— It''s you again? Almond!?</em>


    The presenter handed the microphone to Radish Kimchi.


    "Now, Radish Kimchi. I''ll give you a moment to promote yourself."


    It was a chance to promote his stream since he was on stage. They did this for streamers whose fame didn''t match their skills.


    "Ah. Rather than streaming..."


    "?"


    Radish Kimchi said he didn''t need the streaming promotion.


    "Actually, I don''t have a girlfriend."


    "Oh! When did you break up?"


    "No. I don''t have one."


    "… Did you have one before?"


    "No, I don''t have one. I just don''t have one."


    <em>— Ah...</em>


    <em>— Single?</em>


    <em>— Wow</em>


    <em>— Jung Gi-chan''s friend, lol</em>


    <em>— Just don''t have one, lol</em>


    “Ah…”


    A sigh of pity flowed among the audience.


    "Ah... You must be very heartbroken. So, are you looking for a girlfriend here?"


    <em>— What? lol who died? lol</em>


    <em>— Heartbroken lol</em>


    <em>— lol Heartbroken, right</em>


    <em>— He''s really dead. Nietzsche has died.</em>


    "Yes."


    "Then, why don''t you shout it out properly here?"


    "Yes! More than my stream doing well, if there''s ady who''s free! I''d like to meet you! Ahhhh!"


    <em>“Wow!”</em>


    The audience responded with cheers to his fervor.


    <em>[ForeverAlone has donated 2,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[Nutcracker was dating Jessie at school and still came first. Poor Radish Kimchi lol “Nietzsche is dead”]</em>


    <em>— For real lol</em>


    <em>— “Nietzsche is dead”</em>


    <em>— Amen!</em>


    <em>— Definitely dead for sure</em>


    <em>— Jessie</em>


    <em>— Amen...</em>


    "No, everyone. I really haven''t dated much either," Sang-Hyeon said and appeared somewhat aggrieved.


    However, no one really believed him.


    <em>[PhilosopherFan has donated 50,000 won.]</em>


    <em>[Nietzsche said, “Almond, you bastard”]</em>


    <em>— lol</em>


    <em>— It''s not even a real quote anymore lol</em>


    <em>— This is real. I heard it.</em>


    <em>— That was hisst words... How much he suffered</em>


    <em>— Nietzsche, lol</em>


    "Nietzsche, thank you for the donation."


    <em>— Nietzsche? lol</em>


    <em>— lol</em>


    <em>— It''s PhilosopherFan, you nut lol</em>


    <em>— Honestly, Nietzsche is cooler than PhilosopherFan</em>


    Meanwhile, the promotion time for fourth ce ended.


    "Ah. That was impressive! Radish Kimchi! I hope you find love! Now, next!"


    Radish Kimchi''s spirited courtship passed and third ce came up to the stage.


    <em>‘Is it finally… time for the points to go up?’</em>


    <em>[4th] [1,732pt]</em>


    <em>[3rd] [2,001pt]</em>


    The crowd buzzed in surprise and murmured.


    "Wow. Wasn''t the distribution done properly this time?"


    "Why are the top points like that?"


    "Two thousand?? That makes me sick."


    The points exceeded two thousand at third ce. From the surrounding chatter, it seemed like a significantly high score.


    Almond tilted his head as he looked at the points disyed on one side of his goggles.


    <em>‘Still?’</em>


    He hadn''t expected that he still wouldn''t be close. They quickly celebrated third ce and passed on.


    "Now for second ce!"


    Suddenly, the announcement was for second ce.


    <em>— Dudududu</em>


    <em>— Could it be 2nd ce?</em>


    <em>— Now I really don''t know</em>


    <em>— Almond hasn’t been announced yet?? lol</em>


    <em>— Will Almond show up???</em>


    <em>— Please just tell us how many points!!!</em>


    The score could suddenly skyrocket for second ce. It was unlikely, but such cases could happen.


    However...


    "...?"


    Seeing the score for second ce, Almond tilted his head.


    <em>‘Is this wrong?’</em>


    He checked the score on his goggles once more.