Season 1 Side Story Chapter 1. Ran (1)
The day after the tournament ended, Almond's channel posted a notice.
[1 week hiatus]
The announcement felt like a bolt out of the blue for the viewers who came to see him every day. The text read as followed:
[As I uploaded on YouTube, I am currently experiencing physical problems with capsule use. Of course, I recently received a good capsule as a gift and have improved significantly. However, I need time to relieve the fatigue that has accumulated since before. Personal schedules outside of streaming have also been made, and continuing to stream still poses physical problems. I will return after a one week hiatus.]
It was about taking a break due to physical problems. It seemed obvious that such a thing would happen, but the viewers still cried out.
— What, what? No, I can't lose Almond. I'm going to go to his house :(
— Damn. What is this? One week? Did you write the weekend hiatus wrong???
— Bro, say it. Let's meet and talk, okay?
— Nooooo!
— Come back soon :(
— I will endure while watching YouTube...
— Tsk tsk, don’t be clingy guys. I will hold my breath quietly until he returns.
Half-joking and half-serious comments poured in.
"Phew."
Having posted the notice, Sang-Hyeon stretched as if he felt relieved somehow. Now, it seemed like he could rest with a bit of peace of mind.
He seemed determined and lazed around the house all day. He lay on the sofa while watching YouTube and lay in bed while reading a book he had never read before. It wasn’t about self-development or an essay. It was a trending fantasy novel.
He enjoyed reading it up to about three volumes…
'Crazy, what is this...'
The protagonist suddenly got trapped in a weird backwater place. Ten years passed for everyone except the protagonist. Sang-Hyeon couldn’t stand the radical postmodernist development and closed the book.
— I want a refund. The author tricked me.
He left a review and wandered around for something else to spend time on.
There was nothing to do in particular.
He didn't even dare to read another novel. The book he concentrated on reading for a while hit him with such a big betrayal. His head was still buzzing. What else could he read?
'Should I go exercise?'
He thought about exercising, but didn’t feel like it after looking at the weather outside.
Swoosh...
A blizzard was blowing. Even going down the stairs in this neighborhood would be a hardship. Jogging in his favorite park would be impossible.
'Should I just stay in?'
Sang-Hyeon thought about just idly spending time. Anyway, he already declared a hiatus to rest. If he did something, it wouldn’t be considered resting.
He decided to try the coffee machine Ji-Ah gifted him not too long ago.
"The beans..."
He casually rummaged through the drawer and quickly found the coffee beans for the espresso machine. Fortunately, Ju-Hyeok always organized everything neatly.
'By the way, is Ju-Hyeok doing well?'
Ju-Hyeok decided to take a vacation for about three days. Sang-Hyeon didn’t know where he went in the middle of winter, but it seemed like a mountain lodge trip.
He was going on a trip with friends from high school, so Sang-Hyeon didn’t join.
"Damn, those popular guys..."
Having diligently learned from the tsundere Ju-Hyeok, Sang-Hyeon made coffee while saying such words.
Zing.
With a noisy sound, the aroma of coffee spread out.
Even for a machine-illiterate person like him, the process was simple and straightforward.
After bringing the steaming coffee to his nose, Sang-Hyeon muttered in a low voice.
"Oh."
He knew nothing about coffee, but instinctively felt it was much more luxurious than instant mix coffee.
"I should show it to Ji-Ah."
Click.
He took a photo with his phone and sent it to Ji-Ah.
[Sang-Hyeon: I tried the coffee machine.]
She was probably idling around too and replied right away.
[Ji-Ah: …Is that poison?]
[Sang-Hyeon: Lol.]
Sang-Hyeon had no skills in taking pictures.
[Ji-Ah: Or did it go bad?]
“Hmm?”
Sang-Hyeon checked the expiration date on the coffee beans just in case.
[Sang-Hyeon: No, I think I must’ve done something wrong? It's my first time using it……]
[Ji-Ah: Lol, I’m joking.]
[Sang-Hyeon: Ah;;]
[Ji-Ah: But I still have about three days' worth of content to upload on YouTube. What will you do for the remaining three days? Just rest?]
[Sang-Hyeon: Yeah, you should rest too.]
[Ji-Ah: Let me know if there's anything to do. I don't really need to rest.]
Sang-Hyeon scratched his chin.
'Something to do?'
He briefly looked out the window at the snowstorm.
Drinking warm coffee and enjoying such a scenery. What a comfortable world to live in. He felt like an old person thinking this.
[Sang-Hyeon: Ok, ok, but I think there’s nothing.]
[Ji-Ah: Okie dokie]
A moment later, a message came again from Ji-Ah.
[Ji-Ah: Ah, try posting that on Runesta, lol. The fans will love it.]
[Sang-Hyeon: The coffee picture?]
[Ji-Ah: Yeah, say your editor gave it to you as a gift. Lol.]
Should he? Sang-Hyeon tilted his head. He couldn't grasp if people would like such a photo.
However, Ji-Ah was always right when it came to Runesta or fan-related advice. Considering her idol fandom experience, it was obvious.
[Sang-Hyeon: Ok.]
After acknowledging this, Sang-Hyeon posted the picture on Runesta.
[This is the coffee machine Ji-Ah gifted me. I used it for the first time.]
He didn’t put any hashtags and didn’t want to anyway. Soon after, responses came in.
— Did the editor give you a medicine machine? Hope you use it nicely.
— Lol, where did the bread photo skill go?
— You’re drinking a potion?
— Is it a back advertisement for a traditional medicine clinic?
— Lol why is no one saying it’s coffee :((
— Bro, just go live now…
— Sharing a life with almond flavor, so cute, lol.
— As an almond, I thought you’d drink toffee nut latte. I feel betrayed as part of the nut group…
Quite a lot of comments poured in.
As Ji-Ah predicted, the reaction was good. No one actually said it was coffee though. This made people enjoy the post even more.
“Heh.”
Sang-Hyeon pointlessly laughed alone while reading the comments. He sipped the warm coffee and savored the bitter taste and scent.
The snowstorm didn’t stop.
Whoosh.
After reading the comments for a long time, he looked out the window again.
Creak.
Cold air rushed as he opened the small kitchen window. He felt the coldness on his hand as a large snowflake landed. Of course, it instantly melted with a sparkle. How much was it snowing? He looked up.
White snowflakes stirred the darkening sky. The blizzard filled the cloudy sky to the point where everything looked white.
It brought up some memories.
“Hmm……”
Children dragging away corpses of their comrades in a harsh, snowy field while their feet froze and turned red.
‘Raina…’
What happened to Raina after she ran away from that battlefield? Was there a story afterward? LIL wasn’t the type of game to focus on stories, so there probably wasn’t one.
‘Ah.’
He suddenly realized something and picked up his phone again to message Ji-Ah.
[Sang-Hyeon: Ah. I thought of something to upload on YouTube.]
***
Ding~
[NOVA]
[ALMOND]
A welcome hologram appeared from the capsule as he approached. Like a living thing, it opened its mouth wide to welcome its owner.
Sheik.
‘It's a game, after all.’
Sang-Hyeon entered the capsule with a bitter smile. He returned to the capsule even though not even a day had passed after he decided to rest, but he had no regrets.
He felt excited thinking about completing a new story mode. Yes, he wanted to clear the stories of other champions.
— Aren't you taking a break from streaming?
— Is this a bug?
— Wow, a week already passed!
— Wow, what is this??
— It's a miracle;
— Look at the title, guys……
The chat was suddenly filled.
“Hello.”
Almond briefly greeted them and went straight to the point.
“I’m going to clear the story mode. I’ll barely look at the chat. Just turned it on for those who want to watch.”
This was also stated in the title.
[(No Communication) Story Mode, Not looking at chat, Just Solo Play]
— Oh ho
— Playing LIL even on his day off…
— Is this an advertisement too???
— Hell yeah, story mode~
Almond considered playing with the stream off at first, but he thought some viewers would enjoy watching him. He turned it on with the intention to focus on the story and would try his best to not look at the chat.
***
Almond entered the exchange ground.
[Exchange Ground]
This was a forest where the champions he owned gathered. He visited after a long time and it now bustled with many champions. The forest seemed to have grown bigger, or maybe it was just his perception.
He briefly acknowledged the champions as they greeted him one by one. Soon, he walked toward Ran.
Ran, who was feeding dried hay to a sheep, noticed Almond approaching and slightly turned his head.
"Did you come to see me?"
"Yes."
"I appreciate your visit, but I'm feeding these guys right now."
Ran smiled and pointed to the fluffy sheep.
"It's fine. I just came to chat."
To do Ran's story mode, he already met the conditions a long time ago. They were very familiar with each other and his skills with Ran were also in good shape. Ran didn’t particularly like special gifts either.
"Chat?"
As Ran chewed, Almond sat on a rock in front of him.
"Yep, about old stories."
"... Suddenly?"
Ran looked dumbfounded, and a sheep even bit his finger.
"Ouch."
Ran quickly took out more hay to replace his finger.
"Why are you curious about that all of a sudden?"
"... Just because."
Almond couldn't think of a specific reason.
— This is so random, LOL
— ??? Tell me an old story! (grasping his collar)
— Just tell me!
"... Well, alright."
Perhaps because it was his first time receiving such a request, but Ran agreed despite Almond's awkward method.
— You're really doing this?
— LOL, he just pushed forward with skills.
— Does Ran also favor Almond?
After stroking the sheep enthusiastically chewing, Ran threw the hay far away. Without a second thought about their owner, the sheep ran after the thrown hay.
"What old story would you like to hear?"
"Why... did you come to this battlefield?"
"This battlefield..."
Ran looked around the exchange ground. All the champions there were warriors who had participated in the battlefield.
"There's no one here without a deep story, but it's a bit of a long tale."
Ran sat on a rock opposite Almond and sighed.
Then, everything went dark.
Only a blue text appeared against the black background.
[Story Mode Unlocked]
[Would you like to start?]
Warm sunlight pierced his eyelids. Almond was forced to open his eyes and looked around with a frown.
'It’s warm.'
That was the first thing he felt. It wasn't cold. And the green grass felt soft beneath him.
He could see a blue meadow. It wasn’t like Raina's story mode where a gruesome scene suddenly appeared.
Still, he took a negative approach and looked around to see where he could offer some help. However, he didn’t notice anything obvious.
'What am I supposed to do?'
The moment he thought this…
[Clear Conditions]
★: Secret
★★: Girl
★★★: Revenge
“… What?”
“Ugh…”
“Ah… Haha!”
Children in white clothes noisily spoke and passed by. Each of them wore thick books as big as their heads on their hips.
Ding~ Ding~
A heavy bell made Almond turn his head. A large golden bell swayed on the clock tower, which was connected to a large castle. The children in white walked on bridges between sections of the castle.
'School?'
At the sound of the bell, the children outside freely ran back into the castle.
'Should I go too?'
Almond decided to just follow the children.
'Where is Ran?'
He couldn't find Ran. In Raina's story, she was present from the start.
'Could it be that I’m Ran?'
Almond didn’t rule out that possibility as he rushed into the school. Fortunately, this body was much faster than the other children even though he seemed smaller.
Tap! Tap!
“We're late.”
“Let's go. Quick, Beth!”
“Yeah.”
As he got closer, he could hear the children's conversation more clearly. He decided to follow them, but didn’t have a book. He looked at his arms and felt startled. He didn't have arms, only four legs. He was actually running on all fours.
He was so surprised that he shouted, “Baaah~!”
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