Zelo waited, frozen in place.

“Anyway, you’re admitting you’re below Gum bro now, right?”

The humiliation felt unbearable.

“No, why would you put it like that?”

“Well, because...”

[You have been defeated by an enemy!]

[Bubblegum → Zelo]

Bang!

[Out]

Crash!

A sudden, deafening boom erupted from Zelo’s capsule.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!” Zelo’s rage exploded. “Are you kidding me!? You bury a guy alive, take a smoke break, and then have your underling finish him off!? Is this a gangster!? Or a streamer!?”

He ranted furiously at his viewers.

— ?

— ??

— What

— Why’s it buffering

— Huh?

The chat had frozen.

‘What?’

Zelo tilted his head, suddenly embarrassed mid-rant. Suddenly, the world split in half, and the sky opened.

“Huh?”

Sssssshk!

The capsule had triggered an emergency shutdown.

“What, what is this!?”

A bad feeling hit him as he checked the message.

“Emergency shutdown due to... overheating...?”

Why had the capsule shut down from overheating?

“No, what kind of bug did Bubblegum use this time!?”

Completely dumbfounded, Zelo restarted the capsule. The stream came back almost immediately. Once he explained what happened, the viewers lost it.

“Yeah, so that’s what happened. A bug popped up. The Ghost Bugsters live up to their name.”

— LOL

— LMAO

— This is a real Perfect Death

— And you’re calling this a bug?

— Rage quit and now lying again?!

— You’re just mad as hell, aren’t you?

“‘You’re just mad as hell~?’ No, it was a bug. Seriously, I’m not some lunatic or something. Why would I overheat like that?”

— LMAO

— Hahahaha

— Anyone would be mad, though

— If you’re that heated, why not ask the Lord for one Frost Arrow?

— LMAO getting disconnected is legendary

— The god of streaming

“Ask the Lord for a Frost Arrow? Get out.”

Ting.

He actually kicked out the viewer.

— LMAO

— LOOOL

— He is mad lol

— At least he didn’t ban them

— Kicked out!

“Ha... Anyway, I’m not really in a condition to play more games right now. I’ll end today’s LIL stream here.”

— ?

— ???

— Ending it suddenly?

— It is a rage quit

Zelo set up his end-of-stream angle. He really did look exhausted. In truth, he couldn’t handle alcohol well, and he’d overdone it at Treevy’s funeral. He still hadn’t fully recovered.

Ding.

[YouCrying? has donated 10,000 won.]

[Yeah, you’re definitely mad.]

The viewers wouldn’t let him go.

[Yep! has donated 5,000 won.]

[You got destroyed by Almond and suddenly you’re tired? Why’s that~?]

[AreYouGum? has donated 5,000 won.]

[You lost to Bubblegum who didn’t even pick Iron Ball and rage quit? Is this real? Legendary~]

[AhSungTank has donated 5,000 won.]

[Zela!? Don’t chase ninja dreams like your father and get shredded! If you study hard from now on, you can enter the tank industry! Maybe not East Tank or West Tank, but Central Tank! Or East-West Tank! Then you can grow up to be Iron Ball!]

— East-West Tank LOL

— New tank member!

— Losing to Bubblegum without Iron Ball << this is the real killer

— Tank industry is open to accepting!

— You can be Iron Ball!

— He’s getting angry...!

Zelo’s face stiffened. “Tank, tank, tank! Tank! You pay five 5000 won just to say that!? You dumb tank!”

The last donor also got banned.

— Holy shit LOL

— LMAO

— Dumb tank?!

— Yeah he’s pissed

— He’s genuinely mad

— So you are mad?

— Manage your heat, bro

“Ha... I’m not mad. Everyone, it’s just... No, but seriously, who banned Iron Ball? Don’t do that kind of thing. Really.”

It clearly bothered him that he’d lost to Bubblegum without Iron Ball.

“No, if you do that, it doesn’t feel like a real win even if you win, right?”

— ?

— Who knows

— ??

— He really doesn’t know

By bringing it up, Zelo learned a truth that he didn’t need to know.

Ding.

[RedTruth has donated 5,000 won.]

[Bubblegum banned it himself lol]

“What? Himself?”

— Yep. No joke.

— He banned it to train himself~

— That face LOL

— You got wrecked even after he dropped his handicap, huh?

Zelo fell silent for a long while. Nothing but laughter filled the chat.

Pop.

Zelo was ejected from the capsule again.

***

A short while passed.

“Is this capsule broken?”

— ?

— ...?

— LOL

— He got mad again over the self-ban LMAO

— Holy shit...

— What’s broken is your skill

— Zelo is really mad LOL

Zelo scanned the taunting chat.

“Haah. Anyway, I can’t play LIL today. I’ll...”

No matter how professional a streamer he was, he couldn’t keep playing in this state.

Instead, he tried switching to another type of content.

“Our lord, Lord Almond, let’s do a full teardown analysis of him.”

— Oh

— Nice

— Let’s go

— Zelo really is mad LOL

— Ooooo

— At least he’s not ending the stream

The repeated messages taunting him were annoying, but he ignored them and pushed on.

“From what I can see, this four tank, one DPS comp... Honestly, no matter how you look at it! No matter how much! Even if Survival is a pure survival hell game, a four-tank one-DPS setup shouldn’t work.”

— Pure survival hell game LOL

— LMAO

— Zelo really is mad

— Holy shit loool

— LMAO

— Why is his pronunciation like that?!

— Pure survival hell game

Zelo believed that this absurd comp only worked because of Almond.

“This one DPS carried and put out a completely ridiculous amount of damage. That’s it. That’s the core, beginning, and end. Look at the damage graph, everyone.”

— True

— Wow

— LOL

— It is insane

— But he hoarded all the runes

“I honestly think Bubblegum has nothing to do with this. Let’s be real, Bart? He didn’t even need to be there. What did Bart do? You could bring any random Bart. Without Almond, it’d be the same.”

Zelo really wanted to say that Bubblegum wasn’t above him.

— Naaaaah

— Zelo really is mad...

— That part is true!

— Any Bart lmao

— But is that something the guy who died to him twice should say? LOL

— Nope~

Of course, most viewers didn’t buy it. They didn’t care about facts, only about teasing Zelo.

“The important thing here isn’t Bubblegum! It’s Master Almond’s movement. That’s the point.”

Ignoring Bubblegum entirely, Zelo rewound the footage to Almond’s perspective.

‘What?’

The only game Zelo had ever played with Almond before was Survival Craft. He had heard about Almond before that, but mostly through the Civil Empire tournament. This was his first time actually watching Almond in LIL. He became momentarily speechless.

‘This is... more than I thought.’

Someone came to mind.

‘This feels just like... that guy.’

There had been a time when Zelo competed at the very top. Back then, he had run into a true wall and gave up on becoming a pro. The feeling was similar. Of course, Zelo wasn’t the same as back then. LIL wasn’t the same game either, but the sensation stabbing straight into his chest clearly felt the same.

— ?

— Why aren’t you talking

— Did he disconnect again?

— Lag??

Viewers started asking, thinking that the silence meant another ejection.

Zelo quickly said, “Ah, yeah. I was just focusing for a bit. Ahem. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone handle Sori at that speed before. He’s... pretty good?”

— True

— He is pretty good

— Yeah he’s alright I guess

— Compared to you, though...

— Pretty good LOL

— His Raina’s better

— The Rope Movement usage is insane

Sori was originally a ranged damage dealer who applied pressure by steadily dealing damage. Using her as the sole DPS was pushing it, but Almond had the physical skills to ramp up Sori’s damage speed. His damage had also been buffed.

“It’s the synergy with this Hammer Paladin. That’s the kicker. The damage spikes here. His accuracy is too good. Everything just lands on every nail.”

The key strategic element here was the Hammer Paladin. This tank could support damage. When paired well with a ranged damage dealer, the output became absurd.

“He just hits everything he shoots...”

For once, Zelo felt genuinely impressed. Finding his reaction amusing, the viewers sent in a flurry of donations. One caught his eye.

Ding.

[Omo has donated 10,000 won.]

[That nut bastard’s Raina is the real deal lol.]

“Really? Raina? I’ve heard she’s good.”

Zelo had heard about Almond’s Raina as well.

‘Oh. Maybe.’

An idea struck him.

“Ah. As someone who used to be a diehard Raina main, I have to look at this. Let’s see. Did someone post it on my blog?”

— Yeah

— People uploaded it

— You can search for it on YouTube

— If you’re a Raina main, you shouldn’t watch this

— Search Almond Raina Montage

— He’s actually looking it up? Zelo really is triggered

“‘Almond Raina Special Compilation?’ This one? Alright, got it.”

Zelo started the video.

“Holy shit...”

He was stunned. Because of Almond’s skill?

“No, what the hell!? This isn’t the Raina I know!”

The curse slipped out on its own. Zelo had once been a Raina main himself.

— LOL

— Ahhh...

— Right... he was a Raina main...

— Crying at the sight of an ex-girlfriend

— LMAO

— Look at the skill, not the character LOL

“What kind of character is this? Acting shy, gentle, and pouting like that. Ra-Raina...? The Cold-Blooded Archer?”

— LOOOL

— LMAO the real reaction

— Cold-blooded = Face ID unlock screen

— LOL true

— Never thought this would shock him

“If this is cold-blooded, then me getting kicked out of the capsule makes sense. That’s not ice. That’s magma! Hot magma!”

Sensing the moment, a viewer donated.

[Agro has donated 10,000 won.]

[Zelo really is mad!]

— LOOOL

— They kept spamming it and finally reached him!

— That’s commitment

“Get out, you bastard!”

Zelo banned the user for a full week.

— LMAO

— LOOL

— Zelo really is mad

— Whoa

— Zelo is triggered!

— Prophecy fulfilled...

He really was mad, and he couldn’t just let it go.

“No, I can’t let this slide as someone who once mained Raina. Everyone...”

He hadn’t even been that hardcore of a main, but Raina’s reactions were enough to deal psychic damage even to casual fans.

Ba-bam!

[ZeloReallyIsMad has donated 100,000 won for a video.]

[(Video)]

A relatively recent clip appeared.

[As expected... It’s you, Almond!]

— LOL

— If you show that, Zelo will boycott the Platform War!

— LMAO

— Paid 100k won just to avoid getting banned LOL

Pop!

Zelo’s capsule opened again.

***

“Ah... What’s wrong with this thing. For now, uh...”

— LOOOL

— This is how scary Bubblegum is...

— LMAO

— How mad do you have to be for this to happen?!

— Perfect Death... does it end a streamer’s life too?

— Ghost Busters are terrifying, for real

“I’m telling you. It’s not disconnecting because I’m mad! Does that even make sense? It’s a bug! Anyway...”

Zelo’s stream had crashed again. He had to salvage the situation, so Zelo declared, “I will make my Raina like this too!”

— Gasp

— Damn

— ?

— Wow

— Impossible

— Make Raina Great Again!

— As if that would work

“Why not? I cleared her story up to two stars. I can do this. Raina likes skilled players. I just have to be good, right? My... my Raina wouldn’t be like this.”

From that moment on, Zelo watched every single Almond-Raina clip.

“Zel GPT, initiating Almond learning.”

For the first time in a while, Zelo burned with motivation. With eyes wide open, he studied everything.

— LOL

— LMAO

— Never seen him this proactive

— You’ll show it at the platform war, right? Our Raina

— Holy shit

— Never thought Raina would be what sets him off LOL

With Zelo leading the charge, a Raina challenge suddenly took off across the community.

[Trying to get praised by Raina for ten hours straight...]

[What if Raina says, “Not bad?”]

[Master ADC Raina Challenge!]

[How far will Raina humiliate me? Attempt in progress]

As the challenge spread, Almond’s channel views naturally rose alongside it.

“Huh?” Ji-Ah tilted her head as she pulled up the trending graph. “Why are the old videos...”