Omelet was one of the so-called Big Three of LIL streamers on Paprika. His average viewer count matched or exceeded the others, but he was the weakest among them.

“Survival mode? That unoriginal garbage? I’m not playing that crap. Why do you keep bringing it up? Huh?”

Omelet was a streamer with almost no flexibility. He barely played anything outside LIL. Even within LIL, he played nothing but Siege mode.

— Just Siege LOL

— Ugh, Siege nerd

— Siege sexual

“I mean, LIL keeps pumping out all these random modes like it’s trying to do everything. It’s like mint chocolate cola and curry flavored cola... It’s just disgusting. You know what I mean, right?”

His way of talking like a rapper was polarizing. So was his hardcore fundamentalist mindset.

“LIL only has two modes, everyone. You get what I’m saying?”

— ?

— What?

— Isn’t it just one?

— There’s something besides Siege?

“Victory. Or defeat.”

— Damn

— LOL

— That hit

— He’s denying modes altogether

— Honestly, what even is another mode? LOL

— That’s it

— #MakeLILGreatAgain

He despised every mode other than Siege mode. No, he didn’t even allow them to be called modes because LIL was Siege mode.

“These days, LIL is just... a fucking homeless man. It’s lost its home. You get what I’m saying? No home. No Kevin. No Christmas.”

Omelet was a rare kind of person these days.

— These days? LOL, other modes came out ages ago

— Siege only era lasted, what, a year?

— Pretty much everything dropped after early access LOL

— Was he cryogenically frozen?

LIL had featured three modes for a long time now.

“I don’t care! I won’t acknowledge it! No respect! LIL has legacy from the PC era! Legacy! Heritage! You know what I’m saying! You do! Or you don’t!”

He even brought up the PC era. This mindset was often treated as a joke, but plenty of people liked it. And those people made up Omelet’s fanbase.

— Hear him out

— Make LIL Great Again

— Support Siege fundamentalist Omelet

— Facts

— This is the Omelet we know

That popularity carried him far, but it also became a weakness as his channel grew.

— So you’re not joining the platform war?

— Tsk, can’t even get invited to other mode events

— That’s what happens when you only play one mode LOL

More tournaments and events were being built around other modes.

‘Damn it... Why are there so many mode events now?’

Siege was a brutally difficult game. As LIL aged, so did its players. Many struggled to keep up. Those players migrated to easier modes such as Escort and Survival. The core user base shifted from their twenties to their thirties. Naturally, the developers followed the trend.

“The Platform War is going to be Survival?”

Even worse, the biggest streamer tournament would be in Survival mode. For Omelet, this felt like a bolt from the blue.

— LOL look at his face

— That expression though

— He looks like he lost a country

“Wow. Everyone, this is the end times. The End. You get me? End of the century.”

This wasn’t a bit. He meant it.

“No Siege, Platform War in Survival only? Huh? What kind of skill does that even test?”

Not even a mixed format, but just pure Survival. For fundamentalists like Omelet, this came as a massive shock that quickly turned into anger.

“I’m boycotting the Platform War and calling Police Korea. I swear. I really will. I’ll upload this to YouTube. You know I do what I say, right?”

He didn’t stop there.

“I’m gonna hash it out with Police. Okay?! You trust me, right? 2036 is ours. Fuck Survival! Fuck Escort!”

— Omelet! Omelet! Omelet!

— Negotiating with the company, holy shit

— Omelet!

— Make LIL Great Again! Make LIL Great Again!

— Son?! LIL is Siege, son?! LIL is Siege, son?!

After that, Omelet actually visited Police Korea’s headquarters and uploaded it to YouTube.

[Fuck the Police. Omelet storms the real headquarters.]

Despite the aggressive title, the thumbnail showed him smiling arm-in-arm with Police staff.

The caption read:

[So, about participating in the Platform War...]

People didn’t even watch one second of the video before commenting.

— Traitor bastard LOL

— Holy shit this is hilarious

— Is this your definition of gangstar? LOL

— Talked big until you met the real thing, huh?

— Dropped your tail real quick LOL

— What a snitch...

The comment section was, unsurprisingly, a warzone.

***

Omelet’s first stream was preparing for the Platform War. He scratched his head while running the Survival tutorial.

“You know, Survival actually isn’t bad,” he muttered, almost embarrassed.

— LOL what the hell

— This is genuinely pathetic

— How much did Police pay you?

— Just stop...

— Not bad, he says LOL

— I really want to punch him

The response wasn’t good. Even though he was still in the tutorial.

“I mean, Siege is the original. I know that, but both can be fun, right? Huh? Is fun like a chair? If one guy sits down, no one else can? That’s not how it works, right?”

— He’s rambling LOL

— I want to hit him with a chair, for real

— A chair, he says LOL

Ding.

[OmeletWorker donated 3000 won.]

[We flame him, but if Omelet makes Survival fun, that’s an upvote.]

— That username, holy shit

— An insider, LOL

— So this is how you do it?

— LOL upvote~

Enduring the humiliation, Omelet continued his first Survival match.

“Everyone, I’ll prove it. Show and prove. I’ll just wipe everyone and take first like a beast. Okay?”

— It’s the tutorial, how would you not get first

— Are these people sick or something

— Not getting first would be legendary

— LOL what kind of statement is that

It wasn’t empty confidence. No matter how much viewers flamed him, Omelet’s raw game sense was top-tier even among amateurs. He had once been ranked number one among amateur players in LIL. Different rules or not, the core mechanics remained the same. Very few believed he would fail a tutorial match.

“Alright. I don’t fully get the rules yet, so I’ll just follow my team. Luckily, someone recognized me and gave me a ranged weapon. I contract with this, right?”

The early game went smoothly. Someone recognized him and vouched for his skill. The rest of the team followed and supported him.

“Just cruising like this...”

Everyone in the tutorial queue was around the same level anyway. With this setup, winning felt inevitable.

[First Blood!]

“Huh?”

They had barely finished their first hunt, and First Blood popped up. No names were shown. In Survival mode, even that mattered.

“What the hell is this game?!” Omelet snapped. “This is exactly the problem! The guy who runs into bad players first gets the advantage! Where’s the real duel? Where’s laning?! This is pure RNG trash. You get me? Just a game of luck.”

— Tutorial queue and all this crap? LOL

— Just hurry up and do it already LOL

— LMAO

— From the very first match, damn it

Then, it happened. Another incident occurred back-to-back.

[Participant Out!]

[Participant Out!]

[Participant Out!]

[Participant Out!]

The out notifications exploded one after another.

[Triple Kill!]

[Three Teams Eliminated!]

Along with the triple kill alert came the news that three entire teams had been wiped.

“What the?! What is this game? What even is this? Is this really LIL? It’s a fucking casino! A lucky idiot game!”

Omelet was already consumed by rage. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to do anything, and some other team had already pulled off a triple kill.

— This is insane LOL

— Holy shit LOL

— Lucky idiot LMAOOO

— Survival is actually fun?

— This guy started just to hate on it LOL

— His energy is great once he plays survival LOL

— You’re ignoring the tutorial, you idiot LOL

[Red Turtle has been slain.]

Right after that, someone took down the early epic monster as well.

“Ha... Shit...” Omelet tried to spit out another insult, then hesitated. “But what is that? Is it good?”

He genuinely didn’t know about the Red Turtle, so he couldn’t even curse properly.

— LMAOOOOOO

— LOL

— Hey... you’re a newbie.

— LMAO

— Yeah, he really is new LOL

— Why were you mad earlier then? You didn’t even know anything LOL

***

The Red Turtle was level three. In Survival mode, it was usually the first epic monster that players hunted. Epic monsters granted additional rewards when defeated. The Red Turtle dropped a rune box and a fire buff.

Normally, teams attempted to hunt it around level two. If enemies interrupted the hunt, it could turn extremely dangerous.

Boom!

“Target eliminated!”

Of course, Almond’s team had already reached level three. They would wipe out anyone who tried to contest them. It was a flawless scenario.

“Beautiful~”

Almond, shield in hand, was still attacking from the back. The Leader Bot didn’t complain. After all, Almond had annihilated the enemies. They had even gained the Red Turtle buff.

Whoosh!

[Blessing of Flames]

[Your attacks ignite enemies. Burning enemies take continuous damage and are revealed to opponents.]

It was a pretty solid buff.

‘Oh.’

Almond stared at the ring of flames wrapped around his arm, visibly intrigued. Then, the rune box appeared.

[Rune Box]

Any moderately strong monster dropped this reward.

“I’ll take this.”

Baegi picked up the rune box.

“We can snowball hard now.”

“Nice~!”

“Let’s go~.”

While the team’s mood lifted, Almond raised his hand. “But why are you taking that?”

— ?

— ...?

— ??

— Holy shit LOL

— You said you weren’t contracting yet, idiot LOL

Almond had refused when they told the tank to contract first, yet now he was asking why Baegi was going first.

‘What is he even saying?’

Baegi’s mental state wavered again, but hadn’t Almond just carried the fight? He made a counteroffer.

“Then... do you want to contract first, LazySoldier?”

It was better for the tank to contract early anyway. Baegi tried flipping the suggestion.

“No, I’ll do it later...”

“Then, I’ll take the runes.”

“But why are you taking them?”

Almond’s team was growing fast thanks to him, but they had to do something else in the meantime.

“Statistically, it’s better for the tank to contract first. If you don’t, then I’m the next tank. So...”

It was Almond’s education time.

— LOL Baegi is starting to look pitiful

— Why is there a lecture happening here? LOL

— Bots these days are insanely advanced

“Oh...! I see.”

Almond understood once Baegi explained it.

His eyes sparkled as he said to the viewers, “Survival is fun. It’s kind of... strategic.”

— LMAOOOOOO

— Baby Almond just thinks everything is fun

— Siege is way more strategic, you just don’t know it

— You’re having fun because you don’t know anything

— Yeah... that’s enough...

“Alright. Two runes come out of the rune box. I’ll take them and go contract. You need two runes to contract.”

Baegi was talking way more than before.

“These early runes are usually common, advanced, or rare. Later on, you’ll start seeing heroic and legendary runes. Anyway... since it’s early, I got one rare and one common. Pretty lucky.”

“Oh...”

Almond only caught the pretty lucky part.

“I’ll aim for what’s statistically the strongest, the Spearmancer Sardin.”

Almond nodded and said to the viewers, “He likes statistics. Is that because he’s a bot...?”

— Bots are like that, yeah

— He’s explaining everything and you say he likes statistics LOL

— Is this guy really not a bot? No human has this patience

— Our bot is doing great!!

Wooooong!

Baegi lifted his rune-embedded spear and requested the contract. Light poured down on him, and three champions responded.

***

[Beginner’s Tip]

[Did you know? Statistically, about 21,000 LIL users are worse at games than chewing gum. This remains a long-standing unsolved problem in statistics.]