“I don’t think we can ask Treeana to get hit deliberately. That’d basically be staging the broadcast.”

“Yeah...”

The production team was running into trouble. They thought the final scene would more or less follow the planned outline and hadn’t expected it to derail this badly.

“Who knew a variable like this would pop up?”

“Did we... underestimate Almond again?”

“N-No. That can’t be it.”

They had never underestimated Almond. This very duo had won the world championship together. How could they underestimate the MVP of that tournament? They had designed this precisely so Almond could never defeat the Dragon of Streaming Destruction.

“This was designed to be physically impossible.”

Shooting while riding a horse was one thing, but this was completely different. More importantly, this wasn’t Civil Empire. It was Survival Craft, a game where combat detection was a mess. The range for arrows was short, and the feel was clunky. It wasn’t a game meticulously tuned for combat like Civil Empire.

“How is he even shooting like that?”

“And the fact that they haven’t been hit once at that distance. It makes no sense.”

Then, there was the added variable: Treeana. The original plan had been for Almond to take a few hits while flying on the dragon. Viewers would panic and think he’d been deleted, only for him to survive thanks to the ghosts’ support buffs.

The production had planned for a dramatic moment. After that, the city of Treevy would rise again, and the real battle against the Dragon of Streaming Destruction would begin.

“It looks like phase one is about to end.”

Almond and Treeana were one-sidedly beating the Dragon of Streaming Destruction.

Boom!

Bang!

“Wow... It’s all getting wrecked.”

‘Hmm.’

PD Jang scratched his head, visibly flustered. No matter how seasoned he was, recovering wasn’t easy when things went this far off-script.

Park Oh-hoon tried to console him. “It’s fine, Boss. This isn’t the first thing that’s gone off the rails. Isn’t this what Survival Craft is all about?”

Survival Craft wasn’t a game with fixed rules. Players freely shaped the world like children building sand castles, hence it being a sandbox game.

PD Jang reminded himself of that core truth and steadied his nerves. “Right... You’re right. Camera One, Almond. Camera Two, Treeana’s face. Camera Sixteen, drone view from above...”

The scene flowed naturally between the players’ expressions. The eyes of those praying, Treeana steering the dragon, Almond drawing his bow without the slightest tremor. The cameras captured all their faces.

“It looks like we’re moving into phase two.”

“Yeah...”

Gulp.

Phase two was already beginning.

PD Jang felt the tension rise, but reassured himself.

‘It’s fine. This has meaning in its own way.’

The Civil Empire world championship had been an event where nothing ever went as predicted. Hadn’t it still been meaningful beyond anything else? Cheese Village wasn’t just another event, but a planned experience. Its genre could change at any moment while being shaped by the participants.

If those who threw themselves into it twisted the plan and created something new, if people cheered and celebrated that, then it became a new genre altogether.

***

Boom!

Another arrow struck the Dragon of Streaming Destruction’s eye, and the crowd erupted.

“WAAAAAAHHHH!!”

The Dragon of Streaming Destruction’s breath attack was far too crude to land on Treeana and her dragon. Fast, yes, but it always came in a straight line. From the moment its jaws opened, Treeana’s reactions rendered it helpless.

More cheering sticks filled the sky. Among the support cards, some now also cheered for Treeana.

[Paladin Treeana!]

[Save Treevy! Treeana!]

...

Whoooooong!

As she steered the dragon at high speed, those glowing messages reflected in Treeana’s pupils. A faint smile flickered across her lips.

Whoosh!

She suddenly veered off the flight path.

Almond, mid-draw, nearly lost his balance. “W-Whoa?!”

Thwap!

“Urgh?!”

He managed to hold on by grabbing Treeana’s head. It made perfect sense since her head had the biggest hitbox in Survival Craft.

— LMFAO

— He grabbed her by the head LOL]

— What the hell?!

— Nice

— So this is carrying by grabbing the head? Legit didn’t know

She had sharply turned, even at the cost of dignity, for a reason.

Uuuuuung!

A powerful light suddenly surged from the Dragon of Streaming Destruction’s body. The light detonated and blasted everything away. The Dragon of Streaming Destruction exploded.

KWAAAAAANG!

— DAMN

— Did they win??

— No way

— Just the two of them??

— Almond, you absolute madman

For a moment, everyone believed the Dragon of Streaming Destruction had died.

“Th... Three of them!?”

As the smoke cleared, the truth was revealed. There, three dragons took its place. The Dragon of Streaming Destruction had merely been a shared hide that they wore together. Their true form consisted of three bodies. Smaller in size, yet clearly far stronger.

The red dragon, the strongest looking of the three, laughed confidently. “Hahahahaha. This is the first time a human has pushed me this far.”

Thoom.

[Saint Kaiser]

His name appeared overhead. It was a Sacred Emperor. This being held both sanctity and power. A golden crown rested upon his head.

To his right, a black dragon with a cold, sharp gaze said, “I’ll give you praise. You forced me to step in.”

Thoom.

[Knight Terror]

The Knight of Terror was the emperor’s loyal right hand, who eradicated all that opposed his will.

To the emperor’s left...

The most ominous of the three muttered curses, steeped in resentment. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you all. You shouldn’t exist.”

Its color, strikingly, was bright pink.

[Lady Grudge]

The Lady of Grudge was of a noble lineage, yet inexplicably overflowed with hatred.

— Holy shit

— DAMN

— Those names LOL

— Are they finally here? The three monsters...

— Nice

— This is insane

— LMAO

— What names

From one, they had become three. Perhaps they had always been three and merely hid themselves inside the massive shell called the Dragon of Streaming Destruction.

Saint Kaiser roared across the sky, “We have ruled this world since its beginning. You are beings who were never granted permission to exist.”

Knight Terror, hovering at Saint Kaiser’s side, added coldly, “That’s right. If you want to exist here so shamelessly, then marry the Emperor’s daughter or something!”

“What? Me, marrying who? You abandoned little bastard.”

A brief bout of infighting ensued, but it lasted only a moment. They had existed together as the Dragon of Streaming Destruction. Their purpose was far too firm.

“Die. All of you!”

Whoooom!

They invoked their magic and attacked Almond and Treeana.

“Meteor!”

Burning chunks of meteors rained from the sky.

Kugugugug...!

“Nemesis!”

Divine punishment slammed down like lightning.

Flash!

“Flora Swarm!”

Poison pollen blanketed the air.

— Damn

— Holy shit

— What is this? How do you dodge all that?!

Treeana shouted, “Mad Dragon! Breath!”

— So the name is settled as Mad Dragon??

— Mad Hero

— It’s short for Madman Dragon, don’t get it twisted

The Mad Dragon fired its breath, and the air ignited. The pollen, lined up in a straight path, burned away. The meteor could be avoided, but Treeana couldn’t dodge the instant-hit lightning despite her skills.

Kugung!

The Mad Dragon lost its balance for a split second, and the meteor slammed into it.

BANG!

The Mad Dragon screamed, “GRAAAAH!”

Its wings went slack, and it began to fall.

Almond clung even tighter to Treeana’s head. “U-Urrrgh!”

— LOL

— Survive first LMAO

— What do we do

— Holy shit, Cheese Village is gonna get wiped

Suddenly, they faced a hair-trigger crisis. If they crashed like this, they would definitely die.

Ba-bam!

[RubySword has donated a whopping 300,000 won!]

[Please! Shoot out a random magic spell!]

Thanks to this donation, a random spell fired out.

[Fireball]

In this situation, the most useless spell possible shot toward the three dragons.

— ?

— ??

— Fireball?

— What is this? LMAO

— There goes the money~

— Bubblegum tier magic

Whoooooong!

Almond and Treeana kept falling. Donations kept coming in hopes of saving them.

Ba-bam!

Ba-bam!

[Ice Arrow]

[Thunder Bolt]

[Earthquake]

Random magic continued being fired. A spell that could actually turn the situation around wouldn’t appear so easily.

Knight Terror dove down, determined to finish them as they fell. “Diiieee!”

It opened its jaws wide, charged its breath, and drew up black miasma. They couldn’t dodge while falling. If that hit, they would be instantly deleted. If the Saintess died, everything would end. A hopeless terror awaited everyone.

Knight Terror’s mouth curled into a grin, as if savoring it.

KWAAAAAAAH!

It fired its breath.

[Shield Created!]

[Shield Created!]

[Shield Created!]

[Shield Created!]

[Shield Created!]

...

The supporters sent shields.

“Hold on, Almond!”

“Almond! Almond! Almond!”

“My loooord!”

Almond’s health instantly multiplied by several dozen times, and he made a decision.

‘I have to take it.’

Almond wrapped himself around Treeana and took the breath attack in her place. If the Saintess died, everything would come to an end.

BANG!

For a moment, the whole world burned white.

[HP: 12%]

He was still alive.

“It... It worked!”

— DAMN

— Whoa

— Oh

— Nice

— That’s insane

— DAMN let’s go!!

Almond had taken a direct hit and survived. The future had changed thanks to the brief shield and a sliver of time.

Whoooooong!

“My loooord!!”

A massive bird flew in with Radish Servant on it. Radish Servant stretched out his hand, matching the speed of the falling Almond.

Tap!

Their hands met, and Radish Servant hauled him up. Almond immediately tightened his grip on Treeana’s head again. He had to save her too.

“Urgh! Let go! let go!” Treeana had been figuring out her own way to survive. Then, her hair got grabbed, and she was yanked toward Radish Servant.

— Almond carrying by grabbing hair?! Wow...

— Hard carry Almond

— Damn

— LMAO

— Bang!

Unfortunately, the Mad Dragon crashed. Radish Servant’s massive bird veered away, pulling them as far as possible from the three dragons’ magic.

“Huff... huff...” Radish Servant panted. “Th-Thank goodness.”

Almond shook his head, forcing his mind to clear. He was still in the air on the back of a massive bird. “What is this bird?”

“Oh, this? The viewers started spamming random monster donations, and this guy popped out.”

The 100,000 won donation was a random act of kindness. Now, every monster that appeared was an enemy of the Dragon of Streaming Destruction and an ally to the villagers.

Lemon flew up beside them on another dragon. “I’m here too!”

Whoooooong!

Black Tea rode with her. “Are you all right?!”

Down below, Potato Servant had mounted a massive ancient golem monster. The golem blocked the dragons’ magic with its two hands. Then, it fired a beam from its core to strike back.

Kwa-gwang!!

BANG!

Every being fighting here was larger than the Citadel, Cheese Village’s greatest fortress. Those who couldn’t participate could only stare, spellbound.

— Damn

— What is this scale?!

— War of the (telecom) gods

— Is this the Survival Craft I knew? I’m so proud

— Everyone’s fighting while flying on something

— What is Potato Servant’s golem LOL

— So sick

Zela reacted the same in a dark underground tunnel. “Whoa...”

He looked up at them with eyes full of longing.

“Father... I’m going to grow up and become a Mad Hero too.”