Someone said it after Almond pulled off his first pentakill.

[OstrichEgg: That guy is Almond.]

One fan, who had known Almond’s identity from the start, finally came clean.

[Baegi: ?]

[YoYoYo: Huh?]

[HamPunch: Almond? The one from the world championship??]

[Baegi: The archer guy?]

OstrichEgg had stayed quiet before, afraid of the abuse they’d get if they spoke up too early. After Almond was left alone and still pulled off a pentakill, it felt safe enough to say out loud.

[OstrichEgg: Yeah. That’s Almond. His username is LazySoldier.]

Naturally, no one believed this right away.

[Baegi: Bullshit. Why would that guy be playing a tutorial? I heard he’s insane at LIL too LOL]

[HamPunch: Who names their character LazySoldier anyway LOL and Almond of all people?]

[OstrichEgg: Why it’s LazySoldier is a long story...]

[YoYoYo: I mean, he is kind of a maniac.]

[OstrichEgg: Watch closely. When Raina rolls, she turns invisible. That only happens on the Korean server with Almond.]

There it was. The proof was Almond contracting with Raina. He was the only three-star clear on the Korean server. The thief who took Raina’s lips. Even players who didn’t really know Almond had heard of that title.

Pop!

Sure enough, Almond vanished whenever used Roll.

[Baegi: Holy shit... it’s real???]

[HamPunch: Wait, that wasn’t a Rune effect?]

[YoYoYo: Raina is a trash pick, so I never noticed... Is that really Almond? LOL no wonder he stole my bow...]

At that point, even they had to accept it. Then, something else happened. Something that made them doubt all over again.

[Baegi: But what is he doing right now? He’s just gonna die???]

[YoYoYo: Nooo, no way, please don’t!]

Ten players still remained besides Almond. Suddenly, he sprinted straight toward the Sanctuary.

[HamPunch: I heard from the world championship that he’s a strategic player. Why’s he doing this? Is there a plan?]

[OstrichEgg: LOL...]

OstrichEgg could only laugh. Internally, he thought something very different.

‘Shit. We’re screwed.'

He regretted saying anything. As a fan, OstrichEgg was used to Almond’s insanity.

‘Actually being on the receiving end of it is something else.’

Now he understood why teammates always panicked and cursed. His faith shook even while knowing it was Almond.

‘What is he even doing?’

He charged cheerfully toward the Sanctuary, where ten other enemies were obviously camping. Did he really think he could revive anyone?

‘Playing for a third-party win would make more sense...’

Then, Almond started wiping the enemies out. Starting with Omelet, he stacked combo after combo as he went berserk. A double kill, triple kill, and quadra kill erupted.

[Baegi: Huh!?]

[HamPunch: WAAAH LOL]

[YoYoYo: This is it! This is Almond!]

BOOOOM!

[PENTA KILL]

Almond achieved another pentakill, but completely solo this time.

[Baegi: Damn it, it’s you again!?]

[HamPunch: So this was the plan...]

[YoYoYo: What even is this damage? Is it bugged? LOL good bug though holy shit]

Almond effectively fought ten against one. He retreated briefly, endured inside the Shadow with the Abyssal Gills, and fired off his Divine Descent.

KWAAAAAAANG!

Raina’s ultimate erased every remaining enemy.

[Congratulations! First Place!]

OstrichEgg shouted out loud in real life, “WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

[Baegi: This is insane LOL holy shit]

Baegi had just secured his seventh win streak, the best among his friends.

[HamPunch: Please forgive this ignorant fool who failed to grasp your profound strategy... Almond...]

HamPunch developed a very strange kind of faith.

[YoYoYo: From today onward, Hawkeye is above Captain America. Anyway, that’s final.]

In that moment, Almond’s disciples were born. Then, they heard it.

“Wow. Guess it’s because they’re bots. You can even do this solo.”

Those were the words of their prophet.

[Baegi: ?]

[YoYoYo: ...?]

[HamPunch: Bots?]

Even OstrichEgg hadn’t seen that coming.

[OstrichEgg: ?]

— BOTS LMAOOOOOO

— LOL WHAT

— “Because they’re bots” LMAO

— That’s because it’s a bot match...

— Yeah, he survived cause they’re bots LOL

— LMAOOO

The viewers lost their minds over Almond’s comment, but Almond himself looked less thrilled than relieved.

“Phew.”

‘I almost lost to bots.’

For a moment there, the pressure had been intense because he’d almost lost to bots. Even if it was his first match, losing to bots would’ve haunted him forever. Viewers still sent donation clips teasing him about getting tipsy at Treevy’s funeral.

‘If skill-based streamer Almond lost a bot match?’

That would’ve been eternal Big Board material.

‘Gotta be careful with LIL Pro.’

The biggest reason even Almond had felt nervous was, of course, because of LIL Pro. That community’s ability to twist narratives felt dangerous even to a professional archer’s mentality.

‘Still, it ended well. I cleared the mission too.’

[Because it’s a bot match, get an easy twenty kills]

[510,000 won]

Almond smiled in relief and pressed [Mission Complete].

“Thanks for the mission, Mr. ShyNapoleon.”

— 510k won LET’S GO

— That’s a lot damn

— Mr. ShyNapoleon LOL

— Almond calling people Mr. now?

— ShyNapoleon LMAO

— My money...

Almond took a short breather and prepared to queue up a normal match.

Ba-bam!

[RubySword has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]

[That was insane, clap clap clap]

A big donation suddenly came in.

“Thank you... but I don’t think it was that crazy...”

Almond didn’t even have time to finish.

Ba-bam!

Ba-bam!

More donations flooded in.

[Xiaolongbao has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]

[Legendary!]

[BundleOfTissues has donated 50,000 won!]

[That was filthy!]

The viewers knew this hadn’t been a bot match and donated out of sheer awe, but Almond had no idea.

‘What’s going on?’

Beating bots solo wasn’t that big of a deal. Why was the chat laughing so hard?

— LMAOOOOOOOOOO

— LOLLLLLLL

— AHAHAHA

— The Truman awakening... LOL

— Almond’s face LOL

He began to sense that something was off, and the final nail dropped.

Ba-bam~!

[Omelet has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]

[Hello, Mr. Almond. This is Paprika streamer Omelet. That was a fun game. Would it be okay if I looked over the footage? You played insanely well haha.]

A Paprika streamer came to his stream out of nowhere.

— Damn

— Truman Show ending!

— LMAO he wants to watch it?

— Even Omelet is gonna have a rough time with this

— STAY...

— Is this what cosmic horror feels like?

‘Who is this?’

Almond wasn’t sure. He barely recognized Paprika streamers who weren’t originally from Treevy.

He answered mechanically, “Huh? Enjoyed the game? Ah... um... Sure. You can take a look, yeah.”

‘Suddenly?’

A donation like that, out of nowhere, felt strange. They had never interacted before. It was someone from a different platform altogether. Almond had been focused entirely on Treevy, so he honestly didn’t even know who Omelet was. Compared to his size, Omelet’s stream was pretty niche.

Almond mulled it over.

— Wake up, LazySoldier.

— You played with Omelet.

— Oh shit, he’s figuring it out.

— Approaching the red truth LOL

— Omelet was there.

The chat started saying Omelet had been in the game. The loyalists had finally moved.

‘In the game?’

Almond pulled up the match history.

[Tutorial Match]

[First Place]

[Participants...]

He scrolled down the list.

“Huh?”

[Omelet]

The real Omelet was there.

“Seriously...?”

Almond froze. A bot match with a streamer? His eyes darted back and forth.

‘What the hell...?’

Ding.

[EggPlant has donated 3,000 won.]

[On this day... Almond’s world collapsed.]

— Holy shit LMAOOOO

— LOLLLLLL

— Almond what do we do?!

— You bastards LOL

— Today’s ban list is gonna be full LOL

— This is insane LOL

— The toy is alive!

— ??? There’s a person here! A person!

At EggPlant’s donation, Almond clapped. “Ah...!”

The puzzle finally snapped together.

***

Meanwhile, Omelet struggled to keep his face neutral.

“Wow. Guess it’s because they’re bots. You can even do this solo.”

Almond had thought he was a bot.

Omelet’s face drained of all color. “A bot?”

He couldn’t say a word for a long time and just stared blankly as endless laughter scrolled past.

— LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO

— LOLLLLLLLLL

— BOT LMAOOOOOOOO

— ??? Survival Challenger equals Siege Bronze, right? LOL

— This is insane LOL

— He called him a bot LMAO

He had expected to be teased. Viewers mocking him were par for the course, but this? Hearing it from someone in the same industry so plainly and casually as if Almond genuinely believed it...

“Bot... me... a bot...”

— Holy shit LOL

— AHH LOL

— Doctor! What does this mean!? LOL

— Almond is a straight-up gigachad LOL

— ^Bot^melet

— This is actually killing me LOL

— If Almond is hip-hop, instant upvote

— Botmelet LMAO

[BeginnerTip has donated 10,000 won.]

[Did you know? Siege Grandmasters are “bots” in Survival.]

— Kyaa

— Damn

— Holy shit LOL

— Nothing to say LOL 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

— LMAOOOOOO

— Official!

Omelet sat frozen, silently taking the full weight of the humiliation. It took him nearly an hour to fully understand why Almond had called him a bot.

“What? No, wait, so he thought it was a bot match from the start? Bullshit! Yo! That’s insane!”

It was impossible to understand without watching the whole process. Even after watching it, Omelet still found it hard to believe.

“You think I’m an idiot? Seriously. Huh? It’s real?”

— LMAOOOOOO

— Shockingly, it’s real;

— Go back further and watch LOL

— It’s true

He rewound Almond’s stream further, all the way to the beginning of the tutorial.

“...”

Only then did Omelet understand.

“So... it’s not that I played like a bot. He just thought everyone was a bot from the beginning? Wow...”

The misunderstanding was cleared.

“Wait. So... he thought we were bots at the start... and kept thinking that the whole time?”

— LMAOOOO this guy is just a bot

— Just a bot LOL

— Still hurts, huh...

— Just bot

— This might actually be worse, man

Even with the misunderstanding resolved, the wound still burned. Omelet stared blankly as he replayed Almond’s stream.

“Wow. Guess it’s because they’re bots. You can even do this solo...”

“Wow. Guess it’s because they’re bots. You can even do this solo...”

“Wow. Guess it’s because they’re bots. You can even do this solo...”

...

The words echoed endlessly.

Omelet tried denying reality. “Wait, isn’t he saying they’re bought? Like, the accounts are bought?”

— You lunatic LOL

— AHHHH LOL

— I’m crying, stop it please LOL

— Insane

— Listen carefully!

“Seriously, listen again. Isn’t it like someone saying father? You know, like, even if your grandfather comes, it won’t work or something...”

If one listened enough times, maybe it would sound different. He clung to that hope.

Ping!

[You have been removed by the channel owner.]

“B–banned...?”

He had been kicked out of the stream.

— ?

— Holy shit LOL

— What the hell? LOL

— Is this a bug? Seriously LOL

— ??? Case closed. Bang.

— This kick is insane LOL

— Platform War sabotage?

At first, no one knew what had happened.

— Apparently, he got kicked because they thought he was baiting

— Officially kicked for “a bot pretending to be alive” LOL

— KICKED LMAO ARE YOU SERIOUS

— Is this real???

— This is legendary LOL

— Seriously, Almond still thinks it was a bot match

More and more unbelievable details surfaced.

Omelet just closed his eyes and muttered, “Skrrrt...”

Which meant nothing.

— Holy shit LOL

— That’s the saddest “skrrrt” I’ve ever heard LOL

— The skrrrt bot is crying skrrrt skrrrt...

— Skrrrt my ass LOL

— AHHHH LOL