The Civil Empire world championship made Almond known nationwide, but before that was Life is Legend, aka LIL. Some people remembered him for this game.

[Welcome, Summoner LazySoldier.]

LazySoldier was the username taken from a collectible mobile RPG he once did an ad for.

“Hello, I’m LazySoldier.”

He still used that username to this day.

— Haha, cute

— The return of LazySoldier!

— Man, it’s been a while since we saw LazySoldier

— LazySoldier! Is that game even still running?

— Kya

— Seriously, how long has it been

— Is the Survival Craft dark age finally over?

— Advertiser jackpot

The viewers joked that the advertiser had struck gold, but that wasn’t entirely true.

Ding.

[ShyCell has donated 3,000 won.]

[I still play the game. I maxed out Almond’s character.]

Almond once had his own character released in the Lazy Soldier game. Because of that, it wasn’t just the advertiser who benefited. Almond did too.

“Uh... really? Is that game still doing well?”

Of course, Almond hadn’t kept the username for that reason. He’d just been too lazy to change it, and it cost money too.

— That’s a question from someone who clearly quit after the ad

— It’s actually become kind of a steady seller

— Fair, he doesn’t need to know if he already promoted it

— Deleted right after the ad, confirmed...

“Not true.” Almond was lightning-fast when it came to clarifying ad-related accusations. “I didn’t delete it after the ad. I kept playing on and off all the way up to the world championship. I’ll show you my level next time during a chat stream.”

— Suddenly, he’s talking way too smoothly

— He really did keep playing

— You don’t mess with ad slander

— No one squeezes more value out of ads than him, honestly (is this how you do it?)

— Is he a rapper? Dude talks fast

— After seeing how hard he carried that monster ad, advertisers should just go to Almond

The chat swung back toward the truth.

‘Whew.’

Almond relaxed and moved on with the game.

‘Let’s see.’

He didn’t jump straight into Survival mode. Players always did something first when logging into LIL, especially if it had been a while.

[Hall of Exchange]

He went to meet his champions.

***

It had been a very long time since Almond played LIL. That fact alone sent one particular community into a frenzy.

[LIL Pro]

This massive Korean gaming community was infamous for its brutal evaluations and venomous comments. Despite its name, it covered all kinds of games besides LIL. When something grew big enough, it received its own tab. During the world championship matches, Civil Empire even received one.

Still, LIL accounted for more than 70% of the posts. Even when Almond wasn’t playing LIL, he occasionally blew up and ended up on the big board.

[Breaking: Almond turned on LIL!!]

[Outta the way, Civil noobs! LazySoldier is coming~]

[The return of LazySoldier!]

Of course, they mentioned him.

Watching the monitor, Ju-Hyeok pressed a hand to his forehead. “Hah. Of course.”

Getting mentioned on LIL Pro the moment Almond launched LIL wasn’t actually a good thing because such posts never led to positive comments like:

— Wow, Godmond

— Finally, you’re back!!

— Damn it, Almond! I love youuu!

Instead, it always turned into:

— All the hype dogs came running again

— “He turned on LIL” my ass. My grandma can turn on LIL, you rabid nutcases

— What, you setting up the Nut Cult just because he launched LIL? Legendary idiots

...

LIL Pro was a merciless proving ground.

“Man, the war with LIL Pro has started again.”

Ju-Hyeok recalled his own days when Almond had focused on LIL. He had practically lived on the forums like a comment mercenary. Looking back, he understood why.

“Still... we don’t need to go that far anymore.”

He didn’t have to dive into that 3D hellscape himself. Not because MixedNuts had hired a comment response employee, but because warriors had emerged to fight in his place. They were Almond’s fans.

— LIL junkies are just soaked in inferiority complexes

— They just hate handsome dudes

— What, can’t even mention him? If you hate it, then you leave!

— Almond turned on LIL! What are you gonna do about it? Almond turned on LIL! What are you gonna do about it? Almond turned on LIL! What are you gonna do about it?

—Mom! When I grow up, I’m gonna destroy LIL Pro! Mom! When I grow up, I’m gonna destroy LIL Pro!

...

Ju-Hyeok had no reason to step in with fans fighting this fiercely and even spamming. In the end, the Nut Brigade pushed a post onto the big board.

[Big: Almond finally going to meet Raina after a thousand years LOL]

It showed Almond entering the Hall of Exchange to meet Raina.

— A thousand years my ass, Nut Brigade really takes after their master. Can’t do math.

└ Almond is actually insane at math though

└ Shockingly, he’s a math demon

└ I’m the OP. Why the hell is he good at math? That’s unfair

└ Holy shit, I just checked

└ It really is unfair

— This is basically Inuyasha and Kikyo

— Raina LOL! That expression already looks ominous

— Their affinity is usually wrecked when they meet again after this long

— Damn, I’m so curious what she’s gonna say

— Why does Almond meeting Raina even make the big board, you lunatic dogs

└ If Almond meeting Raina isn’t big board material, then what is? Seriously.

└ This is breaking news, stop talking nonsense

No matter how vicious LIL Pro was, the sight of Almond meeting Raina for the first time in months would undoubtedly draw attention.

***

Kugugung...!

The doors to the Hall of Exchange swung open. Inside, it looked like an entirely different world. A waterfall crashed down in a refreshing torrent, sheer cliffs rose sky-high, and champions roamed freely across vast plains and dense forests.

Ding.

[AlmondNibble has donated 3,000 won.]

[Boss... you’ve got fewer champions than I expected?]

Almond had won a world championship and even hosted a few LIL related programs. Viewers assumed, like other LIL streamers, that he owned nearly all the champions.

— True

— Is it like... barely over ten? That’s really not many

— How did you even win a tournament with this?!

— You won the LIL Tourney with this roster?

Almond barely had any champions. Compared to other LIL streamers, his total playtime was pretty short.

“This is actually me buying as many as I could. I’ll at least go talk to the few I have and keep their affinity up.”

— If you wanted to keep affinity, you should’ve logged in more than once every few months LOL

— Shows up after months and says, “I’ll maintain affinity!”

— Hahaha

In the Hall of Exchange, the player could raise affinity by talking to their champions. Almond hadn’t played consistently, so his overall affinity wasn’t high. He had once maxed out all his main picks consisting of Raina, Ran, and Swift. At least... they were supposed to be.

Raina snapped at him before he could even say a word. “Ha. A dead man is walking.”

— DAMN

— LOOL

— No way...

— Dead Man Walking

— She’s seriously mad...

He muttered to himself, “Was I... too late?”

Raina fired back even harder. “Too late? Not at all. We already held the funeral and put up a gravestone.”

She gestured toward a corner. Unbelievably, a gravestone really stood there.

— WHAT

— Legend of legends, Life is Legend~

— Big board worthy, yeah?

— The gravestone shows up when affinity hits zero

— Even Face ID can’t save long distance?

— Kya, the gravestone is up

— Is Raina done with him now...

This didn’t seem easy.

Almond muttered into the stream-only channel, “I’ll... check the affinity real quick.”

— Affinity gotta be zero

— Probably 1

— Don’t stare into that abyss...

— Left her alone way too long

— GG

Ding.

[Affinity: 95]

— ?

— Huh?

— What?

‘What...?’

Almond thought he had misread it. The max was 100, and he was currently at 95. That meant it barely dropped at all.

— Bugged game, holy shit

— This is a face privilege game

— What the hell, this game is insane

— Does Face ID have god-tier performance or what?!

— At this point, it’s bugged just from seeing his face

Seeing Raina’s affinity, the chat exploded in outrage. They had been treated way too differently. Most of them probably belonged to the Demian Club.

Regular viewers reacted in another manner.

— There’s no way

— NO WAY

— 95??

— You can’t just look at something like this!

— She barely lost any affinity...

— She totally got caught pretending she moved on... I’m getting secondhand embarrassment

Overall, most felt relieved that Raina hadn’t truly turned away.

“Thank god...” Almond was about to say the same.

Raina snapped and turned away. “What are you staring at?”

[Affinity: 96]

The number ticked up, and the chat exploded.

— Holy shit

— It even went up to 96

— Ma’am, one glass of bleach, please.

— An unavoidable face...

— The life of an alpha male

— Right, he always gained affinity just by looking

— It really went up by one just from staring...

— Oh god, I remember now

— When’s the Demian Club joint funeral?

— Bartender, bleach. On the rocks.

A streamer who had been quietly watching slipped in a donation.

Ba-bam!

[ForeverAlone has donated 10,000 won!]

[So if a woman says, “What are you staring at?” That’s a good sign, right? Bro? Answer me.]

— Is this real?

— Wait, what? Is that actually Gi-Chan?

— Hahahaha

— He’s serious, isn’t he

— For real, for real

— Are you insane, Jung Gi-Chan

— If YOU do that, it’s a green light punch!

‘Zelo jutsu.’

Almond waved at the rapidly spiraling chat.

“Everyone, that’s not actually Gi-Chan.”

It absolutely was Jung Gi-Chan.

“Please kick him out.”

The real Jung Gi-Chan was on the verge of getting kicked.

— The tteokbokki edit really got to him, huh

— Instant ban at light speed

— Why are you only this strict when ForeverAlone comes up?!