am-books Season 2: Chapter 243: The Winner’s Interview (1)
Season 2: Chapter 243: The Winner’s Interview (1)
Season 2: Chapter 243: The Winner’s Interview (1)
The moment when Kim Yi-Seo revealed his counter, no one in the community believed Almond could win.
[Is this the end, damn...]
[Is he really going to lose??]
[Stacking cold continuously like that was brilliant, LOL.]
[Is that guy right again??]
They knew the game too well, which made them despair even more.
[The mecha engine is useless if it doesn't start working, damn.]
[With that strategy, no matter how big the stage is, it's just a matter of time before the cold keeps stacking.]
[If it were the subway, it would have been over by now, not just the rooftop LOL]
[LOL, the only hope is a newbie playing for the first time today, wowow]
It was far too easy for Kim Yi-Seo to expand the cold area. Given the nature of the rooftop stage and the game mechanics, Kim Yi-Seo would inevitably win.
Inside the cold area, the mecha engine couldn't function. The cold area would keep expanding. Eventually, the stage would get covered and Almond would lose. This was an obvious logical conclusion. The better a player knew about JetPumped, the quicker they reached this conclusion.
Almond had lost. They needed to look for the next player. That was why it was even more shocking when the momentum suddenly changed and Almond started throwing baseballs.
Then...
[What??]
[Almond survived again?? Wow]
[Eh??]
After he threw a couple of baseballs...
“Chikichaaa!”
A familiar shout for Almond fans accompanied the devastating hit.
Kwaaaaang—!!
A tremendous roar erupted. The briefly seated spectators jumped from their seats.
“Is it, is it really...?”
“Did he... did he really win!?”
Everyone murmured incredulously.
The thermal heat from the mecha legs and the ice created by the winter sword obscured Kim Yi-Seo's condition. If they had seen Kim Yi-Seo’s remaining health, anyone would have thought that was the final strike.
The broadcasters also stood up shouting.
“That hit! It looks like it landed properly!!”
“Could it be... is it over!?”
Slowly, the cold receded and a single shadow within it became visible.
[Almond]
The shadow belonged to Almond.
[Kim Yi-Seo]
[HP: 0%]
Kim Yi-Seo’s avatar lay on the ground with a charred health bar.
Yes, Almond had won.
“He, he won...”
Before the commentators could shout anything, a cheer almost indistinguishable from a scream echoed and the challenge venue shook.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
“Almond did ittttt!!!!!!”
“He won!!! Almond! Almond did it! Today's first-timer, Almond, has defeated the game's creator!!”
Boom...!
Some items around shook so much that they fell.
The chat wasn’t much different.
— Wow!
— He won!
— LOL.
— Crazy!!
— Did we win? For real???
— Enough with being good, Yu Sang-Hyeon! Enough with being good, Yu Sang-Hyeon! Enough with being good, Yu Sang-Hyeon!
— Mom, I want to be a baseball when I grow up! Mom, when I grow up I want to be a baseball! Mom, when I grow up I want to be a baseball!
— Mom, when I grow up I want to get smashed by Almond! Mom, when I grow up...
After they confirmed the victory, hundreds of praises poured in for Almond. Naturally, the chat began to slow down from getting overloaded.
— ???
— Lag, damn~
— What's this buffering?
Eventually, the broadcast crashed completely.
[Broadcast ended]
— ???
— What?
— Did the stream crash?
— LOL, the server's gone legendary.
This couldn’t be helped since the stream wasn’t set up through a capsule and was only maintained on mobile devices. It couldn't withstand such traffic.
The 50,000 viewers rushed to the event’s chat.
“Ah... Right now, our channel's chat is slowing down!”
“What an incredible volume!”
While the event’s chat slowed momentarily, it quickly recovered. It was much more stable since it wasn't connected via mobile but through G-Star’s facilities. Unless millions flooded in immediately, it wasn’t likely to go down.
“Wow, I didn't expect to see lag in the event’s chat!”
“Right??”
It was rare to even slightly burden the event’s chatroom. That was how hot Almond's victory was.
"Yes. You wouldn’t be able to do this unless you knew about it in advance. Almond noticed this on his first throw. By the next throw, he had warmed up the engine already in advance."
That was how Almond immediately flew in after the second throw. It was hard to tell who was the baseball due to his speed.
"Wow...!"
Such exclamations didn’t just come from the caster.
— Wow, that's crazy.
— I had no idea.
— Thought he just got lucky with starting up the engine, LOL.
— That's how he flew in so suddenly?? Wow.
— He used that moment perfectly, insane!!
Admiration endlessly filled the chat and the crowd was abuzz.
"Absolutely crazy."
"JetPumped for nothing all this time."
"Wow..."
The commentators brought up dramatic news to heighten the atmosphere before moving on.
"Ah, and here's a scoop from the production team. If he hadn't won with that baseball, there wouldn’t have been another chance."
"Why is that?"
"There were only those two baseballs."
"So Almond found both of them?"
"Yes. They were all on one rooftop!"
— !!
— Wow~
— It seems like heaven has abandoned Kim Yi-Seo LOL.
— Should've lived a better life!
"Ah... we're ready for the interview now!"
Ping.
The screen switched to Almond and a reporter standing together.
— What's with that fashion? LOL
— What's with the towel on his head?
— LOL!
— Even like that, he's still a handsome nut
— Sexy nut available!? The production team went to find out. Nosebleed galore~!
So much sweat covered Sang-Hyeon that he had to wrap a towel around his head. This scene resembled an interview with an athlete after winning.
"Ah."
Having been informed that the screen had switched, the reporter nodded slightly and began the interview.
"Hello, Mr. Almond?"
"Yes, hello."
"You've fulfilled the wishes of all JetPumped players today! How do you feel?"
"Ah, yes. It feels good."
"Great! This is your second challenge win today, right?"
"Yes."
— ??
— Second win??
— Wow.
— Oh, he also breezed through the new Battle Large mode earlier LOL.
The mention of his second challenge win stirred the audience.
Almond's viewers knew, but many JetPumped players either only knew of Almond by name or didn't know him at all. Naturally, they were unaware.
"That’s really impressive. I heard it was for one hundred chickens?"
"That's right."
"Wow~!"
The reporter opened her mouth wide in surprise.
— Why is the reporter so energetic?
— Totally different from interviewing the earlier fodder, LOL
— If you lower your energy after seeing Almond's face, you’ll have severe depression LOL
"Now, it’s not only one hundred chickens but also one thousand golden jet tickets, one thousand golden pump tickets, and even participation in the balance patch. Right?"
— Almond scream~~!!
— Wowooww!
— Wow, with a thousand, I might have a chance~!
— Please, this time, let it be me!
— It was golden??
"Tickets and chicken will be distributed automatically, but the balance patch participation... How do you plan to adjust the balance in this game?"
"?"
Sang-Hyeon's puzzled expression caused the festive atmosphere in the venue to momentarily freeze.
"Ah, right."
"He's playing the game for the first time today, isn't he?"
"Wow. Is he going to balance it?"
Although no one voiced it out loud, everyone thought the same thing.
— We’re screwed LOL
— It’s already ominous
— ??? The balance is fine as it is. Just nerf the baseball a bit.
— LOL!
— His expression LOL!