It was early morning. Sang-Hyeon woke up, washed, and changed his clothes. He had an important schedule today. Without even eating cereal, he just sat at the table and quietly waited.
"Oh. Here they come."
He noticed the barely audible sound and reacted before anything happened.
Ju-Hyeok, in the middle of brushing his teeth in the bathroom, was puzzled. "What is?"
Ding dong~!
The doorbell outside actually rang.
Ju-Hyeok reacted in surprise, toothpaste foam and all. "What... are you psychic?"
"I'll get it." Sang-Hyeon hurried over and opened the door.
Neatly-capped men stepped in.
"We're from Nova."
They were from Nova, the premium brand under Divers.
"You put in a request for a transport service?"
"Oh, yes."
The man looked at a pad hanging around his neck. "Yu Sang-Hyeon's custom capsule... Almond Unit Zero. Is that correct?"
"That's correct."
It seemed like a routine question with possible additional charges depending on the custom capsule specs.
"Ah, yes... so you'd be Yu Sang-Hyeon?"
"Yes."
Suddenly, everyone removed their caps and bowed.
"Thank you for your patronage!!"
The sheer volume of the men's voices threatened to shake the whole building. Sang-Hyeon was taken aback.
'Did a moving crew show up?'
Fortunately, it wasn't a moving crew.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Section Chief Kim Hyoseok from the CS team. We received a special message from the Chairman."
The Chairman used to be called the Director. Apparently, his title had changed at some point. Well, the company had been doing extraordinarily well. A few subsidiaries later, the title of Chairman made sense.
"The Chairman says Almond's use of the product has greatly improved the company's image, and he's very pleased."
Sang-Hyeon personally hadn't heard anything about this.
'This much?'
Then again, men expressed themselves through actions rather than words. He hadn't expected service like this. It really seemed like a sincere thank you.
"Of course, the transport and installation are complimentary. Going forward, all repairs, transport, and installation are free of charge as well. Please use our services without any hesitation."
Ju-Hyeok finished brushing his teeth and rushed out.
He expressed gratitude at this unexpected kindness. "Oh my! Thank you so much! You really didn't have to...!"
It was all free of charge. Of course, he would be happy.
"It's simply the right thing to do."
"We're just glad it was helpful! Please pass along my thanks to your... senior, I mean, the Chairman!"
"Of course!"
The staff carefully checked and disassembled the capsule piece by piece.
Ju-Hyeok stood taller, looking pleased with himself.
"Ahem, ahem. Well, well, our Director Yu, you've really come a long way, haven't you?"
'Right... he always liked this kind of thing.'
In some ways, Ju-Hyeok was quite transparent.
“Pfft.” Sang-Hyeon laughed and pointed to his cheek. "Wipe off the toothpaste first, Director Kim."
"..."
***
The transport crew worked fast. Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon scrambled to get downstairs and into the car.
Ju-Hyeok started the engine. "Phew... It's getting warm, for real."
Vroom.
Left outside, the car became a furnace.
"Yeah, it’s summer."
Whooooooosh.
A powerful blast from the cheap air conditioning poured out.
Through the noise, Ju-Hyeok said, "Oh, Sang-Hyeon, the video performance is really good, by the way. Take a look."
"The video?"
"Yeah. Yesterday was the Knight Order's first practice, right? I pushed out quite a few edits."
"Ah..."
Usually, Ji-Ah would let him know about things like this. It surprised him how closely Ju-Hyeok was now involved with the videos too.
'Having people in the same space really does create different synergy.'
Sang-Hyeon thought this as he checked the YouTube channel. Ju-Hyeok was side-eyeing him with an expectant grin. It would be obvious the moment he saw the video.
[I Have Become the Dumb Young Man.]
Setting aside the title, the thumbnail was a sight. Someone had photoshopped his eyes to point in different directions, making him look completely moronic. On top of that, as if excited about it, text in a huge font read, “FINALLY A NICKNAME CHANGE!?”
"..."
Ju-Hyeok saw Sang-Hyeon's expression and cracked up. "Pfft! BWAHAHAHA!"
"Honestly, that got made fast."
"We made that one first. It's for the Knight Order’s group content."
It was made in good humor, so the response was great. Comments poured in by the thousands.
— Dumb Young Man LOL
— Godlike instincts lmaooo
— Wow I thought it was clickbait but why is it always real every time LOL
— Lazy Soldier production team is sobbing!
└ It had a long run though pour one out~
└ fr he kept it going so long at this point
— Goodbye Dragon!
— Looking forward to Orange King commentating with this nickname upvote lmaooo
└ LOL
└ Oh... lmao right
└ Even abbreviated it's just Dummy which is so funny lmaooo
└ lmaooooo
└ Dummy Carry~^^
— But how on earth did she convince him?????
└ Honeytrap
└ Reverse Face ID
└ Nothing else makes sense lmao
└ Honestly thought she was a nepotism coach but just purging the Smart Young Man was enough lmaooo
Comments flowed in endlessly. The video performed well on the charts too.
[#3 Real-time Trending Video]
A simple nickname change actually made it to the top rankings for real-time trending videos.
'Huh... so that's it.'
Sang-Hyeon checked the group chat messages that had been pinging since morning. It looked like these had accumulated.
[Sweet Radish: Almond hyungnim, thank you for the stream carry!]
[Sweet Radish: (link)]
[Sweet Potato: Insane it's so good!]
[Black Tea: This too is the Lord’s grace...]
[Lemon: With a smiling face, may you be fertilized today as well.]
[Black Tea: What is that?? Lmaooo]
[Lemon: Just made it a little poetic~]
[Sweet Potato: The Lord is sacrificing his nickname to save our streams. Sweet Radish, you should listen to Almond hyung’s calls. Tsk tsk]
That last message from Sweet Potato was left unread.
[Black Tea: lmaooo Sweet Radish fled lmaooo]
[Lemon: lmaooooooo]
[Almond: lmaooooooooo]
Almond appeared.
[Black Tea: LOOOOOORD!]
[Lemon: Lord oppaaa!]
He ignored their enthusiastic welcome and got straight to the point.
[Almond: I'm coming back as Smart Young Man soon]
[Sweet Radish: Why?]
Sweet Radish immediately reappeared at the mention of the Smart Young Man’s return.
[Black Tea: Turns out the one who came back was Sweet Radish~]
[Sweet Potato: lmaooooooooooo]
[Sweet Potato: Isn't that a little too obvious~]
[Sweet Radish: Bro, is there something you're dissatisfied with? Just say the word.]
[Sweet Radish: Being smart isn't always good, hyung.]
[Almond: No... the coach told me to.]
This was the downside of private feedback sessions. It involved an enormous leap in logic, but nobody knew why.
[Sweet Radish: ???]
[Sweet Potato: Wow]
Sweet Potato was only showing fake devotion to Almond. He'd never actually intended to follow Almond's calls and was genuinely startled that this was for real.
[Black Tea: lmaooooooooooooooooooo]
Black Tea, genuinely deranged, laughed excitedly.
[Black Tea: Lmao the Smart Young Man returned from hell~!! lmaooo let's gooo~!]
[Lemon: lmaooooooo]
Lemon laughed because Black Tea laughed.
[Sweet Radish: Excuse me, but would it be possible to get Choi Sa-Rang's number? I've been thinking she's personally very beautiful...]
[Sweet Potato: lmaooooooooooooooooooo as if~]
[Black Tea: lmaooo this guy. Are you saying game calls come before a scandal??]
[Almond: For real. I’ll be taking theory lectures from now on]
Sweet Radish instantly replied at the mention of theory lectures.
[Sweet Radish: Should a wolf eat dog food, Almond hyung?]
[Sweet Potato: lmaooooooo flowing like water]
[Black Tea: LOL~]
[Lemon: Hoo~]
Sweet Radish attempted a cool line of persuasion. He meant that someone with Almond's physical ability and execution didn't need to know theory, but that didn't land with Almond.
[Almond: What does that mean?]
Simply because he didn't understand it.
[Black Tea: As expected of the Dummy...]
Black Tea marveled at Almond’s incredible ability to dodge damage.
***
Tap tap tap...!
A woman typing away got up from her seat.
"The Lord is working hard too."
She stood in front of a full-length mirror and looked at her long blonde hair from different angles.
'Should I leave it down today?'
Braiding it up on both sides was the signature of her streaming persona, but she decided against it today. She looked at her reflection in the mirror from different angles.
"Hmm."
Then, she lifted her blonde hair on both sides and held it up. Lemon looked at her reflection in the mirror. She made a small fist and brought it toward her reflection’s fist.
"Gyuri."
Kim Gyuri was her real name.
"You can do this."
Tap.
Lemon and Gyuri's fists met.
"If I work hard... it'll work out."
In one corner of her monitor, a match record she had played off-stream could be seen. It was filled in red with losses.
***
The next day, a massive shadow from someone's head fell across the studio.
"Wow... so this is the Mixed Nuts office? The famous one?" He made a fuss to his manager, who came with him.
The manager nodded along. "Ah... Didn't someone... die here?"
The manager pointed to the exact table where Macaron had been lying. It was a long table like for surgery.
The large-headed man struck a serious pose with both hands extended. "Oh. This is where that big director asked for the scalpel."
Ji-Ah, who was guiding them, corrected them. "He didn't die. He fainted."
"Ah... yes. Either way, that's how it ended up. The operation went well."
"There was no operation..."
“Ahahahaha!”
The two men laughed as if Ji-Ah's reactions were funny.
"Oh, you're here! Orange King!"
Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon came out from arranging seats in the studio.
"Hello. Orange King."
"Oh! Hello! Almond. Director!"
Orange King introduced his manager, and they exchanged handshakes.
"Great to meet you. The studio is incredible!"
"Haha. We just finished building it."
"Fresh off the press then?"
"Yes, exactly. Please have a seat for a moment. And seeing Orange King in person..."
"My head is big?"
"Oh, no..."
Zap.
Ju-Hyeok glanced sideways at Sang-Hyeon for no good reason. Sang-Hyeon shamelessly looked away.
"Seeing you in person, you're much more physically built with great energy."
"I hear that a lot. Usually, only my upper body shows up. With a big head, people don't know my... psionic physique. They assume my shoulders are narrow too."
BornToB, who had been walking around with a camera, finally burst out laughing. “Pfft!”
"Ah... now that I think about it, if my memory is right, isn't this BornToB?"
"That's right."
"But what are you filming?"
"Oh, it's a promotional video for our office."
"Ah, so this is what you mentioned..."
"Yes."
Orange King was puzzled. "But it's your first day in the office... Is it right for you to call me here? Hahaha."
He still had no idea whatsoever why they invited him. They just said it was a special guest appearance.
"No, no, I'm so honored~ on such a historic day~."
'If I told him what we were doing, he might refuse.'
There had been... opinions from staff that if people knew, nobody would come. Either way, Orange King looked to be in good spirits. Whatever else, Almond was now in the major league streamer category, and Orange King was the first guest on this inaugural special.
Still, something felt off. Orange King sensed it when his manager was suddenly pulled away for an interview.
“Hm?”
His manager, now apparently locked in another room, was being asked strange questions by BornToB.
"If our director and Orange King went head-to-head, who do you think would win?"
"...?"
Orange King had no way of knowing what direction this company's promotional video was going.
'What. This place...?'
Something felt suspicious. Before he knew it, Orange King was alone without his manager. This place had only Mixed Nuts staff.
Sang-Hyeon rose first and took the lead. "Then, let's get right to it."
"Get right to... My head is big, but..."
A random remark slipped out. It made his psionic body comment feel hollow. Orange King was visibly trembling.
"?"
"J-joke. Just a joke."
"Yes. Please step in here, Orange King."
Whoosh.
A curtain was pulled aside to reveal a small stool. He was being asked to go into this small space. Wasn't this just imprisonment?
"Pardon?"
"Ah, we're going to keep it a secret for a bit. It's all for the content."
"...?"
Orange King's eyes went to Ju-Hyeok. Honestly, even Ju-Hyeok didn't know Almond's exact plan in detail. This was Almond's project, so he'd just left it to him.
Ju-Hyeok simply nodded.
Orange King also trusted him and nodded. "Oh. Sure. I'll sit here?"
Whoooosh.
The curtain was drawn closed, and Orange King couldn't see anything happening outside. He was only visible as a shadow.
Almond turned on the stream.
"Hello. As announced, this is our first studio broadcast."
Viewers naturally grew curious about the veiled shadow.
"Behind me? What's behind me?"
Almond played dumb.
'Oh... what is this? Am I kind of the main character right now?'
Orange King was quietly excited, imagining what it would be like when he appeared. Of course, he had absolutely no idea what kind of content he was about to be in.
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