Phew.

[log out]

Nacho just stormed out of the conference room after yelling at him.

Those left at the table were quietly murmuring even after the nachos were gone.

"… … Are you really that angry?"

"I know."

Nacho was not usually the type to get excited easily.

As someone who is crazy about this game called Civil Empire, he is very sensitive to historical statements.

"Why did I have to trip up the Invincible Fleet… … ."

The Spanish Armada. This was Spain's greatest pride, but also a source of ridicule from other countries. The foreign countries are limited to nearby European countries.

Even so, I never thought they would ridicule a country that was stuck on the outskirts of Asia during the Invincible Fleet's activities.

Even Civil Empire's grades aren't that good! Nachos were something I never expected.

"Who would have thought that the Invincible Armada would suddenly appear while Frank was being interviewed?"

"That's right. I didn't even ask about your preparedness for the Spain match."

This was largely because the timing of Almond's announcement of the invincible fleet was so unpredictable. If you were asking about the next game, I would have prepared myself mentally to some extent. In a very intimidating atmosphere, Assistant Commander Tress snorts and intervenes.

"It's boiling and good, but what's wrong? You need fight money to get into the ring, right? Right?!"

He wasn't wrong. In any sport, when the match structure is set, the fans' emotions become more excited.

"It's more thrilling to win like this."

It gives more pleasure to the winner and more frustration to the loser, leaving them looking forward to the next time. How sports drive fans crazy.

The other party understood that very well, Tress evaluated.

"Tell me. Then. How can it be thrilling?"

Who could have guessed that the Invincible Armada would be used as a tool to suddenly discredit France?

This interview was something that even the same team hadn't expected, so it says it all.

"Fan opinion is almost like offering a bounty."

"Then I definitely have to catch it."

Uno asks, crossing his arms.

"I guess you have to pour cold water on it to feel refreshed."

Tress smiles slyly and straightens her posture from where she was sitting comfortably.

"I think we should go the complete opposite way."

Tress spoke quite seriously, but Uno looked like he had no expectations from the start.

To begin with, Tres was not the so-called 'wise general' type. This is a special case where he took the position of commander with his unique, reckless fighting spirit.

Nacho's comment was that 'it's more advantageous to give Tres some stats than having three captains.'

So I didn't think it was necessary to listen to the strategies he was talking about.

"It's like going straight to the 4th era fight."

"… … ?"

Wow. I kept listening, I really didn't need to listen.

Separately from that, Tress continues to talk.

"Isn't that right? Let's unexpectedly skip to the 4th era and finish them off with muskets and battle monks!"

The 4th era? There is no civilization that wants to go to the 4th era against Joseon.

Especially when it comes to all-pro teams like Spain.

"As we move into the 4th era, gunpowder weapons will become so powerful that the fighting ability of individual soldiers will become useless."

The 4th era battle is a battle where you fight while firing guns and cannons.

Compared to the era when people fought with spears and swords, it was difficult for an individual's fighting ability to be greatly demonstrated.

It's not a good choice for Spain, where every single player is professional.

Above all, there was one truly amazing disease in the 4th period of Joseon.

"Besides, there is no need to let Joseon enter an era where it can select Chetamins."

Chetamin. In olden times, it was a branch of the military that did dirty work, and in modern terms, it was a spy. This unit had both stealth and disguise abilities, so they could infiltrate enemy bases and move around while clearly observing the situation.

Of course, if they are discovered by the enemy commander, they will die immediately, but their truly scary point is not simple infiltration and reconnaissance.

"If those bastards take away our faction, it'll really hurt."

Much like industrial spies, spies can extract technological information from their enemies.

For example, if you steal the Spanish musket reload speed upgrade, the Joseon musketeers' reload speed will improve.

It is a fatal faction for Spain, which has many miscellaneous upgrades.

So, going to Joseon for the 4th era is so tiring… … .

"Huh. You're not going to the 4th era just because you're afraid of spies?"

Tress snorts again, calling him a coward and other nonsense.

'You son of a bitch.'

Uno's fever was boiling.

'How can I use a child who is of no use in that strategy?'

First of all, I don't like the situation where Tress is talking about strategy.

I had to divert his attention elsewhere.

After thinking for a while, Uno comes up with this idea.

'Yeah, that's it.'

I should put that hot-blooded tongue to use somewhere else.

"By the way, Tress. Do you know how many followers that guy has on Runestagram?"

"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden? You're so much less powerful than me!"

"No, not me, that guy." Uno says with the most patient expression possible.

"… … That guy? Who are you talking about?"

"The guy who interviewed the Joseon team."

"How much is it?"

Tress. This guy is a spectator and is very sensitive to Runestagram followers.

"600 thousand."

"...what?"

"It was originally an unmanaged account with only 100,000 followers. I heard that it increased that much during this interview."

"Huh, 500,000 a day?"

"yes."

From then on, Tres's actions were set even without Uno giving any special instructions.

"Damn it! Don't we have to do some kind of pre-interview too!?"

* * *

 The next day Sang-Hyeon, who suddenly had hundreds of thousands of followers, was looking at his Runestagram account.

[708k followers]

It's already gone up by 100 thousand in just one day.

"oh...."

Comments were also being added like crazy. The comments are mostly from foreigners.

"There are so many foreigners."

This is because the reason it gained popularity this time is Civil Empire.

Of course, there are some welcome Korean comments here and there.

-Korean hand

-Wow… … I can't believe this guy is doing so well ㅠ My heart is pounding

-Wolcl almonds ㄷ

-Bong Joon-ho, Son Heung-min, Kim Yuna, Almond Let's Go~!

-The abandoned account has grown like a dog lol

Joo-hyuk, who was watching from the side, said. "Since Civil Empire is incredibly popular overseas, I guess that interview got a lot of attention."

It seems that the interview done after the Frank War became a hot topic.

"So, don't look at the translation unless absolutely necessary. Don't even open the DMs."

"?"

Sang-Hyeon tilted his head, wondering what he meant.

"There are people who like you, but there are also a lot of people who get pretty upset about it.

"ah...."

That's right. Looking closely, I saw comments full of curses in English.

'It's good that I'm not good at English in these situations.'

Sang-Hyeon wasn't very good at English, so he couldn't see very well even with his blurry eyes. Even so, you may see some crude profanity, but that will be processed by Runestar's automatic filtering anyway. It's nothing to worry about.

"Spanish kids are secretly a powerhouse in eSports. They're also very interested."

"okay?"

"Oh. Not only Civil Empire, but also the LIL European League produces a lot of players."

Yes, Spain has produced many players in LIL's European League, and in the Civil Empire, the league was big enough to send all its players as professionals to play for the national team.

Since I gave an interview about the invincible fleet against such a country, the repercussions were significant.

"But how did you suddenly think of something like that?"

Joohyuk suddenly asks a question.

"what?"

"I'm talking about the interview. About the Invincible Fleet."

"Ah~ Isn't that something Cookie-hyung sometimes says as a joke? It's famous for being the name of the Invincible Fleet."

Ah. Almond said something that Cookie usually joked about.

"I'm really learning everything."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Joohyuk claps his hands as if he is dumbfounded and then pats him on the back.

"Well done. Well done. Huh? Who knew it would become a follow-up frenzy like this?"

Joohyuk was sincere.

If I were Almond, I would never have this many followers.

'Is this what a calling is?'

Sang-Hyeon's personality could have been a real headache when he was in society. Here, it has become an alchemy that multiplies the number of followers by several times.

That was when.

"uh...?"

Tiring.

A message came from Sang-Hyeon's Runestagram ID.

[Someone tagged you]

Not just messages from fans, but messages where someone tagged Almond in a post.

Tag is a function that allows you to associate a specific person with yourself.

'Are you a fan?'

Celebrities are often tagged by fans.

DMs are often ignored, but tags are rarely ignored.

But the person who tagged me just now wasn't a fan of Sang-Hyeon.

Quite the opposite.

"What is this."

"It's a video?"

==== ====

Listen up. Bad nuts @Almond_Arrow

#NationalCompetition#Interview#Spain#Korea

==== ====

It was a video post with this text attached.

A video of someone being interviewed.

"Bad… … nuts?"

"I think it's a translation. There are subtitles too."

Although it is automatically generated, Korean subtitles are also installed.

This is a video made for Koreans to watch.

It's made especially with almonds.

Because I tagged him openly.

"Turn on the sound."

"huh."

He was a rather cocky looking man with dark tanned skin.

[Strength of civilization? Of course, Spain. Historically, Spain roamed the world and even took over half of the American territory. But Korea lost half of its own territory, didn't it?]

The video ended here.

This is a very short edited video.

To see it properly, I think you have to go to Alltube in the link in the comments.

There was no particular need to do that.

"… … ?"

Sang-Hyeon's expression already said it all.

That short interview alone was enough to make a difference.

He stared at the already stopped video for a while, then asked.

"Who is this kid?"

"Well, I'll look into it."

Joo-hyuk takes Sang-hyun's cell phone and looks at it closely.

In the meantime, the place that Joo-hyuk's eyes were drawn to was time.

'This… … upload time was 10 seconds ago?'

It's upload time. Just 10 seconds after uploading.

'We were the first to see it?'

For now, it's almost like we're the only ones in Korea who've seen this guy's interview.

'hmm....'

Joohyuk now logs into the other person's account.

A young Spanish man who appears to be an influencer with 300,000 followers.

Although he has a bit of a gangster vibe, he seems to be quite popular due to his decent appearance.

More than anything....

'Why are there so many posts? Runestar keeps updating even during the season… … .'

This guy is a vassal.

Joohyuk came to a conclusion.

"Who are you? What's your name?"

Sang-Hyeon growled and clung to him with ghostly eyes. Joo-Hyeok briefly pulled him away and explained.

"Okay, okay. Listen carefully. First of all, I don't know if it's a name or an ID, but it's Tres. It seems like an assistant commander… … ."

"Really? Assistant Commander… … ? That's good. If you die, you're out, right?"

Sang-Hyeon was thinking about how he could eliminate him as soon as the game started while thinking about what he could do.

"I think I know how to f*ck this guy."

Joo-hyuk found the method first.

It's a little different though.

"Killing them as soon as they start?"

"No, bro. That might not be possible depending on the game circumstances. I mean, before the game even starts!"

You're giving him sh*t before the game even starts?

Sang-Hyeon's eyes widen as if asking where such a new world exists.

 "… … Uh, how?"

Joo-hyuk is smiling brightly, reflected in those clear pupils.

"Because I know what the other person wants."

He seemed to know what this guy really wanted.