studiobondurri Season 3: Chapter 145: Dinner Party (3)
Season 3: Chapter 145: Dinner Party (3)
Sang-Hyeon had eaten enough food and met plenty of people. It felt like he repeated stories from his archery days about thirty-one times. Thinking back, it seemed like he told these stories to every country that made it to the tournament.
Did he really? Sang-Hyeon couldn’t quite remember. He had been sipping champagne whenever he felt awkward or bored and his head started feeling fuzzy at some point.
He sat on a sofa for a moment and looked at his phone.
Bzzt.
A message came from Ju-Hyeok.
[Ju-Hyeok: How have you been?]
It had been a while since he heard from Ju-Hyeok. Sang-Hyeon, holding his dizzy head, moved his thumbs with effort and sent a reply.
[Sang-Hyeon: Good]
[Sang-Hyeon: I’m at a dinner party. Almost over]
As he stared blankly at the chandelier on the ceiling, another message from Ju-Hyeok arrived.
[Ju-Hyeok: Oh. Good to hear. By the way, our merchandise is out, lol]
“...”
Sang-Hyeon wanted to point out the earlier mistake, but the mention of merchandise completely caught his attention. In the meantime, Ju-Hyeok sent another message.
[Ju-Hyeok: We got the This World merchandise first.]
[Ju-Hyeok: (link)]
The link Ju-Hyeok sent led to a This World store page. It showed almond shaped light sticks and almond shaped hats as well as other almond merchandise.
“... Oh.”
They looked quite decent. No, they were on par with the merch of other famous personalities. There was a wide variety. Some items were predictable, but he also couldn’t have imagined certain things such as a suit that turned one’s entire body into an almond or mixed nuts fireworks that exploded almonds and other nuts.
[Ju-Hyeok: The Almond merchandise wasn’t made by the Monster team but by the company itself.]
[Sang-Hyeon: You did this??]
Sang-Hyeon sent an emoji of a rabbit with a surprised expression.
Ju-Hyeok replied with an emoji of a dignified dog.
[Ju-Hyeok: It wasn’t too hard since the system is well set up.]
Ju-Hyeok had only taken over a new company recently. Even if it was This World, Sang-Hyeon felt amazed that they could produce such merchandise internally.
[Ju-Hyeok: The physical merchandise will arrive soon. Maybe as early as tomorrow in Japan, lol]
[Sang-Hyeon: Tomorrow???]
Everything seemed to be moving so fast.
[Ju-Hyeok: The match is starting soon.]
[Ju-Hyeok: Party time!]
Ju-Hyeok sent an emoji of a winking dog wearing sunglasses.
[Sang-Hyeon: What’s the physical merchandise?]
[Ju-Hyeok: Cheering items]
[Ju-Hyeok: The Almond cheering items were made by us, but Monster made the national team items. There will be quite a few Monster logos on them.]
[Ju-Hyeok: (photo)]
Ju-Hyeok sent him a sample image with a white background adorned with red and green patterns. It featured a Haetae-like Monster design and matched well with the Korean team’s theme. It clearly showed off their Monster sponsorship. ṟАΝôᛒÊs
[Ju-Hyeok: The personal merch for other members will take a bit longer. Honestly, we’re still assessing if it’s worth the investment.]
[Sang-Hyeon: Ah...]
Almond’s personal merch and team merch had been prepared, but personal merch for other members was still under assessment. Sang-Hyeon immediately understood what this meant.
[Sang-Hyeon: We have to win]
They had to win the upcoming Viking match. He sent an emoji of a peach making a fist and put his phone down.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting!”
The venue had become quite noisy. People stood and moved somewhere. Colorful dresses mingled and obstructed the view.
“Today! For those who have been selected as Best Dressed candidates! Please come forward! Please come slowly because the dresses are long! We have plenty of time!”
“Woohoo!”
The crowd roared with cheers as familiar faces, all dressed up, climbed onto the stage one by one.
“Lauren! Lauren! Lauren!”
Teams shouted slogans for their candidates. The cameras focused on them and even Sang-Hyeon’s personal stream camera shifted focus to that side.
— Wow
— Is this the army?
— Cool
— There are quite a few candidates.
— Introverts have fun too...
— Why can’t Almond go up there? Just dress up and go!
The Viking side also cheered loudly.
“Jessie! Jessie! Jessie!”
“Jessieeeee!”
It seemed that only Jessie represented them.
— OMG
— Not the Vikings!
— Shit
— Jessie actually went up there
— Wow, Jessie looks amazing!
Jessie was undeniably eye-catching with her flaming red hair, a yellow dress, and high heels that made her look taller.
“From each country, we recommend one person to come forward. For fairness...”
The host looked at the lineup of candidates and tilted his head.
“Ah, Korea? Did no one come from Korea?”
Sang-Hyeon was caught off guard and looked around in surprise.
“Ah...”
Sang-Hyeon found himself in a dilemma and didn’t know what to say. Since she specifically asked about him, it wouldn't matter if they knew each other.
“Yes, I know her. I just didn’t know she was that person.”
“What!?”
Then, the other think tank members bombarded him with questions.
“How do you know her?”
“Where did you meet her?”
“She looks super rich!?”
However, his answer instantly settled their questions.
“We went to the same rehabilitation hospital. She recognized me from my stream and said hi.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why she looked over. Aha. I thought...”
Meanwhile, Pang suddenly shut his mouth after talking excitedly.
“... Hospital?”
Everyone glared at Pang as if he was trash.
“No, I mean, my mouth just started moving on its own before I could process the word hospital...”
Pang had to make excuses for a while.
— Pang, man
— Just stop hanging out with Almond...
— I honestly feel bad for him...
— He feels the wealth gap every day
***
The candidates for Best Dressed, including the representative from Korea, stood on the stage.
“Everyone! Please vote for the most... beautiful!”
Ding!
Each person received a message on their phone and people started voting after a brief moment of consideration.
“Your votes combined with the special judges’ scores will determine the winner!”
Everyone glanced back and forth between their phones and the stage.
Sang-Hyeon and the members gathered around him also started voting.
“Who are we voting for?”
“Oh, we’re going for the person from Japan wearing a kimono.”
“Oh, right.”
Since they couldn’t vote for their own country’s person, they had to strategically vote to eliminate a rival like the Vikings.
— LOL, strategic voting
— Korean style voting
— Best Dressed... right?
— LOL
— But the Japanese candidate is also very popular
It was slightly funny that they weren’t voting for the best dressed, but rather to avoid the worst scenario. They had no choice since Korea was the weakest.
“Huh... do we have a chance?”
“Very high,” Cookie suddenly appeared and spoke.
“Huh, Hui-Chul bro?”
“Chi-Seung, don’t worry. I think we’ll probably win. Just think about what map to choose.”
“Huh? How can you be so sure?”
Sang-Hyeon felt puzzled too. Could the commander predict even the Best Dressed?
“Unless it’s a very close rival... we have a strong chance. People will hesitate a bit and then choose us.” Hui-Chul grinned and added his reasoning, “Because we’re ranked last.”
— LOL
— Ouch
— This is how it turns out?!
— Wow
— Honestly, it’s no joke
— He’s a genius
— Cookie is on fire!
— Don’t say it so confidently
At that moment, Sang-Hyeon thought Cookie was joking. Maybe the others thought so too. However, Cookie’s words soon came true.
“Wow! It’s an overwhelming score difference!”
1. Great Commander Yi Sun-Shin: 227
2. wackjassey: 113
3. veryモチ: 87
“From the Korean team! It’s the Great Commander Yi Sun-Shin!”
The Japanese host hesitated over the nickname.
— LOL
— PTSD
— The nickname is too much
— Hahaha
— A perfect counter to the Japanese
“Uh... She has been chosen as the Best Dressed!”