Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 1 Episode 104
36. Sanghyeon’s Reward (3)
A throbbing headache crashed over me like waves.
Along with it came fragmented memories from yesterday, now growing clearer.
‘Yesterday was fun.’
As I recalled yesterday’s events, a smile lingered on my lips even as the hangover pounded against my temples.
We’d grown closer while drinking yesterday.
I talked far more and laughed far harder than I had the first time we drank together.
Perhaps these two were truly a fortunate connection. It had been so long since my heart opened to anyone. But these people—they felt different somehow.
Like people with genuinely warm hearts.
If I said this aloud, someone—usually types like Juhyeok—would joke back that only dead people had cold hearts.
But what could I do about it?
The Company was filled with dead people.
Perhaps this entire nation was composed only of dead people.
Or perhaps it was a nation built solely for the dead.
The living received treatment worse than the dead.
No one listened to what the living had to say.
Only the words of the dead held power.
The endless cycle of overtime had only stopped because a colleague at the Company died from overwork.
The first thought that crossed my mind that day was ‘thank goodness.’ Someone died before me, so finally something would change.
Now someone would finally listen to that person’s words.
That was the very first thought that entered my mind.
Somewhere along the way, I had already died.
Me too.
“…Anyway, this ceiling feels unfamiliar.”
Lying in bed lost in idle thoughts, I blinked and stared up at the ceiling.
Was my room’s fluorescent light like that?
The wallpaper was different too.
“!”
Whoosh.
I suddenly bolted upright and turned my head.
‘…What, what is this?! Where am I?’
Green plants and trees blocking the window, sunlight filtering through in waves of leaves.
A room I’d never seen before in my life.
I covered my mouth.
‘Could it be….’
It seemed that suspicion was correct.

* * *
“I’m sorry.”
Jia bowed her head deeply and sat down at the table.
On the table sat a beef tomato stew that Juhyeok had prepared.
The tangy, savory aroma made me want to grab a spoon immediately.
But Jia apologized first.
“Hey. You’re going to get yourself into real trouble doing that. What, you little thing.”
Juhyeok seized the moment to say something to Jia.
“….”
Even today, Jia couldn’t bring herself to respond.
“Yesterday, wasn’t there a guy waiting in front of your place? What would’ve happened if you’d been alone?”
“…!”
Jia’s eyes widened.
So that’s why he brought her here. I thought he couldn’t find the key and brought her along.
“A man….”
“Yeah. He was roughly a bit shorter than Sanghyeon──”
Juhyeok described him in various ways. Of course, Sanghyeon had actually seen him, but Juhyeok spoke as if he’d seen him himself.
‘That bastard… came to my place?’
Based on the description, it was her ex-boyfriend.
She’d received several messages on her phone today anyway. She’d deleted them all without reading them.
It must have been about him coming to her place.
She’d told him never to contact her and that she didn’t want to see him. What could he possibly want to say that he’d come all the way to her home?
“How did you two break up?”
Sanghyeon sat down beside Jia and asked casually.
“Uh, how….”
Jia asked back, startled.
“Your expression… I can see it all from this angle. I wasn’t trying to look, though.”
Sanghyeon pointed at Jia’s phone.
“I’m curious how you two broke up and he became a ‘bastard.'”
“It’s a long story.”
“Yeah. It’d be long~.”
Sanghyeon didn’t seem interested in hearing it, so he answered that way and began inhaling the tomato stew.
“Um, but thank you. For bringing me here because you were worried I might be in danger….”
Pfft.
Sanghyeon and Juhyeok simply smiled, offering no further reproach.
After finishing the meal, Sanghyeon walked Jia to her place and tapped her shoulder as he spoke.
“When you have some peace of mind, tell me about it. Then I’ll tell you something too.”
“…What would you tell me?”
“My first love.”
Smirk.
Sanghyeon flashed his white teeth in a smile.
But why did it seem so?
It looked sadder than crying.
“Yes….”
Sanghyeon waved his hand and climbed back up.
Jia watched his retreating figure for a long time.
“Almond’s… first love.”
At twenty-eight, talking about a first love seemed like ancient history.
For some reason, I was incredibly curious.
“I’m curious.”

* * *
“Did you get home okay?”
Juhyeok, who was doing the dishes, asked from over his shoulder.
“Yeah. Got home fine. I was going to do the dishes.”
“I didn’t see them piling up. I didn’t.”
“Well then.”
Sanghyeon scratched his head and sat on the sofa.
Sunlight filtered through the leaf-patterned curtains, warm and gentle. Starting from yesterday, it felt as though today were a vacation too.
“Ah, I’ve scheduled a meeting. With Balloon Gum.”
Juhyeok finished the dishes and spoke as he peeled off his rubber gloves.
“Two hours before tomorrow’s broadcast. So around five o’clock should work. We decided to meet inside Dis World.”
“Ah. So it’s online.”
“Yeah. We’re only doing duos anyway.”
Collaborations between streamers usually happen online. Especially when the purpose is gaming, and even more so when the partner is Balloon Gum.
Balloon Gum rarely did offline collaborations.
Even knowing this, Sanghyeon smacked his lips with a hint of regret.
“If the collaboration goes well, we’ll be able to meet in person, so don’t worry.”
“Right.”
Juhyeok had mentioned it yesterday.
If the collaboration response was good, they were planning to become advertising models together.
Originally, Balloon Gum was going to be the sole advertising model, but Fantasia was also considering adding Almond to the deal.
First and foremost, their chemistry mattered.
‘That should be fine.’
Since Sanghyeon had watched Balloon Gum’s broadcasts almost every day for three years, he wasn’t worried about their chemistry not clicking.
Then Sanghyeon suddenly tilted his head.
“Huh…?”
“What?”
“Come to think of it, what am I streaming today?”
He had been so focused on climbing the Diamond rank.
I hadn’t thought beyond that.
Juhyeok also stroked his chin for a moment.
“It doesn’t seem like just today’s problem. Should we have a meeting?”
This could become a turning point for Almond’s stream.

* * *
By 3 PM, Almond’s stream still hadn’t gone live.
In the community, hostility toward Almond was quietly raising its head again.
[Honestly, Diamond and Master queue with Almond? Isn’t that a bit much?]
[Almond plays without a brain and gets destroyed when he meets Masters]
[Gets his rank reset by Masters and gets taught a lesson right after lol]
[Physically he’s only ever made it to Diamond]
[Honestly Diamond and Master queue is too much for him lol]
[He probably can’t stomp people like he used to]
Everyone had already forgotten how I shattered Jeon-ja-pa’s record by a whopping 4x difference, and now they were discussing my limitations again.
This was a common sight in gaming communities.
By 7 PM, just before Almond turned on the stream, such posts had begun piling up.
[This bastard’s scared now and playing something else lol my hand’s itching]
[For real lol Almond can’t do Battle Rage anymore]
[Are you guys deliberately provoking to make Almond do Battle Rage? Some dark nut conspiracy? lol]
[Almond will play Kingdom, you idiots]
[Kingdom Bird fans shut up lol]
[Honestly he’ll definitely get exposed in Master queue, would you do it?]
Eventually, comments even appeared saying Almond was too scared to attempt Battle Rage.
“Seriously.”
I let out a small laugh.
I was so used to this by now.
In fact, without those kinds of posts, I couldn’t find the motivation.
“Going in.”
“Okay~”
After quickly scrolling through the community posts, I entered the Capsule.
The stream went live at 8 PM.
Despite the unusual timing, many people rushed in.
-Wait, the stream’s really on at 8 PM?
-Turning on stream an hour before midnight lol
-Hey, got cocky right after hitting Diamond?
-Random stream again you bastard lol]
-Wow, right back to basics after hitting Diamond!
-Forbes’ #1 streamer who never loses sight of his roots, no doubt!]
-It’s nice turning it on at commute time anyway lol]
-What are you telling unemployed people, turning on the stream at quitting time?!
-Ahahaha!
-Aha! (That means Almond shake high!)
The chat scrolls upward in a steady stream.
Unlike the Community’s public opinion, the chat is filled only with people welcoming me.
[Current Viewers: 3.8K]
Nearly four thousand viewers entered the moment the broadcast started. This is a far smaller number compared to when I streamed the Diamond promotion match.
‘Of course. This much of a drop is expected.’
I wasn’t particularly shaken. It was what I had anticipated.
The Diamond promotion match was legendary content that drew not only Koreans but foreigners as well, whereas my current broadcast is just a regular game stream with no particular objective.
So returning to my original viewership size was only natural.
“Thwah!”
After the intro music finished, quite a few more viewers filled the chat.
[Current Viewers: 5.3K]
Once I start the game, I’ll probably be sitting just above 6-7K. This is a respectable defense of my numbers.
-Ahahaha!
-Aha!
-Hey there
-Omen
As always, Rubisword kicked off the donations.
[Rubisword donated 10,000 won!]
[When are you doing a collab with Balloon Gum?!]
“Ah. That’s tomorrow. Today I’m trying to get a taste of Diamond, and since my MMR is high, I think I’ll probably catch some Master tier matches too.”
and Master DD
-MMR must be insanely high lol
Master Ken Wang?
-Master just by turning it on lmao
-Master is impossible. Are you going pro?
Master just by turning it on.
It’s not a concept I haven’t considered. Since I reached Diamond this quickly, wondering whether to attempt Master is a natural logical conclusion.
However, Master is a realm that professionals pursue. I’m not a pro gamer—I’m a streamer.
This was the main topic of my meeting with Juhyeok today.
Right now, entertaining the broadcast was more important.
Even if I earned the stigma of being ‘scared’ to challenge Master, as long as the viewers were having fun, that mattered more.
I’d wear that stigma with a smile.
“Master promotion is a bit difficult, and I’ve been grinding hard, so today is fun mode!”
Sanghyeon drew the line firmly.
Meanwhile, there was one viewer disappointed in another way.
[King Chiman Association President donated 10,000 won!]
[Seriously… Battle Rage again?!]
“Ah… Kingdom is, well….”
Haha, Kingdom went to America ㅠ
-America? More like heaven!
-Is it even livable there!? Emilia!?!
[Rosenitta donated ‘10,000 won’!]
[Almond. Did you… abandon me?]
Donations from viewers flooding in from the King Chiman Association erupted one after another.
‘I’ll have to do Kingdom again sometime.’
Almond thought he’d revisit Kingdom eventually and launched the game for now.
It was my first match in the Diamond rank.
“Alright. Today’s game is~~~ Battle Rage!”
Boom──
Along with my energetic greeting, the distinctive drum sound of Battle Rage echoed out.
At the same time, the landscape shifted in an instant.

* * *
-Casual play? Probably taking insurance in case I get stomped in Master lol
Even he seems to know that he can’t do tryhard games lol
-Insurance is pointless
A few sarcastic comments appeared in the chat about my casual play declaration.
It was a natural side effect when the viewer count increased.
The natural cure for such side effects was, of course, to ignore them.
Regardless, I charged straight into the Armory from the first match, true to my casual play declaration.
“Heading to the Armory!”
Armory play wasn’t much different from Platinum queue.
It was all close-quarters and archery anyway. In those aspects, there were hardly any in the Diamond to Master range who could handle me.
The difference from Platinum was the number of people.
There weren’t many people around.
Did skilled players accustomed to efficient play abandon the Armory long ago?
Either way, I destroyed the Armory and, as always, hunted down stragglers falling behind the Blue Zone.
I racked up a whopping 30 kills without even having a kill-based mission.
30 kills in Diamond queue. This was anything but casual play.
‘Huh…?’
The number floating above me before I knew it.
[1st Place]
First match was 1st place.
And the next match too.
[1st Place]
And the next one.
[1st Place]
‘What is this?’
I was bewildered by how easily the matches were unfolding, far simpler than I’d anticipated.
[You are now eligible for the Diamond IV promotion match!]
My emblem gleamed with a brilliant light as I finished even the final match in first place.
I was ready for the promotion match.
-This is insane lol
-You said you weren’t going to Master lol
-Lol
-AI Robby: Get out of here and go to Master.
-Promotion match again in three matches lol
-The promotion match is being copied!
At this point, I found myself reconsidering.
‘Should I go to Master?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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