Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 117

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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 117
41. Just Chatting (2)
Two middle-aged men gathered at a pocha in broad daylight.
“Ah. It’s been a while, hyung.”
A man greeted Balloon Gum, who was already there.
“Oh. Takoyaki. Wait, your hair!?”
Balloon Gum stood up to greet him but was startled.
For some reason, the lighting inside the pocha suddenly brightened.
His head was gleaming with a brilliant shine.
“Ah… haha.”
The man called Takoyaki laughed awkwardly.
“I heard you were doing closed-door training. Did you shave your head?”
“No. It’s not because of that.”
Balloon Gum poured water into his cup, gesturing for him to sit.
“Then? Why did you suddenly go bald again? After you went through all that trouble getting hair transplants!”
“Hyung, hyung. Could you lower your voice a bit….”
Fortunately, at this hour only the owners were in the pocha, but Takoyaki was still embarrassed.
He could hear two female employees who looked like college students giggling.
“What, you’re embarrassed? But then why’d you shave it?”
“Shaving isn’t embarrassing. It’s the transplant part that’s kind of….”
“Ah.”
Balloon Gum immediately understood.
Takoyaki had suffered hair loss in his mid-twenties and gotten a transplant. That was definitely a trauma of sorts.
Balloon Gum leaned in close and whispered his question.
“So why did you shave it?”
“Well, that’s a long story… first of all….”

* * *
Bubble, bubble.
While the generous seafood soup I’d ordered earlier simmered away.
Takoyaki finished his explanation.
To summarize, in Battle Rage with full item farming, I was guaranteed to secure first place.
But apparently Almond stole that first place from me.
And since it was an incredibly important Diamond promotion match, it’s going to be permanently archived on Almond’s Ollytube channel.
“So you shaved your head because you lost to Almond and wanted to beat him? Isn’t that insane?”
“No, why not? It’s seriously embarrassing. People in the community already recognized me and started leaving harsh comments. They’re saying I went into seclusion training only to lose to a newbie.”
“How does Almond look like just a newbie… anyway, what does that have to do with your hair!?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know? The time I look my best is when I’m…”
Tap. Tap.
He tapped his shiny head to show it off.
“…completely bald.”
That’s just a meme the kids made up to tease you…
Balloon Gum’s words rose all the way to his throat.
But I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth. Hadn’t he already shaved his head?
“S-still, this will grow back, right?”
“Of course. I literally planted it. Actually, having your head open like this is better for hair loss. Your scalp temperature drops.”
“Right. Thank goodness.”
No one knew more about hair loss than Takoyaki, so Balloon Gum just let it slide.
But there was something else I needed to say.
“Hey. So you’re practicing Battle Rage right now?”
Balloon Gum cut off a piece of the octopus that sat grandly atop the seafood soup and took it.
“Ah. Yeah. Almond’s at Diamond tier 4 or something like that. I’ve almost reached there too. I’ve been on a winning streak, so my MMR should be similar.”
‘As expected…’
This guy really doesn’t know.
“Hey. I did a collaboration broadcast with Almond not long ago.”
“Ah. Yeah. I was actually curious about that and wanted to ask. How was it?”
Taco also cut off a piece of octopus and transferred it to his own bowl.
Taco exclaimed repeatedly, “Wow, this is really chewy,” as he tore into the octopus.
Balloon Gum found the sight oddly brutal.
Like eating one’s own kind…
“Hyung? How was it?”
“Ah. Well. Um…”
Balloon Gum recalled the broadcast experience with Almond once more.
“He’s a better person than I expected.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He looks like a total celebrity, but strangely he’s very approachable…”
“Oh. I see.”
“Well, how should I put it? He seemed to have real depth to him. Even though he’s ten years younger than me.”
“Really? Why? How would you even know that?”
“No, I mean… at my age, when you meet someone, you can sense their inner strength right away from the atmosphere.”
“Hmm….”
Taco’s expression suggested he thought I was spouting nonsense.
Balloon Gum hastily added, as if making excuses.
“I’m not being some old fogey about it—I’m serious. You’ve got a much better eye for people now than you did in your twenties, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Your forties are different from your thirties. Anyway, that guy looked solid. There was something firm about him from the inside—like a real sense of solidity.”
“That’s hard to explain.”
After finishing the octopus he’d brought, Balloon Gum grabbed another piece from the hot pot and cut it while speaking.
“He had this aura—like either an incredibly accomplished expert or someone who’s survived life entirely on their own.”
“His skills are definitely those of a professional. I mean, where did such a monster come from? Did you see how long he’s been playing the game?”
“Yeah. Not long at all. It’s only been about a month now?”
“Isn’t this proof that the world is truly unfair?”
Despite his words of complaint, Taco burst into his characteristic hearty laugh.
“Well, that’s why the world is interesting—because geniuses like that pop up from time to time.”
He was once a professional gamer in LIL. He was a pro among pros, a starting member in the first division even in Korea’s fiercest competitive league.
That place was truly crawling with geniuses and monsters.
Taco was someone too seasoned in this field to feel intimidated or inferior in the face of genius.
“You’re a genius too, Taco—someone who played as a first-division starter. Look at me. I’m permanently stuck in Stones at bronze rank.”
Taco burst out laughing at Balloon Gum’s joke.
But when he heard what Balloon Gum said next,
“Oh! That’s right!”
the smile vanished from his face.
“I was meaning to tell you. Almond’s not playing Battle Rage anymore.”
“What?!”
Splash.
The octopus Taco was cutting fell into the seafood soup with a plop.
“Ouch, it’s hot!”

* * *
“Oh! Almond!”
Squeal!
Huyeon Yu welcomed me as if seeing an old friend.
She felt quite different from the last time I saw her.
‘This is nothing like when I saw her at the filming location.’
Perhaps because this was Dis World and not an official interview, she was being less formal?
Ha-yeon crying ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-The streamer Forbes-selected Huyeon Yu is happy to see
-Forbes doesn’t even rank anymore lol
-So beautiful
-Why is Hayeon unnie so excited!? What!? Almond, what are you!?
Fantasia’s Dis World Channel was a grassland stretching endlessly with vibrant flower gardens.
It was a fantastical space with colors that could have come straight from a Studio Ghibli animation.
Huyeon Yu in a pure white dress waving her hand above it was almost dreamlike.
I could understand why viewers sent jealous donations and flooded the chat.
“Hello. It’s been a while.”
“Yes! Please sit here.”
A white table placed in the middle of a flower-filled grassland.
It was the kind of design you’d see at an outdoor wedding in an American drama.
‘This is more awkward than I expected.’
I glanced quickly around my surroundings.
Nothing but flowers everywhere.
Right now, Huyeon Yu and I were sitting alone in this vast Flower Garden.
Facing each other, no less.
It was a somewhat burdensome setup for an interview.
Huyeon Yu burst into laughter.
“Sitting face-to-face is a bit awkward, right? But the viewers prefer it this way.”
Most viewers were watching from my first-person perspective, so she was right.
“First, let’s take a photo.”
The moment she said that, a warm grassland breeze blew in, carrying an armful of flower petals.
Whoooosh——
Huyeon Yu quickly raised both hands to frame a camera shot.
Within the awkward rectangle formed by her thumb and index finger, I appeared slowly brushing my bangs back in the flower wind.
As I tidied my wind-tousled hair, my eyes turned toward the camera frame.
More precisely, toward the large eyes beyond the frame.
“…Did you just take a photo?”
“Yes. It came out well.”
She just took a photo like that? I couldn’t tell if this was a joke or what.
In situations like this, the viewers usually knew the answer.
-Almond doesn’t know about Dis World like that
-It’s a Dis World feature lol
-Almond’s confused lol
It seemed that this was a natural feature in Dis World.
Huyeon Yu, noticing my gaze on the chat, asked a question.
“Do you have a lot of viewers right now? How many?”
“Hmm….”
I checked the viewer count.
[Current Viewers: 15,000]
Still an incredible number of viewers.
“15,000 people.”
“Wow.”
Huyeon Yu looked genuinely surprised.
“That many?”
“It just happened to turn out this way.”
“Wow. I wonder if it’s because the video breaking Jeon-ja-pa’s record was uploaded today?”
She naturally transitioned into interview-style questions.
“It definitely surged after that. Both the channel subscribers and viewer count increased significantly.”
“Wow! That’s great! Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Clap clap clap.
Huyeon Yu clapped enthusiastically by herself.
Even watching from right beside her, I found it truly remarkable. Huyeon Yu wasn’t even looking at the chat, yet she reacted so naturally without any hesitation. Broadcasting experience really is something special.
“So what’s your goal going forward?”
-Ooh they’re asking what we wanted to ask lol
-Almond’s just going to do ads from now on!!! Please ask questions!
-lol they were asking what kind of ads would be good today!
-lol
“Maybe reaching Master in the shortest time after Diamond?”
“Hmm. No.”
“Huh? No?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of wrapping up Battle Rage soon.”
“Wait, wait—you do realize this is Fantasia’s Dis World Channel, right?!”
Huyeon Yu asked in bewilderment.
-lololol
-Look at that confidence
-For real lol
Why isn’t the master going? ㅠㅠ
-What?! Could it be! K… King…
“I know. Well… Fantasia doesn’t only have Battle Rage as a game, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“There’s also a new game launching this time called ‘Raising a Rogue Warrior,’ you know?”
Almond subtly gave it a promotional plug.
Since I was going to receive the advertisement anyway, and this was Fantasia’s channel, there wouldn’t be any problem whatsoever—or so my calculation went.
-???
-What is that.
-What is it
-??Am I the only one who doesn’t know?
-Fooled again! Almond! This is an advertisement!
-It feels like an ad lol
“Oh? I know that game too! It’s supposed to be a huge anticipated title this year, right?”
Huyeon Yu played along as if to say “exactly.”
They were exchanging a comedic routine, both acting as if they naturally knew about an unreleased game that hadn’t even been advertised once yet.
-Wow, that’s crazy! Almond!
-Almond’s capitalist smile is killing me lolol
-Lol the announcer’s half-baked physical comedy is insane lol
-Anticipated title? First time hearing about it
-Wait I searched and it hasn’t even had a closed beta yet lolol
“Yes. Since there are games like ‘Raising a Rogue Warrior,’ there’s no need to feel disappointed about not doing Battle Rage, right?”
“So you’re going to stream ‘Raising a Rogue Warrior’?”
“No. I’m not sure about that.”
-What do you mean you’re not sure lolol
-Why are you pretending to think about a game that hasn’t even launched yet, obviously you can’t lolol
-Stop with the advertisement comedy
“So what’s the next game then? Or what’s your goal?”
Huyeon Yu pressed the question again persistently.
Almond recalled that I had already decided on something with Juhyeok but had postponed the announcement.
But it didn’t seem like there would be a better opportunity than right now.
‘I think I can say it.’
My instinct told me so.
That now was the right moment.
I finally opened my mouth.

* * *
A dimly lit room.
Once again, only the massive screen cast its bluish glow, illuminating the woman in the wheelchair.
[Yes. Since such things exist, well… there’s no need to feel disappointed about not playing Battle Rage.]
[Then what will you do?]
She was drinking whiskey the color of deep amber.
It had been a while since she’d last touched alcohol, and this was her first sip in some time.
She was in quite a good mood.
But then——
[This time, I’m thinking of trying something called LIL.]
Crash!
The crystal glass struck the floor with a loud, jarring sound.

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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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