Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 1238

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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 5 Episode 123
38. The Invisible War (2)
Balloon Gum’s “20 Shorts Penalty” had delivered a massive shock to many people.
Not only to the streamers, but to the editors as well.
Mixnuts’s editors—though it was really just Jia and Macaron—were no exception.
“To… to that extent…?”
“…Gasp.”
Macaron in particular had a dazed expression on his face.
He stopped editing and admired the beautiful compositions that Balloon Gum was creating.
And then he gathered his courage to speak.
“Team Leader… shouldn’t we be doing something too…?”
“…Huh?”
Jia tilted her head in confusion.
“What… kind of thing?”
“Well, we can’t just let Balloon Gum end up as the ultimate winner of this game….”
Macaron possessed an odd competitive spirit.
This could perhaps be attributed to the natural hot-bloodedness of a young man.
But what puzzled Jia was that he possessed it at all.
‘He doesn’t look like it at all.’
Every line of his facial features was round and soft.
He looked like the most harmless person in the world.
This wasn’t even Macaron. This was Merang.
Yet he possessed an unexpected competitive spirit.
Enough to overcome his embarrassment and say it like this.
“Y-you see… lately… the YouTube shorts scene is changing. The trend is to produce shorts quickly and maximize the algorithm….”
It was becoming standard to check reactions with instantly-made shorts and then upload the full video.
The initial video goes out as short as possible, then a mid-length edit, then the full video.
“S-so what?”
This was something Jia already knew.
Why was he bringing this up?
“That’s why making 20 shorts from a single scene means…!”
“Means what?”
He jumped up!
Macaron shouted as if this was extremely important.
“The control of this full video shifts to Balloon Gum’s side!”
“Is that all? That won’t happen. Actually, it helps us instead.”
Jia denied it once more.
“Y-yes! It d-does help, but… still, this was our project! B-Bontovi is on our side… and King Gul was invited by us… and above all….”
Macaron seemed to have something he wanted to clarify.
“?”
“P-Pungsna and I are on the same team, aren’t we? Jello is one of Almond’s major rivals! For large-scale collaborations like streamer tournaments… w-well, it’s actually more like an invisible w-war….”
Jia was quite absorbed in internet broadcasting herself.
But she couldn’t compare to Macaron.
For him, streaming was life itself.
He had witnessed the rise and fall of countless streamers from his room.
He knew what conversations happened behind the scenes, what wars the editing teams and managers waged.
He had seen every incident and accident imaginable.
Especially at large events where many streamers gathered, the likelihood of getting caught up in trouble increased.
That’s why you could never afford to lose momentum.
Once an incident erupts, it’s not about who did right or wrong, but who has more control.
You had to secure what needed securing.
You couldn’t let your guard down just because they were a large corporation.
They’re only big in size—Almond is still at a startup level.
It’s like having a large body but a child’s mind, a teenager.
That’s why Macaron spoke while trembling and wide-eyed.
“P-puh!”
But Jia couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“….”
Macaron’s face turned bright red.
“I-I’m sorry… I got too excited….”
He seemed to think he’d made a mistake.
Jia patted his shoulder.
“No. I’m sorry for laughing. It wasn’t what you said—it was just your expression that was funny.”
“….”
Wasn’t that even more rude….
“Actually, thinking like Jeehu does is right. But saying it out loud like that is funny… p-puh, puh. L-like you’re going off to war….”
“….”
He was turning the color of a raspberry macaron.
Jia continued giggling.
“Anyway, Jeehu. It’s good that you’re full of fighting spirit. But make sure talk like that doesn’t leak outside.”
“Y-yes…? What….”
“What you just said. About competition and war. Pungsna and we have a close relationship and owe each other a lot, so we’re not the kind of relationship that should publicly express competitive feelings.”
“T-that’s….”
Macaron’s face flushed bright red.
‘That’s true.’
He knew it.
He just felt anxious about something.
Because he thought this project was too good.
It felt like a waste.
“So we should just do something similar, right? That’s what you’re saying?”
Jia makes a suggestion.
“We can just film multiple clips from one incident. Us too.”
“Yes, well… um… how exactly?”
“Look, see?”
Jia shows Macaron the video that Juhyeok had sent her, saying it was hilarious.
“The CEO filmed something like this. Try using it as behind-the-scenes footage.”
“Oh…?”
“If we do it this way, we can make two pieces of content from one incident—the behind-the-scenes. One short, one edited middle version, one behind-the-scenes. That’s three, right?”
“Oh… three.”
“Is three a bit disappointing?”
“No.”
“Right? This much is enough—”
“It’s not three.”
“?”
“We can make several more.”
Something suddenly flashes through Macaron’s mind.
Whoosh.
He sketches something out and shows it.
“If we add a twist to the story, we can make way more content.”
“…!”
A moment later.
The storyboard is delivered straight to Bontovi.
“Hmm.”
He nods at Macaron.
He seems pleased.
“Since we’re doing this anyway, why not do it for real?”
“…Yes?”
He pulls a gun from the drawer.
“I heard about it. Jeehu Kim. You said it’s war? Then we need guns.”
Grin.
“!?”
Why in the world did he bring something like that?
A moment later—
Boom!
Bontovi kicks the door open and charges in, shouting.
“Don’t move!”

* * *
That’s how King Gul’s farewell greeting original video was created.
“Behind the camera, he’s smart and….”
And actually, this is the AI parody video where Almond has a gun pointed at King Gul from behind.
Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew!
“Ugh, ahhhhhhh!”
But surprisingly, this is the behind-the-scenes video revealing that footage wasn’t AI.
[Shorts) Finally Revealed: The Fourth Lesson Behind-the-Scenes]
Almond pretends to shoot King Gul repeatedly with a toy gun.
“You fool! Young maaaan!”
King Gul convulses on his own and collapses.
His movements were exactly like squid sashimi drizzled with soy sauce.
“Uhhh, ahhhhh!!”
Bontovi makes sound effects with his mouth from the side.
“Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew!”
That was it.
Even the gunfire sound effects were analog.
The only digital effects here were the muzzle flash and smoke from the gun barrel.
Thud.
King Gul collapses to the ground and leaves his final words.
“Still… my head’s still working!”
“Zing!”
After Bontovi’s sound effect.
Everyone applauds.
Clap clap clap…!
“Wow, King Gul’s acting was amazing.”
“Aha ha….”
Almond chimes in excitedly too.
It was praise for King Gul’s voice.
“King Gul, your screams are really loud.”
“This time it’s not about your head?”
King Gul had once heard nothing but repeated comments about his head being too big during Almond’s interview.
….
Almond’s blinking face is zoomed in on.
The screen gradually darkens, and at the end, the corners of Almond’s mouth rise slightly.
[We dedicate this video to the anti-big-head activists.]
The video ended with this caption.
The response was quite positive.
-Insane lol lol lol lol lol lol
-Why’d they dedicate this to the anti-big-head activists, isn’t this blackmail lol lol lol
-“A Young Man Who Doesn’t Understand AI”
-It looks like it was made with AI more than anything, but it turned out to be completely handmade lmaooo
-That last smirk is absolutely killing me kekekeke
└Acting all profound like that kekekeke
└For real lol
└He’s just laughing because he genuinely thinks his head is big?
└└OMG kekekekekeke
└└That’s the worst part…
-It’s not about his head lol
-You pro-Ttok-cheong bastards are seriously vicious — are you trying to kill the guy? Take back what you said about his big head!!
└OMG kekekekekekeke
└For real… the fact that they even recorded it on video means they’re not human
└That’s why I’m anti-Ttok-cheong…
└Fact) Almond never once said his head was big.
-???: My head is! Really! Not! As big as you’d think!
-This is insane kekekekekekekekeke
-What’s Bontovi doing lmaooo
-He said his head wasn’t big lmaooo
-Why is gunfire coming out of Bontovi’s mouth lmaooo
-Ahahaha kekekekeke
-So this was handmade…
These are the plot twists that Macaron created.
Balloon Gum’s “Kill Pungsna 20 Times” has plenty of numbers, but they don’t connect as individual stories.
In other words, there’s no continuity.
However, the greeting shorts produced by Mixnuts are connected by story.
I thought King Gul was pro-Ttok-cheong, but it turned out he was being threatened with a gun from behind.
I naturally assumed that video was AI-generated, but it turned out there were behind-the-scenes production videos too.
Videos like this have special advantages.
Of course, people who watch them in order will naturally watch the next video.
-Wait, what is this even about lmaooo
Even people who watch them out of order can’t help but be curious about the previous videos.
└In other words, it’s long…
└Phew… don’t avoid things like this (link)
Thank you so much! Thank you! T_T
Pro-Ttok-cheong or anti-Ttok-cheong.
When people gather and happily talk about their shared worldview among themselves.
Outsiders can’t help but be curious.
It’s like that feeling when your friends are talking about something only they know, leaving you out.
As a result, people end up visiting all over the place and watching all of these shorts.
And the more they did, the better the algorithm became.
Naturally, the related shorts would appear as the next recommended video.
So what was the response?
“Wow…!”
Clap!
Jia clapped her hands together.
“Insane. The reaction is seriously good, right? We’re already at 200,000 to 300,000 views.”
The response was explosive.
Most importantly, Balloon Gum’s shorts were also getting great reactions from viewers, causing interest in the original video to skyrocket.
-Can you believe Almond’s fourth lesson and Pungsna dying 20 times came from a single game?
└For real?
└Yeah
└Crazy lol
└The efficiency is practically fossil fuel level lol
└At this rate it’s diesel lol
└The original edit still hasn’t been uploaded lol
“Ju… no, CEO! Look at this~!”
Jia went to the CEO’s office and chattered excitedly.
Macaron watched the shorts she’d created one after another in a daze.
No matter how many times I watched, I never got tired of them.
‘…Wow.’
It turned out exactly as I’d imagined.
First of all, Senior Bontovi(?) was more cooperative with me than I’d expected.
At first, I thought she’d ask me to hold the camera.
Apparently that was just a joke.
Bontovi’s somewhat clumsy actions matched my concept perfectly.
And interestingly, Bontovi had a beatboxing hobby.
She even said the “bi” in “Bontovi” stood for beatbox.
Though I didn’t really believe it.
Seeing her make gun sounds, she was definitely exceptional.
Watching the video again.
[Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew!]
It was certainly an amazing sound.
The fact that this came from a human mouth was impossible not to laugh at.

* * *
Meanwhile, Sanghyeon and Bontovi.
They were at a restaurant with King Gul and his Manager.
While the editing team had finished their meal during the game, the filming team was now eating.
“Thank you so much for your excellent performance today, King Gul.”
Sanghyeon set down his utensils and bowed respectfully.
“Ah, ahahaha! It’s nothing. I do that level of overacting all the time in my personal broadcast anyway. What’s the big deal.”
“…?”
He does that every day?
Sanghyeon suddenly felt he needed to put in more effort himself.
“By the way, Almond, have you secured the scrim teams?”
King Gul asked almost in passing, more out of habit.
After all, he faced so many pro gamers regularly.
It was practically just a greeting.
But the Manager beside him hit a nerve.
“Ah, hyung. But for this, we’ll need to secure nine scrim teams, right?”
“Huh?”
“The survival match has ten teams competing.”
“!?”
The survival match.
King Gul hadn’t considered that variable.
But Sanghyeon and Bontovi hadn’t either.
A sudden silence fell.
“Wait, so basically all the participating teams inside Cheese need to come out for scrims? How is this being handled?”
King Gul asked.
“There hasn’t been any word about when the scrims are happening yet.”
There really hadn’t been any mention of when to schedule the scrims.
Finding teams was going to be incredibly difficult.
“The Coach needs to secure them quickly…? Getting nine teams is going to be really tough.”
“….”
But no matter how much he thought about it, Sanghyeon couldn’t picture Choi Sa-rang calling around everywhere asking teams to scrim.
「Come try the gear. Then maybe I’ll scrim with you?」
That was roughly the image in Sanghyeon’s head.
“Uh….”
At this rate, wouldn’t they not even get a single scrim match in?

* * *
Meanwhile, Choi Sa-rang returned to her room after finishing her rehabilitation exercises.
She naturally picked up her phone from the desk, then set it back down.
“Sigh… damn it….”
She’d forgotten that finding a Scream was the Coach’s job.
“Who do I even ask?”
She really hated asking anyone for favors.
And she had to do it nine times before it would work once.
This was absolutely impossible.
But it didn’t make sense to take over the team and not use Scream either.
Click.
She lit a cigarette and deliberated for a long while.
“Sigh.”
After exhaling her worries in smoke, she finally called someone.
[Police Korea Director]
Others could never know the direct number, and even if they did, they wouldn’t dare call it.
But for her, it was actually more convenient.
“Yes, it’s me.”
-Ah, goodness, Jeon-ja-pa? It’s been a while. What brings you to call?

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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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