Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 1244

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

The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 5 Episode 129
40. Noble Blood (2)
Meanwhile, at the Knight Order.
“Gobong… calm down.”
“Ugh… sob… what use am I anymore…?”
“You were never useful to begin with.”
As Almond had even surpassed Danmuji in intellect, Danmuji was now consoling Gobong, who had fallen to last place in every single aspect.
-Kekekekekekekekekekekekeke
-Kekekek lol kek
-That’s fair
-Kekekek morale boost
-Discipline rep one-trick
Hong-cha also offered consolation—though not really consolation.
“Oppa. Actually, it’s good. If you’re going to do it anyway, might as well do it properly. If you’re going to be useless, be completely useless. Before this, you were useless at being useless too~ that’s what I mean.”
Though it sounded crude, considering the streaming industry, it was perfectly accurate.
However, since the viewers didn’t hear it that way, the chat flooded with laughter.
-Kekekekekekeke useless at being useless lol kekekek
That’s so useless lol
-Kyaa
-Hong-cha’s revenge on the Knight Order’s gaslighting happening here lol kekeke
-It’s actually true lol
“Hey! You’re worse at ADC than Almond too!”
“…What? You just suck at everything!”
As they exchanged these non-consolations with each other.
The rest were discussing the scrim schedule with the Coach.
“Ah. So it’s arranged like this?”
“Oh…”
There was nothing particularly noteworthy in the chat either.
Though occasionally, messages like this appeared.
-The acting is showing too much^^
-Need to improve acting skills lol
-Fly high~
But when Almond actually saw those messages, he had no idea what they meant.
‘Huh?’
Since he had no thought process whatsoever related to acting, it simply read as nonsense to him.
Especially since the number of viewers had increased, the frequency and amount of nonsense in the chat had grown so much that it was impossible to distinguish anymore.
-Does the Doctor win? Or does the mid-tier streamer win?
-Who would win if Mihawk fought Shanks?
-Is Perfect Shot actually a real thing?
Dozens, hundreds of these meaningless messages just trying to grab attention appeared every single day.
So he needed to focus on other matters rather than things like chat right now.
“Then let’s run this round with a split formation, keeping it light.”
Coach Choi Sa-rang finished explaining the split formation and sharing the scrim schedule.
Then she brought up resuming practice.
‘So we’re really doing a split formation.’
Gulp.
Almond swallowed dryly.
It was essentially the same as his opinion being accepted.
“But how do we divide into three and two? Coach?”
Danmuji asked.
The Coach pondered for a moment, then simply shook her head.
“Figure it out yourselves.”
“…”
Danmuji sensed it.
There was already a predetermined answer, but she was testing them.
By nature, Danmuji tried to find the correct answer in situations like this.
Coach Choi Sa-rang’s seat was positioned at the edge of his awareness, and he found himself reading her expression.
‘Hmm…’
Without even realizing it himself, he was trying to form the team while gauging her reaction, when Almond made a suggestion.
“Let’s go in and see what weapons drop, then decide.”
It was a proposal to postpone the decision, but it was actually a reasonable one.
After all, the weapon chest wouldn’t drop what they wanted anyway.
They couldn’t predetermine split positions beforehand.
Split positions were different from role-based positions, and no one yet knew who would excel at which position.
“Then let’s start quickly. We don’t have much time today.”
“Okay~!”

* * *
In truth, Danmuji had naturally anticipated that there would be some rough patches when first attempting split operations due to their inherent difficulty.
A Knight who had trained only with a sword couldn’t suddenly fight well when handed a spear without warning.
More than anything, the level of enemies being encountered in team ranked matches was rising considerably.
Tournament-preparing streamer teams kept slipping into matches, and as they played earnestly, even casual players began playing with fierce determination.
When sniper squads formed specifically to take down streamers were added to the mix, the difficulty skyrocketed.
It was truly a comprehensive crisis.
Boom!
[5th Place]
The result was 5th place.
An ambiguous ranking that was neither here nor there.
But it was enough to gather data.
“Ah. That was good. This split operation… it actually looks pretty promising, doesn’t it?”
“Wow. This seems really well executed and the strategy itself looks pretty cool.”
Danmuji, Hong-cha, and the higher tiers all spoke with vague smiles.
“…Brother?”
Almond, bewildered and with his spirit seemingly departed.
“Huh? What?”
“Are you alright?”
“Ah… No.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah… I don’t think I’m alright.”
Almond was struggling greatly because things hadn’t gone as he’d envisioned.
-Kekekekekekekekekekeke did something go wrong?
-His grand strategy didn’t work lol
-5th place is still good~
-His spirit left his body
-He was trying hard though kekekeke
-The opponents were just too good
-When Paprika guys mix in it really gets brutal
Boom!
[Cucumber Stir-fry donated 10,000 won.]
[“It’s a split operation.” <<< Asking if he's okay since this was his life's achievement but he failed]
-Kekekekekekeke real talk
-First compliment on his brain in his life DD
-Gaji-bokkeun is fine but Cucumber Stir-fry is crossing the line
-Probably the first brain compliment since elementary school dictation practice kekeke
-Ah kekeke that's true kekeke
Surprisingly, the donation pointed out exactly that.
'It's my first time…'
It was my first time receiving recognition for intelligent play from someone of considerable renown.
And right in front of all those people who had been denying Ttok-cheong!
'This is the first time I've been recognized by Jeon-ja-pa.'
I was acknowledged by the very best in this field!
…That fact had made me harbor such high expectations.
Excessive expectations inevitably lead to disappointment.
"Brother, for a first attempt, you did well. With a bit more practice, you'll get there."
I received consolation from Danmuji, my intellectual rival(?),
but Almond still muttered blankly.
"Do you think Coach will feel the same way?"
One mountain after another.
It's painful that my expectations have crumbled, but the fact that I need to receive feedback on this match right now is equally devastating.
"Huh? No, of course. She didn't say anything particular when we came out, did she?"
Danmuji recalls Choi Sa-rang's consistently bright smile and kind demeanor.
Would someone like that really get angry over a fifth-place finish?
She wouldn't say anything harsh either.
"Let's go for now."
"…Danmuji. You don't know anything."
"?"
-Sudden harsh criticism kekekeke
-Kekekekeke??
-You don't know… That person, you don't know
-?
I'm so done with how he has this competitive rivalry mindset against Danmuji lol
I know more than you do lol
Almond eventually dusted himself off and stood up.
The Coach was gesturing for feedback.
"The teacher is calling~"
"Yes~ Teacher~ Whee~"
The Knight Order flocked to her with bright smiles,
but the moment they arrived, a frost-edged voice pierced through.
"If you're going to split, why do you keep going around separately in groups of two and three the entire time?"
She wasn't even looking at the Knight Order.
She was speaking as if muttering to herself, rewinding the footage.
But somehow everyone's bodies went rigid.
Danmuji was hit the hardest.
"Uh…."
The shock was evident.
"A split only works when you actually come together. Haven't you done a 1-3-1 in siege warfare? If you're going to play like this, just rotate two and three separately with Q."
"…."
Ice.
The atmosphere had literally frozen solid.
Danmuji was trapped within it, completely paralyzed by the chill.
'This is so different?'
Like the others, his mind flashed back to her face from just moments ago—smiling as she presented that magical-princess-like presentation.
Could someone really change this much?
She seemed like a completely different person.
-?
-Gasp
-Wow
-Scary
-Scary scary scary scary
There was another reason for this.
Almond understood.
'I taught her, but she got it wrong.'
Most competitive sports worked this way.
They don't teach you easily.
Since it's about your own body moving, you have to realize it yourself.
But what if someone still can't do it even after being taught?
They could face the harshest punishment.
Release.
"Sigh. I explained everything just now."
Of course, in this current system, release wasn't really an option.
So what would most coaches do instead?
"Let's try again."
That's all there was—practice.
On this path of competition, a treacherous road that already seemed like predetermined fate.
All the participants could do was struggle and practice.
Holding onto the belief that perhaps fate might change.
-No feedback though…
-Scary scary scary
-What is this unnie;
-So scary…
-Wait, did someone else get into the capsule? Kekekeke
-Wow… I want feedback too…
-Brutal;
-This is a bit…

* * *
"This was the root of the problem."
Tap, tap.
Juhyeok tapped the monitor as he spoke.
The community had been burning unnecessarily, or so I'd heard.
Where there's smoke, there's fire.
There was indeed a cause behind it.
"Since Choi Sa-rang specializes in Ril… it's even hotter than it was with Civil M."
"…Specializes in Ril?"
Bontovi was startled from beside me.
Well, not beside—he was standing next to the door holding up a camera.
He'd pretended to leave but hadn't actually gone.
"…Wait, you're still here? I thought you left?"
"No. I'm capturing the authenticity."
"…"
"What do you mean she plays Ril better?"
"Don't worry about that part."
"?"
"Don't do this here. Since it's come to this, find something that can turn public opinion around."
The public sentiment was spiraling out of control.
[So Almond's split understanding proved it—it's all fabricated kekekeke]
[What's he even doing? In a squad with two Challengers? kekekeke]
[Both of them are faking it and role-playing, it's a mess]
[Choi Sa-rang's explanations just sound good in theory…]
[But are people really bashing Choi Sun-sin? If you watched the international tournament, you wouldn't bash him]
[5th place kekekeke Almond couldn't possibly understand survival splits, so it's definitely fabricated, right?]
Almond doesn't understand splits, and Choi Sa-rang doesn't actually have expertise either.
This kind of opinion was starting to ignite.
"Huh? How?"
How was I supposed to suppress that?
"I don't know! Figure it out!"
That's when it happened.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
"It's Team Leader Seojia."
"Oh, yes, come in."
Jia walked in without thinking, then nearly fainted at the sight of Bontovi standing right beside the door.
"Eek!? What, what are you doing! Here?"
"Ah, if you'd actually fainted, that would've been legendary."
Bontovi looked disappointed while Jia stared back and forth between them in disbelief.
Juhyeok smoothly changes the subject as if to move past it.
"What's the matter?"
"Ah. Well… I was trying to insert behind-the-scenes footage into the full video edit when I found something. You know we had internal studio recordings, right?"
"?"
At this point, Juhyeok had no idea what he was talking about.
"The conversation you had with King Gul after turning off the broadcast."
"Ah. Yes. Why is that an issue?"

* * *
At the same moment, King Gul was speaking in disbelief.
"…What? A forgery detector? These kinds of people got attached too? What is this, some impossible SAT problem? Huh? Even if it were a forgery, it's a broadcast—what difference does it make?"
The viewers seemed to agree with him to some extent.
-So it's probably not real then?
Ultimately, they returned to the question of whether Almond had genuinely come up with the split on his own.
This was what they truly wanted to know.
When this kind of controversy arose, even ordinary people became uncertain.
"Well, let me share my opinion. This is…"
King Gul spoke with confidence.
"Not a forgery."
-Oh
-Kek
-Kya
-But how would he know?
-Kekekeke of course he'd say it's not
-Does he have beef with Almond?
People who asked for judgment on whether it was real or not, then became dissatisfied when they didn't get the answer they wanted.
There was actually some truth to their complaints.
King Gul being knowledgeable about Ril and knowing whether this was a forgery were separate matters.
"I can say for certain. This is not a forgery."
However, by a fortunate coincidence, King Gul had exactly the evidence to back this up.
-?
-Oof
-Does he have evidence or something?
I'm crying ㅠㅠㅠ
-Oh
-But how could there even be evidence for something like this???
-Kya
Thank you for your kind words, at least.

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