Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 191

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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 191
65. Old Ties (1)
After returning to DisWorld.
Danmuji, our captain, conducted a feedback session.
The feedback wasn’t particularly extensive.
It had been such a one-sided victory. Except for the bottom lane.
“You all did well.”
My teammates’ expressions were generally bright.
Mine too, except for the bottom lane.
Goguma, our supporter, and Baeksuk, our ADC, sat off to the side, heaving heavy sighs.
Baeksuk in particular looked absolutely devastated.
That expression, hardened like stone.
‘…Did he hit a wall?’
I recognized that expression.
It was the look of someone who’d felt the gap between themselves and their opponent. The look countless pros wore.
Every professional gamer, or even famous amateur players, believed they played their role quite well.
Looking around at anyone they knew, Grandmaster and Master ranks weren’t common. Reaching Master alone made you the strongest in your circle.
After playing as that strongest for so long, the moment you touch the world of professional play, everything changes.
Those Masters and Grandmasters who once reigned supreme become lower tiers instead. In the pro scene, they become shameful.
Even becoming Challenger doesn’t change the story.
Not all Challengers are equal. They’re divided by whether they cross a thousand points or not.
Even crossing a thousand points, tournaments are different. Whether you can enter the regular league or become a second-division player.
Whether you can reach playoffs or not.
Eventually, whether you won the championship or not….
‘I never overcame that final wall.’
The memory surfaced, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
There are things that no amount of effort can overcome—true despair for any human. That helplessness is indescribable.
For me, it was the finals.
I received all sorts of praise, but never won the championship.
I even earned the dishonorable title of “King Without a Crown.”
Back then, there were times I wished I were dead.
Others wouldn’t understand.
-Just take your salary and retire later, right? You could buy a building?
-Winning’s nice and all, but aren’t you already earning top-tier salary?
-Hey, office workers would be thrilled with that kind of money. Don’t obsess over it.
Take a salary and buy a building?
Sip honey while collecting a comfortable paycheck?
They don’t understand that I didn’t become a pro gamer to live such a life.
Those who pursue such lives never reach this place where regret festers from failing to win the championship.
They simply don’t understand the mentality of those who step into the professional world.
They came this far intoxicated by victory. Not for the sake of building something solid in their old age.
“…Hey. Baeksuk.”
Danmuji understood what Baeksuk was feeling.
Even if he was an amateur, he was once someone who climbed all the way to Challenger.
His competitive spirit wouldn’t be all that different.
“That’s just how it is. Man.”
“…What is?”
“If there’s someone skilled, there’s someone more skilled. If there’s someone who can’t win the championship, there’s someone who does.”
“Is that supposed to be comforting right now?!”
Baeksuk shot up in disbelief.
Puhahaha.
The other teammates burst into laughter.
Danmuji patted his shoulder as if to calm him down and offered genuine consolation.
“Hey. At least you didn’t lose to Silver.”
“…What are you trying to say now?”
“I caught a glimpse earlier. Almond’s doing solo ranked right now.”
“…What?”
Baeksuk’s eyes widened in shock.
The other players wouldn’t know since they hadn’t experienced it, but that close battle in the Bottom lane earlier was nothing short of a cerebral bloodbath.
He’d even felt that virtual reality might be dangerous.
The time spent fighting Almond was barely under ten minutes, yet it felt like ten hours.
That’s how intensely manic the engagement had proceeded. And continuously, without pause.
“That’s insane.”
Baeksuk’s stamina was already completely depleted in-game. Not just from the Bottom lane trading, but from the mid-to-late game rotations where they fought together, he had to battle in a completely exhausted state.
And now he’s running additional solo ranked matches.
How is his stamina even holding up?
“He’s almost at Gold already.”
“I see.”
“Ah, but there’s some bad news too.”
“?”
“I found out while giving feedback. I was debating whether to tell you.”
Danmuji spoke quietly so the others couldn’t hear.
“Almond was playing with only one hand.”
“!?”
“He did the same in the previous game too.”
This couldn’t be.
‘Now that I think about it…’
The strange moments that flashed through his mind.
Baeksuk’s head went completely blank.
He finally realized he’d lost to someone playing with just one hand.

* * *
[The Reckless Warrior is rampaging wildly!]
[Master of the Battlefield! The Reckless Warrior!]
[The Reckless Warrior is legendary!]
The increasingly excited announcer’s voice finally declares that the game has ended.
[DEFEAT]
Something like a storm swept through, and the castle lay shattered.
The arrows naturally pointed toward the Bottom who had faced the Reckless Warrior.
“No, seriously… does this even make sense? How much did you raise that kid? Huh?”
“He’s basically a sun farmer. Damn, he raised him well.”
“I thought they were boosters, but they’re not even boosters. Yet they’re getting destroyed like this? Just die, please.”
If they had known who the Reckless Warrior was, they wouldn’t have heard such words.
Most users in the Silver to Gold rank range enjoy the game casually.
Reel streamers who aren’t famous pro gamers don’t know much about him.
“No, seriously, Ran is so damn good, right? You all got destroyed when Ran climbed too!”
“That’s only because you raised him so damn much, you bastard.”
“What?”
When Almond plays well, the enemy Bottom is always left speechless.
The very premise of the argument falls apart.
They themselves had lost every engagement against the Reckless Warrior’s physicality.
If they said it was because he was already well-developed, or that they had raised him, there was nothing to say back.
Their only sin was that, as fellow Bottom laners, they were the first to encounter the Reckless Warrior.
“This is frustrating. Just get lost. Let’s never see each other again.”
“That’s what we should be saying. You two-headed troll bastard.”
The Reckless Warrior’s tyranny didn’t end there.
In the final match of the promotion series, the next game, he was overwhelming.
[The Reckless Warrior! Pentakill!]
With each successive game, Ran’s proficiency rose dramatically. Playing with one hand, his skill was actually better than when he first started with both hands.
His shooting accuracy and speed couldn’t compare to using both hands, but his operational knowledge and game understanding had improved.
[VICTORY]
Two familiar characters appeared in Almond’s vision.
[You have completed all promotion matches!]
The silver seal began to blaze with brilliant light.
Kiiiing…!
[Gold IV]
I had been promoted to Gold Tier 4.
It was worth running about 4-5 consecutive matches.
“Phew. I’m Gold now.”
Almond’s tension finally eased a bit, and I broke into a smile.
“If I hadn’t mastered one-handed play, I wouldn’t even be able to reach Diamond.”
Reel had a structure where you could only climb the ranks with an absolute number of games played.
No matter how many winning streaks I achieved, there were limits to the jump in points.
Thanks to mastering one-handed play, I could meet the game volume that Reel demanded.
‘The effect seems quite good.’
There was a reason the Doctor approved it immediately.
This was incredibly effective.
Just by not using my right hand, I could definitely feel less strain, and I sweat less too.
‘The performance difference isn’t that significant either.’
I stared at my damage graph. In Gold tier, one-handed or two-handed damage output was similar.
‘Compared to Baeksuk, I’m still far behind….’
The Baeksuk I’d faced earlier, and even players far better than Greentea, had started appearing as opponents.
So there was no need to use both hands.
[Almond! Almond! Almond!]
[Wow, it’s Almond!]
[Who’s that?]
[Let’s meet on the same team next time after Nut Shack… ugh…]
[Is that Almond? But the stream isn’t even on?]
[Wow, is Almond doing closed training?]
Had I gained some recognition in Reel matches just from competing in the tournament?
Until now, no one had recognized me.
In the last game, there were players who recognized me.
[Hey, are you playing more? Wanna duo with me? I’m good at supporting.]
The person who had supported me earlier even sent a duo request.
I wasn’t sure if they recognized me as Almond or just thought I played well and sent the request.
‘A duo….’
I checked the time.
It was already 11 PM.
‘When did it get this late.’
Grrrrrr.
I was craving a late-night snack.
[A duo seems difficult.]
I politely declined the request and stepped out of the Capsule.
Creak──
When I came out, Juhyeok was sprawled out on the sofa. An empty beer can rolled beneath his dangling hand.
Tap.
I gently poked Juhyeok.
“Hey. Go inside and sleep.”
“…?”
Juhyeok opened his bleary eyes.
“Oh. You’re done?”
Juhyeok got up more cleanly than expected. He checked the time and looked back at me.
“You can really play games that long?”
“It doesn’t matter much since I’m playing one-handed.”
“Does that actually work?”
Juhyeok examined me from head to toe and nodded. The sweat had definitely decreased.
“Who were you on the phone with?”
“Oh… it wasn’t that… I was just watching Ollytube. Oh! And Jia wants to recruit a new assistant.”
“An assistant?”
“Yeah. She’s splitting it from her own pay. She says the growth rate has slowed down too much lately. She’s thinking of picking someone who knows Reel well. Since you’re the decision-maker anyway. What do you think?”
Was it that friend I saw last time? Since she’s splitting it from her own pay, I wouldn’t really mind.
“Sure. Tell her to do that.”
“Okay.”
“Hey.”
“…Huh?”
I called out to Juhyeok, who was about to head inside.
“Um… aren’t you hungry?”
“?”
Juhyeok tilted his head.
Was he asking if I wanted a late-night snack?
“Now that you mention it, I think I am a bit hungry.”
Maybe it was from drinking beer, but I was craving carbs.
“Oh. Really? Do you have nothing else to do?”
My expression changed noticeably.
Only then did Juhyeok catch on to what I wanted.
‘This bastard…’
He was hungry, but he didn’t want to cook a late-night snack himself.
‘I want to tell him to just eat some Almond instead.’
But compared to the hassle of cooking a late-night snack, the fact that he was seeking my cooking instead of Almond’s earned him higher points.
And isn’t this what having a good manager is all about?
“I saw a bibim noodle recipe on Ollytube recently.”
“…Oh!”

* * *
Slurrrp.
The tangy, spicy, sweet sauce was sucked down along with the refreshing cucumber strips in one go.
“Wow. This is delicious too.”
“That’s Big Chef’s.”
“Big Chef?”
“There’s a chef with a big build.”
“I see. The world’s pretty convenient these days.”
While eagerly slurping down Big Chef’s bibim noodles, I pulled out my phone.
[RuneStagram]
A personal SNS I’d been obsessed with lately.
The sense of connection felt different from Ollytube and Trevi, which I’d been managing all this time.
“What are you doing? Checking RuneStar?”
“Yeah.”
“Do I need to manage that too?”
“This much? It’s my personal account.”
That was right.
Trevi and Ollytube were managed by Juhyeok and Jia.
RuneStagram was entirely mine.
That was the difference.
Of course, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
“…Alright. Got it. Be careful.”
I nodded and checked the dozens of direct messages stacked up.
There were tons of encouraging messages and female fans wanting to chat.
Among them…
[Wow. Sanghyeon. You’re Sanghyeon, right?]
I saw a message from a familiar name.
[I thought you quit archery and disappeared, so I figured you were doing something else. You’re a streamer? That’s so cool lol. You’re still a great shot?]

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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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