Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 193

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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 193
65. Old Connections (3)
“Why, well because you’re just so great to see, right? I mean, you suddenly became such a successful streamer out of nowhere.”
Sanghyeon let Dong-su Lee’s excuses go in one ear and out the other, thinking to himself.
‘In the end….’
This was bound to happen eventually.
“Oh. Hey, but!”
“?”
“This isn’t just my mistake, right? Hyeonju already knew about this ages ago!”
“…What?”
Hyeonju knew. This was another surprising revelation.
“She apparently saw you by chance from the very beginning. Some streamer just shooting a bow, she thought.”
“From the very beginning?”
“Yeah. But as you know, the face visible on screen looks pretty different, right? And it’s been ten years….”
It would certainly be difficult for a friend from ten years ago to recognize you.
Especially since those ten years ago were your high school days.
“So at first, you didn’t realize it was you, and she even posted comments saying you looked like an archery expert….”
Posted comments?
‘This can’t be.’
A comment flashed through Sanghyeon’s memory.
One that analyzed why his archery form looked so professional.
It seemed oddly expert-like, which I found strange.
So that comment was from Hyeonju.
“But later, when I saw you in that Fantasia interview, I thought, ‘That’s definitely Sang-hyun Yu.'”
“…I see.”
The Fantasia interview was shot in 360 degrees, so she would have been able to identify you clearly.
“I only found out about this yesterday. When I showed her your Runstar footage, she said she already knew a long time ago.”
“I see.”
“But I didn’t know you wanted to keep it secret. I mean… in a way, it seems like Hyeonju knew something you wanted to keep hidden.”
“Hyeonju knew?”
“Yeah. She said once she realized it was you, she deleted the post. She said it naturally, so I just figured that was how it was. But now I realize she probably thought you wouldn’t want to be exposed.”
“…Hmm.”
Hyeonju was Soyeon’s best friend.
Maybe that’s how she knew I wanted to keep it secret.
“Anyway, I’m sorry. I got excited and… talked about it a lot.”
“It’s fine. Just be careful from now on. You told all the archery club kids, right?”
“Of course! Actually, they’re the ones from the archery club I was close with!”
“I see.”
I was worried the information would spread, but I figured there was nothing I could do about it anyway.
This was only sensitive and important to me. For others, it wasn’t really something that needed to be kept secret.
“But it looks like you two get along well together.”
Sanghyeon decided to change the subject.
“Yeah. Those kids back then—they stop by my café often. Everyone’s doing well. We even have a medalist now….”
“A medalist?”
Sanghyeon found himself asking back, his voice brimming with curiosity before he could help it.
“Yeah… you… don’t know?”
Dongsu’s expression was bewildered.
“Hyeonju is an Olympic gold medalist.”
Sanghyeon’s mind went blank for a moment.
‘An Olympic gold medalist.’
The meaning of those words encompassed his entire youth.
‘Hyeonju is an Olympic medalist?’
That girl who always came to me asking me to teach her….
A medalist, apparently.
Complex emotions hammered against his chest.
“Wow. You really don’t know?”
“No. I deliberately didn’t watch. Anything archery-related. So Hyeonju is still doing archery. That’s why her analysis was so good….”
Sanghyeon muttered incoherently before falling silent.
“Deliberately didn’t watch…?”
At those words, Dongsu paused.
‘Now that I think about it, he was the best back then….’
Sang-hyun Yu.
In the archery club, those three syllables were simply synonymous with excellence.
An overwhelmingly talented athlete.
When that guy suddenly said archery had become boring and quit, the entire archery club fell into considerable shock. The one who’d won medals at domestic championships, who’d entered the athlete village first….
“It’s a shame, Sanghyeon. If you’d kept going, honestly, you would’ve won gold.”
“A gold medal isn’t some neighborhood convenience store prize.”
Sanghyeon forced out a small laugh and waved his hand dismissively.
“Hyeonju was much better than me.”
Attempting an absurd distortion of memory.
Ignoring the strange ache in his chest.

* * *
Dongsu seemed to have picked up on something, as he barely brought up anything related to archery.
In the end, he left me with an invitation to visit, then stood up from his seat.
“Hey. It was great seeing you. Come by our café next time. Let’s all hang out together.”
“Sure.”
I answered with a smile.
Though the smile felt strained somehow.
I said “sure,” but I wasn’t certain we’d all be able to hang out together.
‘I’ve spent ten years trying to forget.’
The traces of a past I’d deliberately erased were now rushing back toward me all at once.
It felt both welcome and terrifying.
This must be what they mean by bittersweet.
When I left the café, it was around 3 PM.
“I parked over here. Want a ride?”
Dongsu asked as he climbed into a fairly nice foreign car.
“Nah. I’ll just make my own way.”
“Alright.”
I turned and walked away into the distance. Dongsu reached for the ignition button but hesitated.
His eyes drifted to the rearview mirror for a moment.
‘Does he still have lingering feelings?’
All he could see was my back as I walked away.
It was difficult to infer any emotion from just the back of a friend he hadn’t seen in ten years.
Still, my reaction earlier bothered him.
‘He deliberately cut himself off from all archery news. So much so that he didn’t even know about the Olympic gold medal….’
In this day and age, people could be so selective about what information they consumed that it was certainly possible to avoid hearing about niche sports if one wanted to.
But… thinking back to who Sanghyeon used to be, this was absolutely unthinkable.
‘What happened to him?’
It definitely didn’t seem like he’d simply quit archery because it stopped being fun.
Curiosity stirred in him, but Dongsu pushed the thought away.
‘I need to focus on my own things.’
I had my own problems to deal with. Just today, a part-timer at the Namyangju location suddenly quit, so I had to go cover the shift myself.
He immediately made a phone call.
“Yeah. I’m on my way now. Just proceed as usual.”
Vroom.
His car moved forward, emitting the exhaust note of a naturally aspirated engine—a rare sound these days.
“Got it. The CEO is coming in person.”

* * *
Returning home, Sanghyeon sat in a daze for quite some time.
‘What kind of feeling is this….’
It was an emotion difficult to comprehend.
I couldn’t express my current state in words.
Hyeonju becoming an Olympic gold medalist was certainly something to celebrate.
To think such talent emerged from our school’s archery club. It’s astounding.
And yet….
“Oh. You’re back early?”
Juhyeok, who had been clearing weeds in the yard, came through the veranda window.
“What’s your friend like?”
Friend?
Sanghyeon’s dazed mind stuttered for a moment before finally understanding.
He was asking about Dong-su Lee.
“Ah… just, you know.”
“Just, you know?”
“Just… similar in some ways, different in others.”
“What about keeping quiet?”
Sanghyeon smiled bitterly and shook his head.
“He already told everyone. The archery club friends.”
Sanghyeon added that Dong-su Lee was someone with wide connections and still kept in touch with them.
“Hah.”
Juhyeok let out a brief sigh.
“What are you going to do about it then.”
“But it’s not like the secret spreads just because a few archery club kids know… they’re all good people anyway. One of them even knew beforehand.”
“Huh? Really?”
I explained about Hyeonju as well.
But for some reason, I left out the part about her being a gold medalist.
I couldn’t understand why I did that myself.
“Wow… Hyeonju’s a good person. But do you think the others will keep their mouths shut like that too?”
Juhyeok praised Hyeonju as “good.”
He was right. Even during school, Hyeonju was a considerate, affable, and sincere student. Despite being my junior, there was much to learn from her….
“Hey. Why are you spacing out like that? What about the other kids?!”
Juhyeok rushed over and shook him.
“Ah… s-sorry.”
Only then did Sanghyeon realize he had been lost in thought.
“Is it okay?”
“Well… they won’t say anything. It’s not information that benefits them if they spread it….”
All they knew was that Sanghyeon used to do archery in the past and quit.
That was all.
I don’t know anything about my right arm.
After all, I’m missing the most crucial information.
But someday…
I’ll find out eventually.
There are no eternal secrets in this world. Especially not in this day and age.
“Besides, it’s not even that remarkable of a past. It’s nothing.”
Even if the truth about my right arm comes to light, I don’t think it matters much.
After all, those who needed to know already did. The Doctor, Department Manager Oh, Juhyeok…
‘It’s nothing.’
Just personal matters that aren’t worth dwelling on.
The only problem is that this particular person has become more famous than expected.
[SCHEDULE]
I opened the calendar on my phone to check the date.
It was filled with tournament practice schedules and other major commitments.
Among all the work-related entries, one oddly placed text caught my eye.
[Soyeon Han’s Birthday]
It was tomorrow.
The timing is rather fitting.
As I prepared for her birthday, I suddenly felt like I’d traveled back ten years.
Soyeon Han, Dong-su Lee, Hyeonju Cha, Jonghyeon Oh… old names flooded my mind, and I could almost smell that classroom from back then tickling my nose.
I felt like Sang-hyun Yu from Class 11, Grade 2, rather than streamer Almond.
When the semester first started. That moment when I turned my head toward the window without thinking.
Soyeon’s face bathed in sunlight streaming through the rectangular window was truly beautiful.
Ding!
“Geez…”
A loud notification sound.
A message arrived, pulling me back to reality.
[Takoyaki: Hey~ Almond. You hit ‘Gold’, right?]
It was Takoyaki.
He must have messaged me early because of today’s practice match.
[Yeah. I ranked up yesterday.]
[Takoyaki: That’s impressive lol You did scrims and solo queue like that yesterday. You played all of it as Ran?]
[Yes. Ran is easier to play with one hand.]
[Takoyaki: Ah, I see. Reina’s still doing well, right? lol Suddenly my feel for Reina dropped, and I can’t afford to mess up if I pull her out.]
[Yep]
[Takoyaki: Anyway, practice today is the same time, 6 PM!]
[Yep]
The practice match that day was scheduled against a team called “Mindless Gazelle.”
Whether they’d made it their concept or not, they kept bringing out nothing but reckless charge combinations.
Because of that, I ended up losing one game while playing Ran.
‘The rush combination won’t work with Ran….’
After learning this lesson, I selected ‘Frost Archer – Leon’ for the third match.
A ranged dealer that’s absolutely devastating against rush combinations. Once you freeze their legs, they collapse right there.
The enemies spent more time frozen in place than actually running.
Hahaha, what’s wrong with him? Why does he keep freezing up?!
-Ah, watching them fall is hilarious
Wow, Leonardo is really good at this.
Mindless charging lol so funny
-Looks more like they’re standing there dazed rather than sleepwalking
The enemies displayed an overly simplistic pattern of only attempting rushes and were helpless against Leon’s ultimate ability, Glacier Range Creation.
The match ultimately ended one-sidedly.
The enemies suffered a crushing defeat, but they weren’t without gains.
They discovered that Almond’s Ran was useless against the rush combination.
Almond’s team gained a better understanding of how to use the Frost Archer, and Almond seemed to have improved in various proficiency levels.
It was a practice match where everyone got what they wanted.
“Thank you all for your hard work.”
“Tomorrow’s Power Ranking settlement is coming up again. I think we’ll climb higher!”
“Right? It’s going better than expected. That was fun, everyone.”
“Take care~”
Around 9 PM, after finishing the feedback session, I dove back into solo ranked.
I had burned through quite a bit of stamina playing Leon with both hands earlier, but it was only one match. I could definitely continue.
I kept selecting Ran in succession, racking up consecutive wins.
I was now at ‘Gold III’.
“I’ll wrap up here for today.”
Even though it wasn’t an early stream end, the viewers erupted in protest.
After turning off the broadcast, I washed up and went straight to sleep.
In my dreams that night, I had become a gold medalist alongside Hyeonju.
Men’s gold medal, women’s gold medal.
And in the interview, we both shared the same sentiment.
‘Soyeon will be so happy.’
A single tear streamed down my sleeping face.

* * *
The next day.
The moment I woke, I brushed my teeth as always, washed up, and went through my warm-up routine.
But there was one addition to it.
Whoosh.
I slipped into a formal suit.
I grabbed my dress shoes, put them on, and headed straight out the front door.
Clack.
The crisp sound of my footsteps echoing against the stone pavement felt refreshing—like the old days when I used to commute to the Company.
I turned back and gazed out the window.
In the past, my Grandmother would always watch me leave for work from here.
‘Grandmother.’
I looked up at the brilliant morning sky, unmarred by a single cloud.
‘Grandmother knew Soyeon, didn’t you?’
She had adored her. She was the kind of person anyone—any person at all—would come to like.
Beautiful features, a neat and tidy character, impeccable manners… she was the perfect student council president.
Had she actually served as student council president? I couldn’t quite remember.
After descending the stairs, I flagged down a taxi.
A warm, mechanical voice leaked from the empty front seat.
“Where would you like to go?”
Today, I was heading to see Soyeon Han.

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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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