Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 2

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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 2
1. I Still Want to Shoot (2)
Skill-based streaming.
I hadn’t actually watched much of it before, so I didn’t know such a market existed.
In fact, there were plenty of streams featuring skilled players.
It was just that my favorite streamer, “Bubble Gum,” happened to be remarkably bad at games.
‘Bubble Gum’s stream was for people who don’t play games.’
Only then did I realize the truth. Because I wasn’t a gamer, that stream had been recommended to me by the algorithm.
Skill-based streams primarily attracted players who loved games. They watched to learn, to improve themselves and get better.
‘People actually study just for a game.’
I realized I’d been unconsciously dismissing gaming. But here, it was the same as the sports industry.
You develop skill, and you prove yourself through competition.
There’s almost no element of luck.
Skill against skill.
A true contest of ability.
Competition!
“…I like that.”
Gulp.
I swallowed a mouthful of water and murmured to myself.
It was the way of life I’d loved since childhood. Competing fairly through skill, continuously developing myself, climbing up one step at a time.
Society, on the other hand, operated by completely different rules. Luck played a role about thirty percent of the time, and connections were three or four times more important than ability. I myself was a product of nepotism.
When you factored in school ties and regional connections, you had to wonder if actual work competence was even measured at all.
Sometimes having good looks seemed to matter more than doing your job well.
In summary, society’s mechanism was too complex, with too many variables.
I preferred simplicity.
“…Let me try this.”
I thought perhaps this game world might suit me well.

* * *
Two days after I quit.
A colleague I met at the company cafe shouted at me.
“Are you insane?!”
He was Juhyeok Kim, practically the only colleague I could truly open up to at the company.
Juhyeok had lived a life completely opposite to mine.
Raised in an affluent household, he’d attended a prestigious university, graduated from a renowned graduate school in America, and landed a position at a major corporation—an elite among elites.
“…Do I seem insane?”
If someone like him was opposing this so strongly, it was worth reconsidering.
“Then… does this not seem insane to you?”
“No, why. I’m actually really good at it.”
“…You said you’d never played games before.”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
Juhyeok strained to produce the most absurd expression his face could manage and pressed on.
“Hey, you idiot! You’re going to drain your entire deposit fund to buy a Capsule?!”
He’d shouted so loudly that nearby employees all turned to look.
“Well… I got severance too, so just lower your voice.”
“What severance does a guy who just made associate and got fired get?!”
“It’s different when you’re laid off in a restructuring, man.”
“Sigh.”
Juhyeok clutched his head.
Sanghyeon had a somewhat grumbling way of speaking, but he was sharper and more decent than most guys who’d graduated from good universities.
‘The problem is when he pulls this kind of nonsense.’
But occasionally, that sharpness transformed into foolishness.
Like right now—eating cafeteria food on weekdays and instant ramen on weekends, claiming he’d dump all his deposit savings into a Capsule.
“Look. You’d be better off going to Gangwon Land. That’d be smarter.”
“…I can’t play card games though?”
“It’s just an analogy. An analogy!”
Ugh, this frustrating bastard.
Juhyeok thought to himself: geniuses really do have a screw loose somewhere.
“How long has it been since you quit archery?”
“Hmm…”
“You don’t even remember, do you?!”
“Uh…”
“So why are you suddenly going back to shooting? In a game? Draining your deposit fund? Man, just try living normally for once.”
“Uh…”
My expression remained unchanged.
‘This guy isn’t even listening!’
As always, he never listened to things that didn’t interest him—especially nagging, which he had a real talent for letting go in one ear and out the other.
“Sigh. How much?”
“Four thousand!”
‘This guy answers so damn fast.’
Juhyeok opened his mouth to say something but barely held it back. It was obvious he wouldn’t listen anyway.
“The Capsule alone is four thousand, and the electricity to run it isn’t cheap either, plus whatever other weird equipment… we don’t need any of that?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure about that yet. But wouldn’t just one Capsule solve everything? It costs four thousand after all.”
“Even when you buy a car for 150 million, you still spend money on options. Come on.”
“Oh. I see.”
Sanghyeon thought to himself.
‘Elites really are different.’
Talking with Juhyeok Kim always meant learning something new.
“Just wait for me until I leave work. Got it? Don’t buy anything in the meantime. I’ll contact someone I know and find a cheaper place to get it.”
“Oh…! Thank you!”
“Stay here. I’m leaving right on time today.”
With that, Juhyeok Kim hurried toward the elevator.
It was just the other day that they’d ridden that elevator together, him holding a coffee. Watching his retreating figure, Sanghyeon felt a slight ache in his chest.
‘Let it go.’
This pain was an unavoidable step necessary for a fresh start.

* * *
Five in the afternoon.
Sanghyeon was at a Cafe, casually checking prices on his laptop and browsing stock charts, wondering how to use his severance pay.
“How is it that I’m more nervous than you?”
“Oh. You’re here?”
Sanghyeon tilted his head backward to look at Juhyeok. Like a bat.
“…Usually people turn their head to the side, don’t they?”
“Ah. Is that so?”
Sanghyeon turned his head to the side again. Now he was a bat with its head turned sideways.
“You’re seriously one weird guy. Anyway, let’s go.”
“Where? Did you find it?”
“Just follow me.”
Juhyeok took the lead with confident composure, putting on his suit jacket.
Sanghyeon was curious what kind of connections Juhyeok would use to buy a Capsule cheaply.
‘Maybe he’ll knock off five hundred or so.’

* * *
“Huh?”
“What do you mean ‘huh’?”
“This is a Capsule Room.”
“Right. Just stop talking and follow me.”
“No… I’m trying to buy a Capsule, not use one.”
As I followed Juhyeok by the hand, a cheerful voice greeted us.
“Hey, Juhyeok’s here? Is that the friend you mentioned?”
“Oh. Hyung. It’s been a while.”
“…Ah, hello.”
I quickly assessed the situation and offered a greeting. This was someone Juhyeok knew.
“Your name is Sanghyeon, right?”
A man with an impression that suggested he’d be running something more like a room of truth rather than a Capsule Room approached and extended his hand.
I grasped the man’s thick hand and nodded.
“Yes. I’m Sang-hyun Yu.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang-seok Lee, the CEO here.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Follow me. You’ve never used a Capsule before, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you shouldn’t be considering a purchase right away.”
‘Is he trying to convince me?’
I turned back and glared at Juhyeok sharply. He simply waved his hand with a grinning face.
For Juhyeok’s sake, I decided to follow the CEO.
“Come on, go inside here.”
“…?”
“This is where we register your biometric information.”
“Ah.”
“Since you’ve never registered before.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll close the door shortly, so just wear underwear and wait for the computer’s instructions.”
Thud.
I suddenly found myself trapped in what looked like some massive space emergency escape pod.

* * *
While Sanghyeon was inside, the two of them talked.
“Brother, you said you have used equipment left over?”
“Yeah. The parts in Capsule Rooms run pretty hard, so I can sell them for around fifteen hundred. If I really think someone’s broke, there are things I could sell for around a thousand.”
“Wow. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Just the original price. Tsk… I’d really like to talk people out of it if I could.”
“You too?”
“Yeah. There are people like that sometimes. People who seem possessed, wanting to buy used Capsules. Games make decent money these days, right? When a game does well or someone gets famous streaming it, they think they’ll strike it rich overnight.”
“Come on. Are there really people who think that simply… besides him?”
“Do you think everyone in the world is as smart as you? They’re all idiots. Ah… of course, I’m not saying your friend is like that.”
“He’s a total idiot.”
The CEO laughed heartily and stood up again. Sanghyeon’s body scan should be finished by now.
He walked toward the Scan Room and continued speaking.
“Oh, and there’s one more thing people misunderstand.”
“What is it…?”
“They think if they’re good at something in reality, they’ll be good at it in games too. But it doesn’t work that way. Whether it’s the old days or now, games have no physical limitations. It’s purely a battle of willpower. Being good at soccer in reality is different from being good at it in a game.”
“Even with full dive?”
“Yeah. In reality, you can cover with your physical abilities or overwhelm others, but you can’t do that in games. There’s no physical differentiation.”
“I see….”
“Your friend might give up right away if I have him try a light game called Real Olympics as a test today. You should comfort him well. His situation is a bit unfortunate.”
“…I understand.”
Juhyeok felt worried.
‘Is gaming really that different from reality?’
It wasn’t like he’d never played virtual reality games before. But from his perspective with an ordinary body, he’d never felt that games and reality were that different.
In fact, the opposite was much more common—doing things in games that he couldn’t do well with his body in reality.
But perhaps professionals would feel the difference more acutely. After all, they couldn’t utilize their superior physical abilities in games.
‘Actually, it worked out better. He’s saving on the deposit too.’
He roughly prepared some comforting words for Sanghyeon. He figured not buying a Capsule would be the better choice anyway.
-Scan complete.
Shortly after, Sanghyeon came out of the Scan Room and entered the Capsule at the very front.
“Here. Let’s do a test run.”
The CEO began explaining to Sanghyeon.
“Since you mainly do archery, the test should be easy. It’s a game called Real Olympics. I’ve set it up for archery.”
“Ah… Thank you.”
“I’m going to close the door now. Try to get a score in here. And….”
‘Think once more about whether you really want to buy a Capsule.’
The CEO didn’t actually say this out loud. It would happen naturally anyway.
Thud.
The Capsule door closed, and the CEO and Juhyeok turned on the monitor in viewing mode.
-Ooooohhhhh….
The screen displayed the distinctive exhilarating atmosphere unique to the Olympics.
And there stood Sanghyeon, somehow looking absolutely perfect in that white uniform.
Twang.
He drew the bowstring without the slightest hesitation, as if he had done so every single day for years.

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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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