Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 208

—————
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 1 Episode 208
71. The First Match (1)
The first day of the tournament.
Participants in their respective waiting areas were either finalizing their strategies or steeling their resolve.
Teams waiting for their next or subsequent matches all stared blankly at the screens.
[Match – 1]
[Balloon Stars VS Foolish Deer]
The clash between the first competing teams, Foolish Deer and Balloon Stars.
With bans and picks completed, the players finally entered the arena.
“Wow… what is that?”
“It’s the All-Dive System. Insane.”
“Ugh. What do we do…”
“Thank goodness this isn’t our first match.”
They were all startled by the All-Dive System that brought spectators into the arena itself. And for good reason—it was a system that completely transformed the game’s atmosphere.
Witnessing the impact of this new system, some participants grew tense and stood up to stretch. Though stretching in virtual reality served no physical purpose, they did it anyway. Others listened to music alone or took a quick nap.
Among them, there was one person using an exceptionally unusual method to manage their nerves.
“…Hey. What are you doing?”
It was Mosol (Most Soliah).
“Huh? Me? I’m training.”
He confidently told his teammate he was training while turning the page of the magazine he was reading.
His teammate picked up the magazine he was looking at.
‘Full Dive… Into Miho…’
He muttered the text written on the cover.
A large photo of Miho was plastered on the front.
She appeared to be this issue’s model.
Beside it were spread out various photoshoots Miho had done, even the ones that required paid purchases.
Sigh.
It was absurd. Calling this training.
Anyone who didn’t know better would certainly say the same thing.
“Ah… good luck. I’m not sure if this will help, but…”
“Yeah.”
Mosol’s teammate acknowledged his training.
「If I equip the Swimming Pool Party skin, you won’t be able to do anything, right?」
Those words that shook Mosol’s mind.
‘How did she know?’
Miho, a Challenger mid-laner herself, knew how to counter Mosol.
She was toying with the genius mid-laner Mosol, who had reached Challenger at nineteen, despite being merely Platinum.
‘…Get used to it. Get used to it.’
Mosol was trying to desensitize himself to her provocations in advance so her prepared strategy would never work on him.
The only regret was that he’d wanted to purchase lingerie or bikini photoshoots, but couldn’t since he hadn’t yet turned nineteen.
‘What a shame. I wish I could have trained.’
Mosol lamented right up until the end, using training as an excuse.
For a moment, I tear my eyes away from the magazine where Miho’s face is prominently featured and look at the screen.
“?”
And I’m startled.
“What? Why isn’t it Miho?”
Balloon Stars’ mid laner wasn’t Miho.
“…Tsk. That’s what happens when you’re looking at magazines, isn’t it?”
One of my teammates clicks his tongue.
But it doesn’t reach Mosol’s ears.
“What’s going on!?”

* * *
Foolish Deer’s mid laner, Tomato.
He wore a troubled expression.
‘Ah. So he really is mid.’
I can see Almond warming up in the distance.
[Hey. Almond’s really mid? What about our strategy? We were supposed to feed mid and kill the ADC.]
[You sure it’s mid?]
[Yeah. I can see him over there.]
[Sigh… I had a bad feeling about this. Tsk.]
The one sighing now is the Grandmaster jungler, ‘Pepper’. He was also the team’s leader.
‘They figured it out?’
I’d deliberately made them think the combination was targeting Balloon Gum.
‘Taco… even shaved his head. He really didn’t die.’
It seems the experience of a former pro can’t be fooled.
[Can’t be helped. The draft got a bit twisted. But it’s fine. We’ll just switch to killing the Strawberry Shooter instead.]
[So the strategy stays the same? Feed me.]
[Yeah. I’ll destroy mid. But can you hold against the counter?]
The basic principle of killing the ADC doesn’t change.
However, the incarnation that Flash Blade had to face was the problem.
‘I didn’t account for the ninja.’
I never expected him to switch positions from the first game, so I failed to account for the hard counter, Storm Ninja, coming out. Miho can’t play ninja anyway.
‘I at least considered Leprechaun.’
I thought if it were Miho, she’d counter with Leprechaun.
I didn’t know Almond would switch and come out with ninja.
‘I should have watched all their scrim matches.’
Since Pepper isn’t a pro player, he couldn’t watch all of the opponent’s scrim matches. So Almond’s mid appearance was an unforeseen variable I hadn’t considered.
Of course, even if I had known, given the nature of the draft proceeding within a set time frame, it would have been over if I couldn’t think of it in that moment.
[I’m a Flash Blade master. What’s a counter or two to me?]
Fortunately, Tomato showed confidence in his first-pick selection.
[Well, that’s a relief.]
[Man. By the way, I’m seriously nervous with the audience watching.]
[Yeah….]
Since this was a newly implemented system, it seemed like it would take time to adapt. Even when hitting monsters, the audience was visible.
It didn’t feel like playing a game anymore—it felt like I was actually competing in a real sport.

* * *
“Alright. The first match under the new All Dive system! The players must be pretty nervous, right?”
“Absolutely. This level of immersion is unprecedented. This is our first time too! At this rate, we won’t even need offline matches anymore!”
“Wow. The world really has improved!”
“Now we can handle everything from home!”
“Ahem.”
As they continued discussing the audience seating, the Analyst interjected politely with a cough.
“What would you say are the key points, King Gul?”
“Ah. At first I thought it was a top dive composition? But once everyone picked, I realized this is about scaling Flash Blade.”
“Ah. So Taco’s ban pick, boldly sacrificing other elements to counter mid, was a good call?”
“Yes. You could say it was sharp. Now the key will be how Foolish Deer adapts to that ban pick….”
The caster interjected with a question.
“Those technical aspects are great, but what about the fun factor?”
“Ah, something similar—the dream matchup of solo queue warriors! Storm Ninja versus Flash Blade! Both put on incredibly flashy fights, right? Though Flash Blade only comes online after level 6….”
“Ah. That’s definitely true. It’s a matchup you rarely see in pro play.”
“Right. Both lack stability at the pro level. Though if it’s someone at Jeon-ja-pa’s skill level, it can work even in pro play.”
“Their matchup is extremely polarized, which makes it fun. The Ninja dominates until level 6, but around level 7 or 8, the situation flips, right?”
The caster laughs.
“Ah. So level 6 is the turning point?! King Gul?”
“Exactly. That’s when Flash Blade comes online. At level 6, the blade becomes two, turning into a completely different character. From then on, it’s a spear versus drill matchup.”
The caster suddenly turns to face the Analyst.
“By the way, Analyst!”
“Yes.”
“Almond! Almond’s tier has risen dramatically! What do you think, Analyst? Did you predict this?!”
After all, Red Glasses the Analyst had always insisted that Almond’s skill level required ‘verification’.
The Analyst pushed up his red glasses and smiled.
“Well. I predicted it around the middle of the practice period. Ah, this player… will definitely reach Diamond at minimum.”
“Ooooh!”
Caster Kim Sang-hun reacts with surprise.
The viewers and audience laughed as well.
hahaha
-Looks like King Gul’s doubts are over
-The official seal of approval! So difficult! So hard!
Then it happened.
The first clash erupted.
“Oh! While we were just chatting!!”
King Gul abruptly shifted the topic. Every spectator’s gaze snapped toward the midlane.
“The midlane situation is looking unusual right now!”
“Wait. Why is the minion kill difference like that?!”

* * *
Clang!!!
Shuriken and Flash Blade collided, sending sparks flying.
Flash Blade—Swift—staggered backward.
‘What is this… this aim…’
Tomato was flustered. This was his first time facing Almond in lane.
Almond weaved just barely outside the minions’ attack range, and the moment an opening appeared, he hurled shuriken without hesitation.
Whenever Tomato tried to secure a minion, he had to spend time deflecting the incoming shuriken.
By then, the minion was already dead.
‘What’s with this accuracy.’
It felt vastly different from the Storm Ninjas I’d faced before. Usually, shuriken like these were nothing more than poke damage.
But this guy’s shuriken aimed for vital points as if trying to kill me.
Was that the reason?
[Tomato]
[Minion Kills: 3]
He’d only secured three minions.
Meanwhile, what about Almond?
[Almond]
[Minion Kills: 21]
A whopping twenty-one minions. He’d landed the killing blow on every single one without exception.
[What is happening here. Considering he’s Flash Blade, is that acceptable?]
[Hmm… in a pro match, that would be a disaster, but for now it’s manageable.]
[Ah! Manageable? Isn’t that kind of language itself a bad sign!]
[Indeed. He’ll struggle to handle this alone.]
[Tomato is a Flash Blade specialist and Diamond 1, so what do we do about this?!]
The moment the commentators spoke, the crowd began to jeer.
-Boooooooo…!
-Boooooo!
At those jeers, Tomato flinched.
Even if he couldn’t hear the broadcast, he could hear the crowd.
Thwip!
In that instant, blood sprayed as if on cue.
A shuriken had lodged itself in his shoulder.
[It looks like I’m about to die from being shut down!!!]
[No, wait, Almond! Why are your shuriken so sharp!? You haven’t even learned Storm Shuriken yet, and if you throw like that, anyone could play ninja!]
Tomato bit his lip.
-Boooooo!
-Give back the Diamond rank!
-Dia-Tomato!
-Almond! Almond! Almond!
The crowd’s jeers continued relentlessly.
“Tch. Just wait a moment, you bastards.”
Tomato was somewhat taken aback by the accuracy of Almond’s shuriken harassment.
But he was still a master craftsman.
His Flash Blade wasn’t completely weak in the early game.
‘It’s all about how you use it.’
The Flash Blade wasn’t completely useless in the early stages.
The Flash Blade’s early advantage was its passive, ‘Blade Force’.
It activated automatically every few seconds.
Fwoosh!
Energy surged from the blade’s edge, transforming the short sword into a long curved saber.
Tomato stepped forward slightly.
Almost simultaneously──
“Huh.”
──Slash!
The blade strike connected with the opponent.
Almond hadn’t anticipated the enemy’s attack.
[Health 82%]
Massive damage came through in a single blow.
A master is a master. To utilize the very edge of attack range like this—it was a play impossible without precise distance awareness.
With this one strike, the health advantage reversed.
It was damage on a completely different level from gradually chipping away with shuriken.
“Hahahaha! Now that’s a proper trade!”
This was the typical play style of Flash Blade users.
Deal passive damage with Blade Force, then throw the Flash Blade backward to escape.
Now he just needed to throw the sword toward the allied tower and use Flash to get away.
Whoosh!
Swift’s blade was thrown.
The sword flew rapidly toward the tower.
If he escaped like this, the lane would become even again. But──
“!?”
──Clang!!
“…What?”
The sword that had been flying through the air fell.
Something had struck it out of the sky.
The audience gasped in shock, and Tomato, unable to react in time, activated his skill.
[Flash]
Whoosh!
Did I move three centimeters? The distance was so pathetic I felt embarrassed using Flash at all.
“This is ridic—”
I had moved so little that Almond was already waiting ahead of me.
“—ulous!?”
Slash!
Almond’s blade tore across my neck.
[Critical Hit!]
[Health 77%]
Consecutive slashes followed.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
[Critical Hit!]
[Health 53%]
[Critical Hit!]
[Health 32%]
Almond was cutting away as if he’d been waiting for this moment alone.
Tomato was clearly flustered, unable to block a single blade strike properly.
Actually, because the sword fell in such an odd trajectory, I couldn’t even pick it back up. When you learn a new skill, the sword attaches to your hand automatically, but…
Right now I was level one.
I had nothing but Flash, and that was on cooldown. A full twelve seconds.
In Reel, twelve seconds was enough time for the Contractor to die three times over.
And I couldn’t even run away.
There’s a reason the meme exists calling Swift without Flash “Slow.”
“No, wait! Damn it… hold on!”
Slash! Slash!
Tomato tried to stop Almond, waving his palm desperately before falling.
[First Blood!]
The moment that announcement echoed across the battlefield.
—Uoooooooooooooooo!!!!
A thunderous roar shook the arena.
[Almonnnnnnd!!!]
[What was that play!?]
Like the casters’ voices, the chat exploded into frenzy.

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