Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 262

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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 262
93. A New Leap (1)
The day the Nant Tournament ended.
I emerged from the capsule and briefly caught up with Juhyeok.
Psssht.
Juhyeok asked as he cracked open a canned beer.
“Congratulations on winning.”
“You worked hard too.”
Clink.
Not the loud ring of glass clinking together, but the dull sound of aluminum cans—though that was enough for us.
It was sufficient.
Gulp.
After chugging the beer, I let out a satisfied “Ahhh!” and tossed almonds into my mouth.
Crunch.
Juhyeok followed suit, dumping almonds into his mouth as well.
These tiresome almonds.
“Damn it. When is that chicken ever going to arrive?”
Whether it was because of the stairs in this shabby neighborhood or something else, delivery was taking forever, so I was forced to keep eating these.
“Hey. This is all advertising. Be grateful and eat.”
“How is eating just between us advertising? Are cameras even rolling?”
Juhyeok wore an exasperated expression while shoving more almonds into his mouth, as if this batch might somehow cleanse the previous ones. Then something amusing seemed to occur to him, and he let out a snort of laughter.
He chuckled.
“But since you brought up advertising—you managed to plug Nova even in the middle of all that. Huh? You’re a full-fledged streamer now.”
“I was just timing when to bring it up the whole time.”
I shot back with a grin.
No matter what, recounting that past must have been emotionally overwhelming, yet I was playing it off quite casually.
‘Good thing he seems fine.’
Juhyeok actually felt relieved.
That past he’d tried to hide from me could now simply become a cherished memory between friends.
“Now that you’ve told me everything, how do you feel? A bit lighter?”
When Juhyeok asked casually, I gazed out the window for a moment.
“…No.”
“?”
“I feel completely relieved.”
We both burst out laughing and clinked our cans together again.
-Ding dong!
The doorbell rang almost at that exact moment.
The chicken had arrived.
Juhyeok, apparently hungry, quickly ran out to pay and brought back the somewhat cooled chicken, spreading it out.
“The delivery person looked unhappy again. Ha ha.”
There was no way to ride a motorcycle up these neighborhood stairs, so walking up must have been quite exhausting.
“Can’t be helped.”
Even if it had cooled down somewhat, chicken was still chicken.
The moment I bit into it, the juices and savory oil burst forth, sending a wave of pleasure so intense it made my brain tingle.
“Ah. Now this is it.”
“Mmm….”
After that, the two of us grew quite animated reminiscing about their days at Asung, and once they’d exhausted every memory with nothing left to discuss, Department Manager Park spent a good two hours debating whether he’d gone completely bald by now.
Only after reaching the conclusion that perhaps only half had fallen out did the two of them finally fall asleep.

* * *
The next morning.
Juhyeok, who hadn’t drunk in a while, was preparing to make tomato stew to cure his hangover.
‘Ah. There’s no celery.’
Noticing that one of the essential ingredients was missing, he went to wake Sanghyeon. Since he always woke up early anyway to go jogging, Juhyeok planned to ask him to pick some up on the way.
But Sanghyeon was still asleep.
“…What?”
Strangely enough, he was smiling in his sleep.
Not just wearing a smile, but actually letting out soft chuckles, laughter escaping from his lips.
It was the first time I’d ever seen him laugh like that while sleeping.
“What kind of dream could he possibly be having?”
Juhyeok ultimately decided not to wake Sanghyeon and went out to buy the celery himself.
The morning breeze was quite crisp.
‘It’s completely winter now.’
November had passed, and it was already early December.
Climbing up and down these stairs in this weather was the most difficult part. Sometimes ice formed on them, making it slippery enough to slide.
Still, having grown quite accustomed to it by now, Juhyeok casually checked his phone while descending the stairs.
[From Archery Prospect to Almond]
It was a video about Sanghyeon’s past that Jia had uploaded yesterday.
[Views: 829,000]
About twelve hours had passed, and the view count had already hit 820,000.
Remarkable growth.
Comments were naturally pouring in as well.
Oh no, what do I do? T_T
“And ㅠㅠ what kind of movie is this really”
-Almond was already so handsome as a kid, he must’ve been super popular.
└The worst midlaner in existence. Sang-hyun Yu
-Not just a face like a movie actor, his life is a movie too
What is this? Sang-hyun went crazy in childhood. But he’s cute in the meantime ㅠ
Wow, hyung. I had no idea there was such a backstory. From now on, even if you spam ads all over Runstar, I won’t complain ㅠ
-We of the King Chiman Association support you.
Countless fans left comments of encouragement.
[Archery Association] – Sanghyeon… So you were that student back then. It was quite a famous incident among those who’ve worked here for a long time. I’m glad things turned out well.
└This is legit
└Why is he here…? No, it makes sense he’d show up here.
Is this really the official channel? Wow.
The Archery Association’s official channel had posted a comment.
And Hyeonju, who had recently been uploading casually to YouTube through vlogs, left a comment as well.
[Hyeonju Vlog] – Oppa. You finally told them. Congratulations. Only good things ahead for you!
└Wow, a gold medalist
Wow, it’s really Hyunju! Crazy!
└You were classmates???
└As expected! I knew I could trust you! It wasn’t for nothing that I followed Almond Balloon Stars!
└Gold? Isn’t that silver? Almond’s diamond!
And the Balloon Stars teammates each left words of encouragement.
Miho: -Oppa ㅠㅠㅠ I can’t watch this ㅠㅠ
[Yeolbeol! Gamseongtako] – Phew, you’ve been through a lot, Almond.
[Balloon Gum] – Next time! Let’s play again!
[Strawberry Shooter] -Almond oppa ㅠㅠ
The Balloon Stars teammates seemed to have grown quite close to one another.
It was pleasant to see.
It wasn’t just Juhyeok who thought so—the comments reflected the same sentiment.
Balloon Stars seem like they’ll keep their friendship going haha
└I think so too
I could tell they had chemistry from way back when Gum-hyung and Almond started flirting lol
I wish we could stay close like this lol
– Almond’s expression is so bright when he’s with the Balloon members
lol that’s hilarious
└I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
I’m looking forward to the after-party broadcast with [them] today.
After-party broadcast.
Juhyeok’s gaze lingered on those words.
‘Right, I should do an after-party broadcast today.’
After major events like the Nant Tournament, streamers typically do what’s called an after-party broadcast.
They relive the fun by discussing what happened with each other.
I thought it would be nice if Almond did a broadcast like that too.
‘I should let him know.’
Juhyeok was making a note in his memo app.
Meanwhile, another comment caught his eye.
– Wow! This made it into major news outlets! World-class! Almond!
‘Major news outlets…?’
Juhyeok’s pace quickened.
‘I need to hurry and finish shopping.’

* * *
No matter how much people spoke of an era of one-person broadcasts, one-person enterprises, one-person agencies, and even one-person media outlets.
Just as the internet streaming world had distinctions between major and minor channels, the media industry naturally had its own hierarchy.
From internet tabloids to established news outlets that had built steady trust over generations, there was a clear pecking order.
Media outlets that dug through celebrities’ private affairs couldn’t be treated the same as news organizations that collaborated with foreign correspondents on major national developments.
Unfortunately, most incidents involving streamers were covered by the former—the tabloid-style outlets obsessed with celebrity gossip.
Actually, if they covered it at all, that was fortunate. At least streamers were being treated like celebrities.
Usually, freelance reporters took subcontracts and scattered the stories like tabloid fodder to lower-tier outlets.
These articles were invariably useless and only attracted strange backlash in online communities.
But the article Juhyeok was reading after finishing his meal was different.
[The Archery Boy Who Rose Above the Despair of Shattered Dreams]
[Hanhae Daily, Reporter Lee Jeong-su]
Hanhae Daily. The nation’s most prestigious news outlet, active in the struggle for liberation even under Japanese colonial rule.
Naturally, as a major outlet, half the people disliked it and half liked it, but that wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was that a news organization of this caliber had featured Sanghyeon’s story as a main article.
In simple terms, it could be called a ‘class ascension.’
‘A path from commoner bourgeoisie to nobility.’
Class….
It wasn’t unrelated to Juhyeok either.
Why had his father opposed this profession?
He feared his son’s social status would decline.
Aside from income, the profession of streamer—and especially being a manager for one—didn’t look much different to the older generation than leaving home to make money with organized crime.
But streamers vary by streamer, and managers vary by manager.
He had to prove that.
That was Juhyeok’s class ascension and social validation.
With that in mind, his eyes moved busily across the Hanhae Daily article.
“The article content is good though…?”
First, he was pleased with the article’s content.
There were no factual errors, and nothing was sensationalized unnecessarily. It simply reorganized and presented Sanghyeon’s story from AllTube as it was.
What the reporter did was add narrative on top of that.
An archery boy who rose above despair, overcoming life as a streamer.
‘What about the comments….’
The content was satisfying.
But the problem with articles like this was usually the comments.
When streamer or creator-related articles appeared in major outlets like this, what kind of comments typically appeared?
-Who is this? Why is this getting coverage?
-What is this nobody doing in the news
-Don’t bring up the streamer Knight thing
-I seriously don’t know who that is;
This is the average.
The general audience watching major media outlets and the audience in the minor culture streamer market are completely different.
Besides, these days everyone consumes different content.
But articles about Sanghyeon were different.
-First time seeing you~ I’m rooting for you~ Supporting your grandmother and overcoming frustration is amazing~~! (Recommended 4,091)
There are streamers like this too… I didn’t have a good impression of live streamers before. I got a little teary-eyed reading the story. ㅠㅠ I hope things get better for them. (2,882 upvotes)
That taxi incident ㅠㅠ It was absolute chaos back then. Quite a few celebrities died too… In the midst of all that, it’s fortunate that someone like you, Almond, survived. I really hope you’ll take on rehabilitation and make a comeback ㅠ (1,022 upvotes)
“Almond lol, even the name is cute. You have a bright face and are quite handsome. Maybe I should go check out a PC bang too… (Recommended 710)”
-Movie actor-level face. Movie-like story. Divine archer-level archery skills… W, wait, this is a streamer? (Recommended 425)
That was it.
The reason Juhyeok was certain of Sanghyeon’s major potential.
Borrowing the exact words this journalist had written….
[…Sang-hyun Yu overcame his frustration in archery, the most analog and traditional sport, through the profession of streamer, the most innovative and digitalized occupation…]
From analog to digital, from old generation to new generation.
He possessed a connecting link that could encompass everyone.
He had a background that everyone could relate to.
This journalist had grasped that well.
“Should I turn on the broadcast now?”
And now it was 1 PM.
Sanghyeon, roused by Juhyeok’s urging, slowly turned on his broadcast.
It was an after-party broadcast about the Nant Tournament.
“Yeah. Okay. Just a moment.”
Juhyeok checked Sanghyeon’s Disworld mobile chat room.
The fun of this after-party broadcast was that other streamers would jump in with donations or chat messages throughout.
To make that happen, he needed to see if other streamers were currently active.
‘Mosol, Hong-cha, Greentea are active….’
The Balloon Stars team members didn’t seem to have woken up yet.
‘This combination might not be bad either.’
The Balloon Stars members had already consumed a lot of their image in Sanghyeon’s broadcast. Viewers had already watched the Nant Tournament from their perspective.
But the other streamers who were enemies?
Juhyeok decided to send messages to Jia and Yeonju, entering their rooms to subtly leak information.
-Almond’s doing an after-party broadcast right now
The viewers are about to explode lol
-Apparently streamers take questions from viewers without discrimination?
With chats like these, they’d naturally want to get a piece of it. If they were doing an after-party for the Nant Tournament, Almond would be the streamer getting the most attention no matter what.
“Sanghyeon. Go in about 20 minutes.”
“…20 minutes?”
“Ah, no. 10 mi… 5 minutes!”
Ding.
Replies came back from Jia and Yeonju.
As expected, the bites came faster than I anticipated.
“Go!”

* * *
Ahem.
I sat down at my desk for a moment and cleared my throat.
That’s right. Today, I wasn’t sitting in front of a capsule—I was at a computer with a camera attached.
With familiar motions, I tinkered with it, and the broadcast came on immediately.
Ding.
[Almond is starting a stream!]
As the notification appeared, countless viewers began flooding in.
Numbers incomparable to before.

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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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