Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 280
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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 Spin-off Episode 16
4. The Witch (5)
“…A sheep?”
Reina’s expression turns slightly bewildered.
Understandably so.
If one doesn’t know the full story of what happened.
“W-what is this?”
Reina turns to Almond and asks.
“Ah… this is…”
Almond was about to explain about my helper, but that helper appeared first.
Boom!
White smoke bursts into the air, and someone leaps out from within it.
“Sorry to interrupt such a romantic moment!”
Thud.
Someone of small stature falls from the air and lands.
“I have arrived!”
Laurent, the one Almond had requested help from.
“The Desert Witch has come, you see~!”
No, the Desert Witch indeed.
* * *
The witch’s appearance was far too sudden.
At least for everyone other than Almond.
“A… a witch?”
“Laurent?”
“T-the Desert Witch… she really existed?”
The mercenaries trembled and stumbled backward.
Understandably so.
Stories related to the Desert Witch were almost equivalent to tales of the Grim Reaper in this world.
Even setting aside the Goddess Church, other religions also defined her existence as evil.
“Well~ of course I exist. Have you all been living in ignorance? Huh?”
However, in Almond’s eyes, Laurent remained Laurent.
Just as the descriptions of the Desert Witch depicted—wavy reddish-brown hair, emerald-green eyes, and mischievous freckles.
And there was…
Click.
Those pinky fingernails that were so blatantly visible.
Yes. Laurent had been growing those nails from the start, openly declaring herself a witch. Yet strangely, no one had ever suspected her.
“Well, there’s no shortage of evidence secured here.”
Whoooosh…!
Condensed magical energy shimmers brilliantly from those fingernails.
Light shot out in a straight line like a laser.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
It began connecting various pieces of evidence.
“Wow, Almond. I knew you wouldn’t be able to call me, you know? As you know, witches can’t use magic properly unless someone calls their name and asks for help. But you wrote exactly ‘To the Witch of the Desert, Laurent’ in that letter!”
A chatty mouth. Yeah, he was still Laurent.
The only difference was that he was now wearing a skirt and had become quite a cute girl in appearance.
So, the ‘witch’ was indeed a witch.
-Wow! Walnut really worked hard
-A lot of people couldn’t get this right on the first try lol
Oh no, so Lorang was a witch ㅠㅠ
Wow, that’s hilarious lol
Laurent’s face buff is insane lolol
“What’s with that old man’s bluffing, saying if demons existed he would’ve died long ago? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ The witch was right in front of his nose ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
Among the viewers, some had already caught on, and others had already seen this story, so quite a few knew.
However, those playing for the first time could easily miss these details.
Almond had fairly good observational skills, so he was able to notice.
‘It didn’t make sense.’
Thinking about it, Laurent had been a strange existence from the very beginning.
He used magic that transformed him into a sheep that no one else used, and he instantly knocked out Bered, who was a seer…
These were abilities that a boy his age simply couldn’t possess. Given the game’s nature, you could overlook it, but when you think about it, it was full of strange things.
It was memorable that among men, he unusually kept his nails beautifully groomed.
Most importantly, Ran had no knowledge of Laurent’s existence at all.
So from the beginning, Laurent wanted to do this grand scheme through Ran.
It was probably Laurent who opened Lete’s astronomy and made the Player—or rather, the Avatar here—accept it.
“…Is he your colleague?”
Reina asked while wiping away tears.
The way she asked seemed somewhat sulky, as if she didn’t like being left out of this.
“Ah… No. Not a colleague. Just… that person hired me.”
“Ah…”
Reina glanced up at Almond again.
“…Is that your original face?”
She quickly averted her gaze as she asked.
I’m going crazy ㅋㅋㅋ
-How many times is Reina falling for Almond
-Wow but this seems to be Reina’s 3-star clear reward? It’s connected
-There are usually some connected stories, but Reina’s 3-star is so rare…
“Ah. Yeah. This is my original face.”
“I see. It suits you much better.”
Reina’s voice seemed somehow more excited.
Setting aside the suspicious feeling that she probably wouldn’t have been as excited if this were a fake face, Almond asked how she was doing.
“How have you been all this time?”
I was curious too.
We’d been together until we escaped that battlefield, but I’d heard nothing of what happened after.
“As you can see.”
Reina gestures toward her mercenary group with a rather proud smile.
“I’m the captain of the mercenary group. As always.”
That’s right. Reina had held the captain’s role there as well. She clearly possessed the talent to lead such people.
Which explained how she eventually rose to become a Celestial Being.
“We were tracking this potion. While tracing back how Contractors are created, we discovered something called the Blue Hole.”
“…Ah. For me too, though not because of Contractors. That boy Ran over there nearly died because of this. He lost his girlfriend as well…”
“Right. I know the circumstances. I’m the one who included him in our operation. We were still searching for an insider, and when Ran showed up, I thought we could execute the plan immediately…”
Reina’s expression turned bitter as she gazed at her fallen comrades.
“…But it seems the insider wasn’t just here.”
The operation’s details had been exposed midway. The fact that they’d sealed the iron door as if welding it shut meant they’d known about this operation long ago.
“It was a decent plan—infiltrate deep into enemy stronghold, gather all the evidence, and escape leisurely.”
Pfft.
Reina looked at me and bowed her head slightly.
“I owe you again. Without you, we’d all be dead.”
-Wait, does Reina need to use the bathroom? Why is she twisting her body like that?
Is Reina’s avatar a earthworm? Lol seriously ㅋㅋㅋ
I’m absolutely loving this lol
Lol I was relieved because it was just a story mode, but the plot twist is insane lol
As I conversed more with Reina, viewer resistance intensified.
Still, I found it meaningful to finally confirm what had become of Reina from my childhood.
“So you… became a Celestial Being?”
“…Yeah.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I just agreed.
In fact, in the actual Ril, I’m the Contractor and Reina is the Celestial Being.
“Hmm. If I die as a hero, could I become like you?”
“…It’s better not to die.”
Pfft.
Reina burst into laughter at my response, saying that was right.
“It was good to see you.”
Reina extended her hand.
I clasped her hand in return.
“You’re leaving soon… aren’t you?”
Like most Celestial Beings, she couldn’t always remain.
“Probably.”
Reina shook hands and waved her hand, then…
Whoosh.
I grabbed him and pulled him close, pressing my lips against his.
“….”
“Take care.”
* * *
The Red Mercenary Group, having suffered significant losses, gathered their spoils and departed, leaving the cleanup to the Desert Witch.
Reina offered a surprisingly cool farewell as she left.
She’d likely realized that Almond was an incarnation and couldn’t afford to harbor lingering attachments.
In any case, the Desert Witch’s efficiency was beyond imagination—terrifying even to witness.
She could manipulate people’s perception itself whenever she wished.
This was the most frightening of her abilities.
She made people perceive things exactly as she desired. For instance, she could make Laurent appear as that freckled boy student from before….
That’s how she’d managed to infiltrate even that school.
However, such perception manipulation took an enormous amount of time.
“Ugh, what a pain. Damn it.”
So saying, she simply transformed most of them into sheep instead.
Poof!
The believers who had been resisting here became sheep.
“Hahahaha! How does it feel to become the little lambs you love so much?! Huh?”
Laurent, harboring considerable resentment toward these believers, even kicked the sheep around playfully.
“It’s my eternal regret that I couldn’t land a single punch on that bastard Bered!”
It seemed school life hadn’t been smooth sailing for him.
‘Could it be….’
Almond suddenly wondered if all those countless sheep at the school were created out of ‘laziness’? He pondered for a moment.
But Laurent vehemently denied it afterward.
“There. With this evidence, Taran will move immediately.”
Taran was the name of a nation.
It was the most powerful among the allied countries and maintained a system that valued freedom.
In other words, it was the most modern nation-state established so far.
Evidence had been secured that would mobilize their police forces.
“But… Laurent.”
I carried the unconscious Ran on my back and followed, asking him a question.
“How did you even end up at the school in the first place? You said you couldn’t use your power unless someone asked for help.”
“I can use it to a certain extent. Turning someone like you into a sheep is always possible.”
Laurent continued with a chuckle.
I wondered if he should be revealing trade secrets so freely, but it seemed he was that confident.
“But… warping the perception of an entire large school is a big deal. Especially when they’re bound together by such tremendous faith.”
Indeed, it’s said that those who believe in religion are much harder for witches to manipulate.
I even considered visiting a church myself going forward.
“Well, we’re out.”
Before I knew it, a vast meadow stretched out before my eyes.
Was this also the witch’s magic at work?
The battle had clearly begun at night, yet now it was morning, bathed in refreshing sunlight.
“Come now, little lambs! Graze away!”
Baaaa~~
The sheep, once treacherous believers, stampeded into the meadow, flaunting their fluffy wool.
‘Wow.’
Could such a peaceful scene truly exist?
White sheep bounding across verdant hills.
“Ugh… um. Almond.”
From behind, I heard Ran’s voice as he stirred awake.
“Is this… home…?”
Home, he said….
Ran’s confusion was understandable. It bore a striking resemblance to that meadow at the school.
So that place truly was Ran’s home.
“Ah. Ran. No, this is where that factory was.”
“I… see. Was everything… resolved well?”
“Yeah. Everything went well──”
I couldn’t finish my sentence.
[Revenge (★★★) Cleared!]
[Story Mode Cleared!]
My journey had ended.
Thud….
“…Huh? Ah, Almond?”
Crash!
I, who had been walking steadily, suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Ran urgently scrambled up and turned me onto my back.
“Ah, Almond? No… Lete?”
Ran’s voice trembled.
He had sensed it.
“Ran.”
The Desert Witch called out to Ran.
“Look at his arm.”
“…?”
As Ran lifted my arm, he burst into tears right there.
「Protect Ran… even if I die.」
Baaaa~~
The bleating of countless sheep grazing mercifully drowned out Ran’s anguish.
[Side Story End]
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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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