Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 288

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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 2 Episode 8
3. Zombie School (2)
“This is it. This looks like something real…! Damn. Could this actually be huge!?”
Department Manager Jang’s excited voice echoed across the rooftop.
Then another voice cut in.
“What are you doing up here muttering to yourself like some pathetic loser?”
Click.
The woman speaking to him while lighting a cigarette was PD Park Suyeon.
She was Department Manager Jang’s cohort from their hiring class.
“Anyway, shit. Our executives just stuff their faces with company slush funds. Why do they keep causing problems?”
Her language was notoriously crude. It happened sometimes in this line of work.
Especially for women—some people dismissed them, so they deliberately evolved to speak this way. That’s how Department Manager Jang chose to understand her rough mouth.
‘Wait. Hold on.’
Glancing at her casually, Department Manager Jang felt like lightning had struck his head.
Something suddenly clicked.
It felt like the final puzzle piece had fallen into place in my conception.
‘Now that I think about it, she’s an expert in this.’
She was one of the few people in the country creating innovative entertainment shows. Regardless of whether it made money, there was no one better at crafting new formats.
She was famous as a Mensa-level PD with a solid career. The problem was everything she’d done hadn’t made money.
That’s why she eventually ended up at this hot-shot major network, but her abilities were still outstanding.
“Hey… what entertainment show are you working on right now?”
“…You don’t even know that?”
Her eyebrows furrowed fiercely, and another barrage of curses was about to pour out.
“No, wait. I know, I just can’t remember the name──”
“Mystery Club.”
“Right. That’s it!”
Mystery Club.
An adventure-style entertainment show where students conduct mystery club activities at school and uncover the school’s secrets.
“You complained so much about that. The set budget, celebrities not getting immersed, calling managers in the middle of filming….”
“You’re talking nonsense, you bearded bastard.”
PD Park laughs. She’s definitely laughing, but her expression is far from pleasant.
“Why, why….”
“You think I’m still doing Mystery Club. We only did season one and stopped. Didn’t work out financially.”
“…Oh.”
“For that kind of show, the viewership was actually high. But for that kind of show, you know… And no ads attached. Just literally a show that doesn’t make money.”
“I, I see.”
Department Manager Jang felt utterly embarrassed. He’d been far too indifferent to the person he was trying to recruit.
“What I’m doing now is an old-fashioned travel variety show. Taking celebrities shopping while making it look like they’re the ones suffering.”
“…Ahem.”
“You show this little interest, and suddenly you’re asking what show I’m working on~? Huh?”
PD Park leans against the railing and asks.
It’s so dizzying that I might fall, so Department Manager Jang rarely does it, but that guy casually drapes both arms over it all the time.
Department Manager Jang swallows hard and continues speaking.
‘I can’t just back down.’
Even if I can’t convince him here, at least I need to say my piece so there’s a chance next time.
“What you really wanted to do, what you’ve been planning—it’s adventure-style entertainment, right? Like a mystery club show. Isn’t it?”
“Hmm….”
PD Park squints and glances around.
Through the hazy cigarette smoke at Department Manager Jang.
‘I can’t tell.’
Department Manager Jang, who’s never cared about anyone his whole life.
Growing out his hair, growing a beard, pretending to be an artist all by himself, yet he’s always been sharp when money’s involved.
The same Department Manager Jang who didn’t even know what show I’m doing now.
Why is he suddenly interested?
In adventure-style entertainment that doesn’t make money.
In me, who hasn’t even had a drink with him all this time.
‘Did he catch a whiff of money.’
PD Park answers first.
“…Yeah. That’s right.”
Whoosh.
He exhales smoke and continues his answer.
“I want to do adventure-style entertainment. But the production costs are insane, you know. The sets have to be huge. And getting celebrities to stay for a few days and nights costs a fortune, and it’s not easy to manage them.”
“Right? That stuff is tough. The sets have to be big. You have to coordinate schedules with celebrities going here and there.”
“…What is this. Why are you suddenly empathizing when you’ve never done it before? Don’t pull tricks on me. I’m only doing things that make money from now on. I have a kid at home.”
“Look at this.”
Department Manager Jang suddenly holds out his phone.
His expression is annoying, like he’s urging me to bite the bait.
PD Park brushes the cigarette aside with his other hand and takes a look.
‘What is this….’
What appears on Department Manager Jang’s screen is Zombie School.
“Huh? Isn’t this the guy who appeared as a guest on your talk show?”
“Huh? Yeah. How did you know?”
“He’s handsome.”
PD Park says only that and focuses back on the screen.

* * *
“Number 15. The answer is 45 square centimeters. It was a problem about finding the area from a graph. It doesn’t seem right at all, but….”
“…sine 30… tangent….”
“I’ll need to apply the quadratic formula… plus or minus….”
It was practically a forced sedative.
I found myself desperately fighting to keep my eyes open, to the point where I wondered if listening to the Math Teacher’s entire lesson was the main Quest of this game.
Haha almonds, walnuts are being worked to death ㅠㅠㅠ
Why are you really acting so sleepy? lol
Weren’t you way too immersed in it??ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
I’m going crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I can see my school days, I can see them~
I wondered if I should say something to the viewers.
But talking into the microphone in this situation felt like cheating somehow.
Out of sheer stubbornness, I clench my teeth and stay silent, determined to get through this entire lesson.
But then.
Ding!
[Your eyes are growing heavy.]
[Maintaining a drowsy state may lead to the ‘Exhausted’ condition. We recommend you get some sleep, even if brief.]
A message appears.
‘Huh? Was it because of this?’
So I wasn’t the one getting sleepy—the character I’d entered was the one getting sleepy.
Wow. What the heck lol
-Hodu wasn’t acting strange!
-You were actually sleepy???
‘I can’t tell the difference?’
It was truly fascinating.
I feel this character’s state directly. Because of that, I can’t distinguish whether it’s my state or the character’s state.
‘What happens if I enter the Exhausted state.’
It said I’d enter the Exhausted state if I didn’t sleep.
But how am I supposed to sleep at school? And in front of that teacher no less?
That would be suicide.
I ignore it for now and refocus on the terrifying Math Teacher’s lesson.
“Since these and these are perpendicular. We just use trigonometric functions again….”
I’m still sleepy. If the teacher used even half the charisma he uses to scare kids in his actual lessons, I wouldn’t be drowsy… The moment I think this.
Ding!
Another notification sounds.
[You are currently in a ‘Very Hungry’ state.]
[If you don’t eat something, you will gradually lose strength.]
“…What is this now.”
I mutter through the broadcast microphone channel.
I check my watch.
“Lunch break just ended. Why am I so hungry?”
Growwwl.
A sound emanating from my stomach.
It wasn’t Almond’s actual stomach, but it certainly felt like genuine hunger.
Haha, is it a pig?
-That’s the age for it, I guess
But that’s weird lol, no matter what, it’s not just a little hungry, it’s very hungry
“Looks like I skipped lunch.”
Almond convinced himself of this and simply sat through the class quietly.
Skip lunch and sleep during class lol, that’s totally delinquent behavior.
-Is, is this what a popular kid’s school life looks like?
-Does he even have a girlfriend? If so, I’m seriously rooting for the zombies to win.
While reading the viewers’ chat,
Almond noticed something else peculiar.
‘Why does this feel so real-time?’
Usually in story games like this, time should flow at least a bit faster inside.
But here, every single second seemed to count exactly as it was.
If someone heard this, they’d call it a feeling. Just that math class was too boring.
So I check the time.
‘…?’
I unconsciously looked at my wrist for a watch, but as a student, I don’t have one. However, there’s a watch mark. It seems I usually wear one.
Anyway, I don’t have it now.
Almond shifts my gaze to the clock on the blackboard.
‘That won’t help me tell.’
There is a clock, but it doesn’t show seconds.
That’s when it happened.
Ding~ Dong~ Dang~ Dong~!
The bell rings.
“Phew.”
Almond unconsciously exhaled in relief.
Similar sighs echo from all around.
Student synchronization rate 100% lololol
Hahaha why are you actually a student lol
Haha, that’s hilarious!
-???: I’m holding my breath until class ends!
Fortunately, the Math Teacher wasn’t the type to continue class even after the bell rang.
“So the answer is… the square root of 3. That’s all for today.”
Tap.
The Math Teacher strikes the blackboard with chalk as if to pierce it, then coolly walks out.
“Haaaaaaawn…!”
The moment he left, a student stretched loudly and ostentatiously.
“Ugh. That Taejung Jeon bastard. He’s so damn annoying.”
So the Math Teacher’s name was Taejung Jeon.
Even his name sounded powerful.
While that was surprising, Almond was struck by something else entirely.
‘Wow….’
It was the raw authenticity of the students’ reactions.
“Hey. Why was that root 3 again? You’re just reading from the answer key again.”
“Uh… that….”
A student studying.
“Ah. Should we hit up the school store?”
“I want a sausage bread.”
“Let’s go together.”
Students heading to the school store.
“Yujin. Let’s go to the bathroom.”
“Yeah.”
Female students going to the bathroom together.
An excessive sense of reality.
Yes, “excessive” was the right word to describe it.
‘Completely different from the Reel Avatars.’
The Reel Avatars were ultimately fantasy characters. Even if they were implemented to look like real people, there was still a sense of distance.
As for the NPCs in Kingdom Age, there’s no need to mention them. They were medieval people, and even less immersive than the Reel Avatars.
But these people were Korean. And they were students at a Korean school.
On top of that, the implementation quality was overwhelmingly superior to previous games. It was worrying just how far the technology had advanced.
A loud voice came from behind Almond.
“Hey. Wujung Kim. Don’t you remember crying your eyes out when Taejung beat the crap out of you?”
Someone was picking a fight with Wujung Kim, the student who had stretched earlier.
“You wanna die? Damn it, who said I cried?”
“Ugh. I told you to stop swearing, didn’t I?”
A pretty female student sat down next to Wujung Kim.
She had her eye corners sharply lifted with makeup and wore a skirt that clung tightly to her body.
“Uh… okay.”
Wujung Kim couldn’t resist her, scratching his head and agreeing.
‘This really is like an actual school.’
Just as Almond was admiring the children.
“Hey. Juhyeok Kim.”
The female student with lifted eye corners called out to Juhyeok Kim.
“Juhyeok Kim. Can’t you hear me? Give up your chair. Why are you sitting?”
‘Wow. There’s a kid named Juhyeok Kim… that’s me?’
Almond realized belatedly that she was calling him, and spun around quickly.
Whoosh!
A slap attack was coming straight at me?
‘What is this?’
Almond instinctively pulled my head back at an awkward angle and dodged it.
“…?”
The one who threw the slap was a female student with sharp, dark eyes. She tilted her head asking, “What are you trying to do?”
‘What. Is this a joke?’
I couldn’t tell if she was really trying to hit me or if it was just friends playfully pretending to hit each other.
If she were really trying to hit me, wouldn’t she have swung more forcefully?
It seemed like a joke, but the atmosphere didn’t feel that way at all, so I asked to confirm.
What are you trying to do? Are you trying to hit me?
Ting!
[Unable to respond due to the status ‘Fear’.]
I couldn’t speak.
‘?’
My mouth literally wouldn’t open.
I even felt the illusion of my heart rate rising. As if I were experiencing genuine fear.
“Juhyeok Kim, you pathetic loser… you dodged Sohee’s gracious slap? If it were me, I’d offer the other cheek too.”
Giggle.
A tall guy appeared amid laughter erupting from all around—Baek Jun-su.
That’s what his name tag said.
Seeing that he was the tallest here, he seemed to be the highest-ranking person in this place.
“You bastard. Just take it straight.”
Baek Jun-su pulled his fist back like he was about to punch a strength machine.
Almond was bewildered.
“Solar plexus strike!!”
I couldn’t tell if that slow-moving fist was really trying to hit me or not….
I couldn’t distinguish.
‘Is this serious or not.’
Should I just take the hit as a joke?
Still, Almond leaned back in my chair and smoothly dodged it.
Thunk…!
Baek Jun-su’s fist lodged in the chair frame, and his face contorted in pain.
“Damn! Shit…! Who told you to dodge!?”
How was I supposed to take that? I tried to argue back, but again, fear prevented me from speaking.
“This bastard. He’s really cocky, huh?”
Wujung Kim, who had been watching from behind, stepped forward.
He immediately rushed over and threw a spinning side kick.
Whoosh!
‘This isn’t a joke.’
Almond finally realized this wasn’t a joke. Who throws a spinning side kick as a prank?
‘Even in this fearful state, I can still dodge it seems.’
Whoosh!
Almond effortlessly slipped past the attack again.
“?!”
Having thrown a spinning side kick into empty air, Wujung Kim naturally crashed hard onto the floor.
“Ugh, argh…!”
Wujung Kim and his friends’ eyes turned fierce simultaneously.
“This bastard dodged again?!”
“What are you doing, Juhyeok? You really want to die?”
A murderous atmosphere descended.
Is this really how you’re supposed to play this game? lol
-If he keeps dodging, the game won’t progress, right?
Hey, just let me hit you once, haha.
lol that’s hilarious
He’s gritting his teeth and dodging everything lol
Almond’s eyes changed too. For a different reason.
‘…This body. It’s really slow.’
I’d noticed it since earlier—this body was sluggish. Was this another abnormal status?
==== ====
[Exhaustion]
All actions become slower. If exhaustion persists, stamina may decrease.
[Extreme Hunger]
Endurance drops significantly. You cannot move much.
[Fear]
You cannot speak in front of the object of fear. You freeze and your movements become slow.
==== ====
Even if Extreme Hunger and Fear were already present, ultimately I couldn’t sleep and caught Exhaustion.
That’s why I’m even slower now.
Then.
“Hey. If you dodge this time too, you’re really dead.”
Wujung Kim rose with a murderous glare and turned his leg for another kick.
‘What do I do.’
Should I really let them hit me?
Almond felt his pride wounded somehow.

* * *
“Ouch, that’s hot…!”
Tap.
After flicking away the cigarette that had burned down completely, PD Park pulled out another one.
He’d been watching this game without even noticing the precious cigarette burning away entirely.
“So you’re saying we should create an adventure-style variety show with this game?”
Now she finally understood what Department Manager Jang had been trying to say.
“Exactly. Without being bound by platforms. Without worrying about the higher-ups at the broadcasting station. While cutting production costs significantly.”
There wasn’t a single word out of place in what he said.
‘This bastard…’
PD Park felt herself wavering.
It was unpleasant. Being swayed by that guy.
“…What do you think?”
Department Manager Jang asked carefully.
“Isn’t it decent?”

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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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