Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 425
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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 145
51. Concentration (2)
Almond was being urgently summoned back to the main base.
What was strange was that not his entire squad was being called—only Almond and perhaps one other soldier were singled out.
‘Why am I being summoned to the main base right now?’
I was following orders, but the situation wasn’t making sense to me.
I tried not to feel anxious, but the reality was that I needed to prove I deserved to participate in this international competition. That was the truth of my situation.
Honestly, beating down a few enemies with a club earlier hadn’t satisfied me.
I considered myself an archer, and I’d been summoned here as an archer. Only by claiming victory with my bow would both those who deployed me and I myself be satisfied.
But suddenly being pulled from the front lines to the rear—wasn’t this looking like I’d end up slashing at the Commander’s side instead of killing enemies and earning merit?
I couldn’t help but ask.
“Why are we going right now?”
I asked the colleague marching beside me. These soldiers seemed to know the reason, acting completely composed.
One colleague tilted his head and looked back at me.
“You don’t know? Oh…”
Upon confirming I was Almond, he turned his attention forward again.
What. These people. Did they receive orders not to talk to me?
I suppressed the urge to wonder if I should smack them on the head first like in Zombie School, then ask questions.
‘These people aren’t NPCs, after all.’
Right. Let me stay calm. Calm.
Soon we arrived at the main base.
Tap. Tap.
Soldiers who appeared to have received the same orders lined up near me.
They were all elite archers who had been selected, though there was no way I could have known that just by looking at their faces.
-Oh. These are named archers
-They’re giving out bows!
-???
-The newbie just watches…
Among the viewers, those familiar with Civil Empire seemed to recognize some of the IDs, but I’d decided not to read the chat during streaming, so I didn’t even glance at it.
“That’s the weapons supply depot.”
The soldier who’d been asked earlier touched my shoulder and explained.
Now that he was allowed to explain properly, he was telling me.
I felt a bit sorry for my earlier speculation.
“As long as you’re within the influence of that building, you can receive weapons anytime.”
Weapons?
That means….
Whoosh.
[Short Bow]
A simply-designed short bow was placed in my hands.
[Trait Discovered!]
[Concentration: Destructive power and range increase proportionally to the time spent drawing the bowstring. Maximum 3 seconds]
“Everyone summoned here has been chosen as an Archer.”
Following that, light fell above Almond’s head, and text appeared.
[Branch Conversion]
[Savage Soldier → Archer]
[Deal additional damage to lightly armored Soldiers and receive unlimited arrow supply.]
I had become an Archer.
“That’s why you were brought here. We’re pursuing a fast Age 2 tech right now, so we need to maximize the Archers. The Enemy will have a much higher weapon supply rate than us.”
“…Right.”
Talk of the Enemy having more armed Soldiers didn’t quite sink in.
The moment I took up the bow, I was filled with confidence.
It was incomparable to fighting with a club.
And then the order I’d been waiting for came down to me.
[England’s Savage Soldiers are attacking this area. Your squad must defend the gold mine in this sector!]
The order came down the moment I received the bow.
The command was simple.
Defend the sector.
Ping!
The sector’s location was marked with a ‘ping’.
At the same time, my unit assignment changed, and I was placed in a new squad.
[2]
The squad name was simply ‘2’—apparently there wasn’t time to name it properly.
Now that the squad was decided, there should naturally be a Leader. That wasn’t me. I was only slightly disappointed about this. I wasn’t ready to lead yet anyway.
Clop! Clop!
A figure riding a horse was our Leader.
[Commander]
[Coffee]
In the inter-nation tournament, the two Commanders aside from the Supreme Commander fight and command directly in the field. Coffee is one of them.
So Squad 2 was being led directly by a Commander.
Commanders receive horses first, so Coffee was mounted as well.
He issued orders from atop his horse.
“Squad! Move out!”
At his command, the Soldiers began to run.
* * *
As we approached the operation zone.
“Waaaaaaaaah…!”
A war cry echoed from the distance.
We had already drawn close to the operation zone.
Thud, thud, thud, thud….
Though I wasn’t riding a horse, my footsteps thundered like hoofbeats.
Over the hilltop horizon, the source of those footsteps gradually became visible.
Anglo-Saxon warriors with shields held high came charging with fierce cries. Many had thick, unkempt beards, and some bore strange tattoos on their faces.
-Wow, this is like England’s main defensive line
-So intense
-Terrifying
At that moment, I caught Commander Coffee muttering something.
“Damn… we’ve lost the hill.”
Losing that hill would put us at a disadvantage. Even at a glance, I could see why.
‘It’s too far to take that position.’
From our perspective, the outpost was too distant to rush and occupy.
Perhaps for that reason, Coffee remained unperturbed.
He rode between the soldiers, reorganizing our formation.
“Take your positions! Single line!”
He was arranging the most efficient formation for archers to face infantry.
My heart pounded.
The scale was entirely different from trading blows with clubs.
At minimum, at least twenty soldiers from each side were participating, the enemies had shields and organized formations, and we had bows and arrows.
When all the archers had lined up in a single row, the enemies crested the hill and began charging down toward us.
The commander shouted in succession.
“Hold position until they enter firing range!”
Don’t advance before the enemies reach us.
Then the Commander-in-Chief’s order came down clearly once more.
[Defend the designated area]
Ping!
The location he marked was a gold mine where workers were busily mining gold.
Beside it, workers were hastily constructing another building.
[Wooden Defense Tower]
[Under Construction]
[16%]
There were about three or four defense towers.
Our squad’s objective must be to buy time until all of them are completed.
In other words, Cookie had just reminded me once more that our goal was defense, not to take the offensive.
* * *
Coffee glanced backward with a subtle shift of his eyes.
‘This would be his first battle as an Archer.’
I’d already heard the rumors about Almond. I simply hadn’t acknowledged them.
Whenever a newcomer arrives, the commanders always enter observation mode first.
I never mixed words or offered my trust.
It’s the same in every corporation and organization.
‘I’ve never seen a good outcome from promoting a newcomer….’
Of course, Cookie roughly understood that Almond wasn’t an ordinary person.
Or more precisely, he understood that the public perceived him that way.
Those who entered this place were all exceptional by nature. Only the game’s elite came here.
Yet he’d entered with merely an A+ rank. It was Chiseung’s unconventional decision.
‘Was it a reckless call?’
Even if Cookie understood the decision, what would the other Soldiers think….
Of course, Chiseung hadn’t proceeded without at least minimal persuasion.
He’d shown all of Almond’s gameplay footage to his Teammates, and at least Cookie, the supreme Commander, had been convinced by it.
But Coffee hadn’t been.
‘Will that actually work here?’
Just as in Ril, even Bronze-tier users can produce highlight reel plays.
Whether such plays are possible depends entirely on who the Opponent is.
That’s why such highlight plays don’t appear as you climb toward the highest ranks.
Because the Opponents are also masters.
Coffee wore a bitter smile.
‘It’s just the first match. I shouldn’t think too seriously about it.’
After all, the Enemies I’d fought were formidable, so expecting him to meet my standards would be cruel.
The measuring stick was different.
Still, Cookie had received instructions from each Leader-tier to carefully observe the newcomer’s combat ability.
Kugugugugu…!
England’s beast-like Soldiers. Their footsteps grew louder.
Let me count—there appeared to be at least forty.
Already a two-fold numerical disadvantage.
We’re defending, they’re attacking.
Moreover, we’re equipped with Era 2 weapons while they have Era 1 weapons.
The balance was appropriately even.
Giririk…!
The Archers were one by one drawing their bowstrings in advance.
They anticipated the Enemies would soon enter their firing range.
The short bow’s natural range was quite limited, but by utilizing the ‘Focus’ trait, one could shoot as far as a standard bow.
‘The longer you hold the bowstring, the greater the range becomes.’
For this reason, the Soldiers had been drawing their strings well in advance.
Coffee’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“Here they come!!!”
He raised his spear high.
Whoosh!
Then brought it down.
This was the signal.
‘Now. If I shoot now, it will connect.’
In that instant, the senior Archer at the very front released his bowstring first.
Twang──
Thwang thwang thwang thwang!!!
Immediately after, arrows from all the Archers of the allied forces painted the sky.
At that moment, Coffee’s gaze was fixed on Almond’s bow.
The moment he witnessed that legendary bow for the first time.
‘?’
His eyes literally transformed into a question mark.
* * *
Just before Almond fired his first arrow in the international scrimmage.
At that moment, Chiseung was trembling just as much as Almond, if not more.
‘Please. Please show them what you can do.’
He was the one who brought Almond here and caused this whole situation. So much had happened since integrating him into the national team….
It wasn’t easy at all, though it wasn’t made public.
But now, thanks to Cookie’s consideration, he’d even gained the opportunity to participate in the scrimmage despite not yet having the qualifications.
It was truly ironic. Though Almond absolutely couldn’t perform well in his first match, he absolutely had to perform in this situation.
Cookie likely created this situation intentionally.
Perhaps Cookie believed that if Almond was to enter the international competition with preferential treatment, he needed to pass through a trial of this magnitude.
“Aamond! Firing now!”
As King Gul shouted from beside him, all Chiseung could do was swallow hard.
“Huh?!”
Even Chiseung let out a gasp at that moment.
“Ack!”
Chiseung nearly cried out in despair.
There was a reason.
Whoooosh….
All those countless arrows painting the sky.
Of them all, only Almond’s arrow─
Thud.
─fell limply to the ground midway.
“Did I see that wrong?”
He wondered if his eyes had deceived him, but seeing Almond’s own bewildered expression, it seemed he’d seen it correctly.
“Ah.”
Chiseung immediately understood the reason.
“The Focus faction description… you didn’t read it.”
Focus.
A Joseon faction where the longer you draw the bowstring, the greater the range and power become.
There should have been an explanation when you first received the weapon.
Almond seemed to have skipped reading it.
So while others held the bowstring taut for a long time before shooting, Almond simply drew and released immediately.
His range fell drastically short.
-Huh? He’s holding on? Academic achievement “0x”
-Lol why is this happening
-He didn’t read it lmaooo
-Why do I feel embarrassed for him lol
-Almond’s expression is so cute lol
-Aamond can’t focus.
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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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