Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 430
—————
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 2 Episode 150
53. My Grand Entrance (1)
The next morning.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Sanghyeon wakes from a nightmare.
He hurriedly glances at his phone.
“…Sigh.”
He realizes the nightmare was about receiving punishment from the Archery Coach for lacking focus earlier—being forced to do a handstand while hiking up the mountain.
‘Coach… that’s not the kind of focus I meant….’
It seems Sanghyeon is quite bothered by the fact that he initially didn’t understand the focus faction.
“My dreams have been unsettling lately, I guess?”
Juhyeok stood near the door with a startled expression. He must have rushed over after hearing the scream.
“Ah….”
Since it was an embarrassing dream to even talk about, Sanghyeon just laughed it off awkwardly.
“I thought some sasaeng had broken in or something.”
“…That’s not likely. Even sasaengs would give up climbing these stairs.”
Puhaha.
Juhyeok laughed, agreeing that was a fair point.
“What if we move? It’ll be easier for sasaengs to break in.”
“Hmm….”
Almond’s sasaeng fans. Neither of them even knew if such a thing truly existed, but they launched into a pointless debate about it from the morning.
Thanks to that, Sanghyeon was fully awake.
He slowly gets up and heads to the living room. A formal suit hangs prominently on a coat rack in the corner of the room.
‘…Right.’
Today is the awards ceremony.
Thump. Thump.
My heart is acting strange.
A Trivia awards ceremony, and yet I’m getting nervous.
Lately, I’ve been feeling like my heartbeat isn’t well controlled.
“There are no schedules until this evening, so let’s rest well.”
Juhyeok, noticing Sanghyeon’s gaze, speaks as if telling him to take things easy.
“Ah… yeah? Really?”
“Yeah. Cookie apparently suggested it first, or so Chiseung mentioned.”
“Chiseung?”
“Chiseung Kim. Kim Chi Warrior.”
“…Oh.”
“What, you forgot?”
“It’s morning.”
Sanghyeon answers casually as if it’s no big deal and opens the wardrobe to prepare for his morning routine for the first time in a while.
He’s trying to go for a jog to calm his mind a bit.
Zip.
I changed clothes in an instant, pulled my jumper up to my chin, and stepped out the front door.
“I’m just going to get some fresh air for a bit.”
“A bit? You’re going to get plenty of fresh air. Look at the weather outside.”
Despite Juhyeok’s jab, Sanghyeon rushed out anyway.
Slam!
The front door shut hard against the strong wind.
“….”
Juhyeok was left alone in the house.
‘What kind of body does that guy have—steel?’
He stared at the closed door for a moment, then returned his focus to cooking.
Sizzle.
The tofu pancake was cooking, releasing a savory aroma.
But to Juhyeok’s eye, it didn’t look quite perfect.
‘Mother’s version tastes better.’
I didn’t originally know how to make this dish. I remembered what my mother used to make and decided to give it a try.
Tap.
I transferred the properly cooked tofu to a plate and poured a generous amount of sauce over it—soy sauce mixed with red pepper and garlic.
After placing it on the dining table.
I turned my attention to the remaining pot.
This pot was a steamer. Inside, barley croaker that had arrived as a gift was being steamed.
Unlike ordinary croaker, this one is steamed rather than grilled, or so I’d heard, which is why I was steaming it this way.
“You steam this and eat it right on top of rice mixed with green tea.”
I was a bit worried.
The person who sent it didn’t seem to know much about cooking.
“Aha. Of course, I just heard it from Punk headquarters. They tell us to explain it when distributing gifts to VIPs. Hehe~ I’ve never received one myself…”
I couldn’t see his eyes through the phone, but from his voice alone, it seemed like his gaze was fixed on this gift. His mouth watering.
‘Punk sends out all kinds of things at year-end.’
That’s right.
The person who sent this gift was Department Manager Oh.
He’s the one who manages my partner Almond at the large game platform Punk.
Since he also manages Miho and Balloon Gum, he’s the one who created the Balloon Stars for the Nant Tournament. He’s quite an important person to both Sanghyeon and me.
After a long time, he reached out and told me he’d sent a gift.
Of course, while we had each other on the line, we discussed upcoming matters as well.
Advertising plans and content related to Civil Empire.
“Actually, since Almond’s participation, Civil Empire’s purchase volume has increased quite a bit, you know? Haha.”
At Punk, Civil Empire purchases were rising, and there seemed to be growing interest in the National Tournament, so they were trying to do something about it.
“And about the National Tournament. I’m not saying this just because it seems to be going well now, but we’ve actually seen quite a bit of potential in this from before, you see?”
Especially the National Tournament was content that was drawing quite a bit of attention in the gaming industry.
“It’s only unpopular in Korea, but worldwide it has quite a large fanbase. In China, it’s causing a stir. Plus, even in Korea, the older guys really love this.”
Even without specific knowledge of the game, battles between nations fighting with spears, swords, and bows possessed considerable merit as a spectator sport.
「You remember that CEO who mentioned going to shoot traditional Korean archery with us before? Well, he actually watches the Intercontinental Championship regularly.」
In fact, one of Punk’s CEOs personally keeps up with it.
He was the same CEO that Sanghyeon had met before.
‘Director Han….’
Juhyeok had also done some research on him.
‘He turned out to be quite an impressive person.’
He came from the headquarters rather than Punk Korea, and his influence on Punk Company and the gaming industry was among the top tier domestically.
For such a person to personally follow the Intercontinental Championship was noteworthy.
And traditional archery as a hobby, no less. He seemed to have considerable affection for our country.
There were occasionally people like that.
Those who had lived abroad for so long that they developed even stronger attachment to their homeland.
Juhyeok had seen quite a few such people.
「I think I might be able to join in a bit. Well, that aside. Sigh. I couldn’t go shoot archery because of the weather… but the barley gulbi tastes delicious. Please enjoy it. Let’s have a drink before the year ends.」
Regardless, Department Manager Oh seemed to genuinely believe this Intercontinental Championship had great potential.
Juhyeok agreed with that assessment.
‘That’s true.’
It was content that Koreans couldn’t help but enjoy.
Well… the only real barrier to entry was the repeated history of defeats.
Unpopular sports gain popularity when they excel.
The reason archery and short-track speed skating have any recognition in our country is because we perform well in them.
Before Kim Yuna’s emergence, who took interest in figure skating?
Bitter, but reality.
“Ah.”
Ssssshhhhh…!
Steam poured out profusely.
As I lifted the lid, white steam scattered upward. Beneath it lay appetizing barley gulbi.
Seen through the steam like this, its form resembled an immortal among the clouds.
Though it was fish, not an immortal.
“Right. Let me taste if it’s as delicious as they say~”
I muttered to myself like an elderly person and carefully picked up the gulbi with tongs.
Carefully, lest it crumble.
Fortunately, the gulbi maintained its shape perfectly as I transferred it to a plate.
The plate was placed beside the tofu pancake I had prepared earlier.
Now I just needed to scoop white rice and the meal would be complete.
But….
“…?”
I had momentarily forgotten while lost in thought—I was originally supposed to eat this with Sanghyeon.
“Ah… right.”
I grumbled and called him.
“Yeah. Where are you? When are you coming? Oh, it’s so cold—are you coming now? Hurry up. I set this out to eat with you, but I forgot to mention it.”
* * *
Sanghyeon’s chopsticks moved faster than ever before.
Ever since he started using his left hand instead of his injured one, he hadn’t been able to eat rice this quickly.
‘Wow.’
Today’s meal had transcended his limits.
“This tastes good, doesn’t it? Department Manager Oh gave it to you?”
“Technically, it came from Punk, but he just passed it along. Well… yes.”
“Wow….”
It seemed to suit Sanghyeon’s palate unexpectedly well.
‘When you give him something delicious, he eats it well.’
He acts like he only eats Almond, but when you bring him something tasty, he devours it….
A strange guy.
“It’s like what Grandmother used to make. Though of course she never made anything this expensive.”
At the unnecessarily high-reality remark, Juhyeok chokes while swallowing his rice.
“Hey, come on. Maybe Grandmother made expensive dishes for her grandson too.”
“Yeah.”
“What do you mean yeah? Are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah.”
Sanghyeon is too busy putting the tender flesh of the gulbi into his mouth.
‘He only hears what he wants to hear.’
Familiar with Sanghyeon’s selective hearing recycling center, Juhyeok shakes his head.
Then, Sanghyeon suddenly asks as if remembering something.
“Jia should come eat too. We’re going to the awards ceremony today anyway.”
Cough!
Juhyeok chokes again.
“Ah… once this starts, it keeps happening.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s awkward to invite her to a house where two guys live in the morning.”
“…Was it?”
Not “was it?” but rather.
“Was it?” is the accurate question.
Because he’d never once said it was awkward to invite her to a house where two guys lived.
Juhyeok, sensing something off, adds hastily.
“A-and before the awards ceremony today, she’s busy uploading as many videos as possible.”
“Ah.”
Fortunately, Sanghyeon didn’t show much further interest.
But then, after eating the gulbi almost down to the tail, Sanghyeon pauses again.
“By the way, our commercial… fell behind, right? I don’t think we’ve done one in a while.”
“Oh. Things from Punk. Quite a lot of them.”
“Ah….”
Now I’m starting to remember Department Manager Oh.
To be fair, I’ve been a bit neglectful as Punk’s partner since the Zombie School incident.
“I didn’t expect you to accept the international tournament so coolly and start right away, so I couldn’t get the timing right.”
After Zombie School, Juhyeok had been planning to proceed with advertisements slowly, but suddenly his schedule became so packed that he hadn’t brought it up.
“So this dried fish… is it a rush payment?”
Sanghyeon suddenly distances himself a bit from the dried fish.
Juhyeok shakes his head.
“No. From what I can see, it’s a bribe.”
“…Huh?”
“Director Han over there apparently loves the international tournament. And Department Manager Oh also sees potential in the international tournament… whether he wants to do some content or something… it seems like he’s trying to do something.”
“Oh… so that’s the person who suggested shooting traditional archery.”
Director Han and he get along well. Sanghyeon mutters that and puts the dried fish back in his mouth.
It seems he’s decided he can relax now.
The two briefly discussed whether Punk was arranging the international tournament, then moved on to talking about the awards ceremony.
“But besides the Rookie Award, is there anything else I might win?”
“Hmm… Best Couple? There’s some rumor that you’re a candidate for that.”
Special awards have their candidates decided on the spot, but there’s leaked information circulating online.
Sanghyeon and Miho are listed there for Best Couple.
“Ah. Is it because of that pictorial shoot I did with Miho?”
“Yeah. Oh, right….”
With this opportunity, Juhyeok asked Sanghyeon a question.
He still remembers the expression on his face when Miho brought the Cookie set.
Having to send it back then—even Juhyeok, being human, felt his heart ache.
“But, Miho… what do you think of her?”
So he probes carefully.
If Sanghyeon also had feelings, there’d be no reason to block it like this.
“…What do I think of her?”
“I mean… is there something between you two?”
“?”
Sanghyeon’s expression was already an answer, but Juhyeok asked a bit more.
“I mean, you’re kind of connected with Miho. Haven’t you ever felt like she’s showing signs of interest?”
“Interest? Well… she just has a naturally affectionate personality. Um… there are a lot of women like that, right? Really bright… they said she’s an ENFP.”
‘Ah.’
Juhyeok immediately understood why this guy was acting so unbothered.
‘This idiot. That’s only true for you.’
Nearly eighty percent of the people with XX chromosomes around him show signs of interest, so he’s living thinking that’s the default setting.
Besides, even when he was being ostracized at the company, there were quite a few female employees who were subtly nice to him behind the scenes.
He probably thinks women are creatures that are far kinder and more cooperative than men.
‘Ugh.’
As a manager, I should be relieved, but as a man, my blood is boiling.
Swallowing that anger, Juhyeok wrapped up the topic hastily.
“Ahem. Right. I was wondering if there was actually anything to it. People keep bringing it up.”
“They call it ‘shipping’ or something like that.”
Puhahaha.
Shipping. Ah. Right. Of course.
Juhyeok laughed a bit louder than necessary, but inside, his frustration was bubbling over.
Just then.
Ding.
Dingaling.
A notification chimed from his phone.
A video was being uploaded to a channel he had notifications enabled for.
There was only one channel they had notifications enabled for.
[If you’re dumb, just quit~~]
[Hey. Jingoo. You there?]
[“Loyal Retainer” Howdoo]
.
.
.
It was Almond’s AllTube channel.
Videos of Almond fighting snipers had started uploading.
They all had impressive thumbnails.
The first video had King Gul with a bright, cheerful expression as the thumbnail.
The second video showed Bontovi composited with the Jingoo character, crying.
The third video was a bizarre composite of Jeong Mong-ju, the loyal retainer from historical dramas, merged with a wailing Howdoo.
The fourth video that had just been uploaded was the most popular.
[The Final Fate of the British Who Disrespected a Former Korean Archery Champion]
The thumbnail was a composite image of British thugs from a back alley confronting Almond.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————