Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 433

—————
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 153
54. The Banquet Hall (1)
Making my way from the photo zone toward the venue.
But the opposite direction was flooded with people rushing toward us.
They were all Staff members.
‘What’s going on?’
Everyone moved with an urgency to prepare something.
“Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Greentea also seemed to be receiving instructions through an earpiece.
‘Is there some kind of event happening?’
In any case, I stepped into the venue.
The banquet hall ahead was packed with Streamers.
“Phew. I can finally breathe.”
Jia let out a long sigh of relief, then straightened her posture that she’d been holding rigid.
“Ugh. Let’s sit down for a bit.”
Juhyeok also loosened his tie slightly and shook his head.
“Where is it… our table… ugh.”
Juhyeok had clearly been stressed by the camera barrage as well.
I was the one holding up relatively well. This sort of thing happened to me fairly often.
“I’ll ask one of the Staff members.”
I walked further into the venue and found a guide.
“Excuse me, I heard we have assigned seating… where is it?”
“Ah. The Staff member handling the directions… seems to have stepped out for a moment. I’ll guide you. You’re with Almond, correct?”
The three of us followed the Staff member.
Along the way, we had to pass countless tuxedos and colorful dresses.
They glanced at us and whispered among themselves.
“Oh. So that’s Almond.”
“Wow. The cheers earlier were insane.”
“Even in person, he looks intimidating….”
“Is the one behind him a manager? A bodyguard? He’s built like a tank.”
“The manager just looks like a thug….”
Perhaps it was because they weren’t just fans or viewers, but fellow Streamers.
I felt the stares becoming uncomfortable.
It felt like we’d been dropped into a place where I knew no one.
Looking back, Juhyeok and Jia had the same expression.
Especially Jia, whose face had gone pale.
‘U-us… are we being ostracized?’
As newcomers, our Almond team had no connections among the editors, nor any notable connections among the Streamers.
Then suddenly.
“Waaaaah! Look! Did you see!?”
A familiar sound reaches Sanghyeon’s ears.
That familiar slender silhouette, that vibrant voice.
“No, no, no! This is a broadcast sponsorship!”
“Right! It’s a broadcast sponsorship, isn’t it!? How did I guess it perfectly!?”
Standing before them are a bald man and a stocky mister.
“Wait. You’re the ones who were betting on who would show up, right!? Now that I got it right, you’re calling it a broadcast sponsorship!”
*smirk*
Sanghyeon finds a smile spreading across his face without even realizing it.
“Who pulled off the broadcast sponsorship.”
As he naturally joins in, Miho, who was bickering furiously, finally spins around.
Her black hair sways. This is the first time Sanghyeon has seen her with black hair.
“Oh, oh my! Oppa! When did you get here…”
Miho was so busy arguing after Sanghyeon appeared in the venue that she didn’t notice him walking all the way over.
“Your hair looks great on you.”
“Ah, ah~! My hair? I tried going with black for once.”
Still the professional model, she strikes a pose and flips her hair.
*swish*
“What do you think? Better than pink, right?”
Her hair may be black, but now her face has turned completely pink. Despite her appearance, she seems embarrassed.
*suddenly*
Balloon Gum’s head suddenly pops in between them.
“Wahaha! Wow. Almond! You’ve grown a lot?”
‘My height hasn’t changed at all.’
Sanghyeon tilts his head in confusion, then realizes that Balloon Gum is patting Juhyeok on the shoulder.
“I, I…”
Juhyeok scratches his head in bewilderment.
“Oh. A, a manager here? Wahaha!”
“Puhaha! Oppa! What are you doing!”
It seems Balloon Gum deliberately played a prank to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
Miho bursts out laughing as if his joke hit her sweet spot. Or perhaps she’s just in a good mood today.
Juhyeok took this opportunity to introduce himself.
Balloon Gum probably set up the stage for him to do so.
“Hello. Almond’s manager. I’m Juhyeok Kim, and this is our head editor, Seojia.”
“Ah~! This person!!!”
Balloon Gum’s face lights up as if he knows Jia.
“I watch your videos all the time! If you ever want to switch editors, just say the word…”
Balloon Gum points to his own editor standing behind him and cracks a joke.
The editor, apparently quite close with Balloon Gum, kicks him in the rear quite forcefully.
*thwack*
Miho bursts into giggles again, and the woman who kicked Balloon Gum steps forward to greet them.
“Hello. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She was a woman in her forties—taller than Balloon Gum but shorter than Miho. In any case, quite tall.
She extended her hand.
“I’m my husband’s executive editor. I’m Suyeong Lee.”
“!?”
Juhyeok and Jia were taken aback.
But Sanghyeon already knew.
He accepted her handshake and played along.
“Ah… I’ve seen you briefly on the broadcast. I never thought I’d meet you in person…”
After all, Sanghyeon watched Balloon Gum’s streams quite regularly, so he recognized her.
In fact, since he’d enjoyed those broadcasts, his eyes sparkled three times brighter now compared to when they’d met Miho.
However, Sanghyeon wasn’t the only one whose eyes had begun to sparkle.
“Ah, hello! I’m Seojia!”
“Yes. I’ve watched a lot of your videos. Jia.”
“I, I appreciate that. I was curious about something…”
“?”
Suyeong Lee’s eyes conveyed an invitation to speak freely.
“W, was it perhaps… that you started as an editor and eventually got married…?”
Her question took an entirely unexpected turn.
‘Out of nowhere?’
‘I thought she’d ask about video editing software…’
Sanghyeon stepped in to answer the awkward question for her.
“You didn’t edit your husband’s channel from the very beginning, right?”
Suyeong nodded with a smile.
“That’s right. You really have been watching. I can tell you know your stuff. I originally worked in a different media field. He called me in saying his views weren’t going up…”
I remembered Balloon Gum saying that his wife knew his style best, and that changing editors was the right call.
Jia asked another question.
“So… what’s it like working together with your husband…?”
“Ah. Well… I think it varies from person to person, but I love it. We have so much more to talk about. There’s no risk of drifting apart, you know?”
“Ah, I see…”
Jia kept nodding her head.
“Haha, honey! You said you were so bored seeing only my face when we worked together!”
“…”
“W, wait, wait! My neck! It’s stretching!”
Balloon Gum was promptly dragged away to the side by Suyeong.
What remained were Takoyaki and Miho.
Ahem.
Takoyaki spoke first, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.
“Ah. Just so you know in case you were wondering. My editor didn’t come. They weren’t on the candidate list.”
Phew.
He makes a gesture of smoking a cigarette.
Why does he say things like this while putting on airs?
“Ah…”
“I’m a bit envious of Balloon Gum, you know? AllTube wasn’t doing well, but then his wife took over and it skyrocketed! Not quite explosive, but it’s been climbing pretty steadily, I hear.”
“Oh…”
So things worked out well after all.
Sanghyeon felt relieved.
“So Jia. If… if you’re not satisfied with the pay, you don’t need Balloon Gum, so come to me…”
In the end, Takoyaki was also targeting Jia.
“Ah, oppa. Jia’s uncomfortable.”
“I… have no intention of becoming a ‘comfortable man,’ Miho.”
“What…”
Pfft!
At Takoyaki’s joke, this time Jia bursts out laughing.
“Why are you like this! Seojia!”
Takoyaki seized the moment and raised his eyebrows with a wink as he spoke.
“You’re wavering, aren’t you! Come to me! Let me show you what a duel is…”
Just before Jia, laughing, nearly lost her breath.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
A cheer that was indistinguishable from a scream erupted.
Boom!
Followed by a heavy thunderous sound.
‘What is this? Is that really a scream?’
Sanghyeon had that thought for a moment, but of course it wasn’t. This wasn’t a game world after all. There was no reason for a person to scream like that.
“Waaaaaaaa!”
It was a cheer, not a scream.
Coming from outside that door.
“What’s going on?”
“Someone must have arrived.”
“Huh? The screens!”
Whoosh!
Screens descended from all four sides of the banquet hall.
They were screens prepared originally for use during the awards ceremony.
“What?”
“Wow. Is this a performance?”
Like most awards ceremonies, the actual award presentations come last.
There are several events beforehand.
Such as watching performances by famous singers or listening to comedians’ banter…
The current situation certainly seemed to lean toward the former.
Boom! Boom!
That deep, heavy bass sound echoes through the hall once more.
Now that I listen carefully, it’s the bass line.
Thump!
Thump!
In sync with the bass, the lights in the banquet hall go out one by one.
Soon the entire hall is swallowed by darkness, and the screen remains a blank black canvas, still displaying no images.
Then.
Thump. Thump. Thump….
As the bass gradually builds its rhythm, the center of the screen begins to brighten.
“Huh? That’s outside?”
“What is it? A red carpet?”
What appears on the screen is a red carpet.
The starting point of the red carpet.
Three black vans have arrived there.
The vans on both sides open simultaneously, and the screen flares brilliantly bright.
Crackle!
They’ve actually fired off something like fireworks outside.
After the blinding white glare of the lights passes.
What emerges are the silhouettes of two women.
They’re holding microphones, dressed in stage outfits—fluttering short skirts or form-fitting pants.
Even the Streamers react with cheers.
“Wooooow!”
“Wow. This is a performance!! An invited performance!”
“Shouldn’t we go out there?!”
It seems to be a performance by invited singers.
I can’t believe they’re pulling off such a surprise event.
“Do we watch from here?”
“I’m not sure….”
Murmur, murmur.
The Streamers gathered in the banquet hall chatter among themselves, unsure what to do.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The music still has only a plain bass line layered in.
The two women who appeared first are simply swaying to the rhythm.
Yet their dance lines are far from ordinary.
“Oh, more are coming.”
As piano and hi-hat melodies are added next, the dance becomes more diverse.
It’s no longer just simple up-and-down rhythm movements—hand gestures are added.
Then, two more women emerge from the vans on either side.
Now there are four.
As these four appear, all the instruments align perfectly, and a flawless accompaniment flows out that allows us to deduce the song’s identity.
“Ooooh…! This song!!”
Takoyaki’s eyes rolled back dramatically as he shouted.
“It’s, it’s Partishe!!!”
His cry was remarkably the first to ring out.
The very first in this vast banquet hall.
He must be quite the devoted fan.
‘Partishe?’
The name Partishe wasn’t unfamiliar. I knew of them—a girl group that had been quite famous.
“Partishe! It’s Partishe!!!”
“Waaaaaaaa!!!”
“Kyaaaaa!!”
In an instant, cheers engulfed the entire awards venue, and the musical accompaniment reached its full completion.
Four silhouettes began dancing and gradually made their way down the red carpet.
“Wow. What is this!? They’re dancing while walking…?”
“Yeah. That’s not the original choreography.”
“Insane. This is incredible….”
There’s no way girl group dance choreography was originally designed to be performed while walking.
In other words, they had created new choreography specifically for today’s event.
Now all the instruments had found their melody.
Yet, the final piece was missing.
The most important instrument.
“!”
Then, the van door in the center opened.
Whoosh!
The spotlight shone most intensely in that direction, and all cameras zoomed in.
A silhouette sat inside the vehicle.
But she didn’t step out.
Only her lips were visible to the camera.
Those gleaming lips drew closer to the microphone.
They parted softly, as if to kiss it.
〔You know, I— I’ve been thinking of you〕
A clear, high voice, not forced with too much strength, began to surf smoothly over the accompaniment.
The vocalist had arrived.
In that instant, everyone’s mouths opened in unison with the same sound.
“Wow….”
Whoosh.
She descended from the van while continuing to sing.
Only then did her face come into proper view.
Eyes behind bright amber-tinted lenses gazed directly at the camera.
She was someone who could only be described as dazzling and radiantly vivacious.
Everyone reacted at that moment.
“…!”
“Wow, she came?”
“Wait, did Partishe and Cutie Pie just arrive together!?”
“No way, all that discord talk was complete nonsense!”
“Partishe’s complete lineup!?”
Cutie Pie.
I knew that name too.
‘That person….’
She was the streamer who had won the Grand Prize at last year’s Trivia Awards.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————