Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 46

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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 Episode 46
16. A Blessing in Disguise (4)
Originally, I had kept this secret even from my colleagues who practiced archery with me.
It wasn’t something I went around casually mentioning to others.
But Han Tae-ho was hardly the type to have a loose tongue.
So I decided to stake everything on telling him my story.
My circumstances.
‘He’ll probably like it.’
It was the kind of story adults would appreciate.
Actually, most people would sympathize with it.
Which is precisely why I had hidden it.
But I opened my mouth anyway.

* * *
‘Archery… you did archery?’
Department Manager Oh couldn’t hide his surprise as he replayed my words in his mind.
His widened eyes soon turned toward Executive Han Tae-ho.
‘This is….’
What was the way successful men in their fifties enjoyed themselves?
Generally, they preferred quiet sports.
And they liked hobbies with a certain scale—things not just anyone could casually take up.
They didn’t want to be associated with ordinary people.
‘This is huge?’
Pool or Go weren’t even considerations. Anyone could do those easily.
So most opted for golf. A sport that required considerable money and time to access the course.
But lately, even golf had become quite democratized, and frankly, everyone and their dog was doing it.
So occasionally, the upper class with unusual tastes would look elsewhere.
And one of those alternatives was ‘archery.’
Han Tae-ho had recently been turning his attention from golf to archery.
‘I hit the mark perfectly?’
From Department Manager Oh’s perspective, Han Tae-ho clearly liked Sang-hyun Yu now. Or perhaps he’d already gone beyond merely liking him. It even seemed like he might set up another appointment.
“Archery… I didn’t see that coming.”
Han Tae-ho answered without showing much agitation, but Department Manager Oh could see right through it.
He was already showing considerable interest.
“Why did you quit?”
“I had to stop due to an injury.”
At my words, Han Tae-ho recalled the right hand he’d found odd during the handshake.
“Ah… is that your right hand? It trembled slightly when we shook hands earlier.”
“Yes.”
“That’s unfortunate. What happened?”
“It was an accident that happened on my way back from winning a gold medal at the domestic championships.”
“…Huh?”
Han Tae-ho turned to Department Manager Oh, thinking that would make him a world champion. The manager nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
“Right. Sanghyeon. That’s unfortunate. How old were you then?”
“I was nineteen.”
“Nineteen? In Korean age?”
“Ah, no. I was seventeen in Western age.”
Han Tae-ho and Department Manager Oh exchanged startled glances for a moment.
‘That’s a record, isn’t it?’
Even to a layman, it was an extraordinary achievement.
“I didn’t give up right after that. I secretly held onto it until I was twenty-two.”
“Ah….”
I had dragged it out for three whole years without letting go. At that point, both Department Manager Oh and Han Tae-ho’s expressions grew somber.
“I couldn’t overcome it. So with my coach’s help, I got a job, and that was at Asung Materials. It wasn’t a place I entered on my own merit.”
“…”
“Being in a place that didn’t suit me naturally created friction, and around that time I became interested in virtual reality games. There──”
“Your right hand worked properly!”
Han Tae-ho unconsciously cut me off and interjected. He was too absorbed in the story.
I nodded.
“Yes…. I could shoot properly there. I was drawn to it like I was bewitched. Since I needed to earn money, I thought of becoming a streamer.”
“But why did you only start gaming then?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it before. I was focused solely on work. My grandmother was still alive, so I didn’t have the luxury of clinging to archery from ten years ago. Even if I had known my right hand worked properly in virtual reality back then, I probably wouldn’t have been interested.”
“I see….”
If this had been a job interview, I would have passed without question.
That’s what I felt.
Han Tae-ho’s expression now looked as if he had become Sang-hyun Yu himself.
“Life really doesn’t go the way you want it to.”
Glug glug.
Han Tae-ho poured alcohol into my glass as he spoke.
“It’s a bit of a cliché, but that’s what makes it interesting. If everything went your way, it might actually be worse. My dream was just to be a pathetic unemployed bum, you know? If I’d achieved that, I’d be a wreck by now.”
Han Tae-ho seemed to recall his childhood, glancing upward for a moment.
“Fortunately, the world didn’t let me be that way. A man who wants a family has responsibilities to shoulder. Thanks to that, I actually prefer my life now. An unemployed bum couldn’t eat sushi from Tōji’s place.”
Ha ha ha. He laughed and popped a piece of sushi into his mouth, savoring it.
“What I’m saying is, you’re definitely going to do well.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I respectfully raised my glass and drank as I replied.
“The more weight you carry on your shoulders, the stronger you become. You don’t gradually get stronger as you carry it—you become strong in that very moment. It’s almost miraculous.”
“That’s right. That’s right. Sanghyeon, you’re definitely going to do well. You started a new game recently, didn’t you? Ah! That’s right. But──”
Department Manager Oh suddenly seemed to remember something and trailed off.
‘This was the right moment to say it….’
The topic I had wanted to discuss was put on hold. I had planned to ask how the new game was going and talk about Battle Rage, but that wasn’t what happened.
Yet what Department Manager Oh brought up was equally precious.
“Do you know what this is?”
“…?”
On the tablet he pulled out was a graph. The kind of sharply ascending curve I’d wish my own stocks would follow.
“Kingdom sales figures.”
“!”
“Look at the reviews here.”
Department Manager Oh scrolled down to show me the purchase review comments.
-Bought it after watching Almond’s stream~
-Watched Almond’s broadcast. This game is really well-made.
-Emilia’s Knight ending. It was moving. But I came to buy it myself to choose Rosenitta.
-Can anyone new to this game play it as well as Almond does? Otherwise, please refund~~
-Wow, cheaper than I thought? Super high quality. But could you add more bow types?
-A game where you can feel the romance of medieval mercenaries. That is, if you can play like Almond.
-Buying after seeing Almond’s medieval war scene. It’s so well made. Of course, most people can’t even experience that war because it’s made so difficult, which is really frustrating.
…Most of the comments were about Almond.
Whether they had edited only those kinds of reviews or something….
“With this, we now have considerable influence with this production company.”
Han Tae-ho, who had also seen the graph, was astonished.
“Wait, you had this? Department Manager Oh? That’s incredible. For a distributor, whether a promotion works is extremely important….”
“Of course, the graph might be somewhat exaggerated. The previous sales figures were so poor. But looking at the timing of the increase and the reviews, the cause is clear.”
Han Tae-ho’s gaze turned toward me.
That cause was undoubtedly Almond.
Punk’s partner streamer, Almond.
“You’re incredible, aren’t you?”
“Thank you.”
“No, really. If this is the case, then what I said earlier wasn’t nonsense. That you’ll succeed.”
Ha ha….
I laughed awkwardly.
‘Wait, was the effect that significant?’
I hadn’t even known about data like that.
It was surprising. The sales had increased so much.
Department Manager Oh continued building on the momentum.
“You definitely have star quality, don’t you?”
“That’s right. The person’s own charm is clearly different.”
The two of them now discussed the graph without including me.
“Originally I was planning to report this tomorrow. But I brought it out today to let you know as well, Sanghyeon.”
“Good call.”
“Ah… but Sanghyeon, you’re not playing this game anymore.”
“Huh? Is that so? Well, I suppose we can’t keep playing package games forever.”
Han Tae-ho’s gaze shifted back to Sanghyeon.
“What game did you play next?”
This was the moment I’d been waiting for.
Sanghyeon answered calmly and deliberately.
“Battle Rage.”
“Oh. My son plays that frequently too. It’s mainly played by people in their twenties and thirties, right?”
“Yes.”
“Is it going well?”
“Well…”
The opening had been made, and now I just needed to fire.
“There were some issues.”

* * *
The next day.
The moment Kiyeol Kim arrived at work, he was summoned.
‘Damn it. What’s this?’
Given that he’d recently been involved in something incriminating, the summons filled him with an ominous premonition from the start.
“Department Manager. You called for me?”
Moreover, the place he was summoned to was none other than the Department Manager’s Office.
The Manager was there as well.
“Sit.”
He could already sense it from the Department Manager’s tone.
‘Ah. I’m screwed.’
What Kiyeol Kim had done before had come to light.
‘I deleted all the community posts. Did it leak out?’
Still, it was fortunate that the Department Manager found out. Either way, he’d want to bury this too.
After some time passed, the users would cleanly forget about it.
It would just end with a scolding.
While that itself was quite a serious matter… it was still a different level from receiving direct disciplinary action.
“This morning, you know. Do you know where I went?”
“?”
Kiyeol Kim was momentarily stunned by the question.
‘Where did he go…?’
Only someone above the Department Manager could summon him.
‘He didn’t receive a report… he received an order from above?’
Kiyeol Kim had naturally assumed the Department Manager found out by receiving a report from one of his subordinates. That was the usual route.
But the Department Manager pointed upward with his finger.
It wasn’t a report from below—it was a directive coming down from above.
“The Executive’s office.”
“!”
“The Executive mentioned hearing something strange.”
The Manager simply bowed his head with a devastated expression, while Kiyeol Kim trembled uncontrollably.
He had no room to spare—his mind was consumed just trying to figure out where to look.
Cold sweat streamed down his face.
“Almond. You know who that is, right?”
He got straight to the point.
No one could answer.
“Almond. You know who that is, right? If you make me ask one more time, you’re all done for.”
Thump.
The sound of his heart sinking echoed like a hallucination. It was truly rare for the Department Manager to use such harsh language.
Crunch.
The Manager sitting beside him pressed his firm shoe down on Kiyeol Kim’s foot. The cry of pain that escaped became his answer.
“…Y-yes. I know who it is.”
“Hmm. You do know?”
The Department Manager glared at Kiyeol Kim while working his heavy jaw. His eyes held the look of someone who wouldn’t bat an eye at burying a person right then and there.
“Then I won’t make a fuss about this anymore. He’s leaving anyway.”
“!?”
Kiyeol Kim’s eyes widened in shock.
“Why are you surprised? Why should I even be angry at someone who’s already done for? Anger is something you waste on people worth correcting.”
“B-but… this isn’t really something of that—”
Bang!
The Department Manager slammed the desk, cutting off his words.
“Do you know where the Executive got his call from?”
“…”
“You don’t? That’s why you think this is no big deal right now?”
The Department Manager unfolded his flexible pad and showed it to them.
[Punk Partner Streamers]
Those words were written at the top, and below them was a list of partner streamer profiles.
“You couldn’t even find something this basic that I could locate with just a few finger taps, and you tried to just cover up the mistake?”
“…!”
Among the partner streamer list, a familiar name appeared.
[Almond / Sang-hyun Yu]
This couldn’t be…
Kiyeol Kim clamped his mouth shut.
‘I thought he was just some nobody with barely a thousand viewers…?’
He never could have imagined it. A Punk partner with that level of viewership.
“Even if you make a game perfectly, you know what happens if Punk doesn’t include it in their events, right? But you touched a Punk partner? And without any basis for it?!”
“…”
“This guy increased Kingdom Age’s sales revenue by five times. So of course the Executive would call right away, wouldn’t he?”
“…”
“So. What are you two going to do now?”
Kiyeol Kim couldn’t say a word.
Click.
The Department Manager folded the flexible pad again.
“Sweeping small things under the rug and handling them quietly. That happens all the time in company organizations. But you know what I always say? You can commit a crime. But if you want to become a criminal, you’ve got to be damn good at it. You need to be several times smarter than ordinary people.”
“….”
“From what I can see, you two aren’t those kinds of people, so just live honestly, yeah? Stop being such a pain in the ass, alright?”
“D-Department Manager. I──”
“No, I don’t want to hear any more. Write up a formal apology and prepare for the disciplinary committee. I’m handing the Almond case over to another team.”
The Department Manager’s gaze returned to his monitor.
“What are you doing? Get out. Should I call security?”
“…I-I’m leaving.”
After the two idiots left, the Department Manager clicked his tongue with a “tsk tsk…” and made a call.
“Yeah. Team 2? Has Almond’s suspension been lifted? Yeah. Good work. We’re going into an ad shoot with Punk and Almond. Get ready for it. Yeah. I’m looking forward to it? We need to eliminate all the hate.”

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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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