Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 504

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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 224
78. Chicken Game (1)
Even in this maze of narrow alleys with poor visibility, we could spot each other because we were both moving across the rooftops.
“Pungsna and Almond have encountered each other!? They’re still quite far apart though!? And they’re on the rooftops!”
“Well, Pungsna might be recognizable. But will Almond recognize him?”
“The distance is too great to say for sure.”
Of course, even if our eyes met, I wouldn’t be able to remember him from my side.
The distance was too far, and there was no way I could have memorized Pungsna’s face well enough to recognize him with only his eyes visible through the mask.
“It seems like Pungsna might not know that the other person is Almond either?”
“Plus! It’s not just the two of us—there are five other skilled players here! Since we have to be mindful of them, we can’t fight right now!”
“That’s right. Excluding the twenty amateur seeds, the remaining forty are skilled Streamers who came for the challenge. Among them, exactly seven are still in the game! There’s no one here to underestimate!”
Skilled Streamers who came to challenge themselves. Only seven of them remain.
They all want to kill each other.
That was the current situation.
No matter how much I’ve played like Lü Bu until now, it would be reckless to make a move from here on out.
‘Someone’s over there.’
‘One person on that rooftop.’
For now, we’re just keeping track of each other’s positions in our minds as we move.
“Plus, everyone is carrying quite a few techniques right now! Player 1 especially has three techniques! Two of them have even evolved!”
Techniques are the biggest variable in this game. Even if there’s a skill difference in swordplay, if you can’t predict what technique your opponent will use, your head could fly off in an instant.
In a way, it’s like a game of rock-paper-scissors.
In this game with seven players remaining, luck might be more important than anything else.
[The encirclement tightens in 30 seconds.]
Now there will be even fewer places to stand.
“Once it narrows down one more time, the remaining space will be less than 200 meters. We’ll have to make a decision soon!?”
The place where seven people are currently facing off is an ‘alley.’ It’s a space modeled after the old Pimat-gil near the Hanyang fortress.
Just think of the alleys you used to see in neighborhoods before development.
In this crowded space where there are more houses than streets, it’s not easy for Ninjas to find each other. Whoever attacks first will become the target.
“Both Almond and Pungsna are descending back to ground level now. Maybe it’s because being on the rooftops makes them too visible?”
“That could be it, or they might have spotted prey.”

* * *
Thud.
I landed on the wooden veranda of a house.
“Oh my goodness!”
A commotion erupted from the backyard across the way.
The Woman NPC who had been hanging laundry let out a startled cry.
I approached her while bringing my index finger to my lips.
Shh.
The moment I drew my sword, the NPC fell silent as a mouse.
“Ugh… mmph…”
-Getting used to this now lol
-Haha
The NPCs are so pitiful ㅠㅠㅠㅋㅋ
Though it was a short time, this was knowledge I’d acquired by progressing through this game.
If I killed or assaulted an NPC for being loud, the next NPC would scream even louder.
After that, there was no controlling it. My location would be completely exposed.
But if I threatened them this gently, the NPCs would stay quiet.
I approached the terrified woman and asked her a question.
“Just answer my question and I’ll leave. Did anyone pass through here wearing the same outfit as me? It seems like they came through this area.”
“…”
Another fact I’d learned while progressing through the game.
NPCs were obstacles, but they were also witnesses.
When threatened with a blade, they would confess what they’d seen.
‘I experienced that earlier.’
This was knowledge I’d acquired firsthand when about seventeen players remained.
I had been searching through a certain house’s storage room.
When a Ninja entered and threatened an NPC, it immediately revealed my exact location.
Fortunately, I was positioned where I could hear that information, so I was able to prepare.
That Ninja, along with the NPC, met an unfortunate end.
This time, I planned to use that tactic in reverse.
‘I’m certain I saw someone enter here from the rooftop earlier.’
I knew someone was nearby and followed them in.
“Um…”
The woman fumbled for words.
“?”
Rather, it wasn’t that she was fumbling—she was speaking, but so quietly I couldn’t hear her.
‘Is it because I told her to be quiet?’
The woman’s voice suddenly became hushed. The only notable thing was my earlier threat to stay quiet. Given that this game was equipped with relatively inferior artificial intelligence compared to other games, it was entirely possible.
Assuming that was the case, I stepped closer and asked again.
“Which way did they go…?”
Whoosh!
The moment I stepped within range, the woman thrust her blade forward as if she’d been waiting for this.
Was this some kind of NPC event? The thought crossed my mind for a moment.
‘Disguise Jutsu!’
Since I’d already experienced this ninja technique once before, I could react immediately.
Slash!
A red line traced across the bridge of my nose.
I’d twisted my waist to evade it.
But dodging a single strike wasn’t enough.
Swish!
The woman’s expression shifted completely as she unleashed a flurry of blade strikes. I’d already bent my waist as far as it would go—unless I were an octopus, there was nowhere left to dodge.
My mistake was attempting to evade in such an awkward position while caught off-guard.
Imagine trying to dodge sword strikes while doing the limbo.
It wouldn’t have been strange if my upper body had been cleaved in two. But—
Grin.
I was smiling while in a limbo position.
Click, click!
Half-reclined, I crossed both hands, and a blue gleam flashed before my eyes.
[Phantom Clone Jutsu]
Another me burst forth and swatted the woman’s blade away with bare hands.
Crash!
The result of blocking a sword with bare hands was naturally catastrophic.
The clone’s arm severed as it dissipated into pale smoke.
“A… a clone?!”
She widened her eyes in shock, apparently surprised that I possessed clone techniques.
Meanwhile, I finished my limbo roll backward, channeling chakra through my feet to kick off the ground.
Boom!
The recoil sent me spinning a half rotation upward, my heel striking her elbow dead-on.
Crack!
The impact was tremendous—her arm bent at an unnatural angle.
That wasn’t all. My two remaining clones grabbed her from behind and held her down.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
“Where do you think you’re going!”
I’d gotten to my feet by then, hurling a barrage of shuriken.
Splatter!
She should have collapsed, drenched in blood.
Instead, white smoke billowed forth.
Poof!
“!”
When the smoke cleared, it wasn’t the woman but a wooden log riddled with shuriken holes.
She had even prepared a substitution technique to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.
The object she swapped in was firewood that had been lying in the yard.
Which happened to be right behind me.
Shing!
The eerie sound of a blade cutting through the air from behind.
There was no time to turn my head and block directly, so I closed my eyes and pinpointed the exact location as accurately as possible through sound alone.
Then, I shifted my sword to the anticipated position and parried to the side. Even if I missed, it was a positioning that would minimize damage to vital points.
Clang!
The blade vibrated with a resonant hum, scattering sparks.
The heavy impact transmitted through my shoulder told me everything.
‘I blocked it.’
I had blocked the sword strike coming from behind.
‘All that training with Barm paid off.’
The reason I suddenly wielded my sword so gracefully.
It was because I trained with Cybil M Scream every single day.
Especially since I had to switch to different positions in emergency situations, I received sword training coaching from Bread, the Commander.
‘?!’
The enemy, who had no way of knowing such things, was naturally stunned.
Blocking a sword strike without even looking—who wouldn’t feel like they’d hit a wall?
‘What kind of bastard is this…!’
Even after launching a surprise attack like this, if it doesn’t work, what else could you do? Such thoughts naturally arose.
However, as if to say it was too early to be surprised, the clashing blades began to slide against each other.
‘Wh… what?’
My center of gravity collapsed without my realizing it. I was being dragged along by the sword I’d powered with chakra recoil.
This was my tactic—I calculated that she would definitely overcommit, since without putting full force into the strike, it wouldn’t count as a clean cut or instant death.
I hadn’t simply blocked; I had created an angle that deflected the path of her blade.
Kiiiiing!
The ear-splitting sound of the clashing blades told the story.
‘It’s over.’
The woman’s life ended in this exchange.
My sword, which had been deflecting the strike, settled into a proper stance as if nothing had happened.
Hers, blinded by the hunger for prey like a wolf that couldn’t see human traps, continued its pathetic descent and struck the ground.
Clang…!
At the same time, her neck, which had lurched forward and was now fully exposed, seemed to be asking me to give it a good swing, so I obliged without hesitation.
Whoosh!
[1 → 17]
[Instant Death]
[6/60]
-Is this Ninja Mode!? Is this Ninja Mode!?
That’s crazy lol
-And swordsmanship, what’s this!?
-W-wait, is this Civil Empire-style practical combat swordsmanship!? Is this Civil Empire-style practical combat swordsmanship!? Is this Civil Empire-style practical combat swordsmanship!? Is this Civil Empire-style practical combat swordsmanship!?
-Insane
-Cookie, stop spamming and log in
-Civil Empire’s viral marketing is crazy lol
“Phew.”
I wipe the sweat from my brow. I let out a sigh of relief.
“That was a bit dangerous.”
I nearly fell for her NPC act—it was so convincing that I almost got myself killed.
“Time to farm some loot.”
I begin searching through the dead woman’s belongings.
Then…
“!”
I discover something welcome.
[Short Bow]
I hadn’t noticed it because of her disguise, but she was carrying a bow.

* * *
“WAAAHHHHH!!! Almond!! INCREDIBLE!!! Can he actually win this!? He’s been in a disadvantageous position from start to finish!!!”
The commentator, usually composed, turns red-faced and shouts.
-Lmao
-Wow lol
-What is this
-My ears
-This is almost like that legendary Jeon-ja-pa mirror match from back in the day
“D-did you see that!? I couldn’t even follow it with my eyes!?”
“Yes. I completely missed the moment he used the clone technique. I have no idea what happened, but when I came to, Almond had already struck his opponent’s neck!”
-Lol fr
-I couldn’t see it either
-The ninja battle is so entertaining lol
-Fantasia’s killing it!
The brilliant clash between Almond and Player 17 was raising excitement not just for their battle, but for the game itself.
After all, this challenge was an event to promote Ninja Mode.
Everything was unfolding perfectly according to plan.
“Ah, what an exhilarating battle, but now the encirclement begins to tighten!”
[The encirclement tightens.]
After the battle between Almond and Player 17.
The encirclement begins to narrow. The playable area now shrinks to within a 200-meter radius.
“Will we see more combat now?”
“Hmm, no. Given this map’s alley layout, visibility is still poor, so I don’t think we’ll see intense fighting yet. Not unless the area becomes so cramped that everyone can see each other!”
However, their assumptions were wrong.
“Wha—?!”
Thwack!
[1 → 25]
[5/60]
Crack!
[1 → 60]
[4/60]
[1→ 32]
[3/60]
The elite Ninjas began falling one after another without warning.
The cause was always the same.
Arrows.

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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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