Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 547

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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 3 Episode 17
7. The Smart One, the Fool, and the One Destined for Greatness (2)
Though I had been restored (?) to my seventeen-year-old appearance.
That distinctive crimson hair and emerald eyes.
A color combination one would rarely encounter among Asians.
And if a woman bearing that exact combination recognized me?
“Almond!?”
How many possibilities could remain?
No matter how oblivious Almond might be, he couldn’t fail to recognize her.
She was his benefactor who had saved his Civil Empire rank game, after all.
「It’s a gift.」
I still remembered the moment she thrust a bundle of arrows toward me like a bouquet of flowers.
“Jessi…?”
Yes. She was the player I had met in the Civil Empire, the one with the ID wackjassey.
Though her school uniform, splattered with blood here and there, looked unfamiliar.
No matter how I examined her, she was unmistakably Jessi.
-Who is Jessi?
-Jessi??
-Whoa, crazy lolol wack Jessi~~
-Jessi fans, who are these new viewers~~
-???: Oppa! Who is that!?
-“She’s here. My first love.”
Jessi’s expression transformed into something she had never shown once throughout the entire game.
Such genuine delight.
“Wow! I thought I might be able to meet you when I came to Korea!”
But…
Whoosh!
‘Huh?’
Even as she spoke with such enthusiasm, she was swinging her weapon.
“Are you… insane?”
Clang!
Almond’s expression was bewildered, but he managed to block it well regardless.
“Surprised? An enemy is an enemy.”
“…That’s true.”
“Is this face from high school?”
Shiiing—!
Along with the question, Jessi’s spear thrust forward again. She was right.
It was a far sharper attack than when I had been caught off guard.
“Even your younger self is cute?”
Clink!
Almond’s clothing tore as the blade scraped across it.
[Scratch]
My consciousness, which had briefly soared with relief, was quickly dragged back into the duel.
‘I’m being pushed back.’
Jessi was superior in close combat.
Though I had the edge in reaction speed, something felt off—her defense flowed like water, impossible to breach.
‘She really is different.’
The secret lay in positioning. Not just her body’s placement, but the angle at which her spear advanced—a technique that blocked both attack and counterattack simultaneously.
‘Lichtenaur….’
It was unmistakably based on that sword technique Bread had mentioned, the one favored by Western swordsmen.
「Unless you understand this sword technique well, close combat offers little chance of victory. In grappling terms, it’s like jiu-jitsu—a martial art designed so that ignorance equals death.」
Not knowing meant you had to die.
Lichtenaur sword technique was the origin of that very principle.
It was designed so that the opponent could only suffer defeat unless they understood the technique itself.
Just like now.
*Screeeech!*
Jessi’s blade, which had been blocking my sword, suddenly slid through with a grinding motion, threatening me.
*Scratch!*
Another cut.
“Why don’t you just step aside? I’d hate to damage that face of yours.”
Jessi laughed as she made the suggestion.
Of course, it was more provocation than genuine advice.
“Seems like you don’t quite understand yet.”
Right, I don’t.
But I wasn’t entirely clueless about how to respond either.
「An outboxer style of fighting—attacking with the blade’s edge—gives you the best odds.」
*Clang!*
I created distance and deflected her strike with the edge of my blade.
「With your reaction speed, you can manage it.」
Right. All I needed to do was keep her from reaching the fourth floor anyway.

* * *
Huh?
Jessi flinched.
Almond’s positioning was sharp.
Moreover, the fight was dragging on far too long.
‘I should have killed him three times over by now.’
His comprehension was clearly inferior, yet he wasn’t falling as expected.
In close combat, a two or three-fold difference in skill would have been laughable.
The gap had been more like a tenfold difference or greater.
At least, that’s what it had been the first time I saw him.
“!”
Clang!
Yet again, my attack was blocked.
Clang!
I couldn’t break through even on the second attempt.
‘Why can’t I penetrate his defense?’
It was strange. Why was he fighting so well?
Not much time had passed since then, yet such a dramatic improvement in skill.
It was unbelievable.
“What’s happened to you?”
Almond simply looked smug.
“Your skill isn’t cute at all. Changing tactics.”
She decided to shift her strategy.
Then she suddenly spun around and bolted away.

* * *
[Whoa, whoa, whoa?!]
[Jessi?! Going backwards?!]
I realized my mistake too late.
‘The window!’
──Crash!
She smashed through the small window at the stairwell corner and leaped out.
[She’s going through the window!? A suicide jump!?]
-???
-What
-Insane; is this a movie??
-Wow
-Wait, is she climbing back along the railing?
Thud! Her hands barely gripped the pipe.
[She didn’t fall! She’s hanging on! Moving sideways again!]
Jessi began crawling upward while stepping on the pipe in that position.
Her agile movements were almost unbelievable to witness with one’s own eyes.
[Insane mobility! Jessi! Climbing to the fourth floor while hanging on the wall!!]
The target was unmistakably the fourth-floor corridor window.
[No, wait, I never imagined something like this!? What is she trying to do?!]
[It looks like she’s breaking through the fourth-floor corridor window and opening the door from outside!]
[Opening the fourth-floor door from outside?! That, that’s a disaster!]
The fourth-floor fire door opens?
That means all sorts of zombies could pour into the stairwell.
Then Class 3 would be attacked from both sides.
From above on the stairs: zombies.
From below on the stairs: humans.
The worst scenario imaginable—exactly what Class 2 wanted.
[Almond! What’s your call! Can’t we block it from inside?!]
I had two options.
Hold the door shut from inside with pure force, or follow Jessi and knock her off.
[W, well! Unless we build a barricade, if she just destroys the handle a bit, once the zombies start pushing, the door will open!]
Holding the door from inside had clear limits. Jessi’s weapon could easily destroy the lock mechanism.
Once the zombies were called, the door’s collapse was inevitable.
So only one choice remained.
[You need to decide this fast, okay?]
I didn’t hesitate long.
Whoosh──
I immediately ran after Jessi, throwing myself through the broken window and hanging directly below her.
─Thud!
[Yes! Following exactly!]
[Ugh, just watching makes me dizzy!]
The landscape sprawling beneath my feet was vertiginous.
Even from the third floor, a fall would result in nearly a full-body fracture.
“Can you keep up with me?”
Jessi laughed as she looked down at me.
She had already climbed a bit higher.
“So the positions have switched?”
“…!”
Now Jessi held the upper position while I was below—the reverse of our situation on the stairs.
“Sorry, but fall for me!”
Thwack!
Jessi’s feet began kicking at my face.
-Unknown: Kick harder!
-Are you really sorry lol
-Lmao
-Wow industry recognition
[Bleeding]
[Bruising]
I took damage, but.
I gritted my teeth and climbed up anyway.
[Almond! Climbing up! Getting kicked by Jessi, but no longer outmatched!]
I finally made it up.
Now we were at the same height.
‘Finally.’
The moment I felt like I could actually fight back.
I had to immediately duck my head.
Clang!
Jessi’s weapon struck the brick, sending sparks flying.
Right where my head had been moments before.
“Damn. You climbed up here? You’re really persistent?”
“So are you.”
I gripped the pipe tightly and swung my blade.
Whoosh!
Strands of Jessi’s hair were severed.
[They’re dueling while hanging from the railing right now!!]
[Whoa! This is like Romeo and Juliet! The last dance!]
-lmao
-Why Romeo and Juliet all of a sudden lol
-Did you watch some weird movie lol
-Last Dance lol
-If you fall, you die, so it’s the Last Dance?
[Jessi! Should we aim for the hands?!]
[Because we’re both holding weapons! We’re hanging with one hand!]
The only thing supporting me against this wall is my right hand.
If my hand gets severed, I die here.
But the same goes for Jessi.
“!”
Clang──!
Our blades collide in mid-air.
[Fighting while hanging on the wall! The tension!!!]
[Yes! This is serious!]
-Damn, that startled me lol
-The commentators’ energy went crazy once the fighting started lol
-Damn, this is delicious!
After that, our blades continued to exchange, each of us targeting the other’s hands.
Clang!
Clang!
The key is who manages to climb higher somehow.
[Jessi’s climbing a bit higher!]
[Almond’s following her!]
[We have to land a hit somehow!]
I unleashed a relentless barrage to prevent her from climbing any further.
But she blocked everything.
It couldn’t be helped.
[Ah! There are only a few angles to attack from! That’s why everything keeps getting blocked!]
[This is basically a Maple Story battle right now!? It’s two-dimensional!]
-Maple lolol
-For real lolol
-Side-scrolling battle lolol
-Only up, down, and middle lolol
The commentators were right.
Fighting while clinging to the wall meant left and right didn’t really exist—only up, down, and middle remained.
Even though we were both swinging our weapons hard, the defender had an overwhelming advantage in this fight.
Clang!
Clang!
Our blades kept colliding.
[But that doesn’t mean we can stop attacking!]
[You fall! No, you fall!]
[But doesn’t this give Almond the advantage?!]
Almond was deliberately prolonging the battle of attrition.
Time was on his side.
[If Jessi keeps getting dragged out like this! Our forces will be annihilated!]
[A decisive moment indeed!]
“Damn it! Move!”
Jessi clamped her weapon between her teeth, then suddenly swung her body like on a swing, launching both feet in a devastating kick.
Boom!
Almond blocked with the flat of his blade, but—
The force drove him backward.
[Wow! That’s an incredible kick!?]
[H-He was pushed back!]
Then, building momentum, she scrambled upward with frenzied speed.
Using both hands to climb was far faster.
[Now I’ll just ignore him and keep climbing!]
[Almond! You fell back a bit just now!? Can’t you catch up!?]
Jessi seized the moment and clawed her way upward like a madwoman.
[From Jessi’s perspective, this is her chance! If she just keeps climbing! He won’t be able to catch—wait, what!?]
From below, Almond ascended at a terrifying speed, his blade still clenched between his teeth.
[H-How is he so fast!?]
Jessi had no idea he could move that quickly.
She kept her eyes fixed upward, climbing desperately.
[A-Almond is almost catching up!]
[But the distance sideways is a bit too far to slash!]
Except for the lateral gap between them, their vertical positions were nearly identical.
But Jessi was already almost at the fourth floor.
[Jessi! Go inside!]
The moment Jessi tried to thrust her upper body through the fourth-floor window—
[Aaahhh!? Almond! H-He’s running!? That player is running up the wall!!?]
Almond made his desperate gambit.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
He released his hands and ran across the wall with his feet alone.
Of course, he could only sustain this for a brief moment before plummeting dramatically.
He had thrown his body into this desperate move for that fleeting instant.
-Is this even possible!?
lol
-No way
-Wow
-The ninja Almond of Nut Fans village!
Whoosh!
In a flash, he kicked off the wall several times and launched himself through the air.
“!?”
Jessi’s eyes snapped to the side as a shadow suddenly loomed over her, and she gasped in horror.
‘Insane.’
He flew here?
Almond drew the sword he’d been holding in his mouth and swung it with both hands.
His body spun through the air, and the blade carved a vicious arc of wind in its wake.
Wheeeesh!
If that connected, her upper body would be cleaved clean off.
“Ugh—gaaaah!”
She twisted her entire body, desperately minimizing the damage.
Shliiiiice—!
Instead of being split in two, the best she could manage was sacrificing her leg.
[Ahhhhh! W-we blocked it! Well, if you can call that blocking!]
[That’s way too severe an injury!? This is basically death!]
Crimson blood sprayed from her pale leg. A deep wound. Nearly severed.
“Ugh…!”
Thud!
Still, she managed to drag herself into the fourth floor.
Then she immediately screamed.
“YAAAAAAAA!!!”
Her roar echoed through the entire corridor.
[Ah, you’re not dead until you’re dead! The operation can still proceed!]
“HERE! YOU ZOMBIE BASTARDS!!!”
The heads of the zombies at the far corner, in each classroom, and those wandering aimlessly near the corridor all snapped toward her in unison.
Grrrraaaagh…!
They began charging forward frantically.
Among the zombies were special variants—Chargers, Catchers, and others.
[Ahhh! We’re done for! Jessi ended up calling all the zombies!]
Confirming the zombies were coming, Jessi limped toward the fourth-floor fire door.
[Jessi! Limping and all! Makes it to the fourth-floor fire door!]
[Almond will take a moment to come down from that reckless gamble!]
Jessi’s weapon was a modified cutter, so it carried considerable weight, didn’t it?
Bang! Crash!
The door handle gave way instantly.
[Finally! It opens!!]
The door swings open.
Jessi collapses to the floor as if her job was done.
Thud….

* * *
[Excessive Bleeding]
[Ligament Rupture]
[Exhaustion]
[Dizziness]
.
.
.
A comprehensive gift set of status ailments obscured my vision.
“Ha… I won.”
I won, but I’m finished too.
“You finally made it?”
Jessi looked up at Almond, who had just arrived, with a faint smile.
Haa… haa…
Gasping for breath from rushing over.
“Are you going to kill me?”
Almond silently adjusted his grip on his sword.
“Merciless.”
I was in no state to resist anyway.
Jessi squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for death here.
‘Huh?’
What she saw through her cracked eyelids was Almond’s back.
His back, standing to block the corridor.
“Who said you won?”
That back faced the zombies, blade raised, and spoke thus.
“If I block this, we win.”
“What…?”
Block that? Was he out of his mind?
Dozens of zombies.
And they weren’t ordinary zombies either. Many were special variants.
Even as they filled the corridor and charged forward.
“Graaaaaaaa…!”
“Grrrraaaa!!!”
[Fear]
Even the two combat-class players felt fear at their numbers.
Yet still, he believed he would win.
Whoooosh!
At that moment, light burst forth from the text.
[Fear → Resolve]
The combat-class’s special ability was activating.

* * *
[Beginner’s Tip: Surprisingly, humans become their weakest when they live only for themselves.]

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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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