Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 548

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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 18
8. If I Survive (1)
‘Damn it.’
When I followed Jessi up to the fourth floor,
she had already smashed through the door and was summoning all the zombies.
Blood was pouring from one of her legs, and she collapsed as if standing was too difficult.
It was because she’d been slashed by Almond when forcing her way up to the fourth floor.
‘She’s already dead, essentially.’
If a leg gets severed in this kind of exhibition, it’s practically the same as death.
With no hope of survival, there was even less chance of returning to combat.
Almond stopped paying attention to Jessi and turned toward the zombies.
‘Whether I kill Jessi or not doesn’t matter for winning anyway.’
The real problem isn’t Jessi.
It’s them.
“GRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
“KYAAAAAAAAAHHH!”
An overwhelming horde of zombies.
The corridor was completely packed.
Some of them were bursting apart from colliding with each other, turning into bloody messes.
There were no shortage of special zombies either—at least five were visible at a glance.
How many does it take for a combat-class character to feel fear?
[Fear]
I could feel my body becoming sluggish.
Yet I held my position.
‘If they get through, it’s over.’
If those creatures passed through here and entered the stairwell, Class 3 would be annihilated.
There was only one scenario where Class 3 could win for certain.
“If I stop this, we win.”
If I blocked them all right here.
Even if the odds were low, if this was the only hand I could play,
what choice did I have?
I had to give it everything.
With that thought, I stepped forward toward the zombies instead, planning to fight as far from the stairwell as possible.
Thump. Thump…
In the moment I forced my trembling legs to move—
[Fear → Resolve]
A function I didn’t even know I had.
[All Stats +30%]
[Immunity to All Status Abnormalities]
[Immunity to Weapon Durability Degradation]
.
.
.
Various buffs materialized.
[Time Remaining: 00:59]
A one-minute time limit was imposed.

* * *
Collapsed on the floor with her mouth slightly agape, her pupils fixed on a single point.
Her eyes gleamed far too brightly to be called a vacant stare.
Rather than a mindless gaze, she remained transfixed, her eyes boring into that one spot with an almost hypnotic intensity.
The emeralds embedded in her eyes shone like genuine jewels, radiating light as they gazed upon that singular focus.
Her gaze was directed toward a blood-soaked back—a back that showed no face, offering no acknowledgment in return.
Beyond that back lay a tableau of unfolding hell.
“Kraaaaaaaa!”
“Krueeeeh!”
Countless zombies, determined to bring down this single person, flailed their tattered flesh and burned with crimson eyes.
It was hopeless. Even Schopenhauer would concede and turn away from such pessimism.
Yet Jessi was certain. If a painter were to capture this scene, the title would be “Hope.”

* * *
[Almond! Are you really holding back the zombies alone!]
[It’s the only option we have. But whether it’ll work…!]
‘Here it comes.’
The foremost zombie bared its teeth at me.
A sharp blade gleamed between those teeth.
Slash—!
The zombie’s lower jaw vanished.
“Kraaaa… Ack!?”
Unable to control its momentum, the zombie tumbled forward on its own.
I sidestepped lightly, avoiding the collision.
The next zombie that lunged was cleaved through.
──Slash!
That zombie’s body was split vertically down the middle.
Splurt!
Blood erupted like fireworks as it collapsed forward once more.
[Time Remaining: 00:53]
Pools of blood accumulated in the corridor.
Splash.
My white sneakers stepped into it. And then, harder!
“GRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Splash!
A blade infused with force slices horizontally through the massive charger’s body.
Whoooosh…!
Blood blooms hazily from the severed wound. A crimson sunset stains everything deeply.
[Time Remaining: 00:42]
Blood splatters endlessly across my face.
My eyes merely blinked—I didn’t close them.
If I shut my eyes even once here, they’ll stay closed forever.
A dark crimson droplet of blood clings to my eyelash, trembling at the edge of my vision before falling.
I raise my blade again.
[T-That special zombie went down in one hit!?!]
Crash!
The massive creature splits apart and crumbles.
I can’t even tell what kind of zombie it was.
[Right now, every single cutting attack is getting a severing judgment!? This isn’t easy at all!]
Once the blade pierces through the initial skin surface and cuts through without wavering until the final edge is scored, a [Severing] judgment is granted.
This is a judgment system most game engines pursuing realism possess.
The Civil Empire is no different. I could use the swordplay I learned there exactly as is.
[Another one falls!]
Slash!
The blade turned crimson red.
[Another! And another! Consecutive!]
Slaaaaaash──!
The corpse toppled, splitting through a sea of blood.
[Wait, if you look at this from above! It’s like watching a rhythm game!?]
[Yes! The zombies are notes! How are you not missing a single beat!!!]
With the right music playing, it really did look like a rhythm game.
I swing my blade, meticulously carving out the beat, and whenever I hit a perfect judgment, the zombie bursts apart…
[Time Remaining: 00:25]
By now, even I couldn’t tell how I was swinging anymore.
Perhaps I truly was just surrendering my body to the rhythm.
[This is a blender! A zombie blender has arrived!]
Like the climax of a rhythm game, my blade strikes accelerate faster and faster.
Countless slashes scatter across the hallway like a barrage, blocking it completely.
Craaaaaash!
Crash-slash!
“Grrrrgh…!”
“Uuuugh…”
[Time Remaining: 00:12]
The commentators were right.
It was more accurate to say the zombies were ground down rather than sliced apart.
Most of the zombies collapsed without even managing a single flailing motion.
Only the ‘Catcher’ that had been pestering us from a distance lasted any longer.
[Ah, Almond! Forward instead! Moving forward!]
[This is……]
Surprisingly, Almond charged forward.
To anyone watching, it looked like he was throwing himself into certain death. So the creature trying to maintain distance had no choice.
Whoooosh!
“Keeeek!”
It fell.
Another corpse collapsed on top of it, then another piled on, then another…
Thud!
“Grraaah…!?”
Thud!
The countless stacked corpses had truly become a mountain.
[Time Remaining: 00:06]
A barricade made of corpses.
Thud…!
Another corpse piled on top.
A zombie crawled over that corpse only to die, ultimately blocking the path again.
[Time Remaining: 00:03]
The zombies began to be blocked by their own corpses.
[Time Remaining: 00:01]
“Graaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Boom… boom…
Only the sound of them ramming from beyond the corpse wall echoed repeatedly.
[Resolve Ended]
When the Resolve effect expired, the zombies could no longer advance.
[D… d… did he block them!?]
[He blocked them!?]
[Not by killing them all and blocking, but! Either way! He blocked them!]
-Insane fr
-Chills
-I thought I’d die from not breathing
-Wow he blocked that??
-Zombie: Ugh this game sucks!
[In… insane!! A mountain of zombies!! Almond! No! A corpse mountain!! Almond!!!]
[I… I thought I couldn’t breathe! Almond! He’s actually blocked them completely!]
Almond himself seemed to be breathing in short, measured breaths.
[Hyperventilation]
The moment my abnormal status immunity was lifted, hyperventilation symptoms began.
“Haa… haa….”
Splash…!
My knees touched the corridor floor, now a sea of blood.
“Huh… uh….”
Soon my ragged breathing began to transform into gasps for air.
“Almond!”
A voice from behind.
Splash. Splash.
I could hear someone approaching, but my vision was too blurred to see clearly.
Everything was red. The floor, my clothes, my hair… wait?
My hair too?
“Here!”
It was Jessi. She crawled across the floor and tore a strip from her skirt to cover my mouth. She lifted my head and rested it against her knee.
“Slowly.”
The most basic response to hyperventilation.
Making me breathe back in the carbon dioxide I’d exhaled.
“Haa… ha….”
My breathing gradually became more even.
Of course, I still looked at Jessi with curiosity.
Just moments ago, weren’t we trying to kill each other, trading blade strikes?
Jessi seemed to notice my gaze and shrugged.
“I lost anyway, right? At least you should get the challenge reward. They don’t give anything to dead people.”
I knew that dying meant getting nothing.
Yet I fought prepared for death because the reason I started this challenge in the first place was to ‘let Balloon Gum win once.’
Well, there was no way Jessi would know that.
Instead, I reacted to what Jessi said about losing.
“But… you lost?”
“Yeah. Look over there.”
After Jessi pointed behind her, Class 3’s members gradually appeared, climbing up the stairs one by one.
They must have already known from the sounds.
That Class 3 had won the stairwell battle.
“What? Collusion? Almond?”
The Class Representative asked in disbelief.
“Ah… um….”
Well, lying on the Bandit Leader’s lap like this, there was no way to make excuses.
“No. This bastard! While we were fighting for our lives, he was flirting with the enemy!?”
Daehyeok suddenly shouted indignantly.
“Ah. Don’t worry.”
Jessi cleanly forfeited the game, clearing up the misunderstanding as she departed.
“I’m logging out. I’m bleeding out too much now….”
Thump.
Whether she’d logged out.
Or if she’d actually died—the timing made it impossible to tell.
Either way, Class 3 had no enemies left standing.
That’s when someone from behind struck the Class Representative and Daehyeok.
Smack! Crack!
“What, what is this?”
“Ah! What the—!”
It was the canteen lady.
She spoke with utter disdain.
“Collusion? That’s love, you idiots.”
Daehyeok and the Class Representative tried to counter with complaints, but.
“Love? What kind of… That woman nearly killed us all? Is that what love’s beating feels like!?”
“Well… if you think about the kind of love-beating the teacher dishes out, then dying could also be a love-beating… No, wait, that’s not it! If it’s love, then that’s real collusion, isn’t it!?”
No one paid them any attention anyway.
Hahahahaha, for real
Hyuna’s head shake (tossing) lol
Yeah ㅠ This is true love ㅠㅠ
-Info) Everything Hyeon-a Jegal says is correct

* * *
Screeeech.
The last capsule from the Denmark team’s pod to open.
A red-haired woman walked out from within.
She appeared more mature than what I’d seen on the broadcast screen, yet her face from back then remained unmistakably recognizable.
“Jessi. You finally made it out. Why on earth couldn’t you open the door?”
“Ah, I told you already. Someone was blocking it.”
These guys are still going on about the door.
“Besides, I did open it in the end. The guy who was blocking me just ended up blocking all the zombies instead.”
Ut looks amazed.
“Jo, he blocked the zombies? There seemed to be a ton of them.”
“Yeah.”
At this, the Nerd King questioned back.
“Wait. What were you doing all that time?”
“Me?”
Jessi fiddled with her hair for no reason, then made an excuse.
“My legs got cut off.”
“…Really?”
“Ugh… Shit.”
Ut shakes his head as if horrified. He still seems regretful as he mutters.
“Damn. What a waste. We were so close.”
“What do you mean close? Our entire strategy got exposed.”
The Nerd King delivered a harsh truth.
“Trying to win in that state was just greed.”
“Anyway, who is that person with the brains? A pro gamer? Korean, right? They were seriously something else.”
Jessi tells the two of them to drop it.
“That’s enough~ as long as it was fun.”
The two quickly agree.
“True. It was entertaining.”
“That’s right. I’ve only seen Korean school zombie stuff on Netflix.”
Besides, what they really need to win is a different game.
“We just need to win the international tournament. Today was just for fun.”
Jessi mutters while watching Almond and Class 3 on the broadcast screen.
“Will they make it to the finals…?”
Ut chuckles and asks back. He thought it was some kind of joke.
“The finals? It’s a bit awkward to say in this land… won’t it be tough?”
“Yeah. Right?”
Jessi gazes at the broadcast screen with a sense of regret.

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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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