Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 60

—————
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 1 Episode 60
21. Runaway Almond (3)
Pungsna greeted me with a grin.
It looked like the early skirmish would unfold right from the Armory. If Almond got eliminated by Pungsna there, his Diamond journey would be over.
If he dropped below rank 50 even once, the probability would plummet dramatically.
“What the—?! That damn bastard!?”
Juhyeok slammed the table repeatedly.
As mentioned, he was now in a state of excitement comparable to watching a Korea-Japan international soccer match.
It was understandable.
At least there was no money riding on that.
Here, Juhyeok’s entire life was on the line. And Sanghyeon’s too.
It was a desperate situation.
A Diamond Tier 1 player with a grudge sniping in the final match of the placement matches?
It was a moment that made the phrase “even heaven is indifferent” ring true.
“Ah….”
Juhyeok let out a short groan.
「Start coming to work tomorrow.」
My father’s voice echoed in my ears.
I shook my head.
‘No way.’
I didn’t want to live taking orders from someone past thirty. Maybe if it were the Company. But from family?
Absolutely not.
I seemed willing to do anything to avoid that. But the problem was that the current situation didn’t depend on me at all—it depended entirely on Sanghyeon.
‘What can I even do right now?’
As a manager, what was the most I could do?
I pondered.
‘….’
Though I had a fairly sharp mind, nothing came to me. In these crucial moments, there was simply nothing I could do.
Grit.
My teeth clenched involuntarily.
‘Think harder.’
I steadied my breathing and closed my eyes for a moment. There was still time before the parachute deployed. About five seconds.
In that time, something….
‘Faith.’
A strange word brushed through my mind.
Faith in a situation like this? Was I supposed to be a cheerleader or something?
Did that make sense?
Even being generous, it was a full confrontation between a Bronze user and a Diamond Tier 1 user. And the Diamond Tier 1 user had come in with a snipe.
Faith in such a situation.
My sharp mind instinctively rejected such a word. Perhaps this too was an inheritance from my father.
‘Father’s… genetics.’
As my thoughts reached that point, I felt what was lacking in my father.
Father doesn’t trust me.
He always believed my judgment would fall far short of his own. That’s why he was constantly pointing me toward what he called “better paths.”
But humans possess free will, and a son grows up receiving education in far better circumstances than his father.
Why couldn’t he trust the result he had shaped with all his might?
That’s a matter of origin.
My generation calls that being stuck in the past.
‘Trust!’
Juhyeok’s tightly shut eyes suddenly flew open.
“That’s right, damn it. There’s no way Almond would lose!?”
He shouted words that sounded insane by Juhyeok’s own standards.
Then suddenly he accessed a certain website.
[Balloon Gum Fan Cafe]
Having completed membership registration in an instant, he immediately rushed into the free discussion board.
‘Almond won’t lose. If I think that way, it’ll show…!’
If he thought Almond could lose, there was nothing a manager could do.
After all, if Almond lost, there was no other way.
But what if he had certainty that Almond would win? What if he had faith?
Then a path would appear.
All he had to do was make his victory shine even brighter!
[Met that malicious sniper Funsnare who’s a real ‘Walkman’ in real-time lolololol]
Clack clack clack.
The keyboard clattered loudly. You could feel Juhyeok’s excitement through it.
Right now he wasn’t thinking with his head.
With his head, it was madness.
If it were a public community, maybe. But using Balloon Gum’s fan page? And when the opponent was Pungsna?
If Almond lost after this, it would be an unstoppable massive blow.
This was madness.
It was completely different from the previous matches against Stones. Fighting Pungsna was like a yellow belt versus a black belt in taekwondo.
Right now Juhyeok was raising the stakes in such a fight.
Even without Almond knowing, Juhyeok standing beside him was multiplying the stakes.
But as I said.
“You have to win no matter what.”
Juhyeok didn’t think Almond would lose.
He didn’t believe that.
That Sang-hyun Yu would be pushed outside the top 90 in the final round of the placement exam.
He absolutely couldn’t imagine it.
[Poongsna about to get a proper lesson in 1 minute! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
“Let’s raise the stakes! Let’s see you die trying, you sick bastard Pungsna!”

* * *
I know it too.
-Wow. Of all times, right at the end lol
-The last match of the placement exam is always like this~
This is the final match of the placement exam.
If things fall apart from here, there’s no way to reach Diamond.
My opponent came in knowing that too.
-Hmm, that bastard Pungsna. Such a scumbag.
-Isn’t he some producer’s son? Why isn’t he being arrested lol
-Oh, damn.
-So damn fun lol
-Please die! Almond!
-Does Diamond maybe mean ‘Almond dies’?
My opponent isn’t someone to take lightly either.
‘Diamond 1, huh…’
That’s the tier predicted based on Pungsna’s true skill level.
It’s a full 3 tiers higher than Almond’s goal of barely scraping into Diamond 4.
-Going down soon~!
-Will they fight as soon as we land? lol
-Wow. It’s been a while since something this fun lol
Flutter.
The parachute deploys.
‘Landing soon.’
Let me think about this.
My opponent probably came here with almost all my patterns figured out. That’s how they could land precisely at the Armory.
It’s not some celebrity syndrome.
[Current Viewers: 4,221]
Four thousand people watching at this hour.
Among domestic Battle Rage broadcasts right now, this is probably in the top ten.
And I just showed the same strategy three matches in a row.
Is there easier prey to predict, more appetizing bait than this?
Wanting to crush a rising rookie is basically an instinct all veterans share.
Especially for someone like Pungsna who makes a habit of that kind of play.
‘Do they have some prepared tactic ready?’
My opponent must have decided to snipe me because some tactic came to mind.
This is a match where Almond has a lot to lose, but Pungsna has just as much on the line.
They probably brought something prepared.
‘Go for a street fight.’
I can’t give my opponent time to execute their tactics.
Whoosh.
Almond tilted his body, pressing even closer toward Pungsna.
The ground was nearly upon them now.
“!”
Pungsna’s eyes widened, clearly not having anticipated this.
The lines of their parachutes began tangling together.
-I swear I’ve seen this in a textbook somewhere. Was it kite fighting? lol
-Damn. Aerial combat?!
-Normal strategy? Fat chance! I’m Almond!
Smirk.
Pungsna’s panic gave way to a contemptuous smile.
“What, you think you can’t do it the normal way?”
They were pressed so close that his voice cut through the wind noise.
The provocation was simple—targeting Almond’s pride. But Almond already knew the truth: when it came to pride, his opponent was far more sensitive.
“What, you think you don’t belong in Diamond Rank?”
“What? This—!”
Boom!
Almond and Pungsna tangled wildly, tumbling across the ground.
Thud! Thud! Boom…!
Before either realized it, they’d already crashed to the ground. Both had been too focused on countering each other to notice.
Whoosh.
Almond was the first to push himself up.
-Wow! lololol
-Stomp him out!!
-Ground and pound gg
If he started pounding him down like the chat was screaming, he might seize victory. But Almond had zero experience in unarmed combat. Beyond that, even if he won through hand-to-hand fighting, the game would already be heavily disadvantaged. It would consume far too much time.
‘I need to find a blade first.’
Almond sprinted toward the Armory. In that moment, Pungsna also pushed himself up.
Grasping the situation quickly, he immediately chased after him toward the Armory.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.
The two of them ran with such singular focus, it looked like a relay race.
‘There it is.’
Almond’s eyes gleamed first.
A blade glinted on the ground in the distance.
“Haa. Haa.”
Pungsna’s breathing echoed from right behind him.
He was closing in on Almond.
“Hup!”
Almond inhaled sharply, then launched his body forward.
Screech.
I slid across the floor and grabbed the hunting jungle knife. It was a rare-grade blade.
Pungsna was already rushing toward another weapon.
‘That won’t do.’
Almond immediately spun his body and hurled the knife backward.
Whoosh!
The jungle knife, thrown with barely a glance, screamed through the air toward Pungsna with a terrifying sound.
If it missed, it would put me at a disadvantage instead.
“!”
Swish.
Pungsna arched his waist sharply to the right and dodged. I lost my blade.
But that wasn’t all. The shocking part came next.
Crack!
Pungsna caught the flying sword barehanded. In an unstable limbo-like posture.
-Hmm…
-Damn. That’s vicious skill.
-?!?!
-Wow, Diamond Rank 1 really is different.
-Insane lol
-He catches the handle perfectly?!?
-Wow… I suspected it after seeing the assassination grenade, but he’s seriously skilled.
Crack!
Catching the sword that had been thrown with tremendous force in that strange posture did strain my shoulders and waist.
Grin.
Pungsna laughed instead. It was just a game anyway.
No injury status appeared.
He was unarmed now. I had the advantage.
“Die, you bastard!”
Whoosh!!
Spinning his entire body around, the sword flew back toward Almond like lightning.
Whirrrr!!
Unlike my throw, the sword came spinning at high speed.
It was completely different from a standard throwing technique.
-He threw it that way so I couldn’t catch it like he did
-Insane. The play details are perfect.
-So this is Diamond Rank 1. Damn.
-Monday Lovers were all trash lol
-Pungsna reassessment… wow
Don’t die ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I can’t translate this as it’s not a coherent phrase in Korean. It appears to be fragmented text with emotional symbols (crying emoticons ㅠㅠㅠ) rather than a complete sentence.
He’d cranked up the rotation to insane levels so I couldn’t catch the sword the way he had. But then—
-Why are you running forward!?
-Just dodge!
-What!?
Almond charged straight toward the blade instead.
‘If Pungsna grabs the next sword here, it’s over.’
Aside from the jungle sword, there was only one more weapon visible in his current field of vision, and it was near Pungsna.
Even if Almond simply evaded the jungle sword now, he would have no weapon.
As Almond, unless he retreated deep into the Armory and farmed another weapon, he would have to face Pungsna without a weapon.
If that happened, Pungsna would also farm firearms and shoot at him. Then Almond would be at a disadvantage.
So he made his decision.
‘I’ll catch it!’
Whether it spins at high speed or not, he would catch it.
Whoosh!
He stretched his hand toward the blade spinning like a propeller without hesitation.
He mobilized all his concentration, pulling his senses to their peak.
Uuuung….
The entire world appeared to move in slow motion.
‘Now…!’
Huuung… Huuung….
He slowly wedged his hand into the trajectory of the slowly rotating blade. And he caught it.
Thwack…!
Precisely by the handle.
From that moment, the world flowed at normal speed again.
-He’s insane
-Lolol
-Huh!?
-He copied it right away!?
-You’ve lost it, Almond!!!
-But the sword is spinning….
-This is also aim, you see….
“What!?”
Pungsna’s cry rang out like a scream. Her eyes showed she couldn’t accept what had just happened.
Tap tap tap.
In her eyes now fell the shadow of Almond, who had charged forward at full acceleration.
Pungsna also threw herself forward to grab the next sword. And she swung the blade upward to block Almond’s strike.
If she could parry this blow.
Then there would be a chance.
But.
“!”
The sword in his right hand transferred to his left.
A double clutch—the kind you’d only see in basketball.
“What the—insane──”
As those were Pungsna’s last words, his blade slashed through empty air while my blade severed his arm.
Shhwaaaack!!
Blood erupted with the clean, satisfying sound of the cut.
-Wow, like Michael Jordan or something lmao
-That’s insane. For real
-Pungsna got completely played.
-W-what just happened!?
The arm holding his weapon was severed, and Pungsna lost all combat capability.
“??!”
Pungsna opened his mouth, trying to say something.
My blade was faster.
Thunk!
As always, the blade pierced straight through the center of his forehead, and our clash came to an end.
[Almond → Pungsna]
[Eliminated!]
[99/100]

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