Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 617

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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 87
30. It’s Okay, Again (4)
Juhyeok had a vague intuition about it.
That something wasn’t right about Jia’s circumstances.
For one, she lived alone in a relatively uncommon neighborhood despite her relatively young age.
There were barely any traces of family left.
She hardly ever talked about herself.
He’d only recently heard mentions of her previous lover, and even that was sparse.
He suspected she’d only mentioned it because he’d actually seen that person himself.
‘Most of all, money isn’t accumulating.’
Juhyeok had discovered her oddity quite by chance—through a debit card.
Despite starting her career relatively early, Jia used a debit card rather than a credit card.
The debit card had shown insufficient funds.
In other words, Jia’s account had no balance.
For a typical young professional, this wouldn’t have been unusual.
But her situation was different. As the main editor of Almond’s channel, she received substantial sums whenever videos performed well.
And as far as Juhyeok knew, she wasn’t making any significant expenditures.
Yet she was short on money.
What’s more, Jia herself didn’t know about it.
It was Jia who had handed him the card in the first place.
She clearly didn’t realize her own account was empty.
The location where Jia had collapsed was remarkably coincidental.
‘Of all places, she collapsed at a bank.’
A bank.
She’d left early in the morning without telling him, and her destination was a bank.
Whatever had been so urgent, she had numerous scratches on her legs.
Questions were inevitable.
What had happened to her? What situation had she gotten herself into?
Or perhaps…
What was she scheming?
Before Juhyeok’s thoughts could develop further, fortunately, Jia began to speak.
“It’s about someone I met before…”
He was her superior who had treated her uniquely without prejudice, judging her solely on her abilities, despite her junior college background.
“Naturally, things started well.”
The person who perhaps first recognized her talent.
Yet he himself was someone acknowledged by those around him for his abilities.
Recognition and affection, loyalty and love, man and woman.
The distinctions began to blur.
The world shone in vibrant colors, and those lights began to converge and mingle together.
The more the lights mixed, the brighter they became.
Eventually, she began to dream of a bright future with him.
He felt the same way.
「Let’s start together, just the two of us. With our abilities, we can do it.」
The two of them began earnestly sketching out their future.
But then—
“It was all a delusion.”
When she came to her senses, her world was pitch black.
Not light.
It was a murky puddle, as if someone had mixed every color of paint together.
A repulsive, utterly unpleasant pool that no one would willingly approach.
Juhyeok plunged his hand into it, stirring through the muck.
“So… you prepared to establish a corporation together.”
Jia nodded.
“And in the process, there was a loan under your guarantee. But… after the breakup, the company was essentially being run on his vision, so he was supposed to pay it back… but he didn’t. And you completely forgot about it.”
Jia nodded again. This time more slowly. As if ashamed.
By any measure, it was her own mistake.
Legally, he had no obligation to repay it at all.
“What kind of company was it anyway? Did it actually operate? What was the business?”
“Popular culture and arts… planning? He specialized in entertainment industry advertising…”
Juhyeok stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment.
“Why…?”
“Oh, no. I just remembered something else. Since he specialized in entertainment advertising, that’s how we ended up crossing paths? Did the business ever actually start?”
“I don’t know… The government provided support and all, but since he changed jobs again, it seems like it never really operated.”
“So where did all that money borrowed under the corporation’s name go…?”
Juhyeok stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“If it was borrowed under the corporation’s name and he received government support, then it should have been used under the corporation’s name, which means it was used for business purposes. But the business never started…”
Juhyeok muttered to himself.
Jia carefully gauged his expression.
How pathetic must he think her for falling into such a ridiculous trap.
“Where this money disappeared to might be the key to all this…”
But the Juhyeok she observed was genuinely contemplating a solution.
There was no contempt in his expression, no hint of disdain.
He looked just like a high school student who’d been given a difficult math problem.
“He doesn’t think I’m stupid.”
“We’d need to check where the corporate card was used… what?”
Juhyeok turned around as if asking what she meant.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because… this whole mess happened. Back then, I was so foolish I didn’t even know what a corporation was. Honestly, I still don’t really understand it.”
Pfft.
Juhyeok laughed as if he understood what she meant.
“Of course you wouldn’t know.”
There was no way around it.
It would be strange if Jia knew all this at her age.
“And when you’re in business, these things happen. It’s not stupidity—just a momentary lapse in judgment. You chose the wrong partner.”
The human element was always a risk in business.
Juhyeok had always understood this.
It was something he’d learned through his father.
“Business… risk….”
Jia slowly repeated the words from Juhyeok’s world.
‘I see.’
Why hadn’t I thought of it that way?
Why had I only focused on what was done to me, and felt ashamed of falling for such a common trick?
I simply wanted to choose a partner, and a small risk materialized in that process….
A risk is something you hope doesn’t happen, but if it does, there’s nothing to be done. It’s called a risk because there’s always a probability it will occur.
“As long as the return exceeds the risk, even when the risk materializes, you can keep repeating it and generate profits through the law of large numbers. So this is nothing to worry about.”
Juhyeok smiled and took her hand.
“So don’t overthink it. In the worst case, you just pay back the debt you would’ve had to pay anyway. The amount isn’t even that large.”
Right. Repaying this debt was simply what had to be done.
It wasn’t an amount I couldn’t afford.
What made me so angry was the fact of having to repay this money at all.
But if I think of it as the cost of my own poor choice, it makes sense.
Jia felt her mind clearing with this simple, lucid conclusion.
The world was growing brighter.
‘Light….’
The world was being painted again in vibrant, colorful light.
Without realizing it, she murmured something.
“It’s okay. Again.”
“Huh…?”
“I love that phrase so much.”
Words Juhyeok used often.
“It’s okay. Again… it’s okay. We can try again. It’s okay. We can stand up again. It’s okay. Again….”
I’ll fall for him again.
“Say it again.”
“….”
Juhyeok’s face flushed crimson.
“W-what was that again? Ha ha.”
He scratched his head and looked away.
“What you just said.”
“I mean, I don’t remember….”
“Me.”
“….”

* * *
Jia decided to take further rest after Juhyeok’s persuasion, and Juhyeok headed out to attend to some matters.
“Let me know if anything comes up.”
“Got it.”
Closing the hospital room door behind him, Juhyeok stepped into the corridor.
His expression grew complicated.
“…Damn.”
Walking down the white hallway, Juhyeok’s eyes closed for a moment.
‘That guy….’
He hadn’t shown it in front of Jia.
But his fury was boiling over uncontrollably.
「I’ll handle it. Don’t worry too much.」
Jia had said she would resolve it herself.
But Juhyeok would find his own way.
This wasn’t something that could be solved by the book or by following protocol.
It could become too rough a matter to entrust to someone as young as Jia.
Click.
[Schedule]
Juhyeok checked Almond’s schedule.
[Hitman Simulator Shoot]
Three weeks from now.
It was a shoot scheduled after the national tournament preliminaries concluded.
This advertisement was definitely being made with Choi-gang Planning, after all.
“Kyung-ho Lee….”
Juhyeok repeated his name as if to commit it to memory.
Not all related parties would appear on set, but Kyung-ho Lee would definitely be there. He had shown up during the last shoot as well.
There was a high probability his position was directly tied to the production side.
“Hey, Juhyeok.”
“?”
It was Sanghyeon.
He appeared to have rushed over from the other end of the corridor.
“Already heading out? How is Jia doing?”
He had been doing a brief broadcast after eating with Juhyeok, so he’d learned the news late.
“Ah….”
Juhyeok hesitated on how to explain.
There was nothing he wanted to keep secret from Sanghyeon….
But Jia’s situation was an exception.
“Yeah, just some rest should do it. Though the editing might be difficult.”
“Ah, I see. That’s a relief. Don’t worry about the editing. Besides, you said you’re interviewing for an assistant editor today anyway.”
“Right. I’m heading there now.”
“Go ahead then.”
I nodded and passed Juhyeok, opening the door to the hospital room where Jia was staying.
Crrreak!
I opened it quite loudly, didn’t I.
“….”
Juhyeok stood there with a bewildered expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“That’s not the right room.”
“…?”
At that moment, voices suddenly spilled out through the crack of the open hospital room door.
“Wait, isn’t that Almond?”
“What? Almond’s here? I just watched the broadcast.”
Thud.
I quickly shut the hospital room door again and checked the room number.
“This isn’t it?”
“No. You’re still directionally challenged, I see.”
“I’m not directionally challenged. Oh, now I get it. Let’s go.”
I tried to open the hospital room right next door.
“That’s not it either. It’s room 21. Seriously. Ugh.”
Juhyeok, exasperated, finally dragged me to the correct hospital room.

* * *
Click.
Sanghyeon pushed open the hospital room door and stepped inside.
I could spot Jia’s bed immediately.
“…Huh? Alm… Oh, you came too, oppa.”
Jia had started to call him Almond but caught herself, worried about the stares around her, and settled for an awkward form of address instead.
“…?”
Startled by the sudden “oppa,” Sanghyeon glanced back for a moment, but—
She was indeed calling him.
“Hmm. You collapsed suddenly, I heard.”
Sanghyeon approached and sat in the chair beside her bed, asking the question.
Though his tone seemed casual, Jia knew he’d cut his broadcast short and rushed over.
“Ah… Yeah. I guess it was just anemia.”
In reality, it had been acute gastroenteritis brought on by stress.
But if she said that, he’d worry terribly, so she deflected.
“Mm….”
Sanghyeon examined my complexion from different angles.
Not that he was a doctor or could discern anything meaningful from doing so.
Sanghyeon wasn’t particularly talkative, and neither was I, so silence settled between us for a moment.
Then, faintly, I could hear a few people around us making a fuss.
“That’s definitely Almond.”
“Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. Where else would you find someone who looks like that?”
“He’s seriously insanely handsome.”
“Would it be weird to ask for a photo?”
“Are you crazy? He’s here visiting someone in the hospital….”
“Who’s the one admitted? A woman, right? I’m seriously jealous. That person who came earlier too—they were so tall….”
Pfft.
I held it in at first, but eventually burst out laughing.
“Why did you even come if you’re just going to sit there like that?”
The fact that he’d shown up to visit and then just stood there without saying a word was hilarious.
“Uh… Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you visit someone in the hospital?”
I giggled at his response.
He had a point.
What could he really do for me anyway?
“I guess, but usually people at least try to make conversation.”
“Oh.”
Sanghyeon seemed to remember something and rummaged through his pocket.
“If you can eat, have this.”
It was an almond chocolate bar.
A product from Green Diamond Company.
“This is… sponsorship.”
“No, no! What I got sponsored for was cereal. I’ve always liked this brand’s products.”
The funny part wasn’t Jia, but that he’d bought something he genuinely enjoyed.
Jia decided to be grateful simply because it wasn’t sponsorship.
“I know. I’ll enjoy it.”
She already knew well enough that only the cereal was sponsorship.
“You seem to be in a good mood for someone who’s supposed to be sick…?”
“Well~ I’m not~”
Pffft.
Jia kept laughing, clearly amused by the teasing.
Jia didn’t know it, but Sanghyeon could be quite perceptive at times.
He felt something familiar and unpleasant wash over him.
‘Disgusting couple.’

* * *
Either way, Jia decided to rest until the Rome match.
So in reality, there would be no new videos uploaded to Almond’s OlTube channel until the Rome match arrived.
After all, Jia was still the only editor.
It should have been that way…
-??
-Heard the editor was sick?
-What is this though
-This looks like the first video I’ve seen on Almond’s channel?
-Huh? What’s with this scale lol
lol
A video had been uploaded to Almond’s channel.

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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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