Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 64

—————
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 64
23. Advertisement (2)
The next day.
Juhyeok delivered news about the advertisement to Sanghyeon, brimming with excitement.
Completely thrilled.
“Punk reached out this morning and confirmed it.”
Yesterday it wasn’t finalized, so he hadn’t mentioned it, but this morning Punk had contacted him as well.
Now all that remained was for Sanghyeon to give his approval, and the advertisement would proceed.
Juhyeok thrust the tablet screen toward Sanghyeon and exclaimed.
“It’s an advertisement!”
Boom.
The kind of pose that seemed to demand such a sound effect in the background.
“…An advertisement?”
“Yeah. Take a look.”
I slowly read through the contents.
But my expression grew increasingly rigid.
“Don’t you like the advertisement? Why do you look like that?”
“I like the advertisement. Of course I do.”
“But?”
“Medical check…”
Among the test items was a medical check.
It seemed to be merely a formality to say “our Fantasia cares about these things too.”
But that bothered me? Juhyeok found it rather puzzling.
“Why is that a problem?”
Sigh.
I exhaled a shallow breath.
‘What exactly is this about?’
Juhyeok couldn’t figure it out. What was I worried about?
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
I finished the remaining cereal before answering.
“It feels like more people are going to find out about my right hand.”
Because of my right hand?
“Do you have a Black Flame Dragon hidden there or something?”
“Not a Black Flame Dragon. A trauma.”
“…”
Juhyeok had nothing to say.
‘He’s been worrying about it that much?’
For Sanghyeon, who had nurtured dreams of becoming an archery athlete, how much weight did his right hand carry?
Honestly, Juhyeok had no way of knowing.
He couldn’t empathize with it either.
“A medical checkup will make it clear.”
“I already told the Director.”
“He’s someone you can trust, someone in that position. And back then, that was necessary. But this is just broadcasting. Everything will come out in that moment anyway.”
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t air on the broadcast. I just need to tell them beforehand. Of course that’s—”
“No, I don’t even want the production company to know. How am I supposed to trust them?”
“…What? No, you need to get a medical checkup anyway! Don’t you see your condition every time you exit the Capsule?”
“I can just go to a hospital for that.”
“How many people in this country do you think can correlate Capsule data with brainwave tests together? And how much would that cost? Fantasia’s medical team is already famous! Get checked by the best! And for free!”
“…”
I fell silent.
Juhyeok seemed to understand what I was worried about.
“Are you afraid your former colleagues will find out?”
“Shut up. You bastard.”
Clack.
I set my spoon down on the table with finality.
Fire blazed in my eyes.
I knew he was sensitive about mentions of my former colleagues, but not to this degree.
“Fine. Think about it. Let me know.”
Juhyeok said that and threw on a thin coat.
“Where are you going? Without finishing your meal?”
“I’ll eat out. And is that even food? That’s cereal! Damn it!”
Bang.
Juhyeok said that and just walked out.
“…”
I stared at the closed door for a long time.
Then I looked out the window. I could see Juhyeok Kim walking down with long strides.
Looking at my reflection in the window, I muttered to myself.
“What an idiot.”
My head drooped.
“It’s only natural he doesn’t understand.”

* * *
“Not some foreign bastard, and cereal every single day… I even studied abroad myself.”
Juhyeok, who had ventured out early in the morning for once, caught sight of the alley stairs and felt a pang of regret.
‘Is today trash day?’
He watched several people descending with garbage bags in hand.
Juhyeok instinctively turned his body around.
“He’ll take care of it himself, whatever.”
Realizing he had absolutely no intention of helping, he resumed his path.
I should treat myself to some tripe soup for once.
“Oh….”
Just then.
He encountered a woman carrying a garbage bag that appeared twice the size of her own body.
“Hello, Jia.”
It was Seojia.
As if they hadn’t quarreled at all, Juhyeok flashed a bright smile and extended his hand.
“Let me help you with that.”
“Oh, that’s not neces—”
Seojia practically had the garbage bag snatched from her by Juhyeok.
With Juhyeok, who stood over 180 centimeters tall, carrying it, the bag suddenly didn’t look so large at all.
“Thank you.”

* * *
Thud.
Jia’s garbage bag was added to the pile of accumulated trash.
“Thank you so much.”
Jia bowed her head in gratitude.
“Oh, yes. It’s nothing. Feel free to ask anytime.”
“So you live around here, it seems.”
Right.
Seojia didn’t know about Juhyeok’s move to Sang-hyun’s home.
“Ah… well, that is….”
I wasn’t sure where to begin. It wasn’t even a difficult question, but being asked so suddenly caught me off guard.
“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer.”
“Oh, no. Thank you.”
“What about Sanghyeon?”
“Ah. That guy’s just staying put. Haha.”
Seojia sensed it from his tone.
‘They fought.’
The two of them had quarreled.
Seojia already knew that Almond was the type to wake up early in the morning.
No excuse would suffice.
“Ah, Jia. How about some ox bone soup? I’ll buy it for you.”
“?!”
I liked her.
She had surprisingly old-fashioned tastes.
Jia nodded in agreement.

* * *
Clack.
A kindly-looking ajumma set down a steaming earthenware pot.
It was brimming with blood sausage and meat—an appetizing sight.
“Is there anything else you need?”
Juhyeok was about to smile and say no.
But then…
“One bottle of soju, please.”
“…?”
Jia had ordered soju.
“I…”
“What? You won’t buy me soju?”
“Ah, no. That’s not it at all.”
Juhyeok was taken aback.
She had quite the bold personality. Come to think of it, she was like that when we drafted the contract too.
‘Did something bad happen to her?’
Well, the fact that some guy suggested ox bone soup and she readily followed along meant something was up.
Something that didn’t seem good at all.
Juhyeok sat there dazed for a moment, then just started eating the soup.
‘This tastes good.’
After eating nothing but cereal every day, finally having a hearty breakfast made me feel alive.
“Here we go. Soju~”
A green bottle descended onto the table.
Pop.
Jia expertly twisted off the soju cap and held it out to me.
The bottle’s opening pointed at me like the barrel of a gun.
“Won’t you take it?”
I hesitated. Drinking soju first thing in the morning was something I’d never done before.
“Ah… Jia, you go ahead. I’m fine.”
“You look like you need it too.”
“…”
She wasn’t wrong.
It was one of those days when I craved a drink.
“Then, just one glass.”
Juhyeok quietly picked up the small, transparent glass at her words.
Glug, glug, glug…
The clear liquid rippled as it filled the small glass.
After filling it completely, Jia finished pouring into her own glass as well.
“Oh…”
Juhyeok tried to hold the glass for her, but she had already finished pouring.
Gulp.
And without even clinking glasses, she downed it all in one go.
“Hah.”
She exhaled a shallow breath, then ate her tripe soup.
‘How old did she say she was again?’
It was the kind of scene that naturally made you curious about her age.
Feeling his gaze, Jia lifted her head.
“I can’t eat when someone’s staring at me.”
“Ah… I’m, I’m sorry. I’ll eat.”
“No need to apologize. Just have a drink.”
“…”
Juhyeok felt like a broken robot.
Should I really drink?
‘Well, yeah. I’m not a company employee anymore anyway.’
I’d already left home.
Now I could live by my own rules.
Not by someone else’s predetermined rules, but by Juhyeok Kim’s rules.
Gulp.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tossed the transparent glass into his mouth. The bitter taste of alcohol hit him hard.
“Ugh…!”
Jia immediately refilled his glass.
Juhyeok tried to refuse, but it was already too late.
Glug, glug, glug.
The glass sloshed.
“I don’t know what it is, but from my experience, this surprisingly solves a lot of things.”
Jia tapped the soju glass lightly.
“Do you usually drink in the morning?”
“Why not? Is alcohol less harmful if you drink it at night?”
Pfft.
A slightly flushed smile as the alcohol began to take effect.
“You’re ruining the start of your day.”
“For me, this is the end of my day.”
“?”
Gulp.
Jia downed another drink.
Juhyeok scanned the table. There were already two green bottles.
When did she even order those?
“When I say it’s over, that’s when the day ends.”
“….”
“What, is that not allowed? I’m not even going to work anyway. Who cares.”
She seemed drunk.
For starters, she was talking far more than usual—completely unlike Seojia’s normal demeanor.
“But how can you start a day by fighting like that?”
“…?!”
“I guess you didn’t know. Even a stray dog would’ve figured it out.”
“I see.”
“Just say this is the end. Rather than saying you started by fighting. If you fight and sleep at the end, there’s always tomorrow, right?”
Juhyeok drained another shot glass as well.
The room was spinning.
His rationality felt dull and sluggish.
“When people don’t talk to anyone, they just endure and endure until they break.”
“?”
“Almond said that.”
Sang-hyun Yu said something like that?
“It’s nothing special. Really.”
Juhyeok hesitated for a moment.
Should I tell her this?
But under Jia’s piercing gaze that seemed to bore right through him, Juhyeok exhaled softly.
“Sigh. Well….”
He decided to tell her after all. Using the alcohol as courage.
He explained as best he could, leaving out the story about Sanghyeon’s right arm.
He received an advertisement deal but refused the medical checkup. Something about having some trauma….
Seojia’s reaction was this.
“If he has trauma, can’t you just leave him alone for a bit?”
Her words came with an increasingly slurred tone.
“Just… leave him be….”
“But there’s a health issue and an advertisement deal on the line.”
“Doesn’t Almond know that?”
“?”
“He knows there’s something at stake. Yet he still mentioned the trauma.”
Juhyeok felt like he’d been struck on the head.
‘That’s right.’
Sanghyeon fully understood the stakes involved. Yet he was still troubled because of his right arm.
That’s how much of a concern it had been for him.
“Sigh. This is why men are… hopeless….”
Seojia lowered her head and shook it side to side.
And in a barely audible murmur, she added one more thing.
‘Trash.’
It was so quiet it was nearly impossible to hear. But Juhyeok heard it. And instinctively, he understood.
If Sang-hyun had his right hand as his burden, then Seojia had her problems with men.

* * *
Fortunately, Seojia wasn’t as drunk as I’d expected.
She was just sober enough to walk home on her own.
I almost wondered if all that earlier had been an act.
“Thank you for the meal.”
With a crisp farewell, she entered her home and disappeared.
Juhyeok opened the door to Sang-hyun’s home and stepped back inside.
“Hey. I’m back!”
He deliberately tried to shift the mood by shouting loudly as he entered.
“What? Did you drink?”
Sang-hyun looked at Juhyeok with an expression of disbelief.
‘Juhyeok Kim drinking in the afternoon?’
Even if the world flipped upside down tomorrow, he would believe it.
“Yeah. I had a drink. Phew. I feel alive again.”
Juhyeok threw himself onto the sofa the moment he arrived.
Thud.
“Seriously.”
Sang-hyun shook his head in exasperation. Then he tossed out the words casually.
“Hey. Department Manager Oh set the filming date.”
“…What?”
Juhyeok, who had been lying there like a corpse, bolted upright.
“Set what?”
“The commercial shoot. He said we’re doing it. Tomorrow, apparently.”
“!”
Sang-hyun had contacted him while Juhyeok was out.
“…Will you be okay?”
Sang-hyun looked down at his right hand.
“I can’t avoid it forever anyway. That’s the nature of being a streamer. Like you said, it’s not that big a deal. But….”
Sang-hyun suddenly turned his head.
A mysterious playfulness glinted in his eyes.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?!”
“There’s no way you’d suddenly be drinking alone in the afternoon.”
“Oh, no. What are you talking about? I was drinking with Seojia.”
“Huh?!”
With Seojia?
So she does socialize with women…
I found it unexpected, but then I remembered what Seojia had said.
「I’ve never been good at talking to people. Unless I’m drinking, that is.」
Alcohol… she seemed to enjoy it.
“Ah. She does seem to like drinking.”
“Yeah. You knew? She seemed to really love it.”
“Does she hold her liquor well?”
“Yeah. She was knocking it back pretty easily. I think she drinks better than Manager Shim at our company.”
“Better than Manager Shim? That’s saying something.”
“She seems to have quite a story too. Just like Manager Shim.”
At the word “story,” I nod my head.
“Yeah, it does seem that way.”
I remember Jia’s face, which had looked somewhat dark.
“But what about you? Are you interested in Seojia? She’s pretty cute, after all.”
“…I don’t know.”
My expression is peculiar.
It’s as if I’ve forgotten what it feels like to develop interest in someone.

* * *
That day, Almond’s broadcast was on hiatus.
Only a brief notice had been posted.
[Taking a break today! I have an important shoot scheduled for tomorrow, so there’s a lot to prepare!]
Oh no, why is it on hiatus?
-A shoot?!
-Almond! Are you world-class?!?
-What kind of shoot?
-Huh why so suddenly!
-Almond’s going diamond!!
-Nooooo
Many viewers lamented.
At the same time, they grew curious.
A sudden shoot? If preparation was needed starting a day in advance, wasn’t this quite a large-scale production?
And….
They discovered news about Almond in an unexpected place.
[The hottest Battle Rage streamer, Almond. Invited to Fantasia Channel.]
It was from the gaming news section.

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