Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 654

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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 124
42. The Moment of Victory (2)
Juhyeok, who had been watching the Fake National Team, found himself polishing his perfectly fine glasses.
The sight of Hee-cheol, unable to leave the capsule, weeping inside.
‘This…’
It was far too similar to a moment I knew.
‘Is it overlapping with Sanghyeon?’
Juhyeok, who had briefly entertained that thought, shook his head, dismissing it.
It couldn’t be.
Only I had witnessed that.
Or at most, only the CEO of the capsule room, and even then, he’d only heard about it secondhand, never seen it directly.
Yet how could it be so similar?
Was this coincidence?
‘No.’
It didn’t seem to be that either.
‘This is inevitable.’
This was necessity.
Not manipulation, but an inevitable outcome flowing from an uncontrollable, natural progression.
Hee-cheol had a dream he hadn’t achieved in the past five years.
He continued to challenge himself toward that dream but was frustrated at the threshold.
Almond hadn’t held a bow in ten years.
He attempted rehabilitation, but faced only the despair of hopelessness, and so he gave up, living a different life.
Then, after ten years, he shoots a bow in virtual reality.
Hee-cheol advances to the main tournament after five years.
There is only a difference in the time span.
Situations far too similar.
The same answer to the same question.
「Championship.」
「Championship.」
That was it.
Perhaps it was only natural inevitability that Hee-cheol was weeping so sorrowfully in there right now.

* * *
Hee-cheol composed himself and stepped out of the room.
Poof!
Countless paper confetti and his colleagues burst forth.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Hee-cheol! Hee-cheol!”
They chanted his name while hoisting the cake aloft.
Hee-cheol had already cried so much earlier that he didn’t shed tears at this moment.
He simply beamed with joy, his smile radiant.
“Ah. Something like this too…”
“No more talking—blow out the candles! We’re going all the way to the championship!”
His colleagues had him blow out the candles on the cake.
There were five candles on top of the cake.
It likely symbolized the five years of effort that had come before.
Hee-cheol now brought his lips to the candles, envisioning not the past five years, but the five years ahead.
“Huff.”
Pop.
As the flames extinguished, the screen faded to black.
[Celebration Dinner for Main Tournament Qualification]
The scene that followed was a boisterous dinner gathering.
“CEO! One Espana roll here, please!”
The one who had just shouted loudly was Ratte.
Hahahaha.
Raucous laughter echoed through the space.
“Espana! One coming up!”
The CEO was Ian-yong, known as ‘Maratang’.
The camera pans to a sign visible through the window outside.
‘Annyong Maratang’
It was the maratang restaurant he operated.
-???
What the hell is Spain anyway?
Hahaha
-The guy who used to sell countries is now running a humble maratang place…
hahahahaha
The Writer approaches the busy CEO, Ian-yong, and asks him a question.
“How many people have shown up so far?”
Ian-yong retrieved the ordered dishes and spoke in a murmur.
“Ah… the Sink Tank team and Cookie’s colleagues… and a few from the Swordsman unit and Archer unit as well… anyway, I think almost fifty people have come. Yes.”
“What about the other players?”
“Ah, since there are so many of us, we usually split our gatherings by team. We have crews organized roughly by region.”
“Then there must be people who never get to watch.”
“Ah. Well… even so, people online are all kind and doing well. Since everyone’s busy with their livelihoods, I don’t pay much attention to it. Mok-i! One more jjisamseon going out here!”
He shouted toward the kitchen and then disappeared.
The Writer changed targets.
“Mok-i. Are you perhaps also….”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
The young man named Mok-i working as a kitchen assistant.
He was also a Civil Empire member.
-Lol they were all hiding their identities and working in places like this…
-It’s sad how they’re all connected through businesses
-Oh isn’t this the guy who was clinging to Tres’ ankles lolololol
-I heard Sibarum works at Cookie’s cafe too?
Since they all needed separate livelihoods, it was rare for them to maintain friendships purely for socializing.
When a team’s leader was a CEO running their own business, they would often hire team members as part-time workers.
“Ah. Of course, there have been cases where relationships soured from doing this… but mostly it worked out better this way. Haha.”
Maratang said this awkwardly as he passed by.
Even if we get tangled up in something troublesome ㅠㅠ
Still, it seems like I have to do it this way ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I’m crying over malatang (spicy hot pot)ㅠㅠㅠ
In truth, being connected through work with people you enjoy spending time with in games might not feel so pleasant.
Yet the reason they had to maintain these employment relationships was none other than practical necessity.
“Still, when times are this busy, there’s nothing more reassuring than comrades who’ve sweated together!”
Tap.
Maratang patted Mok-i’s shoulder and turned back as if to say ‘you feel the same way, right?’
“Well, I… moving around from one part-time job to another anyway. Working at a boss’s shop who understands Civil M’s situation is fun and good.”
Melancholic music played.
-Why is this music playing lololol
-Somehow Mok-i sounds lukewarm lol
-Temperature difference lololol
-This might be better
-lololololol the music lol
Crackle.
The screen switched, and a familiar face appeared among the many gatherings.
-Oh Almond
-Dog…!
Oh no, Sang-hyun ㅠㅠ
Even from this distance, you can tell he’s handsome, it’s crazy.
-Almond came too?
-So it was Almond sitting with Ratte lol
A handsome young man sitting with Ratte, Pangeo, Danggeun, and Spam.
It was Almond.
He was eating while staring intently at the table where Cookie sat.
“Wow. Almond! You came to the company dinner?”
“….”
Chinese noodles were in his mouth.
“Uh. It was clo… close by….”
“Pardon?”
-ed
hahaha
-ed
“Why are you telling me to stop when I’m eating? lol”
That dog is cute lol
Gulp. Gulp.
Only after chewing and swallowing everything did he answer properly.
“It was close by. In the neighborhood, so I came.”
At that moment, Ratte beside him interjected thoughtlessly.
“Come on. Hyung! It takes 30 minutes by subway from here—how is that close….”
Poke.
Danggeun jabbed his side to silence him, but the words had already spilled out.
Tsundere almond ㅠㅠㅠ
Was it far away the whole time? lol
Hahaha latte shake haha
Everyone at the table laughed.
Sizzle.
After some time passed and everyone finished the company dinner, they split up—some heading to a second round, others heading home.
The entire Archer unit headed to the second round with the Think Tank team.
Cookie and the other former Commander members said their goodbyes, mentioning they were going elsewhere.
“It was fun. Work hard in the next game too.”
Cookie hadn’t taken a single sip of alcohol due to health issues, but his former colleagues were all drunk, staggering about like zombies.
Are the ones in the back cookie backup dancers or something? lol
What is this? ㅋㅋㅋ Those people are hilarious ㅋㅋㅋ
Looks like you can’t hold your alcohol ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
“I’ll be going then.”
“Yes! Safe travels!”
Everyone turned back with cheerful farewells.
“Hyung. Where should we go? Karaoke?”
“Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard Almond sing!?”
“Hey. Danggeun doesn’t even go to karaoke. Let’s go somewhere else…!”
Pangeo pushed past Spam and Ratte, moving forward first.
“Uh… uh. D-don’t push!”
-Danggeun, aren’t you going to karaoke?
-So damn broke lol
-Almond, karaoke please
-Holding my breath until Almond goes to karaoke
“Don’t you go to karaoke often either, oppa?”
Danggeun glanced over at Almond and asked. Whether from the cold or the alcohol, her face was slightly flushed.
“…?”
That rosy face tilted in confusion.
Well, Almond wasn’t listening. He wasn’t even looking ahead.
He was still watching the distance where Cookie walked with his colleagues. They’d already grown quite far away.
“Oppa?”
“Ah. Just remembering old times for a moment.”
Only then did Almond, realizing Danggeun was calling him, answer evasively.
“Ah… you’re not going to karaoke?”
“Karaoke?”
Almond grimaced at those words.
“No way. It gets broadcast, you know.”
“Ah. Because you’re embarrassed?”
“…Ahem.”
“Got it. Then….”
She let out a snort of laughter, then
suddenly bolted forward and shouted.
“Almond oppa’s going to karaoke! I’m going too!”
“?!”
-Hahahahahaha
-What’s with the self-destruct lol
-Danggeun must be drunk lol
-Her personality completely changed lol
-Danggeun lol
-Is she really going??? Please!!
Crackle.
The screen switched at that point.
Fortunately for Almond, the karaoke incident never happened.
At least it didn’t air on broadcast.
It was no longer a company dinner scene.
It was a dark house.
-Where is this
-Is this a think tank?
-What is this
Creak.
The creaking of an old door opening lets in a faint sliver of light.
“Juhyeok Kim~”
It was Sanghyeon.
“Ah. Is no one here? Did Jia say she was going out?”
I muttered to myself as I staggered toward the sofa and lay down.
“….”
Out of habit, I turned on the TV.
Ting.
Several OTT apps and channels appeared on the screen.
I navigated to ‘Files’ among them.
It was a function to play files I had saved.
“Let me have just one more drink.”
I muttered this to myself and headed toward the refrigerator.
A canned beer that was always stocked greeted me.
I grabbed one and returned to the sofa.
With a very familiar motion, I played a certain file.
Crack.
I opened the beer can and drank from it.
“….”
The video quality was poor, and the camera angle was strange, making it difficult to understand the content.
-What are you watching?
-Some secret video lol
-What is that?
However, listening to the audio made it clear what it was about.
「Ah. The athlete competing today is currently considered the most promising prospect in South Korea’s archery, isn’t he?」
「Yes. Our country’s men’s archery has been in precarious situations many times. And each time, a hero appeared to save us. This Sang-hyun Yu is poised to become that hero…」
I’m crying so hard.
Wow, this must be an old video ㅠㅠㅠ
I’m crying / I’m so sad
-Really from the national team days
Oh my, oh dear.
This was a video I used to watch frequently back when I worked at Aseong, whenever my boss would scold me.
After I started streaming, I barely watched it. The only times I played it were when someone dug it up and I checked it out of curiosity.
「Sang-hyun Yu. Has taken the stage. Now he must prove the reputation that has spread throughout the industry.」
I could see myself in a white uniform on the screen.
And then the images of people cheering for me flashed by.
「Juniors and seniors from the same school, Cheonggyeong High, have come to cheer. Yes. It must be a source of pride.」
My favorite scene in this video was undoubtedly when I hit the center consecutively and everyone jumped to their feet.
But today, I stopped before reaching that scene.
The version of me in the video hadn’t even drawn yet.
I rewind the video slightly.
「Seniors and juniors from Cheonggyesan High School, the same school, have come to cheer him on. Yes──」
A scene showing countless people cheering for him appeared.
The faces of my former colleagues came into view.
Hyeonju Cha, Dong-su Lee, Jonghyeon Oh….
And Soyeon Han.
The viewers would never know their real names—only people that Sanghyeon knew.
“….”
I replayed that scene over and over again.
「Seniors and juniors from Cheonggyesan High School, the same school, have come to cheer him on──」
「Seniors and juniors from Cheonggyesan High School, the same school, have come to cheer──」
「Seniors and juniors from Cheonggyesan High School, the same school──」
The screen gradually darkened before fading to black.
The video ended here.
This was Almond’s moment of victory.

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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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