Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 672

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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 142
47. Matchups (2)
“The bracket is complete!”
A low murmur rippled through the arena.
The stadium interior buzzed with activity.
Everyone was likely commenting on their respective opponents.
“Hmm… Viking.”
Hee-cheol stroked his chin and gazed toward the Viking faction.
He was looking at their commander, Xmaster. They were looking back at him too.
Staring at each other didn’t accomplish anything, but this was likely the instinct of those entering battle.
The desire to discern even the smallest details about your opponent beforehand.
“What do you think of them?”
Dujun asked casually from beside him.
“They’re not an easy opponent, but…”
Hee-cheol surveyed the entire stadium and smiled bitterly.
“There’s no easier opponent than us here.”
“Ha, well… that’s true.”
“Viking is probably in a festive mood right now. They’re just maintaining composure because they don’t want to show it.”
“…Do you really think so?”
“Put yourself in their shoes, Dujun.”
Joseon’s advancement to the Round of 32 was itself considered a miracle.
Moreover, they had never defeated Rome and hadn’t even come close to victory before advancing to the Round of 32 as second place.
Of course, the underdog storm they displayed shone brilliantly in their matches against Spain and France.
But war is always relative.
From another perspective, one could argue that Spain and France simply performed poorly this season.
Because Rome was never shaken by Joseon at all.
Even without such harsh evaluation, Joseon was clearly the weakest among these 32 nations in terms of data.
There wasn’t a single nation here ranked below Joseon when counting only the number of times they advanced to the main tournament and their victory count.
“True.”
Dujun nodded. His expression was thoroughly gloomy.
‘He has strong pride. That makes sense.’
Dujun, who served as assistant commander Coffee, had an exceptionally strong sense of pride both in real life and in games.
Because he pushed himself hard, he defended himself through compensatory pride psychology.
At least, that’s how Hee-cheol saw it.
“But it’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
“Being underestimated. I’m not afraid of being looked down on. It works in our favor for survival.”
Hee-cheol was telling Dujun to shed his pride.
“I’m actually disappointed that the Viking guys are being so reserved. I would’ve preferred if they showed their confidence openly, like Spain did.”
Dujun frowned. The mere thought made him shudder.
“There’s no way I’d display such disgraceful behavior here, is there? This is the main tournament venue.”
Since Civil M’s game company adopted inter-national competition as its motto, they’ve consistently promoted harmony among all nations.
Therefore, any racist or culturally discriminatory behavior displayed on-site is strictly penalized with handicaps.
Even disrespectful attitudes toward opponents are strongly condemned.
This is precisely why the international tournament has been able to continue all this time.
Hee-cheol knows this too.
Yet despite this, humans instinctively can’t help but let such feelings slip through.
The Viking team, however, remained completely composed.
“Haha. That’s right. There’s no reason for that to happen. Which is exactly why this won’t be easy, Dujun.”
“….”

* * *
About ten minutes passed.
The screen descended.
“Now then, wandering mercenaries! Gentlemen! Ladies! Everyone!? I trust you’ve all learned who your opponents are?”
The host came out and concluded the event.
While announcing the evening’s special event.
“Thank you all for taking the time to be here today! For all of you! This evening! Civil Empire has prepared a special party! We hope you’ll all attend and grace us with your presence!”
Woooooo!
Accompanied by the athletes’ applause and cheers, the host bowed deeply and concluded the event.
“That really ended fast, didn’t it?”
Pangeo stood up from his seat, muttering in surprise.
“Did they completely overhaul it because they got criticized for being too analog back then?”
During the initial group stage draw, there had been much discussion about Japan’s method.
It had been a robot arm drawing papers one by one.
It had simply taken too long.
Today’s draw was a ladder-style selection where commander characters battled each other.
It had decent entertainment value and, being digital, felt incredibly swift and efficient.
“It’s nice when things end quickly anyway.”
Sanghyeon said this as he headed toward the bus.
He ran into Jesse.
“Are you coming tonight?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I’d heard the dinner party was a kind of privilege available to athletes who arrived in the first batch.
I’m not particularly accustomed to social gatherings like this, but since I’d managed to secure this opportunity, I figured it would be good to attend.
It’s also good content for streamers.
“By the Round of 16, one of us won’t be here anymore.”
Jesse suddenly said something meaningful.
“That’s true….”
“So this might be the last time….”
She toyed with her hair for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
“I’m glad you came to the dinner party at least. See you then.”
Jessi waved and disappeared onto a different bus.
Perhaps she was drawing a line because we’d soon be competing against each other.
Tap.
Pangeo nudged my shoulder and asked.
“Hey. Don’t you want to go with her?”
“Huh? Go where… to the party?”
“Yeah. You know how it is in movies, right?”
“Come on. It’s not like a graduation party or anything…”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Pangeo had a tendency to offer unsolicited advice even when he didn’t really know.
“Anyway. That woman’s totally interested in you.”
Sanghyeon chuckled it off.
“What woman isn’t, hyung?”
But those words weren’t actually spoken by Sanghyeon. They came from Pangeo.
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“You just said that. With your expression.”
“No, I never did.”
“Just now.”
Pangeo left behind a strange warning—”Be careful, yeah?”—and walked ahead.

* * *
After the team gathered for a simple lunch together.
We all headed to the café.
The Sync Tank team immediately disappeared with their coffee to go, saying they had to dive into analyzing Viking.
In the end, only the players remained at the café.
“Let’s sit here.”
After everyone was seated.
Ratte muttered in a solemn voice.
“Now the war begins.”
He probably wanted to talk about Viking and the main tournament.
But Pangeo asked something strange out of nowhere.
“Why don’t you drink latte?”
“Huh?”
“I said, why don’t you drink latte?”
“No. What kind of question is that?”
“Your name is Ratte.”
“…Good grief. Just because of that, I should drink latte?”
“This guy’s completely contradictory. I knew it would be like this.”
“No, hyung. Why are you being so prickly today?”
Ratte looked at Sanghyeon as if he couldn’t believe it, asking if something was wrong with him.
“Ah… Maybe it’s because he’s not popular.”
Sanghyeon actually analyzed and stated the reason.
At that moment, everyone nearly spit out their drinks.
“Hey, you punk! What? Why would you say something like that!?”
Pangeo’s face turned red as he protested.
“Isn’t it? Every time Jessi talks to you, hyung gets completely furious.”
At the innocent retort tilting his head, Pangeo had no resistance whatsoever.
“Why would you say it like that for real!?”
Ratte laughed so hard he could barely breathe.
“No. Why for real?”
Danggeun pretended not to know while turning away, laughing hard.
“Ah. Hyung. I understand. Yes. I was wrong. I’ll just go order a latte.”
“Don’t! Don’t order it!”
Ratte went even further, teasing him.
After a long exchange of laughter and chatter, Danggeun changed the subject.
“But… did you hear about that?”
Everyone looked at her.
“A new assistant commander is coming… and they’re already registered on the roster?”
“What?”
The news from the command staff wasn’t that important to the players.
The news about the assistant commander candidate was somewhat surprising.
“Wait, seriously? I heard something about it in passing, but….”
“What? What is it? Why? Who is it?”
Ratte looked around in all directions as he asked.
In truth, Sanghyeon didn’t know either, but he figured there was no point in reacting since he wouldn’t understand anyway.
“Daisunsin Choi.”
The moment I heard the ID come from Danggeun’s mouth, I froze solid.
‘Huh?’
It was definitely a nickname I’d heard somewhere before.
「Almond. Want to play with me?」
A voice echoes in my mind.
It’s that woman’s voice.
The voice from when she suggested playing a fighting game.
Why am I remembering this now?
‘It’s Choi Sa-rang!?’
Of course, because she was the owner of the nickname Daisunsin Choi.
“Wow… You actually managed to convince her? But is her skill still the same? When exactly was she last relevant as Yi Sun-sin?”
“Right? No matter how big a catch you land, the quality drops after the season passes….”
Ratte, Pangeo, and Danggeun all seemed to know about her.
“Cookie marked her as someone worth watching. Her skill should still be there. The ranking drop is just because she plays way less. Her win rate hasn’t actually fallen.”
“That’s the same thing. When you play less, your form deteriorates too.”
Ratte seemed unconvinced.
“Ha. But what are the chances we’d even see a backup candidate?”
He wrapped up the conversation by saying there’d be little reason to see the backup, then took a sip of his coffee.
“But Almond, why does your expression look so dark?”
“…Huh? Me? No, it’s not.”
“No sir. I read your expression as accurately as I read my in-game lifeline, and right now it’s dark.”
“I’m telling you it’s not.”
“Yes! Let’s go with that!”
It seemed Sanghyeon had even accurately picked up on my reluctance to talk about it.
‘I can’t say anything.’
I couldn’t speak even if I wanted to.
How I knew about Daisunsin Choi, why I couldn’t help but be shocked hearing that she was joining.

* * *
A short while later, at the lodging.
Pangeo and Sanghyeon began dressing up in style for the first time in a while.
They were preparing to attend the dinner party that would be held soon.
Sanghyeon fiddled with the bow tie he’d worn at the awards ceremony, then casually asked, “By the way, Daisunsin Choi… is he good at what he does?”
“Huh? Well… Cookie has always rated him as a capable commander. Did he even rank first at some point? It’s been so long I don’t remember well. Honestly, from a player’s perspective, we don’t really pay that much attention to the commander.”
That was true. The commander’s appearance and voice weren’t exposed to the players anyway.
“Actually, Cookie might have intentionally left his sentence unfinished. He gets anxious easily.”
“Anxious?”
“He’d be thinking the commander could change. If a replacement candidate comes in.”
“Ah…”
Most of the team members knew about Cookie’s health condition.
Already anxious as it was, if they’d unusually brought in a replacement candidate, that anxiety would only deepen.
“But that guy, despite how he looks, is made of steel. Even if he seems frail, he only bends—he never breaks.”
Pangeo chuckled and tied his tie.
“So don’t worry.”
Pangeo focused on tying his tie as if it were nothing serious.
But the expression reflected in the mirror wasn’t entirely hidden.
He seemed to be thinking deeply about something for a moment, then changed the subject.
“Anyway, did anyone from our team bring a hanbok?”
“A hanbok?”
“Yeah. They’re picking best dressed, you know.”
“…?”
“Hey. Did you fall asleep again? I explained this before. Seriously. Anyway, it’s not like men ever get picked, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Ah…”
Did he mention something like that?
“But does wearing a hanbok give you an advantage?”
“No. Still, it does stand out a bit. We have to try somehow… but we prepared so hastily that I doubt anyone brought one.”
Why would someone go through all that effort to prepare for best dressed?
Sanghyeon was puzzled, but he soon forgot to ask as he adjusted his outfit and prepared to leave.
Later, he would learn that the prize for best dressed exceeded his imagination.
Later, he learned that the prize received by the best dresser was beyond his imagination.

* * *
A moment later.
At Kansai Airport, around the time the dinner party was beginning.
“Wow! Everyone! We’re here! Osaka!”
A woman was excitedly chattering at the camera. She dragged a large suitcase in one hand, and her thick green coat draped casually over a flowing one-piece dress that looked comfortable yet accentuated her tall, slender frame with an undeniable sense of style.
Well, she was a model after all.
-The cheerleader captain has arrived lol
-Wow, she really went? Did you book tickets???
Miho’s loyalty is insane.
-Did all of Balloon Stars come???
“Ah! Yes! Of course~ We booked all the tickets. We planned everything assuming our Joseon team would at least make the quarterfinals, you know?”
She seemed to have come to cheer for Almond.
“Miho. If you keep making a fuss like that here, you’ll get deported.”
She wasn’t alone.
A pot-bellied man, a bald man, a muscular hulk.
Her peculiar colleagues were with her.
“What? Almond played a match with me yesterday? What are you talking about? We just arrived in Japan.”
“Kyaa, Almond oppa~ Let’s go cheer~”
lol that’s hilarious
-Ugh… so embarrassing
-They’re all just talking about themselves lol
-These guys are embarrassing no matter where you put them lol
-“K Suicide Squad”
-Looking at their size, it’s not just clumsy, it’s downright shocking~
-Strawberry squad lol
-Mond~ Going big~! (not what you think)
An unusually conspicuous group was approaching the stadium.

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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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