Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 707
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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 177
58. Pandora’s Hope (3)
“Sanghyeon.”
It was the final week of physical therapy.
The doctor had once said something like this to me.
“Medical technology is always advancing.”
He had felt pity seeing me approach that final session of physical therapy.
At least, that’s what I thought back then.
“Many things that are impossible now will become possible in five or six years. As for what might be possible in ten years, even doctors find it difficult to predict.”
I remember simply nodding at the time.
“So don’t lose hope, and keep yourself informed.”
“That’s fine.”
….
The doctor stared at me with astonished eyes.
He hadn’t expected gratitude, nor had he expected me to say it was fine.
“I think this is better as it is.”
“Sanghyeon…?”
“I’ll still come tomorrow.”
With those words, I left the clinic.
The doctor stood blankly staring at the closed door, and for a while didn’t call the next patient.
Hurrying down the hospital corridor, I repeated to myself.
‘This is fine as it is.’
I decided to stop using the association’s support funds for treatment and instead use them to build my own life.
I never regretted that decision.
I became someone who betrayed the archery team, and Soyeon is no longer in this world.
Continuing archery in this state is impossible.
It would have been better if my arm never healed.
If by some chance my arm did heal, and I alone drew the bowstring on the Olympic stage, I might shoot myself.
‘It’s already too late.’
If my arm was going to heal, it should have healed when Soyeon was still in this world.
「It stopped being fun, so I’m quitting.」
Recalling that moment, I clenched my teeth hard.
Even now, recalling that time, I clenched my fist.
‘Now a way to treat it has actually appeared?’
It was certainly something I had dreamed of.
But now that it’s right in front of me, I’m confused.
‘Did I understand this correctly? A method to treat it now… it seems like the pieces are finally coming together….’
Looking at Sarang’s reaction beside me, listening to the doctor’s explanation—it was the same.
The situation the previous doctor had described was now becoming reality.
「As for what might be possible in ten years, even doctors find it difficult to predict.」
And then, the Doctor standing before me speaks.
“The latest medical technology continues to advance. Countless patients who had lost hope often find it again. We wondered if our turn would ever come. But now, it seems like it finally is our turn.”
The Doctor’s eyes were looking clearly at Sanghyeon and Sarang.
‘So I understood correctly.’
Thump….
Something seemed to crumble beneath my chest. A violent tremor surged through me.
“So this isn’t just a hypothesis or anything like that─”
Just as the Doctor, perhaps growing a bit excited, was about to continue speaking, Sanghyeon drops his head heavily.
‘It was already too late back then.’
Sigh.
A heavy breath escapes.
“Sanghyeon?”
“It’s just….”
She had already left him long ago.
Left alone, I murmur so quietly that only I can hear.
“It’s far too late now.”
* * *
Though Sanghyeon had murmured quietly.
The person standing right beside him heard it clearly.
It was Choi Sa-rang.
‘What is this.’
I thought he would simply be happy, but his expression wasn’t, and he said it was too late.
It bothers me.
‘Too late…?’
She repeats his words in her mind like an echo.
What could be the reason.
Since I don’t know all the details of Sanghyeon’s circumstances, I couldn’t gauge it.
‘Has that era gone too far away.’
Perhaps even if they suffered from the same illness, the way they spent their prime years in life was different.
Sanghyeon was supposed to spend his peak as an actual athlete using his arm, while Sarang had already reached the highest position in virtual reality games despite having problems with her legs.
The peaks they longed for and sought to achieve were different.
‘I see.’
Sanghyeon’s peak was already blocked by the barrier of time, and when he returned, there might be no one at that summit anymore.
Sarang had never thought about such things.
‘Even if I return, there might be no one there after all. Perhaps I too….’
This didn’t feel like someone else’s problem.
Even if I struggled to climb back to where I fell from, the something waiting for me there might have already disappeared.
Could there be anything more despairing than that?
No, what am I even hoping to find if I return in the first place?
Another championship?
The roar of the fans?
Or perhaps….
「If you leave, how are we supposed to survive? It’s just over.」
My colleagues?
* * *
After listening to the doctor’s full explanation, on the way back to the dormitory.
‘It doesn’t feel real.’
Sanghyeon felt restless and unsettled.
My arm could actually be healed.
I had certainly dreamed of it every day—myself competing in the Olympics and winning the gold medal.
‘Can it really happen?’
But now that the situation was approaching, only doubt crept in.
Even if my arm heals, could I return to archery?
「There’s no set limit to how much it will heal, but improvement is certain.」
Nothing was decided yet.
I didn’t even know how far the healing would go.
Could my right hand truly return to that exquisite sensitivity and perfect holding and release from back then?
‘Probably not.’
No matter how much I thought about it, that seemed impossible.
If healing occurred, it would be at a level where daily life would be unaffected, and gaming would also proceed without hindrance.
Most likely that would be the case.
Or even if it healed perfectly and I could return to archery….
‘What would be there?’
Is there salvation in that place?
This question lingered in my mind.
Sanghyeon shook his head and cast the thought away.
‘No.’
Thinking too deeply was always harmful to the mind.
‘Where am I right now?’
Yes, just being able to game without difficulty would greatly improve my quality of life.
I’m a streamer now. I’m a national team player.
I should find solace in that.
For now, let me think of it that way.
「Legend Tale still needs time before launching. I think taking it slowly will work out. You just need to avoid overexertion in what you’re currently doing.」
Legend Tale is a game that hasn’t even launched yet.
While I could participate as a beta tester, the doctor recommended entering only after the game properly launched and stabilized.
Unlike other players, both Sanghyeon and Choi Sa-rang had health-related concerns, so any errors could potentially be fatal.
Therefore, until that game properly released, Sanghyeon’s daily life would remain largely unchanged from before.
“Huh? Where did you go?”
Pangeo was awake inside the dormitory.
“Oh, someone came looking for me for a moment….”
After brushing off the question vaguely, Sanghyeon simply sat on the bed for a while, trying to calm his restless heart.
I tried to push the thoughts away, but even when I did.
They only multiplied.
‘Hmm…?’
Sniffle, sniffle….
But then, wasn’t there a strange sound of continuous sniffling?
The source of the sound was Pangeo.
Pangeo didn’t have allergies.
Moreover, Pangeo was now turned away awkwardly.
‘What is it.’
Sanghyeon could only be puzzled.
‘What are you trying to hide?’
Sanghyeon cautiously approached him from the front out of curiosity.
“Ah, don’t. Don’t come over.”
“…?”
As Sanghyeon approached, Pangeo turned away to the other side.
If he said not to come, of course I wanted to go even more.
“Huh? Are you… crying?”
Pangeo’s eyes were glistening.
“What the hell. Who’s crying. Tsk.”
“Why are you suddenly crying?”
It would be one thing if we had just won the game, but this is much later.
Why is this guy crying?
Pangeo tried not to answer, but eventually confessed because Sanghyeon kept pressing him.
“Ha… No, Hee, Hee-cheol gave an interview.”
Commanders often give interviews even if they’re not MVP.
Especially when gaming publications show as much interest in the tournament as they do now, separate interviews are conducted more frequently.
‘What does that mean.’
Even when Sanghyeon watched the interview, there were only a few things he could properly understand.
I had even less idea where the tear-jerker moment was in all of that.
“The content itself wasn’t anything special.”
Pangeo put his phone away again and spoke.
“I just suddenly remembered the old days. When Hee-cheol first became a commander. He talked a lot.”
“He was supposed to be the most promising prospect, wasn’t he?”
“That’s… that’s true. But I didn’t think he’d become the supreme commander right away, at least not internally.”
Back then, Pangeo was participating for the first time as a player in the international tournament.
Still, he said he could sense that something was off about the team’s atmosphere.
“According to what Hee-cheol told me later, there was already a predetermined successor. Someone who had more internal trust.”
“Ah….”
In Sanghyeon’s mind, Cookie was the only Commander-in-Chief, so he couldn’t quite imagine it.
Cookie lacking trust—that was unthinkable.
It made no sense given the current situation.
“So Hee-cheol fought desperately. He had to prove it. That he was better.”
Pangeo didn’t know the full reason why Hee-cheol had been chosen.
He’d only heard that the previous Commander-in-Chief had appointed him for reasons he couldn’t fathom and then left.
“But now it’s finally been proven. There had never been a victory in the main tournament before. After five years of effort, he proved it… Thinking about it that way, I suddenly found myself feeling this way too.”
I see.
It wasn’t just external distrust—there were internal problems as well.
Cookie had carried all of that burden to reach this point.
To be honest, this was a path of glory marred by wounds.
No financial gain, internal distrust, and poor results.
In that situation, reversing Joseon’s fortunes had been an impossibly slim probability.
Why hadn’t he given up?
What kept him from surrendering?
Sanghyeon didn’t know.
Because he himself had given up.
‘Why….’
Recalling his own physical therapy days, Sanghyeon found himself curious about Hee-cheol’s story.
* * *
Time passed, and the day of Joseon’s Round of 16 match arrived.
The atmosphere across nearly every gaming community was distinctly different from when they faced the Vikings.
Back then, people had predicted the Vikings would win, but urged others not to lose hope.
Now, there were far more people openly expressing their expectations.
[Persia honestly has reasons to worry]
[Honestly, my elephant is stronger than Persia’s elephant lol]
[Joseon to the Quarterfinals let’s goooo!]
There was no real basis for this confidence.
Big) Now you have to admit it, right?
Posts like this were appearing on Big, and when you clicked in, you’d see—
A photo of their backs in white uniforms entering the stadium, with text written over it.
==== ====
These guys are just good lol
==== ====
-For real lol
-True
-Hype~
-That scene hits different lol
-For real, admit it now
-Let’s go Persia match~~
-For real, Joseon might actually be good?
Of course, since Joseon was still the weakest team, there were still posts predicting their loss against Persia.
[Persia’s problem isn’t just the elephant, it’s the archer too]
[Just because they beat one Viking, Persia looks weak now?]
[Even Almond said ‘fashion’ was the victory factor lol so what are these people thinking, that they’ll beat Persia???]
Among those who actually knew how to watch the game, this was obvious.
Of course—
[You don’t know until you actually play]
Every game is something you only understand once you start playing.
-“The ball is round”
-Knowing before you play makes you a master strategist
└Wait, if you know, can’t you just not play? lol Are you telling us to give up?
└└22222 For real lol What else
└Cool guys please shut up
-Lol
That matchup which so many wanted to see the results of was now just an hour away.
Ding.
[Fake National Team ep.7 Exemplary]
And with that, the Fake National Team episode went live.
-What’s with the upload schedule?!
-Here comes my drug
-This is it
-Ahhh~
-The dinner party episode was fun too, but it felt like a side story, so I missed this~~
-Look at Almond’s channel thriving lol
With each victory in the international tournament, attention poured in accordingly.
The number of viewers calling it a fake national team reached an all-time high.
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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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