Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 71

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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 1 Episode 71
25. Only Dreams Were Allowed (3)
[30 minutes!!! We’ve broken through 30 minutes! 39 seconds ahead of Jeon-ja-pa’s record!!!]
At Huyeon Yu’s voice tearing through the air, all the staff members turned around.
‘This can’t be happening…’
‘Really?’
‘Did we actually come this far?’
No one had initially believed that Almond would break Jeon-ja-pa’s record.
It was only natural. How could a complete novice who had just started playing the Capsule game catch up to Jeon-ja-pa through pure skill alone?
No matter how much genius existed, Jeon-ja-pa was a genius among geniuses.
It was difficult to imagine another genius who could defeat that so easily.
The faith in Jeon-ja-pa ran deep. No matter how many scratches appeared or how much dirt was scraped away, it remained solid ground. Ground so firm that human strength could not dig deep enough to see beneath it.
But at this point, after 30 minutes had passed.
They gradually came to realize that what they had thought was the bottom was actually a smooth sheet of ice.
One that could shatter at any moment.

* * *
Whoooosh!
Crash!
Almond was dodging the weapons flying at him with maddening speed, the laser beams passing in an instant, and the flames erupting from the ground as if possessed by spirits.
[15 seconds until breaking Jeon-ja-pa’s record!!!]
Now 15 seconds remained.
Almond had caught an additional shield that flew toward him and was batting away the projectiles.
“E-Engineer! Synchronization! The sync rate is at abnormal levels!!”
The Engineer’s Assistant cried out urgently.
“What?”
“The sync rate is at 97%!!”
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
The Engineer’s words cut off abruptly.
It was textbook knowledge that higher concentration levels increased the virtual sync rate.
But there was a limit to it.
Just as one’s soul entering another body couldn’t move as naturally as one’s own body.
At best, it was 85%.
In fact, even that was a dangerous threshold.
Yes, a ‘dangerous’ threshold. If this rate became abnormally high, performance might improve, but the avatar in the virtual space and the actual human would become synchronized.
Growing closer and closer to becoming one.
Even just hearing about it seemed perilous, and actual research results weren’t leaning toward anything positive either.
That’s why it was legally prohibited in the first place.
It was programmed to automatically eject the user.
“But why isn’t it ejecting!?”
“W-well, that’s because it’s a test version, so those kinds of limits weren’t programmed in…”
“Insane… that’s right!”
This was a broadcast accident.
We introduced a prototype of a new Capsule, and conducted the ‘Survive!’ test with a product that hadn’t been commercialized yet.
[7 seconds remaining on the record! We’re right on the edge! Could today be the day history is rewritten!?]

* * *
Hayeon Yu’s excited voice rang out sharply, reaching even Almond.
But his ears were already occupied by far too much noise.
Boom!
Crash!
Whoosh!
Rumble!
A cacophony of thunderous sounds came relentlessly.
All of them rushing at Almond’s single avatar.
Clang!
He deflected the flying mace with the shield he’d caught earlier.
Whoosh.
Even as the heavy head of the mace was knocked away, the chain behind it lashed out like a serpent, attempting to coil around his body.
Almond threw the shield.
Whirl!
The mace wrapped around the shield as it flew away. The shield became the sacrifice instead of Almond’s body.
He’d already discarded several shields this way. Now he had no idea when he’d be able to grab another one.
Whoosh!
The next instant, a greatsword came flying.
He dodged that one.
Boom!!
Next came a cannonball.
He evaded that too.
[5 seconds remaining! Before the record falls!]
Rumble!
This time, five massive spears came simultaneously.
There was no angle to escape.
Moreover, the tile beneath his feet was slowly beginning to glow red.
Soon, lava would surge up from here and melt even the metal objects.
He had to move.
He moved immediately.
Scorching heat surged up, singeing his cheeks. It was from the lava erupting from the tile where he’d been standing.
Hiss!
Now he had to worry about the spears coming at him.
I squeezed my body into the blind spot of the three spears flying toward me, even if only by a fraction of a second.
Screech…
My collar tore as it grazed past.
I didn’t care. There were already multiple scratches on me.
I gritted my teeth and reached out my hand.
[Three seconds remaining!!!]
Thack.
I barely managed to catch one of the incoming spears.
Two more spears flew at me.
I had to block one and dodge the other.
I leaped to the adjacent tile. Simultaneously, I pulled the spear toward myself and swung it.
Clang!
A heavy impact transmitted through my shoulder as one of the incoming spears was deflected away.
The remaining one plummeted toward the tile where I had been standing.
Thud.
That tile soon fell into the Abyss.
I’d dealt with two spears. I couldn’t afford even a moment of relief.
Boom!
A cannonball came flying right after.
[Two seconds remaining…]
If I returned to that previous tile, I could easily dodge it. But that place was already the Abyss.
As expected, I had to deflect at least one or two…
“!”
At that moment, Almond’s expression crumpled.
[One second!!!]
‘What…?’
My right hand.
My right hand tingled.
Boom!
Along with the noise that seemed to pour from the burst speakers, my entire world turned white.
[GAME OVER]

* * *
“It’s dangerous! Turn it off! Turn it off now… Huh?”
The Engineer, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs, stared blankly at the monitor.
[GAME OVER]
The game had already ended.
The Director, whose collar had been grabbed, wiped the sweat from his brow and stared blankly at that monitor as well.
A moment later, he came to his senses, shoved the Engineer aside, and shouted.
“The record! How did the record turn out! Why isn’t Huyeon Yu saying anything….”
[A, a tie… It’s a tie!]
A grinding voice spoke.
A tie, it said.
“…A, a tie?!”
Hisssss….
Huyeon Yu burst out as the Capsule opened with a sound.
“Down to the second, it’s a tie! At least in the numbers that are displayed!”
Meanwhile, the Engineer rushed toward Almond’s Capsule.
Juhyeok followed after him.
“Check the record! Check it!”
The Director grabbed the Engineer’s Assistant and barked at her.
“Y-yes, understood!”
The Assistant, startled by her ponytail being suddenly grabbed, rushed over and began typing on the keyboard. Then she expanded the decimal places to four digits below zero.
“…This can’t be.”
“What? Is it still a tie?”
“…Yes.”
“Damn it! Isn’t one even 0.000001 seconds faster?!”
“L-let me expand it further.”
[00:30:39.5959400192…]
[00:30:39.5959400192…]
The numbers were identical, as if a bug had occurred.
“This isn’t even pi—how is this even possible?”
Unless the machine was broken.
Could something like this even happen? The Assistant scratched her head as well.
“…W-well, what’s happened has happened, after all.”
She simply repeated her mentor’s words.
Then commotion erupted from the Capsule area.
“Hey! Sang-hyun Yu!!!”
“Are you alright?!”
It was the voices of Juhyeok and the Engineer. At their urgency, Department Manager Oh waddled over as well.
“Damn it. Director! Isn’t there a problem with this?!”
“What are you talking about! We ran all the safety checks beforehand!”
The Director answered as such, but immediately rushed toward Almond’s Capsule.

* * *
A damp, wet sensation.
Amid thick, hazy fog.
“Haah….”
Shallow breathing escaped my lips—I was clearly still alive.
Yes, I’m still alive.
Isn’t that obvious? People who died playing Capsule games went extinct five years ago.
“Hey! Hey! Wake up!”
That was Juhyeok Kim’s voice.
“Call the medical team! Just call them now!”
“Um, Manager! You can’t shake him like that!”
“No, Sanghyeon! What is this! Look, Director!!!”
“Ah, no! I’m telling you it’s not that! We did all the pre-checks! This is just….”
Other voices mixed in after that.
It was an angry Department Manager Oh.
Gradually, focus returned. The fog lifted, and figures began to reveal themselves one by one.
People with flushed faces shouting at the top of their lungs at each other.
“Medical team here! Make way!”
A crisp female voice.
People in white coats pushed through.
The crowd parted like making way for an ambulance.
A white light-emitting rod shone directly into my pupils.
Beyond the white light, the silhouette of a woman.
Long, flowing black hair….
Wavered like a phantom.
“Don’t you know everyone’s only looking at your back?”
A voice came through clearly.
‘Soyeon Han…?’
My lips moved, and someone’s name was called.
“Sanghyeon? Are you conscious?”
Only then did the actual voice come through properly.
‘Ah….’
A misunderstanding.
Of course. She couldn’t possibly be here.
I wanted to close my eyes against the bright light, but the Doctor’s fingers held my eyelids firmly open.
Only after she saw my pupils constrict did she withdraw the light.
“…Consciousness confirmed.”
Only then did my voice flow properly from vocal cords that had felt blocked.
“!”
“Haa…!”
“Good grief. I thought we were in real trouble…”
Sighs of relief echoed from all around.
I pushed my exhausted body upright. I expected muscle soreness, but that was a mistake. Of course there wouldn’t be any.
My body hadn’t moved at all.
After rising, I lifted my right hand first and stretched it out.
A tingling sensation accompanied by trembling movements.
“Let’s run a medical check first. Based on your condition, it seems necessary.”
The Doctor pushed through the crowd with the Nurses and placed me on a stretcher.

* * *
After the Doctor took me away.
The Engineer returned to analysis. After all, there was nothing he could do on the medical side, was there?
He simply finished what he needed to do.
‘Even if the time records are identical…’
Jeon-ja-pa and the dead time were completely the same.
But that didn’t guarantee the skill analysis would be identical as well.
‘These values could be different.’
Now he properly organized the calculated data one by one into the index.
When all these values were derived according to the established formula, a specific single value emerged.
Virtual Reality Skill Value.
It’s commonly called VNS.
It’s a concept similar to measuring APM in old mouse games.
“…!”
The Engineer’s eyes widened upon seeing the derived value.
‘Just as I thought…!’
Just because the times were the same didn’t mean all the values would be identical.
Thinking this way, he unconsciously smiled.
Zing.
In an instant, he grabbed the printed paper and headed toward the Director.
“Sigh. What a shame. This would be a real issue if we had a record to show for it… With a tie, we’ll just get accused of rigging it…”
For the Director, who was muttering such laments, this gift was truly priceless.
“Director.”
The Engineer handed him the paper.
“Huh?”
“Look. The times are the same, but coincidentally so. However, the analysis values differ. This increases credibility.”
“…Hmm. Really? What is this?”
“VNS values.”
He wasn’t particularly interested in number games.
Yet even after seeing the value, I couldn’t accept it.
“At… at this level!?”
The VNS average is 83.
The professional gamer average is 97.
Exceeding 100 is considered sufficient qualification for professional gamer status.
Jeon-ja-pa possessed a monstrous figure of 291.
“…Is this really true!?”
“Yes!”
What surpassed that was Almond.
“Almond didn’t tie. At least not by these numbers.”

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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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