Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 710
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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 180
59. A Model to Follow (3)
The day of the match.
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped on the door of my accommodation.
Both Pangeo and I were already dressed and preparing for the match, so I opened the door without much thought.
“Ah, Sanghyeon.”
It was the doctor again.
“I completely forgot and just left that day.”
I could quickly understand what she’d forgotten by looking at what she held out in her hand.
‘A USB?’
It was a USB.
I thought this might be the organized materials about the wavelength conversion method she’d mentioned before, so I accepted it.
“I heard you’ve been struggling because it’s not a dedicated capsule.”
She brought up an entirely different topic.
“Ah, yes.”
“So I prepared this for you. This can be the solution.”
Even after hearing the explanation, I thought this meant I should look at information from this USB and reference it for help.
“Plug it into the capsule.”
But that wasn’t it.
It seemed the USB itself was the solution.
“Plug it in…?”
“Yes. I’ve already sent a medical opinion letter to the tournament organizers and explained it. They’ll give permission after just a simple inspection on-site.”
“So, all I have to do is plug this in?”
I asked again because I couldn’t quite imagine how this would work.
But apparently it would.
“Yes. Plug it in before booting and then boot up. It automatically optimizes your user settings. It won’t be quite as good as a dedicated capsule, but it’ll be far better than what you have now.”
“Ah, thank you so much.”
So it was settings optimization.
I nodded.
“Um, Sanghyeon?”
“?”
If your arm gets much better…”
The doctor hesitated for a moment, then suddenly blurted out and disappeared.
“Play Kingdom again!”
“!?”
In that instant, my expression stiffened involuntarily.
‘It was King Moo-sae.’
* * *
Player waiting room.
Sanghyeon fingered the USB drive, recalling what had happened earlier.
‘I wonder how much my arm will improve….’
It was questionable whether simply playing a wavelength-conversion game would truly heal my arm, and if it did, to what extent.
As an ordinary person, it was difficult to understand the exact principles of that treatment. Probably anyone would feel the same.
Sanghyeon gripped the USB drive tightly and closed his eyes for a moment.
「Play Kingdom again for me.」
Would there come a time when I’d play Kingdom again?
Then, a loud noise breaks through his thoughts.
“Players! Time to enter! Enterrrr!”
All the players in the waiting room begin to stand up.
“Let’s go!”
“Krraaah!”
“Go! Go!”
Pangeo casually patted his back a couple of times and flashed a grin.
“H-hey, man. D-don’t get n-nervous, okay.”
“…”
It was obvious to anyone that Pangeo was the one trembling, so Sanghyeon didn’t bother pointing it out.
He simply walked out.
“Waaaaaaaa…!”
What greeted him was brilliant light and thunderous roars erupting from all around.
A section of the stadium filled with red-clad supporters came into view.
Their numbers seemed smaller than the previous match.
Sanghyeon thought it was unavoidable. Honestly, no one knew they’d make it this far.
Still, all of them wielded their support items with full enthusiasm and passion, sending their cheers his way.
Then─
Ting!
[Key Player]
Sanghyeon’s face appeared on the large screen.
Following that, a pentagonal stat indicator made for entertainment based on his gameplay floated up beside it.
This hadn’t been there in the previous match, but now that one main tournament game had been played, such data had been generated.
“Waaaaaaaa!”
“Almond! Almond!”
Cheers for Almond erupted.
However, that sound was nearly drowned out by the roars of the Persia spectators.
Persia’s key player was displayed on the opposite screen.
“Uooooooo!”
“Wuooooo!”
It was a strange-sounding cheer, distinctly threatening in nature.
‘KeNin’
KeNin.
It was the ID of Iran’s ace player.
Apparently, his original ID was Kebab Ninja.
In our country, it would be something like Kimchi Warrior.
‘So it’s him.’
It was a name I’d heard multiple times from Cookie and those around me.
I’d even heard it from the Mongolian people I met at the dinner party.
「He’s probably the best archer in Civil M.」
「They call him the Divine Archer and all that. Of course, we don’t agree.」
Though they said they didn’t agree, the fact that they mentioned him at all meant they were aware of him.
The representative archery civilizations are Mongolia, Ottoman, Joseon, and Persia.
It meant he was recognized by Mongolia, which has the highest power ranking among them—or rather, the highest power ranking among all civilizations.
Moreover, the nickname fans gave him was the Divine Archer ‘Arash’.
Arash is a legendary hero from Persian mythology. Apparently, he’s known for being skilled with a bow.
‘Divine Archer….’
I recalled hearing that term somewhere in my distant memories.
「A rising star! A supernova! The youngest! This is the Divine Archer! This is who we’ve been looking for! Player Sang-hyun Yu!」
「That’s right. Currently in Extend! So perfectly….」
Thud.
Lost in thought while walking, I bumped into the person in front of me.
“Oh, uh, brother. You need to stop.”
“Ah.”
I must have needed to stop for a handshake.
I hadn’t heard what was said.
I turned to the side to see who I was shaking hands with.
‘Arash….’
It was the person I’d just seen on the scoreboard right beside me.
The organizers probably arranged the seating this way deliberately to set up a rivalry dynamic.
Unlike in photographs, seeing him in person, he had a quite sturdy build and looked like someone who enjoyed sports.
“Huh…?”
He also tilted his head slightly, as if recognizing me.
A guide in the distance made a signal with his hand.
It meant to shake hands.
I extended my hand casually as I normally would.
‘?’
Crunch…!
Wasn’t he squeezing with all his grip strength?
My right hand couldn’t respond and began trembling slightly.
Then he flashed his white teeth and smirked.
Cold sweat streamed down my forehead.
‘There’s no end to these lunatics.’
It was painful, but I gritted my teeth and waited.
While I might not excel at enduring physical pain, I was among the best at controlling mental anguish.
‘Grip strength typically has limited endurance.’
Soon his strength would falter. I waited for that moment.
Those brief seconds felt impossibly long.
Slick.
He released his grip momentarily.
If he continued, he’d likely suffer muscle cramps himself.
‘Now.’
At that instant, I clenched my teeth and applied my full force.
I wanted to demonstrate just how much grip strength my bow-drawing hand possessed.
Though my arm bore injury, the rehabilitation had actually involved more grip training than during my competitive days.
Crack—!
Veins bulged across my entire arm.
My own arm began trembling slightly, but I didn’t care.
“!!!”
His expression twisted most satisfyingly.
He ground his teeth and glared at me with blazing eyes.
‘So what are you going to do about it?’
I squeezed harder, as if I might crush his hand entirely.
Even as everyone else finished their handshakes and turned away, I didn’t release him.
I held on until the very last moment at that precarious, potentially awkward boundary before finally letting go.
After the handshake ended, Kenin examined his hand and glared at me.
I simply made a throat-slitting gesture and turned away.
My right hand was flushed crimson as I walked.
I wanted to check its condition, but if I did, he’d think he’d won. So I resisted the urge and simply kept my eyes on the capsule as I walked.
Tremor, tremor, tremor….
Still, my injured right hand continued to shake slightly.
Likely because I hadn’t exerted this much force in recent memory.
“Sigh… of all times….”
With my trembling right hand, I retrieved something from my pocket.
It was the USB the doctor had given me, which I’d stored in my right pocket.
The referee approached, received the USB, inserted it into his terminal, and ran some program.
After approval was granted, I entered the capsule and inserted the USB.
[User Configuration Optimization in Progress….]
A different message appeared—not the usual loading text I was accustomed to.
After the optimization completed.
[Civil Empire]
[Loading….]
The tournament client’s waiting screen appeared.
* * *
“Wow! Almond just displayed incredible confidence against the opposing ace!!”
Meanwhile, the commentators were stunned by Almond’s gesture.
It seemed the camera had caught Almond making a throat-slashing motion.
“Yes! Actually, this is… the first time this has happened!? Almond taunting his opponent without even holding the microphone? It’s a rare sight!”
Hahaha, for real
-Fake national team Boni would provoke even with a megaphone
-What was that just now lol
“Yunho-level murder threat ㄷㄷ”
-Now that’s boldness
He totally bombed his star potential lol
“Ah, King Gul. Could you say a few words about the opposing player?”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
King Gul flipped through the data screen for a moment, then continued.
“When people first discussed the Persia versus Joseon match, this was the rivalry mentioned first. The player known as the best archer in Civil M is none other than ‘Kenin.'”
“Yes!? Ah, really!?”
“That’s right. Persia has three archers known as the ‘Three Bows.’ Three players skilled with the bow, but among them, Kenin stands out uniquely.”
lol
-Kenin is famous
-Persia is good at archery
-Overseas communities are already flooded with this
“Ah. So you didn’t just highlight today’s Key Player and place them on opposite sides! Looking at the overseas community reactions right now! It’s absolutely heated!?”
“Yes. Well, Korea will still be the best at archery. But in Civil Empire, it’s Kenin. Almond still has more to prove, and so on! The debate is fierce. Today’s result will settle it!?”
“While you’re speaking! The players are taking their positions in the capsules one by one! The game will start soon!”
After all the players entered the capsules.
The caster stood up and began building excitement for the match.
The game was about to start.
“Ladies and gentlemen! No one thought Joseon would make it here! But Joseon has arrived!”
King Gul also stood up and shouted enthusiastically.
“That’s right! They’ve made it to the Round of 16! I dare say it! A miracle! This is a miracle! This is what miracles truly are!”
“Can they show that miracle once more in this Persia match!?”
“Ah! I’m hopeful! The strength they showed against the Vikings! Considering that, it’s definitely possible!? And! Almond, who’s been mentioned as today’s ace! He won’t want to lose to another archer ace!?”
“Yes! As a player! His pride! Won’t allow it! We should also cheer hard together! Now, while we’re speaking! The players are all ready!”
A message appeared on the stadium’s scoreboard.
[Round of 16]
Joseon 0
Persia 0
The Caster shouted loudly, as if delivering the final proclamation.
“Joseon versus Persia! Persia versus Joseon! The Round of 16 in the National Team Championship!”
All the players began to be summoned onto the field.
“Let the match… BEGIN!!!”
Holograms blanketed the arena, creating the terrain of the map selected for this match.
[Ridge Crossing]
* * *
After the game started.
Cookie first checked the name of the map.
‘Ridge Crossing, then.’
There were vast plains on both sides, with a mountain range cutting across the middle of them.
If you wanted to reach the enemy, you had to either cross that mountain or go around it.
‘The mountain itself isn’t particularly harsh, so crossing it won’t be difficult.’
Of course, compared to maps with treacherous mountain valleys, the terrain was nothing more than a neighborhood hill.
Crossing it itself was no problem.
However, what mattered was that it would take time regardless, and the game could easily turn defensive.
‘This might become the deciding point in terms of faction.’
Cookie first stationed the workers at various resources, then sent soldiers toward the mountain range.
After all, scouting around the main base could be done slowly, and deploying to the mountain range first was the priority.
The mountain range cut across the map precisely at the 6 and 12 o’clock directions.
Joseon’s base was at the 9 o’clock direction, to the east.
For enemies to enter the eastern half of this base would take considerable time.
The same applied to the other side.
‘Wait…?’
But then, at that moment.
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
‘The opponent will also think our entry will be delayed because of the mountain range.’
The opponent had likely just had the same thought as him.
Along with that thought, a certain strategy pierced through his consciousness.
[Movement]
Ting.
Cookie suddenly altered the movement paths of several soldiers.
And then, he dispatched a single worker.
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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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