Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 774

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 3 Episode 244
80. Judgment (3)
The stadium reverberated with the thunderous roars of Japanese spectators.
In the center of it all, I looked down at my right arm.
‘I made a mistake.’
I bit my lip.
Thinking that one more victory would end it all, I pushed myself recklessly without considering what came next.
Yet in the end, I still lost.
It wasn’t just my problem.
In the larger scope of the battle, Joseon kept falling behind.
My gaze naturally turned toward the capsule where the Commander was emerging.
It wasn’t blame I felt toward her.
It was worry.
‘….’
Yet my concern had become reality.
It was obvious at a glance.
Not as much as me, but her hair bore clear traces of being soaked and dried repeatedly. Her skin had turned so pale that the veins were fully visible.
Her eyes, unable to face the spectators and fixed only on the ground, trembled noticeably.
I was certain her legs beneath the blanket were in a similar state.
I quickened my pace toward her.
It was to speak with Chiseung, who was pulling the wheelchair.
I needed to convey that we couldn’t continue like this.
“Chiseung.”
“Huh? Yes.”
“Cookie isn’t coming back…?”
Since the person in question was right there, I couldn’t say she couldn’t continue the game anymore.
But this indirectly meant we needed to prepare for what came next.
“Cookie can’t make it to the semifinals.”
Chiseung answered with his head lowered.
I didn’t give up and asked again.
“Check again. That’s what you said yesterday.”
“Yes…? But the hospital said….”
“If you know how much we need this right now─”
─Crack.
In that instant, I had to stop speaking.
A pale hand gripped my thigh firmly. It was Sarang.
She spoke with difficulty.
“I can do it.”
Speaking with such confidence despite looking nothing like she could was a skill in itself, if you could call it that.
Yet even so, I could clearly feel it in her trembling hand.
She was convinced of it herself.
‘Really…?’
She didn’t seem to doubt her own capability at all.
If her condition was what I thought it was, this shouldn’t have been possible.
Just as I was about to say more, she spoke first.
“For me, this is… like archery.”
“….”
At those words, Chiseung looked startled and glanced between us.
He had assumed Choi Sa-rang wouldn’t have such passionate enthusiasm for this task.
He thought she was only now beginning to develop interest in it.
That was a thought born from not knowing her true identity.
The Choi Sa-rang he knew was merely a high-ranked player who had devoted herself to solo queue.
He had no way of knowing what mindset she brought to competitions.
But I was different.
“Yeah.”
I understood.
I was that kind of person too.
Even the past ten years of colliding with society—which had changed my speech, my actions, my very nature—couldn’t alter this heart of mine.
So I was simply confirming it now.
Whether she was still that kind of person. Whether she still carried that heart.
“I understand.”
With that confirmation made, I walked past them both toward the waiting room.
There was no need to say more or try to convince her.
Knowing her condition as I did, staying to watch would only make things harder for both of us.
She won’t be able to stop anyway.
“What kind of heart it is. I understand.”
I murmured this to myself as I headed toward the waiting room.

* * *
The Korean audience section had been heated during matches 1 and 2.
Now, exhaustion was plainly evident on every face.
If the match were to resume, they would cheer, but with all the players already gone, no one stepped forward to offer their support.
“Sigh….”
Miho, who had been practically a cheerleader herself during the previous match, was now leaning against the railing, her energy completely spent.
“What do we do? Almond must be struggling now….”
They were down just one match in a best-of-five series at 3-1.
But she knew about Almond’s condition, so her spirits naturally sank further.
When Balloon Stars participated in the Nantes tournament, Almond’s conditioning had been the primary concern.
Back then, except for the finals, they hadn’t used a dedicated capsule either, so the situation was similar.
“Hmm. You’re right.”
Taco nodded while scratching his slicked-back hair.
“Mond will have a hard time performing properly now. He can’t even shoot the bow with one hand.”
Ril could play with one hand depending on the avatar, but here he had no choice but to use both hands to shoot the bow.
“And the commander over there, Ringo, has some nickname like ‘Hero of Reversal’ or something.”
Miho murmured with concern.
“It seems like it’s not just a nickname that stuck. The actual data shows it.”
“I saw that too.”
“Brother. Still, the Reckless Hero will win, right?”
“…?”
“Why can’t you answer me!”
She grabbed Taco by the collar and shook him, but the truth was, he couldn’t easily say they would win.
“Ah, no, how would I know that!?”
Cough, cough…!
Taco wouldn’t back down from his position.
“But you said earlier that our win rate was high!”
“That was…!”
Taco had actually predicted victory.
“That was… before watching match 3. I didn’t expect them to be this exhausted.”
“Huh. Did Almond’s stamina decrease?”
“No. Not Almond.”
What Taco hadn’t accounted for wasn’t Almond’s stamina, but the commander’s stamina.
He already knew about Almond, so that was naturally within his calculations.
The commander’s stamina decline, who coordinated everything, was something he hadn’t anticipated.
“Our commander… seems weaker in the late game than I thought.”
Taco scratched his chin and examined that exhausted face carefully.
Of course, the distance made it hard to see clearly, but considering how she appeared on the large screen, she was definitely tired.
‘But somehow, she looks like she’d play the game damn well.’
Every time Taco examined her face closely, he felt something else.
For some reason, I found her trustworthy.
It wasn’t exactly what you’d typically call “looking like someone good at games,” but somehow that’s the impression she gave.
“Hmm… I can’t tell. I just can’t.”
“Right!? The Commander is just so hard to read! She must be a rookie!?”
Miho seemed to instinctively distrust the Commander. She’d been blaming her since earlier.
In truth, she wasn’t wrong. Just as Miho said, she was a complete newcomer.
Being unpredictable was accurate.
But that wasn’t what Taco meant.
“No. That’s not what I’m saying─”
“──That Commander is skilled.”
Just then, someone suddenly interjected.
“…?”
Miho blinked, apparently not recognizing the person.
But Taco’s expression changed.
“Huh!? Woo-ju! You! You were in Korea!?”
“Well, it’s the off-season. Besides, this is Japan.”
“…Oh. Right. Japan. Anyway, you came back from America again?”
Beyond just Taco knowing him, many others seemed to recognize him too, and quite a few people were whispering as they looked at him.
‘Huh? Isn’t that Cosmic the player?’
‘Ril the pro gamer?’
‘Yeah. It’s Cosmic, right?’
‘Oh, that former CK ADC!’
‘Is it really that guy?’
Miho, who had been rolling her eyes around, quickly pretended to know who he was.
It felt awkward not to recognize him.
“Player Cosmic! Right?”
Hehe.
When she smiled and acknowledged him, Cosmic’s face flushed red as he nodded.
“Uh… You, you know me? I thought the Miho generation wouldn’t know….”
“Of course I do! The character-broken ADC!”
“….”
Then Taco interjected.
“Ahem. Hey. Miho.”
“Yes? Oh, it’s just a nickname. A nickname.”
“No. I get it. Let me talk to him alone.”
“Oh… Okay.”
After Miho quickly disappeared.
Taco turned back to Cosmic and spoke.
“I heard you’re doing well in America.”
“Ah. Well… It’s definitely easier than our domestic league. You could say it’s the land of the free that accepts even character-broken players.”
“Ahem… don’t bottle it all up. I’ve got a pretty blunt style naturally.”
“Yeah. I’m used to it~”
“But, do you know the Commander?”
“Huh?”
“You said she’s trustworthy.”
“Oh.”
At those words, he paused to think before answering.
“Well, I know Civil M a bit. She’s pretty famous, you know.”
“Just because she’s famous means she’s that trustworthy? Tournaments are different from solo ranked games.”
Taco, a former pro gamer, immediately caught the inconsistency.
These were people who understood better than anyone that tournaments and individual ranked games were completely different beasts.
So Cosmic’s statement seemed even stranger.
“I’ve just watched a lot of her gameplay. Why are you interrogating me like this?”
But Cosmic seemed annoyed, as if he couldn’t be bothered to explain further.
“Really…?”
Taco sensed something odd about his reaction, but since he was always a bit prickly anyway, he let it slide.
“You still haven’t… met up with those guys? Popcorn was really missing you.”
“Missing me? You’re making stuff up. What’s the point of meeting them? Those bastards.”
“Yeah. Right. Missing you was a lie.”
“…”
“I thought time would heal everything, but I guess not.”
“There’s no reason it would heal. We’re not even playing together anymore. Ah, the match is starting. I’m heading out.”
With that, he vanished somewhere in a flash.
Apparently his seat was elsewhere.
Watching his retreating figure, Taco scratched his head.
“That’s strange. Even during the off-season…”
It was rare for an active pro gamer to show up to watch a different game tournament, and especially alone.
After a moment of contemplation, Taco reached a conclusion.
“He came for the celebrity factor.”
Since celebrities were all posting photos of their in-person attendance these days, it seemed like he wanted to join in on that trend.

* * *
When the players first returned to the waiting room, Chiseung waved his hand frantically searching for a towel.
“Here! A cold towel, quick!”
It was because of the Commander.
Her appearance was in terrible shape.
Her face flushed with fever as heat rose through her body, and the traces of sweat that had dried from the cooling device were evident in multiple places.
“Eek!”
Mool Mandu was so startled seeing her condition that she even took a step backward.
“Oh, no! Unnie. What do we do!?”
She didn’t have the energy to respond at that moment, simply pressing a cold towel against her forehead in silence.
‘So Almond wasn’t asking about Cookie for nothing.’
Chiseung could only properly see her condition after coming to the waiting room.
It was more serious than expected.
‘But….’
How did Almond know something was wrong with her condition?
It seemed like he’d followed from behind and asked before even coming to see her directly.
‘Is it the same phenomenon?’
Almond’s arms, Choi Sun-sin’s legs.
Excessively high VNS readings.
Incredible gaming ability based on that.
Now that I thought about it, there were many commonalities.
‘How did he know it was the same phenomenon?’
It could certainly be the same phenomenon, but Choi Sa-rang had barely shown herself among the Civil M members.
She’d only been active in the Think Tank.
There was no way Almond, who was far removed from strategy, could have met her beforehand when she only participated in strategy meetings.
“Are you okay?!”
Bang.
The two Assistant Commanders suddenly entered the waiting room.
Baram approached and examined Sarang’s complexion.
“What do we do…? Is it really okay to proceed like this?”
Baram, more surprised than expected, looked around at the Think Tank members and asked.
“Hey. Don’t make a fuss.”
“You’re the one making a fuss about not making a fuss. She looks like she’s in this much pain….”
“No, she’s a patient so she needs to rest. What good does your fussing do?”
“…Ha. Since when did you become a doctor?”
Chiseung stepped in to stop the two from arguing.
“Hey, hey! Stop fighting! We really did call a doctor! They’ll make a judgment soon!”
It seemed both of them had become overly sensitive, probably thinking the Commander had collapsed.
“A doctor?”
“Yes! A doctor! We have a doctor!”
There was a doctor who had left contact information, instructing me to reach out if any problems arose.
“Now let the Doctor come take a look. Everyone noisy, get out of here.”
Tsk.
Dujun added one more jab at Baram, but—
the moment the Doctor appeared, he became quite embarrassed.
“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”
“???”
Hana Song let out a piercing scream the instant she saw Sarang’s condition.
‘Is she really a doctor?’
‘She is, I’m telling you.’
The members couldn’t help but doubt her expertise.
But she was more of a researcher than a clinical physician, so she was quite different from the doctors they knew.
“Th-this is a complete disaster! Sarang! You said this was a hands-only game!”
“….”
Sarang simply averted her gaze without much of a response.
She figured there was no point in listening to the lecture—better to just move on.
“No… you look like a zombie! What is this! You’ve become three times uglier!”
“It’s not that bad?”
Sarang found herself sitting up abruptly as she answered.
Hana Song chuckled.
“Oh. So you do respond to that?”
“….”
“Then answer this too. You said it was hands-only. How did this happen?”
“…A sea map came up. I had no choice.”
“The soldiers can’t move the ship? You could just delegate it!”
Ha.
Sarang rebutted as if it were absurd.
“What commander does that in a tournament? That’s only used when there’s absolutely no other way—”
“Enough! The ruling…!”
She spoke firmly in a commanding tone, pressing her index finger to the bridge of her nose.
“Match 4. Disqualified!”
“!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————