Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 790
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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 260
86. The Catch (1)
Just before Joseon’s victory was declared.
Even Juhyeok, who had focused on selling merchandise, forgot everything in that moment and stared with wide eyes.
And after the victory was declared.
He jumped so high that he dropped all the Geobukseon figurines he’d been holding.
“Ah, ah-ah-ah! We, we won! We won-n-n-n-n!”
He roared at the top of his lungs, yet couldn’t even hear how loudly he was screaming.
The deafening roar of the crowd had already pierced through his eardrums.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
The audience all stood up, embracing strangers and jumping with unbridled joy.
The vibrations made it seem as though the stadium itself was shaking.
Yet Juhyeok’s consciousness was far removed from all of it.
‘Huh…?’
He saw it.
The moment the game ended—Sanghyeon’s figure.
His knees touched the ground as he cried out with his entire being.
That sound wasn’t captured in the broadcast.
Even if it had been, it would have been completely drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
But he could hear it.
Sorrow?
For a moment, Juhyeok thought he was sad.
This was supposed to be the happiest moment, yet it didn’t look like a simple cry of joy.
No, it wasn’t merely sorrow either.
Like a gemstone that shines differently depending on the angle—not a single color.
The layers of time accumulated within his heart, compressed by endless weight, had finally hardened into a radiant jewel.
That jewel had begun to shine, but was it joyful?
It was unknowable.
Perhaps even he himself didn’t know.
Juhyeok simply thought this:
That it was still a life that shines.
And so, something radiant fell from the corners of his eyes as well.
* * *
“…I won.”
[Victory]
Upon confirming these two words, she murmured in disbelief.
‘Almond succeeded?’
Almond had done it.
Barely, he had captured Ringo within the allotted time.
“Sigh.”
A wave of relief washed over her.
For a moment, strength drained from her entire body and her vision grew hazy, but—
‘I can’t.’
She couldn’t simply collapse here.
Unfortunately, her game was not yet over.
Defending her position as Supreme Commander of Joseon was the true end of her game.
‘Until I disappear into the waiting room.’
Until the moment she entered the waiting room and vanished from the sight of the audience and other players.
‘I must endure.’
Until then, she had to appear perfectly normal.
Her consciousness had already reached its limit when she fled on horseback, but sheer determination for victory alone kept her tethered to awareness.
She had achieved victory, yet it was not the end.
Even her exit was a continuation of the match.
She approached the defeated players as tradition dictated, shaking their hands with studied indifference, then greeted the audience before heading toward the waiting room.
The arena roared with cheers from all sides, fireworks bursting forth in a festive atmosphere.
Highlights from all five matches scrolled across the screens.
The commentators’ voices bellowed across the venue as well, but—
None of it reached her ears.
“Haa… ha….”
Her entire focus was concentrated on sitting in the wheelchair with a composed expression, advancing toward the waiting room at an appropriate pace without appearing rushed.
Ziiiiing.
The wheelchair’s movement felt like an eternity. She desperately wanted to increase her speed, but she didn’t dare. It wouldn’t look natural.
“Haa….”
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
She likely wouldn’t be able to compete in the next match. The doctor wouldn’t make exceptions twice.
For her own body’s sake, it was time to withdraw.
Cookie could take over from the semifinals onward.
“Phew… haa….”
Still, she wanted to perform this final act perfectly.
No—precisely because of that, she had to perform it even more convincingly.
Though she wouldn’t compete in future matches, the enemies must never know that.
Even if only Cookie appeared, Joseon’s enemies had to believe their commander was two people.
She had to exist somewhere unseen, always.
Because of that, even this exit was a match for her.
The corridor leading deeper into the waiting room drew near.
The arena’s light gradually faded, and shadows crept in.
The roar of the crowd slowly receded behind her, and their gazes shifted toward other players instead of her.
‘It’s here.’
Soon, she slipped from the sight of all the spectators.
She entered a space where only Joseon’s players roamed.
The moment she thought that—
‘Huh.’
—*Ping.*
With a sound like a screen shutting off, her consciousness vanished.
* * *
Players filed into the waiting room one by one, chattering noisily.
Some had already screamed so much on the field that their voices had grown hoarse.
Yet naturally, their faces were filled with smiles.
However, the moment they entered the waiting room, they all jumped in shock.
“What, what is it!?”
“Gasp….”
A woman lay collapsed on the sofa.
It was Daisunsin Choi, their commander.
“Is, is she dead!?”
Pangeo made a fuss.
“What!?”
She already looked sickly anyway, which made it seem even worse.
“Aaaaaaah! Why, why is no one here!?”
Pangeo grabbed his phone to call the emergency team.
“Brother! Brother! Please be quiet!”
That’s when Chiseung burst through the door.
Pangeo only grew more frantic.
“Why! Don’t you want to report a death!?”
“No, it’s not that… she’s just sleeping.”
“…Oh. She’s sleeping?”
“Yes. She suddenly collapsed and fell asleep.”
*Thunk.*
Ian-yong smacked the back of Pangeo’s head as he passed.
“Making such a fuss.”
“Hey… you were startled too, so what’s with the attitude….”
Muttering about how she was always sickly anyway, Pangeo took his seat.
“Phew. Well, at least that’s a relief.”
*Thump.*
Pangeo leaned back against the plush sofa in the waiting room, watching the broadcast unfold.
[Joseon: 3]
[Japan: 2]
The numbers still seemed unreal, glimmering on one side of the screen.
‘We actually won.’
During matches three and four, I hadn’t seen any hope at all.
Japan’s notorious comeback tendency, Choi Sa-rang’s stamina issues, and on top of that, Ace Almond’s stamina problems too….
We had certainly walked right up to the threshold of despair. We’d even taken one step inside.
If Joseon made it this far, that’s already a victory. That’s what I thought.
‘That’s right.’
Without Ace Almond, the frontline players, and the Commander’s charisma and leadership, Joseon would be a weak team.
Because that’s the truth.
This time too, Almond and Choi Sun-sin fighting until the very end contributed most to this great victory.
‘Sigh.’
At this rate, the next match will probably bring difficulties again.
Pangeo couldn’t simply rejoice in the victory.
He knew Joseon from the days when there was no Almond, no Daisunsin Choi.
He knew Joseon from before Cookie’s refined combat concepts were perfected.
That’s why fear flickered in his eyes as he stared blankly at the broadcast screen.
What would happen to this team if they couldn’t perform properly?
Then, a certain scene appeared in the broadcast highlights.
Soldiers gathered on the beach, taking their positions one by one.
At first, Pangeo didn’t understand what this scene was.
He had never seen this scene from this angle before.
Why were they broadcasting as a highlight that scene of soldiers simply continuing to change positions? For a moment, it was incomprehensible.
‘…?’
He only realized those soldiers had formed some letters after hearing the analyst’s explanation.
[Believe in us]
His eyes trembled slightly.
So this is what it felt like from above.
After that, the highlight moved to another scene.
It was Pangeo grabbing the helm and spinning it desperately, ramming Japan’s ship.
The next scene was him firing cannons from his own ship, striking down all the Japanese soldiers.
Maratang fighting fiercely, countless other soldiers carrying cannonballs and lighting the cannons.
Only then did it sink in.
‘Believe in us.’
It wasn’t a message sent only to the Commander.
It wasn’t something sent only to the audience.
‘….’
Perhaps it was they who deserved my trust above all others.
“Yo! Ace!”
Pang-eo, who had been lost in thought for a moment, jumped to his feet upon seeing someone enter the waiting room. It was Sanghyeon.
“You made it! Huh? Hahahaha!”
Sanghyeon grinned back at him.
“I think you’re going to get MVP this time, hyung.”
“What?”
“You appear most frequently in the highlights.”
“Since when do you sweet-talk like that? You played five matches and lost your mind? Hahahaha!”
* * *
After all the highlights had finished playing.
“So! Who is it! The MVP!”
Boom.
The MVP was revealed.
First, accompanied by music, the MVP’s most impressive moment played.
[Don’t falter!]
A powerful voice erupted across the chaotic battlefield.
It was the moment when the Joseon archers engaged in close combat with the swordsmen.
The face of the voice’s owner appeared.
It was Spam.
His scene of eliminating swordsmen at close range while holding the line until Almond arrived was selected as the most crucial moment.
[set1]
[MVP: Spam]
Spam was selected as the MVP for the first set.
-Ohhh
That’s spam lol
-How does someone have a name like that lol
“Set 1! Ah! Spam! You played with such boldness!?”
“That’s right. If he hadn’t held firm at that moment! The finishing blow at the end was incredibly difficult!”
Then the highlights from the second match played.
A man quietly drawing his bowstring in the forest.
-Oppenheimer vibes
-Damn
-This must’ve been tough lol the commander did well too
-Kyaa
-Workers annihilated lol
-Worker slayer lololol
[set2]
[MVP: Aamond]
In Set 2, it was Aamond who remained alone in enemy territory, slaughtering the workers and cutting off Japan’s additional troop production.
“Set 2! Aamond! It’s Aamond!”
“Ah! Truly like a nuclear bomb! With such destructive power, he toyed with their main base!”
The next highlight plays.
The stage was the sea.
*Whoooosh!*
A ship surged forward, churning white waves in its wake.
*Swirling splash.*
There, Pang-eo turned the helm.
That’s right.
[set5]
[MVP: Pang-eo]
The MVP of the final set was Pang-eo.
“Yesss! Pang-eo!”
“Pang-eo! Pang-eo got the MVP! 5 games MVP!!”
-Haha
-Now that it’s over, I only remember the 5 games lol
-Wow
-If it wasn’t Pang-eo in 5 games, we would’ve just lost for real
-Pang-eo Ajae finally ascended lol
-Pants Leader escaped
Spam finger almond lol this is 3rd palace
* * *
Meanwhile, in the waiting room.
“Wh… what!? Me, really me!?”
Pangeo stood up from the waiting room in bewilderment.
With a dazed feeling, he walked back out toward the arena.
Along with brilliant light, the roar of the crowd surged once more.
“Waaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Pangeo! Pangeo!”
The cheering squad in red was calling out his name.
Countless spectators filled the arena without a single empty seat, even though the match had ended.
Even the Japanese spectator section remained nearly full.
‘Ha. Living long enough… you get days like this too.’
He laughed and waved both arms, shouting.
“A legendary catch!”
The people erupted in enthusiasm.
I could feel the cheers growing louder.
“Waaaaaaaaaaa!”
Their fervor pierced straight into my chest.
This feeling.
This is what we endured all that hardship for.
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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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