Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 83

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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 83
29. Fan Service (3)
“Omen! I believe in you!”
“….”
Beneath Juhyeok’s peculiar toast.
Clink.
Juhyeok’s, Jia’s, and Sanghyeon’s glasses collided.
“Ugh.”
“Mm.”
“Ack.”
Each of them exhaled different exclamations while grimacing.
Then they each inhaled the stew from their bowls.
“This place is pretty good.”
Juhyeok said while crunching on octopus. I’d been uncertain about putting octopus in kimchi stew, but it had a surprisingly refreshing taste.
“Right?”
Sanghyeon spoke while biting into a steaming piece of tofu.
The only one silent was Jia.
She was simply inhaling the stew without saying anything.
“Ji, Jia, it seems you prefer soup-based dishes.”
Jia looked up at Juhyeok intently, then swallowed what was in her mouth and answered.
“…It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
“Ah. Yes, it is!”
“Hey. Pour more drinks.”
This drinking session among the three was still awkward. Sanghyeon knew that in moments like these, alcohol was the cure.
“Okay!”
Juhyeok eagerly unscrewed the soju bottle.
Glug glug.
The three glasses filled to the brim again.
Gulp.
All three downed it without hesitation in one go. Tomorrow would be a hangover disaster, but.
Wasn’t it true that all three of them had jobs where they could just rest the next day?
“Pour!”
Sanghyeon extended his glass again.
At this point, they should’ve gone to a proper bar rather than a stew restaurant for the atmosphere.
But I didn’t want to move from here.
I wanted to stay rooted in this place. Now that the people who barely recognized me had finally disappeared, if I went back outside, wouldn’t people recognize me again?
Being a celebrity was enjoyable, but I hated when people followed me around at drinking sessions.
“Fine. Fine.”
Juhyeok poured again.
The three of them downed it in one gulp once more.
When things got awkward, this was supposed to be the cure.

* * *
But medicine in excess kills.
The awkwardness had vanished far too completely.
“Hey! Almond…!”
Whoosh.
Jia’s finger wavered before my eyes. I couldn’t tell if I was swaying or if Seojia was swaying.
“You… are you seriously… that popular?”
Juhyeok tried to stop her from beside me.
“Um, Miss Jia?”
“Ugh.”
Thud.
Jia pushed against Juhyeok’s body. Or rather, she tried to push, but just collapsed into him instead.
Partly because her frame was so small, and partly because she was thoroughly drunk.
“I’m so jealous! But who’s gonna make the video!? Huh!?”
“You will.”
Had I gotten drunk too? Somewhere along the way, we’d dropped formalities with each other.
“Yeah! What?”
“So what am I supposed to do about it?”
“That’s why! Just… a little… ah! I don’t know! Whatever.”
Thud.
Seojia collapsed to the side again.
This time on the opposite side from Juhyeok. Straight toward the hallway where people were walking.
Juhyeok practically grabbed her by the collar and hauled her back up.
“Whoa. Miss Jia. Or, Jia. You’re young—why are you acting like this?”
“Juhyeok-ssi. Aren’t you glad you’re getting older?”
Pfft.
I burst out laughing.
Juhyeok-ssi, she’d said.
Looking at Juhyeok Kim’s expression right now was absolutely priceless.
“…Well, I’ll be.”
“Yeah. Juhyeok-ssi. Don’t give me grief about age.”
“You too? You’re thirty yourself! Come on!”
“That’s because I’m actually twenty-eight.”
“…What?”
Juhyeok Kim’s expression had now reached a level beyond words.
His face plainly read: ‘What the hell is this guy talking about?’
“Wh, what are you saying?”
“I’m exempt from military service. As the family breadwinner. Didn’t you ever think it was strange? Two years of military service missing, and I never went to college either.”
“Dammit, dammit. I thought you’d been wasting time for about two years!”
This can’t be happening.
Sang-hyun Yu was still only twenty-eight.
“Then why did you lie and say you were in your thirties?! Even on the broadcast!”
“Well, everyone around me thinks that way, and honestly, twenty-eight or thirty—what’s the difference?”
Juhyeok Kim wanted to grab Seojia by the collar with one hand and Sanghyeon by the hair with the other.
“This bastard is three years younger than me?!”
“I’ll be twenty-nine soon anyway.”
“I’m about to turn thirty-two, you bastard! What kind of ridiculous logic is that!”
“Who went abroad for studies?”
Puhahahaha!
Sanghyeon laughed as if he were having the time of his life.
‘This insane, demonic bastard.’
Juhyeok wished he could choose the blue pill over the red pill right now.
He wanted to remember nothing. He just wanted to believe this was all an illusion, that Sanghyeon was actually thirty, only one year younger than him, just as he’d always known. That’s what he wanted to believe.
“Hey. What does it matter? You already knew he was younger anyway.”
“Is one year the same as three years?!”
“It’s basically the same. Why are you being so petty about study abroad experience?”
“No, I went abroad, not you──”
Smack!
Just then, Seojia suddenly opened her eyes wide and jumped up.
In the process, Juhyeok’s jaw got smacked by Jia’s head.
“Ugh!”
The force of her rising was so tremendous that even the large Juhyeok staggered.
Sanghyeon burst into another round of laughter.
Meanwhile, Jia’s eyes remained fixed on her phone, oblivious to everything around her.
“That… Jeon…!”
She muttered in disbelief as she read the notification on her phone.
“Jeon? Jeon what?”
“That… Jeon-ja….”
“?”
Juhyeok and Sanghyeon exchanged blank stares and tilted their heads in confusion.
“Jeon-ja-pa just went live.”

* * *
If I were the Sanghyeon of old, a streamer turning on a broadcast wouldn’t be so surprising. I would have been indifferent.
‘Didn’t they say he hadn’t streamed for 3 years?’
Jeon-ja-pa’s hiatus lasted 3 years.
After that, he only did occasional commercial shoots, or so he said.
Practically speaking, he couldn’t be considered a streamer anymore.
He didn’t even play games.
‘No way.’
A viewer’s nickname, “Papapa,” flashed through my mind.
I quickly opened my phone to check Tribby.
As soon as I entered, Jeon-ja-pa’s streaming screen appeared prominently on the main page.
‘How many viewers?’
It hadn’t displayed yet.
It looked like he’d just turned it on. I quickly clicked and entered.
“…Huh?”
[This channel’s broadcast has ended]
What is this?
Didn’t I just get a notification? Is it an error? A WiFi issue?
“Uh… it, it turned off.”
Jia said the same thing.
Which meant it really did turn off.
“The broadcast turned on for a moment, then turned off.”
“….”
Sigh.
I exhaled sharply. Without realizing it, I’d been subtly tense.
Simply at the fact that Jeon-ja-pa had turned on a broadcast.
‘Am I viewing him as a rival?’
Yes. Perhaps he is a rival.
Considering Jeon-ja-pa’s illustrious career, it would be presumptuous to say so yet…
But he was definitely a rival. We’d already clashed in records several times.
Of course, I couldn’t even attempt his records from his pro-gamer days. But if it came to records he’d built as a streamer in other games, Almond had a chance.
“…What. It must have been an error.”
Juhyeok put his phone down and leaned back against the sofa.
Even my manager seemed quite tense.
Jeon-ja-pa’s appearance was, in fact, bad news—his character would overlap with Almond’s.
At least, that’s what Juhyeok thought.
“Phew.”
He let out a sigh of relief.
“Haaah….”
Thump.
Jia had already collapsed onto the table and fallen asleep. She hadn’t been in her right mind to begin with, but it seemed she’d mustered superhuman strength to get up when Jeon-ja-pa’s broadcast started.
‘Was she a fan of Jeon-ja-pa?’
Given Jia’s inclinations, it wouldn’t be strange if she were a Jeon-ja-pa fan.
Considering she hadn’t been active for a long time, it actually made sense that she’d switched over to Almond, which was in a similar vein.
“Let’s head out.”
Sanghyeon stood up first.
He went to the checkout counter and handed over the bill.
“Ah. We don’t accept payment.”
“…Excuse me?”
The CEO wasn’t accepting money.
“Why, why not?”
“Well, you’ve been approached for our franchise model, haven’t you? Hahaha!”
The CEO’s eyes gleamed with that ‘I know what I know~’ look.
Know what? I don’t know squat.
“I haven’t accepted that yet.”
“!?”
It was still a brand I hadn’t even decided whether to take on or not.
“Ah… well, is that so? Hahaha! That representative really… got ahead of himself.”
“Here.”
Sanghyeon offered his card.
But the CEO still shook his head.
“Then all the better! Please remember our Huchae branch! Hahaha!”
He absolutely refused to take payment.
“Please do think about doing an advertisement with us one more time! I’m begging you to put in a good word with the representative!!!”
He bowed at a ninety-degree angle all the way until we left. It was somewhat burdensome, but not an unpleasant feeling.
“Hey. I never understood why old folks like that are so into flattery and all that?”
“…Why is that?”
“Don’t you get it? Now that I’ve experienced it, I totally understand! Ahahaha!”
Juhyeok seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, not just a good one.
He’d even picked up the swaying Seojia and carried her.
Sanghyeon shook his head.
“Hey. Let me carry Jia.”
“Huh? You’re drunk too.”
“No, I’m not drunk.”
“Forget it. I’m taller anyway.”
“I’m stronger though.”
Well, that was natural for someone with an athletic background. Juhyeok tilted his head and transferred Seojia to Sanghyeon.
“Don’t regret this later?”
“Just make sure you put my hat on properly.”
“Got it.”
I pulled the hood attached to my coat over my head and wrapped myself up tightly. If someone recognized me again, it would be a headache.
“Since when do you do this? You wouldn’t even take the female employees when they asked.”
I hesitated for a moment before answering.
I wondered myself why I was taking Jia along.
“Fan service.”
That was my answer.
“Huh?”
“What do you mean ‘huh’? She’s practically my first fan.”
“…Ah. Right.”
“I should do at least this much.”
Seojia, Almond’s devoted fan.
That was how I first came to know her.
Yes. Before she was an editor, she was also an ardent fan of Almond.
「Hey! Almond…! You… are seriously that popular? That’s so cool! But who’s making the videos!? Huh!?」
A smile spread across my lips at the hallucination mixed with her drunken breath.
Perhaps she thought I was favoring other fans while neglecting my true fan.
“Let’s go.”
I grinned and confidently took the lead.
And in front of those hellish stairs, I eventually handed Jia over to Juhyeok.

* * *
2 AM.
Jia woke up clutching her head, which felt like it was splitting apart.
“…Ugh.”
A groan escaped her naturally from the hangover.
But it was familiar to her.
She instinctively crawled to her refrigerator. The door creaked open. She pulled out one of the hangover remedies that filled one entire section.
She downed the entire bottle cleanly.
“Phew.”
Now her eyes finally opened a bit from the placebo effect.
「Hey! Almond…!」
Huh?
Jia’s eyes wavered.
Whose drunken female voice was that?
It sounded similar to her own voice, but why was it so full of aegyo?
「You… are seriously that popular?」
Now her face flushed crimson red.
As if the shot she’d just taken wasn’t hangover remedy but pure tequila.
「That’s so cool! But who’s making the videos!? Huh!?」
She wanted to die.
I opened the refrigerator again.
There was no pesticide or anything like that.
I should have bought some in advance if I’d known this would happen.
“Sigh.”
A deep breath rising from my core.
Why do I even drink alcohol in the first place?
‘Because it’s good! Because it tastes great!’
An answer that burst forth from another part of myself without a moment’s hesitation. Truly, not a shred of doubt.
“Really…”
She shook her head and sat down in front of the computer. Though I had a lot of work piled up.
「Juhyeon Lee, I love you! Please write it!」
Thanks to that sudden memory, I didn’t feel like doing it anymore.
It won’t matter if the video goes up a day late. That damned nut bastard won’t care.
‘Let me just watch a movie.’
With that thought, she launched LetFlex.
There’s something called “Pandora’s Box.”
For a movie title, it’s really old-fashioned.
「Fan Service」
It was Almond’s voice.
For a moment, I thought it came from the computer. But then the sensation of leaning against his warm back returned as well.
「You’re my first fan, after all.」
‘What…?’
Jia stared blankly at the screen as if frozen.
In the auto-playing preview, that cursed box opened.
Bad things poured out in an instant, one after another.
And the most radiant something crawled out slowly.
Ting.
Jia closed the window.
Instead, the editing program launched.
I checked the time.
‘Seven hours should be enough.’
Around 9 AM, would that work?
By then, Almond would wake up and be able to check it.
A subtle smile hung at the corners of her lips.
My condition was terrible, but for some reason, my hands moved lightly.

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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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