Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 98

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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 98
34. Close Contest (2)
Bang!
I slammed my desk and shot to my feet.
“…This kind of weakness!”
The tactic I’d devised had a fatal flaw. I was critically short on arrows.
It was only because I was Almond, who never missed a single shot, that this worked at all—any other archer would’ve been lucky to kill three or four enemies with this quantity.
This is the consequence of choosing the hospital farming route.
“How am I supposed to win this?”
Almond, who had always chosen the armory route until now, had never once run out of arrows.
And there had never been a final opponent equipped with a legendary weapon.
By raiding the armory, I’d prevented almost all legendary weapons from being available beforehand.
But this opponent was wielding a legendary weapon, and even wearing a Legendary Bulletproof Helmet.
In other words, this thug had “first place locked down tight.”
This game was meant for him to take first place.
But I couldn’t just gracefully accept second place either. The gap between first and second is extreme.
It wasn’t merely about first and second place.
Winner and loser.
Champion and everyone else.
I’d like to tell myself “Second place is still a great achievement!” but that wasn’t the reality I’d experienced.
Battle Rage’s rating system reflected that harsh reality too.
The score difference was more than double.
If I didn’t take first, I might have to play through three rounds of this wretched promotion series with countless snipers swarming me.
That would be absolutely brutal.
The more matches repeated, the more my tricks would lose their edge, and my own condition would deteriorate….
The disadvantages were piling up.
“I have to take first this round.”
I muttered anxiously.
Had I ever felt this uneasy watching Almond play?
One-on-one, and I only had one arrow left.
And my opponent was wielding monstrous equipment that required at least ten arrow hits to take down.
‘Can this even work?’
Cold sweat trickled down my forehead.
I’d already calculated the money riding on this single match in my head.
For me right now, this wasn’t just one game—it was a war worth tens of millions of won.
-Uh. But isn’t that Takoyaki?
Then, a viewer’s chat message caught my attention.
It seemed my current opponent was someone famous.
I needed to keep track of all the celebrities I encountered in-game.
“Taco hyung… why are you here? ㅋㅋ”
Why aren’t you turning on the Taco Shack broadcast!? lol
Ah, it’s tacos? Damn, haha.
-The avatar is Taco
-What even is that, you nerds
I had the same question.
I quickly searched for Takoyaki on Trebbie.
He was a streamer.
But he wasn’t currently broadcasting.
[Closed Training in Progress]
According to the notice, he was in the middle of closed training.
I opened Moduuwiki and searched for more information.
As expected, quite a few entries came up.
His followers were about twice as many as Almond’s, and his career was quite impressive.
He had a professional career in Lil in the past.
Of course, he’s washed up now.
Recently he got into Battle Rage, and apparently he was once ranked within the top 50.
Of course, his Battle Rage skills are also washed up now.
This pro gamer lost his abilities while “getting hair transplants”….
“?”
I reread it in disbelief.
It was true.
He got hair transplants and lost his combat power.
During his pro days.
He was always struggling, and after he went bald and lost all his hair, he suddenly showed peak form.
Back then, people said he lost his hair but gained his skills.
But after he succeeded and got hair transplants, he became a ghost—completely washed up.
“Pfft.”
Despite the serious situation, I burst out laughing.
“What is this. Insane.”

* * *
The Oltube streamer currently facing off against Almond: Takoyaki.
He muttered to himself as he pulled four arrows from his body.
“Huff, huff…. This guy’s insanely tough.”
Honestly, I thought I had the game in the bag.
This wasn’t about skill at all—it was just a game of winning through luck.
“Sigh. This is totally an Oltube thing. So annoying.”
Even though he wasn’t streaming, he muttered to himself out of habit.
That’s what happened when you streamed for too long.
Either way, without a chat window, his focus seemed much better.
Just looking at the current situation, wasn’t I on the verge of taking first place in the Diamond promotion match?
No, I could practically call myself first place already.
Based on countless experiences, this was definitely first place.
But….
Something felt uneasy.
Takoyaki knew the identity of his opponent.
‘Almond, right?’
If you’re a Battle Rage streamer, you’ve definitely heard this hot name recently.
I’d never seen him play directly, but they said he was an insanely crazy player.
Wasn’t he also supposed to be doing his promotion match today?
By coincidence, our schedules overlapped.
Should I call this good luck or bad luck?
‘No matter how skilled Almond is, I’ve already pushed him to the brink.’
Taco was a strategic player.
The type who moves after reading the ‘angle.’
His style was to slowly squeeze the enemy until their supplies dried up, then use gunfire only as a finishing move.
From the perspective of a veteran strategist, Almond was nearly finished.
No arrows left, injuries sustained. Considering how long he’d survived outside the Blue Zone, he’d likely exhausted most of his medical supplies.
It looked like he’d used up all his smoke grenades and flares earlier too.
As he watched the smoke gradually dissipate, he picked up his gun again.
[Remaining HP 45%]
Still had half my health left. I could take four more arrow hits before dying.
The enemy had only one arrow remaining.
I could find more in the meantime, but finding four would be difficult.
Besides, Takoyaki had no intention of allowing that.
‘Let’s go.’
Now was the right moment.
Push the enemy into a corner, shoot them dead, and it’s over.
Having made his decision, Takoyaki slowly emerged from his cover.
[The Blue Zone will shrink in 30 seconds!]
[This is the final Blue Zone!]
Now the Blue Zone would disappear completely.
Takoyaki, who had chosen the Armory route, had no medical supplies. He had to move fast.
Tap-tap-tap.
With a grim expression, he aimed his gun and charged toward Almond.
As he fired, he blew apart every piece of cover in sight.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
Trees cracked and toppled, rocks exploded like claymores. This was the power of a legendary weapon.
‘Now. Where are you?’
Almond was running out of places to hide.
Then, from somewhere came an ominous sound.
Whoooosh──
‘From the left?’
Takoyaki was shocked. He was certain the arrow came from the front? Yet it arrived from an unexpected direction.
But it didn’t matter.
Even if he got hit, he wouldn’t die.
Thud!
The impact struck the lower part of his vest hard, but his health only dropped by 10%.
‘I’ve won now.’
Taco’s avatar grinned, baring white teeth.
But moments later.
Beeeeeep──
Only the ringing in his ears from the explosion filled his mind.
The screen went black.
[2nd Place]
And only this text appeared.

* * *
Bang!
The capsule lid flew open with a whoosh, and Takoyaki tumbled out, convulsing and writhing in fury.
“Damn it! What the hell is this!?!”
So enraged that I bolted upright, both the game and capsule shut down simultaneously.
“What!? Did the game crash!? What the—”
Taco, repeating himself like an idiot.
After venting his frustration for a while, he finally thought to rewatch the replay.
He watched the replay starting from the moment the four arrows struck.
‘Even watching it again, this guy’s insane.’
Seeing it from a third-person perspective, Almond’s skill was absolutely unhinged.
There was a reason he’d gained such insane fame in just a month.
With this level of skill, his peers felt awe rather than envy and jealousy.
‘Sigh….’
Especially that final arrow.
Even Takoyaki momentarily forgot his anger and watched in admiration.
“Wait, it curved!?”
It wasn’t that the enemy moved—the arrow curved.
“Crazy bastard.”
Smack.
He tapped his own forehead out of habit, marveling at what he’d seen.
“I was definitely watching the front the whole time, so how did it come from the left?”
As usual, he muttered to himself even though no one was watching. He was thinking as if he were streaming.
“There. Right there.”
He paused the video at the point where the arrow from the left struck.
After being hit by the arrow curving in from the left, Taco was still advancing.
The damage calculation showed he wouldn’t die.
“Something was off from here… huh?”
Taco’s eyes widened.
Now he could see it.
The final arrow that had embedded itself.
There was a lump attached to that arrow.
“What is this….”
That thing wrapped tightly in bandages.
It was definitely a grenade.
“What a game. Freedom, everyone. Damn.”
He acknowledged his defeat.
Groaaah! He roared in frustration, then jumped back into the capsule to reclaim his ranking.
All while feeling like his newly transplanted hair wouldn’t last much longer.
“This game’s bullshit.”
Left a glowing review.

* * *
[1st Place]
The viewers couldn’t believe the number displayed before their eyes.
-???
-Wait, this actually works?
-Seriously, this is insane
-No way no way no way
-Dorrat
Oh my god, haha!
-What!?
-I officially recognize Battle Rage as a masterpiece. Freedom is broken lol
As countless messages flooded the chat, Almond’s camera feed in the bottom right corner remained perfectly still.
He was drenched in sweat, simply staring blankly at that number.
‘Did it work?’
It was a strategy he himself hadn’t been certain would succeed.
Attaching a grenade to an arrow with bandages and firing it—
In reality, it would be absolutely impossible. If you fired something with the weight of a grenade attached, it might fly, but the accuracy would be laughable and the range would drop to about 1/10th.
Yet the reason Almond attempted this strategy.
‘I tried it because the grenade’s weight didn’t feel like anything….’
That was because in the game, the grenade’s weight wasn’t perceptible.
In reality, Battle Rage grenades have almost no physical weight.
The trajectory when thrown is nearly identical to reality, but the weight itself wasn’t implemented.
If actual weight were implemented exactly, it would be too difficult for players, so most firearms are also far lighter or have almost no weight at all.
In any case, Almond didn’t know this information precisely.
He simply acted on instinct, believing that only this scenario could lead to victory, and he went for it….
‘It worked!’
And it actually did.
The quick thinking he’d mustered in that moment had paid off.
[1st Place]
Wasn’t this text telling him exactly that?
That he’d done it.
“Ha… haha….”
A breathless laugh escaped from his red lips, glistening with sweat.
And then, for the first time during the broadcast, he smiled widely.
It was a radiant smile.
His face was drenched in sweat and looked a mess, but that made the smile all the more brilliant.
He hadn’t advanced in rank yet, but such things hardly mattered.
‘This is fun.’
I found genuine joy in this.
Being able to compete fiercely with a true master, and emerging victorious from it. And knowing that ten to twenty thousand people were watching it all unfold….
-Son! Study hard and become Almond! Son! Study hard and become Almond! Son! Study hard and become Almond?
-Mom, when I grow up, I’d rather be a walnut! Mom, when I grow up, I’d rather be a walnut! Mom, when I grow up, I’d rather be a walnut!
-Almond! Stop being so good! Almond! Stop being so good!
-Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond!
-Did you hit it, Almond! Did you hit it, Almond! Did you hit it, Almond! Did you hit it, Almond! Did you hit it, Almond!
-Take me with you, Almond! Take me with you, Almond! Take me with you, Almond! Take me with you, Almond!
-Almond! You can even marry my daughter! Almond! You can even marry my daughter! Almond! You can even marry my daughter!
.
.
.
The cheers of so many people, their fervent enthusiasm, the name they were chanting.
All of it was directed at me.
There was an indescribable pleasure in that.
Especially since this promotion match was something I had prepared and trained for over a long period. The result of pouring all my effort into achieving it was incredibly sweet.
Ahahaha.
Laughter poured out naturally.
Why was I happy? What kind of emotion was this?
It was hard to say.
It was natural to feel good when eating something sweet.
I was simply letting out laughter that bubbled up from deep within my core.
Perhaps once this happiness faded, I would only be able to name this emotion when reminiscing about this moment?
A transparent bead of sweat rolled down from my eye.
Whoosh.
After wiping away the sweat flowing down with my sleeve.
I turned my attention back to the queue.
“Let’s finish this.”
Diamond rank was now within reach.

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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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