Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 985
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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 4 Episode 116
37. Iron Ore Tax (2)
Haven’t you experienced it before?
Leaving your phone behind when heading out, or forgetting your umbrella and having to return home.
In those moments, you rush back frantically to grab that one item, only to discover you’d left behind something else, or you end up forgetting yet another thing on your way out.
Eventually, you find yourself making multiple trips back and forth to the house.
This typically happens to people with poor memory.
Sanghyeon was no exception.
“You fool! Stop going back and forth to the house like that! I’ve told you a thousand times—check twice before you leave!”
The saying about checking twice was originally a maxim about verifying safety measures multiple times.
But Grandmother had always used it to mean don’t be forgetful or careless.
“But how can I check a light that’s already off? It’s off….”
“You brat!”
Smack, smack.
As a child, he’d developed the habit of stopping by the house multiple times after leaving, earning frequent blows to his back.
Of course, this habit had been corrected within three months of joining Aseng.
Now it had been half a year since he’d left the company.
And somehow, Sanghyeon had fallen back into that old habit.
Even though this was his second time exiting the capsule, he paused as if remembering something.
‘Wait, shouldn’t I lock it up?’
The box containing all his iron equipment sat completely exposed and unguarded.
It wasn’t that he distrusted the Bongbongs, but Song-ja Bae had been testing the waters about whether to continue her spy work even recently.
‘I can’t leave it like this.’
He went back into the capsule.
Juhyeok had just come out and was drying off his body, so there was time.
* * *
Whoosh.
As Almond logged back in, the chat exploded once more.
He’d returned before the broadcast room had even fully closed.
-?
-What are you doing lol
-World’s first broadcast baiting lol
-lololol what’s he doing?
-Why’d you come back lol
-And you say this isn’t milking the viewers?
The viewers were growing just as exasperated with Almond’s coming and going as his Grandmother was.
Almond began his explanation.
“No, my Grandmother told me—check the fire even after it’s gone out. No matter how much I trust Bongbong and the others, I still need to lock the chest before I leave…”
-lololol always quoting someone else lol
-The fire that went out is probably your memory
-This guy never says anything important himself lol
Grandma ㅠ
“…Huh?”
Almond spotted something and jumped in shock.
“!”
He wasn’t the only one startled.
More precisely, compared to the others, Almond’s shock was nothing.
“H-h-hyeeeeek!?”
Two mysterious intruders, nearly gasping for breath in terror.
Their IDs weren’t visible, and with helmets covering their faces, there was no way to identify them.
-?
-??
-Huh?
“What the—”
It didn’t take long for Almond to draw his sword.
It was obvious to anyone that these two had entered the house with ill intent.
“W-wait—”
—Slash!
His blade flashed, cutting down the foremost enemy.
Thud.
Jello’s back slammed against the wall.
-Fight fight
-Get dressed get dressed!!
-Can’t two of you beat him??
-Same equipment though
Jello’s viewers urged him to fight back against Almond, but he couldn’t manage it.
‘What the—’
My health had plummeted to critical levels.
[Health 32%]
‘W-why is the damage like this!?’
We had the same equipment, yet the force behind it was completely different.
There wasn’t a skill coefficient applied to damage, so this shouldn’t be possible.
* * *
For the production team, Jello’s intrusion into Almond’s house was naturally the most critical moment.
Tension had reached its absolute peak when Almond first logged back in.
“Follow him. Follow him. Camera 3. That’s it!”
“Keep the focus right here!”
Since they’d started the Cheese Village content, three major factions had formed.
Almond’s Knights, Doughnutz’s Agricultural Cooperative, and Paprika Village.
Yet there was one entity who belonged to none of these three, maintained contact with all of them, and commanded the highest viewership—Jello.
“This is essentially their first real encounter. We need to capture it perfectly.”
Department Manager Jang swept his hair back, his eyes gleaming.
Almond and Jello had only exchanged a single greeting in passing.
This was essentially the first time they’d become deeply involved in an event of any significance.
The production team couldn’t afford to miss a moment like this.
“This is practically a meeting between a rising star broadcaster and a veteran powerhouse broadcaster. Stay sharp.”
Park O-hun nodded at Department Manager Jang’s words and responded.
“Satan’s school welcomes Lucifer’s arrival.”
Smack!
Department Manager Jang shoved the back of Park O-hun’s head.
“Hey. Focus, will you. No nonsense.”
“Ow. I’m awake now.”
Park O-hun shook his head a few more times as if to fully wake up, then asked Department Manager Jang.
“But what if Jello’s equipment breaks here? The two-way structure could collapse.”
“…Huh?”
Department Manager Jang scratched his head.
“I don’t know. Jello will handle it somehow… But there are two of them here. They have identical equipment. How is this not working?”
Almond wasn’t even holding a bow—both were identical chibi characters wielding the same swords.
It was natural to wonder how a 2-versus-1 situation could fail.
“Paprika had over 20 people.”
Paprika had failed to withstand numbers ten times greater than that.
“…R-right. But didn’t they have an enormous buff back then?”
Department Manager Jang had a point.
This wasn’t a fight with buffs like that one. Almond had just logged back in after logging out, so there was no environment conducive to receiving donations.
“Meanwhile, wouldn’t Jello’s viewers help him out of sheer sympathy?”
“Well, that’s true. But the thing is, Almond isn’t the same Almond from before.”
“What? Ah, his personality does seem to have changed a bit. He got too absorbed in Cheese Village, I guess…”
“No, that’s not it. In Survival Craft, there’s something called a proficiency bonus.”
“…?”
“When you repeatedly do something, your proficiency in that skill increases. In any way possible. Farm a lot and your farming proficiency goes up. Mine a lot and your mining proficiency increases. You can mine ore faster, for example.”
“…What does that have to do with anything?”
“What do you think Almond has done the most?”
“!”
That was it.
What Almond had done most frequently and accumulated the most proficiency in.
That was…
“Murder.”
Almond’s kill count was the highest across the entire village server.
At those words, Department Manager Jang’s eyes went wide.
That’s when it happened.
“What, what! Almond’s back!!”
“Huh!?”
“Hurry! Hur—— Aahhh!”
Shing!
The camera turned only after Almond’s blade had already cut through Jello.
* * *
“Argh!”
Thud.
Seventy percent of my health vanished as I slammed against the wall.
[Health 32%]
‘What in the world…’
Even accounting for not having my armor equipped in time, the damage was far too severe.
Essentially, two more hits like that and I’d be dead, wouldn’t I?
‘Oh, here it comes!’
Almond’s blade swung down again.
Whoosh.
I quickly donned my iron armor and deflected the strike with my shield.
──Clang!
-Wow
-Now that’s more like it
-Damn
-Still alive though lol
At least the physical reflexes from my days as a skilled player long ago were still intact.
[Shield Durability 4/12]
But the shield’s durability was in terrible shape.
‘What is this. Seriously.’
How could someone with no job class and the same iron sword deal this much damage?
This was all thanks to the ‘Proficiency’ system.
Those who repeated gathering gained ability increases in gathering, and those who repeated farming gained ability increases in farming.
Then what about those who repeated killing?
Flash!
Almond’s blade thrust forward again.
“!”
Boom!
The shield shattered.
Players already had different combat abilities to begin with, and now our stats were worlds apart.
Someone who’d only ever mined ore was now facing someone who’d hunted humans.
-What the heck? lol
-Wow lol
-What’s with this damage??
This won’t work.
I shouted toward Chocosong.
“Go… go on ahead…!”
“What?!”
“This won’t work.”
“But…”
-Why so pitiful lol
-lololol look at that acting, Chocosong
-Thieves talking big lol
-Info) This is someone else’s house
Jello was about to send off Chocosong with the desperation of someone facing death, but Almond didn’t seem inclined to kill them outright.
“Who are you guys? Are you from Cheese Village?”
Killing someone from Cheese Village would turn him into a Red Player, among other troublesome consequences.
Noticing this, Chocosong blocked Jello and cried out.
“W… We’re from Cheese Village! So, so you can’t just kill us, right?!”
“…”
Almond looked at them awkwardly, then whispered through a channel only the viewers could hear.
“Everyone. I have a prior commitment… so I’ll just let them go.”
-?
-??
-Lol no way
-Real life reason lol
Ahem.
Almond cleared his throat and waved them away.
“I don’t know what you came here for. Just go.”
Almond hadn’t even considered that they might have stolen something, simply pointing toward the door.
His only thought was to get them out, lock the door, and leave quickly.
“…Ah, understood.”
Chocosong deliberately spoke in a harsh tone and rushed out with Jello.
‘That guy might change his mind again anytime.’
Chocosong already knew well that Almond was unpredictable.
So even as he was letting them go, she ran frantically.
“Wait, our sign! The sign!”
In the midst of it all, Jello urgently reminded Chocosong about the sign.
“Oh!”
They’d come all this way for this one thing—they couldn’t leave without the sign.
“Consider this a warning!”
Chocosong shouted that and threw the item, then hastily pulled the door open.
“?”
Thunk.
Almond caught it mid-air and tilted his head in confusion.
“…What is this?”
Almond held up the item and asked them behind him.
“What kind of warning is this?”
Jello turned back to answer that question, shouting.
“You’ll see soon enough? For daring to touch us… huh?”
Jello’s eyes widened in disbelief for a moment.
What Almond was holding wasn’t a sign—it was a remote control.
‘Oh.’
Chocosong’s expression turned pale.
She’d accidentally thrown a remote control from her inventory instead of the sign.
She’d thought the most recent item was the sign, but it had been the remote.
‘This can’t be happening.’
And the spot where they’d frozen was precisely at Danmuzip’s front door.
Where they’d planted the bomb.
Time seemed to stop in that instant.
Chills ran down both their spines at what Almond said next.
“Do I need to press this for a warning to appear?”
Jello frantically reached out his hand, shaking his head.
“No, don’t─”
Click.
Almond’s thumb had already pressed the button deep down.
“─do it.”
A blinding flash erupted, consuming both their bodies in brilliant white light.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
[Jello has been blown to pieces.]
[Chocosong has been blown to pieces.]
Pitter-patter…!
Iron equipment and iron ore rained down like a downpour.
-?
-???
-What?
-Huh????
-Gasp lol
-Michael Bay ending lol
-What the heck lololol
-Oppenheimer oof
-Is this some kind of divine power?
-What’s with the iron ore rain lol
Ding.
[Jellojang has donated 30,000 won.]
[Today’s Lesson: Even ended broadcasts deserve a rewatch]
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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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