Chapter 28 of Season 1 of The Genius Archer

11. War (2)

The video, with a provocatively chosen title for the users of Kingdom Age, featured edited footage from Almond's first broadcast.

Jia condensed the day's broadcast into a video of about 15 minutes.

The video starts by displaying a large text.

Then, the dark screen brightens, and Almond asks,

"Can't I choose a bow?"

As he asks, the screen crackles, and the chats trying to dissuade him appear.

Why bows are bad, why newbies shouldn't use them, and comments about people who have already given up.

However, Almond picks up the bow regardless.

Sighing chats appear, and then the background music changes as the screen rotates.

Almond pulls the string with precise posture, and the scene dynamically passes, following the speed of the arrow.

Thud!

The first arrow hits the enemy's forehead, accompanied by a hologram-like CG.

The CG is a target shape indicating that the arrow hit the exact center of the forehead.

"Choke!"

As one enemy falls, chats appear, suggesting it was just luck.

But that doesn't last long.

Crackle!

The next arrow is shot, and the screen fast-forwards.

Thud!

The chat window freezes.

A series of scenes show many soldiers falling one by one.

Question marks start to appear in the chat window.

And when the last enemy is eliminated,

the chat is filled with admiration for Almond's genius.

A scene where Roman praises him appears, and the video ends.

"......"

After watching the entire video, Sanghyun was speechless.

He was shocked into silence.

'He's crazy.'

The immersion of the video was incredible.

Shockingly so.

"......Well, how was it?"

Jia asked while watching other people jogging. At first glance, it seemed she wasn't interested, but in fact, all her attention was on Sanghyun.

"It's amazing."

Only then did Sanghyun nod and give his opinion.

It's incredible.

That's his review.

He couldn't find any other words to express it.

"This could be uploaded right away without any issues."

"I'm not uploading it yet. It's better to gather and release at least a few videos at once."

"Oh, I see."

Jia didn't show much excitement even with Sanghyun's praise, at least not from his perspective.

But the fact that she spoke faster and more often was already a significant change.

"I'll keep making them. Do you like this style? I referenced the top game streamers......"

"Ah, yes. Of course. Please continue."

Jia nodded and took her phone again.

No one would know that she caressed the screen as if it were precious, not even herself.

* * *

After parting with Sanghyun, Jia returned home and sat on the sofa for a moment.

Despite being sweaty, she postponed taking a shower and just sat down. She didn't even turn on the TV. She simply closed her eyes and imagined something. Or rather, replayed it.

'It's amazing.'

She recalled Sanghyun's praising voice.

She closed her eyes and savored it.

A slight smile spread across her dry lips. Then,

Beep.

A text message came to her phone.

The smile slid off her face like it was on a slide.

Jia didn't even read the message properly before deleting it.

Beep.

The phone rang again as if waiting for the deletion.

Again, Jia deleted the message without reading it.

"......"

She looked at the old, worn ceiling for a moment, then took off her clothes and headed to the bathroom.

There's a lot to do today.

* * *

At that time.

On the Kingdom Age community Kingchiman, predictions and discussions about Almond's broadcast started to appear.

It was because Almond's broadcast time was approaching.

Users were all looking forward to the siege battle with a bow, as it was the first time.

Regardless of whether Almond would succeed, the fact that he was doing a bow challenge in a siege battle was unprecedented.

They gauged when they could watch Almond's broadcast based on their schedules.

However, their plans and predictions became useless.

Ding.

An alarm rang at an unexpected time.

Almond had started his broadcast much earlier than usual.

Almond's followers were surprised and rushed in.

- Started 4 hours early?! I can't wait!

- I'm still at work, but I'll watch it anyway!

- Hahaha

- Wow! You're early today!

Enthusiastic fans started chatting even before he finished setting up the camera and microphone.

Almond looked at them with a smile and completed the setup.

Ding.

His face appeared on one side of the screen.

"Ha!"

- Ah!

- Haha!

- Wow, you're still amazing today.

- Ah!

- Wow, you're here so early ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I'm really grateful ㅠㅠ

The number of fans welcoming him was about 310. Considering the number of viewers right after the broadcast started, it was quite high.

Even more than 80 to 90 more than yesterday.

It meant he was still growing.

'I started at an unusual time, but there are even more people......'

It was not a good time, like after work, but during the day when most people were still working or in school. Yet, 300 people right away was an incredible number.

"I'm curious about today's siege battle, so I started a bit earlier than usual. And the game might take a long time."

- Oh!

- So the broadcast will be longer today?

- Great!

- Wow, Kingdom is a great game!

The reason Almond started his broadcast earlier was simple. He thought the volume of one episode would be large, so he wanted to extend the broadcast time.

Since he couldn't stay up all night, he decided to start the broadcast earlier.

"Let's go to the siege battle."

- Go!

- Show us the power of Jumong's bow, you bastards!

- Hahaha, go!

* * *

Step.

As soon as he entered, the touch of the green grass under his feet. The wind slowly swept it away.

Swoosh......

It was as if the sound was trying to express the calm before the storm.

While the wind sound was rumbling across the vast plain,

Roman approached Almond.

"Almond."

"Yes."

"Your path seems quite clear now?"

"Yes...?"

Thump.

Roman playfully tapped his chest and looked back.

Lady Emilia was watching from inside the castle. Even from this distance, her noble presence shone.

"You know exactly what I mean."

Roman chuckled with a mischievous smile.

"No, no. Not like that......"

Almond blushed and denied it, but it was a denial in words only, essentially an admission.

Of his relationship with Emilia.

"Jealous, jealous~"

Thump, thump.

Roman patted his shoulder and teased him.

- ...?

- Roman, you have many sides.

- Showing this personality too, haha

- Are you really close now? Haha

- Wow.

- Is there a Roman route? Haha

A different side from what Roman had shown before. Although Roman had been friendly to Almond, he never seemed close.

He just scolded him all the time and occasionally praised him.

But today, it seemed Roman and Almond had become quite close.

"Anyway, thanks to you, I've got a big deal. You might even become my rank, Almond, Captain."

"That's too much. I'm still lacking."

"Enough with the formalities, look over there."

Roman pointed to the middle of the enemies lined up on the plain.

"Do you see the one with the golden helmet in the middle, like a knight in a cliché fairy tale? I bet you can see him better than I can."

"Yes."

"He's the key to this battle. Try to intercept him."

"He doesn't seem like he'll come out."

"Of course not. He'll probably just command from the back. That's his style."

"Understood."

Almond nodded and focused his gaze on the one with the golden helmet. Then, the trumpet signaling the start of the battle sounded.

Brrrrrrrr......!

"Yah!"

"Let's go!"

"Charge!"

With a loud roar, the horses galloped.

The archers raised their bows high and pulled the strings.

"Fire!"

Almond shouted at the top of his lungs, and the arrows from his archers flew into the sky.

Eeeeee......!

The mounted knights fell off their horses, trampling the soldiers. The running soldiers were riddled with arrows.

The battle quickly turned into chaos.

"Did you hear?"

After handing over the command of the archers, Almond spoke to the viewers and ran forward alone, hiding in the bushes as much as possible.

Swoosh.

"I'll go and kill the one with the golden helmet."

He planned to secretly intercept and kill the one with the golden helmet to end the war. But......

Ding!

A mission was posted, offering 10,000 won per kill.

The number of kills would be automatically counted, and the amount would be deducted from the supporter's account.

Sanghyun found it hard to believe.

"......Is it okay?"

He looked at the enemy camp again with surprise.

There were at least 500 of them.

"That's too expensive."

He accepted the mission with a somewhat provocative comment, and the viewers cheered.

- Wow, 10,000 won per kill, haha

- Ignoring Almond

- Haha, how many does he plan to kill to make it so expensive, haha

- He'll probably only kill about twenty, haha

- Almond can kill fifty easily!

- Even so, it's impossible to kill fifty alone on a battlefield, haha

- I'll go with 800,000 won, haha