Chapter 30

Season 1, Episode 30 of "The Genius Archer"

Chapter 11: War (4)

The field of almonds.

In this plain to the left of the enemy camp, only the sounds of arrows and screams echoed.

Whoosh— Thud!

“Gah!”

“Ack!”

Well-trained soldiers fell like a disorganized mob. Of the forty enemies who had gathered, only three remained.

This meant that Almond had almost killed close to a hundred by himself.

-How many is this now...

-He’s amazing

-OMG

-Bro, I’m dead!

-Is it even possible to get 100 consecutive headshots?

The record of 100 consecutive headshots in Kingdom.

Almond was now on the verge of breaking this record. It was a truly tense moment.

“It’s 770,000 won now.”

However, Almond calmly explained the amount he had earned, showing no signs of being affected.

His eyes saw nothing but the heads of the enemies, and his ears heard nothing but the wind to gauge direction.

Whoosh?

The wind touching his skin told him the direction.

Where to aim.

Creak...

Almond aimed at one of the remaining three.

“Damn it!”

He chose to fight to the death rather than run away. With a determined look, he raised his sword and charged at Almond—

—Thud!

But Almond’s arrow had already pierced his skull.

“Damn it! Just run!”

“I’m already running!”

The remaining two, terrified, started to flee. If they had all been alive and ready to die together, they might have had a chance.

Would they have been able to catch Almond then?

Who knows.

It was already too late to think about that.

“Gah...”

One of the remaining two fell with a final scream.

The soldier who had been running with him let out a high-pitched scream and ran even faster.

Almond was still aiming his bow at them.

However, Almond soon lowered his bow.

“...Oh. I’m out of arrows.”

From the enemy’s perspective, it was lucky. Almond had been given 80 arrows.

One of them was used to hit another soldier’s arrow.

-Ah, damn

-Haha, he barely survived

-Bad luck!

-LOL, he let him go

Without arrows, the archer had nothing to do for a while. Until he could collect more arrows.

So the viewers thought Almond’s massacre would stop here.

The shy Lü Bu, who had set a mission, let out a sigh of relief.

-Phew, hahaha

But that was a premature relief.

Almond had no intention of stopping here.

Thud—

Almond suddenly started running forward.

-???

-Chasing after them?!

-OMG

-He’s relentless!

He had decided to chase the remaining one into the enemy camp to kill him.

The fleeing soldier glanced back.

“Eek!”

He was so terrified that he ran even faster. He ran as if his life depended on it. It was a desperate act.

“Aaa! Ah! Ah!”

His mouth spewed out a long, dirty scream.

-Hahaha

-Come on, show us the AI implementation

-This is why I play Kingdom!

-It feels so real!

-LOL

The realistic reactions of the NPCs thrilled the viewers.

The enemies in Kingdom act like real people, becoming ruthless when they have the upper hand and cowardly when they are at a disadvantage.

This adds realism to the game.

-Anyone would be like that if Almond was chasing them from behind, hahaha

-So scary

-He killed all our comrades, give him a break!

-Hahaha

The viewers even began to empathize with the fleeing soldier. Given Almond’s relentless pursuit, he seemed almost like a ghost.

Almond, running as if in a 100-meter dash, suddenly changed his posture, bending down.

‘Found it.’

He reached out, and there was an arrow stuck in the ground.

Thud.

His hand quickly grabbed the arrow.

It was immediately nocked to the bowstring. Almond’s aim remained steady even while running.

Creak—

The bowstring was slowly pulled back. The tension built up as the string vibrated slightly at his fingertips, pulled taut.

Almond took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and then released the tension.

—Twang!

-!!

-Whoa!

-OMG

-Shot!

-Amazing!

The arrow hit the back of the enemy’s head precisely.

“...Huh!”

The 80th enemy fell without even managing to let out a final scream. The momentum of his run carried him forward, and he tumbled, becoming a fallen corpse.

Almond, who had stopped running, said:

“It’s 800,000 won.”

* * *

After killing about 20 more, Almond reached 1,000,000 won.

-Hahaha

-Shy Lü Bu hahaha

-Cut to Lü Bu!

-Hahaha

-1,000,000 won, wow! Hahaha

Naturally, the war was won.

With one soldier killing 100 enemies, the battle couldn’t have gone well for the enemy.

The cheers of the allied soldiers echoed across the field.

“Wooooo!”

No one was specifically chanting Almond’s name. None of them knew that Almond had killed over 100 enemies alone.

“Roben! Roben!”

Instead, the soldiers chanted the name of Roben, the knight who led the war.

As the commander, it was only natural.

-Well...

-Haha, those ignorant guys, hahaha

-He did all the work, hahaha

-Dammit!

-That’s why no one does anything, hahaha

The viewers were disappointed. Sanghyun couldn’t help but feel the same way.

‘What? I killed 100 people, and no one knows.’

He understood.

Having experienced the war firsthand, he realized how chaotic it was. The fighting was so intense that there was no time to think about who you were fighting or what you were doing.

War is utter chaos.

There was no time to consider the situation or whether you were fighting allies or enemies.

It was impossible to know if Almond had killed 100 or 1,000.

“Haha, even so, being treated like a mercenary is really something.”

Roman chimed in from the side.

He had approached Almond, placed a hand on his shoulder, and sighed.

“Being treated like a mercenary... What’s the problem?”

“We did a lot, but they’re just giving us the basic pay and telling us to leave.”

Roman seemed to think that the mercenaries weren’t being paid enough for their efforts.

“What have you done...”

While Roman was venting his frustration,

“Is that your complaint?”

Another knight, who had been assisting Roben, approached.

His gaze from atop his horse was not friendly.

“What’s the problem with giving the agreed amount?”

“There’s a clause for additional rewards for outstanding performance.”

Roman stood his ground and replied.

“Outstanding performance? In a battlefield where knights fight, what kind of performance can mercenaries show? Do you think we don’t know that you try to avoid getting hurt?”

The knight was firm.

Mercenaries generally try to avoid getting hurt. Their bodies are their assets, and they are often in situations where they are not fighting for their own cause. This makes it hard for them to gain trust.

“That’s a prejudice. Many mercenaries do fight well. Otherwise, how would the mercenary system be maintained?”

“This one killed a hundred alone. Do you still think we avoided getting hurt? Do you think we didn’t perform?”

“A hundred alone?”

The knight laughed loudly, making sure everyone heard. He mocked the claim to his fellow knights, who naturally joined in the laughter.

-Oh, recommend a route to kill him, hahaha

-Why not just shoot him now? Hahaha

-Overreacting

Roman also seemed to be getting heated up, like the viewers.

But Roman couldn’t respond further. The difference in status meant that further argument would only cause trouble.

It was dirty and unfair, but at least they got their basic pay.

“I get the gist...”

Just as he was about to accept it,

“Move! Let go!”

Squeak...

The enemy commander, wearing a golden helmet, was dragged across the ground.

“Let go!”

Thud.

He pushed away the mercenary who was dragging him and stood up.

“I will go.”

“...”

The mercenaries flinched at the noble’s arrogant attitude. The difference in rank was a stigma ingrained in their minds.

In this era, even if someone is an enemy, if they are a noble, they cannot be killed easily.

Their value is immense.

Thud, thud.

The golden helmet, brushing off the dirt from his armor, walked up to Roben.

“Are you the commander here?”

“Yes.”

His tone was as elegant as his conceited helmet, suggesting he was of a higher rank than Roben.

“Ultimately, you won. You shamelessly took my family’s castle without any justification and killed all my soldiers...”

The golden helmet spoke without fear for his life, but his bold and refined tone left no room for rebuttal.

“...Now that you’ve killed them all, are you satisfied?!”

A knight finally tried to respond, but it was too late.

“Talorant treated the people of this fief...”

“Enough. I just want to talk to Janaret. Bring her here.”

The golden helmet cut him off and demanded Janaret.

“That’s not possible.”

Almond spoke without realizing it. It was a part of the story, not a decision made by Sanghyun.

The golden helmet, looking at Almond with a “Who are you?” expression, was shocked.

“!?”

His eyes widened as if they would pop out. He seemed to recognize Almond.

“You...?”

The knights couldn’t understand why their enemy commander was surprised by Almond.

He was just a mercenary, and a bowman at that.

Knights generally looked down on archers. With good armor, arrows were useless.

Moreover, it was not considered honorable.

But the enemy commander thought differently.

“Are you a knight as well?”

“No.”

“Then why do you say it’s not possible?”

“...”

“Or, if you’re not a knight, what are you?”

Roman answered for him.

“I am a mercenary in our mercenary group.”

“...Oh?”

The word “mercenary” seemed to please him more than offend him.

After all, knights couldn’t be taken, but mercenaries could be hired for money.

The knights, on the other hand, were puzzled by the golden helmet’s interest in a mere mercenary.

“A man who killed 100 soldiers alone is just a mercenary?”

“!?”

This surprised not only the knights but also Almond.

‘He knows?’

Surprisingly, the enemy knew of his achievements. Perhaps it was natural, given that they were the ones who suffered the losses.

-Only the victims remember, hahaha

-Feeling satisfied, hahaha

-Will the knights finally recognize him? Haha

-Whoa! An honorable enemy recognized by the enemy commander!

-Honorable enemy, hahaha

The viewers welcomed the golden helmet’s testimony, but

“What... Is this a joke?”

“A mercenary killing 100...”

“Tsk, really.”

The knights all thought the golden helmet was joking.

“None of you believe it. Do you really want to work with such people?”

The golden helmet smiled and removed his helmet.

His long, wavy hair, the color of ash, flowed down.

It was like the early evening sky, and his features were perfectly balanced, flawless.

His eyes, bold yet deep, showed no sign of wavering even after defeat.

Instead, they were calm, and a presence that even thick armor couldn’t hide emanated from his body.

-It’s Rosalita!

-Of course!

-Hahaha

-She was on the Talorant side

-Wow