Chapter 33 of Season 1: The Genius Archer's Streaming

13. Knight (1)

In response to Emily's sudden action, the chat window's scroll bar naturally shot up like crazy.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of typing seemed to ring in his ears.

-Ohhhh

-You're crazy, Emily!

-Damn ㅠ

-Aaaaah!

-Hahaha

-I'm already dead!

-What?!!!

-What the 129!!!

-Whoosh!

-Uoooooohahaha

Of course, Sanghyun's thoughts were not much different from those of the viewers.

'Is this for real?'

No matter how much time Almond and Emily had spent together for three days, Sanghyun had not experienced it.

It had simply passed by with a black screen displaying "3 days later."

"Emily."

Almond's mouth moved on its own, without Sanghyun's will, and a voice dripping with honey flowed out.

"I've come back victorious."

-Just a moment ago, he was struggling with choices ickick

-Oh, what a voice ickick

-Suddenly true love? Hahaha

-Hahaha method acting

-If you get caught… you're dead!

While the viewers teased him playfully, Almond steadfastly gazed at Emily, as if he were about to drown in her lake-like eyes.

"You did well. Really."

Emily also looked into his eyes and spoke.

Her face gradually drew closer.

The knights around them cheered.

-Aaaaah!

-Whoa!

-I'm dying!

-Here she comes ㅠㅠ

As Emily's beautiful face came as close as possible, the screen slowly turned black.

It transitioned to another scene.

-Oh! Show it! Show it!

-Damn!

-This is why first-person VR is bad ickick

-Aaaaaah

The next scene, amidst the viewers' complaints, showed Almond riding a horse, returning to the original estate with the carriage.

Unlike before, Almond was not riding in the carriage with Emily; he was guarding the carriage procession on horseback.

Moreover, the knights' attitude towards him had changed.

Those who had previously looked down on him as a mercenary now chatted with him as if they were close friends.

"You're the archer who shot 100 men, right? Really impressive, friend."

"…Ah, yes."

It was like this.

Roman, standing beside him, snorted as if he found it amusing.

Hmph.

Just a moment ago, they were the ones who refused to acknowledge his achievements.

"The enemy even recognized our fortress. No, not our fortress, but your achievement."

"If you hadn't fought at the front, how could I have shot 100 men?"

Almond answered formally, but Roman seemed deeply impressed.

He rode up beside Almond, patted his shoulder, and bowed his head.

"Thank you, Almond. Your words give our mercenary group strength."

"I'm not part of the mercenary group. I'm a mercenary, so it's natural."

"Well… it seems you're not just a mercenary anymore…"

Roman smiled and looked at the carriage Emily was in.

"Well, it's up to you."

"?"

At that moment, Almond still didn't understand what Roman meant.

"Anyway, thanks to you, our mercenary group has earned enough money to not work for four months."

Roman smiled warmly and urged his horse forward.

-Roman… he even seems friendly now.

-You're not like this. You devil!

-Show your true colors, devil!

-Hahaha

-The reaction is hilarious

-Roman is going too far.

* * *

A little later.

Returning to Janneret's estate, Almond entered the inner part of the castle with Emily, all the way to the banquet hall used only by the castle's owners.

"Emily, this is…"

"Please wait a moment."

Almond, who had never been formally invited to such a place before, felt awkward, but Emily tightly held his hand and went out for a moment.

She returned with her father.

"!"

Almond couldn't help but tense up.

"Is it you? I've heard a lot about you."

Her father treated Almond more kindly than expected.

There seemed to be no prejudice against mercenaries or those of low status.

"You did well. Very well."

Hehe.

Emily's father patted Almond's back while smiling.

Even though he treated him kindly, Almond couldn't relax.

'What is this?'

Perhaps because he was a mercenary who didn't know proper dining etiquette, he had to follow the dining etiquette like a mini-game during the meal.

It was a performance that included a bit of puzzle and button action.

The meal was as intense as the climax of a mediocre action game.

Fortunately, Sanghyun cleared all the challenges and finished the meal excellently.

After a brief cut scene.

Sanghyun expressed his tension to the viewers through the microphone.

"Wow… meeting the father-in-law feels like this."

After a long silence, his words made the viewers laugh.

-Hahaha

-Marriage simulator

-Hahaha meeting the father-in-law game…

-Why are you playing this game? Hahaha

-This is so realistic

-Real family gathering game

-Hahaha holiday simulator

While Almond was reading the chat and chuckling, a sudden question appeared.

"…What do you think about becoming a knight?"

A choice appeared with the question.

This choice was given.

Sanghyun paused the game for a moment.

"What is this?"

As if his words were a signal, numerous comments appeared in the chat window.

-Wow Hahaha

-There's a knight route?!

-Amazing!

-I heard it exists, but I didn't expect it to come so soon Hahaha

-I've never seen it before…

-I think it hasn't been shown on the stream because it appears very late… Hahaha

-No one played Kingdom until then…

-Is this almost the ending?

-Now the mercenary leader has to use formal language Hahaha

Almond carefully read through the comments.

'If I become a knight here, is it the ending?'

It couldn't be helped. Wandering around as a mercenary was the main content, and if he wasn't a mercenary, the game couldn't progress.

At least not in the original way.

In other words, this was the ending choice for this episode.

'The time has come…'

He thought Emily's choice would lead to a quick ending, but not to this extent.

-I want to continue as a mercenary.

-But for this episode, it might be better to see the knight ending and play again.

-I'm curious about the knight ending.

-2222

-1 is better.

-1 indeed.

The viewers' opinions were varied.

Sanghyun also didn't have a clear decision. In such situations, there's always a trick.

"I'll end the stream here. Tuba!"

Immediately, the stream ended.

-????

-Perfect timing.

-Choking. Really?

-No, this psycho…

-Hahaha

-Really???

-Almond will do it if he decides to Hahaha

-He's never gone back on his word about ending the stream Hahaha

-Ugh, I have to wait for the next stream now Hahaha

* * *

Squeak.

Almond emerged from the capsule.

As usual, he wasn't drenched in sweat because there were no battle scenes today.

Moreover, the stream itself wasn't very long.

'I think I cut it off well.'

However, Sanghyun was satisfied with today's stream.

The timing to end it was excellent.

"Hey, you did well. It was fun today."

As soon as he came out, Kim Joo-hyuk greeted him.

He thought Almond would end the stream, but he was still awake.

"Really? There were no battle scenes. That's a relief."

"How can you always fight?"

Kim Joo-hyuk turned on the community reactions to show him.

Some people were jokingly cursing him, but most of the reactions were very positive.

A post about Almond receiving Emily's knight proposal was already at the top.

"I always speak based on data. Got it?"

Joo-hyuk showed him a graph of the increase in viewer traffic, as if he was showing off.

"Do you know how I analyze it?"

"No, I don't. I don't understand it."

Sanghyun, who felt dizzy at the sight of numbers, didn't want to look or listen.

"No, listen."

Joo-hyuk, starting with this, talked for an hour, mentioning all kinds of mathematical formulas.

Among all the words, only one phrase caught Sanghyun's attention.

"Oh, right. I got a call from the manager."

"…Manager?"

"Manager Oh. The person who selected you as a Punk partner streamer."

"Oh!"

"It's done. They said they'll adjust and pay the editor's salary."

"!"

Sanghyun didn't have enough income to match Seo Ji-a's basic salary.

He had to rely entirely on Punk's partnership, but it seemed the issue of the editor's salary, which he had inquired about, had been approved.

"It's a condition they proposed, so it's natural."

It was a natural progression, but it felt different knowing it was actually approved.

Sanghyun felt relieved.

"I'll go there tomorrow. I'll do some filming."

"Good. Let's go to bed early today."

They went to their respective rooms and lay down.

And the next morning.

A headline article appeared on the front page of a game-related portal site.

* * *

Punk.

A leading game distribution company, both domestically and internationally.

More accurately, a game platform company.

Originally, it was a company that operated almost as a monopoly and didn't need to employ special strategies.

However, with the recent fierce competition from High Games, it has been focusing on advertising, marketing, and exclusive launch strategies.

One of these strategies is the partner streamer.

They sign popular streamers to partner contracts and have them play the games that Punk promotes regularly.

-Wow, top-tier;

-Kia. So he's on the same level as Balloon Gum?

-Kia. He became a partner with just Kingdom Hahaha

-So he'll have regular homework now.

-Really? Wow, Almond has really made it.

-Now Almond is a Punk partner Hahaha

-─Punk partner Hahaha

-─Hahaha, calling it a 'Punk partner' is like a 'village killer' (a term for someone who stands out in a small community).

-─Insider;

-─Commander of the Three Provinces

-─President of the Seoul University Student Council

-─A real deal pretending to be real.

-─This guy is really something Hahaha

As the comments on the article suggest, becoming a Punk partner streamer is not just a matter of "Oh, I got an ad."

-Is it possible to become a partner with about 1,000 regular viewers?

-─It will soon reach 2,000.

-─It's not easy to get 1,000 regular viewers with Kingdom. It would be much easier with a major game.

-─They seem to have high expectations Hahaha

-─It seems a bit exaggerated…

-─Almond is doing well.

For Almond, who had just managed to maintain about 1,000 regular viewers, it was certainly an over-the-top contract.

However, the reason the partnership was signed was largely due to Manager Oh of Punk.

'If he could revive a game like Kingdom, what can't he do?'

This was what Manager Oh said in a meeting, and the decision-makers had no choice but to agree.

They had all watched Almond's videos and observed his skills.

They were curious.

What would happen if they gave Almond a major game to play?

-Will he play the homework game in today's stream?

-─On the first day? Hahaha

-─Since they even made a press release, he probably will.

-Will he stop playing Kingdom? ㅠㅠ

-─Whether he becomes a knight or not, he should decide and quit!

Now that Almond had become a partner streamer, the viewers expected him to try other games.

The key was which game he would play.

He had challenged a minor game like Kingdom, so would he now play a major game, or continue to solidify his position as a streamer who only plays minor games?

Even on Kingchi, which had become Almond's main base, discussions about other games besides Kingdom started to appear.

-When will Almond start his stream today?

-─No one knows…

-It's driving me crazy;

-─Let's finish things off with Emily, Almond…

Even on his channel, where the stream hadn't even started, chat messages were coming and going.

However, the news they were waiting for didn't come through a Trivia Live stream.

Instead, a new video with this title appeared on Almond's newly opened Alltube channel.

Seo Ji-a, who had received the payment, had started working.