Chapter 39

Season 1, Episode 39 of The Genius Archer's Streaming

15. Solo First Place (1)

Squad.

This term is used in the military to refer to a squad or special forces team.

In Battle Royale, it refers to a team of four, and a squad match means a four-player team battle.

The unique point is that this squad match can be played solo or with two players. It doesn't necessarily have to be a team of four.

Thanks to this, Almond is now participating in a survival game where a team of four is supposed to work together, but he is doing it alone.

After eliminating three enemies, he was shot by the remaining one.

Beep──

“─Gah!”

A sudden pain surged in his chest.

Thud─

His body lifted off the ground.

‘What… is this…’

His mind went blank.

All he could see now was the sky.

The sky was a piercing blue.

Sticky, red blood droplets splattered in the air.

‘Crazy.’

It felt incredibly real.

‘I’ve been shot.’

Realizing he had been shot and fallen, he quickly got up.

Ting!

Sparks flew from where he had been lying. If he hadn’t moved, he would have been dead.

“Huff.”

His heart rate skyrocketed.

It was so high that he thought he might be automatically logged out.

Almond’s eyes widened, and he rolled his body.

Ting! Ting─

Fireworks exploded along the trajectory of his roll.

It was dangerous.

“Huff… huff…”

He managed to escape.

He hid behind a safe metal plate.

Almond panted heavily, trying to calm himself down.

- Hahaha

- Wow hahaha

- It was a solo squad hahaha

- Nice

- The rolling technique is hilarious

- Anyway, are you still alive? Hahaha

- Solo squad from the first match, wow

In the midst of this, he checked the chat window, showing his professional spirit.

‘…What’s this?’

The viewers didn’t seem to realize how dangerous it had been.

‘Why did my heart rate go up so much?’

All virtual reality capsules detect and record various vital signs, such as heart rate.

His heart rate had just risen from yellow to orange.

If it turned red and lasted for more than a second, he would be logged out immediately.

‘Is this just me?’

He was confused whether this was a common phenomenon in the overly realistic game Battle Royale or if it was just a problem with him.

Thud─ Thud─

Then he heard footsteps.

“!”

Ah, this isn’t the time to stand still.

Almond quickly leaned against the wall and focused.

- Why?

- Coward hahaha

- Hahaha

- Solo squad?

- There was no sound?

No sound?

Almond was so frustrated he could die.

‘What the hell.’

Thud─! Thud─!

The noise was so loud it sounded like castanets being played right next to him.

The enemy was definitely coming.

He closed his eyes and roughly estimated the distance to the enemy in his mind.

It wasn’t far. The footsteps were slow but continuous, as if they knew Almond’s exact position.

They were really coming to kill him.

‘Why bother?’ he thought, but such thoughts were useless.

The enemy was trying to kill him, and he needed to survive.

‘What should I do? The enemy has a gun…’

If he faced the enemy head-on, the bullets would obviously be faster.

He needed to take the initiative.

‘Ah…!’

Almond, who had been pondering, realized something.

Why the enemy was coming here without hesitation.

‘They’re not trying to kill me.’

Thud.

He put an arrow in his mouth and nocked another one on the string.

Thud─ Thud─

The footsteps continued. Almond waited calmly.

Thud.

The footsteps suddenly stopped.

Whoosh!

Almond quickly stood up and pulled the bowstring.

“Ugh…”

It was the last words of the enemy who was healing his teammate.

“Shit─”

─Thud!

The arrow was neatly embedded in the center of his head.

Boom!

The body fell backward and crashed onto the sand.

The enemy had been trying to heal his teammate, which is why there was no hesitation in his steps.

He could see where his teammate was.

A double kill appeared in the kill log.

This meant that the enemy who had been knocked out also died, as there was no one left to revive him, and the system automatically processed his death.

“Ha. I won.”

He had wiped out a squad by himself.

- Wow!

- Almond wins!!!

- Hahaha, so lonely…

- Hahaha

- Solo squad! Let’s go!

- Hahaha

The chat messages started flooding in quickly.

Sponsorships also came in.

- Don’t cross the line

- Worth the nickname hahaha

- To be honest, Electromagnetic Wave didn’t have this level of talent

- Haha

- To be honest, the talent is incredible

- How can you play a game you’ve never played before like this?

- No, I can’t~ Electromagnetic Wave is too strong~

Sponsorships from unknown names.

The amounts were relatively small, but that was actually a good sign.

It meant that more casual viewers were starting to sponsor him, and new viewers were coming in.

‘I’m becoming a major streamer.’

In other words, he was starting to attract a major audience.

It was still too early to judge, but the transition to a new game seemed to be successful.

Everything was going well.

“I’ll go farming now.”

But then, an unexpected challenge appeared.

A challenge of choice.

The challenge began when Almond saw a gun.

‘…A gun!’

The enemy he had just killed had a pretty good assault rifle, commonly known as an M4, which is quite popular.

It was obviously a better weapon than the compound bow.

‘Should I give up the bow?’

Almond was seriously considering this.

Most players would naturally pick up the gun. It’s advantageous.

If he gave up the advantageous play, the viewers wouldn’t understand. They would be frustrated.

‘But what if I succeed?’

What if he won first place with a bow?

And as a solo squad?

And in the first match?

Almond was conflicted. For a streamer, character is more important than just being good.

Being good alone isn’t enough to achieve major success.

The most significant part of his character was the bow.

He didn’t want to give it up.

‘Even if people are annoyed at first, winning would be the best. But if I lose…’

Just as he was thinking this,

Ding.

A mission was assigned.

‘Oh.’

It was a perfect mission.

‘Huh?’

But the name was Seo Ji-a.

A namesake?

No way.

‘Is this a coincidence…?’

It was a bit burdensome. Almond knew what it meant to live in Heungdodong.

His circumstances weren’t good.

But refusing would be impolite.

“Thanks for the mission. I was going to use the bow anyway.”

- Hahaha, such a disadvantageous mission…

- Really going for the bow?

- Is it possible?

- Go for the bow!

- Since there’s a first-place mission, I’d go for the gun and aim for 100,000 won.

- The best fun is winning first place with a bow

The viewers seemed to welcome the mission.

So, Almond left the gun and only picked up other equipment, moving to avoid the blue zone.

* * *

Vroom─

Almond was now driving the jeep that the previous squad had been in.

“Where should I go?”

Almond, who was driving, casually asked the viewers.

Since it was his first time playing, he didn’t know where was advantageous or where items were likely to spawn.

He was just avoiding the blue zone and moving.

- First, get a helmet

- They often spawn at the ranch.

- Go to the ranch

- There’s no fixed location, but good items usually spawn in large buildings.

“Ranch… Got it.”

Almond checked the map and drove to the ranch.

After driving for about 10 seconds,

- But you can’t just drive straight

- You’ll draw attention hahaha

- Kill me a bit~

The noise from the car was quite loud, drawing a lot of attention in densely populated areas.

Almond realized this too late.

Boom─

Sure enough, a loud noise made the car tilt.

“Whoa…!?”

Boom.

The car flipped over completely.

Almond was in chaos inside.

“Crazy.”

- Hahaha

- So funny hahaha

- This is a newbie.

- It seems like a grenade hahaha

- Another one might come!

Another one?

Almond quickly regained his composure and rolled out of the car.

Using the overturned car as a shield, he lay flat.

Sure enough, another one came as the viewers had said.

Boom!

The car tilted at a 45-degree angle.

- They seem to be aggressive

- The throws are accurate

- Almost like a pro

- Doesn’t seem like their rating

- This is bad hahaha, squads usually move together

Whoosh!

Now the jeep was on fire.

Almond quickly crawled into a nearby small house.

While closing the door and catching his breath,

Boom!

The jeep exploded after a few seconds, and the heat wave hit him.

Thinking about what would have happened if he had been there, he shuddered.

Almond, who had been staring at the scene for a moment, shook his head.

‘Let’s go to the roof first.’

There was no one in the house.

Almond quickly ran up the stairs to the roof.

To find the enemy.

‘Where are they?’

Black ash was flying, obscuring his vision.

‘There they are.’

He could see one enemy approaching. The other three were preparing to support the advance.

‘Four of them.’

Sure enough, there were four enemies.

At that moment─

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Ping!

A spark flew next to Almond.

The enemy’s shot had missed, but his position was revealed.

‘They know where I am.’

Thud! Thud!

Two of the four enemies kept firing