Chapter 54 of Season 1 of The Genius Archer's Streaming

19. Unexpected Attention (1)

Joo-hyuk was also taken aback.

"Huh?"

Tap-tap.

The sound of hurriedly tapping on the keyboard.

He searched for the list of Trivia Named Sponsors.

'Something seems familiar.'

The peculiar nickname 'Indomitable Warrior' lingered in his mind.

Someone who donates 1.5 million won on their first appearance is not within the realm of normalcy.

He wanted to look into it because it could be a strange person.

"Oh."

Sure enough, the name was on the list of named sponsors.

Even more surprisingly, 'Cautious Strategist,' who had previously sponsored, was also there. It turned out that these two had been active since the legendary game 'ManaSoul Origin' from ten years ago.

They were quite seasoned players.

In a way, it was fortunate. Despite their long history, there were no significant incidents.

'Some people sponsor and then start making demands, but it doesn't seem to be the case here.'

On the contrary, the fact that these two had even visited the stream once was a good sign.

Of course, it could just be the same usernames, so it's best not to read too much into it.

The only meaningful thing is the result.

That is, the money they sponsored.

Suddenly, 1.8 million won was deposited.

"Wow. Are you watching, Manager Park? Yoo Sang-hyun makes money well! Is this possible?! How much is this? Seriously, it feels like I don't need to envy large corporations anymore!"

Given that Joo-hyuk had worked at a large corporation, his statement carried a lot of weight.

After all, unless you're in a super-large company, it's unlikely to receive 2 million won in a day.

* * *

Almond's eyes widened at the sudden large sum.

It was fortunate that the donation came after he won first place; if he had received it during the game, even Almond would have lost focus for a moment.

"Wow, it seems like it's the Indomitable Warrior. Thank you! I don't know how to react... I can't even shoot arrows at my head anymore..."

- No way lololol

- lololol

- Is he a pervert?

- The 300,000 won reaction was a cartwheel and perverted...

- lololololol It's going to be wild

- Five cartwheels?!

Battle Royale, being an open-world game, didn't allow him to just go anywhere and shoot arrows or act perverted.

Almond thought for a moment.

"Ah...!"

His contemplation didn't last long.

One place came to mind.

The waiting room.

Dun, dun, dun.

The tension-filled drumbeats of Battle Royale as he entered the waiting room.

Here, he could move his character freely for a moment.

Even the floor was littered with various items.

Boom, boom.

In one corner, players were already throwing all sorts of grenades, causing chaos.

Almond quickly scanned the items scattered on the ground. His eyes naturally fixed on the 'Compound Bow.'

- No way.

- Oh, please, shut up, Malfoy...

- Crazy lolol

- Almond! Why do you have to go this far? Just say a word!

- lololololol It's going to be wild

The viewers, following his gaze, shivered as if they had seen the future.

New viewers were merely confused.

- Why are they reacting like that?

- Are they going to play another round?

- I hate all this fuss...

They thought it was just a bunch of friends making a fuss. But...

"Wow, I found it. Let's do it."

The moment Almond raised the bow high into the sky, everyone understood. Those who had seen or heard of Almond's streams before would know.

- Oh, he's really going to do it?

- d d d

- The legendary 'that scene'

- lololol

- Hey, raise the price for perverted reactions! Bro!

- 1.5 million is enough, why raise it lol

- Nooooo

Some people were even crying in the chat, but Almond was resolute.

'This is a matter of character and trust.'

Two of the most important virtues for a streamer.

Character and trust.

Almond was confident that this was a test of both.

"Alright... here I go!"

Bang!

The arrow he shot with all his might disappeared into the sky, and in the meantime, Almond did a cartwheel three times.

Whirl—

Then he raised his arms.

"Trba!"

Thud!

The arrow hit his forehead precisely.

- Woah...

- But why three times? Not five?

- Five cartwheels! Do it again! Five cartwheels! Do it again! Five cartwheels! Do it again! Five cartwheels! Do it again!

- Madness, crazy... lolol

- lolol

- Oh no ㅠㅠ

- Bye!

- I'll do it again tomorrow!

The stream didn't end quickly.

"..."

Almond, with his arms raised, just stood there.

'What, what?'

It was part of the agreement with Joo-hyuk, but it seemed Joo-hyuk had made a mistake.

To naturally continue, Almond started answering the question.

"Oh, the cartwheels are three because the price went up...?"

Squish.

At that moment, the stream ended.

- lololololol

- Unexpected perverted reaction, crazy lololol

- What the heck lolol

- Is it impossible to end the capsule normally?

- Someone sponsor Almond's capsule lolol

- It's going to be wild lolol

- The price went up, so it's three times lol

- He didn't say he couldn't do five lol

- So now, to get a perverted reaction, it's 500,000 won?

- Breaking News: Cartwheel price up 60%!! Inflation!

* * *

Sssss...

The sound of the hydraulic pressure releasing as the capsule opened.

"Ow. My head hurts."

"Hey, sorry."

Pfft.

Joo-hyuk burst out laughing, despite his apology.

"I didn't know how to end it suddenly, so I just... closed the capsule..."

"Ah, I see. You damn..."

Sang-hyun frowned and barely held back a curse. I'm an idiot for leaving it to him.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Sure. I turned on the hot water an hour ago."

"Thanks."

Since they lived in a single house in a slum, the hot water didn't come out well unless it was turned on in advance, especially now that winter was approaching.

* * *

Shhhhh.

The hot water, steaming, melted away the tension in his body.

The sticky sweat was washed away by the warmth. It felt like coming home after staying up for three nights and throwing himself onto the bed.

Sinking into the warm comfort.

'Solo. It was pretty intense for Stones, wasn't it?'

He seemed to have pushed himself a bit today.

He thought the solo mode would be easier than the squad, but it wasn't that simple.

'Grenade guy... It was dangerous.'

Especially the player who rolled a grenade to ambush him in the middle.

To Sang-hyun, he was different from the typical Stones player.

A grenade that landed so accurately and quietly next to him.

It must have felt like dying without even realizing it.

'I need to work harder.'

He wasn't completely dominant even in Stones.

If he continued like this, he would really struggle in the Diamond rank. So, as always, Sang-hyun reaffirmed his resolve.

Looking at the steamy mirror.

'I need to do well.'

You can't afford to fail.

* * *

After a warm shower, while rummaging through the fridge to satisfy his hunger, Joo-hyuk brought some good news.

"Sang-hyun, is Bubblegum famous?"

"Yeah, sure. I always watched his streams."

"He was in your stream."

"What...?"

Squish?

Even the usually calm Sang-hyun was startled.

'Bubblegum? In my stream?'

The streamer he watched to relieve stress after work.

A streamer who always provided great comfort and was a role model for Almond, except for the skill.

'He saw me?'

Joo-hyuk nodded.

"When there were three players left, you were using a sniper. That was Bubblegum, apparently."

"Really???"

No wonder he seemed so bad.

"Yeah, really. Look at this."

Whirr.

A hologram of Bubblegum's stream clip floated up.

A chubby-faced man was shouting.

- Wow, that crazy archer!

- Oh, right. Who was that archer? I'll watch the replay.

- Wow, how does he shoot like that? Amazing! What? He's only played two rounds? Don't lie, everyone.

The 'archer' they were talking about was, of course, Almond.

"Really? Even the replay?"

Sang-hyun blinked, still not believing it.

"50,000 people watched. A lot."

"..."

50,000 people watched. Impressive.

He could have said that, but it wasn't important to Sang-hyun at the moment.

'Bubblegum really watched my stream.'

The streamer who always comforted him after his tough workdays. The streamer who was always a warm and cozy friend.

Because of him, Sang-hyun became a streamer too.

The one who made the current Almond possible.

'Bubblegum...'

A lump rose in his throat.

If Joo-hyuk knew, he'd probably say he was overreacting, so he quickly turned away.

"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you going to check the community reactions...?"

"I'll watch from the bed. We don't have anything to do together anyway."

Sang-hyun was already turning around.

"Ah... Oh, right."

Joo-hyuk, sensing the strange atmosphere, nodded.

'The community reactions are great...'

He was disappointed but didn't try to stop Sang-hyun. Instead, he quietly cleaned up.

Ding.

As the holograms turned off, darkness descended on the living room.

Soon, the doors to their rooms closed.

Click.

* * *

Lying in the cozy bed, Sang-hyun picked up his phone to check the community reactions.

First, he searched for Bubblegum.

The unexpected co-stream with Bubblegum must have been quite an issue.

'Hmm...?'

But there was no mention of it.

'Is it not a big deal?'

Given Bubblegum's long streaming career, such an event wasn't particularly special.

It was understandable that it didn't draw much attention.

It might have been special only to Sang-hyun...

'Che.'

He didn't want to be recognized, but it was still disappointing that it wasn't a bigger issue. It would have been nice if the meeting with Bubblegum had been more of a topic.

Sang-hyun, feeling a bit disappointed, checked other opinions.

He entered the issue chart of the community 'Bera31'.

It was a chart listing recent issues.

'Hmm?'

The content was strange.

It felt like he might be dreaming.

1st) Almond's insane play

2nd) Almond's play that took down Bubblegum

3rd) Almond vs. Bubblegum grenade payback service.gif

4th) Today's Battle Royale outfit

5th) Are you crazy, Almond! 4v1 dribble lolol

6th) Almond's 4v1 dribble is insane lolol

7th) Almond's one match! Highlight reel!

Almost the entire chart was about Almond.