Chapter 62 of Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1

22. Placement Completed (2)

Platinum?

This was the question that crossed the minds of everyone, including Almond, who was watching.

-What?

-??

-Bug?

-Evan?

-LOL

-Huh?

-Is this possible!?

-What is this, exactly?

-Ahhh, what the heck is this again!

-Did you do it again, Almond!!!

It was a well-known fact that Platinum could not be achieved through placement tests alone.

But Almond had achieved Platinum.

Not just any Platinum, but Platinum 3, which was one tier higher.

"Ooh..."

Almond also seemed quite surprised.

However, this level of surprise was not enough for the viewers. The time they had believed that "Platinum cannot be achieved through placement tests" was much longer than Almond's.

-Ooh...? Is that it? LOL

-LOL Ooh...

-Ooh LOL

-Ooh... I cut the lyrics (?)

-LOL Ooh...

This "Ooh..." comment became a meme that stuck with Almond for quite a while.

"I will also receive the Platinum mission reward."

Haha.

Almond then laughed and accepted the Platinum achievement mission.

The combined prize for Gold and Platinum was 1,180,000 won.

-Ooh... No way! Damn, I'm not Ooh...

-Wow, my money ㅠㅠ

-Ahhh

-Why Platinum? LOL

-You scammers LOL

-No, crazy ㅡㅡ

-Ahhh, safe investment?!

-Wow, how much did you make today?!

-??? : Son! Be like Almond!!!

-Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!! Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!! Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!! Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!!

Almond was becoming the future hope of many young children... No, it went beyond that; now even being Almond's son was someone's future hope.

It must have been because of the income he made today.

'Today, I really made a lot of money.'

Almond was aware of it too. He had made quite a bit of money today. Let's do a rough calculation.

'1,180,000 won, plus 800,000 won, and 500,000 won from Mihyo...'

A huge sum of 2,480,000 won came in all at once.

Including the few tens of thousands of won that came in each time he placed first during the game, the total revenue was almost 30 million won.

That's right.

'Revenue.' After deducting fees and taxes, the actual amount wouldn't be as much as it seemed.

'Still, it's a huge income...'

Even so, it was a much higher profit than when he was working at a large company.

In just three weeks, he was making more than he did in five years at a large company.

This is what people mean when they talk about a hot market. You can really feel it.

-Why are you just standing there?

-Lagging?

-Buffering??

-Next game, go!

-Almond is stunned by the money LOL

-Just go for Diamond today!!!

Almond was momentarily dazed, and the chat flooded in.

"Ah..."

Almond subconsciously checked the time.

It was only 5:30 PM.

He had been streaming for about two and a half hours.

'Surely, it's tiring. Long broadcasts are.'

While it was below average for other streamers, Almond found himself extremely drained. This was strange, considering his background as an athlete.

His head was definitely a bit numb right now.

-Is he thinking about ending the stream?

-I saw it! Almond's eyes went to the clock!

-ㅠㅠ Again?

-If you're going to do this, start later. You nutcase!!!

-Aw ㅠㅠ No ending the stream

-Not going for Diamond!? Not going for Diamond!? Not going for Diamond!? Not going for Diamond!?

-Ooh... I saw the clock (?)

The viewers realized Almond was thinking about ending the stream. They had been fooled so many times that they were now quite perceptive.

"I'm going for Diamond. And the person who spammed will be sent to the island for a while."

Ding.

With that, Joo-hyuk cleared all the spam chat. It was a three-day chat ban.

-LOL

-LOL, sudden ban

-Everyone shut up! If you move, you're all suspects!

-Mmmmm

-Almond, don't end the stream, and now a ban.

-Explain, Almond!

The viewers, who felt the ban was a buildup to ending the stream, protested even more strongly.

However, a declaration that would quell all the protests was waiting.

"I'll end the stream at 8 PM."

-???

-Huh, what's up?!

-Is this the Almond I know?! My heart is swelling.

-Aaaaaaaa!

-A festival! A festival!!!

-Long live Mihyo!! Long live Mihyo!!

-Hey, everyone, be careful with spamming!

-LOL

-This is all thanks to Mihyo. Know that? This is all thanks to Mihyo. Know that?

Seeing the public opinion change so quickly, Almond smiled.

While there were sometimes viewers who could be considered toxic, overall, Trivia's viewers were pure and cute. Much more so than the people he encountered at work.

Most importantly, they all loved Almond, the streamer, so much.

Almond was grateful.

'I have to go for Diamond.'

That's why he wanted to keep his promise to them.

He wanted to repay these viewers, who believed that a mere hacker like him could challenge the fortress of electronic waves.

* * *

A placement test is worth ten regular ranked matches.

In other words, the upcoming ranked matches would be worth only one-tenth of the previous games.

"Phew."

So, Joo-hyuk could now relax and watch more comfortably.

The intense matches where he couldn't take his eyes off for a second were now over.

With a high rank of Platinum, the journey to Diamond would be much smoother than originally planned.

'Should I check the reactions a bit?'

Joo-hyuk decided it was a good time to manage community reactions.

Sure enough, a post about Almond's placement test was prominently featured on the Battle Royale 31 community.

It was even the fifth most popular issue post, despite just having finished the placement test.

-Huh?

-BS

-Is this a fake?

-This guy is really a new angle, isn't he? LOL

-Evan?

-I remember the electronic waves being Gold 1. This is strange.

No one was accepting this situation normally.

Some were even reporting it.

There was even a post like this.

When he clicked on it, Almond's face saying "Ooh..." with a blank expression appeared.

-Ooh... BS LOL

-LOL

-Ooh... LOL

-The world is ending! Ooh...

-LOL, really no thoughts

-He, really no feelings LOL

-It's possible, he might not even know what Platinum is LOL

The comments were generally positive.

However, there were still many comments that seemed envious.

-You must have known. It's a setup, right?

-Wow LOL, I'm reporting this, really.

Some even came up with strange conspiracy theories.

'Is it that bad?'

Joo-hyuk, who had never played Battle Royale, scratched his head.

Isn't this something that could happen? But the resistance was fierce, as if something that shouldn't have happened did.

'Online games have fairness issues.'

Kingdom Age didn't have this.

That was probably because it was a solo package game.

Battle Royale was different.

The interests were quite complex. Since it was an online and popular game, many people made a living from it. There were people who had literally bet their lives on this game.

From their perspective, Almond's unusual dominance was certainly uncomfortable.

'Should I intervene?'

Joo-hyuk decided to try to calm them down for a moment and started typing.

-Did he get Platinum because he placed first in all placements? It's not easy, and I think it's possible to get Platinum.

└Are there many streamers who placed first in all placements? LOL

└Not many... LOL

└Really not many LOL

└Anyway, no one got Platinum right away among them.

I see.

Joo-hyuk, who had just been defeated, scratched his head.

'There were a few who placed first in all placements.'

By Joo-hyuk's standards and common sense, there shouldn't be anyone who could play better than Sang-hyun.

But there was. And they didn't get Platinum right away.

'So what is it?'

He started an internet search to fully explain this phenomenon.

He wanted to find out how the rating system worked. What algorithm was used to determine this, and why was Gold 1 the limit even if you placed first in all placements?

He was also curious if all players who placed first in all placements received the same rating.

If some were Gold 2 and others Gold 1, it would be possible for someone like Sang-hyun to get Platinum 3.

'Oh, they're all different?'

Sure enough, as Joo-hyuk suspected, when he checked the ratings of other famous overseas players, they were different.

They ranged from Gold 1 to Gold 4.

'Really no Platinum 3?'

He hadn't checked all the global data yet, but there were no cases of jumping to Platinum.

It seemed that to move from Gold to Platinum, you had to go through a "promotion match," a rather brutal bloodbath.

This system meant that the next rank after Gold 1 wasn't just Platinum 4.

There was a significant gap. That's why they didn't easily promote players.

Joo-hyuk checked the Battle Royale 31 community reactions again.

It was a mess.

They were fighting among themselves again.

Joo-hyuk wanted to join in and logically dismantle all those crazy people, but...

'Let it go. I have my own work to do.'

He was Almond's manager.

He wasn't a Battle Royale 31 community user.

'This is something I should take the lead on.'

Joo-hyuk opened both Almond's email and his own. Among them was an email from the Battle Royale 31 management team.

Joo-hyuk started writing a response.

Or rather, a question.

How was it possible for Almond to experience this?

If it became known that Joo-hyuk, Almond's manager, had already contacted the game company, all the negative public opinion would be silenced.

It's a simple problem. Almond had just worked hard and done nothing wrong.

He even contacted the game company directly.

Who could criticize Almond then? All the anger would be directed at the game company.

To put it bluntly, Joo-hyuk was using the management team as a shield.

'What can I do?'

In social life, if you live honestly, the ones who suffer are the colleagues and family you cherish.

When it's bad, it has to be bad.

Moreover, those people had even gotten Almond suspended for their antics before.

This was a fair exchange.

'You clean up your own mess.'

* * *

Ding.

Battle Royale headquarters.

An alert sounded on the management team's direct email.

"What? An email?"

This was the seat of his former mentor, "Kim Gi-yeol." However, he was no longer there.

He had been fired over the Almond incident.

Thinking back on that incident, it was so intense that even his deputy was shaken.

It was because a complaint had come in from the executive's direct line.

"Damn, Almond's manager?!"

The name that triggered his deputy's (former) PTSD appeared again.

The sender of the email was Almond's manager.

He jumped up from his seat.