Chapter 73 of Season 1 of The Genius Archer's Streaming

26. Record (2)

Just because someone has a high VNS score doesn't mean they are good at the game.

It's like how having a high IQ doesn't guarantee top scores in the college entrance exam. It's merely a numerical representation of a certain 'skill.'

However, if we talk about tendencies, it might be a bit different.

In the past, people who were good at keyboard and mouse games generally had high APM scores.

Students with high academic achievement tend to have high IQs.

Similarly, players who show high performance in virtual reality games tend to have high VNS scores.

The world's top player, Jeonja, has the highest VNS score in the world.

But that score has just been broken.

By an unknown streamer.

"Right now, the world VNS record has been broken! It's an incredible event! Now that Almond's medical check is over, he will be here soon! Just a little more…."

So it's natural that Yoo Hyeon is speaking with an extremely excited expression.

- Wow, is this for real?

- I'm watching this live

- Nooo!

- It's BS, can't believe this

- ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋ

- What about Survive?

- Really, the record was broken? Evan lol

- lololololol

- WTF

- Almond? Never even knew such a player existed. Stop BS-ing

- Oh, the chat is lagging ㅋㅋㅋ

- A Fking Noooob just broke Jeonja’s record? lol

So, 75,000 viewers from all over the world were waiting for that one hour of medical check.

Who is this person?

Who broke Jeonja's record?

This curiosity is unbearable.

And what will the person say about it.

"Almond is coming in now!"

The camera focused on the corridor where Almond was approaching, and all the viewers cheered.

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hyeon, suddenly using extreme honorifics

- Now the rankings are settled

- Oh, he’s coming

- Dat guy…….

- Oh, he’s coming.

- Wow, he’s cute

- Almond? Never heard of him…….

- Almond is coming in ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Oh my! Almond is here!

The attitudes were clearly different from when he first came to the set.

'What's going on?'

Sanghyun, who hadn't heard from Juhyeok what VNS was, was completely bewildered.

In any case, since he had to continue the broadcast, he took his seat in the chair he had first sat in.

"Almond! You're finally here!"

"Yes…."

Sanghyun couldn't match Yoo Hyeon's sky-high tension.

- What’s his reaction? ㅋㅋ

- Doesn't he know what's going on? He was unconscious, right? ㅋ

- Wow, Almond!! Now you're really a top player!

- Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond!

- You broke the world record, you know

World record.

That word was caught in the chat. Juhyeok also said it. I broke Jeonja's record.

"How does it feel to achieve the world VNS record?!"

Finally, the question was asked.

All the chat windows started to slow down temporarily. At this moment, they must have stopped chatting to listen to his words.

They had waited an hour just to hear this.

"I…."

"Yes?"

"What is it? My manager wouldn't tell me."

"……"

Suddenly, silence fell.

In the chat, '???' started to appear slowly.

- ???

- Huh?

- ?

- What…….

It didn't take long for all the question marks to turn into laughter.

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Oh ㅋㅋㅋ

- Really doesn't know? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Because Almond's expression was so real. No, it was really real.

Almond had never heard of the concept before.

In fact, if he had been a little more interested in games, he might have known about it.

This revealed how recently he had become interested in games.

Even foreign viewers were laughing, calling him a 'nooob.'

And they were naturally curious.

- Seriously, this guy broke Jeonja's record without even knowing what VNS is?

- VNS is pure talent, so… ㅋㅋㅋ

- Unbelievable talent ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- From not knowing to having top-notch talent, perfect….

- Wow ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Almond, who defeated the world's best without even knowing what it was, looked like a true, overwhelming genius. Perhaps even more so than Jeonja.

"Ah… R-really don't know?"

"…Yes."

Yoo Hyeon seemed quite flustered.

'What kind of person is this?'

While watching Almond, she had thought he was quite unique, but she had never felt this strongly before.

"Ahaha! Truly a genius among geniuses! Almond, you're amazing! To defeat the world's best without even knowing what it is!"

"So, what is it?"

"Ah…."

Yoo Hyeon was flabbergasted again.

Does she really have to explain this during the broadcast? Her expression seemed to say.

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Just tell him clearly ㅋㅋ

- She tried to gloss over it, but no way!

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Almond doesn't look happy at all.

- Oh ㅋㅋ

The best in the world.

A genius.

He broke the record.

These words carry a lot of weight, but they didn't affect Almond much.

He had been hearing such words since high school.

For him, being number one in a field he was interested in was important, but being number one in something he didn't even know about, like VNS, didn't make him happy at all.

What he was interested in now was only one thing.

"I heard that the record was tied with Jeonja. Why do you say it was broken?"

"Ah. The Survive challenge is indeed a tie!"

- Tied by 0.00001 seconds ㅋㅋ

- Is this for real? ㅋㅋ

- This is impressive. You only started using the capsule three weeks ago, right?

- ㄹㅇㅋㅋ

Snap.

At that moment, Yoo Hyeon raised her hand.

"However! We conduct a 'skill measurement' within the game, and the unit of that 'skill' is VNS. That's what surpassed Jeonja!"

Suddenly, Yoo Hyeon's words were well-organized. Following her gaze, a sign with a line written by one of the staff members caught her eye.

- Script on!

- The writers work hard~

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Reading a Korean textbook ㅋ

- Almond seems to understand.

Whether Almond understood by reading the staff's sign or by listening to Yoo Hyeon's explanation, he understood the situation.

VNS, in a nutshell, is like a player's stats.

"So! How does it feel? Do you finally realize you're a world record holder?"

"But… Is this official?"

Sanghyun is very thorough when it comes to records.

Since high school, he had always been closely following world records.

Whether it was official or unofficial was always an important issue for him.

If it was unofficial, he would have already been treated like a world champion in high school.

"…Yes?"

"VNS seems to have a very vague standard. Especially, the records made with the Fantasia machine can't be considered official."

"Ah…."

Yoo Hyeon looked back at the staff in a hurry.

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Yoo Hyeon is flustered ㅋㅋ

- She was confident at first, like early Yebok!

- Oh ㅋㅋ Her flustered look is cute!

- How can Almond be so sharp? ㅋㅋㅋ VNS is obviously not an official score, just for fun

- It still has meaning, though

- ㅈㄹ ㄴ

- VNS has meaning, but it's measured by Fantasia, you idiots ㅋㅋ

After receiving the information, Yoo Hyeon continued the broadcast.

"Ah. It's not an officially recognized world record. The standard is still not clear."

"Then it's just an unofficial first place."

"Ahaha… T-that's right. Even if it's unofficial, the feeling of breaking Jeonja's record…?"

Yoo Hyeon's frown seemed to say, 'Please, just give your thoughts!'

Did he read that?

Finally, Sanghyun spoke his thoughts.

"Disappointing."

"!?"

Silence fell again.

Disappointing? You broke the record!?

"Ah… Disappointing? You're the world's number one?!"

"Not officially. Anyone can be the world's number one unofficially. 'Mom, our son is number one' is also a world number one."

"Ah, no…."

She was speechless, her words cut off.

When it came to records, Sanghyun had always discussed the topic dozens of times, and she couldn't handle his arguments alone.

- Oh ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Mind blown ㅋㅋ

- Is this humility? I'm confused! Almond!

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Our son is number one ㅋㅋㅋ

- Son! Mom, you'll become Almond when you grow up!

Yoo Hyeon's face turned even redder as she read the chat.

"So you're disappointed? Because it's unofficial…?"

"Not just that."

"Then what?"

"I'm disappointed that I didn't win the main game."

"The main game? But you tied."

"That's disappointing. I almost got the record but missed it."

"Ah…."

Yoo Hyeon was now thoroughly puzzled.

'Is he not happy at all?'

Almond is a complete beginner in virtual reality games. To tie with the world's best in such a state.

How can he not seem happy?

It was surprising and fascinating.

Witnessing his immense genius, he doesn't seem happy?

If I found out I had such talent, I would be overjoyed.

But when he shot the arrow, he seemed happier than he does now.

'What kind of expression is this?'

Almond's expression, though hard to read, was definitely not one of joy.

Rather—

'Could he be angry?'

He seemed closer to being angry.

Yes, he was angry!

He was flabbergasted.

What is the limit of this man's competitive spirit?

Yoo Hyeon's head was spinning.

Good is good. This was a completely unimaginable way of thinking for her, who always believed in the idea that good is good.

It was both uncomfortable and admirable.

In fact, the discomfort was like that of a herbivore seeing a carnivore.

Feelings of caution, awe, and fear.

And naturally, this thought followed.

'This person will surpass Jeonja someday.'

This person will become the best.

"Of course, it must be disappointing to miss the record right in front of you. But considering you have little capsule experience, breaking the VNS record is a huge achievement, isn't it? You might become a player better than Jeonja in the future?"

A player better than Jeonja.

It was a statement close to blasphemy, coming from an announcer.

But Yoo Hyeon was sincere.

This man will reach the top.

At least, Yoo Hyeon was certain of it at that moment.

Almond's subsequent answer reinforced her certainty.

"I can become one."

His tone was calm.

He stated it matter-of-factly, without any attempt to inflate himself, saying he would become the best.

- ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ

- Wow

- Ambition ㄷㄷ

- He’s coming

- Trash talk master Almond ㅋㅋ

- Wow~

The people on the scene could feel that there was no such intention.

Of course, if the answer had ended there, the backlash would have been enormous.

Who knows what would happen if it went through malicious editing later.

Jeonja's fans and the public would definitely take it as a provocation.

"Ah—"

Fortunately, Sanghyun's answer didn't end there; there was more to come.

This part became much more famous than the previous statement, and few people remembered the earlier part.

"Still, I don't want to talk more about the VNS record."

"Eh? Why?"

"Anyway, the match was a tie. It feels like consoling a soccer team that lost but had a high possession rate…."

His expression showed genuine displeasure.

- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

- Wow ㅋㅋㅋ

- Why is he really angry? ㅋㅋ

- The national team coach is shocked!

- Crazy ㅋㅋ Why bring up soccer suddenly? ㅋ

- The national team coach is shocked ㅋㅋ

- Oh ㅋㅋ

Pfft.

Even the serious Yoo Hyeon burst out laughing.

"Ah. It was fun. Almond, will you come back for the next dissection analysis?"

"Is there… more to dissect?"

"Hmm~ I think there will be a lot!"

Their conversation faded out as the broadcast ended.

Like an ending credit, scenes of Almond's super play were replayed.

Naturally, all the game-related community sites were flooded with posts about Almond that day.