Chapter 77

**Chapter 77 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"**

**27. Toward the Diamond (3)**

The promotion match game has finally begun.

I thought 8,100 was just a bubble, but the number of viewers has increased.

'Almost 9,000...'

This means that Almond has successfully absorbed the bubble into a stable viewer base.

Of course, it's hard to tell in just two days.

It could be because of the big event, the promotion match.

- Haha, it was so easy yesterday.

- Is it easy today too?

- Wow, damn. The game has already started? Half of life is wasted...

Anyway, nearly 9,000 people were watching Almond's avatar.

The avatar was muttering to itself while running hard.

"Today, I'll start with the armory."

This was a strategy he had been using since the placement test.

By looting the armory, which was stocked with all kinds of high-tier weapons, he could make the game more favorable for Almond.

- Looting again lol

- It's getting familiar...

- There's no reason not to loot. It keeps working lol

- lol

- Loot! Loot!

This time, it was expected to work well, as it should according to the original plan.

Vroom──

The sound of a motorcycle came from behind.

"!?"

Someone had already obtained a motorcycle and was charging straight toward the armory.

No, they were coming toward Almond.

"It seems they're coming for me──"

Almond rolled to the right with all his might.

It was a brilliant move, worthy of a top-ranked player.

"──What?"

He managed to avoid the ambush while continuing the broadcast.

- Wow, this is electromagnetic-level physical!

- Haha, wow

- Wow

- Impressive

The viewers were amazed, and Almond was unscathed.

Vroom!!!

The motorcycle just grazed past Almond.

Everything was going well.

However, Almond sensed something strange.

'What is it?'

He saw the player on the motorcycle smirking.

He wasn't disappointed at missing Almond; instead, he was smirking as if he planned to come back and attack again.

Boom!

The motorcycle entered the armory, and victims started to appear immediately.

Two kill logs appeared.

'Jensen...'

Almond remembered the opponent's name. He was a suspicious character.

- As expected, the armory

- God, it's intense lol

- Wow

- Oh, damn. I wouldn't do that lol

'Ah, right.'

Almond, who had been momentarily stunned, quickly ran into the armory. He needed to block the entrance to the underground storage room as soon as possible.

However──

"Ahh!"

"Choke!"

Vroom!!!

The motorcycle was heading down into the underground storage room.

The player was riding down the steep stairs, almost forcing his way down by crushing people.

"The motorcycle is going down the stairs..."

Almond muttered, amazed.

- It's definitely different now that the MMR is near Platinum 1.

- Driving skills are insane

- The top players in Diamond and those who slipped from Diamond are here

- Winning streaks have made the MMR too high

- Haha

- Is this what the upper ranks of Platinum, known as the 'Heavenly Hell,' are like? Hahaha

- Want to go to Diamond? Get! Out!

Almond turned his head away from the underground storage room.

He wasn't interested in hero or legendary weapons.

Finding a bow on the first floor of the armory was his first condition for victory.

Usually, no one farms the first floor of the armory because it only has melee weapons like bows and swords, which are not very rewarding.

But Almond was an exception. If he could pick up a bow from the first floor, he could potentially wipe out everyone here.

However...

'Where did all the bows go?'

There were no bows to be found.

How could there be none at all?

Whoosh!

A jungle knife flew toward him.

Swoosh──

Almond's bangs were cut off. He barely managed to dodge.

"Here's another one coming!"

The opponent threw another knife with a yell.

He thought Almond wouldn't be able to dodge this time because his body was already leaning back. But Almond extended his arm.

"Thanks for the weapon."

Thud!

The knife thrown by the opponent was in his hand.

The 'Survive' test wasn't just a test.

It had elevated Almond's game skills to a new level.

Now, catching a flying knife was just a routine task.

- Haha

- Thanks for the weapon lol

- Wow, sexy!

- Amazing!

- Stop being so good, Almond! Stop being so good, Almond!

"Wha... what?"

The opponent, taken aback, hesitated for a moment and then drew another sword from his pocket.

He even took a throwing stance.

'Why isn't he throwing?'

The opponent was circling, looking for an angle.

'Is he afraid I'll dodge again?'

Almond's dodging would make things difficult, so this time he was being cautious.

'When will he throw?'

When would the opponent throw the knife? Or when would he want to throw it?

When would it be easiest to hit me?

'When I throw.'

The opponent would take advantage of the moment when Almond throws.

Just like in AOS games, the best moment to pressure the opponent is when they are about to deal the final blow to a minion.

When the opponent is focused, that's the moment to strike.

Whoosh!

Almond leaned back, creating his unique throwing stance.

Then──

Whizz!

The opponent threw his sword in response.

'Sure enough.'

Sure enough.

Almond's prediction was correct.

"Huh...?"

Almond pretended to throw but then caught the opponent's sword.

Clang!

The opponent's sword, which had missed in mid-air, was caught by Almond.

"What...?"

"Out of knives?"

The opponent had no more knives.

That was his last knife, so he had thrown it carefully.

"Damn it!"

Realizing the situation, the opponent turned and ran.

Thud!

A jungle knife embedded itself precisely in the center of his back.

- Wow lol

- Yeah, that's Almond!

- So satisfying!

- Why... does this Almond... have carbonation? Why... does this Almond... have carbonation? Why... does this Almond... have carbonation?

The joy of eliminating the opponent was short-lived.

Whoosh──

Another aggressive sound of a projectile reached his ears.

Almond quickly moved, and a flame burst where he had been standing.

Clang!

A knife rolled on the ground.

"Again?"

Someone had thrown another knife.

"This is strange."

It was strange.

Usually, in the armory, people focus on the underground storage.

Killing me isn't the priority right now.

Why me?

- Ah, it's a sniper

- Yeah, that's it

- It's about time. This is his first promotion match after the electromagnetic event lol

- The battle with the sniper has begun. Rest in peace, Almond.

- This is a streamer's promotion match, Almond!

Sniper?

Just as he thought that.

"Hey! Try to hit me! You bastards!"

Someone shouted from the second floor.

'What's this guy?'

The one shouting was running away with a lot of arrows and a bow.

No one in this tier would farm so many weapons that they couldn't even fit in their bag.

This was a distraction to get rid of the bows.

'Ah, I see.'

Thinking about it as a sniper attack, it made sense.

Why there were no bows and why they were targeting him first.

'I thought something like this might happen.'

He hadn't failed to predict this. Even before, someone like Funsan was a kind of sniper.

It just came sooner than expected.

'Damn bastards.'

Being targeted by a team of snipers was frustrating. But if a streamer gets angry, the viewers get angry too.

Almond calmed himself down.

Thud.

He hid behind a container box and said,

"I'll think of it as a solo queue."

After all, the first match of this game was a solo queue.

He was more familiar with one-on-many.

Thinking of it that way, he felt more at ease.

"Yes. Thank you, Garibok. It's like going back to the basics."

- Haha, the basics

- Ah, right. He won the solo queue before lol

- Haha

- Even if not, he did a 4v1 dribble.

- Yeah, that's Almond

The viewers were less uncomfortable because the streamer handled it calmly.

If the streamer remains composed, the sniper attack can become content.

'If I win, it's even better.'

Winning would not only be a funny content but also a showcase of skill.

Winning would secure the tier, the fun, and the broadcast.

Swish.

He took out the sword he had picked up earlier and stepped out of the box.

* * *

The Bara 31 board had posts like these.

After Almond became famous, the number of people challenging him was endless.

Especially since Almond became famous for his skills, he was a target for anyone who had been in the game for a long time.

The problem was that they didn't have the confidence to win in a fair fight. So, they resorted to a team sniper attack.

That's how the current five-person team in the armory was formed.

"Ah, this should be enough to take him down."

"How can he beat five of us? I'll take all the bows and run."

"Let's restore the honor of the electromagnetic players!"

One of them took all the bows in the armory and ran, while the other four planned to quickly farm knives and kill Almond.

Since Almond always went to the armory, it was easy to set up the ambush.

"Huff, huff. Hey! I'm running! I'm running!"

The one with the bows shouted while running.

"Now he can't get the bows! Let's gang up on him!"

"Okay!"

"Let's go!"

He swept all the bows from the first floor of the armory and ran up to the second floor.

He planned to watch Almond get killed by his teammates and maybe even taunt them.

But──

"Huh?"

The first one to charge was killed.

He was disarmed of all his knives and died while trying to run away.

It was a惨败.

Why did he charge alone?

Did his competitive spirit suddenly kick in? It was ridiculous.

"Are you an idiot!? We're supposed to gang up on him!"

The remaining three were fortunately working as a team. Knives were flying from all directions.

It seemed impossible to dodge.

But he dodged everything.

"Hey! Try to hit me! You bastards!"

It was frustrating.

To bring these guys as a sniper team to restore the honor of the electromagnetic players...

His anger boiled.

"Damn it. He's out of sight!?"

When he regained his composure, Almond was gone.

In his anger, he had lost sight of Almond.

"Ah. I feel like I need a break. Damn..."

In virtual reality games, you can't see other screens.

Apps that are not allowed immediately crash.

The so-called 'broadcast play' where viewers follow the streamer's movements is impossible due to the system.

This is one of the main reasons why virtual reality streamers are more popular.

"Hey! Where are you! Did he just run away?"

"Don't know! He suddenly disappeared!"

"You on the second floor should see──"

──Bang!!!

A loud noise echoed from behind.

The sound of the second-floor glass breaking.

'All of a sudden?'

The user, who had turned around instinctively, had a knife cleanly embedded in his head.

Thud!

With this kill log, he died.

"Phew. Who told me to climb up with a knife? Thank you."

The player who broke through the window was Almond.

He had climbed up the armory wall with two knives and broke through the second-floor window.

- Haha

- Wow, this works lol

- So satisfying. That's Almond.

- Haha, that guy is so annoying lol

- Sniping and then dying lol!

- The nickname was PapaPapa!!

"Ah. Thank you, PapaPapa. Great tip."

Saying that, Almond looked down.

"Wow. Is this like a golden goblin or something?"

- Haha

- Haha

- Snipers are so annoying lol, golden goblin

- GG lol

The opponent lying on the ground was a gift package for Almond, carrying a lot of bows and arrows.

Almond could choose the ones he liked.

This time, it was a recurve bow, not a compound bow.

A more traditional bow, closer to the 'composite bow' used in archery.

It might have less power than a compound bow, but it allows for rapid firing.

It would be more advantageous when facing multiple opponents.

"Now, I'll take care of the rest."

Finally, he had obtained a bow and a large supply of arrows.

All that was left was to sweep through the armory.