Chapter 88 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"

31. Almond's Practice (2)

Platinum Tier 1, 55 Points.

This is Almond's current rank.

If he reaches 100 points from 55, he can challenge the next promotion match.

However, the promotion from Platinum to Diamond is not a promotion match but a promotion battle.

Instead of three matches, he has to play a total of five, and even if he ranks first, he must defend his position in one more match. It's quite a tough journey.

However, the 9,000 viewers who joined this journey showed no signs of worry.

Instead, they were filled with anticipation and excitement.

- Can Almond really make it to Diamond today?

- Absolutely possible.

- This is a real record. Just holding a bow, he made it to Diamond in a week. Hahaha.

- Really. He did a bow challenge in Kingdom too... wow.

- Go, Almond!

- It's going to be so exciting.

- Are you going to make it to Diamond today?!

* * *

Thump, thump, thump...

'It sounds just like a heartbeat.'

Almond thought as he listened to the loud noise of the transport helicopter's propellers.

'There it is.'

He looked down in a familiar posture, gauging the spot where he would land.

Thud, thud.

In the midst of this, Almond was jumping up and down inside the helicopter, warming up his body.

"Alright! Let's go down!!!"

"Jump!!!"

"Damn it, kid! Don't hesitate and jump!!!"

The NPC soldiers started bellowing.

In the past, he would have been startled and pushed out by the noise.

But now, Almond was very calm.

He checked every part of his body, even his fingers, as if preparing for a thorough check, using the harsh curses as background music.

'Today, I'm in top condition.'

Even after rechecking, it was still the best.

Since the game directly uses brain waves, the condition has a significant impact.

In that sense, Almond's performance today is something he himself is looking forward to.

'It's a jungle.'

A quick glance down showed that it wasn't the usual desert map.

This was a jungle with an Amazon feel. However, the basic structure was the same.

'The armory.'

There was an armory here too. Almond had never changed his strategy for the jungle map.

He always aimed for the armory first.

Thud.

He completed his landing preparation.

"Jump! Jump, you brat!!!"

The usual bellow came from behind.

Without a moment's hesitation, Almond threw himself into the air.

Whoosh──

The fierce wind hit his ears violently.

In the midst of this, Almond glanced to the sides.

'As expected.'

It wasn't just one or two.

The number of people who jumped down with Almond at the same time.

"Hey!"

"I want to be Almond when I grow up!!!"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

They were probably snipers.

Almond, who leads 9,000 viewers, must now get used to such sniping.

Or perhaps, he was already used to it.

'Let's see how this goes.'

Almond tilted his center of gravity to the right. As a result, his body flew to the right.

In the direction of the sniper who had just greeted him.

"Wh-what? Bro! What are you doing?!"

"What do you mean, 'bro'?"

As soon as the sniping started, the sniper was flustered.

"Why did you give away that you were a sniper?"

Almond laughed and spat out a line, then clung more intensely to the right.

He grabbed the sniper's parachute bag strap.

Almond bent his body flexibly and kicked the sniper's face with his foot.

Smack!

"Ugh! Bro! What are you doing?!"

A scream burst from the squished face.

- Haha!

- Wow! What kind of trick is this?

- Crazy!

- The sniper is so embarrassed! Hahaha.

Smack! Smack!

A series of kicks followed.

Finally, the sniper's parachute bag was stripped off.

Pfft.

Meanwhile, Almond's and the other players' parachutes opened automatically.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!? Bro, I'm dying──"

The sniper fell to the ground and splattered like ketchup.

- Bro, I'm dying! Hahaha. The sniper's dignity until the end...

- Wow! Next!

- Wow, man! Hahaha.

- Oh yeah! Ketchup ending!

- Hahaha.

That was the sniper's true end.

'Wow... so intense.'

'What just happened?'

'...Shut up.'

Those who tried to draw attention by revealing they were snipers all shut their mouths.

The descent by parachute became much quieter.

* * *

Thud.

Almond landed at the armory with a familiar movement, as usual.

Now he knew exactly where to land to block the underground warehouse in the shortest time.

And he knew where to go to get the bow first.

This was the advantage of repeating the same strategy.

He became proficient.

"This time, there are so many people. I'll grab the bow first."

When to grab the bow first and when to grab a knife and rush to the underground warehouse.

He could make the best judgment in all situations in a short time.

Because he had done it so many times.

Almond headed straight for the second floor of the armory this time.

The first floor was too competitive.

On the second floor, the recurve bow often appeared. This time, Almond picked up the recurve bow.

Without the power suit, it's hard to shoot far.

'But I've practiced.'

To properly use the rapid-fire technique he had honed, the recurve bow, a more traditional bow, was better.

"Looks like the entrance to the underground warehouse is crowded again."

Almond said this and held a rope.

He didn't go down to the first floor.

"From what I saw last time, there's no need to go into that abyss."

He planned to use a more advanced strategy.

Like when he killed the Stupid Five Brothers, he would shoot arrows from the second-floor railing to kill everyone.

This was a skill he had mastered by repeatedly rushing to the armory.

The viewers called this tactic "Hill Tank."

- Wow! Hill Tank! Hahaha.

- Do the underground warehouse jugglers have PTSD? Hahaha.

- Hardcore tank! Hahaha.

- What? What's a hardcore tank? Hahaha.

Almond leaned out from the railing. His field of view was wide, but the position was too precarious to shoot the bow.

Originally, if he used the standard archery form, it would have been.

Creak.

But today, Almond shot in a new position.

A bit more free, faster, and suitable for a bloody war.

Such archery.

- Oh... the position is different today?

- Something has changed?

- This position is precarious.

- If this gets clipped, it could be a chain reaction!

The string, held in the new position, trembled and pushed the bow.

Bang!

An arrow flew through the wind and pierced the head of a player entering the underground warehouse.

"Choke!"

The first kill.

"What! A bowman on the hill!"

"Damn. It's Almond!?"

In the sacred armory where everyone aimed for the underground warehouse jackpot, only Almond did such things.

Almond's fingers moved gracefully.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three rapid shots in an instant.

Three arrows shot out in different directions.

Almond's kill log rose rapidly.

- Wow. The rapid shots are even faster?

- Without the power suit. What the heck?

- Impressive.

- Headshots on all of them... I'm not surprised anymore.

- Why is he better than yesterday? Wow.

It was truly a ghostly archery skill.

"......Crazy."

"What is that? Is that a bow?"

"Ah! Just go somewhere else! This game is messed up!"

- Extreme praise! Hahaha.

- Hahaha. Extreme praise appears!

- Hahaha. The game is already won.

Almond smiled at their words.

"Go somewhere else."

And with a smile, he pulled the bowstring again.

Bang!!

Another four players died instantly.

Some were throwing axes or knives in resistance.

But he showed a bizarre feat by deflecting them all with arrows.

After that, no one wasted time.

'This won't work.'

'He's a monster. Crazy.'

'Just rush to the warehouse.'

Hoping Almond wouldn't target them, they risked their lives to break through to the underground warehouse.

Some even fled outside the armory.

"You, you wait and see!"

Rather than dying here, they planned for the future.

- Wait and see! Hahaha.

- Wait and see appears! Hahaha.

- Continuous extreme praise!

- King, wait and see! Hahaha.

After those who fled had gone and those who entered had entered.

The entrance to the underground warehouse was empty.

- Oh! The underground warehouse!

- Did he get the underground warehouse in the end?

- Hurry up and go down!

- But a lot of people already went in.

Almond tied the rope to the railing here.

Holding the rope, he dropped straight to the first floor.

Whoosh!

Drawing a large arc, Almond landed on the first floor.

While Almond was coming down the stairs, some who tried to break through here just fled with their faces twisted.

- He even thought of this.

- Good use of the rope. Now he's a real veteran! Hahaha.

- Those who tried to attack with a time delay are doomed! Hahaha.

- Wow, so cool.

The dark darkness of the underground warehouse entered Almond's eyes.

The entrance to the always crowded underground warehouse of the armory was now wide open in front of Almond.

'Should I go in?'

He was considering whether to enter or just bring a motorcycle or something to set it on fire as usual.

Oops.

A lot of time had been spent.

Almond, who was about to leave the armory, flinched at something he saw on the map.

"......This time, it's shrinking to where I am."

- Wow! A new world!

- Wow! How is this possible!

- Incredible!

- Hahaha. Everyone's reaction is so funny.

- This is normal......

- Unbelievable. Almond is so lucky! This is a bug!

It was a very rare occurrence.

Almond's head turned back to the dark entrance of the underground warehouse.

'There's time to go in.'

* * *

Inside the underground warehouse.

There was a wall of countless corpses on the stairs leading down.

It seemed that five out of the ten who died early died here.

"......Intense."

Almond, who had never entered the underground warehouse before, flinched and muttered.

- Oh, really?

- I didn't notice because he came in so naturally. Hahaha.

- Really, why did he come in?

- Yeah, Hahaha. He usually brings a motorcycle or something and just sets the armory on fire!

That's right.

Almond didn't use the underground warehouse, called the "treasure warehouse" inside the armory.

He just set it on fire so others couldn't get the treasures.

"Oh. That's right. I thought there was nothing useful for me. But there are some good weapons in here. I might be able to use them."

- Power suit?

- Did he get a taste of the power suit? Hahaha.

- That only appears once in a while......

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

It seemed that a battle was already taking place inside the basement.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Gunshots rang out one after another.

"......It doesn't seem like there's a power suit."

Only the sound of gunfire could be heard.

The distinctive heavy boom of the power suit was not heard.

- Of course......

- It really only appears once in a while. Hahaha.

- Almond is a kid...... He wants a power suit......

Almond knew it only appeared once in a while.

But if it was there, it would be a sure win, so he couldn't help but try.

'Then, I'll take some grenades or flares.'

The armory didn't just have guns.

It also had a large stock of grenades, flares, and smoke bombs.

Almond could use those quite well.

If he went in and picked up those, it would be a big help later.

There was a problem, though.

The inside of the treasure warehouse would be hell by now. Players armed with hero-grade weapons would be fighting a bloody battle.

Even Almond, with just a bow, might not be able to win.

"It'll be fine. I've practiced."

- Oh......!

- Practiced?!

- What, what?

- Haha. Practiced? I've never heard that before! Hahaha.

"It's not that, but I've practiced hard, so it should be better."

Everyone could tell from the first arrow Almond shot as soon as he entered what he meant by "practiced."