Chapter 30 of The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1

Chapter 11. War (4)

The Almond Field.

In this plain to the left of the enemy camp, only the sounds of arrows and screams echoed.

Whoosh— Thud!

“Gah!”

“Ahh!”

Well-trained soldiers fell like a disorganized mob. Of the forty enemies who had swarmed, only three remained.

This meant that Almond had almost killed close to a hundred by himself.

-How many is this now...

-He’s amazing

-OMG

-Bro, I’m dead!

-Is it even possible to get 100 consecutive headshots?

The record of 100 consecutive headshots in Kingdom.

Almond was now on the verge of breaking this record. It was a truly tense moment.

“It’s 770,000 won now.”

However, Almond calmly stated the amount he had earned, showing no signs of being affected.

His eyes saw nothing but the heads of his targets, and his ears heard nothing but the wind to gauge direction.

Whoosh?

The wind touching his skin indicated the direction.

Where to shoot.

Creak...

Almond aimed at one of the remaining three.

“Damn it!”

He chose to fight to the death rather than flee. With a determined look, he raised his sword and charged at Almond—

—Thud!

But Almond’s arrow had already pierced his skull.

“Damn it! Just run!”

“I’m already running!”

The remaining two, terrified, started to flee. If they had all forty men, they might have been prepared to die together.

Would they have caught Almond then?

Perhaps.

But it was too late to think about that now.

“Gah...”

With a final scream, one of the remaining two fell.

The soldier running alongside him let out a “Hiiik!” and ran even faster.

Almond was still aiming his bow at them.

However, Almond soon lowered his bow.

“...Ah. I’m out of arrows.”

From the enemy’s perspective, it was lucky. Almond had been given 80 arrows.

One of them was used to hit another soldier’s arrow.

-Ah, damn

-Haha, he barely survived

-Ba-jot-da!

-Yeah, he let him go lol

Without arrows, the archer had nothing to do for a while. Until he could gather more arrows.

So the viewers thought Almond’s massacre would stop here.

The shy Lü Bu, who had set a mission, sighed in relief.

-Phew, haha

But that relief was premature.

Almond had no intention of stopping here.

Thud—

Almond suddenly started running forward.

-???

-Chasing after them?!

-OMG

-He’s relentless, so relentless!

He decided to chase after the remaining one to the enemy camp to kill him.

The fleeing soldier glanced back.

“Hiiik!”

He ran even faster, as if running for his life. It was a desperate gesture.

“Ugh! Ah! Ah!”

Saliva and a filthy scream poured out of his mouth.

-Hahahaha

-Come on, show us the AI implementation.

-This is why I play Kingdom!

-It feels so real!

-LOL

The realistic reactions of the NPCs thrilled the viewers.

The enemies in Kingdom acted like real people, becoming ruthless when they had the upper hand and utterly cowardly when they were at a disadvantage.

This added realism to the game.

-Anyone would do that if Almond was chasing them with a fire, haha

-So scary, man

-He killed all our comrades, give him a break!

-Haha

The viewers even began to empathize with the fleeing soldier. Given Almond’s relentless pursuit, he seemed almost like a ghost.

Almond, running like a 100-meter sprinter, suddenly changed his stance. He bent down.

‘Found it.’

His hand reached out to a stray arrow stuck in the ground.

Thud.

He quickly picked it up.

It was immediately nocked to the bowstring. Almond’s aim remained steady even while running.

Creak—

The bowstring was slowly drawn. The tension in the string vibrated slightly at his fingertips as he ran at the same speed as his target. The tension was taut.

Almond took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and then released the tension.

—Twang!

-!!

-Oh!

-OMG

-Shot!

-SSSS!

The arrow hit the exact center of the back of the target’s head.

“...Huh!”

The 80th enemy fell without even managing to let out a final scream. The momentum of his run carried him forward, and he tumbled, becoming a fallen corpse.

Almond, who had finally stopped running, said:

“It’s 800,000 won.”

* * *

After killing about 20 more, Almond reached 1,000,000 won.

[Shy Lü Bu has generously donated ‘1,000,000 won’!]

[Evandeh... :’(]

-Hahahahaha

-Shy Lü Bu lol

-Lü Bu cut!

-Hahahahaha

-1,000,000 won, wow! Hahaha

Naturally, the war was won.

With one soldier killing 100 enemies, the battle couldn’t have gone well for the enemy.

The cheers of the allies echoed across the field.

“Uaaaaaah!”

No one was specifically chanting Almond’s name. None of them knew that Almond had killed over a hundred by himself.

“Lorbern! Lorbern!”

Instead, the soldiers chanted the name of Lorbern, the knight who led this war.

As the commander, it was only natural.

-Tsk...

-Haha, those ignorant bastards lol

-Almond did all that and lol

-Damn!

-That’s why they don’t do the revolution, really lol

The viewers were disappointed. Sanghyun couldn’t help but feel the same way.

‘What? I killed 100, and no one knows?’

He understood.

Experiencing the war firsthand, it was chaotic. Everyone was entangled, and using blunt weapons to hit each other was the most efficient.

War was utter chaos.

There was no time to think about what was happening or whether you were hitting an ally.

No one knew if Almond had killed 100 or 1,000.

“Haha, even so, being treated like a mercenary team is really something.”

Romain added from the side.

He had approached Almond, placed a hand on his shoulder, and sighed.

“Being treated like a mercenary... What do you mean?”

“We did a lot, but they’re just giving us the basic pay and telling us to leave.”

Romain seemed to think the mercenary team wasn’t being properly rewarded for their efforts.

“What have they done...”

While Romain was venting his frustration,

“Is that a complaint?”

Another knight who was assisting Commander Lorbern approached.

His gaze from atop his horse was not friendly.

“What’s the complaint about getting the agreed-upon amount?”

“There’s a clause for additional rewards for outstanding performance.”

Romain replied firmly.

“Outstanding performance? What outstanding performance can a mercenary team have in a battlefield where knights fight? Do you think we don’t know you’re holding back?”

The knight was indeed harsh.

Mercenaries generally hold back in battle. Their bodies are their assets, and they are often in situations where the fight isn’t their own. This makes them hard to trust.

“What do you mean by holding back? How did you entrust us with the war if you distrust us so much? It’s dishonorable to trust us during the war and then distrust us after it’s over.”

“...What?”

That was a prejudice. Many mercenaries fight well. Otherwise, how would the mercenary system be maintained?

“He killed a hundred alone. Do you still think we were holding back? Do you think there was no outstanding performance?”

“Killed a hundred alone?”

Ha ha ha. The knight laughed loudly, making sure everyone heard. He mocked, “He killed a hundred alone?!”

His comrades naturally followed suit.

-Ah, I want to kill that guy, recommend a route lol

-Why not just shoot him now? Haha

-Too invested

The viewers, as well as Romain, were visibly angry.

But Romain couldn’t argue further. The difference in status meant that further argument would only cause harm.

Getting the basic pay was better than nothing, even if it was dirty and cheap.

“I get the gist...”

Just as he was about to concede,

“Move! Let go!”

Squeak...

The enemy commander, wearing a golden helmet, was dragged across the ground.

“Let go!”

Thud.

He pushed away the mercenary who was dragging him and stood up.

“I will go.”

“...”

The mercenaries flinched at the arrogant attitude typical of nobles. The difference in rank was a stigma ingrained in their minds.

In this era, even if the enemy was an enemy, a noble couldn’t be killed casually.

Their ransom was enormous.

Thud, thud.

The golden helmet, brushing off the dirt from his armor, walked up to Lorbern, the commander.

“Are you the commander here?”

“Yes.”

His tone was as elegant as his conceited helmet. He seemed to be of a higher rank than Lorbern.

“Ultimately, you won. You shamelessly took my family’s castle without any justification and killed all my soldiers...”

The golden helmet spoke as if his life was of no value, but his bold and dignified tone left no room for rebuttal.

“...Now that you’ve killed them all, are you satisfied?!”

The knight, who had been silent, finally tried to retort.

“Talorant treated the people of this estate...”

“Enough. I just want to talk to Jannellet, bring her here.”

The golden helmet cut him off and suddenly asked for Jannellet.

“That’s not possible.”

Almond blurted out without realizing it. It was a scene that would naturally play out in the story, regardless of Sanghyun’s will.

The golden helmet, looking at Almond with a “Who are you?” expression, was shocked.

“!?”

His eyes widened as if they would pop out. He seemed to recognize Almond.

“You...?”

The knights couldn’t understand why their enemy commander was surprised by Almond.

He was just a mere mercenary, and an archer at that.

Knights generally looked down on archers. With good armor, arrows were useless.

Moreover, it wasn’t honorable.

But the enemy commander seemed to think differently.

“Are you a knight as well?”

“No.”

“Then why do you say it’s not possible?”

“...”

“Or, if you’re not a knight, what are you?”

Romain answered for him.

“I’m a mercenary in our mercenary team.”

“...Oh?”

The word “mercenary” seemed to make the golden helmet more pleased than disdainful.

After all, a knight couldn’t be taken, but a mercenary could be hired with money.

The knights, on the other hand, looked at the golden helmet with curiosity, wondering why he was so interested in a mere mercenary.

“A man who can kill 100 soldiers alone is just a mercenary?”

“!?”

This statement surprised not only the knights but also Almond.

‘He knows?’

It turned out the enemy knew of his achievements. Perhaps it was natural, given they were the direct victims.

-Only the victims remember, lol

-Feels good, man

-The knights might finally recognize him, hah

-Oh! The enemy commander recognizes him as an honorable enemy!

-Honorable enemy, lol

The viewers welcomed the golden helmet’s testimony, but

“What... Is this a joke?”

“A mercenary killing 100...”

“Tsk, indeed.”

The knights all thought the golden helmet was joking.

“You don’t believe it. Do you really want to work with such people?”

The golden helmet smiled and took off his helmet.

His long hair, tied up, flowed down. It shimmered in a dark color.

It was like the faint evening sky, and his features were perfectly chiseled, flawless.

His eyes, bold yet deep, showed no sign of wavering even after defeat.

Instead, they were calm, and a presence that couldn’t be hidden by even the thickest armor emanated from him.

-It’s Rosalita!

-Of course!

-Hahaha

-She was on the Talorant side

-Wow

The viewers recognized her as a character mentioned before.

The noble lady of the house opposing Emilia, the second heroine.

“What do you think about working with me?”

It was Rosalita.

[1. It’s an honor to have my value recognized.]

[2. Though I’m a mere mercenary, I have already pledged my loyalty.]