Chapter 32 of Season 1 of The Genius Archer's Streaming

12. Choice (2)

"First... come in."

The house where Grandma and Sanghyun lived was slightly less than thirty pyeong in size.

So, it was quite large for one person. There was no problem with Juhyeok coming in either.

There was no need to change the position of the capsule, and the damp, heavy atmosphere even brightened up a bit.

Juhyeok was particularly excited.

"Hey, shall we order chicken for dinner today?"

It seemed that just leaving the house was fun for Juhyeok. Living away from his parents was something he hadn't done since his study abroad days, so it made sense.

Moreover, living with a friend was something he had never done before.

At the age of over thirty, it was embarrassing, but he was as excited as a student on a school trip.

"Let's buy some beer too."

"..."

Sanghyun couldn't deny that he was quite happy to have Juhyeok come in.

Living alone was fun at first, but it could get quite lonely later on. Having a companion would certainly help with that.

Still, Sanghyun couldn't just let it go.

"Why don't you tell me why you moved out?"

He had said it was fine to live together, but he needed to know what this guy was thinking.

Living away from his parents at over thirty wasn't a big deal, but he wanted to know the reason.

"Hmm... I'll tell you later over drinks."

"I have a broadcast tomorrow, so I can't drink."

"Okay? Then let's drink the night before I have a break. Anyway, what are you going to do about the game?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're hesitating between Emilia and Rosalita, right?"

"Um..."

Sanghyun hadn't really thought about it.

"Does it really matter which one you choose? Hmm."

Taking advantage of the thought, he checked the community reactions. Searching for "Almond," a flood of posts appeared.

[Is the nut shake a human?]

[By my standards, Almond is a villain...]

[Ha, that's it. I'll stop there.]

[If you stop there and then betray Emilia, I'll come and stab you.]

...

The titles of the posts were quite intense.

Sanghyun chuckled but dismissed it. His mental fortitude wasn't so easily shaken by such playful criticisms.

"The reaction is quite heated."

"I've been thinking about the next game to play."

"Hmm? Next game?"

Juhyeok suddenly changed the topic.

"Yeah, look at this."

He connected his laptop to a hologram projector and displayed several screens.

"Wow..."

This was the equipment used nowadays instead of large monitors. It was more convenient to see various information at once and was more intuitive.

As Juhyeok swiped his finger on the touchpad, the holograms rotated, displaying multiple pieces of information.

They were about the classification and characteristics of Sanghyun's broadcast viewers.

The format was the same as what he used at Aseong Corporation, making it easy for Sanghyun to understand.

"Hmm... So?"

"The conclusion is this."

Ding.

All the cluttered windows disappeared, and a single screen floated.

[Battle Large]

The screen was playing a teaser video of the game.

A survival game with 100 participants.

Just hearing about it made one's heart race.

"Not bad? Want to try it out first?"

Sanghyun suggested playing it in the capsule without much thought, but Juhyeok shot him down.

"No way!"

"..."

Sanghyun looked back with an expression of 'Really, to this extent?'

"Don't you know what your viewers want?"

"They want you to play well."

"It's not just about playing well. You're a genius, a genius!"

"..." What's the difference between being good and being a genius?"

Juhyeok, looking frustrated, pushed up his rimless glasses.

"Just being good can come from practice. But the geniuses we know, they were just naturally talented from the start."

"Oh, I practice. My archery skills are also from practice—"

"No! At least for this game, you need to show that you're a beginner. But you can't act and you can't lie. So, just start as a real beginner."

"???"

Sanghyun looked bewildered.

'Even if Kingdom Age is like that...'

Kingdom Age is a package game. It's natural to be a beginner when you start.

But Battle Large is completely different. It's an online PVP game.

A game where players compete against each other, and the problem is that it's been out for almost two years.

So-called veterans have emerged, and the skill gap is huge, making it difficult for beginners to enter.

Asking a complete novice like Sanghyun to do well in such a game is an excessive request.

Other players have been playing for a while and have put in effort. How could Sanghyun, who knows nothing, do better than them?

This was Sanghyun's thought, but from a third-person perspective, it was different.

"You set a new record when you first played Kingdom Age. Why can't you do the same with Battle Large?"

"..." I'm only good at archery, and this is a shooting game, right? Basically."

Sanghyun nodded.

Battle Large is a shooting game.

It's unknown what advantage Sanghyun, who only knows how to shoot arrows, would have.

"No. Look at this."

Juhyeok displayed a few analysis videos.

A video of Sanghyun riding a horse and shooting enemies.

"Does this seem related to archery? Well, maybe a little. But could your archery friends do this?"

"..."

Sanghyun almost blurted out, 'They can do it,' but upon further thought, it didn't seem likely.

Archery is a very static sport.

People don't generally think that archery players would be good at soccer.

The play in the video also seemed unrelated to archery.

"Hmm... I've been running a simulation training program, and this is the result."

"Simulation training program?"

It was the first time Juhyeok had heard of it.

"There's a built-in one. I run it periodically because it's well-optimized."

Sanghyun explained that he clears the simulation at the highest difficulty every day.

Juhyeok searched for the name of the program Sanghyun mentioned.

"Hey... what's your score?"

The simulation training program gives a score at the end.

"Around 12,000 points?"

"Insane."

Whoosh.

New data appeared on the hologram screen.

"This program isn't for experts... but you're in first place?"

"What?"

Sanghyun looked at the data closely, not believing it.

The hologram pixels wouldn't change just by looking closely. The data remained the same.

At the top, Almond's body verification serial code was written.

'I'm... in first place?'

Kingdom Age doesn't have a ranking system. There's no standard to determine what a good play is.

Even though he set a new record, it didn't feel real.

From Sanghyun's perspective, it was always like that, so setting a new record didn't feel particularly impressive.

But seeing the exact "1st place" label was a completely different feeling.

"Wow..."

He stepped back, stunned, and couldn't speak for a while.

"So, I'm right, right?"

"What?"

"You have an incredible talent in this field, regardless of archery! You can just start Battle Large after watching a guide video. Absolutely..."

Juhyeok, excited that his opinion was correct, rambled on.

But as always, Juhyeok's words didn't register in Sanghyun's ears.

'1st place...'

The thrill of being in first place was resonating more deeply in his heart than he expected.

* * *

Sanghyun decided to start his broadcast a bit earlier today to test which time slot had the best influx of viewers.

"I'm going in."

"Okay."

It felt surprisingly good to have someone to say goodbye to when entering the capsule.

The fact that the person was Kim Juhyeok, who spoke like a calculator, was quite annoying, but it was still better than nothing.

Creak—

The lid closed, and the surroundings darkened as a new world opened up.

[Daily Training Protocol Initiated]

The simulation he had set up automatically started as soon as he entered.

Sanghyun cleared the full course as if jogging.

[13,112]

A score of over 13,000 points was recorded.

'...Is this a new record?'

This training protocol isn't competitive, so the system doesn't show a score chart.

But now Sanghyun knew.

The 12,000 points he had set was the top score.

And he had broken it today.

Very easily.

Feeling dazed, he stood there for a moment.

[From Juhyeok: Watch the Battle Large guide video before starting the broadcast.]

Ding.

Juhyeok sent a video link.

Sanghyun moved his hand to click on the video.

Whoosh—

The sound of strong wind and 100 players falling.

They immediately started running in all directions after deploying their parachutes.

They picked up weapons and shot at each other when they met. Sometimes, they implicitly didn't attack if the other was far away.

'Looks fun...'

Thump—

Sanghyun's heart raced.

It was a completely different feeling from watching