Chapter 33 of Season 1: The Streaming of the Genius Archer

13. Knight (1)

Naturally, the chat window's scroll bar went crazy at Emilia's sudden action.

Tap-tap-tap.

The sound of typing seemed to ring in the ears.

-Ohhhhh!

-Did she snap?! Emilia!

-Damn ㅠ

-Aaaaah!

-Hahaha

-I'm already dead!

-What?!!!

-What the 129?!!!

-Runnnn!

-Uuuuuuahaha

...Of course, Sanghyun's thoughts were not much different from those of the viewers.

'This is no joke, right?'

No matter how much time Almond and Emilia had spent together for three days, Sanghyun had not experienced it.

It had simply been indicated by a black screen with "3 days later" written on it.

"Emilia."

Almond's mouth moved on its own, a honey-dripping voice flowing out.

"I've come back victorious."

-Just a moment ago, he was struggling with choices ㅋㅋ

-Wow, what a voice ㅋㅋ

-Suddenly true love? ㅋㅋㅋ

-Hahaha, method acting

-If you get caught... you're dead!

While the viewers teased him playfully, Almond steadfastly gazed at Emilia, as if he were about to drown in her lake-like eyes.

"You did well. Really."

Emilia also looked into his eyes as she spoke.

Her face drew closer and closer.

The surrounding knights cheered.

-Aaaaah!

-Whoa!

-I'm dying!

-Here she comes ㅠㅠ

As Emilia's beautiful face came as close as possible, the screen slowly turned black.

It had transitioned to another scene.

-Oh! Show it! Show it!

-Damn!

-This is when a first-person VR view would be better ㅋㅋ

-Aaaaaah

Amidst the viewers' complaints, the next scene showed Almond riding back to the original estate in a carriage.

Unlike before, Almond was not riding in the carriage with Emilia.

He was riding a horse, guarding the carriage procession.

Additionally, the knights' attitude towards him had changed.

Those who had previously looked down on him as a mercenary now approached him as if they were friends.

"You're the archer who shot 100 men? Really impressive, friend."

"Ah, yes."

It was like that.

Roman snorted from the side, as if amused.

Hmph.

Just a moment ago, they had refused to acknowledge his achievements.

"The enemy even recognized our castle's achievements. Well, not the castle's, but yours specifically."

"If you hadn't fought at the front, how could I have shot 100 men?"

Almond responded formally, but Roman seemed deeply impressed.

He rode up beside Almond, patted his shoulder, and bowed his head.

"Thank you, Almond. Your words give the mercenary company strength."

"You speak as if I'm not part of the mercenary company. I am a mercenary, after all."

"Well... it seems you're not just a mercenary anymore..."

Roman smiled and looked at the carriage Emilia was in.

"Well, it's up to you."

"?"

At that moment, Almond still didn't understand what Roman meant.

"Anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, our mercenary company has earned enough money to not work for four months."

Roman smiled warmly and urged his horse forward.

-Roman... he even seems friendly now.

-You're not like this. You devil!

-Strip off your human skin, devil!

-Hahahaha

-Your reaction is hilarious ㅋㅋ

-Roman is going too far.

* * *

A little while later.

Returning to Janneret's estate, Almond entered the inner part of the castle with Emilia.

All the way to the banquet hall used only by the castle's owners.

"Emilia, this is..."

"Please wait a moment."

Almond, who had never been formally invited to such a place before, felt awkward, but Emilia tightly held his hand and went out for a moment.

She returned with her father.

"!"

Almond couldn't help but tense up.

"Is it you? I've heard a lot about you."

Her father treated Almond kindly, showing no prejudice against mercenaries or those of low status.

"You did well. Very well."

Heh heh.

Emilia's father laughed and patted Almond's back.

Even though he was treated kindly, Almond couldn't relax.

'What is this?'

Perhaps because he was a mercenary who didn't know proper dining etiquette, he had to follow the dining etiquette like a mini-game during the meal.

It was a performance that included a bit of puzzle and button action.

The meal was as intense as the climax of a mediocre action game.

Fortunately, Sanghyun cleared all the challenges and finished the meal excellently.

After a brief cut scene.

Sanghyun expressed his tension to the viewers through the microphone.

"Wow... meeting the father-in-law would be like this, I guess."

After a long silence, his words made the viewers laugh.

-Hahahaha

-Marriage simulator

-Hahaha, meeting the father-in-law game...

-Why would you play such a game ㅋㅋ

-This is so realistic

-It's like a real holiday simulator.

-Holiday simulator ㅋㅋ

While Almond was reading the chat and chuckling, a sudden question appeared.

"...What do you think about becoming a knight?"

A choice appeared with the question.

[1. Of course. Gladly.]

[2. I prefer the life of a mercenary.]

Sanghyun paused the game for a moment.

"What is this?"

As if his words were a signal, numerous comments appeared in the chat window.

-Wow ㅋㅋㅋ

-There's a knight route?!

-Amazing!

-I heard there was one, but I didn't expect it to come so soon ㅋㅋ

-I've never seen it before...

-I think it hasn't been shown on the stream. Because it appears very late in the game... ㅋㅋ

-No one played Kingdom until then...

-Is this almost the ending?

-Now even the mercenary captain has to use honorifics ㅋㅋ

Almond carefully read through the comments.

'Will becoming a knight here lead to the ending?'

It made sense. Wandering around as a mercenary was the main content, so if he wasn't a mercenary, the game couldn't progress.

At least not in the same way.

In other words, this was the ending choice for this episode.

'The time has come...'

He had thought that choosing Emilia would lead to a quick ending, but not to this extent.

-I hope he continues as a mercenary.

-But for this episode, it might be better to see the knight ending and play again.

-I'm curious about the knight ending.

-2222

-1, of course.

-1, definitely.

The viewers' opinions were varied.

Sanghyun also wasn't sure what to do. In such situations, there was always a trick.

"I'll end the stream here. Goodbye!"

Immediately, he ended the stream.

-????

-What a timing.

-Choking. Really?

-No, this psycho...

-Hahahaha

-Really???

-If Almond decides to do it, he will ㅋㅋ

-He has never gone back on ending a stream ㅋㅋ

-Ugh, now I have to wait until the next stream ㅋㅋ

[Streaming Ended]

* * *

Squeak.

Almond emerged from the capsule, not drenched in sweat as usual because there were no battle scenes today.

Moreover, the streaming time itself wasn't very long.

'I think I cut it off well.'

However, Sanghyun was satisfied with today's stream.

The timing of the cut was incredible, even to him.

"Hey, you did well. It was fun today."

As soon as he came out, Kim Joo-hyuk greeted him.

He had thought Sanghyun would end the stream earlier, but he was still awake.

"Really? There were no battle scenes. That's a relief."

"How can you always do battles?"

Kim Joo-hyuk turned on the community reaction as if to show it.

[Is Almond's timing for ending the stream real?]

[Oh, he cuts it off here ㅋㅋ]

[Bad guy, Almond.]

[The worst streamer, Almond.]

While some people playfully cursed him, most of the reactions were very positive.

[Summary of the situation where Almond received a knighthood offer from Emilia.txt]

An article about Almond receiving a knighthood offer from Emilia was already at the top of the best posts.

"I always speak based on data. Got it?"

Joo-hyuk showed him a graph of the increase in viewer traffic, as if to prove his point.

"Do you know how I analyze it?"

"No, I don't. I don't understand it when I see it."

Sanghyun, who felt seasick at the sight of numbers, didn't want to see or hear it.

"No, listen."

Joo-hyuk, starting with this, talked for an hour, mentioning all sorts of mathematical formulas.

Among all the words, only one phrase caught Sanghyun's attention.

"Oh, right. I got a call from the manager."

"Manager?"

"Manager Oh. The one who chose you as a partner streamer."

"Oh!"

"It's done. They said they would adjust and pay the editor's salary."

"!"

Sanghyun didn't have enough income to pay Seo Ji-a's base salary yet.

He had to rely entirely on Funky, his partner.

It seemed that the issue of the editor's salary, which he had inquired about, had been approved.

"It was a condition they proposed, so it's natural."

It was a natural progression, but it felt different knowing it had been officially approved.

Sanghyun felt relieved.

"I'll go there tomorrow. We'll do various recordings."

"Good. Let's go to bed early today."

They went to their respective rooms and lay down.

The next morning.

A headline article appeared on the front page of a game-related portal site.

[Breaking News] Almond, Selected as a Partner Streamer by Funky!

* * *

Funky.

A leading game distribution company, both domestically and internationally.

More accurately, a game platform company.

Originally, it was a company that operated almost as a monopoly without much strategy.

However, with the recent fierce competition from High Games, it has been focusing on promotion, marketing, and exclusive launch strategies.

[Breaking News] Almond, Selected as a Partner Streamer by Funky!

One of these strategies is the partner streamer.

Recruiting popular streamers on a partner contract to play games promoted by Funky regularly.

-Wow, top-tier;

-Wow. So he's on the same level as Balloon Gum?

-Wow. He became a partner with just Kingdom ㅋㅋ

-So he'll have regular homework now.

-Really? Wow, Almond is really making it.

-Now Almond is part of Funky ㅋㅋ

└Funky ㅋㅋ

└Oh, calling Funky's roster 'Funky' is a 'village killer' move.

└Insider;;

└Commander of the Three Provinces

└President of Seoul University Student Council

└Pretending to be real.

└This guy is really it ㅋㅋ

As the comments on the article suggest.

Becoming a partner streamer for Funky is not just a matter of "Oh, he got an ad."

-Is it possible with about 1,000 regular viewers?

└It will soon be 2,000.

└It's not easy to get 1,000 viewers with Kingdom. It would be different if he played a major game.

-They seem to have high expectations ㅋㅋ

-It seems a bit exaggerated...

-Almond is doing well.

For Almond, who had just managed to maintain about 1,000 regular viewers, it was a generous contract.

However, the reason the partner contract was signed was largely due to Manager Oh of Funky.

'If he can revive a game like Kingdom, what can't he do?'

This was what Manager Oh said in a meeting, and the decision-makers had no choice but to agree.

They had all watched Almond's videos and observed his skills.

They were curious.

What would happen if they gave Almond a major game to play?

-Will he do the homework game in today's stream?

└On the first day? ㅋㅋ

└Since they even wrote an article, he probably will.

-Will he stop playing Kingdom? ㅠㅠ

└Whether he becomes a knight or not, he should decide and stop!

Now that Almond was a partner streamer, the viewers expected him to try various other games.

The key was which game he would play.

He had challenged a minor pick like Kingdom, so would he now play a major pick, or continue to solidify his position as a streamer who only plays minor games?

[List of games Almond might play today]

[Honestly, if he drops Kingdom, he'll skyrocket.]

[How about a martial arts game? ㅋㅋ]

[Drop this trash game and soar!]

[With 1,000 viewers now, he'll really take off if he drops Kingdom.]

[No! Don't go! Abandon Emilia!? Live happily with Emilia!]

Even on Kingchi, which had become Almond's main base, discussions about other games besides Kingdom started to appear.

-When will Almond start his stream today?

-No one knows...

-I'm going crazy;

-Let's finish things with Emilia, Almond...

Even in his stream channel, where the broadcast hadn't started yet, chats were going back and forth.

However, the news they were waiting for did not come through a live stream.

[Hello, this is Almond.]

Instead, a video with this title appeared on Almond's newly created Alltube channel.

Seo Ji-a, who had received the payment, had started working.