Chapter 41 of Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1

15. Solo First Place (3)

While a lot of donations were pouring in for Almond's stream,

a strange post appeared on the Battle Laji community.

It was written by a person named Kanpungjeongeu from the team 'Monday is Good'.

[Met a Pro in Stones Rating.gif]

A somewhat provocative title.

In contrast, the content of the post was almost entirely a GIF of Almond's play.

At the end, there was just one line: 'This person wiped out all four of us alone...'

-???

-Is that Stones?

└For reference) Stones is not a real rating.

-If that's the case, he could be considered a Master...

└Fact) Possible because the opponent was in Stones.

-Is he just a troll + noob hunter?

-Getting owned by that is more embarrassing, lol.

-There are people who get hit by compound bows too, lol.

-No, but how does he hit the top of the head from above? Is that even possible?

└Theoretically possible.

└It is possible. Haven't you seen movies like Three Kingdoms? lol.

The comments were mostly negative.

Rather than acknowledging Almond's skill, most opinions were mocking Kanpungjeongeu and his team.

In fact, this was a natural reaction.

This was the bottom-tier rating called Stones.

Where would you find a place that praises a beginner for a single good play?

But what if the opponent wasn't in Stones?

-I'm writing this, but I'm not in Stones. Our whole team was Diamond 1 last year.

└Lol, I'm Grand Master too.

└Phone Diamond, lol.

If the opponent was a player who reached Diamond last year, public opinion might have shifted a bit.

[I'm Kanpungjeongeu. I'm verifying.]

After Kanpungjeongeu's verification,

such signs began to appear.

-Oh? Is it really true?

-Kanpungjeongeu! Why are you here?

-Are you back?

-Who is this Kanpungjeongeu? You guys are just fans.

└Kanpungjeongeu doesn't even know. Just some random new guy.

└Caught a troll.

-Their team was quite famous in team ratings. They even participated in amateur tournaments. Didn't they disband last year because of real life?

└I'm writing this. We all came back today.

└Why?

└We all failed the civil service exam, damn it...

└Lol.

└Lol.

└Failed as a group, lol.

└In this world, I was an invincible Diamond 1 squad, but in real life, I'm a civil service exam taker?!

└Damn it...

Kanpungjeongeu, who was skilled and active in the community,

had a considerable following, so his verification had an immediate effect.

-Then, who is this Stones?

-Yeah, even if they took a year off, they're an elite squad.

└Yeah, Monday is Good is definitely elite.

-But is it really possible? He killed everyone with a compound bow?

-The world is scary...

The next focus shifted to the mysterious archer.

The Stones archer with a compound bow who slaughtered a Diamond squad.

And he did it alone!

-Is he a returning player?

-What is he?

-What?

-He's probably a troll, lol.

Many were curious, but most assumed he was a returning player or a troll who deliberately lowered their rating to dominate.

[Found out who that Stones archer is! He's streaming.]

-He's a troll. I saw his stream.

└Lol.

-Really a troll? Disappointing.

-Report him.

Upon learning he was streaming, people became even more convinced.

Almond was a troll who slaughtered beginners in his stream.

* * *

Almond was farming diligently.

"Huh. Nothing here either."

But the results were not good.

-There must be someone who has been here from the start.

-LOL, how is there nothing?

-First aid kits are usually taken, so they're usually not there...

-Can't even get a gun, lol. There's nothing to take.

Actually, there were items, but they were weapons much better than the compound bow.

But they were useless to him.

[Mission: 1st place with a bow = 230,000 won]

[Mission: 1st place in solo squad = 170,000 won]

Because of these missions.

'Already 230,000 won?'

When he first set it, it was 100,000 won, but many people added more to the mission reward, thinking it was a safe bet.

'Combined, 400,000 won...? That's a lot.'

It was a significantly higher amount compared to the donations he usually received. He had never received such a high amount except from Seo Ji-a.

He checked the number of viewers at the bottom.

[Current viewers: 1,905]

The number of viewers suddenly increased to 1,900.

Almond had to manage his expression. Showing too much excitement would break the immersion for the viewers.

'When did it increase so much?'

He clearly saw the number drop to 1,100 when he changed the game mode. It even went down to 900 at one point.

Now it was 1,900.

-LOL, there's a bow mission, lol.

-Wow, this is Almond...

-First time seeing a troll... Who is he?

Looking at the chat more closely, many seemed to be seeing Almond for the first time.

'But why a troll...?'

Almond knew what a troll was.

He didn't understand why he was called a troll when he was trying his best to win.

'Where did they come from?'

In such cases, it was usually because of a specific community.

Almond didn't have the time to find out which community it was.

[The blue zone is shrinking.]

With only 15 players left, the blue zone began to shrink again.

Rumble──

With a heavy rumble, the players hiding in various places slowly started to move.

The space would soon become so cramped that they would have to fight each other.

Boom... Boom!

Gunfire began.

Squads were fighting each other.

Almond slowly opened the door and followed the sound.

Boom! Bang!

The gunfire continued, and five players were quickly eliminated.

[10/100]

Ten players remained.

He didn't know how many teams were left.

There could be ten different teams or just two.

"Let's go─"

As Almond turned the corner to move,

Bang.

He bumped heads with someone.

"!"

It was an enemy.

The surprised enemy fired a burst of shots, and Almond quickly threw himself back behind the corner.

Fortunately, the enemy's reaction was slow, and he didn't get hit.

But it was clear the enemy would come closer and shoot. Almond quickly hid and drew his bow.

Creak──

'...'

In a state of high tension, he waited for the enemy to come.

"Over there!!"

Bang!

Gunfire came from another direction.

"Ugh!"

Thud.

The enemy who had bumped into Almond was killed by another sniper.

His teammates covered him late, firing their rifles wildly.

Boom! Boom!

The confrontation between the two teams continued.

'The attention is off me?'

Almond was forgotten. This was an advantage of solo squad.

He peeked out from between the doors and fired his bow.

Whoosh!

From the enemies' perspective, his arrow appeared and disappeared in an instant.

"Huh...?"

The moment they thought, 'What's that...?'

Thud!

The arrow hit the forehead.

"Ah... damn."

The user 'Tangtangi' cursed and fell.

But he didn't die.

Most players at this stage had high-grade helmets.

His health was reduced by about half.

"There's an archer."

Tangtangi hid in the trench again, bandaging himself.

His teammate 'Tongtongi' frowned.

"An archer...? At this stage?"

"Probably someone who lucked out."

Sometimes, players who didn't farm at all and just stayed in their initial spot would get lucky.

"Damn... this is annoying..."

Tangtangi complained.

He thought he only had to deal with one team, but now there was an unexpected player.

─Thud!

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, an arrow tip fell from the sky onto his head.

His helmet broke, and his health was drained. He hadn't finished bandaging himself.

[Almond → Tangtangi]

[Knocked out.]

"Wh-What?!"

Tongtongi, who was standing next to him, looked bewildered. Dying from an arrow falling from the sky was unexpected.

"No angle. How...?"

The next arrow that fell answered his question.

Thud!

"Ah!"

The arrow hit his shoulder, and Tongtongi screamed.

"Shooting from above?"

Before he could react, another arrow came.

Thud?

This time, it hit his heart.

Thud.

[Almond → Tongtongi]

[Eliminated.]

[6/10]

[Almond → Tangtangi]

[Eliminated.]

[5/10]

The team of two was wiped out.

Almond, who had aimed his bow at the sky, put it away.

"Wow. Already dead."

-Already dead, lol.

-Even if you can't dodge bullets, you can't dodge arrows, lol.

-This is the beauty of parabolas, folks!

-LOL, the bow is actually good?

-Wow, this is where the bow shines, lol.

The compound bow is not usually considered a good weapon.

It's useful early on because it's quiet, but it becomes useless in the mid-game.

But it looked different with Almond using it.

-This is actually possible.

-I thought it was only theoretically possible... wow.

-He's amazing.

Almond could use the bow to its full potential, 100%, no, 150%.

It made you wonder if the bow might be better than a gun.

"Now, five are left..."

Bang─

The sound of a sniper rifle echoed.

[Chonddangi → thug956]

[Eliminated!]

[4/10]

Now only four were left.

-OMG, four, lol.

-Just four.

-So scary.

'Now four... three besides me? Is first place possible?'

The current mission reward was 420,000 won. And the honor of being the first solo squad in the first match.

They were within reach.

'If the remaining three are not on the same team, it's possible.'

If it wasn't a 3 vs 1 situation, but rather 2 vs 1 vs 1, or each on their own.

Then it was worth a try.