Chapter 59 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"

21. Almond's Rampage (2)

The early stages of the armory are intense.

Especially on the first floor, it feels like hell has opened up.

"Dieeeeee!"

"Damn it!"

"Kraaah!"

Thud! Thud!

It's hard to tell if this is a medieval or modern battle, as a bloody feast continues with primitive weapons.

The armory only has basic weapons like guns, knives, and bows until you go underground.

A mountain of corpses forms at the entrance to the stairs leading down.

Eventually, only about four or five people remain in the armory.

From this point on, they don't try to kill each other.

Because there's plenty to farm even if they all go down together.

"Let's just go. It's easier."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah, yeah."

From this point on, there's no need to fight, as the armory is already a living hell.

But the sound of someone starting a fire to turn it into a "fire hell" was heard.

Vroom!

"What the...?"

The silhouette of a motorcycle advancing with a bright light behind it.

Vroom.

He charged straight ahead without a moment's hesitation.

"What...?"

Bring a motorcycle here?

Boom!

Before he could finish his sentence, he was sent flying by the motorcycle.

"Ugh!"

While flying.

Thud!

A knife embedded itself in his head. It was thrown by Almond.

[Almond → TimoIsGood]

[Eliminated!]

[93/100]

- Hahaha

- So cool! Almond!

- Haha

- Wow, he killed him in mid-air!

- Flying is so funny!

- His expression is priceless!

The chat window was noisy, but a moment of silence fell in the armory. The player who just died hadn't made it to the basement yet.

The three who were already heading down stared at each other blankly.

'Is he crazy?'

'What's going on?'

The tension began to rise.

They could hear each other swallowing hard.

A new player had entered.

'Let's go down first.'

'Yeah.'

'Farm and kill.'

The basement is filled with hero-grade weapons.

They decided to prioritize farming and jumped down simultaneously.

"Huh. Looks like everyone's already down there."

Almond got off his motorcycle and walked toward the body that had died with a look of injustice.

[Flamethrower × 1]

[Hand Grenade × 1]

[Compound Bow × 1]

"Wow. Lucky. What a surprise."

- Oh, a combo!

- Ah, it's over!

- Yeah!

- He has a combo! Haha

- Kya. He had a pistol instead.

This is the best in corpse farming. A compound bow appeared.

Even a flamethrower.

Almond smiled happily.

He pushed the motorcycle to the entrance of the basement.

And, thud.

He kicked the motorcycle with his foot, sending it down into the basement.

"They're probably all down there, right?"

Whoosh.

He lit the flamethrower and smiled.

- It's a fire hell! Haha

- Wow, it's intense from the start!

- There's no way out! Haha

Boom!

The motorcycle's fuel exploded, and a massive fire engulfed the armory.

* * *

Thud...!

When they saw the motorcycle rolling down into the basement.

They should have noticed something was wrong.

"Damn it...!"

Something is definitely wrong.

But this is Stoneheim.

"What the...?"

They muttered, "Who cares?" and focused on farming. They had obtained the armory basement ticket somehow.

Are they going to just leave? They need to get hero-grade weapons and fully equip themselves.

The entrance to the basement is the only way out, and a slaughter will happen even when they leave.

Boom!!!

When the motorcycle exploded with a loud noise.

They finally realized something was wrong.

"Is he crazy?!"

"Wow."

The flames blocked the entrance.

No one can survive like this.

In Battle Royale, even smoke can deal damage if it persists, and this is a confined space.

"Get out!!!"

"We have to get out!"

The three stopped farming and ran for their lives.

What awaited them was a mountain of corpses and Almond, who was drawing his bow.

* * *

Killing the three who were fleeing in panic was very easy.

They only had hero-grade weapons, no bulletproof vests or helmets.

Thud!

An arrow embedded itself in the forehead of the first person who barely managed to crawl out.

[Almond → AllMedic]

[Eliminated!]

[92/100]

"!?"

The next person who tried to climb up drew a gun and fired wildly.

Pew pew pew!

The bullets only hit the corpses.

The mountain of corpses obstructed the shots. They had to aim through a tiny gap.

It was barely the size of a baby's fist.

'How did he hit that?'

Only someone like Almond could hit such a small gap. An arrow embedded itself in the eyes of the person who was staring at the gap.

Thud!

[Almond → Yomtta]

[Double Kill!]

[91/100]

The hero-grade weapons flashed as the body fell lifelessly.

"Huh."

The last person, who was at the back, gasped and cowered.

It was clear that the opponent was a skilled player.

Aiming wouldn't work.

'Let's hide for a moment.'

The fire was spreading mainly in the basement. This is the space between the first floor and the basement, and there are gaps for the smoke to escape.

They could hold out for a bit.

The opponent doesn't know I'm here. He will enter to farm weapons. I'll wait for that moment.

This was a good decision.

Rattle...

Until Almond threw a grenade through the gap.

"!?"

Boom!!!

[Almond → MinefieldFarmer]

[Triple Kill!]

[90/100]

"Ah. There was one more."

Almond muttered as he cleared the bodies and went down to the basement.

* * *

Meanwhile, Joo-hyuk couldn't stop smiling as he watched the community reactions.

[Almond's Armory Airborne Destruction.gif]

Almond's journey to Diamond, now live-streamed on the community, was producing continuous highlight clips even before the match ended.

These were being created automatically without Joo-hyuk's intervention.

- Isn't it time to recognize him now?

- Almond is a god.

- Please stop promoting him, Hako.

└ Hako? There are 4,000 live viewers now! Haha

└ Hako, damn! Haha

└ ...Really. When did it get this big? Dang

The comments were positive.

With more viewers, the impact was higher.

[Only heard about Almond. First time seeing him, he's good.]

[Almond? I can't recognize this guy. I've seen his face.]

[Please drop to Bronze. Damn insider...]

New users who were seeing Almond for the first time started to write their impressions.

Of course, there were also resistors.

[Those rock faith guys are spamming again.]

[Those damn nutters.]

[Ban the nutters.]

[Almond can't reach Diamond. It's Die Almond. Haha]

While these forces were not good,

it was a good sign.

A sign that the game was getting bigger.

Even those who didn't like Almond were becoming aware of him.

This meant the game was getting much bigger.

All these anti-forces would eventually become the betting money that Sang-hyun and Joo-hyuk would win.

'If we can prove it, they'll all turn around.'

If Almond successfully reaches Diamond within two weeks, they will all have to recognize him.

Then this growing game will turn into Almond's profit.

Thinking about this,

[1st Place]

Almond took 1st place again.

"Damn! No, it was good!!!"

Joo-hyuk couldn't help but shout loudly.

He was achieving three consecutive 1st places, which seemed like a miracle.

In a game with 99 competitors, taking 1st place every match was incomprehensible to Joo-hyuk.

It didn't stop there.

Another match started, and about 30 minutes later,

[1st Place]

Almond easily took 1st place again.

"Yessss!"

Joo-hyuk shouted excitedly, like he was watching a national team soccer match.

He felt like a cheerleader rather than a manager.

He wanted to grab the monitor and shake it.

"Hey, hey. Showing off, right? Sang-hyun!!!"

Sang-hyun's strategy remained the same.

Loot the armory and drastically reduce the number of weapons on the map.

In the so-called "crap item" matches, there was no one who could beat Almond, making this strategy almost invincible.

Until the final placement match.

* * *

"Huh. This is the final placement match."

Almond said while resting in the waiting room.

He indicated that a lot was at stake in this match.

'Placement is the most important among all ranks.'

Placement matches, often called "placement tests," have a huge impact on ratings.

They carry much more value than other matches.

In Battle Royale, placement tests consist of five matches.

If you win all five, you can expect at least a Gold rank.

This would make the journey to Diamond much smoother.

Moreover, the missions he had taken were all related to this.

[150,000 won for a placement win]

[240,000 won for reaching Gold today]

[470,000 won for completing today's play]

- King Electronics has invested in Platinum. Haha

- Winning the placement should be easy, right?

- How do you beat this strategy? Haha

- If no one snipes him, he'll easily reach Gold.

If he doesn't place in the top 50 in any match, he won't reach Gold. Almond knew this.

'He'll probably use the same strategy again.'

[100 players have gathered.]

[Prepare to drop!]

Boom.

The moment the final placement match was set.

Many players boarded their helicopters.

Loud propeller noises and curses pushed them from behind.

'Armory... one more time.'

This is the final placement match. Almond didn't want to try a new challenge.

He jumped down toward the armory like in the previous matches.

Thud.

The cold air pushed him forcefully.

Almond aimed his body toward the armory and looked around.

He wanted to gauge how many people were dropping.

But he saw a familiar avatar.

- Huh?

- Isn't that Funsna?

- Crazy guy. Did he snipe him?

- Wow, he must be here for revenge.

- Ah, that show-off. Haha

Funsna, a notorious sniper rated above Diamond 1, was jumping down next to him.

Smirk.

Their eyes met in mid-air, and Funsna gave a mocking salute.

The sound of the wind made it impossible to hear, but his mouth said,

"Long time no see?"

Almond also greeted him.

By raising his middle finger.

Funsna's face hardened.

- Haha

- So satisfying!

- Ah, that's Almond!

- Haha

- Let's take him down!

- But Funsna is Diamond 1. Can he do it?