Chapter 62 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"

22. Placement Completed (2)

Platinum?

This was a question that crossed the minds of everyone, including Almond, who was watching.

- What?

- ??

- A bug?

- Oh my

- Hahaha

- Huh?

- Is this possible!?

- What is this, really?

- Ahhhh. What's going on, this again!

- Did Almond do it again!!!

It was a well-known fact that Platinum could not be achieved through placement tests alone.

But Almond had achieved Platinum.

Not just any Platinum, but Platinum 3, which was one tier higher.

"Ooh..."

Almond also seemed quite surprised.

However, this level of surprise was not enough for the viewers. They had believed for much longer than Almond that it was impossible to achieve Platinum through placement tests.

- Ooh...? Is that it? Hahaha

- Hahaha Ooh...

- Ooh Hahaha

- Ooh... I cut the lyrics (?)

- Hahaha Ooh...

This "Ooh..." became a meme that stuck with Almond for quite a while.

"Then I will also receive the Platinum mission reward."

Haha.

Almond then laughed and accepted the Platinum achievement mission.

The combined prize for Gold and Platinum was 1,180,000 won.

- Ooh... No way! Damn, I'm not Ooh...

- Wow, my money ㅠㅠ

- Ahhhhhh

- Why Platinum? Hahaha

- You scammers trying to lure people Hahaha

- No, crazy ㅡㅡ

- Ahhhh, safe investment?!

- Wow, how much did you make today?!

- ??? : Son! Be like Almond!!!

- Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!! Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!! Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!! Mom, I want to be Almond's son!!!

Almond was becoming the future hope of many young children... No, it went beyond that; now even being Almond's son was someone's future hope.

It must be because of the income he made today.

'Today, I really made a lot of money.'

Almond was aware of it too. He had made quite a bit of money today. Let's do a rough calculation.

'1,180,000 won, 800,000 won, and 500,000 won from Mihwa... '

A huge sum of 2,480,000 won came in all at once.

Including the few tens of thousands of won that came in each time he placed first during the game, the total revenue was nearly 3 million won.

That's right.

'Revenue.' After deducting fees and taxes, the actual amount wouldn't be as much as it seemed.

'Still, it's a huge income...'

Even so, it was a much higher profit than when he was walking the streets.

Even after just three weeks of starting, he was making more than he did in five years at a large corporation.

This is what people mean when they talk about a hot market. You can really feel it.

- Why are you just standing there?

- Lagging?

- Buffering??

- Next round, go go

- Almond is in a daze over the money Hahaha

- Let's just break through Diamond today!!!

As Almond stood in a daze, the chat flooded in.

"Ah..."

Almond subconsciously checked the time.

It was just 5:30 PM.

He had been streaming for about 2.5 hours.

'Clearly, it's tiring. Long broadcasts are.'

While other streamers had average broadcast times, Almond strangely experienced extreme fatigue. This was even more surprising considering he was a former athlete.

He was definitely feeling a bit dazed in the head right now.

- Are you thinking about ending the stream?

- I saw it! Almond's eyes went to the clock!

- Brother ㅠㅠ Are you going to end it again?

- If you're going to do this, start later. You nutcase!!!

- Oh ㅠㅠ Don't end the stream!

- Not going for Diamond!? Not going for Diamond!? Not going for Diamond!? Not going for Diamond!?

- Ooh... I saw the clock (?)

The viewers realized Almond was thinking about ending the stream. They had been repeatedly caught off guard, but now they were quite quick to notice.

"Diamond, and those who spammed will be sent to the island for a while."

Ding.

With that, Joo-hyuk cleared all the spam chat. They were banned from chatting for about 3 days.

- Hahaha

- Oh Hahaha suddenly banned

- Everyone shut up! If you move, you're all suspects!

- Mmmmm

- Almond, you said not to end the stream, but now you're banning.

- Explain, Almond!

The viewers, who felt the ban was a setup for ending the stream, protested even more fiercely.

However, a declaration that would extinguish all the flames was waiting.

"I will end the stream at 8 PM."

- ???

- Wow, what's going on?!

- Is this the Almond I know?! My heart is swelling.

- Ahhhhhh

- It's a festival, a festival!!!

- Mihwa, hurray!! Mihwa, hurray!!

- Hey, everyone be careful with spamming!

- Hahaha

- This is all thanks to Mihwa. Know that? This is all thanks to Mihwa. Know that?

Almond smiled at the sudden change in public opinion.

While there were sometimes viewers who could be considered malicious, overall, the viewers of Trivia were quite pure and cute. Much more so than the people he met at his company.

Most importantly, they all loved Almond, the streamer, so much.

Almond was grateful.

'I have to reach Diamond.'

That's why he wanted to keep his promise to them.

He wanted to repay the viewers who believed he could challenge the stronghold of electronic waves, despite being a mere Hako.

* * *

A placement test is worth ten regular ranked matches.

In other words, the upcoming ranked matches would be worth only one-tenth of the previous games.

"Phew."

So, Joo-hyuk could also relax and watch more comfortably.

The intense matches where he couldn't take his eyes off for a second were now over.

With a high rank of Platinum, the journey to Diamond would be more relaxed than originally planned.

'Should I check the reactions a bit?'

Joo-hyuk decided it was a good time to manage community reactions.

[Real-time Almond Placement Test Results]

Sure enough, the story about Almond's placement test was prominently featured on the Bara 31 community.

It was even the 5th most popular issue post. Despite the placement test just ending.

- Huh?

- Really?

- Is this a fake?

- This kid is really a prodigy, isn't he? Hahaha

- Oh my

- I remember the electronic waves being Gold 1. This is a bit strange, isn't it?

No one was accepting this situation normally.

Some were even reporting it.

[Almond's Reaction to Getting Platinum 3, Hahaha]

There was even a post like this.

When he clicked on it, he saw Almond's face saying "Ooh..." with no particular expression.

- Ooh... Really? Hahaha

- Oh Hahaha

- Ooh... Hahaha

- The world is ending! Ooh...

- Hahaha Really, no thoughts at all

- He, really has no feelings about it Hahaha

- It's possible, he might not even know what Platinum is Hahaha

This was a relatively positive comment section.

However, there were still many comments that seemed jealous.

- Did he know? Really, it's a setup?

- Wow Hahaha I'm reporting this, really.

Some even spread wild conspiracy theories.

'Is it that bad?'

Joo-hyuk, who had never played Battle Royale, scratched his head.

Isn't this something that could happen? But the resistance is fierce. It's as if something that shouldn't have happened did.

'Online games have fairness issues.'

Kingdom Age didn't have this.

That's probably because it was a solo package game.

Battle Royale was different.

The interests were quite complex. Since it was an online and popular game, many people made a living from it. There were those who had literally staked their lives on this game.

From their perspective, Almond's strange dominance was certainly uncomfortable.

'Should I intervene?'

Joo-hyuk started typing to calm them down for a moment.

- Did he get Platinum because he placed first in all placements? It's not easy, and I think it's possible to get Platinum.

└ Are there many streamers who placed first in all placements? Hahaha

└ There are a few... Hahaha

└ Really, just a few Hahaha

└ Anyway, no one got Platinum right away among them.

I see.

Joo-hyuk, who had just lost, scratched his head.

'There were a few who placed first in all placements.'

By Joo-hyuk's standards, there shouldn't be anyone who could play better than Sang-hyun.

But there were. And they didn't get Platinum right away.

'So what is it?'

He started an internet search to fully explain this phenomenon.

He wanted to find out how the rating system worked. How did the algorithm determine the ratings, and why was Gold 1 the limit even if you placed first in all placements?

He was also curious if all players who placed first in all placements received the same rating.

If some were Gold 2 and some were Gold 1, it would be possible for someone like Sang-hyun to get Platinum 3.

'Oh, they're all different?'

Sure enough, as Joo-hyuk expected, the ratings received by other famous overseas players, including the electronic waves, were different.

They ranged from Gold 1 to Gold 4.

'Really, no one got Platinum 3?'

He hadn't checked all the global data yet, but there were no cases of jumping to Platinum.

It seemed that to move from Gold to Platinum, you had to go through a "promotion match," a quite grueling battle.

This system made it so that the next rank after Gold 1 wasn't just Platinum 4.

There was a significant gap. That's why they didn't easily promote players.

Joo-hyuk checked the Bara 31 community reactions again.

[Historic genius monster. Heaven-defying Almond!!!]

[Seriously, it's disgusting Hahaha]

[Was the rating given as compensation for the ban?]

[These idiots are going crazy over Almond, making all sorts of claims]

[They're just jealous because Almond is handsome and successful Hahaha]

[How can you set a new record if you don't recognize it? You electronic waves bastards Hahaha]

[Really, the electronic waves fans are scum]

[Fact) Better than the fake Platinum stones fans]

It was a mess.

The sides were divided and fighting.

Joo-hyuk, who wanted to join in and logically dismantle those crazy people one by one...

'No, I have my own work to do.'

He was Almond's manager.

He wasn't a Bara 31 community user.

'This is something I should take the lead on.'

Joo-hyuk opened both Almond's email and his own. Among them was an email from the Bara 31 management team.

[Reply]

Joo-hyuk started writing a response.

Actually, it was a question.

How was it possible for Almond to experience this phenomenon?

If it became known that Joo-hyuk, Almond's manager, had already inquired with the game company, all the current negative public opinion would be silenced.

It's a simple problem. Almond did nothing wrong except work hard.

He even inquired with the game company directly.

Who could criticize Almond then? All the anger would be directed at the game company.

To put it bluntly, Joo-hyuk was using the management team as a shield.

'What can I do?'

In social life, if you live honestly, the ones who suffer are the colleagues and family you cherish.

Sometimes, you have to be bad.

Moreover, those people had banned Almond for a mistake before, right?

This was just an exchange.

'You clean up your own mess.'

* * *

Ding.

Battle Royale headquarters.

An alert sounded from the management team's direct email.

"What? An email?"

This was the seat of his former mentor, "Kim Gi-yeol." But he wasn't there now.

He was fired over the Almond incident.

Thinking back on that event, even as his