Chapter 71 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"

25. A Dream Only to Be Dreamed (3)

[30 minutes!!! We've broken the 30-minute mark! Only 39 seconds to the electromagnetic record!!!]

At the sound of Yoo Hyeon's voice, shouting at the top of his lungs, all the staff turned to look.

‘This can't be...’

‘Really?’

‘So, you've finally come this far?’

At first, no one thought Almond would break the electromagnetic record.

It was only natural. How could a novice, who had just started playing capsule games, catch up to Electromagnetic with pure skill?

Even if geniuses do exist, Electromagnetic is a genius among geniuses.

It's hard to imagine that there could be a genius who could easily surpass him.

The belief in Electromagnetic is strong. No matter how many scratches and dents it has, it remains solid ground. It's impossible to dig deep enough with human strength to see what lies beneath.

However, at this point, 30 minutes later.

They gradually realized that what they thought was the bottom was actually a smooth ice sheet.

One that could break at any moment.

* * *

Whoosh!

Boom!

Almond was dodging weapons flying at him like mad, laser beams passing by in an instant, and flames bursting from the ground as if possessed.

[15 seconds to break Electromagnetic's record!!!]

Now, only 15 seconds remained.

Almond was holding an additional shield he had caught and deflecting projectiles.

“E, Engineer! Synchronization! The sync value is at an abnormal level!!”

The engineer's assistant shouted in a hurry.

“What?”

“The sync value is at 97%!!”

“What nonsense...”

The engineer's words trailed off.

It's a given that a high concentration value increases the virtual sync value.

But there's a limit to that.

Just like how your soul can't move another body as if it were your own.

At most, it's 85%.

In fact, even that is a dangerous level.

Yes, a 'dangerous' level. If this value abnormally increases, the skill level might rise, but the avatar in the virtual space and the real human will synchronize.

They become closer to one.

Just hearing about it sounds dangerous, and actual research results don't suggest anything positive.

That's why it's legally prohibited.

It's programmed to automatically eject.

“But why isn't it ejecting!?”

“Well, it's a test version, so that limit wasn't set...”

“Damn... I see!”

This is a broadcasting accident.

They introduced a new capsule prototype and conducted a 'Survive!' test with a product that hasn't been commercialized yet.

[7 seconds left! It's right in front of us! Could today be the day history is rewritten!?]

* * *

Yoo Hyeon's excited voice, ringing out, reached Almond.

But his ears were already filled with too much noise.

Boom!

Crackle!

Whoosh!

Roar!

A cacophony of sounds, without a moment's rest.

All of them targeting Almond's avatar.

Clang!

He deflected a mace with the shield he had caught earlier.

Whirl.

The mace, even with its heavy head deflected, had its chain snake around, trying to entangle him.

Almond threw the shield.

Swish.

The shield, entangled by the chain, flew away, sacrificing itself instead of Almond.

He had already discarded several shields like this. It was uncertain when he could grab another one.

Whoosh!

A broadsword flew at him the next moment.

He dodged it.

Boom!!

Next, a cannonball flew at him.

He dodged that too.

[5 seconds left! Before the record is broken!]

Whoosh!

This time, five giant spears flew at him simultaneously.

It was an impossible angle to dodge.

Moreover, the tile he was standing on was gradually turning red.

Soon, lava would spout from it, melting even metal.

He needed to move.

He immediately did so.

The heat rose, scorching his cheeks due to the lava spouting from the tile he had been standing on.

Sss!

Now, he needed to pay attention to the spears flying at him.

He squeezed his body into the square area where three spears were flying.

Squeak...

His collar was torn by the spears.

He ignored it. He already had several scratches.

He gritted his teeth and extended his hand.

[3 seconds left!!!]

Thud.

He barely caught one of the spears.

Two more spears flew at him.

He needed to block one and dodge the other.

He jumped to the adjacent tile, pulling the spear towards him and swinging it.

Bang!

A heavy impact traveled through his shoulder, and one of the spears was deflected.

The other spear plunged into the tile he had just left.

Thud.

That tile soon fell into the abyss.

He had dealt with the two spears. But he couldn't relax for a moment.

Boom!

A cannonball followed.

[2 seconds left...]

If he returned to the previous tile, he could easily dodge it. But that tile was now an abyss.

He had to block one or two...

“!”

At that moment, Almond's expression contorted.

[1 second!!!]

‘What...’

His right hand.

His right hand was numb.

Boom!

With a noise like a speaker blowing out, his entire world turned white.

[GAME OVER]

* * *

“It's dangerous! Turn it off... Turn it off... Huh?”

The engineer, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs, stared blankly at the monitor.

[GAME OVER]

The game was over.

The director, who had been holding the engineer by the collar, wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared blankly at the monitor.

After a moment, he regained his senses, pushed the engineer away, and shouted.

“Record! What about the record! Why isn't Yoo Hyeon saying anything...”

[Tie... It's a tie!]

A voice, almost inaudible, said.

A tie.

“...A tie?!”

Squeak...

The capsule opened, and Yoo Hyeon burst out.

“It's a tie in seconds! At least up to the recorded numbers!”

Meanwhile, the engineer ran to Almond's capsule.

Joo-hyuk followed.

“Check the record! Check it!”

The director grabbed the engineer's assistant and yelled.

“Ah, I understand!”

The assistant, suddenly grabbed by the ponytail, was startled and ran to the keyboard. He increased the display units to four decimal places below zero.

“...This can't be.”

“What? Another tie?”

“...Yes.”

“Damn it, can't it be even 0.000001 seconds faster!”

“I'll try to increase it further.”

[00:30:31.3959400192...]

[00:30:31.3959400192...]

The numbers were identical, as if a bug had occurred.

“Is this even possible? It's not like it's the value of pi.”

Unless there was a machine malfunction.

Could this happen? The assistant scratched his head.

“...Well, what's done is done.”

He repeated his teacher's words.

At that moment, a commotion arose from the capsule side.

“Hey! Yoo Sang-hyun!!!”

“Are you okay!”

It was Joo-hyuk and the engineer's voices. The urgency made O Director stumble and run over.

“Damn it. Director! Isn't this a problem?!”

“What are you talking about! We did all the safety checks beforehand!”

While saying this, the director ran to Almond's capsule.

* * *

A damp, wet feeling.

Amidst the thick fog.

“Ha...”

Shallow breaths indicated he was still alive.

Yes, I'm still alive.

Of course, right? People haven't died from capsule games in five years.

“Hey! Hey! Wake up!”

It was Joo-hyuk's voice.

“Call the medical team! Just call them now!”

“Manager! Don't shake him like that!”

“No, Yoo Sang-hyun! What's going on! Director!!!”

“No, no! We did all the pre-checks! This is just...”

Other voices mixed in.

An angry O Director.

His vision slowly cleared. The fog lifted, and people started to appear.

People shouting at each other, their faces red.

“Medical team! Please step aside!”

A clear female voice.

People parted to make way for the ambulance.

A white light stick shone directly into his pupils.

The silhouette of a woman, visible beyond the white light.

Her long, black hair...

Flickered like a mirage.

“Don't you know everyone is just looking at your back?”

A clear voice.

‘Han So-yeon...?’

Sang-hyun's lips twitched, calling out a name.

“Mr. Sang-hyun? Are you conscious?”

Finally, the original voice was clearly heard.

‘Ah...’

It was a mistake.

Of course, she wouldn't be here.

The bright light made him want to close his eyes, but the doctor's fingers held his eyelids open.

After seeing Sang-hyun's pupils constrict, she turned off the light.

“...Conscious.”

Finally, a proper voice came out of his hoarse throat.

“!”

“Ha...!”

“Oh. I thought it was a big deal...”

Sighs of relief were heard everywhere.

Sang-hyun, feeling drained, tried to sit up. He expected muscle pain, but it was a mistake. Of course, there was none.

He hadn't moved his body.

After sitting up, he first raised his right hand and stretched it out.

A tingling sensation accompanied by trembling.

“I'll do a medical check first. It seems necessary based on your condition.”

The doctor, along with the nurses, pushed people away and placed Sang-hyun on a stretcher.

* * *

After the doctor took Sang-hyun away.

The engineer returned to the analysis. After all, there was nothing he could do on the medical side.

He just finished what he needed to do.

‘Even if the time records are the same...’

The time spent was exactly the same as Electromagnetic's.

But there was no guarantee that the skill analysis would be the same.

‘These values can differ.’

He organized the properly calculated data into a table.

By deriving all these values using the specified formula, a specific value is obtained.

The virtual skill value.

It's called VNS for short.

A concept similar to measuring APM in old mouse games.

“...!”

The engineer's eyes widened at the derived value.

‘As expected...!’

Of course, just because the time is the same, all the values can't be the same.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but smile.

Zing.

He took the instantly printed paper and headed towards the director.

“Phew. It's such a pity. This would have been an issue if a record had been set... With a tie, it just sounds like a fix...”

The director, muttering such words with a sigh, would find this a welcome gift.

“Director.”

The engineer handed him the paper.

“Huh?”

“Look. It's just the time that's the same. By coincidence. But the analysis values are different. This increases credibility.”

“...Hmm. Really? What is this?”

“It's the VNS value.”

The director, weak in numbers, wasn't particularly interested.

But he couldn't help it after looking at the value.

“This much!?”

The average VNS value