Chapter 77 of Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1

27. Toward the Diamond (3)

The promotion match game has finally begun.

[Current Viewers: 8,700]

I thought 8,100 was already a bubble, but the number of viewers has increased even more.

'Almost 9,000...'

This means that Almond has successfully absorbed the bubble into a stable viewer base.

Of course, it's hard to tell in just two days.

It could be because of the big event, the promotion match.

- Haha, yesterday was too easy.

- Is it easy today too?

- Wow, damn. The game has already started? What a waste of half my life...

In any case, nearly 9,000 people were watching Almond's avatar.

The avatar muttered to himself as he ran hard.

"Today, I'm starting with the armory again."

It's a strategy he has been using since the placement test.

By looting the armory, which is filled with various high-tier weapons underground, he makes the game more advantageous for Almond.

- Again, huh? Haha

- It's become a familiar taste now...

- There's no reason not to do it again. It keeps working, after all. Haha

- Haha

- Again! Again!

This time, it was expected to work as planned. It had to, according to the original plan.

Vroom──

The sound of a motorcycle came from behind.

"!?"

Someone had already obtained a motorcycle and was charging straight toward the armory.

No, they were coming toward Almond.

"Seems like they're coming for me──"

Almond rolled to the right with all his might.

It was a brilliant move, worthy of the top-ranked survivor.

"──What?"

He managed to avoid the ambush while continuing his stream.

- Wow, this is electromagnetic-level physical!

- Haha, wow

- Wow

- Impressive

The viewers were amazed, and Almond was unharmed.

Vroom!!!

The motorcycle just brushed past Almond.

Everything was going well.

However, Almond sensed something strange.

'What is it?'

He saw the player on the motorcycle smirking.

He wasn't disappointed at missing Almond. Instead, he seemed to be mocking, as if he would come back to attack again.

Boom!

The motorcycle entered the armory, and victims started to appear immediately.

[Jason → NolToto]

[Eliminated!]

[99/100]

[Jason → SamSam]

[Eliminated!]

[98/100]

Two kill logs appeared.

'Jason...'

Almond remembered the player's name. He seemed to be someone not to be underestimated.

- As expected, the armory

- God, it's intense, haha

- Wow

- Wow, I wouldn't do that, haha

'Ah, right.'

Almond, who had been momentarily stunned, quickly ran into the armory. He needed to block the entrance to the underground storage room as soon as possible.

However──

"Aaah!"

"Choke!"

Vroom!!!

The motorcycle was descending into the underground storage room.

It was going down the steep stairs on the motorcycle.

It was almost forcing its way down, crushing people in the process.

"The motorcycle is going down the stairs..."

Almond muttered, dumbfounded.

- It's definitely different now that the MMR is near Platinum 1.

- Driving skills are amazing

- The top tier is Diamond, so even high-level players who slipped from Diamond are here

- Winning streaks have made the MMR too high, really

- Haha

- Is this the upper tier of Platinum, known as the Heavenly Hell? Haha

- Want to go to Diamond? Get! Out! Of! Here!

Almond turned his head away from the underground storage room.

He wasn't interested in hero or legendary weapons.

Finding a bow on the first floor of the armory was his first condition for victory.

Usually, no one farms the first floor of the armory. It's not worth it because only cold weapons like bows and swords appear.

But Almond was an exception. If he could pick up a bow from the first floor, he could potentially wipe out everyone here.

However...

'Where did all the bows go?'

There were no bows to be found.

Not a single one was visible.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a jungle knife flew toward him.

Swoosh──

Almond's bangs were cut off. He barely managed to dodge by leaning back.

"Here's another one coming!"

The opponent threw another knife with a shout.

He thought Almond wouldn't be able to dodge this time because he was leaning back. But Almond extended his arm.

"Thanks for the weapon."

Thud!

The knife thrown by the enemy was in his hand.

The Survive Test wasn't just a test; it had elevated Almond's game skills to a new level.

Now, catching a flying knife was just a routine task for him.

- Haha

- Thanks for the weapon, haha

- Wow, sexy!

- Nice!

- Stop being so good, Almond! Stop being so good, Almond!

"Wha... what?"

The enemy, taken aback, hesitated for a moment before drawing another sword from his pocket.

He even took a throwing stance.

'Why isn't he throwing?'

The opponent was circling, looking for an angle.

'Does he think I'll dodge again?'

Since it would be troublesome if Almond dodged again, he seemed to be more cautious this time.

'When will he throw?'

When would the opponent throw the knife? Or rather, when would he want to throw it?

When would it be easiest to hit me?

'When I throw.'

The opponent would take advantage of the moment when Almond throws, just like in AOS games where the best time to harass the enemy is when they're about to land the final hit on a minion.

When the opponent is focused, taking advantage of that moment is a basic principle in all games.

Whoosh!

Almond leaned back and made a unique throwing pose.

Then──

Swish!

The opponent threw his sword in response.

'Sure enough.'

Sure enough, Almond's prediction was correct.

"Huh...?"

Almond pretended to throw but instead caught the opponent's sword.

Clang!

The opponent's sword, which had missed in mid-air, was caught by Almond.

"What...?"

"Out of knives?"

The opponent had no more knives.

That was his last knife, so he had thrown it carefully.

"Damn it!"

Realizing the situation, the opponent turned and ran, but──

Thud!

A jungle knife hit him squarely in the back of the head.

[Almond → Armory Juggler]

[Eliminated!]

[96/100]

- Wow, haha

- Yeah, this is Almond!

- So cool!

- Why... is there carbonation in this Almond? Why... is there carbonation in this Almond? Why... is there carbonation in this Almond?

The joy of eliminating the enemy was short-lived.

Whoosh──

Another aggressive sound of a projectile reached his ears.

Almond quickly moved, and a firework exploded where he had been standing.

Clang!

A knife that had been randomly deflected on the ground.

"Again?"

Someone had thrown another knife.

"This is strange."

It was strange.

Usually, in the armory, everyone focuses on the underground storage.

Killing him wasn't the priority.

Why him?

- Ah, it's a sniper

- Yeah, that's it

- Well, it's about time. It's his first promotion match after beating Electromagnetic, haha

- The battle with the sniper has begun. Rest in peace, Mr. Almond.

- This is a streamer's promotion match, Almond!

Sniper?

The moment he thought that──

"Hey! Try to hit me! You bastards!"

Someone shouted from the second floor.

'What's with this guy?'

The one shouting was running away with a lot of arrows and a bow.

No one in this tier would farm so many weapons that they couldn't even fit in their bag.

This was a disruption to eliminate the bows.

'Ah, I get it now.'

Thinking about it as a sniper made sense.

Why there were no bows, why they were trying to kill him first.

'I thought something like this might happen.'

He hadn't failed to anticipate this. After all, Funsan was a kind of sniper in a previous match.

It just came sooner than expected.

'Damn bastards.'

Being team-sniped was frustrating, but if the streamer got angry, the viewers would get angry too.

Almond calmed himself.

Click.

He hid behind a container box and said,

"I'll think of it as a solo squad match."

After all, the first match of this game was a solo squad.

One-on-many was more familiar to him.

Thinking of it that way made him feel more at ease.

[Mr. Eggplant donated '3,000 won'.]

[Being ganged up on... is familiar.]

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Eggplant. It's a return to the basics."

- Haha, the basics

- Ah, right. He won the solo squad match at first, haha

- Haha

- Even if not, he did a 1v4 dribble.

- Yeah, this is Almond

The viewers were less uncomfortable because the streamer handled it calmly.

If the streamer remained composed, the sniping would become content.

'If I win, it'll be even better.'

Winning would not only be a comedy content but also a skill showcase.

Winning would secure the tier, the fun, and the stream.

Swish.

He took out the sword he had picked up earlier and stepped out of the box.

* * *

The Bara 31 board had posts like these:

[What? Almond is better than Electromagnetic? I'm going to follow Almond, haha]

[You can't pass here!]

[Yeah, I'm in too]

[I'm going to challenge him directly. Our ratings are the same, after all]

After Almond became famous, the number of people wanting to challenge him was endless.

Especially since Almond was a new talent known for his skills, he was a desirable opponent for the veterans of the game.

The problem was that they didn't have the confidence to win in a direct confrontation. So, their strategy was a team snipe.

That's how the current 5-man team snipe in the armory was formed.

"Ah, this should be enough to catch him, right?"

"How can he beat 5 people? I'll take all the bows and run."

"Let's restore Electromagnetic's honor!"

One would take all of Almond's main weapon, the bows, and run, while the other four would quickly farm knives to kill Almond.

Since Almond always went to the armory, it was easy to snipe him.

"Huff, huff. Hey! I'm running! I'm running!"

One of them shouted while carrying all the bows and arrows in the armory and running.

"Now he can't get the bows! Let's gang up on him!"

"Okay!"

"Let's go!"

He swept all the bows from the first floor of the armory and ran up to the second floor.

Then he watched as Almond was attacked by his teammates, ready to jeer.

But──

"Huh?"

The first one to charge died.

He had all his knives taken and was killed while trying to run away.

It was a miserable end.

Why did he charge alone?

Did his competitive spirit suddenly kick in? It was ridiculous.

"Are you an idiot!? Gang up on him!"

Fortunately, the remaining three were properly teaming up. Knives were flying from all directions.

It seemed impossible to dodge.

But he dodged everything.

"Hey! Try to hit me! You bastards!"

It was frustrating.

To bring such a team to restore Electromagnetic's honor...

Anger boiled up.

"Damn it. He's out of sight!?"

When he came to his senses, Almond was gone.

In his anger, he had lost sight of Almond.

"Ah, I need a break. Damn..."

In a virtual reality game, you can't see other screens.

Unauthorized apps would immediately crash.

So-called "screen play" while watching a streamer's broadcast was systemically impossible.

This was one of the main reasons why virtual reality streamers were overwhelmingly popular.

"Hey! Where are you? Did he just run away?"

"Don't know! He suddenly disappeared!"

"You on the second floor should see──"

──Bang!!!

A loud noise came from behind.

The sound of the second-floor glass breaking.

'Suddenly?'

The user, who had instinctively turned around, had a knife cleanly embedded in his head.

Thud!

[Almond → IWantToLive]

[Eliminated!]

[89/100]

With this kill log, he died.

"Phew. Who told me to climb up with a knife? Thanks."

The player who broke through the window was Almond.

He had climbed up the armory wall using two knives and broken through the second-floor window.

- Haha, this works, damn, haha

- Wow, so cool. This is Almond.

- Haha, that guy is so annoying, haha

- Sniping and dying, what a combo!

- It was PapaPapa!!

"Ah, PapaPapa. Thanks. Great tip."

While saying this, Almond looked down.

"Wow, is this a golden goblin or something?"

- Haha

- Haha

- Snipers are so annoying, haha, golden goblin

- Golden goblin, haha

The fallen opponent was a gift package for Almond, carrying a lot of bows and arrows.

Almond just had to pick the ones he liked.

[Recurve Bow]

This time, it was a recurve bow, not a compound bow.

It was a more traditional bow, not the modern compound bow used in archery.

While it might have less power than a compound bow, it allowed for rapid firing.

It would be more advantageous when facing multiple opponents.

"Now, I'll eliminate the rest."

He finally had a bow and a large supply of arrows.

All that was left was to sweep through the armory.