Chapter 87 of Season 1 of The Genius Archer's Streaming

31. The Almond Practice (1)

"I'll reach Diamond within two weeks."

It has been a week since this statement was made.

And today is the day.

Today, posts started appearing on the community.

"Hey, Almond's promise to reach Diamond in two weeks was all a lie."

When you click on them, they are mostly like this.

==== ====

He said he would do it in a week, damn it.

==== ====

- Hahaha, really.

- Almond, you bastard! You tricked us!

- F*cking shut up.

- Hahaha, really. This guy.

- He really lied. This guy.

- He's in for a rough time, Almond.

There were quite a few supportive reactions from Sanghyun.

Other posts also showed similar public opinion.

"Who's the one who almost reached Diamond in a week~!"

"This is actually possible."

"Was the game over from the moment he got Platinum 3 in the placement matches...?"

"Oh, I believed in Almond from the start!!! I should have bet on this!"

"Who~! The ones who bet against Almond are now in trouble~~~!"

Of course, it wasn't all positive. As always.

"Hey, the journey to Diamond is really tough from here, right?"

"Right, Platinum 2 and 3 are just X-rice, and it gets really tough from 1. Haha."

"From here, it wouldn't be strange to take at least a week."

"Even if you fail, you just roll back. What are you making it sound like you're already Diamond, nuts?"

"Tomorrow, I'm going for 'that nut' Platinum 3 hahaha."

These were mostly fans of Juyeop, people who envied Almond, or just those who were generally dissatisfied with the world.

Regardless of the public opinion, one thing was certain.

Almond's journey to Diamond was receiving a lot of attention.

There were dozens of posts tagged with Almond on the community.

"Wow..."

Almond, who had just woken up and checked the community, let out a low exclamation.

Because of the numerous posts mentioning him.

'It's only 7 AM.'

He thought he might be seeing things in his sleep, so he wiped his forehead to clear the remaining drowsiness.

His blurry vision returned to normal.

[From here, it wouldn't be strange to take at least a week.]

[Even if you fail, you just roll back. What are you making it sound like you're already Diamond, nuts?]

[Tomorrow, I'm going for 'that nut' Platinum 3 hahaha.]

...

...

...

Sure enough, it wasn't a hallucination.

People's interest was intense.

Crazily intense.

'Was the content that good?'

No way. Sanghyun shook his head.

Even though he called it a journey to Diamond, it was essentially no different from a regular broadcast.

Who doesn't aim for Diamond?

It was just a series of common game broadcasts where he played to win.

Why was there such intense interest?

'It's because of this.'

There was a hint in one of the posts.

[Did you watch the edited version of today's Almond deconstruction analysis? Haha, I personally think the live stream was better.]

When he checked the Alltuba Fantasia channel, a new video had been uploaded.

[Almond Deconstruction Analysis EP.1 - Yes, it's Almond!]

[Almond Deconstruction Analysis EP.2 - Record? What's that?]

The edited version had an influence far beyond the live stream, starting with the number of views.

[241,000 views]

An incredible 240,000 views.

It was hard to believe this video was uploaded this morning, such was the massive attention it received.

It was probably because of this that mentions of Almond on the community increased significantly this morning.

Almond was introduced to the 6 million subscribers of the Fantasia channel.

- Wow, I didn't know about Almond, but he's really amazing.

- Almond? He was the best archer I've seen...

- O0O, impressive...

- Hyeon, you're so cute~

- Wow, he's a legend ㅠㅠ

- I just saw Almond, and he's really handsome. But the interview was too short ㅠ

- The archery part was edited. I came back to watch it again because it was so cool ㅠ

└2222 Wow, me too.

└333 Haha, I don't have any money.

Among the Fantasia subscribers, there were still many who were seeing Almond for the first time.

In fact, most of them were.

Almond was still a streamer liked by 'game-loving men and women in their 20s,' and the Fantasia subscribers ranged from teenagers to people in their 50s.

So, to them, Almond was a new face.

A fresh shock.

[I started following Almond after watching Fantasia today hahaha.]

[I just saw Almond on Fantasia, and his videos are really fun hahaha. I didn't realize he was so famous?]

[Oh, I'm so happy that there are more Almond fans ㅠㅠ]

[Now, can we finally stop promoting? Hahaha.]

Thanks to this, posts expressing new interest in Almond increased on various communities.

[Almond is trying to break Juyeop's record again?]

[He said he would reach Diamond in two weeks?]

[There's a chance he'll make it in a week. Almond hahaha.]

The timing was perfect.

Just as Almond was receiving a lot of attention for his record battle with Juyeop, he was taking on a significant challenge in his career.

So naturally, all the attention turned to Almond's rank.

The sudden surge in attention was, of course, a burden.

'If there's no such burden, it would be boring.'

Sanghyun was indifferent to such burdens.

He already knew that the greater the burden, the greater the cheers that would come.

Imagine it. Isn't it thrilling?

Think about how all the doubts, suspicions, envy, and jealousy will eventually turn into awe and cheers.

It sends shivers down your spine.

This thrill was the reason he loved sports.

In sports, such opportunities came only once or twice a year, but after starting the broadcast, he could feel it every time.

'Am I suited for broadcasting?'

He even seriously considered whether he was more suited for broadcasting than sports.

'Maybe I'm a fame-seeker?'

He probably was.

'Attention' is like a drug.

That drug woke Sanghyun's body up this morning.

It was only 8 AM. A time when he should still be drowsy after just waking up. Fresh blood was flowing through every part of Sanghyun's body.

He woke up with a clear mind from the morning.

Sanghyun immediately walked somewhere.

It was the capsule.

"Huh? Hey, right now?"

Juyeop, who had woken up earlier, was surprised, but Sanghyun didn't respond.

He couldn't see or hear anything else.

He walked to the capsule as if hypnotized.

'I'm going for Diamond today.'

At the moment of making this resolution, the cheers of the crowd, which shouldn't be there, echoed in his ears like a hallucination.

Squeak?

The capsule lid opened, and Sanghyun got in with a familiar motion.

[Training Tutorial]

[Virtual Free Training]

Instead of a broadcast, the training tutorial was activated.

The broadcast would still start at 3 PM as usual.

'There's plenty of time.'

It was 8 AM.

There were about 5 hours until lunch.

A considerable amount of time.

He planned to use this time to bring his senses to their peak for today's game.

The doctor's words about not being able to play games for a long time flashed through his mind.

Because of the doctor's words, Sanghyun had stopped practicing to be able to stream for longer.

However, today...

'Today...'

Today, it didn't matter.

He had a feeling.

Today, his body felt like it could run in the capsule all day.

Even if he did a light training session first, he was confident he could handle the rest of the schedule.

The driving force was probably the many viewers.

Especially the new viewers.

Those who were just getting to know Almond, curious about his skills.

If I can do it, how will they cheer for me?

The thought of that moment revved up Sanghyun's engine.

Thump. Thump.

With his heart pounding, he started the training.

* * *

[Connecting to Alltuba.]

Virtual free training could be linked with other apps.

The most frequently used was 'Weapon Master,' an extension that provided weapon samples, followed by Alltuba.

He planned to watch someone's video and follow along.

[A Real War Archery Technique]

An old video with this title played.

It was the video that Sanghyun had once watched and admired.

Originally, he played by adding variations to the archery techniques, but now he planned to seriously learn this archery technique.

'Sports archery has its limits.'

He felt it clearly.

War required a different kind of archery.

The posture and form he had learned over a long time would change a bit, but Sanghyun knew that as long as he could shoot the arrow, it didn't matter if it was in a war or in archery.

What mattered was choosing the right one for the situation, not attributing meaning to the posture itself.

Twang! Thud!

The man in the video jumped off a wall and instantly shot an arrow.

Sanghyun carefully followed, changing his hand position one by one.

It was definitely different from sports archery in detail.

The strategy was to aim for the enemy's vital points, or even near them, quickly and accurately, rather than the precision to intercept even a lens.

Once the arrow hit, the enemy couldn't move properly.

Twang! Thud!

Sanghyun followed the man, jumping off a virtual wall and shooting.

Four arrows flew in the air during the flight time.

It was overwhelmingly better in rapid fire than before.

However, Sanghyun's expression was not good after checking the target.

The arrows were off by a few inches.

Only one hit the exact center, and the rest were near it.

It was a few inches off, so it wasn't a significant drop in accuracy.

But for rapid fire, this level of inaccuracy was something to be discarded.

However, Sanghyun didn't want to give up on accuracy easily. Partly due to his professional habit.

In Battle Royale, unlike in reality, hitting the head or other vital points with an arrow was essential.

So, giving up on accuracy would mean nothing.

How could he make rapid fire easier while maintaining accuracy?

Sanghyun pondered for a moment.

'What if I do this...?'

Sanghyun intuitively modified the grip method of the man in the video.

He combined sports archery and war archery.

Combining two extremes doesn't always bring out the best of both.

A coffee that is both hot and cold doesn't exist.

"Hmm."

After a deep breath, Sanghyun jumped towards the virtual wall.

His body floated, and the well-practiced rapid fire technique kicked in.

Piiing! Piiing! Ping!

The different feeling of the bowstring's vibration.

"!"

After landing, Sanghyun checked the target and smiled.

"Good."

While heat and cold might not coexist, speed and accuracy could.

"Next, the curve shot."

Feeling satisfied, he immediately played the next video without a break.

* * *

After the training.

Squeak──

The capsule lid opened.

"Hey, isn't it too much already?"

Juyeop looked at the drenched Sanghyun with a puzzled expression.

Sanghyun checked the time. It was 1 PM. He had been training without even having breakfast.

"Let's eat."

He first went to the bathroom, took a shower, and then greedily ate his meal.

"Wow, you're really eating a lot today?"

Almond usually ate lightly.

Today was completely different.

'What is it? For some reason, he doesn't look tired at all.'

He had already used up the time equivalent to a full day of streaming for training.

Almond didn't look tired at all.

Is this the same guy who would collapse and sleep after just a few hours of gaming?

"Hmm, I'll digest for a bit and then go in."

Almond started stretching.

Finally, at 3 PM.

[The stream is starting!]

The broadcast started on time.

- Wow, the stream is on!!!

- Are you going today!? Diamond!?

- Go, Almond!

- Diamond... That's also Almond.

- Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond! Almond!

- I love you, Almond!

- Wow! First time watching the live stream. If you make it to Diamond today, it will be legendary.

- Squeal!

- Ugh... It's 3 PM again. I'm still at work ㅠㅠ

- I knew this would happen, so I've been preparing for a life of unemployment since 20 years ago...

The chat window scrolled rapidly.

It was clear that a huge crowd had gathered.

Almond slowly waited for the intro music to end.

Dun...

After a while, the final drum sound rang out.

"Finally, it's been a week."

Almond immediately got to the point.

"I'm going to give it my all today."

[Current viewers: 9,300]

He was now with 9,000 viewers.