Chapter 88 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"

31. Almond's Practice (2)

Platinum Tier 1, 55 Points.

This is Almond's current rank.

If he reaches 100 points from 55, he can challenge the next promotion match.

However, the promotion from Platinum to Diamond is not a promotion match but a promotion battle.

Instead of three matches, he must play a total of five matches, and even if he ranks first, he must defend his rank in one more match. It's quite a tough journey.

However, the 9,000 viewers who joined this journey showed no signs of worry.

On the contrary, they were filled with anticipation and excitement.

- Can Almond really make it to Diamond today?

- Absolutely.

- This is a real record. Just by holding a bow, he made it to Diamond in a week. Hahaha.

- Really. He did a bow challenge in Kingdom too... wow.

- Go Almond!

- It's going to be a great show.

- Are you going to make it to Diamond today?!

* * *

Thump, thump, thump...

'It sounds just like a heartbeat.'

Almond thought as he listened to the loud noise of the transport helicopter's propellers.

'There it is.'

He looked down in a familiar posture, gauging the spot where he would land.

Thud, thud.

In the midst of this, Almond was jumping up and down inside the helicopter, warming up his body.

"Alright! Let's go down!!!"

"Jump!!!"

"Damn it! Don't hesitate, jump!!!"

The NPC soldiers started bellowing.

In the past, he would have been startled and pushed out by the noise.

But now, Almond was very calm.

He checked every part of his body, even his fingers, and did his warm-up exercises with the harsh curses as background music.

'Today, I'm in top condition.'

Even after rechecking, it was still the best.

Since the game directly uses brain waves, the condition has a significant impact.

In that sense, Almond's performance today is something he himself is looking forward to.

'It's a jungle.'

A quick glance down showed that it wasn't the usual desert map.

This place felt like the Amazon jungle. However, the basic structure was the same.

'The armory.'

There was an armory here too. Almond had never changed his strategy for the jungle map.

He always aimed for the armory first.

Thud.

He completed his landing preparations.

"Jump! Jump, you brat!!!"

The usual bellow came from behind.

Without a moment's hesitation, Almond threw himself out.

Whoosh──

The fierce wind hit his ears violently.

In the midst of this, Almond checked his surroundings.

'As expected.'

It wasn't just one or two.

The number of people who jumped out at the same time as Almond.

"Hey!"

"I want to be Almond when I grow up!!!"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

They were probably snipers.

Almond, who leads 9,000 viewers, must now get used to such sniping.

Or perhaps he was already used to it.

'Let's see how this goes.'

Almond tilted his center of gravity to the right in mid-air. His body flew to the right.

It was the direction where the sniper who greeted him was.

"Wh-what? Bro! What are you doing?!"

"What do you mean, 'bro'?"

As soon as the sniping started, the sniper was flustered.

"Why did you show that you're a sniper?"

Almond laughed and said, then clung to the right even more intensely.

He grabbed the sniper's parachute bag strap.

Almond bent his body flexibly and kicked the sniper's face with his foot.

Smack!

"Ugh! Bro! What are you doing?!"

A scream burst from the squished face.

- Haha!

- Wow! What a trick!

- Crazy!

- The sniper is so embarrassed! Haha!

Smack! Smack!

A series of kicks.

Finally, the sniper's parachute bag was stripped off.

Whoosh.

In the meantime, Almond's and the other players' parachutes opened automatically.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!? Bro, I'm dying──"

The sniper fell to the ground and splattered like ketchup.

- Bro, I'm dying! Haha! Maintaining the sniper's dignity until the end...

- Wow! Next!

- Wow, man! Haha!

- Oh yeah! Ketchup ending!

- Haha!

[Heinz donated 5,000 won.]

[Oh, this is real ketchup!]

That was the literal end of the sniper.

'Wow... so intense.'

'What just happened?'

'...Shut up.'

Those who tried to get attention by revealing themselves as snipers all shut their mouths.

The descent by parachute became much quieter.

* * *

Thud.

Almond landed at the armory with a familiar movement, as usual.

Now he knew exactly where to land to block the underground storage room in the shortest time.

He also knew where to go to get the bow first.

This was the advantage of using the same strategy repeatedly.

You become proficient.

"Since there are so many people this time, I'll grab the bow first."

When to grab the bow first and when to grab a knife and rush to the underground storage room.

He could make the best judgment in all situations in a short time.

Because he had done it so many times.

Almond headed straight for the second floor of the armory this time.

The first floor was too competitive.

[Recurve Bow]

Recurve bows are often found on the second floor. This time, Almond picked up a Recurve Bow.

Without a power suit, it's hard to shoot far.

'But I've practiced.'

To properly use the rapid-fire technique he had honed, a more traditional bow like the Recurve Bow was better.

"Looks like the entrance to the underground storage room is crowded again."

Almond said this and grabbed a rope.

He didn't go down to the first floor.

"From what I saw last time, there's no need to go into that abyss."

He planned to use a more advanced strategy.

Like when he killed the Stupid Five Brothers, he would shoot arrows from the second-floor railing to kill everyone.

This was a skill he had mastered by repeatedly rushing to the armory.

The viewers called this tactic "Hill Tank."

- Wow! Hill Tank! Haha!

- Do the underground storage room jugglers have PTSD? Haha!

- Pro tank! Haha!

- What? Pro tank? Haha!

Almond leaned out over the railing. His field of view was wide, but the position was too precarious to shoot a bow.

If he used the usual archery form, it would have been.

Creak.

But today, Almond shot in a new position.

A bit more free, faster, and suitable for a bloody war.

- Oh... the position is different today?

- Something has changed?

- This position is precarious.

- Wow. You're sexy, Almond!

- You're getting hit by him right from the start! Haha!

- If this gets clipped, it could cause a chain reaction!

The string he held in the new position trembled and pushed the bow.

Bang!

An arrow flew through the wind and pierced the head of a player entering the underground storage room.

"Choke!"

[Almond → Moonlight Axe]

[Eliminated!]

[99/100]

The first kill.

"What! A sniper on the hill!"

"Damn. It's Almond!?"

Almond was the only one who did such things in the sacred armory where everyone aimed for the underground storage room jackpot.

Almond's fingers moved gracefully.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three rapid shots in an instant.

Three arrows shot out in different directions.

[Almond → Smurf]

[Eliminated!]

[97/100]

[Almond → Acorn Bus]

[Eliminated!]

[96/100]

[Almond → Lemon Bee]

[Eliminated!]

[95/100]

The kill log under Almond's name rose rapidly.

- Wow. The rapid shots are even faster!

- Without a power suit. What the heck?

- Amazing.

- Headshots on each one... I'm not surprised anymore.

- Why is he better than yesterday? Wow.

It was truly a ghostly archery skill.

"......Crazy."

"What is that? Is that a bow?"

"Ah! Just go somewhere else! This game is messed up!"

- Praise! Haha!

- Haha! Praise appears!

- Haha! The game is already won.

[Game Term Summary donated 10,000 won!]

[Messed up game = You're a pro. Please watch once.]

Almond smiled at their words.

"Go somewhere else."

He smiled and pulled the bowstring again.

Bang!!

Another four people died instantly.

Some tried to resist by throwing axes or knives.

But he showed a bizarre feat by deflecting them all with arrows.

After that, no one wasted time.

'This won't work.'

'He's a monster. Crazy.'

'Just rush to the storage room.'

While hoping Almond wouldn't target them, they risked their lives to break through to the underground storage room.

Some even fled outside the armory.

"You, you wait and see!"

Rather than dying here, they planned for the future.

- Wait and see! Haha!

- Wait and see appears! Haha!

- Continuous praise!

- King, wait and see! Haha!

After those who fled had fled and those who entered had entered.

The entrance to the underground storage room was empty.

- Oh! Underground storage room!

- Did he finally get the underground storage room?

- Hurry up and go down!

- But a lot of people already went in.

Almond tied the rope to the railing here.

He grabbed the rope and dropped straight to the first floor.

Whoosh!

Drawing a large arc, Almond landed on the first floor.

While Almond was coming down the stairs, some who tried to break through here just fled.

- He even thought of this.

- Good use of the rope. Now he's a real pro. Haha!

- Those who tried to attack with a time delay are doomed. Haha!

- Wow, so cool.

The dark darkness of the underground storage room came into Almond's view.

The entrance to the underground storage room, which was always crowded with people, was now wide open in front of Almond.

'Should I go in?'

He was considering whether to go in or bring a motorcycle or something to set it on fire as usual.

[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds!]

Oops.

A lot of time had been spent.

Almond, who was about to leave the armory, was startled by something on the map.

"......This time, it's shrinking to where I am."

- Oh! What a change!

- Wow! How is this possible!

- Incredible!

- Haha! Everyone's reaction is so funny.

- This is normal...

- Unbelievable. Almond is so lucky! This is a bug!

It was a rare occurrence.

Almond's head turned back to the dark entrance of the underground storage room.

'I have time to go in.'

* * *

Inside the underground storage room.

There was a wall of countless corpses on the stairs leading down.

It seemed that 5 out of 10 people who died early died here.

"......It's brutal."

Almond, who had never entered the underground storage room before, was startled and muttered.

[Curious donated 1,000 won.]

[But why did you go into the storage room this time? You usually set it on fire and run.]

- Oh, that's true?

- I didn't notice because you went in so naturally. Haha!

- Really, why did you go in?

- Yeah, you usually bring a motorcycle or something and set the armory on fire!

That's right.

Almond didn't use the underground storage room, called the "treasure room," inside the armory.

He just set it on fire so others couldn't get the treasures.

"Oh. That's right. I thought there was nothing useful for me. But there are some good weapons in here. I might be able to use them."

- Is it a power suit?

- Did you get a taste of the power suit? Haha!

- That only appears once in a while...

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

It seemed that a battle was already taking place inside the basement.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

Gunshots rang out one after another.

"......It doesn't seem like there's a power suit."

Only gunshots could be heard.

The distinctive heavy boom of the power suit was not heard.

- Of course...

- It really only appears once in a while. Haha!

- Almond is a kid... he wants a power suit...

Almond knew it only appeared once in a while.

But if it was there, it would be a sure win, so he had to try.

'Let's take some grenades or flares then.'

The armory wasn't just full of guns.

It also had a large number of grenades, flares, and smoke bombs.

Almond could use those quite well.

If he went in and picked up those, it would be a big help later.

[Crappy Guy donated 10,000 won!]

[But... it's pretty brutal in there. Will you be okay?]

There was a problem.

The treasure room inside would be like hell by now. Players armed with hero-grade weapons would be fighting fiercely.

Even Almond, with just a bow, might not be able to win.

"I'll be fine. I practiced."

- Oh...!

- Practiced?!

- What, what?

- Wow. Practiced? I've never heard that before! Haha!

[Hero donated 5,000 won.]

[Are you going to infuse your arrows with inner energy?]

"I won't do that, but I practiced hard, so it should be better."

Everyone could tell what Almond meant by "practiced" as soon as he shot the first arrow after entering.