Chapter 100: Reaction (2)
Swoosh—?
A sandstorm blew through the open field. This wasteland had no signs of life nearby. However, the ruins showed signs of past civilizations. It would’ve made for an impressive tourist attraction if the area hadn’t fallen into despair, but all maps in Battle Large were post-apocalyptic.
The ruins could crumble at any moment and held no historical value. The players simply thought of them as obstacles.
Chuk.
Almond leaned against a wall in the ruins and quietly hid. He closed his eyes and focused. After a brief moment, he could hear faint footsteps in the distance. He turned around and used the ruins as cover while preparing his bow.
However, he didn’t aim towards the cloud of dust.
— ??? Where are you going to shoot?
— Can you even see anything?
— You can't see anything through the sandstorm...
— Isn't it hard to shoot with the wind?
He didn’t have any visibility and the wind was blowing quite strongly. Almond didn’t make any comments though. He just continued breathing in and out. His body remained still, but his eyes frantically searched for something. He was looking for the source of the sound.
'There.'
Almond could make out a figure moving in the harsh sandstorm. He could hardly distinguish it from a cactus due to the strong winds, but footsteps in the sand could be heard every time the figure moved.
Almond knew the sounds came from that figure. He took a deep breath and stopped moving. His body became still as if time had stopped, except for his right arm. Then his right hand softly released the arrow.
Pang.
The arrow flew through the sandstorm and the figure in the distance fell.
Thwack!
[Almond → IceCreamMonster]
[Eliminated!]
[79/100]
The kill log updated as the figure in the sandstorm died.
— Holy shit! He killed someone that could barely be seen?!
— He was shooting at a person?!
— Don't doubt him anymore! This is Almond!
— Wait, how far was that?!
— Wow…
He struck the head of a barely visible enemy through strong winds. It almost seemed like a trick.
[Question has donated 1000 won.]
[Almond! Is the arrow unaffected by the wind?]
One of the viewers grew curious if the wind affected the arrow or not. This curiosity rose from seeing Almond perfectly shoot despite the harsh circumstances.
"I shot a little to the left. The wind does affect it."
— Hey, who do you think he is?!
— The wind? That’s nothing to Almond!
— Kya!
— Almond’s shots are super accurate as long as he remains still.
[AwakeCivilian has donated 1000 won.]
[A little to the left? Are you a supporter of the far-left…]
Bing!
A noise cut off the donation mid-sentence. Ju-Hyeok had immediately canceled the troll donation.
— LOL
— Haha, paying to get banned.
— Wow. Cutting off the donation mid-sentence. The manager has some quick reaction speed too.
— Fact: Apparently, the manager is 180 cm tall and has broad shoulders.
— Like streamer, like manager.
The viewers complimented the manager in the chat. Ju-Hyeok smiled in satisfaction as Almond drew his bowstring again.
Creak…?
It seemed like he found another person. Another arrow flew as he posed in the same position.
Thwack!
And another figure fell in the sandstorm, but nothing appeared in the kill log.
"What the fuck!?" the opponent shouted and ran away while fumbling.
However, another arrow came flying and pierced the back of his head. Almond fired consecutively and knew the opponent had a helmet on.
[Almond → ProBacteria]
[Eliminated!]
[77/100]
The enemy inevitably collapsed and their name appeared in the kill log.
Almond hid behind the ruins again and the sandstorm completely veiled him.
— Wow! Sand assassination!
— Wow! Sand assassin!
— Poor enemies.
— Damn... so cool…
The viewers celebrated his perfect shot again. Almond smiled in satisfaction as he read the chat.
Tang, tang!
He could hear gunshots from far away. The battle didn't involve Almond, but he walked toward it anyway. The main concept of this round was fanservice, so he planned on getting as many kills as possible.
— Forbes voted. The only player to walk toward a fight.
— The general is back!
— It would be perfect if ShyNapoleon comes back!
— I think he went broke…
The best type of fan service was entertaining the viewers.
Tududududu!
The gunshots grew closer. Quite a handful of players were in the area judging from the duration of the fight.
[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds!]
Almond checked the map and saw that it would move away from the historical site.
Tudududu!
The gunshots grew louder. Everyone began rushing because the poison gas would arrive if they wasted any more time. The blurry figures ran towards him.
'Are they coming here?'
Almond rechecked the map and saw that he was standing at their exit.
He had two choices to make. He could safely take the lead and go to the next safe zone since he was in a good position or he could block the exit and kill everyone coming his way.
Obviously, he chose the second option. This choice was dangerous because it was a do-or-die scenario, but Almond decided to kill as many as possible this round. He got into position and readied his bow.
Swoosh!
An arrow instantly pierced a player's head and their name appeared in the kill log. It seemed like they didn't have a helmet.
"What the!?"
He could hear someone shouting.
Almond could see a wandering head in the sandstorm. Shortly afterward, an arrow pierced the wandering head. The player collapsed in the sandstorm and the kill log updated again.
Then another player appeared.
Thwack!
They died just as fast with Almond's arrow lodged in them.
The other players started to realize the situation.
'Someone's blocking the path.'
'There's someone blocking.'
'Damn, who's blocking?'
They aimed forward as they ran.
Tudududu!
The bullets bounced off the ruins and Almond remained unscathed.
"Over there!"
"Don't block the entrance!"
Their aim improved as they saw Almond move in the distance. More guns pointed at him.
Tudududu!
The ruins in front of Almond shook.
'I guess it was inevitable.'
This was why blocking the exit was dangerous. The players trying to leave naturally teamed up and targeted the player blocking the exit. It was an easy way to make enemies out of everyone.
— Why are there so many people coming?
— I think it's like 7 players?
— Oh shit.
— 7 is nothing. Didn't he fight 1v20 earlier?
— That was a knife fight. This is a gunfight.
The ruins couldn't withstand the gunshots of seven players.
Thud!
The surroundings collapsed with a loud noise and crumbled everywhere.
Ta-dak!
Almond quickly threw himself behind the next ruins as the gunshots followed him.
Paaang! Pang!
His lightning-fast arrows flew around the ruins.
Thwack!
Thwack!
Two arrows instantly killed two enemies.
[Almond → CrazyMan]
[Eliminated!]
[65/100]
[Almond → Us787]
[Double kill!]
[64/100]
'Next.'
Almond placed four more arrows between his fingers and fired.
Paaang!
They flew as if he fired simultaneously and six out of the seven players immediately died.
"W-What the..."
The last remaining player couldn't hide his panic and continued shooting without any ammo left. It looked like he went into shock. That was understandable considering arrows killed all the players around him. He must’ve felt confused.
Thwack!
His confusion came to an end as an arrow pierced his head.
[Almond → TerrorMan]
[Multi Kill!]
[63/100]
Swoosh—
The sandstorm continued blowing across the desert. No traces of anyone remained. Only a few players managed to pass Almond.
— Wow...
— Damn, he's crazy.
— Is this the Wild West Archer?
— It's like a cowboy movie.
— Mooooom! Almoooond! Moooooom! Almooooond!
The chat became ecstatic because he completed quite a difficult task.
Baaam!
A trumpet noise rang out as a huge donation came in.
[EggPlant has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]
[Wowww! An early congrats on reaching diamond!]
[OwlOwl has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]
[This is my first time watching and you're insane! Go to diamond!]
[Sparrow has donated 10,000 won!]
[Who is it! Who made this monster!]
High risk was accompanied by high rewards. Almond reaped what he earned. He felt a wave of thrill from his viewers’ cheers and donations.
'Good.'
This was why he enjoyed streaming.
— Wow, the donations today are off the charts!
— Of course, it's his diamond promos!
— Kya!
— How much will he earn if he gets to diamond??
— For real, how much??
"Thank you, EggPlant and OwlOwl!"
He ran towards the next safe zone after thanking them. Almond continued to show impressive performances even during his journey to Diamond.
He successfully performed a headshot on every opponent he encountered. He even killed a couple of players in their vehicles. His arrows had been an unpleasant surprise to those drivers.
"The fuck?"
"Urk!"
"Kugh!"
Most players couldn't react to Almond's curved shot and simply died. Even players with a helmet died after getting hit consecutively.
These players weren't in Silver tier either. All of them were Near-Diamond players who would decimate the lower ranks by themselves, but even they couldn't handle Almond.
[33 kills]
Almond racked up thirty-three kills. It was hard to believe this was a Diamond promotion match.
[10/100]
Ten players remained. The blue zone shrank to the point where all the players were aware of one another. Almond's viewers rejoiced even during this tense situation.
— Congrats!
— Wow!
— You say Almond, I say diamond! Almond, diamond!
— Congrats, diamond!
— 33 kills holy shit!
— 33 kills in diamond queue?!
— He really did it!
— JeonJaPa's screwed!
— Wow!
— Diamond? What's that? Almond knows it though!
— JeonJaPa's screwed!
— Wow!
— Almond, you may have my daughter!
Almond practically secured his promotion with only ten players remaining. Since he won first place last time, finishing in the top ten would be enough to get promoted.
Then Almond opened his mouth, "Alright. I'll show my appreciation for the 700,000 won donation from earlier and the donations up until now!"
Chuk.
He aimed his bow up.
— ???
— Suddenly??
— Wait, now?
— What's he going to do?
"What else would I do?"
— Wait, you're going to end the stream now in the middle of a game?
— Stop it! You're crazy!
— Wait, but why isn't he pointing above his head?