Chapter 107: Education Stream (1)
[Bubblegum and Almond's stream started!]
[I'm so excited!!]
[Genius gamer vs. Genus streamer, the battle of the century!]
[Wow! Collaboration! Wow! Almond! Wow! Bubblegum!]
The community was in chaos as Almond and Bubblegum's stream began. It was an exciting collaboration for people because of their chemistry, but what they were most excited about was this.
[Do we finally get to witness Almond suffering?]
[The only villain that can defeat Almond. Go! Bubblegum!]
They were curious to watch Almond suffer for the first time. The concept of the stream wasn't about coaching, but watching the coach suffer. There was no chance of Bubblegum improving through any type of coaching. Almond would have to carry their games.
The pain of carrying a troll through their games was the main goal of their stream together.
[Oh, it's starting!]
The viewers entered the stream, eager to watch Almond suffer.
***
Despite what the viewers were interested in, Almond only thought about one thing.
'I'm going to win with Bubblegum!'
Bubblegum. In a sense, he was infamous for his skills too. Dying three times in a row from falling, using up six magazines and getting zero kills, suicide by shotgun, etc… He made quite a name for himself.
'I'm going to win no matter what!'
The fact that Almond was playing with a player like that made him on edge. He was going to play more focused than he would alone.
'How should we start?'
What could he do to improve Bubblegum, so they win the game?
Almond thought of how he ranked up so quickly when he first started playing. It was by infiltrating the Arsenal.
Since the other players in this rank were unskilled, it would be an easy victory as long as they struck first.
'Heading to the Arsenal first.'
Almond decided to head to the Arsenal, but that thinking only applied to him.
"A-Arsenal? Almond? Are you sure?"
Bubblebum's bubble-like body was trembling. For him, the Arsenal was a one-way ticket to hell. That was the last place he wanted to start.
Bubblegum's favorite strategy was hiding. He hoped for the blue zone to side with him and hid until he died. The strategy seemed cowardly, but it was an understandable play for Bubblegum's skill level.
— Bubblegum at the Arsenal? LOL
— Bubble Arsenal? Damn!
— Almond sure knows what we want to watch. LOL
— Poor Almond.
The chat had a similar reaction to Bubblegum. They were excited while Bubblegum was devastated, but everyone knew that Bubblegum didn't belong in the Arsenal.
"H-Hey, Almond?"
Bubblegum double-checked with Almond as they approached the Arsenal, but Almond didn't respond. He was focusing on when to drop down to the Arsenal or it seemed he couldn't hear because of the helicopter noise.
"You said you watched my stream all the time! You liar!" Bubblegum shouted at Almond in panic.
— LOL
— Hahahaha.
— I think he's a liar. He wouldn't go to the Arsenal if he knew Bubblegum's skill.
— For real!
— Calm down Bubble!
— LMAO
The chat was filled with laughter as they watched Bubblegum panic and Almond didn’t seem to be aware of his skills.
"We're going!"
As if Almond was oblivious to the situation, he jumped off toward the Arsenal.
"A-Ah! I-I guess I'll jump off for now! Alright? Everyone, this is not my fault!"
Bubblegum jumped off while telling his viewers it wouldn't be his fault if they lost. He looked like a giant bubble falling through the air as he fell.
***
Slam!
Almond was the first to arrive in the Arsenal.
Roll...
Bubblegum landed and rolled over beside him.
"Huff... puff... It's not that I don't know how to land. It's because it was so sudden," Bubblegum started giving excuses as soon as he got up.
"... I didn't say anything," Almond replied with a semi-serious expression.
— LOL
— For real.
— Look at his expression! LOL
'I already know his skills.'
Almond didn't expect much from Bubblegum, but he planned to coach Bubblegum using specific methods.
"We don't have to win. We're just going to try it out my way. And you have to continue to battle. That way, you'll improve. If you keep hiding, you won't be able to fight when it's important."
"Ah, y-you have a plan? Teacher."
— Almond, do you have a plan?
— Oh what the. He didn't just jump off?
— For real?
Almond had his own plan, but the viewers refused to accept it.
[FriedEggplant has donated 3000 won.]
[Almond is just giving excuses for jumping off.]
[AlmondPlan has donated 1000 won.]
[He's planning to win by himself after Bubblegum dies]
"Eggplant, AlmondPlan, thank you for the donations. But I'm telling you, that's not the case. I'm really trying to teach him..."
"W-What? What's not the case? Tell me too."
Bubblegum's eyes were filled with uneasiness.
— LOL Bubblegum's so cute.
— How can an old guy be so adorable?
— Why's he so uneasy? LOL
— You'd think he's in a real war.
'As expected, he feels uneasy.'
Almond knew Bubblegum's skills, yet he still decided to start in the Arsenal because he thought it'd be the best place for Bubblegum to improve his skills.
As an avid watcher of his channel, Almond knew precisely why Bubblegum wasn't good at fighting. It wasn't simply because of his aim. Bubblegum was known for being skilled as a sniper. The biggest problem with him was that he was too scared.
If opponents came closer, his aim always swayed. His decision-making worsened when he was face-to-face with an enemy.
"Alright, we're only going to use a knife and bow in the Arsenal. On the first floor, that's the only weapons there are."
"Sorry? W-We're going now?"
"It's already late, hurry!"
Tadadak.
Almond ran ahead while Bubblegum sluggishly followed him.
— Even his running is funny! LOL
— He's talented in this area.
— This is talent.
***
Being afraid in full-dive gaming affected the gameplay significantly. Those who were scared could barely play even an unrealistic VR horror game.
For full-dive, it was worse. For Bubblegum, it was the worst.
"Ah, ahhh!"
Kang!
He screamed as a knife landed beside him. He was too immersed in the game. His ability to immerse himself into the game was one of the highlights of his stream, so there was no need to get rid of it entirely. However, he needed to reduce it to play the game.
Kang!
"You're alright!" Almond shouted as he deflected a knife.
In Bronze rank, the first floor of the Arsenal was brutal. Technically, it was better to skip fighting here, but these players thought ahead already.
Kang!
Almond deflected another blade and ran toward the enemies.
"Follow me!"
"Huh, huh!?"
For Bubblegum, Almond's instructions sounded like they were from the devil himself.
'Dammit!'
He had no choice. If he didn't follow Almond, he would die alone with no protection. Bubblegum shut his eyes with a single knife and followed him.
Chak!
He heard a clean cut. When he opened his eyes, he saw an enemy falling.
As Almond danced around with a knife, more players started to fall.
[Almond → AlioMolio]
[Eliminated!]
[98/100]
[Almond → AguAgu]
[Double Kill!]
[97/100]
An instant double kill. One of the players was rendered useless as their arm fell off. Almond kicked him over, and the decapitated body rolled towards Bubblegum.
"Kill him!" Almond shouted at Bubblegum, who looked back at him.
Almond was already in another battle.
"!"
Bubblegum reacted quickly. The kill was spoon-fed to him. Any human could finish this off.
Thwack!
"Urgh!"
However, Bubblegum wasn't a simple human. The knife pierced through the enemy’s shoulder, but not the vitals.
— Oh...
— Even his knife's aim...
— This is the Bubblegum we know!
— Sigh... are you doing this on purpose?
‘No way.’
Even Bubblegum was shocked. Weren't knives supposed to pierce wherever the user desired?
Bubblegum didn't know that aiming wasn’t as easy as he thought since he had never been in a knife fight before.
Tuk!
The fallen body grabbed onto Bubblegum's face with its remaining hand.
"D-Damn."
Bubblegum took the knife out and stabbed him straight in the forehead.
[Bubblegum → RyuDaeHyup]
[Eliminated!]
[96/100]
He killed him. Despite playing many games, it was his first time killing a player with a knife. Since he feared getting close to opponents, he always avoided close combat.
"Woah! I-It's nothing!"
Meanwhile, Almond sliced up a couple more players. The players in this rank were no match for Almond.
Almond was a monster who powered through the Diamond promotion games by fighting with a knife in the Arsenal. Watching him decimate the opponents alone made it look like he was playing a different game genre.
"Wait but... isn't Almond's specialty the bow?" Bubblegum asked with a confused look on his face.
While he barely took down one opponent, Almond had eliminated half of the poor souls who ended up in the Arsenal.
Almond opened up the team scoreboard and saw that he had eleven kills already before even finding his primary weapon.
— He's good at the game in general.
— The bow is his specialty.
— I mean, he got the same score as JeonJaPa on Fantasia's test.
— Wow, he's crazy. This is my first time watching him.
Just then…
Swoosh!
A knife flew toward Bubblegum. Almond was far away as the blade came towards him.
"Uh...!?"
Kang!
Something flashed before Bubblegum’s eyes, and the knife was deflected away.
"You're okay, right?"
He heard Almond's voice.
"Heek..."
Bubblegum's eyes widened. Almond had thrown a blade and deflected it away from him.
'Is this guy human?'
He could feel Almond's overwhelming skill while on the same team as him.
— What the!
— I pissed my pants!
— We're witnessing something amazing on Bubblegum's stream!
— Sweet sweet!
— I came here to watch Almond suffer. Instead, he's shining bright...
— He's unbeatable!