Chapter 110: Education Stream (4)
Splat!
The head Bubblegum aimed at exploded.
[Bubblegum -> TeddyBear]
[Eliminated!]
[76/100]
"!"
Bubblegum's eyes widened as he stared into his scope.
"I-It hit!!"
He eliminated the last enemy remaining. The Arsenal was now empty.
"Wooooah!!!"?Bubblegum shouted in excitement.
— Wow!! Bubblegum won!!
— Everyone! The world champion Bubblegum!!
— LOL, it looks like he won the whole thing.
— Bubblegum isn’t bad with a sniper after all.
— Is this thanks to Almond's coaching?
Almond started clapping.
"Wow, good job."
"R-Right?!"
Bubblegum was like a child being complimented by Almond. He was overjoyed.
— Give him a good job sticker
— Why's Bubblegum so happy? LOL
It wasn't a surprise because Bubblegum's sniping skills were known. However, for him, it felt different.
'I've never hit someone on my first shot.'
He was a good sniper, but not good enough to land a headshot instantly. He even had to rush his shot after running for the rifle, yet it hit!
'Is it because I'm less nervous?'
He was less nervous than he normally would be. He didn't care if the bullet hit or not. As a result, his aim was steadier.
'Did I gain confidence without even knowing?'
This felt like a difference in his confidence. He felt less afraid as he and Almond got through the Arsenal.
'It's effective.'
It was hard to believe, but Almond's coaching was working. He didn't expect to actually improve his skills from this content...
Was it okay to continue like this? Then, suddenly…
"Bubblegum, farm this over here."
"Oh!"
Almond pointed at some incredible items.
Seeing the bountiful equipment, Bubblegum lost all train of thought. With a wide smile, he started happily shopping for the items.
"Wow, this is hero tier. This is... meh."
He collected guns and equipped the best attachments possible as well. Almond picked up some rare arrows too.
***
They didn't have much time after leaving the Arsenal.
[The blue zone is shrinking!]
They spent too much time inside. They didn't have much of a choice and started running for their lives.
Then, they discovered a motorcycle with a sidecar that could fit three people. While one player drove, the other could freely shoot while sitting on the side.
"Oh, Teacher. Should I drive?"
Almond was familiar with Bubblegum's stream.
"No, I'll just do it."
He wouldn’t do something crazy like handing him the wheel.
— Dammit!
— Bubblegum: Ah... he catches on too quickly.
— Failed assassination.
It was the right choice so they could travel safely toward the next safe zone. They encountered other teams on the way, but they successfully eliminated them with Almond's driving skills and Bubblegum's confident shooting.
"Wow! I hit them again!"
Bubblegum was surprised by his own shots. Meanwhile, the viewers were celebrating. They were hopeful for Bubblegum to finally reach silver.
"As expected, you're shooting much better now that you have confidence!" Almond shouted as he drove.
They chatted about the time they previously met in the game. Back then, Bubblegum was holding a sniper and aiming for Almond. It was the legendary moment when Almond deflected the bullets with his arrows.
"Honestly, the aim was so good that I never imagined it was you, Bubblegum. I was surprised when I heard it," Almond honestly told Bubblegum how he felt that time.
"Sorry!?"
Bubblegum didn't believe him entirely, but couldn't hide his happy expression.
"Wahaha! You're too kind—"
While he was laughing beside him, they heard a gunshot from far away.
Tang!
Splat!
Blood splashed from Bubblegum's shoulder.
"Kugh!"
'A sniper?'
It was a sudden shot from a sniper. They couldn't spot it while driving, so Almond chose to speed up.
***
[Swamp Forest]
They arrived at the swamp forest. The area was known for being sticky with mud.
Vrooom...
The motorcycle was starting to die down. It was becoming useless. They needed an off-road SUV.
"We need to get off and look for an off-road SUV."
Almond hurried off the motorcycle, and Bubblegum quickly followed him. Bubblegum barely got off because he was stuck in the sidecar, but thankfully he didn't trip or fall.
The viewers saw it as a missed opportunity.
— Darn, that would've been funny.
— It'd be hilarious if he rolled!
— It would've been funny if he lost all his ammo there.
— His avatar is too funny!
"Let's hide here for now."
Almond decided to hide in the tall grass for now.
"Do we just stay here? Teacher? The blue zone isn’t bad."
"Ah... It's not bad..." Almond nodded, but the blue zone wasn't the problem. "We have to heal you up."
The wound from earlier was the problem. Bubblegum was losing blood and needed to heal up.
"Oh? I just need to bandage this... Huh?"
Bubblegum searched through his inventory and was surprised to see no bandages.
"This is the downside to starting in the Arsenal."
"Ah... No way. I guess since it only has weapons."
His relaxed expression turned into a worried look.
'I never started in the Arsenal. How would I know...'
He realized that it wasn't all flowers and daisies after the Arsenal. There were some downsides.
'Despite all the downsides, people still go there because of the legendary and hero tier weapons...'
There was something weird that Bubblegum noticed.
"Wait a second, Almond."
"Sorry?"
"Then how did you win all those games by starting in the Arsenal?"
"What are you talking about?"
From the stories, Bubblegum heard that Almond won all his games until his Diamond promotion matches by starting in the Arsenal. That meant Almond played all his games without medical equipment or using legendary and hero tier weapons.
"Almond, you don't even use legendary or hero tier weapons, but you always started in the Arsenal. You don't even have medical equipment... How do you win?"
— Oh yeah…?
— Yeah, he's right.
— Yeah, he never uses the weapons. He blows them all up.
— What kind of battle were you in, Almond…
The fact that he played the game with only a bow and no medical equipment made Bubblegum dizzy.
Almond just shrugged.
"It eventually comes out when I kill them."
— Human farming
— This isn't an RPG game!!
— LOL, they're humans too!
"Ah... Right," Bubblegum begrudgingly nodded. 'He's not a person I can understand.'
As Bubblegum was shaking his head, a message popped up in front of him.
Bling.
[Your HP will start to fall due to blood loss.]
[Please heal up accordingly.]
He could see his HP decreasing and was nervous again.
"U-Uh... I'm losing blood..."
"Shh."
Almond covered Bubblegum's mouth.
"The medical equipment is walking over here."
"?"
Almond was talking with his ear to the ground, but Bubblegum was confused.
'I don't hear anything?'
He didn't hear any footsteps at all, but suddenly…
Splash. Splash.
He could faintly hear the footsteps, but couldn't tell them apart from the noises and animals in the swamp.
'Is it real?'
While trying to figure out the sound, Almond was already pulling on his bowstring.
Creak…?
'Huh?'
Almond fired his bow without hesitation as soon as a person's head came into sight.
Swoosh!
The arrow flew in a smooth curve and pierced the figure’s head. The kill log confirmed if it was a player or not.
[Almond -> NightXayah]
[Knocked Out!]
It was one hit since they didn't have a helmet on.
"Dammit!"
"What the!?"
Mumble mumble.
They heard the commotion. It wasn't just one enemy.
Bubblegum quickly raised his gun and aimed toward the foe.
Tak.
But Almond held onto the barrel of his gun and lowered it.
"If we shoot now, they'll find us."
"... T-Then?"
"Just wait a moment."
After whispering, he quickly fired another arrow.
Swoosh!
It was so quick that it was barely visible even to Bubblegum, who was right beside Almond. The arrow flew and struck the tall grass. It was hard to tell if it hit anything, but that was a pointless worry.
Thwack!
The sound of pierced flesh, followed by a scream, was heard. Judging from the noise, the arrow must've hit the body.
Almond quickly fired four more shots.
Pabababang!
The arrows flew towards the right and disappeared.
In an instant…
Pubububuk!
Four more hits could be heard.
[Almond -> TissueHunter]
[Knocked Out!]
All four arrows landed on their body and knocked out the opponent.
"Wow..." Bubblegum expressed his awe.
Just then…
"Over there!"
Tududududung!
A gun appeared from the enemy’s side and started firing.
"A-Argh!"
Bubblegum quickly ducked and hid his body.
"... Huh?"
However, the bullets didn't come near him. The opponents were shooting completely elsewhere, all the way to the right. It was because Almond's curve shots were coming from there.
'Wow.'
The curve shot also had the benefit of tricking the opponents. Meanwhile, it was easy for Almond to discover the opponents. This was the advantage that quiet arrows had over loud bullets.
"It seems like the enemy squad had all four members alive. Now there's only two remaining."
Almond was utilizing the few arrows he had to maximum efficiency. To a beginner's eye, he made the bow look overpowered.
"Wow, this is possible because it makes no noise and he can shoot it in any direction," Bubblegum whispered to his audience. "Isn't this unfair?"
— For real.
— It's cause it's Almond.
— Then you try it out!
While Bubblegum was talking to his viewers…
Pang!
Almond's arrow cut through the air again.
One of the enemy players couldn't help but expose their head. There was a long arrow stuck in his head now.
[Almond -> Yellowy]
[Knocked Out!]
Only one player remained in the enemy squad. He was bent down, trying to revive his teammates.
The funny thing was the odd way he hid because he thought Almond was to their right. In reality, he became clearly visible to Almond from that angle.
Almond decided to give the easy target to Bubblegum.
"You can finish off the last one. It doesn't matter if we're revealed or not anymore."
"Sorry? Ah, alright."
Bubblegum quickly aimed down his sight. Since he was using an 8x scope, he could clearly see the opponent.
'Will it work again?'
“Phew,”?Bubblegum took a deep breath and held it again. “Huff.”
He carefully pulled the trigger.