Season 2: Chapter 39. A Summary of the Incident (3)
"He’s unnecessarily smart," Almond spoke to the viewers.
The class president didn't hear him.
"Your store got robbed, right? By Baek Joon-Soo’s gang. Am I right?"
— Class Prez LOL, he's having fun.
— How did he figure that out?
— Does he have a telescope or something?
The class president knew more than expected, piecing together half of what he observed and half of what he heard from Almond. He nearly knew the truth now.
"Looking at your face, I guess I'm right. We can’t make a deal with you since you started with a lie.”
The class president raised his spear again and the tip brightly shone in the sunlight. A bat or a golf club worked better against zombies, but this spear had the upper hand when it came to human vs. human combat. In these times, a slash or puncture wound could be fatal because it was difficult to get treatment. Thus, the enemy's weapon was definitely superior.
However, Amond wasn't particularly worried.
'Even so...'
These guys didn't really know how to fight. That was how Baek Joon-Soo's gang pushed them back even though they possessed such weapons.
Almond was confident he could subdue the class president in five seconds if it came down to a fight.
"Why don't you make some excuses?" the class president asked as he pushed his spear forward.
Then, a student who seemed to be the second in command raised his hand. He was clearly sending a signal to the archer.
Almond could see the archer drawing the bow again in his peripheral vision. They wanted to threaten and show that they could shoot him at any time, but Amond doubted it.
"Can you really hit me from that distance?"
The archer flinched as if caught off guard.
"What?"
The class president scowled.
"Why are you worried about that? You nerdy freak."
"You can’t hit me, can you?"
"What?!"
Almond simply assumed the student couldn't shoot an arrow.
'There are too many obstacles in the way. Unless it's a curved shot...'
Multiple obstacles stood between Almond and the archer. It seemed like a clear line of sight at first glance, but a direct shot was impossible at this angle because arrows didn’t normally fly in straight lines.
"I think I understand why you couldn't beat Baek Joon-Soo's gang."
The class president's group started making a fuss.
Almond’s words had triggered them.
"You damn nerd! How dare you speak like that!?"
"Weren't you the one who delivered bread to Baek Joon-Soo, basically raising him!!"
"Fuck you, you bastard!"
Curses flew from everywhere. They were probably in the same class as Kim Ju-Hyeok and knew his position in the class hierarchy.
— The store gang's reaction LOL
— Who raised Baek Joon-Soo?
— LOLOLOL.
— LOL, how can you say Almond fed him by shuttling bread, hahaha.
— The kids are hungry and cranky, LOL~
The viewers burst into laughter. They could freely laugh as mere observers, but it was different for those in the game.
Hyun-Ah forgot that they were surrounded and shouted, "Hey!!! Isn't that too much!?"
"You damn kids! Who are you to call anyone a nerd when you were all just standing by cowardly while a friend was in trouble!?"
— It’s starting! The great verbal battle!
— Is the mental attack starting!?
— How can they withstand a college student's verbal skills? LOL.
"And what's this nonsense about giving bread to Baek Joon-Soo, you idiots! Baek Joon-Soo was raised by his mom!"
— Crazy LOL
— Activation of the 'Silver-tongued' skill!
— What... What is Hyun-Ah’s LIL tier?
“Does he look like he was a pushover because he’s nice? Huh? We would’ve all died without him, okay? You can't beat him! You can't even beat me, you brats! I'll smash you with the corner of a lunch tray! You mealtime brats!"
— Lol, the lunch tray!
— King~ You can't beat her~
— Is, is this General Hyun-Ah?!?
The children were momentarily taken aback by the adult's attack. They stepped back despite holding weapons.
The class president's eyes shook as if he felt a sting.
After pondering for a moment, he pointed at Almond and quietly asked, "Is there even any bread?"
— Why are you scared?
— Did the mental attack really work??? Lol
— Seriously funny lol
Almond nodded.
"Yeah. I swiped it from the snack bar."
"But why did you lie?"
"It's not a lie. We'll share all the store bread."
"What?"
"If you just give me that weapon, I can drive out Baek Joon-Soo's gang and take back the snack bar. That was the plan all along."
The class president looked again at the archer. Why was he so obsessed with the bow? Is he that confident?
"You're that confident? Then why not just beat them to death with a bat."
"I'm too scared."
Such an honest answer surprised the class president, but it apparently persuaded him.
"Alright, then. I'll give you just one shot."
The students expressed their shock at the sudden decision.
"You might not understand, but lending you even one shot is a big decision for us. There's no guarantee you won't shoot me with it."
Almond looked at him as if he was asking, 'Why would I shoot you?’
— Lol, the class president is overthinking it
— He could just smash you with a hammer.
— A waste of an arrow, class president
"So, prove it in advance. Show us if you can really take back the snack bar with that bow."
"Alright."
They successfully struck a deal. General Hyun-Ah's diplomatic skills had worked.
"Until then, we'll keep your teammates with us. Even if you fail, we’ll just kick them out of the construction site, so don't worry."
— The class president suddenly turned nice
— Class president... is he a good guy?
— He seems touched by Hyun-Ah's words
He handed over the bow and arrow to Almond and added, "During this time..." He hesitated to speak. "... I'm sorry. As class president." He spoke softly up to this point and then spoke louder, "It's hard to accept your group joining us. Our own lives are strained enough. And trust is the first priority. But if you prove your ability, it's possible."
The class president probably said it loud enough for his group to hear.
"Show what you can do with that one shot. Then, we'll invest in you."
Ding!
It seemed like a quest would appear after the sound, but this wasn't that kind of game. Regardless, Almond accepted the bow and arrow.
"Follow me."
The class president was confused.
"What do you mean? You need to prove it first."
“How can I prove it here?”
They thought Almond would demonstrate shooting an arrow at the construction site. Maybe he would shoot at a distant target or show some trick. That wouldn't be bad, but it had nothing to do with how to really use a bow.
"Aren't you curious if I can drive out Baek Joon-Soo's gang with this bow?"
He intended to head straight to the goal, even with just one shot. That would be proper proof.
Almond was curious too.
'If I shoot from a distance, I won't trigger the fear status.'
He wondered if this hypothesis was correct.
***
Almond headed from the construction site back to the annex. Alongside him were the class president and two other team members, four of them in total. Dealing with zombies on the way to the annex wasn’t difficult. They were skilled at handling zombies and were armed with good weapons. After all, anyone who had survived up to this point could handle zombies.
Swish.
They hid in the shrubs of the garden near the annex.
"What's your plan?" the class president whispered from beside him.
"Baek Joon-Soo's gang will surely pass through here."
Almond pointed toward the front door window of the annex. It was the space between the infirmary and the canteen.
The class president didn't understand.
"You're going to shoot from here?"
The class president looked again at where Almond pointed. It was too far. He couldn’t imagine shooting an arrow and hitting someone there. Moreover, there were obstacles like windows too. Even if it wasn’t the glass, what if the arrow struck the window bars?
Almond murmured, "They're coming."
Several silhouettes moved beyond the window.
“They went to the second floor?” Baek Joon-Soo said in the distance
Almond stood up alone. The class president didn't have a chance to ask how he would shoot.
Swish.
Almond was exposed all by himself among the shrubs.
However, Baek Joon-Soo wasn’t looking in their direction. Even if he did look, he wouldn’t be able to distinguish anything.
‘That seems like Baek Joon-Soo.’
Almond simply guessed and shot. It was impossible to tell who was who from this distance and from outside the window.
However, a leader always acted in a distinct way that made them easy to identify even within an anonymous group. It was obvious who the leader was even among silhouettes.
The one who frequently pointed, and everyone always walked behind him. All eyes turned in his direction because he was the leader.
‘There.’
That was probably Baek Joon-Soo.
Creak.
Almond drew the bow.
Gulp.
The president and the other students dryly swallowed.
Almond felt completely different from the archer in their group like he was on another level. The trembling in his hand holding the bowstring subsided. His body was fixed in place like a hammered-down nail. Then, his right hand released the bowstring without anyone noticing.
Whoosh─
The arrow flew, accompanied by the sound of air tearing apart.
“Kim Ju-Hyeok is probably already dead. There’s a monster there.”
The glass shattered as soon as Baek Joon-Soo finished.
Crash!
The silhouettes inside the annex seemed startled and flinched.
Only 0.001 seconds had passed, but Almond distinctly felt it.
‘It landed.’
He was already certain that he hit Baek Joon-Soo.
Thud!
The arrow pierced Baek Joon-Soo’s right eye.
The class president and the other students sprang up.
“Aaaahhh!” Baek Joon-Soo screamed and fell back.
“OMG! Did you really hit him!?”
“How...!?”
“Who was hit!?”
Every student recognized Baek Joon-Soo’s voice. The scream alone confirmed that the right target was hit. The following screams only further confirmed their success.
“Aaaaahhh! Joon-Soo!”
It was Yoon So-Hee’s voice.
Joy filled the eyes of the class president and the other students.
Almond really shot him. He shot Baek Joon-Soo.
Everyone was in a festive mood, but Almond felt a bit bitter.
‘It actually worked.’
Almond could even kill Baek Joon-Soo, but... could he really do this?
‘I’ll have to tell the viewers to watch Bubblegum’s stream instead or something.’
He already came too far to turn back.
***
In the WePlug conference room, developers from overseas popped up as holograms and poured out awkwardly translated compliments.
“The character AI implementation is excellent. Beautiful.”
“This is the best out of the ones I’ve seen.”
“Especially the individual story progression in Baek Joon-Soo’s character. That’s a significant achievement.”
“Unbelievable. It’s like someone was trapped inside the game.”
Twitch.
Developer Kim Yi-Seo shuddered at that last sentence. Not because he was unaccustomed to compliments, but because he found it chilling.
“Ahem. Be careful with your words. It’s creepy to say that someone’s trapped in a game.”
“Oh? I’m sorry,” the official apologized, surprised by the unexpected reaction.
Why did he react like that? Was something translated wrong?
“Anyway, overall, it seems we’ve implemented it as intended. Right, boss?”
Ho-Tae, next to him, summed up the officials’ comments.
Finally, Kim Yi-Seo nodded in satisfaction.
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m confident in implementing NPCs with AI. I told you I’m basically married to an NPC.”
This common phrase was often used to emphasize one’s professionalism like, ‘I’m married to the game’ or ‘Married to art.’ The officials understood it in that way.
“Hahahaha! That makes sense!”
“You deserve it!”
However, it wasn’t just a metaphor for Kim Yi-Seo.
Ho-Tae quickly changed the subject as he fully understood the meaning behind it.
“Ahem. Boss, but there are some bad news too.”
He switched to the next scene, where Almond shot Baek Joon-Soo from a distance farther than where the fear status would activate. The White Ghost on the second floor, placed as a temporary boss in their early access, was also easily eliminated with a golf club.
The game’s iconic scenes were already circulating as clips. These weren’t iconic scenes for the developers, but more like things they would get reprimanded over.
Kim Yi-Seo’s expression turned into disbelief. He could understand up to the White Ghost. After all, the White Ghost wasn’t the real boss. It was just for the early access.
However, Baek Joon-Soo was a core character who needed to be overcome throughout the game. They had put so much effort into...
“Why did that hit?”
Kim Yi-Seo was baffled.