Season 2: Chapter 72. Bow (3)
Being a streamer wasn’t just about earning money from a large number of views. The revenue gained from views mostly came from ads on the platform. In reality, the real earnings came from donations.
This was the challenging aspect for streamers. Donations were tips given out of pure goodwill without viewers expecting anything in return. How many ordinary people would willingly make such donations?
In this respect, streamers essentially had a revenue system that wasn’t much different from busking street musicians. However, they earned significantly more than street musicians thanks to the entertaining donation systems created by platforms. The platforms put a lot of effort into making donating fun for viewers. One such feature was the mission system.
[ShyNapoleon has registered a mission!]
[Survive without dying and win 500,000 won!]
Mission donations were a major source of income for skill-based streamers.
“Wow, Napoleon. Thank you. Finally, a mission.”
Skilled streamers could undertake various missions.
For example, viewers couldn't set missions on Bubblegum’s stream other than 'Clear Today.’ In Almond's stream, they could set diverse missions like 'Clear with a dagger,' 'One-shot, one-kill clear,' or 'Clear within 30 minutes,' etc.
This greatly increased the fun of donating for viewers. For them, it felt like they got to set the course of the entire stream.
For this reason, skill-based streamers had to value mission donations. It wasn’t strange for Almond to put his life (figuratively) on the line for a mission.
[Mission]
[Survive without dying and win]
[500,000 won]
‘Alright. I need to survive.’
He resolved to survive until the end, but the timing was unfortunate.
[Commander]
[You've done enough. It’s better to just die and resurrect. Join the battlefield again and I'll give you more special missions. Contract fee increased fivefold.]
The commander was essentially ordering him to die and promised a hefty compensation.
— ??
— What timing, lol
— The commander's telling him to die, lol
— 500,000 won vs five times the fee
Five times the contract fee would have been tempting if Almond had never received the mission.
"I’m going for the survival mission~"
— I don't care about anything else! I'm going for 500,000 won!
— Didn't he see the commander's message? Is it lagging?
— All he knows is cash~~ He doesn't know about gold~~
— "The amount was too small to accept"
— So shameless, lol
***
In any game, dying led to losses. Civil Empire was no exception. Players would lose all their equipment. That seemed like a big penalty, but it wasn't. Equipment wasn't very expensive and most mercenaries didn't bring gear worth more than their contract fee.
Civil Empire's battlefield was a place where dying was commonplace, so participants assumed they would die.
Still, the best scenario was to bring the best equipment, survive until the end, win, keep the gear, and earn double the money. However...
Realistically, that wasn’t an efficient strategy. Recontracting after death often brought more benefits.
"He'll die."
Commander MyDinner thought Almond would inevitably die.
Other mercenaries would worry about death penalties, but that was almost nonexistent for Almond. His equipment was just shabby leather armor and a free spear from a fairy. He had almost nothing to lose by dying.
Moreover, the commander had promised him a sufficient reward. There was no reason for him to not die, but something felt odd.
"... For someone who's supposed to die, he's fighting quite hard."
The additional gold from the bonus kept increasing.
[Performance Bonus] [+1 Gold]
[Performance Bonus] [+1 Gold]
[Performance Bonus] [+1 Gold]
Almond continued massacring the workers near the enemy's gold mine camp. He retreated when the workers shot arrows from the camp. Then he reappeared like a ghost to harass them once they resumed working.
Normally, mercenaries who were ready to die didn't fight this hard.
"But... he's a spearman. Why is he so good with a bow? He's crazy."
MyDinner saw Almond shooting for the first time and became mesmerized by Almond's archery skills. He forgot that Almond wasn't following his order.
"Should I recontract him as an archer..."
That thought only lasted for a moment. A commander wasn't someone with so much leisure.
"Oh. I need to build more structures."
Now was the time for him to focus on production and building up his forces for a counterattack. It seemed like that spearman had no intention of dying, but...
It wasn't a major concern.
'He'll probably die once the cavalry returns.'
The enemy's cavalry had almost fully retreated. Their platoon of about thirty horses was a substantial force. A lone foot soldier couldn't handle all of them.
[Performance Bonus] [+1 Gold]
[Performance Bonus] [+1 Gold]
[Performance Bonus] [+1 Gold]
It wouldn’t be too bad if he killed more workers.
***
"Aaaaah!"
"Run, run!"
The workers mining gold fled. Almond chased after each escaping worker and shot them down.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
— How many is he going to kill? Wow
— A man who drools at the sight of workers... Almond!
— What will he do for arrows once the soldiers come?
— Addicted to bonuses
— He's relentless...
His fixation on the workers wasn't just for the bonus. In RTS games, the death of workers was critical and meant the game would end faster. The chances of surviving and successfully completing his mission would increase if the game ended earlier.
[WorryBot has donated 10,000 won]
[Conserve your arrows!]
"Oh, arrows..."
His only worry was the limited number of arrows he had. As a spearman, Almond didn't have an infinite supply of arrows on the battlefield. However, the solution was surprisingly close at hand.
"Arrows will be available soon."
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The workers at the gold mine camp released a volley of arrows. Almond dodged them with ease and retreated back into the forest.
Once the workers emerged again to mine gold, Almond would reappear from the forest and collect the arrows they shot. He was recycling the enemy's arrows.
— Arrows are multiplying?
— That's so lucky, lol
— This is crazy, lol
— Unlimited Arrow Work
— Strategic genius level
He finished refilling his quiver with arrows.
"See? Got my arrows back."
He smirked and pulled back his bowstring. This was a maddening situation for the workers.
Bang!
Another worker fell with every shot from Almond. Again, they screamed and ran back to the camp.
— Must be so frustrating for the enemy, lol
— The epitome of a ruthless archer.
— The workers keep running away, lol so funny
***
Bang! Crash!
The enemy commander, 2_many_moms, furiously pounded his keyboard.
"Dammit!"
He felt it was unfair. He had been dominating as a commander with his strategies.
"Lucky no-skill gamer!"
A hacker archer was decimating his workers. The cheater wasn't just reducing their numbers. He was strategically firing arrows from a distance and prevented the workers from doing their jobs. He was even recycling and using their arrows.
Watching this infuriated 2_many_moms. It wasn't just a simple aim hack or speed hack.
"Why! Why doesn't he get hit even once!? That doesn't make sense!"
Meanwhile, the lumber camp had long been turned to ruins and the gold mine was on the brink of depletion.
[Resource Score: -90]
His resource score once led by a hundred points, but it had turned negative.
"Ugh..."
He felt sick. This was an unthinkable reversal that could lead to defeat.
Then, his main force returned.
Thud, thud, thud...
A magnificent cavalry approached and raised a cloud of dust. Thirty horses crossing the plains side by side was a sight to behold. They should have been rampaging the enemy's main base, but they had to return because of that one man. The loss was substantial and he was determined to catch that archer.
"You're done now."
The archer had no way to escape.
***
Almond continued to joyously kill the workers and stacked up more bonus gold.
Thud, thud, thud...
He felt the ground shaking and looked toward the source where he saw a cloud of dust. At a glance, a sizable cavalry force was approaching.
— Wow
— What's this?
— Lol, they came to catch Almond?
— The main force returned, I guess.
Almond instinctively realized that it was the same cavalry force that trampled over him when he first joined the battlefield. They were returning.
"I'll hide for now."
— He runs away immediately, lol.
— Tough only in front of workers
— Crafty! Ah! Mond!
The viewers mocked him, but hiding was the obvious choice. Facing such a cavalry force head-on was insane as he already knew from his first experience.
Almond quickly ran back into the forest.
"They can't enter the forest easily with the horses, right?"
He planned to survive in the forest as long as possible and escape back to his base.
“I should be able to trick them and run away.”
— Will this work?
— Run away, yeah
— Should work in the forest
Almond and his viewers underestimated the enemy. They thought escaping through the forest would be possible because of low visibility, but the enemies were experienced.
"Line up from here to there!"
"Close in slowly!"
"Maintain the distance!"
They didn't just charge in. They methodically encircled the forest and closed in like police searching for a missing person in the mountains. They left no space for an ant to escape, let alone a person.
The horses maneuvered surprisingly well in the forest.
‘What the...?’
Almond kept evading the encirclement, but this drove him deeper into the forest as if being herded by a shepherd.
— Almond is about to get resurrected, lol
— Can he get out with no horse?
— Oh no, he's at the edge of the map. :(
Thud!
Almond hit an invisible wall at the edge of the map.
Click. Click.
He could hear the horses closing in. Some cavalrymen dismounted with their spears and continued searching. The rustling of leaves echoed from all sides.
Almond hid behind a large rock. He peeked through the bushes and counted them.
‘One... two...’
There were about thirty of them in total. He never expected an entire force to catch just him.
— Where will he go? :(
— Mission failure?
— Try stealing a horse.
The trees in such a thick forest could interfere with his arrows. The cavalrymen’s full plate armor could also deflect most shots. He was at a numerical disadvantage of 1 vs. 30.
‘Will this work?’
Even Almond doubted the feasibility of this battle.
‘Well, I have nowhere to run.’
Almond took out all his arrows.
Thump!
He planted them on the ground.
‘Twenty-five arrows.’
He was slightly short on arrows, but...
‘Let's do this.’
He decided to face the end here.
Swoosh.
Amid the rustling bushes.
Creak...!
He pulled back his bowstring.