Season 2: Chapter 88. A New and Familiar Encounter (1)
Betty's soldiers panicked. They cursed their commander and even made offensive gestures toward the sky, feeling betrayed by Betty.
Her expression hardened.
"They think they’re superior in numbers. Stupid idiots," she muttered.
The soldiers felt betrayed for a simple reason. They thought Betty deceived them and lied about the strength of their force because she wanted to sacrifice them.
This was a misconception on their part. They mistook Almond for multiple archers and believed they had been surrounded as Almond shot at them. In their eyes, there seemed to be another troop like the special forces in the trees and another on the ground rushing toward them.
The terror induced by Almond's rapid firing, curved shots, and precision created such an illusion.
"Damn it... Why is he still alive?"
Betty had been aware of Almond as a threat, which was why she tried to eliminate him first.
"Ah..."
Only toward the end of the battle did she realize another person dressed as Almond died in his place.
"How much trust did they have in each other?"
She smiled wryly. The one who died in his place. What did Almond do to gain his trust like that?
After all, she also tried to kill Almond first. Maybe it was easier for his soldiers to trust him. It was a kind of trust that was hard for her to understand.
"That's the end here."
Betty's archer unit completely lost. Not just physically, but the enemy also shattered their spirits.
The enemy's morale remained high and the black-haired archer who narrowly escaped death led the enemy troops with ghost-like skills.
The hiding place of Betty’s archers became their grave.
***
The observer was stunned as he watched the final battle.
‘What just happened?’
The arrows curved and whizzed through the forest like it was their own home as if Almond was shooting snakes instead of arrows. At times, a single release of the bowstring took down two men.
‘This is unbelievable.’
Meanwhile, the observer grew most concerned about the problematic technique of the no-look shot.
Twang...!
Almond had performed it while hanging upside down from a tree!
‘No way.’
He aimed at the enemy on the left, drew the bowstring, and shot.
Whoosh─
The arrow unexpectedly curved to the right, pierced through an enemy's head, and barely peeked over a rock.
Thud!
The no-look shot, combined with a curve shot, displayed Almond’s exceptional skill.
‘They thought he was a hacker, but he’s showing off those moves now while hanging upside down...’
The observer checked the capsule again just in case, but spotted no signs of any anomaly. No trace of any illegal software could be found.
Even the observer, who spent his days watching games, felt amazed by Almond's archery skills.
Understandably so, the enemies couldn't cope with Almond's arrows.
Thud!
Thump!
They panicked and some even mistook Almond for multiple archers. The relentless arrows gradually whittled them down. Eventually...
"What... what...?"
Almond annihilated all the enemies.
"... Did he kill them all!?"
It didn't end there.
"Even the spear soldiers?"
Almond targeted the spear soldiers next after annihilating the enemy archers. He joined forces with the allied cavalry to sandwich the enemy spear soldiers, which led to a resounding success.
The combined attack of the cavalry and archers quickly annihilated the enemy spear soldiers.
Betty, the enemy commander, had lost the trust of her soldiers.
She judged it too difficult to continue and eventually made a big decision.
The observer's eyes widened in disbelief.
***
The special forces unit safely returned to the main camp after completing all their operations.
[8/28]
Only eight of them remained. Although most of them had died, they had something substantial to show for it.
[Bonus Gold +44.5G]
They all earned a hefty bonus for taking down the spear soldiers.
‘Nice.’
Almond smiled and felt satisfied about proving his skills while earning a hefty bonus. He also reunited with a long-lost comrade.
"Damn, Almond-sama. I was counting on you!"
Whiskey had respawned at the main camp and rushed toward him. He already heard about the special forces' victory.
— Whiskey-san!!
— Whiskey~!!
— Now that’s authentic Japanese
— LOL!
— Japanese people actually speak like that?
Just then, a timely message appeared.
[The enemy commander has surrendered.]
‘Surrendered?’
Almond blankly stared at the message.
— Is this real? Did we win?
— Did we win?!
— That’s insane, LOL
— ??
As the chat messages quickly poured in, cheers of victory erupted among Almond’s allies. It wasn't a war cry to intimidate the enemy, but genuine shouts of joy.
“Wowwwww!”
His comrades gleefully shouted not because they had despaired, but solely out of celebration.
"We did it!”
“They retreated!”
The players felt exhilarated for the first time in a while and embraced each other. All the team members paid their respects to Almond.
"Almond, you're the strongest archer I've ever seen. Are you Korean by any chance?"
"How did you do that? I got goosebumps."
"Yeah, I felt thrilled in this game for the first time in a while. I knew Asian archers were skilled, but you’re on another level."
It seemed like people from various countries were commenting, which made translations more awkward.
People from around the world praised Almond for winning. This somewhat touched his heart.
‘Would it have been like this?’
He remembered imagining himself raising the national flag as people around the world cheered.
'Why am I associating that with just winning a game?' Almond thought and calmed his heart.
He focused on his stream again and raised a thumb as he asked the viewers, "So do you think I passed?"
— [Thumbnail Prediction] "Even Japan Acknowledges Him!"
— [Generic Title About the World Praising Him]
— Owner! Bring out the shots!
— This has to be it LOL
— The observer must have lost his eyeballs by now
In reality, the chat wasn't even interacting with Almond anymore. It was just an outpouring of unstructured ecstasy. Everyone threw out their own words because they felt so excited.
[Current Viewers: 35,000]
The viewer count reached a staggering 35,000. The chat was moving too fast to follow and the heat of the moment was palpable even through the screen.
'Wow,' Almond thought as he reveled in the atmosphere of the stream.
He managed to win with so many eyes watching. Naturally, the rewards would be substantial.
[BigSon has donated a whopping 500,000 won!]
[Do you know Son? Do you know Almond?]
— LOL, the Do You Know Club
— If BigSon approves, it's the end
— Almond, Do You Know Club LOL
Following BigSon's donation, numerous congratulatory donations poured in.
[RubySword has donated a whopping 100,000 won!]
[Wow, that was a legendary game!!]
[EggPlant has donated 5,000 won!]
[I was so amazed I raided my sibling's piggy bank to donate]
— RubySword with 100,000 won, wow
— Why is EggPlant always stealing his sibling's money? LOL
— The tough life of EggPlant's sibling
— I want to donate too...
— Almond must be making a fortune LOL
The donations reached a whopping 2-3 million won. Almond felt overwhelmed being treated like a streaming king.
"Ah, thank you. Thank you so much..."
He hadn’t completed any significant mission, yet so many donations poured in. Almond was inwardly surprised. However, he understood why after seeing the donations' contents.
[Dandelion has donated 100,000 won!]
[I feel like giving my son a gift]
[ClimbersAssociation has donated a whopping 300,000 won!]
[You’ve spread Korean archery to the world~~ I'm watching with great interest~~]
And so on. A flood of donations from an older age group poured in.
— Aunties have gathered, it seems
— The great unity of generations
— Almond's bank account is going to burst!
— Is this the National Pride Universe?
The older generation made a grand appearance with their generous wallets. Attracting older viewers by streaming games wasn’t easy, but Civil Empire achieved this with its accessibility to all ages.
Of course, Almond being a former archer who couldn't fulfill his dream also played a significant role.
'At this rate, moving to a new apartment won't be impossible.'
Seeing the flood of donations, Almond felt that the grand dream he and his grandmother had of moving into a new apartment was possible now.
He still had a long way to go with his current savings, but if he kept earning like this? He could possibly buy a house in Seoul before Director Park.
Ba-ba-bam!
A message appeared with fanfare.
[Victory!]
It was time to receive his rewards after the donations. The screen switched back to the tavern where the game started.
[Settling...]
Coins clinked as numerous gold coins poured out.
Ping!
— How much does it have to be to settle this long? LOL
— Wow
— Almond's eyes are going to pop out LOL
[Victory Bonus: All gold rewards increased by 20%]
[Comeback Win Bonus: All gold rewards increased by 50%]
[Special Mission Rating: S+ Gold reward increased by 30%]
All these bonus factors multiplied the reward.
[158 Gold Acquired!]
He earned over a hundred gold.
"Wow...!"
Almond's eyes widened. Now, he was beginning to grasp the value of gold.
— Enough for three expensive bows in one game, wow
— A life-changing moment, for real
— Damn
— Are horn bows being duplicated now!?
— So envious :(
With this, he had enough to buy three Joseon horn bows. He still had his bow since he never died. Indeed, he made a tremendous profit.
[LoveyBand has donated 10,000 won!]
[Can you buy another Joseon horn bow?! Will the national pride be duplicated?!]
He didn’t just earn enough to buy more expensive bows.
[Hero of Victory Bonus: Rank points doubled!]
[Challenger Bonus: Rank points doubled!]
He had previously earned the Hero of Victory Bonus when he played with MyDinner. This reward was given to the player who contributed the most to winning.
"... Challenger?"
This was the first time he saw the Challenger Bonus. He had no idea what it was.
His rank also increased without him even noticing.
[Rank Points +88]
[Rank Up!]
[C → B]
He was now B rank.
— Already B rank
— So, he's not a wandering mercenary anymore?
— Congrats, congrats
— The only thing in common between me and Almond were our grades... Now even that's changed...
— He rose so quickly, LOL
"What's a challenger...?"
Someone interrupted before Almond could even finish asking.
[CivilFanboy has donated 5,000 won!]
[It appears when you win against a much higher rank commander. Your opponent's rank must have been really high.]
— LOL, CF
— Is this guy unemployed?
— CivilFanboy strikes
"Ah... Thank you, CivilFanboy."
He realized his opponent's rank was much higher than he thought. Almond recalled the opponent's aggressive ambush strategies. Indeed, they seemed experienced.
Bang!
A fairy popped up from beside him and made a fuss.
"Aalmmond! Congratulations on your promotion! You get the title of a Seasoned Mercenary for reaching B rank! Ta-da!"
Peeeeanuuut handed him a card.
[You have obtained the title, Seasoned Mercenary!]
Almond thought he had nothing more to gain after money and honor, but there was still more.
Now, it was time for Almond to reclaim his honor.
[Observer: It normally takes a bit longer, but... the response came quickly so I'm informing you.]
— LOL, the observer is so polite now
— It's too late to make excuses now
— What's the point of checking? He's not a hacker anyway ^_^
— Didn't you say it would take a day?
The observer, who previously said it would take more than a day, prepared to speak.
Gulp.
Almond and the viewers swallowed nervously as they awaited the result.
Ding.
A message arrived.
"... Huh?"
Almond's face turned pale as he read the message. It hadn’t come from the observer.
[KimchiWarrior: Hey, Almond. I didn't realize you were so famous. It was easy to find you thanks to that. By the way, some guys I know are preparing for a national team match. We'd love to have you join us.]