Season 2: Chapter 189: Icarus (3)
After a while, OrangeKing's stream turned on. Considering his usual pattern, it was at an odd time with an odd title.
[Almond vs JeonJaPa! Watching the Recovery of Orange Juice]
— ??
— What's this?
— Did OrangeKing's stream start already?
— Is it because today is the day he's teaming up with Almond?
— Hi there.
"Ah~ Ah~"
After a brief mic test, OrangeKing cheerfully greeted his viewers.
"Hello!"
— Hello.
— Hi there.
— Hello~
Viewers gradually trickled in.
"Ah. Today, I turned on the stream a bit early at Almond's request."
He started talking about today's content.
"Actually, I'm planning to stream Almond’s showdown against Flashy Blade, the story's last boss, who is also using JeonJaPa’s data."
— ??
— Haha, so that's why you were talking about the orange juice.
— You need to retrieve that juice...
Orange juice was a meme mocking an incident when OrangeKing cried profusely after losing during his pro days. He cried so miserably that it was still frequently used as a meme in the community. The opponent who caused those tears of defeat was the rookie JeonJaPa. In other words, JeonJaPa stole his juice.
OrangeKing always dreamed of revenge and promised to reclaim the juice.
However, JeonJaPa conquered every series that year and never lost.
"Yes. Well, I'd be happy to reclaim the juice myself, but now I'm in a position to foster talented newbies..."
To summarize this lengthy excuse, he entrusted Almond with the mission and announced that he would stream the showdown.
— That's typical OrangeKing sneakiness, haha.
— That's what being a man is all about! haha.
— Typical man: Paying someone to do the job. Is that right?
Despite the numerous mocking comments in the chat, OrangeKing didn't care.
"Yes, yes. Let's get into it then. Ah!"
Thus, OrangeKing's stream began.
Almond briefly paused the game after receiving Ju-Hyeok's message.
[Sang-Hyeon: OrangeKing is also streaming this?]
[Ju-Hyeok: Yeah, isn’t that cool?]
[Sang-Hyeon: Yeah, it's fine. Then... explain it to the viewers.]
[Ju-Hyeok: Okay, okay.]
Ju-Hyeok had made a reassuring move. The person who just set up the mission was the real OrangeKing, who said he would also stream the final battle of the story mode today.
— ?? What's this?
— Is he going to end his stream right now?
— What's going on? Why all the secrecy?
— Are you really ending it here?
Since the messages Almond exchanged with Ju-Hyeok weren't visible on the stream, viewers still didn't know what was happening. They even thought Almond was about to end his stream.
"Ah. Everyone..."
Almond explained what Ju-Hyeok had just mentioned.
— ?? Is it really OrangeKing?
— Was it for real? Lol.
— This is hilarious, already changing the stream for the Orange Juice retrieval operation, lolol.
— Amazing!
— Seeking revenge only now, haha.
“Ah. Hello, members of the Nut Club. It's OrangeKing.”
OrangeKing's voice began to reach the viewers. Since Almond couldn't hear it, he could only tell the stream had started by looking at the viewers' reactions.
— OrangeKing Hi~
— Is it real? lol
— ???: You shouldn't have taken the orange juice from me...
— WTF, lol it's crazy!!
"Everyone, if you can hear OrangeKing's voice, I'll start. This is the setup from Civil Empire. Is that okay?"
— Yeah.
— Go, go, go.
— Nice.
— Let’s goooo~
Since he used the same settings from Civil Empire, there was no need to complicate things further and adjust the current settings.
"Then, here we go."
Almond resumed the game.
***
The bird blazed with transcendental power. It had now turned into the form of a masculine man with black hair, a straight nose, and sharp eyes.
He looked quite handsome with white wings behind him like an angel and resembled a lion descending from heaven.
[So that's the last boss. I've put a whopping 200,000 won on his neck... Huh? No, the money has increased?]
A total bounty of 700,000 won was now on the angel's neck.
— He's earning a lot, yet puts up only 200,000 won, haha.
— PettyKing.
— ShyFox bet more money than you, haha there's no juice to reclaim for him.
OrangeKing quickly changed the topic.
“Ah. By the way, doesn't it seem like that bird will come down?”
As OrangeKing said, there was no sign of the bird descending from the sky.
'It's out of reach.'
Almond was also pondering the same thing. Even from his perspective, it was impossible to hit such heights. This bow was a weapon with definite range limitations.
“Huh? What's happening?”
Swoosh.
The enemy raised his right arm as if commanding something. The blades that formed his wings all lined up. They seemed ready to be fired at any moment and pointed toward Almond and Luna, who had wide-opened mouths.
The blades would soon be fired.
“What's this!? Is it a blade barrage!?”
Swoosh.
When the boss pointed down with his index finger, numerous blades began to fall.
Shhhlshlshlsh!
'Blade barrage?'
Almond realized this skill was similar to the blade barrage used by Valkyrie, a divine messenger. He had survived this blade barrage multiple times and could either hit them with arrows or simply dodge.
Thunk! Thunk! Ka-blam!
As the blades fiercely fell to the ground, Almond leisurely avoided them.
“Is it a blade barrage toward Almond? No way! That bird said he had all the data! What a stupid bird brain!”
— LOL.
— OrangeKing is excited to reclaim his orange juice.
— Bird brain, lol.
— But isn’t it a human brain right now?
“But this isn't the end here! Let's go one more round!”
Shooosh!
The bird also showed the blades on its left wing. Just like before, a blade barrage descended.
Shooosh!
There wasn’t any difference the second time. As expected, Almond dodged them all.
— Wow, amazing!
— He really dodged all of them.
— Just like a machine.
“He dodged all of them again! Is Almond talking? These are all familiar scenes, aren't they?!”
— When did Almond say that?
— It's what you said, LOL.
— Wow, LOL.
— For real.
— Why is it blade barrage? Haha.
Boom!
The blade barrage only dug into the barren ground. Countless blades were stuck in the ground. In other words, the space to move around was gradually diminishing.
Only Almond could dodge blades coming at this density. It was impossible for anyone else.
"Ugh..."
Luna was bleeding and clutching her shoulder.
“Ah! Almond managed to avoid it, but Luna couldn't. As expected!”
Luna was in a better situation, but Ben was almost dead.
"Ugh..."
"Ben!"
He was barely clinging to life.
“Ben? Is that character almost dead? But do they really need to be saved?”
— ??
— Oh...
— LOL!
— That’s right… haha
As for the three-star clear of Flashy Blade’s story mode, OrangeKing also had many questions.
“If he keeps shooting blade barrages from up there, won't those two just die? How do you kill him when he’s up there?”
It seemed like the boss heard OrangeKing's comments.
Swoosh.
The boss began to descend.
“Ah! Thankfully, it's coming down! It really has a stupid bird brain! Why bother coming down if it can just shoot from above!”
— Whose side are you on, OrangeKing? LOL.
— It's a duel between not wanting to lose 200,000 won and wanting to reclaim orange juice.
— Gameplay allowance, LOL.
— It wouldn’t make sense if it didn't come down, LOL.
OrangeKing seemed somewhat regretful.
'Thank goodness.'
Almond was relieved. If that thing kept raining down blade barrages from above, he couldn't think of a way to deal with it from down here.
Booom!
The boss made a loud noise as he landed. Then, he picked up one of the numerous feather blades embedded in the ground with his bare hands.
Swoosh.
The blade transformed into a magnificent sword in his hand. He aimed the sword at Almond.
"Do you regret standing up against an administrator?"
"No."
"It's already too late."
"?"
— ???
— No, LOL.
— LOL, his reaction time
"Die."
Bannng!
After kicking off the ground, the new form of the angel vanished and appeared right in front of Almond.
"Almond!"
Luna, who had collapsed, suddenly stood up and shouted as she threw her sword.
Booom!
Luna's sword clashed with the angel’s sword.
“Ah! Luna! So she's still participating in the battle! Is Ben really dead?!”
Almond backed away and drew his bow.
Zzip!
Luna flashed with her thrown sword.
“Amid the chaotic battle! Almond's arrows and Luna's sword clash!”
It was a situation where attacks came from both sides and it was difficult to discern them.
However—
“Huuhh!? What's this!?”
Swooosh.
The angel swung his sword at mysterious angles. Then, he deflected Almond's arrows and Luna's sword again.
Bang!
“What, what's going on?! What did you do?! Is this the data from JeonJaPa? It was really dangerous and flowed too smoothly!”
Almond didn't give up and shot another arrow.
Swooosh!
The angel's wings fluttered once. Then—
Bang!
The angel’s form dispersed, leaving only an afterimage. He was incredibly fast.
“And he's insanely fast!”
Shoosh.
The angel appeared behind Almond and was persistently only targeting him.
“Does he feel that Almond's combat power is superior? Is he only targeting Almond?! Or is it because Luna, who uses Flash, is difficult to catch?!”
He tried to cleave Almond in half with his sword.
“Almond blocked it...! He blocked it! It's amazing! It's even hard to follow with your eyes!”
Booom!
Almond blocked the sword with his bow instead of getting divided into two.
“But he blocked it with a bow?!”
— Damn..
— Wow, so fast, damn.
— Teacher, the pace is too fast!
“Is the bow okay?! This isn't how it's supposed to be used, right?!”
Crack!
"!?"
Almond’s bow began to crack down the middle. No, it didn't just stop at cracking.
“Huh!? Is the bow breaking?”
Boom!
Almond's bow split into two and the angel’s sword continued coming toward him. However, Almond dodged by leaping back.
“Almond managed to survive, but what now?! The boss is still coming!!”
Thump!
The boss flapped its wings once and stuck to Almond.
Swoosh!
[Flash]
Luna appeared and blocked the angel’s sword instead.
Bang!
"Almond! Quickly grab a weapon!"
While Luna bought some time, Almond grabbed one of the many knives scattered around. It was one of the weapons that belonged to the kids.
Meanwhile, Luna fought the angel to buy some time for Almond.
“Ah! Lu-Luna! She’s being a huge help?! There wasn't an NPC this helpful if I recall. Was there?”
— That's because of your face.
— Because she recognizes the face of a god, LOL.
— For real, LOL, Luna isn't that kind of character.
However, that was the problem.
“Ah! She worked hard, but it's futile! The problem is too difficult for a repeat student to handle! JeonJaPa!!!”
For some reason, her sword gradually fell behind and she couldn’t flash due to the cooldown.
Shooaaack—
The angel deeply sliced diagonally across Luna's upper body.
"Uh, uh..."
Luna collapsed with her mouth open.
“Thankfully, Almond is holding a weapon now! He's rushing in!”
"Luna!!!"
Almond grabbed a sword and leaped into the fray.
Bang!
Almond intercepted the angel's sword that was trying to finish off Luna.
“Oh, Almond blocked it!”
Ssrrk!
Almond smoothly deflected the angel’s sword, causing it to crumble. Meanwhile, he raised his sword again to strike.
Swish!
The angel immediately withdrew its wings.
“Is this also impressive?! Is it swordsmanship trained from playing Civil Empire?!”
Although Almond successfully drove the angel back, the angel rushed in again to kill Luna.
Whoosh—
“What, what's this!? This is like a high school ghost story! How can you blo... block this!!!”
— A high school ghost story, LOL.
— LOL!
— Yeah, that's it, haha.
Kagakang!
Kaang!
With tremendous concentration, Almond deflected all of the angel's sword attacks. He only had one thought: to protect Luna. It wasn't for some great benefit.
'I should escape with Luna.'
Although she was an NPC, he had grown attached over time. The scene where Luna took a blow for him left a deep impression. Her story was somewhat pitiful even though he still couldn't completely understand her inner thoughts.
He continued to block the angel's attacks.
"Haa... haa... Ah, Almond..." Luna rose from the floor and spoke.
"Luna. Stay still. You can't fight right now."
"No. That's not it."
"?"
Luna grabbed Almond's leg.
"Kill me... You... Kill me."
Luna was asking Almond to kill her.
Almond felt his strength momentarily drain from the hand holding the sword.
"What...?"
"Kill me. Stab me with that sword."
He couldn't believe what he just heard and he couldn't understand it for a moment.
"Kill me and take my skills and sword! It's meaningless if I die by his hands! You can leave if it's you. I... I..."
"What are you saying? We should leave together!?"
“Hahaha,” Luna burst into laughter.
"I can't leave anyway. After repeating this much… Even though I had countless opportunities, I couldn't even touch him."
Tears fell from the corners of her laughing eyes.
"Kill me."
"What…?"
Luna screamed as if she was frustrated, “Just kill me!! I engraved all those tattoos on your body! You still don’t get it, you dumbfuck?!”
“...!”
"I’ve just been using you! Every time! You just moved according to what I wanted! That's why—"
Thwook.
Almond's sword finally pierced Luna's heart.
***
[Beginner Tip: In the abyss, no one can be trusted and everyone must be trusted.]