Chapter 58: Almonds Rampage (1)
[1st]
Almond easily placed first with fifty kills.
"Alright, next round."
He proceeded to queue up as if nothing happened.
— LOL! Next!
— Next!!!
— What just happened...
— Wait, I went to heat my ramen and he got first?
— How did you win, you bastard!
— LOL
— Wow, is it really possible?
Even the viewers watching felt surprised at how quickly Almond finished the round. He killed over fifty people and won in an instant.
His skills significantly improved after watching the strategy videos. Everyone knew he didn't belong in bronze, but no one expected him to be this good.
[Rampage has donated 5000 won.]
[Wait, you killed half of them.]
[HalfandHalf has donated 5000 won.]
[Can I get a half-and-half order of corpses and arrows?]
[LetsGoDia has donated 1000 won.]
[You're a man of your word!!!]
[MyFirstTime has donated 10,000 won.]
[It's my first time seeing a 50 kill victory... Go easy on us humans...]
[ReportAgain has donated 10,000 won.]
[Tomorrow's Announcement: You have been suspended from play for being reported...]
A swarm of donations poured in while he waited for the next round to begin. The match had left a big impact on the viewers.
“Rampage, HalfandHalf, LetsGoDia, MyFirstTime, ReportAgain, thank you all for the donations.”
Almond thanked them and fixed his gaze on the loading screen. His concentration remained unfazed even after the match.
'I'm really going to do it.'
He gradually became an unstoppable monster without even knowing it once set a clear goal.
***
Meanwhile, Almond became a hot topic on the Battle31 forums. It felt like watching seniors talk about the cocky newcomer because of a certain post.
[Announcing he would reach diamond in two weeks.avi]
Ju-Hyeok was the one who uploaded the post.
— Wow, it's real.
— Isn't this fake?
— No way. Did he really say that?
— His expression says he's not joking.
— I think he might be able to reach it.
└ Caught the Almond fanboy.
└ Fanboys LOL
The community divided into two groups: the ones who thought he could achieve it vs. those who thought it was impossible.
Of course, the latter was heavily favored. However, things began to shift after the last match.
[Is Almond crazy?.gif]
Ju-Hyeok made another post.
'Sigh, I'm going to get attached to this community now.'
He clipped the highlights and titled the post like any other avid community poster.
Everyone simply thought Almond was crazy before clicking the link. However, this turned into shock after they watched the clip.
It showed Almond blowing up the Arsenal and annihilating fifty players to place first.
— I clicked on the post to make fun of him, but never mind. He's crazy good.
— ???
— This guy needs to get reported again.
— What just happened?
— I get that he's unranked, but still. How is that possible?
— Wow...
— What did I tell you about Almond! What did I tell you about Almond!
— Blowing up the Arsenal was badass.
The tides slowly changed.
'Wow... is this really possible?'
Ju-Hyeok nervously read the comments because he was technically the one raising the stakes. He felt excited because it would be a complete victory if the public took their side.
— JeonJaPa would’ve gotten 99 kills. Stfu.
└ Show me a clip of him getting 30 kills first. You guys are a cult.
└ Stfu? You're reported.
└ 99 kills? Is he playing against training bots?
— Almond fanboys are up early today. Please play in your area!
— Who keeps bringing up this nobody?
— I think he might actually reach diamond in two weeks.
└ Stfu.
└ JeonJaPa took a month, stupid.
└ JeonJaPa didn't give it his all. Also, Almond could be better than him. He's not a god.
└ JeonJaPa is at least worthy of looking up to like a god. Why are you guys sucking up to this bronze rank?
└ Bronze Age religion.
└ LOL
└ These guys are the Bronze Age religion now.
"Ugh..."
Unfortunately, Almond's supporters were now being called the Bronze Age religion. Public opinion took a lot of work to win over and Almond still had much to prove.
Ding—?
Almond finished queuing for the second round.
"Prove it to them, Sang-Hyeon. That's the only thing we can do... fuck."
Ju-Hyeok gritted his teeth and resumed banning the hateful comments.
***
Thud!
Almond landed in the Arsenal again. He fell on top of the roof and jumped off.
'1... 2... 3...'
Three players landed on the roof as well. Instead of fighting unarmed, they ran for the stairs to acquire the rare weapons.
The more time they spent on the roof, the less time they had to find weapons. Hence, it became an unspoken rule to only fight in the Arsenal’s basement.
However, when one of the players opened the door to the staircase…
Slam!
"Aaaagh!"
The door slammed shut on their hand because someone kicked it.
The opponent met eyes with Almond while screaming and cursing at him.
"Hey! What the fuck is your deal!"
Chak!
A cheap knife slit his throat. Almond already picked up a small blade because he didn't care about the weapons in the basement.
"Kugh!"
The dull edge didn't kill the opponent, but he crawled on the floor in a critical state.
"This fucking troll!"
"What!?"
The others following from behind froze in place.
'Why are they fighting here?'
They couldn't understand, but ran to the sides to look for a weapon after assessing the situation.
However, Almond didn’t plan on waiting for them. He pivoted his body at an angle and focused all his energy on one point.
Swoosh!
He sent the energy into the blade and threw it like a baseball. The knife perfectly landed on one of the fleeing players.
Thwack!
It felt more like getting hit by a blunt weapon because of the weapon’s dullness.
Splash!
Regardless, the enemy still collapsed and bled from it. He didn’t die though.
Almond rushed forward and kicked in the blade to finish him off.
[Almond → BronzeForever]
[Eliminated]
[98/100]
— Wow
— So brutal!
— Almond, you're insane!
— Almond, you're crazy!
— He's merciless.
— I'd be so scared if I was the opponent.
— He doesn't let anyone go. Kind of like my professor.
— Come on! Let's play casually!
"They're probably trying to go down the stairs again, right?"
Almond pulled out the knife and threw it towards the door. It struck a player reaching for the knob.
Thwack!
Blood splattered again after the flash of silver light.
"Arrrrgh!"
The opponent screamed while grabbing his arm. Almond’s no-look throw had cut his hand off. It hadn’t been completely severed, but dangled off his arm.
— Damn, he called it!
— That's crazy!
— Everyone is in the palm of Almond's hand.
— It's like watching a pro play. Is this only his fourth round?
— Wow, they got injured with a low-tier knife like that.
— Injured status from the start... sucks for them.
The injured status wasn’t death, but it was a similar state. If a body part was severed or couldn’t be used in battle anymore, a player would suffer from the injured status.
They couldn't cure the status unless they had a healing item.
"Argh! Fuck! Why are you doing this so early in the game?!"
The player with the severed hand lay on the floor and gave up already.
Almond came over and finished him off.
"I have to quickly climb up."
Chak!
The player’s severed head rolled on the rooftop.
[Almond → RollingAround]
[Double Kill!]
[97/100]
— A befitting username!
— Kya! So satisfying!
— The username makes it hilarious LOL
— Of course, no one would want to play if they meet someone like Almond at the start.
— Isn’t there still one more person on the rooftop?
— Next!
The remaining player shuddered in fear while holding a knife.
"Don't... come..."
— He's too into it LOL
— Hey! This is just a game! At least try attacking him!
— That's why he's bronze rank...
— He's making the game entertaining haha
— Bronze players are something else.
Almond’s pressure overwhelmed the opponent despite this being a video game.
Tadadadak.
The player ran towards the edge of the roof.
"...!?"
Almond quickly followed him.
Swoosh???
"Ahhhh!"
The player decided to jump off the roof.
THUD!
And loudly landed on the ground.
"Kuuugh!"
His legs almost shattered, but he felt relieved that he survived. Then he saw an unfamiliar shadow.
Thud.
A heavy weight pressed on his back and shoulders.
"Huh!?"
Almond rested one foot on his shoulder.
Thud!
"Kugh!"
The opponent went into the injured status.
"Whatever!"
He went for a knife despite not being able to move his upper body.
However, Almond moved even faster. He lifted his knife with two hands and struck down on the opponent’s forehead.
Thwack!
The enemy shuddered and his eyes rolled back.
[Almond → JetPumpMaster]
[Triple kill!]
[96/100]
Almond got off the opponent after confirming the kill log.
— Wow...
— He makes a super play every time he plays!
— That's crazy. Is this round going to be another breeze for him?
Almond had barely been injured thanks to the player beneath him receiving most of the impact.
He quickly ran for the motorcycle at the corner of the Arsenal.
Vrooom—?
He drove towards the Arsenal.
"I'm going to finish off the Arsenal."
— There should still be people in there.
— You spent too much time here...
— Just go somewhere else!
Other players probably found some guns already while he fought on the rooftop.
However...
"It doesn't matter."
Almond headed straight for the main entrance. It didn't matter whether the players in this rank had guns or lightsabers.
He twisted the handles and revved the motorcycle.
Vroom!
Almond sped even faster into the Arsenal.