Chapter 59: Almonds Rampage (2)
The Arsenal became hell at the start, especially on the first floor.
"Diiiie!"
"Ah, fuck!"
"Agh!"
Thwack! Thwack!
Blood gushed out everywhere like a medieval warzone. Besides the basement, the only weapons scattered around were bows, knives, and low-tier guns.
A mountain of corpses formed at the stairs and only three or four players remained.
They stopped fighting each other at this point because there was more than enough equipment for everyone in the basement.
"Let's just go, peacefully."
"Sounds good."
"Yes, yes."
The Arsenal had been hell and enough blood had been shed.
However, they suddenly heard an engine approaching. It seemed like the Arsenal would turn into hell again.
"What the?"
They could see a motorcycle’s silhouette in the distance.
Vrooom.
It headed towards them with zero hesitation.
"What the?"
Who would drive a motorcycle through here?
Thud!
The motorcycle tossed a player across the room and he couldn’t even finish his thought.
"Kugh!"
Almond threw a knife while he was in mid-air and perfectly struck the enemy’s forehead.
[Almond → LoveTeemo]
[Eliminated!]
[93/100]
— LOL
— That was so satisfying!
— Wow...
— Damn, he killed him in mid-air.
— Look at the way he flew across the room!
— His expression was hilarious.
The chat grew rowdy, but the Arsenal became deadly silent. The player who just died lost the chance to enter the basement.
The other three entering the basement stared at each other in shock.
'What the?!'
'What happened?'
Tension could be felt in the air and their sweat trickling down could be heard. A new player had appeared.
'Let's go down first.'
'Yeah.'
'Farm, then kill him.'
The basement had legendary items and weapons scattered all around. They agreed that it was best to farm first.
"Sigh, seems like they went to the basement."
Almond got off the bike and walked towards the corpse with a disappointed expression.
[Molotov x1]
[Grenade x1]
[Compound Bow x1]
"Wow, I got lucky for once."
— Wow! A compound bow!
— It's game over now.
— YES!
— Was he holding a bow?
— It seems like he used a bow instead of a pistol.
He looted a compound bow?from a corpse for the first time and even got a Molotov.
Almond wore a big smile on his face as he pushed the motorcycle toward the basement entrance.
Clonk!?
He kicked the motorcycle down the basement.
"They're all in there, right?"
Fwoosh—?
He smiled as he lit the Molotov.
— It's hellfire!
— A burning start!
— They have no choice but to get out!
BOOM!
The motorcycle exploded and sent its oil everywhere. A giant fire swept the basement.
***
Toong!
They should've realized it when they saw the motorcycle.
"Ah, fuck!"
Something felt off, but they were only in bronze rank.
"What?"
The others brushed Almond off and focused on farming. They worked hard to enter the basement and wanted a legendary weapon or complete set of armor before heading upstairs.
The basement only had one entrance. They knew there would be a bloodbath, but that would happen later.
BOOM!!!
They finally realized something had gone wrong when they heard the explosion.
"The fuck?!"
"Damn."
A wall of fire blocked the entrance and no one would survive at this rate.
Smoke also caused damage in Battle Large, especially in a concealed space like this.
"Get out!!!"
"We have to get out!"
The three gave up farming and ran for the entrance.
Almond stood behind a mountain of corpses with his bow and waited for them.
***
It would be easy to kill three players running out in a panic. They only had legendary weapons and still lacked armor.
Thwack!
An arrow pierced one player’s forehead after he barely managed to crawl out.
[Almond → AllMedic]
[Eliminated!]
[92/100]
"....!?"
The player following behind began to shoot and sprayed his bullets.
Tadadada!
The mountain of corpses absorbed all his shots. The only opening was a small hole the size of a baby's fist.
'How did he manage to land that arrow?'
Only Almond could take advantage of this small hole in the mountain of corpses.
Another arrow landed between the pair of eyes looking through the hole.
Thwack!
[Almond → Yumddaah]
[Double kill!]
[91/100]
The corpse rolled over and the legendary weapons fell to the floor.
"Oh shit."
The player in the far back crouched in fear. He could tell the opponent was a pro and that he wouldn’t stand a chance in a battle of aim.
'Let's hide for a bit.'
The fire began to spread and the smoke could only escape through a small opening leading to the first floor.
He could survive a bit longer. The opponent didn’t notice him yet. He would wait until the enemy came downstairs to farm and ambush him. That would be the right play.
However, Almond rolled a grenade through the tiny hole.
"!?"
BOOM!!!
[Almond → MineField]
[Triple kill!]
[90/100]
"As expected, there was another one," Almond muttered before walking down. He pushed the bodies to the side.
***
Meanwhile, Ju-Hyeok couldn't help but smile as he read the community comments.
[LIVE Almond mid-air kill.gif]
The community posted Almond's plays as they happened. They closely watched his journey to diamond without Ju-Hyeok even fanning the flames.
— You have to admit, he's good.
— Almond is a god.
— Stop promoting this nobody -.-
└ Nobody? He has 4,000 viewers right now.
└ Nobody LOL
└ Wow, you're right... when did he get so big?
The comments were mostly positive. The attention on Almond grew as his number of viewers increased.
[I've only heard about Almond, but he's something else after watching him for the first time.]
[Almond? I don't like him. I saw his face.]
[Please stay in bronze, you handsome fucker...]
Even users watching Almond for the first time posted about him.
Of course, an opposing side also existed.
[Bronze cult is acting up again!]
[Fucking Almond fanboys.]
[Ban any posts regarding Almond, please.]
[Almond can never reach diamond because he's a 'Die'almond. LOL!]
The nasty side wasn't ideal, but it was a good signal that the stakes were rising. It meant that even those who didn't like Almond knew of his existence.
All these anti-fans helped to increase the stakes for Sang-Hyeon and Ju-Hyeok.
'The tides will turn if he can prove it.'
No one could deny his greatness if Almond actually reached diamond in two weeks. Then their high-stakes victory would be converted into profit.
As Ju-Hyeok deeply pondered…
[1st]
Almond placed first again.
“Damn! I mean good job!” Ju-Hyeok shouted without even realizing it.
Almond won three times in a row like a miracle. Ju-Hyeok couldn’t fathom getting first in a game against 99 other players.
It didn’t end there. After playing another round for thirty minutes…
[1st]
Almond easily won again.
"Yeeeeesss!!!"
Ju-Hyeok cheered as if his favorite sports team had won a tournament. He felt like a cheerleader rather than a manager. He wanted to grab his monitor and just dance.
"Hey, Yu Sang-Hyeon! Are you going to stand by your words!!!"
Sang-Hyeon stuck to the same strategy. He annihilated the Arsenal and reduced the number of weapons available on the map.
At this rank, no one with a low-tier item could defeat him. Almond became almost unbeatable with this strategy… until his final placement match.
***
"Phew,?now it's my last placement match," Almond muttered while on standby in the waiting lobby.
A lot was on the line in this round.
'The placement match is more important than any other match.'
The rating system wildly fluctuated depending on the placement match’s outcome.
Battle Large?featured five placement matches in total. He would reach gold rank at least if he won all five, making his road to diamond much easier.
Also, the donation missions he received all had to do with the placement matches.
[Win all placement matches: 150,000 won]
[Reach gold today: 240,000 won]
[Reach platinum today: 470,000 won]
— Damn, a sugar daddy funding the path to platinum.?
— He can win all of them, no problem.?
— How are you supposed to beat him with this strategy?
— He’ll easily reach gold unless someone stream snipes him.?
Almond knew he wouldn't reach gold if he placed below the top 50 in any of the placement matches.
'I should use the same strategy this time too, right?'
[100 players have gathered.]
[Get ready to jump!]
Thud.
The last placement match would soon begin. Countless players stood inside the helicopter. Almond could hear the propellors and curse words from behind.
'Arsenal... let's do it one more time.'
This would be his last round. Almond didn't want to suddenly face a new challenge now.
As planned, he jumped out of the helicopter and started soaring toward the Arsenal.
Tak.
He could feel the cold air against him as he looked to the sides and headed directly to the Arsenal.
He counted the number of enemies in his head. Suddenly, he saw a familiar avatar.
— Huh?
— Is that BubbleSniper?
— No way, is he aiming for Almond?
— No way.
— LOL He must be back for revenge. Oh, fuck!
— That attention whore.
BubbleSniper was a notorious stream sniper whose skills were actually around diamond one and he planned on landing near Almond.
They made eye contact and he saluted Almond while mouthing the words, 'Long time no see.'
Almond replied with a middle finger.
Chuk.
BubbleSniper's expression darkened.
— LOL
— So refreshing.
— So satisfying. Thank you, Almond.
— Hahaha
— Let's fuck him up!
— But BubbleSniper is technically diamond 1. Can he do it?