Chapter 67: Breakdown and Analysis (2)
"Everyone! Isn't our country famous for its archery? What better than Olympic archery to represent bow skills!"
— Wow.
— Is this an actual archery arena? Wow.
— Is this virtual reality?
— This looks so real!
— That's crazy.
— This is Fantasia...
— Isn't this archery way too realistic? LOL.
The realistic virtual reproduction surprised the audience.
Yu Ha-Yeon fueled the excitement, "Yes! Almond is famous for using the bow. However, there's a question that gamers often get asked, especially virtual reality gamers. Can you shoot guns or arrows as good as Olympic athletes?!"
— Olympic players are on another level...
— Real pros would crush him.
— What can a gamer do?
— For real.
— But yeah, that does get asked a lot.
— Even if it's virtual reality...
"That's why Fantasia used their technology to develop a hyper-realistic archery arena, so we can actually test his skills!"
— But it's still a virtual reality, right?
— It does seem quite realistic though.
— No way.
— Yeah, it's still not real.
— Is it really real? LOL.
"Yes! We thought you would ask that. This is a perfect replica of the real Olympic arena that professional archers practice on. It's just not open to the public yet. We have interview videos too!"
A video came on and showed different Olympic athletes giving an interview.
'It does seem real...'
Sang-Hyeon fumbled with his hands while watching the video. It felt different from the virtual reality he was used to.
'They never told me they had something like this.'
Sang-Hyeon's thoughts grew complicated. He looked back toward the staff for Ju-Hyeok to send him some sort of signal, but only saw the arena’s wall. He was in virtual reality now.
'It really is indistinguishable.'
He briefly thought it was reality. That had never happened to him before. It always felt like he entered a high-quality video game every time he dove into virtual reality. He never confused it with reality.
However, this felt different. The texture of the grass, the scent of the wind, and the slight movements of his body felt all too real. This place wasn't an environment made to play video games. It was meant to recreate a setting as realistic as possible.
"Almond?" Yu Ha-Yeon called him as he blankly stared into space.
"Ah, yes."
"Please choose a bow from here."
"Alright."
Almond turned around without much thought and became astonished.
'What the?'
Was it necessary to be this accurate? The accuracy of everything surprised him. The brands of the bows he used as a professional were all lined up. He could even modify the attachments separately.
'WIAWIS, WIN&WIN, YAMAHA...'
Sang-Hyeon liked to use these brands in the past. However, they had changed over time from the exact models he used back then.
'It must be the newer models.'
He found a bow that felt familiar to what he was used to. It was likely the newer model judging from its name.
His hands shook as he held the bow. It wasn't due to his injury since this was virtual reality. His heart was pounding.
'It's completely different from the Olympic game I played at the capsule cafe.'
Sang-Hyeon couldn't hold back from shaking after touching a real bow again.
The previous Olympic game felt like a video game. It had no weight and didn’t factor in slight movements, which made him initially hesitant to shoot.
This was different.
"Ooh.?Are you going to use that bow?"
"Yes, it feels familiar for some reason."
It felt real.
Sang-Hyeon was especially sensitive, so he noticed the slight discrepancies. However, this was the most lifelike virtual reality he had ever felt. It felt around 95% accurate when compared to the real thing. The stabilizer on the bow and the grip felt slightly off, but an amateur wouldn’t notice.
'A real bow... this is actual archery.'
It was all real. He was holding a real bow and doing real archery.
Nothing else mattered from that moment on. He didn’t care about the stream, how many viewers were watching, or that he had to prove he was platinum.
"It's your first time shooting a professional bow, right?" Yu Ha-Yeon's question brushed past him.
Sang-Hyeon didn't reply because he would answer with his following action.
Creak…?
He drew the bowstring without a word. He naturally drew it as if he had used it that morning despite not having held a bow in over ten years.
***
As Almond drew the bowstring…
"..."
Yu Ha-Yeon's jaws dropped. She forgot that her job was to say something and became speechless.
She just stood there and stared at Sang-Hyeon with her jaws dropped.
'What... is that?'
Even she found her thought baffling from just watching him draw the bowstring.
However… that triangular space…
She thought she would be sucked into the triangle formed from the bowstring and bow.
Everything around Almond was being sucked in as soon as he pulled the bowstring. Watching Sang-Hyeon's full draw stance felt like that.
Creak…?
The fully drawn bow made a tense noise.
Ting...
Alas, the string rested on his lips. This was called holding. It was the last step before the release. The arrow would fly once he released the tense string.
'It should hit the center.'
Yu Ha-Yeon thought to herself that the arrow would definitely hit the center. It felt as if the future had already been written.
She and anyone else could tell that the center of the target would be pierced straight through. Yu Ha-Yeon shook as she held the mic.
— Why is Yu Ha-Yeon so quiet? LOL
— Noona! What are you doing?
— Wow, look at his pose. Is he really a pro?
— So cool...
The viewers watching from behind a screen couldn't accurately feel the magnitude. She almost felt upset that no one else could feel this atmosphere.
'I can't breathe.'
This airtight atmosphere. Almond's deadly concentration. Then…
"...!"
Swoosh!
The sound of the air ripping could be heard.
Sang-Hyeon released the string without a single imperfection. Releasing like a ghost was his specialty.
That was when Yu Ha-Yeon thought to herself again, 'Ah, it's a hit.'
It didn’t come as a surprise at all.
Thwack!
The arrow perfectly landed at the center of the target. It almost felt baffling how everything went according to plan. She and the others thought the same.
— Damn.
— Wow.
— But is this really like actual archery? It's just normal Almond.
— Yeah, he shoots just like he does in the games.
— Hahaha, he's pretty good.
— Kya.
— Shoots it so easily.
— I didn't even know he shot it.
— Wow, something feels different.
— So sexy!
— Kya!
The result was obvious to Almond's viewers who already watched his montages.
Yu Ha-Yeon also watched the montages of him performing all sorts of feats and accurately shooting down his opponents.
Actual archery was supposed to be much more boring compared to that. It was supposed to be…
'Not at all...'
Yu Ha-Yeon felt certain of it. She was sure anyone else who watched would agree.
"Hm. It shoots well."
Yu Ha-Yeon couldn't quite understand his words because of that, "Sorry?"
"I did a practice shot and it feels quite realistic."
"Ah..."
Yu Ha-Yeon blankly stared for a second. 'That was a practice shot?'
Of course, he shot one for practice. She should've known that, but the thought didn't cross her mind.
'It felt real.'
The setting Fantasia created for Almond and his archery felt all too real. Did it matter if that was a practice shot? His shot was real as it got.
“Gulp—”?Yu Ha-Yeon took a deep breath and clonked herself on the head. 'Pay attention. We're rolling.'?
She suddenly stopped talking on the stream. She had to continue.
Yu Ha-Yeon relaxed her face and smiled again, "Wow! You're pretty good!"
The stream and her voice returned to normal.
— Hahaha
— Yeah! You're pretty good!
— Ha-Yeon is getting ready to make fun of him again. Haha.
— Almond: a pretty good archer.
— Wasn't the shot just now insane? Am I the only one who thinks that? The hell?
— He's more than pretty good!
Yu Ha-Yeon finally released her gaze on Almond. She glanced at the chat and back at Almond like she was supposed to.
"But a practice shot is practice! Now, aren't you curious what will happen if we count points for real?!"
— I'm curious!!
— Yes, teacher. I'm interested!
— Is this kindergarten?
— I'm curious noona!
Yu Ha-Yeon smiled at their reactions and looked back at Almond.
"Are you ready..."
Before Yu Ha-Yeon could finish her question…
Thwack!
An arrow struck the center of the target.
— ???
— Wow!
— Bullseye again!
— Is this really like actual archery?
— It's just the usual Almond.
"Uh..."
Almond continued shooting before she could say anything.
Pang!
The next arrow struck the center again.
And the next one.
And the next.
And the one after that.
Paang!
Pang!!
Paaang!!!
He struck the bullseye every time.
Thankfully, it was virtual reality. In reality, the arrows would’ve landed on each other and caused a problem for the stream.
— Wow...
— Is this real?
— Damn, can't he go to the Olympics if he's this good?
— Wait, is this accurate to reality?
— In Korea, someone like this is just a video game streamer!
— Hahahaha wow...
— Damn.
— No way. There are probably some game factors added on.
Yu Ha-Yeon instinctively shook her head, "N-No! There's nothing added on!" She accidentally spoke in her usual tone instead of her usual professional one.
— LOL What's with the real voice for a second there?
— Ha-Yeon, you're so cute.
— Noona!
— Her voice is so cute!
Sang-Hyeon landed all ten shots on the bullseye.
"All ten points…"
He achieved a perfect score with all ten points. Not only was it a perfect score…
'The time...'
Every arrow flew within 1.2 seconds.
Was it possible to shoot all of them in 12 seconds? That was a question for Olympic gold medalists.
‘How could a streamer be so good? Why does he seem like a pro more than actual pros? Is it because I don't know anything?’?She shook her head from the multiple questions popping up in her mind.
Yu Ha-Yeon felt that she needed to quickly end the test, "There's no point in doing this test anymore! We'll end it here!"
Ping—?
The virtual archery arena around them fell apart with a sad noise as if it admitted defeat.