Chapter 89: Almond with Practice (3)
A player named Rodae found a couple of legendary weapons in the Arsenal. He didn't want to die with them, so he started firing.
Tududududu!
'No way I'm dying.'
He was ranked Diamond IV and deserved that rank with his aim. Enemies fell one by one due to his excellent aim combined with the legendary weapon. They fell with only two shots to their bodies.
"Kugh!"
"Urk!"
Two people suddenly died and Rodae kept firing.
Tudududu!
He felt a rush of excitement every time he pulled the trigger. Was this the power of a legendary weapon?!
"Hohoho..."
Even Diamond players struggled to find legendary weapons. Only one out of thirty games would a player find one. No wonder he felt so happy.
He could claim everything in the basement if this continued, collect all the treasures, and win first place.
'I'll win first place!'
Just then…
Shiiik—?
He heard something ripping through the air.
Thwack!
'Huh?'
Something hot and sticky trickled down his forehead and crimson blood covered his vision.
[Rodae]
[79th]
The disappointing results popped up in front of him. He placed 79th with a legendary weapon? That didn't make any sense!
"W-What the!? He didn't have an angle on me!" Rodae screamed.
He couldn't accept the outcome and checked everywhere, but no opening existed. Then he checked the kill cam.
"What is this?"
An arrow flew around the pillar as if it could track him.
"Isn't this a bug?" Rodae seriously wondered.
He wouldn't have argued over a straight shot, but this arrow curved in a realistic video game. Was there a weapon called the power bow?
Rodae didn't watch YouTube or use social media, so he didn’t know about Almond.
'This guy is fucked.'
He switched his point of view to Almond's and began watching him. He planned on reporting Almond if the same thing happened again since the first time could've been a bug.
"Again! He's doing it again!"
Pang!
Almond stood behind a pillar and fired four arrows that all curved.
"What the?!"
The arrows curved around the pillar and struck the opponents’ heads.
Pak! Pababak!
He had 100% accuracy and not a single one missed.
[Almond → NomiNomi]
[Eliminated!]
[77/100]
[Almond → Abura98]
[Eliminated!]
[76/100]
Rodae scrolled up on the kill log.
'...'
He became speechless and wanted to accuse Almond of abusing a bug, but realized no such thing had happened. His anger faded away.
'I-It's not a bug?!'
Rodae was also a skilled player and could tell right away that it wasn't a bug. A bug would either cause a frame drop or static to appear on the screen. Almond's arrows seemed perfect with no issues and his straight shots looked perfect too. He simply had the skills.
'Is this really just his skills?'
Rodae couldn't believe it, but he just saw it with his own eyes. His anger disappeared and fear began to take its place. He got the chills because it felt like being hunted.
'Almond... next time...'
He committed Almond's name to memory.
'I'll run away as soon as I see him!'
***
Almond's practice paid off and his curve shots improved. His curve shot accuracy rose two to three times thanks to his practice. The other players couldn't dodge arrows flying from behind obstacles.
— Wow...
— It's not a treasure room. It's a graveyard!
— Is this the pharaoh's tomb or something?
— For real, everyone came for the treasure and died.?
— His curve shot is insane now.
— It doesn't miss…
Battle Large players had never seen curving arrows before. Maybe it was possible in LIL, but how could they have known about a skill like that? Even BubbleSniper, who knew many tricks, would be shocked to see this.
Pang!
The last arrow struck its target and the basement became empty. Almond had cleared the entire place.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]
[So this is what you meant by practice!]
"Thank you for the donation, RubySword. Yes, I practiced my curve shots and changed my form a bit."
Only Almond remained in the Arsenal, so he had ample time to reply.
— No wonder his form looks different.
— That's crazy. He improved this much in one day?
— That's what you call a genius.
"I practiced quite a bit."
He received more donations thanks to his fancy curve shots.
[LeeSunSin has donated 20,000 won!]
[If only you were with us during the Japanese wars!]
[ArcheryAssociation has donated 50,000 won!]
[We'll just give you the gold medal!]
"LeeSunSin, ArcheryAssociation... you're not real, right? Thank you for the 50,000 won donation."
Almond looked around the basement while reading out the donations.
'Grenades...'
He picked up flashbangs, grenades, and smoke grenades. He also found something special.
"Huh?"
[Arrow: Rare]
He learned that arrows also had tiers.
"There's a rare arrow?"
— You didn't know?
— What the, how could you not know?
— Damn!
— Such a newb…?
— I guess since no streamers use a bow…
— LOL
‘What the, was I the only one who didn't know?’ Almond scratched his head.
Why was it rare? Did it have other benefits? He picked up the arrow.
[Arrow: Rare]
[This arrow is thinner and sturdier than a standard arrow. It will fly farther and faster.]
It didn’t have any special advantages. It just seemed lighter and sturdier than a regular one. However, its basic qualities stood out in a straightforward manner. Almond liked that.
"Good."
[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds!]
The second wave of shrinking began.
"Seems like the Arsenal survived pretty good, but I'll burn it down and move on."
The Arsenal was safe within the blue zone, but he had no intentions of staying. It would be much better for him to burn it down so other players couldn't get to it.
Fwoosh!
The basement full of treasures began burning thanks to all the gunpowder inside.
***
There was a bountiful forest behind the Arsenal unique to the jungle map. It was called the swamp forest.
[Swamp Forest]
The text appeared as Almond stepped on the sticky ground.
Splash.
"I have a good feeling about this place. I'll hide and see."
Almond hid in the tall grass and decided to hold off on farming for items. He was short on medical equipment, but didn't see the need for them with the blue zone in a good location.
For some reason, the blue zone was helping him out today. Almond always fought against it, but luck was on his side. However, some viewers felt annoyed.
— Ah! What is this?!
— Fantasia, do your job!
— Get out and fight! Get out and fight! Get out and fight! Get out and fight! Get out and fight!
— No, please stay there!
— For real. This game is over. You're trolling if you get out.
— Someone give him a kill mission!
— Would you guys go out? He's this close to getting diamond.
Almond had no intention of going out because his viewers would be even more annoyed if he died out there.
[ShyNapoleon has given you a mission.]
[1000 won for every kill!]
“Pfft,”?Almond subconsciously covered his mouth. "Ah, I'm sorry. Thank you for the mission."
— Hey! Did you just laugh at the amount?
— LOL Pfft
— It is funny.
— How can you resist laughing?
— Go back to your roots!!!
— He really is shy.
— 1000 won for each kill. LOL Who would do that?
— His mission to diamond is already worth 500,000 won!
[ShyNapoleon has donated 10,000 won!]
[But I’ll go bankrupt if I do 10,000 won per kill... There are 60 people left...]
In the past, ShyNapoleon put up the same mission for 10,000 won and ended up losing over 1 million won.
— He's pretty famous.
— He's from the Kingdom Age days, right?
— Yeah.
— Damn... so cute!
"You don't have to give me any more missions. The road to Diamond is enough."
Almond was sure he would reach Diamond by the end of the day. It was better to aim for that according to his calculations.
[Mission: Reach Diamond by today.]
[530,000 won]
The 100,000 won mission stacked up to 530,000 won.
— Yeah, I mean that mission itself is worth it...
— But 1000 won per kill is hilarious.
— If he really gets Diamond, the whole world will be surprised by our K-Almond!
The player count slowly dropped to 55. Then 50...
The blue zone began shrinking again.
[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds.]
Almond checked the map.
'Woah.'
The blue zone took his side again. Today was a really lucky day for him. No one crossed through the forest as if they had forgotten about it.
The number of survivors decreased and the kill log kept rising.
[MondayFriday → wooni12]
[49/100]
[yong93 → TakeTP]
[48/100]
[QuickBurger → yong93]
[47/100]
[QuickBurger → wnsvyrnt]
[30/100]
Thirty survivors remained while Almond stayed in the same spot.
— What are you doing Almond!
— You tricked me! This isn't Almond. It's Ghandi!
— Move, you nut!
— Haha, there's gotta be rounds like this too!
— Fantasia, these bastards…
The viewers complained while watching the still screen.
[ShyNapoleon has given you a mission.]
[10,000 won for every kill!]
ShyNapoleon summoned his courage once more.
— Oh...!
— Is he finally going to move!?
— BraveNapoleon
— BraveNapoleon LOL
— BraveNapoleon sounds better.?
— Let's goooo!
— No way. It'll only be 300,000 won even if he kills everyone.
The mission came with only thirty players left.
"Thank you for the mission. So is it 11,000 won per kill combined with the one from earlier?" Almond still didn't move.
— 11,000 won haha
— But for real, why isn't this guy moving?
— What the?! Why aren't you killing!
— You tricked me! This is Ghandi! You tricked me! This is Ghandi!
— Almond, this guy...
— You’re driving us crazy!
— Ah, leave him alone. Fantasia's being nice to him for once.
Regardless, he prioritized victory. Winning was the most important thing as long as it was within the rules. That was how sports worked.
'Calm down. Calm down. This is strategy. Strategy.'
Almond preferred intense matches, but he had to stay calm and make an intelligent choice right now. He couldn't face everyone head-on and fight every time.
If Fantasia decided to throw him a bone, it would be wise to take it. This was also a skill. However, it looked like Fantasia abandoned him after all.
Swooooosh—?
A strange noise could be heard.
'Huh?'
Almond looked up and a vast shadow loomed over him. It was an airdrop. A care package fell from the sky with various hero tier items inside.
'Dammit.'
This would usually be a good thing, but most of the items were useless to him.
Also...
Boom! Boom!
Pop!
The care package sent out loud fireworks to indicate its location on the map to everyone.
Vroooom—
Almond could already hear a car coming.
Splash! Splash!
Countless footsteps rang out too.
Gulp.
"... Who wants to give me a kill mission?"
— LOL
— Hell yeah!!!
— Good job, Fantasia!
— This is it!
— Don't give him any missions!
— They're coming!!!