The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1 Episode 4
2. Let's Play the Game (1)
Miserably and embarrassingly, Sang-hyeon ended up bawling his eyes out at the capsule room he visited for the first time in his life.
'It really works.'
It's been 10 years.
For 10 years, he hadn't been able to hold a bow.
He had retorted to Kim Ju-hyeok as if he couldn't remember those years.
'Like I could forget.'
There was no way that date could slip from his mind. His brain would never allow it.
The traffic accident that day was still vivid before his eyes.
The feeling he had when told his right hand would never work properly again was still vivid.
The callous face of the doctor who averted his gaze—he could still recognize it if he passed by on the street.
"Ugh…… Haa……."
He tried to hold back his tears by gritting his teeth, but the tears kept flowing endlessly.
He didn't even know why he was crying.
Was it because he was happy to shoot a bow for the first time in 10 years? Or because he felt sorry for himself for enduring 10 years like an empty shell of a person?
He couldn't tell.
Regardless, hot things kept boiling up endlessly from below his chest.
And they flowed out through his eyes.
"……S-Sang-hyeon."
Ju-hyeok approached with a flustered face. Sang-hyeon pushed him away and said,
"Don't come. Dammit……. This is embarrassing."
Stopping Ju-hyeok from approaching, Sang-hyeon pulled tissues from beside him and wiped his tears.
He seemed to have calmed down somewhat now.
"Are you alright?"
Only then did the manager come over and pat his shoulder.
"Yes. Thank you. It's just because of old memories……."
"I can't…… say I understand, but I think it's cool."
"Excuse me?"
"The fact that you still hold onto that childhood dream so passionately."
Manager Lee had read too many boy's manga. That's what Sang-hyeon thought. But after hearing the next words, he would have had no choice but to respect Manager Lee even if he read pretty girl manga instead of boy's manga.
"I'll give it to you for 700."
"!?"
Sang-hyeon's eyes went wide.
'S-Seven hundred? He's not talking about the capsule right now, is he?'
As far as he knew, even used ones were priced close to 2,000. At 700, it wasn't just a bargain—it was taking a loss.
"……You're not talking about the capsule right now, but some other parts, right?"
"No. It's the capsule. Didn't you say you were going to stream? The equipment for that is all set up inside too. It's a bit of an older version, but it's not bad as starter equipment."
"……."
Sang-hyeon's jaw dropped.
"Th-thank you!"
He bowed deeply without a moment of hesitation. Since childhood, Sang-hyeon never had the luxury to decline help. He could only survive by reaching out both hands to accept others' help.
"H-how should I repay this……."
"Repay? It's originally a cheap one. It would sell for about 1,000. 300 is just a friend discount, and……."
The manager scratched his head and flashed a manly smile.
"Let's just say it's for keeping up appearances in front of Ju-hyeok."
!
Appearances……
Right. That's important.
Sang-hyeon nodded as he recalled the incident where an entire department went haywire just to save the executive director's face once.
"That's very manly of you."
When Sang-hyeon answered with a serious face, the manager burst out laughing.
"Puhahaha! You're a really funny guy."
"I, I told you he's a bit different."
Ju-hyeok also scratched his head with a flustered expression and added. After laughing for a while, the manager corrected himself.
"It's not about appearances, it's an investment. Most places that run capsule rooms properly do this, but I'm also in charge of distributing these capsules. If you do well, please give me a hefty advertisement later. 300 is cheap for that."
"……Ah."
An advertisement? Who would give something to a streamer wannabe who hasn't even played a single proper game yet, hoping for an advertisement?
This was purely the manager's goodwill.
Sang-hyeon nodded. Even more vigorously than before.
"Yes! Of course!"
* * *
The next day. The manager's employees came and finished installing the capsule.
"Thank you! Have this on your way out!"
"Oh my, thank you. You didn't have to."
He gave each employee a canned coffee and sent them off.
After that, through a grueling marathon of about 7 hours, he finished setting up the stream and preparing to purchase the game.
"Whew. This is really work too."
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Sang-hyeon looked through the hot games list on the streaming platform 'Trivi.'
[Battle Large] 220K watching
[Life Is Legend] 1.57M watching
[Mana Sword] 320K watching
[Bio Jeopardy] 120K watching
.
.
.
Most were online games with fierce competition.
'These would be nice too, but…….'
The games above were certainly the hottest ones of this era, but Sang-hyeon had no intention of touching them. As popular as they were, there were also many famous streamers playing them.
It would be far too difficult for a rookie streamer like Sang-hyeon to stand out there. It was a place already heavily fortified by top-ranking monsters, with smooth-talking streamers filling every spot.
'Too mainstream is too much.'
He never planned to target such a red ocean from the start.
He needed to find a game with decent popularity. And at the same time, a game that Sang-hyeon could excel at.
'I have one in mind…….'
Sang-hyeon had a game he'd been thinking about.
A game that was realistic enough to easily apply real-world abilities, while also having a decent level of popularity.
Scrolling down, he spotted it.
[Kingdom Age] 17K watching
It was a game called Kingdom Age.
A game where you live as one of the mercenaries of the medieval era.
Medieval setting, realistic gameplay, real combat.
A game full of maniacal elements.
These kinds of games have many loyal fans but few streamers playing them. That's because the more realistic it is, the damn harder the game gets.
But Sang-hyeon, who had never played a difficult game in his life, had no fear whatsoever.
He proceeded to purchase the game from the store linked to Trivi.
[Would you like to purchase?]
[59,000 won]
As a high-quality game, the price was quite expensive. However, Sang-hyeon didn't hesitate.
[Yes]
He was going to pour in 40 million won for this endeavor anyway, so 60 thousand was nothing.
[Purchase Complete]
Money was withdrawn from the account registered to his biometric information, and the game launched.
[Full dive will begin in 5 seconds.]
[5]
Gulp.
Sang-hyeon felt a strange tension and opened his eyes wide.
[4]
[3]
[2]
.
.
.
Flash!
A pure white flash burst out, and in an instant, a different world unfolded.
* * *
Smack!
A thick palm struck his cheek hard.
"Keck!"
'What?'
Sang-hyeon jumped up in bewilderment. Even though it was clearly a game, his cheek stung. Was it his imagination?
"Wake up! You little shit!"
And then the rough cursing that suddenly came.
"Is a mercenary bastard sleeping at a time like this?"
Ah. The game has started.
Sang-hyeon had to remind himself once again that this was a game.
'It's too realistic, isn't it?'
It was because of the game's astonishing realistic implementation. No wonder he almost got genuinely angry from being slapped just now. He almost got mad at a mere game character.
It felt like a completely different dimension from Olympic Games. The sound quality was also incredible.
Clack clack. Clack clack.
The sound of carriages busily coming and going, screams and shouts echoing from all around. Plus the explosive sounds of metal clashing against metal.
'A battle?'
Since Sang-hyeon was in a situation where he was a newcomer waiting inside a cargo carriage, he couldn't know for certain, but it looked like a battle was underway even at a glance.
The veteran mercenary shouted urgently with a desperate face.
"Bandits are attacking right now! Get up! Grab your weapon!"
The veteran mercenary gestured roughly.
But…….
"Hurry up and grab it! You little……."
His face froze with a strange expression.
Everything on screen came to a halt.
[Choose your weapon.]
The tutorial had begun.
Whoosh.
Sang-hyeon's vision was suddenly forced to turn.
It was a cargo compartment piled with straw.
[Sword]
A sword sitting on top of a box in the corner came into view.
Then his gaze whipped around again. This time to the left.
[Spear]
It was a spear stuck on the outside of the carriage.
The last place his gaze turned to. It was the back of the veteran mercenary.
[Bow]
He was carrying a bow on his back.
"……What? Why is he the only one carrying a bow?"
Sang-hyeon scratched his head, momentarily flustered, but regardless, there was no hesitation.
The moment he reached his hand toward the bow.
-You picking bow? Doing a bow challenge?
A chat message suddenly popped up.
"!"
Sang-hyeon turned his gaze to the bottom left.
[5 Viewers]
'5 viewers?'
Was the game choice really that good?
5 people were watching from the very first day.
'There should be a moment to talk, right?'
In the days of being a small streamer, even a single chat and a single viewer were precious. Sang-hyeon took a moment to respond while the game was paused.
"Bow challenge?"
When he asked, the chat immediately lit up.
-You don't know bow challenge? It's something that veteran players on their 3rd or 4th playthrough occasionally do.
Sang-hyeon watched a lot of game streams too. He could roughly guess what it meant by the vibe. But that wasn't what he was curious about.
"Is the bow…… not good?"
The fact that veterans did something like a bow challenge meant that the bow wasn't very good.
-Are you asking because you don't know? You hit your own allies, arrows bounce off armor, and arrow counts are strictly calculated, so it's really tricky.
-That's not it, did this person not see the stream title?
-??
-It's their first day streaming. First day playing the game too.
Other viewers chimed in.
Anyway, the stream title. Sang-hyeon tilted his head and checked above.
[Auto-set Stream Title]
With this message displayed, the stream title read 'Game Beginner Rookie Streamer.'
'Ah, I must have forgotten the title.'
Because Sang-hyeon had hastily started the game, the algorithm had set it automatically. But it wasn't bad.
-Look at this person's game playtime.
-The account itself is basically from yesterday.
Thanks to the advanced biometric identification system, people could tell right away that he was a complete beginner.
-Wow, looks like a real newbie. *pant pant*
-Fresh meat lol
Rather than disliking him for being a beginner, the atmosphere was one of welcoming him.
It seemed to be because it was a maniacal game where only veterans remained.
'Good choice.'
Even Sang-hyeon himself thought the game choice was excellent.
"Is the bow difficult, guys?"
In response to his question, 'Yes yes yes' started flooding the chat. All 5 viewers said it was difficult.
"Understood."
Sang-hyeon chose the bow just like that.
-?!
-What a spunky and cute newbie.
-I don't usually like kids who don't listen~
-Looks like we're going for a spicy stream