Chapter 27: War (1)

News of the captured castle spread to the other branches of the Talorant Family.

They arrived on the plain in the morning with an army to avenge their bloodline and reclaim the remains.

— Wow, it’s a war!

— On such a large scale too!

— Kya, this is Kingdom Age!

— What the? This seems like a triple A game.

— Shudder shudder…

The viewers unfamiliar with

Kingdom Age

felt shocked by this battle’s huge scale.

— Wow, I gave up early, so I didn’t even experience these things.

— Damn, it’s suddenly picking up!

— Hell yeah.

It would typically take much longer to reach this point in the game. Most variety streamers didn’t have enough patience and moved on to the next game. Some who played for a long time still hadn’t reached this content.

This included Bubblegum as well, who was notorious for being persistent in his games. However, even he moved on to the next game after a month.

— Even the persistent Bubblegum didn’t reach this stage.

— Almond did it in a couple of days LOL

— Haha yeah

Speak of the devil, the viewers just mentioned Bubblegum in the chat.

“Please refrain from mentioning other streamers.”

Sang-Hyeon smoothly prevented any controversy from occurring.

“Anyways, I’m going to finish streaming today. I think this is a good place to end it.”

— !?!?

— What!

— It was just about to get interesting!

— Nooooo

— :(

— No!!!

A lot of viewers expressed their disappointment. The stream ended quicker than usual and at a massive cliffhanger too.

“Bye, Treevy!”

However, Sang-Hyeon ended the stream right away. He didn’t feel drained either because no battles had occurred today.

‘It’s important to cut off at a good time.’

It had been the right moment to stop streaming. This was especially important in games that emphasized a story. The viewers felt disappointed, but it would be more beneficial in the long run. Acorn Jelly had given him this advice.

Pshh…

Sang-Hyeon’s capsule opened and steam came out from the lid. He picked himself up and hadn’t sweated much today due to the lack of battles.

“I can probably just go straight to bed today.”

The time had already struck 12:30 A.M. He didn’t usually go to bed so early and couldn’t fall asleep. Sang-Hyeon rolled over and scrolled through his phone to check the response for today’s stream.

***

The KAF community busily discussed the new progression route in the game.

[A way to maximize Emilia’s rapport!]

Posts with similar titles frequently appeared.

[Destroy a castle by yourself!]

It took a moment for Sang-Hyeon to realize that they all talked about him. One needed the skills to take over a castle alone to win Emilia’s heart, just like Almond.

— LOL stfu

— Why win Emilia over like that when you can just find a real girlfriend?

└

True.

└

LOL he’s not wrong.

└

Yet you’re still single…

— Just beat the game I guess.

— It’s okay. I’ll pass.

└

You’re passing by choice? LOL

└

Yeah, sure man.

The comments mainly joked around because no one thought they could win over Emilia like Almond.

‘That’s weird.’

The man who completed it in one try found it strange. Why did they react like that? Was it impossible except for him?

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Korea had other pro-archers besides Yu Sang-Hyeon.

Why was Sang-Hyeon the only one showing them a world-class performance? Not many archers probably played this game, but wouldn’t they still exist? It only made sense for others like him to show similar performances.

However, it seemed none came close to his skills judging from their reactions.

‘Maybe I have a talent for games?’

Only that narrative made sense to Sang-Hyeon. He probably had talent in both archery and video games.

It would be a fair assumption considering horse-riding and dodging enemy attacks had nothing to do with archery.

‘Sang-Hyeon, you have the greatest concentration out of anyone I know!’

He recalled Acorn Jelly’s words.

Concentration made up a crucial aspect of archery, but it wasn’t limited to just that. Chess professionals likely possessed a strong concentration as well.

Sang-Hyeon briefly thought about why he seemed so special before moving on to the next forum page.

He had been special since birth, so being special didn’t feel new to him. This feeling felt the same as asking,

Why doesn’t this taste good??

He just felt slightly curious about it.

[Breaking news! Almond and Emilia are about to get married?!]

‘Married?’

The title somewhat surprised Sang-Hyeon.

‘I don’t know about marriage.’

One night, no, three nights since they knew each other seemed too quick to get married. The world would instantly solve its fertility problem if marriage happened that fast.

He clicked on the post anyway despite his doubts.

[She made him sit beside her in the carriage and even brought up being a knight. She even lied so he could meet her father.

And they even spent three nights together in the castle. They talk much more casually to each other now!]

Sang-Hyeon definitely thought others would disagree with the post.

— !?

— Emilia lying is pretty shocking.

└

She’s never done that right?

└

Yeah, she’s never lied.

— Three days?! Damn.

— They’re headed towards marriage.

— Wow, I’m jealous of Almond’s life!

└

You know he’s not real… right…

└

I’m jealous of irl Almond as well.

└

Me too.

Everyone spoke as if the marriage with Emilia had been confirmed. Some people even felt jealous of Almond and Emilia’s marriage.

‘Interesting.’

Sang-Hyeon pulled his blanket closer and scrolled more through the forum. Another trending post caught his eye.

[Almond’s bow skill analysis — A pro-level drawing position]

Sang-Hyeon couldn’t resist clicking a title like that. It felt as if someone had uncovered his skills.

[I heard this Almond streamer was pretty talented with the bow, so I watched his videos to do some analysis as someone who does archery.

Honestly, I thought there were probably added effects or bonuses at first that made it easier since this is a game. What skills would there be in that?

However, I watched his videos and realized this guy is the REAL SHIT. He’s not human.

I got shivers.

Let me explain…]

Almond quickly scrolled down to read the analysis.

‘Is this person really a fellow archer?’

The user seemed to be more than just an amateur and provided detailed explanations.

[His drawing skill, the bowstring settling at the center of his lips, his hand’s stability as he holds the draw…]?

The analysis observed that Almond perfectly re-enacted all these archery skills in the game.

— Woah, is this real?

— I saw the video comparing him to a professional archer, but I think Almond is better. No? Am I blind?

└

Honestly, I thought the same.

└

+1 Even I thought the way he shot looked different.

└

I’m op, and even I think so too. I think pro archers might feel insulted, but I’m a pro as well. I think I’m allowed to say it.

└

Damn, a pro?!

└

Are you really a pro???

└

Judging from the post, I thought you were either an archery nerd or a professional.

— Wow, a professional archer is analyzing your plays, Almond!

— Damn, KAF is next level.

‘Pro? He was a pro?’

Sang-Hyeon couldn’t take his thumb off the screen after reading that word.

“Who is it?”

Archery was a small industry, so they likely all knew each other.

Sang-Hyeon’s right hand began to shake. He continued reading the post, but couldn’t find any further information about the original poster.

Thankfully, no personal information about Sang-Hyeon had been mentioned. The poster didn’t know his real identity or hid that fact.

“Sigh.”

Sang-Hyeon turned off his phone and took a deep breath.

He didn’t know if he felt relieved or worried.

‘If it’s someone I know…’

It had been over ten years since he cut ties with the archery community. No one knew of his injury other than his coach. That had been for the best.

‘Let’s just go to bed.’

He decided to close his eyes and force himself to sleep.

Darkness suddenly enveloped Sang-Hyeon's world and the stars appeared one by one. He began counting them.

Black hair suddenly brushed past him in his mind. The long hair reached all the way down to her waist. How could this black hair be so visible in this pitch-black space?

— You’re just going to stop? Without any explanations?

— Yes, it’s not fun for me anymore.

— Fun? This was all just fun to you? If you’re not going to do archery, then who will? Don’t you know that everyone is following in your footsteps? But you're saying you’re quitting because it’s not fun anymore?

— …

— Fine, just go.

The girl turned around and disappeared. She looked brighter than any other star to him.

Something bright also dripped from Sang-Hyeon’s eyes.

***

Posts on KAF anticipating Almond’s stream already appeared the next day in the morning.

[How do you think Almond will do in today’s war?]

[Almond’s performance prediction]

[I wonder if another montage will be made out of this?]

They all felt excited for him.

[Kingdom Age is quite realistic, so even if Almond does well…]

[It’s one archer, what could he possibly do against so many knights…]

Others lowered their expectations about one archer on a huge battlefield.

Lots of talk like that went around.

‘Good.’

He nodded and checked the forum while brushing his teeth.

He felt thankful to have so many posts talking about him in the community forums considering he only had around 1,000 viewers as a streamer. Even if some of the comments spoke negatively.

Sang-Hyeon ate a light breakfast and headed out for a morning jog.

“Oh?”

He met Seo Ji-Ah wearing a hoodie as he walked down the stairs.

Ji-Ah spoke first this time, “You must be going to exercise…”

“

Ah

, yes. You too?”

“Yes…”

He gestured to her and wondered if she wanted to go together. Ji-Ah surprisingly nodded and followed him right away.

***

“Huff… puff…”

They sat on a nearby bench to catch their breaths after a lap around the park.

“I finished some videos to upload on the new channel,” Ji-Ah said as she drank the sports drink that Sang-Hyeon gave her.

“Oh?”

“Do you want to see it?”

Sang-Hyeon nodded. Of course, he wanted to watch the videos that would be on his official channel.

Ji-Ah took out her smartphone.

[Kingdom Age EP.1 Are newbies not allowed to pick the bow?]

He read the video’s title before pressing play.

Ji-Ah looked the other way in embarrassment as he watched the video she made right in front of her.

“...!”

Sang-Hyeon’s eyes widened at the shocking video.