Chapter 48: Not a Small-Timer Anymore (1)

‘One must become calmer and more humble the more they achieve success.’

Sang-Hyeon repeated those words to himself every day, but crumbled in front of the numbers. He freaked out inside the capsule and banged his head on the lid.

Chiik—?

The sudden impact caused the capsule lid to open and temporarily paused the stream.

"

Huh?

What the? Why did you come out?" Ju-Hyeok asked as he opened his laptop.

"

Ah...

It's nothing. Something just messed up while I was moving around."

"Moving around?"

There was no need to move around in the capsule because everything happened in virtual reality.

"

Ahem.

Well, I'm going back inside."

Sang-Hyeon went back in as if nothing happened.

'It couldn't have been a mistake, right?'

Did he freak out over nothing?

'But the number was...'

Ding—?

The stream came back on. Thankfully, the server didn’t disconnect.

— Woah, what just happened?

— It just disconnected out of nowhere.

— It's back!

— I see.

— AlHa!

— Wow, there are so many people today.

Sang-Hyeon slowly read the chat and saw the viewer count again.

[Current Viewers: 2319]

It hadn’t been a mistake.

In fact, the number had increased by 200 since he first checked it.

'Two thousand!'

He reached two thousand live viewers for the first time before he even started playing. He had lost around 700-800 viewers after switching to

Battle Large

.

'It reached 2000 before I even started.'

The intro music hadn’t even finished playing yet.

[Ju-Hyeok: LOL Is that why you came out? You were acting all cool.]

Ju-Hyeok mockingly sent him a message. He just saw the viewer count too.

[Shut up.]

[Ju-Hyeok: I think it's starting for real now. Good luck.]

Ju-Hyeok had never wished him luck before when it came to streaming.

Gulp.

Sang-Hyeon, no, Almond took a moment to focus again. His face cam would soon turn on.

'Let's do this.'?

An opportunity had presented itself. A rare one since YouTube viewers came to watch him live. This proved that Almond was gaining popularity among the masses.

[Current Viewers: 2910]

Nearly 3000 viewers had gathered.

'Sigh...'

As a boy, he always dreamed of holding the bow in front of such a crowd. The reflection of his younger self merged with the screen in front of him. He made a different expression now, but this situation was essentially the same.

'It's starting.'

Du-dum!

The intro song ended as a drum resounded.

Ding—?

Almond's face came up on one corner of the screen and the stream officially began.

His face looked the same as usual from the audience's perspective. No one noticed the storm stirring inside him. The anticipation, excitement, nervousness, ambition… A storm of emotions gathered and flared.

Smirk.

It formed a smile on his face.

"Hi, Treevy!"

— Kya!

— Hi oppa!

— Hihi

— Hi!

— AlHa!

— So good looking!

— Wow, Boss. What's with the number of viewers today?

— Did something happen?

— Tell us what happened!

— Did Battle Large apologize?

The chat rapidly rose as they responded to Almond's greeting. Some were curious about the incident, others were seeing Almond for the first time, and his usual audience arrived. A variety of chatters came to watch him today.

The chat always seemed like a collective in the past, but there were different categories of viewers today. This was the prime difference between Treevy and YouTube. Treevy's demographic was limited in age and hobby, but YouTube wasn't. Almost everyone watched YouTube regardless of age or gender.

'They're definitely coming from YouTube.'

He felt even more certain now that they all came from YouTube.

'Since there might be people who don't know who I am...'

Almond thought he needed to explain yesterday's absence. A small group of viewers didn't keep up with the events and were there to purely watch the stream. He couldn't just leave them hanging.

"I posted about the incident on my community page. There was a small problem yesterday. My

Battle Large?

account was suspended."

Ding—?

Ju-Hyeok brought up the screenshots as Sang-Hyeon finished talking. An additional program allowed a manager to help during the stream.

— Woah, technology!

— Wow.

— Is this a recruitment party?

— What's going on?

— Damn, that looks professional.

Almond naturally continued his conversation using the resources provided by Ju-Hyeok. It wasn't their first time presenting something together.

"As you can see here, I was suspended because I was accused of being a smurf."

***

He finished explaining and everyone caught up on what happened.

—

Oh, that's why he took a break.

— Damn... how could that happen on the first day.

— That sucks.

— Did you get an apology at least?

[BrightenUp has donated 10,000 won.]

[Boss, at least you got more viewers! Let's be positive!]

"Thank you, BrightenUp. Yes, that's what I'm trying to tell myself too. Thankfully, my partner Punk already reached out to them and things were quickly taken care of."

Almond simply told the truth, but the chat freaked out.

— ?!?!?

— Damn, then Small Ring was telling the truth?

— Wow...

— That's insane.

What were they saying? Did they hear something else?

Almond felt confused, but moved on because he needed to start playing.

'3700?'

[Current Viewers: 3709]

The viewer count reached nearly 4000. He couldn't just sit and talk anymore. He needed to start playing to keep their attention.

'Some of them must know Battle Large, right?'

.

Most viewers probably came with prior knowledge of

Battle Large.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have known about the controversy.

"Alright, that's enough explaining. I’ll start playing now. Today, we're going to be playing—"

[KingdomParrot has donated 1,000 won.]

[Ta-da! It's the shit game, Kingdom Age!]

A donation suddenly interrupted him and seemed full of excitement.

— What was with that timing LOL

— Kingdom Age!

— The timing of the donation, haha.

— Kingdom Age parrots, smh.

— Get out of here, you guys!

— Read the room!

[Battle Large is starting.]

A group had missed the previous stream, but Almond laughed it off and booted up

Battle Large.

"Battle Large!"

***

Du-dun!

Dududu—?

Battle Large’s?

signature background music played as Almond's avatar spawned on a beach. Players waited in the starting lobby before the match began.

— You picked the right game mode this time.

— I swear to god if you play as a solo squad again…?

— I want to watch him pull it off again haha.

The viewers asked him to double-check if he picked the right game mode this time.

— He picked right LOL

— Oh wow, he got it correct this time.

— Wow, then he's going to win easily, no?

Fortunately, Almond picked solo mode. The viewers grew excited about how he would perform. Almond swept the battlefield by himself in squad mode. How would he do in solo mode?

— I'm guessing at least 20 kills.

— Nah, you never know what to expect in this game.

— No matter how good you are, you can lose in the first 5 seconds if you’re unlucky.

— I bet he’ll be last if he can't get a bow.?

— I bet he'll be top ten at least since the bow is super common.?

Almond only had one match to show his skills, so doubters inevitably existed.

Battle Large?

was an unpredictable game whether you were in the higher or lower ranks. The results were always unexpected.

Almond still had a lot to prove.

[BelieveYou has given you a mission. Win the first round for 300,000 won.]

[I bet he's going to win. I'm putting up a mission right now.]

— Kya

— Wow, first game victory.

— Damn...

He even received a mission for 300,000 won from a viewer.

[Mission Accepted.]

Almond accepted it right away and thanked the viewer.

"BelieveYou, thank you very much. A whopping 300,000 won... I'll do my best to get it!"

— Are you really thankful? LOL

— What a weird way of saying thanks.

— Hahaha

— It'll be more entertaining if he wins.

A victory mission on his first time playing solo mode with 4000 viewers watching?

'Alright, everything is perfectly set up.'

The criteria to blow up and become even more famous were all there. He just needed to do well in this game. Everything depended on him. Some people would feel overwhelmed, but not Almond.

'This is what I wanted.'

Almond enjoyed it. He only grew stronger along with the pressure. He became more focused, precise, and sharp.

[Everyone has gathered.]

[The game will now begin.]

The screen transitioned from the lobby to the players getting ready in the helicopter.

Tudududududu—?

The propeller roared in his ears followed by screams around him.

"Jump off! Get out now you fuckers!"

"Urk!"

"Jump, you sons of bitches!"

The military shouts took over their surroundings.

Almond bit his lips and looked down. This wasn't his first round anymore.

'I've got to avoid the competitive areas for now.'

He didn’t plan to jump yet despite all the shouting. He would act slowly according to plan.

"Hey, you! What are you doing standing there! Fucking jump off!!!" The commander screamed and spat in his face.

Almond kept still and calmly looked below.

'Now.'

“Jump! Jump now!”

As the commander's voice echoed…

Tak—?

Almond jumped out.

Swoooooosh!

He fell through the air and landed on the ground after parachuting.

***

Thump.?

He landed perfectly unlike before when he rolled around.

— Ooh...

— He's not a newbie anymore haha

— Darn it. It would've been hilarious if he rolled.?

— Wow, he improved from just that one game the other day.

Almond already played differently from his first playthrough. The viewers noticed and Almond did too.

'It feels different. I'm a lot more comfortable.'

Sometimes, gamers felt like they were one with the mouse. Almond was currently experiencing that with the game.

Tadadak.

He quickly ran to a house and opened the door. Scavenging for items before someone else was crucial early on.

'Is it just me?'

He picked a good spot and was the only one around. His eyes darted around the house and scanned the place.

"Woah."

He saw an item that always excited him.

[Compound Bow]

This weapon held a lot of meaning to him.

— Wow, again?

— Another bow challenge!?

— You have to grab it if you're Almond.?

A different player would hesitate, but not Almond. He felt the opposite and immediately picked up the bow. Then he suddenly froze as if time had stopped.

"...!"

He could hear footsteps.

'Outside.'

Almond quickly determined the enemy’s direction with his hearing.

"I'm going to eliminate one before leaving," Almond confidently declared and ran towards the door with his bow drawn.

His sudden appearance shocked the opponent.

"Huh?"

Almond, with his bow fully drawn, reflected in the enemy’s dilated pupils.

He instantly released the arrow that chased after its prey.

Thwack!

It pierced right through the enemy’s forehead.

[Almond?

→

Toms]

[Eliminated!]

[99/100]

— Wow!

— What the? I didn't even see him shoot it.

— How much did you improve Almond...

— He got even better!

— Battle Large picked on the wrong guy!

— It might be obvious, but he definitely got better.

— Wow, calling your kills ahead of time... that's crazy.

Today’s Almond didn’t hesitate at all and never felt confused. He played as if he knew what would happen. It seemed unbelievable, but everything happened in front of the viewers.

Almond had grown stronger.