Chapter 52: Unexpected Audience (2)

[Almond → BubbleSniper]

[Eliminated!]

[20/100]

—

???

— What…?

— ???????

Question marks filled the chat.

Almond's play had been so remarkable that they became baffled instead of excited.

— Did he just bounce the grenade with an arrow?

— Holy crap.

— The silent grenade was impressive, but to counter that...

— That was crazy.

— Wow... as expected of Almond!

— He's no joke.

The silent grenade play had been impressive because a bronze player couldn’t possess such precision. High rank players commonly used this play called grenade assassination. The location and timing were too precise to be a mere coincidence. Only diamond ranked players could consistently pull it off, which made Almond's counter even more impressive.

No one could believe that Almond perfectly countered such a high-level technique while reading the chat.

"

Woah

, I finally got a helmet. Even though it's only a rare."

Almond simply felt glad to acquire a helmet. He felt nothing regarding the enemy he just defeated.

'I shouldn't look at the chat for too long,'?

he repeated to himself and put on the helmet.

Chuk.

[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds.]

He glanced at the minimap instead of the chat.

"As expected, it's at the farthest point."

The blue zone closed in at a point far away from Almond like usual.

— Hahaha

— Now it's no surprise...

— What is this calmness...

— It's blue zone vs. Almond.

Only 30 seconds remained.

"I'll go right away."

Almond had to move faster than others because of the damn blue zone. Only the blue zone could eliminate Almond. The number of players defeated by Almond's arrows increased as the zone shrunk.

[Almond → RedWin]

[Eliminated!]

[19/100]

[Almond → Roll128]

[Eliminated!]

[7/100]

[Almond → Thooor]

[Eliminated!]

[5/100]

Only five players remained after Almond and the other players fought. One of the remaining players was the popular streamer Bubblegum.

[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds.]

Almond checked his minimap after the announcement. As expected, he had to move again.

"Let's end this."

The game would probably end in five minutes with five players left.

***

[The blue zone is shrinking!]?

Bubblegum, a regular bronze player, aimed his 8x scope with his right eye after the announcement ended.

"Alright, everyone. I'm going to snipe whoever comes through the blue zone with this sniper!"

The viewers laughed at his confident tone.

— Hahaha. Go, Bubble sniper!

— Is this a new joke?

— You have a better chance with your fists.

— I saw that BubbleSniper died earlier on the kill log.

— Why is there another bubble sniper!?

Bubblegum was practically invincible with his sniper at a higher altitude. Declaring that he would snipe players from here made sense, but his viewers only mocked him.

[Every1 has donated 1000 won.]

[Hahahahahaha]

His remark filled the chat and the donations with laughter.

"Hey, you guys don't believe me? I'm going to get first. Just watch."

The chat erupted with laughter once more. They continued laughing for one simple reason.

[Urk has donated 2000 won.]

[Fact: Bubblegum's win rate is 0.04%.]

Honestly, Bubblegum sucked at this game. A player having a win rate of 0.04% was indeed rare.

"Look, I'll show you!"

Whatever the case, Bubblegum laughed it off and focused on the game. Surprisingly, he could focus well. He even went so far as to hold his breath while aiming.

'Finally, I can get first again.'?

His current location at a high altitude in the blue zone’s center was excellent. He had a sniper rifle with an 8x scope attached and also wore a ghillie suit. The blue zone and his farming had gone perfectly this round. Luck was on his side.

"Oh, they're coming."

He could make out some people far away.

Bzzt.

They were running from the blue zone.

— Wow, they're coming.

— Three of them?!

— Goddamn...

— Wouldn’t it become a 1v1 situation right away if you kill them all?

— No way, is Bubblegum going to win?

Even Bubblegum's viewers admitted that he had a huge advantage.

Only five players remained and three had appeared in his sights. It would be a 1v1 situation once he eliminated them.

The three running had no clue about Bubblegum.

— Now we can see him use up all his ammo and tell himself he was unlucky!

— Please, God of Battle Large, kill Bubblegum!

The chat was filled with curses for him to lose. Bubblegum became nervous and took a short breath.

“Phew…”

He aimed again after recovering his breath. Once the focus settled in the target's direction…

‘Now.’

His heart skipped a beat and he pulled the trigger.

A deafening sound rang out, followed by an enemy falling.

Thud.

— ???

— Why did he suddenly fall?

— Did Bubblegum hit him? On his first try?

— No way.

— ???

Bubblegum aimed his sniper rifle and shot at the target. It was clearly him who killed the enemy, but the chat couldn't believe he landed a shot with his skills.

"Wha… what the. Did I really hit?"

He couldn't believe it himself.

[Bubblegum → NoJobLife]

[Eliminated!]

[4/100]

Bubblegum's eyes widened after he saw the kill log.

"!"

The chat erupted as his jaws dropped.

— Wow...

— It's the bubble sniper!

— Can he really do it?

— Who are you?!

— What is going on?

— Huh? Is this a bug?

— Hahahaha

— Give us back Bubblegum!

Bubblegum gulped with only two of the three running players left.

'Ne, next one...'

He aimed at the next target with his shaky hands and pulled the trigger again.

Tang!

Another figure fell as the shot rang out.

Thud.

— ???

— Huh?

— What the...

— Damn.

— ??????

Question marks filled the chat.

"

Haha

, I told you guys I would do it."

Bubblegum felt so confident he even spat on the ground.

[Almond → LemonBeat]

[Eliminated!]

[3/100]

However, he became speechless after looking at the kill log.

"Huh?"

‘I didn't kill him?’

Bubblegum turned his attention to the last player running, who had been responsible for the kill.

Laughter filled the chat.

— Hahahaha

— I knew it.

— There’s no way it was Bubblegum!

— Six shots all missed.?

— 0.04%! 0.04%! 0.04%! 0.04%! 0.04%! 0.04%! 0.04%! 0.04%!

— The 0.4% man!

Bubblegum's viewers chanted his 0.4% win rate.

"

Sigh...

Who took my kill…"

The person who stole his kill carried a compound bow.

"It's that guy. Why is he using a bow? I'm going to kill him and win this."

Players rarely used a bow when the game reached the last 20. He must've been camping and only recently revealed himself. It should be an easy kill.

'I'm at an advantage.'

Bubblegum would still have the upper hand even if he missed a couple of shots because the opponent only had a bow. He readied himself and aimed at the last running player.

When his aim became steady…

"!"

He suddenly made eye contact with the opponent, but that should be impossible at this distance.

'How did he know?'

Bubblegum was using an 8x scope and even had a ghillie suit on. How did that guy spot him?

'Whatever, what can he do? I'm going to...'

A sniper rifle could shoot much further than a compound bow. It could also fire instantly and repeatedly, which gave it the advantage. Everything would end once he took the shot. Also, the opponent was standing still.

"He stopped?"

Creak…?

The opponent aimed toward Bubblegum from a ridiculous distance.

How would he land an arrow from so far away?

"Everyone, he doesn't even know the distance. I'm going to kill that beginner," Bubblegum confidently declared and pulled his trigger.

Taang!

He fired his bullet and the opponent shot an arrow as well.

"!?"

Kang!

The arrow shattered in the air followed by a strange noise.

The player remained perfectly fine.

"What did I just see?"

— ???

— Did the bullet just get blocked?

— No way...

— LOL

— Bug collector Bubblegum.

— What was that? LOL

Even then, everyone thought it had been a coincidence or a bug in the game.

"Damn, so unlucky."

Bubblegum often ran into these weird occurrences, so he just laughed it off like usual.

"Again..."

The opponent ran toward Bubblegum while aiming their bow at him.

Bubblegum pulled the trigger once more.

Taaang!

The gun roared.

"Did that work?"

He felt it hit this time, for sure.

Pang!

However, his bullet disappeared in the air again with a spark and the opponent still ran toward him.

"Huh?"

Bubblegum couldn't believe it had happened twice and back-to-back at that.

"Did he just hit my bullet? That guy?"

— No way...

— I think so.

— With an arrow?

— That's crazy.

He denied it at first, but it happened again.

Pang!

— Wait, I think it's real.

— Yeah, it must be.

— That's insane.

— Three times? That must be skills.?

— I think it's a bug.

— Wow...

— Is this bronze rank?

— That's ridiculous.

Nearly 50,000 viewers grew ecstatic about the situation.

"I'm going to shoot again. He's coming straight for me."

Bubblegum quickly readied himself and aimed down. His aim slightly faltered from the previous shock.

However...

'Huh? The distance now...'

When he thought the distance had grown closer...

Pang!

His 8x scope broke.

Thwack.

An arrow struck through the scope and pierced Bubblegum's right eye.

"Kugh!"

Bubblegum's avatar fell and screamed in pain.

[Almond → Bubblegum]

[Eliminated!]

[2/100]

He wore a helmet, but it wasn't hero tier and didn't cover his face. That arrow counted as a headshot and it was game over for him.

[3rd]

He ended up with third even with all that farming. Victory had been in his grasp, but he lost it.

Bubblegum became dumbstruck and tried to laugh off the situation.

"Wow, everyone! Third place is still good."

— Hahaha

— Ah, yeah. Of course.

— Bronze medal is still good!

— But who was that? Let's go watch him!

— Boss, go spectate him.

— Sigh... I won't say much more.

— Quickly!

— My teeth hurt!

The viewers had been gritting their teeth at the exciting situation. Bubblegum tried to quickly change the subject.

"

Ah

, sure. Who was that bow guy earlier? I'm going to spectate him."

He decided to watch the player who just killed him.

Around 50,000 players from Bubblegum’s stream also watched Almond's first final in solo mode.