Chapter 7: Who’s Almond? (2)

‘One hundred eighty-nine viewers are watching me.’

Sang-Hyeon gulped. He didn’t get nervous easily, but couldn’t help it in this unfamiliar situation.

Phew…

He subconsciously sighed as part of his usual routine to calm down before grabbing a bow. He closed his eyes and let out a small breath to momentarily distance himself from the world.

He told himself this wasn't the world he lived in. This was a third-person video game. His name was Yu Sang-Hyeon and he was currently playing as an avatar. He slowly opened his dry lips.

“Alright, I’ll continue where I left off yesterday.”

Sang-Hyeon purposely didn’t mention the number of viewers. Rookie streamers always made this mistake. Instead of going straight to bed yesterday, Sang-Hyeon studied popular streams and how they maintained their views or minimized issues. He compiled a list of what the top streamers avoided and placed it beside his screen for reference.

Mentioning the number of viewers had been one of those things to avoid. It broke the viewer’s attention when they came to watch. They would compare him to other generic streamers if he did generic things like that.

He had to avoid that at all costs and immerse the viewers in his gameplay. He had to avoid being labeled as a generic streamer.

Sang-Hyeon wanted them to think of him as a friend. It should be like a friend streaming for other friends to watch.

People always watched others play dating back to the ancient times of Chosun when commoners stopped to watch street games. Then it became arcade battles in the 1990s, local competitions in PC cafes during the mid-2000, and now watching online streams.

Viewers should be warmly embraced rather than having them on edge. He thought of the best thing to say and welcomed them.

“RubySword, EggPlant, Mr. Dummy, and many more! Thank you for coming back to my stream. It’s nice to see you again.”

He shouted out the viewers who returned.

— Hello hello!

— Hehe, you remembered.

— Rejoice, Day 1s!

— Day 1s unite!

.

— There are already OGs on the second day of the stream!

— Maybe Almond is a streamer genius?

Their reactions seemed great. The other viewers poked fun, but secretly envied the day one viewers who busily greeted Sang-Hyeon. They loved to chat and should feel much closer after he acknowledged them.

“I progressed a bit after ending the stream yesterday. Roman introduced me to the mercenary CEO and he assigned us a new mission.”

The second most important thing, big streamers usually skipped the boring gameplay and simply summarized what happened.

— Oooo.

— Mercenary CEO LOL

— Call it labor company, Mercenary.

— CEO, it makes sense haha

Using a mix of modern vocabulary helped viewers understand the game more. He didn’t have to use medieval language in a medieval game.

“This mission isn’t anything special. I thought my job as a mercenary was to just die in battle. If anything, I feel more like a bodyguard.”

Sang-Hyeon and Roman had been assigned a similar mission to the tutorial where they had to escort a supply carriage. Now, they had to escort a person.

— What do you expect from a lowly mercenary lmao

— It’s because this game is too realistic.

— Most of the mercenaries aren't special, so the missions are usually kinda boring.

— They’re basically a bodyguard service loool

Unlike the tutorial, Sang-Hyeon rode a horse this time.

Clippity clop.

He found it difficult to balance on the horse despite the saddle and couldn’t get used to the strange sensation. Roman rode in front of him and looked back.

“Is this your first time riding, Almond?”

Almond instinctively shook his head.

“No, sir. It’s just… I don’t have much experience.”

“

Ah

, I see. Well, you’ll get used to it quickly. This won’t be your last time.”

The viewers seemed confused as Almond spoke to Roman.

— Hey, wait. What is this mission?

— Even his mission is different.

— That’s weird. Isn’t this the mission with the horse-riding bandits?

— Already?

‘Horse-riding bandits?’

Sang-Hyeon wanted to ask, but…

“

YOO HOO!

”

Strange noises came from the mountains.

Clop clop clop clop clop!

Horse hooves echoed followed by daunting screams. The viewers rejoiced as if they belonged with the bandits.

— YOHOHOHO!

— YOO HOO!

— Oh shit, is it Burka?

— Looool his first mission is the horse-riding bandits?

— Let’s go!

These viewers came to watch and enjoy the gameplay, but others in doubt reacted differently.

— Finally, is he going to shoot some arrows?

— We’ll see!

— Now we’ll know if the clip was fake or not.

Some expressed excitement at seeing him in action.

— Let’s see if he’s a fluke.

— It’s all fxcking luck.

— Lmao, let’s see him try to use a bow on a horse.

And some hoped for him to fail.

Of course, Sang-Hyeon remained unfazed. Sports always had competition and jealousy would arise. Prodigies like Sang-Hyeon grew accustomed to this and he knew how to shut them up.

‘I just need to show them the results.’

Sang-Hyeon quickly assessed the situation and counted his foes. Only this time, the enemies moved around too quickly.

‘Damn, they’re too fast.’

He couldn’t accurately count in his head.

‘I think it’s around 50?’

He estimated their numbers and checked his arrows. Unlike the tutorial, the number of arrows flashed on a section of the screen.

[ARROWS x40]

He didn’t have enough to kill all of them, but that didn’t matter. He also had allies to help him and didn’t need to do it alone this time.

“It’s the horse-riding bandits!”

The other mercenaries around him sprung into action. The spearmen positioned themselves toward the bandits and readied their spears.

“

Hiya!

”

“

YOO HOO!

”

The bandits formed an arrow formation and broke through a particular spot.

CLOP CLOP CLOP!

The horses’ rumbling shook the ground. Their eyes had turned bloodshot and fearless.

“

Kuhahahaha!

”

A terrifying bandit led the strike and slashed left and right with his massive blade.

[ASSAULT LEADER BURKA]

The chat had mentioned this character. His battle level reflected his role as a fierce villain in the game.

Slash!

A mercenary’s decapitated head flew up and filled the air with blood.

“The defenses have been breached!”

“Damn it!”

Their defenses already broke. Sang-Hyeon felt slightly annoyed because they expected an invasion this time.

“Hello? Do these mercenaries only know how to lose?”

Sang-Hyeon complained as he readied his bow and shot without even thinking.

Swoosh!

The arrow struck the forehead of the bandit leading the battalion.

One shot, one kill.

“

Kugh!

”

Neigh!

The horse lost its balance after its rider fell. The bandits behind also collapsed like dominoes from the confusion.

Thump thump!

The tides turned in the mercenaries’ favor after a third of the bandits instantly fell.

Their willpower already broke and some discouraged bandits blankly stared at where their leader fell.

“Boss… died?!”

“Already?!”

The bandits said exactly what the viewers thought.

— ?!!?

— Huh? Burka’s dead?

— ???

— Is this for real? Is that really Burka?

— You can barely even see him from this distance.

— Didn’t he just get lucky?

— Stop saying it’s luck lmao.

The enemy Sang-Hyeon killed without much thought turned out to be Burka.

“Why are they acting like that?”

Sang-Hyeon simply aimed at the closest target, but they seemed to be overreacting.

— I’d be confused too.

— Lololololol

— Kills the boss and asks what's wrong.

— Holy shit.

Burka led the horse-riding bandits and should’ve been the most difficult obstacle on this mission. However, he fell before even lifting a finger.

— I guess the clip was real.

— The developers are probably baffled right now. They added all these sword fighting mechanics… but one shot!

— One shot, one kill! Then one shot, one kill! Rinse and repeat.

— Technically, you can kill him at this distance with maximum power if you aim for the head.

— Well, yeah, in theory…

Currently, 230 viewers watched his stream. That didn’t seem like a crazy lot, but it felt like 5000 people were in the chat because of the excitement from another difficult boss getting killed in one shot.

‘Everyone is excited.’

Sang-Hyeon smirked, but didn’t get ahead of himself. The battle hadn’t ended yet and he readied his bow again. He could celebrate all he wanted after they won.

“Let’s get revenge! For our boss!!!”

“You’re all going to die!”

The bandits, fueled by revenge, attacked more viciously than before.

‘Next, that guy.’

Sang-Hyeon solely focused on the tip of his arrows. He only thought about who to kill next. His eyes chased the backs of his fleeing targets.

— Wow, even I’m holding my breath just watching him.

— He’s so cool…

— His form isn’t like the others.

Even the viewers felt nervous watching Sang-Hyeon hunt his targets so fiercely. Sang-Hyeon’s focused shots continued to shock the viewers.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bandits collapsed one by one wherever Sang-Hyeon looked. An arrow pierced either their neck or head. Countless bandits already died as if their heads had been decorated with arrows beforehand.

“

Kugh!

”

“

Urgh!

”

The bandits lost all confidence as their members and leaders quickly fell.

“It’s… it’s a monster!”

“

Ahhhhh!

”

They finally panicked and fled while screaming. It no longer looked like a battle, but a hunt.

“The enemies are running away!”

Roman screamed and lifted his bloody sword.

“Kill them all!”

Whip!

The mercenary flags fluttered in the air.

[CHASE THE HORSE-RIDING BANDITS AND ELIMINATE ALL OF THEM]

A new mission popped up that diverged from the normal progression.

— Elimination mission? What the… I didn’t even know this existed.

— He’s straight up playing a different game from us.

— Let’s applaud the developers for making all these different missions in the first place.

***

The viewers praised Almond for his unique progression, which continued into the forums.

[Almond is the real deal.]

[Almond or peanuts or whatever. He’s fucking insane!]

[He’s streaming right now. Come and see.]

[Burka got one shotted looool]

[Burka died before he could even say anything LOL. His dialogue was pretty good too…]

[Breaking News! Almond found another secret route!]

Meanwhile, another famous streamer lurked on the forums.

“Almond? What’s this?”