Chapter 8: Who’s Almond? (3)

Chapter 8: Who’s Almond? (3)

The Kingdom Age?forum (KAF) boasted considerable traffic with users who all knew each other. Activity on the forum equaled that of popular games despite them having fewer users.

Most forum posts consisted of random things regarding the game rather than tips and tricks because of the game's age. However, these random posts also kept KAF quite interesting.

A big-time streamer named Acorn Jelly often browsed the KAF for interesting posts. He looked for his name as he scrolled, but everyone constantly mentioned another user today.

“Almond?”

The word Almond could be found everywhere.

[Almond is the real deal]

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

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

Acorn Jelly couldn’t believe another streamer would be stupid enough to stream Kingdom Age.?He liked the game, but moved on to different ones because of its low popularity.

Acorn Jelly clicked on one of the posts with mixed excitement and empathy. The video’s thumbnail showed Almond carrying a bow.

“A bow? Is he doing a bow challenge?”

He felt baffled before even watching it.

“Sigh. Another crazy one.”

A small smile formed on his face as he said this. Finding someone similar to him made him excited. He clicked on the video and the smile on his face immediately disappeared. The first scene hit him like a truck.

“What?”

The player named Almond instantly killed the elite boss Burka with an arrow through the head as the horse-riding bandit mission began.

“What... what is this?”

It happened so fast that Acorn Jelly had to rewatch it.

Swoosh!

Burka couldn’t react to the arrow flying toward him.

Thud!

The elite boss died just like that.

“This is impossible.”

Of course, everyone knew a headshot meant instant death. However, specific criteria had to be met for that to occur. Almond had just done it too easily and instantly killed the elite boss Burka.

He didn’t do it with just a simple headshot though.

“Could it be... a perfect shot?”

Perfect shot, a mechanic one level above a normal headshot.

In Kingdom Age, hitting a vital point led to instant death. However, elite mobs or bosses usually didn't die from this. Their vital spot had to be hit with a perfect shot to instantly kill them. Not many knew about this hidden mechanic and users barely mentioned it even in a community full of experienced players. Acorn Jelly never mentioned it either because the mechanic had never been achieved!

Simply put, it would be insanely difficult. It had to be the first arrow shot and with a full charge to achieve a perfect shot. It also had to be shot quickly within a 1.5 second threshold.

The most difficult part had to be the target placement. Not only did it have to hit a vital point, which already made for a small target, but it had to hit the dead center. These criteria made it impossible to fulfill.

However, the arrows in the video proved it as they pierced the center of the bandits’ foreheads.

Thud!

“Again...”

Another perfect shot. Every shot that followed turned out the same.

Could this be possible? Such a person actually existed.

“Hacks?”

He wondered if Almond hacked the game, but that would be stupid. What idiot would go through the trouble for a small game like this? Especially an offline game where you didn’t even compete against other players.

“How then, if it’s not hacking? Is he an Olympic gold medalist or something? That’s crazy.”

Acorn Jelly had unknowingly almost guessed the answer.

“Who could this be?”

Now he grew curious about this Almond player.

How much experience did this person have with the game? How much had he practiced? What strategies did he use?

Acorn Jelly quickly searched for Almond on the forums.

“No. Way.”

The results mortified him. He clicked on multiple posts, but they all repeated the same thing. The viewers who watched Almond live witnessed it as well.

“It’s... It’s his first time playing!?”

Acorn Jelly’s eyes filled with horror.

Jealousy? Envy? One only felt that when someone with presumably worse skills did better. Right now, he felt awe in front of a genius like no other.

“Holy fuck, I need to watch him too.”

Acorn Jelly had to stream soon, but witnessing Burka getting one-shotted erased all his thoughts. He became infatuated and continued searching for Almond on Treevy from inside his capsule.

He watched another horse-riding bandit scene, but the situation had slightly changed.

‘What’s going on?’

Almond wasn’t fighting the bandits anymore. No, he was hunting?them.

***

“Chase them! Kill them all!” Roman shouted as the army of mercenaries charged. n0VeluSb.C0m

“Raaaaa!”

“Kill them!”

Almond charged with his horse as well. The wind shook him off-balance, but he calmly aimed his bow.

“Almond! You’re planning to shoot even while riding a horse?” Roman scolded him while approaching from the side.

Roman had recognized Almond’s skills, but shooting on a horse seemed a bit much. A spear or a sword had the advantage because one could use the horse's momentum to inflict more damage.

“It’s much better to strike with a spear or mace while riding.”

However, Almond had no intention of using a different weapon.

“I’m alright, sir.”

He insisted on using a bow as if obsessed.

‘The bow is what makes it fun.’

Ten years of not being able to shoot still lingered with him.

Roman usually didn’t take no for an answer, especially from his underlings. Almond became the first exception.

“Alright, if it’s you. You can probably do it.”

He actually accepted Almond’s decision.

— Is that really Roman?

— Maybe only his name is Roman.

— Damn, I can’t believe him. It feels like the girl who spat on me and turned down my confession. Then she turned around and buttered up to the popular boy.

— What a comparison LOL

Roman suddenly became a flirtatious girl to the viewers. He firmly trusted Almond and charged forward.

— But shooting while riding a horse is gonna be difficult...

— Yeah fr

— And not really worth it either.

‘That’s true.’

Sang-Hyeon agreed.

It seemed obvious, but he never rode a horse before. Even he wondered if he could accurately shoot while shaking up and down. Sang-Hyeon didn’t worry though.

‘I shot my first moving target in the game as well. I should be able to grasp it right away.’

Video games, like sports, had been designed for everything to be possible. He reassured himself and nocked an arrow onto his bow.

Sang-Hyeon aimed at a fleeing bandit as he pulled the bowstring. His release looked flawless even on a moving horse and his hands remained perfectly still as he let go.

How often had he wished for his right hand to be like this in the past ten years?

Swoosh!

The arrow flew and pierced its target. Thud!

“Urgh!”

The bandit fell off his horse after the arrow skewered his neck.

Neigh!

The bandits that followed naturally trampled him to death.

‘I aimed for his head, but it hit his neck.’

He had to find the rhythm to match the targets moving up and down.

— Woah!

— That’s crazy!

— Krazy!

— Shieet, horseback archery!

— Take a look, you westerners! This is Korean archery!

The viewers cheered when the arrow struck its target because it resulted in death whether it struck the neck or head.

‘This isn’t enough.’

However, that didn’t satisfy Sang-Hyeon. He wanted to perfectly hit the target.

The common saying that geniuses had higher standards aptly described Sang-Hyeon. He had been born a predator and enjoyed pushing himself to the edge. Sang-Hyeon would never compromise on anything when it came to his passion and expertise.

He commanded his horse to charge faster.

“Hiya!”

The horse aggressively thundered in, up and down, up and down.

‘I have to read the rhythm.’

Sang-Hyeon matched the horse’s rhythm by shifting up and down. Then, he held his breath and looked at his target like a predator.

‘Now!’

He fully drew his bow in an instant.

The arrow followed an almost straight path and pierced the head of the bandit who led the escape.

— Woah!!!

— It’s an even better shot than before!

Neigh!

The horse-riding bandits began to collapse after the leading horse fell and broke their formation.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Sang-Hyeon kept chasing and shooting. His arrows landed on the same spot every time at the center of their foreheads. Bandit corpses fell from their horses one by one.

“Kill them!”

“Yeah!”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The army of mercenaries caught up to the bandits and slashed them down with their spears and swords. The hunt turned into a massacre.

“You’re an archer descended from the heavens!”

Roman told Sang-Hyeon and the other mercenaries chimed in.

“Wow, this is my first time seeing archery like this!”

“It’s like Robin Hood reincarnated!”

.

“I can’t believe my eyes.”

Normally, these mean mercenaries would be insulting newcomers.

— Wow... I’m depressed now.

— The power of Roman’s crush on Almond.

— Woah Woah senpais, I didn’t know you had this side to you.

The senior mercenaries applauded Sang-Hyeon like children at a magic show.

— This is insane. I’m not even kidding.

— A man of this caliber descended into Kingdom Age. Crazy.

The chat reacted no differently, but one message that popped up surprised Sang-Hyeon.

“Hm?”

Beep.

[Acorn Jelly has donated 100,000 won.]

[All perfect shots... is this for real?]

Sang-Hyeon received a whopping 100,000 won for his first donation ever.

— Huh?

— What’re you doing here?

— Is it really him? Is it actually Acorn Jelly?

— Holy shit.

— Turn your stream on Jelly boy!