Chapter 90: Almond with Practice (4)
Chaos would soon arrive.
Boom! Bang!
Noisy firecrackers shot up from the box.
Whoooooooog!
Almond felt his impatience growing as a car engine revved.
Slap! Slap!
Urgent footsteps echoed throughout the swamp.
'What a mess.'
All of this would lead to a huge scuffle. The airdrop was worth a shot because it fell in a remote and unpopular location. Victory would be easier for anyone if they acquired a legendary weapon.
'I don’t use guns anyways.'
Almond preferred not to use guns, so it would be meaningless even if it did contain a legendary weapon. Still, he ran towards the airdrop.
It could contain something useful besides a gun. In the worst case, he needed to prevent others from taking the legendary weapons.
Chuk!
He quickly opened the care package.
[Medical Kit]
[Ghillie suit: Legendary]
[Bulletproof vest: Hero]
The box contained three items and one of them shined gold.
"Wow...."
He finally found a hero tier equipment for the first time. Almond quickly put on the vest and ghillie suit.
Shulk.
The legendary ghillie suit perfectly suited the jungle map.
'Wow, it really blends in with the environment.'
The ghillie suit camouflaged with the bushes and the hero tier bulletproof vest spoke for itself.
Whoooooooohooong!
The engine grew closer and Almond quickly hid behind a bush while assuming a shooting position.
Shuffle.
He melted into the background as if wearing an invisible cloak thanks to the ghillie suit.
***
The player slammed the car door and shouted because he thought he arrived first, "Nice!"
He carefully approached the box and used the car for cover. He seemed excited but didn't rush.
"Wait..."
He spotted someone's footprints. In the past, he had encountered players waiting for others to approach the box.
"Hmph."
He returned to his car and drove right up to the box.
"They can't shoot me now."
Indeed, that made it harder for Almond to shoot. He covered the only opening, so it looked safe now.
Almond watched him the entire time and nodded, 'Smart.'?
The opponent knew how to cover his blind spots.
"Hehehe."
Unfortunately, that was the cause of his defeat and why he died. The opponent believed he was safe.
Swoosh!
The wind hissed like a snake before an arrow pierced the center of his forehead.
Thud!
"Kugh!?W-What?!"
He wore a bulletproof helmet and survived.
"Where the hell—"
Another arrow came flying.
Thud!
He reacted fast and it struck his shoulder instead of his head. He extended his life, but wouldn’t be able to escape.
"Where in the world?!"
He couldn't see where the arrows came from. He panicked and looked back.
Swoosh!
Another arrow came flying.
"What?!"
The arrow curved around the parked car and flew straight at him. It hadn’t curved 45 degrees, but 90 degrees. A giant arrowhead appeared right in front of him.
'How is this possible?'
It was too late.
Thwack!
The arrow pierced right between his eyebrows this time and he collapsed on the spot as if paralyzed.
[Almond → Talented]
[Eliminated!]
[29/100]
"Phew, he was quick-witted."
The opponent reacted faster than Almond expected. Thankfully, Almond didn't fire two arrows consecutively. If he had, they would've missed and landed on a tree.
"I cleaned one up anyways."
The number of kills for his mission went up by one.
[Current: 1 kill]
Only one kill had been counted so far since he received the mission late in the game.
— Shit, his curve shot is crazy.?
— IKR? LOL
— Is this okay though? lol
— I feel like it's legit killing.?
— ShyNapoleon is fucked up now. LOL n0Velusb.c0m
His curve shot looked more advanced now and the viewers were already worried about ShyNapoleon's wallet.
"One or two more are coming."
The hunt for those aiming for the airdrop had begun. Up to ten players would end up coming for the airdrop.
[ShyNapoleon has donated 1,000 won]
[Almond... H-Help!]
"Yes. Thank you for your donation, Napoleon."
— Oh my, LOL
— Why are you ignoring him!
— Almond: No! Go back!
— LOL
— Poor Napoleon...
'They're coming.'
Almond suddenly stopped chatting with viewers.
Splash!
The footsteps grew louder. He couldn't risk the smallest murmuring with the viewers.
Splash. Splash.
The opponent approaching through the sticky swamp suddenly stopped in his tracks.
'...? Why did he stop?'?
Almond couldn’t tell from just listening to the footsteps. He looked back at the airdrop and figured out why. The car remained parked right in front of it. Someone had either already taken the airdropped items or died trying to get them. No one would come any closer if they could think properly.
They would give up or start hunting others approaching the airdrop. Whatever they decided, Almond would remain safe.
But—
Splash! Splash!
The opponent quickly approached anyway.
'What’s going on?'
They made an unexpected move.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Someone crazily ran towards him. The opponent came into view and moved through the bushes. Could they be out of their mind to do such a troll play?
Swish!
The opponent grabbed the airdrop after rushing from the bushes. He seemed desperate for some reason.
'Ah!'
It was clear why he was rushing. He hadn’t made a troll play. The opponent was injured and bleeding out. He would die anyway, so he gambled his life on the airdrop.
But...
"I’m sorry."
Swoosh!
Almond rewarded his gamble with an arrow.
"!"
The moment the opponent checked the empty box...
Thwack!
An arrow came from behind the car and pierced right through his head. His broken bulletproof helmet was useless. One shot, one kill.
Thud!
The mud in the swamp splashed everywhere and a notification popped up.
[Almond → BananaShooter]
[Eliminated!]
[27/100]
Almond looked down at his arrow again, amazed at the clean shot.
'The speed it flies at... It's definitely better.'
The rare arrow was only one tier above, but he could feel the improvement. It flew smoother than he expected. No wonder it was faster and more destructive.
One level made that much of a difference. Almond realized once again that Battle Large was also a farming game.
Now he wished he could keep using hero tier arrows or even a higher tier bow. As he imagined it in his head...
Rumble...?
The ground shook.
"...!"
Several jeep cars came racing either because of the airdrop or the shrinking blue zone. Players tended not to fight in cars since it was difficult to aim while driving.
Vrooooom—?
The engines grew louder and louder. Three jeeps came from the distance at the same time.
Splash!
Their powerful four-wheel drive tires ripped through the terrain.
Slam! Slam!
The cars bumped into each other. They seemed to be keeping each other in check and fiercely aimed for the airdrop at the same time.
Skrrrt!
Perhaps the car at the front saw the other car already parked at the airdrop, so they slammed on their brakes.
"Oh?! Over there!"
They hadn’t braked because of the parked car. It was because of Almond in the ghillie suit.
'How did they see me from so far away?'
— How did they spot him in the ghillie suit?
— There must be a thermal camera.
— Maybe they’re wearing a thermal camera on their head. How did they see it? lol?
— So unlucky.
— Of course, this is Almond.
‘Ah, they must have a thermal camera.’
"There! He picked up the airdrop!!!" the man with the thermal camera shouted so the others could shoot Almond.
Almond wanted to report them for teaming up, but they didn’t intentionally do so. It was a compromise based on the situation. Battle Large recommended taking advantage of such situations when interests coincided.
Tududududu!
The three players got out of their jeeps and began shooting. They used their car windows and doors as shields while shooting at Almond.
The trees that stood in the way burst apart.
Slam!
Mud splashed everywhere as the trees collapsed.
Thwack!
"Ugh..."
A bullet grazed Almond's abdomen. Luckily, it didn’t reduce his health at all thanks to his hero tier bulletproof vest. It did surprise him though.
Almond rolled over and hid behind some boulders this time.
Tududududu!
The gunfire continued, but nothing flew at him anymore. Almond became invisible.
Even a thermal camera couldn’t detect heat through rocks. Something like that was only possible in movies.
Almond carefully pulled out his bow and drew the bowstring.
'The boulder and the jeep...'
A boulder sat in front of Almond and the enemies also defended against the different angles that he could shoot from. They had double shields, but that wouldn’t pose any problems as long as he imagined the correct path in his head.
Almond could shoot curve shots from almost any angle now.
'I have to shoot around the passenger side and towards the driver seat.'
He couldn't believe he thought about curving an arrow through the side window from the front. It didn't make any sense.
Creak...?
However, his right hand confidently drew the bowstring. He tightly pulled back to pierce through the glass.
'This arrow will do.'
He had to shoot all three arrows simultaneously before the enemies could react.
"W-Where is he?! Hey! Don't shoot for now! Let's kill the ghillie suit first..."
They told each other not to shoot and thought they would remain safe in their cars.
'Starting with the thermal camera guy.'
Almond released his arrow that dug into their blind spot.
Swooosh—?
A car window shattered after something hissed through the air.
Paaaang!
"What?!"
They felt surprised when an arrow smashed the side window. Fortunately, the arrow lost its strength. However...
Swoosh—?
Another snake-like hiss could be heard and a second arrow flew in and pierced an enemy’s head.
Thwack!
"Ahhh!"
The player’s bulletproof helmet instantly broke and one more arrow came right afterwards.
Thwack!
The third arrow pierced the enemy’s head like a skewer.
[Almond → HailHydra]
[Eliminated!
[26/100]
'It worked.'
He killed the most troublesome one.
"What the fuck?"
The dead player’s teammates widened their eyes in shock.
At that moment...
Pang!
The glass broke again and the next victim realized it was his turn.
"Jesus, here is... kugh!"
He had no time to react.
Thwack!
Another arrow pierced the back of his head. Sadly, he didn't wear a bulletproof helmet.
[Almond → YellowVanilla]
[Eliminated!]
[25/100]
The last opponent grabbed the steering wheel instead of firing back at Almond.
"Shit!"
He wouldn’t succeed anyways, so he made the wise decision to flee. However, he left the car window open and didn’t wear a bulletproof helmet.
An arrow came flying faster than he could drive away.
Thwack!
It easily pierced his head and blood splashed on the windshield.
"Kugh!"
Hoooonk!!!
The opponent's face fell on the horn, so the car kept honking.
— This is lit;;
— Six consecutive curve shots?
— He shot them all through the window?
— Almond: Korean soccer will lose against me.?
— You're insane...
"Three more kills," Almond blurted out and immediately hid somewhere in the bushes. He looked around with eyes that flashed like a beast as he prepared for his next hunt.
More players would probably come because of the loud horn.