Chapter 80: Jensen vs. Almond (3)
— No way!
— The arrow curved?
— ???
— How?
The arrow moved as if it had a mind of its own. It curved around the pillar and perfectly struck the opponent's eye.
Thwack!
"Mom! I'm going to be Almond—"
Blood clouded Jensen's vision.
Psht!
His fresh blood splattered everywhere.
"Ah...!"
There wasn't much pain since it was only a game, but he lost his vision. Jensen missed the pillar and struck somewhere else.
Slam!
Almond quickly shot and three more arrows left his fingers. To the naked eye, it looked like only his fingers had moved.
Piiing!
Ping!
Ping!
.
All the arrows perfectly struck Jensen's head. Even a power suit couldn’t withstand four blows to the head.
[Almond → Jensen]
[Eliminated!]
[66/100]
***
Jensen died and the viewers became confused.
— What just happened?!
— What did I just witness?!
— Is this a bug?
— He's going to get reported again.
— What the heck is going on?!
Almond’s play seemed like a bug because it defied all logic and physics. Battle Large had realistic settings, unlike a fantasy game. All its mechanics and items were realistic other than the power suit.
— This game's gone downhill since they introduced the power suit.
— Is there a power bow now too?
— For real.
— That's just a recurve bow.
— The recurve bow is worse than the compound bow.
The viewers suspected Almond had a special bow like the power suit.
Almond explained himself as he looted Jensen's body, "Oh, this works with a real bow too."
— ???
— How do you know that?
— Almond, have you used a real bow before?
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt— For real?
— ??? It works!!
He accidentally talked about a real bow, which didn't provide his audience with much context. How many people had experience using a real bow?
— Do you have experience with real bows? No wonder your form is so good.
— What did he use to do?
‘Oops.’
Almond slipped up and panicked a little.
"Who uses a real bow these days…"
He continued scavenging after making up a weak excuse. Thankfully, he had something perfect to change the topic.
[Power Suit]
"Oh, that's right."
He could pick up the power suit and wear it for himself. He was so focused on killing the enemy that the idea never crossed his mind.
"This power suit is mine now, right?"
One of Almond's strengths was his physical abilities and this power suit would further boost them. The promotion match would soon end now.
— Wow, Almond with a power suit?
— This game will have so many highlights.
— Seo Ji-Ah's going to work overnight.
— This game's already done.
"I'll get plat two right away."
— This guy LOL
— It's over.
— His confidence is through the roof with the power suit.
— The round is done.
— Unfair nut…
Chuk.
Almond put on the power suit with a smile.
Ooong!
A golden light enveloped Almond. This effect only appeared when one equipped legendary gear. Almond experienced it for the first time.
"Who would've thought I'd get a legendary?"
— Oh yeah, I guess it’s his first time.
— What a touching moment.
— Oppa, you've always been so unlucky…
— Almond is legendary!
He finally acquired legendary equipment despite his terrible luck with farming. It was the rarest of them too. His new look awed the viewers.
— Almond's specialty is farming people.
— Farming people again?
— He doesn't take any chances.
Almond was used to his bad luck. Ironically, his unlucky encounter with the power suit ended up in his favor.
'Wow...'
His enhanced physical abilities felt impressive since he was accustomed to the realistic gameplay. The power suit felt refreshing.
[You've been exposed to poisonous gas!]
[Quickly move out of the blue zone!]
Bzzzzt—?
The blue zone shrunk and poison gas clouded his vision. However, Almond took his time adjusting to the power suit and checked his new abilities.
[The gas mask has reduced damage from the gas.]
He could take his time thanks to the power suit’s gas mask. Gas masks reduced the damage players took in the blue zone.
The first blue zone didn’t do a lot of damage, so Almond hardly lost any health. He leisurely tested the suit by stretching and moving around.
'It's light!'
He could feel an unknown power throughout his body and his body felt significantly lighter. It felt almost dangerous since he felt stronger than his body.
Almond felt like he had turned into another being.
"This power suit feels like cheating. I’ll slowly farm medical supplies and head towards the circle."
— Cheating lol so cute.
— Almond's excited because he finally found decent gear.
— The heavens are finally helping Almond in his promotion matches!
— Thanks, power suit! You're reliable!
— It wasn't the heavens. It was Jensen!
Almond lightly jogged out of the Arsenal.
Tang!
Lightly jogging in the power suit equaled sprinting without it.
Tang! Tang!
He felt like he was flying every time he took a step.
Almond hopped around scavenging for medical items. He was fully focused on farming for the first time.
***
[The blue zone will shrink in 30 seconds.]
The blue zone was about to shrink for the second time.
"Already?"
Almond felt surprised. He had so much fun farming in the power suit that he forgot this was a survival game.
'Am I having too much fun?'
He didn't think he would be this immersed and realized the joy of having superhuman strength.
'So this is why everyone plays LIL.'
He finally understood why Life is Legend, or LIL?for short, was the number one most popular game in the world. Everyone was superhuman in that game. It revolved around ten superhumans or monsters fighting each other while wearing power suits. No wonder it was popular.
'I’m a bit curious now.'
Almond started to take an interest in those kinds of games. He grew excited as he thought about taking part in big fights with different superhuman abilities now that he experienced the power suit.
'I've gotta give it a try one day.'
He finished farming while thinking about the future.
[The blue zone is shrinking!]
The blue zone began shrinking for the second time.
"Five first-aid kits, ten painkillers, ten energy drinks, and a medical kit. I can set up a pharmacy with all this."
— Meanwhile, not a single gun…?
— Bow + medkit = full farming.
— Nut style farming.
— Hey, Almond only needs medkits, okay?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm— For real.
— Admit it, the game's already over.
"Not just med kits, I also picked up a hero tier helmet and a vest as well. Seems like I can't wear it with the power suit though."
— Yeah, it's like a handicap for the power suit.
— That's why the power suit's weakness is the head.?
— It'd be way too unfair if you could wear that as well.
— Are you trying to be Iron Man?
Almond just found out he couldn't wear a helmet with the power suit. He felt a little disappointed, but he killed Jensen thanks to this weakness. Regardless, the power suit was still overpowered.
"Okay, I'll go on a rampage now."
Time for him to test his overpowered abilities.
Tang.
Almond smiled as he put his fists together.
Thump….?
His heart pounded from excitement and he looked forward to seeing the difference.
"Are there no missions for how many kills I get this round?"
Usually, he received per kill missions. However, the viewers had gone quiet this round because of the power suit. What was the point of giving him missions if he would obviously win?
— LOL
— This guy's crazy for money.
— Hey, who's crazy enough to waste their money?
— Stop eating Almond! Stop eating Almond! Stop eating Almond! Stop eating Almond! Stop eating Almond!
— Are you planning to rule the world?
"That's a shame... Well..."
Almond checked how many players remained and confidently declared, "I'll kill about 30 more since there are 54 players left."
***
“Pfft,”?the girl in the wheelchair laughed.
The large TV on the wall displayed Almond's stream again.
“Are there no missions for how many kills I get this round?”
Did he have no shame? To ask that after fully farming and wearing a power suit… The girl couldn't help but laugh at his shameless attitude.
Her lips gradually curved into a smile as she watched his stream. She hadn't realized it. When did she start to smile? Probably when Almond shattered her expectations.
She didn't expect much from his strategy of repeatedly heading to the Arsenal. The strategy itself was fine, but she thought he would fail since he was a streamer and this was his promotion match.
She had lost all hope when the stream sniper with the power suit appeared. The situation seemed hopeless. Any normal game would've ended there, but Almond somehow managed to push through with an unexpected tactic.
'The arrow... curved?'
It was her first time seeing someone use a bow like that.
It felt refreshing and she hadn't felt such emotion in a long time. She thought she would never feel such emotions again whether it was curiosity or competitiveness, yet these emotions caused her to smile. Was she simply curious or did she want to see him win?
“I'll kill about 30 more.”
Almond became unstoppable after his confident declaration. It looked like he was playing an entirely different game. The game's genre changed from survival to horror the second he stepped into the safe zone. Player health bars instantly disappeared and the kill log grew as his arrows pierced their heads.
The recurve bow could display more power than the compound bow if one could pull with more strength. Almond's strength, enhanced by the power suit, made it possible for him to hit targets further away. He could still rapidly shoot too.
As a result, he quickly killed players from far away with a hundred percent hit rate. The game became totally unbalanced.
Almond annihilated the remaining 51 players and obviously won first place.
“Oh... I got promoted.”
He ranked up without playing the remaining matches since he placed first.
At first, she smiled at him like he was her cute little brother. However, her gaze changed as his tier icon shone during the rank up process.
Clap. Clap. Clap…?
Her clapping echoed in the large room.
"He's pretty good," she muttered and turned off the TV.