NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39: First Place Alone (1)
A squad usually referred to special forces in the military. In Battle Large, it meant a 4 player team and the squad mode consisted of team matches. This game mode wasn’t necessarily limited to 4 players. Players could also play as a duo, trio, or even solo.
Almond was fighting against other teams of four by himself. He had defeated three, but one enemy remained and shot him.
Ping.
“Kugh!”
He felt a sudden pain in his chest.
Woong…
His body felt like it was floating.
‘What… is this…’
His thoughts turned blank and all he could see was the sky. A radiant blue sky.
The sticky blood flowing out of him felt too real.‘Damn.’
This realism was extraordinary.
‘I’ve been shot.’
He picked himself up as the realization settled in.
Ting!
Sparks flew from where he was just lying. He would’ve died on the spot if he hadn’t gotten up.
“Heek!”
His heart pounded even faster. For a moment, he felt like he’d be forced to log out of the game.
Almond opened his eyes and quickly rolled away.
Ting! Ting!
Sparks followed and constantly reminded him of the danger.
“Hugh… Hugh…”
He successfully escaped for now and hid behind some debris. Almond calmed himself by taking slow, deep breaths.
— LOL
— Wow.
— Playing solo in squad mode.
— Crazy.
— Rolling out LOL
— Did he survive?
— Playing squad mode for his first round.
He maintained a business mindset even in this situation and glanced over the chat.
‘What?’
The viewers didn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation. He was really in danger for a moment there.
‘Why did my heart rate go up so high?’
Every capsule machine was integrated with a heart rate monitor and various sensors, which made it possible to monitor and record different stats.
His gauge went from yellow to orange. He would’ve been forcefully disconnected if it had turned red for even a second.
‘Is this just me?’
He felt confused and wondered if this only happened to him because of the game’s realism.
Thump thump…
He suddenly heard some footsteps.
“!”
Now wasn’t the right time to ponder. Almond quickly leaned against the wall and focused again.
— What’s wrong?
— Scaredy cat!
— Haha.
— Shuffling?
— There wasn’t even any sound?
‘There wasn’t any sound?’ Almond went from confused to frustrated. ‘The hell are they talking about?’
Thump! Thump!
It felt like the noise was right beside him. An enemy was definitely approaching.
He closed his eyes and visualized the distance between them. They weren’t too far apart. The footsteps grew slower, but didn’t stop. The enemy seemed to know Almond’s exact position and was determined to kill him once and for all.
He also felt curious as to why the opponent was so adamant, but that didn’t really matter. The opponent wanted to kill him and he needed to survive.
‘What should I do? They have a gun…’
Bullets would always be faster in a head-on confrontation. He had to strike first.
‘Ah!’
Almond realized why the opponent wasn’t coming any closer.
‘He’s not trying to kill me.’
Almond clenched one arrow with his teeth and nocked another onto his bow.
Thud. Thud…
The footsteps continued and Almond calmly waited.
Thump.
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
Swoosh!
Almond got up and quickly fired.
“Fu—”
Thwack!
The player couldn’t even utter his last word as he died while reviving his teammate.The arrow perfectly pierced the center of his forehead.
Thump!
The arrow’s force pushed the corpse into the sand. His objective had been to revive his teammate. That’s why he approached so confidently because he knew his teammate’s location.
[Almond → WaterRatFan]
[Eliminated!]
[Almond → DopaFan]
[Double Kill!]
[66/100]
The kill log displayed a double kill.
The teammate who had been knocked out automatically died with no one left to revive him.
“Sigh, I beat them.”
He defeated an entire squad by himself.
— Wow!!!
— It’s Almond’s victory!
— How gruesome…
— Hahaha
— Single squad, let’s go!
— LOL
The chat quickly rose and so did the donations.
[Ahhh… Skrt! has donated 1,000 won.]
[You were insane boss.]
[ForeverBat has donated 5,000 won.]
[His skills… he’s a natural.]
[Everyone~ has donated 1,000 won.]
[You guys have to remember… it’s only been two weeks since he made his account. Also, this is his first time playing Battle Large as well…]
[Crossing the Line has donated 3,000 won.]
[Isn’t this enough to overcome JeonJaPa’s skills?]
— JeonJaPa is crossing the line.
— Just like your nickname.
— To be fair, JeonJaPa didn’t have natural talent like this at the start.
— True.
— It’s hard to say if we’re only looking at talent.
— How can you be this good just playing for the first time?
— Stfu JeonJaPa is the best!
A familiar name donated again. The amount was little, but that was a good sign. It meant there were more light-hearted donations and new viewers watching.
‘My stream is heading in the right direction.’
The comments also indicated that he was on the right path to becoming a major streamer. It was too early to judge, but his transition to a new game had been successful. Everything was working out.
“I’m going to start farming now.”
However, he suddenly faced another dilemma when he came face to face with a gun.
‘Gun!’
He heard that his opponent’s gun was a good one. This M4 was a popular choice among players. It was definitely better than his compound bow.
‘Should I get rid of the bow?’ Almond deeply thought about it.
A regular player would choose the gun without hesitation because it was superior. His viewers would definitely be frustrated if he didn’t pick up that gun.
‘But what if I win? What if I got first place as a solo squad in my first game?’
Almond briefly hesitated. To be a great streamer required morethan just skills. His character and personality centered around the bow, so he didn’t want to give it up.
‘They might not like it at first, but the payout will be great if I win. If I lose…’
As he thought over this dilemma…
Ding.
[SeoJiAh has donated 10,000 won.]
[Mission: 100,000 won if you win with the bow.]
A new donation mission was on the line.
‘Oh.’
This mission appeared at the perfect time.
‘Huh?’
But the viewer’s name was SeoJiAh. Was it someone with the same name? No way.
‘A coincidence… Yeah, right.’
Almond felt a bit sorry for her. She also lived in Hoogye, which explained enough of her financial situation. She probably wasn’t that well off, but declining would be rude.
[I accept.]
“Thank you for the mission! I was going to use the bow anyway.”
— LOL what a waste…
— Is he really going to use the bow?
— Is that even possible?
— Bow! Let’s use the bow!
— There was the other victory mission too. I would’ve gone the safe route with the gun.
— But a bow would make for much better content.
The viewers welcomed his new mission.
Almond ditched the gun and ran away from the blue zone.
***
Vroom—
He drove the jeep that the previous squad used.
“Where should I go?” Almond asked his viewers.
He didn’t know where items were located or any advantageous spots on the map since this was his first playthrough. He simply drove away from the blue zone.
— You’ve gotta find a helmet first.
— It’s usually on the farms.
— Go to the farm.
— There’s no set place, but bigger buildings usually have more items.
“The farm? Alright.”
He checked for the farm on his minimap and drove towards it.
The chat warned him after ten seconds.
— Oh, you can’t drive in a straight line.
— You’re attracting everyone.
— Come and kill me!
The car made so much noise that it was dangerous to rashly drive through the field.
Almond found out too late.
Kwang—
As expected, the car tilted with a loud bang.
“What!?”
Thump.
“Huh!?”
Thump.
The car completely flipped over and he panicked.
“Wha… what the.”
— LOL
— That’s hilarious.
— This is what a newbie is like.
— I think it’s a grenade.
— Another one is coming!!!
‘Another one?’
Almond quickly grasped the situation and rolled out of the car. He ducked behind and used the car as a shield.
Another grenade flew in just like the viewers predicted.
Kwaaang!
The car fully tilted at a 45 degree angle.
— They seem pretty good.
— That toss was perfect.
— Pro toss.
— Seems like a smurf.
— Damn, he probably has teammates too.
Fwoosh!
The jeep caught on fire.
Almond quickly crawled into a small house nearby. He closed the door and attempted to catch his breath.
BOOM!
The jeep exploded after a few seconds and he felt the explosion’s heat even at a distance. He got goosebumps thinking he could’ve been caught in that explosion.
Almond blankly stared at the wreckage and shook his head.
‘Let’s go to the roof for now.’
No one else was in the house. He quickly climbed the stairs and ran to the roof to find the enemies.
‘Where are they?’
The black ashes from the explosion covered his vision.
‘There they are.’
He could slightly make out the enemies beyond the smoke. One approached him while the other three stood on standby.
‘There’s four of them.’
As expected, he had to face another squad of four.
At that moment—
Tang!
A gunshot could be heard.
Ting!
Sparks flew from next to Almond. The enemy missed, but they found his location.
‘They found me.’
Tutu! Tang!
Two barraged him with bullets and prevented him from escaping.
The other two ran into the house where he was in.
— Wow, every moment is so intense.
— A solo’s problem…
— LOL
— It’s like my life…
— You can do this Almond!
— These unfair bastards!
— Wym unfair? It’s a squad match LOL
— Damn, what’s he going to do now. They seem pretty good.
Almond gave up trying to fire back and leaned against the wall on the roof.
“Sigh.”
Meanwhile, the bullets kept him pinned down and he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even rotate his body.
‘Guess I have no choice.’
Creak…
He aimed towards the sky with his bow drawn behind his back.
— Oh, I saw this in Fortress.
— Backshot?
— Is he shooting at an angle like earlier? But from the back…
He leaned his back against the wall and aimed as high as he could. This was commonly referred to as a back shot in a game called Fortress. He prepared to shoot a high-angled shot with just his intuition.
Almond closed his eyes and focused on the footsteps. He felt the wind against his skin.
‘Sigh…’
He took a small breath and fired the tightly drawn bow.
Pang!
The arrow flew into the sky.
Then he nocked the arrow in his mouth and released it even quicker than before.
Pang!
This arrow also flew towards the sky. They flew straight up and fell back down right away.
Thwack!
“Kugh!”
An arrow perfectly landed on one of the pursuer’s foreheads.
Toong!
His helmet shriveled and his health significantly decreased. The teammate beside him was about to say something in confusion when…
“What? What is this—”
Thwack!
He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence.
[Almond → Mr.Krabs]
[Eliminated!]
[47/100]
The other pursuer didn’t wear a helmet like his teammate.
— Two shots both landed on their foreheads?
— He can land them even while shooting backwards?!
— Does the compound bow automatically aim?
— What is this luck?!
— Is this really luck…
— He didn’t aim, but it was still good aim!
— So funny how he died mid-sentence.
— He never imagined another shot coming.