Genius Archer's Streaming

Being a streamer wasn’t just about earning money from a large number of views. The revenue gained from views mostly cfrom ads on the platform. In reality, the real earnings cfrom donations.

This was the challenging aspect for streamers. Donations were tips given out of pure goodwill without viewers expecting anything in return. How many ordinary people would willingly make such donations?

In this respect, streamers essentially had a revenue system that wasn’t much different from busking street musicians. However, they earned significantly more than street musicians thanks to the entertaining donation systems created by platforms. The platforms put a lot of effort into making donating fun for viewers. One such feature was the mission system.

Mission donations were a major source of incfor skill-based streamers.

“Wow, Napoleon. Thank you. Finally, a mission.”

Skilled streamers could undertake various missions.

For example, viewers couldn't set missions on Bubblegum’s stream other than 'Clear Today.’ In Almond's stream, they could set diverse missions like 'Clear with a dagger,' 'One-shot, one-kill clear,' or 'Clear within 30 minutes,' etc.

This greatly increased the fun of donating for viewers. For them, it felt like they got to set the course of the entire stream.

For this reason, skill-based streamers had to value mission donations. It wasn’t strange for Almond to put his life (figuratively) on the line for a mission.

He resolved to survive until the end, but the timing was unfortunate.

The commander was essentially ordering him to die and promised a hefty compensation.

Five times the contract fee would have been tempting if Almond had never received the mission.

"I’m going for the survival mission~"

***

Still, the best scenawas to bring the best equipment, survive until the end, win, keep the gear, and earn double the money. However...

Realistically, that wasn’t an efficient strategy. Recontracting after death often brought more benefits.

"He'll die."

Commander MyDinner thought Almond would inevitably die.

Other mercenaries would worry about death penalties, but that was almost nonexistent for Almond. His equipment was just shabby leather armor and a free spear from a fairy. He had almost nothing to lose by dying.

Moreover, the commander had promised him a sufficient reward. There was no reason for him to not die, but something felt odd.

"... For someone who's supposed to die, he's fighting quite hard."

The additional gold from the bonus kept increasing.

Almond continued massacring the workers near the enemy's gold mine camp. He retreated when the workers shot arrows from the camp. Then he reappeared like a ghost to harass them once they resumed working.

Normally, mercenaries who were ready to die didn't fight this hard.

"But... he's a spearman. Why is he so good with a bow? He's crazy."

MyDinner saw Almond shooting for the first tand becmesmerized by Almond's archery skills. He forgot that Almond wasn't following his order.

"Should I recontract him as an archer..."

That thought only lasted for a moment. A commander wasn't someone with so much leisure.

"Oh. I need to build more structures."

Now was the tfor him to focus on production and building up his forces for a counterattack. It seemed like that spearman had no intention of dying, but...

It wasn't a major concern.

The enemy's cavalry had almost fully retreated. Their platoon of about thirty horses was a substantial force. A lone foot soldier couldn't handle all of them.

It wouldn’t be too bad if he killed more workers.

***

"Run, run!"

The workers mining gold fled. Almond chased after each escaping worker and shot them down.

His fixation on the workers wasn't just for the bonus. In RTS games, the death of workers was critical and meant the gwould end faster. The chances of surviving and successfully completing his mission would increase if the gended earlier.

"Oh, arrows..."

His only worry was the limited number of arrows he had. As a spearman, Almond didn't have an infinite supply of arrows on the battlefield. However, the solution was surprisingly close at hand.

"Arrows will be available soon."

The workers at the gold mine camp released a volley of arrows. Almond dodged them with ease and retreated back into the forest.

Once the workers emerged again to mine gold, Almond would reappear from the forest and collect the arrows they shot. He was recycling the enemy's arrows.

He finished refilling his quiver with arrows.

"See? Got my arrows back."

He smirked and pulled back his bowstring. This was a maddening situation for the workers.

Another worker fell with every shot from Almond. Again, they screamed and ran back to the camp.

***

The enemy commander, 2_many_moms, furiously pounded his keyboard.

"Dammit!"

He felt it was unfair. He had been dominating as a commander with his strategies.

"Lucky no-skill gamer!"

A hacker archer was decimating his workers. The cheater wasn't just reducing their numbers. He was strategically firing arrows from a distance and prevented the workers from doing their jobs. He was even recycling and using their arrows.

Watching this infuriated 2_many_moms. It wasn't just a simple aim hack or speed hack.

"Why! Why doesn't he get hit even once!? That doesn't make sense!"

Meanwhile, the lumber camp had long been turned to ruins and the gold mine was on the brink of depletion.

His resource score once led by a hundred points, but it had turned negative.

He felt sick. This was an unthinkable reversal that could lead to defeat.

Then, his main force returned.

A magnificent cavalry approached and raised a cloud of dust. Thirty horses crossing the plains side by side was a sight to behold. They should have been rampaging the enemy's main base, but they had to return because of that one man. The loss was substantial and he was determined to catch that archer.

"You're done now."

The archer had no way to escape.

***

Almond continued to joyously kill the workers and stacked up more bonus gold.

He felt the ground shaking and looked toward the source where he saw a cloud of dust. At a glance, a sizable cavalry force was approaching.

Almond instinctively realized that it was the scavalry force that trampled over him when he first joined the battlefield. They were returning.

"I'll hide for now."

The viewers mocked him, but hiding was the obvious choice. Facing such a cavalry force head-on was insane as he already knew from his first experience.

Almond quickly ran back into the forest.

"They can't enter the forest easily with the horses, right?"

He planned to survive in the forest as long as possible and escape back to his base.

“I should be able to trick them and run away.”

Almond and his viewers underestimated the enemy. They thought escaping through the forest would be possible because of low visibility, but the enemies were experienced.

"Line up from here to there!"

"Close in slowly!"

"Maintain the distance!"

They didn't just charge in. They methodically encircled the forest and closed in like police searching for a missing person in the mountains. They left no space for an ant to escape, let alone a person.

The horses maneuvered surprisingly well in the forest.

Almond kept evading the encirclement, but this drove him deeper into the forest as if being herded by a shepherd.

Almond hit an invisible wall at the edge of the map.

He could hear the horses closing in. Scavalrymen dismounted with their spears and continued searching. The rustling of leaves echoed from all sides.

Almond hid behind a large rock. He peeked through the bushes and counted them.

There were about thirty of them in total. He never expected an entire force to catch just him.

The trees in such a thick forest could interfere with his arrows. The cavalrymen’s full plate armor could also deflect most shots. He was at a numerical disadvantage of 1 vs. 30.

Even Almond doubted the feasibility of this battle.

Almond took out all his arrows.

He planted them on the ground.

He was slightly short on arrows, but…

He decided to face the end here.

Amid the rustling bushes.

He pulled back his bowstring.

Yenmazing's Thoughts

The weather is finally starting to clear up where I live. I can finally go outside and touch grass!

jk tto play more games >:D