Genius Archer Streaming Season 3 Episode 311
101. Heaven Help Us (1)
When Rome and Joseon were actually fighting.
No one who knew anything about the Sybilm expected Joseon to win. Especially during the preliminary rounds, this opinion was common around the world.
“Joseon? Poor thing, they’re playing Rome.”
“That’s Rome…… You call that a horse?”
“If they play each other, it’s a qualifier. It’s a single-elimination match…… but it’s still Rome, right?”
Sadly, their predictions were correct.
Despite Joseon’s underdog surge in the qualifiers, Rome didn’t win a single game.
In fact, the public opinion was much more favorable toward Spain and France. It wasn’t that Joseon was good, it was that they were really bad.
“Spain, you’re nothing but a bunch of pricks.”
“What’s the point of having an invincible fleet when you’ve always been stolen by the British islanders? Where’s the point of having an invincible fleet? Kahaha!”
“Maybe Frank should just not even show up for the qualifiers anymore?”
They had no idea.
The truth is, Joseon was too strong.
That’s the nature of the game. Everything is relative, so it’s hard to make a proper assessment after just a few games.
In soccer alone, the Korean national team can’t do too well against the Chinese national team, but when they face the European powerhouses, they often fall apart.
Esports is even more extreme.
In soccer, after scoring a goal, the game resets back to the beginning, but not in games.
In games, there’s something called the snowball effect.
One small victory leads to another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, until the small snowflake victory becomes a big snowball and an avalanche.
The Sybil Empire is no exception to this effect.
If you’ve won a battle that yields a resource, you can use that resource to put more pressure on your opponent. This makes it easier to capture another resource, which puts more and more pressure on them.
In soccer, it’s like if they stay in our penalty box and shoot at us, and we go in, they start in our penalty box again.
That’s the nature of esports, that even a small difference in skill can lead to a big difference in the outcome.
In other words, it’s not about how good you are, it’s about how bad your opponent is.
That’s why most people didn’t notice.
The Spanish and Franks couldn’t do it, so they thought.
But Joseon beat the Vikings, defeated Persia, and sank Japan.
They even defeated their next opponent, China, 3-0.
From here on out, people’s views changed.
“Huh? 3-0?”
They got it.
What it meant to have a 3-0 score in this game.
If China was a better team than Joseon by even one point, they could definitely take a game. That’s the nature of RTS.
But the result was 3-0.
China didn’t win a single point against Joseon.
They were completely overwhelmed.
“How did this happen?”
“So Joseon was actually this strong?”
“The Spanish and Franks are innocent!”
This was great news for the powers that had been defeated by Joseon.
“We are not guilty, ah!”
“Yeah, but Joseon went to the final!”
Each of the teams that lost to Joseon had to face the wrath of their domestic fans.
Not just the Spanish Franks in the qualifiers, but the Vikings, the Persians, and so on.
To them, Joseon was the team to beat.
But now it turns out that’s not the case.
China is the third best team in the world. They were even undefeated. Even though the odds were in their favor, most people thought that Joseon would be included in that favor.
But China got swept.
“Does this mean…… Joseon is actually a strong team!”
Only then did gamers around the world realize the reality.
“Oh, no. No……. Joseon is getting stronger.”
Joseon is getting stronger.
That Joseon could make it to the finals and compete with Rome.
And the moment Joseon won the final game against Rome by one point-
“──Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The people in the Joseon stands erupt in cheers.
They were members of the team that had lost to Joseon in the past.
There were Uno, Tres, and Nacho from Spain, the Frankish command, Jesse from the Vikings, and even Ringo, the Japanese commander.
They all shouted in unison.
“Good job Joseon!”
“Joseon is so good! Waaaaaah!”
“Joseon is so good, how can anyone beat them!”
Of course, one of them was a little selfless.
“Mom, when I grow up, I want to marry Almond!”
The other players on the team might have been bothered by her bizarre chant, but they only gave her a glance.
The excitement of victory washed over them again.
It was almost their salvation that Joseon had won the first set against Rome.
‘We survived.
‘We don’t have to swim back……!
‘Damn. We almost lost our home game!’
* * *
The broadcasters were still talking about the first set, as if the excitement hadn’t worn off.
“Aaaaah. When Joseon defeated China 3-0, I actually thought that this could happen!?”
“That’s right! Until then, if you meet them, you’re bound to lose! Didn’t you think that about China too!?”
“That’s right! But 3-0 to China? That’s not something just anyone can do! It’s something only a team like that can do, even against Rome!”
-R.
-There was hope for something here.
-Kya ㅠㅠㅠ
-1Wow, you’re a legend for taking the first set.
-The map luck is good;
“So, I thought, ‘Maybe I can do it to Rome! I thought so!!! It turned out to be true, in a good way!!!”
“Yes! That gives Joseon a one-set lead against Rome, and it was a pretty good game, too, with Cookie not getting pushed around at all in the commander’s handshake!”
“That’s right, and the fight between the aces is on the replay now, too!!!”
Almond’s sniping of the cleric, Pierre’s capture of the defense tower, and Almond and Fangir defending it.
“Awww, you two just spilled the game! Spilled it! It was pretty intense!”
“And now I see it for the first time on the replay, Almond! You shot that without even looking!”
When Pierre and his teammates captured the defense tower.
Almond was hanging from a ladder and firing arrows at them.
But Almond could only see the underside of the tower’s roof, and he couldn’t even tell where the soldiers were.
-??
-No.
-What was that, a lucky shot????
-Hahaha
-It was just a shot.
“Oh, no, how do I explain this, King Gull?!”
“This is how we say it in America.”
“How?”
“God bless you.”
It was a shot that can only be characterized as the realm of luck.
-Lol.
-It’s called lucky teeth, right?
-Mr.
-Because the goddess of victory is also a woman…… almonds……
-kya
Add to that Pang’s 180-degree curve shot, and you’ve got a miraculous two-player simultaneous shot.
“Here, at the same time…… toun! Wow~ What an incredible scene, isn’t it?”
“I think Fang’s curve shot was…… ah. It touched my heart.”
Caster always watches the fake national anthem.
Therefore, he knew.
“Is that curve shot…… the first time Panger really missed a curve shot, because it was the same angle he kept hitting himself over and over again?”
“Yes.”
“And with that…… he just caught his opponent’s ace!”
-Ahhhhhh
-kya ㅠ
-I lost……
-Romantic Ace
After Almond climbs up the defense tower.
There is a scene where he slits his throat.
The highlight video doesn’t include the players’ voices, so the caster asks.
“That decapitation ceremony. Ah…… I don’t think I’ve seen that before, what does it mean?”
-What the hell?
-It means murder.
-Chikicha?
I couldn’t tell, because there was no voice.
“Well? I’d have to go off the record to find out, but I’m pretty sure I just cut a guy down. I guess that appeals to you?”
King Gourd replied, still a little puzzled.
Almond wasn’t one to make a big show of killing a soldier.
Unless he’s killed a major player. …….
“Ah. I see, Norookshot. Well, everyone, we’re going to take a break, and we’ll see you in game two!”
The broadcasters took a break from the broadcast, and the screens were silent, showing only highlights.
It was a brief intermission.
The crowd went to the restroom to relieve themselves, or to grab some of the delicious food vendors outside.
Some even bought more cheering paraphernalia.
One by one, the audience left the stadium, except for one middle-aged man who sat still, staring at the screen.
He was sitting on the Korean side of the stands, but he didn’t look happy, nor did he look excited in anticipation of something big.
He just sat there, staring at the screen, as if he was holding something down, as if he could barely contain his complex emotions.
* * *
“Okay~ Cheering paraphernalia that you won’t be able to see today or ever again~ Take it home as merchandise~ If Joseon wins, you’ll get a valuable rice cake~”
As soon as the game ended, Joo-hyuk started selling outside again.
“……?”
He stumbled backwards when he saw the person standing in front of him.
“What is it. Isn’t it him?
This person didn’t know Joo Hyuk, but Joo Hyuk did.
A foreigner who looks like he’s been living in this world for a long time.
This is Tres, the assistant coach of the Spanish team.
Behind him are Uno and Nacho.
Although he didn’t speak much Spanish, Joo-hyuk could understand their conversation.
“Are you sure you want to buy this, Tres?”
Uno, a relatively small man, clicked his tongue and mocked Tres.
“Well, what can we do about it, huh? If Joseon wins, we get to live.”
With that, Tres gestured toward the purchase of the Ummnakua suit.
“Large?”
Joo-hyuk asks for the size.
“Large, large.”
He buys a large and puts it on right then and there.
“Hmmm. You should get one too.”
He zipped it up to his face, covered it up, and headed back to the stands.
Nacho laughed in amusement, then grabbed a cookie-shaped Mexican hat from the stall.
Only Uno stood still and glared at the stall.
Joohyuk felt uncomfortable and looked away.
“What’s wrong, why are you staring at me?
He tried to look in the direction of the other customers, thinking that Uno couldn’t possibly be alive.
“Dis. HOW MUCH?”
Uno asks, tapping something.
“……?”
It’s a carrot-shaped clap bubble.
To top it all off, there’s a bubble underneath with a carrot face on it. It looked, sounded, and acted like a gimmicky model.
Joo-hyuk wanted to say something to explain, but he just paid and walked away.
“……?”
Did Uno like carrots?
It made more sense than his preference for almonds, but Joo-hyuk felt really weird and went on to serve another customer.
Even so, Uno Tres Nacho’s visit was hard to get out of his head.
Especially Mr. Uno blushing and picking up Carrot’s merchandise.
Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face.
Could there be any other customers as unusual and memorable as them? I wondered.
But what did I say, mountains over mountains, sky over sky?
A few moments later, he meets someone who makes the Spanish team’s visit fade from his mind.
The visitor was unusually old, and he came from the ticket window, not from the stands because he was running late.
Joo-hyuk instinctively felt it, even though he only saw a silhouette in the distance.
It was a strange feeling, as if a mirror of time was closing in on him.
A man as tall as he was, with piercing eyes and a jawline that felt even heavier, stood before him.
‘Father…….’
That’s right.
The person standing in front of him is his father.
“Oh, Joo-hyuk, it’s been a long time.”
Behind him, another person who had inherited half of Joo-hyuk’s inheritance sneaked out and waved. It’s his mother, who is always smiling.
Unlike the excited mother, the father, who seems to have been dragged along by force, looks away and asks offhandedly.
“What’s the best thing you’ve got, give it to me.”
“…….”
Joo-hyuk hesitates for a moment.
“……, but that’s a little too much for my dad.”
Even though he’s an illegitimate son, he can’t put his father in a mom-and-pop suit for this reunion.
