Manager Oh widened his eyes.

‘Kill the castle lord?’

He also played Kingdom Age and considered himself a hardcore player, but never saw such a reckless quest before.

‘Perhaps if he used a spear and shield…’

Kingdom Age’s most stable build consisted of using the spear and shield together. It might be possible if one mastered that combination.

‘Bows… are meant to shoot from a distance or to assassinate.’

Infiltrating the castle to kill the lord would be nearly impossible.

First, their security system would alert all the guards if a single one died. Two guards in the same place had to be killed simultaneously or completely avoided or silently killed one after the other.

‘And that castle lord…’

The castle lord named Talorant happened to be Almond’s counter.

‘There’s no way to kill him with just an arrow…’

Almond couldn’t kill Talorant even if he managed to get through the countless guards. Talorant always wore a special black armor tougher and heavier than any other soldier’s.

‘But what if he actually manages to do it with a bow?’

Manager Oh might be able to convince his superiors if Almond succeeded. They would be sponsoring a guaranteed star.

‘I can confidently guarantee that he’ll be a star.’

Manager Oh liked Almond, who had a neat image and skills. However, a star required an x-factor.

He watched as Almond made a choice.

***

“I promise to accept if it’s for you.”

Emilia brightly smiled at him. Her smile alone made him think he made the right choice.

— Kya, the first choice was the right one.

— Who cares if we die if Emilia is happy?

— Let’s go and die!

— Haha for real.

The viewers thought the same. They responded great and seemed excited to see how Almond would clear this mission.

— I’m so curious about how Almond is gonna do this.

— What do you mean how he’s gonna do it? He’ll die right away.

— Are you a newcomer? Almond doesn’t die. He only dies when he gets donations.

– 100,000 won and he instantly dies.

Some hoped he would fail. In fact, most of them felt that way.

— But still, isn’t it too much to ask for?

— LOL yeah.

— Anyone who’s done the castle invasion mission knows that it’s insanely difficult. I guess newcomers won’t know.

— They’ve probably never even played the game.

Players considered the castle invasion mission especially hard in an already difficult game. The character had to climb the castle walls by hand and any sounds would provoke the intelligent enemy AIs that quickly swarmed them.

They said sneaking into the castle would be even more difficult than crossing the North Korean border.

— It’s easier to cross the border to North Korea.

— The border? Piece of cake.

They obviously exaggerated, but it testified to the mission's difficulty. Almond predicted it would be difficult too.

‘Well, I bet it’ll be hard. Infiltrating a castle alone to kill the lord definitely sounds tough.’

He accepted the mission for one simple reason.

‘Succeeding in something difficult will raise my popularity.’

Sang-Hyeon betted everything on streaming. He wouldn’t have started if something like this could make him quit.

‘My body is used to it now. Maybe I can actually pull it off.’

Almond felt like he could fly thanks to the training. He felt unstoppable and in peak condition.

‘It’s just a castle. There probably aren’t too many guards.’

Almond placed his bets on something else other than his skills. Medieval castles weren’t as well-built and couldn’t hold many people.

“Medieval castles can only contain around 50 people, no? I think I can do this.”

He displayed his confidence.

— LOL

— Almond: 50 vs. 1 is nothing.

— Medieval castles are just big houses.

Almond looked away from the chat.

‘Anyways…’

He made eye contact with Lady Emilia.

‘What possible reason could she have to kill this person?’

Emilia didn’t seem like the type to bear hatred or hurt others despite being a video game character. He found such a dangerous mission peculiar.

The screen turned black and the next cutscene began.

Almond, free from Sang-Hyeon’s control, asked the lady.

“My lady, did the castle lord do something wrong?”

“...”

Emilia silently stared at him.

“Almond, mercenaries do not ask why.”

“...”

Did she have no intentions of telling him?

Emilia glanced down the hill and spoke.

“They are enslaving their own people.”

“...?”

“They treat them worse than peasants and sell their people to slave vendors. Even the women and children.”

“But then no one would maintain the land?”

“No, it is to maintain the land. They force them to borrow money with high interest and use the debt to enslave them.”

“Will the problem be solved if the castle lord dies?”

“Our family will take over.”

“Then why not face him head-on…”

“We do not have enough of a reason. I think that is enough for an explanation. I will reward you handsomely.”

The next scene appeared after her dialogue.

***

“Hooowwl!”

A wolf cried out accompanied by the large full moon.

The bright spring hills couldn’t be seen anymore and Almond found himself in the dark.

Ding— 

A text popped up in front of him.

[Assassinate the castle lord, Talorant!]

He finally received the mission alert.

‘It’s starting now.’

Swoosh— 

Almond calmly hid in the cornfield and whispered to his viewers.

“Does the game pick it up if I talk in person?”

He wondered if the characters could hear him whispering.

— Who knows… 

— Why don’t you try whispering?

— LOL

— You can change it in the settings. 

— You can adjust it.

The settings could be changed. Almond thought for a moment.

‘But this game emphasizes realism.’

He decided to just proceed.

“I’m just going to stick with it.”

Swoosh— 

He whispered as the darkness enveloped him. Almond didn’t make a single noise after that. He tip-toed like a trained assassin with light footsteps and showed off his new skills.

— Oooo…

— His movements are so articulate.

— Maybe he’s good at more than just the bow.

— He’s changed a bit since the optimization.

— Acorn Jelly said his ability to instantly concentrate is crazy.

The viewers thought the optimization improved him, but Almond thanked the training he finished earlier today.

‘That training program is better than I thought.’

He completed over three hours of the capsule’s default training program, which greatly improved his movements in the virtual world. Thanks to that, he reached the castle walls with minimal encounters.

Almond leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

“Phew.”

Now, how would he climb the castle walls without getting caught?

Almond looked up.

Crackle… 

The guards patrolled around with their torches.

Almond gulped. Being near the wall made him nervous and he didn’t know where to begin. He probably needed to get rid of the two up there first.

‘Two people…’

The two soldiers came into sight.

‘If one dies, the other will cause a commotion…’

He needed to kill them at the same time or without one noticing the other.

— Kill them simultaneously if you’re going to make noise killing them.

— How do you kill them simultaneously?

— You can’t, so kill them silently.

— You gotta sneak up from behind and kill them while covering their mouth.

He could kill them silently that way, but Almond shook his head.

‘No.’

Besides using the bow, Almond had zero confidence he could take those two down.

‘I want to use the bow.’

One guard would see the other collapse if he used a bow, so he thought about what to do.

‘Ah.’

He slowly took out his bow and whispered to the viewers.

“I just need to kill them at the same time using the bow.”

The viewers spammed the chat with question marks.

— ???

— ???????

— ?

— Are you going to shoot two at once like in the movies?

— No way.

— You can’t do that here. This is Kingdom Age, not a movie!

They couldn’t fathom simultaneously killing two enemies with a bow, but Almond thought differently.

‘I can do it.’

Creak…

He drew his bowstring.

— Woah, he’s really going to shoot?

— 50 vs. 1 START!

— They’re all going to swarm in.

— Almond, finally his first death?

— Oppa, everyone else will shout if they find out someone’s been shot!

The chat had mixed reactions with worries and insults. However, Almond only focused on his bow and no longer paid attention.

‘First, the guy on the left. I’ve got to aim high… to delay the landing.’

He repeated the strategy to himself and positioned his bow at an upward angle. Almond calculated it almost instantly.

Swoosh— 

One arrow flew and he immediately nocked another.

‘I’ve got to time it and hit the right target as the left arrow lands.’

Creak…!

He pulled harder than before.

“Phew.”

Almond took a breath and briefly paused.

Swoosh!

A powerful arrow flew through the night air and the two arrows pierced their targets.

Thud!

The soldiers on the left and right simultaneously fell.

‘Perfectly calculated.’

— What the… at the same time?!

— What happened???

The different angles also had different timings. He shot the first one up to delay the landing and shot the next one straight at the target. Almond succeeded with the bow as he predicted.

Finally, the viewers understood the situation.

— Woah!!!

— Fucking. Insane.

— J E S U S!

— What the… he’s a monster…

— This is possible?!

— Almond! Is he a God? Almond! Is he a God?

— He’s so cool :’(

The chat wildly celebrated. The view count reached 1,400 and he also received decent donations.

[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.] 

[Wow.]

[CrazyMan has donated 1,000 won.] 

[Mom! I want to be Almond when I grow up! I want to be Almond!]

[SheepSheep has donated 3,000 won.] 

[I bet even the developers never imagined this would be possible LOL]

***

Manager Oh blankly stared at Almond’s stream.

‘Yeah… I didn’t know…’

He wasn’t a developer, but had seen more gameplay than he wanted as someone in charge of distribution. Especially Kingdom Age, he watched countless clips because he particularly liked it.

However…

‘It’s my first time seeing a guy like this.’

There had never been anyone like Almond. Manager Oh slowly picked up his phone.

“Hey, recruit the guy I’m about to text you no matter what and call for a meeting tomorrow.”