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Season 3: Chapter 62: Hidden Tactic (2)

The think tank team sprang up and hugged each other when Almond and Pang passed through the defensive tower.

"Wowwwww!"

"Crazy! We won! We won!"

"Pang bro! You did it!"

"Both heads in one go!"

They dealt with combat data and knew it best.

Pang had created a miracle. He hardly ever struck the head properly even during practice.

In contrast, Almond had performed flawlessly without a single difference from his practice sessions.

"Wow! Almond is really a machine! A machine! The trajectory is exactly the same according to the analysis!"

He had performed perfectly. Not just visually, but also data wise just like during practice.

‘Is this what being chosen means?’

Kim Chi-Seung felt amazed.

Even though all the national team members were pros, they all had their own careers because there wasn't a professional league in the country. None of them had ever lived as athletes.

For such people, Almond's presence was special. He had received professional training to become an athlete and was no different from a top-level athlete. Having him was a great help and he even advised them on training methods.

Indeed, the national team's performance had improved significantly overall. Pang’s improved shooting was proof of that.

"Uncle Pang always talked about hitting the head! Finally..."

Water Dumpling was even wiping away tears. Honestly, calling him uncle was a bit awkward since there wasn’t even a ten year age gap.

Chi-Seung felt tears welling up too, so he didn't bother to argue.

It was Almond's showtime after they had a free pass.

"Sweep them all!"

"Wow, crazy... If this was a commander's solo rank, it would have been gg."

"Shi... Shit! This is it!"

Almond's rate of fire and accuracy were embarrassingly superior to Pang's. No, the Persian or Mongolian aces would need to show up to compare with him.

Workers fell one after another.

"Let's sweep them!"

"Kyaaa! Grind them up! Grind them up!"

The situation perfectly matched the expression "getting ground up." Almond and Pang went through the enemy workers like a blender.

‘He was brought in for this.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they spent so much time on Almond for this moment.

‘This is no time to just sit around.’

Chi-Seung got up and calmed everyone, "Let’s not get too excited. Document everything! Royal knights are coming out soon."

"Okay!"

The fast second era build currently being used in the national competition was a strategy created by Chi-Seung.

‘This build has potential, but it needs more refining.’

He wanted to develop it further to precisely time the emergence of royal knights and make playing this fast second era build even safer.

‘Who would have thought the idea that I came up with while playing those silly games with BornToB would come this far?’

Using this fast second era build in actual competition was, funnily enough, thanks to playing games with BornToB. It was like training with a sandbag.

He had been skeptical before actually using it, but all that was left was to refine it further after seeing its effect in the game against France.

"The royal knight is out! Document it!"

From this moment on, the think tank team’s eyes blazed with a fire to thoroughly analyze the game.

They wouldn’t lose the next game if they lost this game. And if they won this game, they would also win the next one.

Chi-Seung intensely jotted something down and asked, "Huh? Didn’t we complete that upgrade? Did we press it late?"

The eldest, Sharp Sphere, interjected, "No, that was pressed correctly. It's supposed to start from the forest. It's the right timing."

Chi-Seung nodded in agreement.

"True. Even using that faction, it's too much for one person."

Despite the appearance of the royal knight, the think tank team was not disturbed. Rather, they were anticipating something. It was a chance to see if what they had prepared would work.

***

Clatter! Clatter!

Distant hoofbeats and the tremendous cheering of France's supporters could be heard.

“Wowwww......!”

It was probably because the royal knight had appeared.

Ping! Ping!

[Retreat]

Following the incessant retreat pings, Almond turned his head.

'Let’s run for now.'

They had already discussed how to respond when the royal knight appeared. It was a predetermined play.

Almond ran toward the forest with all his might.

Ping!

[Assemble]

A ping marked a certain part of the forest. This meant that there were support troops besides Almond.

“Just like you predicted, OrangeKing. Almond is running into the forest. And he’s going to meet allies soon!”

"Yes, it was a good choice. Currently, they don’t have anything to defeat the royal knights."

Korea deployed its best aces like arrows and France made its best aces into royal knights that probably had the skills to either block or dodge arrows. Facing knights with archers was madness, especially since knights in the national competition were on a different level from the knights encountered in ordinary solo ranks.

Running away was the right thing to do. This was such an obvious decision that what needed careful attention was where the royal knight would move.

"What will the royal knight do then? Could he go where the barbarian soldiers are clashing?"

The real frontline between Korea and France was actually near the entrance of France's main base. There, soldiers were still being replenished and bludgeoning away. If the knight went there, the tide of the battle would surely turn.

OrangeKing shook his head, "I don't think he’ll go there! The archers hiding in the forest are too annoying, aren't they? He’ll go to the forest!"

As OrangeKing said, the royal knight galloped deeper into the forest.

"Ah! He’s riding into the forest!? Isn't this inefficient?!"

"It's not a mountainous terrain, but a forest. If you're skilled, it won't be a big problem! Besides, it's really troublesome if the archers hide in the forest! They’ll keep harassing him whenever there's a chance!"

Obviously, the archers hiding in the forest would come out and start their resource harassment again. Rather than being manipulated by this, it was better for the knight to enter the forest.

The French commander continued making a series of good decisions.

"Alright! France! In the meantime, the workers have returned to the original gold mine!"

They started mining gold again from a nearby gold mine.

"And one soldier has been sent to knight school!"

"That's right! Your judgment is quick as usual! Eventually, gathering knights one by one will benefit France more!"

France finished preparing another knight.

"Ah... Does this mean Korea also needs to prepare spearmen? Or crossbowmen? When are we going to the third era? It seems a bit late, doesn't it?!"

Eventually, France continued to produce knights. Then, Korea needed to advance in technology too.

To the caster's question, OrangeKing glanced at Korea’s main base.

'The third era... not yet.'

Quite some time had passed and Korea hadn’t advanced to the third era. Anyone who knew the game would find this strange.

Korea was supposed to be strongest in the third era, but they weren’t gathering resources to move to the third era.

— When are we going to the third era?

— Are they planning to finish in the second era and going all-in on troops??

— Archers not coming out as expected

— Lucky born-to-be class...

— What are they doing?

— Crossbow missing

The chat was also clamoring about when Korea would transition to the third era and when the crossbowmen would appear.

OrangeKing thought this was the time to speak, "The third era... doesn’t seem likely."

— ??

— OMG

— Huh?

— Seriously lol

— Not even born-to-be lol

"What?! Isn't Korea the strongest in the third era?!" caster Kim Sang-Hoon retorted in surprise.

It wasn’t a performative question for the viewers. He felt genuinely startled.

OrangeKing firmly said, "We'll finish this in the second era!"

“!?”

He thought it was time to reveal his hidden secret weapon.

"Whether this is the right choice or not, we'll know by the outcome..."

Then—

The caster screamed, "Aaaah! While you were speaking! Player Almond is in danger! The royal knight is almost catching up!"

The royal knight was within seconds of catching up to Almond. They were too close.

Almond had no time to shoot an arrow behind him while running. He wasn't a mounted archer. If he shot now, he'd get decapitated.

— Wow…

— What to do!?

— This is scary

— He's chasing?

— The knight is super fast even in the forest

Clatter! Clatter!

The horse hooves echoed even louder in Almond's ears than his own heartbeat.

OrangeKing screamed instead of Almond, "Aaaaah! Aren't there other comrades around!? Are they nearby?!"

"If they’re archers, can they do anything!? Can they shoot right now!?"

The trees were on no one's side. In the forest, it wasn't just the knight who was disadvantaged. An archer was too. Wouldn't the chances of an arrow hitting significantly decrease with many trees around? Perhaps an archer was in an even worse situation than a knight.

"Just shooting will get blocked! Is it possible to even shoot arrows here!? The trees are too dense!"

Then, OrangeKing shook his head.

"No! I'm not saying to shoot arrows!"

"Yes!?" The caster looked puzzled. "Then what should you shoot!?"

***

Clatter! Clatter!

Noisy horse hooves could be heard. The breath exhaled by the horse felt so hot that it was concerning.

Almond glanced back while running.

Swoosh!

A knight in silver armor drew a giant sword. He immediately swung the sword gleaming with murderous intent without a word after calculating the proper distance.

Whoosh!

Almond ducked his upper body flat and barely avoided it.

"!"

The knight hesitated momentarily. Then, he spurred his horse to swing again.

Thump...!

The sword struck a tree because Almond shifted his path toward it.

"Just die gracefully! Annoying brat!"

The knight probably cursed him worse, but it was filtered through the translation.

Whoosh!

He pursued Almond again and swung his sword once more.

— Ah

— Isn't Almond going to die?

— Crazy, that knight is chasing really well

— Annoying brat lol

Riding so freely in the forest terrain was purely a matter of skill and talent.

"Anyway, it's over..."

Thump!

Avoiding the knight’s pure skill and talent was also a miraculous sight.

"Again?"

Seeing his sword stuck in the tree again, the knight surely wore a twisted expression beneath his helmet.

"Charge!"

Clatter! Clatter!

The knight drove his horse faster, overtaking Almond completely. Now, they had reached a wide road with few trees.

Almond realized he could no longer dodge here.

Whooosh—

The sword gleamed once again as the horse brushed past Almond's right side.

"Ugh...!"

Crash!

Almond needed to dodge one last time and threw his body to the left. He tumbled, but the sword didn’t sever his neck.

However, there was no next time. The horse neighed and wheeled around to rush back immediately.

Almond had not even fully risen yet.

A smirk spread across the knight's lips. He had caught him now in the forest clearing with no trees to hide behind.

The horse charged unfettered and the knight raised his sword with murderous intent.

At that moment, Almond's eyes gleamed.

'Now is the time.'

Whisk—

He straightened his crouched legs, sprung up as if charging at the enemy, and thrust something forward.

It deeply pierced into flesh.

"A spear...?"

The spear had a green glow to it.

Blood gurgled and burst from the knight's side. Red blood flowed down the strange green weapon.

Drip... Drip.

[Bamboo Spear - Complete]

It was a bamboo spear, one of the Joseon civilization’s weapons.

"A bamboo spear... What is this...!?"

The knight felt dumbfounded as he tried to counterattack.

[Stunned]

He was currently stunned due to the effect of a spear stabbing a charging cavalry unit. Simply put, the bamboo spear was a perfect counter to him.

However, it wasn’t the end yet.

"Attack!"

Korea’s archers sprung out from all sides. Indeed, they had made this clearing in the forest.

[Assemble]

Cookie had designated this location as a rallying point. From the beginning, they had prepared an ambush and held green spears in their hands instead of bows.

"Stab him!"