Season 3: Chapter 338. Fake Bow
"Latte!! Almond!!!" the commentator shouted and spat in excitement.
Thanks to their unexpected teamwork, two out of the three enemies had been taken down.
"They got them! They actually took them down!?"
"Were they always this in sync?!"
"But Pierre! Pierre got away! The clerics are backing him up!"
"Ahhh!!"
"He’s probably going to hold down the HQ now!"
"Th-Then how much time do we have left?!"
— “We” LOL
— T_T
— Obvious bias, LOL
— Nooo
— Can’t believe they missed that
— Did... did he just say we?
The camera switched back to Joseon’s base.
"Ah, she’s still up! Best Yi Sun-Shin is still standing!"
The cavalry led by Best Yi Sun-Shin was still alive. They continued fiercely swinging their swords.
"Should we start calling her Immortal Sun-Shin?! How is she still alive?! Why hasn’t this game ended yet?!"
"I-I don’t know!! The goalkeeper is out on the field, but no one's scoring!!"
— Dang, maybe now’s the time to back off...
— What is she, a striker now?!
— Are they just gonna keep fighting like this???
— I'm losing it, I'm so nervous...
— Please let them win, please T_T
"In any case, Joseon seems to have bought themselves more time!"
Their final resistance proved more effective than anyone expected.
"Almond! He’s entered the enemy HQ!!"
The broadcast shifted to Almond’s perspective inside the building.
"It’s so cramped in here! Is there even room for arrows to fly properly!?"
Pierre stood at the end of the narrow corridor with multiple rooms. He was just one man, but his presence felt massive because of the priests behind him.
"Wait—!?"
Suddenly, the screen split in half.
"!"
"Wh-What is this!?"
Thud.
Best Yi Sun-Sin had fallen from her horse.
— No way!!
— Unbelievable!
— No...
— Please no...
— She fell!
— Holy...
As if caught in a whirlpool, all the troops were sucked toward one point.
"Keep pushing! Deeper, go deeper!!"
Whoosh!
She swung her sword with all her might and cut down everything before her as she pressed forward. They could win it all here. She believed they could.
‘Huh?’
Swoosh...
Her sword slowed down for a moment because her entire body had tilted back along with the swing.
"!"
Time stood still. Only her eyes slowly moved downward, trying to comprehend what was happening.
‘What... is that?’
A spear had pierced her horse. Someone had crawled up from the ground and stabbed it.
‘I had no idea...’
It had never occurred to her that someone would play dead to crawl up and land a hit. Civil Empire was unpredictable like that. It wasn't like other neatly structured games. She had let her guard down against that unpredictability.
“Neighhhh...!” her horse screamed in pain.
Falling now would likely mean the end.
"...!"
Bread came rushing in and yelled something at the top of her lungs, but Best Yi Sun-Shin couldn’t hear her. It wasn’t just Bread.
Rumble...
The very ground shook as all the Roman troops converged on her. And with them came every single arrow and spear.
‘It’s not over.’
Crack.
She bit her lip, tensed her legs, and hurled herself from the saddle. She couldn’t stop the fall, but could try to land as far away as possible. She flew through the air.
‘Far... farther...’
The farther she could go, the better. Then—
Crash!
"Huff...!"
She rolled along the ground and her vision spun. Time seemed to resume. Finally, she heard the sounds.
"Protect her!!" Bread shouted.
"Push forward!! Their commander is down!!" the Roman army shouted.
All of them surged forward.
Thud, thud, thud!
Spears and arrows rained down on the Joseon troops. Even if they didn’t collapse immediately, they would be as good as dead after a single touch. The Roman soldiers crashed into them and swept in like a tidal wave.
Boom!
Creak...
Almond drew his bow as soon as he stepped into the HQ.
‘Of course, he’s blocking the way.’
Pierre had hidden completely behind his shield, clogging up the narrow corridor. Almond fired, but the arrow bounced off.
Thunk!
"You’re not getting past me. The game’s over," Pierre shouted from behind the massive shield.
It truly did seem impossible to pass Pierre and reach the enemy commander beyond. But...
‘The bigger the better.’
This time, Almond fired three arrows at once.
Thud-thud-thud!
Sparks flew as the arrows bounced off. The shield remained firm with only some scratches visible.
Creak...
Almond drew his bow again.
"Wh... what..."
Pierre’s expression hardened.
Thud-thud-thud!
Three more arrows struck. To Almond, the shield wasn’t a wall. It was a giant target board.
Pierre’s eye twitched.
‘He’s targeting the durability.’
[Shield: 71%]
The shield’s durability had already dropped from earlier skirmishes. Using arrows to completely break it was nearly impossible.
‘But it’s already down to 71%.’
There was a difference between nearly and actually impossible just like the difference between zero and one. Such a small difference was enough to create entire systems and games like Civil Empire.
Thunk! Thunk!
More arrows flew.
[Shield: 68%]
Joseon’s traditional horn bow was one of the strongest in terms of raw damage. And now, Almond was firing three arrows repeatedly. The shield’s durability dropped faster than expected.
[Shield: 63%]
‘This is bad...’
Pierre’s eyes darkened, and he began growing anxious. He didn’t know what was going on at Joseon’s base either.
Thunk!
[Shield: 59%]
‘The clerics are useless.’
The clerics positioned behind him couldn’t do anything. They could heal him, but not the shield.
‘Then...’
Thunk!
[Shield: 53%]
The shield’s durability was approaching half. The lower it got, the faster it tended to drop. At this point, Pierre only had one choice.
Tap.
He moved one foot forward.
‘Do I take the hit myself...?’
He thought about preserving the shield by taking the damage himself. Almond wasn’t aiming for any particular weak spots and just simply shot arrows everywhere. Pierre could take the hits and heal later if that was the case. At least, he thought that until...
‘...!’
Pierre felt a chill run down his spine after reading the look in Almond’s eyes.
‘Just now... his eyes followed me ever so slightly.’
Swish.
Pierre quickly pulled his foot back in.
‘So that was it... he was baiting me.’
If Pierre had stepped out to take the hit, Almond would’ve immediately shot for a vital point and killed him. In the end, Pierre couldn’t step forward.
Thud-thud-thud!
The shield trembled again.
[Shield: 42%]
The damage was increasing faster than before. Once the shield’s durability dropped below fifty percent, it would start decreasing even when idle.
‘When is this going to end...?’
The game was supposed to have ended long ago judging from the situation at the main base, but it hadn’t.
‘Does that guy... know something I don’t?’
Meanwhile, Almond calmly drew his bow again.
Pierre’s anxiety continued to grow. What was going on? Did they have more time than he thought?
‘How much longer...?’
Almond didn’t know how much time was left either, but he couldn’t do anything else.
‘Either way...’
This was all he could do.
Creak...
He drew his bow, aimed, and fired.
Thud-thud-thud!
This was why he became a player: to shoot arrows. He would shoot his arrows nonstop whether it rained or snowed or was hot or cold. Even when his right arm trembled too much to aim, he drew a fake bow in his dreams.
Creak.
The bow he drew now was also fake. Its texture, tension, and vibration clearly differed from a real bow. That didn’t matter. He would still shoot even if all he had was a fake bow.
Thud-thud-thud!
Because it was fake, he could pull off the absurd act of shooting three arrows simultaneously. Even the enemy’s proud shield began to show cracks. The once confident Pierre began to waver while Sang-Hyeon stood firm and unwavering in the same stance as always.
Creak.
He drew his bow again even though it was fake, even though this was just a game, and even though he was just a fake national player wearing the Taegeuk symbol.
‘Still...’
Clench.
Sang-Hyeon gritted his teeth.
Thump. Thump. Thump...
His heartbeat pounded faster, and his right arm trembled slightly.
‘Just keep shooting.’
Thunk!
An arrow flew and struck the shield. Sparks went flying like welding sparks as the shield received visible dents and got pushed back. Another arrow came flying.
BOOM!
The flames of impact burst even larger.
Fwoosh!
Joseon’s buildings began to burn. Some Roman troops started setting fire to the base. They were eliminating any place left to return to. The buildings went up in flames. The Joseon commander lay collapsed on the ground. It looked like a hopeless scene, yet a twitch pulled at the corner of Sa-Rang’s mouth.
‘You old fool... You don’t get it, do you?’
She looked over the burning battlefield and pulled herself up again. If there was no way back—
‘Then the only way is forward.’
Thump.
She stepped forward and raised her upper body.
"Shouldn’t we fall back?!" Bread shouted and tried to shield her from the front.
Bread wasn’t the only one. Most Joseon soldiers were retreating. The commander’s fall had snapped them back to reason. It reminded them that this game could end here and now, but the one person who mattered most decided to move in the opposite direction.
"Fall back...?"
The Roman troops would never miss such an opening.
Whoosh!
The armored Roman soldiers charged toward her.
Clang!
A mace slammed down, but only struck a footprint.
"That option’s been gone for a while now."
SLASH!
The armored soldier’s head flew cleanly into the air.
"!"
At that moment, Bread and Coffee met eyes. As if planned, they shouted in unison, "No turning back!!"
"Forward!! CHAAAARGE!!"
They had no path but forward. The infantry, cavalry, and everyone charged. Sa-Rang ran as well while swinging her sword and running on foot. Everyone only ran forward.
[Shield: 17%]
Pierre saw the opening.
‘I have to push now. If I don’t—’
The shield was almost at its limit. And the game still hadn’t ended. Something had seriously gone wrong. He had to end it here.
Creak.
Sang-Hyeon drew his bow again.
‘It’s coming.’
Pierre sensed it. Sang-Hyeon was also preparing to make a move.
Swish.
It would begin the moment Sang-Hyeon shot.
Clack.
Pierre lowered his shield and took the first step forward.
[Movement Speed Increased]
Vwooooom!
The cleric’s buff kicked in. Pierre’s speed surged, and Almond released the arrows.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Pierre instantly struck down all three arrows with his spear. Sang-Hyeon thought about retreating to fire more, but...
‘No.’
Nothing would work if he stepped back now, so he ran forward.
"?!"
The gap between them closed in an instant due to the militia and cleric's speed buffs.
‘Crap.’
Before Pierre could even fully swing his spear, Sang-Hyeon was already on him. Spears were useless at this range.
Sang-Hyeon rolled to get past Pierre.
‘Got past him—’
‘No, you didn’t.’
SKRRRRRK!
Pierre suddenly stopped and swung his shield backward.
Whoosh!
A heavy thud echoed. The shield strike didn’t deal damage, but it was enough to obstruct movement.
BOOM!
"!"
The unexpected shield bash directly landed and pinned Sang-Hyeon to the hallway wall.
‘What...?’
It didn’t deal any damage, so Sang-Hyeon didn’t die even as a militia unit.
"It’s over."
Anyone could see the fight had ended. Pierre readjusted his grip and raised his spear.
Swish.
The tip aimed straight for Sang-Hyeon’s head, but—
"?!"
A flash of white light came into view and knocked aside Pierre’s spear.
CLAAAANG!
‘What the...’
Pierre instinctively turned.
"Huff... huff... Almond!!"
It was Latte. He had broken through the HQ’s defenses without their commander's support.
"Run!!"
Tatak!
Sang-Hyeon bolted forward like a madman.
"?"
Pierre couldn’t understand. Why was Sang-Hyeon running that way instead of coming after him? Wasn’t he the enemy? Then, he saw what Sang-Hyeon pulled out.
‘Wait...’
The Tongah was a bamboo tube used to fire long-range arrows. It wasn’t optimal for close-range targets. What target could be far enough away for that?
‘No way...’
Pierre’s focus drifted into the distance.
‘He was trying to escape all this time...?’
Far away, Pierre saw how the game could end. And so did Sang-Hyeon.
Sang-Hyeon dropped to one knee.
Skrrrk.
His knee scraped against the floor as he drew the string and charged his focus.
Sang-Hyeon closed his eyes for a moment.
‘Phew.’
It was far. Even for a Tongah, it was max range.
‘Three seconds.’
He needed three seconds to charge the focus for this one shot. This was their one chance.
"NOOOOO!!" Pierre screamed and pulled out another spear.
He prepared to hurl the spear without even aiming. Even just a graze would kill Sang-Hyeon, who was a militia unit.
THUMP.
Pierre’s front foot slammed down, and his shoulder lunged forward.
WHOOSH!
The spear went flying.
‘Two seconds.’
Sang-Hyeon opened his eyes.
Vwoooom...
The white light of focus burned bright.