Season 2: Chapter 64. Turned Into A Spearman in the Game (1)
Fortunately, it seemed common for someone to die in the world of mercenaries. Maybe they didn't actually die. Regardless, the atmosphere in the tavern grew quite heated.
"Newbie! Newbie!"
"Such a forceful guy!"
"Wowwwww!"
It felt unrealistic. It wasn’t the graphics that looked unrealistic. The uncomfortably intense realism of Zombie School couldn’t be found here. This was probably intended to make the game more enjoyable.
— LOL LOL LOL crazy
— Total chaos
— That's it. This is what a game should be, damn!
Therefore, the viewers also enjoyed the refreshing experience.
[Frustration has donated 3,000 won.]
[Ah, I was worried they would start terrorizing him like Kim Ju-Hyeok in the beginning, but that was refreshing LOL LOL LOL LOL]
It seemed to contrast well with the beginning of Zombie School.
[CivilFanboy has donated 10,000 won.]
[Civil Empire doesn't really have restrictions. It brings out the best in players. That's the thing.]
CivilFanboy was the first donor since Almond started playing Civil Empire. It seemed like he would become a new regular viewer. His username and how he talked suggested that he was quite an expert in this game.
[CivilFanboy has donated 10,000 won.]
[Wow, but I've never seen anyone kill the Troll Trio with a single dagger. I've seen many deaths, but this is a first.]
Even he had never seen someone kill the Troll Trio with a single dagger.
"Is it not common to kill with one hit?"
[CivilFanboy has donated 10,000 won.]
[No, it's possible. This game has vital points, but I've never seen it done right from the start.]
Almond’s dagger thrust to the forehead definitely struck a vital point. It would be difficult for someone new to the game to achieve such a feat. He got lucky in that regard.
"Do vital hits always kill?"
Almond genuinely wanted to understand the game.
— He's fishing for donations, wow.
— The stronghold of capitalism...
— LOL, look at him asking questions.
Every response came with a 10,000 won donation, making it seem like Almond was soliciting more donations.
[CivilFanboy has donated 10,000 won.]
[No, it’s only instant death if you properly cut or stab critical areas like the neck or head. Other vital points deal massive damage though when struck!]
— Making comments for 10,000 won each, LOL
— Dude... calm down.
— Wow wow LOL
“Ah... Got it. Thank you very much for the quadruple donations.”
The veteran player continuously donated to help him. Almond’s gameplay probably excited him. It was only natural to reward such gameplay.
==== ====
[C Rank]
Aaalmond
キムチチゲ魔王
hotshotgg
sourcrautz97
Dorumuk
...
==== ====
Despite being a newbie, Almond was promptly promoted to C rank. He had the honor of starting at the highest rank among wandering mercenaries.
‘This makes things easier.’
Flitter.
The fairy Peeeeanuuut fluttered her wings in excitement.
[Aaalmond! That's amazing! Hardly anyone has done this!!]
She seemed almost ecstatic as if she received a performance bonus for the success of her assigned mercenary.
[You are in the top 3%! Getting a C rank right from the start is rare!]
The condition to immediately earn C rank was to overpower one of the Troll Trio without getting hit. Almond not only avoided getting hit, but also subdued one of them with a single strike. Naturally, this earned him the special promotion to C rank.
— That's Aaalmond's class
— If we're talking about levels, it's almost like a placement match result.
— The one and only nutty guy
— He did it for the taste of victory
— I'm afraid to go to the community and see all the hype about him LOL
The viewers debated among themselves how impressive this feat was. The rest of the community would probably attack them if they praised Almond too much, so they seemed to be self-regulating themselves. It was funny that such a situation arose before the game even officially started.
Peeeeanuuut approached to change the subject.
[Aaalmond! Shall we do some basic training now that you've received your mercenary rank?]
"Basic training?"
[Yes. It’s to experience how the battlefield works from the commander's perspective! Since it's difficult for soldiers to understand the commander's position, this system was specially prepared!]
It was a curious thing to try being a commander before becoming a soldier. Wasn’t it usually the other way around?
[Let's go in!]
Brrrong!
Peeeeanuuut waved her wand and a portal appeared. No one seemed to find it odd even though such a portal appeared in the middle of the tavern. It was probably a common occurrence here.
Almond thought so as he stepped into the portal.
***
The blue sky unfolded before him as he flew high up in the air. His body felt weightless.
[Look down, Aaalmond!]
The fairy flew over to him and directed his gaze downward. Tiny figures like ants could be seen.
[Those people are workers. When you start the game, you get ten workers as a commander!]
There were indeed exactly ten as he counted them.
[And the first building you get is the Village Hall. You can produce workers from there! I’ll create one for you!]
As she spoke, a villager (worker) was automatically created in the Village Hall. Each cost ten pieces of food.
[Aaalmond, try giving orders to the workers. Drag with your hand! By the way, you can also use a keyboard and mouse in commander mode! Except for national matches!]
Almond reached out as if playing an old mouse game and controlled them. They really moved.
[How about it? You can also issue commands verbally here. They will autonomously follow your orders as much as possible! Try telling them to chop wood!]
"Chop wood."
The workers flocked to the trees and started chopping.
Thwack. Thwack.
Workers swiftly chopped and brought back wood.
[Look at the top right. Your current resources are displayed there.]
As Peeeeanuuut said, it showed the amount of wood increasing in his current resource count.
Resources included wood, gold, food, stone, and iron. Each likely had different uses.
[Gold and food are mostly used to summon soldiers. Wood and stone are for buildings! Iron is for creating siege weapons! Let's build an Infantry Training Camp here!]
She suggested building a facility as soon as the workers collected one hundred pieces of wood.
[Call one worker and shout for them to build, or click the UI on the bottom right!]
Almond called a worker and ordered them to build an Infantry Training Camp.
[Infantry Basic Training Camp]
[Under Construction...]
[5%]
It seemed like it would take about twenty seconds. In reality, building something in twenty seconds would be absurd, but twenty seconds was quite a long time in the game.
[If it seems too slow, add more workers!]
He added a few more workers and the speed drastically increased.
[62%]
In the blink of an eye, the workers constructed over half of the building. Soon, they completed it.
[Infantry Training Camp]
The fairy laughed merrily.
— Wow, what is this? Reminds me of the old StarCraft.
— A real RTS game?? Can Almond do this...?
— Almond is totally not suited for this kind of game LOL
The viewers were taken aback by the game's strategic nature and doubted whether Almond could handle it since he was only known to use his brain for advertising.
However, this game was just beginning.
[Now! Let's summon some infantry here!]
He touched the training camp to view the infantry list.
[Spearman]
Currently, he could only summon one type.
[Food: 10]
[Gold: ?]
[Population: 1]
While the food cost was fixed at ten, the gold price wasn’t set. He decided to press it anyway.
[Recruiting mercenaries.]
[Please set a bounty.]
It turned out he had to set the price.
— Free market economy for spearmen? LOL
— The invisible hand of the spearman
— What is this? LOL
The problem was that Almond didn’t have food or gold.
"Peeeeanuuut, I have no gold or food."
[Ah! Watch this!]
She waved her wand and the workers moved in unison.
[You allocate workers to the desired resources! Obtain food by hunting nearby sheep or animals!]
A few workers started digging at the gold mine while a couple approached the sheep loitering around and suddenly slaughtered them.
— Gasp
— Ahh
— Poor sheep
The sheep quickly turned into meat. As they transported the meat to the village hall, the food count rose from zero to ten.
— So that's how you get food
— I thought the sheep were just decorations LOL
— There are deer and boars too LOL
The workers continued transporting the meat and the food count rose to about a hundred. Gold also kept coming from the mine and totaled around thirty.
[Now that you have food and gold, recruit some spearmen!]
Almond nodded and touched the Infantry Training Camp again. He could decide how much gold to use, how many spearmen to summon, and what rank he wanted.
[10 men]
[1 gold]
[Rank doesn't matter]
Additionally, he could also write a battle summary to explain the current situation.
[Battle Summary: First infantry recruitment]
This was automatically generated.
[Recruiting spearmen...]
The recruitment message appeared along with a drum sound.
Several names appeared.
[Recruitment Application List]
Lemonpie
Undefeated
Orehu
Ria
...
"Are these... real people?"
[No! Not now! It's just training!]
They were bots that were auto-generated.
[But in actual combat, real mercenaries will come! Remember the names written on the chalkboard at the wandering mercenary tavern?]
He recalled the IDs listed under each rank. They were mercenaries waiting for assignments. Commanders apparently recruited them in this manner.
[Oh, the enemy has arrived!]
Drums sounded and the ally workers mining gold began to get attacked.
Thwack! Thwack!
The enemies gathered and struck a few times, quickly killing the weaker workers. Indeed, the enemies were also spearmen.
[Let's deploy our spearmen too, shall we?]
Listening to Peeeeanuuut, Almond looked at the training camp and saw ten spearmen waiting.
[Drag as many as you want and issue a command! You can use voice or text! You can also use the ping system!]
She raised her wand.
[But...!]
Just as he was about to follow her instructions...
[That's enough for the commander mode experience! Now, become a spearman down there!]
"A spearman? Down there?"
[Yes!]
"Then who will command?"
[I will take care of it! Now, go!]
Brrong!
The world went dark as she sprinkled light with her wand.
***
The view had completely changed when he opened his eyes again.
'Wow...'
The green meadows he had viewed from above were now lush forests. The tall grass came right up to his knees.
Looking down, he saw himself wearing worn leather armor and holding an old spear.
— The game isn't about commanding but being commanded LOL
— If it's like this, Almond can easily do it as a nut
— Isn't this basically entrusting Almond with the role of a nut? Totally OP LOL LOL LOL
The viewers felt relieved that Almond wouldn't be commanding. It felt as if they had entered the game themselves. This novel setup thrilled them and would excite any gamer's heart.
‘Ah, I should help the workers.’
Almond recalled that the workers were being attacked and looked around.
‘Where is it?’
He had a clear view while commanding, but now it was hard to find the right direction. This was the difference between being a commander and a soldier.
Piiiiing── Piiiiing─!
A loud noise rang out.
Whoosh!
A yellow beam of light formed in the sky and struck down like lightning. Written in the yellow beam was:
[Defense]
'It's a ping.'
This was the ping Peeeeanuuut mentioned. Soon afterward, the commander issued a command.
[Commander's Order]
[Workers at the gold mine are under attack. Go and defend.]
The defense battle as a spearman began.