Season 2: Chapter 70. Bow (1)
Almond and Jessie managed to eliminate fifteen workers with just the two of them.
"How is this possible?"
It was baffling how the enemy commander hadn’t noticed.
"Could it be because they were all critical hits?"
Normally, it would take about three stabs from a spear soldier to kill a worker, but workers were so weak that a headshot or a critical hit could kill them instantly.
No warning message would be sent to the enemy commander if they died instantly. Warning messages typically required nearby NPCs to scream, but instant kills went unnoticed. Without any warnings, it was a silent assassination of the workers.
Even if warnings sounded several times, commanders often overlooked them amid the chaos of war with numerous alerts and messages flooding in. A stealthy operation where warnings were sparse or nonexistent would go unnoticed.
The ability to one-shot workers could significantly impact the game's outcome. Commander MyDinner had chosen Almond to harass the workers, specifically for his spear-throwing prowess. The result was beyond his expectations.
"Still, this is way beyond what I expected."
He had hoped for some success based on Almond's exceptional spear-throwing ability, but the extent of their achievement was astonishing. Eliminating fifteen workers so swiftly was unheard of.
"This is insane. Who are these people?"
Unfortunately, commanders couldn’t see the IDs of soldiers.
"I should remember their appearance at least."
He zoomed in to observe them, but his excitement was short-lived. The enemy commander was not a fool.
"They're reacting!"
The enemy workers began to evacuate.
***
Almond noticed something odd after they eliminated about a dozen workers.
‘Huh?’
The enemy workers started screaming and running away.
"Intruders!"
“Arggh!”
— They were dying for a while...
— Now he reacts?
— LOL
The sudden panic of the workers, who had been oblivious to their comrades' demise, was eerily bizarre. Due to optimization needs in RTS games, not all workers had great AI because that would overburden the game system.
"Let's follow them."
As Almond was about to chase them, Jessie grabbed his shoulder from behind.
— Time for confession?
— ??
— One second away from running into each other!
"Following them will get us killed. Let’s go back to the forest."
"Why?"
"Once the workers enter the wood camp, it turns into a defensive building."
Swoosh!
A volley of arrows flew toward them as Jessie spoke. She stepped forward and blocked the arrows that densely covered her shield.
— Damn, why are there so many arrows?
— That’s why defense is possible even without lots of soldiers.
— Wait, there’s too many arrows.
So many arrows flew toward them that they couldn't block them all. Like rain hitting an umbrella, some areas were bound to get wet. Some arrows struck Jessie's leg and Almond's arm, but...
Ping!
Ping!
Those arrows bounced off their armor.
‘It’s bouncing off because of the armor.’
The armor had saved them, but that had its limits. Its durability wasn’t infinite.
Jessie shouted, "Run!"
They sprinted back into the forest.
***
Their visibility was near zero in the dark forest, but Almond could tell Jessie was hurt from the sound of dripping blood and heavy breathing.
"Are you okay?"
"The bleeding won't stop."
She was wounded on the side, the back of her knee, and her shoulder. Three arrows had pierced her. This would have been lethal for an ordinary infantry, but it wasn't fatal for her. However, the bleeding would decrease her stamina.
"How's your health?"
"I’ve got 30% left." Jessie wrapped her wounds with a piece of cloth and asked, "And you?"
"I wasn't hit."
"Good."
Then, a message came from the commander.
[Commander]
[Enemy soldiers are coming. Don't light any fires, and kill them one by one. They'll have torches, which gives us an advantage.]
Jessie read the message and said, "We should hide here for a while and ambush them."
The plan was to wait in the bushes, assessing the enemy soldiers' strength and numbers.
"Shh. They're coming."
Step... step...
Footsteps approached.
Jessie whispered to Almond, "Let's throw the spears from here."
"We only have one each."
"What!?"
They realized they had left the rest of their spears at the wood camp.
"That's a problem."
They would have to engage in close combat.
"Let's just hide. The workers aren't operating, so stalling is to our advantage."
However, Jessie knew this wouldn't be enough to turn the tide.
Fwoosh.
One of the enemy soldiers raised a torch.
"Is there anything there?!"
"No!"
Only one soldier carried a torch, serving as a beacon while the others moved in darkness.
Jessie whispered after seeing him, "They're moving like that because they think we'll target the one with the torch."
“... I see.”
— The enemy is pretty smart, too.
— Damn.
— Wow, it’s like a real war.
"Smart. Let's go deeper and hide."
Shrkrkrk.
They moved deeper into the bushes.
"Now they can't see us."
Almond and Jessie hid in the forest. They couldn't see the enemy and the enemy couldn't see them either. To overcome this, Jessie suggested using their sense of hearing instead of sight.
"Put your ear to the ground."
Following her advice, Almond pressed his ear against the ground to heighten his senses.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of footsteps crushing the underbrush continued. It seemed the enemies were still unaware of their exact location. The sound of axes chopping wood resonated from multiple directions, indicating that the workers had resumed their tasks at the wood camp.
Jessie playfully tapped the back of Almond's head.
"Hey."
"... What?"
"Now, put your other ear to the ground."
The other ear? Was there a difference in hearing between the two ears?
The puzzled Almond turned his head and laid his other ear on the ground. The sounds remained the same, except he was now directly facing Jessie.
"It's the same."
"Yeah. I just wanted to have a last look before we die."
She gazed at Almond's face, scanning it up and down. It seemed she just wanted to lie face-to-face for a moment.
— &@#*^&*
— Son of a (*&##$
— Fuck this world
— The worst streamer in the world
— I think I have nut allergy
The chat erupted once more. Meanwhile, Almond was concerned about Jessie’s words.
"What do you mean before we die...?”
“Ah.” She replied as if the result was already set in stone, "Yeah. The workers have started working again. It's pointless to stall now. There are about five to six soldiers. I can take down two of them with my equipment, but that's not enough."
"So, what's the plan?"
"I'll go all out and take down at least four. That might give us a chance. And I'm already bleeding out. I won't last much longer."
She prepared to sacrifice herself.
"You need to find the spears we left and take out the rest. Then resume killing the workers. That's our only chance to win. I'll come back."
"Come back?"
"If I die, I can return to the same battlefield. I'll bring a horse next time. Just survive till then."
— No! Jessie...
— Aw :(
— Wow...
Jessie’s plan to sacrifice herself impressed the viewers.
"Here I go."
Jessie charged forward at breakneck speed. Almond, still processing her instructions, was left behind as Jessie rushed toward the enemy.
“Uh... Guys, what did she tell me to do first?”
— This guy’s not paying attention again.
— Are you daydreaming again?
— LOL
— Give back my tears!
— Hahahaha
***
Shashashak!
The trees furiously shook and the eyes of the scouting soldier opened wide.
“Uh... Here...! Urk!?”
Thwack!
Jessie’s spear pierced him like a kebab and made him shut his mouth.
“Aaaah! Ooooh!”
The enemy let out an odd shout and struck out with his own spear.
Tang!
However, his spear couldn’t pierce Jessie’s armor and bounced away.
“Armor!?”
Thwack! Thwack!
Jessie pulled her spear out and finished him off by piercing his neck twice. After taking a light breath, she pulled out the spear and thrust it to her left.
Thwack!
It struck the shoulder of the soldier sneaking behind her.
“Kugh!”
Jessie excelled at close combat despite her mediocre spear-throwing.
“Here!!”
However, someone shouted and revealed her location. She wouldn’t be able to do anything outnumbered.
Two soldiers approached and Jessie confronted them. Her spear and armor clashed against theirs.
Kang! Kang!
More clashing ensued and they started pushing her back.
[HP 37%]
Jessie’s armor was ruined and her health continued to drop.
Thwack!
Now, they attacked where her armor fell off and the bleeding grew worse.
[HP 22%]
[Excessive Bleeding]
With all her force, Jessie swung and drew a line with her spear.
Shak!!!
A red line appeared across the two enemy soldiers.
‘Three...!’
A path opened up as the two enemies fell. She felt like she could buy more time. However...
Swoosh!
A new wave of soldiers arrived shooting arrows.
‘Arrows?’
Thwack!
Her right eye flared up and lost its vision.
[Right Eye Blinded]
[HP 2%]
“Ah.”
Thut thut hud!
Several spears struck her as if on standby.
‘How many are there? Ten?!’
She assumed there would be six at max, but there were more.
[HP 0%]
Jessie looked up at the black sky with the white moon. She saw Almond charging through the fog.
Thud!
Almond attacked the soldier who blinded her. She definitely told him to go pick up the spears.
"Stupid..."
Almond had to collect the spears, hide in the bushes, and attack the enemies one by one. There was no hope if he faced them directly. She felt defeated. He didn’t follow the plan even though she sacrificed herself.
Jessie let out a defeated laugh.
[Dead]
As her soul slowly flew up, a message popped up in front of her.
[Do you want to return to the same battlefield?]
She promised to come back, but hesitated unlike before. Almond didn’t follow the plan, so was there any hope?
She witnessed something while in her thoughts.
‘A bow?’
Almond was holding a bow he stole from an enemy archer. He stood up from the grass and aimed toward the enemies.
‘Everyone will be able to see him.’
Almond pulled on the bowstring as if he was showing off.
Creak...
Jessie became speechless.
‘What... is that?’
The way he stood upright as he drew the bowstring exuded an indescribable nobility that couldn't be put into words.