Season 2: Chapter 113. Smooth Flow (1)
In the brief time during the matchmaking, OrangeKing and the viewers watched a newly uploaded short video.
[Why the World Bows Down Before Korea’s Archery.]
After the video started, the soldiers lay down in front of the fortress wall according to Almond's command.
The title didn’t lie. Almond held the Joseon Horn Bow as mercenaries from around the world lay down at his command.
— LOL, so that was it.
— As expected!
— So this is why, lol.
— Surprisingly, it was real;
— It’s true again? haha.
One by one, they lay down and formed a human pyramid. Then, Almond stepped on them to climb up. When he finally reached the top, the national anthem started playing.
“The waters of the East Sea and~ Mount Baekdu~”
Behind Almond, who had climbed the wall, was a superimposed Korean flag fluttering in the wind.
The short ended there.
"They edited the scene like this!?"
— Crazyyy~ It feels like a Chinese movie!
— The pressure from the size of the Korean flag, haha...
— They did it, lol.
"Everyone knows Almond definitely had trouble climbing the wall due to a miscalculation!"
The part where Almond struggled to climb the wall was edited out as if it never happened. The video had been edited as if he easily climbed the wall and looked down upon the world with his bow.
"Ah...! Ugh! Ugh!" Kimchi Warrior suddenly made a strange sound.
— Is someone beating him up?
— What's with the laughter?
— He’s making sounds just like his nickname, lol. Seems like he likes this kind of video.
— LOL.
The strange sound turned out to be laughter. The video seemed to suit his taste.
"Anyway, I can’t believe this short was made right after the match ended The editor must have collected all these scenes for the right moment to come along. Impressive!"
— Exactly!
— I agree, lol.
— National pride on 5 minute standby.
— Korean flag macro?
After a while, OrangeKing decided to end the video.
"Yes... that was great. Kimchi Warrior, are you still laughing? Is this your type of content? Isn't your name Kimchi for a reason?"
"Ah, ugh... No, I don't like nationalistic stuff."
"?"
— ??
— ?
— What?
A flood of questions followed Kimchi Warrior's statement.
"You say no, but your body is being honest. You choked from laughing."
— Just let him go, haha.
— True Kimchi Warrior!
— LOL.
"It's not that..."
"What is it then!?"
Kimchi Warrior didn’t give up explaining, but OrangeKing didn’t accept any of his excuses.
"Ah... no... it’s not that..."
At this point, OrangeKing changed the subject.
"Anyway... Mr. Kimchi, do you have any feedback for Almond?"
"Yes... We need to give him feedback."
"What about BornToB? Seems like you have a lot to say."
"BornToB is... sigh," Kimchi Warrior sighed in response.
OrangeKing laughed as if he understood.
"Ah~ Yes, I understand. I was a professional player too."
Even if Kimchi Warrior wanted to give feedback to BornToB, it would be pointless right now. Moreover, he didn’t need to exhaust himself by giving earnest feedback because BornToB was not an official player.
[Almond has entered the channel.]
"Oh, while we were talking! Almond is here!"
Almond entered the This World channel where the casters were.
"Welcome! Almond!"
This was the first time OrangeKing had seen Almond in This World since the LIL tournament, so he greeted him warmly.
"Hello."
Almond also greeted him warmly and Kimchi Warrior came down from the caster's booth to start the feedback session while Almond looked at the map.
Not everything they said was understandable nor was it necessary to understand everything. Instead, they simply drew a general conclusion.
"There are times when dying could be more advantageous."
It would be better if Almond died in certain situations.
"Of course, that situation didn't occur this time. If the war had dragged on... continuing to hold out there wouldn't be a good choice."
"Oh..."
Almond simply nodded.
"Yes. It's better to die and resurrect as an upgraded archer in the third era or maybe as some other unit type."
"Ah... Okay."
— Ah... (he doesn't seem interested)
— I bet my peanuts he didn't listen properly.
— I saw that expression in Zombie School during a lesson.
— He’s soulless.
Almond tried to listen attentively, but the viewers teased him because of his demeanor.
Kimchi Warrior continued his explanation undeterred, "Like in real wars, this game ultimately isn't about fighting with soldiers. It’s about fighting with money."
RTS games all shared this basic principle. The commander could keep producing soldiers if they had plenty of resources or they could immediately lose without any resources. It could turn out very differently based on a commander’s calculations.
"Always consider the damage you've inflicted. It's good to convert it into monetary value. When it seems appropriate, you can upgrade into a better unit type. In such a situation, it would be beneficial to execute a self-sacrificial operation and die."
If it seemed profitable, players should switch to a better unit type.
OrangeKing chimed in, "It's hard to calculate that for beginners like us. Can you show an example?"
"Ah ha. Then, let's convert the damage Almond inflicted into gold."
Kimchi Warrior nodded and began to show the damage Almond inflicted on a chart. The data was readily available after the match, making it easy to tally.
"Twenty-eight workers... one veteran knight... and halting the enemy’s resource production for two minutes..."
— 28 workers, WTF.
— He picked an archer, but received a tank instead?
— Impressive.
"Just roughly converting that to gold alone amounts to three hundred gold."
"Three hundred gold?"
"Yes. If you calculate the snowball effect of being unable to gather wood and how long production was stopped while BornToB caught up... It would be worth about four hundred gold."
Four hundred gold was a significant amount.
"That amount can almost buy a castle, right? A castle usually costs four hundred gold as far as I know."
A castle had the equivalent firepower of twenty towers combined with upgrades like cannons or boiling oil. Its potential was much higher.
In this game, it was considered the ultimate defensive building and cost four hundred gold.
"Yes. It varies by civilization, but it usually costs four hundred gold for everyone in a basic war. So... you're right. Almond inflicted damage equivalent to a castle and practically ended the game."
— Wow!! Almond is really amazing...
— So he could’ve just died.
— He blew up a castle...
— So exciting...!
"Wow. BornToB hired Almond for three gold and made the enemy lose the equivalent of four hundred gold?"
"That's right."
[Donation of 10,000 won from FriedOyster!]
[Why are you only praising him when you said you would give feedback? Our OrangeKing wasn't like this when he was a professional player! Ah! Am I wrong?]
"Ah~ Thank you FriedOyster for the generous 10,000 won donation. You might not know because you're my fan, but feedback isn't always about scolding or criticizing!"
— ???: I’m your opponent...
— Almond is definitely not the same as OrangeKing, lol.
— Almond did so well, so we can only praise him!
The donation questioned why they only praised Almond, which led to a flurry of chat messages.
OrangeKing managed to attract quite the attention and quickly moved on.
"Alright, everyone. Calm down. We're starting the game again, right?" OrangeKing asked and looked at Almond and Mr. Kimchi.
Both of them nodded.
"Then, I’m looking forward to even better gameplay from Almond. Let's queue up!"
— Woah~~
— Let’s gooo!
— Looking fun~
— Please tell me there’s no troll this time!
— Who's the next sniper bitch? LOL.
Many looked forward to the next game because the first promotion match had been close and filled with exciting moments. However, they forgot that Kimchi Warrior had only prepared one strategy. If that strategy succeeded, the game would end embarrassingly easy.
[Opponent Found!]
"Ah~ An opponent has quickly been found! Let's jump right in!"
***
OrangeKing exclaimed around ten minutes later, "Good game~~~!!! Ah! Almond wins so simply and beautifully!"
Almond swiftly secured the second victory of his promotion matches.
— WTF Is this even a game?
— I was so excited... 4 drone victory...
— Right... this was always this kind of game...
The opponent didn't anticipate the fast archer rush at all.
After Almond eliminated around half of the workers, the opponent immediately exited the game. Of course, they didn't forget to leave some comments.
[I’m about to piss my pants: Real-Time Strategy? MY ASS!]
Kimchi Warrior, BornToB, and Almond had all grown accustomed to this by now.
OrangeKing reacted the same, "Ah~ About to shit in my pants player! You've put real-time strategy up your ass. You really live up to your nickname. Yes, I support whatever preference you have."
OrangeKing deliberately translated the English incorrectly to defuse the situation.
— It's about to piss my pants... but he said shit, lol.
— OrangeKing declaring GG for specific tastes;
— What a translation.
— Where does it say he put it up his ass? lol.
— Why suddenly change the name? hahaha.
OrangeKing lightly ignored the barrage of chat messages challenging his translation and moved on.
"Alright. Only one victory left for the promotion! Just one more win and Almond will reach A rank!"
[Opponent found!]
"They quickly found another match again!? Let’s go!"
This would be the last game for the promotion.
The opponent was a Japanese commander. He also didn't anticipate the fast archer rush in the second era and struggled. Even though he built one defense tower, Almond slaughtered twenty-eight workers while avoiding five towers and made one tower seem almost nonexistent.
Almond displayed dazzling movements around the defense tower.
"Almond! He’s coming forward, shooting, and going back in. When a worker comes out, he shoots again! He moves like a summer mosquito! Amazing!"
— Summer Mosquito;
— Count Almond Mosquito, lol.
— The other side must be so annoyed, haha.
It felt embarrassing for the defense tower to still be standing with so many workers dead.
"Are you not quitting!? I would’ve quit already! I'd lose my mind! Is this the Japanese artisan spirit, Mr. Tanaka? Just quit!"
— Quit already, hahaha.
— Suddenly going with Tanaka, lol.
— Why tell him to quit...?
However, the opponent continued to resist.
"Please don't drag it out. Just quit! Almond needs to reach A rank! Please quit after a ninja run as punishment!"
— No mercy from his tongue toward Japan... sexy.
— That's too much...
— OrangeKing is beating him up verbally, LOL.
The Japanese commander endured Almond's assault. It seemed he thought the attacks would eventually end if he just held on, but...
[BornToB: Noob]
(Incompetent)
He couldn't withstand BornToB's insult.
[Surrender]
Finally, the opponent surrendered.
"Aaaaah! The finishing blow came from BornToB!"
Thus, they won the last promotion game.
"Gee! Geeee!!!" OrangeKing jumped in excitement. "Almond! BornToB!! What a dog ass victoryyyyy!"
Numerous messages poured in.
— Congrats congrats congrats!
— Wow this works.
— The last two games were really like a dog promotion, haha.
— Just like they say, it’s a dog-like promotion lol.
— Dog's fast build.
— Is this... a good build? Any complaints?
— Congrats congrats congrats!
Everyone’s excitement could be felt even through the chat window. It wasn’t just the viewers who felt that way.
"Uaaaahwaaaah!!!" Kimchi Warrior, who usually acted calm, suddenly screamed.
— WTF.
— Uaaaahwaaaah contains all the emotions of joy and sorrow...
— ?
— Lol.
After the game screen disappeared, OrangeKing and Kimchi Warrior's This World channel appeared.
OrangeKing continued excitedly, "Aaah! That was really amazing! They finally made it to A rank today! At first, I honestly thought it would be difficult to achieve that today after meeting the sniper bitch! What do you think, Mr. Kimchi?"
"Me, I never doubted it! I was sure the players would make it happen! I was confident!"
— ?
— Really?
— Fact: He only trusted one player.
"Ah! I see! Kimchi Warrior, you were that sure!? You seemed quite surprised earlier?"
"No, I wasn't! I was just amazed!”
“Anyway, let’s take a break and interview our amazing players!”
The players felt even more ecstatic than the commentators.
BornToB and Almond entered when OrangeKing invited them to This World.
OrangeKing asked BornToB first and wondered what his first thought would be after all their victories.
“Mr. BornToB! It’s your first time reaching A rank! How do you feel? Please share with us!”