Season 2: Chapter 120. Distracting Influence (2)
Fwoosh!
Billowing smoke and raging flames immediately greeted Almond upon his arrival. He looked slightly dismayed and thought, ‘I've arrived, but...’
Although he didn't show it much on stream, his condition wasn't the best that day. He just received some not-so-good news at the hospital and now his very first game seemed like a mess.
‘Is this a stream sniper?’ he wondered even though he knew little about the game.
His streamer intuition, honed over his past experiences, made him suspicious. He glanced at the chat.
— Will the winning streak end here?
— Nooooo!
— What's happening?!
— Everything's burning!!
— Oh no :(
No one mentioned anything about stream sniping. Even if they were playing against a stream sniper, it was just another challenging match for the viewers who didn't know.
"This round seems tough," Almond muttered and drew his bow.
He hesitated over the choice of arrows, having brought several types for this game.
‘Let's go with the standard ones first.’
His opponent was a spearman wearing very light armor. The standard arrows would be enough.
“Let’s start by...”
A notification popped up as he prepared to move forward with a stoic expression.
[ShyNapoleon has issued a mission for you!]
[Almond, hang in there!]
He received a rare mission.
— Wow;
— Shypo! Shypo! Shypo!;
— Congrats, congrats;
— Let's go!;
— ShyNapoleon? More like Bold Loser!
Almond momentarily worried that his dark expression had been too obvious to the viewers, but he realized there was no need to worry after seeing the mission.
[Mission]
[10,000 won per kill]
‘A kill-based mission?’
This was Almond's favorite kind of mission and a grin spontaneously spread across his face. He didn’t worry about his gloomy expression anymore.
— Wow, a kill mission?
— Let’s aim for a million won!
— It's impossible to kill 100 in Civil Empire, so let's set out for around 20 lol
ShyNapoleon, who set the mission, lifted the mood during a tough time.
Almond sincerely expressed his gratitude, "Wow. Thank you, Shy Napoleon. I'll definitely get a million won."
— There’s nothing you can't say, lol;
— You say it so cheerfully, lol;
— A million won?? Lol;
"But I'm not sure about the details... Does it matter if I die?"
[ShyNapoleon has donated 1,000 won.]
[Nope. It's over if you die ^^]
— Oh...
— The rules have changed! ShyNapoleon!
— Firm like a pumpkin, lol;
Almond asked further with a look of regret, "Ah, I see. I can’t die and get 10,000 won per kill. Do workers count too?"
[ShyNapoleon has donated 1,000 won.]
[Yes]
The corners of Almond's mouth subtly rose. He had seen the enemy’s workers earlier.
— Almond is holding back his laughter, lol;
— What an epic fail at not laughing;
— Pretending not to laugh is seriously annoying, lol;
"Ahem, thank you."
At that moment, BornToB's voice came through. He was concerned because Almond hadn't moved in a while.
“Almond? Almond? Please help! I'll try to mine more gold somehow...” he pleaded like a guilty person.
— Our main man BornToB, lol!
— Beg like a beggar, man;
— Help~~ Sir Almond~~~ lol!
Viewers mocked his plea, but Almond reassured him for the time being.
“Ah, I just got a donation. It's fine. Just tell me what to do.”
“Ah, right! I've sent the workers to another gold mine! Toward the edge of the 1 o'clock direction! It seems we need to go on an expedition to mine there!”
‘At 1 o'clock? Where's that?’
From Almond's perspective, it was hard to grasp where that was.
‘This is difficult.’
A commander's ability to explain was essential for this reason. If BornToB hadn't been viewing from above, he would've been overwhelmed trying to understand the situation.
“Am I heading toward that side?” Almond asked and tried to understand the command as simply as possible.
“No. Almond, please intercept the enemy! They've been invading from 7 o'clock!”
“Ah. Alright. Can you send me a ping, please?”
Ping!
From Almond's perspective, a ping appeared on the left edge of the map.
[Intercept]
‘That must be 7 o'clock from BornToB's perspective.’
He now had a clearer picture in his head.
“If you intercept them from there, they won't think of coming around to the 1 o'clock direction. There's also a forest in the middle.”
Ping!
BornToB pinged the gold mine in the direction of 1 o'clock.
[Protect]
Almond nodded.
‘That's 1 o'clock... where we have to secretly mine gold.’
Due to the enemy’s tower rush, they couldn't mine at the 7 o'clock gold mine anymore. Ultimately, BornToB sent his workers on an expedition to a distant gold mine toward the 1 o'clock direction. It was quite far, but the terrain was relatively good with mountain paths.
“Then, I'll set off.”
Almond dashed toward the ping after securing the quiver of arrows at his waist.
“I'll support you!”
BornToB needed Almond to intercept the enemy and offered him special support.
Ting!
He marked another ping, but it was a wide spotlight this time instead of just a ray of light.
[Enemy Tower]
A circular shape appeared around the defense tower. Knowing the tower’s attack range would make hit-and-run tactics easier, but BornToB purely guessed its range with this circle. His guess couldn't be entirely trusted. Still, it would be much more accurate than guessing from Almond’s first-person perspective on the battlefield.
"Ah, that's nice. Here I go."
Almond immediately started running in that direction after making a declaration to his viewers. Perhaps it was due to the mission. His demeanor from the start seemed cheerful.
"I seem to have an advantage because of the smoke, right?"
— Mission tension is something else, lol
— Almond's brisk steps are lively, lol
— So cute, lol
He continued talking as he dived into the smoke, "Our numbers are too different. It seems better to hide in the smoke. I need to spot them first though..."
At that moment...
Ping!
[Enemy Detected]
BornToB marked a ping for him by a building where the enemies could be spotted.
[Spearmen: 8]
[Workers: 10]
BornToB even counted the number of enemies for him.
— BornToB, your strategy is solid
— He’s totally relying on Almond here
— Go build a house or something
BornToB knew this battle would be crucial and tried his best to help Almond. Regardless of his impact on the overall game, it was a big help for Almond.
"I'll take a look at the situation here."
Knowing the enemies’ exact location, Almond hid in the most suitable place and targeted the gaps.
Whooosh!
The enemies were busily throwing torches and breaking down houses. Even the workers joined in throwing torches and houses collapsed in no time.
"I need to do something before the houses all collapse."
Houses and food were essential for recruiting soldiers. Without these, no one could be recruited. As the houses collapsed, BornToB became more disadvantaged. They had to quickly stop the enemies.
Almond quietly drew his bowstring.
Creeeak...
"Ah, wait."
As Almond accurately aimed at them, he suddenly hesitated and turned the direction of his bow.
— ??
— The house is going down!
— What are you doing?
The enemies were still unaware of Almond. He didn’t need to give up this advantageous high ground. Moreover, Almond was alone. He needed to be more cautious to eventually kill more of them.
"This seems better."
He took a moment to gauge the distance. Then, he drew his bow and aimed a few steps to the left.
Creeeak.
The arrow didn’t sit at the center of the bowstring, but around one-seventh along it.
— Houses are crumbling in 3 seconds, sob sob
— What are you doing? That's just one house
— The house is going down, hurry!
Changing his aim for a curve shot delayed his attack and caused a house to take significantly more damage.
The viewers seemed desperate, but Almond didn't care.
'Think thoroughly and shoot accurately.'
The arrow he was about to shoot would determine the entire course of the battle.
Almond briefly closed his eyes. He dismissed all other thoughts and even disregarded the stream. He only considered the wind, his bow, and the arrow that was about to depart.
Then...
Swoosh.
He finalized his aim and his breathing stopped. His right hand released the bowstring as if it never existed, a ghostly release.
Paang─
The arrow tore through the wind and flew far away.
Whooosh!
It changed direction at a certain point and found the back of a spearman's neck.
Thud!
The arrow pierced through the soldier’s skin and even shattered bone as it deeply embedded itself.
Thump.
The spearman powerlessly fell without even a scream.
After a while, the other enemies noticed.
"It's an archer!"
They immediately took out their spears and went on high alert. However, smoke enveloped the area. In such a situation, finding Almond in the bushes would be impossible. It would only be possible if AK47 pinpointed his location. However, even he had limited visibility because this was BornToB's territory.
"What the... Where is he?"
"Just a moment..."
Eventually, the soldiers proceeded to track down Almond in a standard manner.
"I'll take a look. Cover me."
One of them carefully turned over the corpse to check where the arrow came from.
"Okay."
The soldier stood and pointed in the completely wrong direction.
"He’s over there. You. You. Go."
Two soldiers were dispatched in the wrong direction according to that soldier’s order.
***
"Is this the right place?"
The dispatched spearmen tilted their heads. They arrived at a wide field with grass reaching up to their knees.
A person could hide here, but...
"There's no trace of anyone."
"None at all."
They saw no signs of any bushes being trampled and couldn’t find any other traces at all. Such signs would be much more visible in Civil Empire.
Shuffle!
At that moment, a noise came from the direction of some bushes.
"What!?"
They spotted a figure openly standing.
"Shit..."
An arrow flew at the spearman faster than he could curse.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
One instantly died with an arrow lodged in his throat. He didn't even have a chance to scream. The other had the chance to scream at least.
"Agh!"
An arrow pierced the back of his knee.
[Limping]
It significantly reduced his movement speed.
"Over here! Ov—"
He wildly waved his hands toward the other soldiers.
After waiting a moment, Almond shot an arrow high above their heads.
Whoosh─
The arrow drew a steep parabola and soared into the sky.
"... Here! Over here! The enemy is here!"
Almond immediately started running back to his original spot after the delayed attack.
"Bloody hell! Over here! Ov─"
Thwack!
An arrow came straight down and killed another spearman.
Swish-swish-swish!
Almond was already crossing the field at a fast pace.
The enemies suddenly turned their heads after hearing their comrade’s desperate cry. They couldn't even afford to pay attention to Almond.
"What!? What is it!"
"There! Over there! Are they all dead!?"
"Everyone to that side!"
Since their comrades died in that direction, they were convinced an archer was there and even assumed there was more than one.
"There isn’t just one enemy! Follow me!"
The one who seemed to be the leader led the other spearmen. There was a total of five of them.
Even for Almond, being spotted by five spearmen would be problematic. That was not going to happen though.
Almond was always one step faster and already returned to where he started.
They were unaware that Almond was right under their noses and went on a futile trip.
Then...
"They left the workers."
The spearmen left the ten workers unprotected. Almond had hoped for this situation.
— Wow, what kind of archer is Almond???
— Good plan
— Is this Almond on a mission!? Almond on a mission!?
The viewers felt impressed by his actions and praised him.
"Now..."
Almond took out four arrows and held them at the ready. He planned on killing those workers without even giving them a chance to fight back at all.
Almond finished calculating with a smirk. He had killed one spearman at the start, two just recently, and now ten workers presented themselves before him.
"Is that 130,000 won?"
Killing a total of thirteen enemies would earn him 130,000 won.
— Our base camp is burning lol but he's excited!
— ??? Just lose the game and rake in the money~
— Napoleon should have made it a victory mission...
— Already calculating before killing them, lol