Season 3: Chapter 57: Tryout Openings (3)
South Korea boasted an impressive gaming market given its population size. In fact, most gaming companies would have paid little attention to the Korean market given its size. However, online competitive games sold particularly well in Korea. Not only did they pay attention to the Korean market because of this, but they often prioritized it.
Korea was a leader in esports and when one competitive game became popular, it increased secondary and tertiary revenues. Given this situation, the Korean branch of Civil Empire was always ecstatic.
"Why on earth does this game not sell in our country no matter how much we promote it?"
For some reason, they kept distributing a game that did not sell well in Korea. The headquarters naturally saw this as a problem.
"Maybe it's because our people are less interested in world history?"
"What about the Americans? They can't even point out where their own country is!"
"Well, they do have people like that, but they also have a lot of history buffs. It's a place with all kinds of people."
Honestly, they couldn’t figure it out. Korea once considered RTS games a traditional sport. The lack of popularity in RTS games was perplexing now.
"It's odd that civilization and history based games have traditionally been unpopular here. We produce the most historical dramas in the world."
Quite a few games were unpopular in Korea for inexplicable reasons.
"It's not just us. There are so many foreign IPs that don't catch on here like Warhammer, which is so popular abroad."
It wasn't just Warhammer. They didn’t have enough fingers to list them. Civil Empire was just one of those games.
"Ugh. Looks like we're facing another year of budget cuts."
"Yeah... looks like we’ll be reducing staff too..."
Staff reductions and decreased budgets from the headquarters commonly happened last year when the Civil Empire Korean team failed in the qualifiers and the Korean LIL team dramatically won the LIL Cup.
***
Time passed and a new year arrived.
An international competition always took place at the beginning of the year, but this year's Civil Empire tournament felt especially different for the Korean branch.
"Did you hear? The budget came in again..."
"Looks like they're really pushing us this time."
"If we can't make it this time, it'll be the end."
The push started coming from the headquarters. The trigger came from the revenue increase caused by a popular new streamer's gameplay toward the end of last year. The streamer had significant synergy with Civil Empire, a game closely related to national teams, because he was a former national archery team prospect. ř
However, it was more than just a popular streamer playing.
"There are so many people in the community."
"He plays for such a long time too."
The streamer hadn’t made just a few plays. They had long content that featured a rank climb to S+ rank.
Interest in Civil Empire peaked then and another major event occurred.
"This is the right time..."
"It’s like God is giving us one last chance!"
It was the worst year for Korea in the LIL Cup history.
No Korean team, LAK (LIL Avatars Korea), made it to the finals. All of their teams were eliminated by the quarterfinals.
LIL was one of the top three biggest games in the global market. Civil Empire was in the opposite situation. The disappointment from failing at the world competition was indescribable.
[The absence of JeonJaPa has finally...]
[Honestly, if it were the heyday of CK Entus...]
[It wasn't LAK that was strong. It was JeonJaPa...]
[LAK what? Everyone, let’s go to ROKA~~~]
It had been three years since JeonJaPa stopped playing. Moreover, the members of the old CK Entus centered around him had all retired or been sold to other leagues.
The Korean league was experiencing a dramatic generational shift and crisis. On the other hand, the Chinese league had been showing its strongest form yet as rookies built up over the years emerged with veterans.
[JeonJaPa, please come back…]
[This era's traitor <<< the bastard who allowed JeonJaPa's retirement]
[Why did JeonJaPa retire at the peak of his form??]
[Damn, not watching anymore, started getting thrashed from mid-season and it all went downhill]
Not only the LIL Cup (World Championship) held at the end of the year, but the Mid-Season Cup held in the summer had also been ceded to China.
Public opinion was commonly described as rock bottom.
[??? Die drenched in my venom]
[Couldn't imagine there’d be nothing to watch from the quarterfinals]
[My chicken got cold before they all lost lol]
But when one door closed, another one opened.
[Isn't there anything else to watch? It's so boring]
[Let's go watch the Civil Empire international competition]
[I really want to take a big gulp of national pride...]
With the LIL Cup ending disappointingly at the end of the year, people were looking for something else to watch. They wanted a scenario that would once again prove how good Koreans were in gaming.
Merely winning wasn't enough. Viewers wanted a narrative where their team rose through tough conditions and dominated with skills.
"That’s us."
Just before the qualifiers, Cookie addressed everyone.
"Korea has always been disinterested in Civil Empire. Maybe because of that, we’ve always struggled."
Even an esports powerhouse like Korea consistently struggled in this game, but the world was now paying attention. It would be a tremendous upset if Korea even made it to the quarterfinals. That was the stage for this year’s Civil Empire international competition.
"Thanks to our history of struggling, we're getting attention for the first time. If we make good use of this opportunity, we'll definitely be rewarded. Of course, I know not everyone is thinking about rewards."
The current situation was notable because of their history. Whether they loved it or hated it, one thing was certain.
"There's no such thing as a bad sport with many spectators."
No player hated having a large audience. They didn’t need to ponder whether it was good or bad. It was unconditionally good.
[Enter!]
Swoosh!
It was time. All the Civil Empire players appeared on the battlefield.
The hot sun hung over the green meadow. It looked like some unnamed medieval rural domain. This was the battlefield in Civil Empire.
A moment of waiting followed.
[All Dive System Operating]
The All Dive System activated. It had been demonstrated in past tournaments and was now used in every competition.
All the spectators simultaneously appeared and cheers erupted at once.
"Wowwwww!"
An overwhelming number of people wore blue clothes. It was the French cheering squad, but they weren't alone.
"Wowwwww...!"
People dressed in red could also be seen in the stands. It was the Korean cheering squad.
‘This is unbelievable...’
‘Wow.’
Not just the other soldiers, but even the commanders like Bread and Coffee felt astounded. Regardless of the numbers, the cheering squad’s mere presence felt a blessing to them.
— Wow
— The LIL demons have all come here lol
— Wow, only about 20% have shown up
— This is a game from a superpower...
"Flag! Raise it!"
The commanders at the forefront unfurled their country's flag and planted it in their base. The game would commence thirty seconds after both countries planted their flags.
Flap!
They planted the giant Taegukgi (South Korean flag) above the head of the town hall in their base.
“...”
The Taegukgi was not just a symbol of the nation to Almond, who had dreamed of representing his country. It was the embodiment of his dreams soaring in the wind.
"Wowwww...!"
Although they were outnumbered, the shouts of those in red intensified.
Soon, the cheers from those in blue enveloped the entire stadium.
"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!"
It couldn’t be seen, but the French side was also presumably planting their tricolor flag.
The countdown had begun.
[30 seconds until the game starts]
[29]
[28]
“Gulp.”
Everyone seemed to swallow nervously.
***
SWOOSH!
When they raised the Taegukgi, OrangeKing abruptly stood up and saluted the flag.
— lmao, he's practiced his nationalistic fervor well lol
— Insane lol
— What a salute lol
— lmao
— Flapping with his mouth lol
The caster beside him spurred on the enthusiasm.
"Wow! This feels totally different from a club competition like the LIL Cup, doesn't it!? Civil Empire is a proper international competition!"
"That's right! My heart is racing like crazy!"
"There are even some fans who came to support us from the qualifiers despite it being an unpopular game!"
Although the number of French supporters was overwhelming, the mere presence of a Korean cheering squad was astonishing. Normally, there would be none at all during the qualifiers.
"Ah, is it because the LIL Cup was a disaster?"
"Ah..."
"We’re here too, right?"
— Oh...
— Somber...
— Their main job tanked...
— lolol
— The LIL commentary team making it funny
"They've come here for refuge just like us?"
"Well, you could say that. Haha..."
Amid this conversation, the game began.
"Now! While we've been chatting, the game has officially started!"
The observer switched between both camps.
"At six o'clock, it’s the South Korean team playing the Joseon civilization with a power ranking of 57th place! And at twelve o'clock is the French team playing the Franks civilization with a power ranking of 31st place!"
The caster tilted his head in confusion while reading the rankings of each civilization.
"Ah. I get Joseon, but the power ranking for the Franks seems lower than expected?"
"Yes, the power rankings are based on recent results. It seems last year's elimination in the qualifiers greatly affected their ranking."
"What!? Didn’t they win before?"
"That was... in the first international competition several years ago..."
"Ah... they’re the first champions!? Maybe they're the most manageable team in this group?"
"That's right. Unless the matchup dictates otherwise."
"As I’m speaking, the soldiers from each camp have started scouting!"
On the map, a total of 400 dots began to move busily.
"OrangeKing, could you explain more about the matchups you mentioned earlier?"
"Yes. First, I'd like to talk about the strengths of the Frankish civilization."
"Ah, what are they?"
"Knights. The Frankish civilization can produce the royal knight class from as early as the second era. Knights are different from ordinary cavalry. They possess completely different equipment. That's the strength of the Franks."
"Ah... as befits the land of chivalry, cavalry is their strength. What are our strengths in the second era?"
"It's unfortunately a bad match-up. Our country is strong with archers in both the second and third eras."
"Is that a bad match-up?"
"Yes, cavalry are particularly effective against archers."
"Ah...!"
That was the case.
Joseon could typically hold its own against civilizations with strong infantry. However, they struggled against a civilization with powerful cavalry like the Franks.
"So how do we navigate this?"
"Well, we could ignore our faction and produce spearmen."
"Faction?"
"Traits encapsulating each civilization's strengths are referred to here as factions. In other words, instead of drawing on Joseon's strength with archers, we could opt for spearmen."
"Yes. Good explanation. There are a lot of new viewers watching!"
— lol
— They’re really focused right now lol
— New viewers everywhere lol
"Cavalry are weak against spearmen?"
"Yes."
"So we just have to produce spearmen?"
Of course, the issue wasn't that simple.
"It's less efficient. The Franks can just produce archers."
They always had to consider that the opponent was not a fool, but rather a national force.
"Ah... any other strategies?"
"Yes. Completely disrupt them early on! Prevent their knights from even coming out!"
It sounded plausible in theory. Everyone had a plan until they got punched in the mouth.
"Oh? That sounds good! Does it work?"
"No! The enemy knows this too! Usually, the European civilizations are a bit stronger early on!"
— What the? lol
— What can they do? lol
— Fact: There's no winning strategy
— No! lol Why so lively? lol
“Hahaha,” OrangeKing laughed it off and thought to himself.
'I've heard something though...'
Having had many opportunities to interact directly with the national team in preparation for this broadcast, he heard a lot. Joseon could beat the Franks, which he had fortuitously learned while observing a scrimmage.
However, he decided to be cautious with his words.
'Better not say too much or I'll get flamed if we lose.'