Season 3: Chapter 76: Ah-Ha! (2)
This tower rush was not intended to end the game.
"Once we succeed in infiltrating, we will have the initiative in all situations from that point on. That's when the real game begins."
According to Cookie, this tower rush was necessary to properly start the game.
"In the first and second eras, Spain didn't have good factions against Joseon. Instead, they mine gold quickly, allowing them to progress through the eras a tempo faster."
Moving just one step ahead was the essence of the Spanish civilization. It wasn't just about the speed of mining gold. They could spot the enemy first with their wide vision and decide their movements based on that information.
Then, with early access to gunpowder weapons, they could quickly dominate the map and maximize the resource difference. Eventually, they would overpower the opponent with money.
Korea was unconventional and Spain was like a snowball.
"How do we stop the start of the snowball? How do we grab the hem of Spain's purse strings? That's the key to victory."
The first operation to grab that hem was this tower rush. The first era tower rush was one of Joseon's most powerful unconventional strategies. It was very convenient because soldiers could build towers. Pushing slow workers all the way to enemy lines was almost impossible, but they had a chance to insert a soldier or two.
"But three have entered."
Cookie had only expected one or two soldiers, but three had successfully infiltrated the enemy lines. The remaining seven had been detected and rejoined the main force. The fact that three had entered was encouraging.
"This way, we can definitely complete the tower."
Normally, even if a soldier infiltrated, building a tower could be impossible with severe enemy interference. This time, it didn’t seem like there would be such issues.
Surely, one tower would be completed.
[Wooden Defense Tower - 34%]
Sure enough, a third of the construction was already completed. Although construction by soldiers proceeded a bit slower, there were three of them. It would speed up when they started building it together.
"Then Nacho will have to build a tower too, right?"
Cookie hoped that Nacho would build a tower in response. The operation intended to force such an exchange.
Nacho would build a tower and Korea would harass the workers. Then, the race to the second era would be roughly even, which would give Korea an advantage.
***
"Hey! If the tower is built, it looks like the workers won't be able to mine gold!"
Joseon's tower was clearly in a position to attack the enemy's gold mine. It would evidently be troublesome if completed.
"So... from Spain's perspective, they have to either move the gold mine in advance or stop the tower construction, right?"
Spain had to choose one. Stop the tower from the start or evacuate.
"Moving the gold mine takes too much money and time!"
Gold mines couldn’t just be found anywhere. By the nature of the map, the same resource always appeared far apart. If they gave up the current gold mine, they would have to find another one far away. That meant they would have to build a new mining camp, which ultimately cost money. Ŕ
"So in the end! They have no choice but to build their own tower! Right now, in the first era, the only thing that can block a tower is another tower! There are plenty of workers here. They can build it faster, right?"
Spain would have to build a tower if they wanted to stop the enemy at a minimal cost. It would be more expensive for them right now because it involved mobilizing workers, but it was the cheapest method.
"But why aren't they building it?!"
"They’re being somewhat stubborn!"
Spain was playing a risky game. Quickly building a tower could stop the pressure, but they didn't want to play as the opponent wished.
"It's like Korea is blatantly saying, 'Build your tower! Huh?' So they don't want to build it!"
"Ah...!"
"But, even so! If Korea has infiltrated this far, they ought to build one out of courtesy!?"
Spain wanted to maximize their benefits. They believed that they could do so.
— Lol, out of courtesy lol
— Isn't this just confidence?
— Are they trusting their all-pro team?
— Heh...
"Ah! While Spain refuses to be courteous, the Joseon tower continues to rise!"
[Wooden Defense Tower - 57%]
"It's already more than halfway done!"
"Our military is known for digging well!"
"Our country's construction is famous too! For building quickly!"
"Cheers~ Bartender!"
— Isn't this the time to call a bartender? lol
— The dignity of military and agriculture lol
— This is the digging of the Korean military! You westerners!
— It's been a tradition since those times lol
"But Spain?! Are they not planning to build a tower at all!? The longer they delay, the more workers they will need to invest?!"
Spain refused to build a tower to the end. The workers mining gold continued mining to the last of them.
"They're really holding on tight!"
"Squeeze tightly! Mine the gold! That's right! That's what they're doing now!"
The second era was imminent and they had no reason to give up. Moreover, they had something they were relying on.
"Ah, Spain. The three soldiers who died earlier have all been resurrected. They are planning to use them to block, right?"
The three soldiers who had been ambushed and killed had been recruited again. They began to run with clubs in hand.
"It seems they’re almost certain that these three can beat the three from Korea! That's why they haven't built a tower!"
"Yes, it looks like three versus three. Actually, it's three versus two, isn't it!?"
"Yes, the construction is automatically canceled if someone does not continue building it. This patch came out because of the psychological warfare from starting and stopping tower construction. Anyway! It's essentially a three versus two situation!"
One of the Joseon soldiers had to continue building the tower, so it effectively became a three versus two fight.
Perhaps Spain made the correct judgment. Building a tower was unnecessary if they could win this three versus two fight.
"Who will keep building and who will fight?"
When Spain's three soldiers nearly reached Joseon's tower, two Joseon soldiers came out to meet them and fight. It was Latte and Almond.
***
They knew the enemies were coming.
Carrot urgently said, "I'll build. You two go stop them!"
Latte and Almond stepped forward with their clubs in hand.
"Okay~"
There were three enemies against two of them. It was a fight worth taking, but Spain was an all-pro team.
'Be careful.'
Almond remained alert. The club was not Almond's specialty.
"Attack!"
The three Spanish soldiers started charging with a shout.
Latte urgently said, "Bro, I'll take the right. Please take the left and the middle."
"?"
— They're making a 2 vs. 1 too natural lol
— Why are you alone? lol
— lol lol
"... Alright."
If Latte took one down first, it would quickly become a two versus two fight. Thinking this, Almond ran toward two enemies.
"?!"
Wasn’t it supposed to be two versus one? All three of them were charging toward Almond.
"That bastard!"
"... I'll catch him!"
"I'll catch him! You keep the building in check!"
"You go. Keep the building in check!"
— lol lol lol
— No lol
— Is the bounty higher than the prize money? lol lol
— What the? lol
The enemies' focus suddenly shifted entirely to Almond. It was unfair, but...
'This is...'
Almond's eyes flashed. It was actually a good situation. Hand-to-hand combat was ideal against two enemies. With more than three, they were likely to get in each other's way and hit each other.
The enemies were now charging at him haphazardly and Almond's eyes sparkled.
'Here they come.'
Thwack!
Almond parried the club of the one charging directly at him and slid to strike his head.
Thump!
[Knocked Out]
One was immediately out of the fight.
“Aaaah! Almond! Takes one down right away! Now the numerical advantage means nothing!”
The remaining two, wanting to hit Almond, struggled with awkward angles.
"Turn around! Turn to hit!"
"Aren't you supposed to turn yourself!?"
The textbook move would be to catch Almond from behind, but how would that go as planned?
Almond didn't easily give them his back. In fact, the one trying to catch Almond's back was the overly aggressive one.
"I'm here too, you jerks!"
Latte splendidly struck the back of an enemy’s head.
Crack!
[Knocked Out]
The remaining enemy became flustered.
"…?!"
Clearly, Spain had the number advantage at first. However, it instantly became two versus one in Korea’s favor.
The remaining enemy hesitated and stepped back. He was waiting for reinforcements.
“Ah! Hold on! Another soldier has just appeared!?”
Spain had produced another soldier.
“Over there, soldiers who died fighting the main force of Joseon are being produced here again!”
Two more Spanish soldiers rushed in. After that, one more was being produced.
“Ah, can't we build the tower in peace!?”
How much time was left on the tower? Almond and Latte didn’t know and they didn’t have the luxury to check.
"Oh... here they come! Almond bro!"
It was now truly a melee fight.
Thwack!
Thwack!
Clubs entangled and swung in the air.
"Die! Bastard!"
"Ugh!"
"Aaaah!"
Although they weren't hitting vital spots to cause knockouts, their stamina gradually depleted.
Then, Carrot came running from behind.
"Almond! Switch with me!"
"What?"
"The tower only has 1% left!"
"!"
Almond immediately understood what that meant. Carrot blocked another club soldier as Almond ran back.
"Hey, hey! What about me!? What about me!?"
"Just die here!"
Latte made a face as if he had been wronged.
"Heuk... really!"
Thwack!
Thump!
The number of Spanish soldiers quickly increased to four.
"There are too many!?"
"Ah, shit..."
The Spanish soldiers with clubs completely cornered Latte and Carrot and began beating them.
"Die!!"
The enemies ferociously raised their clubs.
"Ugh! Save me! Sa—"
Fwoosh!
Blood spurted from an enemy's head after an arrow pierced it.
"?"
The enemy looked up in a daze and realized it.
High up in the wooden defense tower, Almond drew his bow.
Thud.
The soldier struck by the arrow fell.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the Korean supporters. The cheer was enormously louder than any other during the infiltration so far.
“Almond has climbed up the tower! No, this isn't the normal firepower of a tower, is it!?”
“Exactly! It's Joseon's ace archer! Can you see!? It’s Almond!!!”
As if in response, Almond began firing arrows at the enemy soldiers.
Fwoosh!
Fwoosh!
The arrows fired much faster than a regular tower.
"Insane!?"
"Geuk!"
Each arrow precisely struck the enemies’ heads.
Thwack!
Thump!
The barbarian soldiers, lacking even basic armor, easily fell wherever they were hit.
"Ugh!"
"Oof!"
"Shit, just run!"
They tried to turn and flee, but ultimately fell.
Boom!
An arrow struck the back of a fleeing soldier's head.
The tower's height gave Almond nearly twice the range of a regular bow.
“Did you know!? Joseon's tower bows also receive the focus trait!”
“Ah! That's why they fly so far and still kill!”
When a soldier climbed up a Joseon tower, the terrifying part was precisely this application of the focus trait. From such a height with the focus trait, the bow’s range almost doubled.
“It's very hard to aim from a tower, isn't it!? And since the tower needs to regenerate arrows to shoot, the firing rate is limited! Still, it's too fast!?”
“And all the arrows are hitting! How is this happening!?”
The absurdly fast arrows all hit their mark. In the face of such firepower, first era soldiers could do nothing. It was like using a machine gun in the medieval era.
The soldiers fighting Latte and Carrot eventually all died.
Thud...
After the last soldier fell, a cheer exploded from the Korean supporters.
“Waaaaaaaaaa!”
“They've been wiped out!”
“Ah! Very cooool! Korea! Sweeping away the enemies with archery in the first era! What a huge advantage!?”
OrangeKing stood up and shouted, “We've been shooting bows since Gojoseon! How do you like being hit by a bow in the first era, you barbarians!?”
— OMG lol lol lol
— For real lol
— 2nd era, a civilization without bows lol
— Right lol
— Wow
***
Cookie's eyes widened.
"Huh?"
Originally, the plan was to cause economic damage to Spain. Based on that, they would carry out the destroy operation that they prepared for the third era.
However, the troops that infiltrated actually built a tower and the situation turned out vastly different from Cookie expected.
'Wait, this is...'
It was hard to believe. What Cookie was seeing seemed so unreal that his hands trembled.
'What's happening?'
Against Spain, it now appeared that they could end the game in just the first era.