Season 3: Chapter 78: Gojoseon (2)
Latte noticed that the opposition was building a tower. He spotted the enemy's construction site from his position on top of a tower still under construction.
'Are they building a tower?'
It was late, but the enemy was indeed building a tower.
"They’re building a tower at the slaughterhouse now!?"
Moreover, it was at a significant location.
"No. If that's built, we won't be able to build ours!?"
Ping...
Cookie's command came through.
[Intercept]
An order to intercept the tower came in. However, the command was vague with no route or detailed instructions provided. The ping was yellow, not red. This meant that the situation assessment was left to the field members.
"Can't we shoot from there?" Latte muttered as he looked at the tower where Almond was positioned.
"It's clearly impossible," Carrot commented while building a tower alongside him.
The range was obviously too short.
"We can only hit it once our tower is complete."
Latte and Carrot continued building their tower. They could only target the enemy's construction site once they completed their tower.
‘Really? Then we just need to build it faster,’ Latte thought this as he picked up his hammer again.
"Huh?"
Was his vision off? From his point of view, the enemy tower was being built terrifyingly fast. At this rate, they would be outpaced.
"Crazy, are they building with like ten people!?" he said hyperbolically.
Surprisingly, ten workers really were involved.
"It actually is ten people," Carrot declared and put down his shovel.
"Let’s intercept them."
"Now? What if they finish building first!?"
"It's not about what if. It's obvious they'll finish first."
"..."
"We can't catch up to the speed of ten workers. That’s why Mr. Cookie ordered us to intercept."
"But how!? We only have melee weapons! If we get close, we’ll be spiked by the town hall attack!"
"Hmm..."
Carrot pondered for a moment.
"Why do we only have melee weapons?"
"?"
He pointed to Almond, who had climbed up the back tower.
***
Meanwhile, Almond was on top of their tower and had no more workers to shoot at. He idly looked at the chat screen.
"Almond!!!"
Just then, he heard Carrot's cry.
"Come down!!!"
It wasn’t entirely clear, but the gesture seemed to be beckoning for him to come down.
"Come down?"
"Yes! Come down!" Carrot yelled with all her might again.
"Bring the bow and arrows! We need to intercept!"
"Bow! Arrows! Intercept!" Latte yelled again for emphasis.
'I’m supposed to take the bow and intercept the enemy’s construction, but...'
Almond became flustered.
"I only have one arrow."
He didn’t have enough arrows to intercept all the enemies.
Arrows infinitely generated in the tower, but could he carry out dozens at once? That was a different matter.
One arrow had to be shot to regenerate the next. This system was designed to prevent excessive firepower from the tower or shooting multiple arrows at once. ℝΑ
Almond tried to show them by shaking the single arrow he had.
"I only have one!"
Still, Carrot gestured for him to come down.
"Just come down!"
Almond muttered to the chat screen briefly and began descending the ladder.
"If they’re telling me to, I should go."
***
Shortly afterward, Carrot and Almond met in the middle as they both ran toward each other.
"Listen up."
Carrot quickly rattled off the instructions due to the lack of time.
"Right next to the slaughterhouse, they're building a tower. It's urgent. Our range won't reach, so you need to hit it directly. No close combat because of the town hall. You have to shoot it with a bow."
Almond had anticipated this much, but there was a problem.
"Uh, but I only have one arrow?"
— With one arrow, what can you do? lol
— Even with this body~ I can't kill ten with one arrow~
— You might as well use magic!
From the speed of construction, it looked like the enemy had about ten workers. What could possibly be done with just one arrow?
"There's a way."
However, Carrot said there was a way.
"...?"
— Use Blink
— Arrow everywhere~!
— What?
***
Just like the viewers a moment ago, the commentators also struggled to understand what Almond was planning.
"Almond! He keeps going! Is he really thinking of shooting with just one arrow!? It’s almost meaningless!"
"Still! He must be trying to delay them a bit!"
The caster thought that Almond was trying to kill at least two workers to buy some time.
"Because if it takes a bit longer for Spain to build, the Joseon soldiers might be able to build their tower while shooting."
"Yes! Well..."
OrangeKing tilted his head doubtfully, but he accepted it since no other solution seemed apparent. There was no time to discuss the issue any further.
"Ah. The main battle is on now."
The observer switched the view.
It was judged that Almond shooting the bow wasn't very meaningful.
"This is what you call a dogfight in the first era! Actually, they call it a dogfight in English speaking regions too!"
The scale of the main battle was different. Over a hundred soldiers were clashing brutally with their clubs.
"Oh, it’s globally understood then!?"
"People think similarly everywhere!"
"They really don't die easily!"
Thwack!
Thump!
Neither side could easily finish off the other with their clubs.
OrangeKing also cried out, "Just die already!"
— Lololololol
— Suddenly lolol
— WTF lolololol
— Lmao lololol
"The main force has to win! Dieee!"
"Swing! Kill them! Excellent!"
They got emotionally invested in the main battle.
"Kill! Die! Kill! Die...!?"
The observer's screen hastily switched back to Almond.
OrangeKing’s eyes widened. Because the screen switched? No. He wouldn’t stumble over a simple screen switch as a professional commentator.
"Wait a moment!? How many workers have died!? Spain!!!"
— ???
— Wow
— What?
Over half of the workers building the tower were lying down, each with an arrow in their head.
— No, seriously, what??
— WTF
— Huh?
Question marks filled the chat.
"... Ah, no!?"
The caster was so shocked that he lost his words.
"Surely it was just one arrow?!"
"Almond! Has he truly reached a level where he creates arrows out of thin air!? Has he become the GOAT of archery!?"
"Yes!?"
"Oh, the GOAT! Why be a magician when you can be an archer...!?"
— Lol seriously
— OrangeKing lol
— That's the state of NUT
— WTF lol does that even make sense
"Whether he’s a magician or archer! It's great! Korea is now at a huge advantage! OrangeKing! But! We don't know how it happened! Should we wait for the replay?!"
However, they had no time for a replay. It seemed unnecessary now.
"He’s shooting! It looks like we’ll get to see how he does it!"
Almond was still shooting arrows.
***
Bang!
Almond's first arrow flew.
"Huh? He's really shooting? I can't believe it..."
Nacho wondered what kind of last-ditch effort this was. If Korea had built their tower with three soldiers, they could’ve had a chance to complete two towers.
[Spain]
[Wooden Tower - 83%]
Spain's tower had surpassed the critical point.
[Joseon]
[Wooden Tower - 71%]
Korea was more than 10% behind. All that was left for them was to fall further behind. Would killing one more worker with a single arrow make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Not at all! The construction speed of three soldiers and ten workers was incomparable.
Thwack!
"Ah. Now nine..."
It didn't matter. Korea didn’t even have three soldiers, but only two building a tower. Two! The construction speed of two soldiers versus nine workers was still incomparable...
Thud!
"Ah. Now eight... Huh?!"
Another worker had died. Two workers were down. Didn’t Almond only have one arrow a moment ago?
While observing the production, Nacho zoomed back to the combat scene.
[Almond]
Creak...
Almond drew his bow again. How did he get more arrows?
"How... is this a bug?!"
Bang!
Three workers instantly fell.
Bang!
Did he shoot again? No, that sound wasn't from Almond shooting.
"Damn!"
Nacho finally understood where these arrows were coming from. Arrows were almost simultaneously being shot from another place along with Almond’s shooting. It came from Korea’s own tower. The tower they had built to oversee the gold mine.
"Damn it!"
Arrows came from there to provide support.
***
Bang!
With the sound of a bowstring snapping, another worker fell.
"Two left."
Eight workers had died and only two remained.
[Wooden Tower - 94%]
The wooden tower had almost been completed. What would have happened if Korea was just a bit slower?
"I'll shoot the arrows for you."
If it hadn't been for Carrot's ingenious strategy, the game would have become much more difficult. Indeed, Carrot had climbed up the tower where Almond had previously been positioned and shot more arrows from there.
Whoosh!
Thud.
An arrow landed precisely near Almond's feet. Although slightly slower, this method theoretically provided him with an infinite supply of arrows.
"It's almost over..."
He slotted the arrow Carrot had shot onto his bowstring.
Bang!
It flew toward the enemy worker.
Whoosh!
Another worker fell again.
Thud.
Once more, an arrow struck in front of Almond. He picked up the arrow again.
[Wooden Defense Tower - 96%]
Now, only one worker remained. The defense tower was almost complete.
The commentators' eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow, can you believe this? Genius! A tower out of range shooting arrows near Almond! And he's recycling them!!!"
"That's right! The arrows are being recycled!? It's almost irrelevant in international matches, but look how it's used here!?"
"And there you go!!"
Thud!
OrangeKing kicked the table and stood up.
Whoosh!
Almond's arrow eliminated the last worker.
"They're all dead! Completely wiped!"
Calling that worker the last hope of Spain seemed almost anticlimactic as he fell so easily. An arrow struck him in the head outright, which was somewhat expected.
[Wooden Defense Tower - 98%]
The wooden defense tower stopped with just 2% left.
OrangeKing's face turned beet red.
"Spain! It’s a disaster for Spain!!!"
— My eardrums feel like they're on alert
— lol
— Really though, isn't the game over?!?
"From Spain's perspective, this is maddening! They were just 2% short!"
"Somehow! Uno! Dos! Tres! Only Dos was missing!"
— lol for real
— ??? You didn't cherish the number 2...
— Oh…! Dos! We realize now!
— ??? Dos did well too!
Stuck at 98%, the wooden defense tower remained incomplete.
"If they don't continue the construction, it will fall apart! There's no mercy for 98%!"
If left unattended, the game system would cancel the construction.
"Quick! They need to send more workers! Just one arriving will complete it! Touch it and it's finished!"
"Almond must stop them!"
"Can he keep them away!? Is it possible!?"
"I don't know! It's different now! It's not just one arrow at a time! They're accumulating!"
Several arrows already piled up near Almond thanks to the tower continuing to shoot arrows after the workers died. Even so, the number of opposing workers was considerable.
"Just one surviving worker will instantly complete the tower!?"
"Can Almond really kill all these workers before they reach the tower!?"
Will he stop them or will they break through?
"His archery will decide the fate of the game!"
The game would be decided here.
Everyone participating in this game knew it. Almond knew it too.
He targeted the workers running in a line and drew his bowstring.
"…!"
At that moment, the commentators momentarily became speechless. Despite knowing what would happen, they stared dumbfoundedly at the spectacle.
Almond pulled the bowstring, inserted another arrow, and pulled the string again. Why did this simple repetition render them speechless?
It felt like watching how Yu Sang-Hyeon used to go out for target practice without thinking like a habit. Not a hint of hesitation or trembling could be seen in his expression.
One worker died. Then, the next worker died. And the worker following died just the same.
The Korean audience cheered while jeers and lamentations came from Spain’s side. All other noises seemed to die down.
A profound silence settled. A giant blanket seemed to cover the entire world with only one person perfectly shooting a bow.
Pffffff──!
The last sound of the bow echoed.
Only then did the commentators speak.
"It's done! They’re all dead!"
All the workers had died and the construction site remained untouched.
"Without a single issue! All of them died!!"
Boom…!
Someone's heart breaking could be heard.
[Cancel]
The defense tower, which had reached 98%, collapsed because the construction could not be continued.
"─
A sudden uproar almost drowned out the commentators’ excited voices.
"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!"
A roar of cheers and drums enveloped everything.