Season 3: Chapter 156: Fake Archer (3)
The community went into an uproar when it turned out that Almond wasn’t actually an archer.
[What? LOL, he wasn't an archer??]
[??? I'm not an archer]
[The first match of the main tournament is insane, LOL]
[Fake Valhalla vs. Fake Archer]
The Joseon archers had taken certain positions to fire curve shots, the Vikings thought to be dead had risen again, and the leader of the archers, Almond, turned out not to be an archer. This series of twists highlighted the significance of the first game in the main tournament.
[Both sides are pulling out all the stops for the first match, LOL]
[Cookie: I didn't know what you’d like, so I prepared everything~]
[This is an all-time great match]
Other civilizations also competed against each other, but everyone considered this match one of the best. Both sides had clearly prepared extensively for this battle. Joseon, in particular, consistently showcased strategic reversals with their map selection advantage and left a strong impression.
[It looks like Korea might actually win a match]
[Is Korea really going to make it?]
[On to the round of 16~~]
Many had expected Korea to drop out quickly in the main tournament, but their impressive performance in the first match inspired hope.
— They just got lucky with the map selection
└ What does not being an archer have to do with the map? LOL
└ Who doesn’t know that? Don’t kill the vibe, you jerk
└ :(
They knew that Korea’s current advantage came from the map selection, but still decided to hold on to hope.
— Foreign opinions considered the map selection insignificant. Getting this far with it shows their skill
└ Exactly
└ True, LOL
└ The map changes all the time LOL agreed
Korea’s map selection and their strategies derived from it showed their skills. The question was whether those skills would be enough to win this match and carry them through the next. Nobody knew, but they decided to believe.
[Wow LOL he went back to the valley to kill them again LOL legendary]
[The Viking commander’s expression, LOL]
[Insane, LOL]
Had their faith been rewarded? Almond had survived and returned to the valley to kill more Vikings before fleeing again. This significantly confused the Vikings. They needed to stop Joseon from plundering their resources, but a lone survivor kept causing constant damage. If they moved their entire army, they’d get shot in the back with arrows. However, chasing him was futile because he was too fast.
“Almond! Almond! He got another kill!”
“He’s fleeing again! ‘I’m not an archer!’”
Almond fled as soon as the Vikings turned around. He wasted more of their time and they continued losing resources. The Korean fans went into a frenzy.
“Wow! Crazy! Run! Run!” Bubblegum shouted so loudly that he didn’t notice his popcorn spilling.
Some spectators also spilled their beer and soaked their clothes, but they didn’t care.
“Run!!”
This was the turning point for victory.
“Keep stalling! Wow!”
“Insane…”
Not only did they cheer, but drums also echoed loudly.
Boom, boom, boom! Boom! Boom!
“Dae-han-min-guk!”
***
“Huff… Huff…”
From a distance, the cheering faintly reached Almond’s ears. However, he didn’t glance toward the spectator stands.
‘Just keep running…’
The Vikings continued chasing him with blazing eyes. If they closed the gap, Almond would die instantly with the stats of a mere barbarian soldier.
“Kill him!”
“Hoooowoo!”
“Hooororororo!”
They shouted as if they had large numbers, but Almond’s keen senses enhanced by his high VNS told him otherwise.
‘They only sent three.’
The enemy hadn’t overcommitted to chasing Almond. They only sent three players to drive him out and defended the hunting post with the rest. Sending the main force was not an option.
Almond needed to buy more time.
‘Then—’
Thwack!
In an instant, Almond swerved to the right and disappeared into the bushes.
“Yoohoo!”
“Hooororororo!”
“Stop there— huh?”
The three Vikings chasing him made a racket and suddenly realized that Almond had vanished.
“Damn. We lost him.”
“Of course, he’s faster than us.”
“Is he targeting us?”
They clutched their shields and formed a defensive triangle. If Almond disappeared, he was likely setting up an ambush. After a while, only the spectators’ cheers echoed around them with no signs of Almond.
“…”
“Damn. Back to the main force! Retreat!”
***
Rat-a-tat-tat.
Once inside the bushes, Almond ran toward the main force.
Ping.
[Vikings Main Force]
Cookie had marked the position of the Vikings’ main force. He realized that Almond had changed directions and provided assistance as the commander.
“Huff… Huff…”
Almond didn’t slow down even though his breath grew heavy.
Swish.
The bushes scratched against him as he passed. Soon, he saw the footprints of the Vikings’ main force.
‘They haven’t been gone long.’
The soil was still recovering from being pressed down. The complex terrain obstructed his view, but the Vikings hadn’t gone far. Almond pressed his ear to the ground and tried to gauge their location.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
He could barely hear over his heartbeat, but soon picked up their faint sounds.
‘Vikings are slow when they can’t see the enemy. I can catch up.’
The Viking’s war cry faction ability only increased their speed when they could see the enemy. Without that, they moved much slower in mountainous terrain than the Joseon soldiers. Almond would catch up if he maintained his top speed. The enemies weren’t far. He checked his quiver.
‘How many are left?’
He had dropped many arrows while desperately fleeing. His quiver originally held only ten arrows even though archers had infinite ammo. How many arrows did he have left?
‘Twelve.’
He had to stop over fifty Vikings with these twelve arrows. Was it possible? Not with conventional methods. Simple math said it was insufficient, but Almond decided to proceed anyway.
[Stop them]
Cookie’s ping also indicated that it was possible.
‘There must be a way.’
With that thought, Almond pursued the enemy.
***
Cookie watched Almond with curiosity.
‘Huh?’
Almond approached the main force according to plan, but the problem was that he was approaching from behind.
‘This won’t draw any aggro.’
The command to [Stop them] meant to distract and slow their advance, not to pick them off from behind unseen. Almond was supposed to distract the enemies and repeatedly flee, not attack them from the rear. That was why Almond hadn’t been switched to the archer class, but he seemed intent on picking them off one by one from behind.
‘That’s much harder.’
Distracting them from the front was easier than assassinating them from behind. If the enemies decided to flee, he could fail to stop them.
‘Hmm.’
Cookie considered issuing another command, but decided against it. When it came to combat, he trusted the player’s on-site judgment. Instead, he began preparing a strategy in case Almond failed to stop them.
***
Swish.
Almond peeled back a bush and spotted the Vikings below.
‘Finally.’
His eyes gleamed. After a long run, he had finally caught up to the main force from behind. Moreover, he stood on higher ground in a perfect unintended position.
‘No need for a curve shot.’
The back of a Viking’s head was within a direct shot. It was worth the attempt even though the target was moving. Almond calmed his breath and slowly drew his bow.
Creak.
‘Three seconds.’
He waited for the light of focus to burn its brightest before letting the arrow fly.
‘Eleven arrows left.’
He released the arrow.
Whoosh.
The arrow sliced through the bush with a sharp sound.
Thunk!
A Viking clutched his neck and fell. The rear Vikings halted and reacted to the attack from behind.
“What?”
“What’s happening!?”
“There’s an ambush here!”
They assumed an ambush had occurred, but couldn’t have imagined that it was Almond alone shooting at them.
‘One more.’
Almond, still unnoticed, drew another arrow.
Creak.
The bowstring grew taut and emitted a white glow.
‘Ten arrows left.’
He released it after a three second breath.
Swoosh.
Like a ghost, the arrow silently found its mark and another Viking fell with the arrow deeply pierced in his eye.
Thunk!
“There he is!”
One Viking pointed directly at Almond.
‘Oh.’
They had discovered his position after just two shots. However, he had expected this since drawing aggro was part of the plan.
‘One more as they come.’
Almond nocked another arrow when an enemy shouted, “Defend the outpost first! Don’t chase—”
Thump!
An arrow pierced through the speaker’s jaw. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a fatal shot as Almond hadn’t fully charged it. This arrow only silenced the enemy. Killing quickly sometimes meant wasting arrows. Not killing in one shot meant Almond had to shoot two arrows.
Thunk!
“Ugh!”
The speaker collapsed and couldn’t finish his command. He died after making the right call.
Almond fired two arrows in quick succession instead of waiting three seconds. It happened almost instantaneously.
“What, two arrows?!”
‘Nine arrows left.’
Almond clicked his tongue and felt disappointed at how fast he was running out of arrows.
“There’s an ambush!”
“Take him out!!”
The Vikings shielded each other and a few charged at Almond, throwing their axes with uncanny precision at where he stood.
Thud!
Of course, Almond had already moved.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
“Whew.”
Almond ran toward the enemy's front and barely avoided an axe to the foot.
‘The mountainous terrain favors those chasing from higher ground.’
The rugged terrain was a literal mountain. The elevation change was so extreme that moving fifty meters required ascending and descending countless steps. The Vikings were descending the mountain. Using the terrain, Almond could remain higher and continue shooting from above.
‘This might really work.’
He could possibly handle fifty enemies alone.
‘What an incredible plan.’
Almond marveled at Cookie’s perfect strategy, forgetting that the terrain details changed every match. Regardless, he found an ideal high ground where he could see the enemies.
‘There.’
He settled into the bushes and drew his bow again. The Vikings below ignored or didn’t notice the rear attack and continued descending rapidly until the sound of an arrow filled the air.
‘Eight arrows left.’
Whoosh!
The lead Viking fell.
Thud.
“Ah!?”
The Viking behind tripped over the body, causing a chain reaction that halted their advance. Notably, Vikings didn’t wear helmets until the second era, leaving their heads exposed to Almond.
“Wow…”
They looked like a buffet for an archer.