Season 3: Chapter 159: Insight (1)
"Huff... huff..."
With her red hair fluttering, Jessie almost tumbled down the mountain path.
"... huff..."
She panted heavily as she ran for her life. Not knowing the situation, she still thought they could win. Maybe that was why?
[Surrender]
"... What?"
Thud.
She tumbled down the mountain path as soon as she saw that announcement. After rolling for a while, she lay flat on the ground and stared blankly at the sky.
The text clearly appeared in the middle of the blue sky.
[Defeat]
The words had changed, but the meaning remained the same.
"Huff... ha..."
She was still panting, but couldn't run anymore. Only her heart kept racing.
Ssssh...
The blue sky split open, her vision lifted upwards, and she found herself staring at the dome stadium’s ceiling.
"Ha."
Jessie sat up and shook her head. She looked at the other players’ capsules. They all sat up, looking dazed.
On the opposite side, the other team had already jumped out and started celebrating.
“Waaaaaah!!”
“We won!!”
“Wooooo!”
Even the coaches and the think tank team celebrated with their arms around each other.
Jessie shrugged and smiled weakly.
“Well… they got to select the map.”
She chuckled in her usual manner and decided to laugh it off.
“Alright. Let’s prepare for the next match!”
The Viking assistant commanders stood up and encouraged their players.
“The real game begins now!”
***
Ssssh.
As the sky appeared, Almond finally realized it.
‘We really won.’
The cheers from the Korean team’s stadium section sounded deafening.
“Waaaaaah!!”
The cheers grew louder when he stood up and fans chanted his name.
“Almond! Almond! Almond!!”
The giant screen in the stadium displayed the Balloon Stars members shouting Almond's name with all their might. The cheers intensified even more when Miho smiled and waved at the camera.
“Bro! Bro! Waaaaaah!”
An even louder noise was approaching.
“Wooooo!”
It was the think tank team.
“We won completely and perfectly!!”
“Bro! Come out! Come out!”
“Ah, I'm sweating. Don't touch me.”
“Hurry!”
“Alright.”
All the players rushed toward Almond when he stepped out of the capsule with a smile. They put their arms around each other and shouted the chant they practiced.
“Joseon! Joseon!”
Everyone shouted together when Coffee led the chant.
“Fighting!!”
Of course, it didn’t end there. Bread led the next chant.
“Monster! Monster!”
Then, everyone released their arms and raised their hands.
“Roaaaar!!”
The loud laughter continued as the players cheered for their biggest sponsor. Still, the players remained excited, shook hands, and discussed the game.
“Pang, you were amazing. Really! You’re a real combat pro!”
“Latte, you didn’t die due to Pang’s arrow but to the enemy’s axe!”
“Where’s Almond? Almond! Almond just grabbed us by the collar!”
“Oh, GOAT, no, Nut...!”
Sang-Hyeon looked a bit out of place among the excited crowd. Maybe it was because of his deeply ingrained professional habit. Pros generally didn't get excited until the game completely ended.
“Almond! There he is! You were amazing! Right!?”
“Damn! Almond hyung! How long will you carry us!”
Even Pang called him hyung and ran toward him. They clearly weren't pros in moments like this. They were just people who loved games and ended up here by chance.
In the past, Sang-Hyeon would have scolded players like this or the coach would have shouted at them already. Here, even the think tank team who could be considered coaches, ran up first and celebrated.
Surprisingly, Sang-Hyeon didn’t mind. Maybe this was natural for people who loved games and archery… Their untrained and original selves were a sight he somewhat missed.
“What's your goal, Sang-Hyeon?”
Why was he hearing his coach's voice now?
“Winning the Olympics.”
“Is that really the end?”
“What do you mean, the end? What else is there?”
The coach, who would be happy if his student won an Olympic gold medal, looked bitter when he heard Sang-Hyeon saying that was his goal.
“Yes, but why do you want to win the Olympic gold?”
Why? Because he decided to do archery.
“Because it’s the best.”
“So do you like being the best?”
“Uh…”
Was that it? The young Sang-Hyeon had never thought about it that way.
“Even if you can't be the best in archery, you still like being the best, right?”
“Hmm…”
Could he be the best in something else? He couldn't imagine it. Archery was the only thing he excelled at since birth.
“Then, think about why it's good to be the best next time.”
Why? Even back then, Sang-Hyeon was closest to winning an Olympic gold medal than anyone else.
The coach seemed to be preparing him for life after archery. Maybe because he knew that Sang-Hyeon would reach that peak too quickly. He wanted to ensure that Sang-Hyeon didn’t get lost afterward.
“I just like shooting arrows.”
“Really? Haha. Then that's good. Even if you win a gold medal, you'll keep shooting.”
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Sang-Hyeon wasn't someone who liked gold medals. He just liked archery and hoped the end of it would be a gold medal.
He loved the thrill of drawing the bowstring, holding his breath, aiming at the target, and hitting the bullseye. Maybe he would have continued shooting even without winning the Olympics.
"You're blessed."
The coach wasn't talking about his talent. He was talking about being blessed at purely liking something so much. It was a brilliant blessing that would later turn into a curse when Sang-Hyeon had to stop despite his desire to shoot arrows even though a gold medal wouldn’t have stopped him.
This blessing became a deeply etched curse. After the accident, Sang-Hyeon could no longer shoot arrows no matter what he did. A huge deep hole formed in his heart. Even if he reached the peak in some other field, would this gaping hole in his heart ever be filled?
Even in the best virtual reality, could it be filled by continuing to shoot arrows? He didn't know. To find out, Sang-Hyeon continued to do things similar to archery.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Almond! Almond! Almond!”
He caught a glimpse of someone while his teammates hugged him and dragged him to the waiting room.
Everyone from the coaching area had rushed out except one person sitting in a wheelchair, quietly watching the monitor. Was that person the same? Did they also have a big hole in their heart?
***
The excitement didn't die down in the commentary box even after the players left to the waiting room for a meeting. Replays had to be watched and analyzed to see how they won and much more.
“By buying time like this, Joseon easily secures the victory!”
“Yes~! Easily! That's important, right!? The strategies that Joseon brought and the skills they trained all worked. Everything worked perfectly! This is encouraging!”
— Awesome
— The replays are still thrilling
— Amazing
— ??? Woooooo!
— From now on, all exclamations are ‘Woooooo!’
— Really well done
— Proud of our national team
Many viewers flooded the chat and celebrated. Just that alone caused the chat to lag. Currently, 400,000 viewers were watching, which was the highest number for a national match in the country.
Such a figure was close to the number of viewers for LIL's most popular tournament. Soon, it could surpass the viewership of LIL Champs.
Maybe the commentators felt more energized because of that. Their energy soared with so many viewers responding.
“Yes! It’s encouraging, right? The map selection and the results of all the training were clearly shown! They made the Vikings surrender in the second era and not the third era. Isn’t that unique?”
“Exactly. Joseon didn’t even advance to the third era until the end? This is a disgrace for the Vikings. A disgrace. The rough mountain terrain wasn't initially that unfavorable for the Vikings!”
“It seems the Vikings judged that any further attempts would expose more of their strategies and still result in a loss.”
“It was that bleak! Ah, the data is out...”
The screen displayed the win rates by civilization on the map. Joseon's win rate was actually 4-5% lower than the Vikings'. A 5% difference was significant for such statistics.
“Look at this. Normally, archery civilizations don’t perform well on this map. Moreover, it’s hard to use cavalry. The Vikings had a significant advantage.”
“Yes. It’s not quite at the level of maps specifically designed for the Vikings, but the win rate is decent. Look, even the Mongol win rate is noticeable?”
— Even the Mongols don’t do well here.
— Godmongols too LOL
— Cookie pulled it off!
— Wow.
— Please win so I can see the interview
Joseon and the Mongols, known for their cavalry archers, didn't have a good win rate on this map.
“The Mongols have the most championships. No wonder the Vikings are surprised.”
“Right.
The Korean team intentionally chose this map to cause complete chaos.
“Wow...”
“Cookie, I want to praise him. He used to be synonymous with playing it safe. Even then, he was well-regarded as a top commander despite a strong image of always playing it safe.”
“Oh, really!?”
The caster, who only watched Cookie this year, felt surprised to learn that.
Cookie appeared more like a crazy gambler now rather than someone playing it safe.
“But! This year, Cookie completely reinterpreted and showcased the Joseon civilization with a different concept. He must have decided that he couldn’t win by playing it safe! It seems like a complete overhaul from the failures of the past! And it’s working!”
“Wow. Amazing, right? A commander who excels at playing it safe. He completely changed his style and is now causing an underdog sensation!”
“Exactly! Cookie! How hard must it have been!? Everyone knows! In his rookie days, Joseon first reached the finals under him!”
“Ah, right! I heard they made it to the main tournament once back when it started from the quarterfinals!”
— Really??
— Must be from a long time ago.
— The main tournament started from the quarterfinals LOL
— So this is the quarterfinals they were talking about.
— Must have been fewer teams back then.
“Exactly. That was right after Civil Empire was released. Korea, being an esports powerhouse, had an early advantage. That’s how they got that result. Everyone said it was because of the esports culture, but Cookie didn’t feel that way. He frequently mentioned in interviews that he thought he was the problem!”
“Ah...”
Korea had a well-established esports culture and naturally stood out in a newly released game. Gradually, countries with strong civilizations like Mongolia, China, Japan, and Italy established their esports systems and started to outpace Korea.
At this point, Cookie became the head commander.
“The top rookie, Cookie, led the team. However, they started plummeting. It might not have been the commander's fault, but it didn’t feel that way to him!”
“Ah. Still! After five years of rebuilding, Cookie is back with the new rising star, Almond! Isn’t this a complete déjà vu!?”
— Wow
— Papa Cookie!
— Cookie is back.
— Really similar to five years ago.
— :(
— I watched it back then…
— What a story.
Then, the screen displayed a man who appeared to be in his forties.
[Five years ago, Joseon’s head commander]
[Lee Tae-Yong]
He smiled and waved at the camera. His wife and children stood beside him.
— Wow
— He came to watch.
— Awww
— Wow
“Oh. He was the commander back then! Ah, thank you so much for coming. And…”
The strategy time ended as the commentators continued explaining.
“Oh! As we speak! The players are coming out again!”
The players came out of the waiting room one by one. They shook hands and separated to different sides. This time, they headed in opposite directions.
“Five years ago, Cookie was the new player leading the team. Now, five years later, he’s leading the team to the finals again! He’s no longer a rookie! He’s the head commander of this team!” the caster shouted in a solemn voice.
“And the new rising stars following in his footsteps are with him! Even if they don’t win this time or next time, this match will remain in history! It will fuel the fire just like the Joseon of the past!!”
Perhaps this was Cookie’s final challenge.
The second match began.
[Joseon 1 : Vikings 0]
“Exactly. Just reaching the main tournament has left another spark! Seeing today’s performance, how can you not be ambitious!? They wouldn’t want it to end as just a small spark! They would want to become a blazing fire! They would want to leave fertile land behind!”
“The players are all entering the capsules!”
“Waaaaaah.”
With cheers from both sides, holograms filled the stadium again and the map’s terrain appeared.
“The match is starting! This map is…!”