Season 3: Chapter 161: Insight (3)
From the start, the Vikings boldly increased their hunting outposts. They could gather both food and gold by building multiple hunting outposts. Doing so right from the beginning could rapidly accumulate resources. However, this left them extremely vulnerable before these outposts reached the break-even point and began generating a surplus.
"Isn't this a risky choice for the Vikings?" OrangeKing had to ask.
"Huh!? Why? They'll be making a lot of money!"
"In the end, resources are needed to become stronger, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"But right now, the Vikings are continuously using resources to get more resources. It's like spending money to make money! They'll make a lot of money, of course! But they won't have money to fight!!"
— Responsibility without pleasure
— It's a complete gamble
— They're planning to blow it all at once
— Spending money to make money, LOL
The Vikings definitely decided to gamble on this. If the opponent noticed, they could suffer significant damage.
"If Joseon notices and rushes with defensive towers in the first era, the Vikings will have a really tough game!"
"Exactly! Cookie is excellent at that! How many commanders have been driven to tears by him!! But now the Vikings are pulling this so-called cheese strategy in front of Cookie!?"
As the commentators said, Cookie excelled in early aggression. Moreover, most of Joseon's soldiers were highly experienced with such strategies.
"People say that Joseon shines starting in the third era. That depends on the player, right!? The players fighting for Joseon right now are honestly more familiar with small-scale skirmishes in the first and second eras!"
— So true LOL
— They rarely win once they get to the third era LOL
— Masters of petty fights LOL
— They excel at scuffles
They had already trained in early tactics with Cookie and won many times that way.
"No matter how strong the Vikings are in the early game, this extreme cheese strategy could backfire!"
Given their opponent's tendencies, the Vikings certainly made a risky choice.
"Yes, exactly. But Joseon needs to notice this for everything to work out..."
Of course, it all depended on whether Joseon would notice.
However—
"Huh!?"
Flick!
The observer switched to Joseon's perspective and the same scene appeared in the stadium.
Rumble...
Half of the stadium plunged into darkness as the terrain crumbled.
"Ooooohhhh...!"
The audience murmured in surprise as a perspective shift occurred through the holograms for the first time.
"I said it was important for Cookie to notice, right!? So they're showing the broadcast like this!"
— God observer
— Wow, seeing it like this, it seems hard to notice LOL
— It would be amazing to see this in person, wow
Darkness shrouded almost the entire view. Sending out scouts aggressively against the Vikings in the first era was not an easy choice, so Joseon's vision was much narrower than the Vikings'.
"Ah... this is the power of the Vikings. The difference in vision is huge, right?"
"Still, they should send in scouts even if they lack the warlord faction in the first era and it means dying!"
"They often die before getting in! They get hit by thrown axes from a distance!"
The Vikings could produce axes in the first era, which cost much less than spears or swords. Axes were essentially disposable throwing weapons.
"Exactly. That's a huge advantage."
"But they're crazily focused on increasing hunting outposts now! They probably didn't produce axes! Cookie is hesitating because he doesn't know this!"
In reality, Joseon would clearly see the Vikings' intentions if they pushed in with scouts now. The only problem was Cookie didn’t know this yet.
"Alright, Cookie. Keep sending scouts cautiously. Oh? He saw something? What will he decide to do?"
A few soldiers from both sides encountered each other on the map. It didn't escalate into a fight, but both commanders received some information.
"Cookie should notice something strange, right? The Vikings' scouting behavior is off. None of them are holding axes!"
Cookie could only pick up on these small pieces of evidence. Normally, the Vikings would always have at least one soldier with an axe in their scouting party at this time. However, none of them had axes in the recent encounter because the Vikings spent all their money on building hunting outposts.
Of course, it could be a coincidence that Joseon met a group without axes. This wasn't definitive information. They could only be certain about the scouting pattern.
"Their scouting pattern is completely different!"
The Vikings usually conducted very aggressive scouting, leveraging their strength in the first era. In the previous match, they tried to monopolize all the food that way.
Now, they slowly advanced in a line like defenders waiting for an offside.
"The Vikings are playing defensive soccer! This isn't like them at all!"
As if hearing OrangeKing’s words…
Ping!
[Attack]
A command came from the Vikings’ side.
"Huh? The Vikings are charging!"
"They're bluffing! They're overreacting to seem normal!"
— Overreacting, LOL
— Bluffing!
— How do you not fall for this?
The Vikings didn't actually intend to fight yet. They hadn’t acted like usual, so they pretended to charge in as a bluff.
If Joseon didn't retreat, the Vikings would pull back without engaging. However—
Ping!
[Retreat]
Cookie ordered his troops to fall back briefly.
"Ah...!"
"This looks like the bluff worked!?"
"In fact, this is the correct response. To think that the Vikings are bluffing in the first era and fighting them head-on is insane! It's not bluffing when The Rock shows off his arm muscles. He's really strong!"
— LOL
— So true
— Crazy LOL
— It is unfair LOL
— If The Rock bluffs, just fall for it LOL
— (Realizes the truth, dies)
— Bluffing (physical) LOL
"But Cookie? Did he sense something was off? He's bringing the assistant commander forward."
Despite pulling back the troops, Cookie seemed to sense that something was wrong and brought the assistant commander to the front. It seemed like he planned to use the flying falcon skill. The cooldown was quite long in the early game, so it had to be used cautiously. Using it now indicated that he felt something was off.
"Right. Joseon is sensing that something was off! They're checking subtly instead of directly saying, 'Hey, don't lie to me!'"
"He has good social skills!"
— LOL
— Don’t lie to me LOL
— LOL
— Social skills lmao
— Is this what it means to be a popular person!?
Bread rode his horse and sent the falcon flying.
Whoosh!
The dark part of the map instantly brightened in a circle. At the edge of the circle, a hunting outpost appeared.
"!"
"They discovered something!!!"
A hunting outpost could be seen in that area.
"Ah. The Vikings built one all the way there!? I was really surprised too because of the lack of vision!"
No one had realized it because of the lack of vision, but quite some time had passed since the Vikings started expanding their outposts.
"Cookie must have confirmed it! What’s his plan now!?"
***
Cookie saw it.
"A hunting outpost all the way here at this time?"
He had used the flying falcon skill early because the Viking scouts seemed off. It paid off right away.
"A hunting outpost this far out means... the ones behind must be full."
Hunting outposts needed to be built at certain distances to be effective. If many were built, they would eventually spread to the enemy's territory. This usually happened in the mid-second era, which was the Vikings' prime.
Something was off if a hunting outpost appeared near the middle ground in the first era. Something unusual was happening.
"How many hunting outposts are there behind?"
These Vikings definitely seemed suspicious. That was certain.
Cookie closed his eyes and pondered.
"Hoo."
He briefly relieved the fatigue from his eyes and took a deep breath to clear his mind, accelerating his thought process. So far—
"The initial movement of those scouts and the awkward bluff…"
The strange movements of the scouts and the hunting outpost poking into the middle ground…
"Come to think of it, there were no troops with axes."
The Vikings usually equipped their scouts with axes in the first era, but the ones that Joseon encountered had no axes. This could be a coincidence. However, that couldn’t be the case when combined with everything else.
"They're gathering all their resources for an early second era burst."
In other words, the Vikings had invested everything and almost went bankrupt. They planned to rebound in the early second era.
"They’re aiming to strike in the early second era, not the typical early third era."
The Vikings practically went bankrupt now, but they would stop building outposts and start producing units in the early second era. While not as strong as in the early third era, they could field a significant army unparalleled by other civilizations in that era.
Joseon couldn’t match that power in the second era. If left alone, Joseon would lose in the second era.
However, there was a way. No, the Vikings’ strategy had many weaknesses.
"Reduced activity in the first era."
The Vikings' first era strength had disappeared. They couldn't properly observe or pressure Joseon early in the game. With more outposts, almost all two hundred units had to focus on hunting while the rest guarded the outposts. Only then would their gold production explode.
In summary, this strategy had a very vulnerable timing.
"Right now."
That time was now.
Cookie's eyes lit up.
[Attack]
He ordered an attack.
Around twenty barbarian soldiers began running toward the area. They intended to destroy the hunting outposts.
At that moment, the Vikings nearby gathered at the outpost.
[Standby]
Cookie soon ordered his troops to stop.
The Joseon soldiers halted in front of the Vikings, who formed a line to defend the outpost.
"As expected, they're responding this way."
Cookie hadn't thought that they would give up easily.
Of course, the Vikings would pay attention to this advance outpost.
"In that case..."
Ping!
[Gather]
Excluding the hunters, one hundred Joseon soldiers began to gather. The audience cheered louder as the blue dots on the mini-map moved.
"You’ll get punished for being greedy like this."
Greedily expanding hunting outposts and trying to defend them was overly ambitious. Even if the Vikings didn’t want their bellies to get cut open, they were basically asking for it. And there was no better belly cutter than Cookie.
He gauged the outpost locations and designated the most troublesome spot.
Thud.
[Defense Tower]
[Under Construction - 1%]
Around five soldiers quickly began constructing a defense tower.
"Waaahhhhh!"
A massive cheer erupted throughout the stadium.
Not only was the tower going up, but two individuals waited to enter the tower.
[Almond]
[Pang]
Joseon had started a first era defense tower rush against the Vikings.