Season 3: Chapter 203. Hill Tank (3)
“Why aren’t they withdrawing their troops?!”
“Are they going to keep them on the wall?!”
No one understood why the Joseon archers remained on the wall.
“Huh?!”
“They upgraded to composite bows?!”
The Joseon commander had made an unexpected decision.
“No way...!”
Although upgrading to the composite bow upgrade took a long time, Joseon had reached the third era very quickly and the first-line archers remained on the wall.
Seeing all these elements, an image formed in OrangeKing’s mind. An image of them hitting further inside enemy territory with the extended range.
“Are they really trying to do a proper hill tank?!”
Persia had reached the third era while the composite bow upgrade was in progress. Still, no significant battles had occurred.
Joseon waited for the composite bow and Persia busily recovered from the damage they had taken.
“Persia’s priority is getting their multi running well! They’re turtling again!”
Persia had the advantage with the multi. Joseon hadn’t expanded to a multi due to their aggressive push. Ironically, the fleeing Persia managed to establish a multi first. This was one reason why Persia was renowned for its turtling expertise.
“Just like a sly snake slipping over the wall! By the time you realize it, the crisis has passed and they’ve even secured a multi! Persia is confident in taking hits!”
“People just tuning in might not even realize Persia took any hits! They’d think only the main wall was occupied!”
“That’s right! The main wall is the variable! It’s the focal point for Joseon’s continuous attacks...!”
Then, it happened.
[Composite Bow - Completed]
The composite bow had been completed.
“It’s done, right?!”
“Let me explain! Composite bows are like a faction upgrade! You don’t need to receive the weapon physically. It just becomes available like the focus trait!”
“...!”
The caster’s eyes widened at this.
“Ah, just like how the spear-throwing upgrade appeared automatically! This also appears automatically!”
“Yes! Because it’s a faction upgrade! It seems like the Joseon commander intended this!”
— Whoa
— Planned up to this point?
— So that’s why they didn’t withdraw
— Wow
— Even with short bows??
— Impressive
“Short bows won’t have the range of recurve bows, but it’ll be much better than now—”
OrangeKing couldn’t finish his sentence.
Bang!
A sound like a sonic boom echoed. Almond had already released the first composite arrow.
Whoosh!
It tore through the wind and struck the head of a soldier on a defense tower.
Boom!
The head vanished with the sound of an explosion.
“!?”
“!”
— Wow
— Hit that distance in one shot lol
— Amazing
— This is agent Nut?
— Incredible
“It really hit!?”
“And it’s a headshot! Now...”
The Joseon archers on the wall began shooting again.
From Persia’s perspective, this was a crisis even after they had reduced their main area.
“Persia is in an emergency!!!”
This signaled the start of Joseon’s attack.
Almond targeted a worker constructing a building.
Bang...!
The worker’s head flew off.
From that moment, all the Joseon archers released their arrows after understanding the range. Numerous composite arrows tore through the sky.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The explosions continued and the construction workers fell one by one.
— Wow lol
— So satisfying!
— This is it
— It really is a hill tank lol
— What happens when they get recurve bows?
— Using composite bows like this? Wow
“Persia must be desperate to destroy that wall!!!”
“The worst part is that the Persian commander still doesn’t know!!”
Surprisingly, the Persian commander’s expression hadn’t changed. This wasn’t because he was exceptionally calm.
“There’s no warning sound when someone dies in one shot!! The commander is human too! They can’t see everything all the time and often rely on warning sounds!”
Without the warning sounds, the enemy commander remained unaware of the situation.
“The workers are dying even more now!!”
Bang!
Bang!
All the workers nearby began falling.
“Persia had so many buildings to construct after reaching the third era!”
“Oh, now Elepher’s expression is changing!”
— lol
— 0_0 <<< his expression lol
— Haha
— He’s really shocked lol
— His expression is a gold mine
“He must be wondering what’s going on! The Joseon archers on the wall were supposed to be isolated!”
“Right. He probably isn’t used to composite bows! He wouldn’t know that they appear automatically!”
“Exactly! It’s Persia! Who would use composite bows against elephants? Except for Joseon!!”
Elepher canceled all the buildings and retreated the workers further inside. Now, Persia’s operational area shrank even more.
“Persia was just about to add more toppings to the pizza! But now the crust has expanded and there’s no place for toppings!”
— lol
— Half-crust pizza
— Haha
“Persia coolly said, ‘Hey, that’s not the pizza!’ They abandoned the crust, but now Joseon is saying, ‘You didn’t treat the crust with respect...!’”
— What lol
— Yi Sun-Shin is teaching them a lesson
— Haha
— Educating those who discard crust
— Correct world’s pizza
— Eliminating picky eaters lol
— Masterful initial burst strategy followed by masterful crust strategy
The archer’s offensive from the wall didn’t end with just a few workers.
“Bang! Bang!!” OrangeKing shouted as the arrows kept flying and killing soldiers stationed around. “You didn’t respect the crust!! Bang!!”
— No lol
— Obsessed with crust
— Crust is important
— Haha
— What is this tension lol
— The crust!
The enemy soldiers fled from the Joseon archers without daring to climb the wall. Attempting to break through with insufficient numbers would have been disastrous.
“The only fortunate thing for Persia is that it’s composite arrows for short bows! They can’t reach the gold mines or other resources!”
“Right. Gold is crucial in the late game, especially for elephants. It’s good that the gold mines are operational.”
“Yes, but building more structures has become tricky... They have to rely solely on the multi for wood.”
Gold mines and other resources were still operational, but Persia couldn’t construct buildings in the main base. In RTS games, the inability to construct new buildings meant no further development for the civilization. This problem was more severe than a lack of resources.
Once again, Elepher turned to the multi to solve the problem.
“Oh. But Elepher is calmly constructing buildings at the multi?”
At six o’clock was the expansion base that Persia had set up beyond the main base at nine o’clock. Persia erected its necessary buildings there for producing third era units, weapons, and faction upgrades.
“The multi expansion is becoming a key move.”
“Yes. They’re getting a lot of resources. Does Joseon know its location? They’ve cornered the main base, so they should harass the multi now.”
“Yes! It’s annoying for Joseon to let Persia run the six o’clock multi.”
They praised Persia’s excellent response. However—
“What!? But this...”
Red dots on the mini-map began to move en masse.
The Joseon forces suddenly rushed toward Persia’s main base.
“Joseon might be saying, ‘You really didn’t respect the crust!’”
This could be seen as a group movement.
“If Persia doesn’t detect this...!”
Joseon had launched an all-out attack.
“They’ll die!!!”
***
Persia possessed the six o’clock multi and the nine o’clock main base. From the perspective of Joseon leading the game, Persia still gaining resources from the multi felt frustrating.
Joseon could have built a multi at twelve o’clock, but they didn’t because it cost too much money and time.
Joseon aimed to fully exploit its advantages from the beginning and skyrocket in the third era. They gathered troops with the money instead of building a multi and chose immediate resources rather than investing in the future to strike at a critical moment, which was now.
[All Troops Move]
Thud, thud, thud...!
All the Joseon forces moved toward nine o’clock. Normally, they would have attacked the six o’clock multi, but charged toward nine o’clock instead.
‘Six o’clock is harder.’
Sa-Rang judged that attacking the six o’clock location would be tougher. That area had pre-stationed troops and solid wall defenses that could produce troops.
It functioned almost like the main base but had better defenses and Persian troops manned the wall.
On the other hand, Joseon’s troops were stationed on the wall at nine o’clock. It was like having tanks on a hill. They just needed ground forces to move in.
“A sharp decision! Joseon is skipping the six o’clock multi and just attacking the main base!”
“They’re aiming for the real target!”
The main enemy commander was at nine o’clock. Killing the main commander would end the game, so they didn’t need to focus on six o’clock.
Of course, the risk was high. While attacking there, Persia would be gathering resources from both its nine o’clock and six o’clock locations. If the battle dragged on, Joseon would inch closer to defeat.
The safe option would have been for Joseon to set up a multi at twelve o’clock and proceed slowly. However, Sa-Rang felt confident that Joseon didn’t play like that.
“If I’m not mistaken, zoom in a bit! I see soldiers holding two recurve bows!”
Recurve bows were obviously the key weapons for this all-out attack. What if the archers on the wall received them? It would be like giving wings to a tiger.
Even with fewer troops, they could quickly seize the nine o’clock location according to Sa-Rang’s calculations.
“The crust will grow even larger if they get the recurve bows!”
The Joseon archers had already prevented further enemy construction with just short bows and composite arrows. With recurve bows and composite arrows, it would be an unimaginable nightmare for Persia.
“It would be like having a pizza that’s half crust if they receive the recurve bows!! Can Persia just stay like this?!”
Joseon’s forces ran across the map and began placing ladders on the wall. Persia didn’t resist, possibly thinking of something else.
“Persia can’t resist inside the main base! They’ll get blocked by shield bearers and archers. They’ll lose multiple troops trying to stop the breakthrough!”
More accurately, the expectations for any resistance were low. Persia needed another strategy.
“Persia must be thinking of how to overcome this... Oh... they seem to be producing elephants at the multi?”
Meanwhile, Joseon’s forces continued to approach Persia’s main base.
Thud! Thud...!
Five or six ladders had been placed on the wall. Joseon’s forces began climbing.
Mostly swordsmen led the way, each carrying recurve bows on their backs.
***
Malatang’s large face popped up over the wall as he shouted, “Delivery of recurve bows here!”
“!”
The archers who had been using short bows with composite arrows brightened up.
“Oh.”
Almond received a recurve bow first and loaded it with composite arrows.
Creak...!
The fierce sound of the recurve bow’s string transmitted through his hand.
Almond roughly gauged the range of the recurve bow with composite arrows. He aimed at the farthest enemy soldier within range.
Then, an order came.
Ping.
[Attack]
An attack ping appeared on an enemy worker carrying gold.
‘Can it reach that far?’
The distance seemed too great, but he quickly realized something.
‘The wall bonus.’
Almond hadn’t accounted for the wall bonus. Being on the wall also extended his range.
He squinted and aimed at the gold carrier.
‘It’s still far.’
The worker looked tiny like an ant. He had to hit that ant on the ground from here without any scope.
“Phew,” he took a deep breath.
His heartbeat slowed and his blinking stopped as he released the arrow.
***
“Can they shoot toward the gold mine?! Is it within range?!”
“Range is one thing, but hitting from that far...”
Bang!
The sound of the arrow being shot interrupted the commentators.
“!?”
“!”
The arrow instantly covered the long distance and struck the worker’s head.
“It hit!?”
Thud...!
The gold nugget the worker had been carrying dropped to the ground.
“The gold mine is now unusable if Joseon can hit from that distance! What happens now?!”
Bang!
OrangeKing stood up and shouted, “It’s no longer a pizza!!”
— lol
— Haha
— Hey. From now on, just call it bread.
— lol
— Pizza-flavored bread
— Pizza takes an L lol
— Where’s the 3rd layer?
— Are you crazy? lol
— “Pizza flavor added”
Now, the Joseon archers on the wall could target the enemy workers at the gold mine.
Persia having resources no longer mattered. It was no longer even a pizza.