Season 3: Chapter 226. Our ADC Almond (3)
The Japanese workers settled by the lake and began constructing buildings. First, they built a small shipyard.
[Fishing Shipyard]
This shipyard couldn’t produce warships, but it could store marine food and build fishing boats. This fishing shipyard was only available to Japan, allowing them to quickly obtain food at a low cost.
Usually, other civilizations had only one type of shipyard, which required building a warship shipyard even if they just wanted to fish. Japan didn’t have this restriction due to their high dependency on fish. As a result, they could produce fishing boats faster than other civilizations.
[Fishing Boat - 57%]
By the time the fishing boat was about halfway built, its completion would significantly increase food supply. This would also cover the delayed speed of entering the third era.
The fishing shipyard was not only fast to produce but also cheap. However, it had low health. A few infantrymen could easily destroy it.
Even archers or ranged units, unable to set it on fire, could bring it down with arrows or bullets. It was a temporary structure and an appealing target for Joseon.
Joseon had twelve archers. Even sending just three of them to the fishing shipyard could destroy it, which would be akin to Japan losing the game. Japan feared this the most.
‘So, come on.’
Ringo actually hoped for this. He wanted Joseon to come and made the encirclement thicker, but didn’t approach the Joseon archers. He was inducing them to move first.
‘There weren’t any reinforcements.’
He even confirmed through reconnaissance that no Joseon reinforcements had been sent.
‘They’re being overly greedy.’
Joseon didn’t know. Rather, most other civilizations didn’t know. They didn’t understand how quickly Japan could grow stronger once fishing began, so they complacently responded.
‘They must think it’s okay if they lose since they only invested a little money.’
Joseon probably thought it would be fine if they couldn’t break through since they hadn’t invested much. To attempt breaking through an encirclement of swordsmen and barbarian soldiers with just twelve archers meant they thought so.
However, they were wrong. Joseon needed to risk everything to take the lake.
‘I’ll wipe them out here and show them why.’
One of the encirclement units spotted the archers. Ringo immediately repositioned his soldiers in that direction.
Ting!
[Move]
The large encirclement quickly closed in.
***
[Break Through the Encirclement]
Almond had only one command in sight to break through the encirclement. However, no specific orders had been given yet. The archers didn’t exactly know what the encirclement was or what it looked like until they approached closer.
‘Is it there?’
Swoosh.
Some Japanese barbarian soldiers appeared.
[Attack]
Almond drew his bow after receiving the command. Hitting a barbarian soldier in the head didn’t require the full three seconds of focus.
Bang!
His arrow took down a barbarian soldier while the rest charged forward.
“Waaahhh!”
“Wooohhh!”
However, these sounds came from every direction. Barbarian soldiers had gathered from everywhere.
‘The swordsmen are behind them.’
Swordsmen hid behind the barbarian soldiers. They were so close together that it was impossible to intercept them with a curved shot.
‘They’re using the barbarian soldiers as shields.’
The swordsmen essentially hid behind living shields.
Everyone had received their respective orders.
[Close Combat Archery]
“Prepare for close combat archery!”
At Almond’s shout, everyone shouted in unison.
“Prepare for close combat archery!!”
They had honed their close combat archery for Japan. The archers drawing their bows with full tension lowered their bows below their chests and aimed at a forty-five degree angle. It looked almost like they held crossbows.
Bang!
While their accuracy decreased, their firing rate and reaction speed increased. Most importantly—
“Wooohhh!”
“Huuuuhhh!”
In this chaotic situation filled with screams and enemies coming from every direction...
“Is this a zombie attack!?”
“Japan! They were definitely spread out, but they’re attacking simultaneously! It’s truly terrifying!?”
The situation was perfect for a breakthrough.
Almond received an order.
[Charge]
Swoosh...!
A path appeared and Almond immediately charged forward. The Japanese soldiers, who thought the archers would retreat and shoot as they approached, were taken aback.
“Huh!?”
“What, what is that!?”
The hunters now became the hunted and felt surprised by Almond charging directly at them.
Thud!
Thud!
Arrows pierced their confused faces.
Ping!
“He shot while running!?”
“All shots hit!!”
Thud...!
Those who tried to block his way fell dead. Almond leaped over their bodies and kept running.
“Almond!? He’s breaking through!?”
“All attention is on him!?”
The encirclement hastily converged on one side. The Japanese soldiers, who were supposed to attack the entire archer unit, now solely focused on Almond.
“Everyone is focused on Almond!?”
“Of course! Almond is the protruding nail! Japan can’t tolerate that!”
— LOL, exactly
— The protruding nail must be hammered down!
— Japan, the land of precision, LOL
— The distraction is insane
Almond alone charged forward at them. Naturally, this made them want to deal with him first. Moreover, Ringo wasn’t a commander who gave detailed orders in such situations. He set up the board, but the details were up to those on the field.
“Kill that guy!”
“What is that!?”
The result was a chorus of, “Kill Almond!” The difference in speed between the units came into play. The distance between the Japanese soldiers and Almond continued to shrink. They would eventually catch up.
“He’s going to be caught! Finally!”
“There’s a speed difference!”
The Japanese swordsmen finally reached the proper distance to use their swords.
Swish!
Three swordsmen drew their swords and charged at Almond.
“He’s going to get caught!”
Wham!
As they leaped...
“What’s this!?”
A mass of arrows suddenly flew in.
Bang, bang, bang!
The arrows repeatedly struck the swordsmen in mid-air.
“Fly swatter blocking!!!”
“Almond...? Almond is!?”
Almond kept running.
“He’s alive! He’s alive!? He’s really breaking through!?”
— Oh my
— Wow
— What?!
— Did he really?!
The path was effectively clear. Almond seized the opportunity and ran.
“Joseon is moving forward!”
“Will he really make it through alive!?”
“It looks difficult to get all the way through! Ultimately, he’s slower...!”
The Japanese encirclement had been completely breached on one side. However, three out of the four directions remained intact.
“Oh no! The rear troops are being caught! Is it a strategy to let only Almond through!?”
One player broke through, but the other archers inherently slower than swordsmen couldn’t overcome their disadvantage. The rear unit was eventually caught.
“What’s the strategy!?”
Joseon got Almond through and still had an unknown strategy.
“The rear is in chaos!”
Japan’s swordsmen overwhelmed Joseon’s rear formation from behind, creating a mess.
“But Joseon is resisting with close combat archery!”
The resistance was futile.
Slash!
The enemy’s swords finally made contact and the first casualty appeared.
“Is it Pang!? Pang is down!”
Behind Pang was Latte, who fired an arrow filled with focus.
“I’m here too, you jerk!”
Bang!
The arrow struck the swordsman who had slain Pang. The enemy staggered and fell alongside Pang.
“Good! Latte! Still keeping them out of the archer formation!”
However, another swordsman charged from behind.
Slash!
Another archer behind Latte fell.
“Ah, damn!”
Once bitten, the relentless attacks continued. And─
“Japan’s ace! Honda! He’s entering! Huh!? They didn’t see him!?”
“He’s inside!?”
Swish!
Honda rolled into the archer formation. The archers noticed too late.
‘When did he get here!?’
‘What’s going on?’
He already drew his sword with a flash.
Swoosh!
Slash!
His swift sword strikes instantly felled several archers.
“Ugh...!”
“Ah! Carrot!?”
The archers fell helplessly and Joseon was momentarily stunned.
“Cr... Crazy.”
“The faction with ruthless blades and splash damage! Their attacks just go through! Swordsmen are scary like this!?”
— OMG
— This is insane
— Whoa
— Damn
The swordsmen’s attacks could be easily blocked by metal armor, but the archers didn’t have that.
Swish...!
His sword glowed again, cutting through another target, then the next. The series of strikes were too fast to follow with the eye, mesmerizing those being cut down.
“Just one swordsman entering caused such chaos! It’s like having a piece of poop in a bowl of curry! Even if the curry is plenty, the poop ruins it!”
— ?
— LOL
— Why mention curry while eating poop?
— WTF LOL
— So that’s the poop?
Honda’s breakthrough allowed three more swordsmen into the formation.
Joseon’s archer formation fell into disarray without Almond, Pang, or Carrot. The enemies continued to wildly swing their swords.
Honda’s sword especially shone as he took another life.
Slash!
His blade, as if thirsty for blood, continued to draw red lines, devouring the Joseon soldiers.
Finally, he reached the center of the archer formation.
‘It’s over.’
With the distance this close, no one could stop him. Honda thought they had won this battle and continued his sword strikes. However—
“!”
Clang!
Someone blocked his sword.
‘There should only be archers.’
Honda saw the trembling bow that blocked him.
It was Spam. He shouted with his mouth wide open, “Don’t waver!”
This roar snapped the archers back to their senses.
“Even if we fight up close, we can win if we don’t flinch! Almond said so!”
At that moment, the atmosphere changed.
“!”
Creak.
The archers all around drew their bows again.