Season 3: Chapter 243. The Verdict (2)
Joseon’s army, with two archers among them, swiftly entered Japan’s main base. This caught Ringo off guard. He thought they were tightening the noose, but they had been preparing to enter the main base. However, what truly shocked him wasn’t their strategy but the psychological maneuver in their formation.
‘This formation mind game...’
Ringo recognized it instantly.
‘This is my strategy.’
The tactic of pretending to take small gains while aiming for a bigger target was Ringo’s specialty. Those who had faced him in formation battles always said the same thing.
‘You realize you’ve given up something important.’
This thought flashed through Ringo’s mind.
‘They couldn’t keep up in the previous games.’
Ringo realized that his opponent had been learning from him.
‘Is this possible in a real match?’
Even his strengths had been imitated. The already strong enemy was growing stronger. A sense of helplessness washed over him.
‘Where did someone like this come from?’
His mind grew more chaotic. His brain always calculated countless possibilities. A vast tree trunk with numerous branches represented all the what-ifs. Among these, a solution to turn the tide had to exist. He needed to find it.
His mental tree sprouted more branches. One branch turned into two, two into four, then eight... The branches grew endlessly and tangled themselves. This mental chaos soon manifested physically.
Thump, thump.
His heart rate increased, his blood pressure rose, and his breathing became labored. More air rushed in and the accelerated blood flow frantically delivered oxygen to his brain. A slight dizziness set in and the world he looked down upon grew blurry.
‘No.’
Ringo shook his head and forced his eyes open. He took deep breaths through his open mouth.
“Haa... Hoo...”
This was similar to the final match when he became the chess champion. He had been relentlessly cornered with the opponent’s pieces invading his formation. His own pieces died as he ran out of moves. No one saw any hope.
The young Ringo seemed to have nowhere to run in the black and white checkered world, so he didn’t run. He believed a way out had to exist among hundreds and thousands of possibilities. He scoured the chessboard, calculating every move and possibility. Eventually, he won.
“Haa...”
Indeed, winning had never been easy.
‘It’s always like this.’
His hands stopped trembling. He checked the upgrade progress at the top of his screen.
[2nd Era Upgrade - 97%]
He was almost in the second era. Joseon would progress even slower after spending so much on defense towers. He could minimize the damage or even turn this into a counterattack opportunity.
‘Joseon reused their arrow transportation strategy.’
He had prepared countermeasures for it. His hands moved deliberately as he selected a group of soldiers.
[Charge]
They formed an assault squad to sever Joseon’s supply line, cutting off the arrow transport. The prepared troops moved to intercept the supply route. Ringo quickly shifted his focus from the battlefield and prepared for the next move.
‘Defense is next.’
The Japanese main base was empty. Troops had to be sent there, but the path was blocked.
‘Joseon troops will stop them.’
The oasis trapped them and they had to break through Joseon’s formation. The assault squad would cut the supply line, but the head of Joseon’s forces would delay Japan’s return and cause severe damage to workers. He needed to send reinforcements to the main base quickly.
‘In that case...’
He selected another group of around forty soldiers and checked the resources at the top of the screen.
‘Plenty of food.’
They had no shortage of food after fishing at the oasis.
‘Where are Joseon’s troops?’
Joseon’s twenty soldiers, including two archers, infiltrated deep into Japan’s main base.
‘It seems doable.’
His calculations confirmed that they could handle it, which led to his decision.
[Seppuku]
The forty soldiers received this order.
***
“Japan is moving to cut the supply line!”
“Joseon’s formation is quite wide and long. Will they get cut off!?”
“But many arrows have already been delivered! Almond and Latte, along with the barbarian soldiers, can deal massive damage to the workers!”
“Yes! Japan needs to return to the main base to stop them, but there are many obstacles! It will take time and many workers will die!”
Then, it happened.
Du-dun.
[Japan - 2nd Era]
Japan advanced to the second era and began producing swordsmen.
“Japan advanced first and is producing swords. But who will receive them... Whoa!?”
OrangeKing was startled, not by the second era advancement, but by something else.
Thud...!
The Japanese troops near the oasis suddenly collapsed.
— ??
— Whoa, seppuku? LOL
— OMG
— What’s this?
— Seriously using that?
— Seppuku Day begins
“Is this seppuku? Isn’t this only used when they’re trapped?!”
“Did they give up the game?!”
“Is this a public apology?!”
“This...”
OrangeKing realized it.
“Are they killing themselves to revive at the main base?!”
“Yes!”
“They judged that this was faster!”
“Ah! Instead of breaking through Joseon’s troops, reviving is faster!?”
“Yes! Another advantage is that Joseon doesn’t know Japan has made this choice!”
Not only was it faster, but also more stealthy. Joseon wouldn’t know Japanese reinforcements were coming.
“But isn’t this a huge food loss?!”
The only issue was food.
“But Japan started fishing early! They have plenty of food! Even after reviving, they’ll quickly catch up!”
Japan’s early control of the lake gave them a strong food supply. Despite this bold decision, the food loss was minimal and they could quickly recover. In RTS games, what mattered was how quickly one earned and spent resources, not just what accumulated. The goal was to use resources to defeat the enemy.
“Soldiers are already being revived! They added two or three barracks, so they’re coming out quickly!”
Japanese soldiers started reviving at the main base.
“Joseon still has time! Almond and Latte, shoot!”
“Now it’s a race against time! They need to inflict as much damage as possible!”
Almond and Latte targeted the workers together, shooting at the same target due to not having the focus trait.
[Attack]
Two arrows struck the marked target.
Thwack!
[Attack]
Thwack!
“Workers are starting to fall! But they can just hide in the town hall, right!?”
“Joseon needs to kill them before that!”
The workers began retreating into the town hall.
“Ah...”
A Joseon soldier trying to follow them was shot down like a porcupine.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Arrows from the town hall increased, preventing Joseon from advancing further. The Japanese workers could no longer work but remained safe.
“If they drag this out, it’ll be like killing all the workers!”
Joseon only needed to stall to deal significant damage.
“Normally, the barbarian soldiers would burn the houses and fields to cause more damage!”
Joseon could have slowly encircled and damaged the buildings outside the town hall’s range. However, Japan’s revived soldiers now numbered ten, fifteen, then twenty.
“But Japan has a lot of revived soldiers now!”
At this point, Joseon also reached the second era.
Du-dun.
[Joseon - 2nd Era]
“Joseon has the focus trait now!?”
“But Japan has produced over seven soldiers!”
Japan’s second era swordsmen started forming ranks and approached.
“Joseon doesn’t know! They have no idea!”
Meanwhile, Almond and Latte’s unit remained unaware of the approaching enemy.
“Joseon’s arrow supply has been cut off!”
Japan had severed the supply line and stopped the arrow deliveries.
“Now, Japan is pushing toward Joseon’s main base!”
Surprisingly, the Japanese troops cut the supply line and advanced toward Joseon’s base.
“Joseon is shocked! They didn’t expect this!”
“Exactly. Joseon expected Japan to return to their base. They planned to chase and kill Japan while delivering arrows. But now!!”
“Joseon has to use the delivered arrows for this battle!”
Joseon had to use the arrows against the immediate Japanese threat. Thanks to the focus trait, Joseon wasn’t getting pushed back.
“Joseon is no longer retreating! There are many defense towers in the middle!”
“Only the arrows can’t go through!”
Joseon refrained from getting pushed beyond the oasis area. The three defense towers stood firm. However, the distance between Japan’s base and Joseon’s main force was too great. Almond and Latte’s unit became isolated.
Ringo had planned this as the revived soldiers from Japan’s base moved in.
“Swordsmen are advancing! Ah...!”
Ten swordsmen led the charge against Joseon’s isolated unit inside Japan's base.
Bang!
Almond used the focus trait to instantly take down a swordsman. Latte also fought valiantly beside him.
Bang!
A barbarian soldier fell. Japanese barbarian soldiers protected the swordsmen while moving forward.
The Joseon soldiers received a new order.
[Maintain Formation, Retreat 5 Steps]
Joseon’s unit retreated while maintaining formation to protect the archers.
[Protect]
The Joseon barbarian soldiers received orders to protect specific targets.
[Attack]
The archer received orders to target and eliminate specific swordsmen. Joseon held on with precise offense and defense.
“Joseon is holding on!”
Holding on was the right term. The outcome for this isolated unit was inevitable.
Almond reached for more arrows after taking down his fifth target, but his quiver was empty.
‘None left?’
Latte only had one arrow left. They searched for dropped arrows, but found none.
Sching...!
The swordsmen didn’t miss this chance. They drew their swords and charged.
“Ah...!”
“No more arrows! No arrows left!”
The Korean commentators and spectators sighed while the Japanese spectators cheered in excitement.
Leading the Japanese troops was Honda, who raised his sword reflecting the desert sunlight.
Slash!
***
Moments later...
Chiii!
The capsule opened and Sang-Hyeon sat up. His gaze was fixed on the ground and his back was drenched in sweat. Sweat dripped from the tips of his hair.
In his blurry vision, Sang-Hyeon saw the giant scoreboard towering in the center of the stadium.
[Joseon: 2]
[Japan: 1]
Finally, it sank in. Joseon had lost the third game against Japan in the national championship quarterfinals.