Season 2: Chapter 68. Special Mission (2)

"The way you play this game sucks!"

The knight fighting Almond collapsed with a backhanded compliment after being pierced by ten spears.

— Ten spear ending lol

— Extreme praise lol

— Haha

The dishonorable fight angered the opponent, but Almond didn't take it too seriously.

"I wonder what great compliment he gave for it to be translated like this," he muttered to himself and moved toward where Jessie was fighting.

— Is this also the translation's fault? lol

— Almond now has a universal excuse lol! It’s the translation's fault lol

— lol, so this is how praise gets translated!?

Almond resumed his spear-throwing stance and aimed toward where Jessie and the knight fiercely fought.

"Huff."

Almond slowly held his breath and steadied himself. A single mistake could mean hitting Jessie instead.

Whoosh!

He threw the spear straight and true as he exhaled. The spear flew accurately like a trained hawk.

Thwack!

It tore through the knight's neck, who staggered and fell from the horse. He died like that.

"Wow. I survived!" Jessie happily exclaimed and waved to Almond.

However, Almond was busy calculating.

"Four gold?"

Now that he dealt with four cavalrymen, that meant he made four gold.

"I've earned a lot."

The mercenary fee was three gold and the reward now surpassed that salary. The value of gold wasn't clear, but earning more in bonuses than the original salary was undoubtedly good. However, there was a catch.

'There’s no more enemy cavalry here.'

While battling those two cavalrymen, the enemy's main cavalry force already devastated the outpost and advanced toward their base.

The odds of winning the game now heavily leaned against them.

"Are we going to lose this game?" Almond didn’t know much about the game and asked the viewers.

— Is that what’s happening?

— Look at the top bar to know

— Top right!

"

Ah.

This one."

He looked at the top right and saw a window displaying indicators. After opening it, he saw the score.

[Resource Score: -162]

[Military Score: -93]

[Occupation Score: -102]

'As expected...'

Nothing was in their favor. Even the summary read:

[Current Situation: Very Unfavorable]

.

— ???

— What?

— A traitor! He'll get banned, lol

— Is this Murica?!

— #*%(@

"...?"

The chat suddenly became weird. Almond felt puzzled and looked toward Jessie. She was taking off her top.

This momentarily startled him, but he quickly realized she wasn't trying to sabotage his stream by undressing.

"Let's wear this."

Zip.

Jessie showed him the armor worn by the knights.

'Wearing enemy armor, huh.'

It sounded like a good idea.

[Commander]

[You guys are awesome. Let’s infiltrate the enemy base]

Just then, their commander issued them an order.

***

There was a saying in

Civil Empire

. A commander with great tactics won battles, but a commander with great wisdom won wars.

What was the difference between tactics and wisdom? Tactics referred to the art of battle strategy and maneuvers.

A wise person wouldn’t necessarily play better chess than a tactically skilled person. However, a wise person could persuade a chess player to work for them. Such people who managed others well and knew how to build beneficial relationships could be considered wise.

In

Civil Empire

, this referred to those who could discern the true abilities of soldiers. This was no easy feat because one couldn’t simply interview each of the two hundred diverse players from around the world. Assessing their skills and commanding them correctly was a challenge.

It was almost impossible for a single person to perfectly do. They could only hope to get closer with practice.

"But..."

Sometimes, such situations occurred. Not recognizing such talent was foolish. A genius stood out among the many common spear soldiers and the cavalry defense operation where everyone was expendable.

"Sometimes luck turns like this."

Some people called it luck. Commander MyDinner felt like he hit the jackpot. Two basic spear soldiers that cost one gold took down what seemed like four full-armor knights worth at least fifteen gold each. If this wasn’t a jackpot, then what was?

"This is it."

Crack!

He crunched and swallowed the candy in his mouth.

"Going full doping."

He ate more sugar to bring his focus to the max.

"This is the chance for a comeback."

To him, this was an opportunity sent by the gods and his only hope to overturn the unfavorable situation.

[Resource Score: -182]

[Military Score: -103]

[Occupation Score: -132]

He wasn’t winning in any area. The enemy cavalry even breached their main base. Even if he directed all his resources and workers toward defense, it was uncertain if they could hold off the attack. Even if they did, it was unclear if they could still win.

There was only one way out. Reduce the enemy's worker count. This would decrease the opponent’s resource flow and eventually hinder their ability to replenish troops. Then, there would be a future after defense.

"Please... let this work!"

MyDinner prayed with his hands together, hoping the two spear soldiers he assigned a special mission would successfully decimate the enemy workers. He hoped he had correctly recognized such talent.

[Special Mission]

Objective: Infiltrate the enemy lines and annihilate the workers!

Advance Payment: 3 gold

Reward: 1 gold per worker eliminated

Completion Bonus: 7 gold

Commander MyDinner issued an order with a substantial reward. This was not common. Such extra gold was usually reserved for missions that could change the game. The commander considered Almond and Jessie pivotal to the game's outcome.

— Oh, does the commander know how to play? lol

— Recognizing talent.

— The commander must be high-rank.

Some viewers started looking up the commander's rank as his orders became more proactive.

"Is there a ranking?"

— Yes.

— Within the top 1000 in the country.

— Wow.

— Is that good?

— CF, come out and explain.

[CivilFan has donated 10,000 won!]

[There aren't many commanders in Korea... Being in the top 1000 isn't that high. Maybe diamond in terms of LIL?]

"Thank you, Mr. CF."

— CF?

— What is it? Another ad?

— lol

— Almond saving time!

Viewers had fun with the wordplay as Almond thought to himself,

'It fits surprisingly well.'

Click. Click.

Like Jessie, Almond stole the enemy's armor and also wore it. The armor felt surprisingly flexible, almost like a T-shirt, which was probably a game mechanic.

'But it's heavy.'

The game showed no mercy in simulating the weight of the plate armor.

Koong...

The weight pressing down on his shoulders was palpably transmitted. Even moving a foot felt significantly heavier.

"I'm ready," Almond said to Jessie after fully donning the armor.

She waved her hands in the air.

"What are you doing?" Almond asked her.

"Trying to get the commander's attention."

She was waving to the commander.

"He's not watching right now."

"He might be."

Jessie always acted quite amiable in front of him.

— Total Chad;

— So different from the rigid nut guy!

— Super likable lol

Ping!

A ping appeared somewhere as if responding to their words. A beam of light shone down in the distance.

[This is the final destination.]

[Take some shields and as many spears as you can. Fighting while throwing spears might be better.]

The commander, having assigned them a special mission, intended to directly lead this operation.

"Wow, our commander seems serious about this. I'm glad I joined up," Jessie made a light joke.

Almond chuckled and followed the orders. He gathered as many spears as he could and followed the path marked by the commander.

Along the way, Almond asked Jessie a question.

"Won't the enemies mistake us as one of them since we’re wearing this armor?"

"No, they won't."

Jessie pointed to her head.

"Don’t you see the red mark above our heads?"

Right, the game clearly marked them as enemies.

"Oh... then why wear this?"

"It's just to increase our defense."

That made sense.

Another ping appeared as they continued walking.

Ping. Ping.

[This way.]

'The forest?'

The commander directed them toward a forest path where trees obscured them and the cavalry couldn’t access, only infantry.

[Move as stealthily as possible. I’ll illuminate your path.]

'What's the plan...?'

The inexperienced Almond couldn't grasp what the commander intended.

Jessie noticed Almond's skeptical look and added, "The commander won't sacrifice us needlessly since he's watching from above. Just follow the instructions."

That sounded reasonable. Almond followed diligently, hoping they wouldn’t just delay the inevitable.

***

Some time passed as they walked through the forest.

Ping!

A red beam of light shone down and a ping resounded ominously.

[Warning!]

Almond and Jessie stopped in surprise.

[Ahead is a wooden defense tower. There's no way around it. You'll have to pass it using shields.]

The reason for taking shields became clear. Upon closer inspection, they saw a well-camouflaged wooden tower.

[Wooden Defense Tower]

Its name only appeared when they recognized it.

Almond asked for clarification even though its function could be inferred from its name, "A wooden defense tower? What's that?"

"It’s literally a defense tower. Archers go inside to shoot arrows from above..."

Almond paused at the mention of archers.

"Archers?"

"Yes. Don't worry. They don't shoot well. They're usually filled with NPC workers."

Jessie mistakenly thought Almond was afraid because archers countered spear soldiers. She didn't know what he was really thinking.

"Then... there are bows inside?"

"Obviously."

"Wow..."

After a moment of admiration, Almond made a suggestion.

"Let's go inside the defense tower."