Season 2: Chapter 119. Distracting Influence (1)

Almond and BornToB found a match. Their opponent was AK47, one of the members of the chat room intent on stopping them.

[AK47: I'll finish this before my back cools down.]

[EndlessPotential: Show them the power of the Four Kings!]

[Anti_NightBuild_Judge: Annihilate the enemy!]

Their chat messages were hard to read and take seriously.

"What nonsense," Kim Chi-Seung frowned internally, but didn’t show it outwardly.

OrangeKing, unaware of anything, energetically started the commentary.

"The game has started! It's a vertical layout this time! At 12 o'clock, we have Almond and BornToB's camp! At 6 o'clock, we have Commander AK47's camp!"

OrangeKing passed the conversation to Kimchi Warrior.

"Kimchi Warrior, what do you think of this matchup?"

"Well, BornToB has the most essential resource, wood, close by. However, the gold mines will be hard to protect away from the town hall."

Unlike other RTS games, players experienced advantages and disadvantages in

Civil Empire

due to the randomness of map elements.

Kimchi Warrior continued speaking and tried to disregard the fact that the opponent was stream sniping.

"The most important thing is that they’re close to each other. This could be an advantage for BornToB, who plans to use the fast archer rush."

"Oh, so it's good for BornToB right now?"

It seemed so, but it wasn't because the opponent knew everything. Kimchi Warrior decided to go along with that line of thinking.

"Yes. Moreover, the opponent's camp is far away from any source of wood. They’re close to gold though."

"What does that mean?"

"It makes harassing their wood supply easier. If Almond can gain complete control over the wood supply, it’ll be hard for the opponent to build buildings in the early to mid game. They won't be able to counter the fast archer rush with their own archers."

"What if they produce cavalry? That doesn't require wood."

"Cavalry from the second era isn't cost-efficient. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, they’re not commonly produced. That issue needs a patch in my opinion."

"Is it that bad?"

"The training ground for cavalry is quite expensive. If cavalrymen fall off their horses, they need to summon new ones from stables. Upgrading bowmen or lance charges also require additional investments. There's a lot to do."

"Oh~" OrangeKing glanced at the chat and explained it simply to them, "I'll make it simple for those who don't know the game. Remember those old taxis where you had to pay one hundred won each time the horse moved? Horses are expensive. That's what it means!"

— ??

— I don’t know anything about that...

— Ah. True

— It seems like the young ones don't know it

— Dude, back in my day! Back in my day!

— What horse?

OrangeKing's explanation didn't quite hit the mark.

"No one knows? Really?!"

He started arguing with the viewers.

Meanwhile, Kimchi Warrior turned his attention back to the game.

"No...! Oh...? As I was saying!"

While ignoring OrangeKing's voice, he carefully observed the opponent's movements.

'They must have some special strategy prepared. Definitely.'

For now, AK47 seemed to be gathering resources like normal. It was hard to tell if they had something else up their sleeve.

'Wait?'

At that moment, Kimchi Warrior sensed something odd. AK47 was clearly gathering resources like usual, but...

'The number of workers...'

Their number of workers wasn't increasing. Suddenly, they built a barracks for spearmen. This strategy wasn’t commonly used in normal games due to the lack of civilization traits, but Mongolia commonly used this strategy in national competitions.

"It’s a first era tower rush..."

The enemy was going for a tower rush.

"Kids, what's going to happen... huh?"

OrangeKing was still arguing with the viewers when he quickly turned to Kimchi Warrior, who began explaining what was happening.

"The enemy commander is going for a first era tower rush right now."

"This early? It's only at the three minute mark?! Does BornToB know about this?"

OrangeKing frantically alternated his gaze between the minimap and the timer. The camera promptly zoomed out to examine BornToB's camp.

"Ah..." OrangeKing sighed.

BornToB was predictably fully committed to advancing to the second era for a fast archer rush.

"Of course, BornToB doesn't know! Even if he knew, he would still go for the fast archer rush, so it's better if he doesn't know!"

— True LOL

— Right, lol

— Born to “B”

Indeed, BornToB had been on a winning streak with the same strategy since entering A rank. He could perform the fast archer rush strategy in his sleep now, which was also a problem. He had become blind to the enemy's unusual movements while scouting.

'As expected, he's become blind.'

Kimchi Warrior had already anticipated this. The winning streak boosted BornToB’s rank, but essentially poisoned his skills.

'It doesn't matter for BornToB since he won’t be playing in the national competition.'

BornToB could afford to play like this, but not Almond.

'Almond can't.'

Easy victories were poisonous. This held true even for mercenaries.

Almond had also been engaging in the same battles. Sneaking into enemy camps and killing a few workers usually made enemy commanders surrender.

This phenomenon accelerated after reaching A rank. With a keen eye for the game, these commanders made swift decisions to surrender and quickly realized they had been structurally defeated.

Due to these factors, Almond and BornToB quickly piled up victories. In terms of their skills improving, that was questionable.

'They need a challenge.'

The national competition was about who could better respond to changing variables. All sorts of variables could occur and change the game. Europe's unique strategies, Mongolia's audacity, China’s top physicality, Japan's perfect organization, etc.

Almond had only been nurtured in the greenhouse of the fast archer rush strategy. Would he be able to properly respond when facing other variables and strategies?

Kimchi Warrior didn’t think so yet.

'They need to get used to changing variables from here on out.'

This game would provide them with that opportunity.

OrangeKing grew excited and bounced around, "Uh oh! Here it comes! A rush at three minutes and thirty seconds!"

AK47 started to move. He quickly recruited three basic spearmen and began rushing with a group of workers toward BornToB's camp.

'So that's why he mentioned getting back before his spot cooled down.'

Kimchi Warrior recalled AK47's comment in the chat and rubbed his chin. Even Kimchi Warrior couldn't predict how this would unfold. It all depended on BornToB's judgment.

"The fast archer rush is a basic build in the second era. Even at its fastest, it starts at four minutes and fifty seconds. At its slowest, it could take more than five minutes. The enemy’s strategy is one minute and thirty seconds faster!"

In such a game, one minute and thirty seconds faster was more than enough time to decide a camp's fate.

"Workers and spearmen are charging in!"

Ten workers and three spearmen began running. It would take them less than thirty seconds to cover the distance.

"AK47 is saying who's the fast one now?!"

— LOOOOL

— Suddenly it's the slow archer rush haha

— What a crazy game!

This fast early rush made the fast archer rush seem embarrassingly slow. It carried more risk and had lower returns, but...

'The opponent already knows everything.'

The enemy wasn’t taking any risks in this situation.

"This is a match between players crazy for speed! BornToB, you need to hurry up! You're just entering the second era...! This timing, whether it’s by chance or not, is their biggest weak point!!!"

Dudum!

[Born2B]

[2nd Era - Feudal Age]

BornToB advanced to the second era just in time. This exquisite timing was certainly not a coincidence. He was most vulnerable during this transition into the second era and the enemy chose this exact moment to attack.

"They've arrived! They’re going to encounter each other!"

Finally, AK47's forces entered BornToB's camp. It was practically a bloodless entry with no defensive structures in sight and only the town hall.

"The only building they can attack is the town hall!"

AK47's soldiers surrounded the town hall.

"Right. The town hall is where workers come out, so... destroying it would end the game. However, it's too early to do that with their firepower. Usually, the resource storage around it is targeted."

"Yeah! The gold mine is too far from the town hall. It can't be protected!"

AK47's workers started building a defensive tower right by the gold mine.

[Wooden Defense Tower]

[Under Construction...]

— Oh no...

— It's over

— Isn't the game finished?

"Ah! As expected, they're taking control of the gold mine! Will BornToB be rendered helpless!?"

At that moment, OrangeKing checked the resource situation and was shocked.

"BornToB is almost out of gold!?"

"He spent all of it on advancing to the second era... hmm."

BornToB didn’t have any gold left after advancing to the second era.

As mentioned earlier, the enemy had perfect timing. They took over the gold mine just when BornToB had no gold left.

BornToB’s workers were all headed toward the gold mine already. Fortunately, he responded quickly.

"Wow!"

Ping!

[Evacuate]

With an urgent evacuation ping, the approaching workers began to flee.

"BornToB is reacting! He’s pulling back his workers!"

Although BornToB managed to stop his workers, he failed to give proper orders to a few of them. Some ended up charging toward the tower.

"Ah... BornToB! Were you that surprised!? The workers are in a panic! Some just dashed toward hell!"

— LOL

— It's a mess haha

— The workers are going the wrong way LOOOL

"Agh~! The workers are dying! Another one bites the dust!"

Thud! Thud!

The spearmen stabbed with their spears and the workers fell one after the other.

"Ah! Every single worker is precious! Three workers were lost in such an absurd fashion! The wooden defense tower has been built!

Tuk! Tuk!

"

Eventually, the enemy completed their tower.

[Wooden Defense Tower]

[5/5]

Immediately, five workers entered it and... They swiftly fired arrows from it.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The tower boasted considerable range and killed two more of BornToB's fleeing workers.

"The tower is attacking! Now who's the one defending!?"

— LOL

— Offense turned into defense!

— It’s an attack tower, hahaha!

"BornToB couldn’t reach the gold mine! Now he only has three gold! Three gold!"

BornToB only had three gold left. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if the game ended here.

"Ah! AK47 goes all in and enters! The remaining five workers are aiming to control the food supply! Another defense tower, no, another attack tower goes up by the town hall!!!"

AK47 started building another tower. This time, he built it near the fruit orchard that supplied food.

"Food is one of the essential elements for unit production. Without it, you can't even produce workers!"

Every resource was important, but food was exceedingly crucial since it affected the workers.

"BornToB has to make a choice! Should he produce spearmen right away to defend along with his workers!"

BornToB had two options left. Either produce spearmen or...

"Even if he’s about to die, he’ll die as BornToB! Let’s just go for the archers, right!?"

Even in the face of death, he could choose to produce archers.

"Ah, but it’s too risky to produce archers with the remaining food and gold!"

BornToB hadn't even built the archery range yet. In this case, it would be better to produce cheaper spearmen to defend his camp. If he opted for archers, he would run out of resources entirely.

"AK47 is now in control of gold and food. He’s also still building more towers!? More workers are coming! They're set on finishing the game here!"

AK47 intended to finish the game and maintained the momentum.

BornToB had an opportunity here.

"Oh, this could be an opportunity, right?"

"Yes?"

"AK47 could actually safely win if they simply upgraded their camp at the same time. However, that's a bit of a stretch now. They're trying to ride the momentum."

The enemy increased their number of spearmen and more of their workers also invaded. They prepared to set the town hall, which was responsible for BornToB’s total population, on fire.

BornToB finally started building an archery range. The structure instantly went up with over ten workers on it.

"Ah! An archery range finally goes up! As expected, BornToB decided to bet on Almond and pray for a miracle!"

A few seconds passed.

[Archer Successfully Recruited]

Almond finally arrived on the battlefield. What awaited him was almost a half-burned base.

"BornToB must be hitting his head and saying, ‘Help me~~! Help me, Almond~~!’"

— Crazy Almond

— That’s home base hahaha

— As soon as he appears, the game is already lost

— What's with the voice? LOL

— This is too much. For real.