"To end it in the first era..."

Tap... Tap...

Cookie tapped the table with an anxious expression. It wasn't an easy decision. Ending the game in the first era was an extremely drastic decision, but someone had to make that decision.

He clenched his eyes shut.

"There were plans for the third era."

Originally, they planned to reach the third era. That was when they would employ the destroy operation.

Now, the efficiency of the tower's attack went beyond their expectations.

"The battle has been going well from the start..."

It started with the ambush that led to the infiltration operation. They easily ambushed the enemies because the enemy commander had missed that battle.

A similar result occurred when the enemies came to stop the tower. It was a three versus two battle, but the enemy fought strangely.

Cookie was focused on production and found it hard to guess the exact reason. He hadn't even considered that this could be the butterfly effect from that interview.

"Was Almond’s combat ability... this good? Even though the enemies are all pros."

He just thought he hadn’t fully grasped Almond's combat capabilities yet.

"Anyway, thanks to this, we might be able to finish the game now..."

It seemed like their plans needed to be adjusted. If they could win in the first era, waiting until the third era would be foolish.

However—

"Will this combat effectiveness last?"

So far, the variables in the battle had been flukes. Would this good fortune last until the end?

Human concentration had its limits. Even professional players could only maintain such intensity for a finite amount of time.

"Hmm..."

Was the combat unit’s concentration still sufficient? Cookie pondered while looking at Almond, Carrot, and Latte. Like a true commander, his deliberation didn’t last long.

"The timing is now."

Thump.

[Construct Wooden Defense Tower]

He ordered Carrot to build another tower.

***

At that moment, there was naturally chaos among the commentators.

"Ahh! Another tower! One more is being built!? The command just came through!"

They knew what Cookie's decision meant.

"Cookie! Are you also delaying the upgrade to the second era!? This means...! You're trying to end it now, aren't you!?"

— Damn

— Declaration to block

— Ending it here??

— Crazy lol, winning two games with an early rush???

Cookie had made the declaration to end this game in the first era. Otherwise, Korea would lose.

"No, Mr. OrangeKing! It seemed like he was just trying to check initially! Will this work out?!"

Originally, Korea hadn’t planned to win like this.

"I think the original plan was different! But now that the battle is going so well, he made an impromptu decision!"

"Ah. He adjusted the strategy on the spot!?"

"Yes! Such impromptu changes in strategy are incredibly difficult for the opposition to counter!"

"Correct! It remains to be seen how this will play out! We'll have to watch!"

Korea started using resources intended for advancing to the second era and built towers instead. There was no turning back now.

"All the other Joseon soldiers have also begun a full assault!"

"This is the Korean cheese rush!"

A cheese rush was a strategy where workers and soldiers all mobilized for an early all-out attack. Mobilizing workers meant this strategy also made the team very poor. However, the core of this strategy was to impoverish the opponent even more by building towers and other structures in the enemy camp, rendering their workers unable to work.

"Korea can build towers without mobilizing workers! So it's almost no loss for them! Except for going into the second era later!"

Since Korea didn’t need to mobilize workers, it was much easier to impoverish the opponent like releasing a cheap B-rated movie that had a low breakeven point. Even if it didn’t get good reviews like an A-list movie, it would likely make more money. Korea's tower rush was just like that.

"Spain!? They have no forces left to block! They all died earlier, right!?"

"The rest of their main force is currently preoccupied with blocking the assaulting Joseon soldiers!"

"Cookie is so sharp! He made such a quick change in tactics! It's hard for the opponent to cope!"

"Even more! Spain had already pressed the upgrade to the second era!"

It wasn't hard for Spain to defend just because Korea was also going all-in. Coincidentally, for the opposition...

[Spain]

[2nd Era - 3%]

The upgrade to the second era had already started.

Right afterward, Cookie ordered the construction of another tower.

"Was it intentional or was it a coincidence!? The moment Spain initiated the second era upgrade, they went right into building another tower!?"

— Look at that timing, dreadful

— That's art

— Are they really going to win this?

— Spain must be so frustrated lol

"It’s not just a rush build with timing like this, but a sharp build in the truest sense of the word!"

"Yes! Such cheese rushes are notoriously infamous among rush strategies!"

A cheese rush seemed like a very simple luck-based strategy. Surprisingly, even at the professional level, gamers had been victimized by it in consecutive important matches. One such gamer was a top professional who boasted an incredible career, yet he was still caught off guard.

A well-crafted cheese rush relied less on luck. Even if the enemy knew, they still fell victim to it.

"Now! Almond is targeting the workers!"

"Will Spain fall for this strategy or will they overcome it!?"

***

"Damn..."

Fortunately for Nacho, the workers in

Civil Empire

were not real people but AI that simply responded to his commands.

Bang!

Every time a bow fired from the tower, a worker dropped dead.

"Ugh!"

How could any worker quietly mine gold for the future?

"Oof!"

Death was imminent.

Bang!

The sound of a bow firing meant, without fail, a worker had died.

Bang!

They died again and again.

"Geuk!"

Every shot hit its mark without missing.

"How…? Not even once!"

Nacho grew furious. Even on the professional level, hitting moving workers from a tower with a headshot every time without a single miss was...

"It's on a completely different level."

It seemed like a story from another world.

The archery he knew was not like this. His concept of good archery included Persian archers who shot arrows flamboyantly while diving or shooting enemies continuously while riding a horse. It involved special movements. He thought that was what good archery looked like.

Having specialized in the Spanish civilization, his understanding of archery had faded over time.

"I completely misunderstood."

Nacho now thought he had been wrong about archery all this time. The most frightening bow was one that never missed.

Bang!

An arrow flew out again and a worker inevitably fell.

"Waaaaaaaaaa!"

The cheers of the Korean supporters grew louder.

Thump! Thump! Boom!

The drums and gongs seemed to echo Nacho's heartbeats. Gradually, he couldn’t distinguish between the two sounds.

Meanwhile, another enemy tower was being constructed.

[Wooden Defense Tower - 26%]

It took a very aggressive position to affect the gold mine and slaughterhouse.

"The slaughterhouse must be protected."

The slaughterhouse was a place where hunted game was processed into meat. If the workers at the slaughterhouse died, the food supply would naturally stop. Without food, it was impossible to recruit soldiers. Even workers could not be hired.

"It’ll really end in the first era."

The game could indeed end in the first era.

Nacho clenched his eyes shut. He didn't even want to imagine such an ending.

"If only we could get into the second era..."

If they could enter the second era and rearm their soldiers, they could easily drive back Joseon’s main force, which was only armed with clubs.

Spain’s soldiers could then return to the main base and dismantle the towers, but…

[Spain]

[2nd Era - 9%]

When would the second era arrive?

"A tower must be raised now...!"

Although it was late, Spain had to build a tower too.

Nacho had to make a decision.

[Wood - 80]

However, Spain only had eighty units of wood left. Upgrading to the second era required seven hundred wood and building a tower required one hundred fifty.

He dragged all the workers mining gold and turned them toward the wood resource.

[Collecting Wood]

All the workers began to chop wood.

Tap... Tap...

This would lead to a loss in other resources, but it was the best decision under the circumstances.

[Wood - 150]

With all the workers mobilized, Spain quickly gathered wood.

[Construct A Wooden Defense Tower]

He ordered the construction of a tower near the slaughterhouse. If they built it before the enemy's tower, it could protect the slaughterhouse.

[Wooden Defense Tower - 46%]

Joseon's nearby defense tower was at 46% and nearly half-completed. However, that didn’t matter.

Korea only had one person building it and that person was not even a worker but a soldier.

What if ten Spanish workers charged in? They would catch up in no time.

[Spain]

[Wooden Defense Tower - 20%]

Thud...

Indeed, as soon as ten workers focused on building, the tower quickly reached 20%.

"Ah! Spain is finally building a tower! The speed is tremendous with several workers on it!"

"Spain wants to protect the slaughterhouse! They’re determined to make it to the second era!"

"If Korea's tower is built first, they won’t be able to build theirs!"

[Joseon]

[Wooden Defense Tower - 63%]

Joseon’s tower was still at 63%.

Nacho breathed a sigh of relief.

'It can be stopped.'

It seemed possible to stop. Mobilizing so many workers had cost a lot of resources, but they just needed to hold on until the second era.

"Ah! Joseon's tower might finish later!? The speed difference is too great!"

"Because it’s workers versus soldiers! Plus, the difference in numbers is too great!"

"If Spain can protect the slaughterhouse, Korea’s situation becomes quite tricky! It’s a complete all-in gamble different from before!"

Korea had no way to interfere with Spain’s construction.

However—

"!?"

Nacho's eyes widened.

Someone was approaching Spain’s tower construction. He was drawing a bow and aimed at the workers building the tower.

‘Almond.’

It was Almond.

"What... what…?"

There weren’t supposed to be any archers in the first era.

"The bow from the tower!?"

Almond had brought out the bow from inside the tower.

While not impossible, Nacho thought it was incredulous.

'He’s shooting the bow without being an archer?'

Soldiers who were not archers only received the archer class inside the tower. Once outside, they reverted to their original class.

Since it was the first era, the only military unit was the barbarian soldier. A barbarian shooting a bow meant they had a limited number of arrows.

Moreover, Almond only had one arrow since he had no quiver.

However, Spain had ten workers. Eight workers would still remain even if he performed the miracle of killing two workers with one arrow. The overall situation wouldn’t change.

If Almond approached with a club, he would be killed by an attack from the town hall. He couldn’t do anything, so what was he trying to do?

"Almond!? Almond has come out to stop the enemy tower’s construction! But he only has one arrow!?"

"Even if he’s a legendary archer, can he take out two workers with one arrow!?"

"Right now, he needs to take out five or six workers with one arrow! If he could do that, it wouldn't be archery anymore. That would be some kind of legendary swordsmanship!"

— Legendary swordsmanship lol

— ??? What's really happening?

— Is he trying to kill at least two?

— Trying to delay them even a little

"Or maybe kill just one to delay them...?"

"Could that be it? That’s almost meaningless though..."

Everyone speculated that Almond intended to delay the construction speed just slightly, but they were wrong.

Creak...

Almond readied his bow to kill all the workers.