Meanwhile, the commentators mentioned that Joseon was lagging behind in advancing eras.

“Joseon has reached the third era! They are about two to three minutes behind!?”

“Yes, the era difference keeps widening due to Spain’s gold mine faction!”

If left alone, Spain would gradually widen the resource gap and advance to the third era much faster.

“However! If we compare the current combat strength of Spain and Joseon, they are equal!”

“What!? But Spain has more money. How is that possible?!”

More money usually meant an advantage in war. This was true in reality and even more so in RTS games where one earned money to fight.

However, OrangeKing claimed that they were equal. Why?

“Joseon is squeezing everything out!”

— Joseon grinds people...

— LOL

— Squeezing out everything lol

— This is crazy lol

— Graduate school???

He wasn’t wrong at all.

“Right now, Joseon is squeezing out all its money and investing solely in combat! Meanwhile, Spain has spent a lot of money on buildings to occupy the highland!”

“Ah... I see. I thought Joseon was being like a black corporation or something...”

— LOL

— Isn't that where Pang used to work...?

— Black corporation LOL

“Oh, not a black corporation... More like North Korea!”

— ???

— Even worse LOL

— Suddenly North Korea LOL

— Nuclear and more

— Is North Korea preparing for a rush in the 21st century?

— North Korea is still Joseon...

— Cookie Jong-Un LOL

“Spain is farming on the plains and building beautiful walls~ but North Korea doesn’t care about such child play!”

Joseon didn’t seem to be looking toward the future anymore and fully committed to combat.

The numerous barracks and siege workshops already built proved this.

“Joseon will fight to the death and end it in the third era! Is that it!?”

“Yes!”

Cookie roughly knew Spain’s military situation and judged that if not now, it would be difficult to catch up.

“Meanwhile, is Spain trying to get fatter? They’re even building a castle!? This could be a serious overreach!?”

— Fattening up again? LOL

— Capitalist pigs Spain LOL

— Balloon level fattening

A castle had excellent defensive capabilities, but was also expensive. No matter how much money Spain had, building a castle would inevitably create a military gap with Joseon.

“Of course, it will be very strong if it gets built. Won’t it?”

“It will get built. They’ve invested so many workers. But that means their military increase will stop!”

“That’s right! They have fewer than twenty armed soldiers!”

— Fewer than twenty??

— Complete fattening LOL

— They need to be severely punished

— Oh, because they produced so many missionaries

Spain had chosen to produce many missionaries, meaning their actual combat forces were quite small even though they had reached the third era so quickly.

“Anyway, Spain is now starting to harvest highland resources. They clearly have the advantage money-wise... but!”

“But?”

“Joseon is now starting to produce war materials! They will start pouring out now!”

Joseon’s spending was different from Spain’s. They didn’t waste a single bit on defensive buildings and focused purely on combat.

“Korea’s forces are coming out like crazy!”

“Yes! They’re pouring out now!”

“This is North Korea mode! Forget about food. Just produce weapons!”

— LOL North Korea LOL

-This is crazy LOL OrangeKing

— “Goguryeo mode”

— After Old Joseon, now North Korea LOL

— Dizzying

Cookie’s timing was excellent.

OrangeKing thought so and raised his voice, “Now! Cookie is seeing the opportunity perfectly! They must gather their forces and attack now! Spain is building a castle and must be punished severely!”

Siege vehicles started coming out of Joseon’s siege workshop two at a time.

Boom!

[Siege Vehicle ×2]

“Wow, they’re boldly producing two siege vehicles at once?”

“They’re producing so many!? Even more!”

[Siege Vehicle ×4]

Four siege vehicles had now been produced.

“They keep producing them! How many are they planning to make!?”

“But Joseon’s siege vehicle faction isn’t great, right? They’re cheap and quick to make though.”

Joseon’s strength was in long range siege weapons like the trebuchet and the honored catapult, not siege vehicles.

“It’s probably because timing is important. They’re choosing what’s cheap and quick to produce!”

OrangeKing nodded at that.

“Yes! Who needs a Rolls-Royce or Bentley!? We’ll just go fast with an Elantra!”

— LOL

— The country of Hyundai LOL

— Elantra LOL

— Is this North Korea or South Korea LOL

After the siege vehicles, numerous Joseon soldiers also received weapons.

Clang!

Clang!

[Crescent Blade]

[Hwandos]

Joseon had produced so many swords for the first time during the national competition and hadn’t produced a single bow.

“There’s something unusual, OrangeKing? They didn’t produce any bows, but swords instead!”

— Huh?

— Strategic move LOL

— For real??

— Did Almond sacrifice for this??

— What’s going on?

“It’s probably because of the timing. Plus, it’s a mountainous terrain! They’re essentially going to break the castle, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Archers can’t take part in the siege! There’s a penalty for ranged weapons.”

“Ah...”

“So they seem to be planning a full sweep! I think it’s a good move!”

Around two minutes had passed and the gap in military sizes continued to widen.

“Joseon is accumulating troops! They now far outnumber Spain with twenty crescent blade soldiers and forty Hwando soldiers!”

Boom!

Meanwhile, Spain finished building a castle.

“Spain has completed its castle now!?”

A tall stone building, no, calling it a building was an understatement. By medieval standards, a castle was a stone guardian.

“Spain is ready to defend and Joseon is ready to attack!”

Finally, the first signs of a large scale battle appeared.

Rumble...

Joseon’s troops began to move.

“Spain is noticing something. They’re moving their troops toward the highland.”

Spain was also showing signs of movement.

Clack!

Heavy armored musketeers began to move. Missionaries followed behind for healing. The castle, walls, and towers could equalize the battle even though Spain had fewer troops.

“Joseon advances!”

Eight siege vehicles and sixty infantry from Joseon set out.

“Will they fall in the preliminaries or advance to the finals! The two desperate sides clash now!”

Just before the battle began…

“Huh!?”

Spain’s view darkened and the observer switched to the Joseon commander’s perspective.

— What’s this?

— Is there really something?

— This is unsettling…

— But what’s that? An ambush???

— Wow, can’t see anything

***

Lee Wan-Yong, also known as Malatang, was a sturdy and robust man. If people from the old days saw him, they would have said he was born to be a general. He gave off a vibe like a Joseon commander.

Currently, he was the owner of a Malatang restaurant.

Nonetheless, if Pang was the leader of the archers, Malatang played a similar role in the sword unit. Although he led the sword unit, he didn’t shy away from using spears, making him the leader of the melee infantry. This meant he had Cookie’s infinite trust in close combat.

He asked again, “Is this the correct order?”

He seemed to have received a strange order from Cookie.

“Cookie told me to get in here?”

The order was to get inside the siege vehicle.

“Yes, that’s the directive. It’s to hide the scale of our forces from the enemy,” the Assistant Commander Coffee answered.

‘Just to hide the scale of our forces?’

Someone else could ride if the purpose was to hide their numbers. Wouldn’t it be difficult to respond if someone as skilled as Malatang was inside?

“Why do I specifically have to go?”

“Well...”

He didn’t get an answer because there was no time.

“Alright, I’ll get in!”

“Yes.”

In this game, players had to trust the commander. Due to the rush, they didn’t have time for detailed orders. Surely, more specific orders would come at a critical moment.

Malatang pushed his sturdy body into the siege vehicle and sat down. He saw an interior even larger than a standard siege vehicle.

‘What’s this? An interior expansion upgrade?’

The siege vehicles had even been upgraded to increase their capacity.

‘Why go through all this trouble and abandon the destroy strategy?’

He couldn’t understand the situation. It felt like they had suddenly changed tactics.

Other soldiers began to enter one by one.

Malatang asked the smartest one among them, “What do you think, Moggie?”

“I think we’re moving safely to the front of the castle, aren’t we?”

“Hmm...”

There was some logic to that. To destroy a siege vehicle, an enemy had to come close and set it on fire or use another siege weapon.

As far as they could guess, Spain wasn’t prepared for either with a combination of musketeers and missionaries.

Riding the vehicle would safely get them to the enemy’s castle, even if it was slow. Then, the infantry would disembark and participate in the siege.

“They want us to disembark and set the buildings on fire.”

“Yes. That’s why we’re using melee infantry.”

In other words, they were chosen for a siege rather than direct combat.

“Geez... Why don’t they let us do something cool like the archers?”

“Winning is all that matters.”

At that moment…

Ding.

[Message from the Supreme Commander]

An order came from Cookie. It was more complicated and lengthy than expected.

Malatang’s eyes trembled as he read it.

“...!”

Something cool had arrived.

***

Rumble!

Joseon’s troops advanced.

“Eight Elantras! Charging!”

Eight siege vehicles and the following infantry marched forward in sync.

— LOL

— Buooooooong

— Why so slow…?

Although Cookie ordered them to charge, they were actually moving very slowly. Their speed matched that of the walking infantry.

“OrangeKing! They’re a bit slow! Shouldn’t they upgrade the speed? Don’t we need an Elantra N-line?”

— N LOL

— LOL

— ??? Oppa, is this an Elantra?

— That’s a great car...

“This is N! North Korean Elantra! Elantra North!”

— LOL

— Seriously LOL

— North Korean Elantra LOL

— Elantra North LOL

— Crazy…

At that moment, OrangeKing screamed.

“Ohhhhh!?”

“Ambush!”

The Spanish troops suddenly emerged from the nearby forest instead of defending from the castle walls.

“It’s an ambush!”

Bang!

Gunfire rang out and a Joseon infantryman fell backward.

“Ugh!”

“Raise your shields!”

Shields with goblin designs stacked to form a wall.

However—

Bang! Bang!

The gunfire continued and some of the front soldiers fell.

“This is an ambush, so they can’t respond immediately!?”

“But they’re setting up shields!”

Click.

The musketeers reloaded their guns.

Taking advantage of this moment, the Joseon soldiers charged.

“Charge!”

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Tatata!

The distance quickly closed.

Swoosh...

A heavy crescent blade swung fiercely.

Smash!

The musketeer’s heavy armor crumpled.

Some musketeers retreated and fired again.

Bang!

Another Joseon soldier fell. Some hid behind trees to avoid the shots.

“Spread out! Spread out!”

Joseon’s soldiers quickly scattered and ran between the trees. Their mountain tribe trait activated, making them faster.

“Ah, so far, there are few casualties on both sides! Joseon has handled the ambush well!”

“Spain is losing more soldiers!”

Smash!

A heavy crescent blade struck a musketeer’s armor with a solid thud. One by one, their helmets caved in.

“Did Spain come out unnecessarily? If they had just defended from the castle walls...”

The situation could have been different. Spain was being pushed back, but—

“Ohhhhh!?”

OrangeKing’s eyes widened.

“Ahhhh! Missionaries! Don’t forget the missionaries!”

“Did Spain lure them out on purpose!?”

The hidden missionaries suddenly emerged.

“Woahhhhh!”

The sacred chant of the lord’s prayer echoed. Suddenly, around thirty percent of the siege vehicles and soldiers were being converted.

“Woahhh! If they do that a few more times, they’ll take everything! They’re converting too many right now!!”

The infantry desperately ran out of range. Some survived...

“Six or seven soldiers have already been converted! Ahhhh!!”

The banners of some soldiers turned red.

— Wow

— Disaster

— Damn

— Screwed

However, this was nothing compared to what would soon happen.

“Wait a minute! The siege vehicles!?”

“The siege vehicles are being converted too!?”

The siege vehicles were still full of soldiers, waiting to disembark at a crucial moment.

“The siege vehicles are too slow!!”

Korea was about to lose everything.

“Woahhhhh!”

It took five repetitions of the sacred chant to convert a siege vehicle.

“Woahhhhh!”

That was the fourth. The siege vehicles couldn’t escape the range.

“Run! Run, Elantra North!!”

“This... This won’t work!?”

“If they lose all the siege vehicles, they’ll be useless! Ah...”

The siege vehicles that hadn’t been upgraded were too slow.

“Disembark!!”

The soldiers eventually jumped out and retreated.

Bang! Bang!

The musketeers chased and shot at the fleeing soldiers.

Meanwhile—

“Woahhhhh!”

The fifth chant echoed out and all the siege vehicles turned red.

***

Meanwhile, in Joseon’s main base, Almond tested the bow he finally received.

Ting...

‘Sounds good as always.’

In front of him was a sturdy horse.

“Neigh!”

It shook its mane and neighed.

Almond chuckled and mounted the horse at once.

[Prepare for deployment]

With that order, he prepared to ride out.