OrangeKing leaned away from the desk toward the stadium and shouted, “What!? Almond! He, he’s jumping down!?”

— Isn’t it you who’s jumping LOL

— Crazy LOL

— Breaking news: Korean commentator invades Japanese stadium

— What’s happening???

— He really jumped LOL

— Commentating with his whole body!

OrangeKing almost jumped from the desk for a reason.

Almond had jumped off the cliff. It wasn't high enough to be a fatal fall, but—

“He landed on the Vikings!”

Thud!

Almond landed right on the Vikings.

“What is this!? I’ve never seen such an ambush before!”

Almond quickly took down the surrounding Vikings.

“He grabs a sword! Slashes! That’s right! He swings it! Then, takes an axe and throws it!” OrangeKing enthusiastically commentated while almost shadowboxing in the air.

Nearly five Vikings had been incapacitated.

“This is! He has nothing to lose! Right!? He has no arrows left anyway! It’s all or nothing!”

“Ah, it’s terrifying when someone good goes all or nothing!”

— Incredible...

— He’s the GOAT…

— Amazing.

— Winning in melee combat against Vikings?

— They’re so flustered.

Winning a melee fight against Vikings was incredibly difficult.

Almond wouldn’t have stood a chance without the surprise attack from above.

“Almond is blocking the enemies! Only the strong ones can pass! That’s what he’s saying! I heard him!”

— A fabricated story LOL

— Huh?

— LOL

— Awesome

— So cool.

After taking down several Vikings, Almond faced Jessie in a proper sword fight.

“By the way, the Viking in front of Almond is Jessie, who was almost named the Best Dressed Viking! She swings her sword!”

Clang!

Their swords clashed and sparks flew.

“Yes. She’s very popular for her beauty! And she has a history with Almond!”

“Oh, really!?”

The commentators usually mentioned any storyline between players, which greatly intrigued the audience.

“Jessie helped Almond when he was a beginner in

Civil Empire

! They met in a game!”

— Really??

— Crazy LOL

— ??? Should’ve killed him back then…

— LOL

— How do they know this? LOL

“And the reason was! Because she thought he was cute! She said it openly on the stream, which became a huge topic!”

— ???

— Die, Almond

— So jealous.

— Please die

— That’s why the popular people…

— Even in games, good looks get you romance.

“Now, carrying the hopes of solo players! Jessie swings her sword! Die, Almond!”

Clang!

Their swords met again. Jessie’s sword climbed up Almond’s, aiming for his neck.

Swish.

The sound of hair being cut could be heard as Jessie’s sword sheared off some of Almond’s hair.

“Whoa! The hopes of solo players must be very strong!”

“She almost sliced his head off!”

— Stop rubbing it in…

— LOL, this is more infuriating.

— Is OrangeKing saying this because he’s married?

— LOL

Almond rolled on the ground and tried to get behind Jessie, but other Vikings stood waiting there.

“Oh, Almond! Did he misposition himself?!”

“It would’ve been better to keep facing Jessie head-on to buy time!”

Axes and swords swung down at Almond.

Clang!

Almond parried desperately, but couldn’t block everything with one sword.

Thud!

“Almond is injured!”

— Oh no.

— No…

— The volume level over one player's injury is crazy.

— I thought it was an emergency LOL

A deep wound appeared near Almond’s leg from an axe strike. His swordplay faltered with his main leg injured. Even after standing up, countless other sword strikes pushed him back.

Clang!

Clang!

A sword pierced his abdomen.

Thud!

“

Aaaaah!

Almond is critically injured!”

— Critically injured LOL

— No way LOL

— “Joseon is falling”

— Did he buy enough time?

Almond didn’t just let his abdomen get pierced. In the meantime, he slashed another Viking’s shoulder.

Slash—

“!?”

As the Viking staggered back, Almond readied himself again.

“He’s buying time, right!? Pretending to be almost dead and making sure they can’t ignore him!”

Yes, Almond's goal was to buy time. He wasn't trying to single-handedly stop the Vikings here.

“A few Vikings farther away are just running to their destination!”

Not all the Vikings swarmed in to kill him. Those out of sword reach ignored him and ran to their goal. However—

“Huh!?”

Whoosh!

Almond quickly drew his bow and shot an arrow at the runner’s back.

“He, he’s dead!?”

Although not fully charged, two arrows simultaneously struck the enemy’s vital spots.

“Right in the center of the vital point!!”

The damage multiplier from hitting the vital point caused the enemy to collapse.

“They can’t just pass by! It’s as if Almond is declaring that! Truly a legendary scene—”

Thud!

Almond’s head flew off as OrangeKing praised him. With so many Vikings around, an opening occurred when Almond drew his bow.

“Aaaah…!”

“Now, we should switch scenes! Let’s see how the time that Almond bought is being used!”

The observer quickly switched the screen as Almond died.

The Joseon soldiers raided and looted the food at the scattered Viking hunting outposts.

“Oh! Five outposts already!?”

What started with one or two outposts had now reached five.

— Crazy LOL

— Can you even raid those? LOL

— Wow

— Awesome

— They can just move to the third era now, right?

“OrangeKing? They’re using swordsmen now, right?!”

Joseon’s swordsmen raided the outposts. They used their mountainous terrain speed to quietly and quickly loot the food.

“Yes. They’re swordsmen, but this…”

Their movements and routes weren’t random.

“Looks like Cookie didn’t just train the archers! They’re fully prepared!”

The Vikings relied heavily on food. The best way to counter them was to steal their accumulated food.

“Joseon’s swordsmen are fast among melee soldiers! In mountainous terrain, they can move even quicker and loot efficiently! And look at their route!”

The swordsmen had raided the fifth outpost and were moving to another.

“The assistant commander is using scouting pigeons to spot the outposts! Once found, they head there straight away! Even in this rough mountain terrain!”

Indeed, Joseon didn’t follow the laid-out paths.

“They’re taking the shortest routes that the map allows!”

Even if it meant climbing cliffs, they took the shortest possible routes.

“

Civil Empire

allows some freedom with maps! If you can reach somewhere, you can go there! But climbing up and down like professional climbers is insane! They’re like bandits!”

— Seriously

— Master thieves.

— As expected, Lee Wan-Yong.

— National thieves.

— Lee Wan-Yong: “I raise and sell.”

Led by Malatang, the swordsmen moved swiftly and looted the outposts.

While the archers memorized specific terrain for curve shots, the swordsmen had trained to navigate any terrain.

“They’ve reached the sixth outpost! The Vikings can’t keep up with this speed! How disadvantaged are they now!?”

By now, the caster wondered how much more the Vikings could endure.

“Yes. To explain that, let’s discuss the Vikings’ winning pattern! Vikings win by massing two hundred fully armed soldiers from the second era and rushing with numbers!”

The best Viking strategy was to crush the opponent with a rush consisting of two hundred soldiers at the start of the third era.

“Yes, the meme abroad is, ‘When the third era bell rings, the Vikings will end you!’”

The Vikings reached their prime in the second era. Utilizing the resources gathered in their prime, they would deliver a powerful blow at the end of the second era and at the start of the third. This timing was how they won.

“This timing is called late two, early three in our country.”

The transition to the next era made every civilization vulnerable. Most couldn’t withstand a Viking rush right after entering the third era, but—

“But! This only works if they have enough food in the second era, which requires resources and land!”

“Right! Such a strategy would be broken if it always worked! Are the Vikings in trouble now?”

The Vikings’ winning strategy became much harder if they struggled in the second era.

“Yes! Joseon ruined the Vikings’ second era! Even before Almond’s exploits, they couldn’t reach two hundred soldiers and maybe only reached one hundred fifty! But Almond overperformed!!”

“Yes! So now! What happens after Almond’s efforts!?”

“Now the Vikings can’t even gather one hundred soldiers! Maybe not even seventy or eighty! This means they’ve lost their third era strategy! They can’t taste the bubble economy of the second era! The Vikings are now the lost third era generation!”

— The lost third era LOL

— No bubble power.

— Unbelievable.

— The worst generation.

— Poor Vikings.

— Wow.

— Crazy LOL.

— Why are they losing to Japan?

Seventy to eighty Viking soldiers wouldn’t break Joseon’s defenses. Joseon would enter the third era and withstand the Viking assault. The game would transition to third era warfare, making a Viking victory very difficult.

“At least! At least one hundred twenty Vikings are needed to break through Joseon’s defenses! Joseon has good defenses, especially in the third era! It’s really tough to break through!”

“Right! They’re an archery civilization!”

“Yes! The mountainous terrain may be disadvantageous for archers, but there aren’t any trees inside the base! Archers can shoot from towers or anywhere else! Attacking is hard, but defense is easy! With only seventy barbarians, how can the Vikings break through the royal state of Joseon’s defenses!? Your Majesty!!!”

— Is this a historical drama?

— Crazy LOL.

— Why are you pleading? LOL

— LOL.

— Going mad LOL.

A horn sounded whether it was because of OrangeKing’s plea or the enemy became fed up with Malatang’s swordsmen raids.

Ba-bam...!

[Surrender]

The Vikings declared a surrender.

“The Vi-Vikings! surrendered!? They surrendered!”

“W-Wow! Joseon! Joseon wins the first game! The first game—”

The roaring crowd drowned out the caster’s voice.

“Waaaaaah!!!”

The massive cheer from the audience drowned everything out.