Season 3: Chapter 233. Leader (1)

The swift ship had sunk the Sekibune.

“Wow! We did it!?”

The excitement was palpable among the audience and the players. How many times had anyone experienced sinking a ship with arrows? The swift ship continued toward Japan as if nothing had happened.

‘If this game ends quickly too...’

Almond massaged his right arm and looked out at the sea.

‘I’ll be fine for the third game too.’

He couldn’t quite grasp how significant their achievement was, but the reactions from the players and the cheers made it clear. Thanks to such achievements, they swiftly won the first game. If they could do the same here, the next game would also be easier.

‘I see it.’

The coastline of Japan’s main base came into view.

“There’s no one there?”

The archers squinted around. Surprisingly, no enemy soldiers guarded the shore.

“I thought they wouldn’t even let us disembark.”

Thud...

The ship docked without any hindrance and the archers disembarked safely. Compared to the resistance from the Sekibune earlier, this peaceful landing felt strangely ominous.

***

“Alright! The swift ship from Joseon has finally reached Japan’s main base!?”

“Yes, it took much longer than expected, but they’ve arrived! Now, the problem is...”

OrangeKing’s eyes darted around with much to mention.

“First, they don’t have good visibility at all.”

“Right. They have one hawk flight left, but using it to reveal the entire main island is impossible.”

“That’s the characteristic of ocean maps and island maps. The initial ground troops land in complete darkness, knowing nothing about the enemy’s buildings or locations. They must advance blindly.”

This was different from typical land battles. The first soldiers to land were essentially scouts.

“Just like in

LIL

, face-checking in the bushes often results in 70-80% death. This is a similar situation.”

— Then why did they come? lol

— Ah

— True face-checking lol

— Can’t Almond just use his face ID? lol

— If only that island was Raina... they would get great visibility automatically.

— Why did they come at all?

“This makes it almost impossible for the archers to find a good position.”

For archers, positioning was crucial. If they secured a favorable spot, they could fend off multiple infantry. A few swordsmen could easily massacre the archer squad if they didn’t have a good position. In this initial fight, the archers would be at a disadvantage.

“Yes. They need to find a good spot. Whether they can achieve that with one hawk flight is up to luck.”

“Then why did they come here? After all that effort, they’ve found nothing!”

“Exactly! They came to an island expecting treasure, only to find out the real treasure was the journey they shared!”

— lol

— LOL

— Just thinking about it is frustrating

— So, what now?

“Despite this, the reason why Joseon sent archers in the second era has diminished significantly!”

“Really!?”

Yes, they had arrived much later than intended.

— Too late...

— If they had arrived earlier, it would be different.

— But at least they took down a Sekibune, so it’s okay.

“They’re late. If they had arrived straight away, Japan wouldn’t have many defenses and they could’ve scouted stealthily. Now, Japan has scouts all around the area!”

“Yes, a vice commander can see from afar!”

Japan had great visibility while Joseon did not.

“This makes Ringo’s earlier defensive prediction a very good decision.”

“Yes, that’s why I said they were at a great disadvantage, but taking down the Sekibune has slightly changed the situation... More importantly, let’s talk about Joseon’s main base!”

“Yes!? Joseon’s main base!?”

OrangeKing had been wanting to discuss this.

“During the fight with the Sekibune, Joseon didn’t produce workers or fishing boats!”

“Ah... They were too focused on the battle!”

“It seems so.”

This was a natural phenomenon. Most RTS pro gamers focused on macro management over micro-control because intensely focusing on small battles could lead to falling behind in overall management, resulting in losing the entire game.

‘But Best Yi Sun-Shin hadn’t done that before.’

OrangeKing found it odd because Joseon under Best Yi Sun-Shin had never shown such a handicap in battles. Her no-loss fighting strategies always worked. To be precise, it wasn’t really her strategy...

‘She’s just on a different level.’

Her command skills were incomparable.

OrangeKing couldn’t say this outright as a commentator for the lowest ranking Joseon, but that was the truth. He hinted that Best Yi Sun-Shin’s command skill was high and Joseon’s initial skirmish strength led by Almond was also high.

The only real strategy was calculating how much to invest to secure victory. Beyond that, it was just a skill difference.

“No way. Best Yi Sun-Shin is falling behind in worker production!? Even fishing boats!?”

The caster’s shock was understandable. Fishing boats were crucial for food supply on ocean maps. Joseon had to have 20% to 50% more than Japan. Falling behind here meant a significant food shortage.

Hunting animals hadn’t been halted because players carried out that task, but the difference would grow as the game progressed, especially since Japan had the advantage with their island nation faction.

“Some commanders aren’t familiar with direct control. Best Yi Sun-Shin gave orders quickly, but tended to avoid direct control. That might be the reason.”

— Noooo

— What’s wrong? Is she not feeling well?

— You need a lot of marines to avoid having to kill lurkers

— So much was sacrificed for a single superplay.

— What? Is Best Yi Sun-Sin in bad form today?

Even with OrangeKing’s explanation, experienced

Civil Empire

players found it hard to understand. The difference in concentration between giving orders and direct control wasn’t that significant. They couldn’t comprehend the current lag while recalling her previous incredible performances. The more they knew about the game, the more ambiguous it seemed.

“Ah! While we were discussing this, the archers... Oh no!”

***

Civil Empire

’s maps were known for their randomness. Only the concept remained consistent while resource locations, paths, and mountains changed. Dawn of Sailing’s concept was simply being an ocean island map, making it one of the most random maps.

Whooosh!

Almond watched the hawk flying overhead.

‘

We haven’t found anything.’

If they had, the command would have changed. The command remained as

[Explore]

, with pings in places where the hawk hadn’t flown. They still didn’t know the enemy’s exact location. Normally, a vice commander on horseback would do this scouting. The archers had to do this on foot now, delaying their progress.

“It’s a mountain path.”

After walking on flat ground, they now climbed a mountain path.

[Explore]

They explored the area thoroughly according to the command.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

With a short response, the archers followed. They were lively and spirited when they first landed after sinking the Sekibune. Now, they were growing quieter. Perhaps the ongoing exploration was tiring them. Although not physically walking, the constant vigilance for potential enemies was exhausting, especially on a mountain path where even the rustling of leaves heightened their alertness.

“What the hell...”

Pang pointed his bow to the right and shook his head.

“Pang, are you nervous...?” Latte chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

However...

Rustle!

“!”

Almond turned around swiftly, but he was a step too late.

Slash!

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

An archer’s head flew off and rolled on the ground. A swordsman had been hiding behind a tree.

“Shoot!!” Almond shouted and shot an arrow.

All the archers fired at the shadow who had flashed by.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The swordsman quickly became a pincushion.

Carrot suddenly shouted, “No! Don’t lose focus on the other areas!”

Everyone’s attention had been drawn to one swordsman.

Slash!

Another swordsman appeared swinging his sword. More archers fell in the chaos.

Two more archers had died.

Thud!

Almond shot the charging swordsman in the head. The swordsman fell, but now they were down to seven archers.

[Defensive Formation]

A command came in.

“Defensive formation!!”

Thud.

The archers pulled their bows, standing back to back. This halted the swordsmen’s approach.

[Defensive Movement]

The archers moved cautiously in their defensive stance. Their already slow pace became even slower. Despite the mountain tribe's trait making them slightly faster, moving cautiously was still challenging.

Ding.

A message arrived for Almond.

[Can’t see]

The mountainous terrain obstructed the commander’s vision. Commanders typically had a bird's-eye view, but the trees blocked the ground below. The commander couldn’t pinpoint where the swordsmen were hiding.

“Gulp,”

Almond swallowed hard.

He had grown used to Best Yi Sun-Shin’s commands. Now, having to navigate without her guidance felt heavy.

‘Sending this means...’

The commander was instructing him to move based on his situational judgment. This meant Almond had to make the decisions as the leader.

“Alright, our goal is...”

Almond decided to set the primary objective for the situation.

“Our goal is to survive and scout for the enemy’s main base.”

Resource harassment or other objectives became secondary. Japan knew their location, but they didn’t know Japan’s. Larger goals had to be deferred. Almond glanced at Carrot.

“Okay.”

Everyone nodded at his words.

‘Oh.’

They seemed to think Almond was relaying commands from the commander. Almond didn’t correct this misunderstanding.

“Alright, then. We need to move fast. Drop the defensive formation.”

He cleared his throat and looked at Carrot.

“Drop the defensive formation~” she repeated without any notable reaction and lowered her bow.

‘Oh.’

The archers moved much faster. Believing their leader was relaying the commander’s orders gave them confidence. They thought it was safe to drop their guard with no nearby threats.

Almond only grew more confident.

“Let’s run.”

He decided to run while scouting.

“Okay.”

Thud-thud-thud.

They ran through the mountainous terrain as fast as they could. Almond wasn’t entirely confident about this. He only knew that they needed to find the enemy’s main base before reaching the third era to inflict any damage.

‘If it fails, at least I’ll survive and find it.’

He moved forward, believing he could handle the responsibility.

***

Meanwhile, the swordsmen hiding behind trees watched them.

“What the... they’re suddenly running?”

“What?”

They whispered to each other, bewildered.

“They’re running! Suddenly!”

“Damn... What are they thinking!?”

Their plan to take out the approaching Joseon archers one by one had been unexpectedly thwarted.

“Change the order. We’re running too!”