Season 3: Chapter 280. Triple Down (4)

To the Joseon soldiers, everything happening around them could be summarized in one onomatopoeia.

Boom!

With that impact, the Chinese spearmen broke through the defensive line.

‘This is crazy.’

‘What the hell is this?’

‘... Wow.’

It felt just as empty as a ball being kicked from midfield and sailing straight into the goal.

[Break through]

As soon as the command came, Joseon realized that the enemy hadn’t been serious about breaking through until this point.

Suddenly, the spearmen's eyes changed. They changed into a charge formation, defense formation, and scatter formation with perfect precision to counter every situation. They cut through dozens of barbarian soldiers as if sweeping them away.

"This... this is too big of a loss!"

"This is going terribly compared to how well they blocked the first engagement! Was the triple strategy too much after all!? There's such a big difference in the number of soldiers with weapons!"

"No matter how expendable the barbarian soldiers are, it still costs time and money to recruit them again!"

"And they didn’t even manage to stop the enemy! They suffered losses and allowed the enemy to scout!"

The Chinese spearmen broke through the scouting line and charged down the mountain slope, heading straight for the third base as their objective. It seemed like all of Joseon’s critical information would be exposed when—

"Wait! What’s that!?"

Thud thud thud thud thud!

From higher up the mountain, someone closed in at an alarming speed. While many barbarian soldiers moved to surround the spearmen, none appeared as threatening as this man. He was the only one among them holding a bow.

"Almond! Almond is chasing them!? Will he catch up!?"

An archer benefitting from the mountain tribe trait could run as fast as spearmen. And since the spearmen’s speed would be reduced on the steep slopes, the archer could potentially catch up.

However, the Chinese spearmen also currently benefitted from the

[Charge Formation]

bonus, which gave them a speed buff. Strangely, Almond still caught up.

"Ahhhhh!"

OrangeKing screamed as if he realized something. He glanced at the caster with a meaningful expression.

"This... this is ‘Archer-but-not-an-Archer.’"

— Archer-but-not-an-Archer, lol

— Ohhhh, that’s why he’s holding arrows lol

— Genius

— Wow, amazing lol

Almond wasn’t actually an archer. He was still a barbarian soldier holding a bow because he had initially been assigned to the watchtower.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

Thanks to this, Almond raced down the slope at incredible speed and caught up to the enemy spearmen.

‘I can reach them.’

Snap.

His eyes gleamed sharply as he nocked an arrow.

‘Steady...’

Almond needed to fire while running downhill at the same time. He briefly checked the ground beneath him. It would be a disaster if he tripped on a rock.

‘Now.’

Chhhhhhhh.

A cloud of dust kicked up as Almond braked and readied his aim. One of the six spearmen running downhill entered his sight.

Thwack!

He released the arrow.

Thunk!

It struck the spearman in the head.

"He hit the head while running downhill!? Almond! Did he glue the arrow to the target!?"

However, his arrow didn’t deal bonus damage to infantry since he wasn’t officially an archer. He needed another shot.

Almond immediately fired again.

Thwack!

The second arrow flew toward the same target's head, but—

"Huh!? What!?"

Clang!

Another spearman deflected it with his spear.

"It got blocked!?"

"And they even switched to a defensive formation for a moment!"

Movement speed decreased when switching to the defensive formation and the damage they received halved, especially from ranged attacks. Even without that, the spearman had simply blocked the arrow with his weapon. Not only did the Chinese spearmen react instantly, but they also anticipated the next move by forming a defensive line.

"China is no joke! These spearmen are completely different from the second string soldiers earlier!"

— Wow, those were just second string soldiers earlier?

— Even here, there’s a skill gap...

— Wow... amazing

— They sent their second string for the first attack, unreal...

— Wait, what?

The Chinese were clearly on another level. Not just a step above, but several steps above.

"They're making it look easy to switch formations, but it could become a big mess if soldiers get tangled up or trip over each other!"

"That’s right. It’s actually quite difficult! They can only pull it off because of their flawless teamwork!"

"Exactly! Their coordination is absolutely incredible!"

It wasn’t just their individual skills. They had superior coordination as well. However—

‘Again.’

Almond’s eyes narrowed and he started running again.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

This time, he positioned himself differently and aimed at a new target.

Thwack!

The arrow flew through the trees, targeting the spearman.

Clang!

The enemy blocked it again. This was no coincidence.

"Again!?"

"This looks like a coordinated maneuver!"

"It seems like they know Almond isn't a real archer! It looks like they're just trying to make him waste his arrows!"

Almond gritted his teeth without realizing it.

‘The first string players are different.’

He wasn’t going to let them off that easily.

‘In that case—’

Almond repositioned himself again and aimed at a different target.

Thwack!

This time, the arrow hit its mark. However, the damage was significantly reduced because the spearman was in a defensive formation. It seemed like the enemy knew exactly what Almond was trying to do. They didn’t even put much effort into blocking his shots.

They knew Almond only had five arrows left. Even if he hit them all, he wouldn’t be able to kill them as long as they stayed in defensive formation.

Ding.

[Charge Formation]

The spearmen suddenly started running again. Almond quickly reacted and fired.

Thwack!

An arrow struck one of them in the head.

"Ohhhh!"

The spearman lost control of his body and fell to the ground.

"Almond! He got one kill!!"

"Great! That’s the same spearman he hit earlier, right?"

Almond managed to take down the spearman he wounded earlier.

"Will he get more kills!?"

It was difficult. No matter how skilled he was at curve shots, both he and the enemy were moving frantically and the forest’s random tree placements made it even harder. He needed a clear path for his arrows to get through.

"Joseon needs to stop them somehow! Can’t the barbarian soldiers surround them?"

The barbarian soldiers tried to encircle the spearmen, but they couldn’t directly engage. They couldn’t afford to take any more losses.

"They can’t! If the barbarian soldiers charge in, the spearmen will just cut them down like a blender! It’ll tear a huge hole in the defensive line!"

This was a delicate psychological battle between commanders. China threatened to destroy the defensive line if Joseon got too close, but China would continue advancing toward their scouting objective if Joseon kept their distance.

"Even if the scouting fails, China will inflict huge damage! If they don’t deal damage, they’ll still complete the scout! China is forcing Joseon to choose between two bad options! That’s why Joseon can’t easily make a move!"

"It’s ironic! China came here to scout, but now they’re forcing Joseon to take damage!"

It seemed unfair. Technically, this area was Joseon’s territory, but China dictated the terms of engagement and forced them into a disadvantageous deal. Joseon had to eliminate one of China’s options like preventing them from scouting.

‘Alright, let’s trap them.’

Almond nodded slightly. He planned to slow down the spearmen. If they switched to their defensive formation, their movement speed would be greatly reduced. That would make it easier to trap them.

Almond increased his speed and circled widely around the spearmen.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

He ran with all his might like a wolf herding sheep. He couldn’t close the gap unless he made wide circles around them.

"Almond! He’s not firing any arrows. He’s just circling them! He’s holding back and not revealing his hand!"

"Will this work!? If he keeps running, won’t they just scout everything?"

If China maintained their charge formation and kept running, they would eventually succeed in their mission unless reinforcements arrived. Almond had to find a way to force them into a defensive formation, but he ran out of arrows.

Therefore, he resorted to threatening them by positioning himself as if he would shoot. It was just a bluff.

"They can’t ignore it! Not when it’s Almond!"

"What’s going to happen!?"

"China keeps going!!!"

China made the right decision and didn’t fall for Almond’s bluff. Instead of reacting to his fake threats, the spearmen continued marching and ignored him entirely.

***

Cookie watched the Chinese soldiers press forward without a care and muttered to himself, “They know.”

China had clearly figured out that Almond wasn’t actually an archer. They betted that Almond would eventually run out of arrows and they were right. This wasn’t the first time China had encountered a situation where someone exploited the mountain tribe’s speed. They handled it well.

Almond had done a great job trying to trick them. Without anyone giving him orders, he instinctively tried to herd the enemy and slow them down. Even if he couldn’t kill them, he intended to tie them up.

The enemy wasn’t so easily fooled. They recognized Almond’s plan the moment he tried to slow them down and began moving even more boldly, confident that they were being underestimated. If Almond reacted to their provocations by firing more arrows, he would be the one at a disadvantage.

For now, he played it smart and avoided unnecessary risks. However, that wasn’t the kind of player Cookie wanted Almond to be. Almond wasn’t meant to play defensively. Cookie issued another command.

***

“Huff... huff...”

Almond caught his breath as he ran down the mountainside. No matter how hard he tried to stall them, the Chinese soldiers ignored him and ran in a straight line toward their objective.

It felt as if they were saying, “You’re out of arrows, aren’t you?” Almond started to grow frustrated when a new command appeared.

Ding.

[Eliminate the enemy]

Almond’s expression changed as though something deep inside him had been unlocked after being chained down for a long time.

‘Don’t hold back.’

Snap.

Almond nocked two arrows at once and prepared his final shots. This was it. His last two arrows. His eyes, sharp as ever, scanned for a target. Amid the trees, a small path appeared.

‘Now.’

Swish.

In one smooth motion, he released the arrows. The arrows flew silently, almost too quietly, before slamming into the back of an unsuspecting spearman.

Thud!

“Another hit!?”

“He nailed it from behind!”

It wasn’t just one arrow. Both landed and the spearman tumbled forward, collapsing to the ground.

“Huh!? If that’s the case...?”

[Charge formation canceled]

The charge formation broke apart. They no longer had enough soldiers to maintain it.

“They’ll slow down with the charge formation broken!”

“Almond just managed to take down another one! Amazing!”

— Whoa, seriously?

— How does he keep doing this?

— That’s insane lol

— He’s a monster!

Although Almond hadn’t fully stopped them, he successfully slowed them down.

China wasn’t without its counters.

[Scatter formation]

The remaining spearmen split up with the temporary speed boost provided by the scatter formation. They were still determined to complete the scouting.

“They’re just running for it!?”

“But splitting up like this... doesn’t it make them easier to catch?”

“They must know Almond is out of arrows, right?”

Indeed, splitting up would normally make it easier for Almond to pick them off one by one. However, Almond had no arrows left. Despite that, he kept running after them with fierce determination.

“What!? Does Almond have more arrows!?”

“No, he doesn’t have any!”

Almond slung his bow over his shoulder and grabbed a fallen spearman’s spear.

“Oh...!?”

“He picked up a spear!?”

Almond charged down the slope, almost rolling at full speed directly toward one of the scattered Chinese spearmen. In an instant, he lunged and thrust the spear into the soldier’s back.

Thud!

The soldier didn’t even have time to react before collapsing to the ground. Almond didn’t bother pulling the spear out. Instead, he picked up another fallen spear from a freshly killed soldier and hurled it with precision.

Whoosh!

The spear flew through the air and embedded itself in the back of another fleeing spearman. The soldier staggered and fell to the ground.

“Woooooaaahhhh!!!”

The crowd erupted in cheers as Almond kept running.

‘China... seems doable.’

For the first time, Almond felt like he could take them all down.