Season 3: Chapter 285. 200 vs. 200 (1)

Gulp, gulp.

Zhang Fei opened the refrigerator and gulped down a beer in the Chinese team’s waiting room right after the first game.

“

Hah...

dammit! Daaaammit!”

He cried while drinking like someone who had just been dumped. This time, even Liu Bei couldn’t stop him. Liu Bei was too preoccupied with collecting his thoughts.

“...”

Liu Bei stared at the ground, lost in thought, and didn’t utter a single word. He didn’t respond even when spoken to. Guan Yu wondered if he had gone deaf, but realized Liu Bei was deeply focused on something with no reactions even after prodding him a couple of times.

‘What a mess.’

Guan Yu always played the role of maintaining discipline as the eldest on the team. Even though the soldiers all silently stared up and the team was in disarray, he didn’t want to step in recklessly. If handled wrong, it could affect the next game. However, going straight into the next game in this state wasn’t an option either.

‘Being completely overpowered by that strategy... it must’ve been tough to bear.’

Cookie’s advancing fortress strategy... if they didn’t prepare siege weapons in advance, the absurd tactic would leave them defenseless. Their noses had been sliced off before they even realized it. If they had built a smaller Great Wall at least, that would have given them a chance. However, they couldn’t complete the Great Wall and only ended up wasting money and time. They had been utterly defeated.

“Aaagh! Enough! There are games like this sometimes, right!?”

Surprisingly, Zhang Fei pulled himself together first. It seemed the alcohol had done its job.

“Why are you all acting like you just got dumped? Get up! We need to go back and crush them in the next game!”

The soldiers seemed to regain some energy from Zhang Fei’s outburst. He squeezed between them, throwing around jokes and encouraging them.

“Hey! You! With a face like that, you better be good at games! Can you stand losing to that pretty boy!?”

Whether that was encouragement or not was debatable, but it worked either way. For everyone except Liu Bei.

“... Second era... third era... second era...”

Liu Bei kept mumbling those words like a madman ever since.

‘What on earth possessed him?’

Everyone knew the loss was due to the commander’s misstep. It was an unusual occurrence for the Chinese team. Liu Bei was a perfectionist and a man who could execute such perfection. However, as was often the case with perfectionists... they could do nothing when faced with a truly insurmountable wall.

‘Was Cookie that kind of wall?’

Guan Yu didn’t fully understand the mind of a commander, but he had to assume so after seeing Liu Bei’s reaction.

‘We’ve faced Cookie several times before.’

What on earth happened for the Korean team to start playing like different people? Guan Yu tried to approach Liu Bei again to encourage him. Just then, someone burst into the room.

Slam!

“It’s the third era.”

It was Zhuge Liang, the head of the think tank. He burst in with a confident look and shouted at Liu Bei.

“It’s the third era! So get up!!”

“!?”

Liu Bei blinked and stood up straight at Zhuge Liang’s words.

“How did you figure that out?”

Zhuge Liang began rattling off several reasons that Guan Yu couldn’t understand, asserting that the next game would also be a third era battle.

“Why do you think Cookie took such a long break? Including the time right after the Persian match, it’s been over two weeks.”

“And why is that?”

“To create a new build for Joseon.”

“!”

“So far, Joseon has mainly created variables in the first and second eras, but their real strength is in the third era. They’ve been crafting a solid build to address this irony. Cookie has caught on to the fact that we’re wasting resources by being overly cautious about the first and second eras. How else do you think they pulled off that level of perfection in the first game?”

Zhuge Liang’s guess was almost spot-on, except for why Cookie had taken the break.

“Even so, is there any guarantee they’ll come into this game with the third era in mind?”

“Cookie isn’t satisfied yet.”

“... What?”

“I told you. They’re aiming to win by the book.”

That was true. It would be a stretch to call the first game a victory by the book. Zhuge Liang’s eyes flashed as he elaborated.

“A commander’s desire is always revealed in their strategies. Can’t you feel it? He wants to beat us by the book.”

“!”

Liu Bei’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. Joseon wanted to beat China by the book? Did they really want to attempt something so reckless? In the semifinals?

“That can’t be.”

Joseon couldn’t beat China playing by the book. It wasn’t just a matter of player skills. A commander who adapted to the Chinese civilization's nuances wouldn’t lose to Joseon in a standard match. In this context, a standard match meant starting a third era plains battle after a steady buildup.

While third era Joseon was stronger than third era China, the fourth era would come quickly in a standard match, allowing China to reach the Ming dynasty. Even if they fought in the third era, it wouldn’t just be a third era battle.

The match would inevitably progress to the fourth era where China had a massive advantage. Joseon’s fourth era was formidable, but the Ming dynasty was considered a unique fifth era. To skilled commanders, the idea of Joseon trying to beat China in a standard match was like Joseon trying to defeat a fifth era with a fourth era civilization.

Such a strategy carried a high risk of failure.

“Why would they even try something like that? If you ask me, the second era is the way to—”

Liu Bei cut himself off. The intense look in Zhuge Liang’s eyes made him pause. Something clicked in his mind.

“!”

He recalled when he locked eyes with Cookie right after the first game. Those eyes... there had been something behind them. Liu Bei realized that Zhuge Liang could be right.

“No way...”

Joseon did have a reason to go for a standard match. Even if the odds of winning were lower, they wanted to gamble on such a victory.

“Yes.”

Zhuge Liang nodded.

“They’re aiming for the championship.”

Boom!

It felt as if something immense had dropped into the waiting room. Perhaps it was just silence. Everyone fell silent and stared blankly at Zhuge Liang as he spoke.

“If they can’t beat China in a standard battle, there’s no point in hoping to win the finals.”

***

Clap—

Chi-Seung and Hui-Chul high-fived each other.

Right after Hui-Chul entered the waiting room, Chi-Seung rushed out to greet him.

"It was incredible!"

Pang and Malatang also high-fived the think tank team.

"Chi-Seung, the strategy you prepared for the mountain terrain was excellent."

"Executing it on site is the real challenge."

Chi-Seung rubbed his nose with a smile. Then, he opened his notebook and drew a line to cross off one of the strategies meant for mountain terrain. His notebook contained at least two strategies for each terrain type. The advancing fortress strategy was just one among many.

The think tank had devised all these strategies after countless sleepless nights over a week. In truth, they didn’t even have enough time to practice all these strategies. Still, Hui-Chul insisted on noting down as many terrain based strategies as possible.

At first, Chi-Seung wondered why. With so little time to practice, why did Hui-Chul want to create so many builds for every strategy that came to mind? Chi-Seung only recently learned the answer to this question.

"I had a chat with Sang-Hyeon yesterday," Hui-Chul said during a casual conversation after a think tank meeting. "I was curious. Isn't it hard for people to know about someone's pain?"

Sang-Hyeon had partially revealed his past to the public by choice and circumstance.

"Most people would say you should never show weakness. I asked him if exposing his vulnerabilities wasn’t dangerous."

Hui-Chul had promised the production team that if they won, he would share his story in a video.

"Sang-Hyeon agreed that was true."

Surprisingly, Sang-Hyeon didn’t deny that point.

"But then he told me something interesting. He said that when you openly show your weaknesses, those weaknesses turn into strengths at some point."

Hui-Chul turned toward the window as he spoke, his words trailing off. At that moment, he probably thought of his partner, who quietly shared his burdens with him.

"Hiding it might be what turns it into a weakness. That’s what I realized..."

Wounds needed to be exposed to air for it to scab over.

"I want to shed this burden now. No, I want to help lighten it. I’ve become determined to keep my promise to the production team."

Chi-Seung understood. He realized the destiny Joseon now faced. It wasn’t about whether they could beat China. It was about whether they could win the championship or not.

"To the players!"

Watching the players walk away, Chi-Seung tightly gripped his notebook.

"... I hope the day comes when I can use this."

However, they would soon no longer have the opportunity to use the strategies in the notebook.

***

"Now, the players have all entered!"

After brief bows of acknowledgment, the players made their way to their capsules.

"Wowwwww!"

Amid thunderous cheers, the map began to materialize.

"Now! It’s Joseon versus China! China versus Joseon! The highly anticipated semifinals! The second game begins now!"

"And the map is~~~!?"

Shwaa...

A gentle breeze blew as all the varying elevations flattened, revealing a vast plain. The stage for the second game had been unveiled.

[Mongolian Plains]

— Their opponent is~~~

— Wow

— The classic map!

— Is this for real? Lol

— Uh oh...

OrangeKing didn’t look pleased by the map.

"The Mongolian Plains, also known as the pure skill map. Right?"

The Mongolian Plains was the most basic map in

Civil Empire

. Pure skill, as it was often called, would be on full display. This meant it was relatively disadvantageous for Joseon, a weaker team.

"When this kind of map comes up, it usually puts teams with lower ranks at a disadvantage, doesn’t it?"

"Yes, exactly! There’s less room for variables!"

A basic map meant fewer variables to manipulate. With most of it being flat land, hardly any geographical factors came into play.

"Right. You won’t see any chase scenes like the one where Almond took out everyone on the mountain path earlier."

In rough terrain, many variables came into play. Even if there was a skill gap, one side could set up their position well and make the fight more favorable. For example, Cookie’s advancing fortress strategy in the first game worked because the archers on the fortress had a huge advantage over those below.

However, such tricks didn’t work on the Mongolian Plains. There was only wide, barren land left dry by passing nomads.

"So, OrangeKing, you believe Joseon is at a disadvantage on this map?"

"Yes, I can’t deny that. Joseon tends to perform better when there’s some mountainous terrain."

— Aww...

— It’s okay. They already won the first game.

— You never know until it’s over.

OrangeKing didn’t sugarcoat it. This map didn’t favor Joseon. In terms of pure strength, Joseon simply couldn’t compare to China.

'At least, officially.'

When the power rankings first came out during the transition from the qualifiers to the main rounds, Joseon wasn’t even considered a team that could rival China. They weren’t even seen as strong enough to beat Persia or Japan, yet Joseon had just broken China’s long unbeaten streak in the previous game.

"Of course, you never know until the game is played!"

"Exactly! Who knows what kind of brilliant strategy Joseon has prepared for this one!"

"Right! In the first game, Cookie’s bag of tricks exploded! Didn’t it!?"

— A bag of tricks, lol

— Lmao, so true

— Hahaha

"Ah! A bag of tricks! That’s the perfect phrase!"

"China couldn’t do a thing! They were completely thrashed! That’s the power of strategy, the power of Cookie’s bag of tricks!"

"Yes! I’m sure Cookie has another trick up his sleeve, ready to be unleashed!"

For now, neither side showed any significant movement.