Season 3: Chapter 321. The Arrow Transcending the Game (3)

Bang!

Chi-Seung slammed the table and shouted, “It worked!!”

Anto had completely fallen for it.

“Whoa!”

“No way, did it actually go as we planned? Or was it just luck!?”

After all, it had been a 50-50 gamble. As SharpSphere noted, it could have been mere chance, but Chi-Seung shook his head.

“Anto doesn’t just guess.”

Anto didn’t like playing probability games. Every choice he made had reasoning behind it. Even when he played the odds, he would always choose the option with the higher probability. This was how Chi-Seung predicted his actions.

“I only understood once I put myself in Anto’s shoes and saw Joseon through his eyes.”

Before the game, Chi-Seung had role-played as Anto during a mock match. He did his best to think like Anto and analyzed Joseon as Anto would. Anto wouldn’t have limited his analysis to the finals’ first and second games when preparing. He would have tied all of Joseon’s previous performances in the national tournament into a coherent narrative.

Through this process, Chi-Seung reached the same conclusion Anto likely did.

“To Anto, Joseon’s strategies always have the same underlying pattern. We build our strategies around Almond. Specifically, we base them on the combat capabilities of our troops.”

This was a sound analysis, especially given that Anto was the opponent. It wasn’t just a theory. It was closer to a revelation.

In truth, Almond didn’t execute strategies. Strategies executed Almond. The Roman commander had identified this subtle difference and Chi-Seung realized they had caught on.

“They’re overly cautious about countering archer harassment.”

Although they hadn’t wasted resources on towers or walls, Chi-Seung could see it if he observed closely enough.

“There’s something oddly frantic about some of their movements.”

Anto’s attention was frequently drawn to potential locations for archer ambushes. Troops patrolled those areas and defensive maneuvers seemed to protect specific zones during major movements.

“Anto is fighting a strategy that doesn’t even exist.”

Chi-Seung smirked.

“There’s no Almond strategy in this game.”

Was it because it was a naval battle? No.

“We just got lucky.”

The stars had aligned as the saying went.

“Switching Almond’s unit type due to his condition made everything fall into place.”

During the planning meeting, Choi Sa-Rang had briefly joined them.

“What if we switched Almond’s unit type? It would confuse the enemy and Almond could better control his stamina.”

She made a simple point. If Almond fought as an archer in the third game, his condition would deteriorate in subsequent games. The enemy would likely anticipate this. As a result, the enemy wouldn’t need to focus on Almond anymore by the fourth or fifth game. Joseon would suffer a great disadvantage from this.

Choi Sa-Rang suggested switching Almond’s unit type in the third game to ensure that Rome would continue to regard Almond as a major threat in the later games.

“Anto once said in an interview that no commander with a sword in hand would swing a fist instead. It makes them predictable.”

Chi-Seung had analyzed everything about Anto, including his past statements. This gave him the confidence to shake his head firmly.

“Anto made a mistake. Almond isn’t a sword. He’s a nuclear weapon.”

In this war, Almond transcended the role of a simple sword. He had become a nuclear threat. Thanks to the collaboration between the think tank and Cookie, Almond had evolved from a tactical asset into a strategic one.

“The longer you hold onto a nuclear weapon, the stronger it becomes.”

Nations with nuclear weapons rarely used them. Their strategic value would diminish if deployed and the conflict would escalate into an all-out war. The true value of a nuclear weapon lay in its potential to annihilate everything, which was enough to maintain its significance.

Almond embodied this principle. His mere presence as a potential threat for sniping or game-ending strategies was enough to maintain his value.

“Anto probably still thinks another swift ship is coming.”

“Wha... seriously?”

Anto remained preoccupied with the invisible threat Almond represented. Meanwhile—

[Joseon – 3rd Era]

Joseon advanced into the third era first.

“Good. Now it really begins.”

The true naval battle would start in the third era.

***

“Joseon has reached the third era! That was incredibly fast, wasn’t it?”

Joseon advanced remarkably quickly into the third era. After all, they hadn’t invested in any second era weaponry.

“Meanwhile, Rome had one or two chances to attack in the second era, but...!? They seemed too cautious, almost as if they expected something!”

Rome had built a moderate second era army. They could have achieved some results if they used transport ships to invade Joseon’s main island, but they hadn’t.

“I think Anto was looking for something! Like he was expecting something to show up!”

Anto never found Almond because the swift ships had been empty.

“Anto believed Joseon would definitely try an archer drop for harassment, but there was no one onboard! Instead of advancing their civilization, Anto built another fire raft!”

Anto had assumed the first swift ship was a decoy and that another carrying soldiers would follow. He had been overly convinced that Joseon would attempt to benefit from an archer drop.

“But why was Anto so sure?”

“I wondered the same thing about Cookie building two swift ships!”

“Ah! Could it be!?”

“Cookie sent one swift ship toward Rome, making it seem like an actual attack to trick them!”

Cookie’s feint had made Anto’s certainty inevitable.

“Ahhh! That kind of trick would’ve been impossible to ignore!”

Commanders had to interpret limited information from their restricted vision to form a complete picture. The addition of detailed and subtle deception in an environment prone to errors, especially when the opponent was already cornered, made sound judgment nearly impossible even for someone like Anto.

“So in the end, Joseon bypassed the second era with just two swift ships! Meanwhile, Rome wasted resources on two expensive fire rafts and prepared troops to defend against another drop while delaying their advancement!”

Joseon’s two swift ships had carried no soldiers. Their expenditure on troops was effectively zero.

“It seems like Anto remains focused on countering threats to his priests!”

OrangeKing perfectly captured the flow of the game. Why had the deception worked so well? The root cause was fear.

“Even though Almond failed in the second game, he was incredibly threatening! That keeps lingering in their minds!”

Anto, who was usually the master of utilizing fear, had fallen victim to it himself.

“The arrow Almond fired in the second game is still flying in the third game for Anto!!”

— Totally agree.

— That shot was chilling.

— All that desperate effort paid off.

— Who knew it would have this kind of impact?

— Wow.

— This is why the content of each game matters.

“And on top of that, Joseon has always relied on Almond in the early game, right!?”

“Oh, exactly! They’ve always used him! Every single time! Even when the enemy knew it was coming!”

“But in this game, they’ve avoided using Almond like a ghost! This sense of timing from Cookie is razor-sharp!”

However, Joseon had not utilized archers at all in this game. In fact, it was an unprecedented phenomenon in the entire tournament. Perhaps that was why—

[Panokseon – 97%]

Without wasting a single resource, Joseon constructed the first warship.

“And here comes Joseon’s Panokseon!”

[Panokseon – Completed]

Baaaam!

With the sound of a trumpet, the Panokseon appeared.

“If it heads straight to Rome now, what happens? Rome just entered the third era, right!?”

Dun dun.

[Rome – 3rd Era]

Rome entered the third era slightly later and they had no third era ships yet. A few Joseon soldiers boarded the Panokseon, but they were all barbarians. These were free units without advanced weaponry.

“Joseon is loading barbarians onto the Panokseon! Their logic? As long as the cannons fire, it doesn’t matter!”

Melee combat wasn’t even a consideration.

“Cookie knows! If they attack now, the payoff will be massive! Rome only has one fire raft right now and one isn’t enough to stop a Panokseon! You need three fire rafts to take down a Panokseon!”

The Panokseon, being a defensive warship, was inherently sturdy. Two fire rafts exploding against it would leave it with exactly 2% health remaining. Three fire rafts were necessary to destroy it.

Swaaash...

The Panokseon, loaded with barbarian soldiers, crossed the sea.

“Ahhh, and now Rome’s fishing boats! What’s going to happen here...!?”

Rome’s fishing boats came into view. The Panokseon wouldn’t just pass by.

Boom!

The ship’s cannons roared and the fishing boats instantly sank.

“Wooooaaaaaah!”

“Joseon is declaring, ‘This is our fishing territory!!’”

— Wow.

— Finally taking action, about time.

— Why get bullied by China and Rome... LOL.

— LOL, this is territorial integrity in action.

Rome’s food supply rate began to plummet. The Panokseon roamed the waters and targeted only fishing boats.

“The Panokseon is relentlessly hunting fishing boats!?”

“Exactly. There’s no need to head to the main island. It’s too risky! Why bother when they can just eliminate the fishing boats? Let them come to us instead!”

Indeed, Cookie couldn’t know what dangers awaited near Rome’s base. Cookie couldn’t see everything the broadcast revealed.

An ambush from fire rafts and galleys could result in the Panokseon being lost in vain. Instead, clearing out the fishing boats while taking control of the fish-rich central sea was the optimal move.

“Not all fish are equal, you know! The fish in the middle of this sea yield much better food efficiency! Joseon is driving out Rome and taking over the entire area!”

“Joseon’s food supply rate is skyrocketing! This Joseon of another world has an enormous fishing territory!”

Only Joseon’s fishing boats occupied the central sea while Rome’s were forced into smaller areas. Whenever the Panokseon swept through, the Roman boats sank immediately. As a result, Rome was left fishing along riversides for small fish that could be caught by ordinary workers.

“The timing is perfect! Rome just hit the third era and needs to pump out priests endlessly while also boosting worker production. But priest production consumes a lot of food!”

Rome’s cathedral had produced a few priests but couldn’t sustain continuous production.

“Priest production is stalling!”

“Joseon is completely dominating in resources!”

Food was the foundation of all resources. More food meant more workers, and more workers meant faster resource gathering. Even fishing boats were produced with food, making the food-pumping effect on a sea map unparalleled.

— Joseon is thriving.

— Time to train archers and keep pressing!

— You can’t beat a well-fed Joseon.

— This is insane.

Despite Rome having priests, their resource production fell behind Joseon, who didn’t have resource factions.

[Carrack – 25%]

Rome hastily began constructing a third era carrack ship. However, Joseon had already secured two Panokseons and started building a third era army that included composite bow archers.

[Panokseon – Completed]

The second Panokseon, loaded with composite bow archers, prepared to depart.

“Oh wow! Cookie is leading a flawless game! This is the perfect revenge for the second game!”

“Where did it all go wrong for Rome?”

“It started in the second game! That arrow Almond fired in the second game is now metaphorically killing priests in the third game!”

“It’s not just killing them. It’s preventing them from even being born!”

“Exactly! Priest production is nearly zero! Taste the might of Joseon!”

— That’s catastrophic.

— My arrow pierces through games.

— An arrow that destroys nations.

— Fun fact: Almond hasn’t appeared on screen even once in the third game, LOL.

— A dead nut is defeating living opponents.

The second Panokseon, loaded with composite bow archers, set sail.

Swaaash...

This time, it was different from when only one Panokseon was in play. Two Panokseons were a game-changer. Even if fire rafts appeared, the Panokseons could easily destroy them with cannon fire before they got close. The two Panokseons sailed side by side, advancing steadily toward Rome’s main island.