Chapter 89
They realized something was off when they confirmed that the third stronghold they arrived at was empty.
An empty stronghold and a silent perimeter.
They weren’t preparing an ambush, so they must have retreated. Just as expected.
Fighting ordinary users would be a clear loss for them, after all.
But his instincts were telling him something was fishy.
“Hmm. Let’s capture it first.”
They entered the stronghold.
The red border indicating the stronghold’s territory turned purple.
“Three of us just to beat one guy. What a joke.”
Cheonsalseong spoke sarcastically.
The red icon marking Stronghold Gap in the distance turned purple as well.
It wasn’t a normal game mode, and the oddly skewed progression left a strange taste in his mouth.
“Are we going to hole up here?”
“No. Let’s secure the objectives too.”
Objectives referred to special elements in the game, ranging from essential things like strongholds and fortresses to minor ones like animals on the map.
Hunting objective animals or capturing informants hidden throughout the area yielded experience, though not as much as capturing soldiers in the center.
What they needed to do now was hit level 6 as fast as possible and decide the match.
“It doesn’t look like they’ll come to retake the stronghold. Since we don’t need to sit and guard it, we don’t have much choice.”
Normally, you wouldn’t even bother with minor objectives; you’d be too busy dealing with enemies coming to capture your stronghold.
“But why is this happening?”
Hanpunman said, looking at the fortress’s HP.
[Blue: 588] vs [Red: 1,000]
Considering how rapidly it had been chipping away earlier, it wouldn’t have been strange for it to drop to 510, but the pace had slackened, leaving a lot of HP remaining.
It was at 488—had they retaken a stronghold and recovered 100 HP?
The 100 HP damage dealt when capturing a stronghold wasn’t permanent.
If you reclaimed it, the previous damage would be restored.
Hanpunman checked if they had captured any strongholds.
The icons for Gap and Byeong were still purple, meaning they were in the process of being captured.
“What?”
Cheonma had definitely jumped straight to the center earlier to widen the gap.
No way.
“Was killing the soldiers bait to divide us?”
He hadn’t completely dismissed the possibility, but this was someone who usually half-assed capture battles.
Though, come to think of it…
He hadn’t expected him to suddenly pick a different trait during the duel, either.
So he’s subtly good at psychological warfare too?
Regretting that he hadn’t been more wary of the enemy, Hanpunman looked out from inside the stronghold at the forest straight ahead.
Deep shadows lay beneath the lush green foliage.
He couldn’t make out anything, but it felt like a predator was waiting in ambush inside.
“Hey, I don’t think Cheonma’s in the center.”
“What?”
“He’ll be here soon. Get ready.”
The icon signaling the stronghold’s capture continued its countdown.
In ten seconds, the capture would complete.
Cheonma would definitely try to stop it, so a confrontation was only seconds away.
What should they do now?
He had simply thought about hitting level 6 comfortably and fighting, but if the opponent was coming at them like this, they had no choice but to engage in psychological warfare.
Maybe they should have stuck together from the beginning.
The situation had gone awry.
“He’s coming.”
As expected.
Just moments before the capture completed, a user appeared with his hands clasped behind his back.
Now he’s even striking a pose.
Crazy.
[Cheonma14]
Now the enemy was forcing them into strategic play.
* * *
[Stronghold Gap has been captured]
[Enemy fortress HP -100]
[Blue: 784] vs [Red: 799]
Namgungsega Jeomsoi easily captured the vacant Stronghold Gap.
The enemy had apparently killed his teammate there and withdrawn.
“What’s the level of the other users in this game, aside from Cheonma?”
To set a baseline, he’d need to know the contribution scores of all eight players, but there was no way for ordinary users to find out.
“Shall we go grab an objective, then?”
Hanpunman was usually good at giving orders in these situations, so he followed, but in combat, the rule was to act on your own depending on the situation.
To earn additional experience, he looked toward the forest in front.
But.
“Why isn’t that stronghold changing?”
As far as he remembered, the icon for Stronghold Byeong, displayed in purple, had turned purple before this one.
Had the enemy team over there not pulled out?
The team chat had only one message from Hanpunman:
-Watch out for Cheonma
“What is this?”
Did Cheonma go to Byeong?
He immediately checked the fortress’s HP.
Seeing the HP, he realized that his team had indeed captured Byeong.
The enemy fortress’s HP was down by 200, which meant they had captured a stronghold.
So the reason Byeong was purple now meant a fight was underway to take their stronghold back.
And the steady 5-point ticks showed someone was still in the center.
If Cheonma had gone to Byeong, this was a chance to head to the center and take out soldiers.
But if Cheonma was in the center, and a user hiding nearby recaptured the stronghold, it would be a loss.
It was a truly ambiguous situation.
“Still, a conclusion will come soon.”
He headed toward the forest path connecting Gap and Eul.
To deal with the situation as easily as possible.
If Stronghold Gap changed, he could turn back. If Cheonma had gone to Byeong, then he’d wait for the right timing and…
-Cheonma Byeoㅇ
-ㅇk heading to Eul
So it really was true.
Then again, what ordinary user would pick a fight with two rankers to reclaim a stronghold?
He could see signs that Cheonsalseong had been frantically typing on a virtual keyboard during combat.
He quickened his pace toward the center.
‘Why didn’t I think Cheonma would split us up and pick us off?’
Maybe.
Because that streamer had just been charging in relying solely on his physical abilities until now?
Whatever the case, he made the best decision he could at the moment.
Even without preparation, handling the situation well would do.
‘At worst, it’ll just be an ordinary user in the central stronghold.’
Exiting the forest path and entering the wide clearing, he spotted the enemy user dealing with soldiers.
And at the same time.
The color of Gap behind him shifted from blue to purple.
Someone was attempting to capture it.
‘I knew someone would be hiding near Gap. Then I’ll quickly deal with the user in the center.’
But as he approached with his sword drawn, the opponent simply fled backward.
With a dumbfounded expression, he headed toward the stronghold next to the center.
“I’ll capture this, then?”
The distant enemy nodded and gave him a thumbs-up, and he sheepishly scratched his head.
Gap had been taken, and Eul was captured.
[Stronghold Eul has been captured]
[Enemy fortress HP -100]
[Blue: 746] vs [Red: 784]
The enemy held one stronghold while they held two, so simply maintaining the status quo was to their advantage.
Although the enemy user in the central stronghold had been killing soldiers, making it roughly even until now, that too had just been thwarted.
Since experience went hand in hand with fortress HP, if they stalled for time like this, a favorable situation could arise.
His teammate seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
He began dealing with the soldiers.
Then an alert rang.
[Cheonma14 --> Hanpunman]
The news of his comrade’s death came faster than expected, and he panicked.
Then Hanpunman, freed by death, left a message in chat.
-Cheonsalseong is still left, so hurry and kill soldiers for now
Seconds later, another alert popped up.
[Cheonma14 --> Cheonsalseong]
He’s not left anymore, though.
-Really damn strong, it was hard just to hold out
-He probably captured it to force us to stand our ground instead of running, then picked a fight
Stronghold Byeong would be taken.
If Cheonma was now coming to the center?
“I think I’d better head back to Gap.”
If I get caught here, the enemy can activate three strongholds again.
-Jeomsoi, head to Gap fast, there was one more user at Byeong, Cheonma’s probably already on his way
Without even killing many soldiers, he had to go back.
-ㅇk heading back
* * *
Righteous Faction’s fortress.
“He got us with a divide-and-conquer. To think he’d use his head.”
With only one enemy, he’d targeted both Gap and Byeong.
If they had predicted Cheonma would come to Byeong, they could have sent one person to each of the three locations to gain an advantage.
“We underestimated him too much.”
It was regrettable, but the game wasn’t over yet.
“Yeah.”
[Blue: 498] vs [Red: 976]
The current situation: the enemy held all three strongholds, and Namgungsega Jeomsoi was heading back to Gap to recapture it.
In short, they were at a disadvantage.
Who knew hitting level 6 would be this difficult?
What should they do next?
Hanpunman’s mind raced, but no good ideas came.
From the start, they had never planned a strategy assuming one opponent could beat three rankers, nor had they ever played a game like this before—wasn’t this a first?
They had never even imagined this kind of setup.
‘And despite that, the enemy is toying with us.’
He’s clever.
He wondered if this had been planned in advance.
“We should group up for now.”
“Yes. Let’s aim for hitting level 6 safely. It seemed like Cheonma was checking that too. He even set a trap.”
A trap.
From the moment they saw Seojun gritting his teeth and killing soldiers, they had already fallen into it.
“Then first, to Stronghold Gap… Wait.”
Hanpunman, who had been constantly watching the fortress HP, felt unease creeping through him along with a question.
Their fortress HP was depleting far too slowly.
Jeomsoi should have reached Gap by now, so Cheonma should have reached the center as well.
[Blue: 623] vs [Red: 876]
No way.
Hanpunman turned to Cheonsalseong with an ominous expression.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“I think we’ve been had.”
“What?”
Probably.
Seojun hadn’t gone to the central stronghold.
Instead, he was likely heading straight here from Byeong.
Because.
The more he thought about it, that’s what he would have done too.
“Block the entrance.”
He began muttering.
“After you respawn outside the fortress, you’re invincible for three seconds, right? Can’t run backward either.”
“What the…”
Then Hanpunman lost his temper.
“Ah… You’re playing this game like a real piece of work, seriously!”
Cheonma Divine Art.
Nerf the damage and movement speed, please.
* * *
-How many int points did you even invest, damn it! lolololol
-Wow, you’re figuring out how to spawn-camp rankers lololololol
-Boy who sees the future!
-Jegalbok Cheonma’s form is insane
-Jegalbok Cheonma, what the hell lolol
The last line: "천마신공. 데미지도 이동속도도 싹 다 너프 좀." -> "Cheonma Divine Art. Nerf the damage and movement speed, please."
I'll keep "Cheonma Divine Art" as a proper noun.