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Season 2: Chapter 66. Turned Into A Spearman in the Game (3)

RTS games often avoided using a certain phrase.

The dying spearmen lying on the ground all seemingly agreed to utter the same words.

“Ugh... Such a luck-based, crappy game. Damn it...”

“Commander lottery totally sucks... Ugh...”

Luck, a term rarely used in other RTS games. In Civil Empire, players commonly mentioned it and no one denied it. While the law of large numbers meant that skill determined rank ascension, luck greatly influenced this game.

From a mercenary's perspective, either the commander lacked skills or they were simply chosen as a sacrificial unit from the start. For commanders, mercenaries could troll and essentially waste their money.

Beginners who were cheaper and often summoned for sacrificial purposes often found their gaming experience akin to hell. No wonder the game wasn't popular.

‘Moreover, the Korean civilization has a poor balance...’

It was said that the Korean civilization in Civil Empire was very poorly balanced.

Regardless of civilization in the melee mode, any weapon or armor could be worn for combat.

However, only items from the chosen civilization could be worn in the civilization war mode and special abilities unique to each civilization were available. Players agreed that the Korean civilization was not so good.

Why not just play another civilization if the Korean civilization wasn’t good? That wasn’t an option in national competitions. One could only play as their own country, and this content was essentially the reason to play Civil Empire. Thus, disadvantaged Korean players inevitably left the game one by one.

‘But can I even make it that far?’

Almond laughed at himself thinking about national competitions when he almost died at the start.

“Phew. You survived too?”

Someone next to him brushed off the dirt and spoke as they stood up. It was wackjassey. She had survived too.

“Lucky you. That’s the thrill.”

In this game, being immediately attacked by half the enemies seemed to be considered good luck.

Well, it was good that she survived. He had someone to ask questions.

“I heard that spearmen counter cavalry, but what’s the principle behind it?”

Given what he just experienced, it seemed impossible to win a frontal battle.

“Counter? Oh, that’s because spears inherently deal bonus damage to cavalry. Structurally, just thrusting them causes cavalry to impale themselves.”

“Ooh...”

It did sound like a real counter.

“But I don’t get why we lost.”

“That rock-paper-scissors logic only applies when the cost is the same.”

‘Cost?’

Almond looked down at his attire. He wore shabby leather armor and had a cheap spear, not much better than what he used in Zombie School.

In contrast, the opponents seemed very well-equipped at a glance.

“Considering their weapons and armor, their equipment must cost at least five times more.”

The woman casually shrugged her shoulders.

“The commander probably didn’t expect much from us. We were deployed just to buy time.”

She pointed up at the command that appeared.

[Follow and attack the cavalry destroying the outpost.]

“See? It’s basically telling us to die.”

The commander knew they couldn’t fight against the cavalry and sent them to attack again without any reinforcements. That was their mission from the beginning.

— Just buying time, huh :(

— Wow...

— This is what war is like

In this game, Almond was just a unit in a larger war. He was far from being the main character. This premise always had to be kept in mind in Civil Empire.

‘Hmm. Should I really die?’

Almond looked back at the enemy cavalry. They trampled all over his allies and set fire to their forward base and soldier training facilities. Without those, no further troop reinforcements could be expected.

‘What to do?’

Almond looked around. He didn’t want to die a dog’s death like his previous comrades.

Why would they dangle a one gold bonus for each cavalry if the mercenaries were just meant to die? Wasn't that just deceptive? This thought led to an unreasonable determination.

Almond wanted to milk even one more gold from this commander.

‘I’ll take the bonus.’

If he just turned back without the bonus, his five years of experience as an Ah-Sung salaryman would be for nothing. Yes, that was right.

“What are you doing? The commander’s orders are absolute. Disobeying can lead to penalties.”

Snap.

The woman picked up a helmet from somewhere and pulled it over her head. She prepared to charge again.

Almond quickly grabbed her hand.

“... What?”

She turned and looked perplexed.

“Can’t we try something different?”

“There are penalties. I told you.”

“Let’s just try a different approach.”

“How so?”

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Meanwhile, the other surviving spearmen already started advancing toward the cavalry.

“What are you two doing? Stop flirting and fight!”

“Since we're a sacrificial squad anyway, just charge and try to take down at least one!”

Knowing their impending deaths, they headed where the commander pointed.

“What are you doing? Let go. Can’t you hear them?”

“Ah.”

Almond ignored her and suddenly realized something.

“Pick up those spears on the ground. Follow me.”

He gave her an abrupt command. It was a habit from Zombie School. She couldn’t help but feel offended.

‘What’s he trying to do? Taking me lightly for being nice?’

Annoyed by various thoughts, wackjassey still didn’t outright refuse.

‘Bloodstains...?’

The bloodstain on Almond’s spear made her hesitate.

‘What? Did he stab a cavalryman?’

On his first deployment and first encounter with cavalry? Everything was new to him.

The enemy cavalry was an elite force. They were almost royal knights who were fully armed and cost up to five times more.

Even if spearmen received bonus damage against cavalry, they had to avoid stabbing armor to deal damage with such cheap spears. They had to pierce the seams unprotected by armor. Hitting those seams with a spear during a brief clash with the cavalry was nearly impossible even in a game.

The quicker way was just to use an expensive spear, but how did Almond manage to stab them?

‘It must be a fluke.’

That was what she concluded and decided to be firm. Soldiers giving orders was taboo. Only commanders gave orders.

“... Get lost. Who are you to give orders?”

Shaking off his hand, she readied herself to charge and intended to follow the cavalry as the commander ordered.

At that moment, the head of a spearmen who charged to the front rolled on the ground. It was the soldier who tried to kill at least one cavalryman earlier.

Their steps involuntarily halted the moment it became clear that charging meant certain death.

She glanced back at Almond. Her eyes scrutinized him meticulously.

‘Hmm...’

She decided to change her mind.

“Hey.”

“...?”

“Tell me what you're thinking. I'll go with you.”

***

Streeeetch.

A boy indulged in candy. Nothing was better than sugar when stressed.

His sticky lips, coated with sugar, muttered.

“What are they doing?”

He had ordered an attack, but two spearmen were engaging in odd impulsive actions. While the others charged straight ahead, these two alone headed in a different direction. Could they have some sort of strategy?

“Strategy my foot. Aren’t they worth just one gold?”

They could have some plan, but their rank was only C. They were wandering mercenaries who weren’t even veterans. Upon closer inspection, one of them was a woman.

The commander, unable to see IDs, couldn't tell which country she was from. She looked like a redhead from the West.

The man running with her was Asian. Both had fair faces, looking almost like they were eloping in love.

“Tsk tsk. That’s why I keep saying people with lives shouldn't play this game~~”

The boy commander, MyDinner, was quite experienced for his age and had often seen such cases. There were cases where two players, hit by Cupid's arrow, decided to wander off together even though this was just a game. It was ridiculous to him, who was serious about the game.

“This is war. War! Huh? Why is there no sense of urgency among these C ranks?”

However, he didn't bother to stop them. He was too busy for that. Commanding battles only accounted for 40% of a commander's job. Production command was often more important.

Production command meant producing workers, mining resources, and using those to build troop outposts and train forces.

In other words, it was like being in charge of supplies in a real war. Soldiers cost money, and buildings and walls required wood and stone. Cycling through this process quickly and efficiently to produce a large number of high-quality troops was a commander's duty.

Directing those troops was a secondary matter.

“I’m out of wood.”

Thus, the boy turned back to production. The wood near the base had been depleted. He needed a new camp.

Tap!

At his command, workers swiftly constructed a camp.

“Gold is...”

Gold was the primary resource for hiring mercenaries. The gold mines were doing well, but...

“Ah. Ah. They’re attacking... Aaah!”

An enemy archer unit suddenly raided. They nibbled away at the workers from afar with their arrows.

“Damn it. All my defensive troops are gone!”

Eventually, he completely forgot about the two spearmen eloping in love.

***

“Sigh.”

Almond exhaled while hiding in the bushes.

Jessie, he decided to call her that, followed and panted beside him.

“That took quite a while.”

They took a long detour to approach the cavalry without being detected. The two carefully laid down the spears they brought.

‘There must be thirty spears here.’

He couldn’t have carried this many alone and only managed thanks to Jessie's help.

Almond turned toward the cavalry destroying the outpost that was already ablaze.

[Infantry Training Outpost]

[Health 23%]

It would have been a hopeless situation in reality, but a few workers could probably fix it in the game if they could just repel the cavalry.

Snap.

Almond slung a spear over his shoulder and deeply inhaled. As he exhaled, he threw the spear with all his might.

“Hoo!”

Whooosh!

The spear arced through the air. Jessie watched from the side with an expression saying, 'He's really doing this...?' She seemed unimpressed until...

Thump!

The spear pierced the neck of a cavalryman.

“!?”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

The impaled cavalryman slid off his horse as if he had been dead all along.

Thud.

[+1 Cavalry Killed]

A message appeared in front of Almond.

The cavalryman had died.

“... Oh,” Almond muttered in slight amazement that it actually worked.

He picked up the next spear.

“Is it over? What is this...?”

His calm reaction baffled Jessie.

“You just killed a cavalryman worth five gold in one shot! How did you do that?!”

“... Why are you so surprised? I already told you how I would do it,” Almond replied slightly puzzled.

Indeed, he had already explained to her how he would hide in the bushes and throw spears to kill as many cavalrymen as possible. He didn't understand her astonishment.

“Well! Who would’ve thought you’d actually do it!? Throwing spears from a distance to take down fully armored cavalry!”

Spearmen could deal bonus damage against cavalry, which meant it wasn’t impossible to inflict a fatal blow regardless of equipment disparity if they struck the neck area. Doing so from this distance with such cheap spears was another story.

If such a thing was possible, no one would recruit expensive cavalry. Why would anyone invest five gold in cavalry when spearmen who cost one gold could defeat them? This was a highly unlikely occurrence that required godlike precision, power distribution, and luck.

“Did you think it wouldn’t work?” Almond asked why she thought it wouldn’t work, almost seemingly offended that she underestimated his ability.

‘Why does he feel let down?’

Jessie retorted incredulously, “Obviously! You think other spearmen haven't tried that? It’s economic destruction!”

It was natural to assume failure. There were cost differences and she had experienced it too.

Almond wasn’t completely oblivious to this.

‘So...’

This raised another question for Almond.

“... Then why did you follow me?”

Why did she follow a plan she thought would fail?

Jessie shrugged nonchalantly at this obvious question.

“Just because you looked cute.”

“?”

Suddenly, the chat exploded with messages.