Chapter 286
A great river flowed across the field.
In the center of it was a huge bridge connecting the two camps.
As I moved my general slowly, I saw my opponent, the general of the white team who is fully armed, Ray Pendragon.
He was staring at me silently, as if he had been waiting.
On the other hand, the general of the black team is dressed in shabby basic armor.
That was my character.
-The players in the white team are panicking, aren't they?
-I would be too, of course! The enemy team's general is the only one walking out, and he's not even armed! They probably think he's burning money!
As the commentators said, the Pendragon in front of me was not pleased.
He glared at me with a shaky, trembling gaze, as if to say, "You disrespect me like this?”
As if to show off, I did a poppin dance while moving the body of the general holding only an iron sword.
‘Let's see if this doesn't scare you off.’
The black team general shows off his exquisite dance moves.
Is it because of him? The laughter coming from the surrounding stands, even the commentators, who were commentating the match, were shaking with laughter.
For a guy who usually prioritizes his dignity, this was a situation where he couldn't keep still.
"How far are you going to take it……?"
-Kaaaah!
With a thud, the white general stomped his feet and charged toward me.
"Right, follow me."
As soon as I saw him, I started running.
He was weighed down by his equipment, and I was wearing only basic gear, so there was no way he could keep up with me.
"President, it could be dangerous to go any further in there, the enemy could have ambushed us!"
"Even so, they're still 100G soldiers, they won't be able to catch me!"
He was right.
In the first round we only had 100G, and no matter how many soldiers we made, they wouldn't be enough to stop him.
──If the soldier was just another ordinary person.
He ended up in the center of our base.
"You won't be able to run away anymore, Eugene Han."
He approached me as if he had already caught me.
"Indeed."
I smiled and gave the white-armored one a shrug.
Taking that as a signal, a group of spearmen walked out from the forest side.
"Ha, is this the best you've got?"
"You seem to like it quite a bit, Mr. President."
He glanced around cautiously for other troops.
These are spearmen I invested all 100G into.
“Looking at their movements, it looks like they invested everything in those spearmen, but no matter how much you invest in the skill level of the spearmen, it is meaningless to me. You probably know that too, right? Rather, it would have been more likely for you to buy equipment and fight me.”
"I don't know. Do you think so?"
The spearmen slowly spread out and surrounded him.
Despite the fact that there were clearly a large number of people surrounding a single person, the commentators were clear in their commentary.
-Even if it's Jegal Hyun-ho and Eugene Han , this is a little tough.
-Who is the opponent? Ray Pendragon. Isn’t he the player who has shown us what a true Lu Bu is? Not even a cavalry unit! I think it will be difficult to stop Ray Pendragon with just a spear unit!
I've seen him in the tournament, so it's not like I don't understand what he's saying.
But
"It's different now."
"Why would it be different? With one swing of the spear like this, you'll be teeing──"
Ting──!
The spearmen should have been sent flying.
But for some reason, the opposite of what was expected was happening.
The spearmen, none of whom had fallen, were standing straight and blocking his attacks.
"No!"
"I told you it would be different."
"What the……."
BANG─!
A spearman attacked from behind. The attack slams into the back of Ray's head as he stands defenseless, causing his body to buckle.
"This can't be……! How could the soldiers attack like this……!"
"I see you haven't played Bush War Lands properly, have you?"
I mean, he didn't even know it exists.
Well, most people don't.
-Wow, what's going on? They're all chaining attacks as if they were real people!
-Wait, this……! Is he controlling each and every soldier?!
-Is that possible? I've been playing Bush War Lands for quite a while, and I've never seen anything like this……Ah! That's it! The message that pops up when you max out your skill!
That's right.
That was one of the hidden settings in the Bush War Lands.
[Individual piloting]
The ability to control each soldier individually!
But it's almost like it doesn't exist.
The nature of the game requires you to move dozens or hundreds of troops, and the difficulty level is too high for individualized control.
Focusing on micro-controls could lead to the collapse of an entire faction, and the fact that the starting stakes get higher with each passing board made it too difficult to be efficient later on.
Therefore, we decided to use this tactic in the first round.
We figured that if it was round 1, he would definitely come out armed and alone.
-Individual piloting! I tried it once before, and the AI didn't move as well as I did.
-It's not easy, you're talking about controlling dozens of troops, one by one, and most people wouldn't even try.
-But! There's a player who can do it now, right?
-Jegal Hyun-ho! Is he really a developer? This is a skill that no one has ever seen before!
-It's a godsend! It's a sight worthy of the finals!
This is why I recruited Jegal Hyun-ho, because right now, only he who invented the game can use it properly.
‘I don't know why no one else can do this easy thing.’
It's a bit of teabagging, but no one would argue with him when they see this.
-Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right!
-Ray Pendragon just keeps getting beaten up! These are soldiers at the height of their skill level. Every single attack is terrifying!
-Meanwhile, Eugene! What's he doing? He's doing a fancy toka dance in front of Ray Pendragon, who's being beaten by the spearmen!
-Toka dancing? What is that?
-Ah, you really don't know what's trendy these days. That's why you don't hear me saying MZ~.
This is Buffer Meta.
Was it my fancy dancing that he liked so much? The soldiers' skill at beating up Ray Pendragon was nothing short of delightful.
-ah! Ray Pendragon finally collapses! Due to the death of the white team general, the first round goes to Jegal Hyun-ho and Eugene Han!
I glance up to see Ray Pendragon's expression.
He looks like he's already lost his mind.
I can't help but smile at the sight since the 2nd round against such a distracted player would be easy.
-It was a standard play with nothing special, but the general's movements were slow and he couldn't react.
-Ray Pendragon got a loose eye right now! A rotten, frozen eye! Yeah, that's the best way to describe it right now!
-Ray Pendragon, I think he’s still feeling the effects of the previous match……Haha, I'm fumbling again. GG!!!
Despite his standard play, Ray Pendragon, who was already mentally exhausted, began to make a series of foolish mistakes, and the second round was also in our hands.
In any other match, we would have won with a best-of-three series, but this was a deciding match to crown a winner and a best of 5.
"I'm sure they'll get the third round right, right?"
Since he is desperate for the prize of this competition, our guess is that this round will be much more difficult than the first two.
We caught him off guard in round one, and attacked his mind round two but this time he'll be prepared for all of that.
"So it's going to be a pure skill battle."
"That's a good thing, because I don't think he'll be able to beat us with skill."
"……Certainly, that's true."
"Let's win steadily. Steadily."
At the same time, the bell rang, signaling the end of the break.
We returned to our seats and looked at the other team.
It was only for a moment, but it was clear that his expression had changed 180 degrees.
He sighed deeply and glared at us.
"Huh, that was ugly. It'll be different from now on."
"Well, let's hope so."
The pool for round 3 was 500G.
With such a large amount of money, there were a lot of variables in this round, such as the number of troops, their combinations and skill levels, and the duration of their equipment.
The shimmering and changing terrain before the round begins.
┌──▼▼▼───┐
│mountain frozen forest│
│mountain flat mountain│
│river frozen forest│
┗──△△△──┛
A basin surrounded the plain, as if to hold the fight in the center.
The open field was like a gladiator's coliseum.
The only difference was that there were dark clouds in the sky.
"Hmm……looks like it's going to rain during this fight?"
"That's the beauty of the Bush War Lands, the variables. Hoohoo……."
"Nah, where's the fun in winning reliably……."
And that's when I used 150G to strengthen the general and the remaining 350G to buy soldiers.
After all the placements were made and the game started, I started to see the white team camped on the opposite hill.
"Ha, they're grinding their teeth, too."
Same class as us, same upgrade level.
They, too, had been fighting back in the most ideal way and at the forefront of them all, a white general was looking at me.
"Ray Pendragon."
He gestures in my direction from the distance.
A simple taunt to let me know he's recovered his wits.
"Yeah, you're going to have to organize yourself properly this time."
He’s the student council president at the Academy, but he’s just another player here.
I squeezed my hand hard on the control panel and breathed Aura into it.
-Boo-boo-boo!
The buglers on both sides announce the start of the battle, and the soldiers begin to move.
The soldiers move slowly, each aware of the mounted soldiers in each formation.
And in between.
-Ah! The generals of both camps have begun to move!
As if by appointment, I and Ray Pendragon meet in the center of the field.
We watched each other from the top of our horses, keeping some distance.
Then.
Tuduk-tuduk-tuduk─
As predicted, rain began to fall from the sky.
The flat ground became increasingly wet and muddy.
Still, we didn't stop walking. Soon the distance shrinks until we can see each other with the naked eye.
Same equipment, same horses. And the same situation.
Our respective armies are closing in behind us.
It was time for a change of scenery.
Here, the outcome of the battle between me and Pendragon was the most important thing.
Probably, he and I are thinking the same thing.
‘First, take out the opponent's general and lower the morale of his soldiers.’
It was clear that this battle was going to be one that would completely change the concept of ‘Bush War Lands'.
-Finally, the two warlords clash!
Kwang──!
Red sparks shot out from the blades wielded by the generals of both teams.
The only difference between him and me was the type of weapons we were carrying.
He was carrying a lance and a short sword, while I only had a longsword and a bow strapped to my back, which meant that I was at a disadvantage if I continued to fight into a mounted battle.
"Whoa."
We widened the distance after a clash.
He starts to widen the distance to lance charge once again.
As I quickly follow to catch up, he glances this way and turns his horse's head toward his camp.
He seems to be inviting me to walk right into the middle of his troops.
I immediately draw my secondary weapon and aim it at him.
My weapon of choice is a bow.
The bow was drawn taut, and then.
-Shhhhhhh!
I fired an arrow at his back.
The arrow flew in a neat curve toward his back but he dodged it with an acrobatic leap.
Ping!
A second arrow follows. This time, instead of aiming for him, it's aimed at the horse's rump.
-Hee hee hee!
The arrow lands cleanly.
The horse rears up in surprise, and the sudden braking sends him crashing to the ground.
At the same time, mud covers his white armor.
"A real fight is a muddy fight."
I wonder if the knight will be able to hold his own in the mud.