Chapter 89

The irregularity was noticed when they confirmed that no one was at the third stronghold they arrived at.

An empty stronghold and quiet surroundings.

They weren’t preparing for an ambush either, which meant they had definitely retreated. As expected.

If ordinary users fought them, it was obvious who would lose.

But his instincts were telling him something was suspicious.

“Hmm. Let’s capture it first.”

They entered the stronghold.

The red border indicating the stronghold’s boundaries changed to purple.

“What are we even doing, three people going after one person like this.”

Heavenly Killing Star spoke with self-deprecation.

The red icon indicating the distant stronghold A also changed to purple accordingly.

It wasn’t the typical game style either, and the slightly strange progression felt quite peculiar.

“Are we going to stay here?”

“No. Let’s grab the objects too.”

Objects referred to special items in the game, ranging from essential ones like strongholds and fortresses to trivial ones like animals on the map.

If you hunted such animals or caught informants hiding throughout the area, you could gain a certain amount of experience—not as much as killing soldiers in the center, but still some.

What they needed to do now was reach level 6 as quickly as possible and settle things.

“It doesn’t seem like they’ll come to retake the stronghold. We don’t need to sit here and guard it, so there’s no choice.”

Normally, you wouldn’t bother with minor objects.

You’d be too busy dealing with enemies coming to capture strongholds to have time for such things.

“But why is this happening?”

OnlyOneWon looked at the fortress health and spoke.

[Blue: 588] vs [Red: 1,000]

Considering how rapidly it had been dropping just moments before, it wouldn’t be strange if it had fallen to around 510, but the momentum had broken and there was still quite a bit of health remaining.

Did they capture a stronghold and recover 100 health?

The 100 health lost when capturing wasn’t permanent damage.

If you retook it, the previously lost health would be restored.

OnlyOneWon checked if they had captured any strongholds.

Points A and B were still purple—being captured.

“What?”

Clearly, Heavenly Demon had jumped straight into the center with the goal of maximizing the gap.

No way.

“Was killing soldiers just bait for divide and conquer?”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered the possibility, but wasn’t this someone who usually half-assed territorial battles?

Well.

Even during duels, he hadn’t expected him to suddenly pick different traits.

Did he actually enjoy psychological warfare?

OnlyOneWon regretted not being more cautious of the enemy as he looked toward the forest directly ahead from inside the stronghold.

In the shadows cast by the dense foliage.

He couldn’t see anything, but it felt like a predator was waiting in there for the hunt.

“Hey, Heavenly Demon doesn’t seem to be in the center right now.”

“What?”

“I think he’s coming soon. Get ready.”

The icon indicating stronghold capture continued to spin.

Capture would be completed in 10 seconds.

He would definitely try to stop it, which meant facing Heavenly Demon was only seconds away.

What should they do now?

He had only thought about comfortably reaching level 6 and then fighting, but if the opponent was going to play like this, they had no choice but to engage in psychological warfare.

Should they have stuck together from the beginning?

Things got complicated.

“He’s coming.”

As expected.

With just seconds left before stronghold capture, a user appeared with his hands clasped behind his back.

Even creating atmosphere now.

Crazy.

[Heavenly Demon14]

Now he was an enemy who forced strategy too.

* * *

[Stronghold A captured]

[Enemy fortress health –100]

[Blue: 784] vs [Red: 799]

NamgungFamilyWaitress easily captured the empty stronghold A.

The opponent seemed to have killed his teammate and withdrawn.

“What’s the skill level of the other users in this game, excluding Heavenly Demon?”

To establish a baseline, he’d need to know the contribution levels of all 8 people in this game, but there was no way for ordinary users to know contribution levels.

“Then shall I try grabbing some objects?”

OnlyOneWon usually gave good orders in situations like this, so he followed, but during combat, the basic rule was to assess the situation and act independently.

He looked toward the forest ahead to gather additional experience.

But.

“Why isn’t that stronghold changing?”

The stronghold B icon, displayed in purple, hadn’t changed from purple since—from what he remembered—it had turned purple before his stronghold.

Didn’t the opponents on that side withdraw?

There was only one message OnlyOneWon had left in team chat.

-Be careful of Heavenly Demon

“What?”

Did Heavenly Demon go to point B?

He immediately checked the fortress health.

Looking at the fortress health, he realized his team had captured point B as well.

The enemy fortress health had dropped by 200, which meant they had captured strongholds.

So the reason point B was currently purple was because a fight was happening to retake their stronghold.

And judging by how it was steadily dropping by 5, someone was at the center too.

If Heavenly Demon had gone to point B, then now would be the opportunity to go to the center and kill soldiers.

But if he went to the center and Heavenly Demon was there, while a user who had been hiding nearby retook the stronghold, that would be a loss.

It was quite an ambiguous situation for deciding what to do.

“Still, a conclusion should come soon.”

He headed toward the forest path connecting points A and B.

For now, it was easiest to handle things while assessing the situation.

If stronghold A changed, he could return, and if Heavenly Demon had really gone to point B, then he could time it and…

-Heavenly Demon at B

-OK going to B

So it was true after all.

Well, what ordinary user would pick a fight to retake a stronghold against two rankers?

There were traces of Heavenly Killing Star frantically tapping the virtual keyboard during combat.

He increased his speed toward the center.

‘Why didn’t I think Heavenly Demon would use divide and conquer?’

Probably.

Because that streamer had relied too much on his physicality and charged in recklessly up until now?

Whatever the reason, he had made the optimal decision he could right now.

Even if he couldn’t prepare, he could handle things well if he responded properly.

‘At most, there’d be an ordinary user at the central stronghold.’

Exiting the forest path and entering the spacious clearing, he saw an enemy user dealing with soldiers.

And simultaneously.

The color of point A in the back changed from blue to purple.

Someone was attempting to capture the stronghold.

‘I knew someone would be hiding near point A. Then I should quickly deal with the user in the center and…’

But when he drew his sword and approached, the opponent just ran away.

He headed toward the stronghold next to the center with a reluctant expression.

“Should I capture this?”

The distant enemy nodded and gave him a thumbs up, and he scratched his head awkwardly.

Stronghold A had been retaken and B was captured.

[Stronghold B captured]

[Enemy fortress health –100]

[Blue: 746] vs [Red: 784]

Currently, the enemy was controlling 1 stronghold and they were controlling 2, so maintaining the status quo would be advantageous for them.

However, since that user who had killed soldiers at the central stronghold was there, it had been similar levels until now, but that had just been blocked.

Since experience went with fortress health, if they could just stall for time like this, a favorable situation could develop.

His teammate seemed to have made the same judgment.

He began killing soldiers.

And a notification rang out.

[Heavenly Demon14 –> OnlyOneWon]

News of his teammate’s death came faster than expected, and he was flustered.

And OnlyOneWon, freed by death, left him a chat message.

-Heavenly Killing Star is still alive, so hurry up and just kill soldiers

A few seconds later, another notification appeared.

[Heavenly Demon14 –> Heavenly Killing Star]

He’s not alive anymore.

-He really is disgustingly strong, it was hard just to hold on

-He deliberately made us choose to hold our position instead of running, then picked fights after capturing

Stronghold B would be retaken.

If Heavenly Demon came to the center now?

“I should probably return to point A.”

If he got caught here, the enemy could reactivate all 3 strongholds again.

-Waitress, quickly go to A. There was another user at B, Heavenly Demon probably just left

He couldn’t kill many soldiers before having to return.

-OK returning for now

* * *

Orthodox faction fortress.

“They got hit by divide and conquer. He knows how to use his brain.”

The enemy was alone, so he targeted both A and B simultaneously.

If they had anticipated Heavenly Demon going to B, they could have sent one person to each of the three locations and gained an advantage.

“We underestimated him too much.”

But the game wasn’t over yet.

“That’s right.”

[Blue: 498] vs [Red: 976]

The current situation was that the enemy controlled all 3 strongholds and NamgungFamilyWaitress was returning to stronghold A to recapture it.

In other words, they were at a disadvantage.

Who knew reaching level 6 would be this difficult.

What should they do next?

OnlyOneWon’s mind raced, but he couldn’t easily think of a good method.

This was the first time he’d strategized against an opponent who was assumed to be one person who could definitely beat three rankers, and the first time he’d actually played a game like this.

He should have imagined this kind of scenario.

‘Even so, the opponent is toying with us.’

He was smart.

He wondered if this had been prepared in advance.

“We need to stick together for now.”

“Right. Let’s aim to safely reach level 6. Heavenly Demon seems to be trying to prevent that too. He even set up a trap.”

A trap.

From the moment he had grit his teeth and watched Seo-jun killing soldiers at the beginning, he had already fallen into the trap.

“Then let’s go to stronghold A first… Wait.”

OnlyOneWon, who had been continuously monitoring the fortress health, felt unease flow through his body along with doubt.

Their fortress health was decreasing too slowly.

Waitress had reached point A, so Heavenly Demon should have reached the center too.

[Blue: 623] vs [Red: 876]

No way.

OnlyOneWon looked at Heavenly Killing Star with an ominous expression.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“I think we got played.”

“What?”

Probably.

Seo-jun hadn’t gone to the central stronghold.

Instead, he was probably coming straight here from point B.

Because.

Thinking about it carefully, he would have done the same thing.

“Entrance blocking.”

He began muttering to himself.

“When you respawn outside the fortress, you’re invincible for 3 seconds, right? Can’t run backward.”

“What are you…”

Then OnlyOneWon got angry.

“Ah… he really plays the game like a gem!”

Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Please nerf both the damage and movement speed.

* * *

-How much INT did you invest! LOL

-No way, he’s thinking about entrance cutting against rankers LMAO

-Boy who sees the future!

-Jegal Cheonma’s form is insane

-Jegal Cheonma LMAO ^[1]