Chapter 93

Seo-jun’s eyes lit up with interest at the exciting situation unfolding as he asked.

[Heavenly Demon14: What happens if Gansu falls?]

He wasn’t ignorant of the answer, but it wouldn’t hurt to confirm properly.

Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei.

If Hebei fell, it would be over, and the place they attacked today was Shaanxi.

‘If things continue like this.’

On the 14th day, Shaanxi would become Demonic Cult territory, but with the Orthodox faction taking Gansu, Shaanxi would be unable to connect with Demonic Cult territory and become isolated.

It would become an inland island surrounded by land.

The problem with that was.

[ThirdElder: Tomorrow, other Demonic Cult users won’t be able to provide support to Shaanxi. Only people who attempted to attack Shaanxi at least once the previous day can play the game on the Shaanxi side.]

The personnel who could defend the isolated Shaanxi would be limited to those who had attacked Shaanxi at least once the previous day.

Since the connection was severed, the conditions changed accordingly.

That said, users who had attacked Shaanxi wouldn’t be trapped there, but it was clear that defending would become very difficult.

[ThirdElder: The Orthodox faction will definitely try to hold Shanxi, which directly borders Hebei, no matter how many rankers they have to deploy. So we were planning to go for an all-out battle tomorrow, but if the connection gets severed here, we’ll have problems both defending Shaanxi and attacking Shanxi.]

[ThirdElder: And if we try to prevent the connection from being severed here, the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions will catch onto our objective.]

[ThirdElder: Still, if we can just defend Gansu today, the situation will be fine. The problem is.]

[ThirdElder: It’ll be tough. I’m regretting the few troops we poked the Unorthodox faction with earlier. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just saved them.]

Currently, the Orthodox faction held the upper hand in terms of forces.

The reason was precisely that Seo-jun had already made his attack.

The Demonic Cult, which had already deployed fifteen members including Tangso, versus the Orthodox faction, which had blocked once with three members and then conserved even those three members’ remaining rounds when that didn’t work.

‘Having high fame points becomes poison at times like this.’

As a result, the Demonic Cult had over-invested in Shaanxi, making it difficult to defend Gansu.

If the Orthodox faction were trying to defend Shaanxi instead of attacking Gansu right now, the forces would have matched perfectly.

But the Orthodox faction had exploited this point well.

[ThirdElder: We need to change our strategy.]

Change strategy.

Seo-jun shifted his gaze from private chat to the group chat room.

-Need to make a decision quickly.

-Defending Gansu seems impossible. If we go there, they’ll call even more people

-Even with fewer people. We just need to win more!

-That’s only possible if there are 60 Heavenly Demon-nim

-Should we switch to targeting the Unorthodox faction first? What are the chances of successfully attacking one of the Unorthodox faction’s regions like Shaanxi

-How about forming a suicide squad instead?

-That won’t work, will it?

Suicide squad.

‘Are they talking about having all remaining rankers attack Shaanxi once each and pushing through to the end?’

Looking at the conversation that followed, that seemed to be correct.

-Reason it’s impossible. Regular users need to provide some support too. That becomes impossible when surrounded

-And when going all-out, not just regular users but even rankers fall short. There are people who finished four rounds today

-Besides, holding out there to buy time is meaningless. The overall battlefield timeframe is tight

In the end, if they couldn’t capture the stronghold, it would all be for nothing.

But modifying their strategy would be problematic since, unlike other factions that had gradually seized important regions to occupy advantageous positions.

The Demonic Cult had invested everything in this one strategy and had already given up good regions while taking inferior ones, so they’d be starting at a slight disadvantage.

Switching to the Unorthodox faction seemed like the most viable option.

If they could succeed with today’s attack and finish things within a few days, there was no need to insist on the Orthodox faction.

The reason they had tried their best to hide their objective of targeting the stronghold was to prevent the remaining faction from preparing while they focused on one faction.

‘So this is how rapidly things can change.’

Now they had to make a decision.

As quickly as possible.

‘I’m glad I decided to just observe today.’

Thinking this, Seo-jun sent a chat to ThirdElder.

[Heavenly Demon14: How about we turn the tables and leak our objective to the Unorthodox faction to use them?]

[ThirdElder: Pardon?]

ThirdElder initially reacted as if asking what he was talking about, but after listening to his detailed explanation, showed quite a positive response.

[ThirdElder: Hmm. That seems possible?]

[ThirdElder: Wait a moment.]

Some time passed, and another message came.

[ThirdElder: Brain Strategist says let’s try it too. Let’s do it!]

The manager—no, Brain Strategist claimed to be a concept character who was a descendant of the Jagal family, cast out by his clan and came to the Demonic Cult.

That wasn’t the important part.

Brain Strategist was one of the people who planned the big picture together with ThirdElder.

So.

[Heavenly Demon14: Then let’s contact the Unorthodox faction right away.]

His suggestion was adopted(?).

* * *

Numerous red indicators appeared and disappeared repeatedly across many regions, but there were also regions that remained without disappearing.

The Orthodox faction territory that Seo-jun had captured the previous day.

And the place where Orthodox faction rankers were heavily deployed today.

Currently, many rankers were positioned in Gansu.

‘About 40 people from the Orthodox faction?’

The Orthodox faction had initially deployed about 10 people, but when the Demonic Cult tried to defend, more Orthodox faction members came.

When the Demonic Cult added that many more personnel, the Orthodox faction deployed all their remaining forces to this location.

‘The Demonic Cult is short by about 10 people.’

Tomorrow, Gansu being taken seemed half-confirmed, and the 13th day ended like that.

The next day.

Seo-jun prepared for his stream while opening the community.

This had become quite a natural routine.

Since it was a job that feeds on attention, it was good to keep track of things.

It was also just plain fun.

[Day 13 battlefield summary.]

[Guys, what happens when your retreat route is cut off?]

[The Orthodox faction’s counterattack!]

[The Orthodox faction couldn’t stop the Heavenly Demon lol so they blocked supply lines instead lmao]

[Demonic Cult members, don’t worry. Today, Heavenly Demon-nim will take care of everything. We just need to follow that person.]

[But the Demonic Cult finally showed their true colors]

[The Orthodox faction must have breathed a sigh of relief.]

[Having the Heavenly Demon worth 14 people actually worked against them.]

[Ah, if yesterday’s stream had been longer, we could’ve seen the streamer panicking lol]

Even though he’d barely streamed yesterday and a whole day had passed, his story still appeared frequently.

Navigator’s words suddenly came to mind.

These users. They’re crazy about masters.

What gamer would dislike skillful people, but doesn’t For the Murim have a rather unique atmosphere?

Thinking this, Seo-jun clicked on an intriguing post.

[But the Demonic Cult finally showed their true colors]

==

Look at those Demonic Cult bastards desperately defending Gansu to avoid getting their connection severed.

That means they were targeting the stronghold, doesn’t it? Lol

Heavenly Demon <– This bastard was pretending not to coordinate with the Demonic Cult while secretly following orders, what a devious bastard.

==

It was accurate.

The Demonic Cult trying to defend Gansu with all remaining forces meant that connection was important enough to indicate they were targeting the stronghold.

Also, the person who created that path was Seo-jun, and since he’d been pretending not to cooperate much until now, calling him devious was harsh in tone but accurate.

However.

Seo-jun smiled looking at the comments.

Were they all Demonic Cult people?

-Ahem. The Demonic Cult follows Heavenly Demon-nim’s orders. And it’s not devious but smart, so please correct that.

-You’re being disrespectful to Heavenly Demon-nim. What is this bastard?

-The streamer just went forward cutting down those who blocked his way, and the Demonic Cult formed their strategy around that

No.

He clicked on the next post.

[The Orthodox faction must have breathed a sigh of relief.]

==

If they hadn’t been able to cut it off yesterday, they would’ve had an all-out battle right in front of Hebei, where their stronghold is located, today?

This would be problematic even if they won.

Because when the Orthodox faction and Demonic Cult have an all-out battle, the Unorthodox faction will quietly grab other regions.

Up until now, people might not have felt it much because the Demonic Cult was groveling, but anyway, the battlefield is a three-way battle.

A three-way battle where the remaining one wins through reaping benefits when two go all-out!

So the Demonic Cult are the crazy ones. What are they trying to gain by targeting the enemy stronghold?

Do they have some grudge against the Orthodox faction?

==

It was a post that understood the situation well, and the first comment was this.

-Yes

This word alone seemed to contain a lot of meaning. Something like lament?

Now, it was about time to start streaming.

Seo-jun entered the capsule.

Closing and opening his eyes, the world flipped.

He immediately entered his personal channel and adjusted the streaming settings.

The stream title was.

[The Demonic Cult Will Win Anyway]

After taking a hit at this point, there seemed to be people who wanted to see what he’d say, but he chose the same title as yesterday.

[Starting stream.]

* * *

“Ah. You’re trapped in Shaanxi with me and it’s too scary so you want me to hug you? Thank you for the donation. You’re banned.”

-Lmao

-100,000 won hug request cut!

-Lately there are so many people trying to get banned by paying money

-Where are you trying to put your hands lol

-Someone clip this for controversy. Donation scamming lmao

As always, he didn’t actually ban them.

Surely they wouldn’t actually put this in controversy clips, right?

[‘Hey’ donated 10,000 won!]

[What are you going to do today?]

Finally, the donation he’d been waiting for came in.

The question about what he planned to do going forward.

The reason he’d been waiting for this question was simple.

‘Because of the regular users who can play the game in Shaanxi.’

Regular users were uncontrollable variables, impossible to factor into calculations, so they were treated as constants.

However, if they could unite well, they could become a significant force.

The condition was that they needed to be able to utilize them in the constantly changing regional situations.

This wasn’t a matter of popularity and communication. It was a matter of command.

But what if the objective was simple enough that there was no need for command?

That was precisely the first aim.

“Hmm, you seem curious about what I’ll do, but are you perhaps a spy?”

Seo-jun started this way.

-Spy? Catch them!

-Lol. Must be Orthodox faction coming to teabag

Teabagging.

The act of going near a defeated opponent and crouching repeatedly to provoke anger.

Also known as being a jerk.

[‘No’ donated 10,000 won!]

[I’m with you in Shaanxi and want to follow along]

The donor seemed aggrieved.

However, Seo-jun knew. The person who sent this donation while laughing behind the scenes was ThirdElder.

“Really? Why are you following me?”

Seo-jun asked despite knowing.

The viewers answered for him.

-LOL I’m following too

-Want to be part of it

-Can’t resist as a Demonic Cult member

[‘With the streamer’ donated 10,000 won!]

[Being trapped in Shaanxi while attacking together with the streamer is the greatest achievement of my 25 years of life!]

Seo-jun checked the donor’s ID. This wasn’t ThirdElder but a regular viewer?

-For real lol

-For real lol

-For real lol

-This must be how soldiers feel following their lord into a deadly battle!!!!

“Really? I’m planning to do it a bit late today, so wait for me.”

Chat messages from Demonic Cult users saying they understood came up.

Orthodox faction members asked if he was scared.

After Seo-jun bantered back and forth a few more times, the time came.

“It’s 7 o’clock. Let’s see the results first.”

The results of the previous day’s battles began reflecting on the map.

Gansu had been captured by the Orthodox faction. There was no upset.

However, due to the Demonic Cult’s fierce resistance, the Orthodox faction had also consumed many forces, and the Unorthodox faction, taking advantage of that gap, expanded their green territory by securing other regions.

Small miniatures representing each faction appeared above regions, fighting each other.

After the battle results appeared, regions were colored in the victorious faction’s color.

“The Unorthodox faction grabbed regions all around.”

This was why engaging in all-out battles with each other was problematic.

Yesterday’s fight between the Demonic Cult and Orthodox faction could be called a semi-total war, and only the Unorthodox faction reaped all the benefits.

“Oh? This time the Orthodox faction is making moves right away.”

Red markers immediately appeared on the newly reorganized map.

In Shaanxi, where he was located.

It wouldn’t be the Demonic Cult, so it must be the Orthodox faction.

But.

[Achilles’ Gun]

[The Doctrine of the Righteous]

[7777]

[RamenIsDelicious]

.

.

.

Surprisingly, the number was 14.

Seo-jun narrowed his eyes.

He could see the intention.

“They really want to take back Shaanxi.”

The reason for deploying this many people at once, the same number as him.

Probably meant ‘We’ll consume this much here, so don’t bother trying to defend Shaanxi and just take advantage elsewhere.’

Since blocking was impossible anyway, and it wasn’t like he was actually trapped with no choice.

It was like saying.

“It’s a bit of both concession and provocation.”

A provocation telling him to be satisfied with this and get out of Shaanxi.

Seo-jun laughed.

He didn’t know who thought of it, but.

‘They’ll probably regret it.’

-Streamer, those guys are cocky, let’s go crush them?

-Just give us orders sir! We’ll defend!

-They must think they can definitely take it? Ignoring us regular users?

-Well… we are worth ignoring?

-That’s true though

-Let’s just leave Shaanxi?

He hadn’t expected them to come out like this from the start.

“Let’s take it easy, everyone. Originally, only the weak make the first move.”

Seo-jun took no action.

Then why had he always struck first at 7 o’clock until now—he ignored that chat and spoke leisurely.