Chapter 94

OnlyOneWon.

It was past 7 o’clock, and even though he had already decided what to do about Shaanxi, he kept Seo-jun’s stream running on one side.

It felt like the right thing to do.

He was casually communicating with his viewers, but what exactly was he aiming for?

‘How will he respond.’

Attack Gansu to secure the rear?

Then ultimately Shaanxi would be lost and things would return to square one.

Losing Shaanxi was practically a given at this point.

‘If only they had increased the number of rankers who could play games in Shaanxi to defend it.’

Yesterday.

If the Demonic Cult had decided to invest in defending Shaanxi instead of defending Gansu, it could have become quite troublesome.

It would have turned into a siege situation.

If they couldn’t retake it in one day and the Demonic Cult successfully defended the region, they would be led around by the Demonic Cult’s nose.

They might waste one day.

They might waste two days.

Then they could lose Gansu and get reconnected.

But today, with no additional rankers able to enter and Shaanxi surrounded, it was safe to say it was over.

“Even on the stream he’s telling them not to defend.”

Seo-jun apparently had quite a few followers.

In other words.

Not the hundreds of thousands of regular users, but the heavy users who played exactly four matches every single day without fail—quite a few of them.

These users had sufficient numbers to get matched with similar-level users, so they couldn’t accumulate much fame through winning streaks.

However, since their absolute numbers were much higher than rankers, if they banded together, they would be quite a large and dangerous force.

‘Hmm.’

As an unknown unease spread throughout his body.

-Demonic Cult showed up?

-Looks like they’re trying to retake Gansu. 4 people

News came in and OnlyOneWon’s attention turned there.

About four people wasn’t much.

They had also immediately sent four people.

The reason was that if they saw an opportunity to defend Gansu, they were thinking of defending Gansu as well.

When the enemy attacks, there are usually two ways to respond.

Either get matched together with the enemy, or get matched after they finish.

The former gives much bigger gains if you win.

The latter just goes about fifty-fifty.

The reason they chose the former this time was because Gansu wasn’t a region they absolutely had to obtain, so if they won they could drain more of the Demonic Cult’s forces or take it, and if they lost, whatever.

-Demonic Cult and Unorthodox faction clashing at a strategic point

-Our Shaanxi finished one match and starting the next

-Check the markers that appeared in Jiangxi and Anhui

‘We need to keep the Unorthodox faction in check too.’

The Unorthodox faction, which had expanded their territory quite a bit through reaping benefits, was currently the undisputed first place.

Then they needed the Demonic Cult’s help.

Having second and third place join forces to bring down first place was Earth’s time-honored tradition!

But he got the feeling that the Demonic Cult was persistently targeting the Orthodox faction.

No, more precisely, it felt like probing.

‘As if they’re trying to exhaust our forces as much as possible…’

As this feeling grew stronger over time, OnlyOneWon sent a message when the people who had been playing games finished about two rounds.

-Guys, let’s conserve our forces a bit

And he observed a little longer.

Then.

“Huh? Look at these guys.”

He was able to discover something strange.

He had been carefully watching the red markers that kept appearing and disappearing in the border regions between the Unorthodox faction and Demonic Cult, and names kept disappearing before games could get matched.

“Crazy.”

You could cancel matchmaking.

But both the Demonic Cult and Unorthodox faction were doing the same thing.

“Ah!”

He hurriedly spread the news. It was urgent.

If the Unorthodox faction and Demonic Cult had joined forces, their target was obvious without even thinking about it.

The remaining faction was just the Orthodox faction!

“What are they thinking. Seriously!”

A picture of two ganging up to kill one doesn’t come easily.

The reason? Ultimately, the goal isn’t to make one faction come in last, but for your own faction to win.

Also, the relatively short duration was an obstacle to maintaining alliances.

To maintain an alliance, you have to drive out one faction together while dividing the spoils appropriately so one side doesn’t get everything, but there wasn’t enough time to coordinate to that extent.

They only had 10 days left, and if the other side betrayed them, they’d have no choice but to hand over victory.

Then the result would be second place.

A meaningless second place.

The Demonic Cult’s old room title used to be “At Least 2nd Place,” but even so, they weren’t aiming for second place.

They’d rather come in last!

That’s why they only did horribly bad was a secret everyone knew.

This was surprisingly why Demonic Cult users were likeable.

Wouldn’t a stupid but romantic guy be better than a cunning smart one?

Of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t get teased.

Anyway, but.

“Is the Demonic Cult in their right mind?”

Going after them in this situation?

If the Orthodox faction disappeared here, the Unorthodox faction would start from an incredibly advantageous position.

Then how many regions would the Demonic Cult have to take from the Unorthodox faction to win?

And as people saw yesterday, if there were many regions, the Demonic Cult with their 14-person limit couldn’t spread out their forces, making them even more disadvantaged.

Yet they were trying to eliminate them.

“Are they really that spiteful.”

It didn’t seem like it though.

Also.

“What is the Unorthodox faction trusting to think the Demonic Cult will attack us…”

Ah.

The Demonic Cult that kept probing the Orthodox faction to exhaust their forces.

Seeing that, they must have gained confidence.

Those bastards are serious!

They really are trying to catch the Orthodox faction!

Because the Demonic Cult attacking the Orthodox faction meant draining not only the Orthodox faction’s strength but their own as well.

The Unorthodox faction could betray them even here.

‘That would be best.’

If that happened, the crisis would pass once for the Orthodox faction, and the Demonic Cult could face a crisis that would practically eliminate them from the race.

‘Would those Unorthodox faction bastards spare us?’

And he felt like there was something more than just this.

-Good thing we discovered it now…

-Damn, why are those Demonic Cult guys acting like this? Did they really go crazy?

-This is why demonic arts are dangerous…

-Good thing even the proud Orthodox faction comrades who were attacking Shaanxi stopped their games

-…They’re gone.

In an instant, all the lights on the map went out.

The battlefield fell silent.

Like the calm sky before a typhoon hits.

The Orthodox faction’s chat room also froze along with it.

It was dead quiet.

And while the Orthodox faction members were on high alert.

-Streamer lol talking about daily life isn’t normal either lol

-No, how was that guy a loner??? He’s the type of personality guys would go crazy for lol

-Still, unlike us he was probably popular with girls…

-Ban

-Wait. Everyone look at the battlefield map

-Oh??

“Haha. Looks like everyone went to take a break.”

Seo-jun, who had been communicating with viewers, smiled meaningfully.

[Anti-Hypocrite Unorthodox Faction]

-Orthodox faction guys just noticed? All matchmaking cancelled and conserving forces

-Coordinating with the Demonic Cult today was fun

-This Isn’t Murim <– couldn’t time it right and got matched in the end lol

-Murim noob so couldn’t even cancel matching

-So shall we go for it?

-The Demonic Cult laid the groundwork so it feels a bit awkward to betray them?

-That’s good too, but wouldn’t eating the Orthodox faction stronghold be more delicious? Lmao

-Agreed

-For real lol

-We’re just playing battlefield normally but we look too evil?

-Well. We are the Unorthodox faction? Lol

-Then shall we slowly?

-Let’s go

Red dots began appearing on the map again.

Naturally, it was Orthodox faction territory.

* * *

-Oh

-Suddenly Unorthodox faction vs Orthodox faction total war lmao

-What? What’s happening?

-Why are there only two red dots!!!

-Demonic Cult! You allied with the Unorthodox faction! I feel so betrayed

Seo-jun looked at the map again with interest. Watching seemed more fun.

“Everyone, now the Demonic Cult will move too.”

The Unorthodox faction began attacking two regions similar to Shaanxi—places where they only needed to take one more region to reach the Orthodox faction’s stronghold.

Leisurely.

No matter how well the Orthodox faction coordinated, at least one place would inevitably be breached.

Seo-jun began explaining to viewers what had happened.

Someone would probably organize it and post it on the community soon, but many people seemed immediately curious.

-So right now the Orthodox faction is screwed? Lmao

-Oh

-Let’s gang up on them!

-Unorthodox faction, let’s not betray each other

[‘ThirdElder’ donated 100,000 won!]

[Did you know? All of the Demonic Cult’s strategies are planned by Heavenly Demon-nim. Today too, when Heavenly Demon-nim said the Orthodox faction’s actions were disgraceful, he came up with this on the spot!]

When did I ever say they were disgraceful.

The strategy too.

This is pretty far-fetched.

-Lmao

-Literary and military talents?

-The Orthodox faction was pretty disgraceful though lol

[‘But’ donated 30,000 won!]

[Anyway, if the Demonic Cult and Unorthodox faction join forces, can’t the Orthodox faction stop them????]

-Did you watch battlefield day one or two? lol

-Where are friends in this world?

-First of all, joining forces is difficult

Right.

Even tomorrow, if it looked like they’d lose more trying to catch the Orthodox faction, the Unorthodox faction would immediately betray them.

For example, if the Orthodox faction gritted their teeth and spent a day trying to occupy the Unorthodox faction’s territory regardless of whether their stronghold got taken?

The moment the Orthodox faction’s stronghold got taken, all the territory the Orthodox faction had been occupying would become neutral.

In that situation, not knowing if the Demonic Cult would betray them again, the Unorthodox faction would stop that day’s attack.

They could give trust again, but why would the Unorthodox faction do what they wanted when they weren’t getting anything out of it.

‘That’s why we need a bigger bait.’

To summarize the current situation.

Yesterday and today, they had exhausted forces fighting the Orthodox faction, paying the Unorthodox faction an advance, and the Unorthodox faction had just replied that they shipped the package.

Advance payments in used goods transactions are very disadvantageous to the buyer.

Even tomorrow, the other party could disappear, or the package could arrive and when you open it, a brick might greet you.

So even if you received an advance payment, you had to remind them that completing the transaction was beneficial for the seller too.

They probably both understood the big picture.

“For now, we’ll show them the possibility.”

Hold a knife to the Orthodox faction’s throat so they can’t do anything else.

Show the Unorthodox faction that they could look at the same board as them.

In that sense, they still couldn’t relax.

‘Quite a bit of time has passed.’

Time flew by while talking.

-What possibility?

-Let’s defend Shaanxi now

-Seems like we could succeed in defending Shaanxi by pouring everything into the Orthodox faction over there!

-We’re waiting. Sect Leader!

-Just give us orders!

Defend what.

“No. Let’s attack too. Shanxi.”

If the Demonic Cult reach right in front of Hebei, they’ll shit themselves.