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Season 3: Chapter 180: Inspiration (3)

On the day of the match, someone knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

Pang and Sang-Hyeon had already dressed and were preparing for the match, so they opened the door without much thought.

“Oh, Sang-Hyeon.”

The doctor visited him again.

“I forgot and just left that day.”

It was easy to see what she had forgotten by looking at what she held out.

‘A USB?’

Sang-Hyeon thought it probably contained information about the wave alteration method she had mentioned before, so he accepted it.

She started talking about a completely different topic.

“Ah, yes.”

“So I prepared this for you. It might be a solution.”

Even after hearing the explanation, Sang-Hyeon only thought it was something to look at for reference.

“Plug it into the capsule.”

However, it wasn’t. It seemed this was the solution itself.

“Plug it in...?”

“Yes. I’ve informed the tournament officials with a medical note, so they’ll allow it after a simple check on site.”

“So just plug this in and that’s it?” Sang-Hyeon asked again and couldn’t quite believe it.

She nodded.

“Yes. Plug it in before booting up the game. It will automatically optimize the user settings. It’s not as good as a dedicated capsule, but it should be much better than before.”

“Ah, thank you.”

It simply optimized the capsule settings.

Sang-Hyeon nodded.

“Um, Sang-Hyeon?”

“?”

“If your arm gets much better…”

The doctor hesitated for a moment before shouting and disappearing.

“Please play Kingdom again!”

“!?”

For a moment, Sang-Hyeon’s expression stiffened.

‘A Kingdom parrot?’

***

In the players’ waiting room, Sang-Hyeon fiddled with the USB and thought about the earlier encounter.

‘How much will my arm improve…?’

He felt skeptical about whether just playing a wave alteration game would heal his arm and how much it would heal if at all. He struggled to fully understand the treatment principle as an ordinary person. Anyone would feel the same.

Sang-Hyeon clenched the USB and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Please play Kingdom again!”

Would he ever have a chance to play Kingdom again? Just then, a loud noise interrupted his thoughts.

“Players! It’s time to enter! Let’s go!”

All the players in the waiting room stood up.

“Let’s go!”

“Woohoo!”

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Pang patted Almond’s back and grinned.

“D-don’t, d-don’t be nervous, man.”

“...”

Obviously, Pang was the nervous one.

Sang-Hyeon didn’t bother pointing it out. He just walked out.

“Wooooo...!”

The bright lights and thunderous cheers from all around greeted him.

Supporters in red filled a section of the stadium. It looked like fewer of them came compared to the last match.

Sang-Hyeon understood why because nobody expected them to get this far. Still, all of them cheered enthusiastically and waved their cheering items.

Then—

Ping!

[Key Player]

Sang-Hyeon’s face appeared on the big screen. Alongside his plays, a pentagon-shaped stat chart appeared. It hadn’t been shown in the previous game, but such data had been gathered after one match in the main tournament.

“Wooooooo!”

“Almond! Almond!”

Cheers for Almond erupted, but cheers from the Persian fans almost drowned them out. On the opposite screen, Persia’s key player also appeared.

“Uoooooo!”

“Woooooo!”

Their cheering sounded peculiar and distinctly intimidating.

‘Kenin’

That was the ID of Iran’s ace. His original ID was Kebab Ninja, akin to something like Kimchi Warrior in Korea.

‘So it’s him.’

Almond had heard this name from Cookie and others around him many times. Even the Mongolians he met at the dinner party mentioned this person.

“He’s probably the best shooter in Civil Empire.”

“They call him the Divine Archer. Of course, we don’t agree.”

They didn’t agree, but the fact that they mentioned him showed that they acknowledged him.

Mongolia, the Ottoman Empire, Joseon, and Persia were the prominent archery civilizations. Kenin was the top-ranked player among them and was recognized across all civilizations. Moreover, his nickname given by fans was the Divine Archer Arash.

Arash was a mythical hero in Persian legends known for his archery skills.

‘Divine Archer...’

Sang-Hyeon recalled hearing such words in the distant past.

“A rising star! A supernova! The youngest ever! This is the Divine Archer we’ve been looking for! Yu Sang-Hyeon!」

“Exactly. Only tens! So perfect…”

Thud.

Lost in thought, he bumped into the person in front of him.

“Oh, b-bro. We’re stopping.”

“Ah.”

It was time for them to stop for the handshake. He hadn’t heard the instructions.

Sang-Hyeon turned to face his handshake partner.

‘Arash...’

It was the person he had seen on the big screen earlier. Perhaps the organizers had arranged them this way to highlight the rivalry.

He looked more solid and athletic in person than in the photos.

“Hm...?”

The person seemed to recognize Sang-Hyeon, tilting his head slightly.

A guide from afar signaled with their hand. It was a sign to shake hands.

Without much thought, Sang-Hyeon extended his hand.

‘?’

Squeeze...!

The opponent squeezed with all his might.

Sang-Hyeon’s right hand started to tremble uncontrollably.

The opponent smiled, baring his teeth.

Sweat dripped from Sang-Hyeon’s forehead.

‘What a character.’

Despite the pain, Sang-Hyeon gritted his teeth and waited. He was a master of handling mental anguish and physical pain.

‘Grip strength usually doesn’t last long.’

Soon, the grip would weaken. Sang-Hyeon waited for that moment.

A short time felt unbearably long.

Ssh.

The opponent’s grip loosened for a moment. He probably realized that any further would cause muscle cramps.

‘Now.’

At that moment, Sang-Hyeon clenched his teeth and applied his own grip. He intended to show how strong his archery grip used to be. Although his arm was injured, he had done a lot of grip training during rehab, even more than during his competitive days.

Crunch!

Veins bulged along Sang-Hyeon’s arm. His arm trembled slightly, but he didn’t care.

“!!!”

The opponent’s expression twisted noticeably. He gritted his teeth and glared.

‘So what.’

Sang-Hyeon squeezed harder as if to crush the hand. Even as others finished shaking hands and turned away, he didn’t let go. At the very edge of seeming unusual, he finally released his grip.

After the handshake, Kenin checked his hand and glared at him.

Sang-Hyeon merely pretended to cut his neck with his hand and turned away. His right hand was red. He wanted to check its condition but refrained, not wanting to give his opponent any satisfaction.

He just walked toward the capsule.

His right hand trembled slightly. It had been a long time since he used such force.

“Whew... Of all times...”

He took something out of his pocket with his trembling right hand. It was the USB given by the doctor that he kept in his right pocket.

A referee approached, took the USB, and ran a program on their device. After approval, Sang-Hyeon entered the capsule and plugged it in.

[User Settings Optimization in Progress...]

Instead of the usual loading screen, a different message appeared.

After the optimization finished, the tournament client’s waiting screen appeared.

[Civil Empire]

[Loading...]

***

“Ah! Almond just showed incredible confidence to the opposing ace!!”

Meanwhile, the commentators felt amazed at Almond’s behavior. The camera had caught Almond’s gesture of cutting his neck.

“Yes! Actually, it’s the first time, right!? Almond taunting the opponent without holding a mic? It’s a rare sight!”

— LMAO so true

— Watching the Fake National Team, he even taunted with a megaphone

— What was that? lol

— This is charisma

— Incredible star quality lol

“Ah, OrangeKing, could you briefly explain about the opponent?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

OrangeKing flipped through some data.

“When we anticipated the Persia-Joseon match, this rivalry was the first thing mentioned. Kenin is considered the best archer in Civil Empire.”

“Yes!? Really!?”

“That’s right. Persia has three archers known as the Tri-archers. Among them, Kenin is the standout.”

— Wow

— Kenin is famous

— Persia has good archers

— This is already flooding the community abroad

“Ah. No wonder they highlighted the key players! The reactions from the overseas community will be very heated!”

“Yes. Some argue that Koreans are the best archers, but it’s Kenin in Civil Empire. Almond still needs to prove himself. Today’s results will be revealing!”

“As you speak, the players are getting into their capsules! The game is about to start!”

Once all the players entered their capsules, the caster stood up to hype up the match. The game would soon begin.

“Ladies and gentlemen! No one expected Joseon to be here! But they made it!”

OrangeKing stood up and shouted excitedly, “That’s right! They made it to the round of sixteen! I dare say! It’s a miracle! This is what miracles are made of!”

“Will they show another miracle today against Persia!?”

“Ah! I’m looking forward to it! Considering the strength they showed against the Vikings, it’s possible! And today’s ace, Almond, won’t want to lose to another archer ace!”

“Yes! As a player, his pride won’t allow it! Let’s cheer them on together! And now! The players are ready!”

The scoreboard displayed the message.

[Round of 16]

Joseon: 0

Persia: 0

The caster shouted with a final cheer, “Joseon vs. Persia! Persia vs. Joseon! The round of sixteen match in the national tournament!”

All the players appeared on the field.

“The match starts now!!!”

Holograms covered the stadium, creating the terrain of the selected map.

[Traversing Ridge]

***

After the game started, Cookie checked the map’s name first.

‘Traversing Ridge, huh.’

This map had a vast plain on both sides and a mountain range running through the middle. One had to cross the mountain or go around it to reach the enemy.

‘The mountains aren’t too steep, so crossing isn’t hard.’

Compared to a treacherous mountain range, this felt more like a neighborhood hill. Crossing it didn’t pose an issue. It mainly took time, which could lead to a defensive game.

‘The ridge could be the key point.’

Cookie sent workers to various resources and moved soldiers toward the mountains. He judged that sending them to the mountains first would be better than scouting around the base.

The mountain range ran from the six o’clock to the twelve o’clock direction.

Joseon’s base sat in the nine o’clock direction to the east. Half of the eastern base would take time for the enemy to penetrate.

The same was true for the opponent.

‘Oh…?’

Then, a thought flashed through his mind.

‘The opponent will also think our approach is delayed by the mountains.’

The opponent would think the same. With that thought, a strategy flashed through his mind.

[Move]

Ping.

Cookie suddenly and slightly changed the path of several soldiers. He also dispatched a worker.