Chapter 89

CHAPTER 89

Chapter 89

They realized something was wrong when they arrived and found the third base completely empty.

An abandoned base.

Silent surroundings.

It didn’t look like an ambush was being prepared, which meant the enemy had clearly retreated.

Just as expected.

If the ordinary user fought them, defeat was obvious.

But instinct kept telling them something felt suspicious.

“Hmph. Let’s capture the base first.”

The three stepped inside the base.

The red border indicating the barrier around the capture zone slowly changed into purple.

“Seriously… all three of us doing this just to beat one guy.”

Cheonsalseong spoke self-mockingly.

The red icon marking the distant Alpha Base likewise turned purple.

It wasn’t even normal game flow anymore.

The whole match felt strangely distorted.

“You think he’s going to charge us here?”

“No. Let’s farm objectives too.”

Objectives referred to special objects within the game.

Everything from important structures like bases and fortresses to small things like animals scattered around the map counted.

Hunting those animals or collecting hidden intel scattered across the map granted a decent amount of experience.

Not as much as killing monsters in the center battlefield, but still meaningful.

Their goal now was simple—

Reach Level 6 as quickly as possible and settle the match.

“I doubt he’d risk taking this base back. No reason for all three of us to stay here.”

Normally, even bothering with small objectives was rare.

You already had enough trouble dealing with enemies contesting the bases.

Who had time for side activities?

“But why’s this happening?”

Hanponman muttered while looking at the fortress HP.

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

Considering how rapidly their fortress HP had been melting earlier, even dropping into the low 500s wouldn’t have been surprising.

Yet somehow the damage had slowed dramatically.

Did capturing the base restore 100 HP or something?

No.

The 100 HP lost from base captures wasn’t permanent damage.

Recapturing the base restored that HP again.

Hanponman checked whether any other bases had been taken.

Both Alpha and Star Base were still purple, meaning they remained under enemy control.

“Huh?”

Cheonma had clearly rushed into the center specifically to widen the level gap as much as possible.

Unless—

“Was farming monsters just bait to lure us in?”

It wasn’t that he never considered the possibility.

But that guy treated Occupation Battles like a joke.

Then again—

Nobody expected him to suddenly pick different traits during the duel either.

Did he secretly enjoy mind games that much?

Hanponman regretted not being more cautious as he stared into the forest ahead from inside the base.

Dense trees cast heavy shadows across the woods.

He couldn’t actually see anything.

Yet somehow it felt as though a predator was waiting inside for prey.

“Hey. I don’t think Cheonma’s in mid anymore.”

“What?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling. Get ready.”

The base capture icon continued rotating.

Ten seconds remained until capture completed.

Which meant if Cheonma intended to stop them, they’d run into him within moments.

What should they do?

Until now, they only planned to comfortably hit Level 6 first.

But if the enemy played like this, they had no choice but to engage in mind games too.

Maybe they should’ve pressured him aggressively from the start.

Crunch.

“He’s coming.”

Just as expected.

The moment only seconds remained before the capture completed, a player appeared while carrying something on his back.

“...He’s even setting the mood now. Crazy bastard.”

[Cheonma14]

Now the enemy was controlling even the pace of strategy itself.

[Capturing Alpha Base]

[Enemy Fortress HP -100]

[Blue: 784] vs [Red: 799]

Namgung Family Branch Disciple easily captured the previously empty Alpha Base.

It seemed the enemy team had withdrawn after killing their teammates.

“Excluding Cheonma, what’s the average level of players in this game?”

To establish a proper standard, he felt like he’d need to know the contribution rankings of all eight players in the match.

But there was no way to check ordinary users’ contribution ratings.

“Then should we test some objectives first?”

Hanponman usually followed orders well in situations like this.

But in combat, adapting according to circumstances was basic common sense.

He stared into the forest ahead, intending to gather additional experience.

But—

“Why hasn’t that base changed yet?”

According to his memory, the Star Base icon had turned purple even earlier than his own.

Did the enemy side fail to withdraw there?

The team chat contained only a single message left by Hanponman.

-Careful of Cheonma

“What?”

Did Cheonma go to Star Base instead?

He immediately checked the fortress HP.

Looking at it, he realized the enemy team had already captured Star Base too.

The enemy fortress had already lost another 200 HP.

Meaning they had definitely secured the second base.

Which explained why Star Base remained purple.

A battle for control was still happening there.

And considering the steady -5 HP ticks, someone from the enemy side was definitely still in mid.

If Cheonma truly went to Star Base, then now was the chance to farm monsters in the center.

But if he went to mid and Cheonma was there—

And meanwhile the hidden player nearby recaptured this base—

Then they’d take massive losses instead.

An extremely awkward situation.

‘Still, we’ll know soon enough.’

Hanponman headed into the forest path connecting Alpha and Yin Base.

For now, adapting according to the situation was safest.

If Alpha changed hands again, he could return immediately.

And if Cheonma really went to Star—

Then they could use that opportunity...

-Cheonma crazy lol
-He went to Yin Base

So it really was true.

Still—

What ordinary player would actually fight two Bankers just to reclaim a base?

Cheonsalseong had clearly been furiously typing on the virtual keyboard during combat.

Hanponman increased his speed toward the center.

‘Why didn’t I think Cheonma would cut us off one by one?’

Probably—

Because that streamer had always charged around relying entirely on raw mechanics until now.

Whatever the reason, Hanponman made what he believed was the best possible decision.

Even if he failed to predict things perfectly, adapting well was what mattered.

‘At center base, it’s probably just an ordinary player.’

The moment he exited the forest path into an open field, he spotted an enemy user killing monsters.

At the same time—

The Alpha Base icon above shifted from blue back to purple.

Someone was attempting to capture it.

‘As expected. I knew someone was hiding near Alpha. Then I’ll quickly deal with the mid player and—’

But the moment he approached with his sword drawn, the enemy simply turned and ran away.

Hanponman blankly watched the retreating figure before heading toward the nearby side base.

“I’m capturing this, okay?”

The distant ally nodded and gave a thumbs-up, making Hanponman snort in disbelief.

He reclaimed Alpha and captured Yin Base.

[Capturing Yin Base (乙)]

[Enemy Fortress HP -100]

[Blue: 746] vs [Red: 784]

Currently, the enemy controlled only one base while they controlled two.

Maintaining the situation alone favored them.

Though until now the player farming monsters in mid had kept things even—

That option had just been blocked.

Experience gain was tied together with fortress HP.

So if they dragged the game out like this, the situation could eventually tilt in their favor.

His teammates seemed to reach the same conclusion.

Hanponman began killing monsters as well.

Then a notification appeared.

[Cheonma14 → Hanponman]

His teammate’s death came far faster than expected.

And after dying, Hanponman left a message in chat.

-Only Cheonsalseong’s left. Just farm monsters quickly.

A few seconds later—

Another notification appeared.

[Cheonma14 → Cheonsalseong]

...He’s not left anymore though.

-This guy’s disgustingly strong. Just surviving against him is hard
-He intentionally ran instead of fighting so we’d choose to defend and split up

Star Base would probably be recaptured soon.

And if Cheonma now returned to center—

“I think I need to head back to Alpha.”

If he got caught here, the enemy would regain all three bases again.

-Jeomsoi hurry back to Alpha. There was another player at Star too. Cheonma’s probably already moving

He barely killed a few monsters before needing to retreat again.

-ㅋㅋ enemy retreating

Inside the Orthodox Sect fortress—

“He’s seriously good at dividing people up. Guy knows how to use his head.”

Because the enemy had only one main threat, he attacked Alpha and Star simultaneously.

If they’d predicted Cheonma would go to Star, they could’ve spread one player to each location and stabilized the situation.

“We underestimated him.”

It was frustrating.

But the game wasn’t over yet.

“Yeah.”

[Blue: 498] vs [Red: 976]

At present, the enemy controlled all three bases again.

Meanwhile, Namgung Family Branch Disciple was returning to reclaim Alpha.

In simple terms—

They were losing badly.

Even reaching Level 6 had become this difficult.

What should they do next?

Hanponman’s mind spun rapidly, but no good solution appeared.

After all—

How many times had anyone ever designed strategies around the assumption that one enemy player could always defeat three tankers?

No one had experience with a structure like this.

‘Even so, the three of us are still being dragged around.’

The guy was smart.

Hanponman suddenly became curious how far ahead Seo Jun had planned all this.

“For now, we have to pressure them.”

“Yeah. Let’s focus on safely reaching Level 6. Cheonma seems to be trying to prevent exactly that. He even baited us with the monster farm.”

Exactly.

From the moment they saw Seo Jun farming monsters, they had already fallen into the trap.

‘Then first we head toward Alpha— wait.’

While continuously monitoring the fortress HP, Hanponman suddenly felt unease crawl through his body.

Their fortress HP was decreasing far too slowly.

Jeomsoi had already arrived at Alpha.

Which meant Cheonma should’ve reached center too.

[Blue: 623] vs [Red: 876]

Unless—

Hanponman turned toward Cheonsalseong with a grim expression.

“I think we’ve been had.”

“What?”

Maybe—

Seo Jun never went back to center at all.

Instead, he had been heading straight from Star toward them the entire time.

Because—

Thinking about it carefully, Hanponman realized he would’ve done the same thing himself.

“Entrance camping.”

He muttered quietly.

“If you revive outside the fortress, you get three seconds of invincibility, right? You can’t escape through the gate either.”

“What are you—”

Then Hanponman exploded.

“This bastard plays games in the most disgusting way possible!”

Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Please nerf both the damage and movement speed already.

-How many INT points did he even put in??? =
-He’s really planning to spawn-camp three Bankers =
-The boy who sees the future!
-Zhuge Cheonma is insane
-Zhuge Cheonma lolololol